Press Release and demo official from TDK

[Tom from TDK]

http://www.zoon.com


PRESSE-INFORMATION

WORLD RACING 2: STARTAUFSTELLUNG IN BERLIN

Volkswagen, TDK und Playlogic veranstalten viertägiges Rennspiel-Event zum Verkaufsstart von World Racing 2

Amsterdam/Ratingen, 19. September 2005. Vom 22. bis 25. September veranstalten Volkswagen, TDK und Playlogic in Berlin ein Launch-Event für das Rennspiel World Racing 2. Bereits eine Woche vor dem offiziellen Verkaufsstart am 29. September haben Fans, Spieler und Rennsportbegeisterte im Volkswagen Zoon Center im Sony Center, Potdamer Platz in Berlin, täglich zwischen 10 und 20 Uhr die Gelegenheit, World Racing 2 zu erproben, die Spieleentwickler kennen zu lernen und an einem bunten Rahmenprogramm mit Stars, Wettbewerben und Aktionen teilzunehmen. Natürlich spielen die Volkswagen-Fahrzeuge aus World Racing 2 auch in Berlin eine Hauptrolle.

Rennspielaction im Volkswagen-Center
Spannende Kämpfe um die Spitzenpositionen im Rennen werden für das Rechnernetzwerk erwartet. Bis zu sechs Spieler können an miteinander verbundenen PCs ihre fahrerische Leistung erproben. Den Gewinnern winken jeden Tag attraktive Preise von Merchandise-Artikeln bis hin zu kompletten Alufelgensätzen. An weiteren Terminals kann World Racing 2 auch in den Versionen für Xbox und PlayStation2 getestet werden. Insgesamt laden 14 Spieleterminals zum Probespielen ein.

Exklusive PC-Demo als Download zum Event
Für alle Rennspielbegeisterten, die nicht nach Berlin kommen können, präsentiert Volkswagen auf den Internetseiten des Automobilherstellers eine exklusive PC-Demoversion von World Racing 2. Unter http://www.zoon.com steht ab dem 22. September eine Testversion des brandneuen Rennspiels zum Download zur Verfügung. Volkswagens PC-Demo eröffnet Spielern das frei befahrbare Italien-Szenario, das die Grafiktechnologie von World Racing 2 komplett in 3D darstellt. Für rasante Testfahrten wartet mit dem Golf GTI der ersten Generation nicht nur ein Klassiker auf den Spieler, sondern auch die hochentwickelte Rennsporttechnik des aktuellen Race Touareg sowie der stärkste Golf aller Zeiten: der neue Golf R32!

Entwicklerprominenz zum Anfassen
Samstag sind auch die Spieleentwickler vor Ort. Die Rennspielspezialisten Dennis Aufderheide, Marc Brüning und Daniel Cremers aus dem Studio Synetic sowie der als „Tom from TDK“ bekannte Heiko tom Felde werden Zockern nicht nur helfen, den richtigen Start mit World Racing 2 hinzulegen, sondern Sie stehen auch Rede und Antwort zu allen Themen der Spieleentwicklung.

Meet & Greet mit Stars
Von ihrer Seite als Spielefans zeigen sich am Sonntag auch die Alternative-Rocker von „Die Happy”. Die Happy (ein geflügeltes Wort unter Surfern, die sich damit Hals- und Beinbruch wünschen) ist die Band um Marta Jandová und Thorsten Mewes mit Ralf Rieker am Bass und Jürgen Stiehle an den Drums, einer der angesagtesten Acts in Deutschland. Ausverkaufte Tourneen und hohe Chartnotierungen sind eindrucksvolle Belege dafür. Derzeit tourt die Band durch Deutschland, um ihr aktuelles Album „Bitter To Better“ vorzustellen. Zum Event kommt die Band jedoch, um Rennen zu fahren. Die Musiker werden zwisch 17 und 19 Uhr vor Ort sein. Wer die Musiker im Spiel wiederfinden möchte, muss sich übrigens nur die Fahrerpersönlichkeiten im Spiel ansehen!

World Racing 2
World Racing 2 stellt Fun-Racing in den Mittelpunkt. Die deutliche Betonung des Arcade-Charakters lässt den Spieler mit einer verbesserten Fahrphysik, einfachen Menüs, auf Geschwindigkeit optimierten Streckenlayouts und lebhaften 3D-Szenarien schneller mehr Spaß haben.
World Racing 2 verfügt über eine herausragende Technologie. Sie bettet Rennstrecken in gigantische Szenarien, die komplett in 3D dargestellt werden und vollkommen frei befahrbar sind.
Mehr als 90 Automodelle von 17 Herstellern, über 161 abwechslungsreiche Rennstrecken, technische und optische Tuningmöglichkeiten sowie eine Vielzahl lizenzierter Produkte aus Fahrzeugzubehör und Racing-Lifestyle geben dem Spiel Authentizität und Möglichkeiten zur Individualisierung.
Fahrzeuge von Volkswagen spielen eine Hauptrolle in World Racing 2. Allein neunzehn Modelle kommen von VW - mit dabei: der Golf V R32!

Features:
- Über 90 Fahrzeuge von 17 Herstellern: Serien-Modelle, Rennwagen, Klassiker, Prototypen und Geländewagen
- Mehr als 160 abwechslungsreiche Rennstrecken, Off-Road-Pisten und Waypoint-Kurse
Fünf lebendige, vollkommen frei befahrbare 3D-Welten: Italien, Ägypten, Miami, Hawaii plus Race Center
- Gegenverkehr!
- Als Extra: Hockenheimring-Szenario
- Hochdetaillierte Fahrzeugmodelle
- Frei justierbares Fahrverhalten: Arcade bis Simulation
- Genaue Wiedergabe des Fahrverhaltens: 200 Originalwerte bestimmen die Charakteristik jedes Wagens
- Realistisches optisches und logisches Schadensmodell
- Kratzer und Verschmutzungen!
- Fahrzeugindividualisierung: Farben, Felgen, Car-Body-Vinyls
- Tuning in Evo-Stufen
- „Menschliches“ Verhalten der Computergegner
- Unterschiedliche Spielmodi: Missionsmodus, Trainings, Einzelrennen, Multiplayer
- Mehrspielermodus:
PC: 2-Spieler-Split-Screen, 6-Spieler-Online-Modus
Xbox: 4-Spieler-Split-Screen
Content Download über Xbox Live!
PlayStation2: 2-Spieler-Split-Screen

World Racing 2 erscheint am 29. September 2005 über Atari für Xbox und PC sowie in Kürze auch in einer Version für PlayStation 2. World Racing 2 entsteht für TDK bei den Gütersloher Rennspielexperten Synetic und wird von Playlogic herausgegeben.

[bogs]

Um....what he say? My German(?) is a tad past rusty.... :why:

[Frank N. O.]

The first part says there's a launch-event together with Volkswagen, and as I understood it after a fast skimming then the 22nd there will be an exclusive WR2 demo with the new Volkswagen Golf R32 as well as a racing Tourag and a Golf-I GTI in the italian scenery. Later on it lists basic data for the game

Personal translation by myself of the last part
Features:
- Over 90 vehicles from 17 manufacturers: production-models, racecars, classics, prototypes off-roaders.
- More than 160 different racetracks, off-road areas and waypoint-routes.
Five living, unrestricted drivable 3D-Worlds: Italy, Egypt, Miami, Hawaii and Race Center
- Oncomming traffic!
- Bonus Hockenheimring-Scenario
- Highly detailed vehicle models
- Freely adjustable handling: Arcade and Simulation
- Precise recreation of the handling: 200 authentic values create the characteristics of each vehicle
- Realistic visual and realistic damagemodel
- Scratches and dirt buildup!
- Vehicle customisation: Colours, rims, Car-Body-Vinyls
- Tuning in evolution steps
- „human“ reaction by the AI opposition
- Different game-modes: Mission-mode, Training, Single races, Multiplayer
- Multiplayer modes:
PC: 2-player-Split-Screen, 6-player-Online-Mode
Xbox: 4-player-Split-Screen
Content Download via Xbox Live!
PlayStation2: 2-player-Split-Screen

World Racing 2 arrives September 29th 2005 for the Xbox and PC and shortly after for Playstation 2.I cut the last part since there was something I wasn't sure of, but Playlogic distributes it and it's made for THQ by Synetic as I read it.

Thanks for the post Tom, I hope I'm not bothering by making a short selective translation to help Bogs, I hope I made it clear it's my own translation and not official news.
Frank

[Remko]

I think that sums it up pretty well. :) I didn't even realize the demo would be so soon, here.
I just saw the requirements on http://synetic.de/flash_frameset.php though (English version available as well), and it may be a bit out of my league, I'm afraid. I'm a bit CPU-challenged, unfortunately (AMD Athlon 1ghz). :(

(I couldn't copy/paste the requirements from Synetics Flash page, but I've attached a screengrab of it).

Let's hope WR2 will get the wider recognition that this franchise deserves. Just today I made an 'accidental' post about the game on EA's official NFS:MW forums... :whistle:

[Baritone Black]

I don't have a DVD drive. :'(

[DC_Geezr]

Uhh,well I'll tell you guys n gals I've had quite a day. :rolleyes: I was pretty pumped about the WR2 demo,hearing so many positive things about the game from various beta testers,and seeing the screenies and all.

Unfortunately,the demo was uploaded with Starforce software included.Im assuming similar to the SF included with GT Legends and other new games.

This has caused me nothing but grief,as I've tried everything to get this demo to run,as all I get when I click on the icon,is a re-boot.I'm not alone according to the various forums i've been popping in on,as re-boots and BSODs seem to have affected roughly 15-20% of the ppl who have tried it,according to a quick poll @ Synetic's Forum.

JUst for a laugh,or maybe i'm a glutton for punishment,I tried the GT Legends demo,with the SF update,and got another re-boot for my trouble. =((

Synetic has apparently been in touch with Starfarce,so I can only hope that someone somewhere will come to my poor old PC's rescue. =[

I still have the WR2 demo and it's parasitic SF sh*tware on my PC and I have no stability issues,I just cannot run a game with SF inside it. :confused:

Hope the rest of you can get it to run,as many ppl seem to be enjoying it.

Ric :wave:

[jtace]

Another demo ruined by SF?

[FeZ]

Poor Ric :Pamper:

A workaround solution is available
http://www.synetic.de/board/viewtopic.php?t=590

Zone Alarm 6 vs. Starforce, 2 lousy pieces of software causing troubles ^_^

You must feel like I when everybody can install Corsica Track but me :mad:

[Frank N. O.]

Wait, are you saying that when I installed the demo 23 hours ago I once again infected my system with Starforce? Well serves me right for not reading the readme thoroughly.

I can say that the game seemed to feel like the old one but with more points for driving behaviour and some mild modding types like graphics and rims which is nice since it's not mandatory :cool: and the arrows can also be switched between the new NFSU-style ones and the classic ones, and off. The tachometer is now much easier to read too. It did however still have boring buzzy sounds, another company-order?

I'm sure many people will enjoy this nice racing-game but with SF it's not going to be me, sorry Tom and Co. but my XP problems are big enough already to enter SF into the mix again, I still have GTR just lying on my shelf, almost 400 danish bucks right out the window.

Sorry for ranting, I've had a bad week.
Frank

[DC_Geezr]

Ok I'm happy! The ZA delete fix worked!! :cool: As I had said earlier,the SF crapware on my PC wasnt causing me any probs in any other application,but the new ZA I had just installed,well that wasnt happy with it I guess.

I'll try an older ZA tomorrow.In the mean time,I;ll do some more exploring tomorrow.

Thx to Daniel @ Synetic,Frank,and all for the help/support.@ Frank(N.O) sry for your troubles,m8.I hope when the dust settles yoy can give WR2 another try.The Devs really got the solution to my problem quickly. -^

Ric :beer:

[Baritone Black]

I absolutely refuse to purchase any software including starforce. Sorry, Tom, but this one isn't for me. :nope:


Maybe a miracle will happen and the Need For Speed game will be worthwhile.

And I nearly orderd a DVD drive this morning, too.

[VQ]

Yes, I'm at the same point, refuse to use it, I don't want to even risk getting it onto my computer, and if I do I need to back up my system.

[DC_Geezr]

Unfortunately,it seems that more and more newer games are using some kind of crapware like this.I saw a list of games that use SF,somewhere,and it was quite long,including Toca 2,GTL,and now WR2. =[ I'm not sure about rF,or GTR,and who's to say that NFS MW wont have it as well? :rolleyes:

Of course it wont stop the hackers who just want a freebie,it will put off the rest of us who are willing to buy a legit copy. :rolleyes:

Ric :wave:

[chris]

After hearing about Starforce inclusion, I shall not be touching WRII. I didn't buy Simbin's GTR simulation for that reason, and I will boycott any other title featuring this ridiculous technology.

Sorry Tom and TDK, and developers Synetic, but this one is off my shopping list. :(

[jtace]

Yeah I tend to shy away from Star Force as well.

One a side not, NFS has always used Safe Disk protection, I don't think that's going to change.

[FeZ]

This is actually very sad when something like Starforce makes people stay away from great games.

But I think it is your own loss when you cannot enjoy a great game, also it is a loss for the developer who looses you as a customer, the only one who does not seem to care if you buy it or not is Starforce.

[bogs]

Thanks Frank , I was mostly looking for a quick overview , requirements and such , between you and Remmy I'm set .

I have to agree with most of the rest here , Starforce *really* is a pain to have on your system . I think I would have to say , though , Fez , its hardly just ZA that has problems with it .

I myself find ZA ( ALL versions of their *firewall* ) to be a fantastic piece of software , well worth having and easily used by people of almost any level . Think about how complicated setting up a standard firewall used to be ( and still is , in some cases ) , ZA really brought that to reality for a LOT that wouldn't have bothered before . It is unfortunate they are trying to become what Nortons tried to become , everything to everyone instead of being just an excellant firewall.

However , back to what I was saying , Starforce also has problems with various other firewalls , antivirus programs ( Avast ,for example ) , and a number of other pc tools I would consider far more valuable than ANY game. Scan a search through your engine of choice , I think you'll soon realize ZA isn't the only product Starforce mucks up with .

Just food for thought.

Jtace said- One a side not, NFS has always used Safe Disk protection, I don't think that's going to change.

I don't find various program protection schemes in and of themselves to be a bad thing for a game *on a cd* , despite the conflict they create with people excersising their fair use rights under the laws in this country . Protecting the cd from being easily copied and abused through theft is one thing.

However , this is a downloadable demo , why would you try to protect that from being copied and shared ? I find this incomprehensible , and not a little bit silly . That is one point , the second is more along the lines of product responsibility.

Lets say , in the recent Ford / Firestone problem case , where tires were blowing out left and right , Ford decided ah , what the hell , we will just KEEP including these tires despite the fact they are dangerous in combination with this particular models. People can all just follow these xyz steps to avoid having them blow out.

Starforces drivers LITERALLY cause the pc to "blow out'' , and although I doubt anyone will actually be killed by this , I think anyone responsibly trying to put out a decent product would soon enough realize this particular addon just does not work.

[chris]

However , this is a downloadable demo , why would you try to protect that from being copied and shared ? I find this incomprehensible , and not a little bit silly . That is one point , the second is more along the lines of product responsibility.

It's done like that because if you don't, you give the hackers a free template - this is what the game looks like, go ahead and hack the full version.

[FeZ]

Hey Bogsie :wave:

Ok I admit calling ZA a lousy piece of software was a bit harsh :D

I just spoke from own experience. I used ZA for quite some time, it gave a nice fuzzy feeling of security.
But then they started adding stuff that I did not need from a FW and that also did cause troubles at least in the first versions that featured it.
But worst was that it interfered with other software without any reason. Cost me some days of reinstalling/testing I even replaced HW until I figured out it was ZA.
No idea how the new versions work, and maybe they finally fixed my specific problem, but I haven't touched it since.

I am quite happy with Sygate and a Router with integrated FW.
Bad news is that Symantec/Norton has bought Sygate recently :rolleyes:
Just another move to get rid of a competitior and not to make the Norton products any better I guess =((

[bogs]

Hey Bogsie :wave:

Ok I admit calling ZA a lousy piece of software was a bit harsh :D
....No idea how the new versions work, and maybe they finally fixed my specific problem, but I haven't touched it since.
...I am quite happy with Sygate and a Router with integrated FW.


Hey I can understand that , despite my own trouble free use of Za , obviously if we all had exactly the same software installed , 99.9999999% of any conflicting problems would be solved . Unfortunately , computing would also become 99.99999999% more boring for 99.9999999% of us ^_^

For what its worth , I've also used Sygate , I agree it is a very good program. It also has some quirks with some programs ( I think I will probably die from shock the day I see a program that plays nicely with EVERYTHING ;) ) but luckily they are rare, for me about as rare as things I have that are quirky with Za :)

The point to what I was saying , though , is that not only is Za decent at what it does (firewall protection) , but its decent about how it does it for people who are a.) new to computer security ( and/or ) b.) don't want to be more involved than occasionally clicking ' yes ' or ' no ' for something .

And yes , it really is too bad that Sygate was taken over by Nortons :rolleyes:

[VQ]

Use use Sygate Pro and Avast myself, and Sygate isn't as difficult as ZA (my freind who has network sharing needs to disable it on the computer receiving the internet for it to work for instance because I can't remember where the setting are for networking.) I have Sygate 5.5 and will not upgrade any further even if there is a later one, though I should really.

[DC_Geezr]

I'm glad this whole debacle was sorted out via a free demo,and not after people had started buying the final version. :look: I'm using Kerio now,and it seems to be ok. -^

Ric :beer:

[Frank N. O.]

FS9 and my whole computer just crashed while test-flying a Catalina which I've tried before, but since I can barely remember last my PC was rebooted by itself then I tried to find the SF remover tool from the official page since it was mentioned here the WR2 demo had SF. Guess what the tool said: No drivers to remove. Who/what said there was SF drivers on the WR2 VW demo?? The FS9 crash was possibly the FS gaugesound add-on dll instead.

Btw, I use ZoneAlarm and AVG and am quite happy with them, they are easy to use for me and they seem to work well, I've had a few pop-ups of possible trojan horses when browsing unknown sites and that's it. No infections at all and they are regularly updated and before I set ZA to keep quiet about hacking attempts I got several in just a few days. I also love the manual program control for the firewall. I'll probably soon upgrade to a payware system and the programs above are on my investiage-futher-list, formerly I used Norton Antivirus but that was 5+ years ago.

Frank

[DC_Geezr]

Hi Frank.The is something SF related in the WR2 demo.Just look in the WR2 folder,and there's a SF icon there,which you cannot delete. :rolleyes:

Ric :wave:

[Frank N. O.]

Ups I forgot to reply, but now I can, after redownloading the demo to try out Way's discoveries, which worked btw, then when I clicked start game, guess what jumped on my screen, drivers installed, reboot. I downloaded the demo just minutes after midnight when it came out and it did not install anything, I didn't have any SF drivers before, and while I for a short few hours had GTR insatlled before the redownloaded demo then it still said: driver's installed. Appearently they must've forgotten to place those in the file on the first upload or something.

Frank

[Nappe1]

btw, latest safe disc protected games do not start at all, if you are using CloneCD software. (this was the case at least on Flat Out. Game didn't start and gave error "CD-Virtual Drive software detected. please uninstall it first." funny thing is, it ment CloneCD, which does not have virtual CD drive :) I unsinstalled Daemon Tools and all burning softwares that might have a one and still got the error. then I got it working after unisntalling CloneCD and voilá, it worked even after I reinstalled all the others. :D)

Anyways, The reason why SF3 is getting more and more used, is that it actually has had effect on copying. Of course, even SF3 gives a few things to tune up while making the crypted master, so there's better way SF protected (Track Mania Sunrise, pretty much no problems, Still no working NO-CD) and worse way SF protected games (The Silent Hunter 3, Lots of lots of problems, first NO-CD 1 week after release)

The way it implements copy protection is a brand new, so there's has been and still is whole bunch of problems with other software. at the begining, there was hardware related problems as well (I have witnessed at least LG DVD-Burner needing a firmware update before it worked with SF3) but those are getting more rare all the time.

For those who have problems I just can recomend contacting the game maker / publisher as well as there's official end user support forum for Star Force 3.

Here's some links to those who have a problems with SF3 protected game or demo:
- Star Force official end user forum: http://star-force.com/forum/index.php
- Star Force drivers removing and update tools: http://www.star-force.com/protection/users/


I think we could make a sticky SF3 information thread somewhere in general place, which could have all the information who to contact and which games has a problems with which other software. (and possible fixes for those and where to get those.) That would help players more than just talking about SF3 in every thread considering new game having it...

[DC_Tox]

Dang it!

I just installed the Demo after staying away from GTL because of Starforce, and now I read that I've installed SF without being warned!! Why don't they tell us about it clearly, and BEFORE the installation?

I'm now getting BSOD when I try to run the demo... I'm not going to buy another firewall, ZA served me well for years. I'll just try disabling it to test the demo, but I will not uninstall it.

Will I get SF uninstalled when I remove the WRII demo? IF not, what is SF doing to my system?

[DC_Tox]

After two hours of fights, looking for info on forums, uninstalling ZA and stuff like that, at 1am I give up. :(

WRII demo won't work on my PC, all I get is a Blue Screen when I try to run the demo.:mad:

I removed the demo and the SF drivers... I just hope that all is gone now =[

[DC_Geezr]

Hey Cor.Where have you been? I went thru all this crap 2 weeks ago.here's the deal.SF doesnt like the latest(version 6) ZA,but disabling doesnt work,you have to delete it.You can Google to find the previous ZA version,which is fine,or do what I did and install Kerio's free FW. I've been using it ever since,and it seems to be fine.

Unfortunately SF seems to be finding its way into more and more new games.=[ however,Ive had the demo running for 2 weeks and once I got rid of ZA version 6,it's been ok.This was widely reported on the Synetic Forums,including the International (English) forum,BTW.I guess quite a few poeple had to delete ZA.:rolleyes:

If you decide to re install the demo,let me know how it goes.

Ric:beer:

[DC_Tox]

I'm not sure that I want to change firewall for a demo.

I've tuned ZA through the years and I'm now able to play any game with ZA running, it took some time and I don't have time (or will) in this period to re-do it completely.

I'll wait for some update, from ZA or from SF, that will fix the bug. I'm sure that both Companies can talk to each other and fix it, it's a must-do for both imho.

C ya

[[XR]M12]

well, to add some oil to the fire - try the WR2 Demo with Skoda

http://www.3dgamers.com/dlselect/games/worldracing2/wr2_demo_skoda.exe.html