Help a fellow gamer out

[SuperDave9x19]

Hello. Long time NFS fan. Had no clue there was a real on line component. After discoverring this and drooling an hour, I proceeded to prep myself for a painful taste of real racing.

I Downloaded NFS:PU 3.5 patch. It had no real readme, but the format looked like ya drop all zipped elements in your NFS folder. All worked well, no save games lost, no issues at all playing as I always have.

BUT I CANNOT GET ON LINE!!!... I have made an account (same name as this one. see ya on line sometime I hope). When I hit multiplayer, it says I need an update. As the file size does not seem to match the 3.5 patch, I assume that it is some Multi-player thingamajig.

Nothing happens. Just waits. And waits. It sure didn't tell me to go anywhere and download anything.

Checked forums and this is apparently a known issue with recommendations to just let it sit there and it will eventually work.

I retried overnite. Kept my connection but got no new info.

Please help me to get started. I am normally fairly PC capable but this is aggravating me.

Thank you in advance.

[SuperDave9x19]

well, after reading more of the same recommendations, i tried the update 2 more times.

When I tried the 4th to get on, it didn't offer me th option to update and I got on line!!!

No messages for failure or success with patch download, but it now works.

Thanks...



I guess...

Yee Haw. I will try a race tonite.

[DC_Geezr]

:beer: That's great SuperDave,have fun online,it's a great community!:D

DC_Geezr/ Ric ;)

[SuperDave9x19]

I think I am going to get crushed horribly with a big smile. After a while Dylan and Parise just don't cut it.

I hope that whatever "startup period" (where you prep/modify or whatever to your cars for a race) is generous or at least easy to pick up.

Does anyone know of any way to "beef up" the single player mode with tougher AI or at least AI where 5 out of 7 don't pick weenie cars.

[DC_Geezr]

:) Hey SuperDave!A couple of questions;have you finished the "Evolution" mode in the single play (offline) game? That's where you can earn prize money by winning tournaments.As you progress thru the eras,you buy cars and parts to modify the suspension drivetrain etc. You can also make a lot of money by buying,repairing and selling used cars.

I'm afraid the AI is pretty hopeless,although there is a thread on the main forum with a link to a d/l that is supposed to improve the AI in the singleplayer game,but after trying it some racers said it made no noticeable improvement.:mad: One thing you can do in singleplay to make it more challenging,is to select a slower car than the AI drivers are using;for example,if you're doing a tournament where the AI drivers are using the 67 911,you could select the 62 356 Carrera2,same catagory,but a slower car for sure.

Before trying online races,make sure your owned cars have all the most expensive parts installed,then you can sell off the original stock parts.Also get the d/l cars that came out after the original game was released.The 959,GT2,GT3,and 928.If you go online and join a pit,without having d/led these cars,and someone else in the pit selects one of these cars to race with,you will not be able to race,and you will have to leave that pit.=(( well this is getting kind of long,so ill stop here,but if you need any help with set ups,or whatever just post your questions in the main forum,or browse the NFS sites for tips and hints etc.

Good luck,and have fun! DC_Geezr/Ric ;)

[SuperDave9x19]

Don't stop.
I have finished EVO and my current project is to race ALL cars I ever souped in Rally of Europe in Evolution. Seems the 89 Class 3 car Modern is the most cost effective for me. Low cost repair, guaranteed 2nd usually 1st place. Can place 3rd with my fav, 78 930 souped up. Close to making 2nd.

Got 4 odd million dollars and 6 odd Moby Dick's in case I need money. Never liked or botherred much with factory driver. Use Joystick. System is amply capable of this game and my current interest is due to an upgrade to PC.

It's amazing how little info exists on this game compared to Unreal Tournament, for instance.

Any input you give is wonderful charity duly appreciated.

What was this reference to "Official" DL cars?... I seen a few oddball paint schemes, but official downloads? Ya lost me. I remember 2 cars I DL'd like a year ago (928 was one) but never used cause I didn' know what to do with them. As the game was so cool, I diodn't worry about adding a few cars. Now I cannot find anything. Have I missed it since game is old?.

My name at home on evolution is "Dadster" which shows on line. But I signed on EA as SuperDave9x19, my online name for lo these many years...

Can I change my name wih some "hack" that is not a hack. I don't use editors. I just want my name to be me. At home, I am the Dadster...

Any help you give is OKiedokie and at your expense of time. Don't stop on my account.

Gonna try a race NOW!!!

[SuperDave9x19]

asking me if I would DL the update.

Again.

Tried cancel. no dice.

retried. Left it sit an hour.

Twice.

No go.

This is a drag.

[jtace]

I would suggest backing up your savedata, then reinstalling the game. And then letting the game download the update itself. If I read it right you downloaded the update from a website?

Dunno what else to suggest really.. good luck with it.

[Cheyenne]

Hi there, Dadster! :wave:

Sorry for your troubles in getting online. Yes, it sounds like you downloaded a 3rd-party version of the 3.5 update and either it was broken or for some other reason didn't quite work. By all means, follow jtace's advice. Copy your entire "SaveData" folder elsewhere, Uninstall the game (deleting the folder manually if you have to) also uninstall the "game updater" if it is installed (called "Electronic Arts Game Updater" in your add-remove programs dialog). Delete it's folder manually if after running uninstall it still exists. Then reinstall the game. You will come to a point where it installs or asks to install the "game updater", if there's an option make sure you do indeed install it and as long as it doesn't violate your sense of aesthetics to much, please let it install in the folder it suggests (the updator that is, the game doesn't seem to be bothered going anywhere.

Then for your first offical act, copy your "SaveData" folder into your NFS-Porsche main folder (you probably won't need to overwrite anything as this folder doesn't exist [I believe] until you create a player and have some "data" to "save".)

Then start the game, select your "persona" and go straight to "multiplayer" and "internet". The game should update. Don't play it, don't write a letter to your mother, just start the game and it should update. The game should ask you to update, if it does ask, say yes/okay/affirmative, whatver. the game will then go to desktop and should start the Game updater which will use a DOS window from time to time (patching, i believe). When it's done, I believe the game will restart and you should be able to connect to the EA servers on the internet.

Yes, there is a way to change your name, both how it appears online and how it appears offline.

1), you can use what's called a "Persona Editor". There is one available here: [SK]Wazza's Totally Cool Site! (http://www.wazza.tk). Follow the Need for Speed links and then Files/Hacks/Programs, whatever he is currently calling that section and there you can download the editor.

Another way to change your "online" name is to open a "new" EA Racing account. (make sure to "Add" NFS-Porsche as a game to your account! Also Account Names and Passwords are "case sensitive"!) Start NFS, select your "persona". Go to "multiplayer", then "internet" type in the "new" Account Name and password. Log on. When you log on it will say that the "name" is already in use (hehe, by your previous Account!). Type in a/the "new" name. Note the names are case sensitive. So if a name is in use you can change the capitalization. "dadster" may certainly already be taken. If so, you could choose "Dadster" or "DadSter" or "DadsteR" or "DADSTER" or even punctuate it like "Dadster!", anything to make it different and to arrive at something you are comfortable with. You are limited to an 8-character name using this or the Persona Editor method.

Sometimes however, the editor will not work if the offline name and the online name are not the same. I've seen this happen too often. If that's the case you will need to edit the files in a Hex Editor. you need to edit the "*.sav" file that corresponds to your persona. If you perform an ASCII search in a hex editor for the offline person name (like "dadster") it will take you to that name, followed by "Hex:00" and then followed by the online name. you can change both those names here. If the name you are changing to is of different length you MUST either insert or delete values. Say you are changing from "Frosty" (6 Characters) to "YuckyGod" (8 characters), overwrite "Frosty" with "YuckyG" and then insert "od" after your overwrite. If you see players with names beyond 8 characters, they were edited this way (bytes were "added"). You can obtain a maximum of an 11-character name this way. After editing these files you must rename the *.sav and the *.hud files associated with your "persona" to match the "offline" name. So, if you were "Frosty", you'd have something like "2Frosty.sav" "Frosty1.hud" "Frosty2.hud", and after editing "2Frosty.sav" to be "YuckyGod" you would need to rename your files "2YuckyGod.sav" "YuckyGod1.hud" "YuckyGod2.hud".

If that's too complex, you can zip up or simply attach your 3 files and send them to me, I'd be happy to edit them to your tastes. Glad to help. This however does sort of necessitate me getting your "Account Name" and "Password" for your EA Online racing account (they are included in your *.sav file). You could of course, make a new account and try to log on with that, then cancel, and that would then store that account name and password in the *.sav file, then you could send them to me and when I send them back, you can change your password. It's just that if you do send to me for editing, it is a big help to me if I can go online and make sure everything displays properly. Like I said, glad to help out.

Anyway, I wish you great luck in getting the 3.5 update installed properly and that you have great success in getting online. I know I enjoy online racing with NFS-Porsche very much and am always glad to help anyone else getting going with it. Feel free to email me or PM here if you have any questsions. And always, the people here at Racerplanet/TotalNFS are wonder and a great resource. Never hesitate to ask a question.

Take care, have at blast at the tracks!
:D

[SuperDave9x19]

yeah, i considerred the uninstall. Will do it now.

I will NOT install the 3.5 patch myself.

Printing out your suggestions. Will be running by this weekend for sure, but I hope by tonite.

Thank you all for the effort above and beyond normal help.

[SuperDave9x19]

reinstall and let it do it itself with auto patch worked.

I want to say that I think my original issue was that my game is installed with same as default path but on D:

Anyway, over lunch, 2 guys quickly, nicely and efficiantly got me into a race.

Thanx to these guys, SE7EN7 and Moe, for giving me a simple start upassist.

[jtace]

Good to hear it worked mate! :)

:beer: