|
Home Articles Photo Gallery Message Board
Click on Small Images for Larger Views
Fans of air racing always dream about strapping into one of
the top unlimiteds, firing up, and joining the likes of Lyle Shelton, Skip
Holm and Tiger Destefani. Only a handful of people have the combination of
pilot skills, financial backup and intestinal fortitude to actually compete
in unlimited air racing. A mix of skill, attitude and luck blends into the
sport. Few people can do it - until now.
Victory Simulations is working hard on Xtreme Air Racing, a PC based flight simulation centering on the three-dimensional arena of racing airplanes. Currently in Alpha version, Warbird Aero Press has been flying the sim for the past several weeks to get to know the sim. Overall, fans will be very pleased with the result of VS’s efforts.
Even though the sim - it really isn’t a game - isn’t
even near being finished, the Alpha version presents very well, and the
menus are effortless to navigate. Even without an instruction book or
documentation, I was able to set up the software on my home and notebook
computers. In it’s current form, the software takes up 416 mb of hard disk
space.
The navigation screens allow the user to type in a pilot name, choose an aircraft and a race course, and modify the aircraft. Pilots can choose either Bronze, Silver or Gold classes with differing levels of AI (artificial intelligence) built into the respective class.
One thing that will make the sim great is the ability of the software to mimic real life. The modifications you choose have a direct reflection on your speed, reliability, and aircraft handling. Stick a -9 Merlin in a Mustang, put in .480 nose gears, clip the wings to 28 feet, and fair in the flaps; you now have a very finicky racer that might not run so well. Much testing before you race will be required to iron out your setup.
Other choices are available; you can fly Rare Bear with a
R-4360 if you want to, or put in a stroked out R-3350 like the real thing.
Three blades or four? Go ahead and make your choice, along with the
reduction gearing, fluid levels and number of nitrous bottles.
Once in the game, the racers are led down the chute from west to east in front of the grandstands. A five second countdown begins, and ends with, "Gentlemen, you have a race!" Get the ADI and spraybars on and hammer it! Depending on your position in the start formation, you have to be careful not to trade paint or collide with other racers. Doing so ruins your day and provides the fans with a smoke column.
At this point, pilots will notice the graphics and terrain detail. I’ve been running the sim on a 1 Ghz Athlon home PC with 384 mb RAM and a Voodoo 3 AGP card. With all graphics details set on high, the screen performance is stunning. You can make fluid control movements and fly the line around the pylons that you want to. Formation flying on another racers is also easy. On a 650 Mhz notebook PC equipped with a RAGE Mobility 2 AGP video chip, the game also runs very well.
XAR contains some very detailed AI (Artificial Intelligence)
code that throttles the digital aircraft you race against. In the single
player mode; the better you fly, the better they fly. The other racers
follow a line around the course that is pretty tight, and it doesn’t seem
that they get any degradation of airspeed while pulling G’s. Plainly put,
an aircraft like Rare Bear or the Super Corsair would be flown a bit wide
while the Mustang could be closer to the pylons. As it stands now, it seems
to be a free-for-all with everybody flying the tight line. As the production
version ships, this will hopefully be refined further.
Actually flying in the races is a blast. Pilots can be up and running in just a few minutes thanks to the easy navigation. Flight sticks and throttles will be an absolute must. Nice touches include some HOTAS (Hands On Throttle And Stick) features such as ADI, spraybar, nitrous and supercharger shifting. The aircraft panel shows instruments and dials that move, and there are also indicators for fuel, ADI, spaybar and nitrous levels. If you tweak your fluid levels to bare minimums before the race, you will have to manage your power settings closely or risk running out.
Since the sim mimics the real thing, engines can and will
blow up. Push too hard and you’ll feel and hear the roughness and
decreasing power. Keep abusing the engine and you will find yourself looking
for the nearest runway. Even though this is the Alpha version, I find that
the aircraft bleed a little too much airspeed after an engine
deconstruction. The first several times I made it back to the runway, but
there was nothing left in terms of aircraft energy. Currently, only the Rare
Bear had working landing gear. I made several dead stick approaches and
landings in Voodoo, the Super Corsair and Critical Mass after scattering my
engine, but with no operating landing gear, I slid to a stop on the runway.
XAR will be shipped with Multi Player mode, so internet
users will be able to hold races with other pilots. In true form, this will
be the real test. I’ve found that the digital racers in the game are
relatively easy to beat, so some human interfacing will be a good thing.
There are also free flight and air combat modes in the current version.
It’s a bit unfair to list any shortcomings, seeing how
this is one of the first trial versions. Currently, VS are working on
refining the aircraft skins to a super-detailed level, adding "Hoover’s
Hints," and the voice of a real race announcer. Players can also choose
from a number of fantasy course, and also fly some Formula 1 aircraft. With
the limitations of a computer screen and using the stick's coolie hat to
look left and right, it would be nice to have a feature that would have your
crew chief give you a radio call and let you know where a passing racer is.
There also seems to be no logic built into passing or being passed.
Overall, everybody from NASCAR fans to air race fans and
pilots will get a huge kick out of Xtreme Air Racing. This sim is much
different than your everyday jet combat sim; the goal is to outsmart and
outfly your opponents in a low-level, adversarial formation. It’s not as
easy as it sounds. Throw in a race engine that isn’t behaving properly,
picking out tiny pylons at 490 mph and rising terrain on the course, and it
becomes apparent why not everybody can be an unlimited race pilot.
For more information and pre-ordering information, click on www.XtremeAirRacing.com.
|