From: "Michael E. Carver" mcarver@teleport.com Reply-To: mcarver@teleport.com Keywords: NASCAR Racing 2 simulation FAQ Newsgroups: rec.autos.simulators Subject: [FAQ] N2 (NASCAR Racing II) Followup-To: rec.autos.simulators Summary: FAQ for NASCAR Racing 2 by Sierra Sports/Papyrus Design Group NASCAR 2 FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) ========================================= Last Update: March 31, 1997 1:20 PM PST Comments or suggestions can be sent to: Dave Sparks The current version of this file can be found at: http://www.sequoia-dev.com/Hawaii/Features/N2FAQ.txt Copyright (c) 1996-7 David Sparks You may distribute this file freely provided that the content remains unchanged. REVISION HISTORY ================ 31-Mar-97 Minor updates in several places 5-Mar-97 [AI CARS] Added note on possible Atlanta bug fix [MULTIPLAYER] Added "Can't initialize modem" workaround [MULTIPLAYER] Added "Can't initialize ipx card" workaround 17-Jan-97 [MULTIPLAYER] Added new info on DSVD modems [WINDOWS 95] Added new section on Windows 95 [PAINTING CARS] Added info on how to modify the Paintkit decals, cursors, etc. [AI CARS] Added info on how to change the pit window [BUG LIST] Added bug list section 13-Jan-97 [MISCELLANEOUS] Added info on Fast A20 Gate [MULTIPLAYER] Added info on racing in your own car 12-Jan-97 [MULTIPLAYER] Added 39 opponent bug [CAR PERFORMANCE] Added question on engine wear [MISCELLANEOUS] Do I need a CD to play NASCAR 2? 8-Jan-97: [GENERAL] Added comments from Adam Levesque on patch. [SETUP SCREEN] Added note on weight jacking bug. [SETUP SCREEN] Added workaround for setup problem with minimal install. [SETUP SCREEN] Added note on night race setups. [CAR PERFORMANCE] Added note on drag of different makes. GENERAL ======= Q: Is there going to be a patch, and if so, what bug fixes and/or missing features can we expect to see in it? A: There are plans to issue a patch, but Papyrus has been reluctant to put a date on it. Adam Levesque has said that the patch will address the following issues: 1. Inability to load setups with a minimal install 2. Add an arcade mode to Multiplayer Racing 3. Fix AI pitting problems at Atlanta He also mentioned that in a future update, they will try to add the missing Save Game feature, and possibly improve modem play and the handling of driver lists. Q: What happened to the Save Game feature? A: Papyrus did not have time to implement the Save Game feature before the December release of NASCAR 2. They do plan to try to add it in a future update. Q: Are the pit stalls assigned randomly in NASCAR 2? A: No, another feature that was cut due to time pressure. Q: What about 2-day qualifying and provisionals? A: No, another feature on the cutting room floor. Q: Did they implement double-file restarts? A: No, once again, not enough time. Q: Can I have more than 39 drivers in the list? A: No, this also proved to be too hard to do in the time allotted. However, you can have up to 128 different cars in the CARS directory, and then assign them to various lists. The only restriction is that each list may have no more than 39 drivers. Q: What happened to the speedometer? A: Real WC cars are not equipped with a speedometer. If you want to see the speedometer, press 'S'. Q: What happened to the pit board from NASCAR 1 that displayed my lap time and split to the next car? A: Papyrus felt that the information was already available from other sources. You can have the lap times called out by the spotter and you can get split times from either the F1 or F2 screen. Q: Where can I send suggestions for NASCAR 3? A: Send your suggestions to Jim Sokoloff, mailto: sokoloff@papy.com Contructive suggestions and criticisms are cheerfully accepted, flames will be promptly ignored. INSTALLATION ============ Q: I can't run Internet Explorer since I installed NASCAR 2. What's going on? A: There is a bug in the Sierra Windows installation software that messes up the dialup script. Reinstall your browser software and everything should start working again. If you need to install again, you can avoid the problem by using the DOS install program. Q: What is this TEN stuff, and why would I want to install it? A: TEN is Total Entertainment Network. They have been chosen by Papyrus to provide the service for the upcoming NASCAR Online Racing Series (NRO), formerly called the NRL. The Papyrus service called "Hawaii" is the prototype for the NRO. When NRO becomes available, you will be able to race against up to 40 other human drivers with your NASCAR 2 software. TEN has other online games and is available in both hourly and flat rate pricing structures. The pricing for NRO has not been announced yet. WINDOWS 95 ========== Q: How can I get NASCAR 2 to work better under Windows 95? A: Here are four things to try: 1. Shut down any programs that aren't essential to NASCAR 2. This would include things like system agents, schedulers, screen savers, etc. 2. If you are attached to a network, make sure your computer isn't trying to connect to or get an address from a non- responsive server. 3. Try setting the minimum swap file size for virtual memory. This will keep Windows 95 from resizing the swap file frequently, which is time consuming. Suggest size of a computer with 32MB of memory is 32MB minimum and 64MB maximum. 4. Turn off CDROM autoplay. Some CDROM drivers may cause the system to pause for a second whle trying to detect if a CD is present or has been changed. MISCELLANEOUS ============= Q: I did a full install of NASCAR 2, but when I try to run the game I get the error message: "Critical Error: Abort, Retry Ignore, Fail ?_". I don't want to install the CD everytime I play, how do I get around this? A: Either run NASCAR2.EXE directly or modify the N2.BAT file and remove the line that begins with "smackply". This line plays the video from the CD, and the CD must be installed for it to work, unless you copy the video from the CD and modify the batch file. Q: Do I need to the CD in order to run NASCAR 2? A: If you did a full install, you do not need the CD to run NASCAR 2. When you do a minimal install, the game need to read files from the CD. Also, for multiplayer, the machine that answers must have a CD. Q: The game freezes on me from time to time, is there anything I can do about it? A: One user reported that this problem went away after changing a BIOS setting called "Fast Gate A20" from "Normal" to "Fast". I have no experience with this, so use it at your own risk. CAR PERFORMANCE =============== Q: The car seems more stable in NASCAR 2. Did Papyrus make any changes to the physics model? A: NASCAR 2 uses essentially the same physics model as MULTI. Papyrus appears to have made a few other changes as well. They added wheelspin to help you get out of tight pit stalls and get going the right direction again if you get turned around on the track. They also increased the stability of the car at lower speeds. Finally, they made it less likely for the car to get turned around when you bump another car on the track. Q: Why can't I run fast laps at Talladega with the temperature set to 95 degrees? A: The physics model now accounts for the loss of engine output at higher temperatures. All the track records are normally set in the spring races when the temperatures are lower. This is because colder air is more dense, which gives the engine more oxygen so the crews can run the fuel mixture a little richer. The fastest laps will be a balance between engine output and tire temperature. Q: How do I get the wheels to spin? A: If you're using a joystick, tap the accelerator button twice in quick succession. If you're using a wheel/pedal combo, just floor it. Q: Why doesn't spinning my wheels heat up the tires? A: According to Jim Sokoloff of Papyrus, this was done intentionally to keep people from using this as a cheat during qualifying when the NRO goes online. Q: What is the difference between the three car makes in terms of on-track performance? A: The Chevy has more rear downforce, which makes it better for speedways where the rear wheels are driving all the time. The Ford has more front downforce, better for short tracks and road courses where turning ability is important. The Pontiac is balanced between front and rear downforce. For novices, a Ford or Pontiac is probably a better choice, as they tend to be a little easier to drive than the Chevy. The drag coefficient is the same for all the bodies, so choose the one that best fits your driving. Q: What is it that causes your engine to blow? A: It's a cumulative effect by some function of (in decreasing order of importance) amount over-revved, amount of time spent over-revved, throttle position while over-revved, and some minor temperature effects. Engine wear is minimal up to around 8400 RPM, then is slight, but noticable up to about 8700, and then is progressively more severe at higher and higher RPMs. CONTROLS ======== Q: Sometimes NASCAR 2 doesn't recognize my joystick or wheel. Why? A: If you don't have your joystick or wheel plugged in when you start NASCAR 2, it doesn't recognize them and won't even let you calibrate them. I have a TSW and have noticed this is also true if I forget to plug in the pedal unit. Q: I'm running under Windows 95 and my joystick/wheel isn't being recognized by NASCAR 2. What can I do? A: It's been reported that if you calibrate your steering device in Windows 95 and then restart the game, the problem may be solved. It may take several attempts before the fix "takes". Q: What happened to the setting for linear vs. non-linear steering? A: This setting is now two radio buttons called Joystick and Wheel in the Control settings. Joystick is non-linear and Wheel is linear. Q: What is the difference between Joystick and Wheel in the control settings? A: The Joystick mode is non-linear steering. Moving the joystick when you are near the center will cause small changes in the steering input, while the same degree of movement will have a large change when you are near the limits of travel. This allows for more precise steering when used with a joystick, however some people like to use this mode for wheels as well. The Wheel setting is more like driving a typical car where the steering input is linear across the entire range of travel. Q: I've heard that if you don't calibrate your pedals correctly, you can lose straightaway speed. What's the best way to calibrate my pedals? A: Don't calibrate your pedals by pressing as hard as you can. The best thing is to find out what the values are with the pedal fully depressed, then carefully calibrate a few percent less than that. For example, if your pedal shows 500 when fully depressed, then run the pedal to 490 or so when you calibrate it. That way, you won't have to apply so much pressure during the race to get full throttle, which helps with fatigue on those 100% Talladega races. By the way, calibrating them at 50% doesn't mean that you'll get 200% of throttle when you press them all the way down. Papyrus was smart enough to limit the throttle to 100%. ARCADE MODE =========== Q: What is the difference between arcade mode and realistic mode? A: Arcade mode gives the car loads of extra grip, making it easy to keep the car on the road. Q: How can I qualify in Arcade mode? A: You can't qualify in Arcade mode. Like many of the Arcade mode racing games, you start at the back of the pack. The AI car strength adapts to you and gets stronger after you pass them. PIT STOPS AND FUNCTION KEYS =========================== Q: How do I set the amount of fuel I want when I pit? A: You don't need to do that anymore. The crew chief will estimate the amount of fuel you need to finish the race. When you press the F3 key, the crew chief will tell you if you need to make another stop for fuel. Q: How do I setup for tire changes? A: The F4 Tire Change screen is much better than in NASCAR 1. After each pit stop, the tire change is automatically set to change all four tires. If you bring up the F4 screen and press the Enter key, the crew won't change any tires. Pressing Enter repeatedly then cycles through right sides only, left sides only and then back to all four tires. You change tire pressures the same as in NAScAR 1, by using the space bar to select the tire and the '<' and '>' keys to decrease/increase pressure. Q: How do I abort repairs while in the pits? A: If you bring up the F9 screen, you will see an estimate of how long the crew thinks it will take to finish the repairs. The spotter also gives you reports on where the pace car is on the track. When the pace car hits the final turn, hit the Enter key to stop repairs and bug out of the pits. You may have to abort earlier on tracks where the pit speed is very low. Q: What happened to the pit timer when you are in the pits? A: The pit timer is still available in the arcade view, but did not make it to the in-car view. The bad thing is that it can be several seconds before you realize that the crew isn't working on the car, whereas in NASCAR 1, you could tell that the work had not begun because the timer didn't start. Q: I pressed the F1 key, but my lap times aren't being updated. How do I get them updated? A: Seems like you have to wait to hit the F1 key until after you've crossed the start/finish line at least once. If you have the F1 screen up when you start the session, you'll need to toggle it off and then on again. SPOTTER ======= Q: The spotter is constantly telling me there's a car high or low during the pace lap. How do I get him to shut up? A: Set the spotter level to Novice or higher. At Full, he is so busy calling out cars, that you won't hear the critical messages that tell you when the green flag is about to drop. Q: If I change my gear ratio, does the spotter tell me the right RPM to maintain for pit road? A: Yes, the spotter calls out the nearest multiple of 500 that will keep you below pit road speed. At taller gear ratios, there may be a little more slop, meaning that you may be going several MPH under the speed limit at the suggested tach reading. Q: How do I get the spotter to call out my lap time? A: Press "O" or "Alt-O" while you are on the track. You have to do this each time you enter the track. This is a toggle, so pressing it again will turn it off. Q: I hit "O", but the spotter suddenly stopped calling out my lap times. What happened? A: Seems like if you bump the wall on the front straight before the start/finish line, the spotter will stop calling out lap times. You have to press "O" twice, once to turn it off and then again to turn it on, and then it should start working again. Q: How do I get the spotter to call out the leader? A: Press "L" or "Alt-L" while you are in a race. The spotter will call out when the leader crosses the start/finish line. Q: Are there any "Easter Eggs" in the spotter, like when you hit the pace car in ICR2? A: I haven't noticed anything specific, but there are some amusing ones. If you tap the pace car while in the caution line, you'll get several different amusing messages. Also, if you fail to yield when you've been told to allow a car by in the caution line, the spotter gets a little annoyed. It wouldn't surprise me to find that there's an Easter Egg, but I haven't figured out how to trigger it yet. Q: The spotter calls out the half-way mark. Should I see the crossed flags? A: No. The crossed-flags graphic did not make it into the final version, but I find the spotter message helpful anyway. Q: What's happening when the spotter gets starts calling "Go high! Go Low! Go High!..."? A: Usually this means that a wreck occurred somewhere on the track. If more than one car has wrecked, the spotter tends to get very confused. Sometimes, when a car with damage is running on the track, the spotter will try to help you find a way around it, even if it's halfway around the track. Q: After exiting the pit lane, the spotter will sometimes tell me to pass a car. When I catch up and pass the car, he tells me to stay behind. What's going on here? A: You will often get a message like this when you pull out of the pits. The computer code for putting your car back into the pace line was implemented before the spotter code and the bug wasn't discovered until then. The pacing code is very complex, and Papyrus didn't want to take a chance on breaking it so close to shipping. Just ignore this message until you've cleared the pit area. If the spotter repeats the message, then you know you really should pass the other car. MIRRORS ======= Q: Why is there a huge blind spot in the mirrors? A: Papyrus evaluated two different versions of the mirrors. The first was very close to the demo version, except that all three views worked properly. It used the "Objects in the mirror are closer than they appear" approach, basically a convex mirror that covered all the blind spots in the rear. The beta testers tried the mirrors and rejected them because it was too difficult to tell how far away a car was from you. The second version is the one in the game today. It gives you a very good sense of how close a car is to you, but leaves a fairly large blind spot in the area of the rear quarter panel. Q: How do I tell if a car is in my blind spot? A: You need to increase your situational awareness. If you are a good driver in real-life traffic situations, you'll probably do this naturally. When you see a car leave your rear view mirror, chances are it's trying to move alongside. You have to assume that the car is there until your spotter has had a chance to tell you. If you haven't heard anything from your spotter, there's a good chance that it's safe to move down. Q: How can I get a better sense of how the mirrors work? A: Pull alongside another car in the pits. The pace car works great, because you don't have to worry about it trying to pull out while you're busy experimenting. Using the F10 arcade view, position your car so that your front fender is even with the other car's rear bumper. Now switch to the in-car view and check out the mirrors. Switch to the arcade view and pull your car even with the other car and then check the mirrors again. Keep doing this until you have a good sense of where the other car is. Now do the same thing, only moving your car closer and nearer to the side of the car, so you can judge the distance to another car that is running side by side. This exercise really does help give you a good idea of how the mirrors work, and I highly recommend you give it a try. Q: I really can't stand the mirrors, can't I just have the old NASCAR 1 mirrors back? A: No, but you can get a mirror that doesn't have the blind spot. Try adding the following lines to the track files in each track directory: MIRRL 0 0 8000 -1266000000 150000 250000 93592 MIRRC 0 0 8000 0 150000 250000 45888 MIRRR 0 0 8000 1266000000 150000 250000 93592 I haven't verified this myself, so use it at your own risk. SETUP SCREEN ============ Q: How do I save a setup? A: Click on the setup name field. Type in a new name and press the Enter key. Now click on the Save button at the bottom. Q: How do I load a saved setup? A: Click on the down arrow button next to the setup name. A list will pop up. Click on the setup in the list that you want to load. Q: I saved a setup, but I can't get it back. What's happening? A: If you do a minimal install, the program looks for setups on the CD-ROM instead of the hard disk. Your setups are saved on the hard disk. If you do a full install, you'll be able to retrieve your saved setups. Q: I don't have the space for a full install, how can I get around the setup problem? A: Here's a workaround I heard about from Joe Farr: Pop open the CD-ROM drive before entering the setup screen. The game will try to look for setups on the CD, and then default to the hard disk. Make sure you put the CD back in afterwards. Q: I downloaded some setups and installed them on my system but now I can't load them. What happened? A: Make sure you did a full install. If you did and still can't see them, you might have copied them into one of the night race directories (NBRISTOL, NCHRLTTE or NRICHMND). The night races load and save setups in the same directory as the day race for the same track. Q: Every time I start to qualify or race, the Easy setup is loaded. How do I get my setup to load? A: Above the setup field are two fields called Qualify and Race. The setup specified in Qualify is automatically loaded each time you start a qualifying session and likewise the Race setup is loaded when you start a Race session. Click on the down arrow next to these fields and select the setup you want to load automatically for the session. If you've ever forgotten to load your race setup after qualifying, you'll appreciate this feature. Q: There are no qualifying setups for some tracks. Where are they? A: If you use the Windows install program, it fails to copy over qualifying setups for some tracks. You can copy them directly from the CD, there is no compression scheme being used. Be sure to change them to read/write status using Explorer or the DOS ATTRIB function if you want to modify them. Q: Why is my LF camber showing up as -2.50? A: There's a bug in the setup screen. If the LF camber is set to 0.00, it shows up as -2.50 when you go to the setup screen. The screen displays the wheel in the upright position though. If it concerns you, adjust the camber to -0.10 or +0.10 and the problem should go away. Q: When I make certain adjustments in the setup screen, the weight distribution is all wrong. Is this a bug? A: Yes. It appears that certain combinations of adjustments will mess up the weight jacking numbers. Adjusting the rear bias up or down and then back seems to clear it up. Q: How do I adjust the tire stagger? A: You aren't allowed to adjust tire stagger in NASCAR 2. This was a result of Bobby Labonte's input. Goodyear brings one type of tire with a fixed stagger setting for all the WC teams. Q: How do I adjust the front air dam? A: You can't adjust the front air dam in NASCAR 2. NASCAR regulates the height of the air dams to maintain parity between the different car makes. Q: How do I adjust the fuel level? A: You can only adjust fuel level during testing sessions. You always qualify and start the race with 22 gallons of fuel, just like the real WC teams. The fuel load is part of the weight calculations included to bring the car up to 3,500 lbs. In fact, beginning in the 1997 season, the weight of the driver will be included in the calculations. AI CARS ======= Q: I was pretty competitive at 100% AI strength in NASCAR 1. Why are the AI cars beating me in NASCAR 2? A: Papyrus made 100% AI strength much more competitive. Also, the AI strengths are more even across all the tracks. Q: Why do the AI cars start to pit, then suddenly change their mind? A: This is a bug in the AI that appears to affect only Atlanta. It seems to happen most frequently after a caution. I have heard but not verified that removing the PCARL, PTICK, PBRKS lines from the ATLANTA.TXT file will fix the problem. Q: Why do the AI cars suddenly slow down going into Turn 1? A: The AI cars tend to slow down when they are all bunched up going into a corner. The more cars bunched, the slower they get. You have to prepare for this and slow down before they do or you'll end up plowing into the back of them. Q: Do AI cars suffer from cold tires? A: Yes, it usually takes them about 2-3 laps to get up to speed. You can see this in practice if you watch the AI cars posting lap times. Q: Do AI cars suffer from tire wear? A: Yes, usually about 40% or so into a run, their times will start to drop off. If you conserve your tires, you can take advantage of this. Sometimes a late pit stop will give you a significant speed advantage. Q: Do the AI cars battle each other more than NASCAR 1? A: It certainly seems that way to me. I believe that Papyrus also made the AI laps a little less consistent, because I've seen cars swapping the lead several times during a race. Q: It seems like lapped AI cars pull over for me a lot easier than other cars. Was this intentional? A: Yes, Papyrus added this feature to the NASCAR 2 AI, since that's typically the way that most real drivers race. However, I have noticed that lapped cars don't seem to pull over for AI cars that are on the lead lap. Q: Are the AI cars affected by weather? A: It appears that the AI cars qualify and race at the same speeds regardless of the weather. When temperatures are higher, you will have a more difficult time keeping up with them. Q: How can I change how often the AI cars pit? A: In the track directory, you will find a .TXT file that matches the track directory name, e.g. Atlanta's file is ATLANTA.TXT. Edit the file with NOTEPAD or EDIT and find the line that says SPDWY: SPDWY 0 49 56 The 2nd and 3rd numbers represent the lap window in which the AI cars will pit. Make these numbers smaller to make the AI pit more often. Q: The AI cars are too fast or slow at certain tracks. I can't change the AI strength in a championship season, and I want to be competitive on those tracks. What can I do? A: There are two values in the track files that alter the basic AI strength. You can edit the files in your text editor, such as EDIT or NOTEPAD. For example, if the AI is too fast at Watkins Glen, edit the WATGLEN.TXT file in the WATGLEN directory. If the AI is out-qualifying you, modify the number on line that starts with "BLAP". The value is in thousandths of a second, so a value of 30450 is 30.450 seconds. If the AI is too fast during the race, you can alter the line that starts with "RELS". This value represents the relative strength of the AI at that particular track in percent. Smaller numbers will make them slower, larger numbers will make them faster. TRACKS ====== Q: Why aren't Daytona and Indy included? A: The $64 million question. Sega licensed the exclusive rights to the name and likeness of the Daytona track for use in their video games. This means that no other company is allowed to use the name or track likeness in a game. Likewise, Papyrus has run into licensing issues with the Indianopolis Motor Speedway. I've not heard specifics as to what the problem is here, but it could very likely be that IMS wants too much money for the license. Q: Which tracks were redone for NASCAR 2? A: All of the tracks had a graphics facelift. Five tracks have all new physics models as well: Darlington, Dover, Talladega, Phoenix and Watkins Glen. I'm told by people who have visited and/or driven these tracks that by and large, they are very close to the real thing. Q: Why is Talladega paved with concrete? A: It's not really concrete. Talladega has not been resurfaced in a long time and the asphalt has faded. I'm told by people familiar with the track that the game texture is close to the way the real track looks on a sunny day. Q: How do I remove the restrictor plate at Talladega? A: Edit the TALADEGA.TXT with EDIT or NOTEPAD. Find the line that starts with "SPDWY" and change the first number from 1 to 0. You will also want to update the RELS number (see above) to reflect the faster speeds you're running. I haven't verified this one myself, but was told by an insider that it should work. Q: Why are my average lap speeds so far off from NASCAR 1? A: I believe that Papyrus adjusted the length they were using to calculate average lap speeds on several tracks. Also, consider the effect that weather has on engine output (warmer weather = less horsepower). Q: What is the meaning of PCARL, PTICK, PBRKS, ASTRN and APOWR in the track file? A: The three P???? ones relate to the AI cars (and pace car) decision to pit in. It is car lengths (PCARL) + ticks at speed (one tick is 1/15th of a second) PBRKS is how "hard" they will permit themselves to brake on the way into the pits. ASTRN is arcade strength modifier (for AI cars) APOWR is arcade engine power modifier (for AI cars). There are default values for these, (which I don't recall what they are right now) These are both "percentages" (so 100 means "same as simulation mode"). Q: I want to reset the lap record on one of the tracks. How do I do that? A: Copy the RECORDS.TXT file from the track directory on the CD to your hard disk. Make sure you change the file to read/write access. If you're particularly brave, you can also modify the RECORDS.TXT file with a text editor. The lap records are stored in thousandths of a second, e.g. 28405 = 28.405 secs. GRAPHICS ======== Q: How do I see the frame rate counter described in the manual? A: The frame rate counter didn't make it to the final release. It appears that Papyrus ran out of time. Beta versions of the Rendition version did have a frame rate counter, but it was cut from the final release, probably to keep the two versions in sync. Q: How do I check my frame rate? A: Turn on all the graphics except for one, which is set to auto. You can choose any texture you like, but it should be one that is easy to spot when it turns on or off. Now set the min/max frame rate for auto textures to bracket the frame rate. Run some laps and see if the texture turns on and off. If the texture is always on, the numbers you picked were too low, vice versa if it is always off. Keep narrowing the range of min and max until you have narrowed the range to 1. That number is your frame rate. Q: The frame rate at Martinsville is terrible, what can I do? A: I turned off all objects at Martinsville. Nothing else seems to really help. It looks like you're racing out in the middle of a cow pasture, but the frame rate is great. Q: Why is there a noticeable pause coming out of Turn 4 on some tracks? A: I wish I knew. Someone suggested that it had something to do with the number of other cars heard. I have noticed that it only seems to happen with a large number of cars in the pits. Q: I run in VGA mode, but every time I start a race, the screen is in hi-res mode. How can I set this permanently? A: This appears to be a bug in the options screen. I've been told that if you make the change from the main menu instead of the race menu, the screen resolution will stay in VGA mode. Q: How do I do a screenshot in NASCAR 2? A: Press the \ (backslash) key. This will create a SS????.PCX file in the NASCAR2 directory. Each time you press it, the numbers increment, so you can do multiple shots in a session. Be careful, as the files are quite large (300K in SVGA mode) and can eat up disk space pretty fast. RENDITION VERSION ================= Q: Why can't I run the Rendition version on my 3D card? A: The Rendition version was written specifically for the Rendition Verite' 1000 chipset. Currently, there are four video boards on the market based on this chipset: Canopus Total 3D, Creative Labs 3D Blaster; Intergraph Reactor; Sierra-Online Screamin' 3D. If you do not have one of these boards, you cannot use the Rendition version of NASCAR 2. Q: Does Papyrus plan to make a version of NASCAR 2 that works with my 3D card? A: Papyrus has not announced any plans to support 3D boards other than the Rendition-based ones. Unlike Windows, it's a fairly big job to add support for different video chips in a DOS program. I suspect that Papyrus will probably wait to see which ones are successful before committing to a specific project. The only thing likel to change that is if the manufacturer pays a fee directly to Papyrus to induce them to support a specific product, as was done with the Rendition version of Indycar 2. It's reasonable to assume that future versions of NASCAR will use Windows '95 Direct 3D support, which was not available at the time that Papyrus began the NASCAR 2 project. Q: Do I have to run UNIVBE to use Rendition? A: No, the Rendition version does not use VESA 2.0, but instead goes straight to the hardware using the Speedy 3D API library written by Rendition. Even if you use the SVGA version, the Rendition boards support VESA 2.0 directly, so UNIVBE won't be of any help. Q: Why doesn't the NASCAR 2 Rendition version perform as well as the ICR2 Rendition version on my machine? A: Make sure you are using the DMA version. You can either invoke NASREND with the -dma switch, or run the batch file RENDDMA. Q: I tried RENDDMA on my computer and it locked up. What can I do? A: Some machines don't support DMA properly. Other machines do work but need a little coaxing. Get a copy of DMADIAG off the web (it can be found at http://www.sequoia-dev.com/Hawaii/latenite.html) and run it just prior to running RENDDMA. That seems to fix the problem for some machines. Q: My frame rate is still not that great. What else could be wrong? A: The split times screen (F2 and press Enter) will slow down the Rendition version dramatically. I usually keep the F2 screen up and only occasionally press Enter to get the instant readout. Q: Why doesn't the NASCAR 2 Rendition version look as good as the ICR2 Rendition version on my machine? A: Papyrus didn't enable anti-aliasing in NASCAR 2, so things like the pit walls don't look as smooth as in ICR2. Rendition has indicated that a patch is forthcoming to enable anti-aliasing as well as boost the performance a bit. Papyrus, so far, has been silent on the subject of a patch. Q: The program stalls for a long time every time a texture gets turned on or off by the auto graphics. How can I avoid this? A: Automatic textures just don't work well in the Rendition version. You should set the textures so that you get an acceptable frame rate all the time instead. This may vary from track to track, so familiarize yourself with the hotkeys for turning on and off the various textures. Q: Is there any difference in car performance with the Rendition version? A: Pekka Heino made the following observation: "It seems that if you use the RENDDMA version of N2 you'll be gaining on speed but losing on traction. This is compared to nascar2.exe version of N2 using the same detail level. So it would seem that when the load on the computer and cpu increases the program isn't able to cope with all the calculations as it should and this is noticeable in gained traction (or less wheel spin which way you want). This may not be evident in normal race conditions but when you are on the edge of losing/maintaining traction this becomes clear. I don't know which version is better to use (I personally prefer more speed i.e. the RENDDMA version) but in any case there is a difference." MULTIPLAYER =========== Q: I get an error message "Can't initialize modem", yet the modem works fine with other software. What's wrong? A: If the MULTI.LST file isn't present or possible if it has an error such as a missing car, this will occur. Before starting multiplayer, go to the Driver Info screen, and make sure that you have a MULTI driver list and that it doesn't give you a "Car not found" error when you try to load it. Thanks to Greg Gavel for solving this mystery. Q: I'm using the LAN multiplayer mode and I get the error message "Can't initialize ipx card", yet the LAN card works with other software. What's wrong? A: The previous discussion on problems with MULTI.LST also applies to network cards. Q: How do I chat during a modem session? A: You can chat when your first connect in the Race Selection screen. If you want to chat once you've selected a race, you have to exit to the Garage menu and select "Chat". You can send autochat messages while racing with the Ctrl-Function key combinations. To change the autochat messages, edit the file AUTOCHAT.MSG. Q: I can't type anything in the chat screen, how do I get it to work? A: You have to click on the area to the right of the little L bracket in the chat screen with the mouse. This will activate the chat text window, and you can then begin typing. The other player won't see your messages until you press Enter. Q: When I dial up to race head to head, I end up in the the wrong car. How can I race in my own car? A: Both machines should have the car of the player on the machine that answers as the first car in the list and the player on the dialup machine as the second car in the list. On the dialup machine only, change the name of the first car to the name of the player on the dialup machine. Note that program always uses the MULTI list. If you take turns dialing each other, you'll need to change the list every time, or keep different lists and copy the appropriate one to MULTI.LST before you connect. Q: Why do I start the race in the middle of an AI car? A: There's a bug that sometimes puts the dialup car inside of an AI car on the grid. So far, I haven't seen it cause any damage, and the spotter will help you find your correct place in the line. Q: I was driving around the track in the pace line when suddenly my car got towed off the track? What happened? A: Another bug that has been reported to Papyrus. So far, I've only seen it when my car has minor damage. Maybe the NASCAR officials are enforcing a black flag for creating a racing hazard? Q: I called for the tow truck, but my car got stuck on the track and the spotter keeps saying, "Hold on... you're getting a tow!" A: This is another bug that has been reported to Papyrus. This one seems to be fatal, you will be unable to finish the race. Q: How can I get around a problem where the dialup machine hangs on certain tracks? A: If you set maximum opponents to 39 and race on any track that allows 39 cars on the track, the dialer will likely hang. You'll also see an extra car when you go the F2 standings. Set the maximum opponenents to 38. Papyrus has confirmed this bug. Q: My machine locks up when I exit the race weekend. How can I avoid this? A: When the dialup machine exits the race weekend, a dialog box pops up with the question, "OK to leave race weekend?" If the player on the answering machine tries to exit while this dialog is up, the dialup machine will lock up. The easiest way around this problem is to always have the player on the answering machine exit first. Q: How can I use Arcade mode in Multiplayer? A: You can't use Arcade mode in Multiplayer. This might have something to do with the fact that you don't qualify in arcade mode either, and always start at the rear of the pack. Q: How do you get DSVD to work with Multiplayer? A: I have the the USR DSVD modem. I have successfully used the following init string: AT&F1^M~~~&K0-SSE=1^M You can't switch to a data connect from a voice connect, you'll need to have the modem dial and then pickup to make the voice connection. Someone else has reported that the Hayes modem would not connect via DSVD successfully because of the maximum 19.2Kb setting in NASCAR 2. You can try editing the MODEM.CFG file and changing the setting to 38.4Kb. Q: I still can't get DSVD to work, what else can I try? A: I've heard a report that some DSVD modems must connect at 38.4Kb in order to work (this is not the case with USR modems). NASCAR 2 won't allow you to set the baud rate to 38.4Kb, because Papyrus thought that users would try the higher setting and experience problems. You can edit the PHONBOOK.MDL file to change an entry to 38.4Kb. I have not tried this myself, so use it at your own risk. Q: Can I race other people over the Internet? A: Yes you can. There is a program called "Kali" that uses the IPX 8-player network capability in NASCAR 2 to allow you to race over the Internet. There is a new service starting up that will help you find other players to race with. To find out more about using Kali with NASCAR 2, go to http://www.wheretorace.com Q: How can everyone get their own car in a multiplayer race? A: The MULTI car list is the only list allowed in the multiplayer race. The order of the cars in the MULTI list is very important. Start with a clean car list and then add the first player's car, then the second player's car, third, etc. Finally, add the AI cars that you want to race. Each machine must have a copy of all the cars that are in the list, i.e. they must have a .CAR file that matches the driver's name. DRIVER INFO =========== Q: How do I change my car make? A: Select your name from the Driver list, select "Info" and then click on the car logo below and to the right of your car image. Don't forget to save the car when you're done. Q: I created my own Driver info, and removed "The Player" from the list, but now I'm driving someone else's car. What happened? A: You always drive the car that is first in the list. If you want to change your car, you either have to: Copy or modify the T_PLAYER.CAR file; delete all the drivers from a list and add yours first; or start a new list. Q: How do I load new cars that I download? A: If you downloaded a .CAR file, you can just copy the car into the CARS directory. If this is a replacement for an existing car, that's all you have to do. If this is a new car you have to add it to a list. Run NASCAR 2, go to Driver Info, and you should see the new driver in the left-hand list. Select the car and press the right arrow to add it to the current list. If you downloaded a .PCX file, you'll have to import the car, see the section on painting cars for help. Q: I want to drive one of the other cars in the list. How can I do that? A: The easiest way to do it is to create a new list. The car you drive is always the first car in the list. The game automatically places the "player" car first in a new list, so delete that car. Add the car you want to drive to the list first. Now add the rest of the cars in the order you prefer the drivers to appear. The drivers at the end of the list are the first ones that get dropped at the tracks where there are fewer cars. Q: Where can I get new cars? A: I may be a little biased, but I think the best cars on the net can be found at http://www.theuspits.com/iwcccars. PAINTING CARS ============= Q: How do I export a car from NASCAR 2? A: From the Driver Info screen, select the driver and then select "Info". Now select "Paint Car" and go to the detail screen. Select "Export" and the car will be exported into the NASCAR 2 directory with a filename consisting of X, followed by the first initial of the driver, underscore, and then the first 5 letters of the last name. The player's car is exported as "XT_PLAYE.PCX". Q: How do I import a car to NASCAR 2? A: Just like with exporting, the program looks for PCX files in the NASCAR 2 directory under filenames that start with X, followed by the first initial of the driver, underscore, and then the first 5 letters of the last name. The player's car is imported from "XT_PLAYE.PCX". Q: When I import a file, I get the error message "Palette Corrupt". How do I get around this problem? A: Export a car from NASCAR 2. Copy just the car image of your new car, but not the surrounding magenta or the color bar at the bottom. Paste in place of the car from the freshly exported car image. Now save the file back under the desired filename. You may have to adjust the body panel colors again. It's a good idea to keep a safe copy of your original car around for just this purpose. Export it from NASCAR 2 and rename it for safe keeping. Q: When I import a car file, the colors are all messed up. What's going on? A: NASCAR 2 only allows you to use about 150 colors from the 256 color palette to paint your car. When you convert the car from a 24-bit image to an 8-bit image by loading the NASCAR 2 palette, the paint program will often use some of those colors that are considered off-limits. These colors come through transparent, so that whatever image is underlying when you import the car comes through. The best solution to this problem is to download the Paintkit Assistant from Chris Frederick's Racing HQ site: http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/CFrederick/racing.htm In it, you'll find a NASCAR 2 palette file for Paintshop Pro that remaps all colors to "legal" ones for import into NASCAR 2. Be sure to copy the car image back to an original NASCAR car image before saving it, to get around the "Palette Corrupt" problem. Q: How do I get my driver picture into NASCAR 2? A: Using a program like Paintshop Pro, load your picture in and convert it to 16.7 million colors. Using the magic wand or drawing a selection by hand, copy just your image and not the underlying background. Open "BLANK.PCX" and save the palette as "N2PICT.PAL". Convert BLANK.PCX to 16.7 million colors and then paste your image in it, stretching it to fit appropriately. Use the retouch tool to remove the halo from around the cutout of your image. Now load the palette file "N2PICT.PAL" to convert the image back to to 8-bit. Save the file as "T_PLAYER.PCX" in the NASCAR 2 cars directory. Run NASCAR 2, select your car, select "Info" and then select "Load PCX" to load your image. Save your car and you're done. Q: How do I send my friend a copy of my car file? A: If you've painted your own car and imported your image into the car file, you can send your T_PLAYER.CAR file to your friend. The file is located in the CARS directory. If you plan to modem race, your friend should save your car into his CARS directory as "J_SMITH.CAR". Q: How can I import my NASCAR 1 car? A: There's no simple way to do this. The size and shape of the body panels changed from NASCAR 1 to NAScAR 2. It's possible to lift the graphics off a NASCAR 1 car and paste them on a NASCAR 2 car using a paint program, but the car will probably not look very good. Q: How do I put decals or detail on the rear deck of the car? A: You can't. The decklid color comes from the body panels in the underbody shop. There aren't many camera angles that will show the rear decklid, and other than for in-car cameras, the teams don't detail that part of the car anyway. Q: How can I put different decals in the NASCAR 2 Paintkit? A: First, you need a utility to unpack the LAYOUT.DAT file. There's one available at: http://mrfrench.cslab.uwlax.edu/~rueck_cw/pages/racesim/utility/trpckv10.zip After you've unpacked the .DAT file, you can edit the .PCX files the make up the paintkit. The first thing to try is to customize DECAL.PCX so that you can use your own templates and decals. Some people don't like the dark background in the paintkit, and you can edit the DETAIL.PCX file to change this. It's easy to lose track of the black cursor on dark color cars, particularly with NASCAR 2's dark background. You can change the color of the cursor by editing the 3 cursor files (DTHIN.PCX, DMEDIUM,PCX, DTHICK.PCX, EYEDROP.PCX and COPY.PCX). Bright orange works well, but in easy-to-spot color will do. REPLAYS ======= Q: How can I advance to the next or previous lap of a replay? A: If you press the L key, the replay will advance to the start of the next lap for the car that has focus. Pressing shift-L will rewind to the start of the previous lap. BUG LIST ======== - Install corrupts Internet Explorer setup - Can't load setups with minimal install - No qualifying setups for some tracks with Windows install - AI pitting problems at Atlanta after a yellow - F1 screen doesn't update if F1 is pressed before first lap is complete - Spotter says "Stay low" constantly during pace lap when spotter level is set to "Full" - Spotter stops calling out lap times if you hit the wall just before crossing the start/finish line - Spotter goes crazy after a big wreck, saying "Go low" "Go high" constantly - Spotter gives bogus "Pass the #nn car" message after exiting the pits - LF Camber is off in setup screen when set to 0.0 - Weight distribution is displayed incorrectly after certain setup changes - Frame rate is awful at Martinsville - Screen options are reset to SVGA before each race - Noticeable pause coming out of Turn 4 on some tracks - Dialup player starts inside an AI car in Multiplayer - Player's car towed off track without warning in Multiplayer - Dialup player cannot tow properly in Multiplayer - Dialup player hangs when max opponents set to 38 in Multiplayer - Dialup player locks up when exiting race in Multiplayer - Some DSVD modems don't work because baud rate is limited to 19.2 - Get "Can't initialize modem" or "Can't initialize IPX card" when the MULTI.LST file is not present Newsgroups: rec.autos.simulators,rec.answers,news.answers