World Sports Cars Hands-On

West Racing is developing an extremely detailed racing simulation in World Sports Cars. The game features over twelve different accurately modeled cars, eight detailed tracks, and a number of interesting features that add to the depth and realism of the game.

The cars in the game have been created with a focus on detail and accuracy, both graphically and with respect to physics, handling, and sound. The game allows the player to fine-tune the suspension by adjusting bumpstops, spring rates, damping, ride height, arm lengths, and more. The player also has complete control over the torque and power curves, transmission, and gear ratios.

Body panels are fully modeled, allowing a realistic depiction of panel-based car damage, as well as allowing operable doors and bonnets. Vehicles have been designed to easily lose body panels during collisions. Vehicles can even drive as a chassis only if desired with no body panels at all.

The tracks have been detailed down to the amount and location of dirt on the track. Through the game, vehicles will accumulate realistic dirt, rubber, carbon dust, and other elements on the body and windscreen, which will in turn affect the performance of the vehicle. Engine failure is also possible in the game, and the chance of failure will increase in relation to the abuse of the transmission or other in-game factors.

As an additional element of realism, the game will feature interactive real-time pit stops to allow the player to gas up, change tires, and do a variety of other maintenance activities, even down to sponging off a dirty windscreen. Real-time dynamic weather effects and time-of-day effects will also be included, which will be specific enough so that certain parts of the track may have rain while other parts will not, making the choice of tires and other options more difficult.

The game will feature a scalable LAN multiplayer mode to allow any number of players in a singe game, limited only by hardware performance. It will also allow third-party add-on vehicles and tracks.

Empire Interactive is expected to release West Racing's World Sports Cars in early 2001.