Posted on November 23rd, 2009 in Console, Need for Speed Shift
Slightly Mad Studios will be releasing a free download pack for Need for Speed Shift in early December, introducing five all-new cars and a new online racing team mode to the game.
Below are plenty of preview shots of the new cars, the list includes four classical muscle cars and a modern Japanese sports car. The pack will be released free of charge on December 1st for the PC and Xbox 360, Playstation 3 gamers have to wait until December 3rd to get their hands on the new cars.
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Uff
November 23rd, 2009 at 21:04
In the meantime, patch 1.02 is now available for PS3 users: http://forum.ea.com/eaforum/posts/list/342494.page
Uff
November 23rd, 2009 at 21:06
There also are ATI 9.12 beta drivers that HardOcp mentioned in their article some days ago: they seem to improve Shift performances quite a lot, so they may be worth a try (until the patch and an official version will be released). You can find them here: http://rs790.rapidshare.com/files/307992262/8.663.1_Beta4_Hemlock_VistaWin7_Nov6.exe
f0xx
November 23rd, 2009 at 21:07
Looks very nice!
kill4f00d
November 23rd, 2009 at 22:13
Shift’s physics will go well with the muscle cars.
Mr. A
November 23rd, 2009 at 22:30
I’m also looking forward to these classic cars. I hope most issues with the game will truly be fixed with the patch, so we can enjoy these cars without any annoying bugs.
Howie47
November 24th, 2009 at 01:49
According to the post at NFS. The patch addresses the worst problems. Cars can be upgraded, tuned and driven like the real deal. There will probably be some bugs that will be addressed in a future patch. I still believe this game has the present bench mark physics engine. That all other Sims must try to beat.
F1Racer
November 24th, 2009 at 02:00
Yikes, I’m glad that statement is just an opinion.
If I wanted to compare Shift to something to explain its physics, it would be like a singer with a load of orchestra and backing singers in the background.
The backing sounds mask and distract how good (or not) the singer is.
Put the singer on their own with no bells or whistles and then you see how they really sound.
So if the physics are the singer, then the orchestra is the graphics and backing singers are the sounds, sense of speed, post-fx etc.
Strip it all back and is it really the ’sim’ to beat ? I don’t think I could be convinced of that.
In sim terms it’s not really in the same category as rFactor, GTR-E, LFS etc.
If those sims were in a house and the arcarde race games were across the road, I`d put Shift in the middle of the road.
There ya go, 2 comparisons for the price of 1 :)
kill4f00d
November 24th, 2009 at 02:04
Well, maybe Shift has a “decent” physics engine underneath the drift handling forced onto every car.
kelvemcquay
November 24th, 2009 at 07:50
hey… i’ve been looking for the Real Mod v1.0… But i cant seem to find it anywhere… im looking for the 1st version… v1.0… help pls??
f0xx
November 24th, 2009 at 12:01
The engine is there, its a very good engine, but the driving feeling doesnt seem real, but who knows I never drived a racing car xD
@kelvenmcquay
http://www.virtualr.net/need-for-speed-shift-real-mod-2-0-released/
yakshemash
November 24th, 2009 at 12:34
so, let me put it this way:
In one corner guys like Doug Arnao, legend in simracing, great experience with real racing. And Eero Piitulainen, maker of RBR physics for example.
In the other corner bunch of so called HC simracers and they trying to prove that Arnao and Piitulainen are wrong and know nothing about the physics.
It is so funny :))
F1Racer
November 24th, 2009 at 13:59
And in the middle are people who find fun in a scenario that never existed in the first place.
No-one is questioning the skills of the people involved in the physics side of Shift and no-one is saying they are wrong or know nothing.
But you are assuming that they coded Shift with the best sim physics ever because they can and because of who they are.
Thats not really how it works is it ? Think about it.
What if, for example, EA (or whoever the powers that be were) said that they needed to dumb down the physics away from hardcore in order to attract a wider audience to the title and therefore sell more copies (remembering that money is the No.1 factor ALWAYS).
Also remember that this isnt a PC only title and that it would be sold primarily on consoles like the PS3 and XBox which isnt noted for is hardcore sim-racing following.
So the end result is the people you mention are having to code Shift in a manner that arguably is not as hardcore as they are able to manage if given a free reign.
I say if those two physics guys were let off the leash and able to program this as hardcore as it could get, we`d be looking at a whole differnt Shift.
If Shift is the pinnacle of their abilities Im not impressed. For what Shift is, which is a semi arcade/sim title, it’s pretty damn good. As a hardcore sim, no, not a chance.
michael
November 24th, 2009 at 14:11
Well, F1Racer, any buffoon can wave his hands around and compare a sim racer to a box of chocolates. You are the Forest Gump of sim racing. Congrats.
To talk about physics in any meaningful way, whether simulated or real, requires maths, not blather.
If you have some insight into sim physics as implemented by this game or any other to share, in a meaningful way, go ahead.
But I doubt you do.
djotefsoup
November 24th, 2009 at 14:47
I am sure f1racer is basically on the same side and likes to play shift like the rest of us, michael :)
I for one have no problem in believing that say, as opposed to what you might do for a ‘hardcore sim’, they might have mixed and matched tyres and clutch and transmission types and amalgamated them into the same car, disabled certain damage effects, upped the amount of traction you get on grass, taken out pit management, etc, in order to make the game more accessible to more people.
But that’s not really quite the same thing as this weird idea some people have that there was a slider that they just needed to shift from “realistic” to “arcade” before the suit gave them thumbs up to release it either.
kill4f00d
November 24th, 2009 at 15:06
We all wanted Shift to be a sim. There’s no more use arguing about it. It won’t officially happen. We can rely on modders for that. At least we get a critical update for bugs and some new cars.
F1Racer
November 24th, 2009 at 15:39
Hmmm so now you’re saying that none of us sim-racers are able to discuss physics and its implementations into games unless we have some sort of maths or physics degree ?
Is that a rule you made up because if so it’s new to me as sim-racers have been discussting physics since the dawn of the sim-racing game and most discussions are comparisons to something.
So quite why you are singling me out when, by your logic, we are all Forrest Gumps, has me at a loss.
Do I need the racing mind of Michael Schumacher to set my car up the way I like it in rFactor ? Do I need the brain power of Steven Hawking to convince you that Shifts physics are not in the hardcore class ?
It’s my guess that if physics was discussed in a meaningful way that went in-depth, you’d be one of the first to be confused about it all.
Seeing as how you mentioned it, could you please indulge us and compare Shifts physics to a box of chocolates. I`d love to see how inventive you’d need to get.
“er.. well you have hard and soft chocolates and duh, you have hard and soft suspension settings”. yeah.. bravo.
djotefsoup: Yep I do enjoy Shift. Its dynamic and shed loads of fun, I never play it for less than an hour when I am on it. But I do play Shift for different reasons than say rFactor or GTR-E.
kill4food is quite right. We did all want Shift to be the sim we so badly craved and some of us got annoyed that it wasn’t and some accepted it for what it was and what it was intended to be which was a mass market racer with elements of realism thrown in to challenge the above average arcade racer.
michael
November 24th, 2009 at 15:41
I’m not on any particular side TBH.
I think all racing games are just games. The vast majority available, especially on the PC, are of such shoddy quality compared with other genres of games, it’s unbelievable they sell any at all (and in fact, they mostly don’t sell any on the PC, with a few exceptions, like this title)
But I haven’t played Shift for weeks.
Why? Well, what is self-evident, and obviously was confirmed by Ian Bell to some extent, is that the game is full of bugs, many of which affect the handling in the game in a negative way.
These together with the performance issues effectively meant although I did play the game for many hours and enjoyed it, I couldn’t play the whole game.
And I reached a point where, without fixes, there wasn’t a lot left to do.
Although Ian Bell said some of these bugs were already patched and fixed and being tested during his interview on this site shortly after the game’s release, these fixes still haven’t found their way to us.
So I can understand the frustration of anyone who sees the timing of the DLC as a mistake in light of what should have been their priority.
EA (Vancouver blade) have said that the DLC didn’t impact, but via a rather asinine piece of logic “because the two were developed alongside” – to me that would be the definition of something that would impact.
Indeed, I think the fact PC users are waiting yet another week for the patch, is because of the DLC. Because if the console patches had to go to MS and Sony, it’s self-evident that we could have had the fixes, for the PC, weeks ago.
Although the DLC would be welcome under different circumstances, it’s content that I’m not that bothered about yet, because I haven’t had a chance to play through the original game.
So, either they found huge issues remaining after Ian spoke, or EA’s testing is extremely overmanned and slow, or, the DLC impacted the release. Whatever the reason I think SMS should seriously consider leaking future patches, if there are any (the worry is, EA must have wasted so much money pissing about that patches won’t be considered cost effective or worth doing)
Although TBH other, newer titles, have already started to fill the time I probably would have spent playing this. But I’m here reading this, so obviously I’m interested, but it’ll have to be pretty damn perfect patch to get me playing the game again. And, more importantly for them, I suppose, to make me interested in purchasing either future DLC or version 2 of the game…
michael
November 24th, 2009 at 15:54
No, I’m saying, when you wave your hands around and blather, what you say about physics, sim or real, is meaningless, whether you have a degree or not.
More so that even if you looked at the blather that’s written between the maths in any physics paper, you’ll see it’s nothing at all as you’d expect. Different terminology, specific talk about the actual implementation and algorithms used.
It’s chalk and cheese.
Discuss it by all means though. But yes, you’re right to note that sim racers have been blathering away complete nonsense like you did for years. So, no, I don’t single you out.
You don’t have to be Stephen Hawking to convince me. Hell, you don’t even have to know how to spell his name properly
But you would have to talk about the physics in a meaningful way.
Howie47
November 24th, 2009 at 16:02
Just putting more resources into fixing some thing doesn’t always work. If you have to change a light bulb one can do it just as quick as two. Those programmers that built the UI and cars physics, would be the ones that know how to find and fix the bugs. Not the skin painters, track makers, etc. Who would just get in the way.
Anyone who can’t experience how much more fluid, dynamic, detailed the physics model is must have very dull senses. I’m not arguing how 100% accurate they are for each car.
F1Racer
November 24th, 2009 at 16:16
But why are you even getting into this ? I think we can all make informed decisions on what is and isnt realistic feeling or behaving even if our only reference point is the car we drive in real life.
You seem to think it’s all blather and that’s kind of insulting to everyone because it assumes that people who discusses sim-racing physics haven’t got a clue. You can’t assume that nor can you expect every physics discussion to be the equivalent of a scientific lecture.
You say all racing games are just games and yes obviously thats hard to argue against, but despite that you still seem to prefer serious physics discussions over our ‘blather’. If its just a game, what the hell does it matter really ?
As for the genius that is Mr Hawking, ok its a ‘ph’ and not a ‘v’.
I should have remembered that because I do admire the guy, have his books and watch his programmes. I dont even know why I did put a ‘v’ really. I think I momentarily got him confused with someone who I once thought had ‘ph’ and actually had a ‘v’. A one time error though because I`ve typed his name correctly plenty of times. So no need to patronise. You got me, I’m human, give yourself a medal.
Different terminology, specific talk about the actual implementation and algorithms used.It’s chalk and cheese.Discuss it by all means though. But yes, you’re right to note that sim racers have been blathering away complete nonsense like you did for years. So, no, I don’t single you out.You don’t have to be Stephen Hawking to convince me. Hell, you don’t even have to know how to spell his name properly But you would have to talk about the physics in a meaningful way.
zDToddy
November 24th, 2009 at 16:22
Howie47 said engine, shift has a great engine, if it wasnt great we could not be able to enhance the physics using simple mods.
Anyway SHIFT’s 1.0(or any other unmoded version) physics sucks and even after all the mods you can get it is still an arcade title(no pitstop, no race weekends, no real racing rules) despite the physics.
F1Racer
November 24th, 2009 at 16:24
seperate post, coulnt be arsed to switch to IE to edit my post…..
What do you consider meaningful ? Also why do I (or anyone else) HAVE TO ? Another new rule ?
Sorry, I was under the impression that I could pretty much express myself any way I wanted. I wasn’t aware there were some rules as to a level you had to reach in order to form a discussion.
I’m not even getting into Shift’s physics here. Its not something I want to go over again. Been there, done that.
I’m merely stating that Shifts physics, IN MY OPINION, are not what I would consider to be sim racing physics. They have been dumbed down to appeal to a wider audience in my view. Thats as far as Im going in this discussion because Shifts physics come down to personal opinion (as all sims do) and if they provide fun for you to be happy to drive with.
F1Racer
November 24th, 2009 at 16:34
Wether the physics get enhanced or not is subjective, so I`ll consider that as ‘changing’ the physics. You might have heard the saying ‘One man’s meat is another mans poison’.
Well as for the ‘great engine’ I have no reference to draw on other than Shift itself in order to make that determination.
I really cannot agree or disagree because I have no evidence to back it up as I have never played a racing game on the Shift engine other than Shift.
So I have to wonder how Howie47 can make that determination and what evidence there is to back that up. Im not saying he’s wrong, but it’s nice to know how that conclusion was arrived at. Kinda backs up the statement, y’know ?
Howie47
November 24th, 2009 at 16:50
To me, in “Shift”, when a car slides, it really gives the impression that the weight of the car is dragging rubber against a resisting surface. While all other Sims do this to a lesser degree. Some of the favorite Sims tell the driver next to nothing in a spin. Other then the visual, a little change in the FF and if your lucky some tire squeal. There game engines just fall flat at delivering an in depth simulation of what you should experience. Not just in spinning the car; but in every driving extremity. If we made a graph of the amount of information being produced by the physic engine. I sincerely believe Shift’s would be significantly higher then all the rest.
F1Racer
November 24th, 2009 at 17:07
You could well be right Howie. Either way, the main thing is, you’re enjoying Shift and having fun with it. Job done for SMS I`d say.
While I didn’t expect it to match rF et al in terms of outright precision, even though I think my expectations were borne out, I still enjoy Shift even though I don’t race it in the same manner as I would say an F1 mod in rFactor where I’m really delving into setup, concentrating on nailing each apex etc. I do that in Shift but it’s different somehow. Almost like Im just throwing the car in and catching the rear end after.
Don’t get me wrong, I may approach both with a different mindset, but I like both for what they are and while Shift could benefit from a little better precision, the driving experience is way more dynamic than any other racing title I own.
Swings and roundabouts I guess :)
f0xx
November 24th, 2009 at 19:35
The fun factor and the driving experience are with no doubt the biggest assets of NFS: Shift… thats what Ian Bell always talked about and he was right.
I was also expecting Shift to handle like GTR2 or rFactor but it turned out to be oversteery and gripless. Some cars though, tier 3 and 4 cars, have a Sim feeling to it and those are the best to drive imo.
DW
November 24th, 2009 at 21:37
Oversteery and gripless? I prefer oversteer to the understeer of the default GTR2 setups and of course the lower tier cars are gripless compared to GTR2 – they are street cars not FIA GT cars.
Besides, oversteery and gripless sounds perfect for 60s and 70s US muscle cars
Seriously – I do think Shifts tyre physics will be perfect for these cars – it does power sliding much better than the old ISI physics.
Hoping to see even more classic cars in later DLC. The Shelby license might produce a Cobra, the Aston Martin license could produce a DB4 GT and GTZ, and the Porsche license has lots of possibilities of course. A BMW CSL would not go amiss either!
Sensekhmet
November 25th, 2009 at 10:28
And I’m afraid the game would sell 60.000 copies, max.
Actually I read somewhere that ‘real’ classic muscle cars were pretty understeery with all the weight up front. And the handling wasn’t much different from other, comparable cars of the era. Also, if anyone thinks a Jaguar E-Type handles better than a modern diesel econobox, he’s probably wrong.
F1Racer
November 25th, 2009 at 10:53
Yes exactly ! That’s my point all along.
Sensekhmet
November 25th, 2009 at 14:58
Yep. Simracers must face the harsh reality: hardcore simracing market is even smaller than excrement porn market.
Mr. A
November 25th, 2009 at 15:54
Ouch! That one really hurt, lol
Howie47
November 25th, 2009 at 16:28
People who want to race 100% simulated physics with out the impute of real G-forces, probably have a screw loose anyway. The G-force is the most relied upon factor in racing. Both in cornering, breaking and accelerating. Without something to make up for it’s lack, in Sim racing, your driving a bleached out simulation of reality. No wonder many real race drivers say, “Sim racing is boring”. You’ve got to add something extra, like they did in “Shift” to help make it more exciting, like the real thing. I have many unincorporated ideas, as I’m sure many of you do. Some one should make a list of what should be in the ultimate Sim. Which would include some arcade things.