NetKar Pro - opinions?

[David M]

eeek, I guess I got the download right at the start then, or just good luck on my part

[Jeffrey]

Just tried the demo version.

- No manual
- Very very bad config screens (FF, controls etc.)
- Awefull sound
- Bad feeling of the car
- Good graphics
- Fun walking out of the car
- Dirty visor when in gravel
Dunno what the full version unlocks, but this demo makes me more sick than excited.

[ginsters sponsored]

Crikey, and I thought rfactor was rough around the edges. The actual driving seems good but that sound will put me off for a bit   . Still, hope that it has potential and the full game may be a big improvement over demo. Be interested to find out.

Save yourself some teething aggravation, go here http://forum.rscnet.org/showthread.php?t=250037.

[popabawa]

I rather stupidly couldn't resist staying up to give it a crack, Oh how happy I was with that decision when the alarm went off at 05:45 this morning 

Bear in mind I really like single-seater's and enjoy the trainer single-seater in rFactor. I did about 20 laps of the Newbury and Aviano tracks last night. I have the full version so I have all the cars /tracks and the Motec thingy is fully working.

I didn't have any of the problems (crashing) that some of the guys over at RSC are reporting and I found it easy-ish to get get up-and-running though the configuration isn't totally instinctive. Once you get into the driving though, the game is much more polished.

Negatives;
- the inteface is pretty bad, definately could have used a bit lot more work.
- some of the buttons on my DFP aren't recognised, the D-Pad in particular.
- there's no documentation at all
- the engine sound is dismal, it just doesn't really sound like a car!

Positives
- TrackIR works like a dream straight away
- graphics are nice, probably a notch down from rfactor but definately good enough
- the clickable cockpit is very cool, I love turning it on and starting the engine
- the screen getting dirty when you plough through the sand is great (though the negative is that I couldn't work out how to clean it off, even back in the pits!)
- some of the other sound in the game is nice, for example I got a really nasty sounding scraping sound as I ploughed over a large kerb!
- I think the car (I've only tried the 1600) feels fantastic and the sensation of speed is very, very good and the force feedback is great, I seemed to be getting a very good sense of what the car was doing 
- even using the autoclutch you are forced to lift the throttle to change up, this feels really good, I'll give it a go using the clutch pedal which I get the chance.

I reckon there's some very decent racing to be had out of netKar Pro IF (and that's a big if) you can put up with having to mess around with the initial configuration and the horrendous engine sound. I kinda forgot about how nasty it sounded is as I tried to push the car a bit further each time while I was lapping though, YMMV.

I haven't tried the multiplayer yet.

[popabawa]

oooh! Almost forgot... being able to look over and see how well your tyres are holding up (in my case not vey well) is very cool too.

[Simon Gymer]

Doesn't sound great from the initial reports. Not sure I can put up with another game with rubbish sound (LFS). Will try the demo though tonight.

Thanks for the info.

BTW, the manual is online...
http://www.netkar-pro.com/manual/index.htm

[popabawa]

- the screen getting dirty when you plough through the sand is great (though the negative is that I couldn't work out how to clean it off, even back in the pits!)

Aha! 'L' is the helmet cleaning button

[fozzmeister]

Well my car would not go very fast and felt like blamonge, also the FF started, then drops to just a spring in a matter of about 3 secs, need setup + config love i think

[popabawa]

Looks like Kunos is on the ball fixing the problems already, great stuff considering it's been out about 16 hours;
http://forum.rscnet.org/showthread.php?t=250279

Best of all the sound might get 'fixed' soon

[popabawa]

Well my car would not go very fast and felt like blamonge, also the FF started, then drops to just a spring in a matter of about 3 secs, need setup + config love i think

Definately something wrong there Fozz, the FF is excellent for me with no tweaking whatsoever 

[fozzmeister]

Well my car would not go very fast and felt like blamonge, also the FF started, then drops to just a spring in a matter of about 3 secs, need setup + config love i think

Definately something wrong there Fozz, the FF is excellent for me with no tweaking whatsoever 

It's great your having problems, that way im not the only one 

[Truetom]

I refuse to be involved in such a buggy project. 

[David M]

Good choice, hasn't impressed me yet!

the specs on the nKp site aren't a minimum spec, they're the spec required to run everything on high apparently, the only difference between that spec and my system is the GFx card, (9600 to my 9200SE) and yet, even with everything at its lowest, its still not giving decent FPS, hmm.

Ohwell, time to convince dad to get a new GFx card, a 6600 would do the job nicley on a budged methinks!

[fozzmeister]

I quite like it so far, damage modelling is amazing, light years above anything else. not sure on handling so far, but i think once i get a setup it'll be good.

It's certainly interesting. I get the feeling that racing online with it will be amazing should it take off, as it makes u care about your car far more than anything else. imagine the tension of qualifying knowing that if u bin it, your mechanics might not be able to fix in time for race :-)

[popabawa]

I agree with you Fozz 

As the NGT Sprint is cancelled I'm gonna try some online action