Why Bother with GTA 3 & Vice City Handling?
Every now and then people ask me why I bother investing so much time and research into devising and testing the handling setups I create - even why I make them at all. I hope this article will go some way to explaining my reasons.
Relevant History
I have been interested in motoring since the first time I ever saw a car. As I learnt more about how they worked, about the intricacies of suspension and engine, about the refinement of aerodynamics and then of driving technique I became more and more fascinated by the subject. Playing games from the Gran Turismo series, Need for Speed and from watching autotests on television motoring shows my knowledge of how cars perform in extreme circumstances grew. Watching those police car chase footage shows helped me understand how real vehicles of all shapes and sizes behave in urban environments when pushed to extremes.
When I play the games in the GTA series I enjoy the wild handling but I crave the challenge of powersliding a muscle car away from a charging police chase, of flicking the light nose an exotic supercar accurately between obstacles, the challenge of sensitive and progressive handling. In GTA the handling is far too grippy and sterile to offer such a challenge, so I have set about creating a new style which mimmicks the unstable nature of a tonne of metal cushioned by springs above four rubber tyres.
Research and Results
By continuing the research of people like Proteus from the very early days of GTA 3, I have now uncovered nearly all the nuances and mysterious effects of the handling.cfg file data. By researching the real-world performance figures and remembering video of similar cars from autotests and police chase footage I am able to get a distinct picture of how the handling should end up behaving. By combining this with my knowledge of how the handling physics in GTA operate, I am able to create setups which car authors and modification users tell me again and again really do match the real performance.
As I really admire the cars R* made for GTA 3 and GTA Vice City, I decided that I should apply the findings of my research into the handling physics to these cars. This has created my two largest handling modifications, the most accomplished ones in the world, my ’ for GTA 3 and GTAVC. When GTA San Andreas is released on the PC, I shall make a new handling overhaul for that…after I have completed the missions, discovered all the cars and learnt the city!
Responses
So, now you have heard me hype up the theory but are you still skeptical? I asked some of the most well-known names in GTA modifying to make a comment about my handling modifications and there responses are published below. If you do not believe me, maybe you will believe them? c{:)
Eddy Brown
When a new car is released it can look brilliant but you won't want to drive it if the handling is no good. That’s why it’s so important to get it right - and if you need good handling there’s no one better than Cerb for the job.
Dup
Thorough, consistent and logical. Cerbera’s approach to handling is just one thing that makes him the best. He uses real life sources and his own knowlege to adjust the limits presented ingame to give the most realistic driving experience. A touch of class to any vehicle model.
IJs
Unfortunately, Rockstar’s GTA 3 and VC come, besides no multiplayer, with a rather unrealistic handling for cars. Cerbera’s Handing Overhauls not only make these games even more realistic, they are also very valuable for development and research with MTAVC.
Sadistic Machine
Modelers spend hours constructing an illusion when they create cars. Cerbera makes sure the illusion isn't over when the player steps on the gas.
Travis_S
I had tried setting up handling for my own cars but it’s not easy to get it just right. Cerbera was able to make the car handle like it was supposed to, which really makes the model come alive.