GeneRally: 40 Polygons, 20 Years Later
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- Опубліковано 27 чер 2022
- In the world of simracing, there are many titles which command a great deal of respect from the community. Grand Prix Legends, NASCAR Racing 2003 Season, and the Simbin/ISI GMotor-derived simulation games to name a few. But in amongst those, there's one which stands out. GeneRally.
More or less the direct antithesis to those previously-mentioned games, GeneRally took 40 polygon cars on equally diminutive tracks to provide a casual arcade experience that is quite unlike any other game, even the top-down perspective racing titles it ultimately derived its overall feel from.
This video was originally scheduled for the beta release's 20th anniversary; however, various real-life issues prevented this. Furthermore, there were rendering issues (and YT restricting my alternate account from uploading videos 15 minutes long, which I only found out hours later.) For that I'm once again regrettably contrite. - Ігри
I had a privilege to participate in 3 one-day long GeneRally tournaments with six simultaneous players in 2005. We plugged three monitors and three keyboards to a single PC, and tested and figured out how to divide the keyboard layouts for controls such that there would be no key jamming or ghosting, as well as that the controls of the six players would not overlap. I remember using numpad buttons 5, 2, 1, and 3 for accelerating, braking, steering left and steering right, respectively.
The vehicles we used in these tournaments were modifications of a F1 2005 car (I can't remember who created the original), with liveries representing the concurrent liveries of Formula One teams (Ferrari, McLaren, Renault, BAR, Toyota, etc.). More importantly, we edited each car to have exactly the same performance parameters (power, grip, etc.). The circuits in the tournaments consisted of all 19 circuits in the 2005 Formula One season, plus 11 former Formula One circuits such as Adelaide and Donington Park for a total of 30 circuits, most of which were made by one of the participants. We had previously calibrated the tyre wear and fuel consumption to such levels that two pit stops were mandatory in each race, but there was still the tactical element of when to make the pit stop in most of the races. The damage was not set very high but still broke the car significantly if one decided to dive bomb into the corner, compromising one's own race. We used the concurrent Formula One points system (10-8-6-5-4-3) plus 1 point for the fastest lap, meaning the maximum number of points achievable in the tournament by one player was 330.
I managed to narrowly win each of these tournaments; in the first one, in fact, another player and I both achieved 219 points, but as agreed prior to the tournament, in the case of a tie in points, the one with more race wins gets the title (I had 10 race wins vs. the other player's 7).
I've always loved GeneRally. One of my favorite aspects back in the day was that I could play against my friends eventhough I didn't have a gamepad because multiple players could use the Keyboard at the same time. But the general physics and details like the tiremarks building up over the race and actually increasing the grip of the track, a feature which proper racing simulators wouldn't attempt until many years later, also make it legendary.
I actually thought about making a documentary on GeneRally myself, but there's nothing I could add. Great work.
What an incredible summary of the entire history of GeneRally. Got to witness every single moment of this from 2004 onwards and the lows of RSC going down was definitely the one that hit hardest. It's a bit of a shame the communities are very quiet now but I too hope there's another boost in the near future and perhaps even the developers finally getting a new version out soon.
👋🧡
So many people I know in these comments...
HI, ADAM!
Honestly I would NEVER expected to see a video essay about one of my favorite top down racers of all time in this current time, speaking as someone who has put hours of gameplay for this game in the past. Though I rarely touch games like these due to motivation (especially on the creation part), this game will always be a reminder of my youth; how I've spent hours creating and competing, from the RSC days where I first had problems running GR where my computer would just reboot itself, to RaceDepartment and eventually GRIF. I have to tip my hat most importantly to Herbal (Balazs H, sorry if I mispelled) because he convinced me to join the forum. Without it, I might've not continue doing the two mentioned activities.
Looking back at GR, it's amazing at how the game would still survive in a test of time, despite not as crowded as in the past given the messy situation with the sequel. I'd always hope that one day this game will gain traction once again in the past. In the time where tall vampires rule and people scream like Cell louder than ever, I feel there should be a time where people would drive 40 polygons once more. Also thanks to you, I didn't knew that there _is_ somekind of progress on the sequel. Some of the players, myself included, moved on from the game after uncertainties with the sequel's development, but if I would love to reignite my passion towards GeneRally like I did during my youth, I wouldn't mind. I am grateful that you've made this essay and put it beautifully!
Speaking of Slicks 'n' Slides, another favorite top down racer of mine is also based on that game: Turbo Sliders. This is more of a bird's eye view racer with up to 20 players on track with the same infinite replay vaule as GR. They do have a sequel recently: Turbo Sliders Unlimited, now with more degree of customization in terms of trackmaking.
Rendyyyy
Wonderfully made video, quite the interesting concept. I had never play GeneRally but it was awesome to hear about this gem of shareware history!
And minimal editing led the video to have a more fluid flow of the story as it wasn't interrupted as often. Great work!
GeneRally 2 recently appeared on Steam and it's going into Early Access sometime this year. They also just released a new trailer a few days ago.
This was one of the most enjoyable things I watched on UA-cam. GeneRally has been part of my life for 20 years now, I was a teenager when it came out and never before has a game stayed in my life for that long. Kudos for this wonderful documentary style summary - I can't express to you how much this meant to me - seeing all my old friends names in this and seeing someone honoring the history of this wonderful game - thank you Mr. Gearknob 🧡
Awesome video! Loved GeneRally... enough so, that I created the 3D rendered models and pics in 3DS Max featured in your video!
Those 3D models other than the wheels and driver heads I also limited to the 40 poly limit. I ultimately put the LMP model (and an Aussie V8 model I created later) into rFactor 1.
Still have my GeneRally folder here with an fair collection of tracks and cars. I grew up with the Supersprint and Slicks n Slide games as a kid... GeneRally will never get old IMO.
Did you make your car models in a CAD program, or the Gene Rally car editor?
@@rockydesign3303 I modelled these in 3DS Max 7 and rendered then with VRay (back in ~2005 it seems). They were done by eye rather than blueprints too as constraining them to 40 polygons like the ingame versions (less the wheels and head), it wasn't anywhere near as complex to do as modelling a car for a modern game for example... but was great fun keeping things really simple.
@@ianonamission Thanks Ian! I want to use Rhino to model my Gene Rally car designs, as I don't really like the Car Editor. What file format did you use to save them out of 3DS?
@@rockydesign3303 I only originally created these models for rendering when I started playing around with 3DS. I can't rememeber the format of the actual Generally cars, but don't think there's an export format (at least not that I know of) from any major 3D modeling app (3DS / Rhino / Maya / Blender). This would be awesome though if possible!
And, wouldn't you know, GeneRally 2 has risen from the ashes with lots of new trailers, a Steam page and internal development interviews with TuomoH explaining the new Track Editor features.
I have probably played this game for at least a thousand hours growing up. Both me and my father were super addicted to it for years...we would play 16~24 race championships everyday. Good times.
This is the single best GeneRally video I have ever seen. I really hope more will come and the game won't die.
Interesting… I’ve never actually played GeneRally, I ended up collapsing in Doom modding and also eventually Wolfenstein 3D, I dabbled with Rigs Of Rods for a bit and that was it.
It’s one of those great communities like Doom/Quake/Wolf3D where the implied free and open etiquette of modding, multiplayer and general good community spirit makes for a game with fantastic longevity.
I might have to try GeneRally now…
who are you and why am i subscribed? Edit: figured it out, your the top gear guy.
Yeah, I haven't had the best past few months, sorry for that!
There'll be a channel update video coming in about a few minutes, depending on how quickly it finishes rendering.
Absolutely fantastic video essay on a game I entirely missed out on!
Fantastic video, thanks. I got into GeneRally around 2002 or 2003 and stayed active in the track building community until RSC fizzled out. Not sure if I ever won Track of the Month but I was nominated a dozen of times (I think my nick was pahkis or Pahkasika, if anyone cares). Really enjoyed the sandbox aspect of the game: the limitations really allowed people to think outside the box.
Great video man
Great video! The sequel is going to release in Early Access at the end of this month!
What a fantastic video, chronicling one of my favorite childhood games! I think I might boot it up right after I send this comment. Long live GeneRally!
Just realized Generally 1 defined the modern Ford Transit Custom design, 15 year ahead.
Best game ever!
We definitely need another action-packed racing game with these graphics, that would be so much fun, and this time have the camera close up on your car and follow you around!
Can't wait for Generally 2.0
i remember finding generally on caiman games when i was like 6 lol
I played this game as a kid
That's my childhood game, but where can I find that community made cars?
Love this game, we have played in 3 with one keyboard and was really really funny, I waiting the online version.
This was an amazing racer. Circuit Superstars must have been inspired by GeneRally for sure.
Inspired? I know some of the Mexicans that made the game, they were in the GR forums ages ago!
Sequel???? Ofc spring 2023 cant waittttttt!!!!!!
GeneRally i still have it on a Hard drive .... with tracks i made and downloaded ... this video use a great trip down memory lane for me.... can GeneRally work on Linux!
Hey! Amazing video. I’d like to translate it for my channel for Russian-speaking community, with a link to your channel. If you don’t mind, would be great. Also the text of the video would help a lot.
N731
intersting story that I enjoyed but I thought that it was going to be a machine learning video about a computer making the fastest car it could over a bunch of generations and that it was an experiment running for 20 years. That is far too old for any machine learning projects of consequence to have existed and so I was interested.
why was it called gene rally if not for genetics and each generation making faster cars
ρгό𝔪σŞｍ 😁
You know it's a pun on 'generally' right? It's pronounced "generally"