Need for speed gets "serious".....confirmed!

[alexsteffen]

@TGM Tiddy: Thx for the Interview! Also didn´t see it before. Very interesting!

For the demo: I contacted EA´s Customer Service to get Info about a coming demo:
1st: Will there be a demo?
2nd: When will it be released?
3rd: Will it have multiplayer support?
4th: Will it support FFB-Wheels?

No infos on the phone, just the tip to use the message/contact option on the german EA-Homepage.
No reaction from EA after i used this option.
At the gamesom i got different answers when i asked for a demo!

 

[Christian_C]

Well at least it wasn't totally lost as it seems a lot of people including me hadn't seen this interview before. I reckon the demo will be coming out soon as its not long until realize now.

 

[Watevaman]

No pit support? What the hell?

 

[Biggles]

No pit support? What the hell?

It seems that someone's always complaining about something being missing from a game: weather, TOD, damage, pitstops, fuel consumption, tire wear etc.etc. But the simple truth is, that at this stage it doesn't seem possible for a single game to have every desirable feature.

FWIW: from what I'm reading, SHIFT has the perfect combination of features for my taste: great graphics, great track selection, great car selection, great physics (? ), damage (including roll-over), tuning, & good online functionality. Good AI is the one other thing I am hoping for. This is the perfect sim from my perspective - I prefer this model to GT's which in exchange for hundreds & hundreds of cars that I will probably never drive, takes several more years to come to realization.

 

[JosVerstappen]

Shift has 3 preset time of day settings . dusk, afternoon, dawn. just not dynamic.

 

[Bekimche]

Do you guys think the demo will be released today (31st August)? They said demo at end of summer. This is the last day of summer...

 

[amar212]

Shift has 3 preset time of day settings . dusk, afternoon, dawn. just not dynamic.

Are you 100% sure about dynamism? There was a trailer at some point that was showing "Endurance" as some kind of race class and dynamism was clearly shown there, only fastened.

 

[Watevaman]

It seems that someone's always complaining about something being missing from a game: weather, TOD, damage, pitstops, fuel consumption, tire wear etc.etc. But the simple truth is, that at this stage it doesn't seem possible for a single game to have every desirable feature.

FWIW: from what I'm reading, SHIFT has the perfect combination of features for my taste: great graphics, great track selection, great car selection, great physics (? ), damage (including roll-over), tuning, & good online functionality. Good AI is the one other thing I am hoping for. This is the perfect sim from my perspective - I prefer this model to GT's which in exchange for hundreds & hundreds of cars that I will probably never drive, takes several more years to come to realization.

I don't care about weather and stuff, but for a game that is emphasizing the racing and driver's feeling aspect so much, I would think that they would include pit stops.

 

[nicbha]

We're talking about an engine that can run unlimited threads, detailed physics parameters running at around 400 Hz on consoles. Things like tire deformation based on g-forces, tire pressures, rubber thickness, which only the most diehard sim fans will notice, but we know it's there.

Tire wear is not included in Need for Speed SHIFT

There are 33 different tire types in the game. There’s a big difference between different tire types, stock tires and upgraded tires (improved compounds, track tires, full slicks, etc.)

im confused by that interview

 

[markao]

Are you 100% sure about dynamism? There was a trailer at some point that was showing "Endurance" as some kind of race class and dynamism was clearly shown there, only fastened.

Could be (have not seen any endurance option yet ), but in the "quick race" option you can only choose "time--> Midday, Dusk, Dawn", as seen in the video below going through the menu's (around 1.40 min)

[youtubehd]Wih6r7y522Q[/youtubehd]

 

[markao]

im confused by that interview

why?

Tire wear is disabled as option in the physicsengine, that does not mean any other value that influences a "tire model" in a physics engine is not working?

,

 

[kikie]

why?

Tire wear is disabled as option in the physicsengine, that does not mean any other value that influences a "tire model" in a physics engine is not working?

,

In that case, some clever modders will find a way to enable the tire wear option in the physics engine.

I'm leaning more and more to the pc version instead of the console version.

 

[myke6699]

This PS3 preview build shows regular tearing. 30fps and tearing is awful.
Let's hope the final build is a lot better.

There's tearing but it's no more than what you'd find in most v-sync unlocked games on the PS3. But using the chase cam, you do get a more uneven framerate which probably accounts for the tearing (which is an indication that the framerate is dipping below 30 fps but locking the v-sync which eliminates screen tearing but would bring the framerate to a jarring 15-20 fps, not a good choice in a racing game). I find that in SHIFT using the cockpit view gives almost negligible amount of screen tear.

This video is actually a direct feed off the PS3 gameplay:

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why?

Tire wear is disabled as option in the physicsengine, that does not mean any other value that influences a "tire model" in a physics engine is not working?

,

I think what you mean is that there is no tire wear in SHIFT. It's not a disabled option, it's just that it was never part of the tire physics. There's tire deformation and you get to invidually control each of the tires' pressure. And then there's 33 different types of tires. I'm pretty sure someone can do a mod on the PC version but I'm sure that as with most mods, there's an inherent limitation of how well it might end up working.

 

[markao]

I think what you mean is that there is no tire wear in SHIFT. It's not a disabled option, it's just that it was never part of the tire physics. There's tire deformation and you get to invidually control each of the tires' pressure. And then there's 33 different types of tires. I'm pretty sure someone can do a mod on the PC version but I'm sure that as with most mods, there's an inherent limitation of how well it might end up working.

No and yes


In recent interviews (GamesCom), SMS talked about the (physics) engine having more options than they actually used for this game. So my guess is that maybe things like tire wear/pits stops are part of the engine, just not being used for this game for whatever the reason. Remember the first press talk about the game in April, pits stops then were still part of the game. (why pit stop without tire wear, just fuel? ) Using disabled was maybe the wrong word and in no way I expect it to be modded in as Kikie suggested.


On the other hand maybe you are right and it never was/is part of the engine, would not be the first tire model Eero worked on without wear

 

[dan7532]

In recent interviews (GamesCom), SMS talked about the (physics) engine having more options than they actually used for this game. So my guess is that maybe things like tire wear/pits stops are part of the engine, just not being used for this game for whatever the reason.

What seems logical to me (and I'm crossing my fingers in hope) is that they might be fully fleshing out the game engine, only to disable some features in nfs:shift. This way, they can recycle the game engine for future racing games, enabling and disabling various features as they see fit to follow the theme/direction of each game.

 

[kikie]

In recent interviews (GamesCom), SMS talked about the (physics) engine having more options than they actually used for this game. So my guess is that maybe things like tire wear/pits stops are part of the engine, just not being used for this game for whatever the reason.

What seems logical to me (and I'm crossing my fingers in hope) is that they might be fully fleshing out the game engine, only to disable some features in nfs:shift. This way, they can recycle the game engine for future racing games, enabling and disabling various features as they see fit to follow the theme/direction of each game.

Don't forget, this is the same engine as project Ferrari (Blimey!games). On racesimcentral, a guy wrote a little review. He visited Blimey!games.
He had the opportunity to test project Ferrari and he was impressed. He said that project Ferrari is 5 years ahead of any race game, including iRacing.
So if this is true, then Shift is going to be very good/realistic/sim.
So, if Shift has the project Ferrari engine, than it's save to say that tire wear, pit stop's etc... are part of Shift's engine but disabled.

 

[etp_ayer]

But why would they disable it, when it's already part of engine? They could/should give the player himself the option (maybe by triggering it, when the player chooses Pro-Mode) with an On/Off.

Anyway...im not concerned about Tire wear and Pit-Stops, but i admit it would be a nice feature.

Just give me the damn demo!! (With Pro-Mode!)

 

[Sele1981]

WOW that video looks awesome! I think im gonna get that game...

 

[red7]

Just give me the damn demo!! (With Pro-Mode!)

Well if september 15th still stands, I would assume it will be out this week? I couldn't see them putting it out just a few days before.

 

[Hereward]

Well if september 15th still stands, I would assume it will be out this week? I couldn't see them putting it out just a few days before.

And still no sighn of SCC?

 

[Northstar]

Well if september 15th still stands, I would assume it will be out this week? I couldn't see them putting it out just a few days before.

Well it is EA who has in the past put out demo's on the release dates sometimes even months after.

 

[Stang245]

I'm definately getting this game, based on what I've seen and heard. Damage, sim physics and the all important sense of speed and frenetic action. Could be a real hand trembling adrenaline rush. The driver profile aspect is intriguing.

 

[kikie]

But why would they disable it, when it's already part of engine?

My opinion: they disabled it because this is a NFS game, developed by Slightly Mad Studios. Project Ferrari on the other hand, is a Blimey!game (now Slightly mad Studios), developed by Blimey, further developed (as far as I know) as we speak by SMS.
If EA releases Shift with all the goodies that's part of project Ferrari (still my opinion), then SMS won't have any surprises left when/if they release project Ferrari.


The demo will be out soon. Problem is, will it be a console demo or a pc demo?

 

[myke6699]

Ferrari Project is one of the reason why I'm getting SHIFT. Not only to get a preview of what's in store in FP but to lend support to smaller developer(s) like SMS (and eutechnyx with SCC which might have to wait a bit until I have a bit more money to spend- this year has been especially tight).

As I've said before NFS: Porsche Unleashed (PC) was the last game fromt the franchise that I bought and played and the first racing game I had that actually featured online multiplayer.

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[Dijital Majik]

Porsche Unleased was awesome, especially the career mode. From mountain testing, delivering cars, shooting the commecial to competition with the other test drivers.

Here's hoping that SHIFT is the first step in the return of the NFS franchise we love.

 

[Crashbroke23]

That is some great footage from the best version of NFS Porsche unleashed. Shame i got the awful PSx version. What was the song in that video?

Anyways, this will probably be the best Need For Speed I will played in a while, at least the best since Most Wanted. Such a shame that they don't have any DLC in the works, I could think of quite a few good ideas for one, like I did for GRID.

 

[franz]

Porsche unleashed is my most favourite version of NFS. Realistic physics with a little bit role-playing in it. I think Eden even took some ideas from Porsche unleashed when they worked on Testdrive unlimited.

I too hope that SHIFT will turn out to be the next awesome racing title. Can't wait for the demo!!

 

[Squasher]

That is some great footage from the best version of NFS Porsche unleashed. Shame i got the awful PSx version. What was the song in that video?

Golden Skans by The Klaxons

(Great song)

 

[myke6699]

That is some great footage from the best version of NFS Porsche unleashed. Shame i got the awful PSx version. What was the song in that video?

Anyways, this will probably be the best Need For Speed I will played in a while, at least the best since Most Wanted. Such a shame that they don't have any DLC in the works, I could think of quite a few good ideas for one, like I did for GRID.

I'm pretty sure there will be DLC at some point especially considering that there won't be SHIFT 2 next year (next big NFS game is now in the hand of Critereon of the Burnout series). If the game does well, I'm sure EA will milk the most out of it.

 

[jjaisli]

I'm pretty sure there will be DLC at some point especially considering that there won't be SHIFT 2 next year (next big NFS game is now in the hand of Critereon of the Burnout series). If the game does well, I'm sure EA will milk the most out of it.

Yes I agree. They've never confirmed nor denied DLC--they've simply said "no comment at this time". To me it's clear they're waiting to see how Shift sells. If a million+ copies go out the door in the first few weeks, and sales continue to be strong through the holiday season, you can bet they have plenty of ideas sitting in the wings. And I would expect car and track packs for sale by early next year.