Frustrated with N4

I have been racing Papyrus' Nascar sims since the first release, along with just about every racing sim ever made. I've always been fairly competitive, that is until N4. I don't know what the problem is, but I can't get a handle on ANY track! My best track has always been Bristol, and I can't even compete with the AI when they're set to 88%! I've always made my own setups, spending many hours fine tuning them. This time around I've got so frustrated that I actually downloaded several setups from the web. It didn't make any difference. I get the same result no matter what setup I use. When I finally get a setup that feels good on the first lap, in 3 to 4 laps it will develop a horrible push through the center of the corners and it will also be terribly loose coming off. Every setup that I've made or downloaded does the same thing. They all seem to completely go away after 3 to 4 laps! Is there any way that this could be caused by some of my computers hardware? Or maybe one of the games files got screwed up? I'm about ready to just uninstall the damn thing and I hate it because I really used to love racing. I really miss the Hawaii and NROS days! Any way, anybody got any ideas? Brett

Hi Brett, from what I can see your problem just might be that you are turning the wheel too much in corners. This causes the front wheels to wear fast, making the car push after a while, and also starting to snap oversteer if you try to break the push wiht applying more throttle. It could also be that the setups you tried are meant for hotlapping, and not racing itself. Try driving with applying the minimum ammount of steering, and adjust your setup (soften the front/stiffen the rear/increase track bar) until it enables you to do this at respectable laptimes. Do not turn the wheel more once the car starts to drift wide, let go off the throttle instead. Drive a few laps and check your tyre wear (F5). Your goal should be almost even wear front right to rear right, although the fronts will usually wear slightly more. Good luck! -Gregor Brett Turley wrote:

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> > I have been racing Papyrus' Nascar sims since the first release, along with > just about every racing sim ever made. I've always been fairly competitive, > that is until N4. I don't know what the problem is, but I can't get a > handle on ANY track! My best track has always been Bristol, and I can't > even compete with the AI when they're set to 88%! > > I've always made my own setups, spending many hours fine tuning them. This > time around I've got so frustrated that I actually downloaded several setups > from the web. It didn't make any difference. I get the same result no > matter what setup I use. When I finally get a setup that feels good on the > first lap, in 3 to 4 laps it will develop a horrible push through the center > of the corners and it will also be terribly loose coming off. Every setup > that I've made or downloaded does the same thing. They all seem to > completely go away after 3 to 4 laps! > > Is there any way that this could be caused by some of my computers hardware? > Or maybe one of the games files got screwed up? I'm about ready to just > uninstall the damn thing and I hate it because I really used to love racing. > I really miss the Hawaii and NROS days! > > Any way, anybody got any ideas? > > Brett

Brett Turley wrote: > > I have been racing Papyrus' Nascar sims since the first release, along with > just about every racing sim ever made. I've always been fairly competitive, > that is until N4. I don't know what the problem is, but I can't get a > handle on ANY track! My best track has always been Bristol, and I can't > even compete with the AI when they're set to 88%! <snip> Sounds to me like you're over-driving your tires! It's not the setup, it's the driver technique. -- Fester

Uncle Fester <[email hidden]> writes:

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> Brett Turley wrote: > > > > I have been racing Papyrus' Nascar sims since the first release, along with > > just about every racing sim ever made. I've always been fairly competitive, > > that is until N4. I don't know what the problem is, but I can't get a > > handle on ANY track! My best track has always been Bristol, and I can't > > even compete with the AI when they're set to 88%! <snip> > > > Sounds to me like you're over-driving your tires! It's not the setup, > it's the driver technique.

Or that the setups are made for one fast qualifying lap with perfect balance, but not for races. -- Olav K. Malmin remove .spam when replying

"Brett Turley" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<24P57.61181$[email hidden]>... > When I finally get a setup that feels good on the > first lap, in 3 to 4 laps it will develop a horrible push through the center > of the corners and it will also be terribly loose coming off. Every setup > that I've made or downloaded does the same thing. They all seem to > completely go away after 3 to 4 laps! I had this same problem for a while, until I made myself quit building/tweaking setups and instead concentrated on learning how to drive the <fast> setup at racing speeds. This allowed me to learn the subtle nuances of the N4 physics engine, as well as FORCED me to learn the ideal line, braking points, etc. that are more important than ever for getting the most speed out of the car. Learning not to overdrive the car is essential. If you are constantly fooling with the setup, you will have a hard time learning where the limit is. Learning to drive the ideal line for your particular car/setup, flawlessly, lap after lap after lap after lap, will generally pay much greater dividends than chasing the elusive "killer setup". I think the reason your car feels worse after a few laps is because, after the first few laps, it will carry more and more speed out of a corner, down the straight and into the next corner. Assuming your rate of deceleration does not change, you have to start braking sooner to arrive at the turn in point at the appropriate speed. If you carry too much speed into a corner, the car will push after the turn in. The difference between "too late" and "just soon enough" is very subtle. A few tenths of seconds at most on a slow track. Try slowing down a little earlier, or a little more, and see if that helps. Pay close attention to the line you are driving, especially the turn in. Remember, every foot you drive past the turn in point will carry you at least a foot farther away from the apex, given the same cornering speed. This can seem like the car is pushing, but really, it just means the driver blew the entry. As far as the loose-out, I can guess a couple of things, based on what I went through. You are pushing like crazy toward corner exit, so you lift suddenly, causing trailing throttle oversteer. Or, having gotten the car pointed in the right direction, you mash the gas too suddenly, without unwinding the steering wheel enough, and get loose. The second is probably more likely. Setup changes can give you substantial benefits, especially in tire wear on longer runs. This is where the default setups show the most weakness, IMO. They wear out the RF way too soon, and over a long run, are much slower than a setup that takes better care of the RF would be. Making a car last longer on extended green flag runs is the real reason for building a good race setup. Not for a gaining few tenths on the first 5 laps, but gaining many seconds over 50 laps. > Is there any way that this could be caused by some of my computers hardware? > Or maybe one of the games files got screwed up? I really doubt it, either way. Though, just possibly, it could be your controller config. Doubt it though, since the car does feel good for you, at least at first. The physics engine is way less forgiving in N4 than previous titles in the series. It is just plain harder to drive well. Be patient, give yourself plenty of time to get used to it. I concentrated on the longer tracks that don't require as much braking precision. This allowed me to concentrate on lifting and turning, which are hard enough to do right without worrying about the brakes. Eventually, it sort of clicked, and I find driving N4 much more natural and intuitive. Now if I could just figure out the inner loop at Watkins Glen... Good luck, Gerald Moore

go into the ini files in the game folder and increase the concrete and asphalt grip. Try setting it to 1.3 or 1.4. It takes away the sliding and makes it more fun. After a while you get sick of it and set the grip back to defaults, but you learn the grooves without so much wall time. It's really not cheating against the A.I.; they seem to like it too...