Need for Speed Carbon

I need to know all the facts about Carbon. I have been on lots of different sites and all say something different from the other. I want Your news, views and anything that goes with NFSC....

To start off I have heard that In NFSC , in body shops, there will be a special option for making your own custom hood and etc..
From what I have heard there is a hammer tool with which you may custom shape the hood, skirts and so on... will it be in NFSC? or just rumors.

The downhill racing will also be interesting where first the boss drive down and you must catch him, afterwards you are runnin and the boss is chasing you..... need a proper low down all facts...

Comin up in november I need to know is it really worth buying

Ah, Carbon. I'm not getting it...boycotting the street theme. But I've got info on it.

The tool you speak of for building your own stuff will certainly be in Carbon. It will be called Autosculpting, and will allow you, for example, to turn a 5-spoked plain wheel rim into 8 fanned spokes with gaps in the middle of them, with the entire hub bent inward and recessed into the wheel itself. This will also work with vinyls--now, instead of just placing a vinyl, you can scale it, rotate it, and move it all around the car. The visual customization will be unmatched by any game out there...I think the performance upgrades, on the other hand, will be like Most Wanted.

For a video, check this link here: http://www.gametrailers.com/player.php?id=...ype=mov&pl=game (should open a Quicktime window). this shows the Autosculpting in action. It's sweet.


The boss races...alright, here's a breakdown of how bosses work. The city and canyon areas around it are divided into blocks, like Rockport and the Pier and the things like that in MW. Except here, the blocks serve more of a purpose.

Each block has its own properties in what's in it and what drives best in it. Some blocks are perfect for the high top-end speed of exotics, while others work well with the good acceleration of muscle cars. Out of the (I think) 5 blocks, one will be dedicated each to tuners, exotics, and muscles; the others will be in between.

Each block also has its own shops, stores, and stuff like that in there. Different stores will stock different things, so this actually matters here.

Finally, each block has its own racing crew members. More on that a bit later.


Now, you initially can't use any of this in any of the blocks (maybe one block to start out...I'm not sure how you get started). To gain the right to use the shops and crew from an area, you have to beat that area's boss in a special race. These races will be a unique race type that seems to have changed in specifics a bit over time. I know as of the GameInformer issue a few months back, here's how it was:

You line up behind the boss. He will drive through a stage, and you have to follow him as closely as possible. You cannot touch his car and can't pass him. After a certain amount of time or distance, you will be able to pass him if you stayed close enough; this is your chance to blow him away. Be the one leading at the end and you win.

Possible updates since then are removal of the no-touch rule and a more lenient definition of when you can pass. But basically what sets these races apart is that they are 1-on-1 "outrun" style races, where you try to keep up for a while until you can pass by. Also, as indicated by their name (Canyon Duel), they will take place on Canyon tracks with shallow guardrails and perilous cliffs that make racing a constant danger. Sorry that I don't have more details on this...I haven't seen any hard-and-fast info on this mode. For all I know, this may even be a points-based race.


Now, one of the rewards is crew. Crew are people you hire to help you out, either on or off the track. There are four that I know of:

Fabricator--off-race; This guy will fix up your car and tune it. Without one, tuning options are limited to nonexistant. With two, an insane amount of tuning is available. (Autosculpt may be limited with only one fabricator).

In-race:
Blocker--this guy slows people down. You call for him (I think it's activated like a powerup) and he'll go and smash into somebody for you, spinning them out and taking them out of the race for a while.

Drafter--She (or he) speeds you up. Call for her and she will drive in front of you; stay behind her to draft and perform a slingshot pass, boosting you in front of your competition.

Scout--Makes the track shorter (sorta). The scout will constantly drive ahead of you and look for shortcuts--when the scout notices one, she'll lead you to it and help shave off lap time.


I think I read you can have up to four of these guys at once, and they will vary in ability (some blockers will be better than others, for example). Opponents will also use them, so you will need to be prepared to counter these strategies.


AS for the driving engine, it looks pretty heavy-feeling, even moreso than MW. Overall, it seems closest to MW in comparison to any NFS engines, but it definitely requires more slowing down on turns and is less drift-happy. This may be due to the constrained nature of street courses, though...

Anyway, if you want to see gameplay footage:

Race footage: http://www.gametrailers.com/player.php?id=...ype=mov&pl=game
Drifting footage: http://www.gametrailers.com/player.php?id=...ype=mov&pl=game

(Tell me if the links don't work and I'll try to fix them)


Now, my assessment--whether it is worth a purchase or not.

Really, this is a true crossroads of what you like in your Need for Speed. Here's a likely pro/con breakdown:

Pro:
Amazing customization
Pretty large car roster
Pretty good graphics
City "block" mode may be intriguing
If you liked the tight, night racing of Underground, this will be right up your alley.

Con:
The "tuner atmosphere" seems more heavily enforced here
ALL races are at night
Boss races may be a pain
Crew members seem gimmicky
Racing engine doesn't seem terribly different from Carbon.


If you're lucky enough to own a gaming-quality PC, though, the demo should be out sometime this week...try that out if you can.

If you've got any futher questions. I'll be glad to help. I've been an NFS fan since Hot Pursuit 1 (#3), so I know the series pretty well. Except the Undergrounds...hated those (which is why I'm boycotting this one)

Very well done DD! Why didnt you put this in the user reveiw section? I know it is more of a preview but, still would fit better there.

I figured this would be more useful to him here. Thanks for the compliment...I love doing stuff like this. If I'm interested enough in a game, i'll talk about it for pages. And anything Need for Speed certainly qualifies.

I've played through underground 1, 2 and most wanted, so I'll definitely give this one a go too. I expect it to have some neat things, while screwing up on various things.

Someone knows when the NFS-Carbon demo will be relase? ;)

Haha...if I did, I would have 75 people on the NFS forums worshipping me. :P
I really wish I did, but I don't. Can't wait for it, though.

360 demo sucked some big male parts, i liked most wanted but this game feels very arcade like compared 2 it

Look what's they say on Nfsplanet:

NFS C: New infos about demo and carlist Saturday, 14.10.2006
The demo is not released yet, but we have some interesting information for you:

PC Demo: The demo is almost ready for release. There is no exact date given yet, but it'll be close to game ship

Carlist: Shortly IGN will publish some more cars which will be available in Need for Speed Carbon. You might want to take a look from time to time. ;)

Website: The official website is getting a redesign and should go live in around a week.

Q/A: EA took the feedback of the Xbox360 Demo to heart and is doing some Quality Assurance for the game:

We're looking to do a QA w/ the team on a couple other items that I also can't yet discuss, but it's been based around some of the hot topics here in the forums as well as around some of the feedback from the Xbox 360 demo. It's in the works, but not sure on timing.

Also looking to do a QA w/ our licensing group to address some of those burning questions about "why this car" or "why not that car". ;)

wtf dose that post mean... you wanna sum it up, cuz right now i'm at a total loss lol