Nascar Thunder 2003 for PS2! (1 Viewer)

[Jeff Adams]

Hey Rudy, Looks like you like EA titles as much as I do. We will have to talk about NHL 2003 when it comes out!!!! That is the game I have been ANXIOUSLY waiting for. If that title is as good as the other EA titles that have come out this year, we are in for quite the game. But for right we can talk Nascar and Madden. And you are totally right about it being alot more challenging, I finally won a race the other night with Dale Jr, but barely. What mode are you racing on right now? I am still in rookie and it is kind of hard.

 

[RudyN]

I'm using Rookie in my career mode. Using veteran in quick races though since I'm trying to unlock the extra skins and tracks. Which camera mode do you use? I found that after switching to the roof cam, I have alot more control of the car. I can't wait for NHL 2003 as well. I'll be picking up the PC version so I can d/l updated graphics and rosters. If you want more info on NHL 2003, you should try Thunderpuck. Some of the forum members have the full release of the game as they are beta testing EASO for EA.

 

[Jeff Adams]

I have tried veteran mode on quick races too. I am in rookie mode for seasons right now. I have not started career mode yet. I want to get better. Roof cam? I think thats what I have it in, I can see the car and alot of other cars around. That show I like to race. I have tried other modes but like that one the best. Are you only going to buy NHL 2003 for the pc?

 

[RudyN]

Roof cam has it so all you see of your car is a little of the hood. Worked wonders for my control problems. As far as NHL 2003, I'm only getting it for the PC. I like being to update the graphics(authentic goalie eq, correct uniforms, etc.). That and it's only 39.99 compared to 49.99 fot the consoles.

 

[Jerry Gracia]

NASCAR THUNDER 2003 is definitly a great NASCAR game.

I encountered a weird thing regarding the YELLOW FLAG...

When ever I run a race at 25% length, I never get a caution flag during a race unless I cause it, even though I have the option turned ON. I have checked, re-checked and made sure it was ON. (Wreck frequency and Mistakes were set to HIGH on all occassions)

But when I run a race at 5% or 10%, I get 1-2 YELLOW flags caused by the AI cars a race. I experienced this multiple times, not just once...which leads me to believe that this may actually be some kind of programming error of some sort...whatever it is, I don't like it. I'd thought the LONGER the race was, the MORE time you had to get MORE cautions...

I raced at DAYTONA, NORTH CAROLINA and LAS VEGAS with the above phenomenon.

This is really no big deal, I still enojoy 5% and 10% races.

I haven't tried 50% and 100% yet...

 

[Damien]

it got an 82 at operation sports, straight 9's at egm, and an 8.5 at ign(unlocked now)

 

[RudyN]

Found a really good car setup on another board for Daytona. This will work at the Daytona 500, Pepsi 400, and the Shootout. Here goes:

Tire Pressure: 30
Front Springs: 100%
Rear Springs: 100%
Sway Bar: Max
Wedge: 4.0

Gears:
1st: stock
2nd: stock
3rd: stock
4th: 0.98
Rear End: 3.70

 

[RudyN]

More info for everyone. I've found track setups on another site for the main 23 tracks. I will be posting them shortly. Trying to re-format them so they are easy to read.

 

[RudyN]

Here they are, tracks setups for the main 23 tracks.

Atlanta

Tire PSI: 15
Fender Flare: 73
Rear Spoiler: 50°
Front Suspension: 100%
Rear Suspension: 100%
Sway Bar: 1
Wedge: 3.5
Gear Preset: 7

Bristol

Tire PSI: 15
Fender Flare: 75
Rear Spoiler: 75°
Front Suspension: 100%
Rear Suspension: 100%
Sway Bar: 5/8
Wedge: 3
Gear Preset: 3

California

Tire PSI: 15
Fender Flare: 73.5
Rear Spoiler: 50°
Front Suspension: 90%
Rear Suspension: 90%
Sway Bar: 1
Wedge: 2.5
Gear Preset: 7

Chicagoland

Tire PSI: 15
Fender Flare: 74.5
Rear Spoiler: 65°
Front Suspension: 40%
Rear Suspension: 40%
Sway Bar: 1
Wedge: 2
Gear Preset: 6

Darlington

Tire PSI: 15
Fender Flare: 75
Rear Spoiler: 65°
Front Suspension: 90%
Rear Suspension: 90%
Sway Bar: 3/4
Wedge: 3
Gear Preset: 5

Daytona

Tire PSI: 30
Fender Flare: N/A
Rear Spoiler: N/A
Front Suspension: 100%
Rear Suspension: 100%
Sway Bar: Max
Wedge: 4.0
Gears:
1st: Stock
2nd: Stock
3rd: Stock
4th: 0.98
Rear End: 3.70

Dover

Tire PSI: 15
Fender Flare: 73.5
Rear Spoiler: 75°
Front Suspension: 100%
Rear Suspension: 100%
Sway Bar: 1
Wedge: 3
Gear Preset: 5

Homestead

Tire PSI: 15
Fender Flare: 75
Rear Spoiler: 65°
Front Suspension: 100%
Rear Suspension: 100%
Sway Bar: 1
Wedge: 3
Gear Preset: 5

Indianapolis

Tire PSI: 15
Fender Flare: 74
Rear Spoiler: 55°
Front Suspension: 90%
Rear Suspension: 90%
Sway Bar: 7/8
Wedge: 2.5
Gear Preset: 7

Infineon

Tire PSI: 15
Fender Flare: 75
Rear Spoiler: 75°
Front Suspension: 60%
Rear Suspension: 100%
Sway Bar: 1 1/4
Wedge: 0
Gear Preset: 3

Kansas

Tire PSI: 15
Fender Flare: 74
Rear Spoiler: 60°
Front Suspension: 100%
Rear Suspension: 100%
Sway Bar: 1
Wedge: 2
Gear Preset: 6

Las Vegas

Tire PSI: 15
Fender Flare: 74
Rear Spoiler: 75°
Front Suspension: 80%
Rear Suspension: 80%
Sway Bar: 1
Wedge: 3
Gear Preset: 5

Lowes

Tire PSI: 15
Fender Flare: 73.5
Rear Spoiler: 75°
Front Suspension: 100%
Rear Suspension: 100%
Sway Bar: 1/2
Wedge: 4
Gear Preset: 6

Martinsville

Tire PSI: 15
Fender Flare: 74
Rear Spoiler: 65°
Front Suspension: 60%
Rear Suspension: 100%
Sway Bar: 1/2
Wedge: 2.5
Gear Preset: 1

Michigan

Tire PSI: 15
Fender Flare: 73
Rear Spoiler: 55°
Front Suspension: 90%
Rear Suspension: 90%
Sway Bar: 1
Wedge: 3
Gear Preset: 7

New Hampshire

Tire PSI: 15
Fender Flare: 76
Rear Spoiler: 70°
Front Suspension: 40%
Rear Suspension: 80%
Sway Bar: 3/4
Wedge: 3
Gear Preset: 4

North Carolina

Tire PSI: 15
Fender Flare: 75
Rear Spoiler: 75°
Front Suspension: 80%
Rear Suspension: 80%
Sway Bar: 1/2
Wedge: 3
Gear Preset: 5

Phoenix

Tire PSI: 15
Fender Flare: 75
Rear Spoiler: 60°
Front Suspension: 100%
Rear Suspension: 100%
Sway Bar: 7/8
Wedge: 3
Gear Preset: 4

Pocono

Tire PSI: 15
Fender Flare: 73
Rear Spoiler: 55°
Front Suspension: 80%
Rear Suspension: 100%
Sway Bar: 7/8
Wedge: 2.5
Gear Preset: 7

Richmond

Tire PSI: 15
Fender Flare: 74.5
Rear Spoiler: 70°
Front Suspension: 60%
Rear Suspension: 80%
Sway Bar: 3/4
Wedge: 3
Gear Preset: 4

Talladega

Tire PSI: 30
Fender Flare: N/A
Rear Spoiler: N/A
Front Suspension: 40%
Rear Suspension: 50%
Sway Bar: 7/8
Wedge: 2.0
Gears:
1st: 3.6
2nd: 1.8
3rd: 1.25
4th: 0.90
Rear End: 4.00

Texas

Tire PSI: 15
Fender Flare: 73
Rear Spoiler: 55°
Front Suspension: 80%
Rear Suspension: 100%
Sway Bar: 1
Wedge: 3
Gear Preset: 7

Watkins Glen

Tire PSI: 15
Fender Flare: 75
Rear Spoiler: 60°
Front Suspension: 60%
Rear Suspension: 100%
Sway Bar: 1 1/4
Wedge: 0
Gear Preset: 5

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

Rudy,
great work!
You have no idea how helpful this is!

 

[RudyN]

Just glad I'm able to be of some help. If I find any revisions, I'll post them.

 

[Jerry Gracia]

Thanks, Rudy.

I'll try them out tonight.

 

[Mike_Stuewe]

Those car setups for each track are really good. They helped out a lot last night as I finsihed tenth at Bristol in my career. Best finish so far in 6 races.

 

[RudyN]

I finally won my 1st race in Career mode. It was race 27, the New Hampshire 300. On the final lap, around the final turn, I passed Dale Jarrett to take the checkered flag. This game is incredible. I love how it makes you work for everything. How is everyone doing in their games? I'm currently 17th in points with 2909, which is 1302 out of 1st with only 9 races left. Looking forward to your replies.

BTW, I'm doing Career mode on Rookie using only %5 races for now.

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

I love this game too!
I love how emotionally involved one gets when racing, like you'll be in the lead and you'll look in your rear view and see Jeff Gordon, Sterling Marlin, Tony Stewart, or Rusty Wallace bearing down on you putting the pressure on! I actually find myself yelling at the screen when i'm in the pits and they're taking too long! :b I'm like "Come on! Get me the hell outta here guys!"
This is how I have my races set up: I'm racing a full season right now on 10% race length, yellow flags are on, unlimited fuel/tires is set to off, assists such as braking and stability control is set to on (I really suck without them as I can't stay off the wall to save my life), damage is set to limited, the AI cars are set to rookie with maximum speed, wreck frequency is at max, aggresiveness and defensiveness are both at max, pit strategy is at half, and mistakes are at half. Plus I use the car set ups you posted Rudy which work really well for me, thanks again.
So far i'm doing ok, i'm three races in, and i'm third in points. I won the Daytona 500, and qualified 1st in the Gatorade 125 taking the pole for the 500. Had some trouble from Jeff Gordon and Sterling Malin at both North Carolina and Las Vegas and finished 22nd and 18th respectively, but that was also due to my poor pit timing, I went in too soon and had a lot of ground to make up.
I'm having a blast with this one, much more so than I did with 2002 that's for sure.

 

[Mike_Stuewe]

Well i wish i was doing as good as the above 2 nascar drivers, but i am not.
I am playing on the basic rookie level right now in career mode. But at 25% for the laps. I think that might be why I am not doin so hot, the car sure does slow down with some damage on it. I am about 30th in points. With my best finish coming off my last race as I finished 10th at Bristol. I believe this is the 6th race of the year. Hopefully I can keep moving up. I blindly picked some stuff for R and D and put it to 9 weeks cuz I didn't know how quickly money came in. :frowning: SO for the next 4 weeks or so, I aint gonna have much improvement, but the money is piling up and I should be kickin ace and taking names by the end of the season. Hopefully it won't be too late for me to make a charge in the points race. And if it is, there is always next season!
Great game. Its way too much fun. You guys aught to consider making the races longer. So much more intensity. It takes nerves of steel to hold onto the lead. When I first got the game, I did a full 500 mile race at Daytona with Jeremy Mayfield. I led about 130 laps before taking too much damage from lapped cars. I wound up fighting to finish in the top 20. This game gets tough, and is really fatiguing on 100% races. Which I think is just AWESOME. This game rules. If you have not bought it yet, then get your butt of the computer and go to the store and buy it. If it is the middle of the night, go wait in front of your local video game store until it opens. If you have to, go to Taco Bell or Denny's or something to get food so you don't starve out there over night. Why are you still reading this? Go buy the game.

 

[RudyN]

I'll probably up it to 25% after I'm done with this season. I only have 4-5 races to go.

 

[RudyN]

Just finished my 1st year of career mode. Finished in 14th place with 3939 points, 1508 out of 1st and made 2.64M.

Starts: 36
Poles: 2
Wins: 1
Top 5's: 4
Top 10's: 9
Avg. Start: 19.5
Avg. Finish: 18.7
Best Finish: 1st
Laps Led: 18
Top Speed: 193.70
Laps: 529

Finished 3rd in the Rookie of the Year standings.

 

[Damien]

i just bought it(my first nascar game)...

 

[RudyN]

Good purchase for a 1st Nascar game. Good luck in your career. If you have any questions, ask away.