Questions and answers/Howto:

  • Q: Where can I purchase Nascar Heat ?
    A: Best place to have a look at is ebay or some online shop. But if you only want to run mods, the Heat Essentials package from The Mod Squad is all you need. Apart from tracks and cars, that you have to get separately


  • Q: How can I install NASCAR Heat on another drive than c: ?
    A: Tricky... unfortunatley you have to install the base game in default folder, as its hardcoded to Heat expects to find its resources there. But you can make Heat look for mods and tracks elsewhere. Here's a detailed tutorial how to do


  • Q: How can I install NASCAR Heat on a Windows7 PC ?
    A: 1. First install it (or Essentials) to "c:\Program Files (x86)\Hasbro Interactive\Nascar Heat" - take care about the spaces
        2. Install Mod Launcher 2 to "c:\Program Files (x86)\NH Mod Launcher 2"
        3. Install mods to "c:\Program Files (x86)\Hasbro Interactive\Nascar Heat"
        4. You may have to disable Security intervention in Windows7


  • Q: How do I start a mod ? There's no EXE included
    A: You can either start a mod by using Mod Launcher 2 (recommended) or by using the shortcut in the mod's folder, if there is such. But you could set up a shortcut of your own. Should have a line like this
    "C:\Program Files\Hasbro Interactive\Nascar Heat\nheat.exe" -mod:modname

    modname has to be the mod's subfolder name


  • Q: How do I run NHeat as dedicated server ?
    A: You have to add several lines to options.cfg and then start the game by using the -dedicatedserver parameter. Or by using Mod Launcher 2. Here's a detailed description how to run NHeat dedicated server


  • Q: The game says 1200x1024 screen res is max. Any way for higher res ?
    A: There is :) Check for UI Control Center.


  • Q: I don't feel much FF, though I have put it to full strength
    A: On some devices, especially Logitech ones, there's some trouble with the deadzone definitions. Which is most likely the problem here. Open up options.cfg with notepad and check for the line ff_deadband_width and set it to some negative value (like -15). That should do the trick. If it doesn't, check advanced.txt in C:\Program Files\Hasbro Interactive\Nascar Heat folder. There's a chapter about advanced FF settings in there and how to edit options.cfg to get it right.


  • Q: How about usage of multiple controllers ?
    A: No problem at all. Even if it's > 4 additional controllers (+ mouse/keyboard)


  • Q: How to configue my H-shifter ?
    A: You'll need to check out what device number the shifter has on your PC. Then open up options.cfg and move down to [CONTROL] section; add lines like these:

    free_g1 #3:Button 3
    free_g2 #3:Button 4
    free_g3 #3:Button 5
    free_g4 #3:Button 6
    free_g5 #3:Button 7
    free_g6 #3:Button 8
    free_reverse #3:Button 1

    if for example your shifter is device #3 on your PC and you want to assign the shifter's "button" #5 to 3rd gear. You'll have to enable the use of the shifter on Advanced Options screen in the game


  • Q: There's no Garage available in the game to setup the car ?
    A: There is. But you'll have to put the game to a higher difficulty mode to make Garage available. To make the game use a reasonable damaging, switch to hardcore mode


  • Q: How do I switch to hardcore mode ?
    A: Open the file option.cfg in the mod folder with notepad or any other texteditor. There's a line HARDCORE_MODE=No. Change that No to YES and save the file. When you now restart the mod, you can enable Hardcore mode on SETUP screen.


  • Q: Where can I get additional tracks ?
    A: You will find tracks here for example:


  • Q: Is there any base setup available for the cars ?
    A: Yes, most often there is in the mod's setups subfolder. Just copy the file to the track's subfolder that will be created in setup folder once you have loaded a track for the first time. GroupC setups for specific tracks can be found at setup download page


  • Q: How can I put my own car paint to a mod ?
    A: Look at carpaint tutorial


  • Q: The AI performs badly ? Is there any way to improve this ?
    A: There's improved AI driveline files for all tracks used in Championship mode coming with some mods (*.GCF or mod_ghostcar.res files).
    But you can easily make you own improved AI for any track. Look at AI tutorial


  • Q: How about visualizing damage on the car ? What about damage effects ?
    A: Heat supports damage modeling as well as dynamic vertex damage. While damage modeling depends on if the specific mod's author has added this to the cars, dynamic vertex damaging can be switched on/off in options.cfg in [GX] section. Just switch vertex_damage no to yes or vice versa. The effects of damage to the car's physics are displayed when pressing F7. There's considerably more damage effects in HARDCORE mode than with the lower difficulty modes.