As pointed out last week, a surprise comes to NFS world on June 1st: Audi is presenting the new Audi A1 Clubsport Quattro at the Wörtherseetour 2011 in Reifnitz, in the Austrian state of Kärnten. The 30th edition of this major meeting for Audi, Seat, Skoda and VW fans takes place from June 1 - 4, 2011.
If you don't have a possibility to visit the Wörthersee Tour 2011 you have the possibility to take the A1 Clubsport Quattro for a virtual test drive in Need for Speed World! The car is available as a free rental car from June 1st to June 4th 2011 - after that it is likely that this car is available for rental with SpeedBoost, the in-game currency.
Description:
The Audi A1 clubsport quattro is a one-off vehicle built to the limits of technology for breathtaking dynamics. The heart of the Audi A1 clubsport quattro is a classic Audi gasoline engine - a five-cylinder unit displacing 2.5 liters with turbocharging and direct fuel injection. Sporting a very dynamic appearance and an exquisite finish, the showcar makes no secret of its potential.
According to the official NFS Facebook page and Twitter the DLCs for Shift 2 Unleashed will be available on PC!
Unfortunately there are no more details about that, but we can expect more information within the next days.
Until today Shift 2 Unleashed had the Legends Pack and the Speedhunters DLC (and the Timesaver Packs) as additional contents, which were only available on Xbox 360 and Playstation 3.
As soon as we know more, we'll let you know.
You can find an overview of the currently available DLCs under the following link:
Since the Speedhunters Pack for Shift 2 Unleashed was released this week on Xbox 360 and Playstation 3, a new article with tuning tips for the new game mode Standing Mile was published on the official Need for Speed website.
Find out how to tune your car for Standing Mile races in the following article:
Shift 2 Unleashed: Cars and Tracks of the Speedhunters Pack
Tuesday, 17.05.2011
The Shift 2 Unleashed Speedhunters Pack, which is being released today for Xbox 360 and Playstation 3, contains 12 new cars in a special Speedhunters tuning and -design, as well as three new tracks with two variations each.
If you want to know more about the cars, you can watch them on the information pages on the official Need for Speed website:
Shift 2 Unleashed: Developer Interview - Under the Bonnet
Monday, 16.05.2011
GamesIndustry.biz published an extensive and detailed developer interview, where Digital Foundry talked with several developers of the Slightly Mad Studios about Shift 2 Unleashed.
The topics range from the general Need for Speed genre and the role of Shift but also detailed questions about physics engine, graphics engine, track layout, car modeling etc.
To give you an impression, here is an excerpt about the physics in the game:
The physics model is a full 3D scope engine capable of creating the car dynamics based on parameters taken from the specs of the real-life car - those provided by manufacturers directly and those provided from extensive research. Chassis, suspension, aerodynamics and tyres all generate their forces in 3D in real time. We run these models and recalculate the car state at 400 times per second which makes for a very convincing experience as nothing is left to guesswork.
The chassis model in itself is pretty extensive (approximately 150 parameters). Basics include weight and CG heights and positions and we model the weight and inertia of the sprung and un-sprung masses separately along with spin inertias of the un-sprung items (wheels, brake discs etc). There are 3D suspension geometry parameters for all inner/outer points of a double wishbone along with the tie-rod and damper placements.
The dampers themselves have slow and fast parameters (n/mm/sec) with adjustable switchover points and bump stops with their own stiffness settings. Differentials are the standard 'Salisbury' type with accel/deccel lock settings and visco electronic diffs are also modelled along with inputs for spring rate. Brake torque and brake heating are monitored on a per wheel basis in order to get the heating right for brake pad fade and disc glows.
The tyre model is based on the 'brush model' slip curve generation. Core parameters here include: cornering/braking/self-aligning stiffness, load and camber sensitivities, heating parameters, rolling resistance and base grip of the rubber in longitudinal/lateral directions. The tyre model therefore is class leading (if not the best) in the sim industry.
Finally, the engine model uses a standard rpm/torque curve lookup in 250rpm increments. Some parameters are: rotating inertia, accel friction drag, deccel drag, heating. Turbos are modelled as separate components with their own separate physics and can be bolted on to directly effect it as in the real world.
Once the physics are input, intensive testing takes place and the upgrades and final audio are balanced. All in all the complete production of one car takes two months (dependent on the number of visual upgrades and complexity) with usually two artists working on it from start to finish. The tools used are Autodesk 3DS Max for the 3D work, Photoshop for textures and our own proprietary toolchain for exporting, physics input, and functionality tweaking.
You can find the complete interview in two parts under the following links. Unfortunately you'll need a (free) user account at GamesIndustry.biz, but if you want to dig in the game development of Shift 2 Unleashed, this is definitely an article worth reading:
NFSCoulter gives you some tips in the following video, how to drace a good laptime on Glendale East in Shift 2 Unleashed. Background is that this track is the current on at the Dr Pepper Hot Lap Contest.
Beat NFSDrews time in the Dr Pepper Hot Lap Contest - this week it's Glendale with 00:55:989. You can find more information about the contest here:
Yesterday the Speedhunters Pack for Shift 2 Unleashed has been announced - a new DLC available on May 17th.
So far the DLC was planned only for Playstation 3 and Xbox 360, but the german onlinemagazine PC Games reports, that the Speedhunters Pack will be available for PC as well.
PC Games doesn't reveal its source, but apparently they talk about the newspost on the website of EA Germany, which explicitly lists the PC:
Before you celebrate and jump in the air, better be realistic: the same english newspost, as well as the announcements on the official Need for Speed website don't mention a PC version of the DLC in any way...
UPDATE:
To clarify, we got word from EA, that the Speedhunters Pack will not be available on PC on May 17th!
Unfortunately at the moment there is no no information available on the DLC packs being available on PC at all.
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