25-03-2002, 04:30 PM
All -
If you haven't picked up Rally Trophy yet, do so immediately. A fantastic game. I'm going to refrain from a full review at this point (since I'm at work, and I don't really have the time). But here are the highlights:
The good:
Jaw-dropping graphics.
Fantastic car physics.
Extremely challenging driving model.
Excellent environmental effects - the way the sun impacts your driving, the much more accurate night-time views.
The bad:
Horrible co-driver, terrible pace notes.
No "realtime" weather variation (weather is always the same, every time you run the rallies).
Bad ergonomics - hard to move about the program.
Bad controller setup. CMR2's is much more "generic", and thus more flexible.
What Codemasters can gain from this title:
Some of the Rally Trophy fans have created a "Pace Note Editor", and people are already creating and sharing pace note files. If this is not an integrated part of CMR3, at least make an "editable" pace note file format, so we can tweak it ourselves.
Physics physics physics, these models feel much more accurate to me than CMR2. Again, I've never driven an WRC, so what do I know? But my hunch says, Rally Trophy is closer to getting it right.
Rally Trophy has successfully used lighting, etc. to make the driving more challenging - the night stages aren't impossible, but feel much more real. The way the sun comes through the clouds while it's raining, etc. This has been very well done, but they're limited since the effects are definitely "programmed", and not "real time", as it seems CMR2's are. Striking a better balance in CMR3 would be great.
Overall, I think Codemaster's needs to take heed here. RT is going to be very successful, so it doesn't take a genius to realize the next step for them is to release a Group B or Group A game, which would put it in direct competition with CMR3.
Wish I could write more, but... You should definitely check it out.
If you haven't picked up Rally Trophy yet, do so immediately. A fantastic game. I'm going to refrain from a full review at this point (since I'm at work, and I don't really have the time). But here are the highlights:
The good:
Jaw-dropping graphics.
Fantastic car physics.
Extremely challenging driving model.
Excellent environmental effects - the way the sun impacts your driving, the much more accurate night-time views.
The bad:
Horrible co-driver, terrible pace notes.
No "realtime" weather variation (weather is always the same, every time you run the rallies).
Bad ergonomics - hard to move about the program.
Bad controller setup. CMR2's is much more "generic", and thus more flexible.
What Codemasters can gain from this title:
Some of the Rally Trophy fans have created a "Pace Note Editor", and people are already creating and sharing pace note files. If this is not an integrated part of CMR3, at least make an "editable" pace note file format, so we can tweak it ourselves.
Physics physics physics, these models feel much more accurate to me than CMR2. Again, I've never driven an WRC, so what do I know? But my hunch says, Rally Trophy is closer to getting it right.
Rally Trophy has successfully used lighting, etc. to make the driving more challenging - the night stages aren't impossible, but feel much more real. The way the sun comes through the clouds while it's raining, etc. This has been very well done, but they're limited since the effects are definitely "programmed", and not "real time", as it seems CMR2's are. Striking a better balance in CMR3 would be great.
Overall, I think Codemaster's needs to take heed here. RT is going to be very successful, so it doesn't take a genius to realize the next step for them is to release a Group B or Group A game, which would put it in direct competition with CMR3.
Wish I could write more, but... You should definitely check it out.