Re: NASCAR The Game 2011 Q&A and Impressions
I got the game today for XBOX 360 and I have been playing for the past 8 hours. I will start my impressions by stating that I have played NASCAR games for the past 10 years. I was a big fan of the NASCAR thunder series on consoles due to the depth of career mode. I then played the hell out of NR 2003.
Most recently I played Iracing for almost two years. I am definitely a hardcore sim guy who just wants to have a fun yet realistic experience while still being able to run with a full field of NASCAR licensed drivers in a full 36 race season.
On another note, I recently bought the FANATEC Porsche GT2 wheel to play the latest formula one game and ofcourse NTG 11. After putting in the game and connecting my wheel, I was happy to see it recognized it. I was able to customize some buttons but my worries started when I saw no way to mess with wheel settings. No Force feedback setting, no deadzone, throttle and/or brake settings either. Once I took the car to the track I quickly realized there was NO force feedback only vibration for the wheel. It felt pretty bad especially if I compare it to Formula one with the same wheel. Now I'm not sure if the fanatec wheel is not calibrated for the game and that's why I was experiencing this or if all wheels for the XBOX are like this.
I quickly had to do something I hadn't done since my PS2 days, play a Nasar game with a controller. It was certainly manageable and felt pretty good but I am certainly dissapointed with the wheel issues for now. I also own a PS3 and a g25 wheel so I will have to wait for Tuesday to see if there is any difference between the two.
As far as how the game is, well I can tell you it certainly is the best AI I have seen in a NASCAR game by far. The graphics look great. The cockpit views are awesome. The actual handling model in my opinion is about 65 percent sim and 35 percent arcade. Keep in mind I am paying on the hardest difficulty with no assists. The tracks are very nice to look at and are fairly well done. They are just not nearly as accurate as they could be in regards to bumps in the track. There are no bumps at tracks where there should be such as Dayton and Las Vegas.
I feel the setup aspect of the game is also lacking. There is no telemetry which makes it hard to properly setup a car as you have no tire temperature readings, etc. Also the small little indicator that tells you when your tires are worn could be much better than what it is. In other games tires would go from green to yellow to red. Here they go from black to red. The indicator is a bit small to see and it makes it difficult to tell what tire is more worn than another and whether the outside, middle or inside of the tire is hotter. Now with all that out of the way, I am sure good setup can be made based on feel alone. The amount of changes you can make is crazy and it does seem to affect how the car handles.
I have raced about 4 races and have experienced some very exciting moments racing with the AI but overall that first day patch will be crucial to making this game right. I have seen very few cautions thrown when they should have been. There was some strange yellow thrown when the entire field at California decided to come into the pits under green. They were running all over each other in the pits. This happened twice in the same race. Also as it has been stated the AI is way too easy on the hardest difficulty. Now I had read a while ago that there was a fifth difficulty setting called adaptive AI but I have yet to see it.
The paint shop tool is pretty amazing. I dare to say it is deeper than Forza's paint options. I was very impressed. I have not tried any multiplayer at all so nothing to comment on there.
I will gladly answer any questions people may have and will continue to post my impressions as I get some more game time in. I will say though even though there are issues the game is fun.
I got the game today for XBOX 360 and I have been playing for the past 8 hours. I will start my impressions by stating that I have played NASCAR games for the past 10 years. I was a big fan of the NASCAR thunder series on consoles due to the depth of career mode. I then played the hell out of NR 2003.
Most recently I played Iracing for almost two years. I am definitely a hardcore sim guy who just wants to have a fun yet realistic experience while still being able to run with a full field of NASCAR licensed drivers in a full 36 race season.
On another note, I recently bought the FANATEC Porsche GT2 wheel to play the latest formula one game and ofcourse NTG 11. After putting in the game and connecting my wheel, I was happy to see it recognized it. I was able to customize some buttons but my worries started when I saw no way to mess with wheel settings. No Force feedback setting, no deadzone, throttle and/or brake settings either. Once I took the car to the track I quickly realized there was NO force feedback only vibration for the wheel. It felt pretty bad especially if I compare it to Formula one with the same wheel. Now I'm not sure if the fanatec wheel is not calibrated for the game and that's why I was experiencing this or if all wheels for the XBOX are like this.
I quickly had to do something I hadn't done since my PS2 days, play a Nasar game with a controller. It was certainly manageable and felt pretty good but I am certainly dissapointed with the wheel issues for now. I also own a PS3 and a g25 wheel so I will have to wait for Tuesday to see if there is any difference between the two.
As far as how the game is, well I can tell you it certainly is the best AI I have seen in a NASCAR game by far. The graphics look great. The cockpit views are awesome. The actual handling model in my opinion is about 65 percent sim and 35 percent arcade. Keep in mind I am paying on the hardest difficulty with no assists. The tracks are very nice to look at and are fairly well done. They are just not nearly as accurate as they could be in regards to bumps in the track. There are no bumps at tracks where there should be such as Dayton and Las Vegas.
I feel the setup aspect of the game is also lacking. There is no telemetry which makes it hard to properly setup a car as you have no tire temperature readings, etc. Also the small little indicator that tells you when your tires are worn could be much better than what it is. In other games tires would go from green to yellow to red. Here they go from black to red. The indicator is a bit small to see and it makes it difficult to tell what tire is more worn than another and whether the outside, middle or inside of the tire is hotter. Now with all that out of the way, I am sure good setup can be made based on feel alone. The amount of changes you can make is crazy and it does seem to affect how the car handles.
I have raced about 4 races and have experienced some very exciting moments racing with the AI but overall that first day patch will be crucial to making this game right. I have seen very few cautions thrown when they should have been. There was some strange yellow thrown when the entire field at California decided to come into the pits under green. They were running all over each other in the pits. This happened twice in the same race. Also as it has been stated the AI is way too easy on the hardest difficulty. Now I had read a while ago that there was a fifth difficulty setting called adaptive AI but I have yet to see it.
The paint shop tool is pretty amazing. I dare to say it is deeper than Forza's paint options. I was very impressed. I have not tried any multiplayer at all so nothing to comment on there.
I will gladly answer any questions people may have and will continue to post my impressions as I get some more game time in. I will say though even though there are issues the game is fun.
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