NFS Community Day (May 31st, 2007)

• Mike Geise 5/31/2007 5:18 PM

Introduction

Ok first things first the next nfs title will be called Need For Speed: Pro Street as most already know.

Now we have not learned everything so far but what we have should be enough to you hold you over until the next round of information is released. First I am going to start with the basics.

So what's new?

New Culture

Basically the culture will be situated around the legal street racing culture such as people taking there cars to the tracks such as infinion and just running outright with what they have.

This could be your 1968 stock camaro or your tuned Mazda rx7. The goal is to become the king of the street which is grip king, drag king, showdown king, speed king and drift king. The culture has a vibrant look and feel and really is not focused on customizing the appearance of your car like the underground series but building your car for performance.

The game has a totally new physics engine. From what we where told this means the cars will actually handle as they do in real life but there still is that need for speed mix in it such as the assists which can be turned off for all you hardcore racers. They have also introduced new damage physics and new smoke model.

The ai will make mistakes such as wrecking and trashing there cars and they will not be able to catch up and you will not be able to as well. You make a mistake and it's big enough to cost you the race it most likely will.

Damage

The damage is quite elaborate from your fenders being dented to your hood being crumpled to your tire being ripped off. Damage will work in 3 different levels basically with level 1 being cosmetic, level 2 affecting aspects of your car such as aero performance or general top speed performance (this level is still being tweaked). Level 3 basically means you're done and won't be finishing the race.

After the end of each event you will have the option to repair your damage or leave it as is for those battle scars to show off to everyone.

Smoke

The smoke effects have really been improved since the last version. The smoke will actually stick around now after you have been burning your tires and you will even loose your visual of your car and surroundings as it becomes thicker and thicker.

Locations

This time around we will be racing at real locations and tracks around the whole world from San Francisco to Tokyo. There will not been an open or free roam area this time.

The focus is more on tracks and certain locations where the street racing culture is currently situated and legal to race. There will be a wide selection of tracks and locations I have been told.

Cars

Largest car list of all need for speed titles
26 Manufactures
Only 8 super cars (which doesn't mean only 8 exotics)

We really have not seen that many of the cars so far in NFS: Pro Street so I really can't give you a good list but from what we have seen so far there is.

Mazda RX7
Plymouth Barracuda

All the cars have all been remade for this title for the next gen system and I can tell you from what I saw the cars look great graphic and appearance wise. The whole car has been modeled from the engine to the drive shaft to the muffler there have also been new reflections created to give almost a photo look.

Car Customization

Now this area was focused on a lot and it is one of the items that will be brining a lot to the next title besides damage.

This year they have gone all out on customizing your car performance wise.

90+ part slots
300+ tuning variables
1000+ aftermarket parts
250+ aftermarket companies
All real aftermarket parts
Dyno your car for best performance

So you will be able to choose exactly what part you want in your engine such as the type of turbo and exactly how to tune it or what manifold to use, Mixing of different parts will be allowed and will have bonuses as well as negative effects. You can also choose different rims and tires you are not required to one set or brand for your whole car. Each part and tuning variable will have an affect on your car. Now if you are not interested in choosing exactly what parts you want on your car or how you want it tuned there will also be levels as there has been in previous versions for everyone out there that just wants to go fast right away without any hassle.

You also will have the ability to paint single parts (all of them).

Autosclupting will be allowed for every exterior part on your car as well but will also have affects on your aero and performance.

There will also be a real time wind tunnel / dyno to tune your car for the maximum performance this will also be very useful with autosclupting.

The body kits will be one piece this time and be more true to real world body kits.

Car Blueprints

This is something that will probably be fairly popular online. It basically allows you to trade with your freinds the blueprint of your car which means the exact parts and performance aspects of your car but the person you gave your blueprint too will never know exactly which parts you used. It seemed to be a little complicate but as more information is released we will get a better idea of the car blueprints.

Sound / Music

While racing you can tell when your pushing your car to its limit around turns by listening to the tires chirping and squelching.

The engine sounds also sound great as well to give you the feel that you are truly driving that type of car.

DJ Junky XL will be doing a lot or most of the music for the game. It's basically techno music from what I have heard and there will be different types for each culture / group.

Game Modes

The 4 game modes that we know of so far is

Speed Racing
Speed racing is going to be something along the lines of like the time modes in most wanted but without the time limit. The object of this mode is to maintain the fastest average speed to win the event and these events will be quite long from what I was told.
Grip Racing
Grip racing is basically just circuit racing that’s all that I got from that.
Drift Racing
Basically the same as before accept this time with the new physics engine means the drifting is actually more like drifting in real life.

Drag Racing
Drag racing will be exactly what it is, drag racing except this time we won't have to deal with those pesky traffic cars and it will be nothing like underground and most wanted drag racing it will more true drag racing.

You will also be racing with a car setup exactly for each game mode so basically you will need a drag car for drag racing, a drift car for drifting etc.

Now for the things that will probably disappoint some there will be no cops or no open world / free roam in this title.

We did however get news of a replay mode making its way in which is good news.

Online

We still have not heard much about the online stuff such as the modes but we did learn that the game has been built from the start with it in mind.

Other

Pro Street will not have the cgi cut scenes or the story lines like most wanted and carbon had but the story will be more based on events around the world.

The game is set for a Fall 2007 release and will be released on the following platforms: PC, Xbox 360, Playstation 2, Playstation 3, Nintendo Wii, Nintendo DS, Playstation Portable and Mobile.

Need For Speed: Pro Street is so far heading in the right direction and has a lot of promising features hopefully they won't disappoint us.

So that's all that we have learned so far from this community day, stay tuned and check the news often for updates coming in the near future!.

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