Game:

Need for Speed III: Hot Pursuit (1998)

Category:

Preview

Duration: 8:36

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8

..::READ THE DESCRIPTION::..
ENGLISH ONLY

Shalom, Comrades - Internets and welcome to the next "special" demo segment of "Play the GAME!" series. In this episode, we will cover some racing action in "Need For Speed III Hot Pursuit" once again. This time however, it's going to be little different, as today we'll take a look at the second existing, little known demo version of the game. This is the Sneak Preview Pre-Beta Demo of NFSIII.
Before I explain the technical and gameplay aspects of this release and notable differences with the full and default demo version of the game, let me first share a little background trivia. The Pre-Beta seems to be very little known to Need For Speed community, as there is almost no information about it on the web, including NFS Wikia. I've been familiar with the existence of pre-beta for quite a long time, as I first played many years ago, thanks to old video-game magazines. Because the time did its job though, I wasn't able to play it again, as my original CD got lost and despite the long searching on the web I eventually gave up. Until recently I was doing several experiments with virtual machines, with the main emphasis put on playing old games that don't work on 64-bit OS. For the first shot, I decided to try out old Need For Speed demos, mostly the aforementioned game and its succesor, "High Stakes". I typed the phrasis on Google, I clicked on the first link reffering to the NFSIII demo, I downloaded it and installed it in virtualized Windows XP 32-bit. Although, I thought it was going to be the default demo release with Corvette, I became immediately suspicious about it. First, the installer was changed, second, icons were quite different, as they resembled more NFSII design. I started it and... suprise, there it was! Eventually, I obtained the game again, totally spontaneously. Even though it didn't work well on Virtual OS, I knew I gotta keep it for later. A quick transfer via USB Flash Drive was made into Lenovo G550 with Windows 7 32-bit. The game was installed and played with no major difficulties. Hence, you can watch this video now.
Having covered the background, we now can focus on the pre-beta content itself. According to "README" file, this version was released in 15th of June 1998, four months prior to full version. Just like the default Corvette demo, it was published 'as it was', with no support whatsoever. Given the nature of this release, it can be also refered as "Work in Progress" and Win32 Alpha (according to the release's executable) interchangeably. As you can see in the video, there are lots of notable differences. Because the space here is limited, let's mention just a few of them:
- If you played the full release, you may notice, that Pre-Beta's driving physics is different, that is more arcade, thereby a little stiff. The car now tends to understeer more. Therefore, braking before turn is now more recommended than in both the full and Corvette demo version.
- The Cops AI in Pre-Beta is more aggressive. They can follow you for a long time and once they hit you in front, you're Busted. The "heat-o-meter" is non-existent; instead, the only way to find out the squad cars whereabouts is by checking the purple dots on mini-map.
- Different looks of Heads-Up Display. The upper bar is transparent, instead of blue color. Also, the rear mirror and mini-map have different, blue frames. Some elements such as table of drivers are positioned differently.
- Different camera work. Slight, but noticeable.
- Compared to Corvette demo, you can now race two laps on Rocky Pass. Also, the original music is included. Hot Pursuit is the only available mode and difficutly level doesn't randomly change.
- Interestingly enough, the Pre-Beta's "Game Features" section mentions about 12 officially available cars, even though the Corvette demo mentions about 13 of them and as such they're included in full release. It is unknown, which car was added later in the development.
- In comparison with the default demo version, this release is even bigger technical oddity, as it is more unstable in terms of functionality. Although it doesn't have to occur often, the Pre-Beta tends to freeze while loading and when exiting. Also, it doesn't work well on 64-bit OS if copied onto the system, even on Software Mode. Therefore, it is suggested to play it on 32-bit OS or Virtual Machine (I tested this posibility, however the performance is quite questionable).
That is all for now. Therefore, enjoy the video and thank you for additional support.

Toda ve l'hitraot!

Video's info:
Car: Lamborghini Countach 25th Anniversary

The gameplay footage depicted in this film was captured on 32-bit operation system.
This video can be displayed in 1080p quality.

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DISCLAIMER!
The following video may contain visual and audial imageries and themes that may not be suitable for children under the age of 13 and as such, it is NOT MARKED FOR KIDS!

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