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OMG! Did you guys notice that ‘drying’ line?

Just because you “partner” with a former driver doesn’t mean it will magically turn into a sim. Watching the video the cars still look lifeless with no suspension movement or much of anything. Nice to see at least a cockpit view was added.

With the horrible disgrace that was the first game I can’t see it improving that much to make it a a worthwhile purchase.

ah nice to see the new Mercedes C-class

Wow..does that look crappy. That is probably one of the worst looking games I have ever seen. I wouldn’t download that if it was a free mod for rFactor.

Good luck with that.

I’m really interested in their track evolution effects, mostly because it’s coming to SBK-X. I’ll get the demo for this but I prolly won’t buy it.

Also, What’s the point in having 16 player online? I didn’t realise 16 people actually bought the last one…

Looks better than last try. Now there looks to be cockpit wiev too

Hawk: Wow..does that look crappy. That is probably one of the worst looking games I have ever seen. I wouldn’t download that if it was a free mod for rFactor.Good luck with that.

What kind of a nonsensical overdramatic statement is that ? If this is the worst looking game you have ever seen then you clearly are the most gifted new born baby on Earth – to be able to write, that is.

What about Pacman ? That looks worse than this. So does Grand Prix 2, 3 and 4.
Grand Prix Legends looks worse than this. So does Windows Solitaire, the original Doom too. Get the point ?
I mean what the hell is your beef here ? I`ll guarantee you would download this as a free mod for rFactor.
I fail to see why people such stupid things like this.
Anyway enough of you, you don’t deserve this much attention but at least I gave you a little of what you wanted.

Looks wise its pretty much up there with what else we have on offer today. The rain effects do look great on that video.
If its trying to be or programmed to be a hardcore sim (which I seriously doubt), then clearly the physics are not up to par. You only have to see the way the car slid around the hairpin to see that. Also the way another car came off track at the hairpin entrance didnt look right at all. As an non h/c sim though, its no less accurate than anything else out there.

Obviously, yet again, this game, as most are, is aimed at the masses as game makers tend to do, as thats how the most money is generated. It’s also appearing on consoles which means its likely another game like Shift that is written for the consoles and ported over to PC at the end so the company can have a bigger slice of the pic.
So I think we can forget that this is going to be or even intended to be a hardcore sim.
Anyone expecting it to satisfy their h/c sim needs — hmmm didn’t you learn from GRID and NFS:Shift ??
Big game companies do NOT make car racing titles that cater for our niche community. Thats what you need to remember. We have to rely on ISI, possibly Simbin, LFS, Netcar… Codmasters F1 title remains to be seen if they are going to implement full sim physics plus a dumbed down set for the masses to play.
It seems we judge these games based on how they should be for us to play (as simmers who want the best realism the game can offer).
It has to be realised that games like this V8 one and Shift are not made with our market in mind so to criticise it for what it is, is kinda pointless.
Rate it as an ‘arcade’ game if you want to use that term (which itself is an outdated and baseless term).
If you go in foolishly thinking its going to be a h/c sim and then grade it on that, all you’re going to to is moan and complain. So whats new ?

@Montoya: shouldnt the words in the readup be ‘mediocre predecessor’ instead of ‘mediocre successor’ ?

It’s good to see that a software house actually tries to learn from its mistakes and really improves its games, instead of just changing the year in the title. Cockpit view is a step in the right direction. We won’t have a full-sim (nor the title wants to deliver that: if you criticize it because of that, you’re probably missing what the target of the game is), but I hope it will at least have better support for all the modern wheels: there’s always the need for a good “bridge” from sims to arcade, so that arcade-gamers can learn that there’s something else in the racing game world and will maybe try to discover a new world for them.

WOW… they finally discovered that the car has a cockpit… A big step forward… OK, lets give ‘em some credit until it is out, and then we’ll probably bash it like the previous one… Although I must say I like those fancy track tricks, fine transitions from dry to wet and vice versa… That really looks great and I would really like to see something like that in some real sims… but, I guess, fat chance for that to happen… Looks like the sims has to have limited graphics and car/world effects, like it is a rule carved in stone…

@F1Racer

Well said… What bothers me the most in games like this is a statements like – “we teamed up with this and that pro driver in order to provide blah, blah…” that should lead us to believe it would be a realistic game… nonsence…

drying line effect is really nice:) but im really curious what they gonna deliver in the WRC title:) they claims that it will be the best rally game so far… hmm…
when im looking on this, i dont think so but sure ill give it a try:) im happy that i have a grandpa that “Burns”:) sorry for my eng.

speedfreak968: OK, lets give ‘em some credit until it is out

Sorry, I think its great they’re working on replacing the original and following up with major improvments. I for one will more than likely buy this one for PC just to enjoy the track evolution… this will only raise the BAR for the next game developer if done correctly!

I for one support their efforts and will likely support with my Greenbacks. Remember when we went almost 18 months w/o any new car racing games period! Not saying anything is better than nothing, but lets support and encourage the effort and then pass our opinion on the actual game and its performance.

In other words guy’s; Don’t Judge a Game by it’s Youtube Video

speedfreak968: What bothers me the most in games like this is a statements like – “we teamed up with this and that pro driver in order to provide blah, blah…” that should lead us to believe it would be a realistic game… nonsence…

Yep, and again this is just marketing and PR for them, in the hope that a driver tie-in will help sell more titles. Lets be thankful it isnt called ‘Gianni Morbidelli’s V8 Challenge’ or some other duff title. :)

Just a side note to every other previous comments (some were well placed IMO)…

Milestone is a well established and excelent game-developper house, the potential for (future) simulations is pretty inspiring compared to, say, Codemasters.

Codemasters are definitly aiming to the bigger console crowd of casual gamers, that was always their preference.

SMS made a title for the NFS franchise (won’t comment on “purist” levels, the title is fantastic but it is what is) and we don’t know what else they could deliver for “simmers” (hardcore faction of racing gamers), so no labels -for them and for products- are definit for now.

SIMBIN have lost some “shine” that used to be found in the past days (especially before the Blimey!Games gang split) and they too have been investing in consoles and in a more “mass market” oriented aproach.

…say what you want, atm there’s only iRacing and NetkarPro as “full-on” commercial sims still developping and selling (LFS is another story, hardcore as it is).

Back to “Superstars V8 Next Challenge”, one can understand that BlackBeans (the Publisher, aka “who gives the orders and puts the money on the project”) will want something that can reach the masses and sell better, but looking at the latest SBK series (not SBK’00 and SBK’01, but from “SBK’07″ to the upcoming “SBK’X”), the advancements have been tremendous from one title to its successor, and I mean technically and content wise, with very nice graphics, well implemented (and accurate) sounds, great animation features and pretty nice accuracy on track modelling/mapping/texturing.
…I would even dare to say that you can add some pretty nice refinment on the physics there.

I didn’t try the previous “Superstars V8″ title from them, but if there’s anything to expect looking at what they did to the SBK series, then this “NEXT CHALLENGE” can be very well something to wrestle with SimBin’s RACE-ON (…oooh yes…!), probably even becoming what we wanted SimBin “modern touring-car” titles to be at this point, game-engine wise.

My only concerns with this upcoming title are that, with the title aimed “to the more serious enthusiast, but also to the casual gamer as well” (as I think they said for the previous one), the physics may be quite dumbed down, and the limit of 16 players online, while “enough”, isn’t really that good (24 would have been better!)…

…we will have to wait and see.

I’m hoping for modding tools to get out, with that, this can get to be one potential “next big thing”.

DucFreak, I often find your posts very well stated and I actually enjoy reading them (as long as some may be :) ). But, please give the first title a shot then tell me your opinion.

My opinion on this upcoming game is you can wrap a bow around a piece of shit but in the end its still a piece of shit :)

scca1981:
My opinion on this upcoming game is you can wrap a bow around a piece of shit but in the end its still a piece of shit :)

I couldn’t say that with better words!

scca1981: (…) please give the first title a shot then tell me your opinion.My opinion on this upcoming game is you can wrap a bow around a piece of shit but in the end its still a piece of shit :)

Yes mate, I too did read the first one was a poo smelling title to avoid purchase (hehe) but I think we should give this the benefit of doubt (like I said, improvements have happened with the SBK series).
So far it looks decent -to me- looking at the preview vid, something I couldn’t think when I looked at “teaser vids” of the previous one.

It’s not like there’s too many titles coming now from different developpers (compare the current times to about 8 years ago!), so it’s positive that something is getting out on PC in this genre, and not from the old usual suspects (Codies and Simbin).
…granted that it will not be a contest to iRacing or NKPro.

True there isn’t much coming (at least that has been announced). Although I bash the game I will still try it just to see for myself as I did the first one. I do of course hope they prove me wrong and put out a solid title, but I still wouldn’t bet the farm on it.

Looks like more power sliding GRID wannabe nonsense

A cockpit view at last. I could have saved Black Bean a whole load of trouble and told them that the original would not sell many copies without one. What were they thinking ? Someone should get fired for that decision.