With the initial buzz about the release of Need for Speed Shift slowly easing off, clever PC modders have started looking for ways to further improve Slightly Mad Studio’s newest title.
Basis for all modding is a tool named QuickBMS that allows packing and unpacking of Shift’s files. More info on the tool and support can be found in the XeNTaX forums.
One of the first guys to take advantage of the new possibilities is Tobias Kluge who has released two Need for Speed Shift mods. The first one reduces or completely removes the depth of field blur at high speeds as you can see on the comparison shots below. The second reduces the AI aggression to 55%, resulting in much cleaner racing. Optionally, the mod also reduces the grip level for those who feel that the cars in Shift are too grippy.
Those of you who are still struggling with the right settings for their wheels might want to try Techade’s FFB profile. The guys knows what he’s doing, being the author of the RealFeel plugin for rFactor. And if you have other issues with Shift, EA has posted a Q&A that provides solutions to the most common problems.
migf1
September 27th, 2009 at 03:43
TechAde’s xml file transfers on the wheel 50% grip coming from the front tyres and 50% grip coming from the real tyres. This is obviously wrong, since the steering wheel should only be affected by the grip of front tyres.
In other words, the setting ‘GripFactor’ should be set to “1.000000″ instead of TechAde’s ‘0.500000′.
The easiest way to test the difference, is to go to a long straight and steer your car left and right as if you would wanted to warm your tyres. With TechAde’s setting you will notice on your steering wheel strange counter forces coming from the rear tyres.
In any case, Shift’s FFB settings seem to be very similar (almost identical) to ISI/SimBin FFB settings. There’s a very nice topic on nogrip (http://www.nogripracing.com/forum/showthread.php?t=164378) dealing with the whole issue in depth. In there you’ll find more xml files with proposed FFB and Steering settings for Shift.
migf1
September 27th, 2009 at 04:09
Actually it’s a bit weird TechAde missed that setting, because other than that his profile seems pretty good!
hypertek
September 27th, 2009 at 04:23
that means people will be ripping the models from this game pretty soon =)
Sommergemüse
September 27th, 2009 at 04:58
Not so fast – very much binary shit there – we have to wait
hypertek
September 27th, 2009 at 06:27
haha yeah, the models will probably look like crap if carried over to g motor lol
mattabater
September 27th, 2009 at 09:03
tobys grip mod and techade’s ffb and like mig f1 mentioned grip factor set to “1.000000″
DW
September 27th, 2009 at 10:33
Last night I tried a gMotor2 sim for the first time since I installed Shift a week or so ago. The improvement in graphics really is astonishing but what surprised me is how much better Shifts physics really are. When I first tried Shift the improvement wasn’t at all obvious but going back to GTR2 after a week it really is the improvement Ian Bell said it would be.
Of course GTR2 still has lots of features it would be good to see in Shift, but would I want to drive any Shift car in GTR2 or rFactor? No I wouldn’t :)
Looking forward to some Shift tracks modded to remove the extra track side objects.
Dark Racer
September 27th, 2009 at 11:54
Have to agree with you DW, fired up rfactor for the first time since shift. And it looked and felt very very old. If anyone has not tried shift with these new ffb settings you are realy missing out. Spa in a tier 4 car is amazing!
stabiz
September 27th, 2009 at 12:05
triple_a
September 27th, 2009 at 13:14
The steering feels great now, I’m using the settings from post #63 from the nogrip forum thread. I altered the settings a little bit, I set gripfactor to 1 and removed the wheel vibration effects from throttle. You can find the instructions from the same nogrip thread.
creatorex
September 27th, 2009 at 13:36
Nice! Now arms are not moving all the time and IA cars are harder to play but fair to overtake or be overtaken.
So good thing will come over shift from community… I hope by the EA side too.
Rgards!
f0xx
September 27th, 2009 at 14:43
Hmm wnt this provoke online mismatches?
Howie47
September 27th, 2009 at 15:05
Be prepared to remove all mods when the patch comes out!
I saw a car stolen from TDU in rFactor. It looked like sheet, and why would you want those far inferior physics? It’s only 40$. Just drive the real thing and also get all the up to date lighting and graphic effects.
morning_wood
September 27th, 2009 at 16:39
it is really stupid the community has to fix a game for the company that produced it…
EPIC FAIL
F1Racer
September 27th, 2009 at 16:42
They’re not ‘fixing’ it. They are merely changing it to suit themselves.
EPIC FOOL
yakshemash
September 27th, 2009 at 17:08
EPIC OWNED :-)
Raikku
September 27th, 2009 at 17:56
What happened? Site don’t work w/out j.script now(?)
But back to Shift,first priority mods would be:
1.to get ingame steering wheel turn 1:1 with your real wheel
2.seat/fov adjustment, just like in other sims.
TheSTIG
September 27th, 2009 at 17:58
True .. true ..
BSR-WiX
September 27th, 2009 at 18:18
lets stay with the word modding, and let the word ” Ripping” out of this discussion.
JasonSix
September 27th, 2009 at 19:28
Is anyone working on something that will improve FPS?
Howie47
September 27th, 2009 at 19:56
The Devs and ATI maybe Nvidia. Beyound modders abilities. Unless they remove stuff.
Sommergemüse
September 27th, 2009 at 19:57
I made a 3 Step German Tutorial Series :)
And another mod with Light DOF and Without Grey/Fade Crash Animation. You can hear only the driver moaning and the Cam is shaking :)
http://sommergemuese.bplaced.net
F1Racer
September 27th, 2009 at 20:58
Yep. I believe NVidia have already made more powerful graphics cards to fix that and Intel have some killer CPU’s to complement them.
Sorry, I couldn’t resist that one :)
Seriously though, todays games are very demansing. Either upgrade your rig or lower your settings.
TomHolland
September 27th, 2009 at 21:37
Mwah, I’m playing this game with a <€600 rig which is allready over a year old. Run everything maxed out, 2x aa and in 1680×1050. Never had a hick up while playing.
Meaning even with quite out dated hardware, as my rig was allready pretty outdated when I bought it you can still run most modern games on high graphic settings. Only game which I encountered this far which performed bad on my pc was GTA IV.
At prices hardware is sold nowadays I'm quite sure you could get an equally powered pc as mine for less than €450.
DRat
September 27th, 2009 at 22:17
As far as I can see so far, a CPU (and maybe mobo) upgrade is necessary if you don’t have at least a dual core processor. That is the minimum spec, and I get CTD’s on my single-core machines.
My 2005 vintage gaming PC is just no longer up to the task. It’s been just getting by with some newer games and apps, and at least I can keep the power supply and case.
Don’t plan on exporting anything from NFS:S to a different game / sim unless you like to tickle the legal dragon. I’d expect EA to be ok with free mods to it, but not with rips.
aliasx
September 27th, 2009 at 22:39
I have no problems at all with my E6550, 2 Gig RAM and a 8800 GTS running shift with full af/aa resolution at 1360*768 (native res of my 40″ LCD TV).Runs super smooth even with 15 cars on track.
kill4f00d
September 27th, 2009 at 23:27
Listen up SMS! The PC version needs many more options as far as graphics and controls. That way we can set the game up to our tastes and won’t have to worry about online mismatches. Take a look at all the options in GTR2 for a great example. Oh, didn’t some of you guys work on that title?
MacBook Pro 17″
Running Windows 7 x64 RC1
2.8Ghz Core 2 Duo
4GB DDR3 1066
Geforce 9600m GT
500 GB hard drive
Graphics settings don’t really affect the performance. It always feels like its in the upper 30’s of 40’s as far as fps which isn’t so bad. It runs fairly smooth too. It’s the weak video card, I know. It’s similar to a desktop Geforce 7800 as far as performance.
JasonSix
September 27th, 2009 at 23:34
Thanks for the tip Captain Obvious.:tongue:
In all seriousness, my rig will play any other game @ 1920×1200 on high/very high settings with decent to excellent FPS. Shift doesn’t seem to do well for some reason, lowering the resolution will allow me to increase the other settings but having to run a non-native resolution and forcing fullscreen negates those improvements. No doubt I need a new card (8800GT) but I’m not prepared to shell out $200+ for a new card just for one game.
TheSTIG
September 27th, 2009 at 23:53
The problem with fps, lack of setting and control/feel issues for me is due to the fact that almost all the games nowadays are made for the …. consoles and then ported for the PC. I mean what kind of dev. are u if u make the presentation of “the most realistic sim of our time”, with some old dude in a suit playing with xbox controler
The other big problem is the obviuos rush for the release date. Sadly this reminds me of the most resent titles from the series (and a lot ot other games) that needed mothns more of development and beta testing before release(let alone wrong approach to phisics and stuff), but had to be “ready” on time. Mixing the different platforms seemed good before, because u can enjoy the games no matter what choise of platform u made. Now it seem it is one of the biggest issues of the gaming industry. I really hope SMS will correct that in future patches and DLC and let the community do their thing, because this game/semi-sim has a potencial to be mutch more than what is was/is upon release. (sry for my eng, but i have no spellcheck from where im typeing)
JAGUAR1977
September 28th, 2009 at 00:09
I read SMS will be supporting Shift for the next 18+ months with patches and DLC. Next years major NFS game will be produced by Criterion, it seems EA are alternating the NFS developers every two years like the Call of Duty games.
This being the case I’m hoping we’ll see all maner of improvements, and maybe even some unusual options such as tracks without the extra banners, flags and fairgrounds.
GeraArg
September 28th, 2009 at 00:28
Anyone have a good FF setup for a Back Momo and Fanatec GT3??
captain_underpants
September 28th, 2009 at 00:51
Well, that investment will usually benefit pretty much all your other games. It’s also a small price compared to what console players have to endure, ie. waiting who knows how long for the ‘next gen’, and spending 4 times the price of that card for the privilege. I reckon it’s worth the money.
I like the reduced AI aggression. Those guys were bonkers before. I’d like to see a mod to make the races longer. 2 laps are over before you know it.
I feel dirty trying to achieve the ‘Spin Out Opponent’ star.
kill4f00d
September 28th, 2009 at 00:58
Maybe they’ll finish the game, or not.
F1Racer
September 28th, 2009 at 02:11
Well it was kind of a silly question imo.
Then you`ll just have to make do with what you have and compromise on your game settings.
Plus you won’t be upgrading just for 1 game as all the others and future ones will benefit.
My 8800GTX runs it nicely.
mattabater
September 28th, 2009 at 03:03
f1 do you relies 8800gt is almost identical to a 8800gtx? with an over clock faster than a stock gtx, sms have said there working on a fix to address this issue. But like a i said on the review page ill say again open up task manager goto processes SHIFT.EXE set affinity make sure both processors are checked, also just found this out to try in nvidia control panel multi-display/mixed-GPU acceleration change to single display performance mode, also uninstall physx even if you have the latest nvidia drivers and download the latest physx drivers and install them.
Ok on the gameplay im using the settings i said in my above post along with those settings im using 900degrees rotation, and a couple of tweaks in game i have turning lock at 100% steering lock i change depending on the car start at 75 doesn’t matter which car usually a bit higher than that, playing around with steering sensitivity 57 58 seems alright, the game feels really really good man those tyre physics are awesome, my Logitech profiler settings are just rfactor real feel plugin settings.
UncleChuckle
September 28th, 2009 at 06:13
Is there a mod that actually makes the game fun?
Sommergemüse
September 28th, 2009 at 07:56
Thats a lot easier:
http://sommergemuese.klee.in/2009/09/shift-modden-und-ohne-repacker-zocken/
I know its German but:
Create the BAT listed there execute and move this content to shift… remove the pakfiles folder and attach the -loose to your nfs shortcut
Sensekhmet
September 28th, 2009 at 09:33
There is.
Pour a glass of water into your computer case. Watch the sparks and smoke of fun rise up high! And imagine us giving out a sigh of relief, for that kind of fun will keep you away from the internet for a while.
B_UK
September 28th, 2009 at 09:50
Hey! We used to pour orange juice and Coke etc into this computer monitor at school, ahhh the good old days…
spliff
September 28th, 2009 at 10:26
good morning bitter (well, some) simmmers! shift’s getting better and better thanks to the community. and the sun is shining into my office. *smiles*
F1Racer
September 28th, 2009 at 10:58
Of course I realise that. My other PC has the 8800GT in it. Why are you even asking ME that question though ? I’m not the one with FPS issues.
Shift for me works fine. Like I said, I have no FPS issues and if the GT is similar to the GTX then shouldn’t your question be directed at JasonSix ?
Maybe I get away with Shift because I run a quad-core extreme CPU
Anyway he wasn’t specific about his ‘fps issues’. That could range from ‘my game runs fine but I just want more than 40 or 60 fps for the sake of it’ to ‘my game is slow and stuttering so I can’t run it at the big resolution I’m normally used to’.
F1Racer
September 28th, 2009 at 11:00
Yeah its called a lobotomy.
mattabater
September 28th, 2009 at 11:14
Because you said to that guy buy a new card then you said you have a 8800gtx that runs it smoothly, thats all. and yes it prolly loves that intel of you’res alot :)
Jack_NL
September 28th, 2009 at 11:45
your nick tells me something else makes you smile
aliasx
September 28th, 2009 at 11:53
Not ever
Must be the old gouda!
f0xx
September 28th, 2009 at 12:14
LOL a lobotomy
F1Racer
September 28th, 2009 at 14:48
Indeed it does :) I did have 2 8800GTX’s in SLi but it didn’t work too well with some games so I put one aside. Lucky I did too as the fan on one of them has failed and now I use the other.
But I have plans for an NVidia 285 card soon.
stabiz
September 28th, 2009 at 14:54
I thought you liked this game.
F1Racer
September 28th, 2009 at 15:52
I do, I was suggesting those those don’t need one.
carbonfibre
September 28th, 2009 at 15:54
My modded 8800GT can power past the 8800GTX/9800GTX in most performance tests and does it about 30 degrees cooler, fantastic little card, holds its value very well for a piece of hardware.
Really though it could be worse, you could have an ATI card.
I know exactly why they have problems, the cards and drivers are unsophisticated and cheap. Shift must have already claimed a few melted ATI cards by now.
Howie47
September 28th, 2009 at 16:00
Recently released data shows who is buying “Shift”. Xbox 45%, PS3 55% PC 5%.
So we are very lucky that they even release it on PC. I’d rather have it NOW with bugs that will be mostly fixed. Just as they always are in all games. Even those that don’t have a deadline to meet. Let’s stop beating the dead horse, of complaints againts EA.
Klaas Jan
September 28th, 2009 at 16:33
Not all console to PC ports are crap. The PC version of Burnout Paradise is pretty decent.
Sensekhmet
September 28th, 2009 at 16:45
Ouch. No wonder DiRT 2 PC version has been delayed until DirectX 11 comes out. No big financial loss anyway, especially since DiRT is a much more console orientated title I think.
JasonSix
September 28th, 2009 at 17:26
My FPS is in the 15-30 range @ 1920×1200 with no AA/AF. The 512MB RAM on my 8800GT is probably what’s hurting me the most at that resoltuion. I’m running an AMD X2 6000+, 6GB DDR2-800, ASUS M2N-SLI Deluxe, and EVGA’s reference 8800GT. OS is Windows 7 x64.
I can lower the resolution and up the quality settings but it goes into windowed mode, not much fun when your monitor is 28″. I can force full-screen but blowing up a non-native resolution looks just as bad as having everything set to low/med.
Might slap another cheap 8800GT in here for SLI until after the new ATI/Nvidia cards are out and the price gouging/stock issues subside. Looking on the internet it seems 8800GT’s in SLI is in the same performance range as a single GTX 260.
TheSTIG
September 28th, 2009 at 17:34
Howie47 i’m not complaining against EA, but all of the game devs. lately. And i’m really not feeling very lucky it has came out for PC too. In my point of view it should be the other way around. So stop defending NFSS/EA even where there is no need to do it.
Klaas Jan yes i admit that, but i can count those on the fingers of one hand .. sadly.
F1Racer
September 28th, 2009 at 19:14
15-30 ouch! I’m around 45-65 depending on whats going on on-screen.
I get that @ 1680×1050 with 4xaa 4xaf. I have 4Gb RAM though and running XP 32-bit.
SLi mode doesn’t work well in all games though and its certainly not all it’s cracked up to be. Some games even run worse fps in SLi mode in my experience. rFactor has better fps though. You might get lucky with Shift with a 2nd card.
RAM is cheap though so it won’t harm you to double up there.
I’m not sure on your CPU as I’m not so familiar with AMD’s. Whats the Intel equivalent of what you have ? Could it be that your CPU is bottlenecking your graphics card ?
JasonSix
September 28th, 2009 at 20:25
On benchmark charts my X2 6000+ is in the same performance range as Intel’s Core 2 Duo E6600. I don’t know, I’ll shelf NFS:S until I get better hardware. rFactor, iRacing, etc. runs fine so I’ll just stick with those for now.
Thanks for the suggestions, though! ;beer:
Sommergemüse
September 29th, 2009 at 03:16
Hi there
I tried to use the physics from GTR 2 (Ferrari F550 BMS) in Shift and it works fine – better handling than gtr 2 and! the damn drifting crap is gone ..
now i can really enjoy shift
Sommergemüse
September 29th, 2009 at 05:42
http://sommergemuese.klee.in/2009/09/need-for-speed-shift-endlich-reale-strecken/
JasonSix
September 29th, 2009 at 06:03
Thanks Sommergemuse!!! I’m unpacking the files as I type this and will give it a go.
steve30x
September 29th, 2009 at 16:06
I tried that but the game crashes as soon as I try to start a race
JasonSix
September 29th, 2009 at 16:28
Did you remember to add the “-loose” parameter to the end of the executable? It goes outside the quotes of the executable path.
Example:
“X:\Need For Speed Shift\Shift.exe” -loose
The game seems to run a bit smoother for me using these new files. I think I’ll poke around in the unpacked files and see if I do anything else to improve FPS.
Thanks again Sommergemuse!!
migf1
September 29th, 2009 at 17:31
For those using G25, you may like this FFB profile:
http://www.nogripracing.com/forum/showpost.php?p=857028&postcount=310
steve30x
September 29th, 2009 at 18:09
Yes I done that. I had a mod already installed and it was patched to v1.1 so I reinstalled the game which made it work.
Sommergemüse
September 29th, 2009 at 19:46
I installed Shift Patched to 1.1 and then I extracted all files :)