Hi guys. Well thanks for the hundreds of comments that you’ve been passing in my direction. The response to my SHIFT2 UNLEASHED blog posts have been so full of ideas, thoughts and questions that I’ve literally had to take a moment to figure out what to say. So for this blog post I’m going to try and dive in to explain some more detail first on the customization system which will hopefully answer some of your many questions.
Now the whole customization system in SHIFT2 UNLEASHED is entirely geared towards building up your showroom model into a full-on race car. Although you can build grass roots drift cars, I should stress that the pathway we’ve laid out for the customization is not based around cosmetic street styling. Rather, it’s all about performance and racing.
So as you build up your car, they tend to get increasingly extreme and wide with a focus on downforce. This is why we’ve focused on fully intregrated body work updates.We didn’t want to create a jigsaw puzzle of body kit updates as that’s more a modified street car type of mentality.
The same goes for things like tire stretch and wheel spacers: this isn’t really what this game is about. Circuit cars tend to have low center of gravities and larger/wider diameter wheels… So yes you can widen your wheel package from stock and choose your rim circumference. But once you have fitted race rubber to your car, the exact tire sizes are pre-determined by what can fit the actual real life car.
SHIFT2 is all about intensity of racing action, but for this blog post I’m going to focus on the details of the cars in the game. More specifically I want to show you more BMW content! The cars in this article are by no means ALL the BMWs that ship with the game, but give you an overview of some of my fav machines.
When SMS producer Suzy Wallace and I sat down last summer to design the specifics of the new engine swap system, we felt a bit like mad scientists concocting some crazy Frankenstein customization options. Much giggling there was.
We’ve had to keep all engine swaps within manufacturer boundaries for obvious licensing reasons, but within this we’re still able to come up with some cool chassis-to-engine combinations. BMW in particular have their amazing S85 Five Liter V10 engine which you can stuff into almost all the different BMW chassis.
For these screen shots, I swapped the S85 V10 into our brand new (to the SHIFT franchise) E30 M3 model but opted to leave its internals stock.
It’s power was more than enough to offer me a fun drift experience around the Nordeschleife.
Of course that’s not the full pathway for this E30 as you rebuild it into a full racing machine… something on par with a Berg Cup hillclimb special.
Some of you might prefer to keep upgrading the original 4 cylinder engine to create a well balanced race car.
But in the spirit of some of the wilder machines you see on the Berg Cup, we also allow twin turbos and full race rebuilds of the V10. Power outputs in excess of 1000 hp are possible.
The idea here was to really make you think about your chassis development. More power is not always the answer to getting the best out of a race car!
We wanted to give the choice to the player, to let them design the character of the race car around the type of race discipline.
My 1000 hp works E30 was quite a handful around the Nordschleife!
I literally could only fully open up the throttle if the car was already pointing straight.
Perhaps if this was a Time Attack specific machine the crazy power spec might work out, as you only need to string together a single lap time after all. For a circuit racer, I bet I’d get more consistent lap times and results with half the power.
The V10 twin turbo combo also fits into the E36 M3 chassis…
… and the E92 M3 as well.
You can see that SMS has created a bit of a DTM style chassis here for the works spec E92 M3.
Its downforce does a much better job of dealing with the insane power delivery from the boosted V10 power plant.
I’m quite excited with the inclusion of the M1 Procar in SHIFT2 UNLEASHED.
It’s a great handling, perfectly balanced race machine. Wonderful!
Hey so I know a lot of you have questions about Drifting in SHIFT2 UNLEASHED and am pleased to say that Vaughn Gittin JR is going to be posting a blog about his involvement in the game on Wednesday. He should be able to answer quite a few of your outstanding questions.
Talk soon.
:Rod Chong
OFFICIAL SPEEDHUNTERS SUPPLIERS
Please make some preview of Mitsubishi cars )))
Fantastic... Now, is this going to be a sim-style or will it have the arcade-styled handling?
please for the love of god let the dpad be used for steering i hate using the joysticks and trigger buttons.
wow, this post just convinced me to buy this game. can't wait for my m1
Let's see, engine swaps and an E30? Oh hell yes I will most likely buy this game. Seriously. I can finally have my 2JZ-powered Supra and drive an E30 M3 too.
Literally, the selection of cars is what will convince me to buy this game. I want as many as possible!. All the above mentioned BMW are must haves in my book.
I like this.
have any of you guys played any of the FMs?
FM3 has 500 cars and engine swaps, but it's been out for about 18 months now, so you can pick it up for about 20 dollars.
Warhol M1, better be in there.
No tire stretch, yay!
WOW man totally psyched that you guys are adding the older models for the bimmers. Wicked psyched don't forget about the others out there like the skylines, STI, sirocco,gulf,914,carmogia, older 911's and Merc's. I know it is a tall order to add them to the already detailed list you guys got but, you not GT5 don't compete with it. Keep it fun and add the option of harder settings. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK! Thumbs up!
Put some more Euro cars on it !!! Opel, Renault, Citroen and Peugeot
love the inclusion of the E30 ! more cars on it like the Mercedes 190, Sierra Cowsorth , Escort MK2 , Starlet kp61, Kadett C, R32/R32 4door, R33, Soarer, Chaser, PS13 we want cars that we see on a race, drift or trackday
The game is visually appealing, but having played #1, I was extremely put off the lack of actual driving feel when playing the first shift.
This looks really good. Just some questions.
When is the final release date?
Where can we see a full list of the cars?
Are all the cars left hand drive?
Amazing, I'll be driving those Beemers around for quite some time. Also, will there be any skylines in the game? i.e. R32, R33, and R34?
Can't wait!
So how does the painting work? Pre-determined liveries or what?
meh, it's just a video game folks. let's concentrate on the real thing instead of these shift2 coverage bullshit
Yes! Finally a 'classic' european car with great racing pedigree!!
Should be great fun getting the most out of the E30 chassis!
I'm in love with that E36.
that advan e30 soooooooo sick
Please put some subaru in this game, gc8 are rarely well represent in car games.. like in gt5
E39 M5 plzzzzz!!!
Great post again. I was just wondering if DLC will be available for more cars in the future? There's a lack of DLC for GT5 and this looks much more promising! Fingers crossed we'll get some more nice old school metal in the game too
Cheers
E30 M3 in a game!?
I'm sold. Gimme!
I hope you can put V8s in anything...
honda preview specifically the s2k and nsx
very cool about the e30 and all the swaps! is the e39 m5 going to be included? so many games leave it out nowadays, a shame
^^ but this is NFS yo!!! and what if you have a Playstation and want Forza but obviously you can't get it, so Shift 2 is the solution.
graytotoro....sorry to burst your bubble but it does say that 'all engine swaps are within manufacturer boundaries for obvious licensing reasons' (7th picture)
does sound like a good aspect for the game though! was hoping GT5 had something like this!
Mind showing us some Fords. Maybe a SN-95 Mustang.
my question is how do the cars drive? cuz ive played lots of racing games and FORZA 3 is my favorite handling wise cuz it feels realistic, i hate GRAN TURISMO 5 cant believe i bought it when it came out now this game looks appealing but is the driving feel similar to forza
more old schoolin please!
***** STEERING WHEEL. I WILL NOT BUY IF I CAN'T USE IT!!! *****
Those BMW's hit so close to home... I may have to pick this game up after all.
I really hope they add a gc8 into this game
removing the universal customization system that the Need for Speed franchise is best known for? these physics better be damn good, Rod. for your own sake
You got it all! Thank you! BMW are must!
I hope Vaughn tried the game with a steering wheel, this time: to fine tune the drift mode with a game pad... well, it's a bit far away from reality.
i just played shift. and it was crap. plz fix everything that was wrong w the first one. it could have been such a good game. Why couldnt i copy vynals, or paint wheels, and why were the drifting tracks covered in oil??????? O.o
god i love this site. everytime i hear more about this game, i want it even more and more!!! i cant wait, that helmet cam looks to be fun in drifting.
1000hp ae86 here I come!!
Hahaha
brillaint! what about the volkswagens!?
@Ken: ..You do know this website is powered by Need For Speed right..? hahahahaha
The M1 modelling is brilliant! Looks amazing.
I dont get it why it is missing E34 M5? its a classic performance machinery...
I dont get it why it is missing E34 M5? its a classic performance machinery...
Thanks for the update Rod. I do have a few points to bring up. First, why did you hype the tire-stretching, old rims, etc to all the Speedhunters readers, and now you are saying theres NO tire stretch, and no rubber choices. Which is it? Is this geared to the JDM/Drift scene or the hardcore race scene? Also, you tantalized everyone with the FC and what you can do to it, but now you are saying its going to be only whole-car aero, like the terrible looking kit in Shift 1. Doesn't it feel a little dirty to cash that check, knowing you bait-and-switched like this? Same with the drifting, NFS copped out again. Yay, single-player drifting only, and the multi is just comparing scores. Wow. You just earned yourself a pirate, not a purchaser. Sorry guys, you crossed the line here with me.
Seems that racecar 2.0 will be needed to get along with this game? "Hey, why don't built a jet - engine in our chassis, maybe we reach 10000HP!"
OK, to be serious: I would prefer a well balanced classification system then "modifiing" your favourite but yet underpowered car into abstruse regions to compete in later areas of the game. Actually, races with different classes would be real fun AND realistic. The more i write the more i like the idea. Winning the World Tour - or whatever the challenges later in the game are called - with small cars by gaining your class - victory instead of the overall victory. Let the poser drive in their ugly Pagani Huyaria (or whatever this..thing is called) with more or less impossible speeds, while the real motorsport happens a level below. Oh yeah...
well the spacers and stretch was just to add to the customization.. don't feel like doing it.. w/e im not happy with it but it won't ruin the game for me.. we need more classics tho.. im bored of all the same over and over again.. i mean all the rx7's(the new one) rx8, same supra same mercs same skyline same cars in EVERY game.. it really gets boring after a while.. do something different and add cars that can actually be used for racing but at the same time be more UNIQUE to gaming.. like mk1 mx5, escorts(the older ones) e21 bmw.. some hatches (not only the new ones) i mean some proper hatches fiestas, colts, pugs like 205 etc.. all these cars would really push me into buying the game.. atm i feel like its a "reworked" version of shift.. after all we had m1 in shift.. not for pc of course.. but it was there.. so was the bunch of ferraris.. and you just don't feel the "exclusivity" when driving those over and over again in 10s of different games.. ok they might be PROPER good cars.. but let us have choice.. i do mod a game which is really old really buggy and many people enjoy older/everyday cars a lot more than the actual lambos, ferraris, mclarens and other supercars..
YESSSSS! The E30!!!!
What about Audi? Please include some oddball stuff, like the UrS4/S6, the Audi V8, and other stuff.
Sounds cool! But you will add designing tools, won't you? At least a few......like in Shift 1 or Prostreet.
M1 Procar and E92 DTM style car... Yes, I am definitely buying this game.
Very nice! Will the regular E30 2door and 4door versions be included - games always seem to leave out these iconic models. Also are S50/52 swaps available?
Great articles on Shift2, keep them coming!
hey i know there are no mixed manufacturer motor swaps, what about like no name motor swaps like say... "need for speed V8" for example, and plop it into say RX-7, because as far as i know mazda doesnt make V8's. I dunno its just an idea waaaaay to close to the release date.
Ok, so here's my idea's about this game so far...
It sounds like this is really going to be a stick a engine in a car, pop in a custom suspension and go race some Lambo's type game. And that's cool and all, but it's not what would make me want the game. Sure, I'd love to stick a 1000 HP Twin Turbo engine in my Nissan Skyline GT-R RS4 and rape people, but I want a car that looks completely original while I do it. Come on guys, this is really simple- take the Need for Speed: Carbon customization and put it in here! Auto-sculpting our body kits would be awesome. Not enough downforce? Instead of setting a slider to the right and saying "Yup, your good now", why not go into the body kit and add more downforce from a custom-shaped wing or front bumper? Change the dimensions of the front splitter, make the front end hang lower, let us make it look cool. And what happened to engine tuning? Do better than you did in Prostreet with that. Let us custom tune the fuel pressure, the timing, the boost, everything that manufacturers can change. And especially, custom parts. I don't want to put on a engine package, I want to put on a manifold when I have money, then cams, a crankshaft, whatever I feel like I need to bring my car to the next level. These are the things that will make me buy the game. And we want more Oldies; I'd love a '69 Camaro, even if I only could race it effectively in low-level races. The Barracuda, a car that many of us love even if it can't turn. Thanks for reading my rant lol
God this looks great! I really hope PC doesn't get forgotten with some of the cars like last time =="
Many of these cars are available in Forza 3 (as has already been pointed out), with the option of engine swaps, ans I have to agree with louie, the handling in Forza is really very good. Also I think Forza 4 is coming along in November so will that have one over Shift 2 very quickly? As much as I think some of the Shift 2 features look interesting, I think I'll wait for FM4 where I know there'll be a good balance between sim realism and arcade playability.
ok so i like the engine swaps but i also agree with a couple of people that made good points ! like being able to fully tune any of the motors like dyno tune's to see if changing boost pressure or timing or fuel pressure helped or hurt you, pretty much anything a real racer or race team could and can do with a motor it should be in the game man that would be awesome and to add to that you should have pit stops too, make fuel and tire wear a factor repair car damage as in if roll the car or hit the wall so hard it would be just like in real life race accidents when you loose a tire from a wreck things like that or a tire goes flat from wear as well ! you should be able to run the risk of blowing your motor just like in a real race damn these things would be so great for a change in a game like this ! you say the realist game ever well you fall short of that so far do to lack of this stuff ! i mean still a great game dont get me wrong but you could do 100 times better ! also would be cool to have a test and tune drive session as well and log the the data and times after you make a change to the motor or suspension or aero ! if a game had all this and i know it can be done oh and add way more cars like forza 3 ! i would pay out the ass for it like i wouldnt care if it was 200.00 bucks !!!!!!! so dont be scared man just do it and i can promis you it would be the best and biggest race game to come and deserve the title realest race game ! come on guys you can do it ! im a bigg fan of nfs games ! as i am gt5 and forza 2 & 3 !
Nice custom cars