"Remco Moedt" <no@email> wrote in message
...
> On Mon, 5 Sep 2005 21:53:50 +1000, "Byron Forbes"
> >
> >"ymenard" > wrote in message
> >>
> >> That's great and all... but its still fantasy cars and tracks. I also
> >> have no interest in that.

> >> The community will make or kill this sim. How long will you be driving
> >> those few tracks and cars befor getting bored? Quick.
> >
> > You can surely see that actual tracks and series will be coming out
of
> >our arses in no time.
> >
> > 4 days in and we have 1 mod and 1 track - what did we have for GPL (or
> >anything else for that matter) after 4 days?
>
> Lack of sleep..... :-/

Bingo. But then don't all great affairs start that way? ;-)

No big issue with the tracks; as long as they're well-designed they'll make
for good racing. But count me as one of those totally underwhelmed by the
cars rFactor ships with. Guess now we know what Smokin' Bob is smokin'.

But - it has to be said that the platform is certainly a big step forward
for ISI, and with their stance on mods and engine-licensing, it should
provide the basis for some interesting stuff in the next year or so. The
F3's are the first hint of the mod action coming, and GTL should provide the
first proof of the engine-licensing side (even if it doesn't have all the
new bits under the hood). rFactor's not really revolutionary in any way,
and in some areas remains lacking; but some bits are indeed state of the
art. Most importantly, the whole package functions well enough to be a
viable alternative to the other online simracing platforms. That just
couldn't be said of any of its predecessors. Well done ISI.

What with all the recent talk in simracing circles about the role and value
of mods and developers' stances on them, to me rFactor looks like the
perfect test case for that particular business model (cut development costs
by direct distribution and unlicensed content while extending revenues by
engine licensing). Kaemmer & co. look to be at the other end of the
spectrum, so it'll be very interesting to see which plays out to be the
superior way for developers to thrive in this market. Starting to look like
other bits of the entertainment industry in fact - Indies vs. the Studios.
Indies seem to have all the Mo of late. Best to enjoy them while we keep
our popcorn warm for the next blockbuster... ;-)

SB