PART 2

It's time again for another insider post from me concerning development of NR2003. The leaking of the Beta demo at first made me think that writing wouldn't be useful, but after seeing various reactions over the last few days, I have determined that it would be valuable to write after all.

First, there are some things you are experiencing in the demo that will be different in the final product, and will in fact be different in the official demo, which Papyrus still plans to release.

Aero push at the superspeedways will be reduced. This is an issue I personally lobbied for during the beta process. You won't be knocking down walls at Talladega any more. Superspeedway cars generate less front downforce, and apparently lose less downforce in a pack of cars. I say apparently because I have never had tandem cars in a wind tunnel before, so we had no data around which to base aero-push and loose issues.

I think we also reduced aero loose at downforce tracks as well.

Also, some of you have raised issues about the AI. I was not at all involved in the AI development, and for most of my work, I did not race against it (although it was necessary to do so at Talladega and Daytona). In the last two weeks of the beta process, I was, however, aware of code developments that were proceeding at a rapid pace, and I read numerous reports from the beta testers about improving AI performance. So, I think you will see a more polished AI in the final product.

Regarding setting up your cars:

The definition of the ride heights has changed. No longer will adjusting the ride heights change the rake of the body of your car. NASCAR essentially fixes the body height & orientation of the car by rule. Many real superspeedway cars are insensitive to the small amount of flexibility that does exist (raising the nose doesn't reduce drag). Further, everyone is probably aware that a lower roof and a higher spoiler makes more downforce, but in truth, NASCAR permits neither. So, with NR2003, the function of the ride heights now is to change the ground clearance beneath the car. This is not something that is done at the track, but is determined when a chassis is built: It's how high the frame rails will be off the ground when the car is at tech inspection height. So, a very basic car construction variable has been put in your hands. Raising these ride heights lets you spring the car softer in corners that have high speed and or banking. Of course, since the car's ballast weight rides in the frame rails, you raise the initial center of gravity, as well.

In NR2003, for the first time, the downforce your car generates is sensitive to on-track ride heights. Herein is the benefit of changing ground clearance as described above: Although they no longer affect initial, tech line body heights, the change in ground clearance gives you a very real and meaningful opportunity, through spring selection, to change the body orientation while the car is circling the track (you can travel the car more before it bottoms out on the pavement.).

Many of you have noticed that the car feels more stuck to the road. It is. The downforce now used is much higher than in previous generations of Papyrus games. Again, the data comes from our cars, with minor sanitization. It also has more drag (at downforce tracks) as well.

But you won't notice the drag, because the car has about 150 more, foot-stomping, fire-breathing stallions under the hood than before. Again, the engine performance data was de-tuned and sanitized a bit, but your NR 2003 car develops more power at the rear wheels than a vast majority of the real Winston Cup field.

And not just a product of the power, but of Goodyear's involvement in NR2003, when you hit the gas in mid-corner, the car accelerates. Finally. Do you know what a real Winston Cup car does when it's rounding Turn 4 at Atlanta at 170+mph and the driver mashes the gas???? IT HONKIN' ACCELERATES!!!!! For years, when I would hit the gas in NRxxx, the car just kinda hovered at speed until the banking flattened a little, and I unwound the wheel. But now, push the pedal down, you're gonna leave town.

But be prepared to master it, though; 800 ponies (at the flywheel, 720-ish at the wheel) turned loose at once can become a stampede if wrongly managed. Most beta testers remarked that NR2003 is easy enough to drive, but wrenching the wheel over to try to get the car to turn more easily results in snap loose problems. On the throttle, brake, or wheel, smooth will be the key.