NFS:PU some thoughts !

I'm a huge NFS5 fan and have been since the game was released many months ago, and have raced probably a hundred hours or more both online and off. Its only in the last few weeks that I've left it for other games like GPL and classics like systemshock and trespasser. NFS1 is still in my mind the best of the series, its flair and freshness, variety of real-world cars and interesting tracks have never really been equaled, but NFS5 had the depth that comes from the numerous addon parts, tweaking options and handling characteristics of the different cars that made driving fun and challenging. I spent most of my NFS5 time in offline, and later online, record-setting. http://www.xs4all.nl/~eel/nfswr/index.html was the center for offline records (I liked the Classic and Golden categories the best) but it hasn't been updated in some time, and most of the interest of hard-core nfs5 drivers is now centered on the EA online servers. http://www.earacing.com/PU_Tracks.phtml and http://216.52.200.241/nfs.asp show the records and stats. There is some limited league racing going on, http://www.nfsliga.de/ http://www.myleague.com/rmlaser/ and http://www.totalnfs.net have some (check the WC and DC clans at totalnfs). I don't know much about the international NFS scene, but its very strong in Germany. http://www.nd4spd.de is a place to start. So what are some interesting things about NFS5 racing. Well, the first thing is 99% of online races are with Collision off, meaning GPL-trademark pileups don't occur, which is a very good thing. GPL fans will say well then its not racing, I say who cares. Your attention is shifted more towards maintaining your line and beating your best times and not about hitting the other guy, but you can still see your opponents, and NFS5 has an outstanding driver-interaction feature completely lacking in racing sims: a horn. There's no FREAKING horn in GPL. Nothing is more satisfying than taking the turn just right in your 356A Speedster, slowly sailing by the leader (McGregor haha), and trading a few congratulatory beeps between you. A HORN AND A COLLISION-OFF MODE SHOULD BE IN WSC K THX. Yet another reason there's exactly one female GPL driver. What things separate elite drivers from newbies. Well first there is choice of cars and upgrade parts. This is mostly straightforward and you just buy all the cars and install all the parts available, but there are some subtleties, as for instance a 944 with a 3.0L engine upgrade is slower than the same car with a 2.5L + supercharger, or you might choose a different car within each performance class depending on the track; a '53 356A 1500 has lousy acceleration but a remarkably high top speed, so it is the car of choice on Zone Industriale over the '56 1600. Similarly the 944 is often chosen over the Carrera RS for its superior cornering. Then there is tuning. I suspect there are problems with NFS5's realism here, for instance it is SOP to set tire pressures at 45psi f&r for both best handling and top speed, probably not realistic. There are downforce settings which will vary widely from car to car and track to track (a little extra rear df can help alot with say the '67 911), toe-in settings and on the race cars gearing can be altered. I don't think gearing is all that well understood in the NFS5 community (not by me anyway), mostly it consists in adjusting top gear for the track, though I have noticed that gearing can affect handling. Adjusting the GT1 for shorter gearing helped me induce some slight oversteer in this mostly neutral car and made getting around corners at Schwartzwald easier. The Replay Info tool at http://www.xs4all.nl/~eel/nfswr/porsche/downloads.html#cars allows the newbie to download lap replays and see the tuning settings used by top drivers, but replay analysis never became more advanced than this due to EA's design choices. It is possible with a simple replay file edit to restore the speedometer/time display in watching replays, but this screws up camera choice, so you can't have both a speedometer with a chase or bumper cam, making replays much less useful. Plus its difficult to recognize replays with hacked car performance from genuine ones. Hacked car and cheatcode usage is a problem with NFS that as I far as I know is unheard of in GPL. Finally there is driving technique. This mostly consists of course in knowing every corner of a track intimately, and what line to take and what entry speed. NFS5 has a nice digital speedometer that can be dragged with the mouse right to the center of the screen to help the driver here. Beyond this there are more subtle things like preventing wheel-spin at the starting line (as McGregor showed me, 4000rpm at the start line in a 356 can save a full second over redlining it) and minimizing tire scrub in corners. As for things like throttle steering I don't know enough to comment on, though I have noticed that variation in braking technique entering corners can make a big difference in a car like the 550 Spyder. Its a measure of the complexity of NFS5 that tho I'm quite an experienced NFS5 driver I know I'll never equal the times of Alrik or Myshkin at Auvergne or learn how to handle the tunnel at Corsica properly, and newbies probably shake their heads at some of my times as well. There are also silly things that make GPLers smirk in disdain, namely rail-riding to get top Monaco times, but even this requires some technique in that you don't just smash into the railing, rather you tap the e-brake to bring out the rear so it contacts the wall first, keeping your speed up. The competition for a World Record is high enough now where your chances for setting one will pretty much rely on being in a full pit and being either on the pole or close behind for the time advantage gained. There's no qualifying of course, but even this random positioning can be exciting as you cross your fingers hoping for that coveted pole position. As for editing, this is not my interest but it appears to have basically the opposite emphasis of the GPL scene, namely cars over tracks. There are no 'new' NFS5 cars at this time beyond altered skins and performance, and I see no prospect of any user-made NFS5 tracks ever appearing, with the blame resting squarely on EA's shoulders for refusing to share any file-specs or editing information. NFS3&4 car editing tho is well-understood and there are hundreds of cars available, but few tracks. Again very different from GPL, where you want everyone to be running basically the same cars but can race online on many different tracks. Perhaps some of the difference lies in NFS car-editing being sort of a high-tech alternative to plastic car-model building, due partly to the lack until recently of online racing capability in the NFS series. Just guessing. http://www.nfscheats.com has a good editing forum. So goodbye for now NFS! I hope NFS6 has both a strong offline component as well as online, and increased realism, with some reaching out to the editing community. I don't think Motor City Online is for me, but eagerly await NFS6 ! Running the Ring in some old Ferrari, wouldn't that be great ? rms [email hidden]

Roger, GREAT post! I can't add much, except my feeling that perhaps the biggest problem with NFSPU is that it has "Need For Speed" in its name. This isn't a bad thing in and of itself, but what it does is atract a LOT of arcade racers to the fold who just can't or won't take things seriously enough for a lot of the RAS folks. I enjoyed racing online with NFSPU for a while, but I never found it to work as well, or to be as user-friendly, as DTR or GPL -- folks on Gamespy or VROC just seem to be more focused on racing, which I find appealing. I did like the "no-collision" mode in NFSPU, but mainly as a diversion. I don't mean to knock NFSPU, though -- I feel much the same way about it as you do, and it still has a place in my own personal hall of fame, but I just can't quite put my finger on why it caught my attention and held on so tight for a period of time, and then more or less faded away, only to be played occasionally. I halfway want to blame this on the CD-ROM protection method that so many games use -- if I have to insert the CD, that means I have to FIND the CD, and if I've been playing F1 2000 or GPL and I simply want to make a run in NFSPU with a 550 Spyder, I often find it's not worth the effor, simply because the CD is usually buried somewhere around my horrendously-cluttered desk. THIS is something that more publishers need to consider (bring on the no-CD patches!!!). It's still one of the all-time greats in my book, though! -- JB Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/ Before you buy.

EXCELLENT! Thanks for the Gamecopyworld link, Joel -- I downloaded a no-CD patch for NFSPU last night, and I'm playing today with no CD. Now NFSPU makes for a nice, no-hassle diversion when I need a break from F12K or GPL! Thanks again! -- JB In article <[email hidden]>, Joel Leach <[email hidden]> wrote: > [email hidden] wrote: > CD is usually buried somewhere around my horrendously-cluttered desk. > > THIS is something that more publishers need to consider (bring onthe > > no-CD patches!!!). > > www.gamecopyworld.com has the full line of NFS:PU no-cd cracks, youjust

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> won't have much success racing on-line with the cracked exe. > > As to the original post extolling the excellent virtues of NFS:PU, I > whole heartedly agree, it was quite fun for several months. > > Joel > > The pinnacle of open systems is: when moving from vendor to vendor,

the > design flaws stay the same. > > '90 GL1500A "Therapist" > > <SIGTERM> > Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/ Before you buy.

A good track editor would make NFSPU one of those "evergreen" titles. SCCA and club racing groups all over the world would then be able to generate hundreds (thousands?) of club and local tracks. My SCCA buddies really like NFSPU because of the vehicle dynamics, and giving 3rd-parties the ability to generate local tracks or courses would just extend its life. Too bad EA is so short-sighted. Maybe "Motor City" will be enough of a failure to shock them back to their senses. -- JB In article <8v8u0v$2h2$[email hidden]>, "J Skantse" <[email hidden]> wrote: > > "Roger Squires" <[email hidden]> wrote in message > news:ktBQ5.2333$[email hidden]... > > As for editing, this is not my interest but it appears to havebasically > the > > opposite emphasis of the GPL scene, namely cars over tracks. Thereare no > > 'new' NFS5 cars at this time beyond altered skins and performance,and I > see > > no prospect of any user-made NFS5 tracks ever appearing, with theblame > > resting squarely on EA's shoulders for refusing to share any file-specs or > > editing information. > > Really sad, Imagine there was a really good track editor. > There could be hundreds of different tracks. > It would be fun to team up with some local racers and make arealistic track > of the streets in your home town ! > Sure it would take a digital camera and lots and lots of time editingthe > stuff, but just imagine racing around in your local town in a GT-1 ;-) > > Joergen > > Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/ Before you buy.

"Edward Mills" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:8v9nka$f3f$[email hidden]... > I searched > www.gamecopyworld.com as well as several other sights in vain > for anything having to do with Porsche Unleashed and have found nothingbut > a few cars that I have yet been able to import into the game. Andcertainly > no "no-CD patches" or any other patches for Porsche Unleashed. There are only 4 downloadable cars available from EA, thay can be found here: http://www.needforspeed.com/porsche/pc/index.html This site has the hacks to get all the cars and tracks: http://pu.nfsracer.com/files/ Various Cheats and Hacks can be found here: http://www.nfscheats.com/nfs5/ There is a no-cd .exe at gamecopyworld...keep looking<g>. After installation, it gives an "insert CD" warning, just ignore it and click ok, the game will start. HTH -- don New GPL Programs for the Converted Tracks: http://www.ianparker.co.uk/gpl/bapom/ You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say will be misquoted, then used against you.

"Roger Squires" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:ktBQ5.2333$[email hidden]... > As for editing, this is not my interest but it appears to have basicallythe > opposite emphasis of the GPL scene, namely cars over tracks. There are no > 'new' NFS5 cars at this time beyond altered skins and performance, and Isee > no prospect of any user-made NFS5 tracks ever appearing, with the blame > resting squarely on EA's shoulders for refusing to share any file-specs or > editing information. Really sad, Imagine there was a really good track editor. There could be hundreds of different tracks. It would be fun to team up with some local racers and make a realistic track of the streets in your home town ! Sure it would take a digital camera and lots and lots of time editing the stuff, but just imagine racing around in your local town in a GT-1 ;-) Joergen

[email hidden] wrote: CD is usually buried somewhere around my horrendously-cluttered desk. > THIS is something that more publishers need to consider (bring on the > no-CD patches!!!). www.gamecopyworld.com has the full line of NFS:PU no-cd cracks, you just won't have much success racing on-line with the cracked exe. As to the original post extolling the excellent virtues of NFS:PU, I whole heartedly agree, it was quite fun for several months. Joel The pinnacle of open systems is: when moving from vendor to vendor, the design flaws stay the same. '90 GL1500A "Therapist" <SIGTERM>

I searched > www.gamecopyworld.com as well as several other sights in vain for anything having to do with Porsche Unleashed and have found nothing but a few cars that I have yet been able to import into the game. And certainly no "no-CD patches" or any other patches for Porsche Unleashed. When I first got this game, it was wonderful! The gameplay, graphics and sound are some of the best I've seen, and yet.... This game has way too many bugs and absolutely no support from EA to patch them. I've spent hours racing my way through the evolution mode only to have the game freeze up and in so doing, corrupting the file so that I have to start over again. I made it all the way up to the last race with the '00 911 turbo and then the game froze, thus corrupting the file and making it virtually unusable. What, I have to start over again!!?? I've already started over once before due to the same problem!!!! The factory driver mode doesn't work. When I get to the race where you have to make a 360 turn within the cones, it doesn't recognize that I made a 360 within the cones. The counter keeps counting and there is no way to advance in this mode because it's impossible to complete this race. The car setup screen has "save" and "load" buttons for saving and loading setups but that doesn't work at all. You push either button and nothing happens. All of this is really too bad because I have had many hours of fun playing this game, but the many bugs which make it impossible to finish the game are simply too much. Hell, even EA's NFS official homepage which lists the cars that are supposed to be downloadable ends up with nothing. The cars are supposedly downloadable, but when I try to download them, I get a message telling me that internet explorer can't find the homepage. Grrrrr..... Ed <end of rant> <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:8v95vl$mug$[email hidden]...

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> EXCELLENT! Thanks for the Gamecopyworld link, Joel -- I downloaded a > no-CD patch for NFSPU last night, and I'm playing today with no CD. > Now NFSPU makes for a nice, no-hassle diversion when I need a break > from F12K or GPL! > > Thanks again! > > -- JB > > In article <[email hidden]>, > Joel Leach <[email hidden]> wrote: > > [email hidden] wrote: > > CD is usually buried somewhere around my horrendously-cluttered desk. > > > THIS is something that more publishers need to consider (bring on > the > > > no-CD patches!!!). > > > > www.gamecopyworld.com has the full line of NFS:PU no-cd cracks, you > just > > won't have much success racing on-line with the cracked exe. > > > > As to the original post extolling the excellent virtues of NFS:PU, I > > whole heartedly agree, it was quite fun for several months. > > > > Joel > > > > The pinnacle of open systems is: when moving from vendor to vendor, > the > > design flaws stay the same. > > > > '90 GL1500A "Therapist" > > > > <SIGTERM> > > > > > Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/ > Before you buy.

Ed, THAT'S GREAT NEWS! Glad to hear that you sorted the 360 out as well -- I was assuming that you were already using the parking brake, which (as you've discovered) is essential for some maneuvers. You know what they say about what happens when you assume . . . <G> Race on, Grand Poobah, race on! ;-) -- JB In article <8vc94b$4q6$[email hidden]>, "Edward Mills" <[email hidden]> wrote: > > > > Again, hope this helps -- let us know how your progress goes on the360 > > in Factory Driver mode. I think an early turn-in is the key here,so > > give that a shot. > > I did it! First, I sold off about $300,000 worth of spare parts and,without > using the fixsav program, and found that my problem regarding whatappeared > to be a corrupted save file disappeared. Took my first stab at the911 turbo > race and finished the game in one try. Smoked the rest of the losersin the > bonus round and won the bonus race car! And all of this using nothingmore > than the keyboard. > > As for the 360, I finished that too. The trick is not an early turn-in, but > rather using the parking brake to create the spin from left to rightwithin > the length of the cones. The game states that using the parking brakeis > necessary for completing the course but I had assumed that this meantusing > the parking brake once you've finished the 360 turn and come to astop. > > Ed > Grand Poobah of Porsche Unleashed > > Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/ Before you buy.

In article <8vafuq$khj$[email hidden]>, "Edward Mills" <[email hidden]> wrote: > JB, > > Thanks for responding. The links do work and I feel like a fool. I > think that I have been unlucky finding the fixsav program because I > certainly haven't been lazy. LOL! I didn't really think you were being lazy -- I had to dig around quite a bit to find the right link again myself, in fact, so I KNOW how hard it was to find! > I have shed real blood over this game because it really > is a great game. And to spend so much time racing away to the > promised land of finishing the race, only to have it get corrupted? > Well..... Perhaps you can empathize with the poison contained in my > previous post. MOST DEFINITELY! EA left a lot of bugs that should have been fixed, and none of the patches have addressed some of the worst problems. Still, once you get it ironed out, it IS a great sim (game?). > And yes, I didn't sell off the stock parts after upgrading because I > didn't realize it was necessary. I've got a literal ton of stock > carbs, transmissions and shocks etc. that I have to wade through when > looking for a purchased part. I consider this an undocumented "feature" -- surely EA must have been aware of this limitation? On the plus side, selling off the stock parts makes your inventory easier to go through, and it earns you some extra bucks as well. > Perhaps you would be so kind as to answer a few more questions.... I would, but Jeff Reid did a pretty good job of addressing your other questions, so I'll just refer you to his response. FWIW, I thought the EA cars were available from the NFSCheats site (http://www.nfscheats.com/), as well as patches that would let you own the EA downloadable cars in Evolution mode. I could be wrong, but you might try checking there. Again, hope this helps -- let us know how your progress goes on the 360 in Factory Driver mode. I think an early turn-in is the key here, so give that a shot. TTYL! -- JB Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/ Before you buy.

In article <8v9nka$f3f$[email hidden]>, "Edward Mills" <[email hidden]> wrote: > I searched > www.gamecopyworld.com as well as several other sights invain > for anything having to do with Porsche Unleashed and have foundnothing but > a few cars that I have yet been able to import into the game. Andcertainly > no "no-CD patches" or any other patches for Porsche Unleashed. You're either being lazy or you're unlucky with your search -- try this: http://www.megagames.com/cracks/gn1.htm > When I first got this game, it was wonderful! The gameplay, graphicsand > sound are some of the best I've seen, and yet.... This game has waytoo many > bugs and absolutely no support from EA to patch them. I've spent hours > racing my way through the evolution mode only to have the game freezeup and > in so doing, corrupting the file so that I have to start over again.I made > it all the way up to the last race with the '00 911 turbo and thenthe game > froze, thus corrupting the file and making it virtually unusable.What, I > have to start over again!!?? I've already started over once beforedue to You need the "fixsav" program: http://mike.kiernan.com/fixsav.exe This should help you recover some of your old profiles. Even though this works, I made a batch file to make backing up my profile a simple one-click ordeal -- after a night of racing in NFSPU, I would then click on my desktop icon that pointed to my profile backup batch file, and then even if the profile became corrupted, I'd always have the previous day's profile in my backup directory. The batch file is a simple one-line copy command that looks something like this: copy "d:\nfspu\savedata\2jb.sav" "d:\nfspusaves\latest\2jb.sav" (substitute your own paths, of course) In order to prevent profile corruptions, you also need to make sure you sell off stock parts when you buy upgrade parts -- the program will only allow you to have so many parts in your parts inventory, and if you have too many, your profile gets unstable and can crash. When you buy parts, always go back and sell the stock parts you remove -- that really helps a lot with this particular problem. Using these techiques, utilities, and tricks, I've successfully made it through Evolution Mode several times. > the same problem!!!! The factory driver mode doesn't work. When I getto the > race where you have to make a 360 turn within the cones, it doesn't > recognize that I made a 360 within the cones. The counter keepscounting and > there is no way to advance in this mode because it's impossible tocomplete > this race. It's NOT impossible -- you're just not doing it correctly. You MUST complete the 360 WITHIN the cones. Pay attention to your replay and you'll find that you're most likely ending your 360 outside of the cones. The best way to get through this is to start your turn-in EARLY, before you hit the first set of cones. Also, MAKE SURE you're doing the 360 in the right direction -- if the arrows indicate a clockwise direction, then you MUST do a clockwise 360; a counter- clockwise 360 will NOT count (or vice-versa, depending on the arrows -- I don't recall which direction is the correct direction off the top of my head). This one IS definitely do-able -- I've done it, others have done it, and many of us can repeatedly do it successfully. Don't give up -- just figure out what you're doing wrong. There is a Factory Driver hack available from the NFS Addict site, but I've also got it posted on my site, along with an AI hack. Check it out here: http://irlinsider.adnetweb.com/sims/nfspu.htm >The car setup screen has "save" and "load" buttons for saving and > loading setups but that doesn't work at all. You push either buttonand > nothing happens. You get to save or load only ONE setup per car, I believe. It's a pain, but it is better than nothing. Hope all of this helps a bit. -- JB Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/ Before you buy.

JB, Thanks for responding. The links do work and I feel like a fool. I think that I have been unlucky finding the fixsav program because I certainly haven't been lazy. I have shed real blood over this game because it really is a great game. And to spend so much time racing away to the promised land of finishing the race, only to have it get corrupted? Well..... Perhaps you can empathize with the poison contained in my previous post. And yes, I didn't sell off the stock parts after upgrading because I didn't realize it was necessary. I've got a literal ton of stock carbs, transmissions and shocks etc. that I have to wade through when looking for a purchased part. Perhaps you would be so kind as to answer a few more questions.... Is there a top limit to the number of cars that you can own? Have you had problems downloading the cars from the NFS website? Are the downloadable cars available within evolution mode? Again, my sincere gratitude for making a great game playable. Ed

> Is there a top limit to the number of cars that you can own? Yes, you can't buy more than 80 cars in evolution mode. However, you can do evolution mode first, buying/winning the 80 different cars, then win an 81st car. Afterwards, complete Factory Driver for a total of 84 cars (4 duplicates, the Factory Driver cars will have special paint schemes). > Have you had problems downloading the cars from the NFS website? No, but it may be easier to try ftp site directly: ftp://ftp.ea.com/pub/ea/demos/nfspu/ Choose the models with ....install.exe (the 928 is listed as GTS...). > Are the downloadable cars available within evolution mode? No, and the Factory Driver cars can't be raced (they can be sold, but then they are gone from all game modes).

> Again, hope this helps -- let us know how your progress goes on the 360 > in Factory Driver mode. I think an early turn-in is the key here, so > give that a shot. I did it! First, I sold off about $300,000 worth of spare parts and, without using the fixsav program, and found that my problem regarding what appeared to be a corrupted save file disappeared. Took my first stab at the 911 turbo race and finished the game in one try. Smoked the rest of the losers in the bonus round and won the bonus race car! And all of this using nothing more than the keyboard. As for the 360, I finished that too. The trick is not an early turn-in, but rather using the parking brake to create the spin from left to right within the length of the cones. The game states that using the parking brake is necessary for completing the course but I had assumed that this meant using the parking brake once you've finished the 360 turn and come to a stop. Ed Grand Poobah of Porsche Unleashed

heheh well how the heck else were you trying to 360 it?? good job on completing it though! "Edward Mills" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:8vc94b$4q6$[email hidden]...

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> > > > Again, hope this helps -- let us know how your progress goes on the 360 > > in Factory Driver mode. I think an early turn-in is the key here, so > > give that a shot. > > I did it! First, I sold off about $300,000 worth of spare parts and,

without > using the fixsav program, and found that my problem regarding whatappeared > to be a corrupted save file disappeared. Took my first stab at the 911turbo > race and finished the game in one try. Smoked the rest of the losers inthe > bonus round and won the bonus race car! And all of this using nothing more > than the keyboard. > > As for the 360, I finished that too. The trick is not an early turn-in,but > rather using the parking brake to create the spin from left to rightwithin > the length of the cones. The game states that using the parking brake is > necessary for completing the course but I had assumed that this meantusing

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> the parking brake once you've finished the 360 turn and come to a stop. > > Ed > Grand Poobah of Porsche Unleashed > > >