Review of iF22 (Direct3D) posted by DMan

Quick mini review of JetFighter III with 3DFX patch(posted by DMan)

Mini Preview of Longbow II (posted by John Lynch)

Hey folks,

Haven't seen anyone mention it yet, so I thought I'd pass on some very quick impressions of Longbow2 from E3.

In case you haven't seen the features, check out http://www.janes.ea.com for details and screen shots.

The graphics engine has been totally redone to support 3dfx, and looks fantastic. I saw most of the flight sims that are 3dfx-enabled at E3, and to me Longbow2 looked the best by a fair margin. Night operations are particularly stunning, as the missiles fired dynamically light the terrain as they fly over, as do explosions.

The 3D virtual cockpit is very cool as you can pan around the entire Field of View, and you can watch the CPG's head move around in the front seat as he looks around for targets. You can see his head moving around from external view, too. A nice touch.

The 2D cockpit is there in all its glory, for those "cockpit controversy" fans. I spoke to the project leader who programmed it, and he said he pulled it off in a day or two, and it slowed things down only slightly if at all.

Smoke and debris hangs in the air for a good while after the missiles are gone, allowing you a better idea of where they come from. Terrain looks great and more detailed; so far no trees, although they mention it as a possibility in their FAQ on the website.

Framerate was in general quite smooth, with the demoers routinely firing off bunches of 6 or 8 missiles at a time, from an external view at night, showcasing the lighting effects.

Anyway, there's all sorts of cool, new gameplay features as well (dynamic campaign, multiplayer support, etc. - see the website) that they weren't really demoing, but I thought the 3dfx-inclined out there might like an update on just the graphics.

Another Mini Review of FORMULA ONE (Psygnosis).

Well I think I made a mistake today. I bought Formula One, without waiting for the demo (aarg), so I could see for myself what the fuss was about. My system PPro 233mhz, 64MB and OR3D at running 58mhz. Also I tried using the latest update patch and I made sure I installed the 3DFX version and unselected Direct3D.

It's jerky at many points on the track and when there are a few cars on screen - this surprised me on a PPro although it may be due to the fact I am using keyboard as this is the only game I have found that won't let me change the controller to my Gravis Pro joystick. The jerkiness seems to me to be the way it has been programmed rather than the 3DFX.

The cars' AI is not very convincing, although they seemed less drone-like in the full championship mode. In the single race mode (arcade?) you can 'ram' your way through whole bunches of cars, and Murray Walker pipes up with gleeful comments about how well you did there (odd no-one has tried it in real F1 ;) ). Taking corners at full speed and full acceleration is the order of the day - ram your way through.
In the championship mode this is however not the case if you don't slow down dramatically at many of the bends you spin onto the grass where it's tricky to get off.

The track texture seems to scroll oddly giving an odd effect and distant buildings pop up in a similar fashion to Moto Racer but more noticeable as you have more time to look at scenery in this game.

If you are thinking of buying this to 'show off' your 3DFX my advice is to try and see it running first and get the MotoRacer demo and then make your mind up (Moto Racer will likely win). Don't just go by the screenshots that's for sure.

For me 39 quid for this was way too much. You can get it cheaper if you shop around but in my opinion �19.99 is about all this is worth. If I could get my money back I would. From now I will think twice before I buy any Psygnosis games without seeing a demo .

DMAN

Mini Review of FORMULA ONE (Psygnosis).

" I have a P166MMX (currently running at 66Mhz bus, but I will try 83Mhz when I get round to moving the jumper), 32Mb 60ns EDO, Righteous 3D (57Mhz).

Graphics
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The graphics are as good as the screenshots that we've been seeing for months. The detail on the cars is excellent, but the scenery is somehow not as sharp as I had expected and there is an annoying moire effect on passing fences etc. You only have to look at Monaco to see a level of detail not seen in ANY "racing" game yet (I hesitate to say "sim").

Sound
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Has support for Qsound and Dolby Pro Logic as well as Stereo. The engine sounds are good, but have that annoying "stepped" effect in some circumstances rather than a smooth rise in engine note. The Murray Walker commentary has me reaching for the disable option (as in the real F1 ;) , although it does add a certain realism until the novelty wears off (about 5 minutes). I liked the echoing effect as you go through the tunnel at Monaco, but Murray Walker must have been in the tunnel a well as his commentary also echoed :)

Control Options
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You get keyboard, analogue joystick and digital joystick options. The default options are not to my liking, and although there appears to be a user definable config option I can't get it to work, so I'm stuck with a setup I don't like (annoying).

Gameplay
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Not as bad as some would have you believe. I absolutely love Moto Racer, and this is not as instantly satisfying. That's probably because it's actually quite a lot more difficult, especially in Grand Prix mode. I was expecting this to be a totally unrealistic arcade game, and ok it's no F1GP2, but there are sim touches that make it quite difficult. For instance it's very easy to get out of shape and put a wheel on the grass - if you happen to do this while accelerating you will spin quite easily. I found that racing around Monaco was actually quite a lot of fun once I managed to stay on the track for a complete circuit :-)

Frame Rate
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I haven't noticed much difference in frame rate when changing detail from high or max to ninja. Turning the driving line on/off didn't make any difference on my machine. There are undoubtedly jerky sections on the tracks that I've tried (Hockenheim, Interlagos and Monaco). At Monaco with all settings on highest detail I'd say that frame rate was from 15 to 30 fps. Not bad considering the level of detail. However, the fact is that we have been led to believe that F1 would run at 25-30 fps on a P166. Firstly, I should say that if the jerkiness encountered turns out to be due to a driver issue or some such easily cured problem then I apologise in advance for this comment.

Conclusion
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I actually like the game, although some rough edges need sorting out (in a future patch hopefully). I will certainly be keeping the game and I'll no doubt have a lot of fun with it. I just wish that we had been told all along that 15-30 fps was really all that we could expect. I can live with that (although I can't deny being disappointed), but I really hate plain dishonesty from a software house. I hope I'm proven wrong in the near future."

Jeremy.