Enthusia racing Demo
 

The April issue of the official US Playstation magazine has a playable demo
of Enthusia professional racing. I tried it because i was interested by the
physics video and was hoping for something that wouldn't have the flaws of
GT4. I have the Logitech Driving Force pro which is supported by Enthusia.

The first thing that struck me were the graphics. They are really average.
Unfortunately GT4 has much better looking scenery and cars. But graphics do
not make a game. I could live with average graphics if the rest of the game
made up for it. There are only two views: bumper cam and behind the car. I
wish they had a cockpit view like LFS or GTR.

Then, there's the force feedback. In GT4, the DFP is superbly implemented.
In Enthusia, there is too much resistance to inputs even in small wheel
movements.

The physics were touted as the most realistic ever on a console. I tried a
Mazda 787 on a track that was shaped like a rectangle. It had four straights
connected with four corners. After reaching 224 mph in a straight, i found
out that i could easily take the corner just by lifting off the throttle. No
brakes were needed. For my second race, i tried a Miata on a wet track. The
physics were much more convincing with the need to carefully dose the
accelerator to avoid spinning the car. Also i had a few water drops that
splattered on the camera. It was a cute effect. My last race was on a dry
track with an Alpha 147 GTA. The feeling was "off" for a reason that i have
problems explaining.

To give the driver more feedback, they came up with the VGS system where you
have four arrows at the bottom of your screen. Pull lateral Gs and you have
more arrows on the left or the right. Brake and you have two or three arrows
pointing up. I found that system distracting because i would need to look at
the arrows instead of the track. I would rather have a system where they
tilt the screen sideways to simulate body roll and up and down for
acceleration/braking.

The car sounds aren't memorable. They sould a lot like the ones in GT4. I
guess i was spoiled by GTR.

I seriously hope that it was an early demo with simplified physics because
what i saw didn't impress me. For a game touted as a Gran Turismo killer, it
didn't deliver. I'll give it another chance when it comes out. Fortunately
with console games, you can rent them at your local video club.

Groo the Wanderer wrote:
> The April issue of the official US Playstation magazine has a
playable demo
> of Enthusia professional racing. I tried it because i was interested
by the
> physics video and was hoping for something that wouldn't have the
flaws of
> GT4. I have the Logitech Driving Force pro which is supported by
Enthusia.
>
> I seriously hope that it was an early demo with simplified physics
because
> what i saw didn't impress me. For a game touted as a Gran Turismo
killer, it
> didn't deliver. I'll give it another chance when it comes out.
Fortunately
> with console games, you can rent them at your local video club.

That's the thing about early console demos, you never know how old the
code is. I hope things are improved in the final product, because GT4
doesn't do much for me. These are the second somewhat negative
comments I've read about Enthusia. The other coming from IGN or
Gamespot who did a preview a couple of months back. Maybe it's the
same code base, or maybe the game simply won't live up to expectations.
Didn't this same developer have a similar competitor to GT3? It was
either Capcom or Konami, but it was a game very similar to GT3, high
expectations and twitchy, twitchy steering.

I take it that the demo does not include AI competitors? That's my
major beef with GT4. It's a great driving game, but a lousy racing
game. And GT3 pretty fulfilled my GT driving experience quota so I
don't have much interest in GT4. I even find myself thinking of PGR2
over GT4. And I've spent $600 on wheel, game, and cockpit for GT4!

GT4 has some kind of bar graph to mimic the G-forces, but my favorite symbol
is an excited exclamation point that pops up every time I exceed abt.
three-tenths of a G (lateral). I keep thinking it's some IM: "You've got
mail!" Hard to ignore (and I can't find where to turn it off).

"Groo the Wanderer" > wrote in message
.. .
> The April issue of the official US Playstation magazine has a playable
demo
> of Enthusia professional racing. I tried it because i was interested by
the
> physics video and was hoping for something that wouldn't have the flaws of
> GT4. I have the Logitech Driving Force pro which is supported by Enthusia.
>
> The first thing that struck me were the graphics. They are really average.
> Unfortunately GT4 has much better looking scenery and cars. But graphics
do
> not make a game. I could live with average graphics if the rest of the
game
> made up for it. There are only two views: bumper cam and behind the car. I
> wish they had a cockpit view like LFS or GTR.
>
> Then, there's the force feedback. In GT4, the DFP is superbly implemented.
> In Enthusia, there is too much resistance to inputs even in small wheel
> movements.
>
> The physics were touted as the most realistic ever on a console. I tried a
> Mazda 787 on a track that was shaped like a rectangle. It had four
straights
> connected with four corners. After reaching 224 mph in a straight, i
found
> out that i could easily take the corner just by lifting off the throttle.
No
> brakes were needed. For my second race, i tried a Miata on a wet track.
The
> physics were much more convincing with the need to carefully dose the
> accelerator to avoid spinning the car. Also i had a few water drops that
> splattered on the camera. It was a cute effect. My last race was on a dry
> track with an Alpha 147 GTA. The feeling was "off" for a reason that i
have
> problems explaining.
>
> To give the driver more feedback, they came up with the VGS system where
you
> have four arrows at the bottom of your screen. Pull lateral Gs and you
have
> more arrows on the left or the right. Brake and you have two or three
arrows
> pointing up. I found that system distracting because i would need to look
at
> the arrows instead of the track. I would rather have a system where they
> tilt the screen sideways to simulate body roll and up and down for
> acceleration/braking.
>
> The car sounds aren't memorable. They sould a lot like the ones in GT4. I
> guess i was spoiled by GTR.
>
> I seriously hope that it was an early demo with simplified physics because
> what i saw didn't impress me. For a game touted as a Gran Turismo killer,
it
> didn't deliver. I'll give it another chance when it comes out. Fortunately
> with console games, you can rent them at your local video club.
>
>
>

>
> That's the thing about early console demos, you never know how old the
> code is. I hope things are improved in the final product, because GT4
> doesn't do much for me. These are the second somewhat negative
> comments I've read about Enthusia. The other coming from IGN or
> Gamespot who did a preview a couple of months back. Maybe it's the
> same code base, or maybe the game simply won't live up to expectations.
> Didn't this same developer have a similar competitor to GT3? It was
> either Capcom or Konami, but it was a game very similar to GT3, high
> expectations and twitchy, twitchy steering.
>
> I take it that the demo does not include AI competitors? That's my
> major beef with GT4. It's a great driving game, but a lousy racing
> game. And GT3 pretty fulfilled my GT driving experience quota so I
> don't have much interest in GT4. I even find myself thinking of PGR2
> over GT4. And I've spent $600 on wheel, game, and cockpit for GT4!
>
There is one AI competitor in the demo. It didn't seem to have the tendency
of ramming me if i were in the racing line. I would have liked to have more
opponents. 1 vs 1 is kinda boring.

"Steve Smith" > wrote in message
...
> GT4 has some kind of bar graph to mimic the G-forces, but my favorite
symbol
> is an excited exclamation point that pops up every time I exceed abt.
> three-tenths of a G (lateral). I keep thinking it's some IM: "You've got
> mail!" Hard to ignore (and I can't find where to turn it off).

It's stability assist control (ASM), to turn it off it's in two places.

For arcade mode Options->Arcade->Driving Assists

For GT Mode (Race/Practice)->Settings->Driving Aids (This has to be done for
each car)


Hope that helps

Thanks, Rob!

"Rob Johns" > wrote in message
...
>
> "Steve Smith" > wrote in message
> ...
> > GT4 has some kind of bar graph to mimic the G-forces, but my favorite
> symbol
> > is an excited exclamation point that pops up every time I exceed abt.
> > three-tenths of a G (lateral). I keep thinking it's some IM: "You've got
> > mail!" Hard to ignore (and I can't find where to turn it off).
>
> It's stability assist control (ASM), to turn it off it's in two places.
>
> For arcade mode Options->Arcade->Driving Assists
>
> For GT Mode (Race/Practice)->Settings->Driving Aids (This has to be done
for
> each car)
>
>
> Hope that helps
>
>