NASCAR Heat 2

[@apocapollo]

Wish people would stop doing promo videos and screen shots at this time of the day in game

The first Iowa Xfinity race of the season is a day-to-night race.

 

[gamer19]

The way car rolls on track...
The way car behave after collision...
Wish someone else get this licence, really.... it could be such an amazing racing.
Though... many agree that oval AI is not that easy to craft, I'm optimistic by nature.

 

[ARTeam]

Looks great but graphics aren't everything.
Important for me is the fun and the realism, good ai. I'm remembering the first time I saw
Nascar heat evolution and thought,,,
Wow, that's amazing. I play it and delete it after 3 races. Stupid animation, bad ai and physics, arcade game. Really boring.

Now, i really hope this Nascar game is
A good game.
Mod support, possible to make paints, arcade and a hardcore simulation mod. No stupid animations (for what?!?)
Like Iracing with AI,
and a linux version would be cool ;o)

 

[Dave R]

The way car rolls on track...
The way car behave after collision...
Wish someone else get this licence, really.... it could be such an amazing racing.
Though... many agree that oval AI is not that easy to craft, I'm optimistic by nature.

I may be wrong in my own opinion, but the AI for their last title wasn't bad short of Talladega and Daytona AI (there wasn't enough pack racing as in previous titles). I think if anyone else actually wanted the license, it would be an easy grab. The same company has held the license for the last few years (they just change the company name yearly).

 

[Paul Jeffrey]

NASCAR Heat 2 have revealed a rather dubious looking gameplay trailer from the dirt oval portion of the new game, leaving plenty of question marks about the new content.

Obviously not simulated to the same level of detail as has been undertaken by iRacing.com in their recent dirt oval implementation, the inclusion of loose surface racing in the NASCAR Heat franchise is something new for the 2017 variation of the game, and it will be interesting to see how the developers have looked to implement the track conditions in Heat 2.

From the new gameplay trailer below, it looks to me like dirt oval racing maybe has a bit more grip than one would ideally expect, however in all honesty I'm from the UK and know practically nothing of dirt oval racing, so I could quite easily be wide of the mark with my opinions on this one.

Check out the trailer for yourself below:

We know that dynamic racing surfaces won't be included in the game, so don't expect a groove or dirt shoulder to appear anytime soon, however does the grip level and way the car reacts with the surface of the track look right to you? I'm not 100% convinced about it from looking at the above video, it very much appears that dirt racing in NASCAR Heat 2 will be more centred around an arcade experience than anything too detailed and simulation orientated.

With only one loose surface track on the schedule, I suppose having a detailed racing surface hasn't been too high on the list of priorities for the developers and shouldn't have too much of a negative impact on the overall gameplay experience.

NASCAR Heat 2 will release on Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC September 12th 2017.

Want to know more about NASCAR Heat 2? Need to kill some time whilst we await a release? Fear not, you can always hang out in the NASCAR Heat 2 sub forum and get involved with the community, we even plan on having a mods and online racing section post release too!

Do you like the look of dirt oval racing in NASCAR Heat 2? Does it look like the developers have accurately simulated the experience of racing on loose surfaces in the game? Let us know in the comments section below.

 

[k_badam]

Looks horrible...

 

[darkelf1]

Hope they make some Indy500 game........

 

[@apocapollo]

Getting the AI to act lifelike on dirt is a hard thing to do, especially when you're asking a pavement physics engine to get slippery. There was a playtest open to the public a few weeks ago, it seems pretty clear to me from that playtest that online is going to be the best thing to use Eldora for. The player can experiment around with multiple grooves and find variable success, but getting the AI to do the same wasn't anything I expected to happen. I do wish the player had to feather the throttle more, though.

The NAStrucks don't behave like normal dirt oval cars, you can't full-throttle them and you can't rotate them a ton without spinning the truck out. In regular dirt cars, you go heavy on the throttle and use the torque to help drift the car through the corner, that's simply not the case with the NAStrucks. A lot of the dirtbois that moonlight the Dirt Derby have a hard time finding success because the NAStrucks are so unnatural on dirt.

 

[Sascha Guenther]

Seems the wheels even do not have contact with the surface, like they floating around...what a shitty waste of this valuable license.

 

[Austin Ogonoski]

I want out of this nightmare.

 

[Chobonator]

Nice, a new game for my PS3.

 

[@apocapollo]

Seems the wheels even do not have contact with the surface, like they floating around...what a shitty waste of this valuable license.

it ain't that valuable lol

trust me

704 picked it up for relatively pennies because the last few rights holders have dragged the property through the mud for the last decade

 

[Paul Jeffrey]

The new NASCAR Heat game will feature the NASCAR supporting Xfinity Series, and to mark the occasion 704Games have released a new trailer and list of cars due to appear in the title.

Firstly one of the biggest deals of the new Xfinity content inclusion will be the arrival of one of America's premier racing venues in the country -- the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course based out in Morrow County, Ohio. Built in 1962 and running at 2.4 miles and 15 turns, the quintessentially American race track is one of the finest and high profile road course venues of the United States.

Home to series such as the Verizon IndyCar Series, NASCAR Xfinity and Gran-AM Sportscars in recent years, the venue regularly produces close racing and is highly regarded by both drivers and fans alike.

Appearing in a NASCAR Heat game for the very first time thanks to the inclusion of the 2017 Xfinity Series schedule, 704Games have released the below trailer of the circuit and cars to give a brief glimpse of what fans can expect to enjoy come release day on September 12th.

Additional to the new trailer posted above, 704Games have also confirmed the 40+ Xfinity Series drivers scheduled to be represented in the game once it releases next month, a full list of which can be seen below:

• Justin Allgaier, No. 7 Brandt Professional Agriculture
• Aric Almirola, No. 98 Fresh from Florida
• Michael Annett, No. 5 Pilot/Flying J
• Dakoda Armstrong, No. 28 WinField United
• Ray Black Jr., No. 07 Scuba Life
• Brandon Brown, No. 86 Coastal Carolina
• William Byron, No. 9 Liberty University
• Ross Chastain, No. 4 Flex Seal
• Jeremy Clements, No. 51 RepairableVehicles.com
• Cole Custer, No. 00 Haas Automation
• Ty Dillon, No. 3 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats
• Joey Gase, No. 52 Donate Life FL
• Brendan Gaughan, No. 62 South Point Hotel & Casino
• Jeff Green, No. 8 B.J. McLeod Motorsports
• Mike Harmon, No. 74 Veterans Motorsports
• Kevin Harvick, No. 41 Hunt Brothers Pizza
• Daniel Hemric, No. 21 (1) Blue Gate Bank (2) Smokey Mountain Herbal Snuff
• Timmy Hill, No. 40 CrashClaimsRUs.com
• Erik Jones, No. 20 Reser’s American Classic
• Brandon Jones , No. 33 (1) Nexteer Automotive (2) Hisense 4K TV
• Kasey Kahne, No. 88 Hellmann’s
• Ben Kennedy, No. 2 Rheem
• Brad Keselowski, No. 22 Discount Tire
• Blake Koch, No. 11 LeafFilter
• Stephen Leicht, No. 97 Vroom! Brands
• Joey Logano, No. 12 Fleetwood RV/REV Group
• Carl Long, No. 13 CrashClaimsRUs.com
• Dylan Lupton, No. 24 NutUp
• Ty Majeski, No. 60 Roush Fenway Racing
• B.J. McLeod, No. 78 B.J. McLeod Motorsports
• Brennan Poole, No. 48 DC Solar
• Tyler Reddick, No. 42 Broken Bow Records/Trace Adkins
• Ryan Reed, No. 16 Lilly Diabetes
• Harrison Rhodes, No. 01 Flex Tape
• Elliott Sadler, No. 1 OneMain Financial
• Ryan Seig, No. 39 Booyah Mortgage
• Morgan Shepherd, No. 89 Morgan Shepherd 50th Anniversary
• Garrett Smithley, No. 0 Flex Shot
• David Starr, No. 99 Striping Technology
• Daniel Suarez, No. 18 Juniper Networks
• Matt Tifft, No. 19 Tunity
• Darrell Wallace Jr., No. 6 Leidos
• J.J. Yeley, No. 14 Superior Essex

Want to know more about the Xfinity and Camping World Truck Series coming to NASCAR Heat 2? Check out the preview article HERE!

NASCAR Heat 2 will be available for Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC this September 12th.

Want to know more about the new game? Fancy a place to discuss the pros and cons of recent NASCAR racing games, or simply somewhere to go to share news and build anticipation until Heat 2 comes out? Fear not good people, our NASCAR Heat 2 sub forum could well be the place for you! Head on over and give us a post y'all !

Mid-Ohio and Road America coming to NASCAR Heat 2. Excited? Let us know in the comments section below!

 

[CC]

 

[Rob]

quintessentially American race track is one of the finest and high profile road course venues of the United States in the world.

Mid Ohio is what track in Europe should be like, but can't due to the onerous money baiting of the FIA. Brands and Zandvoort are in the same class, but we know what happened to them (a blessing in disguise).

I'll never forget the year it poured down rain during the lower series after NASCAR decided to run in the rain. NASCAR drivers struggle on road courses anyway, but this was way over the top. Practically every lap there was a massive off usually involving several cars. It was so hilarious, but also tragic. I could not look away...

 

[Nick Gregory]

I'll never forget the year it poured down rain during the lower series after NASCAR decided to run in the rain. NASCAR drivers struggle on road courses anyway, but this was way over the top. Practically every lap there was a massive off usually involving several cars. It was so hilarious, but also tragic. I could not look away...

I remember one race at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in 2008 , and it rained. It was actually really entertaining to watch.

 

[Rob]

I remember one race at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in 2008 , and it rained. It was actually really entertaining to watch.

Interesting. Didn't know they ran in the rain that early. But the big boy series never ran CGV that I know of. So, apparently, they have been using the lower series to "iron out" the rain issue vis-à-vis tires and such, for a while. Guess they never got it right. lol. But damn, I'd never turn them off if they were on a road course with rain. Not for the reasons they desire, I'm sure.

 

[LilSki]

Since the 70s the top series has only ever run at Riverside, Sonoma, and Watkins Glen. I really like what the lower series is doing with Mid Ohio and Road America. I really hope they are in the top series schedule someday.

 

[Rob]

Since the 70s the top series has only ever run at Riverside, Sonoma, and Watkins Glen. I really like what the lower series is doing with Mid Ohio and Road America. I really hope they are in the top series schedule someday.

Good point. I agree. In fact, when I was at Road Atlanta, we tried to get the Busch Series to come there and race (recognizing the main series was faithful to AMS), but Speedway Motorsports Inc., led by Bruton Smith, told us "NASCAR will never race at Road Atlanta" and he wasn't even a France. lol. But that said to me that it was essentially a mafia. So, IMO, only cold hard indifference to their errors (not so much road courses, but also abandoning the South) will get them to change. They only respond to money (or lack thereof) and finally their are lacking thereof.

 

[Paul Jeffrey]

The latest 'Developer Diary' video from 704Games has given us some insight into the returning 'rivalries' and career mode features coming to NASCAR Heat 2 this fall.

Looking to take another step up in engagement and feature depth since taking over the official NASCAR licence back at the beginning of last year, 704 and Monster Games have revealed an old NASCAR game favourite will be making a return to the series later this year, with driver rivalries finding its way into the title in a bid to add more life and character into the ever expanding offline career mode of the game.

Revealed as part of a short development diary video release, 704Games have come through with some details about how the new offline elements of the official NASCAR videogame will look come release day in September.

For those of you not able to watch the video right now (looking at you people who should be working and not cruising the internet), Gameinformer have produced a very useful written summary from the diary release, which can be seen in full below:

• The career mode starts in the truck series. As you go through your initial season you'll get Hot Seat Race offers in the next series. Meet the criteria in these and you could get an offer to jump up to Xfinity at the end of the year. When you accept a contract with a team, you take over one of their cars and replace that driver. Overall, there are no driver retirements, and the other drivers will stay in their series and do not migrate up with you.
• You can race in multiple series at once, and even do a multi-series race weekend if the schedule aligns.
• You can stay in the same series if you want.
• Brad Keselowski stopped by the Monster Games office and helped the team with one big aspect of NASCAR Heat 2: Driver rivalries and friendships. Both are naturally formed by how you treat drivers on the track.
• The rivalry system has a ramp-up period so you're not going to see a driver go crazy if you have one run in. Tempers will boil over, however, the more you go at it. Driver relationships cool off somewhat between seasons so rivalries and bad feelings between drivers are not permanent. The studio says it wants to also make it so large wrecks at a plate track, for instance, don't make you a bunch of enemies just because you got caught up in The Big One.
• You also get driver feedback from Keselowski and others via a message system, both as a way to help you and give some driver flavor to the mode. Messages about your rivalry status with a particular driver pop up after races.
• Monster is currently working on other ways to involve the drivers in your career.
• Team momentum is earned by strong finishes at the track from week to week. The idea is your strong performances lift your team members and crew ultimately giving you stronger, better performing cars.
• In general, the longer you stay with one team, the better that team gets. This allows you to build and improve one of the lower-ranked teams in real life. This replaces the last game's facilities upgrade function.

NASCAR Heat 2 will release on Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC September 12th 2017.

Want to know more about NASCAR Heat 2? Need to kill some time whilst we await a release? Fear not, you can always hang out in the NASCAR Heat 2 sub forum and get involved with the community, we even plan on having a mods and online racing section post release too!

Quality feature or quick gimmick? What do you think of the 'rivals' element of NASCAR Heat 2? Let us know in the comments section below!