GRID Demo out this Week on X360 and PS3!

[ajwines64]

Re: GRID Demo out this Week on X360 and PS3!

Yea I like the demo so far for the ps3. Online played pretty good. The first race with the bmw on the japan circuit is crazy on the first turn. It seems like if you start near the top you get rear ended going into turn 1 which lets the people in the back slow down and take the lead and should get the win. Other than that I like the game so far.

[burnwood]

Re: GRID Demo out this Week on X360 and PS3!

Codemasters will have to tweak the lightness of the vehicles. Too easy to spin out as was said.

Otherwise the game feels organic. Much more alive when racing. I love the camera in cockpit view. Especially when you hit a wall or spin out.

I love the idea of going back in time (like a Tivo) before a wreck to start from that spot via the replay system.

Very promising game.

[Chibi]

Re: GRID Demo out this Week on X360 and PS3!

I think I pre-emptively hated this game so much ("You're not my REAL successor to TOCA 3!") that I'm actually enjoying it a bit.

I still wish their focus hadn't been so much on arcade-style play and doriftuuuu~!, but it's pretty fun so far. The presentation is quite slick, too.

[OnlookerDelay]

Re: GRID Demo out this Week on X360 and PS3!

I've played the demo a good bit over the last two days and the more I do, the more I realize that I'm not a fan of the ominous, smog tinted haze that pervades the environment. I simply find the dark, washed out color palette to be unappealing. The more I look at the cars and the track objects, the more I realize that they are rendered better than average. I just don't like the industrial tint of the atmosphere in which they're presented.

The visibility out of the cockpit is affected enough by the lack of contrast that I find that when I'm racing online, I have to go to the hood view to sort of make up for the loss of visibility. I use the cockpit view offline when my impaired judgement from the cockpit view won't affect others.

The drift mode doesn't do a thing for me. I tried it with all the techniques suggested in various forums, but alas, it's just not my cup of tea. I did improve but it somehow feels a bit cheesy to me; I guess I just don't *get it*.

I've tried all combinations of drivers assists on and off and still can't feel the weight of the cars to my satisfaction. They do seem to be rotating on a center axis as you steer. Does this mean I'm not having some fun with the demo? No. You still have to use good driving techniques to prosper, but the problem is that you don't get the degree of tactile feedback I was thinking the game would provide to accomplish this.

The AI seems to be a bit overzealous for the demo, but I think they got cranked up a bit in the aggression department to give the short offline races more character. It's nice to see AI cars make bad moves and take each other out on occasion, so I give the Codies props for this. I'd still rather race against Codemaster's AI's than any other racing game I've played.

Online I've hit a streak of bad races. I try to race clean, but I'm learning that many of the gamers have found advantageous ways to take out their competion. I race with damage enabled only, and I'd say that about 1/4 of the races I enter now, I get totalled before I'm done with half a lap. Another 1/4 of the time I'm so severely damaged that I can't finish before the 30 second clock expires after the winner crosses the line.

[burnwood]

Re: GRID Demo out this Week on X360 and PS3!

I played it at length some more and I bet Codemasters tweaks the way these cars feel. It just doesn't feel right. It's more on the side of the Need for Speed series in terms of handling than a Codie title.

The sound environment is top notch. I hope they have more recorded names so I can hear mine from the announcer.

Oh and I love how they display achievements in the game!

I haven't tried the game yet with my MS Wheel because it's been sent back due to the recall.

[SageInfinite]

Re: GRID Demo out this Week on X360 and PS3!

Love the graphics, hate the handling. I'll pass. DIRT was enough for me.

[Kruza]

Re: GRID Demo out this Week on X360 and PS3!

I've played the demo a good bit over the last two days and the more I do, the more I realize that I'm not a fan of the ominous, smog tinted haze that pervades the environment. I simply find the dark, washed out color palette to be unappealing. The more I look at the cars and the track objects, the more I realize that they are rendered better than average. I just don't like the industrial tint of the atmosphere in which they're presented.

The visibility out of the cockpit is affected enough by the lack of contrast that I find that when I'm racing online, I have to go to the hood view to sort of make up for the loss of visibility. I use the cockpit view offline when my impaired judgement from the cockpit view won't affect others.

The drift mode doesn't do a thing for me. I tried it with all the techniques suggested in various forums, but alas, it's just not my cup of tea. I did improve but it somehow feels a bit cheesy to me; I guess I just don't *get it*.

I've tried all combinations of drivers assists on and off and still can't feel the weight of the cars to my satisfaction. They do seem to be rotating on a center axis as you steer. Does this mean I'm not having some fun with the demo? No. You still have to use good driving techniques to prosper, but the problem is that you don't get the degree of tactile feedback I was thinking the game would provide to accomplish this.

The AI seems to be a bit overzealous for the demo, but I think they got cranked up a bit in the aggression department to give the short offline races more character. It's nice to see AI cars make bad moves and take each other out on occasion, so I give the Codies props for this. I'd still rather race against Codemaster's AI's than any other racing game I've played.

Online I've hit a streak of bad races. I try to race clean, but I'm learning that many of the gamers have found advantageous ways to take out their competion. I race with damage enabled only, and I'd say that about 1/4 of the races I enter now, I get totalled before I'm done with half a lap. Another 1/4 of the time I'm so severely damaged that I can't finish before the 30 second clock expires after the winner crosses the line.

Nice posts you've made here and above, OnloookerDelay.

I agree about the physics in the GRID demo. The center-point pivot handling in this game is very apparent. There is no difference in grip between the left and right tires along an axle except for situations when a car runs over a curb or rumble strip, and I don't like that at all. (I've explained why below.)

I know there are concerns about cars feeing "light" while racing, and for the most part you guys are right about it. It's the ultra-responsive steering that gives an impression that there is a lack of weight while moving. With that said, you can tell with the way the car behaves while going uphill or downhill that there is some sufficient weight under it -- just not enough. In this game, a driver has to be careful with applying constant slight left-right/right-left inputs (i.e. tapping or wiggling the left stick) as the car immediately responds to any that's made. A touch of sluggishness in responsiveness needs to be added here while making left-right or right-left steering inputs in order to give the ultimate sensation of weight. But then that means weight transfer must be present between the left and right tires along an axle while steering and especially when cornering, which goes back to the frustrating center-point pivot dilemma. And this is the root of the physics and handling problem.

Cheap online opponents will try to bump your car from the inside while cornering to force your car wide, so when approaching the exit of a corner you'll either have to slow down to stay on the track or you'll run off the track at near full speed. Meanwhile, during the bump the opponent uses your car as "support" to straighten his/her car out in order to allow him/her to take the corner at the fastest speed possible without having to slow down approaching the apex. It's obviously better to stay on track rather than run off of it. But either way, it's a lose-lose situation for the driver getting bumped from the inside.

As for the GRID demo overall, I like everything about this game except for those things mentioned above.

And Codemasters pretty much nailed how drifting is done. If you have doubts, watch a D1 Grand Prix event and/or highlights from Youtube. Aside from the center-point pivot handling, this is the way it's done in real life.

Kruza

[BrownsFan72]

Re: GRID Demo out this Week on X360 and PS3!

I know impressions on the demo have been mixed so I will throw in my 2 cents. First I loved Toca 3 for Xbox and wish it was backward compatible. This is the heir apperant to that game with obvious similiarities to Dirt. I love how the cars feel and enjoyed the online racing. The feeling of being on the edge going around a curve in this series has always been well done and rewarded if handled correctly. This game is definently not NFS, PGR, or any other racing game to compare it to. Im not a gearhead so the problem of center turing etc may be there but I will focus on the fact that codemasters does a great job at making racing games and I expect this one to be the same.

[DXZeke]

Re: GRID Demo out this Week on X360 and PS3!

First. I did something kind of crazy. I downloaded the demo on all 3 platforms. PS3, 360, and PC.


Im going to be in the minority, but I think GRID is going to be a heck of a good racing game. Pro Race Driver 3 was viewed as too tough for the average gamer. GRID was made as a middle ground. It's got it's own control scheme. It's not trying too be PGR, Gran Turismo, Forza, or even PRD3...


Graphically, it's a nice looking game. Anyone saying it's horrible looking really, seriously. Wow. I've had some buddies already say how good it looks compared to GT5P (which is the current champ of racing visuals).


It controls good.
It's a fast game.
Has some great damage modeling.
Has an innovative idea for when you crash in a race that you can rewind back 5 seconds and try and stop your mistake from happening... granted you can turn this off as well.



PS3 version looks a tad bit better than the 360.
PS3 version is darker graphically.
PS3 has jaggies since it's noticeable there's no FSAA

360 has FSAA and jaggies aren't present.
360 has a brighter color pallate.
360 has a smidge bit lower frame rate than the PS3

PC - if you have a good card like an 8800GT and a dual or quad core. The PC beats both of them.


The online for all 3 is your basic stuff and works. No lag or real issues that I noticed.

I'm more than likely getting this on the PS3 since I know more people that will be getting it on said platform.

[HMcCoy]

Re: GRID Demo out this Week on X360 and PS3!

Love it. I'm a pretty casual race fan, and this game is just my cup of tea. LOVED IT.

[Stumbleweed]

Re: GRID Demo out this Week on X360 and PS3!

Got an 8.7 from IGN -- pretty solid for sure (and somewhat unexpected):

http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/876/876137p1.html

[Klocker]

Re: GRID Demo out this Week on X360 and PS3!

freakin beautiful game and fun racing... day one purchase

http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=142296

9/10

[ZB9]

Re: GRID Demo out this Week on X360 and PS3!

freakin beautiful game and fun racing... day one purchase

http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=142296

9/10

day one purchase for me also. It looks really good. Im loving the demo

[ajwines64]

Re: GRID Demo out this Week on X360 and PS3!

day one purchase for me also. It looks really good. Im loving the demo

I agree. I'm not into the super realistic racing games ala Gran Turismo and not really into the acrade NFS series either. So this fits me perfect. Online will be a blast just like the demo is. Day 1 purchase also.

[Moshood]

Re: GRID Demo out this Week on X360 and PS3!

Great demo!! Day 1 purchase.