rec.autos.simulators

  In NASCAR HEAT, I have trouble getting in the top ten with Novice AI
at Daytona and Expert realism.  With "regular" realism and easy AI
have no problems, though.  I'm racing with 5X wear and 20 laps.  All
the cars keep passing me, even though I'm driving as fast as I can and
generally following the line.

  I have done the first couple of "Beat the HEAT" mission sets, and
now I'm stuck at Richmond.  Everybody else is pitting, and I have
about 5 laps left to go from 15 to the top 3 and I can't beat it.  I
tried to learn the track by doing some practice runs, but at Expert
difficulty I had alot of trouble with the handling of the car- I had
to brake alot and muscle the car around and I ended up crashing alot.
On Novice the car is alot easier to turn.

  The "Beat the Heat" missions mention drafting.  I have a loose idea
of what this is (some kind of aerodynamic force?), but I want to know
if it applies at every track, or just Daytona, and how close exactly
do you have to be to a car to pick up speed?

  About NASCAR, in general.  What exactly is a "team" in NASCAR, and
does this affect the gameplay in any PC games?

  THanks in advance.  I have watched a few NASCAR races with my
grandfather (he watched racing alot) along time ago, and a few real
dirt races, but I don't know  much about it.

Well, with regards to drafting, basically, it's what happens when one
car tucks right in behind another....the aerodynamic force allows the
car in back to go faster, without using as much horsepower....thereby
allowing the car in back to "slingshot" around at the last turn....
Drafting mainly applies at the larger tracks (Talladega, Daytona,
Michigan, etc), and you've gotta be right behind a car to pick up any
significant speed.  It's hard, believe me.

A "team" in NASCAR is basically the organization a specific driver
races for (i.e. the Home Depot Racing Team of 2002 NASCAR WC Champ
Tony Stewart).  On raceday, it's basically the driver, pitcrew, and
whomever else is "behind the wall" (i.e., in the garage area, or team
owners who are either in the pits or in the garage).

Bob

       Yeah a 'Team' in Nascar is pretty essential these days , there used
to be a lot of independant one-driver squads ,  but no more... it allows the
crew chiefs for the two or three ( or more !) drivers to pool setup
information during practice and get more done.  Plus all the other benefits
of scale, pooled marketing etc.
                                               Plus .. and this is where it
applies to your pc game .. nascar is one of those series where, to win, you
are gonna need some buddies out there. Suprise suprise , the manual that
comes with the pc  thing tells you all about setup and the racing line , but
almost nothing of the chess game of strategy and counter strategy played out
on the ovals every weekend between the competing 'strings' of drivers and
their respective crew chiefs . (although  n2002 does have some training in
strategy it is mostly  'practice your green flag pit entry' sort of stuff)
              That is why the  most often used chat message  ( well ok , the
second ) at the superspeedways .. is ' work together'  ..  Where the pack
can draft say , ten mph faster than a car alone, there is no way you're
gonna win that thing without help... often the best way to get that help is
to have a team driver out there with you .... and then you get teams working
together ... :-)   .
               Any good books covering strategy or is it all ' hero driver'
stuff ?  jv

  In one of the "Beat the Heat" missions you are suppossed to draft
behind your "Teammate", Bobby Labonte, because he's behind some laps
but going fast (I finally beat this after about 10 tries).   My
question is: what incentive (if it were a real race) is there for him
to help me?  Does he get a reward if I win?  Some kind of
scoring/money?  And does this show up in any PC games (racing
seasons?).  Are the AI drivers working as a team when they drive?

  I guess I never thought of auto racing as a "team sport".

   Well first they BOTH report to the same boss.  So if the guy who signs
your check is DISPLEASED with you...then you might figure out that
co-operation is a good thing.
  2nd.  THe season is LONG...LONG LONG LONG.   Many drivers, even those NOT
teammates will sometimes help a driver or cut him some slack because he
knows that sometime later in the year, he too might be in trouble and need a
break.  Often when the yellow flag is thrown, you will see the first 3 or 4
cars really ease up just before crossing the s/f line.  They do this to
allow any CLOSE lapped cars to pass by and get a lap back.  Seems odd, but
they then have a favor they can expect to be paid back at a later date.
  3rd.  In Nascar, the Owners get points too.  One of the benefits of Owner
points is the allocation of provisional start posisitons.  If you blow up
your motor during qualifying and have a new owner, you are out of luck, but
if you have an established team then the owner probably has enough points to
get you back in the field with a provisional starting spot.  So the more
team mates work together, the more they BOTH can benefit.   Keep in mind,
some teams are barely tied together, often they will not even share the same
shop(although that trend is slowly dissappearing)  But if one is in need of
help...it almost always behooves the other to provide that assistance.
   However...as the end of the race approaches...the 'co-operation' factor
begins to deminish.  :)
   There are quite a few other ways teammates can help each other...limited
testing days means teammates can share info instead of duplicating it.
Often if one driver is out of the championship hunt, he will become a test
mule for changes in the engine or Aero package(or even during a race, they
may try a wierd tire pressure just to gauge the results for the rest of the
team) that might help the higher placed driver get more points in future
races.  There just isn't enough space here for even a wordy *** like me
to list all the various ways individual drivers benefit by co-operation.
dave henrie

  But does this affect any NASCAR PC games?  It would seem to me this
would be more obviously oriented towards a career game, something that
doesn't exist on the PC.  It sounds like the team aspect is important
in the real racing, but ignored in PC games?

"e f" >

   Yup kinda like most of the flight sims..it's you against the world.  I'm
not a big fan of career mode...I don't dislike it,  it just wouldn't be a
sales feature for me, but I would like to see some interaction between you
and your teammate.  (not sure how or what tho...)  :>
dave henrie

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  I'd like to see a career mode, just because I have found the career
mode in Leadfoot and Dirt Track Racing enjoyable.  It encourages a
different driving style than "winning at all costs".

  Maybe you like multiplayer *** better, or hotlapping, but I
don't.  I don't have a bad connection, just I don't like the hassle
most of the time of having to set up a multiplayer game and fiddle
with more settings, or worse yet, deal with unpredictable loons, or
stuck up snobs.  AI is alot more predictable.

  I notice alot of the console NASCAR games have career modes, but
none of the PC games do.  I tried the NASCAR Thunder 2003 demo, and
while it was OK, I won't be shelling out money for it, not when they
gave us a stripped down game compared to the PS2 version.  Same thing
with Nascar 2003 from Papyrus.  Why should I really buy it?  What new
features has it got that are worth 50 bucks?  And Infogrames hasn't
made a Nascar update for the PC in several years, even though they
have come out with Nascar HEAT 2: Dirt to Daytona on PS2 and Gamecube.
 Just sticking another year number on the box shouldn't be reason to
lay down cash for a game.