After a series of Dev Diaries and some hands-on gaming for fans at selected NASCAR venues in the past few weeks, a NASCAR 21: Ignition video dedicated to gameplay around the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval premiered on Friday afternoon. It’s the second one of these we’ve gotten, and the first since the Daytona video back in August.
The one minute, 36-second clip takes the viewers on board with Talladega Superspeedway winner Bubba Wallace as he attempts to chase down his Toyota teammate and 23XI Racing Co-Owner Denny Hamlin.
The 2.280-milie, 3.669-kilometer circuit in Concord, North Carolina is a mashup between the normal 1.5-mile oval and a series of turns in the infield of the racing venue. The Roval features 17 corners that feature a combination of technical and heavy braking sections, allowing for many passing zones and door-to-door racing opportunities.
While this Roval video was another fixed camera angle like in the Daytona video, likely in a replay mode type of viewing area since there was no Heads Up Display, there were a few things to digest from this lap around the track.
First and foremost, and I seem to think this every time I see any content from this game, the visuals look stunning. The track and the environment itself just looks spot on. The lighting and shading looks realistic and so do the colors. While the big speedway TV is playing some generic content on it, at least its animated. A+ effort for getting the feel of a race down with the Unreal Engine.
More than the visuals, however, the sounds are what intrigue me the most. I’ve never been inside of a NASCAR stock car, but I have to assume that it would sound different than it would externally. Comparing and contrasting with the Daytona video, these sounds are more muffled, but I assume that’s accurate representation of where the camera is positioned on the dashboard.
The wind is not as prevalent, but it’s still there. Running over the rumble strips rumbles the speakers. Also, a nice touch is added as there are clicks heard when shifting, slowing, or speeding. Whether that’s pushing in pedals or adjusting the gears, it all adds to the immersion factor.
As far as physics are concerned, I think it can be assumed that we are on-board with a human player chasing down some AI drivers. If Hamlin was an AI, it makes me happy to see that the AI are not perfect. Out of Turn 2 in the Roval section, the No. 11 AI slides up and possibly catches the end of the wall. If he doesn’t, well, he gets pretty close and the car makes a jarring movement.
There was also a moment in between Turns 6 and 7 where the right front tire of Hamlin locks up to not overdrive the next corner. I caught this while watching in 0.25x speed. As the Hamlin AI falls back into the clutches of Wallace in Turns 13 and 14, the Wallace car gets close and is disturbed by something, whether it’s looseness or aero, and falls back before the final chicane.
Overall, the video didn’t do much more that just give fans a little more content as we hurdle towards the starting gate for the release on 28th October. Just less than three weeks away, NASCAR 21: Ignition has potential to change the future of NASCAR gaming. We’ll keep on top of more NASCAR 21: Ignition news here at Traxion as it becomes available. For now, keep it pinned.
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