Superstars V8 Racing Demo has bee Released

[ROB IS THE STIG]

As the title suggests Superstars V8 demo is on xbox live for download, what are people's thoughts??

For my money its very arcadey (is that even a word), with all assists off its fun, especially in the M3 in the wet, drifters paradise but this no sim.

Not a bad effort but i won't be buying

Thoughts & opinions??

[tlongman]

Is it on the playstation store?

[ROB IS THE STIG]

Couldn't tell you buddy sorry

[nickyf1]

No FFB (A big turn off for me), No real feeling of driving a RWD car. The wet weather 'looked' good though...

[ROB IS THE STIG]

Originally Posted by nickyf1

No FFB (A big turn off for me), No real feeling of driving a RWD car. The wet weather 'looked' good though...

Yeah FFB is a must in a racer, also no in car view!! Wot were they thinking!!

[Acid09]

Does the title have cockpit view? Because it can't be seen on any of the screens so far...

[jonboy1066]

Originally Posted by Acid09

Does the title have cockpit view? Because it can't be seen on any of the screens so far...

No cockpit view I'm afraid.

I'm not so negative about V8's.

I Played the demo tonight with a mate and a few Beers in my belly.
FFB.............There's none, on the Logitech DFX it feels the same as Forza2 so there's resistance but no real feeling.

Handling........Feels a bit SemiSim, a bit like ToCA RD on Pro Sim which 2 years ago wasn't bad.......nowadays not phenoninal, but OK

Looks.............Good, a bit like RACE Pro but smoother, no screen tear or slow down

Damage........I read an interview with the devs and they said that the full damage model wouldn't be in the demo so it's hard to say what it'll be like in the finished product.

Difficulty.......I'm drunk so it was probably easier than I made it but in the two races I tried (On Hard not Legandary) I came last both times in a 19 car grid by a long way LOL

Overall.....Not bad, but not great, I'd give it 6.5 out of 10, I think I'll have to wait until the demo comes out on PS3 and see if FFB is supported there.

I've cancelled my pre order for now but on the premis that I think:

a, It'll prove a very unpopular title (except in Italy) and will drop in price very soon so I can pick it up cheaper later on.

b, If Atari don't fix the Slow Down Bug with a patch on RACE Pro soon, I may lose my patience and if V8's works with 12 players online better than RACE Pro I may consider it.

Overall

I saw the tyre problem on a 3 lap race and my tyres were shot at the end of lap 2, I'm curious to see if I set the race to more laps whether the tyres last longer and die 2 laps before the end.....I'd like that.
The pit lane seems to be a feature (shame you can't say that for Ferrari Challenge or Supercar Challenge) When you drive into the pits in V8's the car hits a limiter and drives through......I guess that means a working pit lane in the full game.

It looks nice, runs smooth, and the tracks in the line up are all awesome
More testing required but I think it's OK for now, it's certainly worth watching but not a game to hold your breath for.

[jonboy1066]

Originally Posted by ROB IS THE STIG

As the title suggests Superstars V8 demo is on xbox live for download, what are people's thoughts??

For my money its very arcadey (is that even a word), with all assists off its fun, especially in the M3 in the wet, drifters paradise but this no sim.

Not a bad effort but i won't be buying

Thoughts & opinions??

I've seen and heard a lot of people say that and I think they've all dismissed this game too soon.

You've got the settings wrong!

I only found this myself because I was playing with the settings while trying to make it playable for my 7 Year old son.

When you select Driving Assists in the options You can select between "Arcade" and "Simulation", at the top, under where it says Driving aids and above where it says TCS.

If you then change the assists in the chosen mode it becomes Custom

However if you -for instance- have "Arcade Style" selected then turn off assists the Style will still be "Customised Arcade"

Whereas if you have "Simulation Style" selected then change an auto gearbox for manual the style will be "Customised Simulation"

The two different styles create a very different driving experience. I can go 10 seconds a lap faster in Custom Arcade than I can in Custom Simulation. And I've tested it on my Son set with Custom Arcade Assists ON and Custom Simulation Assists ON and he can barely drive in Sim where he drives pretty well in Arcade.

This is actually looking like a very good Sim. I'm sure you're playing it on Arcade instead of Sim, the more I play the more impressed I am.

I am very impressed that I can make this game enough of a challenge for me (I have a few top 10 and quite a few top 100 times in RACE Pro and am a better racer than hotlapper so consider myself at the high end of average and no slouch), Yet easy enough without being patronising for my 7 year old to play too.

That's a very hard thing to do, it's something T10 are making a massive song and dance about ready for Forza3 while Milestone/Black Bean have queitly got on with it and pulled it off.

I've Just done a wet race In Sim setting and No assists and found that My fastest lap is 7 seconds a lap slower than my Dry times..............ABOUT TIME! Take a hint SimBin!

The contact in the race seems brilliant, you can run side by side without being taken out, you can nudge without damage, and you can be nudged (If you deserve it) without it ending your race.

The damage seems pretty good if not spectacular. If you hit other cars too hard you can damage the Steering so that you need an ammount of lock to keep in a straight line, you can damage the gears and you can damage the brakes too and it affects your stability under braking. The visible damage is limited to the front a rear bumpers flapping around, but to me the performance affect from damage is far more important in a sim that creating spectacular crashes.

After the race I watched the replay....the replay options are great!
Very much like Forza (No Telemetary) you can slow the replay down by 2X or speed it up 2X,
You can view every car in the race from all driving perspectives and a TV show type view
You can pause the replay and then move the camera around like when you take a photo in Forza.

All That's Missing Is:

ForceFeedback..................Absolutely Imperetive these days
Mirrors or some kind of indicator for the cars around you.

Working Pit lane

All of the above I believe will be in the finished version

Cockpit view (although I don't use it there are many who think it adds to the realism......I don't but if a game wants to sell these days it's become the new standard by which a lot of games are compared)
I doubt cockpit will make it to the game....but frankly I don't care, I don't use it LOL

JB's Rating
7/10

Good for a demo, room for improvement but we'll see what the finished article is like and I really hope a demo comes out on PS3 soon too so that we can see if FFB is supported there.

[ROB IS THE STIG]

Very thorough review, opinion heard, but its still not for me.

I take onboard the settings etc just not keen on its "unpolished" feel.

Hope those who buy it get into it and enjoy.

[jonboy1066]

I hear ya ROB, I actually like the unpolished feel.

IMO The awesome graphics of Forza2 and GT5P have been their downfall, they are so pretty to go to the point of making the game too clinical, and the environment too sterile, something Ferrari Challenge, RACE Pro, Supercar Challenge and now V8's does by being slightly imperfect is capture the atmosphere more and improve the experience.

I've recently been playing ToCA Touring Cars (circa 1997) on the PS1 with my son, (He's a recent convert so I felt he needed a good grounding LOL) the graphics and unpolished feel were unbelieveably bad, yet I remember 12 years ago being massively impressed with them. Regardless of how bad it looked I found that after one lap of Donnington in a Mondeo I was just as Immersed in the race as I am when playing GT5P of Forza2 at any other track.

Pretty pictures -although reletively important- are not the be all and end all for me.


Edit* I've just remembered I owe you a Ten Tenths Vinil on Forza don't I! Sorry, been busyt lately I'll send one over soon.

By way of compensation.....do you like pork scratchings or Cadbuys Creme eggs?





Pick a car and I'll slap 'em on for ya they're both jonboy originals, never sold and only ever kept to myself.

[jonboy1066]

I've done a video review of this demo and have uploaded it to Youtube. Bear with it I've never done any video editing before and never done a review before so I think it's not bad for a first go.

Here you go:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxJUAyEaDnI




The lighting quality's not that great, sorry about that, but it's taught me some valuable lessons for next time I do a review.

[Cryos]

Its completely rubbish.

[jonboy1066]

What?

My review or the game?

Or your 3 word post LMAO

[Cryos]

Originally Posted by jonboy1066

What?

My review or the game?

Or your 3 word post LMAO

Easy champ.

The game obviously....

If i hado f said the review it would of been "The review was complete rubbish" i didnt say it however... therefore the game is implyed.

[jonboy1066]

LOL Only messin with ya mate, although I don't agree with you, I think the Demo's OK, what the game is like we wont know till next Friday, but I think it'll be ok.

[tator2001uk]

nah i wont be buying it, played demo on xbox last night, not felt like a proper race game dont know why something made it feel like i was paying £1.50 in a arcade to play it, too easy to drive also

[Cryos]

Handling is unreaslistic, the graphics are terrible. The only redeemable quality is that its using the sounds that are lended to GTR.

[jonboy1066]

Originally Posted by Cryos

Handling is unreaslistic,

No less realistic than Forza2 or TRD3 in Pro Sim

Originally Posted by Cryos

the graphics are terrible.

Not that looking at pretty pics are a priority for me, I don't think the graphics are any worse than RACE Pro or Ferrari Challenge which for is good enough for under £30

Have you actuyally played it mate? I didn't think it was available outside the EU

[Cryos]

Originally Posted by jonboy1066

No less realistic than Forza2 or TRD3 in Pro Sim

Are you serious ? so your telling me the back end isnt swinging out all the time at every corner if you go in too hard ? Because drifting a V8 5 series isnt exactly how a 5 series tourer would acctually handle....

Its funny that i can drive in forza on any track with even a simular tuned Holden and guess what ? It dosnt step out unless im belting it out of a corner.

Originally Posted by jonboy1066

Not that looking at pretty pics are a priority for me, I don't think the graphics are any worse than RACE Pro or Ferrari Challenge which for is good enough for under £30

Have you actuyally played it mate? I didn't think it was available outside the EU

There is a huge difference:


V8 Superstars

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAvFGwMLIZY
Forza 2

What country do you think im in ?

[jonboy1066]

Originally Posted by Cryos

Are you serious ? so your telling me the back end isnt swinging out all the time at every corner if you go in too hard ?

Yeah, if you brake too hard coming up to a corner the rears lock so the back swings out just like Standard DTM's in TRD3, FBMW's in RACE Pro and R3 Porsches in Forza2, that's just a case of the standard setup having too much rear brake bias.

If you go into a corner too hard you understeer

If you exit a corner too hard you oversteer

Just like any other game with assists off.

Originally Posted by Cryos

Its funny that i can drive in forza on any track with even a simular tuned Holden and guess what ? It dosnt step out unless im belting it out of a corner.

There aren't any Holdens in Forza 2, do you mean the Vauxhall Monaro? That'll be to do with the setup and brake bias rather than the game's handling.

Your Youtube linky no worky, but I think I know what your on about, yeah F2's graphics are very good but they (and GT5P's) just seem too clinical to me at times. I like the more rugged, rough around the edges graphics in a game like this.......it adds atmosphere.

Originally Posted by Cryos

What country do you think im in ?

LOL Sorry mate I must have got you confused with someone else, for some strange reason I thought you were in Oz It's been a long time since we've raced.

[Cryos]

Lets just agree to disagree

[jonboy1066]

Originally Posted by Cryos

Lets just agree to disagree

Yeah no problem, after all no game can be all things to all men, many have tried and many have failed.

This is a quote from a guy called "Hereward" who posts on a gaming forum on what he feels about the game:

Originally Posted by Hereward

Well after yet another long session on the demo, I have to say this game just continues to grow on me, I've found my limit with the pad which is simulation, all the aids off with the tyre wear ect on, full race (14 laps) dry, starting position 10th. Trying out the different cars and noticeing the subtle differences, have to say the M5 and the Merc are getting the most hammer at the moment. Also the subtle physics nuances are starting to shine through now, the down force at speed adding grip quite noticabley especialy as the tires are going off. Also I checked and there is quite a bit of "auto steer" with the pad which watching john's video is not in evidence on the wheel, although it's not as pronounced as with FC on the pad.
The more you play the more you get used to the quite complex physics and the more the game opens up to you. I would definatly compare it with TOCA 3 but I would say the physics are more rewarding but not imediatly. I'm now competly sold on the game and would recomend it to any sim fan, If it has FFB and pitstops, both are very likely (drive into the pits and pitlane speed is aplied to the car in the demo) then this is going to be a very popular online racer, so lets hope they have that side of things sorted out as well. Thats not takng anything awat from single player, with the reported level of tuning available and the variety of tracks.
Sorry to keep harping on about this game but it gives you that old TOCA buzz of close celibral racing and you just have to try it for yourselves! Heres hopeing the PS3 demo hits this thursday.

I agree with him, it takes a little getting used to but so far it's been a very good demo.

Here's the link to my video review for those who may have missed it on the last page:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxJUAyEaDnI

[Stephen H]

is this demo on xbox360, as for some reason I cant seem to find it?

[jonboy1066]

Yes it is, or at least it was before the XBL Update

[Belly13]

Has anyone played the full version yet?