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            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.