AutoSimSport Magazine, Volume 5, Issue 3, Special Review Section

Volume 5 Number 2

Volume 5 Number 3 Special Review Section

HOLIDAZE SPECIAL REVIEW ISSUE AUTOSIMSPORT AWARDS 2009 DIRT2 TOPRACE NEED FOR SPEED: SHIFT SUPERLEAGUE FORMULA SUPERCAR CHALLENGE FORZA MOTORSPORTS 3

FANATEC 911 TURBO S WHEEL LOGITECH G27 WHEEL

Credits

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Editor‐In‐Chief Lx Martini Executive Editors Jon Denton/Bob Simmerman Business/Website/Advertising Lou Magyar Editor‐at‐Large Sergio Bustamante Contributing Editors Steve Smith/Aris Vasilakos Corporate Relations Jon Denton Community Relations Bob Simmerman Art Mike Crick/Julian Dyer Layout/Design Lx Martini

Contributors Fabrice Offranc/Andrew Tyler Björn Erik Hagen/Magnus Tellbom/Jiminee Smith/ Gary Poon/Luisa Ghibaudo/ Spadge Fromley/Simon Croft/Selena Horrell/Sandeep Banerjee Photo Editor Oliver Day Logos/Design www.graphical‐dream.com Contributor Relations Lx Martini/Jon Denton Merchandising Lou Magyar French Editor Christophe Galleron Italian Editor DrivingItalia.net

AUTOSIMSPORT Media LLC is an independent online magazine, produced quarterly, that covers the exciting sport and hobby of simulated racing.

AUTOSIMSPORT Media LLC covers sim‐racing by focusing on every area that defines the sport/hobby including hardware, software, and competition.

AUTOSIMSPORT Media LLC maintains an equal distance to every entity with which it conducts relationships including developers, software and hardware producers, and the “community”.

AUTOSIMSPORT Media LLC will always defend and claim the right to free speech, and will also include editorials which some may deem to be controversial

or even offensive, provided that there is a factual basis that underpins the content.

AUTOSIMSPORT Media LLC believes and will conduct itself within two defining concepts: • Integrity • Independence Opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of the writers/contributors or other affiliates, and all content is copyright AUTOSIMSPORT Media LLC unless otherwise stated. All photos are used by permission. Should you feel your rights have been violated, please feel free to contact AUTOSIMSPORT Media LLC through its website at: www.autosimsport.net., or email autosimsport. Not responsible for contents of linked sites …

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Volume 5 Number 3 Special Review Section

SPECIAL WINTER REVIEW PULLOUT LOGITECH G27 WHEEL

REVIEWS—HARDware

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Lou Magyar on the evolution of a classic…

FANATEC 911 TURBO S WHEEL SPECIAL EDITION 13 Bob Simmerman on the best wheel for the console …

REVIEWS—SOFTware DIRT2 27 Rasfigjohn appeals to the masses TOPRACE

37 Magnus Tellbom on the best saloon‐car racer in the world

NEED FOR SPEED: SHIFT 46 Simon Croft & Bob Simmerman find plenty to love

SUPERLEAGUE FORMULA 66 Hristo iItchov on ISI’s first sime in half a decade … no, don’t call it a mod!

SUPERCAR CHALLENGE

Table of Contents

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Jon Denton on 2009’s Black Horse

FORZA MOTORSPORTS 3

81

MODSQUAD

5th Column GPLegacy

REGULAR FEATURES

92 ENDURACERS—Magnus Tellbom COLUMNS

97 AUTOSIMSPORT 2009 AWARDS

107

Sergio Bustamante

The Dent

Magnus Opus

108 Jon Denton’s vodka diaries

111

Magnus Tellbom wears his helmet and steps into the minefield

SimSmith Checkered Flag

115 116

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Volume 5 Number 3 Special Review Section

HARDWARE REV S U P

P

LOGITECH G27 WHEEL 7 FANATEC PORSCHE 911 TURBO S WHEEL 13

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Volume 5 Number 3 Special Review Section

G27

Logitech’s G‐Spot With Logitech now replacing its venerable G25 with the G27, Lou Magyar examines whether it’s time for an upgrade …

LOUMAGYAR

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Volume 5 Number 3 Special Review Section

G27

continued

Swiss‐based Logitech is hands down the leader in the PC peripheral‐market for the average consumer, and their range runs the entire gamut of gaming hardware, from gamepads to joysticks, from gaming keyboards to racing wheels. Their legendary G25 wheel has altered the landscape of simulated‐ racing since its introduction three years ago with a package that bundled what had, until then, been the domain of bespoke boutique hardware manufacturers—a clutch pedal, a sequential/H shift gearbox, and a tremendous twin‐engined Force‐ Feedback system all available for an affordable price: It went on to become the low‐cost high‐quality option for sim‐racers, and became, along the way, a defining moment in wheel‐ manufacturing—before the release of the G25, the market was awash in low‐ cost wheels, many as bad as another— a scant few months later, Logitech had swept all asunder and became the dominant force in the industry.

All that was three years ago, and Logitech are now back with the successor to the G25, the G27, which, before you ask, is not so much an evolution as it is a fine refinement of what works … Logitech have been listening to their customers, and the G27 comes with a host of solutions to issues that nagged the G25 while, at the same time, leaving well enough alone—including the G25’s USP—an unbeatable price‐point.

Refining A Legend Getting my hands on a G27 proved to be somewhat problematic: My previous contact at Logitech had moved on to other tasks, and it seems AUTOSIMSPORT had gone from being one of the first publications on earth to have reviewed the G25 to, erm, well that place in

mega‐large corporations where reviewers go to die.

It took some convincing but, as you can no doubt guess, it finally arrived into my grimy hands.

At first glance, the G27 doesn’t look too much different than its predecessor, but … look a little closer and you’ll find the wheel is of a more ‘ergonomic’ design than the G25: In terms of grip, there is now a ‘cut‐out’ where your hands will grip the self‐same eleven inch wheel which will reduce—if your hands are anything like mine— those ugly blisters I would get from prolonged bouts of running the G25 using the paddle‐shifter.

More importantly, Logitech have listened to probably the biggest gripe with the G25—a lack of buttons on the wheel: You now have six, instead of two, and they appear on significantly widened brushed stainless steel spokes. This makes the wheel look more ‘modern’ than the G25 whose appearance always reminded me of a 1960s sports car and, at my age, I find that more attractive than the G27. Given the lack of choice, though, I’m far happier with the four extra buttons ...

The spokes, incidentally, may well help reduce the number of returned G25s due to wheels being bent during shipping.

Also noteworthy—and perhaps bad news to a host of cottage industries that have developed around the G25—is Logitech’s decision to include on their new wheel what have, until now, been modifications offered by third party developers. Take, for instance, the series of ten LEDs just behind the center hub (two red, four yellow, and four green) that light up from the outside to the centre sequentially in order to indicate when it’s time to shift, a modification that appeared on these pages some time ago.

This nifty little addition is supported, as of this writing, by iRacing, along with the Steam versions of RACE07 and GTR Evo: It will also run on rFactor if you use the trial version that comes bundled into the G27 in DVD format, but your current version of rFactor will not run it as of this writing: ISI are working on a new .exe, and it may even be released by the time you read this.

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Volume 5 Number 3 Special Review Section

G27

continued

TALE OF THE TAPE: G25 vs. G27

FORCE‐FEEDBACK —G25 features straight‐cut (spur) gears — G27 features diagonal‐cut (helical) gears

PEDALS

—G27 features taller standoffs for clutch and brake pedals, as well as horizontal adjustability, making customizability and heel‐toe downshifting easier

SHIFTER —G27

features stiffer centering spring and more positive gear engagement, but no sequential option, only H‐pattern —G25 features both sequential and H‐ Pattern

BUTTONS —G25 has 2 buttons on the wheel —G27 has six buttons on the wheel

G27 REFINEMENTS

RPM/Shift Indicator LEDs: G27 features 10 LEDs that can be used by game developers to indicate RPM redline

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G27

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I have not personally experimented with adding the .exe from the DVD to the existing rFactor install, but I have read that some have experienced issues with this install so my advice would be: Back up first, research second, and then hit the install button.

In order to further hurry the process of having their wheel LEDs run with most sims, Logitech have released a software developer kit (SDK) which enables any developer to simply and quickly have their sim run the LEDs, so this nifty feature ought to be running on all your favourite sims in short order—if not, contact your developer!

A further refinement on the G27 comes with the shift‐paddles which have been, for the lack of a better term, toughened up: Rather than the flimsy pressure switch of old, the new paddles have a much more solid feel along with a better sense of actuation, providing tactile feedback as you skip through the gears; the days of quickfire mistaken double‐shifting are a thing of the past. What remains, though, is the G25’s 900 degrees of steering so your 1970s touring car mods remain in safe—and cumbersome—hands.

Looking down from the wheel at the shifter, the first thing you’ll notice is that the knob that once changed the shifter from H‐patter to sequential is gone; only the H‐pattern is remains available on the G27, and this makes a certain amount of sense since most—when employing a sequential shift—would opt the paddle option. If you happen to be a huge fan of Champ Car, though, you might miss the sequential shifter and, if you are determined for that level of authenticity, the more ‘secure’ feel of the gear shift that we will discuss presently will make for the mapping of your upshift/downshift to third and fourth gears a usable compromise.

As I noted, the shifter does now feel far more positive than the G25’s, and that is because the internals have been reworked. I like the new design. With the G25 shifter in H‐pattern mode, it was all too easy to miss a shift: Grinding down from fifth to fourth, for instance, was always a lottery with the best case scenario seeing you thump in sixth, and the worse case thumping in second, the top of the engine rev range, and the wall—usually, but not always, in that order. The new internals, however, allow for much more feel when moving from one gear to the next, and actually have a small detent sensation so that you can tell

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Volume 5 Number 3 Special Review Section

G27

continued

when you are in the next gate. A centering spring has also been added to add to the certainty of your shifting. Reverse gear, meanwhile, requires a bit more downward pressure to engage, which is a good thing … I can’t tell you how many engines I destroyed going from fifth to reverse rather than sixth.

Looking down further at the pedals, you’ll find what is, if you’ve been paying attention, a familiar story with the G27 over the G25: What looks essentially similar has been subtly altered.

To begin with, the brake and clutch pedal standoffs have been increased in height by approximately thirteen millimeters which results in these two pedal faces being ‘pushed’ forward further than the throttle pedal, in line with what you’d find in most cars of any description: Heel‐ and‐toeing is now a far more genuine process.

The new pedal pads, in addition, are all reconfigurable, somewhat akin to the pedal mod that Niels Heusinkveld provided for me to review in the last issue. The new configuration is almost as capable of diversity as Niels’s kit is, but not quite: You can move the pads, but not nearly in as many directions, or as much distance, as with the mod I tested. The pedal‐faces themselves can be moved about one centimetre in each direction, and this does allow for a good range of customizable spacing.

The changing of the faces of the pedals—making them closer or further apart as your needs dictate—is a simple affair but made slightly more difficult by an odd oversight on Logitech’s part: They have left out what could have been included at almost no cost at all, an Allen key. You see, unless you have your own tool‐kit, among them a small metric Allen key, you aren’t going to be able to change the pedal locations. So when you’re coming back from the shop with your box, do plan on either stopping at the hardware store, or make sure your toolbox has the correctly‐sized Allen key for the job. Incidentally, the pedal‐base features the same carpet gripping system introduced with the G25, and in my experience, this system keeps the pedals pretty safe on the floor. The feel of the pedals, meanwhile, have not been altered, and still function as well as they always have: Not comparable to the best‐in‐class, but certainly more than capable of giving you a solid response to your movements.

All of the components, meanwhile, are from the same molds as the G25 which means all the hard‐mount points are in the same location, and the G27 will mount exactly as your G25 did without a need to re‐drill any mounting platforms.

That covers the visible features of the G27 against the G25 which is now officially being phased‐out by Logitech. What remains unsaid is what is inside the new G27, and that is as close as we can get if we want to mention the word ‘evolution’.

A Tiny Sliver Of Evolution Helically‐cut gears versus straight cut gears, G27 versus G25: Briefly, straight cut gears, as provided in the G25, are noisy, and tend to whine and clatter as they come together, causing

backlash and slop. Helical gears, cut on an angle across the mating surface, do not suffer either from noise or slop since, rather than an ‘all or nothing’ engagement, they gradually engage across the mating faces of the gears, yielding a much quieter, more precise sensation. Using helical gears also requires a much tighter tolerance than straight‐cut gears, which results in the necessity to use ball bearings on the wheel shaft, that, consequently, provide superb performance, as well as long‐term reliability: I know this because I went off to the Logitech site once I tested the G27 since, at first, the thing felt as if it had more slop to it than the G25 across the center line. I soon learned that this was attributable to the G27 actually having more precision at TDC that the G25, as torque and pressure shifted from one side to the other of the wheel. It’s not a vast improvement by any means, but it’s certainly noticeable—given a choice, I’d spring for the G27’s feel any day.

The Force‐Feedback remains the same as the G25 (dual‐motor, single‐reduction).

Logitech has also included a new Logitech Profiler (Version 5.05) that thankfully leaves off all of the annoying sound effects when running the wheel through its test mode. No more aliens, blown tyres, or head‐on collisions—well not until after you’ve configured it anyway!

If you are a fan of applets like Joy2Key, the G25 and G27 keystrokes are identical.

You can add more if you wish, in order to utilize the extra wheel buttons, but if you’re happy with what you have, no need to set up Joy2Key all over again. The same is true for the assignments within rFactor. They are all reported the same from one wheel to the next.

So, a month into my G27 experience and I suppose it’s time to answer the obvious question: Personally, if I was a G25 owner, I would not feel compelled to upgrade to a G27. Trashing one good wheel in favor of another isn’t a good decision, and there’s really not enough here to warrant an upgrade from what you already have in the G25.

On the other hand, if you’re using an old Logitech wheel, perhaps a belt‐driven one, or anything other than a G25, then you need to consider this wheel. Seriously. The feel is comparable to the older Logitech Formula Force belt‐driven wheel, with similar precision and smoothness of operation. Except you also get all the goodies that made the G25 such an enormous success.

The G27 is poised to continue the ‘G’ tradition of providing remarkable performance at an amazing price: Retailing at US$299.99, it is $50 less than the G25 initially sold for, if memory serves, and it retains its compatibility with PC, PS2, and PS3 platforms.

Overall, it’s a great wheel—and I would go as far as to say an incredible wheel when you add in what it costs—and will remain the low‐cost high‐quality choice for sim‐racers for many years to come.

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G27

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The pedals remain largely unchanged, with steel arms and frames and brushed stainless‐steel faces, but do feature two important improvements: —The brake and clutch pedal standoffs have been increased in height by approximately 13 mm, so that their faces are closer to the user than that of the throttle pedal —The pedal arms have had four extra holes drilled in them so that the pedal faces can adjust to the left or the right with the help of a 2.5 mm hex wrench

Courtesy Logitech.com

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G27

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LOGITECH G27 WHEEL

May not warrant an upgrade if you’re a G25 owner, but it will make you hope for its imminent demise!

If, on the other hand, you’re yet to join the ‘G’ revolution, the G27 will be hard to resist …

PRICE: US$299.99

System Requirements Windows‐based PC Pentium® processor or compatible Windows® XP or Windows Vista® or Windows® 7 256 MB RAM 20 MB of available hard disk space CD‐ROM drive USB port Games that support Logitech® force feedback PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system

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Volume 5 Number 3 Special Review Section

Fanatec Porsche 911 FANATEC911 Turbo S Wheel Limited Edition TURBO S

For sim‐racers, the time has come to invest in a console: Forza 3, SuperCar Challenge, SHIFT, the soon‐to‐come Gran Turismo 5—simulation has arrived, and arrived big‐ time. And as Bob Simmerman will now explain, there is only one wheel—only one— that you need to consider ...

BOBSIMMERMAN

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FANATEC911 TURBO S

continued

Enough complaining and confusion for a while, the story changed rapidly, unexpectedly, and in a very positive way.

Through good fortune that I had not a hand in, a large brown truck was kind enough to deliver a large brown box to my current place of employment. Alas, I did not dive into this special brown box just then, as there was much work to be done in the real world; Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry, a pleasant discussion to be had with a new friend, and a bit of snowy weather driving as I made my way to an art show that was hosted by another of my real life friends.

On the way home, I stopped for a nice warm cup of French Vanilla Cappuccino, my new favorite, dispensed as only a filling station automated machine can achieve—rich, creamy, with just a hint of chemically‐engineered milk; a ‘spot hitter’ if you will, and it filled my green cup with warmth and anticipation, the pleasant odor soon wafting through my car, replacing the not so pleasant odor of my current brand of cigarette, Maverick. I drank a bit from my cup of satisfaction, savoring not only the flavor of the oozing warm liquid, but the weekend that lay ahead of me as the gun‐metal snow clouds gathered overhead.

With my eyes slit open a bit wider, I ventured with caution the eighteen miles to my home, taking the short way when I got to the dirt road turn‐off, hoping against hope that the tree leaning over the road about a mile in had not come crashing down; turning around in that particular spot would have been challenging—turning around if under the tree even, more so. It had remained in place, however, it had not come down, and it did not block my way. Underneath it I passed. Almost there.

I took my time unloading the car, picked up the strange card that had been shoved into my door by some person who I do not know, and, finally, I was in for the night. I was in for the weekend as well; it had been one of the roughest weeks of my life at work, but that is another story for another time.

The cat box needed cleaning. I think I was still smiling even then, but breathing was, shall we say, interesting. The cat did not help, but she was glad to see me.

And all the while, there it sat—not the cat, that brown box, twenty one pounds of promised joy, bundled desire. I dare not rush into such a thing, I thought, but it was impossible not to open it for I needed to assure myself that it did, in fact, contain what I hoped. It did. I was pleased, but in no hurry. I took my time opening the box, and took even more of my time opening the box inside of that one. I was not finished; there were several layers to this other box, each with writing on them, words that truly reflected my feelings on the matter. Finally, I had opened the last layer, and discovered yet another material common to such things, a thin plastic that is often used to protect things from being scratched, from becoming wet, from prying eyes.

I took my time gazing at what could be seen through this plastic, vision distorted as the plastic played its game with the photons in the room, but I could tell what lay beneath, it was easy to see. There is, I would soon come to understand, only one … and it was here. In my hands.

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Volume 5 Number 3 Special Review Section

FANATEC911 TURBO S

continued

I do not have the car, but I now have the wheel. The Fanatec Porsche 911 Turbo S. Special Edition. But you can ignore the Special because it’s like saying, the Porsche 911‐‘Fast’ Edition. Yeah, redundant doesn’t hack it—this is special. And it is also the very definition of rare: There are but a few thousand of these things destined for the entire planet and, by some miracle, one had made it all the way from Germany to my humble abode. For the record, here’s how it works: The Turbo S Limited Edition will be manufactured on the following batches only: 5,000 ‘Pure Edition’, 2,000 ‘Clubsport Edition’, and 3,000 without a title edition, for a limited run of 10,000 wheels. Did I say rare? Did I say special?

With that in mind, I carefully removed the manual from the box, replaced the complex layers of packaging, and reflected upon fortune.

You don’t drive a Porsche 911 in the snow in the backwoods of Michigan, and you don’t mount a Fanatec Porsche 911 Turbo S wheel to a wobbly desk designed for consuming meals covered in aluminium foil. Which meant I had to hook up my HDMI cable in order to mount the wheel (don’t ask, it just is): The last time I hooked an HDMI cable (XBOX 360 current output connection) to my Gateway 24 inch super‐glossy monitor, it rendered that monitor immediately useless, in all modes, coating it with a pink hue that may have caught an artist’s eyes, but saddened this burgeoning photographer’s eye. That incident necessitated a hasty trip to Best Buy in order to replace it, one of the few times I was actually glad the young sales person talked me into buying the extended warranty plan. But now, now it was a different story; the warranty and replacement plan had long since expired, and my financial situation was such that it could be described in one word—dismal. I dared not risk my unexpected turn of fortune by so much as bringing an HDMI cable into the same room, much less hook it up. In other words, I feared that I had no choice but to get some snow on my Porsche, so to speak.

And then I remembered—I still had the component cables for my XBOX 360, and they were more than capable of delivering a 1080p signal to that monitor as I had done such a thing in the past. It would seem that my good fortune of Friday had followed me through the weekend. Sometimes, even the little fellas catch a break. So while I go fetch the cables, you take a look at this:

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Volume 5 Number 3 Special Review Section

FANATEC911 TURBO S

continued

PPPO N O D D M H O B R U H R O N ON EED D E DIIITTTIIIO MIIITTTEEED LLIIIM HEEEEEELLL L WH W SS W O S BO RB UR TTU 99111111 T HEEE 9 RSSSCCCH OR The Porsche 911 Turbo S wheel is strictly limited to 10.000 units in total. Each wheel comes with a laser‐engraved chassis number plate which certifies the authenticity of the wheel. All owners can register at the Porsche 911 Turbo S public registry which will be available in the ‘911 Wheel Club’ (www.911wheel.com ) Key benefits —Multiplatform: Xbox 360 – PC – PlayStation® 3 —Backwards compatible to existing games on the Xbox 360—compatible to all racing games which support the Microsoft Wireless Wheel —Wireless connection to Xbox360 and wireless connection through RF dongle to PC and PlayStation® 3 (new and improved technology) —Compatible with standard pedals (with clutch), Clubsport pedals (metal) and even the pedals of the Microsoft® wireless racing wheel and the Logitech® G25 —3 Force Feedback motors and smooth belt drive deliver sensational realism —Two gear sticks included: 6+1 Speed and sequential —Available in 3 different editions

FFFU H O B R U H R O R U A U HEEEEEELLL::: WH W SS W O S BO RB UR TTU 99111111 T HEEE 9 RSSSCCCH OR PPO REEESSS P UR ATTTU ULLLLLL F FFEEEA —Limited to 3000 units —Original Porsche 911 Turbo S steering wheel design —Licensed by Porsche Lizenz‐ und Handelsgesellschaft mbH —Authentic metal Porsche logo on wheel —Hand stitched leather wheel manufactured according to Porsche quality standards —Compatible with Xbox 360, PC and PlayStation 3 (all games which support Force Feedback wheels) —6+1 Speed gear stick with realistic shifting feel —Additional exchangeable sequential gear stick included —Includes Clubsport paddle shifters made of stainless steel —Wired pedals with realistic clutch pedal with declining resistance —Diameter of steering wheel is 300 millimeters —Gear sticks are interchangeable and can be mounted on the left or right side —Turning angle can be adjusted in the wheel to 900°, 360° or 180° or in 1° steps by software —Play with table: Strong table clamps with quick release, special non‐slip rubber pads, and Velcro strips on the pedals keep everything in place. Integrated screw inserts allows a strong fixation on a gaming cockpit —Play without table: Fully compatible with the RennSport Wheel Stand which is available optional

—Illuminated buttons switch automatically between Xbox and PlayStation symbols —Powerful Mabuchi RS 550 Motor as used in RC cars delivers extra strong Force Feedback effects —Additional 2 Force Feedback actuators in the wheel simulate motor vibrations.

—Extra smooth and silent belt drive without mechanical dead zone —High resolution wheel sensor —TUNING functions with LED display —Saves up to 5 wheel set‐ups —Adjust Force Feedback strength during game play —Adjust sensitivity independent from the game

PPPO N O D B R O U H O B R U H R O N’’’::: ON DIIITTTIIIO EED RTTT E BSSSPPPO OR UB HEEEEEELLL ‘ ‘‘CCCLLLU WH W SS W O S BO RB UR TTU 99111111 T HEEE 9 RSSSCCCH OR —Limited to 2000 units —All features of the Porsche 911 Turbo S wheel but with Clubsport pedals instead of the standard pedals —Fully adjustable wired pedals fully made of metal —Pressure sensitive load cell sensor —Maximum brake force adjustable —Contactless magnetic sensors for gas and clutch with unlimited lifetime —Vibration motor on brake pedal to indicate blocking tires (only in games which support this feature)

PPPO N O D R U H O B R U H R O N’’’::: ON DIIITTTIIIO EED REEE E UR HEEEEEELLL ‘ ‘‘PPPU WH W SS W O S BO RB UR TTU 99111111 T HEEE 9 RSSSCCCH OR —Limited to 5000 units —Only compatible to Xbox 360 (RF dongle to make it compatible with PlayStation®3 and PC available optional) —All features of the Porsche 911 Turbo S wheel but without pedals, RF dongle and gear sticks —Includes an adapter cable to connect pedals of the Microsoft wireless racing wheel for Xbox360 or the Logitech G25 pedals

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A A N O B A A V A ALLL::: NA ON OPPPTTTIIIO O BLLLEEE O AB AIIILLLA VA AV Standard pedals Clubsport pedals Shifter set (6‐speed and sequential) RF dongle for PlayStation 3 and PC

Volume 5 Number 3 Special Review Section

FANATEC911 TURBO S

continued

And they say Germans have no sense of humour!

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O R R O X O H G N N O RIIIPPP TTR A T A R A OR X F FFO OX BO B HEEE B TTH G T NG NIIIN OPPPEEEN In typical and precise German fashion, there were approximately seven hundred and thirty‐ nine cubic feet of hardware perfectly fit into about a four cubic foot box space. In fact, I nearly reviewed the packaging methods and materials separately, but this is a magazine about racing‐simulators and I doubt many care about the refractive index properties of protective plastic.

The nice thing about packaging is that, in general, the package may travel the Seven Seas with nary a scratch upon it, and this was the case with the Fanatec wheel that had— given our previous experiences with boxed wheels, this was an important test—gone from Germany to Indiana, and then Indiana to my house. I savored the smell of genuine leather— just a hint escaping its enclosure, taunting me with the prospect of much more important things to come. Finally, I had the wheel carefully removed, carefully placed, and in position for some proper photographs. Even unassembled, the craftsmanship, attention to detail, and pride were evident. Porsche gave Fanatec a license, and Fanatec are treating that thoroughbred license with the respect it deserves: This number is class.

A U K O O D N Y B M A UPPP KU OK HO OO H D H ND AN A Y A BLLLY MB ASSSSSSEEEM This particular version of the wheel will work with the XBOX 360, PlayStation 3, and the PC. Let me repeat that: XBOX 360, PlayStation 3, and the PC. If you’re new to the console‐ scene, that is like saying your 911 will transform into a boat, a plane, and an all‐wheel drive at the press of a button. You can hook up directly to the PC and PS3, while the XBOX 360 is wireless only, which is just fine as it is one less wire for the cat to chew, and one less complication for me to try and sort out. In addition, should you so choose, a wireless ‘dongle’ is included so that you may also go without copper surrounded by plastic for the PC and PS3 as well.

The version of the wheel that I received did not have a detailed instruction manual in the box: the Fanatec webpage, however, is an absolute gold mine of information and a thoroughly detailed and well written manual is available for download describing all that you need to know on the hardware side. The manual that was included in the box covered operations with the various platforms, describing button layouts, programming, wireless connections, and recalibration for the ‘6+1’ gated shifter.

There is really not much to say here and that is a good thing—like any well‐designed piece of hardware, it becomes quickly obvious what goes where. And don’t worry about all of those extra parts lying around; this package is full to the brim due to the multi‐platform support.

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Volume 5 Number 3 Special Review Section

FANATEC911 TURBO S

continued

What you probably will care about is: One sequential shifter, one H‐six‐speed gated shifter, one pedal set (with clutch), and one Porsche 911 wheel. And yes, go ahead and run your hands over the thick leather: this is the real thing.

I decided to take a bit of extra effort with the wheel mounting, so I got out my trusty Dewalt power drill, and, using the template provide by Fanatec (note: They do not provide the drill bits, or screws, so plan on a trip to your tool‐box or hardware store), drilled four holes in the desktop, inserted the two six millimeter thread screws through the bottom, as instructed, and had an absolute rock solid mount for the wheel.

Included in the box, as I said, are a sequential shifter, and a ‘6+1’ gated‐shifter should you wish the ultimate in realism. Also of note is the well‐designed gas/brake/clutch pedal base, with plenty of the proper material on the bottom to help prevent the thing from sliding around while driving. The gas pedal is in appearance just what you might find in a real car— long with plenty of foot room. The brake has a nice feel to it, with plenty of resistance, and the clutch pedal, too, has that ‘real’ sensation to it. The clutch, like a real‐world clutch, will travel about a third of the way with a lot of resistance and then lightens as you’d expect..

The wheel itself, meanwhile, is a work of art. As mentioned earlier, it is wrapped in leather, genuine leather, and the thickness and diameter are such that you would swear there is someone about to enter their Porsche, somewhere in Germany, only to discover that the wheel is missing, and that could indeed explain why there are only 10,000 of these babies around (how many Porsche wheels can a man steal in one lifetime—think about it).

Once you have the wheel powered up, the buttons are backlit for the appropriate gaming system: In the case of the XBOX 360, expect to see the most pleasing colors illuminating the appropriate buttons leaving no question as to which is the A, and which is the Y, or which is the Right Bumper, or the Left Bumper. The photos here turned out fairly well, but it must be seen in use and up close to truly appreciate. Again, this precise and carefully thought‐out design makes the entire experience of using this wheel a true pleasure.

There are also two paddle shifter levers on the wheel, and although they are smaller than what we may be used to on other wheels, they are perfectly fit for any driving duties, providing an action that is both immediate and precise. To round out the wheel description, at the top of the main column is a small LED read out that lets the user know which part of the Tuning Menu they are in, and an LED light system that will indicate which mode you are either in, or currently adjusting. A good thing since, as you may expect, the adjustments on offer are plentiful.

A N O R G N U D A N ON RFFFEEECCCTTTIIIO PPEEER G P NG USSSTTTIIIN DJJJU AD Force‐Feedback strength has four levels of adjustment ranging in proportion from one hundred percent to off; the Sensitivity setting (which controls the degrees of rotation), has four levels for the PC/PS3 (540º, 360º, 210º, and off—in which case the sim to take care of the rotational matters): In the case of the XBOX 360, there are four settings as well (900º, 540º, 270º, and 210º), but there is no off for this console. I found the 270 degree setting to be to my liking and kept it there. Finally, we have the Shock Vibration setting that controls additional vibration components that the sim may be sending out as you are playing. In the case of the XBOX 360, these are synchronized to the gas pedal to synch’ in a feeling of the engine through the wheel. Again, you have options here that range from fully off to one hundred percent. I went with one hundred percent, and that seemed to work out just fine.

The shifter of choice—should you choose to use one—is mounted by sliding it on the two rods that are attached to the wheel base itself, but it is not a permanent fixture in order to allow quick removal of one in favor of the other. As noted, you will be provided with two shifters: A sequential one, and a ‘6+1’ gated affair. I tried both, and while the fit is a bit tight, it is necessary to ensure a secure gear change event as you bring your trusty steed down at the end of a long straight.

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Wheel and two shifter set: One sequential, one 6‐speedHi pattern.. If you’re using the shifter, make sure to mount the wheel: A RennSport Wheel Stand can be bought from Fanatec …

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This wheel will run with all your consoles and your PC: It also allows for swapping pedals so, if you wanted, you could simply mount your G25/7 pedals and use that along with the Porsche wheel on the PS3, for example … brilliant!

One thing to note with this design method: The wheel base must be firmly attached because your shifting will, obviously, influence the entire wheel’s stability: The leverage provided by the shifter at the end of a connection rod can easily slide the entire wheel from the desk and, while it may just be that I lack innate talent, chasing the wheel across the desk while trying to shift from sixth to second proved a hindrance. The desk I was using has a round edge at the front which did not lend well to the mounting of the wheel, hence the need for a drill and proper set screws. Once firmly attached, however, the package is as competent as any other in terms of stability, but I can’t stress this enough: This is not a stick it on your lap and play affair. This is a serious wheel, for serious sim‐racers, and when you make your purchase, make sure you spend the time between that and delivery working out how you’re going to mount this baby best. Considering you’ll be using this on all your consoles and probably your PC, this—if you’re anything like me—may take some time to plan right.

Fanatec provides detailed instructions on tuning the wheel, and calibration of the ‘6+1’ shifter in case it fails to properly shift for some reason. Quick, easy, and painless.

With the wheel mounted and programmed, I was ready to see what the Forza Motorsport experience would be with what appeared to be, so far, the best wheel that has ever been developed for a console system.

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At the top of the main column is a small LED read out that lets the user know which part of the Tuning Menu they are in, and an LED light system that will indicate which mode you are either in, or currently adjusting: Buttons, meanwhile, are backlit for your appropriate console … brilliant!

FFFO D V R O A R O D VIIISSSIIITTTEEED REEEV R RCCCEEE R OR A’’’SSS F FFO RZZZA OR As with any other new controller for the XBOX 360, it must first be coupled with the console before you can use it. A single press of the guide button on the wheel base powers up the console and, once powered up, a press of the connect button on the 360 followed by a press of the connect button on the wheel gets everything ready to go.

Yes, simplicity in design.

Naturally, I chose a Porsche for my first drive. The 2007 Porsche 911 Turbo 997, to be precise. Funnily enough, it still has a steering wheel. The course? Of course: the legendary and forever venerable Nordschleife. Since it was to be my first drive, I decided to approach it gently, using the paddle shifters, manual shifting, and automatic clutch. Hey, it’s an expensive car and you may remember my financial situation from a bit earlier.

And in case any of you have wondered where the old Bob has been, let me assure you, he is back …

W % H H R O — W O W %!!!

HEEEEEELLL 4 44777222% WH W HIIISSS W TTH REEE T OR SSCCCO —III S W— OW WO I could stop right there, but although these words are sufficient on my side, I should probably explain to the fair readers out there what I actually mean. Oh bugger it. Wow is what I mean. Wow. Wow. Wow.

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TThhee ddiiffffeerreennccee bbeettw weeeenn tthhee ffeeeell II ggoott ffrroom m tthhiiss w whheeeell vveerrssuuss tthhee M Miiccrroossoofftt FFoorrccee‐‐ FFeeeeddbbaacckk w whheeeell w waass ssiim mppllyy aassttoouunnddiinngg..

W Whheerree tthhee M MSS w whheeeell hhaadd w weeaakk FFFFBB,, aanndd ccoom mm muunniiccaatteedd tthhee rrooaadd ssuurrffaaccee ppoooorrllyy aanndd ssllooppppiillyy,, tthhiiss w whheeeell ggaavvee ffeeeeddbbaacckk ssuucchh tthhaatt iitt sseeeem meedd lliikkee II w waass ppllaayyiinngg aann eennttiirreellyy ddiiffffeerreenntt ssiim m:: II lliitteerraallllyy ccoouulldd nnoott bbeelliieevvee tthhee ddiiffffeerreennccee 20

It was, by far, the most enjoyable lap around this track that I have taken in any sim, in any car, on any gaming platform. Now at AUTOSIMSPORT we rarely compare one hardware product with another because what works for me may not be what works for you—but I’ve had Forza 3 for weeks now (two weeks before general release), and I’ve run it with the Microsoft Force‐Feedback, and now I’ve run it with the Fanatec wheel, and I’m sorry, but I would feel unclean as a reviewer were I not to make this point: The difference between the feel I got from this wheel versus the Microsoft Force‐Feedback wheel was simply astounding. Where the MS wheel had weak FFB, and communicated the road surface poorly and sloppily, this wheel gave feedback such that it seemed like I was playing an entirely different sim: I literally could not believe the difference.

You will no doubt read (or have read) our interview with Turn 10’s Mr. Dan Greenewalt, the developers of Forza, and his description of the tyre model in this simulator. I felt those words on that track. For those of you who may be shaking your head and preparing to call my psychotherapist, until you have played this sim, with this wheel, your words will fall on deaf ears.

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Three laps later, it was time to test the sequential shifter before, finally, the ultimate test of any simulation product—clutch, six speed H‐pattern shifter, and not a manual aid in sight.

An hour into the sequential shifter experience, I was tempted to start from scratch and rewrite the Forza review entirely, but the editor is Italian and the last thing I needed was this, along with the whispered words, ‘Where is my review, Whimperman!’ Besides, I had the review nearly written anyway, and as a fancy editor of the world’s greatest simulator magazine, I figured he would know what to do with the feeble prose I intended to send.

Next up was the #16 Dyson Racing RS Spyder EVO at Road America. I love this car, and I love this track, and I could not wait to feel the wind in my face with the proper wheel controlling the direction I took. Again, I felt the same, the driving and control was precise, crisp, and to the point. Fanatec has truly outdone themselves with this product and I had to stop and once again remind myself at my good fortune to be able to not only look at it, but to actually drive with it. The sequential shifter worked perfectly, precisely, and without error. In a word: Positive. One test remained.

I removed the sequential shifter from the double‐rod mounting system, installed the full ride H‐pattern ‘6+1’ shifting mechanism, hooked up the single wire, and made the proper selections in the sim to ensure I had to use the clutch, the shifter, and a bit of talent, as it has

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been a while since I have driven a stick. I decided to return to the 911 Turbo 997 for this next ride, and, again, chose the ’Ring. It soon became apparent that this ‘kid’s game’, as it has been disrespectfully referred to by those in the hardcore‐know, had not only equaled most of its PC counterparts, but easily humbles the vast majority of them. It only took the right peripheral to show that fact. Sure, there was a bit of clutch grinding—I hadn’t found my sea legs just yet—but by the end of that lap, it was clear to me that the Fanatec Porsche 911 Turbo S wheel proves the point beyond a shadow of a doubt—the simulator, ultimately, is only as good as the interface that we use to interact with it, and Forza Motorsport 3 became a new product entirely.

The six speed shifter is stiff, like a real damn car. It’s loosened a bit since I’ve been running it, but it feels, to use that silly word, real: A short throw, sports‐car style. Man, I grinded that Porsche tranny to metal shavings. But again, I must warn you: If you’re planning to run with the stick—and why wouldn’t you?—you seriously need a solid mount: the clamps are good if you use the paddle shifts, but with the leverage afforded by the metal rods that jam into the wheelbase holes, a loosely mounted wheel will be tossed into next week.

I’m thinking of a word. Starts with W, ends with W, and the middle letter kind of resembles what your mouth will be doing after a few seconds.

Consoles are no longer ‘just for kids’: they have grown up and moved out of Mom’s basement, fully, and firmly, into the realm of the best and brightest on the PC. But I’m afraid the peripheral market lags behind: Well, it did, anyway, on the XBOX. Until Fanatec came onto the market with what is, without a shadow of a doubt, the only wheel you ever want for your console system, PS3 or XBOX. It’s simply that good.

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FANATEC PORSCHE 911 TURBO S WHEEL LIMITED EDITION

WHAT IT HAS —Easily the best console wheel ever built—period —Extensive tunability —Force‐Feedback is exceptional —Works with XBOX360, PS3, PC —Manufacturing standards of the highest quality, and aesthetically off the charts

WHAT IT DOESN’T HAVE —Limited production will keep it out of too many hands —Without top notch and secure mounting, using the shifters may have a tendency to cause the wheel to slide on the mount surface —Strangers from Germany may show up at your door wanting their real car wheels back —Doesn’t come with screws for mounting

PRICE: US$ $349.95

2009 is the year of the console. And right now, the best experience on any console is Forza 3 on the xbox360 along with this—the only wheel you need or want for any console system: The Fanatec Porsche 911 Turbo S Wheel, limited edition or otherwise

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COLIN MCRAE: DiRT2 TOPRACE NEED FOR SPEED: SHIFT SUPERLEAGUE FORMULA 2009 SUPERCAR CHALLENGE FORZA MOTORSPORTS 3 25

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THE 3RD DIMENSION

P

P

Rasfighjohn (in the Rasta‐Colour car) gets loose in DiRT2

Simon Croft gets feisty in SHIFT

Hristo Itchov sticks down a lap in Superleague Formula

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RASFIGJOHN

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Rasfigjohn tries to ignore a dirty sense of shame as he grabs his joypad and indulges in the perversion that is Codemasters’ latest (and greatest?) … www.autosimsport.net

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Y o u s t a r t w i t h a n o ld C o l i n M c R a e S u b a r u I m p r e z a , a nd y o u ’ l l h a v e a k e y o u r w a y t h r o u g h a h u g e a m o u n t o f r a c e s t h r o u g h o u t t h e tom world earning money, unlocking new cars and tracks, and, well, building a career toward no particular goal except the massaging of your ego. Recent games have tended to add new unlockable features to add spice to what is a bit of a stale formula, and this is no different in DiRT2: Here you have to get other drivers’ respect by winning races, being a clean driver, and {del:sleeping with their

w i v es . } I f t h e y l i k e y o u , th e y m a y p a r t n e r ‐ u p w i t h y o u i n th e t e a m r a c e s . T h e d r i v e r s y o u ’ r e o u t to i m p r e s s ? T r a v i s Pa s t r a n a , K e n B l o c k , and some chap named Mohammed Ben Sulayem (yes, he’s the one w h o c o mp r e h e n s i v e l y t o t a l e d a F o r m u l a O n e R e n a u l t R 2 8 i n D u b a i in April about seven seconds after engaging first gear).

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Every time I begin writing about a console game, I feel as if I have to beat the dead horse again: Yes, obviously writing a review for a Codemasters game in a magazine called AUTOSIMSPORT reveals a kind of rare masochist schizophrenia, and yes, I can’t help but try to explain my motives ...

I’m sure you don’t know that at the AUTOSIMSPORT forums, every time you type the S word (latest NFS iteration without the ‘f’), it is automatically replaced by the word TOCA by the insult filter (be my guest, go and check). This probably tells you all you need to know about the kind of animosity I encounter with the editorial staff whenever I get the clearly psychotic inspiration to talk about such games.

AUTOSIMSPORT has always promoted sim‐racing as a new kind of sport, and I have always appreciated the fact that they do so with open minds, curiosity and intelligence. [I was forced to write this by Alex under threat of cutting the review out of the magazine.]

The latest drama on the community forums and blogs, which focused on the release of NFS: SHIFT (by the developers who gave us GTR and GTR2), proves—if any further proof were needed—that we have not yet resolved the old ontological problem of sim‐racing vs. arcade. We still have, deeply rooted in our brains, this dichotomy inherited from twenty years of animosity (what’s the point of playing a racing game?), envy (why do arcade games make so much money!), and spite, and all of this poured forth when one of our ‘own’ developers released their latest game: Yes, it came with a complex drive model, but it was packed with flashy box‐art, released by a mainstream publisher and, therefore, it was inexorably stained with in‐your‐face ‘arcadism’.

Video gaming is still a young activity in the history of humanity, and one does wonder whether it will ever stagger into some sort of post‐pubescent maturity (we should probably note that the first wave of gamers are now in their mid‐forties, so age is clearly not at play here) when such debates will be forgotten: In the meantime, we have to deal with pages and pages of hysterical postings about ‘realism’ from guys who have never driven a sportscar, and totally unknown guys providing ‘realistic mods’ (three days after the sim’s release) that promise to fix what professional developers like Eero Pitulainen took a couple of years to get ‘right’.

This is all to be expected, of course, since everyone’s a critic, and ‘video‐gaming’ is no longer a mere bit player in an entertainment industry that churns through a trillion dollars a year: It is now the big Kahuna, having overtaken cinema as the docile class’s preferred opiate. Cinema, however, remains a good model when we look into the future of our digital narcotic: French people will tell you that cinema is an art and not a business, whereas your typical Hollywood producer will reply that this is a false distinction: There is no contradiction between art and business. And this is where we now find ourselves in our community: Racing games are a branch of the ‘video‐gaming’ industry which, in turn, is a segment of the entertainment industry. Within that branch (racing games), you will find (if you use a highly‐

specific microscope) this minuscule and largely insignificant niche that we dub ‘sim‐racing’, and there you will find—like certain film‐makers proclaiming their product ‘art’ (as opposed to just entertainment)—people who have (self) proclaimed their racing games as ‘sport’.

And they seem quite committed to fighting to the death to prove that their slice of the internet is not a mere entertainment—to the death.

To understand how irrelevant sim‐racing is, NFS: SHIFT again serves as a valid example: Of the multiple‐million units shifted (sorry), less than three percent were bought by PC users. And of those, we can estimate probably one percent were even aware that our ‘community’ exists: Of those, perhaps 500 or so landed up racing online. That’s the sobering truth here: the Need For Speed franchise has sold over one‐hundred‐million units: iRacing, our top current simulator?

Fifteen thousand ...

Realism, then, is not what it would seem to be: the most realistic game out there is precisely iRacing because it is the most expensive: You see, they have understood (or had it explained to them by the guys with the checkbooks and the spreadsheets) that they can’t go hardcore without a subscription‐based economic model. This is realism: Having to deal with reality, and paying the bills.

SimBin are realistic, too: While flirting with Microsoft and their console, they keep on using that old and trusty ISI motor 2.0 releasing addon after addon to the same game since 2006, and their PC‐base seem content enough with that.

ISI are realistic, too: They lease their engine to developers (including NFS: SHIFT), and use profits from that to work and release their own sims for which the community will add the content. For free. And everyone is happy with that.

And so here we are, having come full circle. ISI provided the engine to Slightly Mad Studios (who developed, by anyone’s judgement, one of the top simulators of all time in GTR2) to create the arcade classic NFS: SHIFT. Meanwhile, on the forums, sim‐racers want to argue the ‘realism’ of SHIFT, built on the very same engine that has powered dozens of their sims through the last seven years, claiming that the developers who made GTR2 with ISI’s engine have now sold out because they made SHIFT with the ISI engine … make any sense? Not to me; and that is why, in the battle between sim‐racing and arcade, between entertainment and sport, I don’t want to choose. I’m bi. I take it any way I can get it, both ways, fully content, willing, with joy, and a carefree attitude: I am comfortable with my perversion.

NOW LET’S GET DIRTY There’s no need to have a PhD in applied physics to understand that Codemasters’ DiRT2 is more arcade than sim: In the previous cinematographical (does that word exist?) metaphor, it’s more like a Hollywood blockbuster than a Sundance indie movie—and we know this before even buying the ticket (US$59.99) because indie movies never have sequels.

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If you’re a hardcore sim‐racing bigot adept, then this article is not for you, and you can pass by without regret: although I do have sexy NEXT GEN screenshots of the game to sell you along with a photo of a NAKED MEGAN FOX with a G27 {the photo has been deleted from this review since we are a serious magazine and would never dream of attracting readers by using a woman’s body as bait—and also the copyright to the photo was too expensive since no‐one donates; you only have yourselves to blame—Ed}.

Right! Now that we’ve lost our ‘serious sim‐racing’ audience, and the only readers who remain are the slow guys who just want to have fun, let me start with the conclusion: DiRT2 is a great game, and I give it eighty‐eight percent.

Right! Now that we’ve got rid of the hardcore sim‐racers who think GPL is Jesus Christ resurrected, and the arcade boys who can’t read and just want a score because they suffer

from ADD, I feel as if I’m in good company with the three of you who are still reading (hi, Dad!).

DiRT2 is the sequel to DiRT (Alex, can I have my check now?). But what often gets lost in translation is the actual, full‐title of the game: Colin McRae: DiRT2. The reason for the Colin McRae bit is that this game is the latest iteration in the long‐running Codemasters franchise of games featuring Colin McRae’s name which began way back in 1998 on the PC and the PlayStation (the one that didn’t come with a number): The series rapidly became the studio’s biggest seller, and has spawned eight episodes so far (including an Apple version).

One of the strange side‐effects of having your name on a game is that it sometimes becomes difficult to know what came first: Did Colin McRae the driver help the popularity of the game, or the other way around? I know many people who have no interest in rallying, who have never heard of Sebastien Loeb or Petter Solberg, and yet are still able to spell Colin McRae as if they were born in Scotland.

The CMR series, meanwhile, can be best described as a milestone in racing games: considered realistic by arcade racers, and arcade by the hardcore crowd, it still managed to make an impression on the elitist sim‐racing community mostly due to its mod‐ability. I say mostly because sometimes—like those arty‐farty types who tell you they watch only grainy Swedish movies made in the 1950s featuring bearded fellas playing chess with the Grim Reaper and then you overhear them babbling on their iPhone about the wonderful wisteria in ‘Desperate Housewives’—you will find sim‐racers donning their PJs and jumping on the couch with a guilty hand holding tight to their joypads. The mod‐ability of CMR made it a great sandbox for our community to tinker with, while its competitor (Evolution Studios’ WRC series) was al created solely for the consoles, and was therefore forever glued to its ‘arcadeness’ and quickly died the quick death that is the destiny of all console games, even the great ones (that’s called business; and for a console‐developer to imagine producing a game that is still used after a decade is … well it wouldn’t happen, ever, for any reason).

Naturally the slight flirtation with CMR ended in 2004 when Richard Burns Rally released on the XBOX, the PS2, the Gizmondo (one of whose financial backers, Bo Stefan M. Eriksson, has been alleged to be the Godfather of the Swedish mafia, and no doubt helped

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in the collapse of the U.K.‐based company that filed for bankruptcy in 2006 for somewhere in the region of US$300 million), and the PC: RBR went on to become (probably forever) the greatest of all rally‐sims, its community now so mature that is has moved on to a voluntary and successful subscription‐based service.

It’s sad, though, to realise that both British world rally champions who lent their names to a video game tragically died in their thirties. Before Colin’s death in 2007, and after the popular CMR 2005 was released, Codemasters had already made the decision to alter the spirit of their flagship series; coinciding with WRC’s crisis (which is deepening by the year), they chose to give up the European atmosphere of classic rallying, and replaced it with the ‘xtreme’ North American off‐road racing scene. In June 2007, Codemasters released Colin McRae Rally: DiRT. Sadly, the PS3 European release (September 14) was overshadowed by the tragic death of Colin McRae (September 15), forcing Sony to cancel a large part of its advertising campaign to honour the great man.

It was the first CMR game for the Next Gen consoles, and graphically, the game sent a shockwave into the system. I think that’s the main reason why a part of the sim‐racing community adopted it—albeit a relative and shy adoption—because content wise (all this Baja‐this and CORR‐that) it was all a bit confusing, and physics‐wise … well … let’s just say it was rubbish arcade. Personally, I spent a fairly decent amount of time on the PC version once the modders had set to work tweaking the physics (especially the awful braking) and other flaws: But still, dirt enthusiasts had RBR, and once the initial wow‐factor of DiRT’s graphics passed, we were left with what was a pretty poor sim at its core.

So how does DiRT2 measure up? The first striking thing in DiRT2 is the user interface: It borrows heavily from Codemasters’ own TOCA Race Driver where everything you need is inside your trailer (sort of like Bob Simmerman), and you can pickup races, go online, and basically run your entire DiRTy life from there. As you’d expect from such a location (and unlike Bob’s trailer), this is a gorgeously modeled 3D environment, both neat and intuitive … although you can already feel the … dirt.

Another familiar Codemaster’s device is back, too: DiRT2 will ask you for your first name and, for those who have spent any time with Codemasters’ GRID, you know what comes next: Once you’ve found your name in a list (unless you’re a Bristol, Trig, or Barack), the characters in‐game will take to calling you by your name (my wife was quite impressed by this—I mean having Travis Pastrana calling me by my first name is pretty cool, though I hear one of the guys at a sim‐racing TV channel likes it when Travis calls him McLovin’ … A wide variety of prerecorded names then, as you can see … ).

The spirit of the game, meanwhile, is simple: You start with an old Colin McRae Subaru Impreza, and you’ll have to make your way through a huge amount of races throughout the world earning money, unlocking new cars and tracks, and, well, building

a career toward no particular goal except the massaging of your ego. Recent games have tended to add new unlockable features to add spice to what is a bit of a stale formula, and this is no different in DiRT2: Here you have to get other drivers’ respect by winning races, being a clean driver, and sleeping with their wives. If they like you, they may partner‐up with you in the team races. The drivers you’re out to impress? Travis Pastrana, Ken Block, and some chap named Mohammed Ben Sulayem (yes, he’s the one who comprehensively totaled a Formula One Renault R28 in Dubai in April about seven seconds after engaging first gear—and yes, the same one who was recently elected by the FIA to run things along with Jean Todt who, allegedly, is still trying to find Africa in his Michelin Guide): There are other drivers, too, but mostly they’re people who you’ve probably never heard of unless you’re a fan of X Games, ROC, WWF, or any other exotic show.

Starting with a McRae’s Impreza is a nice clin d’oeil (that’s like an in‐joke, for those who don’t speak Spanish): This being the first CMR game released since Colin’s death, it’s probably the least Codemasters could do. Actually, this is not the only one clin d’oeil: after winning the US X Games, for instance, you get a special souvenir event in memory of Colin alongside legendary drivers such as Alister McRae, Ari Vatanen, and Valentino Rossi (don’t expect to see them in the game, though).

Apart from that, and I hope not to upset anyone here, the game would more aptly have been titled ‘DiRT2: Ken Block XTREME Rally’. If you haven’t heard about this American driver/ businessman, then just Google ‘Ken Block + Gymkhana’—or better yet, if you’re reading this piece on your PC, just click here.

DiRT2 emphasizes the fun part of motor‐sports, and how could that be wrong since the game is made to run on the consoles. No more gloomy muddy races in wet and brittle England with lukewarm sweet tea in rusty Thermos served by chaps called Terry wearing sweat‐grimed anoraks: No, in DiRT2, you’ll have mud alright, but it’ll be the warm mud of tropical lands where pretty girls await your return with Mai Tais and straw skirts.

And when I say pretty, I mean find somewhere to hide your swollen joy: For those of you who have spent your life playing PC sims, the visual experience in DiRT2 will literally shock you. It is just dazzling; going from our PC sims to this is like watching a Swedish movie from 1956 before sitting down to Cameron’s ‘Avatar’: On an HDTV, it’s the most beautiful thing I’ve seen on the PS3 so far. I did have to tune the colors down because it can seem a little bit oversaturated, but really, that’s just being petty: DiRT2 is simply jaw‐ dropping. Dirt, smoke, water, the crowd (I’m sure I saw Jon Denton sitting in the grandstand at the London Rally Cross event wearing his anorak), all these little details create an opulent platform of immersion. The depth of view, too, is astonishing, and all of this comes with a solid frame rate.

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If you spend any time reading the sim‐racing forums, you will know that there is only one true way of determining arcade vs. simulator: Windscreen wipers. The first time you pound through a mud‐

continued puddle in DiRT2, you are treated to the best visual display of a working wiper in history: Clearly we

are in the realm—if the illuminati on the forums are to be believed—of unheralded simulation here …

REVIEW DiRT2

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NOW LET’S GET DIRTY2 You just bought the Blu‐Ray and haven’t bothered jacking a steering‐wheel into the PS3.

You’re here with your pad in your hands, lying on your sofa, and—simultaneously—in the cockpit of an Impreza, open mouth catching flies because you cannot imagine how realistic it all looks in there, and out of your windscreen; you squeeze R2 (the throttle), and your eyes open wider because the sound of the engine is an awe‐inspiring, a deep, aggressive but smooth 4 cylinder growl, and by now you’ve pretty much forgotten the sofa under your butt and the pad in your hands. Then the countdown begins. Suddenly you’re reminded of where you are, and a sense of apprehension comes flooding through your mind; I’ve been here before, you think, [3] DiRT had crappy physics, you think [2] Oh my God, you think, GRID really was awful wasn’t it … [1] how bad is this … GO! The Impreza gazelles from the line and begins devouring the gravel … and it feels good … natural… arcadish (how could it be different with a pad), but the ten‐bit precision sensitivity analog throttle of the Sixaxis does a great job … here we go, a corner, brake—will it be an instant stop, or will it be subtle, will the car slip away softly, or will it just stick to the gravel like a Formula One on tarmac?

Sweet … it’s subtle … it makes you feel like you can add your experience as a professional sim‐racer to the driving … press the throttle gently again, and the car slides away while the

engine starts gaining RPMs; the nose heads for the corner’s exit, and you’re happy because it feels like … like driving a car?

Steady … DiRT2 is not a simulator. It does not pretend to be one, and nowhere has anyone associated with it ever said it is: Indeed, everything about it screams entertainment, fun. Nevertheless, the driving model is rewarding: Perhaps it’s because I don’t ask much from a mainstream game, I just need consistency, and to see that the throttle and brake are inputs rather than, well, buttons. What is arcade? Most people will probably answer that the hallmark of an arcade racer is unrealistic physics. I think we can be a little more discriminating, and differentiate between crap arcade—and great arcade. Crap arcade is a game where you just basically press the throttle button all day long (and sometimes the brake button when your finger gets tired). A great arcade‐racer, on the other hand, is when you steer the car with the steering wheel, the engine power, and the suspension (weight transfer): All of these work well in DiRT2.

DiRT2 feels instantly natural with a pad … a terrifically intuitive feel: Loose‐surface racing seems to compliment pads nicely, and Codemasters have found a good balance here. The new analog pads work great with these games; if you just jam on R2 exiting the corner, your wheels will spin, the engine will scream, and you will lose time.

Of course, being an avid sim‐racer, the thought running through the back of my mind had, eventually, to be obeyed. With the wheel jacked into the PS3, I soon realized that developers focus most of their time on the consoles’ stock input devices when they make their games. Recently, Slightly Mad Studios acknowledged this when discussing the creation of NFS: SHIFT (and really, how could it be different when you see the sales data?), and trying to set up a G25 for DiRT2 proved the veracity of this claim. The game does not provide many settings for our expensive wheels; using what’s on offer until you find a decent balance is all you can do, and once you’ve found the right ones, you’ll be treated to a

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pleasant experience, nothing more. Force‐Feedback is not as subtle as those found in the lastest SimBin games, for instance, but it’s more than enough. You have to get used to the sensitivity of the inputs, but there is much less ‘pendulum’ physics at work here than we’ve become accustomed to with Codemasters racing games.

DiRT2 features a plethora of racing modes. Personally, I would have preferred more classic rallying stages but, instead, we’re treated to Trail Blazer, Rally Cross, Land Rush, Rally, Raid, Domination (steady), Last Man Standing (huh?), and Gate Crasher. Many tracks are available, too: in countries such as Mexico, Morocco, Croatia, Malaysia, Japan, China, and Utah (seriously, Utah has been upgraded to country‐status, who knew?), as well as cities such as Los Angeles, and London. The AI is quite competitive, brutal even in Rally Cross (but hey, it is rally cross after all); they make mistakes, and in the rally stages, you can overtake the slower ones or pass them if they’ve crashed. If you crash, on the other hand, you can use the flashback function to avoid the consequences (the number of flashbacks available depends on the difficulty level).

Visual damage is, while we’re on the subject of crashing, high‐quality ... doors jam open, bumped bumpers tear loose, you get the idea ... but the result, at the end of the race, is just a crackling metal version of the original car. I don’t get the point of visual damage, anyway, and the physical damage as it affects your car is ludicrous.

I have not tried the multiplayer because my router has a ‘save rasfigjohn’s mental health’ function: It crashes everytime the initiative of the inspiration of the thought of the plan of the idea of the scheme of joining an MP session on a Codemasters server appears in my brain.

Silly game styles aside, you’ll find your brain pumping adrenaline for five non‐stop minutes as you pound your way through this game: Then you can chill out and watch your replay. Replays are cinematic and better, in my opinion, than SHIFT (and that’s saying something): You can fast forward, rewind, or simply watch them in slow motion, just like your porn DVDs. Which, I suppose, leads us to …

LET’S TALK DIRTY Codemasters has given us an excellent game with DiRT2. It’s one of the best racing games on the PS3 at the moment (along with SHIFT), and if you don’t mind some couch‐potato racing with a pad, it’s a must‐have for your games collection. If you’re unsure, there’s a free demo available for download at the PlayStation Store.

For now, the game is available on the PS3, the XBOX360, the Wii, and the PSP. I’ve tried the PSP version, and it’s a piece of binary trash (same for NFS: SHIFT on the PSP, incidentally—if you need a decent rally game on the PSP, Colin McRae 2005 is your answer; it’s just like having the PS2 game in your pocket—beautiful and fun).

On the other hand, if you’re a sim‐racer who sometimes enjoys the thrill of a lighter game, then it’s probably better to wait for the PC version that will be released in early December. (The delay is due to the fact that it will be DirectX 11 compatible.) I expect this will be a solid entry for gravel‐race enthusiasts. Of course, RBR and the great community surrounding it will remain the undisputed king, but I think DiRT2 deserves a little crown, too: Codemasters’ ‘Ego’ engine is sound and clearly dependable, and they have found a respectable compromise between arcade and realism.

If it suffers from anything, it’s in the Ken Block‐style of going racing: The mix between classic rallying and this ‘xtreme games’ nonsense is a bit frustrating. For example, Gate Crasher: In this racing mode, you have to go through a stage within a limited amount of time where you will encounter yellow polystyrene gates which, every time you hit one, will grant you a two second bonus. It’s quite fun, don’t get me wrong, but the problem is that it’s on a regular rally stage, and it totally messes up the driving line. It would have been far better to have given the player a playground like the port in Gymkhana where you have to smash the gates with the car’s rear‐end, just like Ken Block. Note to Codemasters: we want Gymkhana in DiRT3!

All said and done, if you can cope with the guilt of a perverted and dirty arcade‐style racer experience, you’re in for a good time here: Not quite like sleeping with Carla Bruni, DiRT2 is more of a knee‐trembler round‐back the pub with Christina Aguilera …

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CAR LIST Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X [X Games] Nissan 350Z Pontiac Solstice GXP Subaru Impreza STI Group N Subaru Impreza WRX STI

Stock Baja: Dodge Power Wagon Honda Ridgeline Hummer HX Toyota FJ Cruiser

Raid T1: Bowler Nemesis Hummer H3 Mitsubishi Pajero Dakar 1993 Mitsubishi Racing Lancer VW Race Touareg 2

Trophy Trucks: Chevrolet Silverado CK‐1500 Dodge Ram Trophy Truck Kincaid Ford F‐150 Trophy Truck Toyota Stadium Truck West Coast Choppers Stuka TT

Class 1 Buggies: Brian Ickler Buggy DeJong MXR Herbst Smithbuilt Buggy PRC‐1 Buggy

Rally: 1995 Subaru Impreza WRX STI BMW Z4M Coupe Motorsport Colin McRae R4 Ford Escort MK II Mitsubishi Eclipse GT Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X Nissan 350Z Pontiac Solstice GXP Subaru Impreza STI Group N Subaru Impreza WRX STI Subaru Impreza WRX STI [X Games]

Rally Cross: BMW Z4M Coupe Motorsport Colin McRae R4 Colin McRae R4 [X Games] Ford RS200 Evolution MG Metro GR4 Mitsubishi Eclipse GT Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X Nissan 350Z Pontiac Solstice GXP Subaru Impreza STI Group N Subaru Impreza WRX STI

Trailblazer: BMW Z4M Coupe Motorsport Colin McRae R4 Dallenbach Special Mitsubishi Eclipse GT Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX

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COLIN MCRAE: DIRT2 WHAT IT HAS —Codemasters has given us an excellent game with DiRT2. It’s one of the best racing games on the PS3 at the moment —If you don’t mind some couch‐potato racing with a pad, it’s a must‐have for your games collection

WHAT IT DOESN’T HAVE —If you’re a sim‐racer who sometimes enjoys the thrill of a lighter game, then it’s probably better to wait for the PC version which has been released as we go live —The mix between classic rallying and this ‘xtreme games’ nonsense is a bit frustrating —Physics are, yes, arcade!

If you can cope with the guilt of a perverted and dirty arcade‐ style racer experience, you’re in for a good time here: Not quite like sleeping with Carla Bruni, DiRT2 is more of a knee‐trembler round‐back the pub with Christina Aguilera

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TOP RACE

REVIEW TOPRACE

Argentine developers 2Pez, who debuted back in 2007 with the inspired Turismo Carretera sim, are back with their new officially‐licensed effort, TOP RACE, based once more on Argentine‐style saloon car racing featuring real‐wheel driven, 350BHP brutes that want to kill you … after emasculating you. If you loved Turismo Carretera, it’s time to fall in love all over again—this time in the rain …

MAGNUSTELLBOM Photo Credits: TOP RACE

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Bottom line first? I’m more impressed now—a couple of weeks into this sim— than I was when I fired her up for the first time (and I was mightily impressed then).

What’s so good about it, you ask? Well it isn’t the grip, the handling, or the general feel of the cars that gets me excited (though they’re all spot‐on), but, rather, the subtle damage model that keeps surprising me. These cars are fairly easy to race (unlike the older Turismo Carretera cars) up to the point when you get to the edge of their performance curve: At that moment they slide into all seven twisted and snarling personalities of Sybil (the movie, not the erm—never mind!) and try to kill you

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Before I tried the update to 2Pez’s Turismo Carretera (and readers of this magazine will recall that I fell in love with it instantly), I had no idea what South American racing was all about … or that it even existed. But you’re never too old to learn, and I found that I really liked the ‘pescado’‐style of going racing. Sure, the FIA would no doubt put the lot of ‘em in prison for being plain insane before padlocking all their tracks on safety grounds, but if you’re like me and like your racing hard, fast and mean, then South America may just be the place for you (and for Jacques Villeneuve, as it turns out).

2Pez’s follow‐up to their excellent debut sim, Turismo Carretera, again sees the Argentine developers make full use of their official‐license, this time the Top Race series that is to Turismo Carretera what Nationwide is to NASCAR. For the unenlightened, these are—unlike Turismo Carretera that features cars which have long‐since fallen off any manufacturers’ production line—modern shaped cars running V6 engines on tubular‐framed bodies silhouetted by Mercedes (C‐class), Volkswagen (Passat), Ford (Mondeo), Peugeot (406), Chevrolet (Vectra), Renault (Laguna), and Citroën (C5).

Notwithstanding the manufacturer badges, though, all the cars look surprisingly similar to one other from a side profile point of view, and things get a little more complicated when you realize they are all rear‐wheel driven cars. Now I don’t know about you, but I’ve never heard of a VW Passat, Ford Mondeo, or Chevrolet Vectra (a.k.a. Opel or Vauxhall Vectra) coming with a rear‐wheel drive option, so I can only conclude this series is not made up of your normal family sedans as base, like for example, the S2000 cars featured in BTCC and STCC. Indeed, what we have here is a carefully controlled series where all the cars have identical mechanical specifications: In other words, custom‐built race cars with V6 engines that deliver around 350BHP (which puts them in‐between your normal S2000, and DTM touring cars, performance‐wise) and that adhere to strictly mandated cost‐conscious rules.

Furthermore, these cars are on the low‐tech side of things, far lower than you’d find on their actual production sisters and brothers: No MoTeC or digital tachometers, a broomstick as gear‐lever along with a plain analogue dial that delivers information about oil pressure and temp, water temp, fuel, and how many revs the engine is pulling is about all you’ll get in the car. No anti‐lock brakes, no traction control, nor any driver‐aids at all finish up the frugal remit. In short, this is a man’s environment (and I don’t mean men‐only, I mean—oh forget it!), so if you’re used to the refined and sterile world of European touring car racing, you’re going to find this all a little overwhelming: Kinda like if you left Manhattan and landed in Kabul wearing your Italian moccasins. And yes, you’re going to find that the smell of gasoline is pungent, the tracks bumpy, brutal, and threatening, and the racing, well, pretty much the same!

But I get ahead of myself here: let’s start at the beginning.

The Beginning The install is available on several mirrors which you can reach from 2Pez’s official site. I chose the MEGAUPLOAD mirror since it offered fewer (but bigger) parts to download: The size of this thing is 1.68GB when packed.

This review, I should add right here at the top, has been through a bit of a bumpy ride: You see, the initial download—and review version—came along with all sorts of bells‐and‐ whistles, including stats, ranks and whatnots, all of which required the installation of a (included) .NET 2.0 installer (which proved to be incompatible with my Windows XP machine), and a MySQL connector thingy (that failed to connect to anything).

All this resulted in a frustrating few hours getting the sim to even run, and, once I managed to get onto the track, an environment which was incredibly unstable and prone to crashing without rhyme or reason. I should repeat, however, that this was the review copy: Since then, 2Pez have made two updates to their sim and these bugs are, I am happy to report, squashed like the grit and grime on your Top Race car windshield. (And yes, your download will be the newest update, so no need to patch to run—it’ll go right out of the .ZIP in the same way we have become accustomed to with rFactor and Turismo Carretera: One download, one TryMedia activation, and … well, let’s see what comes next!)

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What Comes Next: Graphics and Physics The sim comes with four manufacturers, and since I only have some grainy YouTube clips (Alex having refused to sanction a first‐class trip to Argentina) to work with, I can only claim (with absolute authority) that they are extremely well modeled, and (with not‐quite absolute authority) that they are doppelgängers for their real‐world counterparts. You will immediately recognize the forty models, and I would be remiss not to mention their paint‐schemes here: crisp and crackling, and really worth an extra mention. Superb.

On the downside, the cockpits—while gorgeously executed and finely composed—are precisely the same regardless of what car you choose. This is not necessarily a problem since it’s a lovely place to be, but I’d expect to see at least some differences on the inside of the cars amongst the different manufacturers. However, I should add that it may be this way in real life; if you compare YouTube vids, for instance this to this link, it seems as if the cars are pretty much stock on the inside.

Right, so now that we’ve taken a walk around our finely painted car, and snuck into the snug and well rendered confines of our office, it’s time to ask the real question: And to do that, we need to first shift into action.

Bottom line first? I’m more impressed now—a couple of weeks into this sim—than I was when I fired her up for the first time (and I was mightily impressed then). What’s so good about it, you ask? Well it isn’t the grip, the handling, or the general feel of the cars that gets me excited (though they’re all spot‐on), but, rather, the subtle damage model that keeps surprising me.

These cars are fairly easy to race (unlike the older Turismo Carretera cars) up to the point when you get to the edge of their performance curve: At that moment they slide into all seven twisted and snarling personalities of Sybil (the movie, not the erm—never mind!) and try to kill you.

These cars are a serious handful when you try and squeeze the last few tenths out of them.

And that’s when the damage comes in: Lose front grip and go head‐first into a barrier, and you will at the very least suffer from severe suspension damage, perhaps even losing a wheel (or two, three, or indeed four!). Nothing new in that department since half‐ass modder can do this, but if you push and shove in a tight pack—and let’s face it, that’s what you’re meant to do with touring cars, right?—you might just bend a steering arm slightly, or tear off a piece of your car, and it’s here where 2Pez’s sim shines. In, for example, the ‘DTM 2007’ or ‘V8 Supercar’ mods for rFactor, both of which I like very much, a bent steering arm will be marked in yellow on the damage screen, and you might feel an extra rattle in the Force‐Feedback when you turn: In Top Race, though, the steering wheel will go slightly off‐center and the entire feel of the car will alter. Subtle yet very affective, and it doesn’t stop there: Brake, gearbox, and engine damage along with several layers of suspension damage, not to mention the usual flat tyre, all are present and will be the result of pushing these cars over their comfort zones: these cars, in short, like to be kept out of trouble.

Tracks Those who own Turismo Carretera will recognize some of the tracks on offer here—of the twelve tracks that ship with Top Race, six make a return (Buenos Aires, Comodoro Rivadavia, La Plata, 9 de Julio, Parana, and Salta)—while the other six are completely new to us (new in a 2Pez sim anyway since some—like the world famous grand prix circuit at Interlagos, in Brazil—will be familiar to most).

It is generally accepted that Turismo Carretera’s main failing (if we can call it that) was the graphical reproduction of the tracks—and again, the textures here are less precise than I would want; additionally, I don’t always agree with how the tarmac looks. On the other hand, the tracks’ graphics and textures are a step up from TC, and, let’s be honest, only the most hard‐headed texture fetishist would have time to notice that the asphalt is the wrong shade of gray compared to what it looks like on a YouTube clip.

Having said that, there is another problem with these tracks which I find a little more disturbing: I wouldn’t have thought anything of it had two different developers released two different titles, but here we have one single developer that has released two titles located on the same continent featuring many of the same tracks, and yet, when I compare, for example, the (oddly‐named) 9 de Julio track, I find they are not the same. And by this I mean not the expected texture update—there’s no doubt that 2Pez has made 9 de Julio look more pleasant, and they have also added corner markings, and other eye‐candy, all of it a welcome addition from the bland tracks of TC—but the actual layout and feel of the tracks has been altered. 9 de Julio has now been shaved of its fearsome bumps that gave the track its awesome characteristic in TC, and I’m not sure I agree with this: I’ll take it one way or the other, of course, but not like this. It puts me in a position where I want to run the textures

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from Top Race on the track geography that came with Turismo Carretera—and I keep asking myself the same question: Why? Still, this is only a problem (by problem I mean asking yourself why) if you own both titles, and it’s also a thought that will soon be pushed to the back of your mind when you encounter 2Pez’s ace up their sleeve: Gentlemen, grab your brollies, we’re going racing … in the rain.

Men Do It In The Rain Every single one of the twelve tracks that ships with Top Race comes along with a ‘wet version’. That means twice the challenge and half the grip©. And that’s not all ... should you chose to race on the wet version of a track, you’re in for a bit of a visual surprise, too: The cars are suddenly equipped with a … windshield wiper. Crude? Yes. Obviously an animation?

Oh yes. But it’s there, and if you don’t stare at it like a lizard, it has a major impact on the immersion factor going on somewhere in the back of your reptilian brain. Simple but effective, one might say, and if you read the forums, it is also the Holy Grail of sim‐racing …

Jokes aside, though, it’s an enjoyable addition to this fun simulator; added to the other animations that will smack into your windshield (dirt in the dry, for instance), and you’re in for a pleasant visual ride here. Well done, 2Pez! How do the physics feel, in the wet? Slippery as hell itself: As I said earlier, these cars are primitive, and that results in the 350BHP pulsating through the rear tyres on wet tarmac an edgy experience. Leave you lead boots at home! The rain is also visible both on windshield and on‐track where the tarmac gets greasy and dark: The cars do leave a spray behind them, too, but it’s not perfect, and it won’t really affect the amount of water on your windshield. You will need to adapt your driving technique, though, as well as changing your setup: Braking earlier, and getting on the gas nice and easy are obviously prerequisites to not testing the excellent damage model coming out of the pits … Meanwhile, if you’re aggressive in your turn‐in, you’d best think twice about throwing your 1,300kgs Chevy around in the rain because this is not Formula One, and the run‐off area is not a football‐field sized stretch of tarmac running under a grandstand. It is, usually, a ten‐foot piece of mud that ends in a concrete wall above which the ‘pescados’ will be sniggering at your ineptitude.

Naturally any rain component in a sim needs to be compared to GTR2 (since that, too, was created on an ISI‐engine and remains the Gold Standard): In that comparison, Top Race comes out second best in the strictly visual department (rain and spray, and the glossy, greasy look of the tracks), but Top Race does feature … a working wiper which, if you listen to the forums too much, you’d be convinced was GTR2’s major ‘FAIL’ (or is that EPIC?).

Grip, meanwhile, is better in GTR2 than in Top Race—and what I mean by this is, the GTR2 cars have better grip, and I’m not too sure why this is: both GTR2 and Top Race have specially‐designed rain‐grooved tyres (in Top Race, the change is made automatically for you), and yet the Argentine touring cars feel far more nervy: don’t get me wrong, though, the feel of the cars in the rain is fantastic, and you’re going to find yourself tip‐toeing about with your eyes rather wider than usual. Top‐notch, here, and kudos to 2Pez for not only attempting it, but getting is right.

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Jacques Villeneuve, 1997 Formula One world champion, popped‐up in South America late this summer to compete in two races in the Top Race series, at Interlagos in July (running a Mercedes), and in Buenos Aires (running

continued down in the field, and his a VW Passat number {what else} 27). The Interlagos race saw Villeneuve starting well (the guy who did the honours afternoon only got worse as his race ended when he got taken out in the early running

earned himself a DQ, and no, his name wasn’t Schumacher).

At Buenos Aires, though, the world champion got a chance to show his innate talents as he battled his way through the field from a twenty‐sixth grid start (in a forty‐four car field) to a strong sixth position run with two laps remaining.

The race was run on a damp track, and Jacques’ great run ended when he lost control under brakes and spun off; he finished sixteenth and a lap down. ‘It was a great experience for me,’ said Jacques Villeneuve after the race. ‘The race was great, the way fans like it with plenty of incidents happening every lap. The rain helped me a lot and I was able to make up a lot of places.’

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Intelligent By Design?

The AI is what you might expect from a title based on rFactor technology. We have seen it before in many titles through the years, and if Einstein’s (reputed but doubtful) dictum on insanity is anything to go by (you’re insane if you keep doing the same thing over and over again and expect a different result), we probably shouldn’t even discuss this: No‐one has—or will—make a truly inspiring AI component out of rFactor. The AI in Top Race can give you a decent race once you learn their behavior on track and dial in the difficulty setting to match your own skill, but that is pretty much all you can ever expect from an rFactor‐based AI. All of the SimBin’s titles, ARCA, every mod you will ever download and play, all suffer from this weakness, and to criticize anyone for not being able to get this right—when no‐one ever has— would be petty. So I won’t, and you know what to expect.

I did, however, experience one truly bizarre episode in Top Race that I hadn’t encountered before: On a track called El Zonda (sounds fast just hearing its name!), the AI decided to completely miss the hairpin and lanced off‐track into oblivion, never to return as if they’d just heard the cops were coming for a drug raid! The safety car that was dispatched as a result of all this lunacy, meanwhile, also missed the hairpin, went on an off‐track excursion, before spearing back on‐ track a moments later narrowly avoiding a deadly collision with what was left of the field.

A bit of research led me to understand that this is a known issue with rFactor, and there is a quick fix (just restart the race {press 'Y'} and the AI will reset and suddenly behave as planned). But really, if you want to play with the AI, it’s your own fault since what we have here is the fully‐licensed rFactor multiplayer component which remains top‐ in‐class to this day. So let’s make whoopee with the pescados!

¿Habla Español?

As you might expect from anything based on rFactor, the online play is magnificent. I have been on servers mainly set up in South America, and I myself sit in Sweden: Now I am not a geographer, and far too lazy to check my facts (and I know Alex won’t bother either since AUTOSIMSPORT has never let a fact stand in the way of good copy),

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but I believe Sweden to Argentina is more than half‐a‐world apart, and still, racing online was close to perfect. Ping times were at most around .200, and I’ve been able to race bumper to bumper at some seriously stupid speeds. Great stuff, and like the AI, if you’ve had any dealings with rFactor, you know what to expect (bliss, especially with these cars that are made for close‐running). For now, though, as with Turismo Carretera, you’re going to feel a bit like an outsider if you don’t speak Spanish (lonely and unloved), but the community around this sim—and TC—are a ‘serious’ crowd in that they like to drive hard but clean; so just remember your etiquette, and all will be fine. And if in doubt, hotkey this phrase: ‘Lo sentimos, se rompe mi volante!’

Stuff At The Bottom All the above is packed into a completely remodeled user interface, and before you say anything about that, let me say this: Brilliant.

Bright white, easy to navigate, and gorgeous‐looking, it is a welcome addition to an rFactor‐based sim. The only thing that I miss is the option to select race type (i.e., time, instead of laps) and type of start (i.e., standing, instead of rolling). I understand that 2Pez has taken away these options to properly mimic the race series they simulate, but I miss them. Fear not though, this can be fixed by those, by now familiar, player.ini hacks that most of us have used at least once over the last ISI‐based decade. (Just be sure to make a backup, just in case.)

While the user interface is quite refreshing, I have issues with the HUD. The position bar we recognize from both rFactor and Turismo Carretera has been replaced with a track outline, much like the one seen in Live for Speed. I have no real problem with this other than that it covers the rear view mirror while in‐cockpit (the only proper view to drive in). That mirror is already full of your own rear wing, which is excellent for immersion, but not too good for visibility, and the last thing you need is a track outline covering things up even more.

Next issue with the HUD is the timer that can’t be turned off. I cannot, for the life of me, figure out what purpose it serves during a race, and why it can’t be turned off other than to annoy me to

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distraction. It’s an excellent tool during qualifying, yes, but during a race? I’m easily distracted as it is, and—the bloody thing is huge, and really takes away from the immersion of sitting in the cockpit. Honestly, I haven’t got a clue what they were thinking here: It’s almost as if they created ninety‐nine percent of the sim with an eye to immersion, and then at the last minute threw this enormous monstrosity in there without any thought at all: Fact is, a small mistake like this does so much damage to the overall immersion, and I do hope someone at 2Pez reads this: Please guys, do something about it!

All the other parts of the HUD, meanwhile, can be turned on or off. I have also found that, since there is no gear indicator or rev’ light in the cockpit, I usually have the combined ‘telemetry’ indicator turned on, and (this is a personal thing) I would appreciate a proper gear indicator in the cockpit so I could turn it all off and suspend my belief.

By default, a Top Race weekend will probably cause a bit of confusion for the uninitiated: Most race series I know of have sessions in the usual order of Practice, Qualify, Warmup, and Race. But we learned from Turismo Carretera that they do things differently in South America: Here, a normal race weekend starts with one practice session followed by a qualifying session. Then there’re a couple of shorter races, featuring only segments of the field (so be sure to keep an eye out for which one of those short races you are entered in— your qualifying lap will determine this, the higher up you qualify, the ‘easier’ your race should be—think of it as being seeded) which will determine the final grid for the weekend’s main race. This final race is hectic and crowded with forty‐or‐so cars all ducking and diving into Turn One, so be sure to check your flanks, mirrors, and, well, everywhere else for incoming cars. (Naturally you can hack the .ini files if you so wish, and create a more ‘traditional’ race weekend.)

The End Top Race’s surrounding package contains attractive models, challenging (and six never‐ before seen in any sim) tracks, exquisite physics, magnificent multiplayer, strong immersion, weather, and a feel (physics‐wise) that is right up there with anything ever created for an ISI‐engine.

TopRace is a terrific title, well worth the download and the entry fee (U.S$38,00), and 2Pez deserves much respect here, not only for putting together such an entertaining title, but also for listening to a community of testers and fixing what didn’t work prior to general release.

If the mod community picks up on this title and begin releasing content and visual updates, Top Race can expect longevity. Bottom line? 2Pez have done it again, and it’s about time these guys get the attention and respect they deserve. If you missed Turismo Carretera, don’t make the same mistake again—remember what Einstein said!

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TOPRACE: WHAT IT HAS

—Great saloon‐car physics, excellent tyre model —Excellent damage model —Weather including rain —12 tracks —Top‐notch sound

WHAT IT DOESN’T HAVE —Visually, 2Pez are not at their best, and the tracks, again, suffer from mediocrity —AI, as you’d expect from an ISI‐sim, is not terribly good

Top Race’s surrounding package contains attractive models, challenging (and six never‐before seen in any sim) tracks, exquisite physics, magnificent multiplayer, strong immersion, weather, and a

feel (physics‐wise) that is right up there with anything ever created for www.autosimsport.net 45 an ISI‐engine

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REVIEW SHIFT

H4rdc0r3 dOOds SHIFT

Simon Croft examines whether the ‘F’ in the latest Need For Speed offering—courtesy of Ian Bell and what was once Blimey! and the soul of SimBin—is, as some particularly un‐witty members of the community have suggested, a typo … while Bob Simmerman greases himself up under the hood of the PS3 version…

SIMONCROFT

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There is a definite and real distinction to be made: SHIFT may do a good job of emulating the violent, chaotic nature of motor sport, but for me it does not capture the reality of automobile competition. In this sense it is very much an ‘arcade’ experience—if that really means anything. However, the vehicle behaviour, the response, the dynamics, the actual interaction between driver, car and track, are brilliant

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Whilst I can level this at some aspects of SHIFT (its lack of proper damage, its crazy AI), get a car you like out on a track you enjoy and SHIFT offers an experience as good as any out there for a sim‐racer. That’s good in terms of enjoyment. Good in terms of immersion. Good in terms of physics 48

For anyone not living under a rock for the last six months or so, SHIFT’s arrival can’t have gone unnoticed with EA—along with a more‐than‐willing‐as‐ever Ian Bell—pulling out their usual marketing blitzes and heightening expectations of both a new dawn for EA’s ailing Need For Speed franchise, and Ian Bell’s first product since GTR2. The result—as far as the sim‐racing world was concerned anyway—was the potential of a new ‘sim’ along with a marketing presence unlike anything I can remember this side of console‐stalwarts Gran Turismo and Forza. Of course, for many in the sim community, this marketing turned out to be a real bone of contention … much like more or less everything, come to think of it … (a little tip for those who felt EA’s stream of pre‐release videos was a little too much: exercise your freedom of choice and, errr, don’t watch them. Wow, that was easy!)

SHIFTing Perspectives SHIFT came to me as something of an unknown. The Need For Speed franchise has a long history, but one that largely has not been played‐out in sim‐circles. With the release of the latest incarnation, there was much gooey‐eyed recollection of the series’ initial release and what many consider the best of the NFS titles to date, 2000’s Porsche Unleashed. Coming from Slightly Mad Studios (formerly Blimey!, formerly the heart of SimBin), and with the addition of a certain Mr Piitulainen to the ranks, SHIFT promised something of a transition for the series—a transition into the realm of ‘serious’ simulation and, for the sim‐ community, clearly a shift for the better.

I got my hands on it a week or so after the first opinions were being voiced in the community, and quite some views they were too. Initial responses from the self‐proclaimed hardcore community were varied, but there was an undeniable tone that was not overly positive. At one extreme you had people claiming it the best sim ever; at the other I saw someone decry it as the worst game they’d ever played (yes, you read that correctly); in between, more or less every view you can imagine was espoused by the community always ready and willing to lynch one of their own. But there soon emerged (perhaps from a vocal minority) a consensus that SMS had dropped the ball here, and that SHIFT was not a sim, let alone a good one. As is always the case, I decided to reserve judgement and form my own opinions—and as it turned out, I’m rather glad that I did.

With such split opinion, sitting down with SHIFT for the first time was a somewhat apprehensive experience: I have long been a fan of Eero’s work (I still rank Richard Burns Rally right up there with the cream of the crop, and I was lucky enough to be one of those to test the never completed but hugely promising Driver’s Republic a few years back), and I found it hard to imagine that his work would disappoint. My first taste was a test race in a BMW M3, which the game uses to assess the driver’s ability in order to set aids and difficulty (all of which can be overridden by the player if they so wish).

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I believed obtaining the GT3 would be when I discovered whether SHIFT was merely good, or great. And it was, indeed, the latter that I found most accurately summed‐up my feelings. The career went completely out of the window: I didn’t care how much money I had, how many stars I had, what I could or couldn’t race … I had no desire to drive anything else, had no desire to tune this almighty vehicle, and proceeded to happily hotlap many a track for many an hour, just Walter and I 49

My first impression? Confusion: I felt disconnected from the car, and didn’t really know what was going on. There were two main factors that contributed to this out‐of‐body experience: First of all, I hadn’t yet had an opportunity to fine‐tune the controller settings, and was immediately subjected to the steering lag I had read much complaint about. This was beyond being subjective or personal taste—I could barely keep the car pointing in the right direction on the straights! Secondly, during this test race, I didn’t really know what was going on in terms of driver aids. I was frantically trying to change gear and found the car doing it for me, then later in the lap I seemed to have some control over gear change which led me to wonder whether the aids gradually changed during the race to progressively give control to the player, or whether my shifts were coinciding with the auto box. Either way, I crossed the finish line, sat back, and a projected a quiet, ‘Hmmm’. The game suggested I run with nearly all of the aids off and, of course being h4rdc0r3, I immediately disabled the rest before delving into the game proper.

First port of call then was the options screen where I attempted to do something about my controller issues. I created a custom wheel profile (using an aging MS Sidewinder FFB wheel, it wasn’t a surprise to find no default configuration, though I dare say one of the other wheel configs would have worked), and did the obligatory removal of dead‐zones that sim‐racers have become accustomed to eliminating. A few quick run‐ outs and continued tweaks soon saw a massive improvement in feel though, sadly, wheel lag remained (not pedal though; I use separate BRD Speed7s) and was, I soon gathered, not to be solved via the game settings.

Right, having now done the best that I could with the lag and controller issues, I was ready for action one more time. Progressing to the ‘Career’ mode, the first choice I had to decide on was which car I wished to race in. At this point, I think it’s appropriate to talk a little about the game’s structure as it is something I soon came to really enjoy. In the world of h4rdc0r3 sim‐racing, car purchasing, prize money, tuning upgrades are far from the norm, although I suppose you could argue iRacing, with its SR, license progression, and so on has a career structure of sorts, but simmers are used to generally picking their own ‘career path’ through the available ranks in a given title; perhaps then it was partly the novelty value that saw me so enjoy SHIFT’s tiered levels and progression. Choosing my first tier one car, I was instantly reminded of a rather younger me sitting down on Christmas morning searching through the original Gran Turismo’s numerous car showrooms, carefully choosing which car to purchase.

Looking through the available cars (and yes, I needlessly teased myself looking through all of them), a few things instantly struck me that somehow the reams of marketing videos had failed to convey. For one, most of the preview videos showed

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stickered up, seemingly race‐prepped machinery. It was nice to find myself choosing a standard road car to take out on track. Realising that a stock GT3 RS was there awaiting me to amass the required funds and experience, too, I must confess to feeling a little wave of excitement. The other thing that dawned on me was just what a breadth of machinery was on offer here: Now make no mistake, this is no Gran Turismo so don’t expect the same level of choice and variety; but actually, this is not a bad thing since SMS have settled for a stellar line up of desirable vehicles and have left the ten flavours of Mazda Demio back in the garage in Tokyo.

Not only did this variety of machinery give me a joyful choice to make, it also had a few added bonuses: The number of cars available at every level allows a significant scope for customisation, both in terms of permutations of car modification, but also in how you approach the game. Perhaps more importantly, the collection of automobilia on show also offers progression whilst eliminating what I shall simply refer to as ‘Solstice Syndrome’. I’m sure I don’t need to explain …

For me, there was only one option for tier one track tool: an Escort Cosworth whom I came to christen ‘Carlos’. Yes, that’s right, I named my virtual car. I’m not a big one for anthropomorphism, but I found over time in SHIFT that I developed a strong sense of ownership over my cars. They might be just a collection of pixels and code, identical in every respect to the same pixels and code on someone else’s hard‐drive; bought with virtual money within a virtual environment, but unlike in iRacing, rFactor, LFS, or any other sim for that matter, I felt a sense of connection to the virtual cars sitting in my virtual garage. Admittedly rather sad, but when you spend your free time sitting in front of a computer pretending to drive cars around in circles, why start letting that bother you?

Having bought Carlos and run a few races in the career mode, steering lag sadly persisted. With a bit of patience, though, I learnt to drive around it (don’t get me wrong, it was an issue, but nothing that a bit of effort couldn’t alleviate) and continued testing my mettle against the stock competition in the land of console: Artifical Intelligence.

The AI is clearly tuned to provide a close, action packed race which, at the beginning level of your career, occurs over two action‐filled laps, and this results in both a positive and negative experience. They demonstrate some positive qualities such as a propensity for mistakes, grappling with one another and the player, and they even— sometimes—make a concerted effort to avoid you. On the other, they drive appallingly, take slower turns at a snail’s pace, ram into you for no good reason, and generally show a serious lack of regard for the mechanical frailties of a car, the cost of repairs, or the accepted codes of conduct for behaviour on a race track. And worse than that, they seem blessedly ignorant of the fact that you are a sim‐racer.

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It was also online that I realised how good SHIFT’s particle effects are. It may seem a minor detail, but when you’re nose‐to‐tail with a competitor in a close‐fought battle, the clouds of smoke, dirt and grass that get kicked up as drivers overstep the limits of the car and the boundaries of the track are superbly realised 51

In short, they don’t demonstrate realistic behaviour, and I quickly realised that if there is simulation in SHIFT, it’s not in the simulated drivers. Damage—which is something you will soon learn to relish when you come up against your computer foes—is visually satisfying, but has little impact upon the car’s performance. Indeed, after a number of races and AI‐ induced smashes, I wasn’t sure damage had any effect other than visual. Eventually I experienced a little steering pull, but certainly no race‐ending consequences to having endured a bit of mid‐race ‘argy‐bargy’. The AI experience left me somewhat cold, and I quickly realised that my enjoyment of SHIFT (from a sim perspective) was not going to stem from the career races themselves. Having now run a handful of career events, I could tell SHIFT had some reasonably sim‐like behaviour going on under the surface, but I wasn’t able to explore the subtleties … and so it was time to change track.

At this point, I grabbed my notebook and penned out what I had so far learned from SMS’s first—and Ian Bell’s first since GTR2—offering: The game, in my opinion, looks gorgeous (no issues on my ATI card). Occasionally the bloom effects can be slightly overdone (cars can sometimes demonstrate a ‘halo’ effect that looks a bit … odd) and, yes, some of the trackside furniture is a bit much. At the same time though, the tracks have a living, breathing feel and atmosphere to them: On the whole, I think SMS have done a cracking job on the visuals. The colours and lighting have a fine, natural look to them. Half‐ Life 2 sprang to mind actually.

Modelling, too, is of a high standard. The interiors are easily up there with anything I have seen, and all of the cars are recreated with a loving touch. Odometers tick over as you accumulate the miles, light pours in though the windows and bathes the dashboard, following every contour as it creeps its way across the interior. Texturing of vehicles and tracks is, again, of a uniquely high standard, with certain subtle elements such as the 3D grass making the likes of iRacing’s tracks look flat and almost abstract by comparison.

I’m not familiar enough with the real‐world tracks to comment on the absolute accuracy of SHIFT’s renditions, though there are some obvious deviations from reality in the numerous fairground rides and advertising hoardings and banners that frequent the surrounding areas: In terms of layout, however, they seem perfectly acceptable. I only know iRacing’s tracks are so accurate because of the information I have about their fabrication; driving SHIFT’s tracks, meanwhile—since I have no direct knowledge of the actual tracks themselves—well, they could easily be spot on or some way off, I would have no idea either way. Driving tracks like Laguna Seca—which I have experienced in iRacing—seems to indicate nothing glaringly out of place. The tracks do seem to perhaps lack a little of iRacing’s subtle bumps and undulations, though this could well be explained by the fact that the majority of my time in iRacing has been spent in taught, purpose‐built race machines, not the softer, suppler road cars that SHIFT has filled my time with. The tracks do have

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significant bumps and ripples, and some to the point where, once you learn their locations, you begin to slow down and/or alter your line. On the whole, I feel SHIFT’s tracks are more than ample in number, variety and execution.

I immediately turned off the motion blur, though speed‐dependent cockpit blur remains and can’t be disabled through in‐game options. At first I found this something of an annoyance, though it soon changed to being something I genuinely liked and appreciated.

For some it is no doubt a piece of eye‐candy that does little to recreate reality, but I actually found it a well done effect. As my speed increased, my gaze would naturally be drawn further up the track looking for the next braking marker or clipping point. As such, the cockpit blurring would often offer a realistic depth of vision, and aided my ability to focus on the horizon. Occasionally it grates though, for example when hammering it down the back straight of the ‘Ring in some of the slower cars the driver is offered plenty of time to look around the cockpit, and at moments like this, the effect sits a little at odds with real‐world experience. So it’s not a flawlessly implemented effect, but as an attempt to account for the fact we view our virtual world through a flat screen, it’s a commendable effort and one I welcome.

The sounds are certainly up to scratch too. I’m no audio expert, so all I can say is that they work for me. A few cars seem to lack a bit of their real‐world character (for example, the Impreza seems to be devoid of some of its trademark burbly, flat‐four engine note), but on the whole the sounds are convincing and communicative. Probably my only real gripe with the audio is that the transmissions often deploy a loud, straight‐cut sound, even on stock, synchromesh‐boxed cars. Also, the tyre scrub noise seems to have been given a volume boost, perhaps taking a step away from pure (simulated) reality, but in turn going some way to compensating for the lack of ‘seat of pants’ feel you miss when sitting at a computer.

So on first impressions, I felt it looked and sounded fine. The car line up had whet my appetite, and I felt a sense of ownership and personal connection to my car that other sims can only dream of. But up to this point I had not had a ‘wow’ moment. The AI made racing a less than tempting prospect, and consequently I wasn’t feeling a huge desire to push on with progressing through the career mode. But this was set to change, and in a big way.

In Search Of Wow To mention rallycross briefly (the AUTOSIMSPORT staff will tell you I often do), I would like to take a moment to explain when I had my epiphany with SHIFT; when I really ‘got it’. After spending my race winnings on some timely upgrades for Carlos (brakes, suspension and weight saving initially; transmission and engine tuning once I felt the chassis could handle it), I went looking through SHIFT’s available tracks to go out for a spin on my own. I wanted

to actually experience what SHIFT felt like. I wanted to drive it without having just two laps to progress from the back of a kamikaze grid. I stumbled across Willow Springs’ ‘Horse Thief Mile’ layout. From the map I could deduce it was a short and twisty track and so, armed with a, by this point, somewhat potent Carlos, I set up a twenty‐lap quick‐race on my own (the best way in SHIFT of setting up a ‘time‐trial’ in the traditional sense). The next twenty minutes or so were an absolute blast. I quickly realised that not only was I enjoying myself immensely, but underneath SHIFT’s flashy exterior lay an accomplished, pure sim experience. Throwing the car around the track’s series of hairpins interspersed with short, sharp straights with significant elevation changes, I could feel the car—well yes, shift underneath me. The way it went light over brows; the feeling of the tyres squirming under braking at the bottom of the steep descent into to a tight hairpin; feathering the brakes at the top of the hill as the car’s momentum wanted to carry it upwards as well as onwards.

The upgrades had removed some of Carlos’s natural tendency to understeer, but he still possessed more grip than poise. The difference now was that a good stamp on the loud pedal would allow the back‐end to move around more, and with a good sharp throw the of the wheel I was hustling him around with screeches of tyre smoke and the hiss and whistle of the turbo being worked to within an inch of its life. For those twenty minutes or so, I was Martin Shanche.

Suddenly it all made sense. SHIFT comes dressed in a snazzy gloss of marketing and polish. The default gameplay is arcade oriented, tuned for short, sharp visceral attacks on the senses. And at this it does a brilliant job. But if, like me, that’s not quite what you’re looking for—if, like me, you want the speed and excitement, but with the refinement of a more realistic experience—then all I can say is, be patient. Strip back the layers, find the right settings, take yourself away from the smash‐and‐crash drama of the racing, and SHIFT’s simulated bliss will unmask itself.

With a new lease of enthusiasm for what I had before me, I put the career to one side, and began concentrating on doing what was within my powers to make SHIFT the experience I wanted it to be instead. I’m not talking about modifying files or hacking this or that; I’m simply talking about looking at the range of cars and playgrounds available to me, and going out and having fun. With Carlos, I lived out dreams of track days, time attacks and rallycross‐style competition as he mutated from a grippy but understeery, reluctant lump, to a fire‐breathing, laggy, traction‐breaking, boost‐fuelled monster.

Following Carlos was an AE86 Toyota Corolla (Henri). After my moment of revelation with Carlos, Henri was purchased with the intention of providing me the means of developing my own incarnation of an old ‘70s‐style rally car. With some careful tuning, I had the power and weight in roughly the right places, and a quick trip to one of SHIFT’s tighter and twistier offerings had me grinning like a buffoon. This was getting good.

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Click above to see SHIFT and Simon in action …

My motivation to rise through the career ranks and experience some of the higher level machinery started to grow. I partook in a few races here and there, and soon enough the tier two cars were available and I had a healthy balance of virtual cash to go and spend. I plumped for a Cayman S (Milly). The advance to tier two racing brought with it some quicker, more open courses, and quicker, more aggressive competitors. With Milly, I fought and conquered many a suicidal AI driver, and then before I knew it, it happened … I reached tier three, for me the hollowed ground, the Valhalla of SHIFT. Here I experienced something special. Here the GT3 RS became available Despite what sim‐racers have in common in terms of their desire for an ever more realistic experience, better physics, better graphics, sounds, tracks, whatever it is that bonds us together, it is likely that different cars make us tick. From the moment I first scrolled though SHIFT’s myriad of auto erotica, the GT3 RS was the one that grabbed my attention and said: ‘You have to buy me’. And that I did. My GT3 RS (appropriately baptised ‘Walter’) was given a makeover of black wheels and decals on white paint, and he was mine.

What ensued can only be described as hour after pounding hour of pure enjoyment. Nay, fun. ‘Fun’, something that seems so alien a concept at times among the sim community that

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it has taken on the connotations of a dirty word: If something is fun then it can’t be hard enough, it can’t be challenging enough, it must be—deviance of deviations—arcade.

Whilst I can level this at some aspects of SHIFT (its lack of proper damage, its crazy AI), get a car you like out on a track you enjoy and SHIFT offers an experience as good as any out there for a sim‐racer. That’s good in terms of enjoyment. Good in terms of immersion. Good in terms of physics.

With Walter I no longer merely liked SHIFT: I began to love it. I said to a certain Mr. Denton that I believed obtaining the GT3 would be when I discovered whether SHIFT was merely good, or great. And it was, indeed, the latter that I found most accurately summed‐ up my feelings. The career went completely out of the window: I didn’t care how much money I had, how many stars I had, what I could or couldn’t race … I had no desire to drive anything else, had no desire to tune this almighty vehicle, and proceeded to happily hotlap many a track for many an hour, just Walter and I. Indeed, this set the precedent for how the last month or so of SHIFT has played out for me: I didn’t care for the racing, I cared for the driving. And here I think I hit upon the crux of how I would describe SHIFT: As a racing simulator, it is quite poor. The races are too short, and the AI mentally deficient. You must decide to try and drive realistically (which effectively means resigning yourself to finishing in the lower numbers on higher AI settings and driving around giving acres of space to your competitors), or say fuck it and play dirty.

Either way, whilst the racing can provide fun and a blast of adrenaline, it does not for me provide a realistic experience.

But, and this is a very big but, take a car out on your own, and you experience a sim of sublime quality. The tyre model is a masterpiece. The weight transfer and vehicle dynamics feel spot on. And there is enough variety among the cars and tracks that you can recreate many a driving experience. So whilst for me SHIFT is a poor racing simulator, it is most definitely a driving simulator of great quality.

I don’t want people to think I’m getting caught up in semantics here. There is a definite and real distinction to be made: SHIFT may do a good job of emulating the violent, chaotic nature of motor sport, but for me it does not capture the reality of automobile competition. In this sense it is very much an ‘arcade’ experience—if that really means anything. However, the vehicle behaviour, the response, the dynamics, the actual interaction between driver, car and track, are brilliant. When I’m out on the Nordschleife in Walter, and I push that little too hard and feel the back‐end start to step out, I’m experiencing something on a par with any title past or present. To answer Doug Arnao’s perhaps rhetorical question (see interview in these pages): No, I don’t need to ask.

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SHIFT, as a one player racing game, succeeds, but as a one player racing sim, it fails. In contrast though, as a one player driving sim, and as an online racing game/sim, it succeeds and succeeds with serious conviction.

But I can’t help think: what could have been? … Which is not the same as saying SHIFT is a case of ‘nearly but not quite’ 54

To be fair though, this is neglecting one component of SHIFT that I have not seen much mention of yet, though one that could be essential for a long lasting life‐span: online. I have run a number of races in SHIFT online, and there are some positives, and some negatives. The biggest fly in the ointment has been a two minute limit on setting up private games. The way it works is that a minimum number of competitors must be stipulated for an event to take place. However, as soon as one invited friend joins the event, the remaining places are filled with AI cars and there are then two minutes in which to agree on cars, track, and to get everyone in the lobby. This caused a few headaches and a few false starts, but with a little planning and some quick, decisive decision making, it becomes an inconvenience rather than a show stopper.

Out on track, the net code appears suitably robust. I (located in northern England) have raced with people situated in London, and as far a field as Michigan and Guadeloupe, with little or no problems. The occasional bit of lag is to be expected, but what EA’s servers have provided thus far has been as stable and reliable as anything else I have used, iRacing, rF, and LFS included. The ‘niggles’ experienced in setting up the races would probably be more of an issue were it not so thoroughly worth it. I can happily say that the online racing I have experienced in SHIFT has been as good as anything I have tried. This is partly due to the fellow racers I was sharing the track with, and partly down to SHIFT’s more than adequate netcode, and, ultimately, what lies at SHIFT’s core—a wonderful driving model. It was also online that I realised how good SHIFT’s particle effects are. It may seem a minor detail, but when you’re nose‐to‐tail with a competitor in a close‐ fought battle, the clouds of smoke, dirt and grass that get kicked up as drivers overstep the limits of the car and the boundaries of the track are superbly realised. You really get a sense of driving through the plumes and, when on the limit, they can really cause a heart in mouth moment.

With the ADD race length and death‐wish AI removed, SHIFT has all the elements required to provide for top‐notch racing. The lack of real damage should not matter at all if you don’t crash (an obvious statement, but one worth making), and if you’re racing among friends, you can decide what rules to play by. If you’re going for ‘proper’ racing, then you know when you’ll have screwed your car up and can respond accordingly. If you are simply driving for fun (and that is not to imply not driving in a realistic manner, rather your emphasis is on enjoying the experience of sharing the track without the competitive element), then it shouldn’t really matter.

I’ve had a door‐to‐door Impreza vs. Evo grudge match at Donnington with Mr. Denton, E36 M3 vs. RX7 duels with Mr. Offranc, and a joyous 2000 GT‐R blitz of the ‘Ring along side Mr. Simmerman. I’ve raced hard to the line, or just jostled for position waiting for someone to catch me and seen them wait for me to catch them. Much like the one player side, to get the most out of SHIFT I think you need to decide what you want from it. I don’t see SHIFT offering online racing in the same way iRacing does, for example, but that’s not to say that what it can provide is any less enjoyable, worthwhile or rewarding. For simmers and casual players alike.

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Force‐Feedback, Steering Lag And … Windows 7?!

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way or another.

A SHIFT In The Tight Direction And so there you have it: SHIFT, as a one player racing game, succeeds, but as a one player racing sim, it fails. In contrast though, as a one player driving sim, and as an online racing game/sim, it succeeds and succeeds with serious conviction.

But I can’t help think: what could have been? Were the AI somewhat more reasonable, the prize money lowered to more plausible amounts, and the race length increased, SHIFT would have provided a superb one player career mode and racing sim. It would have filled a gaping niche within a niche and could have kept players (who wished to approach it in that

manner) busy and happily occupied for a long, long time. Some small tweaks and extra options for the online play could make it much easier to set up races, too.

But that is not to say I think SHIFT is a case of ‘nearly but not quite’. It does too much too well for me not to consider it a success. As a tool for hot‐lapping, it provides a driving model, car and track selection, and overall environment worthy of high praise. From the immersive properties of the visual and audio effects, the sublime handling model, and the cars and tracks that enable me to live out any number of personal driving fantasies, SHIFT provides something that no other title currently does. Throw in the fact that online you have the potential for some immensely enjoyable experiences, and you have a product that has its share of flaws and perhaps misses a few opportunities, but on balance offers so much more than it fails to deliver.

Throw the cars around with reckless abandon, and SHIFT can feel overly forgiving at times, and makes the driver seem somewhat invincible. However, what it always does in my experience is reward good driving. Perhaps this is evidence of SHIFT successfully appealing and being approachable to people of all abilities and backgrounds: You may be able to get away with things that in reality you couldn’t, but it never rewards you for such behaviour.

Drive a car in SHIFT as you would in real life, though, and it behaves in a realistic manner; get over the limit and you’ll see speed scrubbed‐off and time lost. If I’m driving at ten tenths and make a mistake, it costs me. The quickest way around the track is always the realistic one, and so once again, if you approach SHIFT as a simulation and drive it accordingly, you will receive a highly gratifying experience.

About That F Thing What I feel remains to be discussed is how my opinions (and I don’t want to put words in other peoples’ mouths, but those of others at AUTOSIMSPORT) vary so wildly from those of many in the community. I don’t think a single sim out there universally appeals. GPL perhaps comes closest in getting an across the board nod of approval, and is generally accepted for its merits, though I think a lot of this puts it in the context of a ten year old product with historic significance to the community. iRacing is perhaps the best modern day equivalent, but ignoring the pricing and organised‐racing structure, even that divides opinion. Some think it looks superb, others feel it looks five years‐plus out of date. Some think the audio accurately captures the subject matter, whilst others find it a great let down.

And what for some is the most accurate physical simulation available to the masses, for others it’s little more than a mild development of NR2003, warts and all.

Similarly, nKPro, with its no‐nonsense, no compromise approach when run in its full simulation mode remains, for some, the height of simulation. For others, the strict adherence to reality is a chore. It doesn’t matter how much people supposedly clamour for

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ultimate realism, the fact is it isn’t really what people are looking for. Mr. Denton’s article about the different types of sim‐racers touched upon a lot of this, and did so in more detail and with more aplomb than is necessary here.

The bottom line is: nothing is perfect, and nothing will appeal to all. But aside from differences in preference and opinion, the response to SHIFT has been more varied than for any sim I can recollect. And I find myself taking a stance further from the majority of the noise than I can ever remember. I’m certainly not going to attempt to second guess the thought processes and motivations behind all of these contrasting views, but I think a lot of the more critical views aired can be often, sadly, put down to two key factors: prejudice and laziness.

For example, the number of people who clearly couldn’t be bothered to try and set up their controllers is disappointingly obvious. Yes, the likes of iRacing might stand a long way ahead of SHIFT in terms of ease of controller set up, but that SHIFT might take half an hour and a few trips back and forth between front‐end option menus and track really shouldn’t be too much to manage.

In my experience, different sims take different approaches and require different amounts of effort. As mentioned above, at the top of the tree in this respect is iRacing, and it would be nice if other sims could offer a controller configuration as quick, easy and intuitive as offered there. But let’s not forget the effort required in the past by various ISI‐based efforts.

Hell, rFactor required a community mod in order to offer what many regard as good FFB. Factor in that SHIFT has a need—or perhaps, more to the point, an absolute remit—to cater for the console crowd and their control pads that most PC‐based sims don’t have to worry about, and surely people can forgive such a relatively minor quibble?

The reaction to the keyboard‐only menu navigation (which was remedied with a patch almost immediately after release) is quite representative of some peoples’ attitudes. If you actually just use the keyboard, within a few minutes of navigating the menus you quickly realise that they are simple and easy to move around in. Lest we forget that RBR does not offer mouse support in menus; should one of the greatest sims ever made (still heavily supported and played to this day) be derided and shunned for this minor omission?

Some clearly can’t stand the fact that SHIFT is published by EA, either. This, to me, is really quite pathetic. To try and quickly address a few points: EA have not stolen money from the developers in order to fund their advertising campaign. The money pumped into the advertising campaign is what guarantees the sales, which secures the financial return, which in turn is what facilitates the development of titles in the first place. The likes of EA turning to a dev’ team with the quality and track record of SMS should be greeted as a net win for this community. Here we have a publishing superpower acknowledging the skills and

abilities of a group who have been largely appealing to a niche market. Comments such as, ‘EA know nothing about the community’ amuse and anger me in equal measure; if they know anything about us now, it’s that we’re a whiney, lazy bunch who probably don’t deserve much attention or effort in the first place—or the future. As a community, the sales of SHIFT form a small portion of PC sales, which in turn form a small portion of overall sales: Or, to quantify that: Three percent of sales of SHIFT were on the PC, and of that, perhaps less than half‐a‐percent would regard themselves as a part—or have probably ever heard— of the sim‐racing community.

That we have a title that offers so much should be cause for celebration: That Ian Bell and SMS bothered to release a simulator with a hardcore element, for us, the community, when in point of fact such an omission would have gone largely unnoticed by ninety‐nine percent of the gaming industry (consumers and press alike) should be welcomed. I saw a thread on a forum which posed a question along the lines of: ‘Can SMS recover from SHIFT?’ Ignoring the fact I don’t really know what the question is meant to mean (considering this is SMS’s first‐ever sim, and considering that it has gone on to sell in the hundreds‐of‐thousands), I saw a reply noting, ‘Yes, but I’m not sure the community will.’ For me this hits the nail on the head. If SHIFT isn’t your cup of tea, then fine. I’m not saying those who don’t like it are somehow wrong—or rather, they are as far as I am concerned, but that is just my opinion: But for those thinking SMS have dropped a giant clanger in the shape of SHIFT, I’d say the community have dropped an even bigger one by revealing how precious little they know or understand about simulation. If anyone at EA who supposedly knows ‘nothing about the community’ were to take a look into some of our forums and blog sites, I think the community has done itself no favours in terms of securing itself any more focus and attention in the future. And before you ask the ‘so what?’ question, the so what is that without financial backing, developers don’t make simulators, and sim‐racing, without competition, and without new products, dies.

To conclude, I approached SHIFT as a sim and in some departments it falls short, but in others, it excels. Having read countless thoughts and opinions from the community, I can’t help but get the feeling a lot have approached it as an arcade racer, and then judged it as a sim. This simply isn’t fair, nor is it going to garner an accurate reflection of the product as it stands. Take a car out in single player and smash around with the AI and it would be pretty hard to experience a realistic, ‘sim‐like’ experience. However, acknowledge where SHIFT leans towards entertainment, and look for a sim experience where such elements don’t interfere, and you’ll find what for me is a golden slice of sim‐racing cake. I for one will be returning to the kitchen to finish off the rest of it over the coming months, and eagerly await the next treats to be delivered from the SMS kitchen.

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LOOKING AHEAD Whilst SHIFT might barely be out of the door, it does raise the question: What next for SMS? Nothing has been said publically regarding the ‘Ferrari Project’, but chances are whatever rights/deal were in place were tied in with the now defunct 10tacle Studios. Those who have rooted through the file structure of SHIFT will have seen that some fragments of evidence of that project remain, but what became/will become of that project remains to be seen.

If I understand correctly, the NFS series is splitting with alternate releases of different versions of the series; the next release seemingly likely to be more in the ‘traditional’ spirit of the series, and then a true successor to SHIFT following that. Whether or not SMS will be behind that release, and just what form it will take, will likely remain a mystery for some time yet.

As will what else (if anything), SMS will be pushing out the door. One patch has already been released for SHIFT, and another is on the way. On top of that, the first DLC has been confirmed that sees a new multiplayer mode and five new cars joining SHIFT’s ranks. Fingers crossed this is the first of a number of DLC packages to come our way but, again, time will tell.

Whatever SMS do turn their hand to next, though, I anticipate eagerly. With the signing of Piitulainen, my hopes and expectations for what Blimey! would give us quickly grew. With the collapse of 10tacle and the rebranding of Blimey! as SMS, I was just hoping to see something, let alone worry about expectations. But with their first proper product out of the door, SMS have shown their hand and shown a good one.

If their next release is NFS:SHIFT 2 Turbo Alpha, then so be it. If it is the eventual emergence of the ‘Ferrari Project’, then so be it. If it is the much talked (but little known) about ‘Project Falcon’, then so be it. Whatever it is, my hopes and expectations are set high. For that, SMS only have themselves to blame.

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BOB SIMMERMAN SEARCHES FOR SHIFT ’S PLACE ON THE CONSOLE‐ RACER GRID 58

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REVIEW SHIFT

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NFS History: 1994–2009, 15, 100,000,000 Recently passing the ‘one‐hundred million units sold’ marker—yes, you read that right—the Need For Speed franchise is quite the feather in the EA Sports cap. Nevertheless, in the beginning of this odd venture I call ‘writing’, I never imagined that a title from this series would get a review in AUTOSIMSPORT magazine. So much for my powers of prophecy; not only are we reviewing (self) proclaimed simulations developed for the consoles, but we are now into uncharted territory—yes, we’re having fun!

With the exception of Porsche Unleashed, my play time with any game in this series has been limited, though I did mess about with a few versions over the nearly twenty year history of the franchise: These proved a mostly dispiriting diversion which featured well‐used routines of doing this and that between the driving, and featuring back‐stories as captivating as Jenson Button’s life: yes, for many this was manna from the racing gods, but for the rest of us—blessed with an IQ hovering somewhere above single digits—the NFS series had inexorably lost its way over the years. Yes, one hundred million copies had been sold, but its latest efforts were not precisely adding to the total with much success. Long‐time fans pined for a new direction, and a whole new generation of gamers was left speechless by the sheer awfulness of ’07’s ProStreet and ‘08s Undercover. EA were forced to take the decision to change track and shift (hey‐ho!) toward the new expectations of the race‐gaming‐market: More simulation, and more fun. Meantime, back in London, one of sim‐racing’s greatest development teams had just gone belly‐up … and so synergy saw the makers of GTR2 hired to give NFS a makeover: As Ludwig might have put it, ”Well done, Belly!”

Interface And Menu Options As with any game, you have to start somewhere, and what better place than the main menu? Gameplay, audio, video, online, save/load, redeem codes and credits, all make an appearance here, and it’s relatively standard console fare, and isn’t something you’ll need an engineering degree to navigate. However, it is highly recommended that you spend some time in the control settings menu (found under the ‘gameplay’ button) in order to get the most out of the driving experience. Personally, I found the default settings nearly undrivable with the Driving Force GT, but a bit of tweaking enabled me to find the sweet spot.

In this regard, I was a bit disappointed with SHIFT: Gran Turismo 5: Prologue and the recently released Forza Motorsports 3 (reviewed elsewhere in this issue) feature wheel‐ settings that work precisely right out of the box: With SHIFT, my wheel—standard—was nigh on unusable. The PC suffers from this as well, but not nearly to the extent the PS3 does, and I imagine Ian Bell’s boys have just learned an important lesson: In the land of console, the small stuff matters because people don’t want to mess about—if they did, they’d have a PC!

To further complicate matters, the wheel’s degree of rotation setting is also influenced during driving by the turn lock, which is found in the ‘car setup’ portion of the game, and can be changed once ‘unlocked’ after appropriate game progression, and, further, is adjustable for each and every car in the game. Are you following? Yes, precisely why console‐gamers don’t want to bother with this crap.

Having said that, I was using a wheel and, as we all know, console‐Buttons use buttons because they race lying on their couch stroking their joypads. After some trial and error, I did find an optimal setting and set to the task of digging in and grabbing a heaping portion of what I hoped would be one hell of a good time.

ATI HD 4870 Issues Giant triangles of colors were what met me when I installed the game and the patch.

There was sound, I could steer the car, and for all intents and purposes, everything seemed normal. Except all I could see were … triangles. The official FAQ acknowledges a few graphical issues that may arise, notably with ATI cards. My card is an ATI HD 4870 and I had a bit of a ‘mare getting SHIFT to run. Nothing I did would alleviate the graphical issues that—it should be noted—are shared by far too many people for a release of this importance—that is, if the 80,000 views (at the time of this writing) of the thread regarding ATI issues with SHIFT at the official forum can be used to gauge the extent of the problems.

Even more perplexing is the fact that the XBOX 360 uses an ATI as the graphics unit, and it seemed to be working perfectly. Then again, it was probably a bit more critical that the console versions of this game shipped as bug‐free as humanly possible.

Whatever the case, I was only able to solve my particular problem by yanking out the ATI and replacing it with an NVIDIA GTX 260. Once the NVIDIA card was installed, the game ran perfectly.

To further muddy the waters, several members of the staff here at AUTOSIMSPORT, all with ATI cards, had not a single issue with it. Go figure …

Basic Gameplay SHIFT tosses the player straight into the action after the creation of a new driver profile, at which time you’ll be introduced to your ‘eyes and ears’ for the game, a voice that will periodically break in and inform you of one important item or another. Just the thing to drive some folks insane, I found it infrequent enough as to not be too much of a bother.

Anyway, back to the introduction to the gameplay—you find yourself in a well‐prepared car with your buddy/chief/PA/or whatever the hell is informing you of what is going on as you

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wake from a profound bout of amnesia: The last thing you remember was piling your Dallara around Watkins Glen and then you woke up here, in arcade‐world. ‘The Prisoner’ never had it this bad …

With hardly enough time to think, ‘Wow, the atmosphere in arcade‐world is rather pretty,’ three clings go ding and apparently you’ve just begun your career: The result of this, you first race, will be the basis on which the game will set your aids. Not to worry if this ends in disaster, you can always change the electronic assists off, but it’s a nice touch, and a nice introduction to the world of SHIFT. With the introduction to your career out of the way, you must now get on with the business of rising through the ranks to becoming the greatest driver eva—like Jenson Button. Get ready for a huge amount of gameplay as you fight your way through levels—or as its called in SHIFT‐land, ‘Tiers’—where the racing is varied, the cars ever‐more powerful, and the tests of their driving abilities ever‐shifting. From traditional format racing events to driver versus driver duel events, SHIFT will not disappoint those who like a little more beef in their burger: For traditional sim‐ racers, this is all probably too much (you know, actually having a reason for racing as opposed to just getting behind the wheel of your Dallara for four hours pursuing that illusive 2/10ths that will see you rise from 245th in the rankings to 242nd), but this is how it works in console‐land—they need to be given constant challenges and SHIFT does an epic job of doing precisely that.

Sim‐racers meanwhile would describe it as—get a car, clear events, make money, collect stars, move up tier, get a new car, pimp‐your‐ride, and keep doing until ‘the end’. For those who care, and as you’d find in a classic RPG, you have driving levels—fifty in total—to obtain, independent of the tiers, and you further your driving level advancement by—and I’m sure this will shock you being a driving game—driving! During each race, you are monitored, for lack of a better term, and given XP (experience points, sort of like a Safety Rating except killing your opponents won’t see an email from Nim in your inbox): Driving aggressively meanwhile, will give you aggression points, while driving with precision will give you, yes, precision points, something the editor of this magazine never even knew was an option after 100 hours of playing—go figure.

You are also judged by the line you take through the bends, and you gain bonuses and awards for driving a ‘perfect lap’—that is, for mastering every corner. Right, we’re in arcade‐land, so open up deep and swallow it down, it doesn’t taste quite so bad after a six‐pack, as Madonna once explained.

You’re also going to need to assemble stars before you can advance to the next tier, and along the way, in addition to XP and driving points, you will also awarded badges, either Minor or Major. These may indicate important milestones in your career such as hitting a certain number of miles (not opponents, Martini!) in the same car, winning a certain number of races, or mastering corners. As you obtain more and more Minor badges, they begin to turn into Major badges of bronze, silver, gold, and, yes, epic, further indicating your abilities on the track, and

giving you an indication that you are well on your way to becoming Jenson Button, without a doubt the greatest racing driver eva.

I just reread the last two paragraphs and now I’m confused. No, not about Jenson, but about points and badges and mastering corners and XP and wow, that sounds like a lot of work! But not to worry, remember we’re in console‐land here, so you can assume it’s all basically done for you, and indeed all this info’ is stored in the ‘Driver Profile’ section of the menu—that is, a few button taps away. The game is also fully compliant with the PS3 trophy system, so you will see you achievements in the game tracked there as well.

But we are not done yet. No, because in the land of consoles, we always need a nemesis, and SHIFT will periodically offer you some electronic fool who needs to be spanked. Your rival will raise his ugly head should you keep doing well in the game and will—like that tall fella in that Bruce Lee movie—challenge you at a particular track. You can accept the challenge immediately, or you can let him know your guys will call his guys and you’ll get it on when you have a Sunday off from church. You can also ignore him completely, as Jenson would any other world champion in history since, as we all know now thanks to Autosport, he’s the greatest eva.

To further enhance the world of SHIFT, you can monitor your friends (real ones, that is) and their performance at tracks which you and they have run: In order for this function to work, all players must be signed into the Playstation Network, and, further, have an EA Nation account (free, and you don’t even have to vote). It can give you some incentive as it is usually easier to best the AI than your buddies!

From time to time during your career progression, you may also unlock certain invitational events: These events are special in that many of them will put you into a car well above your current tier level, and it is a great way to see what the higher levels will bring once you get to them.

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THE MENU

REVIEW SHIFT

Options

continued

Eliminator

From this screen, all of the game setup is taken care of, from controls to sound.

A race of multiple laps where, at the end of each lap, the driver in last place is removed from the

Driver Profile

event, repeating until only one driver, the winner, is left.

A career wouldn’t be much of a career if you weren’t able to track your statistics. As you level up and obtain

Drift

achievements in the form of major and minor badges, the Driver Profile is the place to have a look at it all.

Just what it says, you drift your way to sideways glory on a timed and marked course. Not all cars

Driver Level

are considered drift cars in the game, so make sure you have a drift‐capable car ready in the

Similar in concept to the level system found in RPGs (although much more simplified), the Driver Level is your

garage, and plenty of time, as drifting requires a delicate touch to succeed, and even then it can be

map to your ultimate game goal. Various awards are given as you level up, cash, decals, and rims, etc. With fifty

elusive.

levels in all, SHIFT provides for a large amount of play time.

Driver Duel

Cash

A best of three battle, it’s just you and a top driver in a showdown of who is best: Button!

Top eight finishers get some cash, and cash is important as it allows you to upgrade your current car or purchase a

Series

new one.

A series of races spread across multiple tracks, or in the case of the ‘Ring, multiple sections of the

Quick Race

full layout. Points are awarded to the top eight in each event, and winning the series gives a nice

Select the number of opponents, track, and car, and off you go. A great place to test out a new upgrade or to

cash bonus in addition to the race win money.

learn a track before you tackle it in the career mode. You will earn Profile points and Driver Profile advancements

Endurance

in Quick Race as well.

Only the hardcore need apply—hour‐long events designed to give you a thorough exercise in

Career

maintaining focus and concentration, as well as dealing with several competitors.

The meat and potatoes of SHIFT, you must race your way to the top of the heap around the globe by mastering

Manufacturer

not only difficult tracks, but varied racing series as well.

In these battles, everyone gets the same car, a pure battle of skill and driving ability, your NOS tank

Career Map

won’t help you here!

This screen displays your current tier and what events are available. Also displayed is the number of stars required

Time Attack

to unlock the next tier.

While the field is populated with other drivers, this isn’t a race to be first, but to be fastest. Put in

Stars

the fastest lap to win. Once the timer is done, the race is over.

In order to advance your career, you will need a certain number of stars to reach the next tier.

Hot Lap

Badges

You are given a target lap time and a few laps in order to beat it. The multiplayer component allows

Arriving in Minor and Major form, badges indicate significant milestones in your career.

for Race, Time Attack, and Drift events. All drivers will need a PlayStation Network account.

Rivals

Multiplayer testing was limited as we could never seem to get enough guys together for a large

Do well enough for long enough and you are bound to upset someone. They just might throw a challenge your way, and

session. For what it’s worth, it was a snap to setup, and the on‐track action was good as long as all

if you beat them, expect more good things to come in the form of badges and stars.

the connections were good. Only the PC version was tested online. Setting up a custom session was

Special Invitational Events

relatively simple and several playing types are offered:

Given out at certain times during your career, these events will allow you to drive cars beyond your current tier

Ranked

and/or career level.

These races go down in your permanent record, so watch it out there!

NFS Live World Tour

Unranked

The ultimate goal for the player, the World Tour is a two series event that will take the driver all over the world as he

Finishing stats are not recorded and the cash payouts are less.

or she tackle the quest of best driver on the planet—behind Jenson Button, of course.

Quick Match

Events

Browse the electronic‐ether, pick a race and hop in with the dOOds.

Obviously you’re going to need some sort of context if any of this is to mean anything, and when it comes to

Create Match

driving games, events are good for that sort of thing. SHIFT offers several race types.

From here you can setup your own race for other to join, Ranked or Unranked, public or private.

Race

Custom Match

Your basic plain‐Jane circuit race. Standing and rolling starts.

Find the exact type of online match you wish to participate in.

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Cars & Tracks Sporting a stable of seventy‐two cars, SHIFT offers plenty to choose from in the car department. Each car has been individually modeled in terms of physics, and cockpits, and all are upgradable through the purchase of various add‐ons. Each car can be individually setup to the user’s preferences with a dazzling array of setup options, from steering to aerodynamics. However, at the onset of your career, many setup changes are locked and not adjustable until you have advanced far enough in your career: For some this will be a turn‐off, and I am sort of on the fence—I can deal with having ‘stock’ cars at the beginning, but not being able to adjust anything is somewhat unexpected. Then again, I don’t go out and change the camber on my Pontiac G6 when it rains, but I do sometimes change the radio station.

In addition, some cars can be even further upgraded by purchasing a ‘Works package’. If you have a Works capable car, you need to purchase every possible upgrade through conventional means (don’t ask) at which point a new purchase option appears allowing you to take that final step to full‐blown race‐machine glory. Extremely expensive, the Works package puts in your hands a fire‐breathing, rubber‐shredding beast of metal that will demand the utmost care and respect on the track.

Speaking of tracks, the game ships with nineteen offering varying layouts for a total of fifty possible venues. Several of the tracks are fictional, but notable real‐world offerings include Spa Franker Champs, Nordschleife, Road America, Silverstone, and Donnington (or is it Donington?). Notable efforts in the fictional department are Alpental, and Ambush Canyon.

Graphically, as you’d expect from sim‐racing’s coolest developers, SHIFT is just sexy.

Colorful and bright with dynamic lighting and shadows, the game environments are full of objects and have a ‘full’ feel to them. They are not the intricate jewels that are found at the end of a laser‐gun, but they are much more than simply adequate: I even saw a helicopter in there somewhere, definitely the sort of graphical diversion I can appreciate. Skid marks, tyre smoke, windshield grime, flying parts, and a visual damage system round out the usual suspects, but SMS have given SHIFT some unique immersive devices which sees it rise high above the usual fare.

This being a sim‐racing developer, naturally cockpit‐view is de rigueur. You can ride on the roof like Denton, of course, should you prefer, or you can ride in the cockpit, like a man.

To enhance the frenetic conditions inside the cockpit of a car travelling at high speed, not only are the motions your body might go through simulated in a visual sense, but at very high speed, there is also an all‐new blurring effect that can best be described as simulated tunnel‐vision. The cockpit dials become unreadable and you find yourself focusing, intently, on what is directly in front of you, as you should when driving quickly. Naturally this needs to be simulated since your average console‐driver will treat speed the same way he treats

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war—dOOd! Outside of the area directly in the field of frontal view is a blurring, frantic mess, bouncing all over the place as the car reacts to the physical forces of the world since, as we all know, the faster you go, the more the world will physically try and slow you down—just ask Jenson Button who spent a decade in F1 without ever having the ability to prove that he was the best—eva. It’s a great effect, but some may find it a bit too much on the eye‐candy side: Ian Bell of course has long been an active proponent of finding immersive hooks, and he’s pulled it off here big‐time.

Also of note is the realistic physical behavior of the other cars you may see on‐track, complete with suspension motion, body roll, tyre smoke, and skid marks—indeed, you can learn a lot from what is happening in your opponent’s cockpit just by watching the car and how it is reacting. To top it all off, the tracks are modeled with bumps, a welcome enhancement in console‐land where most racing games have billiard table‐smooth racing surfaces.

Mentioned earlier, the damage visuals are another visual gem, but the damage itself … well, it would appear that actual car stopping damage has not been activated as you can drive head‐on into barriers at high speed and keep on going. No doubt this will please the dOOds. What I couldn’t do was make up the twenty‐one seconds I lost getting out of a convincing gravel‐trap after which I fought for visual cues through a half ripped‐off hood. In addition, at the point of impact, I could hear an audible grunt from the driver, and the world went entirely black and white and blurry, no doubt to simulate a massive impact with some immovable object: Amnesia again, but when I awoke I was still driving my Skyline. I would have liked to have seen some functioning damage, but this is far from a showstopper: There is, in case you’re wondering, no toggle for damage.

The PS3 version has two output resolutions: 480p (720x480 progressive) and 720p (1280x720 progressive), but I am not sure of the native resolution of the game. The PC version could be set to pretty much any resolution—I ran it at 1980x1200, and, as one might expect, the graphics looked noticeably better on the PC version, but keep in mind that the console output was being spread out over a forty‐two inch 1080p television, so it is bound to look a bit under the weather when compared to the PC version.

I don’t mean to say the graphics were down on the PS3, quite the opposite—SHIFT is a great looking game on the PS3 and, while it would have been nice to have a 1080p option, it didn’t affect gameplay in the slightest. Moreover, the action on the track turned out to be so good that a few jaggies here are there went essentially unnoticed.

Sounds Pumping out 5.1 surround, SHIFT has some of the most gut‐pounding car sounds to ever be featured on a game: No matter the ride, they all sound fantastic, and as you upgrade your favorite ride, the sounds will change to reflect your new tricks. I was blasting around in a

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super fast Audi R8 and it was the coolest thing in the world being able to hear the various scrubbing sounds that four‐wheel driven vehicle makes: The individual auditory appearance of each tyre not only sounded great, but made perfect sense as they matched exactly what I was doing with the throttle. The louder the better!

Baseline settings for the Logitech Driving Force GT wheel, PS3 Steering Dead Zone 0% Accelerator Dead zone 0% Brake Dead Zone 0% Steering Sensitivity 70% Acceleration Sensitivity 49% Braking Sensitivity 35% Speed Steering Sensitivity 0% Force Feedback 10% Turning Lock

270 Inverse Shifting Off Camera Y Axis

Normal Physics, Tyre Models And Massive Object Control When the announcement was made that SHIFT was going to feature more of a simulation‐ like driving experience, the general consensus (that is, out of the one thousand nine hundred and seventy two people who are active members of the sim‐racing community, three were in complete agreement) was that this was just a lot of talk, and there was no way EA were going to allow for their flagship racer to turn all ‘sim’.

As it turned out, SMS were indeed given a green(ish) light to develop s0mething a little more complex than pivot‐point physics: What they delivered to EA, a few months later, is one convincing piece of simulation that includes a tyre model that puts much of what we, in PC‐land, like to call ‘simulators’, to shame. You won’t mistake it for iRacing, but you can’t help but notice how far from what we like to call ‘arcade’ it really is. The key—to summarise—is the physics engine ripped out of ISI (and an engine Ian Bell and co. massage better than any developer on the planet, even ISI themselves!), and a tyre model developed

by Eero Piitulainen.

However, before we go too far in our plaudits, we do have a few … issues. There is no tyre wear. Which is odd because there is tyre heating, an odd choice of priority, then, and one that is particularly noticeable in the early parts of the game when the race are short, intensely rugged two lap affairs which offer hardly enough time for a tyre to warm up, much less wear out. With longer events, and in time attacks, the lack of tyre wear is clearly a

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concession to gameplay as opposed to real‐world asset management. Having said that, the way the tyres feel through the wheel is damn fine. This feel will most definitely feel convincing enough to make you forget any inaccuracies in the overall physics and tyre system. If SHIFT does one thing inordinately well, it convinces you that you are, in fact, driving a heavy object quickly: SHIFT obeys the laws of physics in a realistic and believable way, and the tyre model will convey this to you through hyper‐responsive feedback. If you like to be heavy on the gas, plan on a lot of time off‐track, crawling back on through annoying sand‐ and gravel‐traps. Drive it smooth and in a realistic manner, and you will be amply rewarded with a driving experience that may even cause you to have … fun.

Also noteworthy is a bit more control at the limit than we may be used to from dedicated simulators, but it never gets to the point where it feels canned, or scripted. With the outstanding feedback of what the tyres are doing through the wheel, you’ll find that what works in the most hardcore of sims will also work in SHIFT; the old adage is true, sometimes you have to slow down to speed up, and this holds true in SHIFT’s physical world. Ian Bell— who gave us the ice‐skating escapades of GTR—went the opposite way with GTR2, and here in SHIFT he seems to have found a happy medium to his oft‐stated belief that cars are, in essence, simple to control. After all, if Jeremy Clarkson can power‐slide a 500BHP Ferrari without killing himself, there is no reason why the rest of us can’t do similar things in bespoke sports cars. Yes, over the limit—and at the limit—things do get a bit scary, and yes, we as sim‐racers will get to the limit of these cars’ performance while Jeremy Clarkson—and every other dentist running about in their Ford GT40s—won’t, but that is not to say that a car should be intrinsically impossible to control on the edge. The evolution of our simulators of late has indeed been to offer us cars that are far more ‘catchable’—and in SHIFT, Ian Bell and co. demonstrate that they’re on the same page here as the other major developers.

If you like tinkering with the car, meanwhile, the setup options—once unlocked—put a lot of power at your fingertips, whether it is an aerodynamic adjustment to get a fully upgrade Porsche Cayman to behave, or a steering lock change on a Viper to put the final touch of controlling that beast before it kills you. In fact, if you are a sim‐engineer, you will almost certainly need to become familiar with setup changes: That Porsche Cayman, for instance, fully upgraded, is an undrivable monstrosity.

For those who are more interested in the game play as opposed to the finer points of a physics model, there are plenty of driving aids that can be activated so no one is left behind.

Goldman The AI are something of an anomaly in SHIFT. For some reason, bad AI seems to be a staple of many console and PC racing games, and long gone are the heady days of 1998 when Grand Prix Legends displayed AI so realistic you would curse out loud at them as they drove

by you, not into you, or through you, or … randomly running into a tree at 200km/h. No, the days of the super‐advanced computing devices are long behind us, and SHIFT adds nothing but more shame on our computer‐controlled friends’ abilities. But fair is fair—the AI in SHIFT, can be driven with … and around. I think we ought to call them Goldman from now on: You know, the type of banker who you trust with your money knowing full well they’re gonna screw you at the first chance they get because, well, that’s just their nature.

Sometimes they’ll make you money, but eventually, inevitably, they will screw you. On the good side, the AI in SHIFT is not the car‐wreck that the Gran Turismo series has provided us with over the years, and SHIFT will not offer you that level of non‐stop bumper cars of doom shitness. Truth is, your best strategy is to get in front and sweet Jesus whatever you do don’t look behind you!

And that, really, sums up SHIFT, SMS, and the current state of the NFS series: They’ve just stuck themselves on the front row with some serious upgrades and now share the grid with Forza3. In the pits, meanwhile, Gran Turismo waits with its tyre warmers on and some some last‐minute preparations.

Whatever happens, SMS have just driven Need For Speed from its usual mid‐pack berth straight to the front of the grid from where it’s going to take some major work from the competition to dislodge them anytime soon. Kinda like Jenson Button last year, come to think of it …

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NFS: SHIFT

WHAT IT HAS

—Stunning physics and tyre model provide convincing on‐track car behavior —Detailed career mode provides for many differing race types and substantial gameplay —Cockpit environment effects add to immersion and sense of urgency —Convincing graphics with dynamic lighting and shadows —Well exectured upgrade path for each car —One of the most outstanding Force‐Feedback effects ever seen on the console —Replay module and the ability to take photos that can be uploaded to EA Nation

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WHAT IT DOESN’T HAVE —Damage effects are visual only —No tyre wear —Early career races are a bit too brief —PC‐graphical display issues for some users of ATI cards

SHIFT, as a one player racing game, succeeds, but as a one player racing sim, it fails. In contrast though, as a one player driving sim, and as an online racing game/sim, it succeeds and succeeds with serious conviction 65

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Volume 5 Number 3 Special Review Section

ISI’s Superleague Formula

REVIEW Superleague

HRISTOITCHOV

Like A1GP, Superleague Formula is yet another open‐wheeled series that comes with a much‐needed hook in a world that is dominated by Formula One—this time, instead of racing for your nation, you’ll be racing for a football team in 750BHP cars constructed by Élan Motorsport Technologies, the umbrella company that hosts the race car manufacturing companies owned by the Panoz Motor Sports Group. The official sim comes from ISI on its rFactor platform, and is designed by the CTDP mod group who have made the world’s best F1 sims since Crammond left the scene. It is also, therefore, a mod of an ISI engine as every single sim made by SimBin, Slightly Mad Studios, and a handful of other developers this century, which means—it’s irrelevant, and if you’re coming into this review expecting to hear, ‘Oh, it’s an rFactor mod’, you’re in the wrong place. So with that out of the way, it’s time to ask the question that actually matters: Is it any good? To find out, we sent a copy to www.autosimsport.net 66 Volume 5 Number 3 Special Review Section Bulgaria’s resident alien, Hristo Itchov …

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I wasn’t entirely sure whether or not to commit to doing this review as it’s something I’ve never done before. It’s not that I didn’t want to take it on, but my approach to sim‐racing, and sims in particular, has always been black and white: You will rarely hear me praise a sim, and more often than not I seem to focus on a sim’s limitations, particularly in its physics (which matter the most to me).

In any case, running the same sims and mods these last few months has been a bit of a chore, and that, come to think of it, was the deal‐clincher: Something fresh and different was precisely what Dr. Sim had ordered. The process was somewhat odd, I should add: Oliver Day contacted me on behalf of Alex, and asked whether I’d be interested in the review, then Alex followed that up with an email that contained—well, nothing, a blank email! The second one, though, came through with a special secret code along with a taut list of instructions about what I should say and think—naturally, this was all ignored on Oliver Day’s advice.

So now that my egocentric introduction is out of the way, I present you …

SSSU A U M R O U G A R U A ULLLA MU RM OR UEEE F FFO GU AG RLLLEEEA UPPPEEER Let me, as reviewers seldom are, be honest right off the grid: I came into this sim with two prejudices foremost in my mind. First, I didn’t like the smell of commercialism surrounding this product, and second, I have never gotten along with ISI sims. I have, however, enjoyed a couple of well‐made rFactor mods in my time, and with the Superleague sim using an updated rFactor engine, my bias was set aside as curiousity won the day.

The download, meanwhile, was surprisingly small: A mere 400Mb (don’t you just hate mods that pack‐up gigabytes of skins?). All was going well then, except—it was hosted on ‘Megaupload’. You would expect a company to have its own host or something, or at least use something faster than ‘Megaupload’! But there it is: You’ll be downloading ISI’s new sim over ‘Megaupload’, and things won’t go as quick as these 750BHP single‐seaters, that’s for sure!

Two hours later, I had the sim installed, and was staring at a prompt that asked me to decide whether I wanted the sixty minute free trial, or whether I wanted to buy the thing: After entering the coupon code, I was up and running with the (by‐now) well‐known ISI graphics setup utility. You can set up to use either DX7, DX8 or DX9 graphics features, beside the resolution, refresh rate, and anti‐aliasing levels. (I do hope one day we will be able to set those from within the sim.)

Considering my rather old PC, the game loaded rather quickly, and I must say I liked the short but intense, action‐packed intro’: The music was a bit on the heavy side for my liking, but it seemed to fit with the speed and high‐power of the cars, the cameras switching about to match the pace and rhythm. I’ll probably watch it again one of these days!

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FRANCHISE TEAMS A.C. Milan, A.S. Roma, Atlético Madrid, CR Flamengo, FC Basel, FC Midtjylland, F.C. Porto, Galatasaray S.K., Liverpool F.C., Olympiacos CFP, Olympique Lyonnais, PSV Eindhoven, Rangers F.C., R.S.C. Anderlecht, SC Corinthians, Sevilla FC, Sporting CP, Tottenham Hotspur F.C. MOTOR‐SPORT TEAMS Alan Docking Racing, Azerti Motorsport, Barazi‐Epsilon, GU‐Racing International, Hitech Racing, Reid Motorsport, Zakspeed

Once the sim loads up and you’ve created your profile, you’re greeted by a simple but functional main menu behind which a catchy song hums away: I actually quite like it, it doesn’t get tiresome too quickly, and complements the background neatly while you click around. And you will be clicking around: For those of you who have played any ISI sim before, you’ll find your way around the menus quickly enough as they follow the usual structure—for anyone else, there are textual messages explaining each button’s and link’s function when you hover the mouse‐cursor over them. While it’s pleasant to the eye, I find that having icons as menu‐links instead of simple text can be confusing at times as you struggle to memorize which image means what—as I said, you’ll be listening to the music quite a bit while you get accustomed to what each icon does.

As for the choice of teams and vehicles, the sim does what it’s meant to do—simulate all the available football (that’s soccer for our American readers—we call it football because we kick the ball with our feet whereas what you call football involves three thousand dope addicts throwing a ball at each other) club cars, with excellent paint jobs and car models.

You can tell the attention to detail that’s been put in making the 3D model of the cars as every little part is beautifully made, and the proportions seem to have been met perfectly. If CTDP aren’t our most talented mod‐team, then I don’t know who is …

I’m not a football fan, I should add, so I’m not knowledgeable about teams and players: My choice of car came down mostly to its skin, but from comparisons between the sim‐cars and the real‐world cars, I’d say the sim has got the shape, colour‐schemes, and general look spot‐on.

Once you choose your car, you then need to select two types of upgrades: One for physics, and another for season development. The two options available for physics influence the way the car handles, and are meant to satisfy both casual players, as well as hardcore sim‐racers. As specified in the description of the two options, you can safely use a keyboard or a gamepad with the ‘Easy’ setting, while the ‘Pro’ setting is meant for wheel/pedals users.

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The Force‐Feedback, sound, and driver position combine brilliantly and convincingly; you will believe you’re driving a quick formula car. Indeed, I’d go as far as to say that there are not many other sims or mods that deliver such an overall sensation of really ‘being there’

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The season upgrades reflect the changes done to the cars for each different race during the season, and since there are six races per season, you’ll get six upgrades (that’s for Alex). I didn’t notice any visual or handling differences from using the upgrades, but then I assume it would take a little longer than the week I’ve had with this sim to correctly gauge a performance enhancement. Those changes, I’d imagine, will be rather subtle, but still, kudos to ISI for using this feature.

The third option on the car selection menu is a showroom where you can view your car on full‐screen and rotate it about: It’s a nice option for video and screenshot makers, as well as people developing their car skins, or just wanting to enjoy the look of the whole car. And I imagine it also charmed the Superleague Formula owners and franchisees.

G R A G N G R ASSSTTTEEER FFA G F NG GEEETTTTTTIIIN If you’re running a test session or a single race, you’re given the choice of a track on which to conduct that session. There are six tracks available—only six—Magny Cours, Estoril, Donington, Zolder, Monza, and Jarama. In this single race mode, you’re permitted to set up the length of practice and qualifying sessions, as well as whether you want to bother with a warm up session or not. There are also two weather conditions available—sunny or overcast—and you’ll be pleased to learn that they actually do influence the temperatures on the track, both surface and ambient. I can only hope this is a tip of the hat for what we can expect in rFactor2: I know that when most think of ‘weather’, they think of rain, but really, ambient temperature has a noticeable effect on car and tyre performance.

There are also more detailed settings for race sessions, but those require you to do them through the ‘Gameplay Options’ menu where you can set either time‐based or lap‐based length of races, number of laps/minutes, time of the day when the race is held, the maximum number of opponents, flag rules, damage, wear scale, and so forth.

Once you’ve set up your preferences and the track has loaded, you’re presented with a list of drivers participating in the session along with a few buttons leading to the game options and car setup menus, as well as a chat window. You can also minimize the interface if you’d like to watch the on‐track action, too.

As a sim‐racer, I like dwelling into setups, so before I went on‐track I took a look at the ‘Garage’ menu. Its structure, I found, led to some confusion as it appears somewhat reversed to what I’m used to, and what sim‐racers will be accustomed to seeing: The most advanced settings, for instance, are accessed from the top menu buttons, while the basics lie at the bottom left. Another element that adds to the confusion is that, any time you enter the car setup menu, you’re offered the simplified version of setting‐up the car, with just four sliders controlling the aerodynamics, suspension, gear ratios, and fuel, forcing you to constantly click to the other setup sections if you want to use them.

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The setup options available, however, are considerable as one would expect from such a car and simulator as this. Gear ratios, wing angles, differential lock, brake bias, engine RPM, radiator, weight distribution, springs and shocks, ride height, camber, caster, toe—you get the picture. You’re also given information on the last measured temperature of the tyres (inner, middle, and outer edges). Additionally, you can set up the amount of fuel for your next outing, as well as plan your race strategy—namely, the number of times you intend to stop, and the fuel load you’re planning to run with each stop.

FFFA R A SSTTTIIILLLLLL R S ASSSTTTEEER After making sure to lower the default steering ratio (always have to for my wheel), I was finally ready to get on‐track. And I was in for a big surprise. The cockpit, I can report, is a wondrous place to be, both realistic and finely rendered, and not just that, but the driver’s position is low and deep, and gives you a real sense of what it’s like to be in one of these streamlined machines. For me this is one immediate tell‐tale of whether a sim or mod is taking itself seriously: The position of the driver.

If it’s way too high and not realistic, you can usually turn the thing off right there because it’ll probably just get worse from there.

The steering wheel, meanwhile, has various levels of data available on its LCDs, and some of it, I noticed, is rather useful: Personally, though, I always find it a bit distracting and awkward to drive a car when I’m seeing its steering wheel rotate ‘round on its own, so I turn it off whenever I’m in a serious race. When you do that, you will be presented with the name of the football club on the dashboard, which I suppose could be motivation while driving if you’re a fan of the team. Naturally, if you’re a Man Utd supporter, but like driving in red, you’ll have Liverpool FC in your face, and that may provoke you to committing suicide: Being a Man Utd supporter, I would naturally encourage you to do just that!

To be more objective, though, I left the steering wheel visible during my first laps at Donington (a track I know well). The deep seat position combined with the steering wheel takes up a lot of your view, and I found it difficult to be precise, or to gauge how far out my car extended. I really liked that because you have to rely on knowing the track a lot more, and enter most corners on memory alone, especially fast corners, or corners going downhill.

It’s tough driving a modern single‐seater when you’re not sitting on grandma’s pillow!

The sensation of being strapped inside a powerful single‐seater is delivered well, it really is. I came into this sim in complete ignorance as I’d never even heard of the Superleague series (nor read the Davide Rigon interview in AUTOSIMSPORT—Rigon being the series’

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A final point—and by no means as an afterthought— is the introduction of flat spots in an ISI sim. rFactor2? If you lock the tyres under braking, you will eventually flat spot the tyres and, once that happens, you’ll quickly notice the vibration, especially at high speeds, and from then on, as it is in real life, you will land up locking the tyres even more.

All of that makes the driving demanding but enjoyable and realistic

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inaugural season champion—see this link to read about the real thing), and I must confess to having been a bit surprised at the power available under my right foot! Being a bit of an onboard video junkie, I’d say these cars are comparable to early‐ and mid ‐’90s Formula One in the way the car behaves. Indeed, since both F1 and Superleague run at Monza, a direct comparison is possible: The fastest lap in F1 in 2009 was a 1:22.955, while the fastest lap in Superleague, twenty‐seven days later, was a 1:36.444: That is, almost fourteen seconds per lap slower. This gap, I assure you, is not as a result of the twelve cylinder 4.2 litre lump at the back: That thing will boot you on your way with 750BHP at 10,500RPM, which compares favourably with the new restricted F1 engines that reputedly kick out about 780BHP. The acceleration, therefore, is massive, and you can easily spin your rear tyres as the grip comes and goes (a bit too suddenly for comfort!). The car reacts well to setup changes, though, and you’ll need to get to that quickly because the default setups are sloppy, soft, loose, and feature a differential with practically no lock, which will make it extremely difficult to control your direction in corners.

I quickly went back to the garage and did the usual set‐up magic, and a minute later I was out again, but this time able to attack each corner with confidence. The feedback, I quickly discovered, is excellent; you feel each little undulation and irregularity on the track, as well as each tendency of the car to get loose. Another tip of the hat to rFactor2 perhaps? I especially liked the initial resistance on turn in, it reminded me of how it felt driving a go‐kart, and the resistance offers you plenty of feel when you’re going through the high‐speed bits. The Force‐Feedback, sound (more on that in a bit), and driver position combine brilliantly and convincingly and you will believe you’re driving a quick formula car. Indeed, I’d go as far as to say that there are not many other sims or mods that deliver such an overall sensation of really ‘being there’.

There are, however, a few problems. To begin with, the way the tyres behave past the peak of adhesion is, to my way of thinking, odd, and I suspect this is not what we’ll be seeing in rFactor2. The tyres feel authentic all the way through their grip until you push past the limit—then things get insufferable. The car seems to begin to float and slide for a bit too long, as if it’s suddenly stepped onto a different surface. And it’s not that you’re spinning around, you can still control the car, but you lose all feel for it. It hovers and moves around until you either snap completely into a spin, or regain the comfortable zone. Sadly, to be able to go really fast, you need to step into that awkward condition as often as you can, as it allows you to carry more speed into the turns. Slow bends in particular are troublesome as you can completely ‘slide’ around with the use of throttle and brake, and if you choose not to, you simply cannot go as fast. I refuse to believe a slick tyre behaves this way. Higher speed handling, however, is much better; as the aerodynamics kick in, the car is pushed to the ground, which results in a car that behaves a lot more naturally. The above‐mentioned problem is still present, though, if you happen to lose the rear‐end.

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The gearbox model, too, is something that some of you might need some time getting used to, since you can’t shift gears quickly under braking: If you do, you’ll end up locking the rear tyres. Again, this is a much‐needed feature in sims, and compliments to ISI. You’ll need to drop your revs before carefully shifting down, and that felt satisfying and realistic to me

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A final point—and by no means as an afterthought—is the introduction of flat spots in an ISI sim. rFactor2? If you lock the tyres under braking, you will eventually flat spot the tyres and, once that happens, you’ll quickly notice the vibration, especially at high speeds, and from then on, as it is in real life, you will land up locking the tyres even more. All of that makes the driving demanding but enjoyable and realistic.

Tyres aside, I really enjoyed the way the engine, drivetrain, suspension, and brakes are modelled. The torque is delivered at high revs, which can be tricky, but I suppose that’s just its characteristic. It makes it unpredictable to throttle out of slow corners, and it’s also difficult to setup the gear ratios as, unlike other sims and mods, you don’t have an infinite number of gear ratios available here. That, of course, makes sense, and I have to give ISI a

big thumbs up here: Teams don’t have a hundred cog wheels in reality, and it’s about time sims simulate reality. The gearbox model, too, is something that some of you might need some time getting used to, since you can’t shift gears quickly under braking: If you do, you’ll end up locking the rear tyres. Again, this is a much‐needed feature in sims, and compliments to ISI. You’ll need to drop your revs before carefully shifting down, and that felt satisfying and realistic to me, although I’m not used to doing it. Another addition to the realism is the lack of engine braking, even at maximum setting in the car setup menu. It makes you focus a lot more on the moment you let off the brake and step onto the throttle, because it’s too simple to carry just a bit too much speed and miss your line.

The suspension reacts to each little bump, camber, crowning, or kerb with firm belief, and it also reacts noticeably to setup changes. Combined with feedback and audio effects, you can instantly notice when something’s not right with your suspension, be it settings or damage. The shock‐absorbers and undertray bottoming out is easy to recognize as well, and that makes improvements to the setup a lot easier to accomplish. I’m not entirely sure, but I also think the sim models brake fading and brakes failure: While driving around in a race with the AI, I had my left front brake completely give up at one point. You also have to step hard on the brakes if you’re coming from higher speeds, and then modulate it as the speed decreases. Excellent stuff.

The damage model, apart from the things I mentioned, is detailed but also toned down, so you need to hit a lot of stuff to actually rip off a wheel. The body itself never gets damaged, which I’d venture to guess was part of ISI’s contractual obligations with the series’ owners, but wings and smaller body parts will detach easily in a collision. The suspension arms can also bend, as you’d expect.

SSSLLLO N W O G N W O N WN OW DO D G D NG WIIIN OW The AI, as we have come to expect from ISI, is rubbish. Since I have not been able to find anyone running this sim online (seriously, not one!), I’ve been racing the AI for a week, and I can tell you that they are aggressive, ruthless, and, erm—utterly insane. Well, to be honest, I didn’t expect anything else from the sim, but it’s still irritating whenever you race the AI. The moment you let them have a bit of road, they’ll go to the extreme to try and occupy it.

They’ll cut off your front‐end, spin you around, hit you on the side, at any speed and under any circumstances. And that’s at fifty percent aggression setting ... I really hope more people buy this sim because offline, with the AI, it’s a tragedy.

Another weird thing I noticed is that the AI is about two seconds quicker in qualifying than in the race. While I can challenge them and keep up in the race, I always end up at the back of the grid in qualifying. And as I just said, it’s not much fun trying to compete with them afterwards, though, to be fair, I did have a few good battles here and there, but that is far from the norm.

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The Panoz‐designed Superleague car is no slouch, and along with state‐of‐the‐art technology, the cars also feature underbody aero to bring the action closer: For a button‐by‐button account of the wheel, please see Vol4 Num4 which features an interview with Davide Rigon, the series’ debut‐ season champion

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The tyres feel authentic all the way through their grip until you push past the limit—then things get insufferable. The car seems to begin to float and slide for a bit too long, as if it’s suddenly stepped onto a different surface As far as the tracks are concerned, it’s a bit disappointing to have just six, but I guess, being a simulation of the Superleague Formula, it couldn’t have been otherwise. Having said that, I was expecting to say, ‘It may be just six tracks, but they are modelled extremely well’. Yeah, well, so much for wishful thinking. I will admit Donington and Monza are modelled in intimate detail, and you’ll be hard‐pressed to find any better versions of these two venues on any sim. Apart from a few corner radiuses, camber and altitude problems, both tracks seem to be spot on to me.

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As for the other four tracks, though, I’ll be polite and call them disappointing.

Magny Cours isn’t bad, as far as it goes, but it has some noticeable flaws in the layout, while Zolder, Jarama, and Estoril are simply mediocre—we’re down to what you’d get from so‐so mod‐makers. You can tell they’ve been done in a rush, and manually. Even the straights aren’t always straight, track widths are way off in places, corner radiuses vary way too much compared to the real thing, non‐existent cambers exist, and that just scratching the surface (pun perhaps intended). I’m sorry to say, but I don’t understand why, after some ten years in the business, ISI are still so inconsistent with their tracks.

Don’t get me wrong, though, visually the tracks are quite handsome and, given a few updates on how shaders are used, they would be rather pleasant to the eye. The surface reflection and textures blends nicely, offering a solid sense of speed, and the off‐side grass and gravel areas are well presented. I still get the feeling—as I always do with ISI (but that’s just me)—that it’s all a bit cartoonish, with some colours contrasting way too much and drawing away from the immersion. But since the sim doesn’t use a completely new graphics engine, one cannot expect a lot more.

One thing that I instantly did notice, though, is a massive improvement in FPS: Despite running DX9 graphics on maximum, and a full field of cars, I had a reasonable amount of FPS, something that is way beyond my current machine’s capability with either rFactor or iRacing—rFactor2?

Finally, as promised, I want to touch briefly on the sound. The sim excels in this department, it really does: The engine sound is as loud as you’d expect, and the low frequency grunt gives you the feeling of a strong power‐plant working on the limit right behind you. The TV camera view becomes a lot more believable with the combined sounds of ambient track objects and the roaring field of cars, making for enjoyable spectating or replay‐watching.

Overall, I was pleasantly surprised by Superleague Formula, and it’s definitely a sim that’s going to get its fair share of followers, I’m sure of that. The potential for close and serious racing is in there—as it is in real‐life, since the cars come with a lot of underbody aero’ to allow them to run close—and one can certainly have fun racing with other fellow sim‐racers. There’s also a lot in there that makes me think rFactor2 can’t come soon enough. All in, ISI’s first sim since rFactor—and first commercial sim since NASCAR Thunder in 2003—is a solid sim with superb Force‐Feedback, sound, and car graphics, exceptional tyre model (up until the limit), and is let down, only partially, by limited content, a couple of tired tracks, and the usual AI faults. Definitely worth its new price of US$19.99.

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All in, ISI’s first sim since rFactor—and first commercial sim since NASCAR Thunder in 2003—is a solid sim with superb Force‐ Feedback, sound, and car graphics, exceptional tyre model (up until the limit), and is let down, only partially, by limited content, a couple of tired tracks, and the usual AI faults. A steal at its new price of US$19.99

SUPERLEAGUE FORMULA 2009 WHAT IT HAS —Solid physics and tyre model provide convincing on‐ track car behavior —Season upgrades, flat‐spotting tyres, brake‐failure —Cockpit environment is top‐notch —Force‐Feedback effects are excellent —Astonishing models —Ambient weather —Mulitplayer, as you’d expect from an rFactor‐based sim, is superb

WHAT IT DOESN’T HAVE

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—Tyre model is brilliant up to the limit: After that it gets sloppy and odd —AI is poor —Only 6 tracks, two of which are fantasic, the other 4 instantly forgettable

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REVIEW SUPERCAR CHALLENGE

SUPERCAR CHALLENGE

JONDENTON BOBSIMMERMAN

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Understanding where Supercar Challenge fits into the busy marketplace of racing games is a tough proposition to wrestle with. It’s forebear, Ferrari Challenge, aimed itself at the simulation crowd, and this caused it to be unfairly lambasted for inaccessibility by the console‐journals who are, in the main, made nervous by anything that would require more than ten minutes to master with a joypad. With SC, System 3 have opted to offer a racing experience in the same mould, but with concessions to the more casual gamer.

The Ferraris make a return, but along with the thoroughbreds from Maranello, you can add to the list McLaren, Aston Martin, Corvette, Bugatti, Maserati, Pagani, Mercedes‐Benz, and Koenigsegg, and you’ll agree that things look promising for some high speed Supercar action. It’s pleasing, in this day and age, to see a console‐racer that doesn’t force you into hours of racing a Toyota Prius before offering cars that are worth your phenomenal talent. It does give an edge of, ‘in at the deep end’, though, and some of the first cars you will be driving have over 600BHP! Whilst the vehicle roster of forty‐four cars seems low compared to the boundless showrooms of some console‐racers, there is an argument to say that less cars of higher quality is preferable to fifteen different types of Fiesta.

This soon sees you heading to the tutorial sections where ‘Fifth Gear’s’ Tiff Needell doles out advice or tells you what an arse you are depending on what you’re up to. It gives a good chance to play around with the physics model a bit, and learn how to control the cars.

The vehicle dynamics feel tight; you are dealing with very stiff cars, and the weight transfer feels very fast but effective. This causes one to have to take a delicate touch to the

controller as you coax these rather big, fast cars around the world’s circuits. It’s difficult to judge understeer, as there is no real feedback from a control stick, but once you learn to work within the tyre’s envelope, the driving experience becomes immensely satisfying.

Oversteer can bite hard, though, until you’ve really got a feel for the car, and the snappy nature of these powerful mid‐engine cars seems to all too easily overweigh the tyre model.

Whilst the slip is manageable with good throttle work, it tends to feel like it breaks away a bit too easily for a car on tarmac with rubber tyres.

Nonetheless, the cars feel nice to drive once you’ve adapted to the sensitivity of the controls, and sometimes you can find yourself heading out for a few open laps in a time trial just to enjoy the feel of the cars at tracks like Spa, Silverstone, and the ’Ring.

To help drivers, there are a number of configurable driver aids which can make the use of a joypad more enjoyable, though drivers are encouraged to learn their way without them eventually. When running a car with full traction control, ABS, and stability control, I ran slower laptimes than with all of the above on their minimum settings: It was trickier, but it was faster, and it’s the way things should be.

While enjoying the delicacy of the driving experience is an engaging task, the progress through the game is less so, and the series of races one is forced to take part in maintain a feeling of ‘grind’, primarily on the basis that the AI are so poor.

AI has been discussed before on these pages, and all too often the conclusion is met that it is a dying art. The continual upward rise of online racing left this technology behind years ago, but coupled with the fact that so many people now race online is the fact that racers have grown so used to racing with real people, that AI cannot hope to compete.

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However, in this case some work is needed; the AI race line‐astern, and if one is behind you, then you can just about rest assured they won’t try and overtake you, even if you get a black flag penalty.

Of course, once you’re lulled into thinking you are safe from attack, then the chances are you’re about to get rear‐ended!

If by now you’re not thinking of the AI as your best friends, you’ll subsequently be greeted with the shock that they are obscenely fast, making progress through the ‘game’ element tough. I could use the term ‘frustration’ to best explain how one feels when you’ve just retried a race for the sixth time and still failed. It’s a good job these controllers are sturdy.

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What this naturally leads to is for the experienced sim‐racer to use the single player component simply as a tool to unlock cars and tracks, then exclusively race online. Whilst the online component of SC, much like its predecessor, is solid and well‐populated, it would still be nice to feel more part of the single player game.

What’s also important to remember is the initial point about accessibility. As an experienced sim‐racer, I tend to find no real trouble with picking up a racing game or sim and finding my way with it reasonably quickly. Whilst it took only a few laps to feel comfortable with SC’s edgy driving model for me, the learning curve seems very steep for a potential first timer.

This reminds me of the review Fabrice gave to Ferrari Challenge last year, where he spoke about a sim‐racer’s need for ‘time off’.

Not time off racing, you understand, but time away from the hardcore sims, time on the sofa, time relaxing, driving something that doesn’t necessarily take one‐hundred percent of your concentration.

SC will have you focussed, don’t think otherwise, you need to pay attention, and the speed of the AI means it takes that focus to be running up at the front. Finding the pace you need is not the work of a moment, and more and more time in the car rewards as you gather a fuller feel for its foibles.

In this respect, this makes it not the ideal game for the totally casual gamer since it requires skill and patience to get up to speed, and whilst it doesn’t reflect the ‘almost full time job’ nature of some hard core PC sims, it’s also some way away from ‘pick up and play’.

But this doesn’t mean it is a lost bottle lapping at the azure beach of the racing genre.

The level of simulation is such that the real person this is aimed at is the casual simmer.

Someone who wants a full and challenging driving experience that doesn’t patronise them, but also doesn’t require a mechanical engineering degree.

SC is a well rounded product that offers a solid online racing experience and a very tricky offline component; it takes a while to feel the nuances of the physics engine, but when you do, dancing these quick cars on the limit of adhesion becomes a joy.

The graphics are gorgeous, with rich, detailed tracks and stunning, shiny supercars. The sounds are gloriously delightful (woe are your poor neighbours), and the presentation is divine. Sadly, SC is let down by poor AI and a steep learning curve. But what does it all come down to, for the sim‐racer and AUTOSIMSORT magazine reader?

Ten laps around Spa with a Maserati MC12 is worth the price on the box alone. And that’s before you mount your G25 to the PS3.

Yes, there’s rain, and yes, it’s tough …

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CCA ARR LLIISSTT

CCA ARR LLIISSTT

Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Chevrolet Corvette C6.R Ferrari Enzo Ferrari 330 P4 Koenigsegg CCX Maserati MC12 McLaren F1 Mercedes‐Benz SLR McLaren Mercedes Benz SLR McLaren Stirling Moss Pagani Zonda F Ferrari F430 Challenge Ferrari FXX Ferrari California Ferrari F50 GT Ferrari 250 GTO Ferrari 575 GTC Ferrari 575M Maranello Ferrari 333 SP Ferrari F365 GTB/4 Comp Ferrari 248 TB Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa Ferrari 250 LM Ferrari F550 GT Maranello Ferrari F550 Maranello Ferrari F360 GT Ferrari F360 Moderna Ferrari F355 Berlinetta Ferrari 512S Ferrari F512M Ferrari F355 Challenge Ferrari F430 GT2 Ferrari F348 Challenge Ferrari F40

Ferrari F50 Ferrari GTO Ferrari F365 GTS/4 Ferrari F430 Scuderia Ferrari F430 Spider Ferrari F512M 94 Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano Ferrari 612 Scaglietti Ferrari 612 System 3

TTRRA ACCK K LLIISSTT Mugello Circuit Paul Ricard Circuit Auto Club Speedway and Infield as California Speedway Misano World Circuit Circuit Mont‐Tremblant Nürburgring GP track Silverstone Circuit and Southern and National Homestead‐Miami Speedway Circuit de Spa‐Francorchamps Autodromo Nazionale Monza Circuit Gilles Villeneuve as Redwood Park Infineon Raceway Riviera Hockenheim Circuit ACI Vallelunga Circuit Virginia International Raceway Silverstone National Homestead‐Miami Speedway Oval and Infield Sports Mugello Infineon Sprint Southern Silverstone .

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SUPERCAR CHALLENGE WHAT IT HAS —Tremendous physics and tyre model —Weather —Great graphics —Mulitplayer is brilliant; 16 online, well‐populated servers makes for arguably the best online console sim —Great cars, and not a Prius in sight!

WHAT IT DOESN’T HAVE —AI: Well it has it, but it’s terrible —Offline game element can feel like a bit of a chore —For someone looking for a bit of a ‘soft’ time, this baby will sting you—it requires focus with not a Ford in sight! …

The graphics are gorgeous, with rich, detailed tracks and stunning, shiny supercars. The sounds are gloriously delightful (woe are your poor neighbours), and the presentation is divine. The physics are top‐notch, and the cars as advertised—super. Sadly, SC is let down by poor AI and a steep learning curve

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REVIEW FORZA MOTORSPORTS 3

BOBSIMMERMAN

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Ravenous for the follow up to the excellent Forza 2, the past two years have been a long wait indeed for fans of this XBOX 360 exclusive, a technological marvel that features around 400 cars and enough tracks and layouts to provide for something around 100 different racing tracks.

Featuring an all new physics engine, interface, and, for the first time, in‐car environments, Forza 3 appears to be the leap over Forza 2 as Forza 2 was over Forza and, well, you understand ... as do, no doubt, those chaps in Japan, you know the ones …

Microsoft’s XBOX 360, despite some early teething problems (no wonder the tooth fairy is broke!), has emerged as the dominant console when compared to the other natively High Definition Next Generation Console Gaming System PS3 (the Wii was still selling a million units per second, last time I looked, but it is considered as ‘last gen’…), at least in terms of the sheer number of game offerings, as well as sales numbers to this point. Granted, the PS3 was released a year later, but at a price point many found unmentionable, much less palatable.

These two systems are, in some ways, like the old movie studios of lore: Both have their own ‘stars’ known to us as franchise players—the Halo Series, and the Gears of War series are both examples of true gaming mega‐hits, stars that do more than just sell games, they shift fortunes. Easily slotting into the category of superstar, the Forza Motorsport series has been an XBOX staple since the first one launched on the original XBOX system in 2005 as Microsoft’s reply to the PS3’s hit, Gran Turismo.

The original Forza featured telemetry, damage, and, according to Popular Science in a 2005 article, ‘Race against Reality’ by (then) assistant editor Joe Brown, ‘Depending on the type of car and its number of parts, anywhere from 3,750 to 9,375 variables influence the way the car drives {…} every piece of the engine that spins carries its own inertia and resists forward acceleration in proportion to its size, weight, and rotational speed.’ Impressive. I have no idea how many variables are being taken into account every 360 cycles/second of the physics engine, but the polygon count alone is now ten times that of Forza 2, so I’ll go out on a limb and guess that the physics have undergone a major overhaul as well.

With around sixty hours of game play if you follow the career path alone, Forza 3 presents a level of depth seldom seen on any gaming platform: Toss in the fact that virtually every car is unlocked from the onset for driving in races or solo during hot lap sessions, and you immediately get the sense that Turn 10 are not only on a creative plateau right now, they’re also pretty confident about their new sim. Turn 10 has managed to give this mega‐sim the look, sound, and feel of a purposeful‐built study simulator: They’ve done a Charlize Theron, but without the ugly make‐up.

This confidence is impressive when you consider what lies in wait: Polyphony Digital, who are about to unleash a new demo of what has been the sim on the console for a decade now, has acquired NASCAR licensing in addition to what looks an awful lot like … damage … for Gran Turismo 5. Well north of forty‐five million units sold, the Gran Turismo series is to the PlayStation what Forza 3 is to the XBOX: These sims don’t just compete against themselves—these are sims that sell systems, not thick and juicy third party game companion strategy guides. On their shoulders stand the expectations of their employees, the fortunes of mega‐corporations Microsoft, and Sony, the hopes and aspirations of tens of millions of investors, and an industry worth a billion dollars a year. Wars have been fought for significantly less …

The opening salvo of the Battle of Next Gen saw the generals in Redmond employ a familiar tactic: Strike early and mercilessly. They released their platform a full year before the PlayStation 3 despite what many believe to have been a system not quite ready for primetime: The tactic— despite the negative press and broken units—worked. Now they’re throwing in Forza 3 before GT5 in the hope that Turn 10 have created something so special that punters will not bother waiting to compare with GT5: Something so juicy that the temptation to get an XBOX360 and Forza 3 will prove irresistible. So have they succeeded? Let’s find out …

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First Impressions Forza Motorsports 3 comes on two disks: Additionally, there is a code for additional downloadable content (DLC) that can be had at a cost of free. Purchasers of the Limited Edition, meanwhile, are treated to several specially‐tuned and painted cars from manufacturers such as Nissan (Forza Motorsport NSX), Audi (Forza Motorsport R8 5.2 FSI Quattro), and Ferrari (430 Scuderia), to name three of the seven cars in total. Some cars are only to be found in the Auction House (more on that later), a Mazda RX‐7 Spirit R Type‐A, and a Subaru Impreza S204.

Once you’ve installed (I’d stick the second disk on the hard‐drive if you have space), you’re given instruction and guidance through a series of cut‐scenes and spoken information which will lead you to your first race. Similar to SHIFT’s ‘game companion’, and comparable in quality—non‐intrusive, accent is different, but the intent is the same—the idea is make you feel more a part of the game world, and less a part of the real one. However, there was one time I sort of freaked out—as you install the second disk, the calm, accented voice informs you that it will, ‘… be a few moments …’, and I heard it incorrectly, thinking he said ‘… it will be a few months …’ Other than that misunderstanding, I had no problems with the guy.

Your career will begin in the 2010 Audi R8 5.2 FSI Quattro, on the track, ready to mix it up. Following this first race—a mainly scripted affair to get your feet wet—you will be able to pick your first car and begin your Forza Motorsport 3 career. You will have several choices for your first car: Don’t expect to have the option of choosing a 550 Maranello, though. That said, there’s no need to panic, either, because you will find that your career will progress quickly, and that’s a good thing—with over sixty hours of game play in this mode alone, at nearly 220 events, there really is a serious amount of racing and upgrading. Further, once you do finish the game, you can restart in the sure knowledge that you can expect a completely different pathway through the career—a nice deviation from the ‘find and grind’ console racing games all too often provide.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves: your first car pick will be from one of the following:

—2009 Ford Fiesta Zetec S —2008 Toyota Yaris S —2009 Nissan Versa SL —2009 Honda Fit Sport —2009 Scion xD —2009 Citroen C4 VTS

All fine cars, but certainly not the exotic supercars we hardcore types love to start off with. Not to worry, though, as this version of Forza is meant to please us as it provides, from the very beginning, a free‐play mode that has virtually every car available in the game unlocked and ready to drive. In fact, for the purposes of this review, I spent most of my time in this mode, simply because it would have taken a slow guy like me months to save up the money to buy a Porsche LMP type car for a Sebring outing. I think this was a brilliant decision on the part of Turn 10, and I thank them for doing this. Any time you wish, you can jump right back into the career mode and race to the end.

It has been so long now that I have forgotten which car I picked, but I will never forget the first race in it. With the AI set to ‘Easy’, I was hoping for some rather quick and simple game play. There I was, floundering in third place or so, when all of a sudden the leader came to a corner … and kept going straight, crashing head first and hard into a barrier.

Further, his car rolled completely over!

I had known that Forza 3 would provide for that elusive ‘rollover moment’, but never expected it to actually look as real as it did. Incredible! Now, I have no idea why the guy just drove off the track, we weren’t going that fast, but he did, and I got an eyeful of one of many of Forza 3’s offerings not to be found in other games of the series … through a fully detailed cockpit! For the first time, the user is presented the choice of racing from a fully‐functional car interior that features some thirty plus layers of animation working together to provide a lively and immersive cockpit environment.

Inside you will find a working steering wheel complete with driver hands, speedometer, tachometer, odometer, gas gauge, and more. Shortly after release, a patch was included to animate the gear change, so don’t be surprised when your virtual driver’s hands leave the wheel; he’s not changing the radio or taking a photo, but putting the car into the proper gear in synchronization with what you are doing in reality. I couldn’t be happier with this new addition, and no doubt this level of detail led to the necessity for more than one disk as each car’s cockpit is modeled accurately and precisely.

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Soon, raw talent took over and I won the race. Again, I was playing on Easy mode. There are two other modes, Medium and Hard, but they might as well be called Hard and Don’t Even Bother because, as you may have already read, or heard elsewhere, the AI difficulty settings go from super easy to alien tough with not much granularity in between. Instead of a hard‐coded three level AI setting, it would have been nice to have seen a slider of some sort, to really tune in the competition levels. On the good news side, they did not seem too blunder prone, but with an eight car cap, it is easy to get away from the boneheads out there. The AI is not great—Jon Denton makes the point elsewhere in this magazine that perhaps we have become so accustomed to racing humans that AI as a concept is no longer viable—but they do provide for a challenge, make no mistake about that.

Driving the Game, Game Pad, MS Wheel, Fanatec Reference Naturally since you’re reading this magazine you care about one thing above all others: Bob, I hear you say, how does the thing drive? In the interests of being thorough it was necessary to play first with the game pad, since, as we know, ninety percent of all users will be taking this option. It is, after all, a console game. But there is one thing to keep in mind when you are using the gamepad; you are not actually using ‘all’ of the game, so to speak. More on this concept can be found in the excellent interview with Turn 10’s Dan Greenwalt in these pages, which you ought to go read now before continuing here, since he gives a fascinating explanation on how the gamepad has been customized.

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Forza 3 is a simulator, designed as a simulator, and, as such, if you were to be directly connected to the full on simulator magic behind the mirror, odds are the gamepad experience would be a bad one, or, at the very least, extremely difficult. Turn 10’s intuitive‐ based design sees the gamepad offering sharp, precise, crisp control—an amazing job of integrating an incredibly detailed simulation model to a rather simple input device. In fact, I am fairly certain that it would be little trouble playing an entire career mode with just the gamepad. However, some of the races later in the career can be quite lengthy, so there will be a tradeoff eventually, a point where it would make sense for the serious player to grab onto some sort of round control device.

MS Wheel Play Wheel control is ultra sharp out of the box. In comparison to SHIFT, Forza requires no wheel adjustment of any kind and felt damn near perfect in terms of pure steering control. No drift, no slop, smooth and sharp on the wheel works just as well on Forza as it does on any console‐ or PC ‐ simulator; the quality integration of a wheel controller with the game is reminiscent of the brilliantly implemented Logitech Driving Force GT with Gran Turismo 5: Prologue.

The tyre model is excellent, properly conveying the forces exerted on the contact patch, and featuring a fully‐modeled cold/warm/let’s get it on temperature cycle, as well as properly attended tyre deformation. Forza is clearly intended to simulate with a high level of accuracy. Not as forgiving as the brilliant SHIFT model, with all of the aids turned off, Forza can be a handful, and Turn 10 are not going to give you any artificial slip‐angles at the limit: When you go over that limit with your aids off, you are going off and will be in need of first aid. Turn 10 worked closely with Michelin during development of the tyre model, and it proves to be as intricate, detailed, and complex as any to be found on the PC. Scoff if you must, hardcore‐Johnny, scoff all you want, but that’s just the way of the beast.

The tracks have bumps modeled on their surfaces, but the FFB with the Microsoft Force‐ Feedback wheel seemed on the wrong side of weak. The tracks didn’t feel billiard‐table‐like as in Forza 2, but clearly they are not up to the modeling levels found in GT5 Prologue, or the recently released NFS SHIFT. Well, not on the MS Wheel anyway.

Strangely enough, if you hold onto the wheel while using the rewind function—a backwards ‘travel in time’ that works in five second intervals with each press of the button (don’t ask, it’s for the gamepad warriors)—the force on the wheel feels approximately two to three times greater than that which is found while driving in the proper direction. In other words, it actually feels like the sort of Force‐Feedback we might find on a PC simulator—but only in reverse! Remember when you used to play your records in reverse and hear the devil’s voice? Well, here we have something similar: When you go into reverse time, you see the pure evil of the MS Wheel.

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As a test, I got into, started, and backed up my 2008 Pontiac G6 down the slope of my driveway to get the mail, and then back up again, and felt more forces in that wheel— driving at two miles per hour in a straight line—than I did in a LMP at Sebring in Forza 3 using the Microsoft wheel. Same thing with the beginning of the video segment for this issue’s video preview, filmed at about thirty five miles per hour on a recently graded dirt road.

I don’t want to get into why the XBOX has such a paltry array of steering devices available to it. I’ll just say this: If Microsoft is so determined to produce its own hardware for the XBOX, would it really be asking too much for them not to make their one and only steering input device the biggest heap of junk known to man? Please? Really, it makes— no—sense.

I say this because I then ran this baby on the Fanatec 911 wheel and, to summarise because this review is far too long as it is, there is no comparison at all. It was as if I’d just bought a new game—for more details, go read my review on the Fanatec wheel in this issue.

Suffice to say—Force‐Feedback in Forza 3 is magnificent, the tracks feel great (while not on iRacing level, they are still brilliant), and the sensation of the cars in your hands thrilling. (I should also add, dear reader, that burning the MS Wheel is to give it a death it does not deserve: Dismantling it and beating every single one of its little components with a hammer before burning each and every one individually, well that’s probably still too good a death for this plastic wheel of misery.)

Cars and Parts It wouldn’t be a Forza game without the ability to upgrade and/or customize your car, and Forza 3 really shines here. You will need to be able to properly adjust the tuning and performance of your car in order to rise to the top of you class. There are eleven classes in total, each with an associated ‘Performance Index’. These classes can range from your rather sedate Class F, with a PI of 100‐200 (an example being the Alfa Romeo MiTo), all the way to the fire breathing Class X, with a PI of 1000‐plus—rarified air indeed that involves tweaking an R1 car (PI of 901‐999) just a bit beyond its already manic performance. In addition, you can do more than just ‘upgrade’ cars; you can literally build some extremely radical creations. Very cool indeed.

If you aren’t the sort who likes to fiddle with this sort of thing (which makes one wonder why you’re even playing the sim!), before each and every race you enter, you are provided with an automatic upgrade option that will take your available cash and automatically tweak your car to the optimum value without putting you out of that class. I have tried this several times and it works quite well; the game will use your money wisely, efficiently, and thoroughly—sort of like a Wall Street investment bank, except opposite. And, so far, I have yet to see a glitch of the sort where your Class C Honda NSX‐4, for example, is bumped out of the race you are about to start. However, it is easy for you to do such a thing, so be careful when performing the upgrades that you do not upgrade you car out of the current series of events you are participating in. This build‐tune aspect is the meat and bones of the series, and it has taken some big leaps since Forza 2 with all manner of improvements now possible: gear‐heads are going to love the accessibility and sheer range of options here.

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G D M O A G M DEEESSS MEEE M OD AM MO GA MULTIPLAYER In addition to a basic single‐player career, Forza allows you to go online and test your mettle against eight opponents. Yes, eight is a bit sad, especially since—statistically—six will be racing on their sim‐roof, seven will be kids under fourteen, and eight will be in an Israeli‐tuned narcotic‐fuelled rage in Mom’s basement—but there it is, that’s what the world of console is about. Additionally, other than simple racing, the kids need all sorts of bizarre things to do online, and, for the purposes of my own amusement (and I hope yours), here’s what you can do online.

Custom: From here, you can setup a race of your choosing.

Single Race: Standard fare, standard race, specific number of laps.

Timed Race: Rather than a specific number of laps, you will race until the timer runs out. Twenty‐four hours is always fun—let’s see that joystick‐wielding potty‐mouthed youf keep it up for an entire day and night!

Point to Point: As the name implies, as opposed to a circuit event, you will be racing from one point to the next.

What the point is, however, is another matter.

Drag: For those fans of drag racing, start here to setup your race at the Sedona Raceway venue. Quarter mile or one‐eighth of a mile events are available. A first for the series, it’s actually great fun to compare your souped‐up hotrod with others—think 1950s bad‐boy movies and don’t forget the ferret smile, greasy hair, wifebeater T and black leather jacket.

Drift: Best drifter wins! Pretty much self‐explanatory, and will require some time, effort, and patience to get just right. As you master this style of driftimg, a quick left press of the D pad brings up the ‘Drift meter’, an indicator as to how many ‘drifting points’ you have gained on a corner by corner, lap, and overall basis. Not my cup of tea, personally, but for those who are into this sort of thing, you will not be disappointed as the tyre model in Forza 3 allows one to become quite proficient at such a thing. But beware—unlike other games more tuned to the arcade side, if you have tyre wear enabled, well, the tyres will eventually wear out as we all know drifting can be rather hard on those rubber things (I’m looking at you, Alex) … oh, I just had a thought—isn’t drifting big in Japan?

Multi‐Class: Great for those who wish to replicate Le Mans; this type of race will have two classes racing independently of one another.

Tag and variants: As the name implies, in the simplest version, ‘Pass the It’ (stop giggling at the back!), you have to tag any other player, and after tagging, you have a few seconds to get away so that you are not immediately tagged back. The serious hardcore sim‐racer may be shaking their head about now, but for those who are into fun gameplay will love this mode, and I suspect it will be an Alex favorite. There are several variations to the basic tag, including Virus, my personal favorite, where, once you get tagged, you join those who have been tagged before you as a bunch of ‘its’ and try to chase down the remaining non‐‘infected’ drivers. Last one tagged wins!

Cat and Mouse: Separated into teams of one slow car/one fast car, the goal is for the faster car drivers to get the slower car drivers—think pushing and defending—across the finish line first. Hugely entertaining after a bong in Mom’s basement.

Elimination: In addition to the various online racing types, the customization of those online sessions is as extensively detailed as anything you will find on the PC. Of course, all of your online exploits will be tracked by that massive database known as ‘Leader boards’. Competition occurs in several different categories including

Tuner, Graphic Artist, Designer, Photographer, as well as the expected racing categories.

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G M A G D O M MEEE M AM GA DEEESSS OD MO SINGLE PLAYER Your single‐player career paths will develop along with the following options.

Testing: These races require the least in terms of prerequisites, and usually take place on the easier tracks and/or layouts offered in the game. Just right for getting your feet wet, but not too wet.

Amateur: A bit more of a challenge than the Testing races, at this type of event you can expect some stiffer competition and some more challenging venues, but, again, as an Amateur event, don’t expect to be challenged too hard.

Manufacturer: As the name implies, you will be joined on track by cars of the same manufacturer. You will need a specific car at a specific level to be eligible for these events.

Semi‐Pro: Events that are horsepower‐limited, with class and year restrictions in place. Difficulty, as you may imagine, gets a bump as well.

Professional: Predominantly races where everyone is in the same car, putting an emphasis on skill as opposed to the baddest horse on the block. Class range from F to R1.

Speedway:For you oval guys, this is the place to be!

Drag Race: No, you don’t need strange outfits from the other, fairer gender, but you do need a quick reaction time and a car glued to the track to get the jump on your opponent. Quarter mile or eighth mile distances only.

Closed Course: Including several difficult events, you will find point to point and rally races here.

Endurance: Multiple laps and on the ‘longish’ side, make sure your seat is comfortable because you are going to be here for a while.

Championship: The ultimate in driver glory, top class AI, top class tracks, and top class competition are the norm.

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Setup Screens Let’s face it, without setup options, it is hard to call a sim a sim. Forza 3 has setup options galore; caster, camber, ride height, gearing, toe, rebound stiffness, springs, anti‐roll bars … the list goes on, exactly what you would expect from a game touting itself as a simulator.

Further, like any simulator worth its salt, your setup changes will make a difference, and it is here that the detailed telemetry and analysis system comes into play. If you are worried about your latest camber change, get in your car, hit the track in question, drive a few laps with the telemetry (selected by an upward tap on the ‘D’ pad) and watch it display live … yikes, welcome to the new century!

Like its predecessor, Forza 3 offers a detailed telemetry system and overlay screen that is available in real‐time, or while watching a replay. Unobtrusive, it can be turned on while

driving for instantaneous feedback and is presented in such a way so as to not interfere with the task at hand (namely, not killing yourself).

Featuring an extensive re‐ design in terms of appearance, the system provides a vast amount of information, from a basic display that includes throttle, brake pedal, and wheel position in addition to RPM and instantaneous readouts of power and torque levels, to a real‐time display of body acceleration. An absolute must for perfecting your setup, or a pleasant diversion for those interested in what the suspension may be doing while driving through a gravel trap.

Not to mention an indispensible guide to deciding how next to tune your car.

Tracks, Sound, And Environment There are around 100 course layouts to race on with notables such as Laguna Seca, Sebring, and the full length Nordschleife, and when you figure in the alterations to these layouts, as well as the beautifully done fictional tracks, you will find plenty of places to fall in love with.

Populated by lush scenery and cheering crowds, the trackside environment is far from sparse. You will also note, while driving, the excellent sounds afforded by each car. I was not able to test on a full blown Dolby 5.1 sound system, but the neighbors called the police several times as my stereo and subwoofer system provided plenty of auditory information.

About the only change I made in the newly‐designed interface regarding sounds was to make sure there was no on‐track music—yeah, I’m getting old, I guess, and I’m finding it difficult to navigate the ’Ring in a 998BHP Bugatti listening to ‘I Will Survive’.

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Convincing track surface textures and appearance round out the well done tracks, and you will find them much bumpier than the too‐smooth tarmacs of Forza 2. Sebring in an LMP car with the Fanatec comes to mind here. As good as iRacing? No. But plenty good enough.

The ‘Storefront’ is fresh face in the series, and offers a virtual place to buy and sell tuning setups, designs, vinyl groups, photos, and replays. If you wish, you can rate the work of others, a statistical marker that will appear on the Leader boards. In the case of tuning setups, you can employ an extensive filtering system that will allow you to quickly seek out a particular setup for a particular car at a particular track. I am certainly no painter, so this has some appeal to me, and though I am happy with the default setups and a few of my own strange adjustments, I really enjoy trying the setups of others. Of course, this will cost you game credits, but if you are a setup guru, you could become quite wealthy! Well, in game terms that is. Content that is transferred

through the Storefront is protected in such a way that the buyer cannot alter, or resell, the original creators work. Nice touch.

Forza 3 is also unique in that you can access your in‐game activities online through the Forza 3 website where you can check achievements, purchase content, monitor how much content you have already purchased, and so forth, a handy feature for those who absolutely have to know how they are coming along in Forza. Regardless how you use it, it is yet another feature tossed onto the pile of an already feature‐rich game. A final notable is the return of the Auction House, albeit with a facelift.

As you wait for the next event to load, you will notice randomly presented facts concerning all things automobile. For example, I learned that, at one time, Ford manufactured fifty‐five percent of all cars present on the planet at the time, a record that has never been bested. What it didn’t say is that it must have been a sad time indeed for car owners! These blurbs are nothing you need to play the game, but they do make the longish load times a bit easier to deal with.

Coming To A Head In all honesty, this review could have easily been twice as long, but we are late, broke, and angry at each other due to the pressure of the deadline falling around two holidays; my meds stopped working a week ago (I’m on Israeli‐manufactured generics), and we all know what that can be like, and I think we are all just flat wiped‐out and ready to try again next year, but it has been an absolute pleasure to review this game.

So let’s call it a wrap. Turn 10 has pulled out all the stops, and given the console crowd the best racing car game eva. Move on kids. For the rest … for the sim‐racers, things are a bit more complicated.

What we have is the most elaborate tyre model ever conceived and created on the console, and one that far outweighs the majority of PC‐based sims right now. The physics, meanwhile, are astounding, the feedback—that is, what you feel through your Fanatec wheel—sublime. The range of cars is incredible, and while we can argue on the authenticity of 400 cars (as opposed to one iRacing car developed over the course of a year), you won’t be sitting there thinking, ‘this car is just plain wrong’: Automagic works. The new tune‐up, upgrade options for this iteration is also a fabulous addition (or is that addiction) to Forza 3, and gear‐heads will no doubt be spending their Christmas holidays dreaming up what can be done to their stock rides with transmissions, tyres, engines, and so forth.

At its core, Forza 3 is a full‐blown offline simulator, and an absolute classic of the genre: And the hardcore sim‐racer will by no means feel out of place spending many months in its vice‐ (as in addiction) like‐grip.

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SSSTTTR R A G Y G U D B R D R O N RA ATTTEEEG GY Y G GU UIIID DEEE,,, B BR RIIIEEEFFF D DEEESSSCCCR RIIIPPPTTTIIIO ON N Sadly, the days of the thick and juicy game manual are long gone, especially for console offerings since not even an on‐disk .PDF can be of use. Enter the strategy guide.

Personally, I am a big fan of these things, the hardcover Fallout 3 strategy guide quickly comes to mind as a must‐have item for those who want to know every nook and cranny that the game has to offer. Written by James Mazurek and published by Prima Games, the Forza 3 guide covers the sim from start to finish. Detailed and extremely pleasing on the eye, the book is the ideal complement to the game. Some of the driving tips and setup discussion will be old‐hat for veterans of the sim‐racing genre, but for those new guys and gals, a bit of careful study will make a noticeable difference on the track.

Further, considering the paltry manual that ships with the game, the companion guide describes in great detail all of the new and enhanced features of the sim, as well as a description of each track, each layout, and many of the cars as well—some manufacturers chose not to participate in the guide, so a complete list is not provided, but what there is is plenty to chew on.

The strategy guide also provides a checklist of career events, a handy item to have as you progress your way through the sixty‐odd hours of single player career mode. For a guy like me who lives on books, it is the perfect addition, but it does tack on another twenty dollars in addition to the sixty for the game.

One of my favorite features of the guide is the section that lists the weight savings of the various wheels you can install. This used to drive me insane, paging through endless wheel options for each manufacturer until I found the one that gave the greatest weight savings. With all of them listed, you can narrow your search rather quickly. If you are planning on purchasing the Forza Motorsports 3 Limited Edition, Appendix G gives a brief overview of the Limited, VIP, and Unicorn (found only in the Auction House) cars.

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FORZA MOTORSORTS 3 WHAT IT HAS —Top notch tyre model, detailed physics model, each car modeled differently, fully‐functional damage model —Cockpits are detailed, and provide the ultimate in immersion —Graphically pleasing, with a 1280x720p native resolution, the upscale to 1080p is a treat —100 plus tracks and layouts, sharp graphics, 400 cars —Vast career mode covering sixty plus hours —Upgrades and tuning options galore —Virtually every car offered in the game is playable in free play mode

WHAT IT DOESN’T HAVE —Still limited to eight cars on track—offline and on —When played with the ‘official’ Microsoft FFB, too much of Forza’s brilliance is left on the table

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What we have is the most elaborate tyre model ever conceived on the console, and one that far outweighs the majority of PC‐based sims right now. The physics, meanwhile, are astounding, the feedback—that is, what you feel through your Fanatec wheel—sublime. The range of cars is: Automagic works. The astounding new tune‐up, upgrade options for this iteration is also a fabulous addition (or is that addiction) to Forza 3, and gear‐heads will no doubt be spending their Christmas holidays dreaming up what can be done to their stock rides with transmissions, tyres, engines, and so forth

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EnduRacers

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The aptly‐named EnduRacers’ mod team have endured and finally released, right at the tail‐end of rFactor’s natural life, what Magnus Tellbom believes is easily the mod of the year—if not the most perfect mod ever created … here’s why …

MAGNUSTELLBOM

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And finally it was released. The first bunch of cars in the ‘Endurance Series’ mod by EnduRacers came to us as a gift from heaven and landed on our hard drives like a 662 megabyte golden brick. Three years in the making, it boasts breathtaking models, blazing paint‐schemes, and sounds as crisp as a morning breeze in the fall. And then, if you’re

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among the many who believe the physics to be nigh on perfect, what you have is the purest and most technically gifted of any mod ever created for rFactor.

And with that, this review should have ended. Except that some on AUTOSIMSPORT weren’t convinced; Magnus, they said, how can you say this is the greatest mod ever

created for rFactor? Mod of the year? Better than this and that—Magnus you’re crazy, Magnus ...

Yes, yes, too much nagging, especially since some of them (Alex) wouldn’t know an LMP from an ADD. Which means that, on direct instructions from our little dictator, I must now not only explain why this mod is so special, but also delve, for a moment, into what makes up an endurance‐car grid.

P1 There are two major series, and one special event, that feature four classes of cars on track at the same time, and which, collectively, make up what we know as endurance racing: These are the Le Mans Series (LMS), the American Le Mans Series (ALMS), and, naturally, the special 24 Hours of Le Mans. In these series, and event, the cars are divided into four categories, and they are in order of (theoretical) performance, LMP1, LMP2, GT1, and GT2.

LMP is short for ‘Le Mans Prototype’ and is often just shortened down to a single ‘P’. LMP1 or P1 is the fastest class with purpose‐built cars that push about 700BHP. In this class you will find cars like the legendary Audi R10, Peugeot 908, Pescarolo, and Lola. In the LMP2 or P2 class, you will find, again, prototypes with slightly less horsepower than the P1s, about 500BHP—think Porsche RS‐Spyder, Zytec, and Courage. Both these classes are designated ‘P’ for prototypes, and that means the cars are one‐off models which, in years past, would sport some incredible designs but have, of late, become rather similar‐ looking—at least to the untrained eye: Those who know their endurance racing can spot the difference between two cars a kilometer away on the Mulsanne Straight.

The GT1 class, meanwhile, features cars like the Corvette C6, Aston Martin DBR9, Lamborghini, and Saleen.

A few years back you would find classics like the Ferrari 550, the Dodge Viper, and the Lister Storm in this class, but the world recession has seen the GT1 grid lose many of its

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major manufacturers, which, while bad news for GT1, has been of enormous benefit for GT2 where you will find the ever‐present Porsche 997 doing battle with the Ferrari 430, and, added to the spice, the odd Spyker, BMW, Panoz, and Aston Martin Vantage. All in all, the GT2 class usually offers the best and closest racing for the spectator, with large fields sporting closely matched performance.

These four classes race in what we call endurance racing—which is precisely not sprint racing (for Alex). The idea is to cover as long a distance as possible over a set time, ranging between one hour forty minutes (ALMS at Long Beach, 2009), and up to the full twenty‐four hours of Le Mans.

Admittedly since the glory days about half a century ago that saw full works Ferraris and Porsches do battle with Steve McQueen at the wheel, or, a little earlier, when Ferrari were forced to do battle against the tiny upstart Shelby and his colossal Cobras, endurance racing’s star has waned. But that lack of popularity (Le Mans aside) does not mean the racing has become any less spectacular— although spectacular here means having an understanding of what it takes to win these epic races. Half the thrill is to see if the cars and drivers can cope with the distance: Can the team mend the damage that came as a result of the driver losing concentration in the wee hours of the morning? Whose strategy in the ever‐present battle between fuel economy and speed will prove to be the best, and who will indeed win the race when the math is done?

Endurance racing is a special kind of racing and, admittedly, it’s not for everyone: But it remains, for many, the purest form of racing since it pits man and machine into an ultimate test of stamina, performance, and, yes, endurance.

Right, our history lesson is almost done: I need only mention that there are also a few series that offer endurance racing without the LMP class cars: The FiA‐ GT is one such example, and probably the most popular (especially for us sim‐racers), but there are other local

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series just like it where you will find only the GT1 and GT2 class cars doing battle. In the FiA‐GT series, the races were once three hours or 500km affairs, but have been shortened of late to try and recapture the

attention of race fans whose attention spans are forever shortening: The 24 hours of Spa‐ Francorchamps, however, run once each year, is the FiA‐GT’s crown jewel.

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The EnduRacers Mod EnduRacers have released Version 1.0 of their epic mod, and I assume this means there will be more versions to come. It contains eleven different cars divided into the four classes, and they are replicas of actual cars that raced between the years 2006 and 2008 in either of the series or events I mentioned above (yes, history sometimes does prove useful!)

In the LMP1 class we find the Zytec, the Creation, and the previously seen—in rFactor—Epsilon Euskadi. The LMP2 class features the Porsche RS Spyder, and the Courage with no less than four different engine alternatives (AER, Judd, Ford, and Mazda). Further, the GT1 class gives us the Corvette C6‐R, and the Aston Martin DBR9, while the GT2 class offers us the Porsche 996 and 997 RSR together with the Panoz Esperante, and the Spyker C8. That’s fourteen cars and eleven never before seen models to choose from, if you’re counting.

Choices, choices. This is no easy task I tell you: One might be tempted to go directly for the big muscle and select one of the LMP1s, but on the other hand, one should learn to crawl before trying to run, and thus a GT2 class car may be the best way to go. In my case, while writing this review, I started from the bottom with what has to be the most well known Grand Touring car of them all: the Porsche 911.

The Porsche 911 has been around since Jesus tried to tell people how good life would be if everyone treated each other with love and respect. The 996 and 997 are just the latest installments of that car, and everyone— including the original Joseph—will immediately recognize that classic silhouette. Yes, it’s water‐cooled rather than air‐cooled these days, which means half the fun (watching them implode) is gone, and it has a fair‐ few more horses pushing it along nowadays, but the engine is still stuck in the back and is of the type we have learned to call a ‘boxer’—which describes the engine’s

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shape, as opposed to its propensity for smacking you in the face.

Driving it remains an unsettling feeling: It’s like sitting down on a comfortable chair with wheels, and kicking backwards on your desk until you smash into the wall behind you. But it is also a remarkable machine with a racing pedigree that goes back to the dawn of post‐ War endurance racing, and you just can’t go wrong in it.

This is the ultimate beginner’s car, and the choice between the 996 and 997 is a choice of weight and horsepower. The 996 is lighter, with less horsepower, so it might be an easier car to drive, but it doesn’t feel all that different from the 997 that has more weight as well as more horsepower.

The little more powerful Panoz is another story altogether. When ISI released the Panoz add‐on some years ago, I didn’t know what to do with it. This GT2 car felt heavy to operate, and it could snap on you with almost no warning at all. I also didn’t like the rear‐view cam that substituted a mirror and, overall, the Panoz was a handful. In this crowd though, with physics from EnduRacers, it has truly come home. It’s the old front‐engine rear‐wheel drive saga at its simplest. Point it, punch it, pray. Be careful not to lock up the rears when you downshift, be careful not to spin out when you hit the accelerator coming out of a turn: Practice these two maneuvers over and over again, and you will soon fall in love with the Panoz ‘cause it’s an excellent car with tons of potential.

Sitting down in the Spyker, meanwhile, is like sitting down with a raw representation of old‐style machinery packaged in tubular framework and thin bodywork. The sound this car makes is that of an old locomotive on steroids, and it’s a beautiful thing. It feels low tech and it sounds low tech, and the driving is fairly straight forward: It isn’t terribly responsive to the smooth‐ operator, but it does respond well for anyone who likes to throw it about: This baby likes to have fun. In fact, I

feel this car shouldn’t be described at all, it should be tested firsthand. I’m pretty sure you will love or hate it, and nothing in between.

With the lower class taken care of—and my appetite whetted—it was time to step up to the GT1s. Let’s begin with the Corvette C6.R. Now you must remember that the Corvette is an American car, and for a European, that means it should go like a bat out of hell on straights, sound like a toxic oil‐tanker, and handle the bends like a deep sea diver (after coming up from 4,000 feet without a break). Not the case with this car though: Seems someone in the US figured out cars have to take corners eventually, even on a continent as seemingly endless as America, and the Corvette is seriously quick and industrious. But that doesn’t mean they’ve skimped on the power: Hell no, you can feel every bit of muscle when you step on the accelerator and modulate the pedal exactly right so you got that feeling of ‘on the edge’ all through a corner. It’s no walk in the park to drive, even though it is well balanced and powerful. The torque can snap you into a spin faster than you can do a Jeremy Clarkson impression and yell ‘Power’ loud enough to be heard over the grunt of that powerful V8 engine.

To compete with the Corvette, we have the Aston Martin DBR9. It was originally built to wipe the floor with the Ferrari 550 (or at least that’s what the blokes on ‘Top Gear’ reckon), and it did hold its own against the beast from Maranello— just. After the first years of tuning and testing, it has settled down into a full‐blown race machine that is hard to keep off from the podium. This is British construction work at its best (yes, it is actually built in Britain amazingly enough!), and the car is nothing less than awesome, front to rear, top to bottom. A bit easier to handle than the Corvette, but not as fast on the straights—at least, not under my right foot—this car is indeed something special and, given the choice, I’d sit down on the floor and weep because I really can’t decide between these two cars.

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Leaving the GTs behind, it’s time upgrade to what, for many, is the heart and soul of endurance racing: The LMPs. Let’s start with the LMP2s. As mentioned above, there are two cars to choose from here, and the choice for me is

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simple since for the Porsche mopped up the series last year with some ease. It even gave the LMP1 cars a run for their money on some tracks, and that is unique. And it will take you two seconds of sitting in this car before you realize how

truly unique it is: If you opened an encyclopedia and looked up the word ‘balanced’, there would probably be a picture of this car as a description. The Spyder has it all: A wonderful engine that you need to balance (you, not the car) using the throttle, wonderful handling capabilities that you need to learn how to get the most of, excellent feedback from every corner of the car: In one phrase, ‘The most fun you can have in a prototype’ sums it up. Mind you, it’s no walk in the park. Ultimately this car will be as quick as the driver, and as slow as, well, me …

The Courage is, similarly to the Porsche, a great handling machine with an added twist: You have to decide on your engine. Personally I like the Mazda engine best, but then again, I might read too much into the different sounds the engine makes. It may well be the case that the Courage handles similarly with all four engines, but I react differently because of the audio feedback I get. If so, I can only applaud EnduRacers, ‘cause this means they have done wonders with the sounds.

But ... I suspect that the engines actually do give the Courage different characteristics, and that the sounds only enhance this experience. In any case, I believe the Mazda engine is your best bet here. The AER engine, meanwhile, is certainly unique, while the Ford feels similar to the Mazda. Oh and try this: Use the AER engine and sneak up behind one of the others and just listen to that symphony. Staggering!

Having come this far, we have only the LMP1 class left.

But it’s not quite ‘only’ since, well, this is the very pinnacle of endurance racing, and, in the opinion of many, the very pinnacle of international motor sports. Few remember first hand who won the GT2 class at LeMans a few years back, but almost anyone can name at least one overall Le Mans winner—surely! And those guys, the overall winners, they drive LMP1s. To put things in perspective, one can almost (but not quite) say that an LMP1 car is more or less a Formula 1 car with fenders and wheel covers: And those

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aerodynamic bits and pieces improve the grip of these cars enormously. Still, I don’t think it’s necessary to compare these cars to anything at all because they stand, in my opinion, as the last word in racing car design: They are as quick as anything, and they’re built to endure for twenty‐ four hours of full‐throttle racing. Try run a Formula 1 car for twenty‐four hours: Go on, I dare you.

First out for me was the Zytec and I, who really have the reflexes of a drunken Swedish sailor, instantly felt as if I could trust this car to take me around the track with no drama whatsoever. It responded to everything I did to it, and with it. Turn the wheel, it responded by going the way I pointed: brake, and the thing slowed down without trying to tank‐slap me into submission. Put the pedal down, it responded by leaving my head fifty yards behind my seat‐ rest. For me, this is the ultimate stepping‐stone into the top level of cars available in the Endurance Series mod: But a word of caution—it will hurt you the moment you take her for granted.

The Creation is a wonderfully‐named car because it is, ultimately, the most civilized race car I’ve ever driven. The sound it makes is almost soothing, and if you set it up right it, it is both forgiving and gentle. It’s also alarmingly quick despite its easy good looks and stable handling. This is the only one of the LMP1 cars I can take a lap around Bathurst without crashing. I like the Creation a lot, and if I ever show up online in a P1 car, chances are I’ll be in this one.

Finally, it was time for the Epsilon. That’s one of these, by the way: ε. That’s a Greek letter, and it means ‘I will kill you’.

I never did download the standalone Epsilon Euskadi mod ‘cause even back then it kind of scared me, and I knew I was going to make an ass out of myself showing up on track in that car. But now, writing this review, I had little choice but to climb in and do my best. Mind you, I have yet to go online in this car. I’ve been online on public servers for several days, testing cars in the environment they are

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supposed to live in, but as of yet, not in the Epsilon. Reason for this is simple: It’s a beast of insane proportions, and I feel instantly claustrophobic in it. The power is insane, the controls razor sharp, and it’s just too fast for this middle‐ aged Swede to cope with.

Even with traction control to max, it gives me trouble out of the slow corners. Perhaps it’s a visibility thing, perhaps it has something to do with how the sound of the engine affects me, but I have yet to achieve anything like a clean lap with this monster, even at relatively simple point‐ and‐squirt tracks like Monza, Silverstone and Montreal. But it has to be said: In the hands of a driver, it’s an impressive machine.

Well there you have it. But we’re not done yet. I want to finish off with that defines this mod, what makes it the ε of all other mods: EnduRacers have swamped this mod with sound, velvety, morphine‐like sounds so far beyond anything I’ve ever heard in an rFactor mod as to really make a lasting impression on me—and, I hope, on the modding scene in general.

Let me explain ... The sound a sequential paddle gearbox makes during a downshift isn’t sexy at all. In fact, it’s an ugly sound, a distressing noise almost as if the engine’s metal bits are being kicked about inside a trashcan. EnduRacers has captured this perfectly. Same goes for the whining transmission with straight cut gears and ignition cut. The whine is sometimes too much to bear, and after two stints of forty‐five minutes, it really gets to you. But it is there, in your face, because that’s the way a car sound. This mod’s sound does so much to convey that immersive feeling that is so often missing from other mods: Just simply superb.

As impressive is the work done to entice any sim‐racer into this mod, veteran or newbie. Indeed, this might prove to be one of those mods that actually inspire people of all skill levels back online ‘cause it has something to offer everyone. The seasoned sim‐racer can mess with insanely powerful and fast cars, while the newbie, too, has a whole

host of cars to choose from, and, to add to their comfort level, the default setups are drivable, and (and I really like this part) every car in the mod react and respond well to the fast setup sliders in the garage. That makes it easy for the newbie to select more or less downforce, balance, gearing, and stiffness of the car. Then, if you feel like it, you just go to the garage and fine tune your setup.

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Volume 5 Number 3 Special Review Section

Mod of the year and probably the best mod for rFactor so far: I know people will argue about this, but it has my vote and I can do nothing but look forward to the next installment of cars for this one. For the first time since I began writing for this magazine four years ago, I’m giving this mod a 10 out of 10,’cause after a month of running it, I have yet to find anything about it that can even be called a legitimate criticism

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AUTOSIMSPORT Awards 2009

This year we’ve done our fifth yearly awards a bit differently as we name only the winner of ‘Best Sim’ (and doing away with second and third spots in this category) since, well, being the second best sim in a year that saw the release of less than a handful is a bit meaningless. On the modding front, too, things have slowed of late as modders perhaps sit it out and wait for rFactor2 and sim‐racers defect over to iRacing while they wait to see what winds blow out of Michigan and Sweden: Still, we had a few mods released which would feature on anyone’s ‘best‐of’ list no matter the year. This year we also feature a new category—‘Best Simulated Car’—and we had great fun deciding which cars every sim‐racer owes it to herself to drive at least once …

Right, without further bah! humbug then, Ladies and Gentleman, the AUTOSIMSPORT Awards 2009 !

The Nominees Are (drum roll and roll out the C‐list celebrity please!):

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BEST F ‘09 THE NOMINEES

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B ORR ATTO SIIM ULLA MU BEESSTT S ((D M DEEEVVV’ ’T TTEEEAAAM M))

B MO D OD BEESSTT M ((M M T O D A M MO TEEEA OD D’ ’T AM M))

B SIIM M C BEESSTT S CAARR ((SSIIM IM M))

— ONN ( (SSIIMIMMBBIININN)) —R RA ACCEE O

— —TTAARRGGAA FFLLOORRIIOO ((VVAAARRRIIOIOOUUUSSS))

— A ((IIRIRAAACCCIININNGGG)) ARRA DA ALLLLA —IINNDDYYCCAARR D

— A D U STTTU D MA —N AD D S UD NFFSS:: SSH HIIFFTT ( (SSLLLIIGIGGHHHTTTLLLYYY M DIIO IO OSSS))

— —EENNDDUURRAANNCCEE SSEERRIIEESS ((EENNNDDDUUURRAAACCCEEERRRSSS))

— —PPOORRSSCCHHEE 999966 ((EENNNDDDUUURRRAAANNNCCCEEE S SEEERRRIIEIEESSS))

— A N BEEEA G ( (BBLLLAAACCCKKK B NG —SSUUPPEERRSSTTAARRSS V V88 R RA ACCIIN AN N))

— V DEEEV O M N FA ORR ((RRAAACCCIININNGGG L LIININNEEE D ACCTTO VEEELLLO —CCAARRTT F OPPPM MEEEN NTTTSSS))

— —CCOORRVVEETTTTEE CC66 ((TTEEEAAAMMM P PLLLAAAYYYEEERRRSSS))

— —FFU UEELL ( (AASSSOOOBBBOOO S STTTUUUDDDIIOIOO))

— —CCOORRVVEETTTTEE CC66 ((TTEEEAAAMMM P PLLLAAAYYYEEERRRSSS))

— —LLOOTTUUSS7799 ( (IIRIRAAACCCIININNGGG))

— GA MEE ( (SSIIM —V —TTHHEE G AM IM BIIN IN MB N)) VOOLLVVOO—

— —FF11 2 2000066 C CT TD DPP ( (CCTTDDPP))

— —A ABBAARRTTHH 550000 ( (NNKKKPPRRROOO))

— —FFEERRRRAARRII V VIIRRTTUUAALL R RAACCEE ( (FFEEERRRRRRAAARRRII IS SPPPAA))

— —FFSSO ON NEE 2 2000088 ( (IIPPMM))

— GTTR —D DAATTSSUUNN G R22000000 ( (NNFFSS::SSHHIIFFTT))

— —TTOOPP R RAACCEE ((22PPEEEZZZ))

— —B BAAHHRRAAIINN IINNTTEERRNNAATTIIOONNAALL ((CCTTDDPP))

— —PPOORRSSCCHHEE G GTT33 R RSS ( (NNFFSS::SSHHIIFFTT))

— A 2200009 ULLA MU —SSUUPPEERRLLEEAAGGUUEE FFOORRM 9 ( (IISSII))

— —G GPP‐‐220000 I INNTTEERRNNAATTIIOONNAALL ((MMMAAADDDCCCOOOWWWIIEIEE))

— M33 ( (NNFFSS::SSHHIIFFTT)) —B BM MW W EE3366 M

— MOOTTOORRSSPPOORRTTSS 33 ((TTUUURRRNNN 1 100)) —FFOORRZZAA M

— D A K WEEED —V APPPP’’ ( (MMAAARRRTTTIININNEEE W DLLLA VB AK BO KEEE)) OX X A

— MA A M ULLA MU ASSTTEERRSS ((RRAAACCCEEEOONNN)) —IINNTT’’ F FOORRM

— RTT22 ( (CCOOODDDEEEMMMAAASSSTTTEEERRRSSS)) —D DIIR

— —G MOODD ( (AARRCC__TTEEAAMM)) G2255EE M

— —FFEERRRRAARRII 551122 TTR R ((FFOOORRRZZZAAA33))

— —SSUUPPEERRCCAARR CCHHAALLLLEENNGGEE ((EEUUUTTTEEECCCHHHNNNYYYXXX))

— —G PA G2255 P AD D ( (HHEEEUUUSSSIININNKKKVVVEEELLLDDD E ENNNGGGIININNEEEEEERRRIININNGGG))

— DIINNOO 2 24466 G GT T ( (FFOOORRRZZZAAA33)) —FFEERRRRAARRII D

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BEST F ‘09

BEST SIMULATED CAR 2009 CAR: NISSAN SKYLINE 2000 GTR SIM: NFS:SHIFT

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The C10s first hit the production lines in 1969, and while enjoying some success for the newly formed Nissan Group, it was the the debut of the 2000 GTR model—in the fall of 1969— that would see this car enter the lexicon of automotive culture.

The Hakosuka GTR (literally ‘box skyline’) was souped‐up with the R380 race car engine which saw its dyno‐numbers read in the 150 BHP range.

In 1971, Nissan followed this up with the car you will be driving in SHIFT: The KPGC‐10, which was nothing more than a two‐door version of the GTR. The car’s wheelbase was shortened, the weight was reduced, the body was widened, and rear‐wings were an optional extra, as were the wider tyres. These modifications saw the car push out a magnificent 160BHP (compare to the Dino Ferrari of 1968, pushing out just short of 180BHP) and, simultaneously, cure (to an extent) the insane amount of understeer that had forced drivers to brake as late as they dared into the turns in order to induce some much needed oversteer: Watching them do this had endeared the car to a generation of race fans, and the Skyline went on to to capture fifty race wins in the next two years. The GTR was the first Japanese performance car to regularly humble the European sports cars of the day, and sees the Hakosuka GTR enjoy an iconic place in motor racing history: This was the car that announced to the world that Japanese cars had arrived on the international racing scene, and it opened the door to Japan’s primacy in car production.

STATS

Weight: 1,600KGs Engine: 1989cc DOHC 24‐valve inline‐ Gearbox: 5‐speed manual Power Output: 160 BHP @ 7,000RPM Units Sold: (1968–1972): 310,447 Volume 5 Number 3 Special Review Section

BEST F ‘09

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BEST SIMULATED CAR 2009 CAR: LOTUS 79 SIM: IRACING

Colin Chapman, Geoff Aldridge,Martin Ogilvie, Tony Rudd, and Peter Wright designed the Lotus 79 amidst great secrecy during the fall and winter of 1977. If you don’t know its history by now, then you’re just not a racing fan. At heart the ideal was to create a car that was nothing less than one enormous wing: To do that, Chapman and his designers created venturi tunnels on the floor of the car that served to suck the car down onto the track. What this meant to the driver was: the faster he took the turn, the quicker the air could be sucked under the car, the harder the car would be sucked down, and the faster the can could theoretically turn.

A recipe for brilliant success and—sadly—disaster. By the end of its debut season, when it powered Mario Andretti to the 1978 Woirld Championship, Chapman’s ground‐effects revolution had already gathered its first victim, Andretti’s team‐mate Ronnie Peterson: By the time these care were banned five years later, Formula One had lost many of its greatest telents, Gilles Villeneuve amongst them.

But the car remains the most significant design in history: And in iRacing, you will be floored by the sheer traction this car generates at speed. It was, of course, the first car designed in a wind‐tunnel, and the first car to be ‘analyzed’ by computer on race weekends.

STATS

Construction: Aluminium monocoque Weight: 610KGs Engine: Ford‐Cosworth DFV 2993cc V8 Gearbox: Hewland FG400, 5‐speed manual Power Output: 480BHP @ 10600 rpm

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WINNER

BEST F ‘09

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BEST SIMULATED CAR 2009

CAR: DALLARA AUTOMOBILI SIM: IRACING

An IndyCar Series Dallara, built by Panoz out of it Braselton, Ga site, is powered by a 3.5‐liter 32‐valve Honda Racing HI7R Indy V‐8 pushing out roughly 650BHP using ethanol, a bio‐ degradable, renewable and U.S‐grown grain‐based fuel. It is also, in iRacing, a superb handling car with oodles of power and an amazing amount of mechanical grip that allows for intense and close racing.

Awarding the Dallara the best sim car of the year was not a tough choice: What we have here is the result of a close partnership between sim developer and car developer, and it shows—if this is the closest alliance in sim‐racing history, we would not be surpised thoigh this car does keep surprising in its authenticity.

Sure, some complain it has the character of a London bus, and others note that, if you haven’t spent time setting it up, once it gets away from you, it really wants to hurt you, but … spend some quality time with this beast, learn how to drive it (it does not like being thrown about, and responds to delicate and smooth inputs), and you will be rewarded with the best experience ever produced in sim‐racing: Oh, and it has ground‐effects, too.

STATS

Construction: Carbon fibre and composites Weight: 691.7KGs on ovals; 725.7KGs on road courses including all lubricants and coolants, but not driver or fuel Engine: Honda HI7R 3.5 L DOHC V8 Gearbox: 6‐speed paddle shift Power Output: 650BHP @ 10,300RPM Cost: $309,000 (maximum)

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BEST MOD 2009 MOD: ENDURANCE SERIES TYPE: MOD FOR RFACTOR ‘Mod of the year and probably the best mod for rFactor so far: I know people will argue about this, but it has my vote and I can do nothing but look forward to the next installment of cars for this one. For the first time since I began writing for this magazine four years ago, I’m giving this mod a 10 out of 10,’cause after a month of running it, I have yet to find anything about it that can even be called a legitimate criticism.’ So says Magnus Tellbom in these pages, and we’re all In agreement: This mod is endlessly challenging, and offers every type of sim‐racer an alternative.

And then there’re the sounds: ‘The sound a sequential paddle gearbox makes during a downshift isn’t sexy at all.

In fact, it’s an ugly sound, a distressing noise almost as if the engine’s metal bits are being kicked about inside a trashcan. EnduRacers has captured this perfectly. Same goes for the whining transmission with straight cut gears and ignition cut. The whine is sometimes too much to bear, and after two stints of forty‐five minutes, it really gets to you. But it is there, in your face, because that’s the way a car sound. This mod’s sound does so much to convey that immersive feeling that is so often missing from other mods: Just simply superb.’

Add to the mix for different classes including LMP1, and what you have is the crema on your espresso—if you’ve yet to try this mod, you’re punishing yourself for no good reason!

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BEST MOD 2009

MOD: ARC_TEAM G25E MOD TYPE: MOD FOR G25 WHEEL

The ARC_Team guys have a wealth of experience in creating sim‐racing peripherals for their customers, many of whom are real‐world race drivers and teams. It is not an uncommon sight to find a GP2 driver, or even F1 driver (along with his manager), at ARC‐Team’s Pavia shop running the ARC_Team’s F1 Driving cockpit with their ultra‐realistic (see AUTOSIMSPORT’s review back in 2006) pedal‐set and heavily‐modified wheels: This G25‐E MOD comes as a result of that real‐world experience, and it does precisely as advertised—it will make your G25 into a professional‐grade sim‐racing tool. For the price, there is no wheel on the market that even comes close to what the G25‐E Mod offers you in terms of precision and feel. Simply the best, performance‐wise, and price‐wise.

‘Nothing goes un‐reported to the wheel. I wager that if you placed a one‐quarter‐inch tall ‘rock’ (just a small, isolated elevation) on the track surface, this wheel would feel and report the tyre hitting it in the form of a nudge. You will feel those nudges, as well as the shoves,’ was Lou Magyar’s verdict when we reviewed it in these pages (Vol5 Num2). ‘From the outside, the obvious changes are two small muffin fans, a fuse holder, and a power switch. The fans are impressive and speak of vastly greater cooling requirements, which in turn tell me that the Force‐Feedback will indeed be much more powerful than before.’

This is a modification that gives more power and a better ‘cleaning’ of the Force‐Feedback effects on the G25. Simply put, there is an overall power increase of the force, but that is secondary to the feel of those forces at work in your hands.

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WINNER

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BEST MOD 2009 MOD: TARGA FLORIO SIM: GRAND PRIX LEGENDS

The Targa Florio, along with the Mille Miglia, is the greatest road race the world has ever known: It ran from 1906 and through to 1973, and in that time it became the race that defined a racing driver’s pedigree. The greats all won here: Nuvolari, Vazri, Moss, von Trips, and, naturally, the man who made the race his own, Nino Vaccarella.

Eleven years after the release of GPL, the Targa Florio mod has finally arrived after for the sim‐racing community, and along with it, the last word in track design, commitment, and artistry.

No‐one quite knows how many corners this 70‐plus kilometer track has—but any driver who has raced it agree that the endless turns gives the sensation of being seasick: Indeed, legendary drivers like Pietro Bordino and Werner both had to quit the race while leading due to becoming physically ill. This track is the test of a race driver’s craft, endurance, stamina, and technique: And this being Sicily, foreign makes had to make do with being pelted by tomatoes up in the mountains—it got so bad for Caracciola in his Mercedes that he landed up painting it Italian racing red! All the same, teams returned here year after year because winning here, at the Targa, was a manufacturer’s dream: Porsche, Alfa, Ferrari, Lancia, Bugatti, Mercedes, all have come here with their works team and triumphed. And now you can, too, thanks to … Mauro Alcamisi, John Bradley, Jay Beckwith, Shaun Collins, Richard Cooke, Bill Cooper, Phil Flack, Ginetto, Mauro Licciardello, Greg Liebzeit, Sergio Loro, Carsten Meurer, Richard Neville, Nigel Pattinson, Jim Pearson, Remy Roesz, Svend Seegert, Paul Skingley, Ferdinand Sommederer, Paul Thurston, Stefano Zampredi, Robert Zeugin …

Follow this link for all the details …

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BEST SIMULATOR 2009

SIM: NFS: SHIFT DEV: SLIGHTLY MAD STUDIOS

The sim that polarized the community. No, just joking, the fact that the sky is blue on sunny days would be cause for a massive community uproar. Having said that, the Best Sim of the year (that is, a sim that was released between Jan 1–Dec1 2009) led to a fair‐few arguments amongst those who produce this magazine. Was SHIFT even a sim, one asked? Certainly it does its best to hide its ‘simness’ like a trollop on a Saturday morning at Bloomingdales. Wasn’t, another demanded, Forza 3 a far better sim?

Indeed, the more we discussed, the more the Best Sim became a two‐horse race: Forza 3 vs. SHIFT. The fact that we were discussing whether a console title could possible win this magazine’s Best Sim award, someone pointed out, was an insult to our very credo—a console title?

But why SHIFT? At its core, this is GTR2 all over again, isn’t it? The same conversations that took place with the release of GTR2 are taking place now: Too much grip, too easy to control, too ‘arcade’. Four years on, though, GTR2 is generally regarded as one of sim‐racing’s classic offerings, and some of its mods have been, in their turn, classics of the genre (‘Power & Glory’).

The fact that it is built over the ISI engine and sports a tyre model by the man who built Richard Burns Rally adds further weight to its claims, and the future of SHIFT—in the hands of the community—is certain. But, the question still remained, is it better than Forza Motorsports 3 on a Fanatec wheel? And the answer to that is—subjective. Depends. Maybe. The two, honestly, could not be separated by deciding that SHIFT was better than Forza 3 physics‐wise. So in the end, we chose SHIFT for one reason: Because the sim‐racing community will mod it.

And that can only mean what we have now is only a glimpse of what this sim will be like in six months from now …

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Keep The Dream

GPLEGACY

GPLEGACY enters its fourth year with their A1GP Mexico License and sim still in development … and the Mexican round of A1GP in disarray …

SERGIOBUSTAMANTE

SERGIO IS AWAY …

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The Dent

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Vodka Diaries

The Dent

Jon Denton on feeling good …

JONDENTON

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The Dent

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Nine o’clock, on a Monday morning. It’s never a nice place to be, it’s rarely a place anyone wants to be, but it’s always a place everyone finds themselves in.

Thick drops of rain fell on the bus shelter like tiny hammers tapping on the tender strings of the soul. As the bus pulled up not a single face in sight looked happy, cyclists pass with grim determination on their faces, a girl runs past covering her hair with a plastic folder, her eyes a picture of desperation. A grey, forlorn scene of Hackney in the morning, when Garfield said he hated Mondays, this was what he meant.

As I pace to the pavement’s edge the number 48 comes to a stately stop in front of me, great gobs of water flying off the wing mirror into my face and shoulder, it’s to be expected.

Aboard the bus there is barely room to move, after fighting through a group of standing school kids it becomes apparent that there are many seats further back and I take up residence next to a bearded, indie looking type. He frowns. Steely silence engulfs the rearward seated adults, and a few minutes later the children decamp, their constant chatter replaced only by the belligerent roar of the diesel engine powering the bus forward. People stare at the slick muddy floor as if captivated by its engaging pattern, occasionally wiping the windows, cloyed with thick condensation, to create a fleeting porthole to the outside world.

It is a grisly scene, a large elderly lady climbs aboard and sits, pulling out a pocket bible to say a brief prayer, there is no helping us. A man in black tracksuit bottoms and a waterproof top joins us at the next stop, his ugly gnarled face a picture of everything we’re feeling when he glances around to see a lack of free seats, accepting his fate and finding a suitable corner to lean, his visage could only portray one thing, deep lines of misery. Here we all are, travelling on a day when people should stay at home, to places none of us want to go, at a time of the morning none of us really want to see.

Then the bus stops again, and as the automated female voice once again tells us of the bus’ destination, a small blonde child, around four years old, bounds up the bus in front of her mother, who is wearing a baby in a pouch on her front. Two people give up their seats and the lady sits, looking exasperated and tired, she proceeded to unstrap the baby whilst answering a constant stream of questions from her daughter ...

“Why can’t we see out of the window?”

“Because they are steamed up.”

Why are they steamed up?”

“Because it’s raining outside.”

“Does the rain come inside the bus?”

“No, but it’s cold outside and warmer inside the bus, so the windows get steam on them.”

“Oh. Where are we going?” ... and more along the theme. As soon as the baby is free she places him on her lap and gives him a little bounce, he screams briefly in delight then glances around at his mystifying new surroundings. The baby is no more than six weeks old, and lolled his head around like a drunkard, his mouth agape at the craziness of the new environment he is in. As he makes eye contact with any other human his mouth widens in titillation, his pearlescent blue eyes beaming at the sight of another pair of eyes staring back at him. He won’t stop, constantly looking around, everywhere, he wants to turn his head a full circle, like some crazed owl, this is the most incredible adventure he has ever been on.

Something changes then in the bottom deck of that bus, we are grinding along slowly in traffic along Hackney road but suddenly it is like a ray of sunlight has entered the bus. The old lady put down her bible and beams a glorious smile at both of the children, a young girl giggles almost unexpectedly when the baby gives her a loud “coooo” and even the grizzled, grey face of the ugly man breaks into an abominable grin, his hooked nose cresting the centre of his surly features as his eyes show a delight that seems to negate his doom‐laden demeanour.

People in the city grow hard with time, not just this city, any city. They build an exterior stony calm that suggests that nothing can phase them, nothing affects their mood. Drunk lunatics on public transport can shout in their face and there will be no change in expression, people will have arguments in public while others maintain silent vigil, turning the other cheek becomes just part of the armoury. The ability to look at things but see nothing, to build an emotionless shield that belies the fear beneath is just part in the parcel of living in a major conurbation.

But on this Monday morning there was something, something that could break through the armoury of the city people, and it was the glowing blue eyes of a helpless baby.

That brief ten minutes on the bus brought a slice of beauty into the world, a visualisation of what is good about human beings, and ravished the pestilence of all that is bad about them. One can only cling to these moments.

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Magnus Opus

Feeling The Heat ...

Magnus Tellbom felt some serious heat after his last Opus over at RaceDepartment… but he can’t leave well enough alone, and in this issue he will not only defend his opinion, but he’s brought his Windows Applications calculator along with him to set the record straight once and for all …

MAGNUSTELLBOM

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Magnus Opus

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Oh, the nerves of that guy. Who does he think he is writing stuff he knows nothing about, and how in the hell can he say what we should or not charge for this or that service! How dare he have an opinion based on faulty logic and fuzzy maths?

Any of this sounding familiar? Last issue (Volume 5, Issue 2) I ranted a bit about donations in the community, and why I thought that a $5,000 per year running cost for a forum, and about $6,700 (depending on the US dollar ($) vs. Euro (€) exchange rate), is also pretty steep even if you do offer more than just a forum. In this case, the ones who yelled bloody murder and ‘we want an apology’ was ‘RaceDepartment’: They feel I failed to mention their stable race servers, and their

on‐site leagues, and the fact that vBulletin actually costs money. Duly noted. On the other hand, I feel they missed the entire point of my rant, so maybe it evens out in the end?

But then again, perhaps not. Bruce Saltzman decided to go ahead and write an open letter to the community regarding this very rant, asking for more or less an official apology by me and AUTOSIMSPORT for dragging his site in the dirt for no good reason. I don’t think I did, and so I won’t. ‘RaceDepartment’’s Ramon then posted some interesting numbers to prove that I got it all wrong, and those numbers, I think, is a good place to prove that I was, and am, right.

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Magnus Opus

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The Wages Of Sin! WebServer: €106/month. Dedicated Race Server (X2): €87 each, €174 total/month. vBulletin annual licence: $100/year (about €70,5/year), equals €5.87/month. vB Search Engine Optimization: $149 first year (about €103.6), equals €8.63/month, after that $35/year (about €24.6/year), equals €2.05/month. .com domain names (four listed) €12 each, €48/year, equals €4.

Right, so let’s do some math, shall we? First year would cost €298.50 per month. Second year would cost €291.90 per month. That would mean a little over €100 in a buffer for unforeseen events and server optimization, etc. (if the donation goal of €400 is reached).

Nothing odd here? Nope, of course not: Because actually here’s the kicker ... this was not the point of the original rant. The point was this: You don’t have to spend that kind of money!

And if you do, because you’re crazy enough to do it, then you shouldn’t bother asking people to fund your madness! That was basically all I said, and I stand by that. The point from the beginning was (and still is) that there are cheaper alternatives that work just as well. Don’t believe me? Well, let’s grab our calculators and find some low‐cost solutions for ‘RaceDepartment’ (and yes, the money you save, guys, you can send directly to me!): Web Server: €1.25/month (www.one.com). Dedicated Race Server (X2): €25 each, €50 total/month (see below). ProBoards annual licence: (free for life). ProBoards Search Engine Optimization: (doesn’t exist). Cheap domain name (.de): €6 per year, equals €0.5 per month Now I know a web server like the one I would choose will not cope with constant downloads of large files: The solution is simply to stick the big stuff on a free hosting service.

There is noting wrong with this, and just about every big release, regardless of platform, sim, and creator, is put on such mirrors.

The forum of choice is ProBoards and it can cope with the same sort of load that ‘RaceDepartment’ and ‘RaceSimCentral’ experience every day, and then some. And (and this is an added benefit) should the forum by any chance be overloaded with visitors, it has a self‐ protect mode that kicks in before the entire server goes tits up. Perfect for those who do not have a clue about PHP, CGI, Java, or anything technical regarding computers.

My own dedicated server machine that I use for friendly online practice is running 24/7, and I’ve restricted each of the two running dedicated servers to sixteen slots due to bandwidth issues. So far, no one has complained about that server, and it offers a stable service with good ping times all the way to South America and Australia. The computer itself is bought and paid for a long time ago, but I did make some updates to it and bought some RAM so it could cope with being both an rFactor and a Turismo Carretera server at the same time. Again, all is working out well so far and no one has complained about the performance of either of those servers. The RAM cost me about €45 which divided by 12 gives me €3.75/month, the first year of running costs. Left to calculate is the electricity and my

monthly fee for the DSL service. The DSL service is easy ‘cause it’s listed in plain writing; a line like mine, which allows for 17mBit down/2mBit up, costs €30/month, no traffic limit.

The electricity, on the other hand, is harder to calculate. The machine is running a 500W PSU, which means 12kWh per day, right? And 12kWh times thirty means I pay €20 per month with the current rates in Sweden. But the thing is, the machine doesn’t use all of the 500W at all times (according to the kW meter I plugged in just for this rant), so the factual cost is a lot cheaper, but let’s play with the high price.

If I got it all right, I come up with €55.50 per month the first year, doing pretty much the same thing as ‘RaceDepartment’ are doing. But then you got to remember that I use my DSL line for personal use as well, not only for the dedicated server machine. I got roughly half the downward bandwidth dedicated to the server, and half of it for personal use, which deducts from the price even more. Still, I’m going with the outside cost here.

Naturally, all this is something that comes out of my pocket and I don’t usually keep track of DSL and electricity costs in such a micro‐management kind of way, but apparently I need to get my facts straight so, let’s say that on the outside I actually reach a cost of €55.50 per month. That is still a saving of about €344.5 per month in comparison to ‘RaceDepartment’, and I’m pretty darn sure my solution works out just as well. And I do not see anything wrong with trying to cover such costs with banner ads, as long as they don’t pop up and cause major havoc in your browser. I rather have that and stumble upon a good deal for a race seat or a wheel than put a donation bar in the face of each and every visitor that comes my way. But that’s none of my business, of course.

Oh, and I almost forgot. I suggested racing should be done on ‘Race2Play’ rather than anywhere else. Someone had a problem with this and thought that they had a service just as good. Well they might and they might not. I think not, and that is the first un‐researched personal opinion in this rant so far. Have I been on RD servers? No, I have not. But ‘Race2Play’ is sanctioned by NASA (no, not the space guys) which makes racing there closer to a real sport, rather than just a hobby. And rather than just two (or three) dedicated stable servers, they have plenty. And they have every sim available under one roof (iRacing excluded), which means it’s a one‐stop for all possible racing, right there. It doesn’t matter if you like oval, road course or dirt. Doesn’t matter if you like open wheel, tin‐top or trucks. It’s all there. And buying a license is optional. So while not quantifiably better, I think I can suggest R2P is qualitatively better—for me.

So now I’m accused of being some sort of ‘Race2Play’ fan boy. Well so be it. Guilty as charged. But it is hard not to be impressed by the organization of that site and the service offered. And when push comes to shove, is that a bad thing? We are all fan boys in one sense or the other, and at least I’m not locked into one single sim that I defend with claws and fangs like certain other people I know. So far in my life I have raced GPL, SportsCar GT, STCC,

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STCC2, ViperRacing, NASCAR Heat, all the F1 Sims, NR2003, rFactor, Live for Speed, GTR, Race, GTR2, Race '07, GTR Evolution, STCC— The Game, and Turismo Carretera. I have discarded few sims, and those I have left behind I have done so because there has been something new and better in the same genre, or because the user base for online racing has dropped below the ‘fun factor’.

‘Race2Play’ lets me race all these sims in a controlled, professional environment for a moderate cost. And if I should decide to run my own league, I can do that too, right there, and again for a moderate cost. Should I choose to set up an individual chapter at ‘Race2Play’ and use their servers, I get this for a price as low as €3.50 to €5.50 per event depending on sim and the length of the events. For that money I do not only get a server, but proper results and records of the event for all time to come. In fact, I do not have to go through the hassle of counting points, adding them together to sort out the standings, or write down lap records and keep track of all the boring stuff that comes with being an admin. It’s all taken care of for me and that makes it even more worth the money. Again, let’s play with numbers. Using my own server for practice and ‘Race2Play’ for the actual event, I set up a bi‐weekly series with thirty driver slots. Say each event costs me the medium sum of €4.50 and then add that to my monthly costs.

Wow, I’ve reached the whooping sum of €64.50. I could setup four bi‐weekly series with any sim of choice and still don’t break €100 per month in running costs. How’s that for you? To me it sounds perfect.

Bottom line then ... donate what money you like, to whom or what ever you like. Visit what ever forum, site, and community you like. Support whomever you like with your money, time, or enthusiasm. But don’t accuse me of being wrong when I suggest that, if your running costs are insanely high, you could find ways to lower them without burdening your user‐base with your bad decisions. Because you can, as I just demonstrated, lower your costs significantly and retain the same service as you have now (except that your massive downloads would have to be mirrored off to other sites). And that, in the end, was my point.

Nothing more, and nothing less.

Finally, it’s time to say I’m sorry ... I am really sorry that I didn’t understand, from the beginning, that some people lack humor and self‐distance. I’m sorry that I didn’t realize they lack these things to such a degree that they can’t take a rant in a column for what it is: a rant.

I’m sorry that I upset people to the extent that I had to sit down and do some actual counting before writing this column. I’m really sorry about that actually! And I’m sorry to have suggested a better way to run a business model which, by what I understood from their asking for donations, was struggling to meet their running costs. I’m really sorry for having tried to help, and I’m sorry …

See you all next time!

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AUTOSIMSPORT WISHES ALL ITS READERS, SPONSORS, ADVERTISERS, AND THE COMMUNITY A MERRY CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR: SEE YOU, WE HOPE, IN THE SPRING

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SimSmith

All iWant For This Week Is My Ten…

Jiminee Smith politely asks for ten things for Lent …

JIMINEE IS AWAY …

JIMINEESMITH

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Missed The Cut Infineon 2009 and Kyalami 2009

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