NASCAR Heat Evolution Available, Post Your Impressions Here

[brandon27]

So... I'm at level 2 when it comes to unlocking the tracks. I need either a driver rating level 3 at each track to unlock the next group, or 20,000 speed points. I've ran a damn race or more at every track. However, I noticed that Talladega my rating was only a 91. I need a 92 to progress it to L3 to unlock more tracks. I keep running there. I take the pole. The AI lags behind, I end up running laps almost a second faster than them, Winning the race by 4 or more seconds, and I constantly get a 91. Never increases. So this morning I didn't bother to qualify, start in the back, thinking well drafting with the AI should get my speeds up, and my rating up, right?

WRONG. I fly through the pack, with the same experience as someone mentioned above. The AI just, essentially moving out of my way. I can't draft because I'm running faster than them. Pass the whole field, from 40th to 1st, in a 4 lap race. What's my speed rating... 91? So I think ok, I need more speed. Into the garage I go, tinker with my setup. Set a qualifying lap almost a second faster than my previous track record. Run the race from the pole, smoke the Auto AI field again with no challenge at all. Ran all of my laps within .1 second or so from my qualifying pace, win the race, what's my speed rating... 91 again, still level 2, next set of tracks still locked. Completely ridiculous.

I guess I've got to experiment at Talladega with my own custom AI so I can draft to get this to work. Funny thing is though, no problem whatsoever at Daytona. I think I hit a 98 or something there.

The decision to lock these tracks, is one of the stupidest decisions I've ever seen in a game.

Also, we should also open up a thread for setups here. I know they traditionally don't seem to go well though since most people don't seem to want to share for online racing reasons or something, but I think it would be a good thing.

[bravesfan1984]

I would definitely like to see a thread for setups since I have no earthly idea how to make adjustments to a car. It could be quite helpful for many people. I do hope the AI gets tougher as our speed rating increases because so far it is way too easy!

On a side note, I sitting here at work itching to get home and race...I haven't had this feeling since NASCAR games on ps1/2.

[SIR924]

I ran a few races last night, and my thoughts were the graphics didn't jump out at me, but when I played online the graphics seem to be more next gen, and that could have something to do with how many cars are on the track at one time. (only 3 one race, and 12 the other vs full 43 offline.) The first race I ran I won pretty easy, but after that it was a bit more challenging. I didn't play with flags on, but had limited damaged on. AI cars didn't crash much, but If you hit someone in the corner of the car, they can spend out. or just get them loose. I think once you get some adjustments down with the sensitivity the car can handle pretty well. Just hearing the spotter can be boring, but the car sounds are legit in my opinion. Didn't play sim mode, so that's about all I can say.

[huskerfan4life]

Quote: Originally Posted by bravesfan1984

I would definitely like to see a thread for setups since I have no earthly idea how to make adjustments to a car. It could be quite helpful for many people. I do hope the AI gets tougher as our speed rating increases because so far it is way too easy! On a side note, I sitting here at work itching to get home and race...I haven't had this feeling since NASCAR games on ps1/2.

I second this about a thread about setting up a car or mabe even a teach me how to thread like is in madden & 2k basketball thread, I am a big time NASCAR fan but when it comes to the settings of wedge, track bar, tape, tire setings then all the advanced setpups I am totally lost, I know that many of us here would love to know the intracasies better

[jway44]

Played about 4 hrs yesterday. After one practice race, I immediately switched to full damage and simulation mode. I have been tinkering, but I just can't seem to get the controller settings to where I can drive a straight line. Last night at Dover, every time I went to apply the brakes, the car just shot up the track hard right. As if I had turned the wheel toward the outside wall. It's definitely a struggle to figure out the handling. I am not passing judgement on the game just yet, although the graphics and frame rate are atrocious, but I'm just having a hard time handling the car at this point. I can't believe how many times the game will just freeze for 4 or 5 seconds, mid race, and then start playing again. To me, that is a bit inexcusable for this current generation of hardware. Hopefully they are hard at work on a patch for some of these issues. The game definitely has potential, but really shouldn't have been shipped with so many bugs. Seems WAY too rushed at this point. I'm all for supporting the devs so that we can get quality games and features in the future, but at least fix this current game where we can enjoy our time with it. F1 is so polished this year, and then we get this. I'm holding on to the hope that they will patch this game and support it going forward.

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

[brandon27]

I agree on the framerate issues. It absolutely has to be fixed. Playing on XB1 here. One of my races at Talladega this morning, a wreck happened behind me, I'm pretty sure I caused it (lol) and it was as if once the car behind me spun and triggered the big one behind me, the framerate dove, and it actually froze a split second, by the time the game came back to moving, now I was spinning in the wall due to the freeze. Unacceptable at a top tier game price point.

[Turbojugend]

Impressions from last night:

Let's start with the good. On-track, the game actually feels pretty good for a console racer. The cars handle well and feel "weighty" like a stock car should. I stuck to the novice settings because I'm a controller warrior and anything but a great driver, but I did experience some fun racing against the A.I. A bit easy, but there's plenty of room for me to bump up the difficulty. Also, the drivers and tracks themselves are well represented. Daytona looks and feels like Daytona, and it's a blast. There are no classic drivers or tracks to choose from, but I wasn't expecting that anyway.

The bad? Unfortunately, just about everything else. I'm glad to see you guys mentioning the frame rate, because it is a big deal. To see this game crawling along at 30fps, you could easily be forgiven for thinking this is a previous-gen title. There are glimmers of hope here and there, race a practice lap and Kansas and you'll see the game seemingly break the fps barrier. But throw a full pack on the track or even turn on the rearview mirror and the illusion is immediately dispelled. For a game this far along in the PS4 cycle, this simply does not cut it.

There are other visual nags as well. For example, drive directly onto the infield grass at any raceway and start doing donuts (not a good real-life strategy but hey) and you will see absolutely zero turf wear. Audio is no better, the engines sound dated and the spotter audio is annoying repetitive and poorly stitched.

I just returned from a three-state vacation where I visited Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Phoenix Int'l Raceway and Autoclub Speedway in Fontana. My plan was to race these tracks when I bought this game just to revisit my memories. So how many of these tracks can I race on when I pop the disc in? Exactly none. After two hours I did manage to unlock Fontana, so there's that. For those who were wondering, the tracks are not locked in Career Mode, they appear just as they would in a regular season.

Speaking of Career Mode: My favorite NASCAR game of all-time is NASCAR 06: Total Team Control, which features what is arguably the best Career Mode ever seen in a racing game. In a nutshell, you start out in the Whelen Modified Series and work your way up through the leagues, eventually owning and managing your own team if you choose to do so. Along the way you will be negotiating contracts, responding to driver challenges, directing your teammates' racing strategy, becoming a hero or villain on the track, managing fan requests, and even playing Fantasy NASCAR against CPU opponents. It's the NASCAR version of Dragon Quest and it's freakin' awesome.

In NASCAR Heat Evolution, you get none of this. You do get to create your driver's likeness, which feels kinda like the Elder Scrolls without the kooky lizard and cat races. You can create female drivers but no fat guys (sorry Kyle Busch fans). But unless I'm missing something, you can't even edit your driver's name. I hope you enjoy your console profile name. If not, welcome to the bigs bubblezdachimp_69.

After that they throw you directly into the Sprint Cup Series and tell you to get out there and earn some sponsors. That's right, you're racing against Dale Jr. and Jimmie Johnson on the biggest circuit of them all... in a plain white stock car. This is every bit as immersion-breaking as it sounds. Fortunately it's only two races before you get a sponsor, so after that you're set.

There are some things I really like about NASCAR Heat Evolution. When I'm on the track it's mostly all good, and that's where it counts, right? It's a decent enough start, but at the same time it feels woefully underdeveloped for a game that has been in development for this long. There's so much basic stuff that is either poorly designed or outright missing. Why can't I look right or left? Why can't I save my camera preferences? Why is there an "advanced settings" submenu tucked away in an options menu that takes up less than 1/3 of the screen?

As it stands, my hope for this game is that it is not an annual release but more of a WIP release along of the lines of Rory McIlroy or UFC. If that's the case, there is some serious potential here. If not, it's impossible to justify the price tag this game currently commands.

tl;dr = 5/10

[Happy29]

I hate it I didn't pay $60+ for a game that only comes with a few tracks and challenges unavailable and I have to spend hours making accomplishments to earn what should have come with the game to begin with. It's going back to the store. No more console NASCAR games for me it's iRacing only from now on.