NASCAR Heat 4

Dave Thayer · Dec 21, 2019

So it is just more cosmetic changes to the game. Paul thanks for all the news updates on the games.

They will never go back to how NR2003 did, far as, Full lap rolling starts and during cautions, Caution Flag actual pitting(and I feel these are not a waste of time). At least Rfactor 2 does that for the Oval and road tracks and it is not even a Nascar type game and I have allot of fun doing Nascar racing on Rfactor 2. Even the first Nascar Heat 1 game had these better realistic features or options to do so.

Yes I know there is Iracing, but I do not want to spend that kind of money to race a game. I miss the old days with NR2003 on the free Sierra servers. That was fun doing several leagues back then.

Note I did get the Nascar Heat 2 to get a feel how they did the game. I dont get into all that Career stuff, just select a track, length of race, and go do it. VR would be nice, but not expecting that to happen either. If it had VR, I might get the game as is and at a sale price like I did all my other games.

So until they make the game more realistic to me, which I am not holding my breath waiting for it to happen, I will never get the latest Nascar Heat 4 or future releases.

For those that have the game and really enjoy it, that is great and have fun. I know the graphics has come a long way from NR2003.

RKip455 · Dec 22, 2019

]

JOKE! NASCAR Paint Schemes.....!

Nick Hill · Dec 22, 2019

Seems like iRacing AI may be a big threat to this title. That said, I think the overlap between the iRacing and Heat target audience may be very small.

giga1tr · Dec 22, 2019

I've now got the game too. It's on sale on Steam. I don't think it's that badly done. I really like it for relaxation and fun. I also got the season pass. The monthly DLC's are a bit of a joke. Every month they brought 35 new paintwork and sold them expensive.

But no matter I have fun with every racing game or sim.

Dave Thayer · Dec 22, 2019

gia1tr - I am not saying Nascar Heat 4 is a bad game in my previous comment here. I just wish they could of added a couple more options to kick in realistic races like NR2003 or Iracing. They have a fantastic animated pit crew, but during most races we never use it cause you never actually pit during cautions.

I didn't even mind Nascar Heat 2 which I have. I agree with you every racing game I have is fun to race on. Each has its different physics.

I dont know how much online play Nascar Heat 4 gets if any, but I remember with NR2003 we had around 20-25 drivers all the time in pick up or league races on the Sierra Servers.

Happy Holidays

howitzer155mm · Dec 22, 2019

Yawn, just remaster NR2003 or give us the source code.

Catalysis · Dec 22, 2019

I'm having lots of fun with it, having recognized that my options are to A. Whinge endlessly about all the important immersion aspects of iRacing/NR2003 that are missing from the title, or B. Just enjoy what it does offer, which is a commendably exciting single player experience with some very finely tuned AI. Maybe not worth the money at full price but I bought it, with the Season Pack, in the Steam Thanksgiving sale and have put 23 hours into it so far. Absolutely more to come this holiday season.

The DLC is worth the investment, if one buys the cheaper season pack, as it adds a lot of visual variety and interest to a race season.

I do agree with others, however, in that the iRacing AI rollout probably means this is the last version of this game I'll purchase. That being said, much will depend on iRacing's rollout timescale.

Marcel Offermans · Dec 22, 2019

howitzer155mm said:
Yawn, just remaster NR2003 or give us the source code.

You know that when Papyrus went out of business, what is now called iRacing bought all their IP and assets, so they have the source!

Dave Thayer · Dec 22, 2019

You cant just remaster the game like NR2003 cause this Nascar Heat 4 company has a lock all the licenses and legalities for preventing creating a Nascar game. NR2003 ideas moved over into Iracing way back when. I am waiting to see how the AI perform on the Nascar tracks in Iracing when someone shows youtube videos of it.

smasha · Dec 23, 2019

We live in the ultra greedy scamming age of the millennia where right wingers are taking over and couldn’t give a fats rats toss bag about the poor.
13 bux for some paint schemes.
Off to buy a Big Mac that looks huge on the screen menu but now is the size of a junior burger.

Welcome to the Millennia!

smasha · Dec 23, 2019

All these dlcs were pieces of pie cut off from the original game.

Smell the roses people.

driftcobra · Dec 23, 2019

I'm honestly not sure who pays for these packs. I'd love to have more schemes but I'm not paying 13 dollars for it. I do enjoy NASCAR heat however, it's a pretty fun game.

BernL · Dec 23, 2019

Is this EA sports game.....are they at it again, more about $$$$ then great content.

Pywackett-Barchetta · Dec 24, 2019

The #51 car there is especially baffling, because it's Bayley Currey's paint scheme from that race on BJ McLeod's car, when BJ McLeod was also in that very same race driving a completely different #53 that looks nothing like that.

Also, the most recent patch did something more crucial, making the Night Race variant of Martinsville available to all players where it was previously a pre-order bonus. I don't believe that's been an option in prior NASCAR games, as Martinsville hasn't had lights before. (It may have been in the Thunder games but I didn't get far in those.) I might pick it up if budget allows after the holidays.

Dave Thayer · Dec 25, 2019

I know I have some negative comments here about Nascar Heat 4(NH4) comparing it to NR2003 and Rfactor2, but since NH4 is on sale and it is Christmas, I decided to get the game and see how it compared to Nascar Heat 2.

Right away I did a few quick races last night with the game. I like the handling of the car on the tracks better than Nascar Heat 2 and that is with default setups. The AI seem to behave themselves when around them and can manage to pass and mingle with them when starting from last place. I went through each series to see what tracks the game has and I like the complete selection of tracks provided. Was glad to see they had Iowa, Gateway, and Richmond. I knew they had the Roval track. I dont know yet if I can select time of day to race on the tracks and select to do night racing in Quick Race mode.

I know the pitting and Starts and Restarts are not like NR2003 or Iracing, but doing quick races, the length of the races dont involve pitting. Seems right now when in practice mode the game takes over pitting when I enter the pits. Not sure if there is an option to manually enter pit areas.

I have the Thrustamster TMX wheel with the TP3A pro pedals and NH4 detected my wheel controller with no problems. I have a 4k monitor so I am running the game at high 4k resolutions. FPS seemed to be pretty good while driving at high settings, dont remember exact FPS number. Turned off Vsync.

Graphics in the game look very good, tracks and cars, but do not plan to getting any of the cosmetic DLC updates, unless it is adding new tracks. I dont need to have the latest and greatest paint jobs.

Last thing I did for the NH4 game is try out VORPX VR capability with the game. I took a NH3 profile that someone else made and created a new NH4 profile. Started up VORPX running in the background and then started NH4. VOPRX works quite well with NH4 and my Rift S VR headset. Note, VORPX is not true 360 degree VR, but it does give me great 3D viewing and I am closer to viewing the track. Much better for me than watching on a 2D screen. Though I do loose a some graphic quality compared to my 4K display. I use VORPX on other 2D games and work quite well.

So for doing the game in Quick Race mode, I enjoy the game. I dont get into the career stuff, I just want to jump into a car and drive the tracks. Everything I tried so far has worked with no problems.

Edited: pitting is only automatic-no control of car- just can change what you want done during pit stops. In quick race mode, no way to set/control time of day or night racing. I think only in career mode on only certain tracks it goes from day to night.

giga1tr · Dec 25, 2019

I like the career. It is really nicely done and offers a lot of fun.
All in all really not a bad game with nice music

.
I am pleased that I now have the right game for my Fanatec Nascar steering wheel

Pywackett-Barchetta · Dec 26, 2019

Dave Thayer said:
I know the pitting and Starts and Restarts are not like NR2003 or Iracing, but doing quick races, the length of the races dont involve pitting.

This is why I tend to do short races (7%), but with the tire wear and fuel usage pumped up (about 4x to both, I think), so that at least one pit stop will still happen without the race having to take all day. It tends to work as a nice compromise in Heat, Dirt To Daytona, and at least Heat Evolution and 2, but I wonder if 4's ironed out some of the iffy AI pit timing. I've sometimes seen the full field just suddenly pit on the second-to-last lap in NH2 when having the settings like that.

Dave Thayer said:
Edited: pitting is only automatic-no control of car- just can change what you want done during pit stops. In quick race mode, no way to set/control time of day or night racing. I think only in career mode on only certain tracks it goes from day to night.

It changes between stages, but if you're running really short races to begin with, the change isn't gonna come up at all, sadly. It'd be nice to have the option directly.

Dave Thayer · Dec 26, 2019

Thanks for your info Pywackett-Barchetta. Still learning the game settings. Anyone know does NH4 have a "Look to Apex" option. Other games this works with the Wheel controller and when you turn the wheel left or right, the camera also pans a small percentage in that direction. Kind of a pseudo track-ir function. Several other games I have provide this feature. take care.

Birddogg66 · Dec 27, 2019

I have yet to play it. I have the old original NH which I liked pretty well. Is this a lot better then Nascar the game which I thought was pretty bad. I do miss all the mods in NR2K3 and maybe this developer would take note and add similar dlc to this title. Nascar does now own most the lower feeder series so I think they could do it like Whelen or K&N series I'd like to see Allison Legacy or Mini Cup stockcars which are 3/4 scale and 1/2 scale stockcars and those licences would help those series and the young drivers who run in them.

Dave Thayer · Dec 27, 2019

Nice ideas @Birddogg66. But I think this developer is going to stick with the main 4 series in NH4. All the items in the game are licensed and may be hard to do other series without legal rights. Who knows in the future they may surprise us. I would also like to see more tracks added to the game since the game cant be modded that I know of. The tracks they have for NH4 are done very well, at least for me, I am not that fussy. Also would be nice if we could reduce the number of cars to race against in quick race mode, instead of complete Nascar field of 43-44 cars all the time.