Review by: Mike Laskey and Mark Arnott Game: Network Q RAC Rally Championship Publisher: Europress WWW: http://www.europress.co.uk/ Format: CD-ROM Available: Out now *Requires* O/S: DOS 5 Processor: 486DX2/66RAM: 8Mb HD Space: 2Mb Graphics: SVGA (1Mb) CD-ROM: Double-speed Soundcard: Soundblaster or compatible Controls: Keyboard *Recommended* Processor: P5/100 Mhz RAM: 16Mb Graphics: SVGA (2Mb) CD-Drive: Quad-speed *Tested on* O/S: MS-DOS 7.00 and Windows 95 (DOS box) Processor: P5/200 Mhz RAM: 32Mb Graphics: Compaq QVision 1280 (1Mb) CD-ROM: Panasonic CR-506B (8x) Soundcard: Soundblaster 32 Controls: CH Flightstick Pro *Peripherals officially supported* Thrustmaster/Per4Mer driving wheel and pedals; GP500/F1 Sim interactive driving wheel and pedals or joysticks. There`s also hopefully a patch on the way for CH Pedals.
Network Q RAC Rally Championship
Introduction
Rally enthusiasts all around the world will already know the significance of the Network Q RAC Rally. For those who do not, this is the final challenge for the drivers and manufacturers competing to win the World Rally Championship.
The RAC Rally consists of 300 miles of top class racing action spread over twenty-eight stages around the United Kingdom, and without doubt this isthe most comprehensive rally simulation available to the public. It features six high performance cars, extensive scenery, variable weather conditions, variable track surfaces and much, much more examined in detail below.
Installation
Rally Championship offers three levels of installation: 2Mb, 50Mb and 90Mb, and may be installed (and played) under DOS or in a full-screen Windows 95 DOS session.
Installation was simple and flawless, as was the automatic configuration of the sound card. However, it is worth noting that only the full installation appears to allow in-car music, despite the CD "readme" file which indicates that only the minimum installation disallows in-car music. Despite the confusion, the music is of high quality and is well worth pursuing.
Once the game is started, the player is presented with an attractive introductory sequence displaying various film clips of rally cars demonstrating their awesome potential. Immediately it becomes obvious that the player will receive an unique experience with this game - any road racing driving techniques may as well be left behind in the paddock!
The Interface
The game interface is a simple and functional front end to the driving mode. It is presented as nested layers of icons offering various options for the player to choose from. Surprisingly, there is no mouse support, and so navigation of the icon boxes requires use of the keyboard or joystick.
The various options include settings for damage, weather, automatic brakes, viewpoints, sizes and resolutions, opponent intelligence etc. Some of the options, for example the weather, are only in effect during the game's arcade mode - the player can sensibly not change such attributes during a championship season. In addition to the championship and 5 levels of arcade, additional racing modes include "individual" and "time-trial". Arcade is against the clock with opponents and checkpoints; Individual is racing a single stage (user selectable) with opponents; Time-trial is the player competing for the best times in the record books, and Championship is the full and perhaps daunting twenty-eight stage super-challenge.
Also available from the front end is a brief history and resume of the Rally and also details about the cars the player can drive. The briefing is given by none other than TV presenter and former co-driver Tony Mason, who also features as co-driver in the game - more on that later.
Car Selection
The player has access to a variety of cars ranging in horse power featuring 4WD, FWD and RWD drive-trains. They are: the Subaru Impreza Turbo, the Ford Escort Cosworth 4x4, the Renault Maxi Megane, the Proton Wire, the VW Golf GTi 16 Valve, and finally the 155BHP Skoda Felicia.
Each of the cars behave differently as they certainly should, and it becomes necessary for the player to consider this when deciding upon a race strategy. For example, whilst competing inside an overall score table against the computer opponents, it is perhaps more important that the player concentrates on performing well against the other drivers within his or her class.
The Championship
First off, the player is presented with the Leg information screen. This
includes the initial stage number, its location, its start and stop time
(day/night), the length of the stage, weather and track surface
information and a map. Using the arrow keys, the player can view each
stage of the leg up until the next available service point. It is vital 
to plan your race, setting-up the car appropriately for the stages ahead.
The characteristics of the car you may modify depend upon the vehicle, but for the majority you can change: suspension height and stiffness, brake balance, steering response, the gear ratios and tyre choice. Each of these parameters will be a factor in your success or failure (note that the options screen has an automatic setting, and of course you can always accept the defaults). Whilst you might be tempted to ignore this screen, for obvious reasons you should at least select the correct tyre compound for the stage ahead: you can choose between a variety ranging from tarmac slicks, through to mud, snow and rain tyres (the stage planning screen gives a run-down on surface percentages of tarmac, gravel, mud and snow).
Together we`ll fly!
Into the car and the count-down is given. Wait for the GO or do what I did: incur a 1 minute time penalty straight away for jumping the start! Floor the accelerator and we're off. Suddenly, good ol' Tony Mason is screaming, "HAIRPIN LEFT!" Oooh, on the braaaaaaaaaaaaaakes, crunch... ah ha!
So the first bend wasn't entirely successful, but never mind! Then, a quick succession of "easy right, easy left, medium right" is heard. Wow, my PC speakers are telling me something useful in a driving game - good stuff, and Tony does an excellent job at it, too. He warns the player of turns, jumps, water, and in the tight twisty sections, the player really has to remember exactly the instructions that have been given because events occur so quickly, the co-driver has to rattle them off in advance. Easy you think? Yeah ok... now try doing it in a night stage on a narrow forest gravel track!
Still in control? Ok, picture this: it's a night stage and you're driving an Escort Cosworth 4x4, the headlights point the way, but they're not particularly effective because it's hammering down with rain. The windscreen wipers are thumping back and forth, and visibility overall is pretty horrendous. You're powering your way out of a medium right turn, the back end hanging out, hundreds of loose gravel chips thrown up by each of the wheels. Mason calls out, "easy right", and somewhere in the dark, a group of intrepid, rain sodden spectators flash by as they stand out at the side of the track. Mason calls out more instructions but by now the rain is falling even harder and you can hardly see a thing - it's virtually impossible to see the road ahead. "HAIRPIN RIGHT!!!" You're looking out for the turn, but you must brake before you see it, so anticipation and insanity is required, and suddenly the heavens groan and a crash of thunder rapidly followed by several seconds of sheet lightening blind your way. Of course now you're hard on the brakes, but still you can't see anything, but finally the lightning fades... where is the turn, where is the turn? And if you haven't hit anything, you're ok. If you have, you know it is essential that your car lasts several more stages of the leg before a service is possible... what damage has been done? And is it terminal?
By this stage of the review, I hope you appreciate that Rally Championship is a considerably detailed game. It features a great deal of audio, from the rain, wipers and the gear clunk to what sounds like a turbo/dump valve effect on the Cosworth. Each of the track surfaces has a different sound effect, and there's a nice round of applause when the car finally reaches the finishing post.
The graphics are very nicely rendered indeed - each of the stages mapped out with stunning track-side scenery. The horizon graphics are detailed with spectators, bushes and rocks populating the edges of the tracks, and one aspect that impressed me in particular were the transitions from one road surface to another. For example, near the end of a gravel section, tiny sections of tarmac would start to become apparent between the gravel, and the sounds from the tyres would also reflect the changing environment. Neat!
The twenty-eight rounds of the championship are basically structured into four legs, with a number of stages and servicing/repair points within each leg.
Once proficient at the game, the player will appreciate that during a long stage (sometimes taking up to around 25 minutes), it is essential to take great care of the car and not to throw it into the barriers at every opportunity. This is because damage is carried across stages and may only be repaired when a service point is reached. Typically, the available time for repairs will be between 15 and 45 minutes, and each section of the car that has acquired damage, and/or general wear and tear, will be assessed and assigned a repair time. The player will then make decisions on what are the highest priority components to fix before driving the upcoming stages. For example, there would be no point wasting time fixing headlamps and wipers for a day time stage in sunny weather; fixing the engine, exhaust or clutch, for example, would be far more strategically beneficial.
So what`s up?
Overall, Rally Championship is good honest attempt at what is a difficult sport to simulate to a high standard. There are a few aspects of the game that I feel could be improved: for example, the presence of what I would describe as invisible barriers alongside the track is frustrating and somewhat disappointing - the ability to slap the car into a ditch or through a fence and into a lake would certainly moderate the driving style of the player!
Ok, a word about the driving physics. Generally not bad - it's fun to brake and slide the car through the medium bends and catch it as the accelerator is floored on the drive out of the turns. The physics models are affected by road camber and gradients (for example, put the car in neutral and it will slowly accelerate down a hill) which is all very encouraging, but on the negative side (and this really depends on how much emphasis you place on having a realistic physics model), when the car is thrown into the air, it seems to maintain suspiciously static roll and pitch angles. I would also have enjoyed the facility of a hand-brake, the effect of locking the wheels under braking, and to experience severe understeer out from a turn as a FWD car struggles for grip under rapid acceleration, particularly when driving in rain and snow. One other point is that traction appears to be calculated all-round rather than by each individual tyre contact patch. For example, placing the left side of the car on the grass and the right side of the car on tarmac and slamming on the brakes results in a perfectly straight pull-up. This is clearly an inadequacy of the driving model and if improved, would have made an incredible rally experience as each tyre experienced differing levels of grip.
But, the game is extremely enjoyable and a most worthy addition to any gamer's collection. And an added bonus as that the game also supports link-up and an eight player IPX mode! Good fun and well recommended.
=========================== Rating: 8/10 (Recommended!) ===========================
Mike Laskey
2nd Opinion by Mark Arnott
If you are familiar with names such as the Simmonite Sisters or Gwyndaf Evans then you are most probably not reading this review, but actually playing the game. On the other hand, if you live in Outer Mongolia and have not yet heard of Network Q RAC Rally Championship then this review is for you. I find it interesting that some games have powerful advertisingcampaigns running for the Ten months preceding release, yet this little gem just appeared from nowhere.
I stumbled across the demo of this game on a magazine cover CD. I installed it expecting another driving game following the genre of Screamer or Need for Speed, little did I know that I would still be driving around the same demo track five hours later. I was equally thrilled the next day when I was told that I was to get a review copy, and I promptly cancelled my overtime at work so as to focus my attention on more deserving matters.
The 300 mile course comprising of 28 tracks has been faithfully reproduced from the official RAC stage maps to provide you with a realistic and demanding rally simulation. The level of programming has resulted in a highly detailed and accurate means of getting the player as close as possible to the real thing on a PC.
The manual is 24 pages of well laid out info', including maps of all the stages which comes in handy for a pre-race study if you`re taking it seriously. Installation from the CD is standard, offering three levels, depending upon how much hard-drive space you have available. There is a main options screen presented when the game is started which can lead you into various choice screens. I'll try not to dwell too much on the options, but I will mention the important ones. There is the Championship mode where you race the full 28 tracks in 4 legs, other cars are rarely seen in this mode apart from slow or crashed vehicles.
Arcade mode is driven over 28 stages of 5 levels of increasing difficulty with other cars around you. There are checkpoints that must be reached within a time limit.
Individual mode enables any of the stages to be practised, and the final mode - Time Trial - is just to go nads out and get good times. Most of the modes allow adjustment of artificial intelligence for the computer controlled cars, track width, weather and car set-up, apart from Championship mode which only allows the car set-up and servicing to be altered.
Six cars are available, namely - Subaru Impreza, Ford Escort, RS Cossie, Golf GTI 16v, Renault Megane, Skoda Felicia 8v, and (don't laugh !) Proton Wira 16v. The tyres can be changed during car set-up, as can - steering, suspension, gearing, brakes, and suspension height. Each car has individual handling and power characteristics true to their real life counterparts. Control of these power houses is achieved by joystick, keyboard or wheel. With auto or manual gears.
The viewpoint can be a chase, full screen from the bumper, or from inside with a dashboard and tachometer. The tacho can be overlaid on the other views and this is important because if the engine is over-revved too much then damage occurs and the gearbox selects neutral now and again during the race and it is a real hindrance. The sound that accompanies this event is awful and if it was your real car you would be wondering just how Mr Bank Manager was going to be feeling tomorrow when you apply for the loan. The engine sound effects that occur during the course of events are brilliant, I don't know if they are samples or generated but they do the business.
Now, having selected your Proton Wira 16v with the springs jacked up and the finest knobblies that the eastern block can provide - its time to don the Sparco overalls and skid-lid (with intercom). Your co-driver today is the one and only Tony Mason from BBC TV's Top Gear Motorsport. Now I just have to point out that our Tony, although very experienced in things rally wise, does throw the odd wobbly now and again. For instance he will fail to inform you that the second to last turn of the sector is in fact a hairpin bend and your hard earnt first place becomes "Also Ran". But 97% of the time he is a big help and it has been implemented into the game extremely well.
An information bar is available for the top of the screen, which gives speed, gear, time, and current position during the event. In addition to Mr Mason calling the shots you can also have little arrows pop-up on screen just prior to corners to indicate the direction and harshness of turn.
As in real life, the road surfaces are varied and add a good deal of atmosphere to the simulation. Ranging from normal tarmac through to snow, with gravel, mud and slush in between. It is very realistic to drive the first half of a sector in tarmac then go off road onto gravel and hear all the rocks and stones clattering around underneath the car. Even more impressive is the weather effects. Windscreen wipers work away as rain falls onto the screen, if heavy rain is present then the odd clap of thunder and flash of lightning really makes you jump. While if snow is all around it makes for very white scenery and a slippery ride, as you throw the car into corners the slush can be heard behind leaving the road in grey plumes.
Damage limitation does have to be exercised. I have mentioned the gearbox earlier, but if you intend broadsiding into every hedgerow and boulder then you could quite easily find that during night stages the headlamps flicker, or if raining the wipers are on intermittent and the next corner can't be seen. With snow it is even worse, the view is blanked out for just a second or so, but is seems like forever.
At the starting gate of a stage there is a five second countdown called out by Tony. If you jump the start, then a minute is added to your time and lots of hard driving is required to make up for it, the best policy is don't jump. Spectators line the trackside in certain areas and no, you can't knock them over. They can be off-putting because when you're concentrating hard to clear a corner there will be one standing exactly where the car will naturally bump against the verge, and your subconscious makes you steer away from the best line (sometimes). A slight glanceagainst the verge will be non damaging but there is a fine line between slight and heavy.
The racing line in rallying is different to that of racetrack driving. I have never driven a rally car and I found that at first I was trying to take a line similar to a Formula one car - wrong. Soon it became clear that my best tactic was to attack a corner in the totally opposite sense, so if I was approaching a left hander I would drive down the left hand side of the road then turn in early and slide the back end out and power away, easy - not! That is the general idea though and I remain open to suggestions.
The scenery on a stage can be quite varied. You can be whizzing along on the black n' flat stuff, then suddenly veer off onto gravel and into a forest, the claustrophobic feeling is very real because the trees are so close. When the car clears the woods your shoulders drop a couple of inches due to the release of tension. "Water ahead" is the phrase that gets me sweating, if the car is not lined up at a decent speed you can end up wallowing about like a beached whale.
In between stages the car can have any damage repaired in the service setup screen, only limited hours are available and you must decide which are the most important areas for repair. For instance, if the headlights have been clobbered you will need to fix them if the next stage is at night. I found that my gearbox suffered quite a lot of damage but the option to repair it is not always available, so the next stage is spent continually pressing the button to get it back into gear.
This excellent Rally simulation will appeal to anyone who has the slightest interest in driving cars on their PC, and I don't doubt that it will convert some along the way. It just has that feel to it that makes you want to have just one more go. It deserves to share top of the podium with F1GP2, although both driving sim's, they are both top of the league in their particular area.
========================== Rating: 8/10 (Recommended!) ==========================
