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[Lord Error]

I wasn't making a comparison to Sega Rally, please don't get confused. Although while we're on the subject I'm assuming they're intelligent enough to not bother with terrain deformation (unless they have a staff of incredibly competant programmers).

Well the thing is, Sega Rally is supposed to have polygonal track deformation, or at least that's the impression I got from the interviews. Does that mean they would have to use per-polygon collision detection? I doubt it, they could just deform the collision surface like MS is doing, but maybe have displacement maps, instead of Parallax maps on visual surface.

Although, I dunno, by your definition that wouldn't be 'true' track deformation either, as the physics would still rely on deformed simplified collision surface, and not on deformed visual track.

 

[Crab Milk Mickey]

I apologize for derailing the thread, I just wanted to clear a few things up. Back to Sega Rally which I'm quite excited for. Hopefully they nail the online mode without a hitch since I'm looking forward to that the most.

It's ok, no need to apologize: it's not as if many people are aware of this information.

One more thing though: could you define what you mean by terrain for me? They mentioned that not only the actual track will be deformable in SEGA Rally, but I'd like a little more information before I blatantly write incorrect statements.

 

[TekunoRobby]

If Sega Rally will have actual terrain deformation with 6 cars racing on a course, then holy shit I'll be impressed! I still say there's no pressing reason to do so since Motorstorm has proved how convincing parallax maps + collision can be but there's always room for improvement. Hopefully it'll be a combination of both worlds in order to replicate the extremely deep grooves racing in mud during the rain can create, i.e. the pits of water a sharp turn can create on a bend.

Terrain = track. The visible world geometry. Play Red Faction, VF5, or this PC game right here: Tread Marks

 

[Crab Milk Mickey]

If Sega Rally will have actual terrain deformation with 6 cars racing on a course, then holy shit I'll be impressed! I still say there's no pressing reason to do so since Motorstorm has proved how convincing parallax maps + collision can be but there's always room for improvement. Hopefully it'll be a combination of both worlds in order to replicate the extremely deep grooves racing in mud during the rain can create, i.e. the pits of water a sharp turn can create on a bend.

Terrain = track. The visible world geometry. Play Red Faction, VF5, or this PC game right here: Tread Marks

I see. Now you kind of confused me, because I'm not too sure now what the representative said: track of terrain deformation. I think it's the latter, because the puddles actually changed shape and he showed us that, after he drove through it a couple of times, the same puddle had more depth afterwards. He also commented how the puddles will grow in numbers during the actual race, when driving on a rainy track.

I once again admit that I'm not the best person to judge the deformation technology, but based on your descriptions, I think SEGA Rally utilizes terrain deformation. I will ask my colleague if he remembers what Mark exactly said at the presentation, to be sure.

Going to watch TV for a while, so I'll be back in an hour or two.

 

[InterMoniker]

It does have an effect on the game, but it wasn't anywhere near the level of what was promised as they had to resort to using parallax texture maps. Still, it looks fantastic...

If it looks like ruts in the mud and affects your speed/handling then it's legit.

"Oh noes teh parallax mapping is not real" < :lol

Games use illusion effects! :0 :shocked:

 

[TekunoRobby]

Excellent writeup btw! I'm really looking forward to what the new studio can produce. They have a lot of fantastic talent.

SEGA is also considering the inclusion of the original SEGA Rally, but they’re still on the edge about this because of the recently released Anniversary Edition. Which, as we all know, didn’t do too well.

Holy shit yes!

 

[InterMoniker]

Excellent writeup btw! I'm really looking forward to what the new studio can produce. They have a lot of fantastic talent.

Holy shit yes!

Ya that would be a cool addition.

 

[Fun Factor]

MicVlaD, any chance of a video being put up

 

[Shao Kahn Brewing a Stew]

It does have an effect on the game, but it wasn't anywhere near the level of what was promised as they had to resort to using parallax texture maps. Still, it looks fantastic...

Motorstorm = Pioneers when it comes to Deformation. I expect alot more goodness when it comes to sequel..

 

[Dizzan]

Good God. Motorstorm's beauty never ceases to amaze me

*pops MS into PS3*

 

[Crab Milk Mickey]

I'm surprised that no one brought this up yet, or didn't give a damn.

Perhaps we’ll give some false hope to die-hard fans with our next comment, but what the hell: when asked by other members of the press whether or not the next project of this company will be Daytona USA, we were met with a “maybe”. Mark Fisher also replied with a “who knows!”, when asked if there’ll ever be an arcade version of this new SEGA Rally.

MicVlaD, any chance of a video being put up

Nope, we don't have the means to put up a video, not to mention it wasn't allowed to take footage of any kind during the presentation. Beats me when we'll see a movie of it: maybe in two months or so if I had to guess. I don't think they'll show anything, until they achieve a fluent framerate (just to make a good first impression).

 

[Shao Kahn Brewing a Stew]

In other words: the Track Deformation will have a noticeable influence on the gameplay, unlike Motorstorm, where it mainly served as a fancy graphical effect.

Certainly shows that they haven't played Motorstorm...

 

[captive]

In other words: the Track Deformation will have a noticeable influence on the gameplay, unlike Motorstorm, where it mainly served as a fancy graphical effect.

...go drive through the mud on motorstorm with a rally car, then come back and talk to me.

 

[FightyF]

Yeah SEGA Rally uses deformable terrain, not just bump maps. Of course it's way better.

But as you mentioned earlier McVlad...you didn't know much about SEGA Rally so I forgive you.

-addendum-
Not bump maps but rather parallax maps, sorry.

 

[FightyF]

BTW thanks McVlad for getting all our questions in there! Especially the music...I wanted to know what kind of direction they were going with that and I'm sure most other interviews would have not discussed that issue.

People have to read a bit closer:

unlike Motorstorm, where it mainly served as a fancy graphical effect.

I suppose it's all relative...SEGA Rally is most likely going to take it to a whole other level.

 

[Ynos Yrros]

Sorry for further derailment of the topic, but it kinda bugs me. I only played MotorStorm demo, so I have no knowledge of it.

TekunoRobby said that it's just a parallax map with collision box movement. My question is to the people who have MotorStorm - do the wheels of cars clip into the terrain? Does part of the wheel dissapear under the texture, or are they still fully apparent, going in the mud tracks?

If it's the latter, then MotorStorm uses REAL 3D track deformation, even if it still uses parallax maps to make textures look better.

 

[TekunoRobby]

Sorry for further derailment of the topic, but it kinda bugs me. I only played MotorStorm demo, so I have no knowledge of it.

TekunoRobby said that it's just a parallax map with collision box movement. My question is to the people who have MotorStorm - do the wheels of cars clip into the terrain? Does part of the wheel dissapear under the texture, or are they still fully apparent, going in the mud tracks?

If it's the latter, then MotorStorm uses REAL 3D track deformation, even if it still uses parallax maps to make textures look better.

*sigh*
http://tekunorobby.com/Motorstorm-Mud.MOV

 

[Crab Milk Mickey]

BTW thanks McVlad for getting all our questions in there! Especially the music...I wanted to know what kind of direction they were going with that and I'm sure most other interviews would have not discussed that issue.

Yeah, I figured it'd be best to ask others what they wanted to know if they were in my position, hence why I created that other topic. I (together with the rest of the site) wanted to 'take advantage' of the situation and make sure we could get as much coverage as possible out of the presentation. We're pretty satisfied with the results, and hopefully it's enough to satisfy fans of the series for the time being, even though we didn't know much about the franchise.

Didn't know if other, bigger sites would've attended the presentation, so what I (and my colleagues) did, was what any decent reporter would've done.

And you keep forgetting an I in my nickname, btw. ;p

 

[Bildi]

Great info MicVlad - thanks for all your hard work!

I'm getting really excited for this game and I'm getting the impression that us RSC2 fans will get what we're after through both Dirt and Revo. The best thing is that each game is going down a slightly different path and should offer up unique experiences but both seem geared towards RSC2 fans' tastes.

The track deformations should be heaps of fun and add an interesting element. I always felt like RSC2 had a great feeling of really being in contact with the ground and this looks like a logical evolution.

I haven't had time to read the whole thread - did you get to see someone playing it or was it all replay-type stuff like in the screens?

 

[PanopticBlue]

Wholly different to the point-to-point racing of the older games, is the new approach of SEGA Rally Revo. Here you’ll have to approach your opponents very closely and sometimes even give them a strategical nudge in the back to increase your position to eventually defend the first place during three laps, all at blazing speeds. This kind of gameplay reminds of us the term ‘arcadey’, but they want to avoid that as much as possible by creating this very complete game with a ton of unlockables and extra’s. Mark Fisher also gave us the very reason why they didn’t choose for the old-fashioned way in this next-gen edition: SEGA only used the aforementioned checkpoint system due to technical reasons.

what? Point to point races were made because of technical limitations? sounds like a bunch of crap. far as i can remember, the SR games were the only racing games on model 1 and 2 respectively that had point to point tracks. all other racing games on model 1 and 2 were circuit based. guy doesnt know what he's talking about, and its all a bit disappointing really, i love me some point to point tracks. still, its hard not to get excited about a new sega rally.

 

[gkryhewy]

Unless ruined by rubber band AI, this will be the greatest game of all time.

 

[Bildi]

...and its all a bit disappointing really, i love me some point to point tracks. still, its hard not to get excited about a new sega rally.

I love point to point too, and don't like doing rallying with other cars on the track. Yet, I'm pumped about Revo too because Dirt will cover that other area of rally games nicely.

 

[AzureNightmare]

Good God. Motorstorm's beauty never ceases to amaze me

*pops MS into PS3*

Is that why the game triggered a migraine in me when I looked at it? Im being serious here, it looked awful when i saw it at the PS3 demo station. The overuse of light reflection was awful, and the lack of Anti Aliasing was just plain painful to look at.

 

[Crab Milk Mickey]

I haven't had time to read the whole thread - did you get to see someone playing it or was it all replay-type stuff like in the screens?

The representative was playing it before our very eyes, and he even demonstrated the track / terrain deformation for 10 - 15 minutes before actually racing. After that, he also showed us the replay of his (self-proclaimed terrible) race, and followed up with a race that only had CPU racers. Just to show us how thorough the deformation currently is.

But you guessed correctly: the released screenshots seem to be taken from the replay mode, but I didn't notice much difference (if any) between in-game and replay graphics. I'm curious how far they'll improve the game graphically and how the other tracks will look.

what? Point to point races were made because of technical limitations? sounds like a bunch of crap. far as i can remember, the SR games were the only racing games on model 1 and 2 respectively that had point to point tracks. all other racing games on model 1 and 2 were circuit based. guy doesnt know what he's talking about, and its all a bit disappointing really, i love me some point to point tracks. still, its hard not to get excited about a new sega rally.

His explanation sounded pretty reasonable though. I don't know which other games ran on Model 1 and 2 (again: I know very little of SEGA's arcade history), but it could've easily been due to technical reasons with SEGA Rally 1 at least. Perhaps I also didn't explain it well enough what the representative actually said: he said SEGA chose for point-to-point, because it wasn't feasible for them to keep the same level of graphics back then and make it a circuit based game with numerous opponents racing 3 laps at the same time.

But yeah, point-to-point (as an alternative mode) would've been nice, but it was also said their track / terrain deformation would be kind of useless then. Point-to-point doesn't require you to drive around in 'circles' so to speak for a number of laps, after all, so it makes sense that they chose for the current structure.

Unless ruined by rubber band AI, this will be the greatest game of all time.

The rubber band A.I. wasn't noticeable at all in the build, so unless that too was a Work-in-Progress, I doubt it'll be as bad as in other games.

Don't know about it potentially being the greatest game of all time though.

 

[FightyF]

Sorry, MicVlad!

what? Point to point races were made because of technical limitations? sounds like a bunch of crap. far as i can remember, the SR games were the only racing games on model 1 and 2 respectively that had point to point tracks. all other racing games on model 1 and 2 were circuit based. guy doesnt know what he's talking about, and its all a bit disappointing really, i love me some point to point tracks. still, its hard not to get excited about a new sega rally.

It could be a misunderstanding, perhaps.

 

[Bildi]

I'm curious how far they'll improve the game graphically and how the other tracks will look.

It's looking pretty good at the moment, but it's hard to find screenshots where the background isn't blurred. In the few where it isn't, it looks good.

I just remembered how awesome the muddy hillclimbs in RSC2 were - you really felt like you were drowning in mud. Looking at the guy play the game, did Revo give off that impression? I imagine with the ruts in the road it will be an even more awesome feeling than RSC2.

 

[QVT]

Unless ruined by rubber band AI, this will be the greatest game of all time.

While its always possible, this has decent odds.

This is going to be the best year for racing ever though with Forza 2, DiRT, Fatal Inertia, Burnout 5, and this. (plus others, its 3am)

 

[omaremad]

Wave race BS had water deformation from the other racer's skis and it affected handling back in 2002.

 

[PanopticBlue]

His explanation sounded pretty reasonable though. I don't know which other games ran on Model 1 and 2 (again: I know very little of SEGA's arcade history), but it could've easily been due to technical reasons with SEGA Rally 1 at least. Perhaps I also didn't explain it well enough what the representative actually said: he said SEGA chose for point-to-point, because it wasn't feasible for them to keep the same level of graphics back then and make it a circuit based game with numerous opponents racing 3 laps at the same time.

But yeah, point-to-point (as an alternative mode) would've been nice, but it was also said their track / terrain deformation would be kind of useless then. Point-to-point doesn't require you to drive around in 'circles' so to speak for a number of laps, after all, so it makes sense that they chose for the current structure.

Some (not even all) Model 2 racing games with circuit based tracks:

Daytona USA

Manx TT

Indy 500

Sega Touring Car Championship

Model 2 racing game with point to point tracks:

Sega Rally Championship

Model 3 racing games with circuit based tracks:

Le mans 24

Super GT

Daytona 2

Model 3 racing game with point to point based tracks:


Sega Rally 2

My point is clear: it wasn't because of technical limitations whatsoever that the Sega Rally games were point to point based. It was a design choice, you know the real life WRC stages are all point to point races yes? So it follows that the Sega Rally games were also point to point. All of the other games I listed there have circuit based tracks.

And to comment on the your other point about how the track deformation wouldnt affect other drivers? guess what? In the WRC, a driver who races the stage anytime after the first driver will be affected by the 'real life track deformation' or whatever you want to call it. Not trying to start a war here. in case you hadnt noticed, yeah I love my Sega Rally and just wanted the truth to be known.

 

[Crab Milk Mickey]

Eurogamer also put up a preview of SEGA Rally, so I'm going to quote stuff that wasn't mentioned by us before or was explained more clearly than my translation. Also, to Tekuno: they (and some other sites) mention 'persistent surface deformation', but I don't know whether or not that classifies under terrain or track deformation.

Although SEGA remains coy on the subject, judging by the demonstration, you'll be able to relive the boxy glamour of the original vehicles, and as you'll know if you've been following Eurogamer's previous coverage, races will take place across various videogamey environments, from deserts to arctic wastes, with each environment home to three courses.

The course in the demo looks lovely. Taking place in a tropical idyll, it boasts swaying scenery, lush palm trees, lagoons with boats bobbing on the surface, and the occasional local villager cycling around. And the detail is staggering: the engine throb is the dictionary definition of throaty; all the environments and vehicles are self-shadowing; you can see the suspension of each wheel bouncing independently; and the dust haze and mud that splatters the cars matches the surfaces that they're driving through - which means they'll even wash off when you splash through puddles.

With that said, time to answer some questions:

I just remembered how awesome the muddy hillclimbs in RSC2 were - you really felt like you were drowning in mud. Looking at the guy play the game, did Revo give off that impression? I imagine with the ruts in the road it will be an even more awesome feeling than RSC2.

It already looked pretty good in its current state, considering the particle effects were a Work-in-Progress. Mark didn't drive too well (which he jokingly admitted himself as well), but the 'muddy feel of the game' gave a good impression regardless. Hopefully, we don't have to wait too long for 60 fps footage with finished mud effects and a skilled driver.

And to comment on the your other point about how the track deformation wouldnt affect other drivers? guess what? In the WRC, a driver who races the stage anytime after the first driver will be affected by the 'real life track deformation' or whatever you want to call it. Not trying to start a war here. in case you hadnt noticed, yeah I love my Sega Rally and just wanted the truth to be known.

No no, I didn't say it wouldn't affect other drivers: I said that the developers thought the technology behind the deformation would be pointless if they solely went with point-to-point racing. You wouldn't even see what the engine would truly be capable of, as it'll always be generated behind you if you're in the lead. And you'll only have one 'lap' per track anyway. Besides: as was mentioned in the preview, SEGA Rally is supposed to be the comeback for the franchise in the West, and I think it was mentioned that they thought racing through more than one lap would appeal people the most.

I personally don't think it would've been worth the effort to develop a randomizer that deformed the track when it was your turn to race from point-to-point, because other drivers supposedly drove before you did. You'd have to start dead last every single time so that the deformation could really influence your car. The structure they have now, makes sense for games like Motorstorm and the new SEGA Rally (i.e. games that want to show off their deformation technology).

No offense taken by the way, if you were worried about eventual flames. I can understand fans being somewhat worried about this game, but it looks like SEGA is taking this sequel seriously. Founding a new company solely for this game (and future racers) should indicate that, anyways.

 

[callous]

Wholly different to the point-to-point racing of the older games, is the new approach of SEGA Rally Revo. Here you’ll have to approach your opponents very closely and sometimes even give them a strategical nudge in the back to increase your position to eventually defend the first place during three laps, all at blazing speeds.

HELL yeah!

 

[Mmmkay]

Oh hey, so yeah Spong have an interview with Guy Wilday which is pretty interesting. He talks a little about the deformation:

http://tinyurl.com/2skcrj

SPOnG: SEGA Rally will feature fully reactive environments, we’re told. Can you expand on this a little bit? Does it mean real-time track deformation and mud and scratches on the cars from crashes?

Guy Wilday:: I’ve briefly mentioned the real-time track deformation info already, but I’ll try to expand upon it a little. Most games use a 1[m] polygon grid to drive upon, but that was never going to work for the level of details aimed for in SEGA Rally. Because of this, the entire drivable surface of every track within SEGA Rally is modelled at the massively high detail of 6cm for every single polygon - that's 17 times more detail and means that each tyre of each Rally car interacts with up to 12 polygons at any time.

For every surface, there are a number of characteristics - in addition to the normal static and dynamic slip components we have modelled wear rate and how ruts form for every polygon, how the friction changes as players dig down into the surface, and the profile of the debris which tyres leave as they churn each surface up. We’re even able to model the higher grip levels expected on tarmac as traffic lays down rubber - and that means real live racing lines forming that can and must be reacted to as in a real race.

I also forgot to mention that mud will stick to cars as they go round the tracks – different colours depending on what type of mud you’re driving on – and when you drive through the water the mud will wash off. On top of this, when you drive through the water, as with the track deformation, your cars wheels will form trenches out of the puddles which will fill with water as you would expect in real life. Just a little touch we can add because of the power of the consoles we’re working with.

 

[TekunoRobby]

Good lord, they have some AWESOME programmers.

 

[FrostuTheNinja]

So, does mean the arcade gameplay of the first two is gone? If so, at least I have Outrun 2006.

 

[jet1911]

Oh hey, so yeah Spong have an interview with Guy Wilday which is pretty interesting. He talks a little about the deformation:

http://tinyurl.com/2skcrj

Really impressive tech it seems. Can't wait to see this game in motion.

 

[Crab Milk Mickey]

This part from the aforementioned ***** interview caught my interest:

*****: Past SEGA Rally games have been exceptional to play, but because they have been ported from arcades are lacking in the selection of tracks. How many courses can we expect to see in this update?

Guy Wilday: That’s something that we are still fine tuning. We have a lot of ideas, but ultimately we are being driven by high-quality gameplay above all else, remembering what makes SEGA Rally great fun: bumper to bumper rally action.

We could quite easily have 100 different tracks, but if players didn’t feel like they were racing bumper to bumper in frantic races with mud splattering everywhere we wouldn’t have achieved delivering a proper SEGA Rally experience. However, we’re confident that we’ll deliver that and also have a varied selection of tracks for players to race on.

What a treat it would be if they included 40 - 50 tracks in the game.

Good lord, they have some AWESOME programmers.

Tsk, stealth edit.

So, does mean the arcade gameplay of the first two is gone? If so, at least I have Outrun 2006.

No worries: the gameplay still seems 'arcadey' enough, and quite fast too.

 

[TekunoRobby]

Tsk, stealth edit.

lol didn't want to stir the pot.

I am excited for this game. It seems like they put an excellent team together. The designers know the genre inside/out, programmers are on top of the ball, and the they have the backing of Sega for a resurrected franchise. CANNOT WAIT.

P.S. Make this happen:

SEGA is also considering the inclusion of the original SEGA Rally, but they’re still on the edge about this because of the recently released Anniversary Edition. Which, as we all know, didn’t do too well.

 

[eso76]

uhm...what ? i'm pretty sure you coud race multiple laps in all sega rally 2 stages if you chosed to.

Tracks layout was exactly the same as any circuit based racer, in fact you could choose championship mode (one lap on each track, except from riviera) and practice mode; 3 laps on a track of your choice.
I'm quite sure this is true for Sega Rally 1 too.
Maybe i misunderstood what the guy was saying.

 

[Bildi]

So, does mean the arcade gameplay of the first two is gone? If so, at least I have Outrun 2006.

Yeah, I'm thinking this will be pretty damn arcadey still. I don't think that the track programming will influence that. I mean the RSC series has awesome interaction with the track but still is thought of as being arcadey. Since damage in Sega Rally will have no effect on your car other than cosmetic I think it's safe to say they are sticking to the arcade roots.

I'd be happy with even 20 tracks if they are damn good. Under 15 would be getting much to lean in this day and age.

 

[Chrono]

Wow if those pics are what the game achieves graphically and at 60fps AND 1080p... :O

I suppose it's not fair to compare it to MotorStorm as this is coming out almost a year later but still, it'd be such a huge leap that I'm starting to have some faith in this gen.

And good thing PS3 is the lead platform, probably that's why it looks so good.

 

[Crab Milk Mickey]

Wow if those pics are what the game achieves graphically and at 60fps AND 1080p... :O

And good thing PS3 is the lead platform, probably that's why it looks so good.

The January build looked like those screenshots, yes. And both the 360 and the PS3 version are supposed to look identical next to one another, so it could be SEGA Racing Studio has some really talented developers behind the studio.

 

[Bildi]

And good thing PS3 is the lead platform, probably that's why it looks so good.

Dude.... this is a thread of love like the Dirt thread. No system wars please!

 

[FrostuTheNinja]

Thanks to Bildi and MicVlaD.

Just read your replies. All of it is really good to hear.

There are a lot of cool cats here. Reminds me of #GF_Tavern back in it's heyday. Glad I got around to joining.

 

[Agent Icebeezy]

http://www.gamesradar.com/us/xbox360/game/previews/article.jsp?releaseId=20060428181922508062&articleId=2007041612322477031&sectionId=1001&pageId=2007041612363996022

Sega Rally shows up MotorStorm, but might make long-term fans cry

MotorStorm had mud. Lots of it. Mud that squelched when you drove on it and glistened in the sun when you scrubbed away its dry top layer. Well, Sega Rally can beat that. The Sega Rally we saw running on Xbox 360 in London recently has real mud in it. It isn't just a graphical trick - the new Sega Rally streams mud directly off the disc and fills your TV up with it. It's Liquid Crystal Dirt and you'll be seeing a lot more of this technology as Sega licenses it to other developers in the near future.



Above: Looks like a render, doesn't it? Well, it really does look this good. Check the mud

No not really. But Sega Rally's track deformation does put Sony's racer to shame. We watched as a Sega representative took us on a drive through a stage set in dense jungle. The cars scrubbed their wheels over hard-baked dirt, leaving it scuffed but still pretty flat. Then they hit soft mud and displaced it, leaving true 3D furrows in the track's surface. After doing this a few times, the furrows started to fill with water which reflected the blue sky and white clouds like rippling glass. Driving across any of these furrows caused them to displace appropriately - and stay like that until you hit them again. This is real next-gen stuff, make no mistake.

 

[mckmas8808]

 

[adelante]

As if MotorStorm's ruts and furrows weren't realistic enough with jus displace/normalmappin....mannnn.

 

[msdstc]

the visuals from the screens look unbelievable are there any videos yet? can't decide which I'm more excited for this or colin mcrae dirt. I'm just hoping it's not as disapointing as motorstorm was.

 

[Chû Totoro]

Good news. Sega rally may be the reference again (if they keep the awesome gameplay that made the success of the firsts opus).
The water reflection thing is crazy i can't imagine how they can do that. I want to see that in motion !

I can't say that i haven't been impressed by Motorstorm but it's not well implemented. I mean transitions between sand and mud are not progressive and the lack of very different tracks make the game seems unfinished.

 

[jimbo]

My point is clear: it wasn't because of technical limitations whatsoever that the Sega Rally games were point to point based. It was a design choice, you know the real life WRC stages are all point to point races yes? So it follows that the Sega Rally games were also point to point. All of the other games I listed there have circuit based tracks.

And to comment on the your other point about how the track deformation wouldnt affect other drivers? guess what? In the WRC, a driver who races the stage anytime after the first driver will be affected by the 'real life track deformation' or whatever you want to call it. Not trying to start a war here. in case you hadnt noticed, yeah I love my Sega Rally and just wanted the truth to be known.

In the new OXM it talked about this. They said Sega Rally would have some crazy number of tracks > 35. It WAS a design choice and a MONEY choice. Can you imagine how much more time it would take to make new geometry for all of these tracks? It saves them lots of money, time and artists to just close the tracks and loop them.

Sega's still recovering, and so far they have yet to throw a serious budget at a game since their demise. That's why they probably took this route with Sega Rally.

Oh and if the game looks like those pictures, then WOW.

 

[Bad_Boy]

Wish we didn't have to wait so long for this one. Ah well.
Was the game running in 1080p or 720p when you saw it, MicVlaD?