I've been told that NASCAR 3 will have a significant change in the way
the AI are modeled. As of now the .lp files control what line they
drive, the REL, BLAP, and opponent strengths control how fast they go,
and the SPDWY line controls how far they can go before pitting. They do
not follow real physics. This is why is is difficult to adjust their
performance to be realistic. It shouldn't be difficult to make the AI
run out of gas or wear their tires out, so we should see a huge
improvement in that area with N3.
My wishlist is quite flashy and I know some of these will never be
implemented, but I'll keep hoping.
1) some way to indicate to the AI that you intend to pit. A button on
the keyboard or on your wheel that prevents the AI from passing low as
you approach the entrance to the pits. Once you pass the entrance, they
can pass again. If you miss the pits you are allowed to signal 1 more
time on the next lap. If you miss again, the AI will not honor the
signal on the next try. This will keep people from abusing the signal.
2) Fix the way the AI enter the pits. Going to the outside wall and
then down to the apron seems a bit excessive. When I try that, I crash
everytime. :-) A hand wave would be stellar. This could also be used
to indicate trouble ahead.
3) Allow us to drive (or be towed) to the garage for extensive repairs.
Then drive our car out of the garage back to the track. On tracks like
Pocono, there are gates you can be towed through to get to the garage
quicker than having to go all the way to the pits.
4) Allow us to be able to do a 45 degree head turn.
5) Allow us to signal to the spotter that we need to know when we can
cross traffic from the wall to the apron. After an accident you cannot
see anything behind you, in particular you cannot see a large enough
hole in traffic to get across the track.
6) Penalize any car that goes backwards on the track during qualifying.
7) Penalize any car that exceeds the pit road speed limit during
qualifying.
8) Allow us to adjust the carbeurator, shocks AND springs.
9) Allow us to paint the inside of the car, particularly the dash so we
can put our name and sponsor and maybe a 1-800 number for brain
transplants. :-)
10) Allow command-line switches for going straight to a particular
season in progress.
11) Either get rid of Shift-R restarts or allow us to control whether
they are legal.
12) Prevent sling-shot starts by requiring that a car be going no faster
than 5-mph faster than the car ahead of them unless they are more than a
certain distance from the car ahead of them. No passing before the S/F
line on the initial race start.
13) Black flag the AI every now and again.
14) Allow us to set the maximum engine power, total car weight, and
wheel base of the cars so we can more realistically model different
classes of stock cars.
15) Debris on the track would be nice.
16) Crashed AI cars should remain on the track for a little while. It
would be nice to be able to see Gordon's car being towed. :-)
17) Overheating, brake problems, etc. Player breakdowns need to be more
creative.
18) The standings files should reflect the reason why the human left the
race, not just DNF.
19) A more extensive summary of the race, such as who led which laps.
How far you were behind the leader as you crossed the S/F line on the
last lap. (This would be good for offline directors)
20) I've never seen smoke in my rear-view mirror when I've blown my
engine. This should happen.
21) Dynamic skidmarks on the track and on the walls.
22) Flatspotting
23) Donuts and dents
24) Tape on the grill
25) Pit stall assignments based on qualifying position.
26) More accurate pit road shapes.
27) Remove the walls that don't belong like at Talladega and Watkins
Glen.
28) Prevent driving through the pits during qualifying.
29) Crowd roar would be awesome.
30) Give the flag man a real flag to wave.
31) Randomize the placement of people on the catwalks over Phoenix.
32) Change the track conditions over the course of a race. Make cloud
cover cool the track temperature down or the sun coming out makes the
track heat up.
33) At tracks where drafting is the name of the game, ie. Talladega, get
the drafting physics right. 2 goes faster than 1, 3 faster than 2 and
so on. They should constantly be bunching up for the first 2/3s of the
race. Then a group of 10 or so should be able to break away.
34) At Talladega, the AI are very difficult to catch, but once you catch
them they will not draft with you. This should be fixed. They should
be just as quick behind you as ahead of you.
35) Give us a track editor. Then leave it up to RaceSet to enforce
whether tracks are genuine or not.
Online wishes
Allow any number of drivers to qualify for a race, not just 32. Then
pick the top 32. In practice mode, a FIFO queue can be implemented to
control what 32 cars get to practice. When you leave the track, you go
to the back of the line. Any who doesn't get to practice will try to
get to the track sooner the next time.
David Martin
Producer of RaceSet
