It's been a while since I last came on to Runestorm, since my comp is hopelessly updated and will remain with UT2004.

Well being the cheap miser I am, I was nosing around for free games, and this one sort of surprised me. I didn't think I could actually find a fairly good online driving game. At all.

The graphics are unusually good, and the gameplay is pretty addicting. The challenges from some tracks are pretty good as well.

In Project Torque, you can buy upgrades and visual additions for your car with the currency earned in-game. However, since they have licenses to allow for actual cars to be included in the game, most of the cars can only be purchased with points from game cards, and other stuff of that type (even though there's three or four cars that are purchasable through the currency earned in game). The good thing is, license tests reward players with new cars, and events are hosted so that players can win some of the cars.

You earn in-game currency by driving more miles, ranking better in a race, and driving cleanly. All players start by playing Arcade mode.

Arcade Mode is a very straightforward, easy experience for new players. You can drive through opponent cars, and I think traction is fixed, so you can't really slip. However, you gain slightly less points for racing in Arcade mode. Once you reach level 6, you take a license test, and the first performance upgrades will become available to you, including a prize SUV for off-road races, and a prize "Thunder Alley" car for that specific game mode.

Once you reach level 6, usually it's wise to play more Arcade until level 8 or 10. Then the Simulation servers won't be as overwhelming.

Simulation is basically self-explanatory. You get penalties in terms of player respect AND driver rating (which is used to determine if you can enter certain races or not) if you crash into opponent cars. The simple tracks of Arcade are rarely played by Simulation players. Long, winding tracks are the norm in Simulation mode, and players with a large level gap in between can possibly have a close race. Traction control is off, so drifting is much easier, but keeping a grip on the road is pretty tough. You generally get more points due to longer tracks, and you also earn a bonus boost to your points earned per game, because you are playing in Simulation mode.

Of course there are other modes: Thunder Alley (like NASCAR), Explorer (Treasure hunt!), CTF, Drift, Drag, and Challenge. The most played, however, are Simulation and Arcade mode.

If you want to check it out, you can download the game and learn more about it here:
http://project-torque.aeriagames.com/

And for those who want to see some screenshots, I took a few. Note that since I want better framerate, I toned down some graphical settings. And I'm only level 8, so I don't win too often of Simulation.

By the way, on the last screen, just to let you know, some players stop before finishing the race so that people can catch up and be able to earn more points. It's a sign of courtesy, but most people are too tense to notice it. Good thing that guy waited up though .

[br][img width=800 height=600]../../files/public/1226727453_30_FT0_shot100_100_.jpg[/img][br][br][img width=800 height=600]../../files/public/1226727453_30_FT0_shot100_101_.jpg[/img][br][br][img width=800 height=600]../../files/public/1226727485_30_FT0_shot100_102_.jpg[/img][br][br][img width=800 height=600]../../files/public/1226727502_30_FT0_shot100_103_.jpg[/img][br]

I tried it out. Unfortunately, they decided that there is no way to take out interior modelling, so my computer runs this at 5FPS at minimum everything. I had to delete it off my computer, it's useless for me to even try to play.

Anyone here ever try Live For Speed? That runs pretty decent on my rig even, and is extremely fun. Oh, and it lets me use my PS2 steering wheel!

I'm not very tech savvy. What does interior modeling mean?

EDIT: Wait, you mean the view behind the steering wheel?

EDIT AGAIN: Why not try setting shadows to low, and lower Anti-Aliasing?

I tried to register, but confirmation letter never came lol

Try to ask for a resending. It always happens to me.

EDIT: What I mean by that is the 'resend activation code' thing. Try logging in, then they'll tell you it isn't activated, then you can request another e-mail. Then just check your junk,spam, and inbox. Hopefully it'll show up after a few tries.

Yes i did that before, and i didn't received it aswell

Well, I guess you're a little unlucky. These kinds of stuff are always pretty shaky.

I'm pretty sure that at some point one will get through, because if it didn't, there wouldn't be so many players, wouldn't there? (4 out of 6 servers are full 24/7)

This is a good game, so I'm sorry that lousy account management on the company's behalf is holding you back.

EDIT: Not to sound obsessive, but I went on the tech support forums to see what I can find out about the activation e-mails. So if a useful response comes up, I'll let you know. Unless you don't really mind waiting for an e-mail to go through.

No, I literally have EVERYTHING on minimum. The only thing I didn't do was windowed mode, since that actually likes to run even slower with all games I've tried that with...

That really must suck. What GPU and CPU do you have, anyway?

Well, thanks for help.

Well, I got something, Colossus.

Someone suggested that if you were using Yahoo or Hotmail, use Gmail instead. Supposedly Yahoo and Hotmail block (completely, before it even reaches Spam or Inbox) Aeria Games' e-mails most of the time.

Try that and see if it works.

Installed it. Cool game. Anyone know how to get AP points? Google failed me, as well as the given documentation.

AP points are on aeriagames.com, but I think the page is down. Try anyway,but remember that AP is bought with real money.

EDIT: by the way, tyster, i think i saw you today in-game. you entered and quickly left.

Might have been when the auto-join stuck me in a game I could not actually play, only spectate, so I left when I noticed that.

Speaking of which, I don't think we'd be getting off topic to post our usernames on this game, right? Mine's tyster04. I think I may ahve been inspired by other user names I have made for myself elsewhere...

All I know about my PC is it's run on a 256MB graphics card (PCI), and uses Pentium 4. Sucky...

mine's 27up27down. you should gain some levels so that the fun tracks are playable XD.

EDIT: What I mean by fun tracks are the ones with five hairpins in consecutive order. Unless you think that's a bit hellish.