GTR 2 Preview

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SimBin looks to blow the racing competition away.

By Dan Adams

Racing Sim fans saw a new player enter the arena last year when SimBin and 10Tacle released GTR around the world. While the racing series is probably more popular in Europe, the game was excellent for a franchise first. The guys at SimBin were all about taking what they had and improving it for the future and we recently had the chance to see what they've been working on.

GTR 2 is a sim at heart. It's got enough hard core elements that anyone looking to tweak a car and obsess over the number crunching involved with creating the perfect racing machine can do so outside of the actual races with the MoTech telemetry software. Those uninterested in perfecting the car outside of their own skill can tweak their technique enough to shave milliseconds off of their times on the track. The concern for some is that the first game was almost too hardcore for those that want to try this type of game out that aren't actually part of a professional racing crew.

SimBin's hoping to solve some of these problems with a game structure that's more like a Gran Turismo in its learning curve. While all of the cars you could hope to drive will be unlocked from the beginning of the experience, a new driving school mode will challenge players to get better and better through various trials that when complete will unlock new championships. 140 lessons can be taken in the driving school and will include anything from fast starts and stops to full laps around a track in various types of weather conditions.

Helping players even more is a very easy to understand racing line indicator. Along the track (as can be seen in the video titled Time Trial Ghost) is a band of color showing the direction and position that your car should be along with a color indicating whether to go faster, let off the gas, or put on the break. Using this system, players should be able to understand how cars speed along the track. These race lines and ghost cars can also be traded over the Internet so players can get a look at how some of the fastest racers run each track.

Along with the lessons and trading between friends, SimBin is improving on a lot of the various aspects where players took issue the first time around as well as simply adding in new detail. Visual detail is probably one of the last thing on the mind of a true sim racer preferring the feel and handle of the car to all else, but SimBin is making sure that those who do care are well taken care of. Car interiors are now fully modeled along with fully animated drivers to sit in them. New details will also be apparent on the outside of the car such as the glow on the brake discs when they heat up from so much friction.

This time around tires will be modeled more accurately to suit modern day technology which should help deliver better handling for most cars. Considering the surface of the track will be fully simulated for all weather conditions, the improved tire technology should be welcome.

AI will now behave more realistically than it used to specifically in the way they start a race. While players used to have to start from scratch in each race, AI drivers never had the disadvantage of having to warm up tires or find the brake points on their cars. Basically, AI memory will be wiped before a match so that players and AI will be on even footing. This doesn't mean that AI will simply roll over and play dead. These drivers will still be aggressive. With 56 cars on a track at the same time, all being constantly simulated no matter where they are in relation to the player, there should be plenty of reason to keep players interested in battling the computer.

While plenty has been upgraded and changed, players should be happy to know that along with the 2004 season cars and tracks, all of those available in the first GTR game will find their way back into the sequel. Multiplayer is back as well, this time offering 28 drivers in multiplayer and the option to run dedicated servers. Serious racers will be able to form their own leagues and race against the best.