NASCAR 4 is newest Papyrus project in their series of NASCAR simulation software. The history of Papyrus and racing sim software spans almost an entire decade, with Indianapolis the Simulation, then release of NASCAR Racing 1 in the mid 90's, to the release of NASCAR Racing 2 in 1997, and most recently, NASCAR Racing 3 in the latter part of 1999. Well, firstly I must say that NASCAR Racing 4 is not an action game but a racing simulation for hardcore players. Although the game does feature an Arcade mode of gameplay, the difference between arcade and simulation mode of play is mostly physics based. So really don't expect any kind of arcade/action entertainment :P There are 4 types of gameplay: Testing Session, Single Race, Championship Season or Multiplayer. Testing session allows you jump to the action quickly and do some practice runs, single Race allows you to go through the process of a single race, including qualification if you desire, championship season allows you to play an entire cup season and test your skills against the top NASCAR racers and finally multiplayer supports up to 32 players. NASCAR Racing 4 has been pretty improved, especially the graphic, the game utilizes a new 3D engine (though this new engine requires relatively very fast computer - preferred system is a P3-500/128RAM and a 32MB accelerator). If you own old computer, don't be desperate, the game is capable of running on a low-end Pentium II 266 with an 8MB video card at a decent frame rate, though much of the detail will be missing.

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The 3D sound support is also very solid with DirectSound3D, A3D and EAX support. In addition the game also includes driving aids to help if you're not dedicated to learning the game and just want to have some occasional fun. In summarizing, this is a truly racing simulation, probably the best NASCAR racing simulation of all time. Download playable demo (70.7MB) that features multiplayer and single car racing at Dover or Michigan.