NASCAR Heat 3 Launches, Gets Its Own Esports Tournament

I want to know if anyone will correctly predict that race time and get the extra half a mil.

A long shot, I know, but stranger things have happened..
 
That's a good question. Enough nascar fans may have a rough idea but cautions and weather already could play a role.

I’d just look back at the exact run time of every Homestead race on Racing Reference and calculate the average.

Also can’t see anywhere whether this is only open to Americans or everyone
 
No it isn't.

The graphics are horrible, the force feedback is atrocious and it's still plagued with issues from the last two games.

That’s what I figured and why I’ve never bothered playing Heat 2 or 3. Maybe one day it’ll advance beyond a PS2 game dressed up as a PS3 game on PS4. I just wish someone would put almost as much effort into a NASCAR game as Codemasters does into the F1 games. It’s been since 2003 since that’s happened (NR2003 and Thunder 2004, the two best NASCAR games ever. Dirt to Daytona came out around then as well)
 
No it isn't.

The graphics are horrible, the force feedback is atrocious and it's still plagued with issues from the last two games.
Actually depends on what you look for in a driving game. I only play racing games, never played a FPS in my life, with that being said, they have WAY more settings than GTS for the cars and the wheel as well, so if you have the skills you can set it up really nice. From a drivers standpoint Ive always thought the FFB and handling characteristics in the HEAT series outmatched GTS in every way. More like a sim, thats why its so hard, cuz driving a race car isnt easy. plus they are giving away weekly prizes and potentially $500,000 (probably impossible though lol.) That's my opinion. And if you look at my stats you will see Im a serious driver. And plagued by what issues? I never heard of any. But I know GTS has some SERIOUS issues.
 
driving a race car isnt easy.
I won’t comment on the rest of your post as I have little knowledge of the settings in this game or how serious a driver you are, but I’m interested to know what you’re basing this statement on? Are you saying driving a race car isn’t easy compared to driving a road car? If so under what circumstances? Around town or pushing limits on a track?

To state that driving a race car is not easy is flawed, anyone who can drive can drive a race car. Obviously some of the more extreme race cars might be tricky because they stall easily or require taking on corners at very very high speeds in order to generate the downforce to actually get around the corner, speeds a lot of people may be uncomfortable with such as Formula 1 cars. But not all race cars are like that, in fact most are not. Most are very easy to drive, no more difficult than the Mini parked on my drive.

The real difficulty is pushing a car and driving fast on a track, that’s not easy. Driving is easy (assuming you can drive), but driving consistently fast is a skill. But is doing this in a race car easy? Well no, but I’d wager it’s easier to drive fast in a Mini racing car than in the Mini on my drive. A race car that’s harder to drive fast than similar road car is a failure. It’s a bad race car.

There’s a common misconception that race cars are inherently difficult to drive, but this is simply not true. Some people will even criticise a racing sim if the cars are not difficult enough to control, which is flawed thinking. Remember, race cars are built to be fast, not to crash, the skill of a racing driver isn’t being able to drive a race car, it’s being able to push a car to its limits.

Anyway, sorry to pick up on a small part of your post. It’s just the one thing I disagreed with, although you may have a context for the comment I have completely overlooked or got wrong.
 
Most of the positive reviews that I've seen of this game so far on Steam seem to be along the lines of "OMG Dirt to Daytona was my favorite game and this reminds me of it!!!", and anyone who posts negative reviews have been getting shouted down pretty fast. That makes me wonder how well the game's going to fare when the rose-colored glasses finally come off, cause what I've seen hasn't exactly impressed me much.
 
Most of the positive reviews that I've seen of this game so far on Steam seem to be along the lines of "OMG Dirt to Daytona was my favorite game and this reminds me of it!!!", and anyone who posts negative reviews have been getting shouted down pretty fast. That makes me wonder how well the game's going to fare when the rose-colored glasses finally come off, cause what I've seen hasn't exactly impressed me much.

That’s the same thing they said about the other 2 games. Mostly because it uses the same PS2 physics engine.
 
That’s the same thing they said about the other 2 games. Mostly because it uses the same PS2 physics engine.
Really? That actually explains a lot about why Heat 2 felt so odd when I tried it. I liked Dirt to Daytona a lot myself, but its handling model has definitely not aged well. And if they really are re-using that... oof.
 
I won’t comment on the rest of your post as I have little knowledge of the settings in this game or how serious a driver you are, but I’m interested to know what you’re basing this statement on? Are you saying driving a race car isn’t easy compared to driving a road car? If so under what circumstances? Around town or pushing limits on a track?

To state that driving a race car is not easy is flawed, anyone who can drive can drive a race car. Obviously some of the more extreme race cars might be tricky because they stall easily or require taking on corners at very very high speeds in order to generate the downforce to actually get around the corner, speeds a lot of people may be uncomfortable with such as Formula 1 cars. But not all race cars are like that, in fact most are not. Most are very easy to drive, no more difficult than the Mini parked on my drive.

The real difficulty is pushing a car and driving fast on a track, that’s not easy. Driving is easy (assuming you can drive), but driving consistently fast is a skill. But is doing this in a race car easy? Well no, but I’d wager it’s easier to drive fast in a Mini racing car than in the Mini on my drive. A race car that’s harder to drive fast than similar road car is a failure. It’s a bad race car.

There’s a common misconception that race cars are inherently difficult to drive, but this is simply not true. Some people will even criticise a racing sim if the cars are not difficult enough to control, which is flawed thinking. Remember, race cars are built to be fast, not to crash, the skill of a racing driver isn’t being able to drive a race car, it’s being able to push a car to its limits.

Anyway, sorry to pick up on a small part of your post. It’s just the one thing I disagreed with, although you may have a context for the comment I have completely overlooked or got wrong.
I'm sorry, all I can do is laugh out loud. No disrespect intended, but I don't understand where you are coming from. Have you ever drove a race car? I have 10 years plus on a 1/2 mile paved oval, so maybe I'm partial to ovals although I enjoy road racing as well. Race cars: edge of out of control(fast drivers) one minuscule mistake usually spells disaster, guess I should ask if you even WATCH racing?? Are you a Gamer??? or just a racer? If I ask you questions about current racing events would you know? are you are true fan as I am? Or, do you enjoy ALL types of games. I see you have been on GT planet for some time and are very active in conversations so I have no doubt you know you're racing games. Back to youre comment on my comment about driving a racecar is hard. I will stand by that and I challenge you to find ANY real racer out there that says it's easy! Please, tooo funny.
 
I'm sorry, all I can do is laugh out loud. No disrespect intended, but I don't understand where you are coming from. Have you ever drove a race car? I have 10 years plus on a 1/2 mile paved oval, so maybe I'm partial to ovals although I enjoy road racing as well. Race cars: edge of out of control(fast drivers) one minuscule mistake usually spells disaster, guess I should ask if you even WATCH racing?? Are you a Gamer??? or just a racer? If I ask you questions about current racing events would you know? are you are true fan as I am? Or, do you enjoy ALL types of games. I see you have been on GT planet for some time and are very active in conversations so I have no doubt you know you're racing games. Back to youre comment on my comment about driving a racecar is hard. I will stand by that and I challenge you to find ANY real racer out there that says it's easy! Please, tooo funny.
You appear to have either completely ignored the point in my post or completely misunderstood it. Driving a race car is easy, but driving any car on it's limit is hard. Race cars are typically not that difficult to drive, not difficult to drive fast even. Yes I have done track driving, yes I have had the pleasure of taking a race car for a spin, yes it was easier to do a decent lap than it was in my road car round the same track (Oulten Park, it's about 40 mins drive from me). It's a very common misconception that racing cars are difficult to drive and a bit elitist, but that is not true. Some are, but most aren't. Racing cars are typically built to handle the higher speeds in the environment they are designed to race, that usually means more grip, better stability at speed etc. That makes them ideal to drive fast in as opposed to a road car which will tend to have more bodyroll, understeer and less grip etc.

Of course if you're going faster, your reactions and skill might not be good enough to not crash, but that would happen in a road car as well. Do you think one mistake couldn't spell disaster racing around a track in a grid full of road cars? Obviously it could, however speed is the issue, not the car being set up for racing, which makes it more suited to the track and conditions, not worse. Driving any car at its limit is hard, thats the skill. If a car set up for the track was worse on the said track than an equally fast car set up for the road, then race setups would be obsolete since road cars and street setups would be easier to drive fast in. Re-read my last post, get the point of it and maybe answer the questions I posed at the start of it.

If you disagree, that’s fine but rather than just in a long winded way saying I’m wrong, try to give a reason for it. Like I said previously, there’s no context for your statement, so context might be key to this debate. Mine is that driving a race car isn't hard, rather pushing any car to it's limits is. Driving a race car is not hard if you know how to drive, but driving any car consistently fast and close to its limit is hard, and that's where the skill comes in.
 
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You appear to have either completely ignored the point in my post or completely misunderstood it. Driving a race car is easy, but driving any car on it's limit is hard. Race cars are typically not that difficult to drive, not difficult to drive fast even. Yes I have done track driving, yes I have had the pleasure of taking a race car for a spin, yes it was easier to do a decent lap than it was in my road car round the same track (Oulten Park, it's about 40 mins drive from me). It's a very common misconception that racing cars are difficult to drive and a bit elitist, but that is not true. Some are, but most aren't. Racing cars are typically built to handle the higher speeds in the environment they are designed to race, that usually means more grip, better stability at speed etc. That makes them ideal to drive fast in as opposed to a road car which will tend to have more bodyroll, understeer and less grip etc.

Of course if you're going faster, your reactions and skill might not be good enough to not crash, but that would happen in a road car as well. Do you think one mistake couldn't spell disaster racing around a track in a grid full of road cars? Obviously it could, however speed is the issue, not the car being set up for racing, which makes it more suited to the track and conditions, not worse. Driving any car at its limit is hard, thats the skill. If a car set up for the track was worse on the said track than an equally fast car set up for the road, then race setups would be obsolete since road cars and street setups would be easier to drive fast in. Re-read my last post, get the point of it and maybe answer the questions I posed at the start of it.

If you disagree, that’s fine but rather than just in a long winded way saying I’m wrong, try to give a reason for it. Like I said previously, there’s no context for your statement, so context might be key to this debate. Mine is that driving a race car isn't hard, rather pushing any car to it's limits is. Driving a race car is not hard if you know how to drive, but driving any car consistently fast and close to its limit is hard, and that's where the skill comes in.
Okay, I get what you are saying. Everything you mentioned I agree with, in some way. I guess what I'm trying to say is this. Race car driver: Starpped in so tight you cant move youre body at all, and depending on the genre, very little extremities movement(arms and legs) Helmet heavy and tight with hardly any vision and you have to rely on a spotter to know whats going on around you, temperatures inside car 115 degrees, even hotter on youre feet, sweat running in youre eyes the whole time, pulse over 120 BPM for hours on end. hooked up to a pee bottle. etc etc etc. So, just from the second you sit in the car is a challenge. Now with all that considered youve got to go drive youre ass off, if you are competitive, unless youre renting an afternoon race car drive, which will be set at half HP and speed so not the same. So everything you said just regards set up of the car, which is about half the battle, Mainly what I took from youre reply is the road car comparison, to me it really solidifies the gamer mentality. Race car drivers offer input based on what they need and the cars doing, then the chief and crew set it up until hes happy, meanwhile hes still driving. thats how it works the driver drives and tries to hang onto it while the crew works on it. You sound like a good crew cheif type. I can see the difference now, I'm a driver(and not good at setups) youre a set up guy.
 
Real racing teams made their driver picks for pro esports teams today for xbox and ps4.

I like that they are racing for real race teams off the hop.
 
It will be interesting to see how they handle penaltys in this esport league
There isnt any penalty sytem in place yet other than shortcutting on road courses, but they do have Damage so that's a step in the right direction., plus they hired "gamers" (their own words)on controllers and not drivers on wheels. Plus in the end it was actually a beauty contest by hiring the best looking and youngest, rather than skill level, it is what it is. We will see how it goes. As a nascar fan I thought they wanted to take it to the next level but it seems they want to remain "Arcade" for now. Still a big step in the right direction for all us " Console" drivers.
 
I was kinda hinting at the pro league esport. If when they run the races how if you wreck someone how they will steward them races.

I have nh3 and yea they need a system of penaltys or levels for sure



The dude on ps4 slade is fairly fast .raced him few times and foryoung guy hes pretty good . Rest the picks on ps4 i dont remember seeing . One guy i think was in his 30s.

Xbox i have no idea except for vroohman as he shares set ups on youtube for wheel users
That much i know about him .
 
I was kinda hinting at the pro league esport. If when they run the races how if you wreck someone how they will steward them races.

I have nh3 and yea they need a system of penaltys or levels for sure



The dude on ps4 slade is fairly fast .raced him few times and foryoung guy hes pretty good . Rest the picks on ps4 i dont remember seeing . One guy i think was in his 30s.

Xbox i have no idea except for vroohman as he shares set ups on youtube for wheel users
That much i know about him .
Yea, I mean they can all drive somewhat. Here is how it works. to get in the top race times list you have to have a bunch of friends, I mean a bunch. Then you all have to line up in a line and stay that way as the more cars lined up, the faster you ALL go. So if you only have 3 or 4 cars you will never make it to the top of the list you need 5 or more preferably 8. And the fastest lap times are ALWAYS the guy in the back of said line. It really has NOTHING to do with actual racing. As far as wrecks sometimes the caution comes out(pro league showcase lobbys) they can throw it if needed but they rarely actually did.but the esports lobbys have no cautions so if you are wrecked. too bad I guess. Overall good game for NASCAR fans, but needs work to make it in eSports. IMO
 
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