IndyCar Racing II

IndyCar Racing II

Developer(s) Papyrus Design Group
Platform(s) MS-DOS Mac OS Win 9x
Release date(s)
Genre(s) Sim racing
Mode(s) Single player
Distribution (DOS) CD-ROM

IndyCar Racing II is a racing game developed by Papyrus Design Group. It is the sequel to IndyCar Racing, and was released in 1995. A little over a year later, the game was re-released, with a few minor upgrades, under the title CART Racing. The name change came about as a result of the CART series losing licensing rights to the name IndyCar, after the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and IRL lockout in 1996. The game still used many contemporary drivers, chassis (Lola, Reynard, Penske) and engines (Ford-Cosworth, Mercedes-Benz, Honda). 15 circuits were included in this game with Miami (road course) and Indianapolis missing.

Gameplay

For further information see IndyCar Racing

Although they are different games, see IndyCar Racing for gameplay details of the series.

Development

This game is based on the 1989 game "Indianapolis 500" and on Papyrus' 1993 "IndyCar Racing". Little is known about the development of the game, but a demo for the game was released in 1995, and several patches for the DOS and Windows 95 were created after the game's release to improve it. This game could be run in SVGA (640x480) and had some other changes in comparison with "IndyCar Racing", such as allowing outside cameras by pressing the "F10" key. This was very useful on flat courses like the airport Cleveland track.[1]

The cockpit

In the cockpit of "IndyCar Racing II" you can choose between the speed, the revolutions per minute or the amount of the laps that you can run with your fuel. You can alter all these values by pressing the letter "D". Other information that is given to you in the cockpit include your actual lap time, the fuel in your tank (gallons), the boost, the water temperature, the gear and the stiffness of the front and rear suspension. Also, the balance between the front wheel or the rear wheel braking is described in one column. A new feature when comparing "IndyCar Racing II" to the prior games was the ability to choose the level of your turbo. On the "9" your turbo was working on the maximal level. Switched to the value "1" it changed to the minimal level. This, of course, resulted in slower speeds that you could reach. Before pitstops, you can “radio” your pit crew (via your keyboard’s function keys) with requests for specific amounts of fuel, fresh tires (you can swap tire compounds, even change your tire “stagger”), wing-angle adjustments (which affect traction as well as aerodynamic drag), and repairs to collision damage.

Rules

"IndyCar Racing II" simulates the rules that prevailed in 1994, which includes no passing under full-course yellow-flag conditions and an 80-mph speed limit in the pits. This pit limit was able to been edited with the "PIT.LP" file. Changing it with a special editor makes this file on some tracks having a 50 mph pitroad speed for example. If you pass any car under yellow and the race goes green you will get the black flag. You'll have 5 laps time to pit. Speeding in the pits is also punished. You again have just 5 laps time to serve a "stopandgo". If you don't, you will be disqualified.

Paintkit, paint shop and carshapes

You can also customize the way each of the cars look. Using the game’s built-in paint facility, you can replace some or all of the car designs that come with "IndyCar Racing" using paint jobs that you develop. Using this paint facility is only possible with the original carshape that the game came with. Other carshapes (for example the "CART2K" or the "Reynard" carsets) that were published used "more complicated" car textures and could only been edited in other paint programs.

Reception

IndyCar Racing II received generally good ratings, such as 7.8 out of 10 by GameSpot, and 4 out of 5 by Computer Games Magazine. Some reviewers commented on the extreme detail and customization of the racecar, and the ability to change any part. Game Revolution remarked "There are thirteen different customizable characteristics to the car..." and "You could spend an entire week inside the garage just fiddling with the many ways to improve your car's performance."[2] Finally some reviewers commented on the realism of the game, such as GameSpot, who noted "Even on the easiest of settings, driving an IndyCar is comparable to riding a wild bull."[3]

References

  1. ↑ IndyCar Racing II at Gamespot. Retrieved October 19, 2006.
  2. ↑ "Game Revolution Review". Game Revolution. Retrieved 2006-10-17.
  3. ↑ "GameSpot Review". GameSpot. CNET. Retrieved 2006-10-17.

External links