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Detroit, 4:36 AM
Fri Nov 27
1 posts in the last 24 hours

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    Dsmvwl  Admin  Promote to frontpage Approve user Ban user ×
    Image of lilwillie lilwillie
    10/14/09

    In reply to Take A Virtual Video Drive Down Any City Street
    Is there anyone left who just gets in their car, picks a place they are going to and just goes?

    Sure, a map is in the glove box but unless absolutely needed I don't pull it out.

    Sure, sometimes I'll do a quick glance on the PC before heading out to get some bearings.

    I learned the surrounding area I live in that way. I can remember being Sixteen and had a full tank of gas. Someone told me there was a great Bar 25 miles away that served underage for carry out. I didn't have a map. Maps cost money and the Twenty I had was for the Beer. I scribbled down some half ass directions and off me and the guys went after school on a Friday.

    I think it was two hours later we found the place out in the middle of nowhere. Then it took forever to get home. (Cold Beer you know) and life was good.

    What happened to our sense of adventure? Or is this it? Hoping the technology we trust so much actually works correctly. Or that the roads haven't been upgraded or changed since the last 2.09 download.

    And all that said I know what I'll end up getting for Christmas this year, a Garmin, not that I want it, the wife wants it. She so hates when I tell her, "Let's just head that way and see what we see."
     Reply
    lilwillie was starred lilwillie was unstarred
    Image of tonyola tonyola
    10/14/09

    @lilwillie hides autos in the attic: "Wherever you go, there you are!" My brother and I did a 3-month jaunt once all over the US and Mexico like that.
     Reply
    tonyola was starred tonyola was unstarred
    Image of that ain't the way to have fun, son that ain't the way to have fun, son
    10/14/09

    @lilwillie hides autos in the attic:

    This is how my wife and I have traveled the NA continent over the past four years. Pick a turnaround point, usually only because of convenience, head there, or not, and eventually return to the starting point.

    It's a neat way to see the world, honestly. We have all the travels mapped on a PC in MS Streets & Trips by using GPS and an antenna, but that was just so we could see where we'd been.

    Referencing a paper map would have been quite useful in avoiding the dirt National Forest Service road, at night, in Idaho. We travel in a 40' diesel motorhome, and at the time were pulling a '99 Suzuki Grand Vitara, so 'bout 58', total.
     Reply
    that ain't the way to have fun, son was starred that ain't the way to have fun, son was unstarred
    Image of quayzar quayzar
    10/17/09

    @lilwillie: I did until I got lost where no one should ever get lost. You lose that sense of adventure real quick when you fear for your life and for that matter your car. #googlestreetview
     Reply
    quayzar was starred quayzar was unstarred
    Image of TimTim TimTim
    10/14/09

    In reply to Take A Virtual Video Drive Down Any City Street
    The time issue can be solved easily for long trips using a technique I already implement with Google Maps.

    My wife uses Google Maps in a way that would make a 300 mile drive into a 4 hour virtual drive video. She punches in the destination, punches in the starting point, and prints out turn by turn directions from our driveway to the destination... on the other end of the state. Printing a map is secondary to those turn by turn directions.

    This works fine until you take a wrong turn, or ignore the directions 'til you get close at such time as you've forgotten which turn you're on. You end up hopelessly lost on some logging road, roaring through someone's hunting camp at the intersection of nowhere and Timbuktu because you didn't have the information you really needed.

    Here's what I do: If my journey is 5 miles of driving from my house to the freeway, 300 miles of freeways, and 5 miles from the freeway to my destination I don't need 310 miles of turn by turn directions, I need 6 to 8 miles of map surrounding my destination. Google Maps has a great feature after you've looked up your destination. You can pan around 'til you find a freeway or familiar landmark, right click and select "directions from here". It gives you the 5 miles you weren't familiar with and skips the 305 you could drive with your eyes closed (figure of speech... don't drive with your eyes closed).

    A virtual drive would be less help to me than a plain ol' road map. But then, I'm an engineer and Eagle Scout... spacial awareness and navigation aren't really a problem for me.
     Reply
    TimTim was starred TimTim was unstarred
    Image of smalleyxb122 smalleyxb122
    10/14/09

    In reply to Take A Virtual Video Drive Down Any City Street
    I've been known to use Google streetview to take a virtual trip through my old neigborhood. It can be rather entertaining, but not much use when planning a trip.

    I use MapQuest almost exclusively when planning a trip to anywhere I haven't been. The text directions can be sometimes turn you in the wrong direction, so comparing it to the map is a good idea.

    This seems like the logical next step in the evolution of online mapping, but I'm not sure that it adds enough functionality to justify its existence. Not that an amalgamation of Streetview and MapQuest is a bad thing, just unneccesary.
     Reply
    smalleyxb122 was starred smalleyxb122 was unstarred
    Image of Pessimippopotamus Pessimippopotamus
    10/14/09

    @smalleyxb122: Map... quest... ?
     Reply
    Pessimippopotamus was starred Pessimippopotamus was unstarred
    Image of Pete Gaines Pete Gaines
    10/14/09

    @smalleyxb122: Bing Maps' birds-eye view puts Google Maps Street View to shame. Give it a try.
     Reply
    Pete Gaines was starred Pete Gaines was unstarred
    Image of Prawo Jazdy and The Velocity Trumpets: I miss Deartháir II Prawo Jazdy and The Velocity Trumpets: I miss Deartháir II
    10/14/09

    @Pete Gaines: I have to agree. Living in the land that defined the Michigan Left, Bing makes it easy to find a turn around on Woodward that won't be clogged.
     Reply
    Prawo Jazdy and The Velocity Trumpets: I miss Deartháir II was starred Prawo Jazdy and The Velocity Trumpets: I miss Deartháir II was unstarred
    Image of tonyola tonyola
    10/14/09

    @Pete Gaines: Bird's eye is very cool indeed, but there's currently far less coverage than Street View, which just substantially expanded its own coverage. Rural areas are pretty much left out of bird's eye so far. Looks like Google is also starting to reshoot streets that earlier had fuzzy low-resolution pictures. The recent high-res photography is spectacular. I can see Google offering animated street views before long.
     Reply
    tonyola was starred tonyola was unstarred
    Image of Plecostomus [Tyrrell] Plecostomus [Tyrrell]
    08/26/09

    In reply to Forza 3 Updates Car List, Gives Us More Hot Screen Shots
    I was really hoping the damn Lexus SC430 would go away, but it's apparently back for more.
     Reply
    Plecostomus [Tyrrell] was starred Plecostomus [Tyrrell] was unstarred
    Image of Plecostomus [Tyrrell] Plecostomus [Tyrrell]
    07/16/09

    In reply to Forza 3 To Feature Luxury SUV Racing
    NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

    These things are included SOLELY for the purposes of playing cat and mouse with a mini cooper.

    That's the _ENTIRE_ reason they're in here.
     Reply
    Plecostomus [Tyrrell] was starred Plecostomus [Tyrrell] was unstarred
    Image of Evil-Jeremy Evil-Jeremy
    07/16/09

    In reply to Forza 3 To Feature Luxury SUV Racing
    I don't get it. Why don't they include more classic racers, because that actually has a point. People love racing the cars that they've only seen in pictures and upgrading them with modern parts and racing them is just plain fun. What's the point of SUV's anyway? Nobody has ever dreamed of what it would be like to race an Escalade around the Nurburgring (transit van maybe, but that's it.)
     Reply
    Evil-Jeremy was starred Evil-Jeremy was unstarred
    Image of skitter skitter
    07/16/09

    @Evil-Jeremy: They are here for interesting challenges. They are here as punishment for both losers and non-drinkers. But I agree that they have no business being added before LeMans and Can Am racers.
     Reply
    skitter was starred skitter was unstarred
    Image of Ford Tempo Fanatic Ford Tempo Fanatic
    07/16/09

    In reply to Forza 3 To Feature Luxury SUV Racing
    Escalade?
    Navigator?
    Aspen Hemi Hybrid?
     Reply
    Ford Tempo Fanatic was starred Ford Tempo Fanatic was unstarred
    Image of that ain't the way to have fun, son that ain't the way to have fun, son
    07/16/09

    In reply to Forza 3 To Feature Luxury SUV Racing
    So do you get to choose how many screaming children require swatting at in the backseat? How about texting and eating, simultaneously?

    That's reality with an SUV...not 'racing'.

    A proper off-road race is called 0-50. Longer times = better. It's 0-50 yards, and your goal is forever, but in-motion the entire time.
     Reply
    that ain't the way to have fun, son was starred that ain't the way to have fun, son was unstarred
    Image of P161911 probably shoudn't have P161911 probably shoudn't have
    07/16/09

    In reply to Forza 3 To Feature Luxury SUV Racing
    I believe that there was talk of some of the online play modes that would divide the racers into teams with one car being designated the "mouse" and the rest of the team was supposed to block for the mouse and the opposing team was supposed to wreck the mouse or something like that. I could see where SUVs would be useful in that mode. I might be confusing this with GT5.
     Reply
    P161911 probably shoudn't have was starred P161911 probably shoudn't have was unstarred
    Image of MushyHeirloom MushyHeirloom
    07/16/09

    In reply to Forza 3 To Feature Luxury SUV Racing
    I sincerely hope (having never played the Forza games) that there's damage modelling. Racing a Q7 would be cool, but rolling one over and utterly destroying it would be far more satisfying.
     Reply
    MushyHeirloom was starred MushyHeirloom was unstarred
    Image of NewbiusMaximus NewbiusMaximus
    07/16/09

    In reply to Forza 3 To Feature Luxury SUV Racing
    What is the point? Why not just race around in boats?
     Reply
    NewbiusMaximus was starred NewbiusMaximus was unstarred
    Image of MushyHeirloom MushyHeirloom
    07/16/09

    @NewbiusMaximus: Because there's no water.



    Amphicars, though...
     Reply
    MushyHeirloom was starred MushyHeirloom was unstarred
    Image of Skunky Skunky
    07/16/09

    @NewbiusMaximus: Because the zen of videogame boat racing was reached long ago with a little game titled "Hydro Thunder."
     Reply
    Skunky was starred Skunky was unstarred
    Image of Deartháir II Deartháir II
    07/16/09

    In reply to Forza 3 To Feature Luxury SUV Racing
    And why not? Most of those Sport Utes may be bloated and huge, but at least they're smaller, lighter, and more manoeuvrable than a Challenger.
     Reply
    Deartháir II was starred Deartháir II was unstarred
    Image of Deartháir II Deartháir II
    07/16/09

    @dearthair: My god, I can comment again. Now if I can change my screen name, I'll be happy as Larry. Whoever Larry is.
     Reply
    Deartháir II was starred Deartháir II was unstarred
    Image of SubyDrew SubyDrew
    07/16/09

    @dearthair: And slightly less likely to explode.

    Oh, wrong Challenger.
     Reply
    SubyDrew was starred SubyDrew was unstarred
    Image of pauljones pauljones
    07/16/09

    @dearthair: I wondering where the hell you've been.

    And if the Challenger is too fat, it's only because it was built in Canada using German engineering.
     Reply
    pauljones was starred pauljones was unstarred
    Image of gamegrump gamegrump
    07/16/09

    In reply to Forza 3 To Feature Luxury SUV Racing
    Wagon Battle! The first Gran Turismo had a lot of odd cars, including a stable of station wagons. My friends and I would engage in "wagon battles" with these clunky beasts.



    I don't remember signing an internet petition to have racing games reinstate Wagon Battle, and yet they read my mind anyway.



    DOPIC! (Day One Purchase Is Confirmed)
     Reply
    gamegrump was starred gamegrump was unstarred
    Image of MushyHeirloom MushyHeirloom
    07/16/09

    @gamegrump: And GT4 had my beloved Volvo 240... in 245 (wagon) form! Nearly as hilarious as SUV driving, but infinitely cooler.
     Reply
    MushyHeirloom was starred MushyHeirloom was unstarred
    Image of Skunky Skunky
    07/16/09

    @FP - missing Pete and the SHOwagon: Loved taking the classic lego block Volvo wagon around the New York track. Bookin' it as fast as possible and slamming on the brakes to go into that tight U-turn, in replay it showed the suspension smooshing so badly the nose scraped and sent sparks everywhere.
     Reply
    Skunky was starred Skunky was unstarred
    Image of Uberdude328i Uberdude328i
    07/16/09

    In reply to Forza 3 To Feature Luxury SUV Racing
    Am I the only one that remembers racing XC90s and SVT Lightnings in the Project Gotham franchise?
     Reply
    Uberdude328i was starred Uberdude328i was unstarred
    Image of Maymar Maymar
    07/16/09

    @Uberdude328i: I try and forget it, but I can't. I traded my points in on a Cayenne and then tried to get all the SUV races out of the way as quickly as possible.
     Reply
    Maymar was starred Maymar was unstarred
    Image of Jo Schmo Jo Schmo
    07/16/09

    In reply to Forza 3 To Feature Luxury SUV Racing
    How about we ditch the SUVs and race firetrucks, tanker trucks, school buses, trucks pulling boats, trucks pulling campers, and tow trucks pulling VW beetles? I would stand in line for that game.
     Reply
    Jo Schmo was starred Jo Schmo was unstarred
    Image of Maymar Maymar
    07/16/09

    @Pete Gaines wuz here: Ever played Midtown Madness? The first one had a city bus and a Freightliner Century class, the second added an American France ladder truck. I'm sure the third had even more, but I never played it (not getting an Xbox until several months ago).
     Reply
    Maymar was starred Maymar was unstarred
    Image of Jo Schmo Jo Schmo
    07/16/09

    @Maymar is breaking in the commenting system...: Never played it but now I want to. I can't say GTAIV was a great game but the car physics and multiplayer allowed you to race anything in the game which made for alot of fun and laughs.
     Reply
    Jo Schmo was starred Jo Schmo was unstarred
    Image of MushyHeirloom MushyHeirloom
    07/16/09

    @Pete Gaines wuz here: That's the reason I liked it - tricking enormous delivery trucks into smokin' the baloneys until they blew out.
     Reply
    MushyHeirloom was starred MushyHeirloom was unstarred
    Image of engineerd engineerd
    07/16/09

    @Pete Gaines wuz here: That would be cool! Sort of a GTA for car nerds.
     Reply
    engineerd was starred engineerd was unstarred
    Image of Adam In Texas Adam In Texas
    07/16/09

    @Pete Gaines wuz here: I think it must be a PS2 game but there was that Destruction Derby game where you could race around in a school bus. I think there was a special event where you toe a boat behind your vehicle and race/demolish other players that way as well.
     Reply
    Adam In Texas was starred Adam In Texas was unstarred
    Image of Skunky Skunky
    07/16/09

    @Pete Gaines wuz here: In GTA: San Andreas, there was a tow truck that would spawn next to a barn near the big mountain on the second island. I snagged the tow truck, drove far enough away that it would respawn, then hook the new tow truck to the old one and repeat till I had a huge chain of the things, like ten of 'em.

    I then took that tow truck centipede, and slowly, carefully, drove it up to the summit of the mountain, hit the throttle and jumped the whole shebang off the ramp that was up there. Didn't get terribly far, but usually one of the last trucks in the chain would get whipped out a ways, while it rained tow trucks on the highway below.
     Reply
    Skunky was starred Skunky was unstarred
    Image of Pessimippopotamus Pessimippopotamus
    07/16/09

    @Maymar is breaking in the commenting system...: God I loved that game. I liked taking the bus out to the freeway exit blocking it sideways and watching the carnage ensue.
     Reply
    Pessimippopotamus was starred Pessimippopotamus was unstarred
    Image of skitter skitter
    07/16/09

    @Adam In Texas: +1. Test Drive, Eve of Destruction. XBox, hard to find. Almost all of the race modes were brilliant, and Car Soccer was second only to Cops and Robbers in Midtown Madness 2.
     Reply
    Edited by skitter at 07/16/09 10:44 PM skitter was starred skitter was unstarred
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