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Activities
Nor'easter News
Car Care
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Other Cool Stuff
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Porsche
Club of America
By Bruce
Corwin, Bruce968@PorscheNet.com
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summer driving season is upon us once more and the tracks are open. But
for those of you who just can’t get enough track time, or choose not to
bring your Porsche out to the track, here’s a little drug to satisfy your
addiction.
It’s a video game called Need for Speed, Porsche Unleashed by Electronic Arts. It’s available for both PC and Sony Playstation. Since I just upgraded my old 150 MHz PC to a new 800 MHz model with 21-inch monitor, I chose to get the PC version. The cost is about $40 for either version from the online stores. While I was at it, I bought the Microsoft Sidewinder steering wheel, which was $70 including throttle and brake pedals. For $135 you can get the one with “feedback”, but I never liked those. The wheel and pedals work very well, but I found I had to change the brake control from the default setting to “Joystick 1 Z rotation axis down-arrow”, otherwise lifting off the gas puts the brake on. Talk about lift throttle oversteer! The only other setting I changed was to modify the “Screen Size” on the graphics setup page to 1024 x 768 x 16. This setting works great on my computer and the graphics are just incredible! Despite the acronym “NFS: PU”, the game doesn’t stink. Far from it actually. I’ve used other Need for Speed editions and found that, in addition to better graphics, the Porsche Unleashed edition is much more realistic in the way the cars handle, due to a new physics engine in the programming. The game features 80 different models from the 356 to the 911 GT1 racecar and the 2000 996 Turbo. The cars are digitized inside and out (including the bottom-side, as you may find out), so you can drive with a view of inside the car or from above. If you choose to drive from inside the car, you will actually see a driver in the car steering. The PC version is more advanced then the Playstation version when it comes to graphics and car choices. The program was created in partnership with Porsche and each car sounds like the real thing. Damage to the car is visible and very convincing. The scenery and skies with variable weather conditions are amazingly lifelike. You can even turn on headlights or turn signals. The game starts out with a video sequence showing a Porsche test driver walking into a garage with a selection of legendary Porsches. He systematically takes each car out for beatings, including Porsche Number One! I think somebody should take him out for a beating! There are a few different driving modes including multiplayer, evolution mode (where you start your career with the 356 and go from there), factory driver mode (where you meet different challenges) and various quick races. And if racing Porsches driven by the computer ever becomes boring, you can race against up to eight of your online friends. The game was just released and I haven’t had a chance to spend a great deal of time with it or try every option, but what I’ve seen so far is very impressive. It’s really a Porsche simulation and not what I would call a video game, although it is a lot of fun! You can find more information including a downloadable demo version at www.needforspeed.com. Whether you’re driving the real thing or the game… there is no substitute. |
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