MVA vs. MCM2 (and others)

[ToaDsiX]

I just wanted to comment about my experiences playing these games back to back.  I have MVA, MCM2, Motocross Mania installed on my system. I've been going back and forth playing the games. I have to say that I like MVA the best. The motor sounds are awesome. The motor sounds are good in MCM2 as well, but MVA seems to "react" better in my opinion. I can't play MCM2 anymore. The rider is to rigid for me. I had some good times with that game, it had a great run but I think I would prefer MVA. Unfortunatley It doesnt have as many mods as MCM2 but I will take what I can get. I believe it's the best moto game out as of right now. MVA Untamed is a few steps backwards. The motor sounds are aweful. That is a big part of the game for me. As a matter of fact I turn the music down really low or off most of the time.  The frame rate thing REALLY sucks, but I guess I can live with it for now.

I also want to say thanks to TD for hanging in there through thick and right now THIN. I check this sight everyday you guys have a KILLER team.

Looking forward to more moto games......

[AUS_Twisted]

MCM2 is better as a whole package to me.

* Better MP then all the others (Rider collision option)
* Track editor that allowed custom objects, even though adding custom objects at first was annoying until Jeff and Bruce made APM. Also the object scriptor by Jeff to render shadows in 3D Max finished things off nicely.
* Later on in MCM2's life Dillo Too by Laurie which pretty much let you change anything that MCM2 allowed in a track.
* MCM2 had a far better menu layout and it was also limited to 640x480 res.
* No framerate limit, well atleast not as low as 30 FPS (60 FPS would of been far better) I can easily see the skip between frames at normal speed on movies with 25 or 30 FPS if I focus on it (it's always far more noticeable in a 3D enviroment like games) this is why movies are coming out in HD @ 60 FPS etc because the animation is so much smoother, this will become the standard one day I'm sure.
* Replays, saving and watching replays after a race is such a needed feature for MP.
* Changing between player views while in a race, again like replays another feature that is needed for MP.
* The ease of using custom bike and rider skins.
* Preload control, the preload control in MCM2 is far better then the others as it gives you full control with analogue input. If you only needed a small, medium or large amount of preload is was fairly easy to control, in the newer titles they made it more for digital input (buttons etc) which actually gave analogue joysticks far less preload because it needed input with a instant reaction like thumb stick or buttons which actually takes control away from the player (It's like playing a race car simulator with one person using a keyboard or digital gamepad and another person with a wheel and pedals, who do you think will have far better control) This could have been fixed by adding 2 preload options, one for digitial and another for analogue.

I could go on with more, but those are the main things that make MCM2 a better package overall for me.

[Fixer]

MCM2 is really old now- almost 10 years and I can still say the game is fun, firing up MVA makes me so *&$%@ - I won't say it.

The bike is more developed but the game isn't fun to play after a very short time.

The 30 fps thing is downright stupid... now the HD TV's are going to a 120mhz refresh- why? because it's better? I'd say some people will be able to tell a difference - smoother action.

I for one can really tell when I'm getting less than 60fps> like 30fps...looks like a slide show at times- very annoying and actually gives me motion sickness.

I wonder why COD4 in all it's graphical glory (Check out the demo if you want to see what a game should look like in 2007) is designed to run at 60FPS on an xbox360 @ 1080P (why would they do that?) and MVA with it's outdated game engine can only run 30FPS- with basically only slight improvements in visuals over MCM2. Heck people were getting very fast frame rates with MCM2-even with the old computers of that period.

The MVA user interface makes me feel like the game was made for an 8 year old.

Rainbow blames beenox for all of the games shortcomings but their name is used to sell it.......

MCM2 had a huge community for a lot of reasons, MVA will never have anything close to that.

[Garasaki]

I really try to avoid these types of conversations, because everything is opinion based.  No one has a WRONG opinion - every opinion is "right" and owned by the person who has that opinion.  I'm not trying to say one game is better then another, you play whatever makes you happy, I'll do the same, but I really felt it necessary to add a few comments

(btw Twisted MX is my favorite track for any mx game ever - I've spent literally DAYs riding that track!)

* Better MP then all the others (Rider collision option)

I don't play MP at all, but from everything I hear there are a lot of reasons MCM2 had better multiplayer - and I think the poor MP experience on MvA prevent it from ever having a strong "community" like mcm2

* Track editor that allowed custom objects, even though adding custom objects at first was annoying until Jeff and Bruce made APM. Also the object scriptor by Jeff to render shadows in 3D Max finished things off nicely.
* Later on in MCM2's life Dillo Too by Laurie which pretty much let you change anything that MCM2 allowed in a track.

MvA allows custom objects, and has a fully functioning "Dillo Too" by Laurie.  MvA actually supports more features then MCM2 from a trackmaking side (far as I can figure), provided you have the patience and perserverance to learn how to use them - ie unique tiles placeable at 25 locations on a track, custom objects, better eco, etc. 

MvA trackmaking has a lot of untapped potential.  It's sort of ironic - the user friendly editor is really what kills MvA trackmaking (terrible quality tracks constantly being released which makes hardcore guys not want to release their tracks) but it also opened a lot of doors...

* Replays, saving and watching replays after a race is such a needed feature for MP.

This is the biggest thing I miss in MvA.  I used to love riding and then trying to get awesome screenshots in the replay.  Something you really take for granted until it's gone!

* The ease of using custom bike and rider skins.

A few more hoops to jump thru, but MvA supports both.  IMO the graphics are better in MvA so the skins look better, but that's just my opinion.

* MCM2 had a far better menu layout and it was also limited to 640x480 res.

lol can't hardly argue with that.  Menu's are TERRIBLE in MvA.

Anyway that's just my 2 cents.  MvA sure isn't perfect but I do really enjoy playing it.  The physics really set it apart to me.

It's unfortunate that the stock physics are absolutely terrible.  The SIM physics really make it a new game.  For me, the jump physics that I remember from MCM2 are still superior to the jump physics in MvA (although when I recently played MCM2 again they didn't feel as good as I remembered them).  But the edge there is slight - and only noticable in some situations, like hip jumps.

The turning, bump, and whoop physics are head and shoulders above MCM2 to me.

All in all, it's up to track creator's to take advantage of the physics and create tracks that emphasize the games strong points and smooth over it's rough parts.  MCM2 had lots of creators, and continually developed new ones, that could do that - VET DC, Spodeboy, 51, Sky99, DIZ no rebase, many of the AUS guys, etc.  Creators of that caliber are rare in MvA