Hi all

Suggesting we pool our questions and answers here into this thread, the title should be out by now in the US? and coming here tomorrow.

Personally, I was curious which GT3 and GT1 cars we are going to get. Working trough the website, the list seems to be:

GT3 Class:
Aston Martin DBRS9
BMW Z4 GT3
Porsche 911 RSR GT3
Lamborgini Gallardro LP560-4 GT3
Alpina B6 GT3 (BMW E63 based)
Audi R8 LMS
Chevy Corvette Z06 GT3
Matech Ford GT GT3

According to the website there are 9 GT3 models included, I can't find the last one. There is however the BMW M3 GT2 included (BMW M3 ALMS).

As for GT1 Class:
Aston Martin DBR9
Chevy Corvette GT1
Lamborghini Murcielago GT1
Maserati MC12 GT1
Sumo Power Nissan GT-R GT1
Matech Ford GT1

Which is actually the complete and accurate lineup for the 2011 season having started this past weekend. I'm impressed they could get them all licensed.

There are some tracks missing for the 2011 seasons (both GT3 and GT1).

Now it seems the only thing we need to have a somewhat sensible representation of actual FIA GT racing would be all those damn cars unlocked. Plenty of real world tracks this time round.

Questions I have:

Any word on DRM yet?
Install Size Footprint?
Proper 16:10 resolution support (I would hope so...)
Ability to race quick races versus "same class" to include all GT3 and GT1 cars? In Shift1, "same class" races with a 911 RSR GT3 you get all kinds of souped up but not accurate opponents in different weird cars.
Ability to have more than three or four different AI models in the track?

Basically I wish there was a quick and easy way to skip the fluffy unlocking, stupid rival challenge elements and whatever else there is, and to go straight into GT3 or GT1 class based racing with plenty of laps (20 at least, like in Shift1) on any track. Ability to set starting position manually (for lack of proper qualifying) wouldn't hurt either.

It will be here today to find out!
I hope you can do the individual races right away too, but I'm not very optimistic. Eh, I enjoy some MX-5 races for a while anyway.

I put a question up at racedepartment, same here:

With Shift, it was possible to take a savegame folder, rename folder and the file inside to your own name, and load it normally. That means it was possible to download other people's saves and not to have to unlock the higher level tiers (which to me is not the point of racing). I expect about a week or two from now some people will have GT3 and GT1 unlocked.

If Shift2 uses some online drm or other account system to tie saves onto users, we are screwed for this option.

Magnum mentioned in the console forum that there is paid dlc to unlock all cars. I guess that's for the quick race freedom. If they're trying to make money off of that, it doesn't look good for the shortcut you mention.
I enjoy a career, but yeah, for custom races I like to do what I want. In Shift 1 I get by ok with what I've earned, but I'd rather have access to all of them as part of the game.

Do you have everything you need in Shift1? I can send you a lvl50 file...

Buying DLC to unlock stuff that is part of the actual game you bought? Just because it might be tiresome to race their crappy unrealistic three lap affairs in fictionally souped up cars? I think they just earned themself a boycott. Or a quick "save game" fix... or maybe an invitation for pirates to hack that DLC. Besides, they didn't sell DLC on PC last time round.

Also, I want to remain offline, no account, just a disk check. Means no DLC for me.

If GTR3 wasn't on a far distant horizon...

BTW, you ever tried the V8 game? I wish Milestone had given it the physics and wheel support of WRC 2010. I wouldn't be looking at Shift2 right now.

I'll let you know what I see when I get into it, maybe the pc version will be different? (doubtful)
I wish GTR3 was coming up soon, SimBin is where it's at IMO.
Once Shift 2 gets here, I doubt Shift 1 will get looked at much. I'm ok where I am on it, I've got the cars on your Cup Series sheet and those are the only ones I really care about. And the Zonda. LOL I don't bother with the career much now, the AI seems to get *worse* the further you get--and I'm not aggressive at all. Just really dumb stuff like brake checks in front of me on a wide open stretch, knocking around ridiculously, and they keep putting in a certain tight, tiny crappy little track that I hate and isn't suited to cars of this level.
I've got the good cars and Nordschliefe though, so I'm good.

SV8NC hasn't gotten here yet, but I know it's shipped.

If you have the "Cup Series" cars you have all that is there to have, as the DBR9 is lvl50 bonus. That's the irony in Shift design really - the cars that actually make for a sensible realistic racing are locked for the highest levels and there's so much unrealistic crap to play before you get them.

Can't say much about this yet as I'm only level 2 with one car at the moment.

Handling seems better than Shift1 though I feel some lag and floatiness. Recommend not driving this before an rFactor league race. Though it's not very bad, still need to get better cars to judge it better, but don't see it changing that much.

FFB is very weak even on 100%, which was the default value.

Can't race GT1 until you level up to lvl 16. Video skipping button is on the top 4, bottom button of those.

Ok just had the opportunity to hot lap an Aston Martin and a Porsche GT3, like I siad it's still a little bit floaty and laggy, but not as much as Shift, definitely a lot better. It might be better if the FFB was stronger, but alas..

There's also this really dumb splatter on the screen every now and then, looks similar each time, then fades, really dumb and I hope it can be modded out.

So far, I think handling is much better than "stock" Shift, and less slippery. They seem to have tried to get closer to the modded game's feel for this one.
Car selection is VERY nice, but going to take a while to unlock.
They took a cue from Dirt and have a driver narrating...bad idea.
Graphics are far worse than the first game, but there's a lot more going on with the track, so it's hard to say yet if it's worth it. I put some comparison shots in Magnum's Shift 2 pc vs 360 thread in the screenshot forum.
Seems to be a deadzone at the top of the wheel, at least in FFB. In the last one I have liked how tight it felt, but that may have been a result the Overhaul mod that does a LOT.
The blur in regular cockpit view is not bad, but not as toned down as modded Shift. It's not a distraction. Helmet cam...nauseating, I didn't use it for long. May try again later.

My first impressions were mainly shock over the drop in graphics, and my fps is much lower at equal settings, which is distracting. It's early though, and I look forward to checking out the revamped structure more. I'm still optimistic with this fugly baby. Wish I were one of those smart enough to crank out some mods, there's a lot of potential here regardless. Can't wait to see what "those that can" will do. That said, Shift 1 is not going anywhere, I'm going to continue with it too.