NFS Shift 2 Unleashed - Details

  • Thread starter LittleLefty
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Haven't seen mention that anyone left, assume so. The tyre system is actually a really nice looking piece of work:

2uo75vs.jpg


Not the usual treatment of a tyre as some abstract mathematical object attached to what's basically just a blob of unsprung mass you see in the old ISI games (in fact pretty much everything on PC other than LFS), they use bones to assess the distance from rim/road/left sidewall/right sidewall and then feed the those dimensions into their tyre model physics properties.
 
That article on physics makes me want to curl up with SHIFT2 every night. I think :drool: hardly covers it!
 
The more I hear about this game the more I'm looking forwards to it. From the car and track lists it seems there will be a good variety.

Will have to get my pre-order in to get the extra events.

Edit: Just pre-ordered on Amazon, did they get rid of release day shipping?

Edit 2: Sorry if this has been covered. But have they mentioned if the photo mode will be more in depth than just point and shoot?
 
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Maybe this is a stupid question, but, on a console, at least, does the game calculate these figures faster than the 30fps that the game displays? One would imaging, at 180mph+, that a LOT is going on with the tires and suspension in between each frame...

I know I'm just displaying how little I know (!) but I'm curious :)
 
BTW, noticed tire tracks straight across the chicane at Zolder. Does this meant the game STILL isn't penalizing track cutting? :sly:

I'm reading a LOT about the graphics, and a LOT about the physics, and don't get me wrong, those are VERY important things. But, at the end of the day, is all that going to count for much if, online, you either HAVE to cheat yourself just to keep up with those willing to use any exploit left unpatched, or lose race after race, or even not race those venues unless with a well trusted set of Friends..?

If anyone knows any links where they discuss actual gameplay, rather than physics and eye-candy (yummy though it is!), can you link here?
 
Destinkeys
Maybe this is a stupid question, but, on a console, at least, does the game calculate these figures faster than the 30fps that the game displays?
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If I recall correctly, the internal engine of Shift 1 runs at 360Hz.
 
niky
That article on physics makes me want to curl up with SHIFT2 every night. I think :drool: hardly covers it!
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👍 Agreed.
I've never really kept up with a Need for Speed game, I've never been hyped about one. Heck, I've never looked forwards to one being released.
And now, I'm sitting here and there is a certain hope that Shift 2 will satisfy me as a proper simulation.

Destinkeys
I know I'm just displaying how little I know (!) but I'm curious :)
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The physics engines for most games aren't linked to the graphic engines, at least not as far as the update rate/frame rate goes.
As has been posted before, it's a lot faster than that :D
 
Destinkeys
Maybe this is a stupid question, but, on a console, at least, does the game calculate these figures faster than the 30fps that the game displays? One would imaging, at 180mph+, that a LOT is going on with the tires and suspension in between each frame...

I know I'm just displaying how little I know (!) but I'm curious :)
Click to expand...

All modern multithreaded games have the physics engine update faster than the graphics engine otherwise the slightest frame drop would upset the handling of the car.

Older single threaded games, like Geoff Crammond's Grand Prix series (still in my opinion an excellent game and simulation with pitstops, setups and dynamic weather conditions better than many most current games 👍) had the graphics engine in the same cycle as the simulation code. If the frame rate (or CPU utilization as it was known :)) dropped bellow a certain threshold the simulation would suffer badly. You had to find the sweet balance between graphical fidelity and smooth handling.

Those were the times.... :)
 
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Those were the times....
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Incredible Isn't It ? Geoff Crammond's Formula One Grand Prix was and is a benchmark title. I couldn't believe what I saw when playing that game. And yes, some features are still not included in some of today's games. The release of Gran Turismo 1 was the last time since F1 that I felt so excited about a game, even after playing It. Let's hope Shift 2 brings back that feeling. Finally a game that does everything right ?
 
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Minardi
Finally a game that does everything right ?
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Not quite... ;)
Apparently no wet weather conditions in Shift 2.
Granted GP2 didn't have rain either but then GP3 (GP3 - Season 2000 Add-On: my personal favorite :) ) came and had a dynamic weather unlike anything else. From what I understand only F1-2010 comes close (I haven't tried it yet, I will someday). Geoff Crammond is a genius! 👍

Still I am very excited and confident on Shift 2. I think they will nail the physics, the atmosphere and night racing and then they can keep adding and perfecting features (like dynamic wet weather) in future sequels! :)
 
Minardi
Finally a game that does everything right ?
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There are still many things left ;):

  • no 60fps - as long as they don't change this Shift will never be able to replace GT and FM for me.
  • no pit stops
  • no dynamic weather
  • no dynamic time of day
  • fictional trackside objects
Let's hope we get at least the "real" physics this time.

Monza 1958 sounds interesting :).
 
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niky
That article on physics makes me want to curl up with SHIFT2 every night. I think :drool: hardly covers it!
Click to expand...

Yea i was reading it last night and was drolling a lil
I was omg nfs reallly since when u started looking like kim kardasian
You use to just be a cute teenage girl that was just fun for a lil bit
 
EnragedEric13
Track reveals: http://www.needforspeed.com/post/track-thursday-four-more-shift-2-tracks-revealed

MONZA 1958: http://www.needforspeed.com/shift2unleashed/track/monza

ZOLDER: http://www.needforspeed.com/shift2unleashed/track/zolder

MIYATOMI: http://www.needforspeed.com/shift2unleashed/track/miyatomi

And finally[my favorite fictional track in SHIFT 1, the dreaded Figure 8 is back!]: http://www.needforspeed.com/shift2unleashed/track/hazyview
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So are we getting 1958 Monza with the current version. Good to see Hazyview figure of 8 has been retained. Wonder if Monaco will be in this seeing as it was released in the Exotics pack with Shift 1.
 
Spagetti69
No pitstops confirmed. Hmm shame that.
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Shame about that, hoping it might be patched in at some point, or in the eventual Shift 3. That post on the physics a few pages ago was brilliant though, I really hope they pull it off. 👍
 
drivatar
There are still many things left ;):

no 60fps - as long as they don't change this Shift will never be able to replace GT and FM for me.
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Consoles can't handle visual effects such as advanced motion blur etc. at 60fps. That's why it's 30fps.There is no console game with 60fps+advanced motion blur. You can play it on PC there you will get your 60fps :dopey:
 
Reading wikipedia it sounds a bit confusing as to what 1958 Monza might be. It seems to me like at that time they had three layouts. The first being essentially modern Monza minus the chicanes/Ascari, the second being the high speed ring, and the third being both those tracks linked together for a total length of 10km.

I assume that we'd be getting the first version, but it would be staggeringly awesome if they put the third version in, or even all three. It'd be really interesting to have a really long, really fast track like the long version of '58 Monza.
 
Imari
Reading wikipedia it sounds a bit confusing as to what 1958 Monza might be. It seems to me like at that time they had three layouts. The first being essentially modern Monza minus the chicanes/Ascari, the second being the high speed ring, and the third being both those tracks linked together for a total length of 10km.
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Here's the logo they're using:

Monza.jpg
 
Imari
Reading wikipedia it sounds a bit confusing as to what 1958 Monza might be. It seems to me like at that time they had three layouts. The first being essentially modern Monza minus the chicanes/Ascari, the second being the high speed ring, and the third being both those tracks linked together for a total length of 10km.

I assume that we'd be getting the first version, but it would be staggeringly awesome if they put the third version in, or even all three. It'd be really interesting to have a really long, really fast track like the long version of '58 Monza.
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I googled images of Monza 1958 and couldn't find anything. In the Limited Edtion trailer there's that bit with the McLaren MP4-12C and a Pagani Zonda at one of the chicanes but whether thats a current version or a 1958. I'd have thought with classic and modern cars there would be both versions.
 
It said on the site:

Autodromo Nazionale Monza’s best configuration was easily its fastest, and in SHIFT 2 UNLEASHED, you’ll get to race on the 1958 version of Italy’s best-known Formula One track. Be prepared to draft and be drafted by opponents going down this track’s many fast straights.

So I think it might be the road course with the oval connected.
 
boxox
Here's the logo they're using:

Monza.jpg
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That's the official Monza logo. It's still in use today, long after the high speed ring section has been retired. Tells us nothing unfortunately.

EnragedEric13
It said on the site:

Autodromo Nazionale Monza’s best configuration was easily its fastest, and in SHIFT 2 UNLEASHED, you’ll get to race on the 1958 version of Italy’s best-known Formula One track. Be prepared to draft and be drafted by opponents going down this track’s many fast straights.

So I think it might be the road course with the oval connected.
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Both the road course and the F1 course (road+oval) could be described as fast with many straights. You can't really discriminate between them based on that.
 
That's just Monza's official logo... I don't believe the oval has been used for a long time. Isn't in disrepair at the moment? From Wiki:
"The banking held the last race in 1969 with the 1000 km of Monza, the event moving to the road circuit the next year. The banking still exists, albeit in a decayed state in the years since the last race, escaping demolition in the 1990s."
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So how, with it being in such disrepair, did they actually scan it?

Be great if it is in as an OPTION, but with all modern races run on the new course, and Shift 2 having only contemporary cars, it seems odd that Shift would want to model a track that NONE of its cars have ever run on...

You would think, with GT5 having all those older race cars from the period of the oval in it, that THEY would have been the ones to include the 1958 layout. Odd decisions from both sides (if the oval is in)...
 
GT5 feels like an game from 1995... I also got my hopes up for Shift II...

After finishing the AMG driving school and the license tests in GT5, there is nothing more to do... A-Spec is a joke...
 
Destinkeys
So how, with it being in such disrepair, did they actually scan it?

Be great if it is in as an OPTION, but with all modern races run on the new course, and Shift 2 having only contemporary cars, it seems odd that Shift would want to model a track that NONE of its cars have ever run on...
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Do they scan tracks or just model? I thought iracing was still the only people actually scanning. If they're just going from old plans + some photos it shouldn't be a problem. Hell, they could probably rock up with some surveying equipment, measure what's left of the bankings and extrapolate the rest. What with it being no longer in use people are hardly going to complain if it's not perfectly accurate.

I seem to recall mention of one of the disciplines in Shift 2 being classic cars or something along those lines. There were the older muscle cars as DLC in Shift 1, so I wouldn't be surprised if they added a few more to that category and fleshed it out into a mode of it's own.
 

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