NASCAR 08

Zeppo · Post by **Zeppo** » Wed Jul 25, 2007 6:00 pm

Darkbandit wrote:Would you recommend buying one of the Microsoft wheels off ebay or would it be a better idea to buy it at a store or online? I have noticed that some of the sets on ebay don't have the PGR disc that has the drivers on it, but am wondering if games like Forza or Nascar require the drivers to work as well.

I've heard some complaints of bad units with the MS wheel, such as units having too much dead zone, or not centering poperly, etc. People end up swapping them at the store they bought them at and getting one that works properly, so that might be something to consider.

Fshguy · Post by **Fshguy** » Wed Jul 25, 2007 6:42 pm

Waiting on Gamefly at this point... they sent them out yesterday. Maybe Friday I'll be turning left...

GB_Simo · Post by **GB_Simo** » Wed Jul 25, 2007 7:09 pm

SEMINOLE wrote:The learning curve for me and this game is VERY HIGH. I am getting better but there is something about it that is hard as hell for me. Not sure if its my settings or what. I may just be going too fast, but earlier when I was being nice and smooth the AI was hammering me, and I don't mean bump drafting either, I was spun a few times.

I've had that with the demo. The demo is out in the UK too, which surprised me as much as it gladdened me, and when I first played it I thought I was being bump drafted since I was using the in-car view at the time. I checked my car using an external view, though, and the AI cars are absolutely tearing up the rear of it. They don't always spin me but they don't seem all that worried about trying to drive straight through me. If it's prevalent in the full release too, that's a bit of a worry to me.

I'd like to hear a bit more from those who have it, because 8 laps of Daytona with a small field isn't really telling me much about the AI, or the short tracks, or the road courses, or the career structure, or anything apart from that I'm not very good on superspeedways.

Nozzleman_216 · Post by **Nozzleman_216** » Wed Jul 25, 2007 7:29 pm

Well, being the "hardcore" racer that I sometimes claim to be I always go to the hardest difficulty for myself, no assists etc........ those that are "on rails" do you have any assists on? I DO NOT want to do that to myself but if thats what I have to do to get around the track then so be it. Another thing is I need to know what kind of times/speeds I should be running. I am just not that familiar with where I should be. One thing that seemed to help me a little is in the video setting I turned off the driver arms and wheel animations. Seemed to help me of course that my be just me starting to get the hang of it.

I will say that once I learn what tracks I need a little brake and where to get off the throttle will definitely benefit me too.

Also for those that think the sense of speed is lacking, run Lowes, at Dusk and try to hug the wall coming out of the tr-oval and into turn one. Its NUTS!

TCrouch · Post by **TCrouch** » Wed Jul 25, 2007 8:28 pm

I don't have assists but tweaking your setup is a must in this one. In the default ride around California in a CoT car just now I was in the 40 to 41 range. I tweaked the setup some and got down to a 38.7, mid-39's in a race until the tires go away.

There's also an EA Locker that I found, so if you have setups you can upload them, and if you make them public, anyone on your friends list can grab them. Very cool.

Teal · Post by **Teal** » Wed Jul 25, 2007 8:29 pm

YES! This is going to drive me to getting a wheel, finally. I love this. EA have done a great job with NASCAR this year. The cars feel heavy, the collisions will rattle your teeth, the wheel to wheel is awesome and nervewracking at the same time, and the progression is very cool. You earn licenses, and at the same time, are learning how to drive all the different tracks. I'll be spending ALOT of time on the road course licenses, I can already tell. I have always sucked SO bad on the road courses in NASCAR games; those and the short tracks have been a bane of my existence.

I think I'll pony up for the Logitech. Seminole, I don't really even care all that much about FF, as long as it at least has rumble, it's fine. Logitech has always made a fine wheel. Hell, I almost bought the MC2 today, that only has rumble. I care more about a smooth racing line than I do about the wheel jostling around anyway.

I'm impressed, fellas...impressed. And I didn't know that you could turn off the driver hands and wheel animations...that's AWESOME! The herky jerkiness of the controller making the driver's hands jerk around made me feel like I was all over the place. Turning that off will be great until I get a wheel. See you guys online!

Nozzleman_216 · Post by **Nozzleman_216** » Wed Jul 25, 2007 9:55 pm

Glad to hear that Teal, I will say if you think that about the wheels and hands now, you will REALLY like it off when you get a wheel. If you don't care about a true FFB and a constant pull on the wheel, You will like the Logitech.

So, with the news of setups being a must (I figured this would be the case), do we want to make a tutorial of some sorts to help others get tuning (me included), some wedge here, a track bar there kind of guide?

Darkbandit · Post by **Darkbandit** » Wed Jul 25, 2007 10:12 pm

Just a little addition to the questions I was asking about the wheel earlier, I went ahead and ordered one of the MS wheels off of Dell's site. Can't wait to race some of you all online, maybe will race a little online while I am waiting for it to come in

TCrouch · Post by **TCrouch** » Wed Jul 25, 2007 10:26 pm

This game is fan-flippin'-tastic.

Nozzleman_216 · Post by **Nozzleman_216** » Wed Jul 25, 2007 10:34 pm

TCrouch wrote:This game is fan-flippin'-tastic.

That's it............WTF c'mon man tell us what you really feel.LOL!!

Give us a nice post like you did for your game with Zep only saying how great this game is and can be. Especially once we all get used to it!

TCrouch · Post by **TCrouch** » Wed Jul 25, 2007 11:39 pm

Well, there's only so many console games that really capture the "almost loose" feeling like this does with the right setup. The fact that a console game allows you to set a 4x wear, 1-pit stop, 10% race and actually burn through a full fuel load, change 2 tires and get into a 4-lap, end-of-race with Jeff Gordon where he's bumping heading into a corner, diving in low, trying high, picking random grooves to try to find speed and having an epic, .03 second finish...it's ridiculous.

It's just flat out badass fun.

Nozzleman_216 · Post by **Nozzleman_216** » Wed Jul 25, 2007 11:51 pm

Nice!!! Now see, wasn't that easier to say then fan-flippin-tastic LOL!!!

TCrouch · Post by **TCrouch** » Wed Jul 25, 2007 11:57 pm

No, actually...it was much, much longer to type

Teal · Post by **Teal** » Thu Jul 26, 2007 12:03 am

Heh, good stuff Terry. I look forward to piloting that Jeff Gordon machine, and more than likely forcing you to redefine 'bumping' when on the track with me...at least until I get a wheel...

TCrouch · Post by **TCrouch** » Thu Jul 26, 2007 12:04 am

Man, the good news is, with a console sim that relaxes some of the consequences of bumping, it's all good. In NR2003, if you bumped me at Cali I'd have a tough time keeping it under control. In N08, you can really bang away quite a bit before losing control completely. It's the perfect pack-racing online oval game.

greggsand · Post by **greggsand** » Thu Jul 26, 2007 2:32 am

I hear the PS3 version is unplayable online. Anyone to confirm?

Naples39 · Post by **Naples39** » Thu Jul 26, 2007 8:46 am

I'm liking what I read hear, particularly from the resident racing expert Terry. Picked up a copy last night though I haven't opened it yet. Looking forward to seeing you guys online soon.

Zeppo · Post by **Zeppo** » Thu Jul 26, 2007 10:11 am

Has anyone tried racing online, or are all these impressions about offline?

JackB1 · Post by **JackB1** » Thu Jul 26, 2007 10:23 am

tried the demo last night.....

I am using a controller and was having a tough time keeping my car straight, but got better as the night went on. The demo doesn't let you adjust anything, so I am hoping the full game will have settings that will make driving with a controller fun and possible.

The AI was driving me nuts! They keep bumping the sh*t out of me from behind and taking me out. To say they are agressive is an understatement. They drive on the first lap like its the last lap of the last race of the season. Hope there is a way to dial down their aggressiveness.

To people with the full game........is the demo representative of the full game?

wpw721 · Post by **wpw721** » Thu Jul 26, 2007 11:11 am

Zeppo wrote:Has anyone tried racing online, or are all these impressions about offline?

I don't know if it's due to my connection, but I am experiencing a ton of lag online. The lobbies are really slow moving and the other cars bounce and jump around while racing. Forza 2 is really smooth online for me, so I tend to think it's EAs crappy servers causing the lag problems.

Teal · Post by **Teal** » Thu Jul 26, 2007 12:18 pm

I'll give it a shot online in a bit, and report. Jack, you can adjust the sensitivity of your left stick, and it takes alot of the herky jerkiness out of it. You can also turn off the steering wheel and hands in the cockpit, so you don't see all the counter adjusting you're doing. It helps...

grtwhtsk · Post by **grtwhtsk** » Thu Jul 26, 2007 12:42 pm

Picked it up and can't wait to try it out tonight. Thanks for the impressions guys!

Naples39 · Post by **Naples39** » Thu Jul 26, 2007 1:03 pm

1up has a nice review of it; http://www.1up.com/do/reviewPage?cId=3161493

I don't intend to the return the game in light of 6.5. Sounds like I'll have some fun with it going in knowing what to expect. Lack of a career mode isn't a biggie for me (season is enough), though the kamikaze cpu will be trying. No mention of online though, which sounds pretty iffy.

TCrouch · Post by **TCrouch** » Thu Jul 26, 2007 1:22 pm

That's kind of what struck me as odd. Most of his review is positive, talking about the driving model being much improved, etc. But apparently that no-career problem really chapped his ass, and to be fair, it is definitely light on features, but on the track it's really really REALLY fun to me.

Teal · Post by **Teal** » Thu Jul 26, 2007 1:45 pm

Yeah, that's it, Terry...on the track this version has no peer as far as NASCAR goes on the consoles. Not even close. I don't mind the career progression stuff in this years version. Do I feel like a rookie who needs to move up in the ranks? No. Do I feel as though I'm learning how to drive, doing the challenges and licenses? Yes, sir, and that's more important to me than all the career stuff.

Just played a game online with about 8 other guys, and AI fills in the field if you don't have 12. I also, ahem, won the race, and the guys were racing clean, self spotting when passing, and I had Juan Montoya on my ass crossing the finish line. Great fun. There was a LITTLE lag, but nothing that was warping cars around or any of that. I have seen some bad lag in some other races, but I really think it's a connection issue, if not with XBL, then with EA. We had a good connection, and it was mucho funno. Got an acheivement for winning that race, too. Too bad you can't celebrate online...