Massive PGR4 downloadable content due on Valentine's Day

[Benji]

Excellent, more stuff

[Mr Majestyk]

The DLC is pretty sweet. Not tried any online modes yet, but some nice cars & tracks. Should make for some fun racing over the weekend. Was pretty good doing the Nurburgring in the BMW.

[SeanR]

The DLC is pretty sweet. Not tried any online modes yet, but some nice cars & tracks. Should make for some fun racing over the weekend. Was pretty good doing the Nurburgring in the BMW.

You are Sabine, and I claim my £5!

[Badger]

Anyone up for getting that sodding 8 vehicles in the air achievement?

[delb2k]

Theres an easy way to do that all by yourself with 7 AI opponents, do a quick web search.

[SteveH]

Well that was easy enough. The easy way to win the showjump achievement......

Setup a custom Street Race in St. Petersburg, route should be The hermitage Race. Weather to clear, 1 lap. Now go into the advanced options and set the number of AI to 7 and turn reverse track on (very important). Now head to the lobby and set all the AI players to Platinum and choose the Ducati 999R Xerox bike for everybody.

[TheSlugFormerlyKnownAsNap]

No Paris then I was hoping for a new city.

[Marzipan Travolta]

You are Sabine, and I claim my £5!

Transit van, shirley?

[layten]

Well that was easy enough. The easy way to win the showjump achievement......

Setup a custom Street Race in St. Petersburg, route should be The hermitage Race. Weather to clear, 1 lap. Now go into the advanced options and set the number of AI to 7 and turn reverse track on (very important). Now head to the lobby and set all the AI players to Platinum and choose the Ducati 999R Xerox bike for everybody.

The boring way then?

http://homepages.nildram.co.uk/~layte/pics...24c719b5511.jpg

4tw!

[BeeJay]

The boring way then?

http://homepages.nildram.co.uk/~layte/pics...24c719b5511.jpg

4tw!

Good times!

[SteveH]

Well hats off to Peve for doing as well as he has done in some of the challenges in this game. I have hit one of the games shitty difficulty spikes, which means I either need to drop down a medal to progress, or switch off and walk away for good.

It's highly annoying to do an arcade challenge and be getting golds first try, to hit one race and suddenly the A.I wipes the floor with me. It makes no sense, when just moments before I was leaving them in my wake in the previous race.

It doesn't help that there doesn't appear to be split times, so on a long track like the Nurburgring, you can't tell if you are making ground on the A.I or not.

There are just enough faults to make it clear why this pretty much bombed at retail.

[Warszawa]

There are just enough faults to make it clear why this pretty much bombed at retail.

It bombed at retail because it wasn't advertised all that much and got lost in a busy period. Quality is only a relatively minor factor in deciding how a game will sell, and this is much, much better than a lot of the stuff that will have outsold it tenfold.

[BeeJay]

There are just enough faults to make it clear why this pretty much bombed at retail.

As Warszawa says, I don't think the faults are what caused it to sell relatively badly. The faults are there though and they are many and they really grate after a while.

[Mitchell]

Why anyone would want to use that is beyond me, the triggers are fantastic and you get much more control. The right stick gas/brake was a decent enough option way back when we only had digital buttons.

I think Steev was asking as (IIRC) he only has one arm and uses right analogue stick steer/gas/brake, which wasn't in the original set up options.

The DLC looks great...anyone that has it already, can you use tourist mode by yourself? Or can you log on and just lock your room?

[Timmo]

Grant Turismo, fun?

I find all nearly all racing simulations amazingly dull though. The last one I enjoyed was F355 challenge on the Dreamcast.

[GViper]

I don't get the moaning! I've rediscovered my passion for this game the past few days! It's got it's flaws, most certainly, but it's a fun game, with totally forgiving handling, and is certainly more enjoyable than I've found Forza 2 or GT4. I quite like the mix between arcade and sim, it works for me!

[Fletch]

I think Steev was asking as (IIRC) he only has one arm and uses right analogue stick steer/gas/brake, which wasn't in the original set up options.

The DLC looks great...anyone that has it already, can you use tourist mode by yourself? Or can you log on and just lock your room?

Ah that makes me look a big old idiot then, apologies for that.

Are people still playing? If anyone fancies a race add me as playing cheating randoms is getting a bit tiresome.

[Floex]

I don't get the moaning! I've rediscovered my passion for this game the past few days! It's got it's flaws, most certainly, but it's a fun game, with totally forgiving handling, and is certainly more enjoyable than I've found Forza 2 or GT4. I quite like the mix between arcade and sim, it works for me!

This. Hate sims but throw in a bit of arcade and it can do the world of graphics. Clov, don't have a clue what you have got against the handling. The balance is pretty much perfect for myself

[ontwofronts]

I rediscovered this just before the additional content was released. I'd silvered it all last year but never got into Gotham career, not due to quality (because I think PGR4 is absolute quality) but because of the deluge of games released last autumn. I had a buying spree like never before and it's only been recently I've been inclined to go back.

They should have been releasing this now, it got lost in the crowd last year. I'm having a lot fo fun with it now.

[bigbrick]

tb, i'm a little disappointed with the Tourist Mode.

it's online multiplayer only, so you can't go tearing around the streets on your own and the amount of city they let you see is severely restricted.

like less than the original PGR or even MSR let you have.

the E30 is sweet though, so long as you don't stop......

[Wools]

It's not that I dislike simulation racing games, it's that Gran Turismo is leagues ahead of this and Forza in terms of polish, structure and possesses a certain magic (fun, perhaps?) that PGR4 lacks.

Erm, this is not a Simulation, it's a serious arcade racer.

PGR4 is in the same league of Scud Race, it takes itself very seriously but is a complete arcade game.

It might sound like I want them to turn it into an arcade racer... but that's what the kudos system lends itself too... encouraging powersliding, and then slapping you down with the simulation physics...

You really did not get it did you?

[Tom_B]

PGR4 is in the same league of Scud Race, it takes itself very seriously but is a complete arcade game.

Scud Race? I think your memory of it might be hazy, as it's full of ludicrous powerslide physics, super-fast acceleration and crazy tracks. A world away from the PGR series.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksF9DPfcGyo...feature=related

I've never really understand why people call PGR4 arcadey, as it really isn't... As far as I'm concerned, if you have to use the brake to slow you before you get to a corner, it's not an arcade game. Of course not that PGR isn't great and all, but when it gets painted as a thrill-a-minute rollercoaster ride, is it any wonder people come away from it with negative impressions?

[BeeJay]

I've never really understand why people call PGR4 arcadey, as it really isn't...

You're right. PGR4 and especially PGR3 are as much simulations in the sense of the physics as any other racing game. Even to it's detriment with collisions.

There's a good article in this months edge about racing games and one of the topics is the fact that racing games have been striving for physical realism for years and years. We are now genuinely at the stage where the biggest challenge is controlling the physics and making things fun and individual. Every car racing game (forza, gt, pgr, colin mcrae, toca, motorstorm) starts from being a near perfect simulation and then gets bastardised to make things feel and react differently to how they would in real life.

I think people get confused by the presentation and abscence of tuning and such like into thinking that the physical models and handling in the PGR games are 'arcade'. From a pure physics point of view I'd put PGR4/3 very close to the likes of Forza and GT and a million miles away from Scud race, ridge racer, outrun or and other 'arcade' games.

[Badger]

Well that was easy enough. The easy way to win the showjump achievement......

Setup a custom Street Race in St. Petersburg, route should be The hermitage Race. Weather to clear, 1 lap. Now go into the advanced options and set the number of AI to 7 and turn reverse track on (very important). Now head to the lobby and set all the AI players to Platinum and choose the Ducati 999R Xerox bike for everybody.

Cool. Will be done tonight...

Shame in some ways, as I loved the idea of getting 8 rllmuk riders into a lobby to try and do it, and all the arguing that would ensue!

I'm torn about PGR...on one hand, the single player format is better, and the graphics are lovely. On the other, the bikes handle like drunken donkeys, the difficulty on platinum is quite a jump on certain challenges (and 10 points for all platinum on arcade? sheesh), and some of the cars don't handle nicely at all. It still feels like there's a Scalectrix type attachment on the front of the car, and the rest of it is dragged along behind, seesawing wildly from left to right.

Personally, the best Xbox racer has been, and will always be Forza for me...PGR2 was the highlight of the series, because pre-Forza there were enough rllmukers around to make the multiplayer always fun. I seem to remember doing things like cruising round the Nurburgring slowly in pink cars and general mucking around...

[BeeJay]

Cool. Will be done tonight...

Shame in some ways, as I loved the idea of getting 8 rllmuk riders into a lobby to try and do it, and all the arguing that would ensue!

You've got to do it. Having to get everyone listening and together to do it great. Someone still got it wrong when we did it so were being shouted at to slow down. The celebratory wheelies and wooping were well worth the effort. When I'm old and grey and someone mentions RLLMUK that moment will stick in my mind. I'm sure you'll be able to get 8 people together to do it again. I'd help out if I had my 360.

[SqueakyG]

Has anyone actually SEEN this tourist mode? I find it impossible to get a game.

It took me ages to realise it's only an online custom match thing -- you can't do it alone. I set up a lobby, but couldn't play until there were at least two players. And nobody ever came in! Then I tried to join other people's lobbies... but they were always "race in progress", forever.

Nobody on my friends list has played PGR4 since the month it came out.

[Wools]

Scud Race? I think your memory of it might be hazy, as it's full of ludicrous powerslide physics, super-fast acceleration and crazy tracks. A world away from the PGR series.

I've never really understand why people call PGR4 arcadey, as it really isn't... As far as I'm concerned, if you have to use the brake to slow you before you get to a corner, it's not an arcade game. Of course not that PGR isn't great and all, but when it gets painted as a thrill-a-minute rollercoaster ride, is it any wonder people come away from it with negative impressions?

Ludicrous powerslides, super-fast acceleration and crazy tracks? That reminds me of PGR4! No my memory is not hazy, I made the Scud Race comparison as it takes itself very seriously in regards to veichle depiction and atmosphere.

A lot of games such as Colin McRae Rally and Project Gotham Racing take real world cars and locations, create a realistic atmosphere but then throw caution to the wind and implement brillaint Arcade charactistics such as an overstering handling model.

Considering Colin McRae and PGR don't paint themselves as a rollercoaster ride, unlike the beautiful Ridge Racer which turns a city into one, I'm guessing many think its handling model is realistic.

You're right. PGR4 and especially PGR3 are as much simulations in the sense of the physics as any other racing game. Even to it's detriment with collisions.

I think people get confused by the presentation and abscence of tuning and such like into thinking that the physical models and handling in the PGR games are 'arcade'. From a pure physics point of view I'd put PGR4/3 very close to the likes of Forza and GT and a million miles away from Scud race, ridge racer, outrun or and other 'arcade' games.

I would class PGR and Colin McRae in the same mould as Ridge and Outrun. Not because they carve a rollercoaster out of a city with areoplanes flying overhead, but they value tire smoke, presentation and the sheer thrill of the Motorcar over the technical side of nailing a perfect lap.

I would put Colin McRae and PGR in the same legue as Scud Race. Billing them with Richard Burns, GT Legends and Forza 2 does'nt feel right at all.

[boxoctosis]

The celebratory wheelies and wooping were well worth the effort. When I'm old and grey and someone mentions RLLMUK that moment will stick in my mind.

heh, that was possibly my gaming highlight of last year. amazing scenes, especially the 2 clowns who hared away without waiting for the rest of us.

[Dimahoo]

Heh. That was funny.

[BeeJay]

Ludicrous powerslides, super-fast acceleration and crazy tracks? That reminds me of PGR4! No my memory is not hazy, I made the Scud Race comparison as it takes itself very seriously in regards to veichle depiction and atmosphere.

A lot of games such as Colin McRae Rally and Project Gotham Racing take real world cars and locations, create a realistic atmosphere but then throw caution to the wind and implement brillaint Arcade charactistics such as an overstering handling model.

Considering Colin McRae and PGR don't paint themselves as a rollercoaster ride, unlike the beautiful Ridge Racer which turns a city into one, I'm guessing many think its handling model is realistic.

I would class PGR and Colin McRae in the same mould as Ridge and Outrun. Not because they carve a rollercoaster out of a city with areoplanes flying overhead, but they value tire smoke, presentation and the sheer thrill of the Motorcar over the technical side of nailing a perfect lap.

I would put Colin McRae and PGR in the same legue as Scud Race. Billing them with Richard Burns, GT Legends and Forza 2 does'nt feel right at all.

I think we're looking at different aspects of what defines a game as 'arcade'. To me, it's about how the aproaches the driving.