EA has released a new kind of Need for Speed Shift preview video, giving us an in-depth look at the Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.
The 2.2 mile track is located in western California and is one of North America’s most prestigious road courses. The circuit hosts an annual Moto GP round as well as ALMS and Rolex Series sports car races, highlight of the layout is the stunning corkscrew corner.
Developed by Slightly Mad Studios (former Blimey! Games) and distributed by EA, Need for Speed Shift is expected to be released in September 2009 for the PC and all major consoles. A demo of Shift has been announced to be available this summer.
Update: IGN has released a rather interesting interview with Shift track designer Dave Flynn, giving us a closer look at their track creation process.
carbonfibre
August 14th, 2009 at 02:17
I thought I was gonna see them laser scanning, doing their video research and modelling, ergo “creating Laguna Seca”.
I’m growing pretty sick of the same old video editing now too. I want to see some smooth footage on a realistic pace. Instead it keeps getting obscured to make the cars look like they are travelling 200mph all the time.
Must be for the fanboys in the youtube comments.
mikem
August 14th, 2009 at 03:13
Clean driving in SHIFT- here’s one for ya’- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ns46ecIJb7o
eddiespag
August 14th, 2009 at 04:21
“Set the record”! At 1:05?! What are they going to offer? A Champcar/IRL car? Because in real life that’s what set it. Even a three year old F1 car couldn’t do it, albeit because of inadequate/inappropriate tires. Soo… does this mean that this is not going to be an accurate/realistic sim or do they just mean, “try and set the lap record” in arcade mode?
Anyway, the graphics look great as well as the gameplay style for “Need For Speed”ers. In my opinion, of course this is not going to be a hardcore simulation, but it will give us an insight as to the potential of this new gmotor and physics/tire modeling new frontier. This is why there are no Ferraris, because the Ferrari Project still lives… and that my friends will be our hardcore, ultra realistic and accurate sim. Mark my words, keep your eyes on the future for this!
mikem
August 14th, 2009 at 05:00
I noticed that as well (the commentator annoucing the record at LS and that with the right car you might be able to break the record). I assume the person who did the research at EA didn’t fully understand the sports enough to make the distinction. BTW, for a street legal car the record is 1:35.075 (which happens to be at the top of my head but i can’t remember the car). For production car it’s the Dodge Viper at around the same time. The last time they had a GT race there the lap time was in the high 1:20s’.
carbonfibre
August 14th, 2009 at 05:20
Whoa, thanks for that. Much better!
I think this footage has all the aids on still, and using a controller because of the jerky control inputs and there were clearly some moments were over-steer was limited by stability assist.
I not blown away with the sounds, but they certainly aren’t disappointing ether. The transmission has been turned down, which is a good thing since they don’t match the efforts that endurance series put in really, but the opponents engines are seriously turned up. Regardless of the distortion in that recording. They are clearly working on improvements still.
Skillcoil
August 14th, 2009 at 06:01
Was that gameplay in pro mode ? I realized the cars were braking properly .. ?
MadCat360
August 14th, 2009 at 07:06
GT1 Corvette 2008 did a 1:19.291.
http://www.americanlemans.com/results/2008/2008_11LagunaResults.pdf
1:05 really isn’t beatable in a tin top.
Firestarter
August 14th, 2009 at 07:47
Nah, this is not for me unless they put mario kart on the track, i will own u all n00bs.
scca1981
August 14th, 2009 at 08:16
This game does not use ISI’s gmotor engine. It uses SMS’s own original engine.
Sensekhmet
August 14th, 2009 at 10:00
It does feel like the guy is talking out of his a**. Case in point: first corner is a double apex, right? And what does he say? ‘Go right, hit the apex, drift out’. Errr… which apex?
But I think I understand. There’s a titanic battle out there, SMS pulling in the sim direction, and EA pulling in the flashy arcade direction: EA seems to have gotten scared of what might happen if it really is a hardcore sim. And what would happen is low sales, AGAIN. Just look at YouTube comments, you might disregard them as idiots, stupid kids, but I’m sorry: these are the people that put racing game (racing, not sim) sales in the millions… and they already are discontent.
So, to seel more copies to laymen you need to follow their expectations, regardless of reality: they expect drama and frantic action in racing, and this is what the videos show. No matter the fact that riding in the cockpit with a good race driver (I had the honor of doing some laps with multiple times Polish road racing and hillclimb champion, who drove my car) what rises your hair is the speed, not the drama: there’s calm, tranquility in the cockpit, no drama at all. These guys seem to operate the controls so slowly and in a such laid back manner you’d almost think they’re driving to get their groceries.
Sensekhmet
August 14th, 2009 at 10:02
r8response
August 14th, 2009 at 10:25
Need for Speed, a once great series that now caters to the lowest commmon denominator.
Oh well, i’ve still got NFS: Porsche Unleashed around here somewhere
mikem
August 14th, 2009 at 12:20
PU was my first racing game. For awhile I thought it was the best and the most realistic racing game- it was the PC version which was much better than the PS2 version plus I had a steering wheel (non-FFB). A few months later I bought GPL which made a mincemeat out of PU. Of course, I’ve never bought another NFS game after that but I’ll be getting SHIFT, for sure. Funny enough, just to prove that I’ve gone full circle- the Physics and AI director at SMS, SHIFT’s developer was the lead tester for GPL. Doug Arnao- a brilliant guy, btw.
r8response
August 14th, 2009 at 12:54
Unfortunately as good as GPL is/was, its EA thats calling the shots (financially among other things). So they’ll dumb it down enough for the ADHD console kiddies and continue to milk it for all its worth.
In the meantime, I’ll stick to LFS and rFactor. Any faith i had in EA and the NFS brand was lost many years ago.
Sensekhmet
August 14th, 2009 at 13:23
Jesus Christ. When will you people stop with your snobbism and realise you DO NOT have to be a retard/ADHD sufferer not to like sims? Wake up, sims require WORK to be good at, the casual gamer wants to have fun, to PLAY not WORK. You seriously think someone who is not up to the challenge, likes different things or simply does not have the time to polish the necessary skills is worse than you?
Don’t make me feel ashamed to be a simracer, please.
yakshemash
August 14th, 2009 at 13:34
Well said!
I’m already ashamed to be a simracer. After more than 10 years…
mikem
August 14th, 2009 at 13:46
You mean GTL because SMS has nothing to do with GPL (except for Doug but that was years back). I still like to give my support to SMS and people like Doug and Eero. Small developers are always caught in the middle- it’s always Catch-22 to them but I hate if SMS was to face the same fate it did before (as Blimey). I’m also looking forward to SMS new physics engine. A demo is suppose to be out in a couple of weeks.
Boundless
August 14th, 2009 at 16:48
I’ve found some records for Laguna Seca.
For not racing cars:
http://www.fastestlaps.com/track16.html
What about racing cars, it’s little bit harder to find some official records.
But nevertherless here they come:
2007 Panoz DP01 Champ Car (Sebastien Bourdais) _ 1:05.880
750hp F1 Toyota _ 1:06.309
650hp ALMS P1 Zytek 06S _ 1:13.731
500hp ALMS P2 Porsche RS Spyder _ 1:14.030
600hp ALMS GT1 Aston Martin DBR9 _ 1:21.012
250hp Honda MotoGP Bike _ 1:22.843
480hp ALMS GT2 Ferrari F430 GT _ 1:23.611
500hp Grand-Am DP Crawford-Porsche _ 1:23.712
Howie47
August 14th, 2009 at 20:41
If you want to make any speed, you must take that corner as a single apex. Just round out the corners.
Sarcross
August 14th, 2009 at 20:55
I can never get the line right for the first corner, its usually wide, or the exit is off…
Sensekhmet
August 14th, 2009 at 23:22
There’s a corner on Poznan track, where I work and race (well… amateur race/rally): it’s a left-right in a dip. There’s hard braking before it, you brake in the dip and using the left rumblestrip. Now the fun starts… if you look at the track plan, it’s clear the right corner is in fact a ’square hook’ with two apexes, but you can’t see it when you’re in the car (terrain elevation + trees). I usually take the first (visible) apex and am knee deep in s**t when it turns out there’s another and I’m heading straight into tires, armco and forest, all close to the edge of the track. Fun, in a sick way, but fun
MadCat360
August 15th, 2009 at 00:26
If you apex once in Andretti you’re getting passed. Easy pass.
f0xx
August 15th, 2009 at 11:48
Since most gamers like arcade racing games, and we sim lovers represent a growing but still small group, all NFS: Shift gameplay vids so far were made specially for the majority. Being this a game with EA brand, thats normal.
This trailer for instance is an attempt to attract arcade racing game fans to a more realistic approach by trying to explain in a very simple and direct way how to properly race in a “boring” lap circuit.
Dont forget, most of NFS players want to do 90º turns at 200mph and free roam around empty citys…so Shift’s trailers have to make a balance between what the game is and what arcade empty-headed kids want to see..
cheers.
Raikku
August 15th, 2009 at 15:22
I think that I already know how to drive in Laguna… So many years in all earlier sims and now in iR.
The Lonely
August 15th, 2009 at 18:31
Semi interesting interview on the track making process – that’s pretty much how we make ours – just with less media! Interviewer could have been better though, we really need someone from the sim media to get an interview!
Howie47
August 15th, 2009 at 20:50
I apex once, between the two red markers. Once there your set up to
accelerate out. Hitting the second red marker and drifting to the other side of the track. Just as describe in the video above. There is no other way to take it faster! RFactor AI which hold the inside line can’t pass me there. 1. There isn’t enough room. 2. They have to slow their entrance speed to hold the inside line. That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.
HoW Monty
August 15th, 2009 at 23:13
We have a comedian! A growing group? Everyone knows that GTR2 and rFactor sold far more than the RACE series. And GTR2 and rFactor are disppearing from specialised games stores. Touring cars don’t have anywhere near the same mainstream appeal as Maseratis, Ferraris and Lamorghinis. And with mods releases being less frequent for both vernerable sims, there is little look forward to. In addition, the unappealing graphics of the RACE series make it less likely to attract new gamers as time goes on.
Anyway, I’m looking foward to the Ferrari project more than SHIFT, solely to drive Blimey’s version of the F2004.
HoW Monty
August 15th, 2009 at 23:18
Also, everyone forgets that EA Black Box have a hand in this game. This has been downplayed in all interviews and previews, but it has been mentioned. It’ll be interesting to see how much influence they have on the driving side.
Sensekhmet
August 15th, 2009 at 23:25
Black Box? Are you sure? I thought they were all fired after Undercover debacle.
Sarcross
August 16th, 2009 at 00:13
Black Box is gone, the members have been split up among various EA teams.
JAGUAR1977
August 16th, 2009 at 02:05
I don’t subscribe to this.
Gran Turismo targets the sim market and destroys the NFS series in terms of sales, NFS has seen diminishing sales and terrible reviews.
Sensekhmet
August 16th, 2009 at 12:51
Gran Turismo’s been calling itself ‘hardcore sim’ since its first part, which was laughable in terms of physics. Actually, even the 4th part had some hilarious physics errors. Sorry, but I have a habit of taking pathological liars not very seriously.
It is taking away NFS market (really? there’s no GT for PCs) share becasue it makes people believe they’re playing a ‘hardcore sim’ and have leet skillz. It caters to fanboys and the kind of people who believe in racing magic tricks drivel of Initial D and bulls**t about 1.6l Honda engines pushing 500hp, getting 35MPG and lasting for 100k miles reliably, all this for a 1500USD in bolt-ons.
f0xx
August 18th, 2009 at 00:48
@HoW Monty
Im actually saying that games like DIRT or GRID (arcade games) sell more than GTR2 or rFactor…ARCADE racing games sell more… thats my point.
Not trying to be a comedian sry Doc.