TORCS

TORCS (The Open Racing Car Simulator) is an open source 3D car racing simulatoravailable for GNU/Linux, FreeBSD, Mac OS X, and Microsoft Windows. TORCS was created by Eric Espié and Christophe Guionneau, but project development is now headed by Bernhard Wymann. It is written in C++ and is licensed under the GNU GPL. TORCS is designed to enable pre-programmed AI drivers to race against one another, while allowing the user to control a vehicle using either a keyboard, mouse, or wheel input.

Sounds and Graphics:
Having played Gran Turismo and Need for Speed before, I would say that TORCS is not as graphically pleasing compared to those games. However, the racing environment in TORCS is quite good and should probably impress a lot of typical gamers. Also, it is not as resource hungry as those popular Windows racing simulator. Using only my low-end ATI X1050 graphics card, the FPS is high enough, meaning the game is very much responsive even in full screen mode. There were also several available options to tweak the graphical display settings to suit whatever your hardware needs.

Now about the sound quality; I can say that it is at par with some of the most valuable car racing simulation games today. The sound of the roaring engine and the screeching tires were very realistic indeed.

Gameplay:

TORCS features more than 50 different cars, more than 20 tracks, and 50 opponents to race against. Your can steer with a joystick or steering wheel, if the device is supported by your platform. It is also possible to drive with the mouse or the keyboard as I did. The graphics feature lighting, smoke, skid-marks and glowing brake disks. The simulation features a simple damage model, collisions, tire and wheel properties, aerodynamics and much more. The gameplay allows different types of races from the simple practice session up to the championship. You can also enjoy racing against your friends in the split screen mode with up to four human players.

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