NASCAR® Racing 4
1.3.0.6
Readme File
10/02/01
[ To read this file, select Edit/Word Wrap from the menu above ]
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About This Document:
Thank you for purchasing NASCAR® Racing 4.
This document contains last-minute information about NASCAR® Racing 4 and other information about the program not found in the Help Files. This README file includes information that pertains to general problems and questions you may have concerning the game or your computer. Should you experience any problems with NASCAR® Racing 4, please refer to this file for additional help on answering questions about the game and solving technical difficulties.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS
II. GENERAL TECHNICAL ISSUES
III. GENERAL GAME ISSUES
IV. MULTIPLAYER ISSUES
V. CONTACTING SIERRA
I. MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS
-----------------------
Minimum:
Windows 95, 98 or ME
Pentium II 266 MHz processor
64 MB of RAM
12 MB Direct3D compatible video card
DirectX 8.0
OpenGL v1.1
Recommended:
Pentium III 500 MHz
128 MB of RAM
32 MB Direct3D compatible video card
DirectSound compatible sound card
DirectInput compatible game controller
II. GENERAL TECHNICAL ISSUES
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STARTING THE GAME
1) Ensure the NASCAR® Racing 4 CD-ROM is in your CD-ROM drive.
2) If AutoRun is enabled: Select the "Run NASCAR® Racing 4" option.
3) If AutoRun is disabled: From the Windows Start menu, select Programs\Papyrus\NASCAR Racing 4.
4) If this is the first time launching the game the 3D Configuration program will launch.
5) Use the 3D Configuration program to select the desired Renderer, Display Device, and Game Resolution.
6) After the 3D Configuration completes, the game will automatically launch.
Some Kenwood CD drives may experience problems starting NASCAR® Racing 4. The drive spins and stops; NASCAR® Racing 4 fails to start. Kenwood has firmware updates to fix this problem. Visit http://www.KenwoodTech.com for more information.
In Windows 2000, the following message appears when NASCAR® Racing 4 is started: "There is no disk in the drive. Please insert a disk into drive." NASCAR® Racing 4 needs local administrator access to run under Windows 2000. Log in with administrator rights and start NASCAR® Racing 4.
MINIMUM INSTALL ISSUES
If you have done a minimum install of NASCAR® Racing 4 and your CD-ROM has changed drive letters (perhaps due to the installation or removal of another drive on your system), you will need to manually edit the game's LIB.CFG file in Notepad or similar plain text editor to point to the new drive letter.
WINSOCK2 AND WINDOWS 95
NASCAR® Racing 4's Internet multiplayer requires that Winsock2 be installed on the system. Winsock2 is included as part of Windows 95 (OSR2), Windows 98, and later Windows editions. If you have on older Win95 system and are experiencing problems connecting to the Sierra multiplayer servers and are unsure if your Win95 install includes Winsock2, it is recommended that you install the following Windows Sockets 2 Upgrade from Microsoft:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/downloads/bin/W95ws2setup.exe
USING OPENGL IN WINDOWS 95
NASCAR® Racing 4's OpenGL renderer requires OpenGL v1.1 software runtime which is included as part of Windows 95 (OSR2), Windows 98, and later Windows editions. Users with earlier versions of Windows 95 may need to download and install OpenGL v1.1 from Microsoft using one of the following links before being able to use NASCAR® Racing 4's OpenGL renderer:
http://download.microsoft.com/download/win95upg/info/1/W95/EN-US/Opengl95.exe
ftp://ftp.microsoft.com/softlib/mslfiles/opengl95.exe
16-BIT VS. 32-BIT COLOR
Because of the large amount of textures used in NASCAR® Racing 4, it is recommended that 32-bit color only be used on video cards with 64 MB or more texture memory. Note that even for 64 MB cards 16-bit color will likely result in significantly better performance.
TEXTURE MEMORY DETECTION
As part of the 3D Configuration test NASCAR® Racing 4 will attempt to detect the total amount of texture memory available on your video card. Note that as you increase the video resolution more memory is required for the frame buffer resulting in less for textures.
If you would like to try running the game with a higher setting, you may manually edit the "TextureSetSize" value (in bytes) in the REND_D3D.INI (for Direct3D) or RENDOGL.INI (for OpenGL) file. Increasing this value above the detected value may prevent the game from dropping mip levels as more textures are loaded, but note that setting too large of a value may result in SIGNIFICANT performance hits as textures begin to swap in and out of memory.
MIP FILTERING SELECTION
As part of the 3D Configuration test NASCAR® Racing 4 will automatically select the recommended mip filtering, but advanced users may wish to experiment with the values listed below. Note that if you manually select a setting that is too advanced, it might cause mip-mapping to disable, use a lesser setting, or go into a software emulation mode.
Direct3D Mip Filters in the REND_D3D.INI:
Texture Magnification Filters:
1 = point sampling
2 = bi-linear filtering
Texture Minification Filters:
1 = point sampling
2 = bi-linear filtering
Mip-Mapping Filters:
1 = use top mip level always
2 = use appropriate mip level
3 = tri-linear filtering if minification filter is 2
OpenGL Mip Filters in the RENDOGL.INI:
Texture Minification:
9984 = point sampling
9985 = bi-linear filtering
9986 = point sampling with interpolation between mip levels
9987 = tri-linear filtering
Texture Magnification:
9728 = point sampling
9729 = bi-linear filtering
TASK SWITCHING
When using the OpenGL renderer, ALT+TAB and other task switching shortcuts will be disabled. If you experience problems task switching while using the Direct3D renderer it is recommended that you limit ALT+TAB to times when the 3D world is not being rendered, such as when navigating the game's menus as opposed to when you are on the track.
3DFX ISSUES
The drivers listed below have been tested with NASCAR® Racing 4 and are included on the installation CD. The Direct3D Renderer substantially outperforms the OpenGL Renderer, and as such the Direct3D Renderer is recommended. Check http://www.3dfx.com for future driver releases.
Win9x Win2000
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3dfx Banshee 1.04.00 N/A
3dfx Voodoo2 3.02.02 N/A
3dfx Voodoo3 1.07.00 1.03.00
3dfx Voodoo5 1.04.00 WHQL Drivers from WindowsUpdate
ATI ISSUES
The drivers listed below have been tested with NASCAR® Racing 4 and may be downloaded from http://www.ati.com. By default ATI's Direct3D gamma values are non-flat on Win9x, and as a result NASCAR® Racing 4 may seem overly bright or washed out on ATI cards when using the Direct3D renderer. Additionally when using the Direct3D (TnL HAL) renderer it is possible for the mirror to become disjointed from the mirror frame. Check http://www.ati.com for future driver releases.
Win9x Win2000
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Rage128 Series 4.12.6292 5.0.143
Radeon Series 4.13.7072 5.13.01.3100
MATROX ISSUES
The drivers listed below have been tested with NASCAR® Racing 4 and may be downloaded from http://www.matrox.com. There are significant texture problems when using the OpenGL Renderer, and as such the Direct3D Renderer is recommended. Check http://www.matrox.com for future driver releases.
Win9x Win2000
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Matrox G400 6.23.005 5.33.006
NVIDIA ISSUES
The drivers listed below have been tested with NASCAR® Racing 4 and are included on the installation CD. There are no known issues on NVIDIA cards at this time. Check http://www.nvidia.com for future driver releases.
Win9x Win2000
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TNT Series Detonator3 6.50 Detonator3 6.50
Geforce Series Detonator3 6.50 Detonator3 6.50
Geforce2 Series Detonator3 6.50 Detonator3 6.50
MOUSE ISSUES
Using animated mouse cursors can create cursor anomalies in NASCAR® Racing 4. If you encounter problems, restore your windows mouse cursor to its default settings.
SOUND ISSUES
If you find that you have no sound in the game, it may be necessary to go to the Audio tab of your Windows Multimedia Control Panel and select the proper playback device. You may also want to disable the "Use only preferred devices" option if it is currently enabled. Additionally there are a couple of CORE.INI variables which improve the quality of sound on some sound cards. The default values are as follows:
[Sound]
allow_buffer_recreation=1
enable_3d_interpolation=1
force_default_buffer_size=0
You can set allow_buffer_recreation to 0 to disable sound buffer re-creation, which may ever so slightly improve performance, but at the cost of quality for some sound cards. For example, some cards such as Aureal Vortex2 based cards don't seem to work very well when this is not enabled.
When 3d sound is enabled, positions of newly played sounds take some time to reach their destination. On some system this may result in sounds being played loudly for a brief moment, even though they *should* have a low volume given their distance from the listener. The enable_3d_interpolation setting can help to work around this problem. If a system properly (instantly) sets the 3d position of a sound, then this solution, when enabled, might make the sound seem to "fade-in", so setting this to 0 would be called for in those systems. Note that when when 3D Sound is enabled, Aureal Vortex2 cards may experience crackling and popping sounds.
The force_default_buffer_size setting default sound buffer read-ahead size to a given value, defined in 1/36 second increments, which may help sound issues on Win2000 machines.
USING MICROSOFT GAME VOICE OR OTHER VOICE CHAT PROGRAMS
By default NASCAR® Racing 4 will run at highest priority. This is perfectly fine for most users, however if you experience problems using Microsoft's Game Voice or other similar programs you may need to force NASCAR® Racing 4 to run at a lower priority by adding a "-kh0" (that's dash K H Zero) command line parameter to the shortcut:
"C:\Papyrus\NASCAR Racing 4\NASCAR Racing 4.exe" -kh0
III. GENERAL GAME ISSUES
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CREATING A PLAYER
When NASCAR® Racing 4 is first launched you will be taken to the Player Info screen to create a new player. On this screen you will need to fill in the First and Last Name fields, select the car you wish to drive in Single Player and in Multiplayer races, and make any changes to your multiplayer autochat messages (see section below for more information on using autochat). After the player has been created, you will be taken to the Controls screen where you will calibrate and assign your driving controls. Once this has been done, you'll be able to hit the track in either Testing or Multiplayer mode.
DIRECTINPUT JOYSTICK DRIVER
If you have a DirectInput joystick/wheel and you can't calibrate it in NASCAR® Racing 4, exit the game and ensure that the device is properly set up and calibrated in the Windows Game Controllers Control Panel applet.
OPTIMIZED JOYSTICK DRIVER
In addition to DirectInput support, NASCAR® Racing 4 also includes an optimized joystick driver. The optimized driver may provide more precise joystick input than can be obtained with DirectInput, but is only compatible with standard PC joysticks. Note that joysticks which are designed for DirectInput, such as USB or ForceFeedback controllers, will not work with the Optimized driver.
GEARBOX SELECTION
NASCAR® Racing 4 offers 3 different gearbox choices. In Sequential mode controls assigned to the Shift Up and Shift Down commands are used to change gears in the following sequence: reverse, neutral, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th. In Direct Selection mode, you may assign a control to shift directly to any gear, or to neutral. The H Pattern mode is intended for use only with controllers featuring a gated shifter such as the ActLabs RS Shifter. In this mode, you may shift directly to any of the forward gears as well as to reverse gear. Once the shifter is moved out of an assigned gate, the transmission will shift to neutral automatically.
DRIVING AIDS
Automatic Shifting equips your vehicle with an automatic transmission. The automatic transmission shifts more slowly than its manual counterpart, resulting in slower lap times for the experienced driver.
Automatic Clutch equips your vehicle with an automatic clutch. While the manual clutch can provide greater shifting precision, it requires proper heel and toe downshift technique and therefore is recommended only for experienced users. The manual clutch is not available if Automatic Shifting has been selected.
Anti-Lock Brakes equips your vehicle with an anti-lock braking system. While anti-lock brakes make the vehicle easier for the novice driver to control, the experienced driver will be able to brake more efficiently with this option turned off. NOTE: If braking has been assigned to a button or a key rather than a controller axis, this aid will be turned on and cannot be turned off. Otherwise, the vehicle would be very difficult to control while braking.
Traction Control equips your vehicle with a traction control system. While traction control makes the vehicle easier for the novice driver to control, the experienced driver will be able to accelerate and corner more efficiently with this option turned off. NOTE: If the throttle has been assigned to a button or a key rather than a controller axis, this aid will be turned on and cannot be turned off. Otherwise, the vehicle would be very difficult to control while accelerating.
Stability Control equips your vehicle with a stability control system. By providing some steering assistance, the system makes it more difficult to spin the car. This aid is particularly useful for novice drivers and for those who are steering with a joystick, but disabling it will provide greater steering precision.
SPEED SENSITIVE STEERING
By default, NASCAR® Racing 4 uses a speed-sensitive steering ratio such that at low speeds your steering ratio will be set to somewhere between 7:1 and the ratio defined in your car setup. NASCAR® Racing 4 does this to make it possible to exit your pit stall when pit road is crowded. You can disable this feature by editing the following line in your CORE.INI, changing the 1 to a 0:
[Hack]
steer_ratio=1 ; Enable low speed ratio override
CAR SETUPS
Each players' car setups in are stored in individual track directories located in "Papyrus\NASCAR Racing 4\Players\Player__Name\Setups".
TAKING SCREENSHOTS
At any time within the game you may press the PrintScreen button on your keyboard to take a screenshot. These will be saved into your NASCAR® Racing 4 directory as sequentially numbered TGA files (N4SSxx.TGA). These files may be viewed in most 3rd party image viewers.
SAVING AND VIEWING REPLAYS
Replays can be saved from the Race Weekend screen by clicking on the folder icon under the 3D window. You will be prompted for a filename. To view the replay later, or to view replays which you have obtained from other players, select View Replay from the Main Menu. Replays are stored in the Replay directory in the "Papyrus\NASCAR RACING 4" directory. To view replays obtained from other players, simply copy them into the Replay directory before starting the game.
REPLAY CONTROLS KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS
C - Change to Next Camera
V - Change Focus to Next Driver
CTRL+N - Unfocus Current Camera from Driver
CTRL+V - Change Focus Back to Player Car
SHIFT+C - Change to Previous Camera
SHIFT+V - Change Focus to Previous Driver
Keypad1 (END) - Fast Forward to End
Keypad4 (Left Arrow) - Frame Rewind
Keypad5 - Play/Pause
Keypad6 (Right Arrow) - Frame Advance
Keypad7 (Home) - Rewind to Start
Keypad8 - Slow Motion Mode
SHIFT+Keypad4 - Rewind
SHIFT+Keypad6 - Fast Forward
Keypad. (Del) - Switch to Live Feed Mode
Space - Toggle On-screen Display of Replay Controls
DRIVING CONTROLS KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS
ESC - Open ESC menu (Use Arrows and ENTER to Navigate)
F1 through F9 - Pit Service Controls (Use Arrows and SPACE to Navigate)
PageUp & PageDown - Change Driving Views
PauseBreak - Pause Game
PrintScreen - Take Screen Shot
F - Toggle Framerate Counter
G - Toggle Gauges in External Driving Views
H - Display Keyboard Shortcuts
L - Latency and Quality Report (Multiplayer Clients Only)
M - Toggle Mirror Detail Level
N - Toggle Car Interior Display in Mirror
O - Toggle Trackside Object Detail Level
S - Toggle Speed/Gear/Flag Indicator
T - Initiate Chat Message, use ENTER to Send (Multiplayer Only)
V - Change Focus to Next Driver (car must be stopped)
CTRL+V - Change Focus Back to Player Car
SHIFT+V - Change Focus to Previous Driver (car must be stopped)
CTRL+C - Display Real-Time Communication Meters (Multiplayer Clients Only)
CTRL+I - Toggle Lap Info Messages
CTRL+L - Check Leader Position
SHIFT+R - Return to Pit
SHIFT+T - View/Reset Tachometer Telltale
PITTING
When pitting, use the animated pit sign as a guide to position the car for an optimal stop. If you are too far forward in the stall or not close enough to the sign you will not receive service, and in order to receive left side tires you must take care to not stop too close to the inside pit wall.
COMMAND LINE OVERRIDE FOR GAME .INI SETTINGS
You can override any of NASCAR® Racing 4's .INI file options from the command line. The command line overrides will not be saved to the .INI file, so there is no need to backup the .INI file. The format of a command line override is as follows...
-ko"numeric_id:section_name:key_name:value"
...where...
numeric_id is the ID of the .INI file that contains the value to be overridden. The mapping is as follows:
0 = CORE.INI,
10 = APP.INI
20 = PLAYER.INI
40 = TRACK.INI
50 = ADDRESS.INI
section_name is the name of the section within the .INI file in which the key exists. [PLAYER], for example. The brackets ([, and ]) should not be specified.
key_name is the name of the key. lastPlayer, for example.
Lets say you want to be able to launch the game and have it automatically switch to one of multiple players you have created. To do this, you would need to override the lastPlayer key in the [Player] section of APP.INI. So if you had two players, John Smith and Fred Jones, you could create separate shortcuts to launch the game for each:
"C:\Papyrus\NASCAR Racing 4\NASCAR Racing 4.EXE" -ko"10:player:lastPlayer:Smith__John"
"C:\Papyrus\NASCAR Racing 4\NASCAR Racing 4.EXE" -ko"10:player:lastPlayer:Jones__Fred"
The first command line would launch NASCAR® Racing 4 with the player John Smith. The second command line would NASCAR® Racing 4 with the player Fred Jones.
CONTROLLING REPLAY MEMORY
By default NASCAR® Racing 4 will try to use a much free memory as is available for replays. This should be fine for most users, however if you find that you need to force this to a larger value to save longer replays, or wish to force it to a smaller value if performance is suffering, you may edit the "replayMemoryOverride" value in [Replay] section of CORE.INI. This value is in KB, so for a 64MB replay buffer you would set this value to 65,536 (64MB x 1024KB/MB).
Note that when NASCAR® Racing 4 is run as a dedicated server only a minimum 512KB of replay buffer will be used to maximize performance and minimize the load on the server. If you wish to save replays from a dedicated server you will need to override this value.
OFF-LINE LEAGUE SUPPORT IN EXPORTED STANDINGS
NASCAR® Racing 4 now includes much of the information that N2/N3 generated that is used by off-line league administrators to verify that league members are not cheating. To include this information in NASCAR® Racing 4's exported standings files, enable a flag in PLAYER.INI...
[Misc]
off_line_league_info=0 ; Export extra info?
Changing this to 1 will cause the additional information to be included in the exported standings. The following additional information will be exported...
(a) There will be an additional column, titled "TAG", for each driver in the race standings. This tag is computed from the .CAR file used by that driver, and will change if that car is changed. When a league member submits exported standings, the TAG value for all of the drivers should match the TAG value for the 'approved' .CAR files.
(b) The AI Strength setting is now exported.
(c) The number, type and length of the weekend's sessions are exported. For example, "2Q1LR50L" means the weekend had 2 sessions; Qualify for 1 Lap, then Race for 50 Laps.
(d) The options for the weekend are exported. This will be a string of characters with one character for each of the following options:
0/2/3 - Damage model (0=None, 2=Moderate, 3=Realistic)
Y/- - Yellow flags enabled/disabled
F/- - Fixed setup enabled/disabled
A/- - Driving model (A=Arcade, -=Simulation)
I/- - AI used? (I=yes, -=no)
D/- - Double file restarts enabled? (D=yes, -=no)
C/- - Cockpit view forced? (C=yes, -=no)
S/- - Smoke display forced? (S=yes, -=no)
M/- - Mechanical player breakdowns? (M=yes, -=no)
L/- - Full pace lap enabled? (F=yes, -=no)
W/- - Realistic weather enabled? (W=yes, -=no)
So, for example, "0Y-AID--M-W" means "damage model is set to None, yellow flags are enabled, fixed setup is disabled, the driving model is Arcade, Ai are included, Double file restarts are enabled, cockpit view is not forced, player Mechanical failures are enabled, shortened pace lap is selected, realistic Weather is enabled".
Note that not all of these options are applicable to single-player races.
(e) A signature value that is computed from the track geometry and the TRACK.INI file. If the league member has altered the track geometry, or has altered the TRACK.INI, this value will be different.
Additionally, a utility program is included that allows a league administrator to verify that the exported standings file has not been edited. Place this program (PAPYVAILDATE.EXE) in a directory in your path, or copy it into the directory that contains the exported standings files you wish to verify. Run the program, giving it a command line parameter telling it what files should be validated. For example:
C:\Papyrus\NASCAR Racing 4\exports> papyvalidate *.html
<test11.html> valid.
<test12.html> valid.
<test13.html> Invalid. File has been modified.
<test14.html> valid.
IV. MULTIPLAYER ISSUES
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CONNECTING TO SIERRA.COM RACES
If you are receiving "Connection Time-Out" messages when attempting to connect to Sierra.com multiplayer races or see no ping times displayed for any of these races you may need to select a different TCP/IP device in the "Connect Via:" drop-down list in the Sierra.com login box. Note that if you have a dynamic IP address it may first be necessary to enable the "Find Network Addresses Another Way" option using the CONFIGURE button at the bottom of the main multiplayer screen before the proper TCP/IP device will be listed.
MULTIPLAYER BEHIND A FIREWALL OR ROUTER
By default the following UDP ports will be used by NASCAR® Racing 4: 32766 for the net_server_port, 32767 for ping port, and then sequentially numbered ports for each allowed client connection (max of 42) starting at 32768.
To run from a machine with a private IP address behind a Linux firewall, you need to use a combination of IP masquerading and IP autoforwarding. The following rules for the default 42 client port range can be used:
ipfwadm -F -a accept -m -S a.a.a.a/m.m.m.m -D 0.0.0.0/0
ipautofw -A -r udp 32766 32809 -h a.a.a.a -v -u
Where a.a.a.a is the address of the machine behind the firewall, and m.m.m.m is the netmask. If you run a server behind the firewall, clients should connect to the IP address of the firewall.
Note that users with Linksys or other such Internet connection sharing routers should not need to change any configuration settings to connect to NASCAR® Racing 4 multiplayer races as clients. If you wish to host a NASCAR® Racing 4 race from behind a router you will need to forward the default UDP port range of 32766-32809 from the router to the internal or LAN IP of the NASCAR® Racing 4 server. Linksys users will need to latest firmware update to allow port ranges to the forwarded. When connecting, clients should use the external or WAN IP address of the router.
If you have a router or firewall and would like to allow multiple users on your LAN to connect to the same multiplayer server, you will need to have each of the clients behind the router use a different net_server_port in their CORE.INI files (one client would make no changes and use the default port, while each of the others would need to specify a unique net_server_port).
Additionally if you are hosting a server from behind the router by forwarding the default UDP port range to the LAN IP of the server, no clients on your LAN will be able to connect to multiplayer races since all of the incoming packets would be forwarded to your server. If you want to allow these clients to connect to races while your server is running, it would be necessary to forward and configure the server to use a non-standard UDP port range (see below for details).
RUNNING MULTIPLE SERVERS
If you want to run more than one server on a single machine or from behind a firewall, you will need to give each of the servers its own unique port range for client/server communications, and also include these port ranges in the ipautofw rules or router configuration if applicable. To do this you would specify a unique net_server_port for each server, remember to leave room between each net_server_port settings for the server's ping port and client connection ports.
For example, if you were going to allow 20 clients to connect to each of your two servers you could leave the first server on the default net_server_port of 32766. You would need to reserve 21 ports for ping and clients, so the next available port for the second server to use as it's net_server_port would be 32788.
Using a single installation of the game you may use the command line override to start additional instances of the server, each with their own settings. In the above example the first server would be started normally to use the default settings, and the second instance would use the following command line option to set it's net_server_port to 32788:
-ko"0:communications:net_server_port:32788"
For more information see the "Command Line Override for Game .INI Settings" section above.
Note that on a LAN, clients will only see race servers broadcast to the Local Races table that are using the default net_server_port. In order to connect to servers using other net_server_ports, clients will need to manually enter both the server's IP address as well as the port number (in the format n.n.n.n:port). In the above example, if the IP address of the server was 192.168.1.2 clients would need to connect to 192.168.1.2:32788.
MULTIPLAYER TCP/IP CONFIGURATION
If you connect to the Internet using a modem, and wish to play NASCAR® Racing 4 over the Internet, connect to the Internet before starting NASCAR® Racing 4. If you do not intend to play NASCAR® Racing 4 over the Internet, there is no need to connect before playing the game. If you do not see a TCP/IP connection listed on the multiplayer screen, you must use the CONFIGURE button at the bottom of the Multiplayer screen and enable the alternate method of determining your machine's IP address. You will need to restart the game for this setting to take effect.
Note, however, that if you use this alternate method, and your only TCP/IP connection is via a modem, and you have your Internet properties set to automatically connect to the Internet, and you're not connected to the Internet when you start NASCAR® Racing, Dial-Up Networking will start up when you launch NASCAR® Racing 4. This may cause NASCAR® Racing 4 to not function properly, and/or your machine may connect to the Internet.
DISABLING USER CONNECTION AND DISCONNECTION MESSAGES
By default in multiplayer races you will receive chat messages when other players connect and disconnect. These messages can be distracting to some users, so it is now possible to disable them by editing the following line in your PLAYER.INI (located in your Players\Player__Name directory), changing the 1 to a 0:
[Misc]
showJoinLeave=1
DIRECT CONNECT ISSUES
There is a bug in the drivers for some graphics tablets that can cause them to become corrupt when NASCAR® Racing 4 looks for serial ports on your computer. Because of this potential problem direct serial connections have been disabled by default in NASCAR® Racing 4. If you wish to enable direct connect serial port connections use the CONFIGURE button at the bottom of the Multiplayer screen. You will need to restart the game for this setting to take effect.
PRIVATE CHAT MESSAGES
When connected to a multiplayer race you can issue private chat messages to any one of the players connected to the server. Begin your message with "/", followed by the name of the player (or #car_number), followed by the message. For example:
/#12 Hey, John. What's up?
/smith What's up?
/j.smith What's up?
/jo.smi What's up?
/john.smith What's up?
The message will only be sent to the person you identify (or you will be given an error message if the program couldn't figure out who you meant).
USING MULTIPLAYER AUTOCHAT
In addition to typing in chat messages, you can define up to 10 autochat messages through the editor on the Player Info screen. These will be saved in the [Autochat Messages] section of your PLAYER.INI. While driving these are accessed by the 1 through 0 keys (not on the number pad). To have messages automatically sent, end them with a dollar sign "$" (i.e. Pass High$). All others will be queued up allowing you to add additional text onto the end of the message. These can then be sent by pressing ENTER like normal chat messages. Note that if you have in-car chat disabled in the Options menu you will be unable to send autochat messages.
MULTIPLAYER CAR SELECTION
Because NASCAR® Racing 4 only allows a single occurrence of a car number at a track, you will automatically be placed in another car number if you have chosen a car number that is already in use by another player who connected to the server before you.
ADDING AI OPPONENTS TO A MULTIPLAYER RACE
You may only have up to 42 connections to a multiplayer server for both human and AI opponents. In order to allow the addition of AI opponents to the server, you must first reduce the number of allowed TCP/IP or IPX connections to less than 42 human opponents. Once this is done you will be able to fill out the field with AI opponents.
COMMUNICATION METERS
The Internet can be a harrowing medium through which to race. Game play is directly affected by the latency, reliability, and consistency of the connection between you and the game server, so it's important that the program give you a good sense of these factors. NASCAR® Racing 4 includes a graphical display that allows you to monitor the status of your communications with the server when you are a client. These meters can only be displayed while in the car, and can be toggled on/off by pressing CTRL+C. They can be distracting while driving, so they are turned off by default.
The bar graphs are as follows:
(L) Instantaneous latency from 0.0 seconds (the bar is empty) to 1.0 seconds (the bar is full height). This is the amount of time that it takes for a message to go from the server, to your client, and back to the server.
(Q) Quality from 100% (the bar is empty) to 50% (the bar is full height). The more data that is lost or garbled during transmission from the server to you, the lower the quality of your connection, and the higher this bar will go.
(S) The time skew (difference) between your client and the server. If your current time is behind where you expect the server to be, this bar will be below center. If it is at the bottom, then you believe that you are 1.0 seconds (or more) behind the server. If your current time is ahead of where you expect the server to be, it will be above center. If it is at the top, then you believe that you are 1.0 seconds (or more) ahead of the server. If the bar reaches the top or bottom, then your client will re-synchronize itself with the server (it will smash its clock).
Ideally, no bars should be visible whatsoever. That is, you have 0.0 seconds of latency, 100% of data from the server is getting to you, and your client believes that it is at the same point in time as the server. In practice, this will not happen.
The (L)atency bar will almost always be visible since it is not possible for data to get from the server to you instantaneously. The higher the latency, the longer it takes for data to get from the server to your computer, and so the older it is when it gets there. The older the data is, the more "predicting" your client has to do about the positions of other cars on the track. The more that it has to predict, the more likely that it will predict incorrectly, and the more the other cars will jump around when it realizes its error.
It is not uncommon for the (Q)uality bar to be completely empty (indicating little or no data loss), but it is also not uncommon for a few percent of the data to be lost or garbled during transmission, showing as a small (Q)uality bar. If the bar starts to grow steadily, then something bad has happened on the route through the Internet between you and the server (or the server has crashed). If the route doesn't clear up quickly, you will soon be disconnected. If it does clear up, there will probably be short period of mayhem as the route settles down, and old data that has been stuck in transit is flushed.
If the latency is varying a bit, it can be difficult for your client to determine what point in time the server is currently at, and a small (S)kew bar is likely to appear. If the (S)kew bar grows continuously until it hits the top or bottom, your client will smash its clock to re-synchronize itself to the server. If it does this, then either the connection between you and the server is very poor, or either your machine or the server machine is extremely overloaded, and your client can no longer stay in step with the server.
MULTIPLAYER REMOTE ADMINISTRATION
Remote clients can control a NASCAR® Racing 4 server (we call anyone that can control the server a "boss"). This is accomplished by using a special form for the server password. Clients that connect with the "boss" password will be able to control the server. The password format is "[access_pwd][/[boss_pwd]][=f.last_of_boss]" (neither the brackets, nor the quotes, should be used, and anything between a pair of brackets is optional). The password is not case sensitive. The meaning of several example server passwords is given below:
"" - No password specified. Anyone may connect to the server. Only the server itself is a boss.
"private" - All clients must enter the password (private) in order to connect to the server. Only the server itself is a boss.
"private/secret" - All clients must enter the password (private) in order to connect to the server. Any client that also knows the boss password (secret), and gives the password correctly (private/secret) will also be a boss of the server. Note that this allows there to be more than one boss for the server. Bosses must cooperate with each other!
"private/secret=f.smith" - Same as above, but any driver whose last name is "smith", and whose first initial is "f" will be given boss control over the server, even if they don't enter the boss password (secret).
"/quiet" - Anyone may connect to the server without specifying a password. Anyone that gives the boss password (/quiet) will also be a boss.
"/" - This would be interesting! Anyone can connect to the server without specifying a password. Everyone that connects will be a boss.
Server administrators have several chat commands which they may use to control their server:
!do_not_auto_start_next_race - Temporarily overrides a server running a series of looped races allowing you to exit back to the track setup screen and select a new track and/or race options (note that the server will resume the previous loop at the completion of the race using the newly selected race options).
!show_password - Returns the server's current access and boss passwords.
!set_password - Used to change the server's current access and/or boss passwords. For example, the chat command "!set_password new_access_pwd/new_boss_pwd" would change the access password for clients to be "new_access_pwd" and the boss password would be changed to "new_boss_pwd". This has no affect on clients and bosses currently connected to the server, but if they were to disconnect and reconnect they would need to know the updated password(s).
!clear_password - Removes the server's current access and boss passwords.
!shutdown -Shuts down the server.
!list_commands - Returns a complete list of administration commands.
EJECTING DRIVERS
Any boss may remove a player using the "!eject" command. The command should be entered as a chat message. The format of the command is "!eject player", where player can either be the "#" symbol along with the player's car number, or the players name. For example:
"!eject #12"
"!eject smith"
"!eject j.smith"
"!eject john.smith"
SIERRA.COM RATINGS SYSTEM
Note that although we currently have no plans to change any of this, it is all subject to change without notice.
Higher ratings are better. 10 is the highest rating, and 0 is the lowest.
When you create a new Sierra.com user ID, the ratings for that ID will all be 0.
Your current ratings appear in the "RATINGS" box on the "Available Races" multiplayer screen.
You have separate ratings for each of four track types.
RC = road course (Watkins Glen and Sears Point)
ST = short track (Bristol, Martinsville and Richmond)
SS = super speedway (Daytona and Talladega)
SW = speedway (currently, all other tracks)
A race server will update the ratings database if all of the following conditions are met:
- The race has rating restrictions in effect for the track type being run.
- At least four players started the race (this does not include AI drivers).
- The race winner completes enough laps to account for at least 10 minutes of racing at a "normal" lap speed at this track. Generally, 10% races will qualify.
Once the race is complete, each driver that started the race will be assigned points for this race as follows...
- You gain points for each driver you finish ahead of. You gain more points if your current rating is lower than the other driver, and fewer points if your rating is higher than the other driver (within limits). For example if your rating is a 3, and you finish ahead of a driver with a rating of 5, you gain more points for beating them than they would gain if they beat you.
- You lose points for each driver you finish behind. You lose more points if your current rating is higher than the other driver, and fewer points if your rating is lower than the other driver (within limits).
- You lose points if you are involved in an incident. An incident is defined as any situation that would cause a yellow flag, whether or not yellow flags are currently enabled. No attempt is made to determine who was the "instigator" and who was a "victim."
Note that this (generally) means that drivers that finished well will receive positive point totals, and drivers that finished farther back in the pack will receive negative point totals.
We then look at your points total for this race and your previous 9 races at this type of track(*). Your lowest 2 point total races are dropped, and the point totals from the remaining 8 races are averaged.
If the average is greater than some limit (a positive number), your rating for this type of track is increased by 1, and your race point total history for this type of track is reset to 0.
If the average is less than some limit (a negative number), your rating for this type of track is decreased by 1, and your race point total history for this type of track is reset to 0.
The limit point at which your rating will increase gets higher as your rating gets higher, making it harder to increase your rating as your rating increases. That is, it's much easier to go from a 0 rating to a 1 rating than it is to go from a 9 to a 10.
The limit point at which your rating will decrease gets smaller (in magnitude, but numerically higher since it's a negative number) as your rating gets higher, making it easier to lose a rating level as your rating increases. That is, it's much easier to drop from a 10 to a 9 than it is to drop from a 1 to a 0.
Something you would do well to note:
- Provided all the conditions above are met, your rating will be updated even if you don't finish the race! If you get caught up in some turn one shenanigans and quit the race in frustration, your rating will suffer the consequences. If you care about your rating, you have a couple options:
(a) check out the competition during practice and warmup. If it seems like there are a lot of yahoos out there, disconnect from the server and go find another race. If you don't get into your car during the race session, your rating won't be updated.
(b) Take it easy on the first lap! If you drive aggressively into turn one and leave yourself no margin for error (yours or someone elses), you are much more likely to come out a loser than a hero.
(c) If you do get taken out early in the race, keep driving! You probably won't win the race, but many people will ignore this advice and just quit (you know the type - incidents are ALWAYS someone elses fault, and they constantly spew profanity). Finish the race and drive their rating down!
(*) You can view your points histories by clicking on your own Sierra.com ID in the "PLAYERS", "INVITE" or "MUZZLE" lists, hitting the "P" (profile) button, and then holding down the left-shift and left-control keys while the PROFILE dialog box is displayed. The number between () is your current rating at the track type, and the numbers between [] are your point totals for your last 9 races. The other numbers are RR=races run, RC=races completed, LA=laps available in those races, LC=laps completed, and IC=incident count. Your LPI (laps per incident) rating is LC divided by IC.
V.CONTACTING SIERRA
===================
A) Customer Service, Support, and Sales
B) Technical Support
C) Legal Information
A) Customer Service, Support, and Sales
----------------------------------
United States
U.S.A. Sales Phone: (800) 757-7707
Hours: 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
International Sales: (425) 746-5771
Hours: Monday-Friday 8 AM to 4 PM PST
FAX: (916) 939-1010
Sierra Direct
P O Box 629001
El Dorado Hills, CA 95762-9972
Email: [email protected]
http://www.sierra.com
United Kingdom
Vivendi Universal Interactive Publishing UK Ltd.
Main: (0118) 920-9111
Monday-Friday, 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Fax: (0118) 987-5603
Disk/CD replacements in the U.K. are £6.00, or £7.00 outside the UK. Add "ATTN.: Returns."
2 Beacontree Plaza,
Gillette Way,
Reading, Berkshire
RG2 0BS United Kingdom
France
Vivendi Universal Interactive Publishing France
32, Av de l'Europe
Bât Energy 1 (2e étage)
78 140 VELIZY-Villacoubaly
France
Téléphone: 01-30-67-90-50
Lundi au Jeudi de 10h à 19h
Vendredi de 10h à 18h
Fax: 01-30-67-90-65
Germany
Vivendi Universal Interactive Publishing Deutschland Gmbh.
Tel: (0) 6103-99-40-40
Montag bis Freitag von 10h - 19Uhr
Fax: (0) 6103-99-40-35
Paul-Ehrlich-Straße la
63225 Langen
Deutschland
On-Line Sales
CompuServe United Kingdom:GO UKSIERRA
CompuServe France: GO FRSIERRA
Internet USA: http://www.sierra.com
Internet United Kingdom: http://www.sierra-online.co.uk
Internet France: http://www.sierra.fr
Internet Germany: http://www.sierra.de
Disk and or Manual Replacement:
Product Returns*:
Vivendi Universal Interactive Publishing International
Sierra On-Line Returns
4247 S. Minnewawa Ave.
Fresno, CA 93725
Vivendi Universal Interactive Publishing International
Sierra On-Line CD/Doco Replacement
4247 S. Minnewawa Ave.
Fresno, CA 93725
NOTE: To replace your cd(s) please send only the damaged cd and 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. Payment should be made at the time of your request. Sorry, no credit cards.
* Returns to this address valid in North America only.
B) TECHNICAL SUPPORT
-------------------------
North America
Sierra On-Line offers a 24-hour automated technical support line with recorded answers to the most frequently asked technical questions. To access this service, call (425) 644-4343, 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.
Sierra On-Line
Technical Support
4247 South Minnewawa Avenue
Fresno, CA 93725
Main: (425) 644-4343
Monday-Friday 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. PST
Fax: (310) 258-0755
http://www.sierra.com
[email protected]
United Kingdom
Vivendi Universal Interactive Publishing UK Ltd. offers a 24-hour Automated Technical Support line with recorded answers to the most frequently asked technical questions. To access this service, call (0118) 920-9111, 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 Internet or CompuServe sites.
Vivendi Universal Interactive Publishing UK Ltd.
2 Beacontree Plaza,
Gillette Way,
Reading, Berkshire
RG2 0BS United Kingdom
Main: (0118) 920-9111
Monday-Friday, 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Fax: (0118) 987-5603
http://www.sierra-online.co.uk
France
Vivendi Universal Interactive Publishing France
32, Av de l'Europe
Bât Energy 1 (2e étage)
78 140 VELIZY-Villacoublay
France
Téléphone: 01-30-67-90-50
Lundi au Jeudi de 10h à 19h
Vendredi de 10h à 18h
Fax: 01 30 67 90 65
http://www.sierra.fr
Germany
Vivendi Universal Interactive Publishing Deutschland Gmbh.
Technischer Kundendienst
Paul-Ehrlich-Straße la
63225 Langen
Deutschland
Tel: (0) 6103-99-40-40
Montag bis Freitag von 10 - 19Uhr
Fax: (0) 6103-99-40-35
Mailbox: (0) 6103-99-40-35
http://www.sierra.de
Spain
Vivendi Universal Interactive Publishing España
NUESTRA SEÑORA DE VALVERDE Nº 23
28034 MADRID
Spain
Tech Support Teléfono: 91 735 24 37
Soporte técnico de lunes a Viernes
de 09:30 a 15:00 y de 16:00 a 18:30
www.havasinteractive.es
Soporte Tecnico: [email protected]
Comercial: [email protected]
Italy
Vivendi Universal Interactive Publishing Italia spa
Contattare il vostro distributore.
C) Sierra Warranty & Legal Information
-----------------------------------
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 (2001 Sierra On-Line, Inc.)
Archived by OldGamesDownload.com on 10th August, 2019