Description:

Nascar Racing 4 is Papyrus' next evolution of the award-winning racing series. Nascar Racing 4 showcases a revolutionary new 3D-physics model, designed by Papyrus founder, Dave Kaemmer, that adds realism to the reactions of the cars with body rolls, the ability to become airborne, and tires that spin and lock up. The cars also feature a virtual 3D cockpit that allows you to look left and right, more dynamic arm and steering wheel movement enhancing the immersive quality of the game. To further improve the quality of the gameplay, the interactive users interface includes widget sound, background music, and pop-up help for the car setup and configuration options. Other driver aids include a novice mode, traction control to limit wheel spin, antilock brakes, and steering/stability control to prevent the players from overreacting when steering. Nascar Racing 4 features the drivers and teams from the 2000 Nascar Winston Cup and Nascar Busch Grand National Series seasons.

The new hardware-only 32-bit graphics engine allows for real-time reflection maps and shadows, unlocked frame rate, and smooth slow-motion replay. Enhanced AI functions in 3D with real-time body roll, better obstacle avoidance, and better decision-making capabilities. The multiplayer capabilities have been improved as well, to allow for remote server set-up and connection-quality monitoring.

Features:

• Winning Franchise: Sierra's Nascar titles for the PC are the number one selling racing simulations on the market, while Havas Interactive overall is the second largest player in the racing sim market. Sierra Nascar products outsell the competition almost 4 to 1.
• Winning Sport: Nascar is the fastest growing sports franchise in the country with well over 250 millions fans viewing Nascar events last year alone. There are over 2200 sanctioned events a year at more than 135 tracks in 39 states. Last year's Brickyard 400 in Indianapolis, had a larger attendance than the Superbowl, World Series, NBA finals and a sold-out Rose Bowl combined. Nascar has the most brand-loyal fans in professional sport. 72% consciously purchase products based on the manufacturer's Nascar involvments.
• Brand Recognition: Sierra's Papyrus divisions is credited for creating the racing sim genre and continues to be the recognized leader in the Nascar simulations market.
• Nascar Racing 4 will have more than 30 millions press impressions at launch and will be heavily promoted in core gaming, mainstream and mass-market Nascar publications.
• Online Excitement: Nascar Racing 4 supports robust LAN and Internet play, with close ties to WON.net, Havas Interactive's leading online gaming network.
• Authenticity: Nascar Racing 4 features drivers, tracks and teams from the 2000 Winston Cup and Busch Grand National Series season.
• Revolutionary Engine: This latest title features an entirely new 3D-graphics engine with enhanced physics modeling. The hardware-only 32-bit graphics engine superbly highlights powerful PCs with features such as: Real-time Reflection maps and Shadows; Unlocked Frame rate; Smoother Slow-motion Replay; Enhanced for D3D; Z Buffering; and Automated Polygon Reductions based on system horsepower. The updated physics engine allows for body rolls, ability to become airborne, and spinning and locking up individual tires.

Facts Sheet:

Click on picture to get high resolution image.

Two new images (7/6/2000). Thanks to Tracy Dean for scaning them.

Download Nascar Racing 4 Movie (33 MB).

Press Release signed by David Keammer and Randy Cassidy.

My photos from E3 show. Many of them got corrupted.

All 4 photos above are property of Tom Velez.

Official Papyrus screen shots.

9 pictures above are property of .

69 pictures above are property of .

Flying to Los Angeles I had only three titles in my mind and Nascar Racing 4 was one of them. I was hooked on one of its predecessor, Nascar Racing 2, which also had a lot to do with me not playing Nascar Racing 3. The physics engine stayed the same from the original Nascar Racing 1, the only improvements were in the sound and graphics department and we, the hard core nascar fans, were starting to get tired of it. We had a chance to feel the car in Grand Prix Legends, which was great, but its just not the same as driving a modern stock car but it still showed us, what can be done in the physics department. Before my trip I've heard some rumors about Nascar Racing 4 using the GPL physics engine, but I didn't take them too serious. We got burned on that one once before... can you say Nascar Racing 3?

As soon as the show opened, I started looking for the Sierra booth. It was near the Hasbro booth (Nascar Heat, Grand Prix 3) but that didn't distract me. I looked away and stayed on my path. Nascar Racing 4 was "hidden" at the back and my eyes opened wide as I saw 3 big monitors showing the Talladega track and Mark Martin flying through the air. There were three "virtual simulators" set up with racing seats and large monitors. They were linked together over the LAN. On top of them there were three large TVs for all the people standing at the back and watching. Simulators were equipped with ECCi steering wheels and pedals. $1000, which is the price for one wheel and pedals, says all about their quality. One thing that bothered me was the location of the buttons, which were too far away for my little fingers. Other than that, it was perfect. I was one of the first people there. I jumped into the seat and smashed the gas pedal. Rear tires spun and I was on my way. I soon found out, that revving too high in lower gears isn't the safest way to drive. As soon as I spun I felt something new and yet something familiar. You guessed it right. It's a GPL physics engine, tuned down a bit and remodeled to suit a heavy stock car. What brought even bigger smile on my face was the use of the clutch pedal. Papyrus finally stepped into the world of neutral gear. There is an auto-clutch option for all those who don't have a third pedal, so don't worry. My hands started to shake and the adrenaline started pumping. This is what I've been waiting ever since the shutting down of NROS (Nascar Racing Online Series) which was run on TEN (Total Entertainment Network). I recovered from my embarrassing spin and did a few more laps. I switched from Talladega to Charlotte. Lowes is one of my favorite tracks of all times. It had a lot more details but the overall layout was the same. I made it out of the pits safely this time. I got up to speed and started to get into the rhythm. What I soon found out was that flooring the throttle in the middle of the corner (like we were used to in Nascar 1, 2 and 3) only made the rear step out resulting in a spin or a great loss of speed. Smoothness is the name of the game now. This game will separate the boys from the real men like GPL did. I got the hang of it after a few laps. Speeds are little more 'realistic' now, around 174 mph with default setup. As I drove around, a man stepped next to me. He was wearing the Papyrus shirt and his name was Randy Cassidy. He explained me a few things and answered some of my questions. He told me that the lighting effects in Richmond look great and that I should check it out. I did just that and what I saw was beautiful. Driving around Richmond speedway I also found out I could lock the brakes. Pushing too hard into a corner and braking late only pushed the car way up the race track so once again I had to drop all my "bad" habits from previous Nascar titles and start over. Time was flying and I remembered that I have to check the new setup options. I entered the garage to find out a bunch of new things. One of the first things that caught my eye was the option to choose between the qualifying and race engines. The difference wasn't so obvious, but the Papyrus guys are still working on getting the horsepower and all parameters right. We will be finally qualifying faster then we will be racing in the race itself. Hurray for reality! Next new thing was realistic tire pressures which are around 30 PSI now. What I found out from Randy is that all default setups are realistic setups from a real racing team. There are changes to suspension setting which are more detailed now and same goes every other department like transmission, etc.

Randy, who is the head of the multiplayer department, told me that the days of the multiplayer, as we know it from previous Nascar titles, are finaly gone, because they are switching to GPL multiplayer stile. It will be based around VROC system. It will support up to 32 players and with pings around 0.2 we should not expect any problems. It all depends on the host's bandwidth. More and more people are switching to ADSL and cable so I don't think it will be too much of a problem. He went on to explain the physics work and a bit of multiplayer code, but you all know me. I am not much of a technical guy or a nerd, like some would say so I can't really tell you much about it. It just went in through one ear and out through the other. I think the game was running on Pentium III 400 but I am not sure. It was silky smooth but there were no AI on the track. So who know how will this game run with more than 30 cars bumper to bumper. One more thing. We finaly have a decent mirrors like the ones in GPL. Time just flew and Papyrus guys had to throw me out... hehe... I don't blame them. I had enough of Nascar for one day.

The 2nd day I wasn't around much but I still managed to do some laps.

3rd and last day was the most productive one. First I met with my old teammate, Kent 'cookies' DeJarnett and his lovely wife. We talked for an hour and tried to do some drafting at Talladega, but we were not able to race, as the Papyrus guys were racing on all three machines. They were showing the live footage on the big screen and when they finished I had a meeting with 3DFX guys. When I got back from the meeting I had a long chat with Papyrus' Product Manager, Kathy Ott. She's one sweet lady and good looking too. She told me that they are still talking to Nascar about official Online Series. Same goes for the Daytona track. The reason why Daytona was put into Nascar Racing 3 was the celebration of its 50th anniversary. Lets just hope that Papyrus gets the go-ahead. Just before they closed the show I returned to Sierra booth and had a long chat with founder of Papyrus, David Keammer. Here are some things he told me... Reason why there is no fire in Nascar Racing series is because Nascar is against it. I also told him about my dislike regarding the crowd textures and he told me that they will work on improving it. As I played the "demo" I noticed you can still run half on apron and half on track and not loose the car and he explained to me that if he had an option, to loose or not to loose control of the car when hitting the apron, he would choose the latter one and that's how it is in the game. Adding to that, he said that a lot depends on the setup of the car; loose, oversteering car will loose grip when hitting an apron a lot faster then a tight car. My last question was, what would be the one thing he would change in the game. His answer... "I just want it to be finished!" I think we all agree on that one.

This game... ups... simulation will be one of the most up-to-date racing games if not the top one. One thing, which I already know is that I'll be playing Nascar once again. If you find yourself selling a kidney to get the alpha, beta or whatever version of Nascar Racing 4, I have some good news for you. They plan to release a demo at the end of July. I don't know how many tracks will be included, but I am almost certain that there will be Talladega. Stay tuned for more updates from Blackhole Motorsports and have a good night sleep. I know what will you be dreaming tonight.

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