A two person development team? Yes, that's right.

Geoff Crammond hasn’t been seen since 2002 when he released Grand Prix 4. Before his disappearance his impact on the gaming industry, and more importantly the genre of racing games, is legendary. Whether it was REVS, Formula One Grand Prix or Stunt Car Racer, many people had their first experience of racing on their home computer using one of his titles.

My first experience with virtual racing which I clearly remember came at “youth club”. They had an Amiga 500 and they had Crammond’s Stunt Car Racer for it. Most people were interested in doing other things, so I got my turn relatively quickly and found a challenging and fun experience. This led me to asking for an Amiga for Christmas and essentially led my life to where I am today (working for a software developer making racing simulations).

Stunt Car Racer / Stunt Track Racer box front / back.

Set in 2006 (17 years in the future when the title was released), the idea of course, is crazy. You drive on elevated circuits, inches from death. You have to perfectly time jumps and carry the correct speed to stay on-track, all the time fighting an opponent for the victory.

Winning screen

Box and manual
As you can see in the video below, the Amiga version of Stunt Car Racer came with all the usual things you expected from a game in that period. The manual was an interesting read and really did show just how much Crammond loves racing. Although the type of racing being simulated is entirely fictional, they took the time to write an interesting piece on the history of racing.

Features and content
The title came with one car capable of nitro boost and eight tracks of varying difficulty. The tracks were split two in each division. You raced 11 opponents (four in each division, one per race) and scored points. If you beat your opponents by the end of the season you could move up a division and the difficulty increased with it.

How the opponents start out in their divisions.

The races themselves were quite an experience. You were lifted by chains and dropped onto the starting grid beside your opponent, then were able to race. Any time that you crashed, those chains would lift you back onto the track, unless you had sustained enough damage to be unable to continue. Each track varied enough that you would often have a minimum and maximum speed that you had to hit a ramp to do it right, or you risk losing time in the air, or plummeting to your doom.

Take enough damage and your race is over...

Division 4: The little ramp / The hump back

These tracks and this division are very easy. You can simply sit behind the opponent and wait until the last turn if you want to. The tracks can all be taken completely flat-out with boost on the whole way around. There are jumps that you are better off actually going slower (you’ll lose less time in the air), but you don’t honestly need to worry about that.

Division 3: The Stepping stones / The big ramp

These tracks are again pretty easy, but there is a risk of making race-ending mistakes (see video). On the stepping stones you just need to keep a speed of around 140 (use boost to keep that speed), while the rest of the track you can blast your way around. The big ramp on it’s namesake circuit must be taken at over 200, while the smaller jumps need to be taken at 170 so you can avoid jumping straight into the abyss. Unfortunately I was unable to boost and turn at the same time, so getting over 200 for the big ramp became a problem in the video!

Division 2: The high jump / The rollercoaster

These tracks can be tricky, and the AI opponents are pretty fast. You have to carry 200 over the high jump to make it, and on the rollercoaster you have to go under 160 on the largest hill or you will miss the next turn. It’s a difficult balance, but minimizing your time in the air is probably for the best on both courses, while slowing down on the sloped straight on the high jump course is vital.

Division 1: The ski jump / The drawbridge

I wasn’t able to get into division one by the time I wanted to post this review. That should tell you how difficult division two is! I only managed it a few times back in the day, but I do remember how to drive the tracks (I’m just not as good at it anymore). It should also be noted that you cannot drive these tracks without damaging your car on landing, so it is important to do as little damage as possible in the lower divisions.

The ski jump has some jumps you have to be slower over, while the main jump has to be taken at over 200mph. The drawbridge should be taken at/just over 140, while the rest of the track can be taken flat-out.

User Interface/HUD
The menu and race access system is very simplistic. Simple keyboard navigation gets you in and out of the car.

The in-race HUD gives you the all information you need:

Physics
The physics seen in Stunt Car Racer are weirdly believable. Like all Geoff Crammond titles it feels to me as if there is a driver aid which keeps you on the road, and while it’s certainly possible to crash off at any time, it’s also a little bit easier than it should be. This could be because it was designed for keyboard control, or it could simply be because this is how they believed gameplay needed to be for commercial success.

The best thing I could say about the physics are that being on two wheels, flying through the air or smashing into surfaces all have believable physics which are amazing for the time. Infact it could be argued that if someone improved the graphics, these physics could still sell to this day as a modern title.

Graphics
3D tracks and cars, realistically built to give a proper sensation of distance and speed. Easily one of the first titles I tried which gave me a proper feeling of immersion in a 3D world. It’s a retro style which I feel I would still accept today if available at higher resolution, and it’s actually interesting when you do play it to see just how effective this was 23 years ago on period hardware.

Fantastic draw distance and a true 3D feeling.

Sound
The deep and growling sounds of the engine in Stunt Car Racer were incredible for the time, and are still acceptable to this day when the hardware it was designed for is taken into consideration. The differing sounds of the engine ticking over, scraping metal and crashing are also fantastic. In the sound department, Stunt Car Racer gave you every piece of information you needed to be able to drive effectively.

Effects on the genre
Few people have been quite as far ahead of their time as often as Geoff Crammond. While it would be easy to argue that someone else, probably David Kaemmer, would have reached all these milestones, it is important to recognize that often it was Crammond who got there first. Had Crammond not have seen so much success, we could easily have lost the influence of both him and MicroProse. We may never have seen the F1GP series and we may have lost MicroProse far earlier than we did.

Screen shown when you don't win

Effects on me
Those early experiences at ‘youth club’ were what led me to get a Commodore Amiga, this directly led me onto other racing titles, and wound up leading me to my current employment with a racing simulator developer. It is incredible to think that (until rFactor2, at least) there still hasn’t been a better implementation of wet weather in racing since Grand Prix 3 (12 years ago).

Promotion screen

Anything similar
Not that I am aware of. Geoff Crammond did announce a sequel back in 2003, but it was cancelled. There have been a few attempts to build something similar, and I did have fun with Nitro Stunt Racing for a bit, but it didn’t hold my attention for very long. When you include the single player championship features, etc, Stunt Car Racer certainly feels like it was the last of it’s kind.

Games were more of an experience than a quick fling like today. They often came with lavish intro sequences and usually with huge manuals which not only told you how to play, but gave you a backstory, too. In this age of digital downloads it is that ‘big box’ experience that I truly miss, and when Jon Denton – who I met through racing games software – posted a blog questioning whether today’s simulated racers could cope with a game based on a single-series, it helped me realize I wasn’t alone in this, and set me off on an eBay spending spree where I re-purchased some of my favorite titles from my early days.

I started out with a Commodore Vic-20 the entire family shared, I then moved to a C-64 and then an Amiga A600 that my parents bought just for me. Although as I’ve said before the earlier systems were great family time, often spent programming our own simple games, the Amiga is definitely the system I look back on with the fondest memories; It’s gaming capabilities and the huge industry around it meant that there really never was a shortage of new and fantastic stuff to play.

Many barriers were being broken at this time because many gaming genres simply didn’t exist before it, and what’s interesting is that even today the types of games I enjoy remind me of a game I enjoyed and want to re-experience from the Amiga. One of my fondest memories gaming on the Amiga was actually taking my system to a friends house so that we could both play Frontier-Elite II at the same time and compare information. We hardly spoke to each other the entire time I was at his house, and I just laugh inside as I look back at his sister coming in to tell us we “both look Anemic” and should eat something. Those were the days!

My first introduction to IBM Personal Computers (PCs) came through a school friend named Kieron: He had a PC. While the rest of us were busy arguing over whether the Amiga or Atari ST were better, he was quietly using a system we’d all have to follow him into whether we liked it or not. I actually bought PC games before I owned a PC, and played one of them – Indy 500 – at Kieron’s house. In a way, he helped me to head in the direction I have with my career.

Many PC games today can trace their roots back to an Amiga title, but still in those early days using a PC I really still did enjoy the ‘big box’ experience. It does seem – as Jon suggested in his blog – that online gaming is what killed the game manual, the box, and perhaps created the online-only, throwaway culture gaming has become. I used to buy games to play them ‘forever’, I don’t do that anymore because there’s nothing of ‘worth’ to hold onto, there’s nothing physical.

I’ve decided to write a few retro-reviews of some of my favorite games from various formats. A personal retrospective of my feelings towards the fun I had with them, and the future they helped to create in the industry. Were they ever beaten? Were they the last of their kind? We’ll find out…

1: Stunt Car Racer.

Flight Control

Fantastic little game with four different airfields. You have to trace the path you want the craft to take and work things so that the different speeds and paths don’t allow them to crash. It gets pretty intense in the later stages and can be played over two devices.

Above you can see my favorite airfield with the white lines showing where I have told the planes to travel.

Avoid the other aircraft and think ahead with Flight Control

Moto X Mayhem

This game can be a little tricky but once you get a feel for it it’s an awful lot of fun. You basically have to control throttle, brake and whether to lean forward or backwards. You have to lean forward going uphill, lean backwards a little in the air so you land with the rear wheel and you have all that – with the fun of seeing an amusing smash when it all goes wrong. Awesome.

There’s 3 locations to choose from and quite a few levels for each location with varying things trying to catch you out. You will, I guarantee, break the neck of your little motorcycle rider many, many times.

Leaning forward to avoid flipping backwards.

Balance the bike in the air and try to land safely...

Harder than it looks at first, but you do get used to it and a lot of fun!

Galaxy on Fire 3D

I am absolutely amazed that someone managed to get this kind of graphical performance and gameplay out of these devices. This space based action game is absolutely amazing. It reminds me a lot of a PC title called Freelancer. You can buy ships, ship upgrades, you do missions and can trade items. It’s not quite like Elite because it is mission driven and isn’t realistic physics, there’s also no ‘freedom’, but what an awesome little game!

So this is where I landed...

Buy a new ship or shop for upgrades.

Difficulties huh? I'm sure I can take them...

Amazing detailed action with realtime combat! And yes, there were quite a few 'difficulties' to shoot at.

Flatspace

More will come on this when I have played it longer. Love it so far!

Monopoly Here & Now: The World Edition

Probably one of the best board games ever made. Why not have a version you can play from your iPhone or iPod Touch?

The game runs great, is easy to play and control, the cutscenes showing the pieces moving look great and you can play against the A.I. or a friend.

The gorgeous videos showing the piece moving around the board is 'cute' - according to my wife.

Battleship
I played a quick game of Battleship with my wife the other night and I really enjoyed it. The A.I. is very capable, but it is fantastic to be able to play with someone else and wonder whether they’ll be one of those people who spaces their ships out or someone who will pile them all in a single corner…

This game comes with fantastic video sequences to show you the damage you have dealt, it also has quite a few game options.

Select your target...

Pang: Pocket Pong

Simple, just as it always was, but terrifyingly addictive. The game seems very responsive and that really helps when the balls starts to move at break-neck speed!

Beep bob, beep, beep, beep bob...

Fuzzies

I found this game on iTunes after looking for a decent version of Lemmings! – unfortunately, there wasn’t a decent version of Lemmings, but there was Fuzzies! This game works fantastic and is exactly the same concept with the same features. The only real difference is that it’s Monkeys instead of Lemmings and of course that it is available on your iPhone of iPod Touch devices.

No Lemmings here! The new skill you may notice is the far right which allows you to jump and grip to the ceiling.

Worms

The original and best of Team 17′s ‘Worms’ games is available on the iPhone and iPod Touch! The controls are intuitive and easy and the gameplay is as fun and amusing as ever.

The single player is excellent, the A.I. seems very capable and provides a good challenge. The multiplayer works great and unlike some realtime games the turn-based game works fantastic.

Excellent, excellent game – as it always will be – well worth the purchase.

Select your weapon!

FIRE!!!

I’ll be posting a review of this as soon as I can, this will be one of my birthday gifts when they release it. I always like to support developers like this who make this kind of simulation…

If you want to buy it, you can use this link which currently allows you to pre-order from Amazon.com and ship to U.S. and APO/FPO addresses only. You can contact me if you’d like to discuss getting this outside the U.S. via me shipping to you, but you should find out when or if there will be an easier way for you to get it first.

Anyway, here’s some game info (it isn’t often I am looking forward to a game title this much, but I was addicted to ‘Wings’ – a WWI flight game I had on the Amiga – for a while!)

All is not quiet on the Western Front in 1917…. high above the trenches and scarred No Man’s Land the sound of piston engines can be heard, the chatter of machine guns fill the air and the bark of flak bursts echo across the countryside. During the First World War a new breed of warrior emerged, reminiscent of the Knights of old, inspired by chivalry and pushed to their limits by modern technology, they fought a new kind of war… an air war. Welcome to Rise of Flight: The First Great Air War.

In flying machines invented just a few years before, young, brave and daring fighter pilots took to the skies to fight for their country’s cause. In airplanes made of mostly wood and canvas they climbed, dived, spiraled and sacrificed their lives. The average pilot lasted just 17 missions and if you were hit there was no parachute to rescue you. Death could come at any time and from any direction, only the best survived. Rise of Flight puts you in the cockpit, in the sky and in the fight. Do you have what it takes to survive? Can you make a difference in the war? Can you become an Ace Fighter Pilot?

Rise of Flight from Russian developer neoqb is a state-of-the-art PC flight simulation title that sets a new standard in fidelity, beauty and realism. You can fly either the agile Spad XIII or the deadly Fokker D. VII into aerial combat. Rise of Flightfeatures an advanced flight model that simulates the unique handling characteristics of WWI biplanes. Spins, stalls, loops, takeoffs and landings are all accurately modeled. A complex physics model tracks the trajectory of every bullet and shell fragment. The detailed damage model leaves no room for error. Stay in the line of fire too long and you’ll lose a wing or a tail, land too hard and the spine of your plane will crack.

Historical references and modern computer graphics were combined to render 125,000 square kilometers of French countryside that is disfigured by a terribly cratered battlefield. Fluffy clouds fill the sky which you can fly into for cover. Rain and fog are also modeled in realistic detail making flying even more of a challenge as water drops cover your windscreen or goggles. Advanced graphics featuring moving shadows, depth of field, light bloom and reflections make the objects and scenery come to life in a very realistic way.

As a new fighter pilot you can fly several helpful Training Missions and once graduated, you can fly several Single-Player combat missions against a computer opponent. If you feel you have mastered the art of aerial combat you can embark on a Pilot Career and fly a historically accurate Campaign for the French, British, German or American air forces. You will be tasked with destroying enemy fighters, bombers and balloons, escorting your own bombers or attacking ground targets such as trains, trucks, tanks and artillery. As you complete your missions successfully you will be promoted and awarded commendations by your military high-command. You can rise through the ranks from a green Lieutenant all the way to full Colonel.

If you think you’re good enough, try flying against real human opponents over the Internet. Rise of Flight features a robust Multiplayer option designed to allow players to fly co-operatively as a team against the computer or human opponents. Multiplayer statistics such as aerial kills, targets destroyed and missions completed are tracked by neoqb servers.
Also included is a very powerful Mission Editor that allows players to design custom missions. The Mission Editor is included on the disk and is accompanied by 150 page instruction guide! There will never be a shortage of missions to fly.

So hurry! Grab your goggles and silk scarf. Enemy airplanes are approaching. Who will emerge as the next Baron von Richtoven or Eddie Rickenbacker? Is it you?

I’m not sure if these are required or recommended, but here’s some system information as posted on gogamer.com:

Windows XP (SP2 or Higher)/Vista (SP1)
Intel Dual Core 2.4Ghz
2GB RAM
6GB Hard Drive Space
DirectX 9.0c
512 MB GeForce 8800GTS/Radeon HD3500
1280×960 resolution
Sound Card
256/kps Internet Connection

Starting Out

I think one of the strongest ways to start the game is by selecting the Argon Patriot option. This gives you a fairly well equipped Elite. Do the first few missions in the starting ship. You need the “standing” in order to progress and doing those missions will also give you a little free equipment. Try to take advantage of any pilots who bail out and leave their ship for you to capture.

Abandoned Ships

Once you’ve gotten through the first couple of storyline missions (I skipped them entirely and just did a couple of ‘kill the criminal’ missions), start collecting the various abandoned ships with this relatively safe route that I have found through the galaxy (use the map here to find the specific systems on the route):

Head east from Omicron Lyrae towards Tears of Greed, then south to Menelaus Oasis, then west to Vestibule of Creation. After Vestibule of Creation, head north-west to Ocracoke’s Storm and then up to Argon Prime. While in Argon Prime, dump all the ships there, you can sort them later.

Now head north from Argon Prime to Kingdom End, east to Hila’s Joy and then back to Kingdom End – bringing all the ships you have claimed from the table below with you. Dump them at Argon Prime, too.

Now, from Argon Prime, you can head north-east to Family Whi, then south to Akeela’s Beacon. Strangely enough it is these systems – within 4-5 jumps of Argon Prime, which proved most dangerous for me to navigate because of Xenon or Pirate attacks. (None of these are included in the save game download below).

One tactic you might want to use to claim ships is Jump drive and a transporter. You fit one of each to your own ship and fit a Jump drive to a very cheap M5 class ship. Then you tell him to follow you (make sure both ships have enough energy cells) and jump to the system the ship is in (such as Xenon Sector 101). Fly to the abandoned ship, capture it and board your original ship. Use a transporter to send your Jump drive and Energy Cells to the captured ship, then use your transporter to take the Jump drive from the M5. Now tell the captured ship to follow you and jump to safety. If your M5 makes it, great. If not, you only lost a little. I often use this tactic to get slow ships to other locations quicker – don’t be afraid to transport those Jump drives around as needed!

Cheat Much?

I’ve decided to upload a saved game with all the captured ships from the tables that are shown above in bold, you can download it from here. There’s a few extra ships that are captured Pirate ships etc I claimed on my way. The only ship I did not manage to get to Argon Prime was the Buster found in the Treasure Chest system. It may be a good idea when you capture that one to send it to Omicron Lyrae’s shipyard and sell it straight away rather than risking it traveling all that way like I did – it’s shields are quite poor!

The save game shouldn’t really be too much different than a fresh game. The pirates are only just starting to realize you keep killing them, so if you want to turn around and become a pirate’s friend it should still be possible, but you should be aware the Argon really like you – a lot. There’s also well over 1.2M credits in the bank account…

What I’d suggest you do, if you want to use my save game, is keep all of the ship updates and just sell the ships themselves which you do not want. Here is a list of the ships docked in Argon Prime under your control and available in this save game:

Advanced Baracuda
Advanced Eclipse
Advanced Perseus
Blastclaw Prototype
Eclipse
Elite (4 of them)
Enhanced Pericles
Harrier Sentinel
Iguana Vanguard
Mako Raider
Mercury Super Freighter
Nova Raider
Toucan Hauler

Trading in Space Fuel

Space Fuel is an illegal good that can be traded for great profit.

Just like with Reunion, Terran Conflict features a Space Distillery in Herron’s Nebula and although it sells illegal product, you can sell that product to the Free Argon Trading Station within the same system. You can buy Space Fuel for around 700 (do not buy for more than 1200 or you make no profit!) and sell them for 1252 per unit. You may occasionally get caught by the local police, but the rewards are worth it. When the price raises for Space Fuel (this happens when you have taken all their stock quicker than they can produce it), you can probably make money bringing Energy Cells to the station from the Power Circle system.

Once you have around 400,000 credits from trading Space Fuel (or from recovery and sale of the “free objects” listed below), head to Argon Prime and then to the Federal Argon Shipyard where you should buy a Mercury. You should also upgrade the Mercury’s engine and rudder to full capacity and fit it with a Trading System Extension. You should not board the new Mercury.

Now you’re going to be able to fly around the universe in your own ship, doing whatever you want while remotely controlling the Mercury as it continues to trade Space Fuel on your behalf (using the 50,000 credits you didn’t spend to start with). Remotely controlled ships are never scanned by the police, so you’re going to be free of problems. I’d advise you work to try to supply the Space Fuel Distillery with Energy Cells whenever the price of Space Fuel becomes too high. Energy Cells should be bought for no more than 16 credits in Argon space, Power Circle is a good place to start buying. After some time, you may want to consider using manual trade run (which I think becomes available with Trade Mk II) to automate the process – but you will have to accept smaller amounts of profit when the purchase price is high.

You should avoid building a Space Fuel station in patrolled space like Argon Prime, the ships will attack your station eventually and it’s not worth the trouble. You may be better off putting a station in a pirate-controlled system when you can afford one.

Sector Trading

Once you’ve got enough money I’d advise you setup a Sector Trader. It’s best to start off a Trader in a Mercury (with upgraded engine and rudder) and set him/her loose in Argon Prime, Ore Belt or Paranid Prime. Once those Trader’s reach a skill of 8 you can upgrade them to Universe Trader’s and they’ll trade throughout the entire universe instead of those single system’s. They will require some shielding, a jump drive and some energy cells before they trade over long distances.

You can now sit back and watch the money roll in, though I’d advise you still manually smuggle Space Fuel with your remote controlled (manual) Mercury…

Killing Missions

I think in Terran Conflict (unlike Reunion), the most profitable type of mission by a very long way are killing missions. These are mission where you are asked to defend something or attack/kill someone. Always save the game by docking just before you accept the mission because sometimes you are not told what ship the opponent is using until after you accept… Sometimes they are simply too difficult and you cannot complete the mission in your current ship. You can make HUGE money though if you find out the weakness of your opponent…

Capturing Ships

As an extension of the killing missions, you can certainly take advantage of any ships you can get hold of, whether it’s through boarding and taking them by force or attacking pirates and hoping they bail out from fear – it’s extremely profitable. One of the things you need to make sure you do is fly towards the ship, exit yours and use your repair laser (available when you’re in your space suit) to fix the ship you have just captured, this increases the value of the ship and means you do not have to pay for it’s repair if you keep it.

Punching above your weight

You can kill ships that you don’t think you can. Look for a weakness and exploit it. As an example a Khaak Frigate cannot fire directly backwards, so simply sit at between 60-90 metres directly behind and gradually work your way through it’s shields and hull! It cannot fire back at you unless you get out of that ‘safety box’. There’s a few ships which have this weakness (or one similar).

Another interesting tip is that in order to be paid the credit bonus or get the reputation for killing something, you have to be the one to fire the final shot. If your target is being shot at by a number of other ships you should make sure your lasers are fully charges (giving them a more rapid rate of fire), wait until the ship is almost destroyed and then get as close as you can to them before opening up and firing as much as you can… The more rapidly you are firing the more likely you are to be the one making that final hit.

When I first heard of a the equipment that the team at Accessible Racing (AR) were building, it took me back to one of the earliest simracing controllers I owned and a race at Monaco in the Papyrus-produced title Grand Prix Legends.

I had my wrist in a cast and at the time drove with a Thrustmaster steering wheel. There were no pedals with the wheel and I used the analogue (controller not only detects input, but how much input) paddles on the back of the wheel for throttle and brake, using buttons on the front to shift gears. I ran that race in a little pain by the end, but after resting my bad wrist onto of the other and basically racing with my arms crossed the whole time, I felt like I had climbed a mountain simply being able to race at all. It was a challenge and I felt I beat it…

For fans of racing that have Spinal Cord Injuries, almost everything they do is a challenge of copious proportions: Race tracks which I have visited (among them Spa-Francorchamps – Belgium, Lime Rock Park – USA) provide very little accessible fan areas for wheelchairs and it is sad to see because if you go to most oval tracks (Pocono – USA, Talladega – USA) or even any other sporting venue (Soldier Field – Chicago, Fenway Park – Boston) it’s very clear to see that they’ve tried hard to not only make the venue accessible to fans; they’ve set aside some very good areas!

Why is it that racing is one of the least friendly sports to these fans? Why is it that even as Alex Zanardi proved that a hand-controlled car can win, we still see so few avenues for disabled (or rather, upper-body able) drivers to get behind the wheel?

Without people like Accessible Racing (who put people in specially modified real racecars), there’s really no way to do this – until now – because Brian Hanaford (who suffered a brain injury at age 18, forcing him to re-learn basic motor skills) and his team at AR have created a new hands-only steering wheel. The wheel closely replicates methods used in some road cars, meaning that not only can some of these fans get on the real track with AR, they can spend time on the virtual one, too.

Control Method

The new device attachment is basically a bar which extends out from the base of the wheel to the left side. Because of the G-forces involved in racing, your weight (including your arms) are thrown forward under braking, it makes sense to setup the controller so that you push to brake and pull to accelerate so that you are not made to accelerate when you intend to brake. It is possible that some road cars have this setup the opposite way around (manufacturers make the same error with sequential gear shifters, too), but the G-forces experienced on the road do not match those of the race track.

You have the option to push or pull the lever either way, it depends how you set it up inside the software you’re racing with, but push-to-brake, pull to accelerate is more realistic.

Construction

The controller itself seems to be rigid plastic construction. It feels quite solid and I don’t think I’d be too concerned of breakage. It is attached to the bottom of a Logitech Momo and I am told it will not work with any other wheel (though from the attachment type I saw, it should plug into the pedals port on the base of any recent Logitech wheel’s pedal port). The unit is attached to the wheel by its clamp and comes with its own clamp suitable for desks or at-home racing cockpits beneath.

Precise Control

The movement is analogue and allows a varying degree of throttle/brake input. Pushed fully forward you’re at maximum braking and as you pull it back the braking force reduces to nothing, then as you pull past the center the acceleration increases from nothing until you reach the maximum point you can pull the stick back to. The stick does spring back to the middle (where it does not input either throttle or brake) when released.

I am far more precise with my hands than with my feet on pedals and I actually found myself driving in a way which gave the cars greater stability. I felt forced to get all my braking done before I turned and felt more able to make tiny adjustments to the throttle as I rounded the turns… On certain tracks I actually set my best ever lap time using the controller, but I think it’s greatest benefit was with my overall consistency due to that extra bit of fine adjustment from my hands versus my feet on pedals.

Controller Issues

You are limited to turning only 190 degrees left and 80 degrees (with comfort) to the right. You need to have a hand on the throttle/brake at all times and this means you’re unable to cross arms or turn past the location of the bar. Of course if you are only racing on oval tracks, you don’t need to worry about this because the amount of turning lock available is plenty.

The increased height of the wheel with the controller underneath forced me to reduce the height of my steering mount. Not a big deal, but I normally have my wheel mounted fairly high – almost enough to show over the bottom of my screen (where the cockpit wheel shows).

It is quite difficult to shift gears. I wound up using the paddle on the back of the wheel (right side) to shift up and a button on the front of the wheel (right side) to shift down with my thumb.

Working With…

If the wheel being used (the one shipped was a Logitech Momo), has the ability to do so, you should limit its turning to a total of about 180 degrees within the Logitech Profiler software. This is due to the issue mentioned above where you are unable to physically turn right with one arm past about 80 degrees.

Always short-calibrate the controller (don’t push the bar fully to its boundaries when being asked to show software where its limits are). This will give it a little bit of movement that still gives you 100% throttle/brake so you can have an occasional flinch or loss of grip on the bar without losing any input.

Force feedback should be turned either off or very low. The throttle and brake are now attached to the wheel and if you are on the limit, you don’t really want a shock wave to travel through the wheel and force you to apply more throttle than you intended to. I did find myself getting more used to this though and could eventually drive at my regular strength, but I think gradually building that strength may be a good idea.

Conclusion

I can’t help wondering if it wouldn’t be simpler and cheaper just to buy a joystick and have exactly the same effect. The forwards/backwards axis would be calibrated in exactly the same way, while the left/right axis would be ignored by the software…

At this time, the organization sells the product complete with steering wheel, which I believe is probably good for some, but not for all. I would think allowing people to just purchase the unit without steering wheel would be a more profitable way to do things as it also does not restrict the wheel the device can be used with. I certainly think that based upon conversations I have had with iRacing members, this would be a definite requirement for some of them to buy it. It’s also probably a good idea for them to construct a USB compatible standalone device so that they no longer have to rely on having the exact wheel Accessible Racing choose.

Overall this is a good and solid piece of kit that fulfills its promise and hopefully will do so for quite some time. I am delighted that an organization has chosen to create a controller specifically for this purpose. There are others out there (Thrustmaster still offer wheels with analogue paddles behind the wheel) which could be used as a hands-only controller, but the fact that this one is designed around a recognizable method which matches one seen in road cars means that people who will never get to sit in one of Accessible Racing’s adapted cars will still feel right at home infront of their home computer and the iRacing.com simulation.

[review pros="Matches controllers seen in Accessible Racing's race cars.
Almost forces you to drive with good practices.
Well-enough constructed to last a while...
Perfect for oval racing." cons="Would like more choice on wheels.
Cheaper ways to do this.
No USB option.
Won't work so well on a clockwise roadcourse." score=80]

Price: $350 (with racing software $450). Purchase from: Accessible Racing.

Track Scan’s XBOX 360 headset is Microsoft Certified and will only work on the 360. I am reviewing the PC USB headset only, although the 360 version seems to be largely the same.

Technology & Audio experience

Each side of the headset has four speakers. They are located at various positions which allow the headphones to accurately position audio in a way that almost makes you want to look over your shoulder. I actually think that when playing Call of Duty 4, I can hear people sneaking up behind me.

The sound is crisp and clean and easily covers both the high and low notes of the engines in the iRacing.com Motorsport Simulations software. Again, like with COD4, you can hear the direction of audio around you and there’s been times since using the headphones that I have not looked in the mirror and still known the location of other cars by their engine noises.

With my work at iRacing, I have obviously heard the software audio coming out of a lot of different speakers and soundcard combinations and it is with utter delight than I can say the VIBRAS Five.One headset matches the very best of them. Infact, I have heard so much variation of sound quality from most hardware – I wonder how many people have no idea how good our simulation can sound!

It isn’t just in games or simulations that the VIBRAS Five.One shines: The 5.1 Dolby Digital sound available when watching DVD movies is also a great way to give yourself the movie-goer experience… Movies are so much better when you’re not listening to Stereo!

VoIP? Skype? Voice Chat? Yes, yes and yes

The headset and it’s detachable microphone work perfectly with any voice communication program I have tried. The only complications are with Windows and it’s soundcard management – which is why I now have the on-board soundcard permanently disabled. (Windows would try to choose the active microphone from whichever soundcard it wanted, rather than the one I actually needed).

Construction quality

I don’t see there being any physical breakage to this product when it is used properly. The over-head loop is very strong, solid plastic, the microphone is an adjustable solid attachment and the USB control box had managed to withstand my weight a couple of times as I climbed out of the at-home cockpit and accidentally stood on it!

Benefits of headphones

Even when using an ordinary set of headphones, I feel much more immersed. Not only does it allow me to hear the audio much more clearly, it also blocks out all those noises which are waiting to distract me. We have two young cats here and I don’t want to be hearing them run around while I am trying to run a consistent race or keep my concentration in battle, for example.

The additional benefits of headphones are obvious… My wife no longer has to leave the room whenever I’m using the PC!

Conclusions

Even if you have an extremely expensive set of 5.1 Dolby speakers hooked up to your very-expensive PC soundcard, I think you should sell them and buy this headset or one like it. I cannot repeat enough times how much more I feel this quality of headset has given me.

[review pros="Windows XP/Vista Compatible.
Comfortable adjustable headband.
Can easily detach/adjust microphone.
Bundled CyberLink PowerDVD software.
No need for a soundcard.
Adjustable settings in control panel.
5.1 Dolby Surround - excellent experience." cons="Would like to see drivers for other Operating Systems.
Price is a little higher than I would expect.
 
 
 
 
 
" score=95]

Price: $159.99 – www.track-scan.com

Requirements
USB 2.0 Port
CD/DVD Drive (for installation)
Windows XP or Vista

Obutto oZone Cockpit - Pictured with Logitech G25

Over the holidays, my wife and I went to stay with my parents in England, it was the first time my parents had met her and of course it wasn’t long before they broke out the home movies. My wife only really understood what racing simulations have meant to me when she saw me in those movies, at aged 14, sat infront of a computer with a steering wheel in my hands.

In December, 2008, I moved with my wife from Chicago, Illinois to Woburn, Massachusetts. I moved for work, for iRacing, to continue a dream that I have been living ever since racing simulations first entered my life. In a tangent, Chris Dunagan – Managing Director of Obutto – moved to Beijing in his attempt to make a go of his racing cockpit and it’s thanks to him that when I started work after the holidays, a half built Obutto oZone Racing Cockpit was here waiting for me to test.

Construction

The cockpit couldn’t really be much easier to build. The individual pieces are light and easy to handle with only the seat being bulky enough to give me difficulty. When I got the cockpit, it had been half built and stood awaiting completion; I took it apart and took it home so I could do it justice. Dismantling was easy and when home, so was the rebuild; I put the cockpit together using a photo of the cockpit from the Obutto Web site after finding I’d left instructions at work.

Parts are minimal: You have two large pieces for the base which attach to each other, you bolt the seat to the rear piece and the adjustable monitor and wheel stands drop into the front piece. There’s also a large keyboard/mouse shelf, a shifter platform which can be dropped into the rear base piece on either side of your seat, and a sloping shelf for the pedals which just slots over the front half of the base.

I fit right where medical science says I should when it comes to body weight, but I fully expected before seeing the cockpit that in my review I was going to have to say bad things about the strength of the cockpit. Luckily, I don’t have to say that because the Obutto cockpit is plenty strong enough for me and I would think anyone else who can comfortably sit in it. Its Carbon Steel construction seems extremely sturdy and frankly, I can’t give the frame and its support enough compliments.

Features: Seat

I find the Obutto seat very comfortable and supportive. So much so that I would like to throw out my computer desk and write all emails, race all simulations and play all games from the cockpit.

The seat is a car sports seat which can recline and also slide backwards and forwards on top of the rear half of the frame, it is well padded and I believe that when using this cockpit my back is in the best position I’ve ever had it when running a simulation. I achieved this comfortable position using the following notes from the Obutto Web site:

1. Steering Wheel Height: The height of the center of the steering wheel is near the height of your collarbone.

2. Distance to Steering Wheel: The easiest way to set achieve the ideal distance from your steering wheel is to adjust your seat so that when you stretch your arms straight out your wrists lie across the top of the steering wheel. Make sure your shoulders are touching the back of the seat.

Once you place your hands in the 10 & 2 or 9 & 3 positions on the wheel your elbows will be bent at an approximate 90 degrees.

3. Distance to pedals: The ideal position varies but it’s best to not be too close to where your legs are cramped and not too far so that you can’t push the pedals without stretching your legs.

My only concern with the seat is that when I push down on the edge of the seat to stand up, I am afraid I am going to break it. The first night I had the cockpit I felt movement within the padding on the sides, so from that moment on I got in and out while putting my weight on the shifter platform instead. Better safe than sorry!

Features: Shifter platform and keyboard/mouse shelf

The shifter platform seems to be designed around the Logitech G25 shifter (it is perfectly sized), but is officially compatible with Saitek and ECCI also. Obutto do say on their Web site that the platform will fit other shifters, but they do not specify which. I would think it capable of fitting most though, it is a flat platform with no lips on the edges, so if your clamp is too wide you could always clamp the platform with a piece of wood cut to size.

The platform can also be swung out like a door or inwards almost over your knees, it is fully adjustable and can be clamped in position. Another nice thing is that it can be mounted on either the left or the right.

Shifter platform size: 6¾” x 6″ or 17cm x 15cm.

They did a fantastic job fitting this enormous keyboard and mouse shelf into the compact design of this cockpit. There is enough room on this thing for my cell phone, a drink, my keyboard and my trackball mouse. There’s even room for the various cat toys that I keep by me while I race so that I can distract the kittens if they start to mess with me while I am racing.

As mentioned above, the keyboard/mouse shelf can be placed on either side of the cockpit, but whichever side the shelf is, the shifter platform must be opposite.

Obutto oZone Cockpit - Pictured with Logitech G25

Features: Wheel platform

Herein lays my only problem faced with the cockpit. I use a Fanatec Porsche 911 Turbo Wheel at the moment and found that because there is a little lip on the underside of the platform; my clamp cannot close enough to lock itself to the platform. I got around the problem by initially stuffing junk mail between the bottom of the platform and the top of the clamp, giving the platform extra thickness.

Other than that problem (which is as much of a Fanatec problem with their clamp design as it is a problem with the cockpit), I’m thrilled at how adjustable and stable the wheel platform is. You simply undo the tightening clamps and then you can slide the platform up and towards or down and away.

Features: Monitor platform

Behind the wheel platform, sits the monitor platform. Once setup and tightened, the monitor platform is not going to move anywhere. It is extremely strong and its position right behind the wheel is just perfect. I am using a single-screen display and feel totally immersed when driving.

A nice feature is that the Obutto oZone cockpit is so compact that I could easily remove the monitor display (or just lower to minimum height) and the front end of the cockpit would slide perfectly under my desk, allowing me to setup a triple display or huge HDTV on there at exactly the right height.

Good Vibrations

One thing that you may like or dislike is the way the force feedback effects travel through the framing. I am able to feel a lot of the effects produced by the wheel under my seat and through the pedals. The downside, of course, is the vibration itself: If you live in a shared building, with thin walls and floors, you might need to place the cockpit on a bit of extra carpeting.

Personally I find this extra vibration adds even more to the immersive experience a sim racing cockpit can give you. Being able to feel any kind of jolt not only in your hands and arms but under the seat and with your feet is an extremely interesting experience that definitely adds to my awareness.

Stability

I have tried to tip the cockpit over and unless you purposely lift it with the aim of doing so, it won’t even move. The floor design is such that the pivot point for a heavy display is quite far inwards. I would avoid putting something extremely heavy onto the display stand and instead use the oZone’s compact nature to your advantage by sliding it underneath or near to some other TV/monitor stand. Any normal monitor of relatively light HDTV should be fine.

Conclusions: Bad

I think for business use at tradeshows or an event, the Obutto is probably not suitable. Although it is a very sturdy and well-built cockpit, its adjustable nature doesn’t have the right look or feel for putting on a show.

One thing that is lacking is some kind of attachments for audio. This is an understandable omission though because audio equipment varies greatly in design.

Conclusions: Good

An awesome option for home use.

It is more than worth the price and I have seen comparable cockpits selling for hundreds, even thousands of dollars more.

It has a compact design, yet when you are sat it seems surprisingly large.

It’s adjustability and extendibility is simply amazing. Each extended item like the platforms can be moved and placed wherever you want them. Each adjustment is shockingly simple to perform.

Sturdy frame that can support anyone who can comfortably sit inside. (I’m told 300lbs guys buy and use them).

Large extended items. The keyboard/mouse shelf will have a wide variety of uses because of its size. Now you don’t even need to leave your cockpit to eat your Dinner!

One of the real delights is that with the force feedback enabled, I can feel it travelling throughout the frame, giving me an extra sense of immersion.

The racing seat, with its adjustable forward and backward positioning, is extremely comfortable and supportive.

Link: obutto.com – Price: $329 (Excluding Shipping) as of 07/2010

For me, X³: Reunion had no bugs on release, but I know many people found themselves with an unplayable game for a little while. Hopefully, because this Terran Conflict title is an update of the Reunion game engine, most of those bugs will not rear their heads this time.

There’s some new features in this game which should make things even more interesting. Being able to train marines so they can go and attack then capture another ship, for one. It all sounds very cool and I can’t wait until release!

I haven’t seen any announcement whether a Mac version will be made available. If it’s anything like the Reunion release it will be a few months before conversion is completed.

Here’s the details as posted by Egosoft:

We can now officially confirm that X³: Terran Conflict has gone GOLD! That means that the release version of the game has been approved for production. It also means we are now finally able to confirm release dates for X³: Terran Conflict!

The English language version of X³: Terran Conflict will be available from retail outlets on October 3rd, and you can pre-order from the Egosoft Online Shop NOW. X³: Terran Conflict will also be available for pre-load from Steam starting on September 25th.

Now, if you’ll excuse us, we have some celebrating to do…

System Requirements
Minimum Requirements
* Microsoft ® Windows ® XP (SP-2), Vista SP1™
* Pentium® IV or AMD® equivalent at 2.0 GHz
* 1 GB RAM
* 256 MB 3D DirectX 9 Compatible video card (not onboard) with Pixel Shader 1.1 support
* Soundcard (Surround Sound support recommended)
* 10 GB free hard disk space
* DVD-ROM Drive
* Mouse and Keyboard or Joystick (optional support for force-feedback) or Gamepad
Recommended Configuration
* Microsoft ® Windows ® XP (SP-2), Vista SP1™
* Intel® Core™ 2 Duo or AMD® equivalent at 2.0 GHz
* 3 GB RAM
* 256 MB 3D DirectX 9 Compatible video card (not onboard) with Pixel Shader 3.0 support
* Soundcard (Surround Sound support recommended)
* 10 GB free hard disk space
* DVD-ROM Drive
* Mouse and Keyboard or Joystick (optional support for force-feedback) or Gamepad