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

[NLxAROSA]

The SL 55 from GT5 is a V8 though right?

That is correct.

 

[Biggles]

Hopefully EA will sort this soon in an update, until then I'll stick to the cars and tracks which feel right (I have given up on career mode with the clio-at-fuji-esque AI as they are too ridiculous for words).

I have come to feel better about the AI over the last couple of days. Here's the problem: entering a relatively short race, on a track you're not that familiar with, in a car you haven't driven before. That's Career mode!

I've mostly been driving in Quick Race. There you can set the AI on Hard, so that it drives more or less as fast as you - no constant rear-ending the AI. Set the race for a longer time - so you don't have to bang your way past the AI to win. Drive a track you know well - so that you can drive at the limit & not have the AI rear-ending you. Drive a car you know well - so that you can drive at speed & under control all the time.

Under these circumstances, the AI actually seems pretty good - aggressive, but not unreasonable - much, much more interesting than GT's. You would never, IRL, jump into a unknown car on an unknown track & have a decent (& collision free) race. The problem is, to progress through Career mode you are constantly put into a position where you have to do this, and, not surprisingly, total mayhem results.

The most impressive example of this so far, is the Nordschliefe/Veyron Invitational Race. Yup, someone's lending you a Veyron to drive for the very first time, in a race on the RING!

The most reasonable strategy for this game seems to be: practice time trial laps in QR, until you know the car & track well, then race the AI on Hard in QR. Play Career mode just to progress through the tiers. Get online against other drivers who know what they're doing.

 

[oqvist]

The most impressive example of this so far, is the Nordschliefe/Veyron Invitational Race. Yup, someone's lending you a Veyron to drive for the very first time, in a race on the RING!

Hehe the one that invited me to that race will most likely not hire me again.

How is it with the AI do they hold grudges against you in QR as well or is the AI nullified there? AI is way more aggressive against me then before and it´s for very good reason so I don´t really blame them. Though may try the cheat that calm down the AI though. It sucks with AI racing as aggressive as yourself

career mode is obviously not supposed to be something deep and serious with it´s 2 lap races so you have to take it for what it´s. You have cars you can undertake and such so you are supposed to be way more spectacular AI crashes I suspect and yadayada to spice things up.

But well for this type of racing I like the AI. They are never 100 % predictable and they drive pretty much like yourself. Like they have no clue how to take the next corner just go by chance at times

But the rubber band effect means you never really know when you done a good race which is a bummer of course. I suppose that is active in quick race as well?

One thing that is so odd hear is that you ONLY have quick race instead of the career? You don´t even have a proper time trial mode where it´s you against the clock with ghosts or anything. I don´t understand the reason for that?

 

[oqvist]

NFS Shift just got serious!

I installed the works upgrade for my tier 3 murcielago and man did the feel get right when you put it on track. It´s pretty much what you would expect from a AWD murcielago GT ala GTR 2. I was understeering off the track all the time because I thought I would carry as much speed through corners as before the works upgrade .

I suppose it´s the wing at minimum which makes it kind of a GT with a decent amount of wing downforce .

 

[TsukubaTrueno]

NFS Shift just got serious!

I installed the works upgrade for my tier 3 murcielago and man did the feel get right when you put it on track. It´s pretty much what you would expect from a AWD murcielago GT ala GTR 2. I was understeering off the track all the time because I thought I would carry as much speed through corners as before the works upgrade .

I suppose it´s the wing at minimum which makes it kind of a GT with a decent amount of wing downforce .

The Works Murcielago has been my favorite car since I got the game about a week ago. It's seriously bad ass. I just recorded a video of the Murc on Silverstone National.. should be uploaded to YouTube in a while. 👍

 

[bevo]

just tried out the 360 demo with the turbo s wheel and found out it supports the H pattern shifter, and clutch. There is no penalty for not using the clutch but it does let you rev the engine while it is pressed in. Just thought I'd throw that out there, as it kind of surprised me that they supported it.

 

[Chronos]

I got the PS3 demo and quite surprised how blurry the graphics are. The modeling is basic. I've watched a lot videos before release and I thought the environments looked good and scrolled well but the demo its just average and blurry.

The framerate is quite bad and feels at 20-25, sometimes less and didn't expect that with the simple graphics. Feels a very low budget game. The game engine doesn't seem advanced and more a choppy, miscalculating physics mess.

I'm wondering if its just the demo. I'm more let down down by the frame rate and game engine more than the models or blurry resolution. But I have to say GT5P's model detail, resolution and lighting, overall geometry and accuracy at mostly 60fps seems like witchcraft on PS3.

Overall it feels like a tame, spongy, bouncy Ferrari challenge. (not trying to knock FC in any way).

I'd have to get the PC version. Zonda sounded nice though.

 

[Vincent Viceroy]

My god this is trout. It feels like the dev's didn't have any focus.

On the one hand it's a sim...cars lock brakes, lose traction and spin out easily...on the other it's an arcade game where cars violently bounce over kerbs, cars can be flipped from behind, crashes are visceral and a handling model that doesn't offer any confidence. Sometimes I find it hard to keep cars on the straight and narrow because at speed they feel way too light; the slightest touch really unsettles the car.

This is with all assists off bar ABS on Pro mode.

However if you temper the visual voracity of the effects...reduce the camera shake a bit but keep dash blur in...and attach them to a proper sim...better handling, bumper-to-bumper racing rather than scooping cars from the rear and no 'bounce'...then you could have an extraordinary experience.

Visuals are OK; nothing special and certainly nowhere near the bullshots that have come before it. Frame-rate seems good with the odd stutter and the sound seems overly boom and rash, in your face.

As it stands now, I'm glad I didn't buy it.

 

[JAGUAR1977]

NFS Shift is at it's best hot lapping your favourite car, the career mode is just a chore to unlock cars and gain cash, the A.I is absolutely awful.

Driving the likes of the stock Porsche 911 GT3 RS and R35 Nissan GT-R V-Spec at the Nordschleife is as close as I've found to GTR2 on a console, certainly in a different league to the very simple driving model in GT4.

I also wouldn't play this game with anything but a wheel.

 

[Gabkicks]

here is a clip of the pc version. evo vs sti. I recorded @ half resolution and compressed to shrink size. color was a bit dulled as a result. I play w/ my 911 turbo wheel. I wonder how long till ferrari project comes out.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jcjZCaTmY68&fmt=18

 

[myke6699]

NFS Shift is at it's best hot lapping your favourite car, the career mode is just a chore to unlock cars and gain cash, the A.I is absolutely awful.

Driving the likes of the stock Porsche 911 GT3 RS and R35 Nissan GT-R V-Spec at the Nordschleife is as close as I've found to GTR2 on a console, certainly in a different league to the very simple driving model in GT4.

I also wouldn't play this game with anything but a wheel.

I find that the AI in races where I keep my car close to stock and the AI at medium/hard in the same class, is light years ahead of Prologue, even more varied than Forza 2 and a sure improvement over SMS team past effort, notably GT Legends and GTR2.

The problem with faster races is that it does tend to get a bit chaotic at times although past the first holeshot, the race does become quite entertaining/challenging and less frustrating. I'm doing what Biggles is doing instead of the set races, I prefer doing the Quick Races. On the PS3 I find that the sweet spot is around 8-10 cars (including yours) if persistent slowdown is to be avoided- I find that being able to set the number of cars in the race to be one of the best features of the game. With 10 cars, at the end of most of the race I've had, there'll be 2-3 other cars that will be vying for the top position and at no time can I slack off although that's hard to do when I can feel my arms falling off at lap 9 of a 10 lap race.

What's even more astounding is there is no rubber-banding. Or if there is it's not as obvious as for example GRID, where there is no way in the world that you're able to pull a 10-20 second lead in a 10 minute race. And after a race in SHIFT, look at the fastest lap times among the AI, you won't see an oddly fast times from any of them, since most would be with 1-3 seconds from each other and yours (provided that you're able to stay with the field).