VIRTUAL RACERS ONLINE CONNECTION (VROC):
Url: http://gpl.gamestats.com/vroc
Supported titles: Grand Prix Legends
Overview: Not a commercial gaming service, VROC is unique in this list. It is run as a public service to the sim racing community, more or less, by John O'Keefe of the Apex. While VROC supports only one title, Grand Prix Legends, at this time, it has proven valuable to many racers in the time it has been active. Rather than attempt to describe the how and why of VROC, I posed a few questions to Mr. O'Keefe, and here are his answers-

SM: Why did you decide to make VROC available? It's the first thing I've seen of this type.

JO: While beta testing GPL I noticed that it had multiplayer capability but no real method for players to easily find each other. I didn't know if TEN or WON was going to support GPL so I decided that an independent effort was going to be required to create a place where GPL racers could easily meet and find races. I told Alison Hine about my ideas and the two of us decided to create VROC (Alison came up with the great name). I conceptually laid out how it should work and Alison decided to do the Java client side and I decided to do the Perl server side programming.

SM: Who else worked on the project with you?

JO: Alison and I did the bulk of the work. We did receive some help from Randy Cassidy at Papyrus and Alison's brother Nate helped out also.

SM: Are there any plans to do more with VROC? If so, what are they (if you can answer that)?

JO: Yes, we have lots of plans for VROC but it is hard to say exactly which direction we will go in. We would like to expand VROC to cover other racing games and have already started talking with other sim developers. We would also like to make the code for VROC open source similar to LINUX so that development of front ends for other browsers would be rapid. Open up the source does introduce some security problems so we are moving slowly on that front.

SM: Will VROC always be free, or is pay-to-play a possibility?

JO: I personally would like to always keep it free. Since Alison is doing basically all the work (I just help with conceptual ideas and VROC direction) it really is up to her where VROC should head. If she is spending 40 hours a week or more working on VROC and she wants to get compensated for that time I have no problem with her doing a pay to play model. To be honest though I think that keeping VROC free would be the best way and I find it highly unlikely that VROC would become pay to play. There are many other ways to generate income if need be through advertisements or online store.

SM: Do you think GPL lends itself to a NROS-type setup, with dedicated servers? If not, what are the limitations?

JO: Well, the way that GPL is set up it does not need a dedicated server similar to NROS. Whoever first launches a GPL game becomes the host. If that person decides to keep their computer running with that game then in essence they are being a "dedicated" server. Because a person can start or bring down a GPL server is the reason that I thought we needed VROC. VROC enables people to easily find a GPL server whenver they want to race.

In order to race on VROC, you need Grand Prix Legends (of course), Netscape Navigator 4.07 or newer, and a small download from the VROC site.

My Experience: Of all the online racing areas I've visited, the racers on VROC have been the most friendly and helpful. There isn't much arguing about who hit who, and I've yet to be the victim of a major flaming--and I've certainly made mistakes. That said, the setup to race on VROC is simple, and very well explained on the site. Setting up and joining races is very easy as well.

There seem to be races going on at most hours of the day or night, possibly because of GPL's intercontinental appeal--there are many racers located in Europe and Australia. Once a race is selected and joined, VROC steps aside, and the race is joined again from within the GPL interface. It's all very simple if you read the instructions, and detailed help is available online.

Once connected to the server and racing, a lot depends on your PC--it is crucial to have the highest possible frame rate, and there are several connection tweaks which can help to ensure a stable connection. It is also imperative that the host machine be connected via the fastest line possible--3 or 4 players can connect via a 56K modem host, while a cable connection will support up to 20.

I've had mostly good luck with VROC connections, a success rate (remaining connected until the race ends) of about 80%--a little lower than with NASCAR 2 on TEN, but better than my connect rate on HEAT. And the racing is phenomenal, believe me. There are racers of all ability levels participating, but everyone seems to coexist without many problems. There is some warping, depending on net traffic and other factors, but that doesn't detract from the experience one bit. If you own GPL, give VROC a shot--you'll be pleased.

MPLAYER:
Url: http://www.mplayer.com
Supported titles: Burnout, Motorhead, Big Red Racing, Road Rash.
Overview: MPlayer is another commercial gaming service, and offers either free or pay-to-play memberships. The title I was interested in, Burnout Championship Drag Racing, was offered on the free membership. For those of you not familiar with the title, Burnout is a terrific drag racing simulation from Bethesda, and lends itself well to multiplayer action. There are many titles available for use on MPlayer, and like most other gaming sites, trial versions and demos are supported and available for download on the site. Like HEAT and TEN, Mplayer offers ladder competitions and keeps rankings--it's always nice to know where you stand.

My Experience: As I mentioned earlier, I used MPlayer to try one title--Burnout. There seemed to be a good number of opponents available, and races in both heads up and bracket racing were plentiful. MPlayer offers real-time voice chat for if your PC supports it, and it's kind of nice to hear a voice on the other end of the line--it tends to make things a little more real. Connections seemed to be fairly stable over MPlayer, and I haven't been booted during a race yet, though I have seen it happen to others. I think the fact that Burnout has short breaks between races is helpful in this regard. Overall, multiplayer drag racing is an absolute blast, and in a bracket competition, it's all about the driver. A slow car can, and often will, beat the fast guys due to driver consistency. For anyone looking for fun, competitive, and inexpensive entertainment, the combination of MPlayer and Burnout is a pretty good choice.

© 1998-2006 Sports Gaming Network. Entire legal statement. Feedback

Other Links:
[Free Credit Report  |   Car Insurance Quotes  |   Designer Shoes  |   Outdoor Equipment