NASCAR 06: Total Team Control

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Mon Sep 05, 2005 2:19 pm

I put another 90 minutes into this game last night, and I'm truly perplexed at the driving model.

Every NASCAR Thunder game had "dump truck-like" understeer built into the driving model. Last year's NASCAR 2005 had a good, consistent, predictable driving model. NASCAR 06 seems to have a perplexing combination of both, depending on the track.

It seems like even when you get off the gas and slow to a proper speed at the "flat" tracks like Indy, New Hampshire, Martinsville, Vegas, Michigan and California, the AI cars will blow you away, at least on Veteran with all assists off. It just seems like the AI can carry an unrealistic amount of speed into corners on those tracks, even with setup changes to my car.

Banked tracks, like Bristol, Daytona and Talladega, are very good handling-wise, like last year.

At Daytona and Talladega, you just keep the throttle pinned to the floor, as always.

Speed control is everything at Bristol. You simply can't drive as deeply into the corner in NASCAR 06 as you could with NASCAR 2005. That's more realistic.

But I'm not sure how realistic the "flat" tracks are. It just seems the AI carries way more speed through the turns than is realistic. Maybe it's just me, but I didn't have this problem with NASCAR 2005.

I'll need to tinker more with setups and testing. The handling is different this year than in NASCAR 2005, but I'm not sure yet whether that's because of more realism or a return of the "dump truck" physics that plagued every NASCAR Thunder game.

But there is one thing of which I'm certain: Total Team Control should be renamed Total Waste Of Time. It's an absolutely useless feature -- a gimmick.

At least other EA gimmicks -- Hit Stick, First Touch, Playmaker, Tiger Proofing, Truck Stick, etc. -- have an influence on the outcome on the field of play. Total Team Control does nothing. Switching cars on the fly is a joke, and Block, Follow and Work With Me commands do nothing that produces any tangible result.

This gimmick needs to be scrapped for NASCAR 07. It's really silly.

I have one more night of my rental and plan to put some more time in with this tonight. I'm really on the fence with this one. My initial reaction is that NASCAR 2005 is a better buy right now. I'm not sure NASCAR 06 is worth $50 unless you MUST have Pocono, Ken Schrader, Jeremy Mayfield and the new drivers and paint jobs.

It's really confounding to me that EA tried to make the driving model simulate the weight and momentum of a 3,600-pound stock car more realistically this year -- and I'm still unsure of the success of that effort -- while adding such a ridiculously arcadish and stupid feature like Total Team Control.

Take care,
PK

TCrouch · Post by **TCrouch** » Mon Sep 05, 2005 2:22 pm

That's been the only problem I have with it...getting out-pulled at a flat track. I had better success once I found the sweet spot on my Fanatec wheel, but it's been hit or miss lately. I'm still having a decent time with it, though. Just pales in the huge shadow cast by MotoGP3

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Mon Sep 05, 2005 2:25 pm

TCrouch wrote:I'm still having a decent time with it, though. Just pales in the huge shadow cast by MotoGP3

So true, Terry. I'm having a fair time with NASCAR 06 -- it's not a bad game, but I'm not sure if it's as good as NASCAR 2005.

But the whole time I played it last night, I couldn't wait to return to Moto GP 3.

Take care,
PK

Leebo33 · Post by **Leebo33** » Mon Sep 05, 2005 2:35 pm

pk500 wrote:I'm not sure NASCAR 06 is worth $50

Is it worth $40? You can get a $10 gift card with purchase this week at CC.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Mon Sep 05, 2005 2:57 pm

Leebo33 wrote:
pk500 wrote:I'm not sure NASCAR 06 is worth $50
Is it worth $40? You can get a $10 gift card with purchase this week at CC.

I'm just not sure. I need to put in more time with it.

If pressed for a decision right now, I'd say no. It's just not that much different from NASCAR 2005 other than the useless Total Team Control and the new paint jobs, drivers and Pocono. The driving model is slightly different, more inaccessible, but again I'm not sure if that's due to increased realism or the return of "dump truck" understeer physics.

But that impression may change with more play time during my rental.

Take care,
PK

Inuyasha · Post by **Inuyasha** » Mon Sep 05, 2005 4:03 pm

Would you recommend nascor06 for a casual racing fan like myself? I liked nascar05 because you just raced, pretty simple. Is the race part of the game like last year's or totally different? Also, do the gimmicks get in the way of racing?

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Mon Sep 05, 2005 4:10 pm

Weaver2005 wrote:Would you recommend nascor06 for a casual racing fan like myself? I liked nascar05 because you just raced, pretty simple. Is the race part of the game like last year's or totally different? Also, do the gimmicks get in the way of racing?

Weaver:

Well, the driving model is more challenging and confounding on some tracks, so that aspect of the game might not be as fun for you.

Total Team Control doesn't get in the way if you just ignore it completely, which is my recommendation. But it's damn near impossible to use when on a short track or in traffic, as you have to wiggle the right stick twice while trying to navigate traffic or turn.

Good luck.

Take care,
PK

Inuyasha · Post by **Inuyasha** » Mon Sep 05, 2005 10:01 pm

Thanks pk, I'll rent it this week.

BTW, Jared was kind enough to change my dsp tag . Thought it would be wiser to use a name other than my real name on the internet

So sooo long weaver2005......hello...INUYASHA!

Thanks again Jared!

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Tue Sep 06, 2005 1:35 am

TCrouch wrote:That's been the only problem I have with it...getting out-pulled at a flat track. I had better success once I found the sweet spot on my Fanatec wheel, but it's been hit or miss lately. I'm still having a decent time with it, though. Just pales in the huge shadow cast by MotoGP3

And just think...you were gonna go with Nascar ONLY.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Tue Sep 06, 2005 2:19 am

Moto GP 3 is digital crack. Just ask Seminole: I was host tonight and told everyone at 1:15 a.m. that it was my last race. I just signed off at 2:15 a.m.

Out,
PK

TCrouch · Post by **TCrouch** » Tue Sep 06, 2005 2:21 am

Tell me about it. For whatever reason, I barely got into MotoGP1 and 2. I played 2 for a bit, maybe a week or two and then just quit. I'm not sure why, I just barely ever touched it. I think there are a handful of tracks that I never even played.

But with MotoGP3 I played a nonstop session as soon as I picked it up on Friday, and by the time I climbed on with the DSP guys on Saturday I was pretty comfortable with the handling and whatnot. It's about the only game I play on my XBox now.

Had I not just bought a new computer I'd probably still be on the damn thing.

DChaps · Post by **DChaps** » Tue Sep 06, 2005 10:37 am

TCrouch wrote:Tell me about it. For whatever reason, I barely got into MotoGP1 and 2. I played 2 for a bit, maybe a week or two and then just quit. I'm not sure why, I just barely ever touched it. I think there are a handful of tracks that I never even played.

But with MotoGP3 I played a nonstop session as soon as I picked it up on Friday, and by the time I climbed on with the DSP guys on Saturday I was pretty comfortable with the handling and whatnot. It's about the only game I play on my XBox now.

Had I not just bought a new computer I'd probably still be on the damn thing.

Sweet Terry. That new computer should be able to run rFactor pretty well. Let me know if you pick it up. So far I am really impressed with the online multiplayer aspects. Finally an ISI game that may rival NR2003 net code. I am setting up a dedicated rFactor server this week.

If you don't mind me asking, what is your controller setup for MotoGP3 and what view are you using?

TCrouch · Post by **TCrouch** » Tue Sep 06, 2005 12:32 pm

Call me stupid but I don't even know what rFactor is?

I posted my control in that thread pk created.

As far as the putre, it's not an SLI behemoth or anything like I was thinking about getting, but it HAS absolutely chewed through every game I've thrown at it:

AMD Athlon64 4000+
2GB of PC3200 DDR
Radeon X800
Dual 160GB HDD's
DVD +RW blah blah blah.

It's just shredded Half Life 2, Vampire, Battlefield 2, NR2003, GTR, SWG, and pretty much anything else I've played with maxxed detail settings.

No idea about rFactor though, don't even know what it is.

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Tue Sep 06, 2005 12:46 pm

That PC will work...that's pretty much what I'm running now...only with the 3800+ Athlon 64.

Talamius · Post by **Talamius** » Tue Sep 06, 2005 4:54 pm

Having played the Papyrus NASCAR PC sims I just can't bring myself to play these.

EA seems happier to add fluff features than actually working on the driving model and multiplayer aspect and it drives me nuts. 4 players max online is simply unacceptable and I could care less about racing AI cars. 8 should be an absolute minimum for online players in a racing game/sim.

I am however interested in rFactor for PC.