N4 patch readme file

Hi, I downloaded the international patch to to see what was fixed when the offical version is released later! John NASCAR� Racing 4 PATCH README 1.3.1.4 08/23/01 [ To read this file, select Edit/Word Wrap from the menu above ] TABLE OF CONTENTS [1] WHAT THE PATCH FIXES [2] HOW TO INSTALL THE PATCH [3] ADDITIONAL INFORMATION [4] CONTACTING SIERRA ************************************ NOTE: The 1.3.x.x version of NASCAR� Racing 4 is not multiplayer compatible with previously released versions. As a client you will only be able to see and join 1.3.x.x servers, and similarly as a host only 1.3.x.x clients will be able to see and join your server. ************************************ [1] WHAT THE PATCH FIXES ==================================== ------------------------------------ 1.3.1.4 ------------------------------------ AI: * AI will no longer panic and dive to the apron on race starts. * Improved yellow flag pit strategy. * Improved pacing behavior. * Improved pitting behavior. CAR SETUPS: * Changed min/max camber settings to +/- 5.0�. Car setups with values outside of this range will be clamped when loaded. MULTIPLAYER: * Multiplayer login is now allowed to continue if Message of the Day cannot be accessed. * The Message of the Day now has proxy support. Use the updated SierraUp utility to set the values for your HTTP proxy. * Players with "car_class" hacked .CAR files will no longer be able to connect to multiplayer races. * Clients will now always get proper weather settings when connecting to server. PITTING: * Pit crew will no longer service car when player pits to serve multiple stop and go penalties. * The F9 box's repair option will reset to YES if car suffers additional damage. * Fixed a bug which could cause the tires and fuel can carried by the pit crew to not be visible during pitstops at Watkins Glen. PHYSICS: * "Wallriding" penalty no longer applied after rubbing AI cars. RACE CONTROL: * Fixed a bug which prevented a black flag from being issued when speeding through the pits on the last lap of qual or race sessions. * Fixed a bug which could cause cars to be inserted into the caution line in an incorrect order. RENDERER: * Fixed a bug which prevented the OpenGL renderer from working on boards without multitexture support. SPOTTER / CREW CHIEF: * Made crew chief's fuel recommendations more conservative. * Fixed a bug which could prevent low fuel warning messages in race sessions. USER INTERFACE: * Fixed a bug where the game could crash if the delete key was pressed while on the Sierra.com Available Races screen. * Fixed a bug which could cause qualifying standings to be lost after advancing to race session. * Added off-line league support to exported standings (see 'Additional Information' section below for details). * Southeast wind direction can now be selected. * Improved sorting of the available races table. * The GDI renderer is now properly identified on the Options screen. ------------------------------------ 1.1.1.0 ------------------------------------ AI: * Fixed bug which sometimes caused the pace car to appear on the outside pole at the start of a race. * Fixed bug which could cause some AI cars at Richmond to collide when entering and exiting their pit stalls. * AI cars will now obey the stop sign at the end of pit road. * Pace car no longer takes an extra pace lap at Martinsville at the start of the race. This was a problem only if the abbreviated pace lap was selected. * Adjusted AI speed at Dover to be more realistic. * Fixed bug which caused AI to call for a tow during Practice/Warmup sessions. * AI who run out of fuel will now get out of the racing line when limping back to the pits. * AI who run out of fuel will be able to re-fire their engines after receiving pit service. * Fixed problems with AI pitting on Gilligan's Island at Sears Point. * Fixed rogue pace car 'hot-lapping' around track. * AI are now able to sort themselves into the proper pacing order more quickly. * Improved pacing and restart behavior. * Improved accident avoidance behavior. * Improved merge to pits behavior. * Improved three wide passing behavior. CAMERAS: * Fixed a problem with one of the TV2 cameras at Darlington. CAR SETUPS: * Changed Daytona "Fast" setup to be easier to drive. CHAMPIONSHIP SEASON: * Fixed bug on Championship Season screen which caused a "Save Changes?" box to appear even if no changes were made. * Fixed bug which caused the polesitter from the first race of a championship season to be given credit for the pole for all the remaining races of that season. CONTROLS * Improved driving controls for keyboard and digital gamepad users. MULTIPLAYER: * Fixed bug in which clicking "Create New ID" (for Sierra.com) wouldn't gray out the other fields on the pop-up box. * Made rejection message (when trying to connect to a race in progress) more descriptive. * Made firewall message (when trying to host a race behind a shared Internet connection) more descriptive. * Players list on Sierra.com screen no longer scrolls uncontrollably. * Changed chat colors to be consistent between in-car and out-of-car modes. * Fixed bug which could cause systems with multiple TCP/IP devices to be unable to connect to Sierra.com * Fixed bug which prevented clients from joining Sierra.com races that were hosted behind a router. * Enlarged the size of the Sierra.com Profile box to prevent ratings information from spilling off the side when pressing Shift+Ctrl * Changed points thresholds for gaining/losing ratings levels on Sierra.com. Also made incident points count as a global -3 per incident regardless of level. * It is now possible to set the wind speed for dedicated servers using the command line. * Fixed bug which prevented clients from receiving pit service after reconnecting to a server. * Added chat filter. * Fixed a bug which could cause client's car to warp when sending a chat message. * Changed game to display Sierra.com User ID instead of player name. * Added ability to disable display of client connection and disconnection chat messages. * In ratings enabled races, incidents will now be properly assessed when yellow flags have been disabled. * Fixed bug which could cause TCP/IP devices to be duplicated in the Sierra.com dialog's "Connect Via" list. * Clients now only need to meet the rating restrictions for the currently loaded track. * Fixed bug which could cause qualifying standings to be lost when the host advanced to the Warmup session. * If the Warmup time is set to zero, server will skip directly from Qualifying to Race. * The race over timeout can now be set using the auto_leave_timeout setting. * Added !show_password, !set_password, and !clear_password admin commands. * Fixed the "2 minute" latency spike some users were experiencing during Sierra.com races. PAINT SHOP: * Fixed bug which would cause the game to crash if the user dragged a filled shape across the entire car template. * Fixed bug which allowed activation of widgets "through" Paint Shop options boxes; i.e. clicking on the Paint Shop option also triggered the widget underneath it. * Fixed bug which allowed italicized text falling outside the boundaries of the text frame to be "cut off" when applied to the car. * Fixed bug which caused strange behavior when using the "/" key in the text tool. * Added support for importing compressed .TGA files. PHYSICS: * Fixed bug which caused engine to stall with Automatic Clutch enabled. * Changed oil cooling to decrease number of blown engines during 2nd lap of qualifying. * 'Wallriding' is no longer advantageous. * Changed damage sensitivity and aerodynamic penalty. PITTING: * If towed to pits with "fatal" damage, crew no longer attempts to service the car. * If stopping in pit stall with "fatal" engine damage, the crew will no longer attempt to fix it. * Changed end of pit stop timing to correspond to jack man's signal. Should make pit stops slightly faster on average. * Fixed strange behavior exhibited by the animated pit crew if the player saves a replay during servicing. * Fixed bug which could cause the player to be permanently held in his pit stall upon serving a penalty for entering the pits unsafely. * Fixed bug which could cause the player to be incorrectly penalized for entering the pits unsafely. * Fixed bug which was causing player to be penalized for entering a closed pit when being towed under a green flag to yellow flag transition. * Fixed tow time calculation error which could cause tow times to be too short. RACE CONTROL: * Fixed race control bug when determining whether or not a given car is on the lead lap. * Fixed bug which could cause car(s) to be penalized for passing the pace car or passing under yellow during an abbreviated pace lap at Martinsville. * Changed race control so that in the event a player both passes the pace car AND passes under yellow, only the greater of the two penalties (in terms of time) is assessed. * Changed per-infraction premium for multiple penalties from 40 to 15 seconds. RENDERER: * It is now possible to launch a dedicated server minimized. * Added GDI renderer for dedicated servers (no longer requires a D3D capable card). SPOTTER / CREW CHIEF: * Added "Stay behind the leader of the other pacing line" message. * Fixed erroneous "We're not on the lead lap - we can't pit this time by" message for lead-lap cars pitting on the back pits at Bristol. * Fixed erroneous "We're not on the lead lap - we can't pit this time by" message for cars that were on the lead lap. * Players are now more clearly informed that they have been sent to the end of the longest line and where they need to be in the pacing order. * Fixed a bug which could cause spotter to call out the checkered flag a lap early for cars at the tail end of the lead lap. * Fixed a bug which could cause incomplete messages on some sound cards. USER INTERFACE: * Fixed bug which sometimes caused the Player Records table to not scroll properly. * Added OK/Cancel buttons to Track Notes and Setup Notes boxes. * Fixed bug which was causing some penalties to be excluded from penalty summary on the exported standings report. * Fixed bug which sometimes caused 44 cars to appear on the replay standings display. * Switching cars on the Player Info and Opponent Manager screens is now much faster than before. * Fixed bug which could cause penalties from a previous race to appear on exported race standings report. * Added car numbers to the replay's driver selection. * Allowed the garage's track notes to be accessed during fixed setup races. * Fixed bug in Opponent Manager which prompted to save driver after ratings were viewed even if no changes were made. [2] HOW TO INSTALL THE PATCH ==================================== 1. Run the saved patch executable. 2. The patch should automatically detect your NASCAR� Racing 4 installation directory and then begin the patching process. * Note that if you have modified any of the game's files using 3rd party utilities, it may be necessary to reinstall the game before the patch can successfully complete its installation. [3] ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ==================================== NO SOUND IN GAME If you have no sound in game, it may be necessary to go to the Audio tab of your Windows Multimedia Control Panel and select the proper playback device. You may also want to disable the "Use only preferred devices" option if it is currently enabled. USING MICROSOFT GAME VOICE OR OTHER VOICE CHAT PROGRAMS By default NASCAR� Racing 4 will run at highest priority. This is perfectly fine for most users, if you experience problems trying to use Microsoft's Game Voice or other similar voice chat programs you may need to force NASCAR� Racing 4 to run at a lower priority by adding a "-kh0" (that's dash K H Zero) command line parameter to the shortcut: "C:\Papyrus\NASCAR Racing 4\NASCAR Racing 4.exe" -kh0 CONNECTING TO SIERRA.COM RACES If you are receiving "Connection Time-Out" messages when attempting to connect to Sierra.com multiplayer races or see no ping times displayed for any of these races you may need to select a different TCP/IP device in the "Connect Via:" drop-down list in the Sierra.com login box. Note that if you have a dynamic IP address it may first be necessary to enable the "Find Network Addresses Another Way" option using the CONFIGURE button at the bottom of the main multiplayer screen before the proper TCP/IP device will be listed. DISABLING USER CONNECTION AND DISCONNECTION MESSAGES By default in multiplayer races you will receive chat messages when other players connect and disconnect. These messages can be distracting to some users, so it is now possible to disable them by editing the following line in your PLAYER.INI (located in your Players\Player__Name directory), changing the 1 to a 0: [Misc] showJoinLeave=1 SERVER RACE OVER TIMER After the checkered flag, the race will wait for three minutes before advancing to the next track the loop or returning to the setup screen. This allows players to chat after the race or to save the replay. If you wish to change this amount of time you may edit the auto_leave_timeout line the [SERVER] section of the PLAYER.INI (note that this value is seconds). ADDING AI OPPONENTS TO A MULTIPLAYER RACE You may only have up to 42 connections to a multiplayer server for both human and AI opponents. In order to allow the addition of AI opponents to the server, you must first reduce the number of allowed TCP/IP or IPX connections to less than 42 human opponents. Once this is done you will be able to fill out the field with AI opponents. ADDITIONAL REMOTE SERVER ADMINISTRATION COMMANDS Server administrators now have several additional chat commands which they may use to control their server: !do_not_auto_start_next_race - Temporarily overrides a server running a series of looped races allowing you to exit back to the track setup screen and select a new track and/or race options (note that the server will resume the previous loop at the completion of the race using the newly selected race options). !show_password - Returns the server's current access and boss passwords. !set_password - Used to change the server's current access and/or boss passwords. For example, the chat command "!set_password new_access_pwd/new_boss_pwd" would change the access password for clients to be "new_access_pwd" and the boss password would be changed to "new_boss_pwd". This has no affect on clients and bosses currently connected to the server, but if they were to disconnect and reconnect they would need to know the updated password(s). !clear_password - Removes the server's current access and boss passwords. !shutdown -Shuts down the server. !list_commands - Returns a complete list of administration commands. SIERRA.COM RATINGS SYSTEM Note that although we currently have no plans to change any of this, it is all subject to change without notice. Higher ratings are better. 10 is the highest rating, and 0 is the lowest. When you create a new Sierra.com user ID, the ratings for that ID will all be 0. Your current ratings appear in the "RATINGS" box on the "Available Races" multiplayer screen. You have separate ratings for each of four track types. RC = road course (Watkins Glen and Sears Point) ST = short track (Bristol, Martinsville and Richmond) SS = super speedway (Daytona and Talladega) SW = speedway (currently, all other tracks) A race server will update the ratings database if all of the following conditions are met: - The race has rating restrictions in effect for the track type being run. - At least four players started the race (this does not include AI drivers). - The race winner completes enough laps to account for at least 10 minutes of racing at a "normal" lap speed at this track. Generally, 10% races will qualify. Once the race is complete, each driver that started the race will be assigned points for this race as follows: - You gain points for each driver you finish ahead of. You gain more points if your current rating is lower than the other driver, and fewer points if your rating is higher than the other driver (within limits). For example if your rating is a 3, and you finish ahead of a driver with a rating of 5, you gain more points for beating them than they would gain if they beat you: * Finish ahead of a driver 2 or more skill levels higher: +5 points each * Finish ahead of a driver 1 skill level higher: +4 * Finish ahead of a driver of the same skill level: +3 * Finish ahead of a driver 1 skill level lower: +2 * Finish ahead of a driver 2 skill levels lower: +1 * Finish ahead of a driver 3 or more skill levels lower: 0 - You lose points for each driver you finish behind. You lose more points if your current rating is higher than the other driver, and fewer points if your rating is lower than the other driver (within limits): * Finish behind a driver 3 or more skill levels higher: 0 * Finish behind a driver 2 skill levels higher: -1 * Finish behind a driver 1 skill level higher: -2 * Finish behind a driver of the same skill level: -3 * Finish behind a driver 1 skill level lower: -4 * Finish behind a driver 2 or more skill levels lower: -5 - In addition, there is a 3-point penalty for being involved in an "incident". An incident is defined as an event that either triggers the yellow flag or would have triggered the yellow flag had cautions been enabled. It is possible to be given multiple incident penalties in a race. Incident points are assigned without regard to who instigates an incident, and who is a victim. Being a victim is simply a part of racing. Drivers that keep their eyes high, their tempers cool, and use their heads are much less likely to become victims. Note that this (generally) means that drivers that finished well will receive positive point totals, and drivers that finished farther back in the pack will receive negative point totals. We then look at your points total for this race and your previous 9 races at this type of track(*). Your lowest 2 point total races are dropped, and the point totals from the remaining 8 races are averaged. If the average is greater than some limit (a positive number), your rating for this type of track is increased by 1, and your race point total history for this type of track is reset to 0. The limit point at which your rating will increase gets higher as your rating gets higher, making it harder to increase your rating as your rating increases. That is, it's much easier to go from a 0 rating to a 1 rating than it is to go from a 9 to a 10. Average Points Needed to Advance a Skill Level: SKILL LEVEL: 0-2 3-4 5-6 7-8 9 AVERAGE POINTS: 6 15 24 33 45 If the average is less than some limit (a negative number), your rating for this type of track is decreased by 1, and your race point total history for this type of track is reset to 0. The limit point at which your rating will decrease gets smaller (in magnitude, but numerically higher since it's a negative number) as your rating gets higher, making it easier to lose a rating level as your rating increases. That is, it's much easier to drop from a 10 to a 9 than it is to drop from a 1 to a 0. Average Points Needed to Drop a Skill Level: SKILL LEVEL: 1-2 3-4 5-6 7-8 9-10 AVERAGE POINTS: -45 -33 -24 -15 -6 Something you would do well to note: - Provided all the conditions above are met, your rating will be updated even if you don't finish the race! If you get caught up in some turn one shenanigans and quit the race in frustration, your rating will suffer the consequences. If you care about your rating, you have a couple options: (a) check out the competition during practice and warmup. If it seems like there are a lot of yahoos out there, disconnect from the server and go find another race. If you don't get into your car during the race session, your rating won't be updated. (b) Take it easy on the first lap! If you drive aggressively into turn one and leave yourself no margin for error (yours or someone elses), you are much more likely to come out a loser than a hero. (c) If you do get taken out early in the race, keep driving! You probably won't win the race, but many people will ignore this advice and just quit (you know the type - incidents are ALWAYS someone elses fault, and they constantly spew profanity). Finish the race and drive their rating down! (*) You can view your points histories by clicking on your own Sierra.com ID in the "PLAYERS", "INVITE" or "MUZZLE" lists, hitting the "P" (profile) button, and then holding down the left-shift and left-control keys while the PROFILE dialog box is displayed. The number between () is your current rating at the track type, and the numbers between [] are your point totals for your last 9 races. The other numbers are RR=races run, RC=races completed, LA=laps available in those races, LC=laps completed, and IC=incident count. Your LPI (laps per incident) rating is LC divided by IC. ADDITIONAL MULTIPLAYER FROM BEHIND A ROUTER OR FIREWALL NOTES If you have a router or firewall and would like to allow multiple users on your LAN to connect to the same multiplayer server, you will need to have each of the clients behind the router use a different net_server_port in their CORE.INI files (one client would make no changes and use the default port, while each of the others would need to specify a unique net_server_port). Additionally if you are hosting a server from behind the router by forwarding the default UDP port range to the LAN IP of the server, no clients on your LAN will be able to connect to multiplayer races since all of the incoming packets would be forwarded to your server. If you want to allow these clients to connect to races while your server is running, it would be necessary to forward and configure the server to use a non- standard UDP port range (see README.TXT for details). OFF-LINE LEAGUE SUPPORT IN EXPORTED STANDINGS NASCAR� Racing 4 now includes much of the information that N2/N3 generated that is used by off-line league administrators to verify that league members are not cheating. To include this information in NASCAR� Racing 4's exported standings files, enable a flag in PLAYER.INI... [Misc] off_line_league_info=0 ; Export extra info? Changing this to 1 will cause the additional information to be included in the exported standings. The following additional information will be exported... (a) There will be an additional column, titled "TAG", for each driver in the race standings. This tag is computed from the .CAR file used by that driver, and will change if that car is changed. When a league member submits exported standings, the TAG value for all of the drivers should match the TAG value for the 'approved' .CAR files. (b) The AI Strength setting is now exported. (c) The number, type and length of the weekend's sessions are exported. For example, "2Q1LR50L" means the weekend had 2 sessions; Qualify for 1 Lap, then Race for 50 Laps. (d) The options for the weekend are exported. This will be a string of characters with one character for each of the following options: 0/2/3 - Damage model (0=None, 2=Moderate, 3=Realistic) Y/- - Yellow flags enabled/disabled F/- - Fixed setup enabled/disabled A/- - Driving model (A=Arcade, -=Simulation) I/- - AI used? (I=yes, -=no) D/- - Double file restarts enabled? (D=yes, -=no) C/- - Cockpit view forced? (C=yes, -=no) S/- - Smoke display forced? (S=yes, -=no) M/- - Mechanical player breakdowns? (M=yes, -=no) L/- - Full pace lap enabled? (F=yes, -=no) W/- - Realistic weather enabled? (W=yes, -=no) So, for example, "0Y-AID--M-W" means "damage model is set to None, yellow flags are enabled, fixed setup is disabled, the driving model is Arcade, AI are included, Double file restarts are enabled, cockpit view is not forced, player Mechanical failures are enabled, shortened pace lap is selected, realistic Weather is enabled". Note that not all of these options are applicable to single-player races. (e) A signature value that is computed from the track geometry and the TRACK.INI file. If the league member has altered the track geometry, or has altered the TRACK.INI, this value will be different. Additionally, a utility program is included that allows a league administrator to verify that the exported standings file has not been edited. Place this program (PAPYVAILDATE.EXE) in a directory in your path, or copy it into the directory that contains the exported standings files you wish to verify. Run the program, giving it a command line parameter telling it what files should be validated. For example: C:\Papyrus\NASCAR Racing 4\exports> papyvalidate *.html <test11.html> valid. <test12.html> valid. <test13.html> Invalid. File has been modified. <test14.html> valid. [4] CONTACTING SIERRA ======================= A) Customer Service, Support, and Sales B) Technical Support C) Legal Information A) Customer Service, Support, and Sales ---------------------------------- United States U.S.A. Sales Phone: (800) 757-7707 Hours: 24 hours a day, 7 days a week International Sales: (425) 746-5771 Hours: Monday-Friday 8 AM to 4 PM PST FAX: (916) 939-1010 Sierra Direct P O Box 629001 El Dorado Hills, CA 95762-9972 Email: [email hidden] http://www.sierra.com United Kingdom Vivendi Universal Interactive Publishing UK Ltd. Main: (0118) 920-9111 Monday-Friday, 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Fax: (0118) 987-5603 Disk/CD replacements in the U.K. are �6.00, or �7.00 outside the UK. 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On Sat, 01 Sep 2001 18:13:16 GMT, [email hidden] (John Courtney) wrote:

Quoted text (10 lines)

>Hi, > I downloaded the international patch to to see what was fixed when the >offical version is released later! > >John > >NASCAR� Racing 4 PATCH README >1.3.1.4 >08/23/01 >

<snip> >* Improved accident avoidance behavior. > I hope that the AI in the new patch will sometimes cause a yellow. With the latest patch every pit stop is a green flag pitstop unless I am the one that causes the yellow. The AI NEVER wreck themselves, unless it is in the pits, or trying to get to pit road under green. The way I see it this is what needs improvement with regards to accidents in the AI. AI needs to cause yellows under normal race conditions away from the player. Currently they never wreck themselves. AI needs to not cause accidents in the pits or when entering or exiting pit road with the high frequency that they do now. AI needs to not cause a 43 car pile-up when there is an accident by staying full on the throttle and just diving into the pile. A lot of people complain that the AI wrecks them. While I do occasionally get spun out by the AI, more often than not, it is my fault. I hope the AI still DOES wreck me occasionally, since this is realistically what happens in real races. I don't know if this falls under this catagory, but when I get spun out, or hit the wall I would like a yellow to come out. The yellow does not always come out when there is a clear caution condition. Brian Brian Oster Remove NOSPAM from my email to reply.

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] (Brian Oster) writes: >I don't know if this falls under this catagory, but when I get spun >out, or hit the wall I would like a yellow to come out. The yellow >does not always come out when there is a clear caution condition. In real NASCAR, the yellow doesn't always come out for a spin or someone brushing the wall. It depends on the severity of the incident. Eldred -- Dale Earnhardt, Sr. R.I.P. 1951-2001 Homepage - http://www.umich.edu/~epickett F1 hcp. +16.36...Monster +360.54... Never argue with an idiot. He brings you down to his level, then beats you with experience... Remove SPAM-OFF to reply.

On 06 Sep 2001 04:58:40 GMT, [email hidden] (EldredP) wrote:

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>In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] >(Brian Oster) writes: > >>I don't know if this falls under this catagory, but when I get spun >>out, or hit the wall I would like a yellow to come out. The yellow >>does not always come out when there is a clear caution condition. > >In real NASCAR, the yellow doesn't always come out for a spin or someone >brushing the wall. It depends on the severity of the incident.

True, but there are several times where I have been punted by an AI car (which by the way is fine by me since I see it all the time in real races) and hit the wall pretty hard, and was spun around sitting sideways at the bottom of the track and it stayed green, and the whole field just passed me by. I realize that this is probably one of the harder things to program into the AI since it is such a judgement call. Tweak it just a little to tight and the computer will be throwing the yellow every time someone gets loose in a turn. I can live with it the way it is, but if they could make it a little more realistic, that would be great.

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> >Eldred >-- >Dale Earnhardt, Sr. R.I.P. 1951-2001 >Homepage - http://www.umich.edu/~epickett >F1 hcp. +16.36...Monster +360.54... > >Never argue with an idiot. He brings you down to his level, then beats you >with experience... >Remove SPAM-OFF to reply.

Brian Oster Remove NOSPAM from my email to reply.