The second NASCAR Heat Evolution Developer Diary is out, and it tries to answer the question that the official trailer did not, how does it drive? While of course we really won’t know until we get our hands on it, the developers do shed some light on the thought process behind the title’s physics.
This thought process included going back and playing all the old NASCAR games, specifically the developer’s old title NASCAR HEAT, and thinking about creating a good driving experience for all levels. This resulted in two ‘Driving Physics’ modes, ‘Normal’ and ‘Simulation’, with simulation obviously being geared towards the serious racing game players.
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It will be interesting to see how well of a job NASCAR Heat Evolution does at walking the unenviable line of being approachable enough by NASCAR fans who want to pick up a NASCAR title to play while sitting on the couch with a controller, verse the more hardcore of us who are using wheels, pedals, shifters, rigs, etc.
It has to be difficult.
And speaking of wheels, it was good to see a Thrustmaster TMX make an appearance in the diary, marking the first time we’ve seen the developers with a wheel. Was getting a little worried…
Also, it was good to see the damage model look a little more severe in this video after a big wreck. It’s not quite Brad Keselowski going head first into the tire wall at Watkins Glen at 90 mph severe (see below), but not bad for a game.
