Race On first impressions

Since no one else has posted one, I'll give it a shot.

Installation and Backup

The Race On DVD is a 2 disk set.

Even though all my other Race content was purchased directly from Steam, the install went just fine. I had Steam running and chose Online Install.

You get option to install Race 07, STCC, and Race On. I unchecked Race 07 and STCC (since I already have them) and installed Race On.

The install saw that I had Steam running and once I entered the CD key, it told me I had successfully integrated it with my Steam account.

*Tip*

Even though you've installed from DVD, once it's integrated with your Steam account, you can then use the Steam backup feature to backup ALL your content including Race On. You won't need the DVD again to re-install.

Track Updates

All the tracks for the 2008 season have been updated and have their own menu section. You now have 2006, 2007, and 2008 WTCC tracks.

Most of the "updates" seem to be graphical instead of actual track layout changes, except Imola. But the "new" tracks do look wonderful. Much nicer than the 2007 and 2006 versions.

New Tracks

Road America, Laguna Seca, Okayama. What can I say? They rock! :)

New Cars

US Muscle Race Cars.
They are great fun. They handle just like you would expect them to: big, massive, Yank tanks that slide all over the place. Lots of power with suspect handling ;)

Some of you might say they "drift" too much. I don't believe "drift" would be the right word. I would call it "super aswesome cowabunga power slides" :D

US Muscle Production Cars.
Same as above but street versions.

Formula Master.
Simply great! Sure they're not as fast as F3000, but they are really great fun to drive. Close races like touring cars (and about the same speed) but in open wheel goodness :)

WTCC 2008.
Seat TDI and Lada.....You know the rest.

Really great addition to the Race series. On a scale of 1-10, I give it a 9 :shock:

If you have any questions, feel free to post them :)
 
One more thing:

It feels like they want Race On to be "main brand"....just like Evo became the new "name brand" when it was released.

Launching from the Race On shortcut gives you all the content, but the menus have been totally redesigned graphically. They really "jazzed it up" with background images of racing scenes and pit babes. The menus look sharper.

Just my opinion, but it feels like they want you load all the content from the Race On executable.
 
Why is there no icon for race 07 shortcut or on the steam "my games" list? It's just a "no file association" icon instead. Haven't stopped looking for it, just haven't found it yet.

Yes, installation went fast and great. Didn't have to download anything!
 
Anyone notice the main game file in the steam folder is called "race 07_exp_toad.gcf? (Their new physics engine at work here???) I LOVE the way the Formula Masters cars feel. Heck, I love the Camaro cup, V8's,,,,,, I guess I like all of them!!! Very nice tire scrub sounds, FFB, and handling. You can actually catch your car that is just starting to spin out if you're paying attention. And if you do slide, it actually starts gripping again while it is slowing down just like a real car. A+++ game.
 
Why is there no icon for race 07 shortcut or on the steam "my games" list? It's just a "no file association" icon instead. Haven't stopped looking for it, just haven't found it yet.

I goofed. I meant "no Race ON icon". I have good icons for all the other simbin steam titles. Race On even installed a STCC icon, but the Race On icon is that old ugly "no file associated" icon. Anyone else have this?
 
Been enjoying this for a few days now.

Highs:

Integrated perfectly with my Evo steam install.

2008 Tracks seem to have much improved textures. Everything just looks better. Big ups here.

Road America and Laguna came out fantastic and are a lot of fun.

Being from the states the US Muscle cars have a lot of appeal to me and I think they are fantastic overall.

IFM's! Awesome! Best Simbin open wheel yet. I just couldn't get into the F3000's because I didn't like how they handled but these are almost perfect.

New menu textures look good.

Lows:

Very weak Camaro Race sounds. Big let down here. The other race versions of the muscle cars sound ok but they still don't have that loud deep rumble V8 race car sound that you'd expect. My sub-woofer doesn't seem to be getting much action from these sounds and I am seeking replacements at least for the Camaro Race.

Cadillac Race grill texture looks very bad. Mesh should be closer together and more defined.

Camaro Race wheels IMHO are a horrible choice and don't fully match the car. They also seem a little oversized. I wish they would have payed some attention to the GS Race concept car on this one as the followed the body additions of it but then just tossed random wheels on.

No paint templates included for the US Muscle. Seriously, your stock skins are uh.. yeah. I've only played the game for few days and i'm already sick of them. You know we want them. Why not just include them instead of waiting months after the release?


Probably some more but can't remember at this moment.

Overall the game is very much worth the $27.99 I payed for it :)
 
Minimum requirements
- Operating Systems Microsoft Windows XP Home/Pro, Windows Vista*
- Processor 2.4 GHz Intel Pentium 4 or 100% compatible
- Memory 1 GB RAM
- 3D Accelerator DirectX 9 compatible graphics card with 256MB memory
- Sound Card DirectX 9 compatible
- Input Keyboard and Mouse
- DirectX Version 9

Recommended requirements
- Operating Systems Microsoft Windows XP Home/Pro, Windows Vista*
- Processor 3 GHz Intel Pentium IV or 100% compatible
- Memory 2 GB RAM
- 3D Accelerator DirectX 9 compatible graphics card with 512 MB memory
- Sound Card DirectX 9 compatible
- Input DirectX 9 compatible Force Feedback steering wheel
- DirectX Version 9
 

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