Need for Speed: High Stakes
Encyclopedia
Need for Speed: High Stakes, released as Need for Speed: Road Challenge in Europe and Brazil and Over Drivin' IV in Japan, is a 1999 racing
video game, developed by Electronic Arts Canada
and published by Electronic Arts
. It is part of the Need for Speed series
, once again featuring a host of exotic sport cars and tracks located in Western Europe
and North America. It is notable in the Need for Speed franchise for being the first installment to include a damage model and a career mode where the player earns money by winning races and can spend it on more cars, upgrades, or repairs.
, High Stakes retains standard races and police pursuits in game, as well as introducing a new form of tournament (High Stakes), and two new pursuit modes (Getaway and Time Trap). The game also introduces a Career Mode, as described in the subsequent section. The physics are improved compared to those in Hot Pursuit, which included for the first time damage modelling which affects both the appearance and performance of a given vehicle.
Hot Pursuit mode, which was first introduced in the first game, remains in High Stakes. There are three modes in total, two of which were new to the series.
and tactics in High Stakes are very much similar to that of Hot Pursuit, with the exception of several improvements. Jersey barrier
s, hay bales, traffic and flares
are added into roadblocks, while a new form of police vehicle, the police helicopter
(also a bonus playable car only in the PS version's Test Drive mode, that is unlocked with a cheat code or after 10 speeders are arrested with the Pursuit Diablo SV) is introduced, allowing the police to trace the player's car from the air, using a searchlight
at night. The helicopter is, however, unable to detect the player hiding in buildings or tunnels, which do not appear in the PlayStation version. Police vehicles remain relatively diverse, with inherited police cars from Hot Pursuit, as well as several new rides, including Porsche 911, BMW M5 and Chevrolet Caprice-based models of color schemes corresponding to their geographical location. With a command in the PC version, one could even drive any of the said vehicles while "being the cop" in Pursuit Mode. In the console version, if the player is racing in Hot Pursuit Mode in single or duel races, and during the race, the normal police cars are outraced, an AI officer with a supercar will join the chase in an attempt to stop the player.
Police radio chatter is also unique to the country the tracks are set in, with police accents in Scotland and England or Australia (in the Australian version, on the Durham Road track, the cops will still speak with the British accent, despite being set in Australia) distinctively different from each other and to those from the United States or Canada, and can be toggled on/off and replaced by American/Canada police chatter in the track options menu in the PlayStation version. Exceptions to this include police based in non-English-speaking countries, which are substituted by American/Canada police chatter. However, in the PlayStation version, in the track options menu, it can be set to Local Police Mode, which allows European police chatter in German and French.
, and may hamper their performance and victory in races. Vehicle damage can be toggled on or off in standard modes, but Career mode permanently enables this feature, requiring the player to spend cash on any repairs after completing a race in the tournament. This mode also allows players, for the first time in the franchise, to upgrade cars, although the feature simply consists of switching between three upgrade levels for each car, each differently affecting the performance and look of the vehicle. In the PlayStation version, damage is a bit different in some areas from its PC counterpart. Unlike the PC version, the different damage includes losing spoilers and lightbars on Police Cars, which would automatically turn them into Slicktop units. Also, unlike the PC version, damage is automatically repaired in Tournament and Special Events modes, depending if there is enough money in the player's account after the race.
). Instead, the playlist randomizes racing music on each circuit. In the Sony PlayStation version, a pop-up notification appears in the corner of the screen to signify the beginning of new music track, along with the name of the track and the artist that composed the track that is similar to EA TRAX pop-up in NFS Hot Pursuit 2.
EA released official 4.50 "Internet Beta Test Patch", that enables the game to run on XP without any errors, albeit the high poly patches are still needed in order to be able to play with some detailed fan-made cars. Also, the patch does not update the 3D Setup, so the game cannot recognise most videocards and sometimes is lagging. This can be helped with replacement of d3da.dll by the more modern version, notably by the one from the next NFS game, known as Porsche Unleashed in the U.S. The game will still not recognise more videocards that it had though, unless the fan update of 3D Setup is installed. Such an update is available in the form of an archive named spotpatch.zip.
Note, that in the version of the game before 4.50 it is impossible to add new cars, even the official EA updates.
It is possible, though unofficially, to play the game under Vista using a tutorial on NFScars made by "LukeSkillz", and videos on Youtube
have also shown that the game is compatible on Windows 7.
Racing game
A racing video game is a genre of video games, either in the first-person or third-person perspective, in which the player partakes in a racing competition with any type of land, air, or sea vehicles. They may be based on anything from real-world racing leagues to entirely fantastical settings...
video game, developed by Electronic Arts Canada
EA Canada
EA Canada is a video game developer located in Burnaby, British Columbia. The development studio opened in January 1983 and is EA's largest and oldest studio...
and published by Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts, Inc. is a major American developer, marketer, publisher and distributor of video games. Founded and incorporated on May 28, 1982 by Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer games industry and was notable for promoting the designers and programmers...
. It is part of the Need for Speed series
Need for Speed
Need for Speed is a series of racing video games published by Electronic Arts and developed by several studios including Canadian-based company EA Black Box and British-based Criterion Games...
, once again featuring a host of exotic sport cars and tracks located in Western Europe
Western Europe
Western Europe is a loose term for the collection of countries in the western most region of the European continents, though this definition is context-dependent and carries cultural and political connotations. One definition describes Western Europe as a geographic entity—the region lying in the...
and North America. It is notable in the Need for Speed franchise for being the first installment to include a damage model and a career mode where the player earns money by winning races and can spend it on more cars, upgrades, or repairs.
Gameplay
As in its predecessor, Need for Speed III: Hot PursuitNeed for Speed III: Hot Pursuit
Need for Speed III: Hot Pursuit, released in Japan as Over Drivin' III: Hot Pursuit, is a 1998 racing video game, developed by Electronic Arts Canada and published by Electronic Arts. It is the third major title in the Need for Speed series, significantly incorporating police pursuits as a major...
, High Stakes retains standard races and police pursuits in game, as well as introducing a new form of tournament (High Stakes), and two new pursuit modes (Getaway and Time Trap). The game also introduces a Career Mode, as described in the subsequent section. The physics are improved compared to those in Hot Pursuit, which included for the first time damage modelling which affects both the appearance and performance of a given vehicle.
Career Mode
Career Mode has a chronological set of tournaments that challenges the player to complete a set of races for trophies to unlock bonus cars and tracks. This incorporates a monetary reward system that allows a player to purchase vehicles, performance upgrades, and repairs with the money they earn by winning tournaments. In addition, most "Tiers" (selection of 1 to 5 individual competitions) require that the player compete against one opponent in a "High Stakes" race, where they bet their current car. There are more tournaments on the PC version, and they are different from the console one - for example, the PS version separates the Career into two separate modes, Tournament and Special Event, with the second being optional.High Stakes Mode
High Stakes race is a challenge, wherein the winner of the race will obtain the loser's car, while the loser loses his car. On PlayStation it is a separate 2-Player mode, which required 2 memory cards inserted and deleted the loser's car immediately after the race to prevent re-loading. On the PC version, High Stakes races are only found in Career Mode, where most Tiers include at least one High Stakes race mode, where the player bets their car against an opponent with a car of similar performance. The player must own more than one car to participate in a High Stakes race.Hot Pursuit Mode
- Classic: Classic mode is essentially similar to the Pursuit mode in Need For Speed 3, which allows the player to race against another opponent in a track filled with police cars, or drive as a police to arrest all the racers in an event.
- Getaway: High Stakes introduces Getaway mode, in which the player must evade the police alone within a set amount of time, or if the player plays as a policeman, they must arrest the speeder in a certain amount of time. If the speeder has not been arrested when the time is up (whether the player is a speeder or a cop), the player has the option to quit to the Race Results menu or to continue play for as long as possible. The PC set amount of time is 2 minutes.
- Time Trap: There is also a new Time Trap mode, in which a player, as the racer, is required to complete a race within a set amount of time; while playing as the police, a player is required to arrest all racers within a similar time limit. In the Play Station version, you have to arrest 10 speeders within a set amount of time. The player there can also call for backup - a feature not available in the PC version, as well as setting up spike strips and road blocks is different from the PC version. In multiplayer Pursuit Mode, the players can either race against the police, become cops themselves or, alternatively, one player can be the cop and the other can be the speeder. Also in the PlayStation version, if the player is the police, his/her car will not be at the starting line behind the speeder, like it is in the PC version, but instead at various hotspots, like the AI police.
Computer A.I.
Pursuit AIArtificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that aims to create it. AI textbooks define the field as "the study and design of intelligent agents" where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its...
and tactics in High Stakes are very much similar to that of Hot Pursuit, with the exception of several improvements. Jersey barrier
Jersey barrier
A Jersey barrier or Jersey wall is a modular concrete barrier employed to separate lanes of traffic. It is designed to both minimize vehicle damage in cases of incidental contact while still preventing crossover in the case of head-on accidents....
s, hay bales, traffic and flares
Flare (pyrotechnic)
A flare, also sometimes called a fusee, is a type of pyrotechnic that produces a brilliant light or intense heat without an explosion. Flares are used for signalling, illumination, or defensive countermeasures in civilian and military applications...
are added into roadblocks, while a new form of police vehicle, the police helicopter
Police aircraft
A police aircraft is an airplane, helicopter, powered paraglider, or blimpused in police operations. They are commonly used for traffic control, ground support, search and rescue, high-speed car pursuits, observation, air patrol and riot control...
(also a bonus playable car only in the PS version's Test Drive mode, that is unlocked with a cheat code or after 10 speeders are arrested with the Pursuit Diablo SV) is introduced, allowing the police to trace the player's car from the air, using a searchlight
Searchlight
A searchlight is an apparatus that combines a bright light source with some form of curved reflector or other optics to project a powerful beam of light of approximately parallel rays in a particular direction, usually constructed so that it can be swiveled about.-Military use:The Royal Navy used...
at night. The helicopter is, however, unable to detect the player hiding in buildings or tunnels, which do not appear in the PlayStation version. Police vehicles remain relatively diverse, with inherited police cars from Hot Pursuit, as well as several new rides, including Porsche 911, BMW M5 and Chevrolet Caprice-based models of color schemes corresponding to their geographical location. With a command in the PC version, one could even drive any of the said vehicles while "being the cop" in Pursuit Mode. In the console version, if the player is racing in Hot Pursuit Mode in single or duel races, and during the race, the normal police cars are outraced, an AI officer with a supercar will join the chase in an attempt to stop the player.
Police radio chatter is also unique to the country the tracks are set in, with police accents in Scotland and England or Australia (in the Australian version, on the Durham Road track, the cops will still speak with the British accent, despite being set in Australia) distinctively different from each other and to those from the United States or Canada, and can be toggled on/off and replaced by American/Canada police chatter in the track options menu in the PlayStation version. Exceptions to this include police based in non-English-speaking countries, which are substituted by American/Canada police chatter. However, in the PlayStation version, in the track options menu, it can be set to Local Police Mode, which allows European police chatter in German and French.
Damage engine and upgrades
Another innovation is the introduction of damage models. The player's car, those of the opponents, traffic and police vehicles are susceptible to physical and visual damage, ranging from broken taillights, wobbling wheels and a dented bodywork, to performance penalties in the form of damaged suspensions or a battered engine. Such damages are easily inflicted by hitting objects (including signboards), landing too hard, or rolling overRollover
A rollover is a type of vehicle accident in which a vehicle tips over onto its side or roof. The most common cause of a rollover is traveling too fast while turning.- Dynamics :Vehicles can roll over in several ways...
, and may hamper their performance and victory in races. Vehicle damage can be toggled on or off in standard modes, but Career mode permanently enables this feature, requiring the player to spend cash on any repairs after completing a race in the tournament. This mode also allows players, for the first time in the franchise, to upgrade cars, although the feature simply consists of switching between three upgrade levels for each car, each differently affecting the performance and look of the vehicle. In the PlayStation version, damage is a bit different in some areas from its PC counterpart. Unlike the PC version, the different damage includes losing spoilers and lightbars on Police Cars, which would automatically turn them into Slicktop units. Also, unlike the PC version, damage is automatically repaired in Tournament and Special Events modes, depending if there is enough money in the player's account after the race.
Race Tracks
The race tracks in Need for Speed: High Stakes are from seven races with three extra ones called "Raceways", they are:- Landstrasse, Germany
- Route Adonf, France
- Kindiak Park, Canada
- Durham Road, Australia (England in some of the PS1 versions)
- Celtic Ruins, Scotland
- Dolphin Cove, U.S.A
- Snowy Ridge, U.S.A
- Raceway, Italy
- Raceway 2, U.S.A
- Raceway 3, Spain
Music
In High Stakes, instead of the mixture of electronic and rock music genres from Hot Pursuit, only electronic music is available. The interactive music feature, including pursuit music, was also dropped and themed tracks were no longer used (re-introduced again in NFS Most WantedNeed for Speed: Most Wanted
Need for Speed: Most Wanted is a racing video game developed by EA Black Box and published by Electronic Arts. It is the tenth installment in the Need for Speed series. The game features street racing-oriented game play, with certain customization options from the Need for Speed: Underground series...
). Instead, the playlist randomizes racing music on each circuit. In the Sony PlayStation version, a pop-up notification appears in the corner of the screen to signify the beginning of new music track, along with the name of the track and the artist that composed the track that is similar to EA TRAX pop-up in NFS Hot Pursuit 2.
PC version
Incompatibilities
High Stakes installs successfully onto Windows XP, but fails to run on some XP installations, displaying the message Not a valid Win32 application, or something similar. But due to its popularity with the Need For Speed fans, many unofficial patches have been produced to not only make it work successfully on XP, but also to increase the maximum poly count on cars in the game (the original game crashed in car selection menu if the vehicle had more than 5000 polygons due to mirrored floor and the patch removes the mirror effect; also even with fixed menus, the game can crash during loading or even when the race is in progress, if high-polygon cars are used; this does not apply to the cars present in the game and with official add-ons), generally improve the graphics and to fix some errors, such as not saving options and constantly appearing only 1Mb free warning.EA released official 4.50 "Internet Beta Test Patch", that enables the game to run on XP without any errors, albeit the high poly patches are still needed in order to be able to play with some detailed fan-made cars. Also, the patch does not update the 3D Setup, so the game cannot recognise most videocards and sometimes is lagging. This can be helped with replacement of d3da.dll by the more modern version, notably by the one from the next NFS game, known as Porsche Unleashed in the U.S. The game will still not recognise more videocards that it had though, unless the fan update of 3D Setup is installed. Such an update is available in the form of an archive named spotpatch.zip.
Note, that in the version of the game before 4.50 it is impossible to add new cars, even the official EA updates.
It is possible, though unofficially, to play the game under Vista using a tutorial on NFScars made by "LukeSkillz", and videos on Youtube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
have also shown that the game is compatible on Windows 7.