NASCAR 14 Thread (PS3, 360, PC)

[cdj]

Same developer (Eutechnyx), but new publisher for NASCAR 14 (Deep Silver). The game will retail for $49.99.

Deep Silver will publish the next iteration of developer Eutechnyx's licensed racing game in early 2014, NASCAR 14. Coming to PS3 and Xbox 360, the game will feature drop-in, drop-out online multiplayer races for up to 16 players as well as online league play with challenges, rankings and "dynamic statistics" support. Players can also play through the game's career mode, acquiring sponsorship and building their cars up to win races.

NASCAR 14 is the first entry in the series published by Deep Silver, as Activision handled the distribution of the series since the 2011 release of NASCAR: The Game 2011, which followed EA's cancellation of the series in September 2009. Eutechnyx announced plans to self-publish the series in June, prior to Deep Silver picking up the game's publishing rights.

Deep Silver launched a Facebook app (https://apps.facebook.com/driveforthecover/) to allow fans to vote on NASCAR 14's cover driver. The winning driver will be announced in early December.

While there will be plenty of new racing games on the market for current & next-gen by spring, the NASCAR license will help. With no Tiger Woods PGA TOUR or NCAA Football, there may be an opening for another sports game to step up.

Courtesy: Joystiq (http://www.joystiq.com/2013/10/22/deep-silver-publishing-nascar-14-in-early-2014-starts-cover-vot/)

Did NASCAR: Inside Line have online leagues? That could be pretty fun.

[psusnoop]

I could see myself purchasing this.

[JBHuskers]

Definitely with online league play.

[psusnoop]

Definitely with online league play.

That's what is really intriguing to me. My son would play this tons and I too would still have some enjoyment.

Who is thinking of getting this?

[CLW]

SMH no PS4/XB1. Would love an online Cup Series but I don't see myself picking it up for the PS3. But isn't this a different publisher from the Nascar's last few years. I know I bought one of these bad boys a year or maybe 2 years ago and the game was AWFUL.

[JBHuskers]

Same developer, new publisher.

[GatorfanStovy]

Online nascar would be fun. I'd buy it just for online. To bad it wouldn't hit xb1 tho

[JBHuskers]

Cover vote is underway on Facebook. (https://apps.facebook.com/driveforthecover/)

[cdj]

Release date announced (February 18) and a clarification on the publisher for this one:

UK developer Eutechnyx has announced NASCAR '14, a new game based on the 'as American as apple pie' stock car racing series license, will launch on February 18. The racing title will arrive for $50 on Xbox 360, PS3, and PC.

Apart from the standard (or automatic) career mode and licensed everything, NASCAR '14 features a "Highlights" mode, that recreates events from the season right down to exact weather conditions and racer placement.

Previously a franchise handled by Activision (and EA before them), the NASCAR licence is now in the hands of publisher Deep Silver. With Activision out of the picture for distribution, Eutechnyx said it would self-publish the next game in its NASCAR series before Deep Silver jumped on board as publisher.

Courtesy: Joystiq (http://www.joystiq.com/2014/01/09/nascar-14-circling-toward-xbox-360-ps3-and-pc-on-feb-18/)


New trailer:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=km9LzIDkHOE&feature=youtu.be

[cdj]

Some game info, courtesy SI.com (http://extramustard.si.com/2014/02/04/nascar-14-online-ps4-xbox-one/):

NASCAR 14 is the first big sports title to launch in the new year, but even with a release window hitting the week of Daytona (Feb 18; Xbox 360, PS3, PC), not much is known about the game. We went straight to the source, going under the hood—it’s a car game, see?—with Eutechnyx’s EVP, Ed Martin, to find out what NASCAR fans should expect from this year’s game.

ONLINE LEAGUES

For the first time, up to 16 players can create or join a league, and then race their own Sprint Cup season.“Without question, this was the most requested feature,” says Martin. “We expect hundreds of thousands of people to be running their own season.” People win points depending on how they finish, with other stats—such as average lap speed—also tracked for comparison. Adds Martin: “We heard of a lot of gamers actually doing this offline. They would hold private races and keep track of the stats themselves. Now we handle all of that for you.”

MULTIPLAYER MADNESS

One of the most frustrating parts about racing online in past years is the randomness of who you faced on the track. There could be a five-year-old kid racing against a field of experts, and the results were crash city. That’s going to change thanks to NASCAR 14’s dynamic field matching. Instead of getting dumped in a random lobby, the game now keeps track of how you race and places you into a group based on your skills. “The game is keeping track of your top speed, and it’s keeping track of this on a per-track level,” says Martin. “We know how good you are on a lap, we know if you’re out there wrecking a lot, and now you’ll be able to race against people who are just as good—or as bad.”

LINEUP CHANGES

The good: New drivers are making their debut in NASCAR 14. The bad: Some virtual favorites had to be removed, for the time being, from the lineup, including Bobby Labonte and Jeff Burton. “We needed to have the game submitted for Microsoft’s approval back in November, so we had to have all of the 2014 season finished in our game before the 2013 season ended in real life,” says Martin. “It was a virtually impossible task to field all of the drivers, not knowing who was going to have a ride. So what we did is, we filled out the lineups as a stopgap. We went to NASCAR and asked who they thought would fill out the field, and we included some of the younger guys. We added guys like Kyle Larson and Paulie Harraka, then we also signed a driver from the Nationwide Series named Ryan Reed.” Look for an online update to fill out the field with anyone initially omitted.

NO XBOX ONE OR PS4 VERSIONS

“We took a good, hard look at it, but there just isn’t enough hardware out there yet to justify the cost of development,” says Martin. “The nail in the coffin was when a guy from Sony talked about Gran Turismo, and how their new game was launching on PS3. He said something like, ‘Why would we put Gran Turismo on a console that has zero units in the market when there are 150 million PlayStation 3s out there?’ Well, it’s a great question. It costs us about $6 million to develop a next-gen version of NASCAR. You have to sell an awful lot of copies in order to meet the development costs, on top of all the licensing. There are about 4-5 million worldwide combined units of PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, so it just doesn’t add up for us right now. We own the rights, and we absolutely have plans, but it won’t be later this year.”

TRADING PAINT

Retaliation is the name of the game with NASCAR 14’s AI. In past games, when you raced a road course the line of cars looked almost like a train, with the AI afraid to pass. This year, not only are the drivers more aggressive, but if you bump them, you’ll get an almost immediate response. “Last year, if you bumped somebody, they’d chicken out and get out of your way,” says Martin. “The AI drivers will come after you now. They won’t be wildly aggressive, but they’re not going to give up their spot, either. It’s a lot more realistic with the amount of attitude that’s in the game.”

[Stan HAMsen]

There are lots of driving games available and coming soon, but if there is interest in a TGT league then I'll certainly pick this up.

[CLW]

NASCAR '14 Skipping PS4, Xbox One

Install base not there yet for next-gen, developer says.


http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/02/10/nascar-14-skipping-ps4-xbox-one

Yes and no on this point/argument. Yes there are a bunch more PS3s and 360s out in the wild. However, the guy apparently counts me as a potential PS3 customer and I'm not. I'm NEVER buying another PS3 game PERIOD. I own a PS4 and I expect developers to develop for that console if they want my $.

My PS3 sits at home now on the big screen and is used primarily now as a blue ray player/movie renter/streamer.

I don't think many PS4/XB1 owners are going to buy this title UNLESS they are just a hardcore Nascar fan.

[SCClassof93]

NASCAR '14 Skipping PS4, Xbox One

Install base not there yet for next-gen, developer says.


http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/02/10/nascar-14-skipping-ps4-xbox-one

Yes and no on this point/argument. Yes there are a bunch more PS3s and 360s out in the wild. However, the guy apparently counts me as a potential PS3 customer and I'm not. I'm NEVER buying another PS3 game PERIOD. I own a PS4 and I expect developers to develop for that console if they want my $.

My PS3 sits at home now on the big screen and is used primarily now as a blue ray player/movie renter/streamer.

I don't think many PS4/XB1 owners are going to buy this title UNLESS they are just a hardcore Nascar fan.

nascar? :zzz:

[cdj]

Operation Sports: NASCAR '14 Interview With Ed Martin (http://www.operationsports.com/features/1792/nascar-14-interview-with-ed-martin/)

OS -Could you talk a bit about how career mode has changed and what are some of the new features?

EM - We’ve taken a lot of ideas from our mobile game, NASCAR Redline, about how the investment plays out in Career Mode. The goal is still the same – to win championships. And the metrics are similar – attract sponsors and invest. But the underlying way it plays out has been enhanced.

OS - Will users be able to download other user’s created paint schemes and use them?

EM - Sony and Microsoft both have rules on user-generated content. So we’re kind of limited on console. PC is a lot more open, though.

OS - Could you please talk about car physics and if they have been improved this year?

EM - Yes – a lot of work has gone into the physics model. It’s something that we’re always working on. And now that we have a full season of the gen-6 cars behind us, we are able to use real world data instead of theoretical or test data.

OS - Has the damage model been tweaked and improved this year?

EM - Damage has also been tweaked and looks a lot more realistic given the specifics of the contact.

OS - Will there be online leagues(that keep track of stats and standings) or online co-op seasons?

EM - Yes, online leagues are a major new feature for NASCAR ’14.

Has the online portion been worked on this year? It has been a real struggle to race consistently online the last couple of years. Tons of work has gone into online gameplay – from multiplayer matchmaking to online leagues, players will notice huge improvements. This is our fourth iteration of our NASCAR engine so it’s an ongoing effort. And online racers should be sure to grab the day-1 update… We always continue to work on multiplayer and the first update has a lot of goodies for players headed to the tracks online.


If we had more info on online leagues, I'd be tempted to pick this one up. Are details/media lacking or am I overlooking them?

[Stan HAMsen]

Is this a direct descendent of EA's PS2 NECKCAR game? That is the only NECKCAR game I have ever owned and I really enjoyed it. One of the things that I liked most was the drafting/intimidating system, specifically the way that system was represented graphically. Total mini-game for me, and maybe the most addictive part of that title. Is something like that in this game?

[JBHuskers]

Is this a direct descendent of EA's PS2 NECKCAR game? That is the only NECKCAR game I have ever owned and I really enjoyed it. One of the things that I liked most was the drafting/intimidating system, specifically the way that system was represented graphically. Total mini-game for me, and maybe the most addictive part of that title. Is something like that in this game?

No, a different company took it over years ago, and this is the 3rd iteration.

[cdj]

Final fact sheet and launch press release for NASCAR 14 (http://www.eutechnyx.com/news/gamers-start-your-consoles-nascar%C2%AE-%E2%80%9814-here-most-advanced-nascar-game-yet-now-available-xbox):

About NASCAR ’14

It’s your turn to immerse yourself in the full-throttle thrill of the world’s most exciting motor sports racing series in NASCAR ’14. Take the wheel from your favorite driver and participate in the race week experience complete with practice, qualifying and race day challenges. With your favorite personalities and replays, NASCAR ’14 is the authentic NASCAR experience for fans.

NASCAR Highlights: Take advantage of “NASCAR Highlights” to determine the outcome of the biggest race thrills. Monthly DLC packs available for $5 each will feature key moments from recent races in the 2014 season. ETX Racing recreates the action where exact condition of the cars is the same and track positions are identical – the only difference is you!

Career Mode: Work your way through the ranks in a comprehensive career mode; complete with custom car builds, sponsor acquisition and R&D to get your team into victory lane.

Official Teams & Tracks: Race against the official NASCAR teams & drivers on your favorite tracks including the high banks of Daytona, the twists & turns of Sonoma and the exhilarating speed of Talladega.

Leagues: Take competition to the next level and host online leagues with your friends, fully supported by statistics, challenges, rankings and replay.

Online Multiplayer: Take advantage of dynamic skill-based matchmaking, tournaments and easy drop in/out server browser functionality for a fair and enjoyable experience.


I ordered this one (mainly to check out the online league options/structure) and aim to post a good amount of videos and stream the game today & tomorrow.

If you have any questions or video/stream requests, please let me know.

[JBHuskers]

The first user review on Meta makes this sound like more of the same....

This is Eutechnyx 4th NASCAR game, and this game still suffers from the same issues as the previous titles even after the day 1 patch. AI bunching up & wrecking, disconnections & crashes in online, cars surging, de-synchronizations and invisible cars in online mode. Also, this game is just a re-paint of last years game with very little change, makes me question if Eutechnyx actually have anyone working on the AI or online features - Bottom line, not worth 50 bucks!

[cdj]

NASCAR 14 developer lays off 12, cites 'restructuring' (http://www.joystiq.com/2014/02/18/nascar-14-developer-lays-off-12-cites-restructuring/)

Eutechnyx, the British developer behind NASCAR '14, has dismissed a dozen employees, according to a report by Develop.

As Develop points out, this is the second such round of layoffs to hit Eutechnyx in the last 12 months. In June, "about 10" people were released across a number of different divisions. Later that month, Eutechnyx closed its London office. CEO Darren Jobling regrets having to let people go, but states that these dismissals are a necessary part of the studio's ongoing restructuring efforts.

"On Friday, we made unfortunately 12 people redundant. It was part of restructuring at the company," Jobling told Develop. "We've made no bones about the fact we wanted to move away from being a work-for-hire developer on consoles to publishing our own titles, so it's highly regrettable that we did have to make 12 people redundant."

If there's one silver lining to this story, it's that NASCAR fans need not fear for the sake of NASCAR '14. Eutechnyx had finished development on the racing game long before these layoffs struck, and NASCAR '14 is still slated to reach the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC today.

[cdj]

First post-release patch is on the way:

Details for the upcoming NASCAR '14 patch have been released on the ETX NASCAR Facebook page. No release date has been announced.


Fixes for various freezing issue experienced by some players
Fix to sound issues experienced by some players
Changes to aggressiveness of AI to give players greater control over levels
Tweak to difficulty setting to bring AI closer to selected level (want the full NASCAR experience? Select 100% for real-life scenario or dial down for less intensity)
Increased yield when lower difficulty level selected
Adjustment to Darlington and Kansas race lengths
Fix for pitting issues experienced by some players
Fix for private lobby issues experienced by some players
Fix to ensure results achieved are accurately reflected
Fix for decal / paint issues experienced by some players



This patch will also include an update to bring in the new qualifying and chase format rules announced early in 2014 by NASCAR and will include all 43 current Sprint Cup drivers. For those playing as Nationwide drivers these cars will remain in game for you to enjoy.

Via: Operation Sports (http://www.operationsports.com/news/712365/nascar-14-patch-coming-soon-details-included/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter)

[cdj]

586227415929622528

This announcement is expected to detail the major upcoming patch/update for NASCAR 14 to help update it for the 2015 season. updated legacy version of NASCAR '15.

There will not be a new NASCAR game this year as game development shifts from Eutechnyx to DMi for NASCAR '16 next year.

[gigemaggs99]

Do ya'll use the PS3 controller or do you use a steering wheel? If so is there a steering wheel you recommend?

Went to the used game stores today, no one had a used PS3 steering wheel so we went to Gamestop. They had a Thrustmaster T80 RS Racing Wheel it's for both PS3 & Ps4. I agree with the reviews that I read, it's much MUCH easier to race with the wheel. I raced yesterday after getting Nascar 14 with the PS3 controller and had a hard time, you have to be very sensitive with the left-stick. Using the steering wheel is MUCH MUCH easier.

So for a big thumbs up!

[gigemaggs99]

I think the setups help too.

I was using the PS3 controller at Kanas. My fasted lap was 37.00 at 178.

I started using the steering wheel and made it around in 34.00 at 189.

I used a setup I found online and did it in 31.00 at 196. :))

[steelerfan]

Thrustmaster???

http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/04/11/71ec9a1ed1ac48c32c79757e60b0ee0a.jpg

[JeffHCross]

I think the setups help too.

I was using the PS3 controller at Kanas. My fasted lap was 37.00 at 178.

I started using the steering wheel and made it around in 34.00 at 189.

I used a setup I found online and did it in 31.00 at 196. :))Back in the day when I played NASCAR Racing, I would always try to use setups I found online, but I could never actually figure out how to drive the car with the setup. I guess my driving style just wasn't right :D

[gigemaggs99]

Thrustmaster???

http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/04/11/71ec9a1ed1ac48c32c79757e60b0ee0a.jpg


http://i2.wp.com/badatcleaning.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/woah.gif

[steelerfan]

:D

[gigemaggs99]

Question,
I'm loving this game but am having a problem with the AI traffic. When I race by myself I'm able to get good times and keep the car off the walls, she also doesn't slide all over the racetrack....

....enter the AI traffic. I will earn the 11 place in the pole and as soon as the green flag drops the AI cars are blowing past me like I'm standing still. I have the pedal on the floor and I'm shifting gears at max RPM. I find I'm able to run much better at the back of the pack, then slowly catch up and pass them one by one. The problem is when a caution comes out, I get back in the pack usually around 34 out of 43 and once the green flag drops they again blow past me like I'm standing still. The problem is they will barely touch me and spin me out causing another caution.

How do you keep the AI traffic from spinning you out? It gets into a horrible cycle of spin out, caution, restart, spin out....repeat, then from all the spinning out and sliding I blow a tire, limp to the pits and go a lap down.

My first race of my career I finished 39 out of 43, earned a K&N sponser, then DNF on the next race due to to much damage on my car, 3rd race I finished 43 out of 43.

Any tips?

I don't want to cheat and put in the money code to research and develop a better engine, are there other ways?

[cdj]

In the little I played the game, I wasn't generally competitive either so I don't have anything to recommend. :(

I think NASCAR games have a tough row to hoe. Hardcore fans want it ultra-realistic down to the exact degree of drift, whereas the most popular racing games generally have a bit of arcade aspects - which hardcore fans despise.

Personally, I think I'm out from buying the game again until either major improvements happen and/or they add in some sort of online league component. I just didn't feel like the game had improved much from the version two years prior. (I didn't play Inside Drive.)

[gigemaggs99]

In the little I played the game, I wasn't generally competitive either so I don't have anything to recommend. :(

I think NASCAR games have a tough row to hoe. Hardcore fans want it ultra-realistic down to the exact degree of drift, whereas the most popular racing games generally have a bit of arcade aspects - which hardcore fans despise.

Personally, I think I'm out from buying the game again until either major improvements happen and/or they add in some sort of online league component. I just didn't feel like the game had improved much from the version two years prior. (I didn't play Inside Drive.)

I bought Inside Line as well. It's similar to Nascar 14, I think Inside Line was basically Nascar 12/13.

Between the 2, I will say Inside Line has better sound, when you start races the announcers talk and give race track history and information, on Nascar 14 it has the same intro videos and fly overs of the raceway but no talking.

On Inside Line my spotter works all the time, practice runs, qualifing, and in races. On Nascar 14 he only seems to work on Practice runs, on races he's silent. I did some reading online and others have noted the same thing about the spotter being non-existent in races on Nascar 14.

Maybe the Nascar 15/update will improve those things.

Also after doing some reading I think you're exactly right on the hard-core fans. I by no means am a hard core Nascar fan, I'll watch it if it's on but I don't go looking for it or follow it, I might now this game is pretty fun.

If this game is supposed to be modeled after the real world stuff then I guess it's pretty close. From reading online people have the same issues I have, they say in career mode they can't keep up w/ the A.I. traffic, from what I read you have to take your lumps as a rookie driver on a new team and earn points, to slowly research and build a nicer-faster car. It takes time, not something that will happen after a handful of races. I guess it's more realistic that way, I have no idea. I assume the big boys like Lowes and Budweiser have a lot of money and have been in Nascar for a long time so they have the money to pay for the best drivers, pit crew, and all the research to keep them at the top.

For less than $20 this game is really fun, I don't mind taking my lumps and slowly working my way towards the top. There is a lot of cussing on my part as the A.I. traffic is beating my brains out but it was reassuring that I earned points for a DNF, my sponsor gave me points even though my car was toast. It was funny (this was on Inside Line) my spotter told me my car looked like I'd been hit by a semi.

I've also read on other sites about car setups, I think those might help a lot more on a souped up car. Since I'm using the bare bones car I don't think it makes a huge difference, the default setups are pretty good. I can drive anything on the practice runs or qualifying, it's once you put the wild A.I. out there on race-day things really get nuts!

[gigemaggs99]

Will Nascar 15 for PS3 require Nascar 14? I understand it's a glorified patch but will I need Nascar 14?

I have Nascar 14 for PS3, it's good but Nascar Inside the Line is a more complete game.

Nascar 14 plays the intro videos at each race but zero commentary. Inside the line plays the same videos including the commentary.

Nascar 14 has a spotter but he's silent, Nascar Inside the Line has a spotter and he helps out a lot.

Nascar Inside the Line has more menus in-game to see damage on your car, you can cycle through them with the triangle button. Nascar 14 has 1 menu and it's ON/OFF with the triangle button.

I have no idea if Nascar 15 is just going to add these features back..if so that would be cool. If not I have no real desire to continue playing Nascar 14. Either game it takes a lot to work through the races in career mode, it's kinda disappointing that Nascar 14 is missing so much content.

In the end, it's kinda disappointing to see there are other game makers out there that put out incomplete products, I thought EA was the only/main one...looks like it's par for the course.

I have Nascar 15 pre-ordered for PS3, hopefully it will address the above issues. If you take those short-comings out it is a super fun game (Nascar 14).

[JeffHCross]

I've been saying for years that EVERY game company suffers from releasing incomplete products. EA gets the lion share of the blame because sports titles tend to have deadlines that can't or shouldn't be pushed.

[gigemaggs99]

For what it's worth, I deleted the 1.03 patch and tried Nascar 14 again, now the spotter is back. I'm not sure what all I'm missing from the 1.03 patch. I assume something with the paint schemes, my career mode car now looks like a roll cage with no shell. As long as the spotter works I'm just going to start my career mode over.