Just a heads up:

1. Nascar Heat really-really has to be installed in "Program Files" directory. It's hardcoded and this leads to all sorts of issues and unnecessary workarounds (admin privileges, etc). I've circumvented it by creating a directory symlink named "Nascar Heat" in "c:\Program Files (x86)\Hasbro Interactive\" to my installation folder . Will try to patch it once and for all, someday.
2. Nascar Heat UI Control Center and Nascar Heat Mod Launcher are packed with ASPack (it was en vogue those days). Unfortunately it makes them crash if you have EMET running with all knobs turned up to eleven. So I had to unpack them. I'm attaching unpacked exes to this post just in case.

Main question: How does one verifies that vertex damage is turned on? I've downloaded Craftsman Truck Series mod and 34_Raceway.trk dirt track, but when I crash a car into the wall, I see hood and bumper damage regardless of vertex_damage option in mod.cfg and mod launcher. And the breakpoints in sub_4552A0, (this is where vertex damage strings are used) are not triggered, so I wasn't able to dig further for now. Am I missing something?

The game supports 2 types of types of visual damage. Pre staged (on the model geometry) thats always on and vertex damage on the fly.You can tell if its on due to increased loading times and visual damage to models with no pre-staged damage. Had a quick check of the craftsman truck model and it looks like its mainly prestaged at the front end. Youll be able to see if vertex is on by damaging the rear.

The options.cfg should be located within c:\Program Files (x86)\Hasbro Interactive\NASCAR Heat\'modname' and a part quote of what it should look like:

no_speed_overlay no shadow 1 skids 1 smoke 1 specular 0 try_texture_compression no use_radeon_compression_method no vertex_damag […]
Show full quote

no_speed_overlay no
shadow 1
skids 1
smoke 1
specular 0
try_texture_compression no
use_radeon_compression_method no
vertex_damage yes
video_mode 3
[MULTI]

Thanks! Couple of clarifying questions:

1. I don't have the options.cfg file in the mod folder, only mod.cfg. I've assumed that mod launcher automatically renames it to the options.cfg. Is it so, or I should manually copy it as options.cfg ? I'm completely new to this game and it's mod system, so forgive my ignorance.
2. Yep, the damage I've seen is definitely pre-staged one. I'll try some backwards driving 😀. Is there any other car models that come with little or no pre-staged damage, so I wouldn't have to guess what type of damage is it?

Btw, imgur automatically resizes pictures, so you can do this:

1[url=http://i.imgur.com/u1y8k4g.png][img]http://i.imgur.com/u1y8k4gl.png[/img][/url]

and it will show resized picture with link to the full size image in your post.

Good point about the img tag,fixed.
I am a bit unfamiliar with the Craftsman Truck Series and mod launcher.
Place these 2 files inside the CTS mod install directory though. Run from the CTS shortcut .It should load the mod with vertex damage enabled then.

Unfortunately, I couldn't find any working references for the vertex damage modifiers. So I resorted to the brute force: I've ripped all floating point constants used in the code and converted them to the CheatEngine table. All 728 of them. So now, anyone willing to spend time modifying those constants in memory and observing the result, is free to do so.

I've uploaded all relevant info (including cheat table itself and IDC\PowerShell scripts used to create it) to the GitHub repo.

Here is a some offsets to get you started:

• 4F85D0 - Some kind of tire\world opacity
• 4F85C0 - Car will warp\distort, start from 0.9, 1.2 is max.
• 4F8930 - Spin car around its axis (values 3 and up)
• 4F89A8 - Car speed

beatcracker wrote:

Nascar Heat really-really has to be installed in "Program Files" directory. It's hardcoded and this leads to all sorts of issues and unnecessary workarounds (admin privileges, etc). I've circumvented it by creating a directory symlink named "Nascar Heat" in "c:\Program Files (x86)\Hasbro Interactive\" to my installation folder . Will try to patch it once and for all, someday.

Zuh? I have no issues running the game from a d:\games\ subfolder.

Also the game came out in 2000 and is technically inherited from Viper Racing's technology (which had Vertex Damage to the point of ridiculousness where you could damage the whole car down to a single tire)

leileilol wrote:

Zuh? I have no issues running the game from a d:\games\ subfolder.

Maybe it's because I've used a "NASCAR Heat Essentials" package and not a retail game? But there are hardcoded paths and registry locations in the executable and game writes files there. Or maybe you have UAC disabled and\or running game as admin, so it's able to write in the Program Files (x86) folder?

leileilol wrote:

Also the game came out in 2000 and is technically inherited from Viper Racing's technology (which had Vertex Damage to the point of ridiculousness where you could damage the whole car down to a single tire)

Yep, it's even inherited the bugs: Viper Racing vs modern graphics card!

beatcracker wrote:

Unfortunately, I couldn't find any working references for the vertex damage modifiers. So I resorted to the brute force: I've r […]
Show full quote

Unfortunately, I couldn't find any working references for the vertex damage modifiers. So I resorted to the brute force: I've ripped all floating point constants used in the code and converted them to the CheatEngine table. All 728 of them. So now, anyone willing to spend time modifying those constants in memory and observing the result, is free to do so.

I've uploaded all relevant info (including cheat table itself and IDC\PowerShell scripts used to create it) to the GitHub repo.

Here is a some offsets to get you started:

• 4F85D0 - Some kind of tire\world opacity
• 4F85C0 - Car will warp\distort, start from 0.9, 1.2 is max.
• 4F8930 - Spin car around its axis (values 3 and up)
• 4F89A8 - Car speed

Thanks for the effort.I will start digging through them shortly.

sam223 wrote:

Thanks for the effort.I will start digging through them shortly.

Good luck, it's not an easy task. I really hoped it would be easier, but alas 😒.

Hi all, like Sam I've been into Heat modding for a few years.

A limitation within Heat is that when more than 22 different cars are being used, the game crashes.
i.e you can have 40 of the same car fine, but if more than 22 are different to each other, it produces this crash log.

153.47.953: ======================================================================
253.47.953: Sep  6 2002 12:09:31 N W32 M6 R  senor_b 
353.47.953: ======================================================================
453.47.953: mem: p/s/t t/a 1023M/1023M  2047M/1023M  2047M/1956M
553.48.000: JoyBegin
653.48.000: data directory: C:\Program Files\Hasbro Interactive\NASCAR Heat\Data\
753.48.000: Config Dir: C:\Program Files (x86)\Hasbro Interactive\NASCAR Heat\
853.48.000: Add-on tracks dir: "C:\Program Files (x86)\Hasbro Interactive\NASCAR Heat\tracks\"
953.48.000: mod: trying mod "OnlineBangers"...53.48.000: mod.cfg found ok. 
1053.48.000: mod: Config Dir override: C:\Program Files (x86)\Hasbro Interactive\NASCAR Heat\OnlineBangers\
1153.48.000: Running on WinNT version 5.1:2600 Service Pack 3
1253.48.359: ddraw: created directdraw with igdumd32.dll (Intel(R) HD Graphics 3000)
1353.48.359: ddraw: version 0.0.0.0
1453.49.763: vid: 64 meg card (reported:1696.000000)
1553.49.763: vid: using AGP textures (1711), total: 64
1653.49.810: vid: triple buffer on
1753.49.810: texture: supports compressed solid texture
1853.49.997: mr: 3D performance: 1462 MPix/sec, 8875 KTris/sec
1953.49.997: mr: fill rate is AWESOME, poly rate is AWESOME, machine speed is 0
2053.50.044: using sound mixer Sound
2153.50.169: WaveBegin(): Compatibility mode.
2253.50.247: WaveBegin(): Using secondary buffer.
2353.50.398: drivers.txt: Bad line: 1635472
2453.50.408: drivers.txt: Bad line: 1635472
2553.50.438: drivers.txt: Bad line: 1635472
2653.50.438: drivers.txt: Bad line: 1635472
2753.50.438: drivers.txt: Bad line: 1635472
2853.50.438: drivers.txt: Bad line: 1635472
2953.50.448: drivers.txt: Bad line: 1635472
3053.50.448: Using user driver file
3153.50.528: res: ResourceGet("b_career.img") not found, returning NULL!
3253.50.528: Empty image: b_career.img
3353.52.248: res: ResourceGet("b_paint.img") not found, returning NULL!
3453.52.248: Empty image: b_paint.img
3553.53.208: res: ResourceGet("B_event2.img") not found, returning NULL!
3653.53.218: Empty image: B_event2.img
3753.53.298: name = *Hednesford2CWRX.trk/trkshot.img, image = 4d9a5a4
3853.56.368: res: ResourceGet("pract.img") not found, returning NULL!
3953.56.368: Empty image: pract.img
4053.56.378: res: ResourceGet("b_qualif.img") not found, returning NULL!
4153.56.378: Empty image: b_qualif.img
4253.59.818: res: ResourceGet("pract.img") not found, returning NULL!
4353.59.818: Empty image: pract.img
4453.59.818: res: ResourceGet("b_qualif.img") not found, returning NULL!
4553.59.818: Empty image: b_qualif.img
4654.00.248: unloading ui: 169.4 MB
4754.00.308: unloaded ui: 169.6 MB
4854.00.658: ======================================================================
4954.00.658: () Panic: file.cpp: Can't alloc file "C:\Program Files (x86)\Hasbro Interactive\NASCAR Heat\OnlineBangers\260c.car", increase MAX_FILES
5054.00.658: ======================================================================
5154.00.718: except: dec: exe  6b0e29b
5254.00.718: NON-DEBUG
5354.00.718: ( 00419510 , none , my_handler )
5454.00.718: ( 004194A0 , EXCEPTION_BREAKPOINT , ? )
5554.00.718: ( 0041A7F5, call-stack , ? )
5654.00.718: ( 00412A2D, call-stack , ? )
5754.00.718: ( 004E7925, call-stack , ? )
5854.00.718: ( 0041295B, call-stack , ? )
5954.00.718: ( 004E7925, call-stack , ? )
6054.00.718: ( 00418ED4, call-stack , ? )

6154.00.718: ( 00412E51, call-stack , ? )
6254.00.718: ( 00412E97, call-stack , ? )
6354.00.718: ( 00413036, call-stack , ? )
6454.00.718: ( 0041BF61, call-stack , ? )
6554.00.718: ( 0041C2EA, call-stack , ? )
6654.00.718: ( 0040E134, call-stack , ? )
6754.00.718: ( 0040E1E3, call-stack , ? )
6854.00.718: ( 0040E0FB, call-stack , ? )
6954.00.718: ( 004B308B, call-stack , ? )
7054.00.718: ( 004B2C75, call-stack , ? )
7154.00.718: ( 004E9FA8, call-stack , ? )
7254.00.718: ( 004E9EC9, call-stack , ? )
7354.00.718: ( 00418F24, call-stack , ? )
7454.00.718: ( 00496537, call-stack , ? )
7554.00.718: ( 00496014, call-stack , ? )
7654.00.718: ( 0041EBC3, call-stack , ? )
7754.00.718: ( 0041E992, call-stack , ? )
7854.00.718: ( 004B37CA, call-stack , ? )
7954.00.718: ( 004B299A, call-stack , ? )
8054.00.718: ( 004A955C, call-stack , ? )
8154.00.718: ( 004E9FA8, call-stack , ? )
8254.00.718: ( 004E99B7, call-stack , ? )
8354.00.718: ( 004E9FA8, call-stack , ? )
8454.00.718: ( 004E99B7, call-stack , ? )
8554.00.718: ( 00412102, call-stack , ? )
8654.00.718: ( 004E7D0F, call-stack , ? )
8754.00.718: ( 00418F24, call-stack , ? )
8854.00.718: ( 0041290F, call-stack , ? )
8954.00.718: ( 004EBC41, call-stack , ? )
9054.00.718: ( 004EBC25, call-stack , ? )
9154.00.718: ( 004EBC0F, call-stack , ? )
9254.00.718: ( 004EB86E, call-stack , ? )
9354.00.718: ( 004E7D62, call-stack , ? )
9454.00.718: ( 0041F16D, call-stack , ? )
9554.00.718: ( 0041F192, call-stack , ? )
9654.00.718: ( 004E7D62, call-stack , ? )
9754.00.718: ( 0041F11D, call-stack , ? )
9854.00.718: ( 00450065, call-stack , ? )
9954.00.718: ( 004E9FA8, call-stack , ? )
10054.00.718: ( 004E9EC9, call-stack , ? )
10154.00.718: ( 00418F24, call-stack , ? )
10254.00.718: ( 0041C6AD, call-stack , ? )
10354.00.718: ( 004E7E43, call-stack , ? )
10454.00.718: ( 00418F24, call-stack , ? )
10554.00.718: ( 00418F24, call-stack , ? )
10654.00.718: ( 00498830, call-stack , ? )
10754.00.718: ( 00496CB8, call-stack , ? )
10854.00.718: ( 0049672E, call-stack , ? )
10954.00.718: ( 004012BE, call-stack , ? )
11054.00.718: ( 004A942A, call-stack , ? )
11154.00.718: ( 004011E5, call-stack , ? )
11254.00.718: ( 00413F27, call-stack , ? )
11354.00.718: ( 004E7F73, call-stack , ? )
11454.00.718: ( 004E81E0, call-stack , ? )

The .car file it spouts is irrelevant, but the 'increase MAX_FILES' line has always intrigued me.
I suspect the MAX_FILES is set to 22 somewhere, due to PC limitations at the time. It'd be great to be able to increase this to 43
Would anyone know how or where to change this?

Dalags wrote:

I suspect the MAX_FILES is set to 22 somewhere, due to PC limitations at the time. It'd be great to be able to increase this to 43
Would anyone know how or where to change this?

The code here looks like it's checking the MAX_FILES limit:

If you could upload an archive with more than 22 different cars, that crashes the game (with short note about to how to install them), I could look at it more closely.

I think you need Heat Essentials installed to be able to run mods, if you've not got that you can get it here: http://www.heatfinder.net/downloads.php?f=19

Install this test mod to: C:\Program Files (x86)\Hasbro Interactive\NASCAR Heat\testmod
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5Dc9XzP3SQ7 … 3hxOW1GMGc5RGM/

Use the mod launcher (called NHml2 in C:\Program Files (x86)\Hasbro Interactive\NASCAR Heat), which comes with the Essentials, to run the mod
Ingame on setup you can change the amount of cars in a race after selecting a track

beatcracker wrote:

Maybe it's because I've used a "NASCAR Heat Essentials" package and not a retail game? But there are hardcoded paths and registr […]
Show full quote

leileilol wrote:

Zuh? I have no issues running the game from a d:\games\ subfolder.

Maybe it's because I've used a "NASCAR Heat Essentials" package and not a retail game? But there are hardcoded paths and registry locations in the executable and game writes files there. Or maybe you have UAC disabled and\or running game as admin, so it's able to write in the Program Files (x86) folder?

leileilol wrote:

Also the game came out in 2000 and is technically inherited from Viper Racing's technology (which had Vertex Damage to the point of ridiculousness where you could damage the whole car down to a single tire)

Yep, it's even inherited the bugs: Viper Racing vs modern graphics card!

I have the CD version and it runs properly in any directory you install it to. It's the Essentials mod package that seems hardwired to Programs (x86) - which is a pity since it's a nice mod interface. I try to keep C as free from data and games as possible, and after a few hours of installing and testing mods and add-on tracks the folder was cresting 1.5gb - just too fat for me to justify.

But the base game is cool and I content myself with two stand alone installs on D drive - one with the default tracks, another with a an all road course schedule.

I tried to create stand alone installs of the various mods that could be run independently of the mod launcher. Though I couldn't manage it I think there may be a way to it by having the proper files in the root and 'run' folders at launch. For another time..