Heres a curve ball for you all to chew on.
With all the recent chat about declining grids, sprucing up our current GT leagues, add on cars etc, there is one thing we havent considered and thats perhaps buying GTR evolution and using that for our GT racing series. It comes with 49 car variants including some very tasty GT cars in different classes including all the cars we are talking about adding to our current stable of cars. Its 2 years further down the line in terms of car and simracing development than GTR2. It allegedly has a superior physics and gfx engine and apparently was highly approved by many current 'real world' race drivers who tried it out.
The game can be bought for a measly £10 nowadays making it a bargain and i intend to buy it to use for my own pleasure at that price. Scanning the web revealed some very tasty mods are available for it, such as FIA GT 2010 car pack ! Porsche supercup, F430v997 mod, F1 2008 etc etc. Sounds great to me, anyone else interested? Pretty sure most of us that race regularly would be happy to spend a tenner to get such a huge update in cars, gfx, physics, grip and the rest
I think at the time we overlooked this sim as we had our hands full of GTR2 and GTL and this new sim had lost the FIA license...heck it didnt even have a porsche in it!
But i think its time to re-evaluate its potential to us. What say ye?
Also here are some snippets from independant sim racing reviews:-
"Deep in the World Wide Interweb exists a riveting head-to-head video showdown pertinent to any critique of SimBin's latest racing-simulation opus, GTR Evolution. In the center of the screen: in-car footage of noted real-world driver HJ Stuck as he picks his way through the 13-mile (!), 80-plus-turn hell of Germany's infamous and oh-so-deadly Nürburgring Nordschleife. Surrounding the Stuck video: a saved replay of noted sim racer Markus Möller doing precisely the same thing while navigating Evolution's virtual depiction of the very same circuit. To say the two versions look almost indistinguishable is compliment enough to the SimBin development team. But that only tells part of the story.
To drive the monstrous Nordschleife -- to reallydrive it, until you no longer feel like a stranger -- is to experience the current pinnacle of race simology. The Evolution physics model, a carefully calculated blend of realism and challenge that never feels artificially difficult, really gets to show its stuff on this, arguably the most frightening and certainly the most sinewy and lengthy of all racing venues. That the GTR series now features not only Nordschleife but 19 other tracks from across the globe, a stunning 49 unique vehicles divided into 12 separate classes, and compelling new perks such as dynamic weather (a sunny day can quickly devolve into a blinding rainstorm) is awesome news for any driver. But that doesn't tell the whole story, either.
Simply, Evolution transports you from your computer desk and into the cockpit -- I can't think of any other way to say it. Indeed, it may not even be the superb physics or SimBin's delicious visuals that first grab you. It may instead be the sound -- an audio culmination of sorts from SimBin's previous titles that leaves no noise unturned. Rain bouncing off your roof and splattering on your windshield, dislodged gravel popping up against your undercarriage, the multilevel protestation of your tortured motor, the complex howls of overstressed brakes and tires. It may even be the physical sensation of what surely must be the finest, most varied, and most accurate force-feedback coding of any racing game.
One thing's certain: When you dive deep into a corner, hearing everything you should hear, seeing everything you should see, and feeling everything you should feel, you will be in sim nirvana. That GTR's A.I. drivers have flung aside past indiscretions and now exhibit seemingly human smarts and collision avoidance only adds to the fun.
Is Evolution leaps and bounds ahead of prior editions of the series? No. Instead, it tidies up loose ends, perfects what needed perfecting, and delivers more cars than most of us will ever use -- including several credible "concept" vehicles that exist only within the game. It also offers up a purely arcade mode to help sim newbies through the transition to the real world. And, as has always been the case in the GTR series, Evolution offers a ridiculous number of options and racing variables.
Engine Notes
Sound effects in a game can make or break even the biggest title games, your eyes can be fooled into thinking something is real based on the games ability to make you feel like your actually in the race car driving the laps. I find we are much more sensitive to sound effects which don't sound appropriate for the car. GTR Evolution though felt like an aural ecstasy of polished off engine sounds straight from the Ferrari factory in Maranello. The cars in GTR Evolution sound enraged, as they should with 600hp under the bonnet and a minimal 900kg of weight.
Controls
So far we have a game that looks stunning graphically, sounds great with very individual sound effects and a physics engine that hits the bulls eye for this genre. What about the most crucial aspect to un tapping these previously mentioned qualities, controls are the biggest influence on how you interact to a game, luckily though SimBin Did an awesome job, I had my G25 plugged and not only did the GTR Evolution Control menu automatically profile the G25, but gave me the option to pick if I wanted Stick or Paddle shift, The rest of the settings were done for me.
I would have to admit that the force feedback in this game has to be some of the best i've seen yet, why you might ask does this game differentiate so much from other games? When I hold the wheel I feel like i'm holding the wheel, for a game that doesn't use laser scanning of real race tracks the feedback received to me from my G25 come very strong and precise, i've been able to feel certain bumps in the road which would have otherwise lead me to more under steer if the wheel had not responded accordingly. Its these small bits of attention that bring this game above so many in its class."
Also:-
Brief Review of GTR Evolution (for the GTR2 Crowd) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I figured that this forum was a better place for this review, insofar that I am hoping to peak the interest of those on the fence or happily on one side of it . I will discuss Grip, Race Competion, Content (cars and tracks), and Presentation (sounds, gfx, etc.).
First off lets talk about grip. I loved GTL, but the "grip" of the cars always felt very detached. I felt as though I was learning how to play the game more than I was learning to race faster. Obviously good driving technique was essential, but I always felt as though the "feel" and the "grip" were detached and unrealistically sensitive. I couldn't dial in where the limit was until the car slid off the track or spun.
GTR2 improved the road "feel" a great deal, and it was possible to push the cars and discover the limits from your feel of the grip of the tires on the road and the shifting load of the suspension. The game felt less about "memorizing" how to drive and more about developing a masterful driving technique and practice regimine for discoverng what was within the car's limits. Despite driving some of the best engineered cars in the world, cars that have been stripped of all comfort and unnesessary weight and fitted with the finest kit, I felt as though there was still a detached feeling of the car from the track. Even in GTR2 I felt as though it was not so much my adaptave driving technique and feel for grip that produced good times, but rather a mastery of the game mechanics.
Now I know many here disagree, but I found that Race'07 improved the realistic feel of the road and the grip was more appropriate for these race-purpose cars. Race'07 was the first game where I could discover the limits of a car on a track with a great level of feedback. Where as in GTL and GTR2 the grip felt as though it was On/Off, Race'07 had varying degrees. Obviously if you make a serious error you will spin, slide and just generally drastically lose control. But if you are dancing on the razor's edge of grip you can feel it.
A lot of sim racers criticise Race'07 as too grippy and correspondingly label it closer to arcade than sim, but I feel as though this is incorrect. GTR2 fans are used to a more dramatic break in grip when they push near the limit. But this is not realistic. When you are pushing the limit (i.e. not severely jumping over and beyond it) in a car you know it, your grip begins to fade and the car begins to unsetle. The car doesn't break immediately. When you watch racing you can see how drivers make corrections in a turn as they push the limits of their cars. If you have had the opportunity to enjoy a track day you know this as well. If you have ever had the fortune to race Karts or even drive a pure track purpose car, you are indeed familiar with the common racing skill of feeling the limits of grip and suspension and making corrections. Race'07 provides this feedback, and because race sim fans have for years become familiar with a game model that is more abrupt with grip I think they are quick to accuse the Race'07 game model as unrealistic.
GTR Evo ("Evo") has all the physics of Race '07. The "arcade extreme" is an entirely seperate game mode that you can gladly ignore and never even go near. The driving feel that the physics of Evo gives you, allows the skilled and practiced driver to race on the edge and find grip or push the limits of the car outside the memorized race line, which makes for some excellent racing and undoubetly a big fat smile on your face when you overtake a driver in a paintswapping battle royale!
I have been racing online for four years, and the best racing I have ever experienced has been in Race'07. The game has allowed me to be more confident in tight racing, in being able to push the car outsde of my practiced lines, and in knowing that my opponents have the same feel of the road. Nearly every race between equal opponents is a paintswapping battle that pushes nerves and stamina to the limit. Evo maintains this fantastic feeling (and I have indeed enjoyed some great WTCC class races...3 wide racing, 10 laps and 4 drivers within 1 second at the end!) but kicks it up a notch with several new classes of car that force you to race diferently around the track.
Its a fantastic feeling to balance a big GT car along the rolling hills of Zandervoort, clawing for grip, as you steady the wheel and bury the throttle into a series of right handers that take just as much balls as brakes to handle. Don't worry about your fillings that shook lose, you can get them recapped later .
The balance between the classes is phenominal. No single supercar that is just better. The cars in the classes have their own distict handling and performance traits, but can all stay up each others' tailpipe around the tracks. You like the big musle rumble and stiff Saleen over the howling and nimble Aston pick it and you can drive your style and still win. If you favor the all around go-getter from Belgium with a Detroit heart of gold, jump in a Spyker and take on a friend driving the M3 that must be wresteled into submission for the best times or the Toledo which favors the pocket protector wearing driver who takes his turns with razor sharp precision.
Since the physics of Evo lets you really "feel" the car's weight, you will really enjoy swapping between the big fuel guzzling GT pro beasts and the light nimble GT sports. The big A8GT may dominate at Curbitia, but the little Z4M might just turn some heads at Brands Hatch Indy!
I have hinted as to some of the content, and you can read all you like online. The WTCC tracks are great. There is a great amount of detail in the undulations, bumps, and offcamber turns. When Race '07 was released they had every WTCC driver playing it and giving the track designs a thumbs up. You can always toss in your old faves! I sure as rain have Spa '64, '03 and '04 amoung others. Evo even seperates your add-on tracks under a seperate button for easy access. Of course you have the "Ring", I don't think I need to elaborate on that.
Each class of car makes for a different race. The WTCCs are slower, but high center of gravity on big body cars with slicks makes for some exciting racing after 8 laps...and its always CLOSE!!! FWD also is a whole new beast to master in the turns. The F3000 cars will blow your mind with the speeds at which they can stick to the track after the tires heat up. Minis are a trip, and low horsepower means little mistakes won't leave you in the dust, and neither will some hard petting . GTs are just orgasmically awesome. Though for all those who thought Race '07 was too easy...OH MAMA these GTs are a handful! The production classes are for those who like to ride with the rear end wide, but don't like their overalls dirty and their eardrums bleading...we'll see those drivers at the club later for bubly and caviar.
So lets see, we have the best physics to date in a race sim to keep you running timmed laps all night; we have awesome racing to keep a big smile on your face and the bragging rights in constant flow; and we have enough auto porn to keep you...ahem...excited. Well if that's not enough then how about the best ISI sound and graphics.
Firstly the sound is a work of art. The Saleen just sounds orgasmic...I had to get that out. But the complexity and quality is all there for once. The brakes, the transmission whine, and the engine, it all there and its all unique to each car, and its all great. The crowd is in on it too, with cheering and air hornes. Crashes sound damaging, and gravel sounds like its getting all up in your car's naughty bits.
The graphics look fantastic and run super smooth on my three year old system (cept for last year's 8800GT).
Menues are smooth and well organized, FFB is solid, and you can tune in your control sensitivity at speed and tune in amplitude adjustments, which is good for the twitchy driver or gamepad user.
