Motorsport Games Answers NASCAR 21 Questions in Open Q+A


Motorsport Games polled their player base for questions relating to NASCAR 21: Ignition and answered them in a video posted to YouTube.

The launch of NASCAR 21: Ignition was a disappointment on many fronts. Developer Motorsport Games had hoped that their first big release after acquiring many significant auto racing licenses would be successful and well received. NASCAR fans hoped that the Cup series would get that game it deserved after numerous underwhelming Heat titles. N21 was a letdown by either measure.

On paper, a NASCAR title using the Unreal Engine and backed by rFactor’s physics engine should be a smash. The result was unfortunately a letdown. Players complained early and often about the limited wheel support, lack of rearview mirrors, repetitive cutscenes, no custom setups, and limited online features.

Motorsport Games remained mostly quiet about the bugs in the game, and post-release improvements and additions have been sparse.

But this trend was upset recently, when Motorsport Games took to their YouTube channel to share answers to questions fans had asked about the current state of the title, and the future of N21.

While many of the answers will still leave players feeling let down by NASCAR 21, credit is due for the development team facing the questions and acknowledging the faults of their title in a public forum.

The key takeaway for those hoping for more from their purchase is that the development is not yet concluded. At some point the focus of the Motorsport team will shift to the next instalment in the NASCAR series, but thankfully that time is not yet here.

What are your thoughts on Motorsport Games taking on their criticisms in a public forum? Was this reassuring to hear, or just clever public relations? Let us know in the comments below.
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About author
Mike Smith
Mike Smith
I have been obsessed with sim racing and racing games since the 1980's. My first taste of live auto racing was in 1988, and I couldn't get enough ever since. Lead writer for RaceDepartment, and owner of SimRacing604 and its YouTube channel. Favourite sims include Assetto Corsa Competizione, Assetto Corsa, rFactor 2, Automobilista 2, DiRT Rally 2 - On Twitter as @simracing604

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Comments

maranello78
mmmarac said:
Regarding GT cars… Can someone explain to me what’s the difference between “broken” rF2 physics engine and that “realistic” one from ACC? Especially now when those setup issues with negative “toe” are actual in ACC? Even with ACC’s FFB update and my hardware update to DD, I still can’t feel a **** what’s happening with the front end of the car under hard braking or understeering. FFB of rF2 is top notch in the same scenario.
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Maybe poor graphics, 98% mod content and a trash interface/menu, and don't Talk about online Game, maybe you had more chance win lottery that find a server active or where you don't need a rare mod or track, that's why ACC has 5700 users active and Rf2 1100, maybe they will have more fans if they don't sell Game at 3€ and DLC at 30€...
 
trichens
Premium
I've not tried NASCAR 21 so don't know how good or bad it might be but... the fact that they are looking for young children to be a target market isn't very encouraging in my opinion. There are games that cater for the younger racer already - Circuit Superstars would be a good choice perhaps?

The talk of having different types of victory celebrations made available is a complete turn-off for me.
I want to go racing - even if I'm rubbish at it. Having an animated avatar jumping around after a race win at the expense of a good, accurate, reliable sim-race experience is a complete no-no in my opinion.

My " go to" sim is rF2 - despite it's faults, I would hate to find that "rF3" was going to become a shadow of it's current self to appeal to an audience who are happy with a less realistic experience.
 
maranello78
mmmarac said:
@maranello78 I was asking only about physics engine (and FFB).
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The difference is ACC have SRO licence and Cars are close to the real and they managed real data to release, i love Rf2 and sometimes play but i think they need a new Rf3 and buy some real licences to recover fans, i really love Rf2 but in fact is a 15 years Game old
 
M
maranello78 said:
The difference is ACC have SRO licence and Cars are close to the real and they managed real data to release, i love Rf2 and sometimes play but i think they need a new Rf3 and buy some real licences to recover fans, i really love Rf2 but in fact is a 15 years Game old
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Having data access and a license on a series name doesn't make in any way for sure or better realism if the foundation you are using isn't properly done. It's a false myth created by Kunos marketing mainly based on "how things look realistic", but when you dig a bit into it you discover the same physics flaws as other sims (e.g. the toe thing) or the many shortcomings of their simplified physics in many respects.
 
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RichardHessels
maranello78 said:
The difference is ACC have SRO licence and Cars are close to the real and they managed real data to release, i love Rf2 and sometimes play but i think they need a new Rf3 and buy some real licences to recover fans, i really love Rf2 but in fact is a 15 years Game old
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15 years ago was rF1.
Ever seen the amount of updates on the code Studio 397 did? A number of a release says nothing.
By that judgement iRacing is even older. They still did not put iRacing2 behind their name.
There is code that originated from the 70's still going around in your PC!
 
maranello78
RichardHessels said:
15 years ago was rF1.
Ever seen the amount of updates on the code Studio 397 did? A number of a release says nothing.
By that judgement iRacing is even older. They still did not put iRacing2 behind their name.
There is code that originated from the 70's still going around in your PC!
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Yes and we still play games from Ancient Egypt, but Rf2 has no directx11 until a 3 years ago, and still have any official licence and 98% content mod, just think about why AC has 10K users, ACC 6K users and Rf2 1K, updates? don´t make me laugh last was about absurd interface, is time to move on and release a RF3 with new graphics engine and real licences if you want to compete against ACC, AC, AMS2, etc or you could be just a remembered old game
 
maranello78
MadDriver11 said:
Having data access and a license on a series name doesn't make in any way for sure or better realism if the foundation you are using isn't properly done. It's a false myth created by Kunos marketing mainly based on "how things look realistic", but when you dig a bit into it you discover the same physics flaws as other sims (e.g. the toe thing) or the many shortcomings of their simplified physics in many respects.
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I agree with you, but no doubt we can move with times, that´s why people buy F1 2021 game, but not interesting in GPlegends, not everyone love old cars but there´s a lot of users love new season and cars, so let on modders the development or success of a game is not serious, Rf2 could be great if they buy official licences, cause is a great sim, Now here we can have Nascar 21, not interesting for me, but for sure will be interested people on this nascar season, at least on USA, i´ll wait BTCC or WEC game, could be better than ACC and RF2...despite i have any hope on it
 
K
RichardHessels said:
15 years ago was rF1.
Ever seen the amount of updates on the code Studio 397 did? A number of a release says nothing.
By that judgement iRacing is even older. They still did not put iRacing2 behind their name.
There is code that originated from the 70's still going around in your PC!
Click to expand...
The problem is that rFactor 2 is a title that wasn't "well-born", in French, we say "bien né", it means the initial release wasn't good. I bought the very first release of rFactor 2 back in 2012 (?) and was immediately disappointed. Everything just felt wrong, from the horrible graphics to the cumbersome way to put mods in the game.

Since then, it is a title that has never properly worked for me. I still have it on my PC, I launch it every two months or so, only to quit after 30 minutes or so when I realize I'll never like it. It's a shame, as some of its content is interesting. But it just feels wrong. I'll be honest and say that the name "rfactor2" simply turns me off.

So I agree with the idea of rFactor3. Right now, I feel that the current team working on rFactor2 is trying to make right a game that was fundamentally wrong. It's like a Formula 1 team that realizes at launch that its original design is wrong and tries all season long to improve it with various parts upgrades, but spends the whole season playing catch up.
 
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Jonny Austin
With this epic failure & S397 track record for unfinished games a miracle is required for BTCC & WEC games to be a success.
Motorsport Games is way in over their heads & without pre orders & sales they will struggle to survive.
By the time new licences are issued we might have to wait until 2026 for some decent WEC & BTCC games.
 
RyokoMaruyama
Nigel Mansell said:
A fair few people formerly from Codemasters team exist within Motorsport Games. Personally I have an opinion, and it's not good. Codemasters by and large have held back the racing genre for many years. It's a lucrative financially viable business for them to under-perform every year, and make themselves appear better by fixing things that should never have been broken in the first place, when they make a new version.

Kunos have done way more in a shorter period of time for Racing/Simulation than Codemasters. BTCC licence, what a joke too. We've already heard from Stephen Hood of Motorsports Games (the guy who was inside the Codeies F1 franchise) that essentially the BTCC game will be a simcade. Not Sim, not arcade, but a skillful mix of the two to keep it accessible for new players, yawn.

People have complained about F1 and the DiRT franchise for years, now we have the same people challenged with forging new Motorsport titles. Well, I might be educated-guessing here, but I know how this whole SH1T-SH0W is gonna play out lol. We see it already in N21 Ignition. They'll take your money and run, half-assed effort, full priced games. No thanks, they won't rip me off, as they won't get my money. I have higher standards. They have the same low moral problems as Codemasters, release what they want, complain all you like - but to see features you want then you'll have to be "INSERT YOUR TITLE Version + 1"... no thanks.

Oh look, Gary Cole talking about why a product is shite yet again... yawn. I feel sorry for the fans of the franchise. I hope you bought your software via platforms where you can get refunds. I've seen the painful players videos online. Seriously, they deserve to go bankrupt and never work in the industry again. I watched part of the video, I don't own the game, but I've seen it all before. Same crap, different decade. Vote with your feet.

More developers like this, is a situation sim-racer's like me can and will live without. Codemasters is about to take on the WRC license, they'll royally screw that up as well. It's all about the bottom line, very few devs are in it for passion sadly. I do not agree that a video insulting fans is hope for the future. I've seen it all before, so I'm sorry Mike, I don't agree with your analogy on this. No offence meant. That video is a pi55 take personally...
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-0.4 toe
 
Balkan_Guy
Why didn't they just made a PC port from Nascar the game 2011, update teams names drivers and more, maybe update menu UI and some stuff and there you go...
 

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