NASCAR SimRacing Hands-On

EA Sports' NASCAR franchise will make its long-awaited return to the PC with the upcoming NASCAR SimRacing. Unlike the console installments in the series, which have traditionally appealed to a wide variety of racing fans, SimRacing is aimed squarely at the hardcore NASCAR simulation fan. We had a chance to take the game out for a few practice laps at a recent EA Sports press event to see just how the sim aspects feel.

According to the title's producers, there are three main areas in which NASCAR SimRacer sets itself apart from a realism standpoint: vehicle physics, environmental modeling, and artificial intelligence. From the outset, the most obvious of the three is found in the feel of the stock cars, which are weighty under acceleration and, if not exactly sluggish in the turns, at least temperamental. Using the Logitech Momo Force Feedback wheels that were on hand, it was easy to feel the weight of the cars subtly shift with the slight undulations and imperfections of the asphalt, especially on high-speed superspeedways such as Talladega and Daytona. The physics of the cars, as you might expect, work hand in hand with the modeling of the various environments--everything from the track design to subtler factors such as weather conditions and track temperature plays a role in how your car feels on the oval.

The fan who will gravitate toward NASCAR SimRacing will typically have great affinity for and experience with NASCAR as a sport. Because of this, the game demands a higher degree of driving sophistication than the NASCAR titles found on the consoles. With all the driver aids turned off, you won't be able to scrape your way to the head of the line. Instead, you'll need to make intelligent use of drafting to give yourself the edge needed to overtake the competition. Fail to do so and you'll find yourself quickly lagging behind the pack, with no hope of catching up. While the game is skewed toward gearheads, it features a number of difficulty settings, including adjustable AI settings and car-specific driving aids such as antilock brakes.

If you're bored with taking on computer-controlled opponents, you'll be able to hit the field with up to 42 of your online buddies, via NASCAR SimRacing's online racing feature. If you don't have that many friends (or your friends aren't NASCAR fans), a full complement of AI drivers is available to fill in the missing slots, ensuring that you'll always have a full race, no matter what time you hit the track. Voice chat via the game's voice-over-IP option means you won't have to lift your hands off the steering wheel to communicate.

NASCAR SimRacing's in-depth car setup and telemetry options are a love note to gearheads looking to squeeze the maximum performance out of their cars. For that portion of your grease-monkey brain that is obsessed with camber angles, tire wear, and engine revs, there's more than enough in NASCAR SimRacing's setup options to keep you busy. Nearly every adjustable aspect found on a real NASCAR stock car can be adjusted in the game (tire pressure, ride height and camber, gear ratios, and so on), though each adjustment on the car involves a trade-off--run a ride height that is too low and you'll run the risk of the car bottoming out; run it too high and you'll sacrifice downforce. To assist you in making smart setup decisions, SimRacing has one of the most in-depth telemetry systems we've ever seen. Telemetry data is recorded for every lap you run in a session, and everything from tire wear, to engine revs, to a zoomable track map with racing lines is available for study. The level of depth here will likely appeal to both hardcore NASCAR fans and obsessive PC driving fans. For the rest of us, we're hoping the final version of the game includes either a wealth of effective predesigned setups for each track or detailed explanations of many of these car attributes, in the form of a manual or readme file on the game disc.

The game includes a career mode that spans the Craftsman Truck Series, the Busch Series, and the Nextel Cup Series, but, unlike EA's console NASCAR efforts, there are no silly storylines or lame cutscenes to sit through. Forget the driver rivalries and the soap opera--in NASCAR SimRacing, the only thing that matters are results, and the only fights are for valuable Nextel Cup points.

Graphically, SimRacing looks as ad-heavy and authentic as you might expect. To ensure that all the car liveries found in the game are as up-to-date as possible, the game will be updated with the most recent logos and paint schemes upon installation. Less obvious details are also present in the game's graphics, such as the retaining walls on the outside of the tracks and the angled cockpit gauges (to compensate for the high-banked corners in most NASCAR tracks). The numerous camera angles, including multiple first-person views, as well as overhead camera options to check out rival traffic, are complemented by several HUD options that will display as many or as few gauges as you like.

The roaring, bass-heavy engine sounds are the game's most obvious aural delight, oftentimes drowning out the sound of your spotter's voice as he calls out the position of the cars around you. The audio production team even sampled the sound of a stock-car transmission as the driver shifts through the gears on his way to top speed. The result is an auditory experience that, when pumped through the right set of speakers, may loosen a filling or two.

By splitting its NACSAR license down the middle, between arcade titles for the consoles and hardcore simulation titles for the PC, EA is looking to appease a wider variety of racing fans than ever before. The NASCAR series has earned a strong following on the PS2 and Xbox. Will NASCAR SimRacing do the same among the notoriously finicky PC racing audience? We'll have our answers in February 2005, when the game is released to retail.