rFactor NASCAR - NSS Style

[Steve_OS]

Robert Nielsen checks in with this rFactor NASCAR article. He talks about the two major mods for rFactor that bring NASCAR racing into the game.

Quote:

"Last week, I talked about the two major mods for rFactor that bring NASCAR racing into the game -- the NASCAR Simulation Series and Stock Car Evolution. Over the next two weeks, I'll evaluate both mods, starting tonight with NSS. As stated last week, the NSS mod comes in a single installer, weighing in at around 343 MB. This download usually takes about 15-20 minutes on a DSL line, and I'm sure the download will be shorter on cable Internet. Once your download completes, just click the executable file, and you're off!"

[TCrouch]

I'd actually have quite a bit of fun with this mod if the default setups didn't push like pigs at 75% of the tracks. You can't get the car to turn into the corner without slowing to a crawl, while the AI sticks to the apron like glue. I've yet to find a really solid base setup to mess with, and oddly enough, not many setups are posted around the web. Even after spending an hour tweaking a car to try to really create a loose ride, it would STILL push like crazy. I managed to get a car that would turn, but I have yet to see setups that feel half as good as NR2003 out of the box. For this reason alone, NSS is still on the back burner for me. I don't think you should be required to have an engineering degree to find a baseline setup that you can use...the ones that come with the mod are absolute junk on anything other than a superspeedway.

[catcatch22]

I've stuck with NR2003 so long it might be time for me to try rFactor. I'm glad someone posted some info about the mods. Can't wait till the next article.

[ramenite]

From talking to various people that have run both mods, I've noticed a pattern. People that have run NRS 2003 for years, tend to like NSS. People that haven't tend to like SCE.

I think they are both excellent mods, and which one you'll run for the majority of your Sprint Cup racing will come down to personal preference, and what your league decides to run. People will have opinions one way or the other, but it's like picking if you want to have dinner with the Queen in the palace or the castle. Any way you look at it, you're having filet mignon.

[pk500]

Quote: Originally Posted by TCrouch

I'd actually have quite a bit of fun with this mod if the default setups didn't push like pigs at 75% of the tracks. You can't get the car to turn into the corner without slowing to a crawl, while the AI sticks to the apron like glue. I've yet to find a really solid base setup to mess with, and oddly enough, not many setups are posted around the web. Even after spending an hour tweaking a car to try to really create a loose ride, it would STILL push like crazy. I managed to get a car that would turn, but I have yet to see setups that feel half as good as NR2003 out of the box. For this reason alone, NSS is still on the back burner for me. I don't think you should be required to have an engineering degree to find a baseline setup that you can use...the ones that come with the mod are absolute junk on anything other than a superspeedway.

Agreed! Terry and I shared our thoughts about this via IM this week, and it was like sitting in an echo chamber.

What's even more odd about the baseline setups is that the car suffers from unreal snap oversteer on hard acceleration exiting corners at Bristol. So the car pushes like a cement truck on 1.5-mile ovals yet has tremendous oversteer at Bristol. Odd.

Hopefully some raceable setups for offline play will emerge. I imagine this mod would be quite fun online in a fixed setup league because everyone would need to deal with the "push like a dump truck" physics.

That said, I still think the racing and physics model of NSS is better than any other rFactor NASCAR mod, including the overrated TPSCC. That mod gets a free pass because Brian Ring of NR 2003 physics and track upgrades fame works on it. It's not that good -- at least last year's version. The 2008 COT beta version wasn't great, either, as the grip model was a bit too loose and the racing AI was odd.

Face it, fellas: rFactor is a game built on road racing code. People can mash and mangle that code all they want to try and convert it into an oval racing game, but it's not going to be as good as a game built on oval racing code, such as NR 2003 or ARCA Sim Racing.

Take care,
PK