The Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne. It's as they say 'Great place; great race'. We were treated again, to a four day feast of practice, qualifying, and support races. There were exotic wheels to see in all shapes and sizes, and breeds. Much new and interesting technology was on show; to be seen and discussed. There was food and drink and sunshine aplenty and friendly people from around the world to talk with. No to forget and hundreds of polite and helpful staff to assist and guide. And of course, the F1's howled and banged with earsplitting volume, just the way we like it!

I went this year with a particular wish to see the much discussed 'demonstration' of Grand Prix 3. I found the GP3 stand, eventually, and was very surprised! It seemed as if everyone that lived within 100 kilometers of Melbourne had turned up to try the F1 sim that we're all waiting for. The day was hot, the queue was long and swept up in the excitement of the occasion. I stood in line with the rest...

I'd expected a display that was cool and organized, with company reps to discuss the software, but I found something more akin, in its noise and frenzy to a circus sideshow. There were two Hyperstimulators running the GP3 software; one using a large screen video display, and the other using an even larger projection screen video display. People climbed into the Hypers while being encouraged loudly to 'have a try' and climbed out again while being congratulated (equally loudly) on their 'good driving'. There were cute girls to help the inept and clumsy into the Hypers and to adjust their footpedals.

The software was on a simple programmed run. The girls pressed a button to start and we drove 3 laps and then things came to a stop. The next in line was hurried into the Hyper.

So, what's GP3 like? How do the cars handle? What are the sound and graphics like? Is it a great sim or will it disappoint our expectations? The answers to these questions, based upon what we actually saw at the Australian GP is quite simple. Who knows!?

1. Car handling and the 'intelligence' of GP3's AI opposition. We started from the rear of the grid on a version of Monaco that we had never seen before, on a sim with characteristics that were never experienced before, in a Hyperstimulator controller that many, if not most, had never tried before. All driving assists were on: there was no brake lockup, no wheelspin and no gears to change. You merely accelerated and braked, and with steering assistance, it took real hamfistedness to hit the Armco. Even if you were determined enough to catch the tailenders of the field and barge past, (and BTW that was easier said than done), what can you learn, especially about the AI opposition under conditions like that? It's possible to say that the GP3 steering feels a bit like F1 2000. It's got that same smooth and accurate feeling. The effectiveness of its setup options and the modeling of its contact patch characteristics however remains a mystery.

2. GP3 sound? What chance of assessing GP3's sound while surrounded by hordes of busily excited and vocal people, and with all the sounds of a Formula One race meeting going on in the background? I did not hear backfires, wind noise, or gravel on the undertray. It might have been there, but I didn't hear it. Nor could I judge the 'reality' of the sound I was hearing. it may be indistinguishable from the real thing. or it may sound like a synthesizer played up a drainpipe. Certainly, we did not hear anything like a clear quad sound, that we could reasonably assess.

3. GP3 graphics? The problem here was the use of video displays. They were of lower contrast than most computer monitors. They were flared by background light and the enlarged screen image was way beyond anything we'd see a home (with a consequent loss of sharpness). Whether we were seeing straightforward video pixel resolutions (which would further degrade the screen image quality) I cannot say, but most certainly, we did not see the GP3 interface under good conditions.

4. In generall... GP3's virtual Monaco looks good and it seems well detailed and convincing, but how it will run at 1024x768 (or higher) and what the sims' other circuits will look like are just more questions that weren't answered by the Melbourne GP3 demonstration. Those of us who'd really like to know about this much anticipated sim were left, in the final analysis, to continue guessing and supposing. Based upon the accelerated screen shots we've seen, the reputation of the programs' developers, and what little we saw at the AustralianGP, my guess is that GP3 will be a great leap beyond GP2 and a small step as well, beyond EASports' F1 2000. All this will make it a very desirable F1 sim.

But as I've said, I'm just guessing and supposing. Papyrus/Sierra were able to release a demo of GPL well in advance of its actual release; we can only hope that Hasbro/Microprose will follow their example, transcend its current approach of rumours and hoop-la and deliver something we can actually judge.