Just bought EPR

[kjb]

Yesterday after picking up my birthday gifts I stopped by Gamestop to see what was is the used bin. Lo and behold I see a copy of EPR for $5.99 US no less. So I snatched it up. I thought the graphics were going to be not good be surprisingly they were pretty good. I started racing and the first thing I noticed is the difference between it and GT4. I had heard that controls were kind of mushy with the DS2 but they didn't seem that way to me. At first I had some problems but I quickly adjusted my driving style accordingly. All in all I think this is a good game with some things that bother me. I checkec out some of the other threads I see that most recommend doing DR first or getting a newer car. I have been using the Cosmo Sport.

 

[Wolfe]

Welcome to the forum. A lot of people rag on Enthusia's graphics, actually, but I don't really see why. The special effects are quite nice.

Be sure to check the FAQ if you have any questions, and if you can't find an answer there, someone around here will be glad to help you.

 

[JohnBM01]

Indeed. Welcome to the Enthusia club, kjb. Wolfe here truly digs Enthusia about as much as I do. People hated on Enthusia simply because it wasn't neck and neck with GT4 and Forza 1. To me, it is a game that offers some minimal touches as well as some interesting features to overrate GT4 and Forza. Play through it as best as you can, and you'll see why this game deserves more credit than what it received.

 

[kjb]

Thanks for the welcome. This game can be frustrating at times. The ethnu points can be very aggravating.

 

[Hun200kmh]

I find that the "Enthu points" (EL) and "black flags" (FR) thing, once you learn what they're there for, a very clever idea to make us (in a game that hasn't damage included) drive, race and win without using other cars and railguards to keep us going.

To me, every time I got a win in FR (3 laps) without getting blackglagged, I felt that as an achievement. Not just because I had won, but because I had made a faultless win. GT games, TRD games and almost every other PS2 game series I know (even when they have damage) don't reward faultless driving as EPR does.

 

[Biggles]

I find that the "Enthu points" (EL) and "black flags" (FR) thing, once you learn what they're there for, a very clever idea to make us (in a game that hasn't damage included) drive, race and win without using other cars and railguards to keep us going.

To me, every time I got a win in FR (3 laps) without getting blackglagged, I felt that as an achievement. Not just because I had won, but because I had made a faultless win. GT games, TRD games and almost every other PS2 game series I know (even when they have damage) don't reward faultless driving as EPR does.

Only problem with that, is that "faultless driving" involves painstaking avoidance of other cars, even when they come up & ram you in the rear because you are trying to avoid ramming the car in front of you!

However, I do agree it adds an element of realistic caution & tactical racing, choosing your spots to overtake. I do find that the AI drives very poorly, even on the "Hard" setting, which makes winning very easy - much, much easier than in Forza for eg. - unless your car is seriously overmatched.

 

[JohnBM01]

This is why I normally dislike near-perfect driving. A parallel to racing games is that I'm not a perfect driver. I'll usually make plenty of mistakes even while I try not to commit so many mistakes. You get one tire off the race track, you're fouled. Perfection is what you want to acheive, but if it comes at the expense of trying to a perfectionist, then it doesn't get to be as fun to try to be perfect in all races. I've had only a few perfect races in Free Run and maybe even Enthusia Life. I am not a fanatic of the Nürburgring Nordschleife, and that's the ULTIMATE challenge of perfection. You have to be perfect for 27 minutes in most cars doing three laps and taclking 176(?) corners. My thing is, I'm a bit of an aggressive driver who isn't a perfect racer. It's why I usually run Semi-Pro in GTR. I don't really like any pro or perfectionist gaming or racing. Thing is, you learn to adjust with EPR. It comes with practice. You have to practice with Enthusia to succeed in Enthusia. Trust me. Take it from a guy still in the RS class (because I haven't played through Enthusia Life in a while)- you have to constantly improve your talent level to win. You have to learn to be a consistent racer.

I think Enthusia could have used some extra tuning options as well as some more race cars. This game isn't as much of a farce as most people think of this game. I always say that Enthusia is a surprising racing game. GT and Forza have their strengths and weaknesses, but Enthusia has some elements to it that sets it apart from GT4 and Forza. The thing I take away from Enthusia is some of the lovely lighting effects. Race Marco Strada at night, Pacific Gateway, or Dragon Range. You'll note some of the amazing lighting of Enthusia. The falling rain coupled with the nighttime air around Marco Strada (based on Venice, Italy) makes this level absolutely beautiful. It can be a rally stage since only two cars can compete at night around Marco Strada. Speaking of rally, some of the off-road action can be pretty interesting. The feel of the cars through rally stages feels very right. Mirage Crossing is the desert pass that has some different routes from the start. I think since I've raced the track and racing it more and more, it's been a long while since my car got stuck in the sand. Pacific Gateway may not be overly spectacular in terms of architecture or anything, but it's a lovely track to race in the beautiful city of San Francisco. You actually notice the sunlight sparkling on the San Francisco Bay (or Pacific Gateway Bay?). Dragon Range showcases lighting very well both from your car and in the background. Dragon Range has my least favorite song, but it's a great track to take on when you get this far.

Continue to enjoy Enthusia as much as you can.

 

[Hun200kmh]

Only problem with that, is that "faultless driving" involves painstaking avoidance of other cars, even when they come up & ram you in the rear because you are trying to avoid ramming the car in front of you!

That is true about "Enthu Points" in EL (it can be enfuriating), but not about "black flags" in FR. You only get them if you make contact side by side or if it's your front hitting the back of AI cars.

However, I do agree it adds an element of realistic caution & tactical racing, choosing your spots to overtake. I do find that the AI drives very poorly, even on the "Hard" setting, which makes winning very easy - much, much easier than in Forza for eg. - unless your car is seriously overmatched.

I just guess that you are a much more better driver than me, because I don't find it that easy to get a "clean" win in hard settings (with evenly matched cars).

Of course they could go even faster (we can, when we get enough experience playing EPR), but if Konami chose to do that, the game would be even more frustrating than it is already for the "average PS2 racer".

 

[kjb]

Only problem with that, is that "faultless driving" involves painstaking avoidance of other cars, even when they come up & ram you in the rear because you are trying to avoid ramming the car in front of you!

However, I do agree it adds an element of realistic caution & tactical racing, choosing your spots to overtake. I do find that the AI drives very poorly, even on the "Hard" setting, which makes winning very easy - much, much easier than in Forza for eg. - unless your car is seriously overmatched.

that is my biggest bone of contention with the game is that fact the AI can run into the back of you and fishtail you and you get penalized. What I decide to do for now until my driving improves is to put the driving aids on. Usually I don't like to do that but I feel I need to unitl I become more comfortable with the game.

 

[heavyboots]

Actually, I think if it's a clean hit the rear of the car, you don't get penalized--only if they manage to clip the side of the car.

I did KOTY race in a class C Integra (level 10 tho, of course) and the only way I could win that thing was to do a LOT of blocking, so I got rammed regularly throughout the race without much penalty. (The penalties came from me ramming the ones who did get by the rear block off the road.)

 

[Wolfe]

Of course they could go even faster (we can, when we get enough experience playing EPR)...

This is true. I wonder if Expert difficulty will be enough to satisfy Biggles -- for me, racing the AI on Expert with my car a class lower than everybody else's (eg. pick a B-class car when you first enter FR, let the game randomly select a grid, and then change your car to a C-class one) is just about perfect.

@Biggles: As far as I can tell, you need a 100% completion rate to unlock Expert mode. This involves beating KoTY, getting an "S" on every Driving Revolution level (which also earns you every car for FR/TA), and earning the reverse version of every track in FR (complete a 3-lap race at Medium difficulty or higher without getting a black flag, for every circuit).

I wish I could tell you that 100% is the surefire way to get Expert, but I just happened to find that difficulty setting a while after I had obtained the percentage. And if you're wondering, the AI doesn't exactly get "better," they just take more risks and are more aggressive.

...but if Konami chose to do that, the game would be even more frustrating than it is already for the "average PS2 racer".

This is also true. Most people whined about how hard the game is. Of course, that doesn't mean they couldn't have made Expert mode super-ultra-mega-difficult.

 

[Biggles]

I 'm not claiming I'm a brilliant driver. That's the point, the AI just doesn't drive that well or fast. Here's one example: I raced against the BMW M1 Pro car on Tsukuba with a Lancer Evo & beat the pants off it - actually I believe it came in last in the field. Then I tried the M1 in a race & was amazed to find it had massive 2nd & 3rd gear acceleration, able to whip past anything in A class on the Tsukuba straight. ie. The AI doesn't seem to drive the cars to their potential.

I think the sense of difficulty in EPR comes more from contolling your own car, especially the more powerful FR cars, than from the AI. In Forza the AI on Hard setting is almost unbeatable with a similarly matched car (I won't bring up GT4's AI), requiring you to drive very aggressively & absolutely perfectly in order to win.

For me, the best AI would be one that drives the cars hard, but makes some mistakes. This would encourage you to drive hard, but realistically - as in RL waiting for a mistake to exploit for overtaking, rather than bashing your way through.

Wolfe - I had no idea there was an Expert setting. Maybe I'll get there one day...

 

[Mick777]

The thing i found with the AI while going through the life mode is that when running the novice races the AI really struggled with any of the more powerful cars. Give them a crappy little thing with no HP and even the rubbish novice AI did ok, but give them something with some go and they spend most of the time struggling to keep the car on track and going the right direction. The AI seemed to handle the more powerful cars much better in the higher classes but they are still very slow. I had no idea there was an expert setting either. I've finished everything Wolfe listed so i'll have to remember to check for it. I definitely agree Wolfe that including an expert mode should have given them the opportunity to have a really fast AI.

I think the sense of difficulty in EPR comes more from contolling your own car, especially the more powerful FR cars, than from the AI.

This is the exact reason why i still play Enthusia. The physics is brilliant which makes the drive the most enjoyable thing of all. If it's on here i'm time trialling something.

 

[kjb]

To me it seems like the AI is very close to GT1. If you race with very few mistakes you will blow the doors off of the computer. But if you drive sloppy the AI can keep up with you. There have been a few races that I won with the Cappucino that I had no business winning but i had flawless race. ther have been others where I have driven like crap and didn't win.
To change the subject I really like the lighting on this game. The way the headlight vision cone moves on Dragon Range is very neat.