Need for Speed Shift users will soon be able to download a free pack of cars that will add five new vehicles to Sligthly Mad Studios’ recently-released title.
The pack will introduce four American muscle-cars and one Japanese sports car to Shift:
* 1967 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray
* 1967 Shelby GT 500
* 1969 Dodge Charger R/T
* 1971 Dodge Challenger R/T
* 1998 Toyota Supra Mark IV
Furthermore, the pack will be including a new team racing mode for online events, allowing up to six players per team to race their opponents.
Even though the pack is already listed on the Need for Speed website, the download links aren’t available and no further info on the release date has been given yet.
Until now, the Need for Speed Shift modding community has been busy improving the title’s physics and graphic effects as well as providing new liveries.
Modding efforts will now go a step further as the popular 3DSimED tool is now Shift-compatible, allowing to import new cars and tracks.
The tool is also able to export Shift’s .MEB files, allowing modders to modify Shift’s content even further. Supporting a wide range of file formats of simulations such as rFactor, GTR Evolution, NASCAR Racing 2003 and Grand Prix Legends, 3DSimED is a visual editor for car and track makers.
The tool sells for 25 British Pounds, a 30-day demo version is also available. More info on 3DSimED and its comprehensive list of features can be found on their official website.
EA and Ford Motor Company recently staged an interesting tournament, allowing players to prove themselves in the recently-released Need for Speed Shift title driving a virtual version of the Ford Mustang.
The four quickest contestants got to prove themselves in a real 2010 Ford Mustang, trying to replicate their times in Shift on the real-life race track. You can check out their experience below, it’s not very surprising to see that none of these guys came anywhere close to the times they´ve been setting in Shift, despite professional help from Fast Lane Racing School.
A week ago, EA released thechangelog of the upcoming second patch for Need for Speed Shift that will address various issues on all platforms.
Most interesting for PC users will be the performance-related changes as the patch aims to drastically improve the graphic performance, especially for ATI users. How significant the changes are shows the following in-depth article from HardOCP.
They got to test the second patch, providing us with a variety of benchmarks and image quality comparisons. The patch is expected to be released at the end of this month, click here to check out the very detailed benchmarking article.
Jaketoox has released his Sun Mod for Need for Speed Shift, giving the real-life tracks in Shift more realistic lighting.
The mod changes the location of the sun, producing more realistic sunlight for dawn, mid-day and dusk. The mod also dials down the bloom effect, all changes are only applied to the real-life tracks in Shift, not the fictional ones.
The effect can be checked out best by watching the video below.
Following the first patch that was released shortly after Need for Speed Shift hit the shelves, Slightly Mad Studios are now busy preparing the second patch that will address a variety of issues.
Alongside various small fixes for all platforms, the patch also addresses the technical issues of the PC version such as poor ATI support, crashes when changing graphic settings and more. Furthermore, the patch will increase the number of players in online races from 8 to 12.
The patch is currently being tested, a release date has not yet been announced. You can find the full changelog below, you might have to click “Read More” to see it.
Jessica, Darin & Shaun of Insidesimracing.tv have released their video review of Sligthly Mad Studios’ Need for Speed Shift title, giving us an extensive look at the popular new racing game.
Furthermore, the video includes the newest edition of their top sim cars rating and the guys answer some Forza Motorsport 3 related questions. Enjoy the show!
Electronic Arts’ Need for Speed franchise has joined a very exclusive club by selling more than 100 million copies, making it the best selling racing game in the world.
Since the release of the first title in 1994, 14 Need for Speed titles have been released, the latest being Slightly Mad Studios’ Shift. The franchise joins a very elitist club as only a handful of other game series have sold this many copies, including The Sims, Mario, Pokemon and the Gameboy classic Tetris.
Players have completed over 279 billion virtual miles in Need for Speed, using 14 different game platforms. The number of sold copies even exceeds the number of sold passenger cars in the US since 1994. And just in case you´re wondering, the highest resolution cars in the initial Need for Speed consisted of just 70 polygons.
Sommergemuese has released a complete template pack for all cars in Need for Speed Shif, allowing everyone to include personal liveries in the popular title.
The templates come in 4096×4096 pixel resolution, allowing the creation of high-res screenshots. Due to the high resolution, the pack is 600mb in size, it is a must have for Need for Speed Shift painters though.
The pack can be downloaded below, more info and an english readme file can be found in sommergemuese’s blog.
Eter has put together another Need for Speed Shift comparison video, showing a lap in the Koenisgegg CCX on the Nürburgring Nordschleife both in Shift and real life, giving us the chance to compare the track and the car physics.
Xupeko has released a new beta version of his Pro Career Mod for Need for Speed Shift that fixes a critical bug found in the earlier version.
Changes by this mod include changes to the race length by factor five, getting rid of the very short two-lap events. The required points to level up have also been increased by the same factor to suit the new race length, the prize money awarded for new levels has been decreased to further slow down the career mode and make it more rewarding.
Xupeko points out that this mod is meant to be used with Dario Morelli’s Real Mod 2.0b, installation is as simple as overwriting some files.
Important: If you have an old version of the mod installed, make sure to uninstall it as explained in the mod’s readme file.
While other mods for Need for Speed Shift have already improved the title’s graphics and physics, xupeko’s Pro Career Mod aims to extends Shift’s career mode.
Changes by this mod include changes to the race length by factor five, getting rid of the very short two-lap events. The required points to level up have also been increased by the same factor to suit the new race length, the prize money awarded for new levels has been decreased to further slow down the career mode and make it more rewarding.
Xupeko points out that this mod is meant to be used with Dario Morelli’s Real Mod 2.0b, installation is as simple as overwriting some files.
Eter has put together a comparison video, showing the Pagani Zonda sports car in Need for Speed Shift alongside real footage from a hotlap on the Nürburgring Nordschleife.
Racer_S has released Camera Control for Need for Speed Shift, allowing real-time editing of the game’s cameras and FOV settings.
While that’s very useful for those looking to make spectacular screenshots and videos, the tool also adds unofficial support for the TrackIR device to Shift.
Important: This tool only works with the 1.1 version of Shift so make sure you have the patch installed.
iRacing has released first screenshots of Brands Hatch, the second European track to make it into their online racing simulation.
The shots show the track as it's currently undergoing the development process, including the laser-scanned surface and the buildings around the track's main straight.
he 3,7 kilometer Brands Hatch circuited hosted 12 Formula One Grand Prix and is well known as a touring car venue these days, hosting both the WTCC & DTM as well as the British BTCC.
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Ferrari F60 & Singapore 2009 – Released
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Driven by Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen, the F60 was Ferrari's take on the new rules introduced prior to the 2009 Formula One season. Despite being equipped with the promising KERS system, the car failed to make an impact on the world championship. Along with the car comes the 2009 version of Singapore, Formula One's first ever night Grand Prix.
The team's first public mod for rFactor was helped by many modders who ...
Superleague Formula Game – Released
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Based on ISI's popular gMotor 2 simulation engine, the game includes all cars, drivers, rules and tracks of the 2009 SLF season, the second in series history. The virtual SLF cars have been created by none other than CTDP, rFactor's most popular open-wheel modding team.
The game includes six popular European road courses as Magny Cours, Zolder, Estoril, Monza, Jarama & Donington are included. Furthermore, the game includes all of the series rules including the two-race format used on race ...
Forza Motorsport 3 – Review
The third installment of Turn 10's Forza Motorsport franchise brings over 400 cars and 100 to the Xbox 360, aiming to create a new benchmark title in terms of console driving games.
Can the newest Forza give Gran Turismo a run for its money and is the title something sim racer should consider? Read the review to find out.
Endurance Series SP1 – Porsche RS Spyder Evo Previews
Enduracers have released a first batch of previews of the upcoming Service Pack 1 for their popular Endurance Series mod for rFactor.
The previews show the Porsche RS Spyder Evo LMP2 prototype in several paint schemes. Launched in 2007 after a problem-ridden season with the initial RS Spyder model, the Evo proved to be a big success, clinching Porsche countless wins in the American Le Mans Series, the Le Mans 24 Hours and the Le Mans Series.
The first service pack will be introducing several new models to Endurance Series, including the Peugeot 908 and Audi R10 diesel sports cars, the Acura ...
Need for Speed Shift users will soon be able to download a free pack of cars that will add five new vehicles to Sligthly Mad Studios’ recently-released title.
Following the first patch that was released shortly after Need for Speed Shift hit the shelves, Slightly Mad Studios are now busy preparing the second patch that will address a variety of issues.
