NASCAR Heat Evolution Available, Post Your Impressions Here

[Proof21]

I would be thrilled if we could get a solid career mode similar to the Dirt to Daytona career or even the World of Outlaws career mode from the PlayStation 2 era. Maybe one day.

[Turbojugend]

Guess I'm getting Daytona fever, 'cause I've been playing a lot of this game recently. Going off what brandon27 said about the AI, I'm trying to figure out exactly how the AI settings work to get the best racing experience. I haven't come across anything definitive online so I'm going to do my best to detail it here (it would be nice if DMi explained these settings themselves). You guys let me know if this is way off base:

First off, as far as I can tell, AI adjustments only affect the top speed of the CPU cars, not their racing behavior. So you can't make the opposition race smarter or dumber, only faster or slower. I think we pretty much expect this with racing games though, and as brandon27 said, the built-in AI is actually good if you race at a decent length.

The default AI setting is Auto, which is basically rubberbanding AI at 100% top speed. This is where I was getting screwed up as it's the default setting. and where "20th Place Mode" kicks in. You'll notice an abrupt change in CPU speed as you as get close to this position, but if you're three laps down you'll blow by the lead car like it was standing still. You can slow the AI down (Auto -2%) or speed it up (Auto +2%), but the game is still using catch-up logic at certain intervals.

FWIW, I've seen people comment that Auto reads your track Speed Rating, but I don't believe this is the case. I have a 105 Speed Rating on many tracks and the Auto AI is as slow as it ever was on those tracks, until I reach 20th place that is. And besides, you can clearly see the dividing lines where the CPU evaluates your position and decides to make your competition faster, therefore the best thing to do is to disable Auto and find a Custom setting that suits your skill level.

The Custom settings range from 85-105. Again, this is only a governor of the CPU opponents' top speed. 85 means they'll reach 85% of top speed compared to your untuned (no setups) car, 105 means they'll reach 105% of top speed compared to the same car. This is immediately evident if you race at both settings, you'll be blowing by the opposition at 85 and will get left in the dust at 105, unless you find a killer setup and do plenty of drafting.

To test this out I ran two races at Darlington, one at 85 and the other at 105. The top CPU laps were:

85 = 37.692
105 = 30.113

As you can see, the AI is much faster at the top setting. It has nothing to do with actual racing intelligence, just a higher top speed.

So what does this all mean? It means that theoretically, you could race at Custom 100 and get a fair, balanced race. Unfortunately Career Mode is an entirely different beast. There are only Easy/Normal/Hard settings, all of which seem to tie into Auto. Which unless I'm mistaken, is the reason you can't run a non-rubberbanding race in Career Mode.

[Aggies7]

Any of y'all running this on XBox One that use a racing wheel. I am trying to find one less than $100. I have a PC wheel that doesn't work on XB1. Don't want to spend a fortune on a 2nd wheel/pedals and want to make sure it works well with NASCAR Evolution


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[bravesfan1984]

Quote: Originally Posted by Turbojugend

Guess I'm getting Daytona fever, 'cause I've been playing a lot of this game recently. Going off what brandon27 said about the AI, I'm trying to figure out exactly how the AI settings work to get the best racing experience. I haven't come across anything definitive online so I'm going to do my best to detail it here (it would be nice if DMi explained these settings themselves). You guys let me know if this is way off base: First off, as far as I can tell, AI adjustments only affect the top speed of the CPU cars, not their racing behavior. So you can't make the opposition race smarter or dumber, only faster or slower. I think we pretty much expect this with racing games though, and as brandon27 said, the built-in AI is actually good if you race at a decent length. The default AI setting is Auto, which is basically rubberbanding AI at 100% top speed. This is where I was getting screwed up as it's the default setting. and where "20th Place Mode" kicks in. You'll notice an abrupt change in CPU speed as you as get close to this position, but if you're three laps down you'll blow by the lead car like it was standing still. You can slow the AI down (Auto -2%) or speed it up (Auto +2%), but the game is still using catch-up logic at certain intervals. FWIW, I've seen people comment that Auto reads your track Speed Rating, but I don't believe this is the case. I have a 105 Speed Rating on many tracks and the Auto AI is as slow as it ever was on those tracks, until I reach 20th place that is. And besides, you can clearly see the dividing lines where the CPU evaluates your position and decides to make your competition faster, therefore the best thing to do is to disable Auto and find a Custom setting that suits your skill level. The Custom settings range from 85-105. Again, this is only a governor of the CPU opponents' top speed. 85 means they'll reach 85% of top speed compared to your untuned (no setups) car, 105 means they'll reach 105% of top speed compared to the same car. This is immediately evident if you race at both settings, you'll be blowing by the opposition at 85 and will get left in the dust at 105, unless you find a killer setup and do plenty of drafting. To test this out I ran two races at Darlington, one at 85 and the other at 105. The top CPU laps were: 85 = 37.692 105 = 30.113 As you can see, the AI is much faster at the top setting. It has nothing to do with actual racing intelligence, just a higher top speed. So what does this all mean? It means that theoretically, you could race at Custom 100 and get a fair, balanced race. Unfortunately Career Mode is an entirely different beast. There are only Easy/Normal/Hard settings, all of which seem to tie into Auto. Which unless I'm mistaken, is the reason you can't run a non-rubberbanding race in Career Mode.

It wouldn't be the best thing for those who want to run their own schemes/career, but are you able to set the AI to 100 in season mode? If so, I might consider doing that instead of career to get a better experience without rubberbanding. I like your thought process!

[Turbojugend]

Quote: Originally Posted by bravesfan1984

It wouldn't be the best thing for those who want to run their own schemes/career, but are you able to set the AI to 100 in season mode? If so, I might consider doing that instead of career to get a better experience without rubberbanding. I like your thought process!

Yep, that is exactly what I'm doing right now. I'm racing last season as Carl Edwards and getting consistent finishes with fair and challenging AI.

[bravesfan1984]

Quote: Originally Posted by Turbojugend

Yep, that is exactly what I'm doing right now. I'm racing last season as Carl Edwards and getting consistent finishes with fair and challenging AI.

I'll probably just do season mode too. Not sure if I want to race as Harvick though (I'm weird, kind of like to see how he does as CPU), so I may pick a part timer or one of the worst cup drivers and "pretend" I've taken over their ride haha.

[bravesfan1984]

Just as I thought, with the season kicking off this week and after the Clash on Sunday, I'm tempted to get the update coming out today, ugh. Must refrain......

[longranger]

so is this game worth purchasing now, or still not????