NASCAR Thunder 2003 Q&A

Electronic Arts has always prided itself on being a publisher of quality driving games for the PC. With franchises like F1, The Need for Speed, and Sports Car GT, the company has given both casual and enthusiast driving fans an opportunity to rev their virtual engines in a wide spectrum of racing environments and scenarios. But one area where EA has consistently failed to impress has been in its NASCAR franchise. While NASCAR Thunder games for the video game consoles have done quite well in fulfilling their intended audience's need for a more arcadelike experience, the stringent PC crowd has had none of it, sticking instead with the likes of Papyrus' NASCAR Racing and Hasbro's NASCAR Heat properties. After putting its PC NASCAR games on hold for more than two years, EA is ready to make its comeback. For the first time, the company's Tiburon studio is handling the development of a PC NASCAR game, and from the looks of it, the forthcoming NASCAR Thunder 2003 could easily be EA's best PC NASCAR game in years. To find out more about this game, we sat down with the director of NASCAR production at EA Sports, Ed Martin.

GameSpot: This will be the first PC NASCAR game from EA Sports in more than two years. Why did Electronic Arts put its PC NASCAR franchise on hiatus for so long? Why come back now?

Ed Martin: Well, this is only the second year that the Tiburon studio is doing a NASCAR game. In that sense, it's not much of a lag. A PC NASCAR game has been in our plan at Tiburon since we took the franchise over.

The focus in the past, before Tiburon took over the franchise, had been pretty much to create an arcade-style experience for NASCAR. Early PC attempts were along those lines, though the fans on the PC platform really wanted a simulator-style game. With the advent of the next-gen consoles, EA dug into those and set PC aside for a while. NASCAR Thunder 2003 for the PC is all sim--it's a totally new direction from previous EA NASCAR games. It has a brand-new production studio (Tiburon) and a brand-new developer (Image Space). Image Space does EA's F1 PC titles, and they have great technology and a strong passion for racing.

GS: For many racing fans, thoughts of Revolution come to mind when they think of EA Sports and NASCAR. Do you feel that you have a lot to make up for with NASCAR Thunder 2003?

EM: Not to make excuses, but previous NASCAR PC products from EA were done at a totally different studio with a totally different developer and a totally different philosophy behind them. For NASCAR Thunder 2003, we're talking about Tiburon, Image Space, and a hard-core sim philosophy. And at the risk of tooting my own horn, I've been involved with NASCAR games since before the first one came out eight years ago. My only involvement with prior EA PC games was as a direct competitor.

GS: Papyrus, with its NASCAR Racing series, has always been viewed as the dominant developer of NASCAR games for the PC. Do you think you might have a hard time wooing longtime fans of Papyrus' series?

EM: I think the Papyrus fans will be a little skeptical at first. That's fine. I faced the same thing at Hasbro when we did NASCAR Heat. But, if you create a good product, even the skeptics will eventually give it a try.

GS: NASCAR Thunder 2003 will have around 60 drivers from the Winston Cup Series and the Busch Series. Are you adding any classic drivers like Richard Petty? Will you be able to drive in their original cars?

EM: We have about 10 "legend" drivers in the game this year, including Richard Petty, Cale Yarborough, Allen Kulwicki, and Bobby Allison. Their paint schemes are reminiscent of their classics, but we've licensed the drivers at this point--not all their sponsors and original car makes.

GS: The game will also have the classic Daytona Beach course. Will players get to drive the old '50s stock cars on this beach track, or will they be tearing up the sand with today's cars?

EM: They'll use the contemporary cars. Daytona Beach is a load of fun in a 750hp 2002 Monte Carlo!

Options Galore

GS: Since you're including a legends mode, how are you handling Dale Earnhardt? Will he be in the game? Will his car be drivable?

EM: The issue of Dale was a very difficult decision. We worked closely with Richard Childress Racing and Dale Earnhardt Inc. to come up with a good way to handle it. Different people choose to honor him in different ways--some people want him in the game, others do not. So, we put the decision in the hands of the player. By default, Dale is unavailable. But, players are given the option of unlocking the #3 car during the installation process.

GS: From what we've seen of the game, the graphics look very impressive. Are you building your own 3D engine from the ground up, or are you using existing technology?

EM: We started with Image Space's technology and built up from there. If you like F1 2002 from EA, you'll be very pleased with NASCAR Thunder 2003.

GS: What about realism? How many car adjustments will the hard-core players have access to? Do you model tire wear, tire temperature, and fuel weight? What about loss of aerodynamics after a fender bender?

EM: We model all that and more. Let's just say that we've made it a point to cover all our bases in terms of setup options, and we've set a goal to have more available than any other NASCAR game.

GS: How much input will you be able to give your pit crew during a race? Can you make and change pit requests while racing?

EM: Yes. Anything the real drivers can order up, you can do in NASCAR Thunder 2003.

GS: It seems that NASCAR Thunder 2003 is being made with armchair racecar drivers in mind. How accessible will it to be the NASCAR fan who might not want to deal with all those garage options?

EM: Well, in the garage, we have an "easy tweak" option, which is a simplified garage for people who just don't want to deal with all the really fine tuning. It's similar to the type of garage we have in the console versions of NASCAR. And we have assists that users can turn on that range from brake assist and traction control to spin recovery. All are user-adjustable, of course.

GS: NASCAR 2000 had some strange AI behavior, especially during the qualifying sessions (cars that qualified last would blow by you in the actual race). Is that an issue that you're aware of and are addressing in Thunder 2003? Are some drivers more aggressive than others? How would you say this game's AI compares with that of similar racing sims out there?

EM: Well, this is a whole new game from a new studio, developer, and production team. Any relation to NASCAR 2000 for the PC is limited to the company name on the box. We're spending a lot of time to make sure the AI is great. The focus for the initial release of NASCAR Thunder on the PC (yes, EA Sports has committed to doing this for multiple years) is on the racing experience--that means AI and physics. I think people will be pretty happy with the end result.

GS: Is there anything else you'd like to add about NASCAR Thunder 2003?

EM: Be prepared for something totally different from EA. If you think F1 2002 is good, you'll love NASCAR Thunder 2003, because F1 2002 is its older brother in terms of the base technology. And also be prepared for a whole new level of openness. I think NASCAR Thunder 2003 for the PC will be the most open-ended architecture racing sim ever made in terms of how you can tweak it and how much modifying the fans are going to be able to do. We're already working hard with the community to start building some really cool mods for the game that will be out there when we ship.

GS: Thanks a lot for your time, Ed.