Shift: 2 Unleashed

[Blu Ian]

Announcement trailer

Developer: Slightly Mad Studios
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Release date: Spring 2011

FEEL WHAT THE DRIVER’S BATTLE IS ACTUALLY LIKE IN AN UNPARALLELED RACING EXPERIENCE THAT CAPTURES THE PHYSICALITY AND BRUTALITY OF BEING BEHIND THE WHEEL GOING 200MPH.

Frighteningly authentic physics and degradation of tracks and cars, thrilling night racing, and an eye-watering sense of speed combined with the all-new helmet camera puts you right in the heart in the action. Feel every scrape, bump, and burn out in an all-out fight to the finish line.

SHIFT 2 UNLEASHED™ sets the bar for realistic racing and gives all the excitement and exhilaration of race day in a groundbreaking authentic experience.

NEXT LEVEL OF IMMERSION
Unprecedented first-person racing realism puts you right in the drivers’ seat to experience in-cockpit vibrations, realistic driver head movements and the impact of every dizzying crash.

TRUE REALISTIC RACING
SHIFT 2 UNLEASHED redefines the racing simulator genre by delivering authentic and true-to-life, dynamic crash physics, plus insanely detailed real-world cars, drivers and tracks.

CHANGE THE GAME WITH AUTOLOG
Take your game play further than ever before with the revolutionary Autolog system that lets you connect and share virtually every aspect of your racing career – status, pictures, videos and more - online with your friends. Get new challenges based on your friends’ in-game activity and amp up the competition both offline and online.

AMAZING CAREER DEPTH AND VARIETY
Choose the path that fits your own personal racing style, unlock new experiences and challenge the world’s best drivers in multiple disciplines while on your way to becoming the FIA GT1 World and GT3 European Champions.

CUSTOMIZE FOR SHOW OR CUSTOMIZE TO WIN
Turn the world’s most elite high-performance cars into something truly your own with almost limitless options for customization from engine to body, suspension and much more.

[cajmoyper]

Well, it can't be a graphical competition as it is still being bogged down by the 360's restraints. And we all know it'll simply be a port for the PS3. Let me be the first to let out in what will become a collective laugh...hahahahahahaha!!!

[Trace17]

Despite the cheesy name, I'm intrigued that they are continuing forward with the sim concept within NFS.

With an innovative helmet camera view simulating the physical experience of driving at 200mph

As awesome as GT5 is, I think Shift did an exceptional job of the physics of crashes from a driver standpoint and I think this is something that GT5 won't replicate as well (I could be wrong though).

And only two weeks ago EA executive Patrick Soderlund told Eurogamer he hopes the Shift series will overtake Sony's Gran Turismo series and Microsoft's Forza franchise as gaming's leading simulation racer.

I know you gotta be positive as a PR rep, but come on, man! That's a bit much.

[Blu Ian]

Screenshots

[Show spoiler]

[seigneur_rayden]

How many NFS are there now? I lost track. It seems like there is one released every 6 months

[Blu Ian]

Originally Posted by seigneur_rayden

How many NFS are there now? I lost track. It seems like there is one released every 6 months

I believe its 22.

[Grim Reaper]

i still have the original NFS game. when it was released in a paper box. then it was called road & track presents.

[Maximus]

Originally Posted by seigneur_rayden

How many NFS are there now? I lost track. It seems like there is one released every 6 months

I think that's why EA dumped the NFS branding. It never really fit for Shift anyway as it is more a sim racer than fleeing from the police...

[slick1ru2]

I believe April 1st is the new drop date in the UK at least. http://gamezblog.com/shift-2-unleash...e-pushed-back/

Here is an article at Speedhunters with a bunch of guys testing it. http://speedhunters.com/archive/2011...f-physics.aspx


They have both the FIA GT1 and GT3 licenses so expect some great European racing.

From what I can tell, there is just 1 limited edition, with the same special features at both Gamestop and Amazon.

They said the suspension physics came directly from the CAD info from the actual car designs.

One of the interesting race types is New and Old, were you are in a single make race with both the new and old versions of the car.

Like GT5, there is at least 1 SEMA car in the game.

Article on the physics: http://www.racesimcentral.com/news/2...ft-2s-physics/

The Shift physics system “takes the actual suspension geometry that we receive from manufacturer CAD data and replicates the suspension components in 3D space. It is not some game producers ‘idea’ of how a car should handle. Not at all, if you are say driving a Porsche 911 in game, then you are driving an actual 3D physics representation of that car based on CAD data.”

Hands On Review:

http://www.racesimcentral.com/news/2...t-2-unleashed/

The developers claim that Shift 2 brings 30 to 40 percent more variety and content than the original Shift. To talk numbers, there are over 100 cars, over 100 events and around 50 tracks that are broken into multiple layouts. Some of the tracks are pulled authentically from the real world and others are fictional creations to help compliment the amount of content contained within.

[PirateBooty]

Looking forward to this game. The first was a total blast and I was smiling wide, from ear to ear, the whole time.

[Toptube]

Originally Posted by cajmoyper

Well, it can't be a graphical competition as it is still being bogged down by the 360's restraints. And we all know it'll simply be a port for the PS3. Let me be the first to let out in what will become a collective laugh...hahahahahahaha!!!

The 360 version of Shift 1 was actually more buggy and performed worse than on PS3. Also, early on there was talk of Dice co-developing on Shift 2. I imagine it would be to help with port quality and probably sound tech.


here is a post I made recently in the GT5 thread, as they were talking about Shift there:

Originally Posted by Toptube

As far as I can tell, the only thing that will hold Shift 2 back from being amazing will be another unfinished product being shipped (see: Shift 1). I've watched most of the interviews and dev diary type videos and it really seems like they realized their mistakes last time (mostly just shipping too soon) and are making great effort to delivery a complete product that is also a very good product.

The graphics are great. Yeah, nobody is going to beat GT5's premium models. But GT5 has a lot of shitty looking tracks and just some unfinished stuff that sticks out bad.

Shift 1 had a very cohesive graphics presentation where nothing stood out as lesser than anything else and the tracks looked awesome with tracksides absolutely packed with stuff. The interiors looked quite good and with real lighting effects just like GT.
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d7...oneel/nfs8.jpg

And you could look around with the camera.
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d7...oneel/nfs6.jpg

Shift 2 looks to keep things up, with an all new engine. Great looking cars, Great looking tracks. They've also got some of the best tire smoke I've ever seen.

Then you toss in the insane sense of speed and the inspired physics where action = reaction (you can't just stiffly bump opponents), GT really gets put in its place as the stiff old thing it is. I've barely touched GT5 despite being a huge fan of the series and greatly anticipating 5, because Shift showed me the future of racing games. As buggy/unfinished as it was, the core game experience was amazingly exhilarating and tough. GT5 is a decent driving simulator, but its not a good racing simulator. Which is what Shift is aiming for.

get pumped with this Pagani trailer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOyMxfxUct8

there are also three new gameplay vids up on youtube as well as a "realism" trailer gives brief proof that their attention to detail is as good as any other car game.

and there are plenty of 720p and greater screenshots out there. Here's one of many at IGN
http://xbox360media.ign.com/xbox360/...4021245761.jpg

[Trace17]

Originally Posted by Toptube

The 360 version of Shift 1 was actually more buggy and performed worse than on PS3. Also, early on there was talk of Dice co-developing on Shift 2. I imagine it would be to help with port quality and probably sound tech.

I noticed that DICE had a hand in Hot Pursuit, any idea what they did for that title?

[Toptube]

Originally Posted by Trace17

I noticed that DICE had a hand in Hot Pursuit, any idea what they did for that title?

I didn't know that they collaborated on that as well! I don't know what they did for that game specifically, but I imagine it was for reasons similar to what I speculated for Shift 2.

[partridge]

But surely the point of the initial "bump" collisions in GT5 are to ease you in to the game so by the time you've levelled up to full damage you are a better driver?

I remember playing TOCA2 and getting hacked off at damaging my car in every race; the learning curve was ridiculous and it put me off. With GT5 by the time you run the risk of ripping your car to pieces you are (or should be) good enough so that any damage occurs as it would in a real race, i.e. fairly minimal but realistic, unless you really screw up!

I'm barely 50% through GT5 but out of all the GT games this is the first one I've really been pulled into and I'm thoroughly enjoying it; so they must be doing something right.

To be fair I've not played Shift but I've alway seen that series as an arcade franchise. I'm sure there will be a Shift 2 demo, so I'll give it a go.

[Ascended_Saiyan]

Originally Posted by Toptube

The 360 version of Shift 1 was actually more buggy and performed worse than on PS3. Also, early on there was talk of Dice co-developing on Shift 2. I imagine it would be to help with port quality and probably sound tech.


here is a post I made recently in the GT5 thread, as they were talking about Shift there:

The following are just some of the questions I have in mind:

Is the lighting in Shift dynamic (progression from day to night cycles)? How many cars does Shift support on the track at one time? Does it account for tire wear? If so, does that tire wear take into account solar radiation (i.e. sun on track makes tires wear out faster than at night)? Does Shift have weather? If so, does the weather effect handling? What driving wheel does the game support? Does Shift have mechanical damage or is the damage mainly just visual? Finally, is Shift a 60fps game?

[Toptube]

Originally Posted by partridge

But surely the point of the initial "bump" collisions in GT5 are to ease you in to the game so by the time you've levelled up to full damage you are a better driver?

Actually I wasn't talking about damage at all. In basic laws of physics, every action equals a reaction. When you bump/hit/slam another car, its not only going to throw their car off, its going to throw your car off. So you have to counter steer and fight to keep a decent line when hitting or getting hit. Its a very simple concept that greatly invigorates the racing experience and brings an immediate sense of urgency to your orientation in relation to other drivers.



Yeah, there is decent damage in Shift 1 as well, but even more important, is the damage becomes mechanical eventually, not just cosmetic. Further adding to the urgency to avoid rubbing and racing. Cosmetic damage is a superficial thing in a videogame. Shift 2 is said to evolve the damage model further, and comments from people who have played test builds agree with those statements.

To be fair I've not played Shift but I've alway seen that series as an arcade franchise. I'm sure there will be a Shift 2 demo, so I'll give it a go.

In actual gameplay, I wouldn't consider Shift 1 any less of a realistic racer than any Gran Turismo or Forza. Where Shift was a little misguided and sent mixed messages was that you got bonus points for power slides and crashing other racers---but also got bonus points for clean racing. The problem with the former is that those things make you slower, so ultimately you aren't going to win and the bonus points don't make up for that fact. I played the game on the difficulty just below highest. At that setting, there was no sign of rubber banding and you had to race pretty clean and make good lap times to keep up with the top two or three. It was often a battle to get 1st and you couldn't afford big mistakes once you were in 1st.

Shift showed me what other realistic racers were missing: the racing experience. Everyone has shown that they can get a bunch of cars and make them look nice, add lots of customization and tuning features, model a track to its true to life scale and measurments, etc

but most of these games feel stiff in the controls and the sense of speed is just not there.

Shift had an insane sense of speed and racing didn't feel stiff and confining. You also actually had to be weary of your position amongst the pack, because rubbing and ramming gave appropriate reactions to your own car. It was hard and fast. Some of the cars were actually "scary" to drive because the sense of speed was so good.

Originally Posted by Ascended_Saiyan

The following are just some of the questions I have in mind:

Is the lighting in Shift dynamic (progression from day to night cycles)?

They did announce Endurance races, but I haven't seen any comments about changes in daylight during a race. They do have real time lightsources and shadows, though. So I imagine it would be easy to implement. They are making a big push for night racing, I guess we'll see if they have any events with lighting transitions.

How many cars does Shift support on the track at one time?

Shift 1 supported 12 online. I"m sure Shift 2 will have at least that many. I'd say its a safe bet Shift 2 will probably bump to 16.

Does it account for tire wear? If so, does that tire wear take into account solar radiation (i.e. sun on track makes tires wear out faster than at night)?

There is no representation of tire wear in the driving physics. There is a visual representation in that rubber and grime builds up on the track as the laps progress. I've no idea if it affects grip or if its just completely cosmetic.

Does Shift have weather? If so, does the weather effect handling?

I've heard nothing about weather.

What driving wheel does the game support?

I don't remember specifically what wheels Shift 1 supported. I might pop the game in later and have a look. I've seen no list as such for Shift 2. But I can confirm that it does support some wheels.

is Shift a 60fps game?

NO it is not. The devs specifically opted to add more visual detail rather than go for 60fps. They've got very nice looking car models, probably the most detailed track sides In any game right now, and some procedural things like dirt and rubber build up on the track as well as on your car. While 60fps can be a great thing, in the case of Shift 1, 30fps was never an issue. and really, the game has by far the best sense of speed I've experienced in a realistic racer. and while Shift 1 was very buggy, I don't remember any notable issue with framerate performance.

[Ascended_Saiyan]

And, mechanical damage (right before the 60fps question)? BTW, thanks for your take on my questions.

The graphical quality, from pictures, are similar to GT5 (minus resolution increase). They have lots of 2D trees as well. You can easily see them in the pic below (pic 2 of 8).

http://www.computerandvideogames.com...icle&id=240598

I just don't understand why a 30fps racer would have that many 2D trees. I would like to know how many polys they are pushing per track.

Shift 2 seems to have nice shadow resolution, however it doesn't seem to match the cars. It could just be my mistake. Judge for yourself (pic 8 of 8). Also, shadows are missing, altogether, in some pics (pic 2 of 8). The tents and RVs have shadows in a certain direction, but the cars on the track don't have any. That would suggest the shadows aren't dynamic. That would, also, suggest the nice HDR lighting is static.

Baked shadows/lighting or not, this seems to be a nice multiplatform showing, so far.

[Toptube]

Originally Posted by Ascended_Saiyan

And, mechanical damage (right before the 60fps question)? BTW, thanks for your take on my questions.

I already implied the answer earlier in my post, which is why I didn't include that question. Shift 1 had mechanical damage. Yes, Shift 2 has it.

The graphical quality, from pictures, are similar to GT5 (minus resolution increase). They have lots of 2D trees as well. You can easily see them in the pic below (pic 2 of 8).

http://www.computerandvideogames.com...icle&id=240598

I just don't understand why a 30fps racer would have that many 2D trees. I would like to know how many polys they are pushing per track.

Well, those trees aren't 2D. They are 3D objects, just very simple. If they were 2D, you'd only ever see one side of them and they would appear to turn as you went by them. Its just one of those things. Graphics power isn't enough yet to put tons of model detail into all of your assets. So certain things that you'll only ever see from far away will be made more simple. In racing games you are also generally moving pretty fast, so things like trees that don't have hard edged defined shapes can get away with simple assets. As they'll still look reasonably complex at speed. and in the end, you gotta cut corners somewhere. Very few games have convincing trees as it is, for a racing game, that's like the last thing you'd invest detail into.

Shift 2 seems to have nice shadow resolution, however it doesn't seem to match the cars. It could just be my mistake. Judge for yourself (pic 8 of 8). Also, shadows are missing, altogether, in some pics (pic 2 of 8). The tents and RVs have shadows in a certain direction, but the cars on the track don't have any. That would suggest the shadows aren't dynamic. That would, also, suggest the nice HDR lighting is static.

Baked shadows/lighting or not, this seems to be a nice multiplatform showing, so far.

A. The shadows don't look right due to perspective. First of all, placement of the light source in relation to the object casting a shadow will net different results for what the shadow will look like. Stand in front of a window with the sun shining through it into your house and you'll likely cast a shadow that's 8 feet long or whatever. Also, the placement of the camera further skews the perceived shaped of the shadow. Those amazing sidewalk chalk drawings that look like 3-Dimensional are actually an optical illusion based on perspective. The drawings are actually VERY long, but you place the camera in the right position and everything looks right.

B. The chase shot from the sky with no shadows, likely an LoD (Level of Detail) issue. 3D engines are typically programmed to dynamically simplify objects as you get further away from them. You may also notice sometimes that lightsources, shadows, and other small objects will dissappear or reappear as you lose or gain distance. Looks like their shadow LoD may be a little too aggressive. It'll be interesting to see if that's something that is tweaked by release.

[Ascended_Saiyan]

Originally Posted by Toptube

I already implied the answer earlier in my post, which is why I didn't include that question. Shift 1 had mechanical damage. Yes, Shift 2 has it.

How did you imply that without saying it? If you did, I must have missed it.

Well, those trees aren't 2D. They are 3D objects, just very simple. If they were 2D, you'd only ever see one side of them and they would appear to turn as you went by them. Its just one of those things. Graphics power isn't enough yet to put tons of model detail into all of your assets. So certain things that you'll only ever see from far away will be made more simple. In racing games you are also generally moving pretty fast, so things like trees that don't have hard edged defined shapes can get away with simple assets. As they'll still look reasonably complex at speed. and in the end, you gotta cut corners somewhere. Very few games have convincing trees as it is, for a racing game, that's like the last thing you'd invest detail into.

Those trees are two 2D objects laid out in a cross formation. 3D trees aren't completely flat like those 2D trees, in those pics. Plus, it's not like those objects were far away. There are 2D trees right next to the track. Also, this has nothing to do with "convincing trees". Why are you making excuses for it? It just is what it is. Those are 2D trees (a pair of 2D cross-sectioned objects).

A. The shadows don't look right due to perspective. First of all, placement of the light source in relation to the object casting a shadow will net different results for what the shadow will look like. Stand in front of a window with the sun shining through it into your house and you'll likely cast a shadow that's 8 feet long or whatever. Also, the placement of the camera further skews the perceived shaped of the shadow. Those amazing sidewalk chalk drawings that look like 3-Dimensional are actually an optical illusion based on perspective. The drawings are actually VERY long, but you place the camera in the right position and everything looks right.

I was trying to match the shadows with the angle of the light source (naturally). It just didn't seem to match. It could be a mistake on my part. It's just an observation.

B. The chase shot from the sky with no shadows, likely an LoD (Level of Detail) issue. 3D engines are typically programmed to dynamically simplify objects as you get further away from them. You may also notice sometimes that lightsources, shadows, and other small objects will dissappear or reappear as you lose or gain distance. Looks like their shadow LoD may be a little too aggressive. It'll be interesting to see if that's something that is tweaked by release.

That would be some really aggressive LOD (like Crysis 2 MP demo), then. At that height, the models LOD should be around LOD4 or 5. The trailers and cars in the field have shadows, but the track cars don't. Of course, the shadow for the trailers and cars could (well most likely) be "baked" (pre-computed) and saved as a texture.

[Toptube]

Originally Posted by Ascended_Saiyan

How did you imply that without saying it? If you did, I must have missed it.

Originally Posted by toptube

Yeah, there is decent damage in Shift 1 as well, but even more important, is the damage becomes mechanical eventually, not just cosmetic. Further adding to the urgency to avoid rubbing and racing. Cosmetic damage is a superficial thing in a videogame. Shift 2 is said to evolve the damage model further, and comments from people who have played test builds agree with those statements.

Those trees are two 2D objects laid out in a cross formation. 3D trees aren't completely flat like those 2D trees, in those pics. Plus, it's not like those objects were far away. There are 2D trees right next to the track. Also, this has nothing to do with "convincing trees". Why are you making excuses for it? It just is what it is. Those are 2D trees (a pair of 2D cross-sectioned objects).

I'm not making excuses, I'm giving the general facts and reasoning for why we still have simple trees, when trees appear in large amounts. Graphics power just isn't enough yet to afford making a ton of trees look good, without sacrificing something else. Even Oblivion uses a method called speed tree, which uses a lot of memory saving tricks and arranges textures and flat polygons in specific orientation to give the feeling of a detailed 3D model, when really, the trees are pretty simple, not a ton more complex than those you see in racing games. They could do better now, because that game is like 5 years old, but its a relevant example.


and yes, those trees (at least the ones one the edge and fairly close to the track) are technically 3D objects. You can walk/ drive around those trees and see multiple sides of them. A true 2D object has no other side. you can only ever see one side of it. As such, 2d objects appear to "turn" with you as you try to go around them. The trees are likely two flat and trasnparent polygons (not 2D) arranged as you said, in a cross. Then they apply a texture to them that looks like a tree. The texture gives a sense of some complexity at all, when really its two flat rectangles crossed up. Its a huge memory saver.

That would be some really aggressive LOD (like Crysis 2 MP demo), then. At that height, the models LOD should be around LOD4 or 5. The trailers and cars in the field have shadows, but the track cars don't. Of course, the shadow for the trailers and cars could (well most likely) be "baked" (pre-computed) and saved as a texture.

I dunno man, its just speculation. But at this point, I personally have not seen confirmation on races with day/night transition. So until then, its probably a safe bet that the lighting on stuff that isn't on or immediately trackside is probably static and predetermined. and yeah, the LoD on console games is usually pretty aggressive and often not hidden so well. Because consoles have relatively small amounts of memory to work with.