''NASCAR Racing 4'' is a
racing
In sport, racing is a competition of speed, in which competitors try to complete a given task in the shortest amount of time. Typically this involves traversing some distance, but it can be any other task involving speed to reach a specific goa ...
simulator
A simulation is the imitation of the operation of a real-world process or system over time. Simulations require the use of models; the model represents the key characteristics or behaviors of the selected system or process, whereas the s ...
produced by
Papyrus
Papyrus ( ) is a material similar to thick paper that was used in ancient times as a writing surface. It was made from the pith of the papyrus plant, '' Cyperus papyrus'', a wetland sedge. ''Papyrus'' (plural: ''papyri'') can also refer to a ...
and released in February 2001.
Gameplay
The game was a huge step forward over its predecessor and addressed many requested features for the game. Namely was the introduction of full
24-bit color
In computer architecture, 4-bit integers, or other data units are those that are 4 bits wide. Also, 4-bit central processing unit (CPU) and arithmetic logic unit (ALU) architectures are those that are based on registers, or data buses of that siz ...
, as the previous games had only allowed
256
Year 256 ( CCLVI) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Claudius and Glabrio (or, less frequently, year 1009 ''Ab urbe condi ...
, vastly improved car models and environments and, for the first time, the ability of the car to rotate in three dimensions (i.e. the ability of the car to get airborne and flip). The simulator also continued the increased efforts to reflect the aspects of driving a real car.
This was the first version of the game since ''NASCAR Racing 2'' to have actual car manufacturers represented. Additionally, it was the first version of the game to feature the ability to race a full 43 car field. It was the first installment in the "NASCAR Racing" series to include
Daytona International Speedway
Daytona International Speedway is a race track in Daytona Beach, Florida, United States. Since opening in 1959, it has been the home of the Daytona 500, the most prestigious race in NASCAR as well as its season opening event. In addition to NA ...
, and included all 21 tracks that were raced in
Winston Cup in 2000. It included 25 of the drivers and teams anticipated to run the 2001 season, including
Dale Earnhardt
Ralph Dale Earnhardt Sr. (; April 29, 1951February 18, 2001) was an American professional stock car driver and team owner, who raced from 1975 to 2001 in the former NASCAR Winston Cup Series (now called the NASCAR Cup Series), most notably dri ...
as the game was released 12 days before
his fatal crash, as well as 42 fictional drivers and teams, most of which carried fictional sponsors or are sponsored by a Sierra company. The inclusion of Sierra affiliate-sponsored cars was a trend that began as early as
NASCAR Racing 1999 Edition, where a fantasy truck driver sponsored by
Davidson & Associates
Davidson & Associates, Inc. was an American developer of educational software based in Torrance, California. The company was founded in 1984 by husband-and-wife Bob and Jan Davidson, the latter of whom led the company as president until January 1 ...
is present.
As with previous titles in the series, included are the options of testing, single race weekend, championship, and online multiplayer hosted by Sierra servers or a third-party client. In addition, a more detailed paint shop can be accessed via the opponent manager menu, which allows for custom paint schemes and, for the first time, custom pit crew uniforms, to be imported and exported from the game. A replay viewer is also included so the player can view their saved session replays.
''NASCAR Racing 4'' was followed by ''
NASCAR Racing 2002 Season
''NASCAR Racing 2002 Season'' is the successor to ''NASCAR Racing 4'', released in 2002.
Reception
The game received "generally favorable reviews", just one point shy of "universal acclaim", according to the review aggregation website Metacri ...
''.
Reception
In the United States, ''NASCAR Racing 4'' sold 260,000 copies and earned $10.4 million by August 2006, after its release in February 2001. It was the country's 76th best-selling computer game between January 2000 and August 2006. Combined sales of all ''NASCAR Racing'' computer games released between January 2000 and August 2006 had reached 900,000 in the United States by the latter date.
The game was received highly positive by critics. It has a Metacritic score of 89% based on 14 critic reviews.
''
Computer Games Magazine
''Computer Games Magazine'' was a monthly computer and console gaming print magazine, founded in October 1988 as the United Kingdom publication ''Games International''. During its history, it was known variously as ''Strategy Plus'' (October 1 ...
'' and ''
PC Gamer US
''PC Gamer'' is a magazine and website founded in the United Kingdom in 1993 devoted to PC gaming and published monthly by Future plc. The magazine has several regional editions, with the UK and US editions becoming the best selling PC games mag ...
'' both named ''NASCAR Racing 4'' the best racing game of 2001; the former publication's editors called it "the crown King" of its genre.
It was also a nominee for ''
Computer Gaming World
''Computer Gaming World'' (CGW) was an American computer game magazine published between 1981 and 2006. One of the few magazines of the era to survive the video game crash of 1983, it was sold to Ziff Davis in 1993. It expanded greatly through ...
''s 2001 "Best Simulation Game" award, which ultimately went to ''
IL-2 Sturmovik
The Ilyushin Il-2 (Russian: Илью́шин Ил-2) is a ground-attack plane that was produced by the Soviet Union in large numbers during the Second World War. The word ''shturmovík'' (Cyrillic: штурмовик), the generic Russian term ...
''.
References
External links
''NASCAR Racing 4''at
MobyGames
MobyGames is a commercial website that catalogs information on video games and the people and companies behind them via crowdsourcing. This includes nearly 300,000 games for hundreds of platforms. The site is supported by banner ads and a small ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nascar Racing 4
2001 video games
NASCAR video games
Papyrus Design Group games
Racing simulators
Racing video games
Sierra Entertainment games
Windows games
Windows-only games
Simulation video games
Video games developed in the United States