======================================================================
NASCAR HEAT
Custom Track & Version update Patch
Version 1.80
as of August 2004
reworked by Timerider
email - timerider55@hotmail.com
This patch is a
combination of updates I've put together to make
NASCAR Heat more
enjoyable, and expandable. Here are some of the things
I've put together
with this patch:
1) Reworked
the latest 1.80 patch to also include the missing
DRIVERS.TXT file
from the first 1.1e patch that was left out of all
subsequent MGI
patches. (As of today, the only patch on the official
Infogrames support
site is the 1.5a patch without the necessary
DRIVERS.TXT file.)
2) Updated the
splash.bmp which is embedded in the 1.80 PATCH.BIN file.
It now shows a
2004 season carset, instead of the older 2000 cars.
This graphic
update does not change the content or behavior of the rest
of the patch &
game.
3) The 1.80
version no longer has the cockpit problem which was in 1.76,
and v1.80 has
increased texture cache from 293 to 1024.
Mouse look for the
head tracker devices works too.
See below for
explaination of how "Mouse-Look" works. At this time, I do not
have documentation
included about the increased Textures capability. See
your favorite Heat
support forum for help. There is also no mention of the
textures update in
the "official" patch text contained below.
4) Renamed
the games default DATA folder to now be a RUN folder. This
is necessary to
install and play the various 3rd party tracks, add-ons,
carsets, and other
Mods available to Heat.
5) Added in
the following files to fulfill the Custom Track Patch
portion:
autorun.inf - in the NASCAR Heat folder
binkw32.dll - in the newly created Run folder
drivers.dat - in the newly created Run folder
NHeat.exe & NASCAR Heat.exe - in the NASCAR Heat folder
6) Updated
the embedded splash.bmp inside the NHeat.exe/NASCAR Heat.exe files
to once again
reflect the update of cars from 2000 to 2004 paintschemes. (Yeah,
I was just tired
of looking at the old cars...)
7)
NOTE: This inclusion of the above for files has the added benefit
of allowing the
user to run Heat without the need of the cdrom disc
being in the
drive. This is a great help for folks doing add-ons so
they don't have to
wait for the cd to spin up when going in and out of
the game for
testing. This should not be a substitute for actually
owning a full
retail cdrom. These modified files were originally part
of a download I
got, but can not remember where or who it originated
from. The
only mention of credit in that download goes to someone
named
"Woob". So, thanks to Woob.
8) USE THIS
PATCH AT YOUR OWN RISK. It has been tested on several
pc's and operating
systems, and will hopefully work trouble-free on
your system.
The only known issues that have been encountered in the
past have been
with systems running Windows ME. If you use my verions
of the patch,
please do NOT contact anyone at MGI, Atari, Infogrames, or Hasbro.
Please direct all
questions to timerider55@hotmail.com, and I will do
my best to respond.
======================================================================
ACTUAL version
1.80 patch.txt README FOLLOWS (yes... 1.76, from 2002
is the newest
piece of text. I didn't make a mistake. TR)
======================================================================
NASCAR HEAT PATCH
Version 1.76
February 16, 2002
======================================================================
Special thanks
to everyone at
speedsims.com
and especially to
Thomas Heineman
======================================================================
Disclaimer
This is an 'experimental' patch
which is "unsupported" by
Infogrames or MGI
but is generally accepted to be the best version
currently available.
======================================================================
LATE-BREAKING
======================================================================
----------------------------
1.76: options.cfg
'look_up' 'look_down' supported
----------------------------
In addition to
look_left and look_right, now you can look up and
down! So, if
you've been itching for mouselook, just try out
look_down M Down
look_left M Left
look_right M Right
look_up M Up
Good luck!
----------------------------
1.75: options.cfg
option 'career_pack' sets pack size
----------------------------
In order to
support an upcoming mod, it is now possible to override
the career pack
size by setting the following options.cfg variables:
career_pack 9
career_pack_override
yes
----------------------------
Slightly larger
ghosts NOT supported (4 minutes is still the max)
----------------------------
Version 1.71e
supported 5-minute ghostcars. This broke everything! It
is back to 4 and
it will never change ever again.
======================================================================
OLDISH NEWS
======================================================================
----------------------------
Autocross walls
enabled, for real
----------------------------
(from speedsims
beta forum)
Ideally, we'd just
create a new surface type and say "ok, presto, the
feature is in." I
won't bore you with the details of the
implementation,
but the short version is, I can get it working only
if each 'cone' has
its own surface type. That way, when you hit the
cone, I can check
to see if we've penalized you for cone #352, and
poof suddenly
everything works.
So how about we
say you can have 512 penalty cones, and they start at
2000. "2000" as in
the same way cheater walls are "1". I am not
skilled in
MultiGen; let me know if you need clarification on this.
The penalty is 2
seconds.
The big message is
"cone".
----------------------------
ghostcars: mod?
Check for singleton ghostcars in mod directory first
----------------------------
----------------------------
Emergency Brake
enabled
----------------------------
----------------------------
MULTI: Standing
starts on by default
----------------------------
======================================================================
OLD NEWS
======================================================================
----------------------------
TRACKS: new
cheater wall types, support multiple sputter-time
----------------------------
The default
cheater walls (afaict type 0) provide ten seconds of
sputter
time. For some applications this is not quite right. Now
you can use type
1000+T, to provide a cheater wall of T seconds
duration, up to 29
seconds.
----------------------------
GFX: draw xray
view from outside car
----------------------------
Add
always_show_xray
yes
to
physics.txt:chassis section to always show the xray chassis
components from
outside the car, that is, from all cameras. The
high-detail wheels
are _not_ selected by forcing xray on, you will
need to adjust
wheel lods/models in order to affect wheel look. This
option only
affects the xray chassis components.
----------------------------
BUG: do not add
tracks to in-game track list twice
----------------------------
fixed
----------------------------
GFX: WHEEL MODELS
----------------------------
Use
drivers.txt:wheel_basename to specify a "wheelmodel basename
override" for a
specific driver. The stock.car wheelmodel basename
is 'rtire'.
The wheelmodel basename for a chassis is typically set in the
Front/Rear
sections in physics.val.
That crazy
_drivernumber.mod scheme is out.
I am still looking
for feedback on this one. This new technique does
not permit
separate override of front and rear, for example.
----------------------------
WINDOWED MODE
----------------------------
This will probably
not work on your system. I have a GeForce2
running on W2K
SP2, and it works fine. Right next to it I have an old
TNT, and it runs
really strangely there. I'm just mentioning it
because if it
happens to work, and is useful to you, then you will
like it very much,
as I do.
Just run with the
"-window" option.
----------------------------
FORCE COCKPIT NOT
ON BY DEFAULT
----------------------------
Whoops!
----------------------------
NEW MULTIPLAYER
VERSION
----------------------------
The Qe patch would
not have worked with 1.5* clients anyway, but it
would have not
failed quite as immediately as it will now.
----------------------------
GFX: VID TEXTURE
POOL
----------------------------
* Increased 2x
----------------------------
MULTIPLAYER:
DISALLOW SPECTATORS
----------------------------
Use the
options.cfg option
[MULTI]
srv_no_spectators
yes
----------------------------
MULTIPLAYER: no
4.5km limit
----------------------------
This limit has
been lifted, it is now track-dependent. This should
permit longer
tracks in thin mode, as well as making tracks like Bristol
somewhat crispier.
----------------------------
MULTI/SINGLE:
force cockpit view
----------------------------
[GAME]
force_cockpit_view
yes
This will affect
single player as well.
If you run a
server with this option, everyone who joins will
be force-cockpit.
If you join a
server and _you_ have this option on, but the server
has the option
turned off, you will _not_ be forced cockpit.
----------------------------
MULTIPLAYER:
standing starts
----------------------------
[MULTI]
ded_standing_start
yes
standing_start yes
Turn this option
on, and the rolling start will start from rest.
Once the race
'begins' the AI will bring the pack up to speed as
fast as they
can. Since you generally cannot see the pack when
it is starting up,
the most immediately noticeable effect of this
option is that it
makes the rolling start take longer. However, if
you have really
bad latency situations, this option is the way to go
in order to avoid
big catastrophes on the rolling start.
----------------------------
RESOURCES: NO
USER/DATA/MOD DIR LIMIT
----------------------------
Two changes
here. You've probably seen the log messages about
'caching'
filenames. Well, now it will only cache the following
extensions:
"trk", "res",
"car", "sfx", "lng", "def"
It will cache an
'unlimited' number of these files, although I am
sure someone will
find out what the limit really is ;).
----------------------------
TRACK MODS: No
32-track limit
----------------------------
The limit is now
'unlimited' although I imagine some other part of
your system would
choke if you made 10,000 of them.
----------------------------
TRACK MODS: 'Mod'
tracks show up in in-game list
----------------------------
Yes, now they
do. I am surprised no one mentioned that this was
broken before, it
seems like a really big omission. You guys have to
hold me to higher
standards!
----------------------------
TRACK MODS: also
use "tracks" directory
----------------------------
Also search
config_dir/tracks for resources, and add all tracks therein
to track list.
----------------------------
TRACK MODS:
optionally, track.ini specifies in-game tracklist
----------------------------
T. Heineman
suggested that it would be useful for a mod to restrict
the tracks that
show up in the in-game list. Voila, mod/track.ini.
My test track.ini
looks like this:
atlanta
bristol
california
new_hampshire
You got it, it's
just a list of the track names you want to show up
in-game. The
other tracks won't show up in the list.
----------------------------
GHOSTCAR: "Search
mod_ghostcar.res first"
----------------------------
The new search
order is
mod_ghostcar.res/ghostcarname.gcf
trackname.trk/ghostcarname.gcf
ghostcar.res/ghostcarname.gcf
----------------------------------------
AI: OPTIONAL AI
SKILL SHAKEUP
----------------------------------------
Everyone loves
Bobby Labonte, but perhaps you'd like to see him
finish outside the
top ten?
Well, now you can
mess with the AI skill and pack ordering, in a
very crude and
very possibly unsatisfying way. But you can't say I
didn't try.
There are three
options.cfg variables you can tweak that will affect
both the initial
pack ordering, as well as the actual skill that the
driver will
exhibit during the race. They are:
ai_start_tweak 5
Once the
cars are sorted by 'official' rank (from drivers.txt), a
little
randomizer-window slides along the pack three times, and
performs little
random swaps within his window. For example, if the
window is '5', the
window starts at the front of the pack and swaps
Car #1 with any of
Cars #1-5. Then he moves to Car #2, and exchanges
him with Cars
#2-6. And so on until he hits the end of the pack.
ai_start_tweak
defines the size of his window. If he has a tiny
window, then it is
not very likely that Bobby Labonte will end up at
the back of the
pack. If he has a large window, it is possible that
within your
lifetime Bobby Labonte will qualify last.
ai_skill_tweak 7
Entirely
separate from the determination of starting order, is the
determination of
in-race performance. Before each race, each
driver's actual
in-race power is randomized, by fudging their rank
+/-7. So, if
your rank is 10, your actual in-race performance might
range from a rank
of 3 to 17. The rank tweak range is determined by
ai_skill_tweak.
ai_shuffle_all_cars
yes
Normally,
the unlicensed cars (those with driver numbers >= 100)
remain at
the back of the pack regardless of the randomization
factors. You can shuffle these guys into the pack for even more
amusement,
just by setting ai_shuffle_all_cars to 'yes'.
NOTE
You can
really mess NASCAR Heat up by setting these numbers,
because the AI are
not particularly adept at passing slow traffic.
You may very well
find that randomly putting champions at the back of
the pack makes for
more "interesting" races, but they might not be
interesting in the
way that you expect. They might just be lame.