Getting Started

Ok here is what's needed if you would like to race with our group;

First of all a fairly recent pc & good internet connection is required. Previous experience with online racing would also help. But don't worry there is plenty of help available for those who have not, after all we were all new to this at some stage.

A GOOD ATTITUDE !!

This a MUST! sometimes in the world of online racing things can happen that can disadvantage you, the game may penalise you, bad ping may cause you to crash or other drivers may seem to unfairly crash into you. These things can & will happen to all of us at some stage. So please try to understand that there will be "another race" & that the main objective is to have FUN.

Software Needed

The first program that is needed is "Nascar Heat Essentials". This can be obtained from The Mod Squad. This program is the bare essentials of the game (game engine). After this is installed you will still need to install at least one car mod & track before it will work. Car mods can be obtained from a variety of places.

Our group uses only two car groups at the moment. the VTA (Vintage Trans Am ) & V8 Supercars. Most of the car mods are self-extracting and should install without a problem.

Tracks can be obtained from a variety of places too, but the place that we use for tracks is TSR or Texas Speed Racing. By using the ONE site to get tracks from this helps to ensure that we are all using the same version of a particular track.

Tracks can be self-extractiing or not. If they are not simply unzip the track into the following directory;

C:\Program Files\Hasbro Interactive\NASCAR Heat\Run

The "Run" folder is for tracks. Each car mod usually creates its own directory.

Now that you have installed a car mod & track you should be able to run the game.

Starting The Game

To do this simply click on "Nascar Heat Essentials" icon & a drop down menu will appear. Here you can select the mod you wish to launch. Then type your player name into space provided.

A problem has been found when using Windows XP that sometimes in order for the game to work properly the "Compatibilty Mode" must be set to Windows 2000.

Then select either single race or multiplayer. The other options are not available with this stripped down version of the game. Single race is just for offline practice. Multiplayer is for online racing. After you have chosen type of race you can select the car you wish to use. Then you will need to select a track. Also you will need to setup your graphics & control options. Another important point to mention here is that our group uses the game in "Hardcore" mode. This is the most realistic setting for racing & has to be enabled in the Options.cfg file. Each car mod has its own Options.cfg file. For example the VTA Options.cfg can be found in the following directory;

C:\Program Files\Hasbro Interactive\NASCAR Heat\VTA

Simply edit this file and scroll down to you see the line which mentions hardcore;

hardcore_enabled yes

Please make sure this is set to yes. Then simply save & exit. Your car mod will now run in hardcore mode. If you have not done this & you race online the online game will override your settings & force your game to run in hardcore anyway.

The next are is garage which is where you can change settings of the cars like gear ratios, handling etc.

Simply go into garage & load the default setting. The default settings are NOT suitable for racing as they were designed for cars on oval tracks, however select default & then exit game. The game will have created a folder to put a new setup in. These setups can be obtained from site. To use one of the setups download it into the "setup" directory the game has just created for instance say we are using VTA cars at Bathurst track the directory will be;

C:\Program Files\Hasbro Interactive\NASCAR Heat\VTA\Setups\Bathurst

Paste the downloaded setup in there. When you next start the game go into garage & click "load". Your newly downloaded setup should be there. If it is not you have copied it into the wrong directory & will need to try again.

Now that you have done all that you should be able to turn a few laps. Probably slowly at first, but the whole key to this game is to PRACTICE. Seconds can be shaved off by driving smoothly & by practicing. After a while you will find that your lap times will get better & better. Do NOT worry if you are not as fast as others times you have seen posted as it all takes time & the MAIN thing is to have FUN. The more you race the faster you will become.

Racing Online

To join an online race here is what you need to do;

Ensure you have the correct car mod & track loaded.

Start mod launcher & select correct car mod. Then click on Multiplayer race option. Select your car of choice. Next you will have a choice of "find" or "create". If you are joining a race select FIND. You will then need to type in an :"IP" number. In our groups case we have our own server. The IP for that server is;

AUSHEAT.MINE.NU

after typing that in you should see a game session appear in the menu box. Click connect & you should be in the Muliplayer Staging area where you can see other players & type messages to them.

GOOD LUCK!

If you have any more questions that you would like answered please feel free to post in our forum.

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