Need for Speed Carbon Q&A Part I - NFS Carbon Cars
Steve Anthony - Line Producer
The Need for Speed Community Team had a chance to sit down with the Line Producer for Need for Speed™ Carbon, Steve Anthony, to get his take on some of the hot topics within the Need for Speed community.
Check out the first of a four part Q&A series around what is sure to be one of the hottest games this fall.
Part I: NFS Carbon Cars (Handling & Physics)
Community Team: How is car handling different in Carbon than it was in Most Wanted?
Steve Anthony: We've spent a lot of time this year making sure that the cars felt different from one another. The major difference obviously is felt when you compare the handling between all the different classes. All of the muscle cars feel completely different to drive than the tuners for instance. Within each class, you can also feel more subtle differences between some of the cars depending on whether it's a classic muscle car, or whether the car is lighter or heavier than another.
Overall, I think that players will notice a much more realistic experience based on the different performance levels of the cars. For instance, it makes sense that a car such as the Mazda RX8 can't keep up with a car like a Lamborghini Murcielago and vice versa. As players progress through the game, they'll reach certain points where the car they're driving just can't quite compete with the competition and they'll have to head to the car lot to make a step up in performance. I think this is a key difference from Most Wanted where you could, through the use of upgrades, make a low end car that could compete with some of the fastest cars in the game.
CT: How have the drifting physics and handling changed from Most Wanted to Carbon?
SA: The drifting physics and handling have been totally revamped for Carbon. Our number one goal throughout development was to focus on the speed of drift. In the past, drifting in racing games has felt quite sluggish and didn't capture the insane speeds which you see in some of the pro drift competitions. We've focused on speed so much that we've tied point scoring to it. Keeping up a consistently high speed is the key to getting huge drift scores.
In addition to the regular drift tracks which take place on closed circuits, players will also have a chance to try their skill at the challenging Canyon Drifts. These drifts take place on narrow mountain roads and have the added risk of being able to break through the barriers and fall off the track. The handling on these roads is pretty similar to regular drifts but you'll have to really learn how to control your car to avoid hitting the walls or going off the road. These are by far my favorite drifts in the game. It's a very satisfying feeling when you can make it to the bottom of the track without having touched a single wall.
CT: What was the process behind selecting which cars were going to be included in the game?
SA: Since our ultimate goal was to play into the real life rivalries that existed between fans of tuners, muscles and exotics, we wanted to have a broad selection that would give us a good balance across these three categories. We ended up with over 50 cars in total and I'm sure our fans are going to love the choices. There will be a lot of returning favorites as well as a ton of new introductions to the Need for Speed series.
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