La Electronic Arts ha comunicato che il nuovo Nascar Thunder 2004 è pronto ed è già in fase di distribuzione per tutti i formati: lo troveremo molto presto anche sugli scaffali dei negozi italiani.

Redwood City, Calif., September 16, 2003 – Against the backdrop of several high-profile driver feuds in the real world of championship racing, Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: ERTS) announced today that NASCAR Thunder™ 2004 from EA SPORTS™ is available in stores with the all-new “Grudges and Alliances†feature.

#CONTINUE#

The game lets a user race the pack with intelligent computer drivers who react to an individual’s driving style: aggressive driving that takes out competitors brings swift retaliation, while clean, cooperative driving is rewarded with alliances that can help the player take the checkered flag. Grudges and Alliances are especially important in season and career modes, where friendly relationships or bad blood over the course of a season can be the difference between winning and losing. NASCAR Thunder, the best-selling NASCAR video game series from EA is in its seventh year of production. The series has sold more than 9 million units to date since its debut with NASCAR® 98.

Il nuovo Colin McRae Rally 4 sarà disponibile il prossimo 19 settembre per Playstation 2 ed XBox, ma la Codemasters non esclude una futura versione per PC ed anzi alimenta forti speranze:

A lot of people have been mailing in asking me about news on a PC version of Colin McRae Rally 04. I haven't been ignoring you; I just thought I would tell everyone at the same time. At present we haven't announced officially whether there will be a PC version of the game. As soon as I do get news though regarding any of our games, then I will announce it here, on the forums and anywhere else I can think of.

E' disponibile sulla nKZone un comodissimo tool per netKar, per leggere i dati dal server nKDaemon in una griglia: il programma aggiorna i dati costantemente, Ã¨ possibile copiare l'IP, settare alcune opzioni e molto altro. Correte a scaricare il nkDaemon Server List 0.75.

#CONTINUE#

This is a simple tool to readout data from the racelist (made by Palmer) @ http://risingsun.hmc5.com/nk/daemon/server.php, and put it in a grid. When clicking a row, the ip gets copied onto the clipboard, ready to past into netKar. Right click the grid to get options. You can let the program automatically refresh the data at a given interval, set a few options, use filters ...

Requirements:
- Microsoft Windows 2000/XP (dunno if it works in earlier versions)
- Microsoft .NET Framework v1.1 (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=262d25e3-f589-4842-8157-034d1e7cf3a3 23MB)
- Internet connection

- Install:
- Unzip the files to folder of your choice
- Double click "NetKar ServerList.exe"

note: the program will create an additional settings.ini file, in which program specific settings are stored. Its adviced not to manually edit this file.

- License
Although copyright does not abandon, this software is completely taken as freeware. Redistribution are possible if the contents are not changed.

- Qualification
Any damage by having performed this software is not compensated. Please use this software on accountability.

- Contact, Bug report
Please send mail to the following addresses. donny_tytgat@hotmail.com

La Papyrus ha finalmente rilasciato la tanto attesa versione ufficiale della nuova patch 1.2.0.1 per Nascar Racing 2003 Season: potete scaricare l'aggiornamento, un unico file eseguibile da 16MB che ricordiamo è necessario per il gioco in multiplayer, direttamente da questo link in locale. Ecco qui sotto il readme completo:

#CONTINUE#

1.2.0.1

09/02/03

[ To read this file, select Edit/Word Wrap from the menu above ]

TABLE OF CONTENTS

[1] WHAT THE PATCH FIXES

[2] HOW TO INSTALL THE PATCH

[3] ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

[4] CONTACTING SIERRA

************************************

NOTE: The 1.2.0.1 version of NASCAR® Racing 2003 Season is not multiplayer compatible with previously released versions. As a client you will only be able to see and join 1.2.0.1 servers, and similarly as a host only 1.2.0.1 clients will be able to see and join your server.

Additionally, telemetry gathering programs built for the previously released versions of the game will not be compatible with the 1.2.0.1 version. These utilities will need to be re-linked with the updated papytelemapp.obj that is distributed with the 1.2.0.0 patch.

************************************

[1] WHAT THE PATCH FIXES

====================================

AI:

* AI cars will now be less likely to retire as a result of suffering damage.

CAR FILES:

* Changed the #155 to a Ford.

CAR MODEL:

* Added jack screw holes to rear window.

* Fixed incorrect shininess map on steering column.

CAR SETUPS:

* Slight adjustments to the FAST and JASPER setups to account for ride-height and front spring changes. See PHYSICS section below for more details.

CHAMPIONSHIP SEASON:

* Qualifying results and number of poles will now be properly saved in Event Results and Season Standings after a completed qualifying session was restarted.

* Fixed some minor sorting issues on the Event Results and Season Standings tables.

* Practice length, Happy Hour length, and the roster name are now properly saved into the season file.

CONTROLS:

* When throttle or brake are assigned to a digital control such as a keyboard key or joystick button, traction control and anti-lock brakes can now be disabled.

GARAGE:

* Car setup ranges are now properly applied as a setup is loaded. This prevents the use of setup files from previous versions which allowed different ranges.

MULTIPLAYER:

* Fixed a bug which prevented in-car chat when the chat filter was disabled.

* Fixed a bug which prevented bosses from ejecting other clients.

* The !clear command has been renamed !clear_black so as to not conflict with the various clear password commands.

* Increased timeout for Sierra.com race list download.

* Hardcore mode now has separate options for driving aids and visual restrictions. When driving aids are restricted, anti-lock brakes, stability control, steering assistance, and traction control will be disabled for all drivers.

* Increased race session start countdown from 30 to 60 seconds.

* Black flags that are issued by an admin or as the result of a poll can now be cleared.

* Non-animated opponent pit crews can now be seen in multiplayer races.

* Sierra.com system messages are now properly translated eliminating the cryptic "@#1267ever" and similar messages.

PHYSICS:

* Updated super speedway aero drag and downforce maps based on new data Jasper Motorsports.

* Extended the non-super speedway aero-downforce and aero-balance maps so that when the car is run very low to the ground an aero understeer problem caused by running off the end of the aero maps is fixed.

* Softened motion ratios of the front springs based on new data from Jasper Motorsports. Slightly stiffer front springs will be required to get the same front wheelrate as before. Version 1.0 setups will still have the correct wheel rate, their spring rate will be displayed based on the new motion ratio.

* Slightly reduced front bump camber effects.

* Front suspension geometry has been reworked to fix a camber fall-off with steering bug.

* Chassis had too much ground clearance, so bottoming out wouldn't occur when it should.

* Chassis bottoming out friction is increased.

* Reduced draft effects.

* Rear weight bias at restrictor plate tracks is now limited to 50% of the car's minimum weight to match 2003 rule changes.

* Tire wear is now more affected by running tires hot.

* Stability Control has been tweaked to affect tire wear.

PIT CREW:

* Pit crew will no longer wave pit sign when you are serving a drive-thru penalty unless you pull into the pit stall area indicating that you actually want to pit (note that the drive-thru penalty will NOT be cleared if you do in fact stop for service).

* Fixed a bug that could lead to a never-ending pitstop if the spacebar was pressed while the F9 Pit Summary box was displayed and the car had no damage.

RACE CONTROL:

* Fixed a bug in Arcade mode which prevented you from being able to clear a drive-thru penalty after speeding in the pits.

* Penalties for cutting the course are no longer enforced after a car has taken the checkered flag.

* Qualifying session time will be extended for longer tracks. This will allow the use of 3rd party tracks where qualifying laps previously could not be completed within the game's default session time limit.

* Caution periods at the short ovals (Bristol, Martinsville, and Richmond) have been extended by an additional lap.

* Fixed a bug which caused the speed/gear indicator's yellow flag to not reset after a debris caution.

* Increased caution sensitivity.

* With damage enabled, debris cautions for single car accidents are now possible.

RENDERER:

* Fixed a bug which could cause low track rail LODs in wide FOV camera views.

* Greatly reduced framerate impact of advanced "on-car shadows" Graphics options when using the DirectX D3D renderer.

* Car shadows can now use Shadow Volumes. See Additional Information section below for details.

* Slight optimization to multi-pass rendering in the DirectX D3D renderer. See Additional Information section below for details.

* Fixed bug which caused car to car shadows to appear opaque black in the OpenGL renderer.

* Fixed a bug in the DirectX D3D renderer that for some users would cause a crash at the Eight-Bowl track (this fantasy track is available via a separate track pack download).

* Fixed a bug in the OpenGL renderer that caused some of the shadows at Las Vegas (76 balls and the scoring tower) to not be cast onto the car.

* Fixed a bug in the OpenGL renderer that could cause an intermittent crash to desktop at certain tracks.

SPOTTER/CREW CHIEF:

* Added support for "3-wide on the left" and "3-wide on the right" messages.

* If you are already on pit road, the spotter will no longer remind you to come in and serve a black flag penalty when you cross the start finish line. If you exit pit road without serving the penalty, the reminder message will then be triggered.

TELEMETRY:

* Player car gauge data and opponent car track position information are now available. See "telemetry\papytelemapp.h" and "telemetry\tsample.cpp" for details.

TRACK ARTWORK:

* Fixed a problem with the horizon texture at Darlington when cloudy weather was selected.

* Fixed a graphical issue that could be seen in the rear-view mirror at Texas.

* Added missing wall ads back to New Hampshire.

* Fixed a missing wall texture at Indianapolis.

TRACK GEOMETRY:

* Fixed an incorrect extended surface type on the apron at Bristol-Night.

TRACK SETTINGS:

* Increased Bristol, Bristol-Night, and Martinsville pace speeds to 40 mph to prevent passing the pace car while on pit road.

* Tightened up the qualifying checkpoints for Daytona and Daytona Night.

* Added a new track.ini setting "track_dir". See section below for details.

USER INTERFACE:

* Fixed scroll bar on Sierra.com available races table.

* Added a checkbox to the Options screen to disable the menu background animations.

* Fixed a typo in the garage's transmission ratio pop-up help box.

* Added "Import" and "Export" buttons to the Opponent Manager Screen. See Additional Information section below for details.

* Volume of the garage background sound is now properly controlled by the Sound Option screen's "User Interface" slider.

* Added a display of the total number of servers and players to the Available Races table.

* Improved scrolling for the driver list table on the Opponent Manager screen.

* Correct manufacturer car model is now loaded on the post-race newspaper winning screen.

* Fixed a bug which could cause the displayed calibration values to carry over from one "page" of the controller calibration dialog to another. Note that this was a display-only issue, and in no way had any affect whatsoever on the actual calibration data used by the game.

[2] HOW TO INSTALL THE PATCH

====================================

1. Run the saved patch executable.

2. The patch should automatically detect your NASCAR® Racing 2003 Season installation directory and then begin the patching process.

* Note that if you have modified any of the game's files using 3rd party utilities, it may be necessary to reinstall the game before the patch can successfully complete its installation.

[3] ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

====================================

SHADOW VOLUMES

When using the DirectX D3D renderer Car shadows can now be rendered using Shadow Volumes on hardware that supports Stencil Buffers. This feature allows for more realistic car shadows that can be cast on walls. This feature also eliminate the "double-dark" shadows that would be seen when multiple car shadows overlapped. To enable this new feature, you will need to manually edit your PLAYER.INI, changing default "0" to a "1" as shown below:

[Graphic Options]

enable_ShadowVolumes=1 ; set to 1 to enable shadow volumes

CAR MEGA SHADER OPTIMIZATION

When using the DirectX D3D renderer multi-pass rendering can now be made more efficient on cards with advanced shader capabilities. To enable this new feature, you will need to manually edit your PLAYER.INI, changing default "0" to a "1" as shown below:

[Graphic Options]

enable_CarMegaShader=1 ; set to 1 to enable advanced shaders where applicable

OPPONENT MANAGER IMPORT & EXPORT BUTTONS

You can now import and export car and pitcrew skins directly from the main Opponent Manager screen without entering the paintkit. This allows for the use of "hi-res" textures that previously were only available to advanced users who manually edited MIP files. The texture must be a power of 2 multiple of 512x512 such as 1024x1024. Note that the paintkit is not compatible with these "hi-res" textures.

By default texture compression will be enabled when a texture is imported through the Opponent Manager. If you would prefer that the Opponent Manager not compress these textures when they are imported, edit the import_textures_with_compression line in your PLAYER.INI, changing the 1 to a 0:

[Opponent Manager]

import_textures_with_compression=0 ; Enable texture compression on imported textures.

TRACK DIRECTION SETTING

There's a new line which can be added the TRACK.INI near where you specify chassis and track types, called "track_dir". A setting of "1" means the track turns left or counter-clockwise only, so the normal "inside=left" and "outside=right" spotter is used, and tires are mounted on the car for turning left. A setting of "-1" means it's a right or clockwise track, so a reversed "outside=left" and "inside=right" spotter is used, and the tires are mounted on opposite sides than a left track. A setting of "0" means the track turns both left and right, so the spotter will only refer to "left" and "right" instead of "inside" and "outside", and only "outside" tires are mounted on the car so it can turn in both directions equally.

Note that by default the game assumes a track is a left-hand oval, so for most tracks this setting will be absent. Additionally using "track_type=5" to specify a road course automatically turns on the "left/right" spotter behavior, so you should only need to use the "track_dir=0" if you had a left/right track that you did not want to be counted as a road course (i.e. single-file restarts only, road course Sierra.com ratings, etc.).

HIDE SERVERS RUNNING TRACKS YOU DON'T HAVE

By default all multiplayer races will appear in the Available Races table. If the server is running a track that you do not have installed on your system it will be shown with arrows "< >" surrounding the track name. If you would prefer to filter Available Races table to not display races at those tracks, edit the hide_unknown_tracks line in your CORE.INI, changing the 0 to a 1:

[Misc]

hide_unknown_tracks=0 ; Hide servers running tracks I do not have?

[4] CONTACTING SIERRA

====================================

A) Customer Service, Support, and Sales

Technical Support

C) Sierra Warranty and Legal Information

A) CUSTOMER SERVICE, SUPPORT AND SALES

United States

U.S.A. Sales Phone: (800) 757-7707 or (310) 649-8008

Hours: Monday-Friday 8 AM to 4:30 PM PST

International Sales: (310) 649-8008

Hours: Monday-Friday 8 AM to 4:30 PM PST

Fax: (310) 258-0744

Sierra Entertainment, Inc.

6060 Center Drive

6th Floor

Los Angeles, CA 90045

Phone: (800) 757-7707 or (310) 649-8008

Fax: (310) 258-0744

' class='bbc_url' title='' rel='nofollow'>http://www.sierra.com

On-Line Sales

Internet USA: ' class='bbc_url' title='' rel='nofollow'>http://www.sierra.com

TECHNICAL SUPPORT

North America

Sierra Entertainment offers a 24-hour automated technical support line with recorded answers to the most frequently asked technical questions. To access this service, call (310) 649-8033, and follow the recorded instructions to find your specific topic and resolve the issue. If this fails to solve your problem, you may still write or fax us with your questions, or contact us via our Web site - ' class='bbc_url' title='' rel='nofollow'>http://support.vugam...

Sierra Entertainment

Technical Support

4247 South Minnewawa Avenue

Fresno, CA 93725

Main: (310) 649-8033

Monday-Friday, 8:00 A.M. - 4:45 P.M. PST

Fax: (310) 258-0755

' class='bbc_url' title='' rel='nofollow'>http://support.vugam...

C) SIERRA WARRANTY AND LEGAL INFORMATION

You are entitled to use this product for your own use, but may not copy, reproduce, translate, publicly perform, display, or reduce to any electronic medium or machine- readable form, reproductions of the software or manual to other parties in any way, nor sell, rent or lease the product to others without prior written permission of Sierra. You may use one copy of the product on a single computer. YOU MAY NOT NETWORK THE PRODUCT OR OTHERWISE INSTALL IT OR USE IT ON MORE THAN ONE COMPUTER AT THE SAME TIME.

UNAUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIONS: SIERRA WARRANTS ONLY THAT THE PROGRAM WILL PERFORM AS DESCRIBED IN THE USER DOCUMENTATION. NO OTHER ADVERTISING, DESCRIPTION, OR REPRESENTATION, WHETHER MADE BY A SIERRA DEALER, DISTRIBUTOR, AGENT, OR EMPLOYEE, SHALL BE BINDING UPON SIERRA OR SHALL CHANGE THE TERMS OF THIS WARRANTY.

IMPLIED WARRANTIES LIMITED: EXCEPT AS STATED ABOVE, SIERRA MAKES NO WARRANTY, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, REGARDING THIS PRODUCT. SIERRA DISCLAIMS ANY WARRANTY THAT THE SOFTWARE IS FIT FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND ANY IMPLIED WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY SHALL BE LIMITED TO THE NINETY (90) DAY DURATION OF THIS LIMITED EXPRESS WARRANTY AND IS OTHERWISE EXPRESSLY AND SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIMED. SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW LIMITATIONS ON HOW LONG AN IMPLIED WARRANTY LASTS, SO THE ABOVE LIMITATION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.

NO CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES: SIERRA SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR OTHER DAMAGES, EVEN IF SIERRA IS ADVISED OF OR AWARE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. THIS MEANS THAT SIERRA SHALL NOT BE RESPONSIBLE OR LIABLE FOR LOST PROFITS OR REVENUES, OR FOR DAMAGES OR COSTS INCURRED AS A RESULT OF LOSS OF TIME, DATA OR USE OF THE SOFTWARE, OR FROM ANY OTHER CAUSE EXCEPT THE ACTUAL COST OF THE PRODUCT. IN NO EVENT SHALL SIERRA'S LIABILITY EXCEED THE PURCHASE PRICE OF THIS PRODUCT. SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, SO THE ABOVE LIMITATION OR EXCLUSION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.

Disk and/or Manual Replacement:

Product Returns*:

Vivendi Universal Interactive Publishing International

Sierra Warranty Returns

4247 South Minnewawa Ave.

Fresno, CA 93725

* Returns to this address valid in North America only.

Vivendi Universal Interactive Publishing International

Sierra CD/Doco Replacement

4247 South Minnewawa Ave.

Fresno, CA 93725

NOTE: To replace your CD(s) please send only the damaged CD and a copy of your dated receipt, if less then 90 days. After 90 days please include a $10.00 handling fee along with the CD(s). For Documentation replacement, please include a $5.00 handling fee and a photocopy ONLY of either your disk or CD. Please include a letter explaining the problems you are experiencing in order for us to determine how we may best resolve them. Payment should be made at the time of your request. Sorry, no credit cards.

Sierra's end user license agreement, limited warranty and return policy is set forth in the EULA.txt, found on the CD, and is also available during the install of the product.

Copyright ©2003 Sierra Entertainment, Inc.

©1998-2003 Sierra Entertainment, Inc.

Sierra is a trademark of Sierra Entertainment