NASCAR Chase for the Cup 2005 (XBox) Q & A

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  • Eurodawg
    Banned
    • Jul 2004
    • 308

    #46
    Re: NASCAR Chase for the Cup 2005 (XBox) Q & A

    Could you post the list of songs that are in the game please?

    Are the paint schemes for created cars the same as the past 2 years?

    Comment

    • Eurodawg
      Banned
      • Jul 2004
      • 308

      #47
      Re: NASCAR Chase for the Cup 2005 (XBox) Q & A

      Could you post the list of songs that are in the game please?

      Are the paint schemes for created cars the same as the past 2 years?

      Comment

      • bubba4
        Pro
        • Sep 2002
        • 607

        #48
        Re: NASCAR Chase for the Cup 2005 (XBox) Q & A

        TCrouch,
        Thanks for all the info.
        Just one question...
        How is the after race replay system? Is it the same 30/40 second reel as is previous versions?

        Bubba4

        Comment

        • bubba4
          Pro
          • Sep 2002
          • 607

          #49
          Re: NASCAR Chase for the Cup 2005 (XBox) Q & A

          TCrouch,
          Thanks for all the info.
          Just one question...
          How is the after race replay system? Is it the same 30/40 second reel as is previous versions?

          Bubba4

          Comment

          • Darkbandit
            Rookie
            • Jul 2002
            • 437

            #50
            Re: NASCAR Chase for the Cup 2005 (XBox) Q & A

            Does the actual graphics on the Xbox version look like any of the screenshots that are on the web? For example, on the EA Sports site they show some shots, but have my doubts about them actually being from the Xbox version.

            Comment

            • Darkbandit
              Rookie
              • Jul 2002
              • 437

              #51
              Re: NASCAR Chase for the Cup 2005 (XBox) Q & A

              Does the actual graphics on the Xbox version look like any of the screenshots that are on the web? For example, on the EA Sports site they show some shots, but have my doubts about them actually being from the Xbox version.

              Comment

              • person12
                Rookie
                • May 2003
                • 108

                #52
                Re: NASCAR Chase for the Cup 2005 (XBox) Q & A

                Are car damage any better than last year and also do crashes look a little more realistic or anything near the Papyrus series???Thanks

                Comment

                • person12
                  Rookie
                  • May 2003
                  • 108

                  #53
                  Re: NASCAR Chase for the Cup 2005 (XBox) Q & A

                  Are car damage any better than last year and also do crashes look a little more realistic or anything near the Papyrus series???Thanks

                  Comment

                  • dave360
                    MVP
                    • Mar 2003
                    • 4081

                    #54
                    Re: NASCAR Chase for the Cup 2005 (XBox) Q & A

                    Thanks for posting about the slowdown TCrouch. That just cost EA a buy of this game from me. I was gonna buy it to play online with friends from work. I need to make a donation for you guys saving me 50 bones.

                    Comment

                    • dave360
                      MVP
                      • Mar 2003
                      • 4081

                      #55
                      Re: NASCAR Chase for the Cup 2005 (XBox) Q & A

                      Thanks for posting about the slowdown TCrouch. That just cost EA a buy of this game from me. I was gonna buy it to play online with friends from work. I need to make a donation for you guys saving me 50 bones.

                      Comment

                      • TMaj1972
                        Rookie
                        • Feb 2004
                        • 59

                        #56
                        Re: NASCAR Chase for the Cup 2005 (XBox) Q & A

                        Thanks, Crouch. Is NASCAR's recent talk re: diversity reflected in the game? That is, any opportunity to use different skin tones in career mode? Also, how is the "heroes and villains" angle working?

                        Comment

                        • TMaj1972
                          Rookie
                          • Feb 2004
                          • 59

                          #57
                          Re: NASCAR Chase for the Cup 2005 (XBox) Q & A

                          Thanks, Crouch. Is NASCAR's recent talk re: diversity reflected in the game? That is, any opportunity to use different skin tones in career mode? Also, how is the "heroes and villains" angle working?

                          Comment

                          • TCrouch
                            MVP
                            • Jul 2002
                            • 4819

                            #58
                            Re: NASCAR Chase for the Cup 2005 (XBox) Q & A

                            Originally posted by dave374
                            I can't believe they still can't get the framerate right.
                            That's just embarrassing.
                            Heck, Atari's Grand Prix Challenge for the PS2 had a buttery-smooth 60 fps.
                            EA just lost me on your framerate comments alone.
                            Yeah, framerate issues are a pretty big deal. The weird thing is, it doesn't really have anything to do with cars on screen, or mirror/no mirror. It just chugs the same amount coming out of some corners. It's pretty weird. Just lack of optimization by EA. Pass on it if you want. I got over it pretty quickly and it hasn't lost me a race yet.

                            Originally posted by scoman
                            So what kind of rating are you giving it,and how does it compare to other xbox racers such as toca2. And is it worth the fifty bucks?
                            You'll see when the review hits . As for comparing it to TOCA2, TOCA has a much more realistic driving model as far as weight transfer and loss of traction. Think of this year's driving model as more predictable and believable, but you can really save the car from some hairy situations. It's like "sim-lite", if you will. You can adjust the car and get it to do what you want to do, but for the most part it's still a high-grip driving model. If you set your car up too loose, however, you'll find that it is possible to spin it routinely. Worth the fifty bucks? Pretty much all games are fifty bucks (with the odd exception), so depends on how long you play a game. For Nascar fans, I'd say it's probably worth it. For non-oval racing fans, or non-racing fans in general, probably not. It won't convert many new guys. The little "street races" they set up to try and attract the Need for Speed crowd won't get them past the fact that they still have to race 20 oval tracks in between those segments.

                            Originally posted by Eurodawg
                            Could you post the list of songs that are in the game please?

                            Are the paint schemes for created cars the same as the past 2 years?
                            Sorry, the song list is pretty long and it doesn't affect the game much. Most of it is harder rock, which I find to be a pretty drastic change from years past. I'm still thinking of the "Sweet Home Alabama" version of a couple years ago...now I am hearing Saliva, Papa Roach, and other harder rock bands. The paint schemes are pretty much the same, yeah. Funnel, "fast", striped, plain, etc.

                            Originally posted by bubba4
                            TCrouch,
                            Thanks for all the info.
                            Just one question...
                            How is the after race replay system? Is it the same 30/40 second reel as is previous versions?

                            Bubba4
                            Yep. I don't know why they won't give us a full race replay with the XBox hard drive available. Pretty irritating when I get slammed or make a good pass and want to check it out...but wait, I can't because there's no replay. Great stuff.

                            Originally posted by Darkbandit
                            Does the actual graphics on the Xbox version look like any of the screenshots that are on the web? For example, on the EA Sports site they show some shots, but have my doubts about them actually being from the Xbox version.
                            Well, I haven't seen those screenshots much, but I doubt it if you think they look good. This game won't win any awards for sheer beauty. A definite port from the PS2, it doesn't push the envelope in any area on the XBox. Even my wife, who can't really tell the difference from game to game, thought it was pretty ugly. Thankfully, the driving model is much improved this year, so I can get over bad graphics and a sometimes choppy framerate for some decent racing.

                            Originally posted by person12
                            Are car damage any better than last year and also do crashes look a little more realistic or anything near the Papyrus series???Thanks
                            As far as better than last year, I haven't really played the series since the last one came out, so it's tough for me to remember specific damage effects. The damage this year doesn't hurt you on the easier settings, and I haven't moved up to Legend and normal damage yet. When I move to longer races and quicker AI, I'll get to test it more. As for the crashes being more realistic, I think they're a bit over the top, but not as bad as I remember seeing before. It's a happy medium between the Papy crashes and previous Thunder crashes, I guess.

                            Originally posted by gr8fuldave
                            Thanks for posting about the slowdown TCrouch. That just cost EA a buy of this game from me. I was gonna buy it to play online with friends from work. I need to make a donation for you guys saving me 50 bones.
                            Yeah, the slowdown will be a HUGE issue with a lot of people. When I first fired up the Featherlites on the first track of the season, if I didn't have to review it I probably would have pulled the disc out with disgust. A definite rental for people who absolutely, positively freak out at any slowdown. Thankfully, that's the worst it ever got. Some tracks are fine, but the very first track you hit is one of the worst throughout the game for choppy graphics.

                            Originally posted by TMaj1972
                            Thanks, Crouch. Is NASCAR's recent talk re: diversity reflected in the game? That is, any opportunity to use different skin tones in career mode? Also, how is the "heroes and villains" angle working?
                            Sure can. I made a black driver in one career test just because I would absolutely love to see a minority driver put some good showings together in Nascar. I love Nascar as a sport, but there's such an overall stereotype of the "good ol' boy", and with good reason. Nowadays, however, owners are smart enough to throw anybody with talent in the cockpit for the most part. Tangent I'm heading off on, sorry...yes, you can use multiple skin tones and head style/face combinations. The heroes and villains thing is pretty cool, but it almost feels overpowered. You latch on to a guy's bumper and use the share draft, and you're pretty much guaranteed to check out from the field. Standard M.O. for me: let a guy pass me, share the draft, check out by 3 seconds, then pass him with only 1 car to worry about. When I answered the question about the overpowered draft earlier, I was mostly racing Featherlites and short tracks and not getting a lot of draft. Now I'm up to Busch cars at Talladega and Lowe's, and you will really boost a ton with the draft. You can pick the draft up from way too far back, but it all sort of ties in with the game. They want the average fan to be able to hit the A button and draft a car. It sort of falls in line with the overall design, and the entire package comes together for some pretty good racing.

                            When I pick apart each individual piece of the game, none of it is very impressive. Re-reading what I type here, it sounds like I don't like it much. On the contrary, I do. Much like any game released nowadays, it has some issues (the framerate being the biggest one), but the sum is greater than the parts. I've had a lot of fun racing the AI in all 3 of the lower series so far, and been able to do things that I couldn't do previously in a console Nascar game. For instance, racing at Richmond I was stuck on the outside with a line of cars ready to steamroll me. I pinched down on the lead car, and coming off the corner, he couldn't get any forward bite because he couldn't just drop the hammer. The result was me outaccelerating him on exit, but him beating me on entry. I fought off being passed for about 7 laps (side by side) before they finally got me. I lost about 6 or 7 spots before falling back in line and picking my way through them again. The sheer joy I got from something like that on a console isn't something I'd experienced. The racing itself is greater than the graphics, crashes, overpowered draft, etc to me. Bottom line is I have fun, and it makes me worry about the racing instead of a screwed up driving model (like years past).

                            Comment

                            • TCrouch
                              MVP
                              • Jul 2002
                              • 4819

                              #59
                              Re: NASCAR Chase for the Cup 2005 (XBox) Q & A

                              Originally posted by dave374
                              I can't believe they still can't get the framerate right.
                              That's just embarrassing.
                              Heck, Atari's Grand Prix Challenge for the PS2 had a buttery-smooth 60 fps.
                              EA just lost me on your framerate comments alone.
                              Yeah, framerate issues are a pretty big deal. The weird thing is, it doesn't really have anything to do with cars on screen, or mirror/no mirror. It just chugs the same amount coming out of some corners. It's pretty weird. Just lack of optimization by EA. Pass on it if you want. I got over it pretty quickly and it hasn't lost me a race yet.

                              Originally posted by scoman
                              So what kind of rating are you giving it,and how does it compare to other xbox racers such as toca2. And is it worth the fifty bucks?
                              You'll see when the review hits . As for comparing it to TOCA2, TOCA has a much more realistic driving model as far as weight transfer and loss of traction. Think of this year's driving model as more predictable and believable, but you can really save the car from some hairy situations. It's like "sim-lite", if you will. You can adjust the car and get it to do what you want to do, but for the most part it's still a high-grip driving model. If you set your car up too loose, however, you'll find that it is possible to spin it routinely. Worth the fifty bucks? Pretty much all games are fifty bucks (with the odd exception), so depends on how long you play a game. For Nascar fans, I'd say it's probably worth it. For non-oval racing fans, or non-racing fans in general, probably not. It won't convert many new guys. The little "street races" they set up to try and attract the Need for Speed crowd won't get them past the fact that they still have to race 20 oval tracks in between those segments.

                              Originally posted by Eurodawg
                              Could you post the list of songs that are in the game please?

                              Are the paint schemes for created cars the same as the past 2 years?
                              Sorry, the song list is pretty long and it doesn't affect the game much. Most of it is harder rock, which I find to be a pretty drastic change from years past. I'm still thinking of the "Sweet Home Alabama" version of a couple years ago...now I am hearing Saliva, Papa Roach, and other harder rock bands. The paint schemes are pretty much the same, yeah. Funnel, "fast", striped, plain, etc.

                              Originally posted by bubba4
                              TCrouch,
                              Thanks for all the info.
                              Just one question...
                              How is the after race replay system? Is it the same 30/40 second reel as is previous versions?

                              Bubba4
                              Yep. I don't know why they won't give us a full race replay with the XBox hard drive available. Pretty irritating when I get slammed or make a good pass and want to check it out...but wait, I can't because there's no replay. Great stuff.

                              Originally posted by Darkbandit
                              Does the actual graphics on the Xbox version look like any of the screenshots that are on the web? For example, on the EA Sports site they show some shots, but have my doubts about them actually being from the Xbox version.
                              Well, I haven't seen those screenshots much, but I doubt it if you think they look good. This game won't win any awards for sheer beauty. A definite port from the PS2, it doesn't push the envelope in any area on the XBox. Even my wife, who can't really tell the difference from game to game, thought it was pretty ugly. Thankfully, the driving model is much improved this year, so I can get over bad graphics and a sometimes choppy framerate for some decent racing.

                              Originally posted by person12
                              Are car damage any better than last year and also do crashes look a little more realistic or anything near the Papyrus series???Thanks
                              As far as better than last year, I haven't really played the series since the last one came out, so it's tough for me to remember specific damage effects. The damage this year doesn't hurt you on the easier settings, and I haven't moved up to Legend and normal damage yet. When I move to longer races and quicker AI, I'll get to test it more. As for the crashes being more realistic, I think they're a bit over the top, but not as bad as I remember seeing before. It's a happy medium between the Papy crashes and previous Thunder crashes, I guess.

                              Originally posted by gr8fuldave
                              Thanks for posting about the slowdown TCrouch. That just cost EA a buy of this game from me. I was gonna buy it to play online with friends from work. I need to make a donation for you guys saving me 50 bones.
                              Yeah, the slowdown will be a HUGE issue with a lot of people. When I first fired up the Featherlites on the first track of the season, if I didn't have to review it I probably would have pulled the disc out with disgust. A definite rental for people who absolutely, positively freak out at any slowdown. Thankfully, that's the worst it ever got. Some tracks are fine, but the very first track you hit is one of the worst throughout the game for choppy graphics.

                              Originally posted by TMaj1972
                              Thanks, Crouch. Is NASCAR's recent talk re: diversity reflected in the game? That is, any opportunity to use different skin tones in career mode? Also, how is the "heroes and villains" angle working?
                              Sure can. I made a black driver in one career test just because I would absolutely love to see a minority driver put some good showings together in Nascar. I love Nascar as a sport, but there's such an overall stereotype of the "good ol' boy", and with good reason. Nowadays, however, owners are smart enough to throw anybody with talent in the cockpit for the most part. Tangent I'm heading off on, sorry...yes, you can use multiple skin tones and head style/face combinations. The heroes and villains thing is pretty cool, but it almost feels overpowered. You latch on to a guy's bumper and use the share draft, and you're pretty much guaranteed to check out from the field. Standard M.O. for me: let a guy pass me, share the draft, check out by 3 seconds, then pass him with only 1 car to worry about. When I answered the question about the overpowered draft earlier, I was mostly racing Featherlites and short tracks and not getting a lot of draft. Now I'm up to Busch cars at Talladega and Lowe's, and you will really boost a ton with the draft. You can pick the draft up from way too far back, but it all sort of ties in with the game. They want the average fan to be able to hit the A button and draft a car. It sort of falls in line with the overall design, and the entire package comes together for some pretty good racing.

                              When I pick apart each individual piece of the game, none of it is very impressive. Re-reading what I type here, it sounds like I don't like it much. On the contrary, I do. Much like any game released nowadays, it has some issues (the framerate being the biggest one), but the sum is greater than the parts. I've had a lot of fun racing the AI in all 3 of the lower series so far, and been able to do things that I couldn't do previously in a console Nascar game. For instance, racing at Richmond I was stuck on the outside with a line of cars ready to steamroll me. I pinched down on the lead car, and coming off the corner, he couldn't get any forward bite because he couldn't just drop the hammer. The result was me outaccelerating him on exit, but him beating me on entry. I fought off being passed for about 7 laps (side by side) before they finally got me. I lost about 6 or 7 spots before falling back in line and picking my way through them again. The sheer joy I got from something like that on a console isn't something I'd experienced. The racing itself is greater than the graphics, crashes, overpowered draft, etc to me. Bottom line is I have fun, and it makes me worry about the racing instead of a screwed up driving model (like years past).

                              Comment

                              • Eurodawg
                                Banned
                                • Jul 2004
                                • 308

                                #60
                                Re: NASCAR Chase for the Cup 2005 (XBox) Q & A

                                Man I have been searching the soundtrack for weeks. Some of us over another board would be real glad to have the tracklist.... Is the paparoach song "getting away with murder"?

                                and is Nonpoint in 2005? (They were in 2003 and 2004)

                                Comment

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