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Fabsmartins · Jan 13, 2003, 10:51 AM

Hello everyone!

A while ago a freeware (almost open source) game called Racer was released for Mac OS X. Its first version was Racer 0.5.b4. Now racer for the Mac is at version B6 and is the best racing game out for the mac (Nascar not counting, or maybe you can count it, racer is still awsome!). Plus it is freeware PLUS it is completely customizable, with mac people like me and Ro80 making cars, and others making tracks etc.

The reason i am posting it here is that the Mac crowd in Racer has not been the best, ie. we could be packing a much bigger punch. anyway so i thought i might let you guys know about this and see if 1 maybe 2 of you like the game...

More info can be found at:
www.racer.nl

while lots of the downloads (cars, tracks, and the game itself) can be found in Racesimcentral Forum at:
http://forum.racesimcentral.com/foru...s=&forumid=111

On a second note, as this game is completely customizable it has shown some problems in some systems, like full screen not working etc. I would also like to hear what other findings people have on this game so that we can give the developer of the game a more complete bug list for future builds.

thank you for you time.

cheers,
Fabs

Guy Incognito · Jan 13, 2003, 12:33 PM

Wow...the nasty bug where when you flip your car over or do some weird manoeuvers your car is sent flying into "Car Heaven". This makes the game somewhat not so fun to play.

derbs · Jan 13, 2003, 12:58 PM

Wow - those screenshots look cool! I'm downloading it now, i'll let you know how i get on!

Fabsmartins · Jan 13, 2003, 01:35 PM

Hey,
cheers for your curiosity! not to blow my own whistle but try out the Alfa 155, a completely mac production!

Anyway, about the bug.... this is a Beta release, it is not final by a long way and it is some 3 released behind the PC. The developer, Ruud Van Gaal is in the final stages of production and will only release another mac when it is on version 0.5.

There are other few bugs, but you get used to them... if you go flying off just press shift-R and you will be taken back to the start line....

a few other interesting keys to press are: control plus all the number keys for different telemetry, 'c' which changes cameras and F2 which takes you to replay mode....

anyways, see you guys at the RacesimCentral forum! hope you all like the game!

cheers,
fabs

derbs · 07:21 AM

Hey there Fabs.

Was playing Racer for hours last night - excellent game. I predict a great future

Really love the graphics, very realistic, althought i downloaded the Norway track and only got 10fps... guess my Ge2mx doesnt cut it any more.

Only problem was practically all the cars needs beta 0.5. Is there any way round this, or are us Mac users just going to have to wait?

I will certainly being showing my face at the RaceSimCentral forums

[edit] by the way - the alfa155 is super-sweet!

Fabsmartins · Jan 14, 2003, 11:51 AM

Originally posted by derbs:
Hey there Fabs.

Really love the graphics, very realistic, althought i downloaded the Norway track and only got 10fps... guess my Ge2mx doesnt cut it any more.

Right as far as the frame rate there are a few things you can do... first have a look in the thread about the Norway track and you will see there is a lower resolution trees (i think). Second you can fiddle with the gfx.ini and decrease draw distance etc... and third you can also fiddle with the file geometry.ini inside the track folder and turn off some of the useless geometry, i tend to do that often.

Only problem was practically all the cars needs beta 0.5. Is there any way round this, or are us Mac users just going to have to wait?

I will certainly being showing my face at the RaceSimCentral forums

[edit] by the way - the alfa155 is super-sweet! [/B]

Right as far as the cars, you can go to:

http://www.racer-xtreme.com

they have links to the cars which have had an update to work on B6 and above.

well, thanks for you positive experience! Pop by the forum!

cheers,
fabs

Guy Incognito · Jan 14, 2003, 12:16 PM

Now that force-feedback *does* exist on the Mac. Will Ruud Van Gaal support it. There was a mention on the webpage that force-feedback on Mac didn't exist way back last summer (6 months ago) but now that it exists, I hope Rudd Van Gaal is aware of it.

Fabsmartins · Jan 14, 2003, 12:46 PM

Originally posted by Guy Incognito:
Now that force-feedback *does* exist on the Mac. Will Ruud Van Gaal support it. There was a mention on the webpage that force-feedback on Mac didn't exist way back last summer (6 months ago) but now that it exists, I hope Rudd Van Gaal is aware of it.

Force Feedback support has always been available in Racer, as far as i know.... it can be turned on by fiddling the the files on the Ctrlsets which define how the input behaves....

fabs

Veloce · Jan 14, 2003, 05:50 PM

Hi everyone,

Imo Racer is indeed a great game, it's still very much a beta and there are a lot of bugs, but it has a great physics model and looks.

So far we've found a way around most of the Mac-related problems like a nasty gfx card problem that will make some older Macs crash hard on some tracks (no kernel panics, just bsod!!). This .sit (8k) contains three config files that should give you a more or less problem free experience... (it also sets the controls to a two button mouse mind you!)

debs: most cars (at least the popular ones) are compatible with Mac version 0.5b6, and so are the new ones appearing on the racesimcentral forums. That Norwegian track is one of the best looking, but unfortunately it's a real fps hog too. Try the Nurburgring Nordschleife, my personal favorite. 8 minute laps through great scenery... good fps too (over 40 on my gf4mx imac).
I could get up to 40 fps on my 500 Mhz iceBook on Brno, another fine track, so your gf2mx should do fine.

Guy: Well, the website hasn't been updated since then... I'm not sure about FF, it could very well be that it started working 'magically' with the release of 10.2.3 but I'm waiting for others to try it out first before I get a wheel

If it didn't FF will undoubtedly be there in v0.5 final.

Anyway, it would be great getting some more Mac users involved. Ruud is very much dedicated to Mac and Linux support, but having more than just a handful of Mac players wouldn't hurt our position at all

cya,

Rob

edited excessive use of smileys

derbs · Jan 14, 2003, 06:35 PM

hey i managed to get most of the cars working on my mac by adding an

id=whatever
version=050b6

in the car.ini file.

Some beauties in there, including my boyhood dream car, the Lambo Countach. Unfortunately some of them tend to bounce around a bit weirdly, i think it's due to the slightly out of date Mac build of the game. Can't wait for the next update

Just downloaded Nordschliefe - going to check it out now!

Veloce · Jan 14, 2003, 07:50 PM

Erm, no... actually it's caused by a physics revision from 0.49->0.5b6 and up, so it's related to the Mac version's relative modern-ness

Even the Z that comes with the game has that problem... it can be gotten right, though, but you'll need a bit of .ini tuning knowledge.

Your best bet is to stick with cars that come with the right version number and ask builders of older cars you like to update them...

Good luck!

angelmb · Dec 1, 2004, 02:02 PM

Bump!

Have anyone tried Racer current version ?

MacmanX · Dec 1, 2004, 11:48 PM

It looks like a really cool sim, but is there a site with a tutorial for setting it up on a Mac. I'm willing to put in the time, but I just don't have any experience setting up something like this. Also, their forums are less than helpful. I mean, only one search every 180 seconds? What are they afraid of? Anyway, help me get set up, and I'll be on board with any Mac team!

Cheers!