Multiplayer Racing Section |
Latest News
Any information posted here is unconfirmed by any software producer unless otherwise mentioned. Alot of information posted is about things "in the works" so your results may vary.
Note,
As things develop in the Nascar world I will continue to update
this page daily. I will not be adding information to the main
page. Just check back here daily for information.
1/30/00
Valve and Cisco are teaming up to revolutionize the way multiplayer games are played over the internet. The idea is to come up with a new set of protocals specific to internet multiplay. It optimizes the way data is sent and recieved, as well as router and access concentrator issues. The idea is to produce a LAN-type experience from standard dial-up modems. The early deployment of the technology is March of this year, and according to them it won't take much at all for games that are capable of Multiplayer to release a patch for the new technology. Valve is the creator of Half-Life, which is distributed though Sierra Studios, the same company that distributes NASCAR Racing 3. This should make a fairly large impact onto the multiplayer racing world.
1/29/00
Coverage of the LAN Event I will be attending the East Regional LAN Tournament in Charlotte, North Carolina on Febuary 4th, 5th, and 6th. This event puts 80 drivers in a tournament running NASCAR Racing 3 with no warp over a Local Area Network. I will be giving my thoughts of the tournament as well as results of the races. If you're interested in attending future LAN events please visit LikeReal Entertainment
1/22/00
The Next Generation Papyrus will ship Nascar Racing 4 with more tracks than any other previous papyrus title, whatever that means. Does this mean a FULL Winston Cup Schedule finally?
Sierra Sports and Papyrus will unveil their 2000 line of products, which will include a new racing game by MGI, creators of Viper Racing. Papyrus will have 3 products for the next year, including the Truck expansion pack and two other titles, one assumed to be Nascar Racing 4. Sierra is expected to make an announcment sometime during the week of the Daytona 500.
1/15/00
LAN Party In Charlotte, North Carolina on Febuary 3rd, 4th, and 5th for all racing enthusiasts. Registration is closed but if you'd like to see this very prestigious and heart pounding event, come on down. Visit Likereal Entertainment for information
1/03/00
The Final Proof about Daytona: Check this letter that was sent to websites that have posted Talladega edits for Daytona:
To whom it may concern:
Please remove the Daytona track from your web/ftp site. You are in violation of copyrights and trademarks of both Sierra On-Line and the International Speedway Corp.
Thank you,
Shawn Wise / Papyrus
Incase you didn't catch it "Copyright violation of Sierra Online" need I say more? Also this appears to be the public action by Papyrus to remove the dega-edits, in the past they've just taken action of those posting the N1 version of Daytona by Papyrus that was leaked out. ALSO a very reliable source tells me the track, is completely "done". Now the wait begins.
12/26/99
More Daytona - Got this
information from a visitor that continues to put the
Daytona saga into focus:
I can provide somewhat
of a confirmation of the Daytona story. When in Daytona
this July, I was introduced to the associate head of
licensing at Daytona (their department is separate from
ISC Licensing). He told me that their contract with Sega
was up at the end of 1999. They were generally unhappy
with what Sega had done with the license, and they did
not intend to renew. That left EA and Papy to bid.
Papyrus developed the Daytona track for the "Pole
Position" exhibit at Daytona USA using the NASCAR2
engine (not the NASCAR1 engine as has been said), and
they were very pleased with their work. He said their
products were of "better quality" than what EA
had done. He also said that they could not negotiate the
contract with anyone but Sega until Jan 1, 2000. I'm sure
someone @ Sierra has Daytona sitting on their computer
right now, waiting to put it on a CD and send it out.
That's how it was with Indy. I'm sure it's just a matter
of time.
12/23/99
Looking for Good Racing? ADL Server is now up and it has the ability for you to put up your OWN race, HOSTED by ADL from the web, fully automated! Visit their site for info and the javascript. (I went there last night, had good pings to ADL, and a good number of support staff IN the Echo arena ready to help out.
Interesting - The Pits posted some interesting screen shots today, you can view them here. The story behind them? These are shots from the ORIGINAL Nascar Racing 3, the one slated to come out with the GPL engine. Daytona is on that list because they actually planned on releasing it with the original. Also continue to hear that Nascar 4 (Codename, it's final release name may vary) is almost halfway done. Doesn't seem too hard to believe, they had a good base judging by those screen shots.
UPDATE- From many sources have told me that the deal is they are making a special edition of NASCAR Racing 3, only including Daytona and only to be sold at the track. I'm not sure whether they'll sell it at other ISC tracks or just at Daytona USA. This appears to be part of their non-exclusive liscensing agreement with Daytona USA. Sources say the track is basically "done" and just ready for the final go by Daytona to be put on it's shelves. (Usenet, confirmed by others)
12/22/99
12/21/99
Things seem relatively calm. Papyrus has
once again released another beta build, but they also
request we don't cross link the file, so I won't. You can
subscribe to news.simracing.org Usenet group for
information.
I came across two very useful sites concerning standard 56k modem optimization for gaming. I found it very useful, my ping times in many multiplayer games are down and I am experiencing alot of lagless competition. I do reccomend you research your modem specifications and what AT strings it allows before you add any (which it does give you a few to add) because it appears some conflict with my modem, causing more frequent disconnects.
3d Spotlight-Tweaking This page gives tweeking advice on many pieces of hardware
Optimizing Internet Connections A good page not only for gamers, but those just wishing to download faster.
3Com 56k Gaming Modem Review by Mike Schmit/Powersims
12/14/99
Some encouraging news I recieved from tweetie bird-
Papyrus apparently has a plan in effect to provide deticated servers on WON. It's unknown as to whether these servers will be a "pay for play" or free but I assume it will be similar to the system that was in place for NASCAR 2 called TEN. TEN was a place where you could log on, set up or join a race on one of TEN's server. The host was always on one of TEN's servers, so the factors that we deal with in Nascar 3 with indivudual users hosting the races were not there. It also hosted the first (and so far only) edition of the NASCAR Racing Online Series, a NASCAR-Supported and TEN-operated racing tournament. Currently you have to create a race using your own machine as a host, or join one using someone else's machine. This would give us the opporitunity to create or join a race that is being hosted by WON/Papyrus Servers.
Also heard that Papyrus has plans to continue NROS with Nascar 3. This is obviously far off, but this also strengthens the idea that Papyrus may install deticated frontend servers for our use. If this happens, it would most likely begin in summer of 2000. It also seems very unlikely that EA-Sports will be hosting NROS anytime soon (Taken in context from Powersims)
11/25/99
A new beta
patch has been released to a certain "controlled" group
of the public. Information can be found on rec.autos.simuators
newsgroup. Papyrus has said that within a month a patch to Nascar
Racing 3 will be released to the general public. Enhancements
include updated spark/smoke/dirt graphics, ability to select
cloudy or sunny skies during consistant weather, Multiplayer
lobby chatting, ability to muzzle, create an invite list, and
enhanced multiplayer data packet managment. Stay tuned to www.papy.com for details.
Simulator is starting up it's Winter Heats Series once again, but this year it's available ONLINE! Check out http://www.simcyberworld.com/wh2000/
Jacob Butner is holding a Multiplayer LAN Party, which includes NASCAR 3 racing. It might be alittle late but his site, www.simracing.org has some information. It's being held in North Carolina. Dave McCall is also holding a LAN Party in Charlotte in March 2000. His site is www.likereal.com. He just held an excellent event in Georgia in October
Andy
White closed down his 3wideserver due to lack of time.
Well since Nascar 3 came out good multiplayer races have been few and far between. Some good hosts are out there though, here's a small list:
LikeReal Server-David McCall also has a good racing server up. Right now it's undergoing beta testing for leagues. Visit his website at http://www.likereal.com
Mike Lentz has also said he may be putting up a server. David Boothe also has a program that he may be debuting in the coming months.
It's a good idea NOT to join a race when your ping is above 200. Also your quality needs to be atleast 70 in order to be somewhat warp free. Anything less and your experience will be dissapointing and frustrating.
PASSWORD PROTECT YOUR RACES! Let only those you want in know the password. There are just too many folks that are just interested in seeing how many cars they can take out.
If you're on a modem, try to limit your connect speed to atleast 38000 KBPS. The higher the connection, the more unstable the connection is.