i like this game because it is a fully racing game and the cars was a very expensive of wheel base was very good

Whiterabbit ----- Many Thanks

Firefox V3.5 To clear cache > Tools > Clear Recent History > Select items to clear > Clear Now > Your done. A lot easier than before. I suddenly remembered, I have never needed to do this, because it is done automatically in CCleaner.

GMMan, Moderator & Whiterabbit --- Servicing XP makes it smooth, fast and efficient, and avoids the necessity of formatting, and a clean install.

CCleaner, IOBit Advanced System Care, IOBit Smart Defrag, Revo Uninstaller & Eraser, will provide the tools to keep XP well serviced ( clear out all the rubbish from the folders and registry ), and running nicely.

Best Regards Bill3

Your ticker doesn't work. I wanted insert it on my web page, but ...we don't see it

Thank Dean - I have a steering wheel, but it has an old 15 pin (or around 15, lol) plug that I can no longer use it :( I would love a decent wheel and pedal set up to play all my wheeled games (over 30 of them). Using the cursor keys isn't the best way to play any vehicle based game as there's no smooth transition while turning a corner. It's all or nothing, which makes it hard to turn using the keyboard.

:lol:

There's about half an hour of this weeknds game giveaway left. I've stayed up all night so that the comments section could be moderated, but I'm about to get an imprint of the keyboard on my forehead, so any comment made from now till closing time will be moderated later this morning. Sorry.


I meant to celebrate a year of the free games thread on the anniversary of our first year last month, but got side tracked. Anyway, from later today (Monday) for the rest of the week I'll be posting some better than average free games.

rO has kindly agreed to let me post on the days he usually posts and is taking over my Monday/Tuesday slot next week. (Thanks rO)

YAY! A RACING GAMES!!!!! I LIKE IT!!!!! THANKS GAME GIVEAWAY OF THE DAY!!!!!! :) :) :)

I hope this question is not out of line. I have a couple of driving wheels but for some reson they will not work with Windows 7 Ultimate build 7100. Has anyone configured out how to modify anything to get the driving wheel to work. Currently I have been trying Grand Prix 1 by Thrustmaster. I am about to build a special computer with XP just so I can play the driving games that use wheels. Any comments would be appreciated. I will be downloading this anyway. Thanks for all the input and rock on White Rabbit.

I really appreciate GOTD & Hand Made Games for this free offer. However, I dislike arrow keys games, & they make it very hard to steer anything. But I do appreciate it anyway! :) Thanks. :)

To append to WhiteRabbit, another place that you may want to clean out, and it may be more important than the cahce, is your Temp folder. I've seen temp folders that had gigabytes of useless data, just sitting there and taking up space. To access your Temp folder, press Ctrl-R and enter %temp% . To clear it out, press Ctrl-A and press Shift-Del. If it tells you that a file is in use, Ctrl-click the first file highlighted from the top and try Shift-Del. Repeat until the Temp folder is spic and span.

Comment by moderator:

Forgot to mention that one, lol. you're absolutely right - the first time I ever checked my temp folder I was amazed to find around a quarter of my HDD space taken up by the useless junk.

Hi Bill,

The main reason for clearing your cache is to get rid of the junk and free up space. Sometimes files stored in the cache can affect the running or installation of a program. (Don’t ask me how, all I know is, it’s helped me get programs working in the past). It also helps to keep your data more secure as anyone can access your cache and see what videos you've watched, what pictures you've seen, where you've been online plus more.

I realize that clearing out your cache may initially slow down the loading of a particular web page, but that is almost imperceptible from my own experience. Though conversely, it also helps to ensure your browser functions more efficiently and ensure that you are not getting out of date information as the web page you are visiting may have been updated.

p.s. nearly forgot, to access your cache in firefox :


• Select 'Tools'
• Select 'Options'.
• Select 'Privacy'.
• In Private area click 'Clear Now'.
• In 'Clear Private Data' window put the check mark for 'Cache' and click 'Clear Private Data Now'.
• Click OK.

I've only used the latest version of firefox for a limited amount of time. When I did my last format I didn't reinstall it. The above instructions pertain to v2.0. I doubt thinngs have changed, but you never know. If following the above steps doesn't work it means it has been changedin the latest upgrade. :)


A pleasure, Lucky Kitty :lol:

This game is totally unbearable to play. Software installed fine, but the graphics are slow, the mouse jumps when i try to select menu options, and the arrow keys are not very successful for steering. I played the first race twice and I uninstalled it. Tanks alot GGOTD! give us good games!

Whiterabbit

just out of interest, please explain the need to clear the internet cache, and where is it. I use Firefox.

I installed to E:\Nitro Car Racers, which is my games partition, when the installer asked me for a location, and everything went fine.

A big thank you, for the really great job you do, providing games details everyday. I copy them, and put them in my E:\Games details folder, and add the useful comments other people provide too.

Regards Bill. PS I was from Colchester originally, and now live in Auckland, NZ.

Does not like Windows 7 at all. Crashes at startup. I even tried Compatibility mode and still crashes.

Nitro???? I think it should be renamed ASTHMA.
3ghz P4 2gig memory and 256meg graphics and I can blow a balloon up faster.
Nothing resembling excitement at all in this game Sorry

I have tried changing every setting on the graphics but cannot see anything other than the yellow outlines of the cars. I can see the menu screen OK though. Guess its back to Vegas at least I can see those games. Thanks for the other games though!

What is the difference from this to the gametop.com free version?

I'm so bad on this type of game - especially using key control - that I wasn't able to get anywhere near the finish after about 5 minutes of practice mode. But it's got a practice mode, (yay!) so, maybe somewhere, sometime, someday... Thanks, GGOTD. Music's representative, I probably wouldn't change it.

Funny, I've never had this install location problem on my Vista with most of the stuff here. Most everything comes up as C:\Games, except stuff like Realore, which comes up C:\Program Files\Realore and I just change it. I wonder what can cause problems.

Thanks bswarm for the info.

Works fine on Windows 7 Ultimate.

You can change controls by opening Actions.cfg and changing the values. Example change...
up;move_up;Up;false
to
up;move_up;Space;false
to make the space bar the accelerator.

Here's a racing game that I bet 99% of you don't know about & ~50% would like... TreadMarks http://www.longbowgames.com/treadmarks/
It's a Tank racing game. It's old, but the graphics are still good...it just never got much publicity.


Moderator comment:

Yep I was one of the 1%; though it's not free. Still, for $4.99 it's worth a go. You can download a demo. :)

While this game looks interesting, I was unable to get it to run on my Intel Atom Desktop with Windows 7 Home Premium. I have a feeling its more of a program compatability issue rather then an issue where the game requires hardware transform and lighting. Tried using 3D Analyze to emulate Hw T&L on the Intel 945G but no go. Thanks anyways GGOTD.

Downloaded fine but when I try to play, I get the message "has encountered a problem and must shut down. Sorry for the inconvenience" Happened 3 times.

I hope you're enjoying Killing Floor - Did you install all the competition winners maps? There's 60 of them, though the default maps plus the new additions should keep anyone happy whose only going to play it for this weekend.

Try updating your graphics drivers Sleepy.

Argghh! The game refuses to load for me, and no matter how I change the settings it gives me an Access Violation. Maybe I should close Steam and try again, but I only have 5 hours to play Killing Floor.

There's an Options menu that you can use. Open config.cfg, and change sttartmenu to 1.

Will pass ...arrow controls is not for me...thanks anyway ,

Marc

Actually, to correct you, Wrabbit, the installation path being based on your last installed location is controlled in the registry under HKCU\Software\WinRAR SFX. Deleting the right entry will restore the default installation path. In this case, look for an entry named C%%Games.


Thanks GMMan

The game loaded fine but the graphics won't load when I play the game. I can barely see the outline of the cars but nothing else.

No 2, Bob, check for a conflict with your graphics card
Its possible yours is too high or too low quality for the game.
Agree with the comments about the lack of controller support.
Good game though

Installed and activated easy with no problems on Vista 32.Great game to add to the coolection of GAOTD games. Glad you guys are back and keep up the good work. Keep them games comin.. SOME do appreciate all of the hard work you guys do. Thanks again.

LAME!!!!!!!!

the software installed fine,

the graphics aren't bad

however........

gameplay completely sucks !

the " arrow keys only " for steering is absolutley stupid
for a racing game software like this....
even just "mouse control" would be better than " keys control"

if the program author expects to sell this software in today's
market, I'd seriously suggest incorporating
joystick/gamepad, wheel, and mouse support to the
control algorythms.

thunbs down all the way.
uninstalling

Thanks for the heads up, mjs, (comment #3). Whiterabbit-uk also brought up that point in comment #1.

AHAHAH I like too much the 3rd comment

This game can be installed any day with out any restrictions for free from distributor’s page here:
http://www.gametop.com/download-free-games/nitroracers/

Remove all utility to this site

This game can be installed any day with out any restrictions for free from distributor's page here:
http://www.gametop.com/download-free-games/nitroracers/

DOWNLOADED AND ACTIVATED FINE ON MY XP PRO SP2,DELL 2.8GHZ, 512 RAM, 100 MEG VIDEO, CRASHES ON START UP....

Nitro Racers:



Today’s game is a Handmade Games development, and downloads to a 56.6Mb zip file and unpacks to a notepad and dual activation and installation file that expands to 148Mb once the game is installed. To ensure the game installs to the correct path clear out your internet cache or make a note of where it’s being installed. (It may try to install into the last installed games folder. There’s no shortcut installed so you’ll have to create a shortcut once the game has been installed. :lol:


The Game:

The help menu lists the various controls you’ll use during game play. Apart from menu selection which is accomplished with the mouse, everything is controlled by the keyboard. The keys you’ll need to know are movement keys, your nitro button, re-spawn, handbrake and pause;(when I did my first race I’d forgotten about this one and was wondering how I was piped at the post . The cars seemed to pass me with excessive acceleration, lol). The options menu contains only the sound and music sliders.

To win the game you have to complete 10 races. When starting a new game you are asked to create a profile, then you click on the continue button that takes you to the Nitro racers selection page where you can choose from competition or quick race. The quick race has no time limits or points awarder so you can’t unlock the available cars. The quick race is basically for familiarization and practice for the competition. You can scroll through the race tracks, but until you’ve attained third place or better each new track will remain locked.. The only track unlocked is Forest Park the first race track.. Once you’ve selected your track you can select your car. There are five to choose from, but only the first is available initially. To unlock each successive car you need to earn points:, (see the list below for details) It’ll take you at least two races to unlock the first un-lockable. After watching the video (see below), I couldn't see any difference between the three race tracks that were used and I never got to the stage where I could unlock a new car so can't say whether each car has different performance or handling properties. (If anyone does get that far i'd be interested in hearing about it. :lol:



Significa………...Free
Celest……………1200 points
Thunder……….….2500 points
Serpent…………..5000 points
Cerberus………….8000 points

The game is better than some racing games I’ve come across over the years. It looks decent and the cars handle reasonable well, though going around corners can seem a little jerky. You can drift around corners by using the hand break (Left Ctrl). Competing cars seem to race off at the beginning way too fast. The video I’ve linked to shows you the game play. Hints are flashed up near the bottom of the screen.

This is an improvement on the last racer we got from Handmade Games. Nitro Racer is definitely more challenging than any of his previous racing games; though it’s definitely not perfect. Unfortunately I was unable to take many screen captures because each time I took one the computer froze, but the actual game play seemed to run smoothly enough apart from the jerkiness around corners. There was a pause at start-up that looked like a graphics glitch, but the game then fully loaded and looked okay.. I was able to navigate around corners better than the previous game, but that could be because I’ve played quite a lot of the latest Need for Speed game which helps you around corners with warnings about speed (via color coded arrows). It’s got me into the habit of breaking before entering a corner to reduce speed, where previously i'd just go for it, lol. In my first race I managed to keep an average placing of 3rd place and even got into first place for a brief spell, but I forgot about the nitro option and soon lost ground, I though I was going to at least hold 3rd place right up until the end of the race but just before the flag was beaten back into fourth by a car that whizzed past me at great speed. :lol:

Controls:

Movement keys
• Forwards………………….Up
• Brake…………………..…Down
• Left………………….……Left
• Right……………….……..Right

Nitro…………………………..…..Left Alt
Respawn……………………..…….R
Handbreak…………………….…...Left Ctrl
Pause……………………………….Esc



Images and Video:

You can see several screen captures HERE Unfortunately the game kept crashing when I took screenshots and I had to use Ctrl, Alt, Delete to restart my computer, so you’ll only see 6 images, however there’s enough to get an overall impression of the game. Thankfully the You Tube video I found should help immensely to strengthen your impression of the game. You can see the video HERE

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Conclusion:

I think Nitro Racers is Handmade Games best racer to date, though there is still room for a lot of improvement if the developer wants to compete with similar budget titles, for example you can buy games such as Clutch an interesting Zombie racer on the lines of Death Race 2000 or a futuristic racer called Metal Drift that’s available on Steam for around the same price as today’s game. There are several games available via Steam in the same price bracket as Nitro Racers but all have something additional to just racing a car around a track such as the ability to cause damage to the vehicles if you crash, or in the case of Clutch that I mention above, a mission based story line. Also, there are better freeware racing games available, for example CLC Dream Test Drive and BMW M3 Challenge, both of which look a lot better and feel better. However my advice would be to go get Trackmania Nations, which is also free. It’s got better graphics, a better feel, the ability to create your own race tracks plus there’s a massive online community who have created hundreds (if not thousands) of new tracks that are available for download free. See below for many more alternatives to today’s giveaway. Don’t get me wrong, I’d try today’s game to see what you think, all the games I’ve mentioned have something to offer, whether it be ease of use or something different in the way it plays. You can always delete it if you’re not happy with it. There’s no uninstaller so make a note of where you install the game so that you can delete it later. There’s no registration data inserted into the registry and you wont find it in the add/remove programs list. The game is free standing which means you can play this from a flash drive or even a CD.

I’d score Nitro Racer 5 out of 10. I’m a little biased because I have around 50 racing games, all of which I’d rather play than today’s game.

To the developer, you really need to add something to this game that’ll make it stand out in some way, (for example give it a post apocalyptic setting or add poer ups to make the game more appealing. As it stands there are too many cheap racing games out there that offer some of the above. I’d also create a web page where we can go see your products. You’ve given us quite a lot of games over the last year; some of which I’ve still got (all the space orientated ones). I do think there’s a lot of room for improvement yet. Your games are certainly getting better, but they are not quite there yet. (IMO). Thank you all the same for giving these games away, it’s much appreciated.

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Other Information:

Music:

If you want to change the music you’ll find four MP3 files within the data folder inside a separate music folder. You can just make a straight swap for the four files if you want your favourite music playing while playing this game. Though you’ll have to change the names of the files you use to the ones you are replacing. I suggest backing up the files just in case you want to revert back to the original music.




Alternative racing games:

I think a large chunk of the community is going to be disappointed with today’s racing game, so I’ve posted links to Gametop, which have at least 10 racing games for free, some of which, such as ATV Quadro Racing are half way decent. There’s also at least another 10 online racing games.

Good news for those who miss today’s giveaway, this game was recently added to Gametop’s list of games and is permanently available for free. Do take care when installing though because it does ask if you want your browser to be directed to Gametop. The box is ticked by default, so don’t blindly click on next. If you do accidentally have your browser hijacked it’s a simple enough process to return it back to normal. Just right click on your internet icon and select properties. Near the top you should see a button that allows you to revert back to your default home page, or type in the one you want, for example http://www.google.com

You can download Nitro Racer for free (full version) HERE




Then there’s the Wheeled Games thread that includes such classics as Trackmania, which is probably the best freeware racing game available to date, plus loads more games such as Death Rally, Ignition, ReVolt, over 50 flash games, Darkwind, Trackmania Nations, Driving speed 2, BMW M3 Challenge, and a few HERE Finally, you’ll find several decent racing games via the free games synopsis, some of which are actually really good. There’s one online game I highly recommend called Darkwind.. And others such as Bunny Speed, Chase HQ2 Evo, CLC Dream Test Drive, Driving speed, Gene Rally, GLTron, Grand Theft Auto I & II, Ludo Race, Nuclear Motocross, Project Torque (online game), Ragtime Racing, Retro Racers, Stunt Playground, Sunday Drivers, SuperChix 76, Vortex, 3D Game With a Guy Flying a Pedal Plane. Click HERE to search the free games synopsis.






Not forgetting Gametop games. You’ll find the following games available HERE
for download from Gametop; they include Real Racing, Mad Truckers, KBG Hunter, Monster Truck Challenge, Street Racer, ATV Quadro Racing, City Racing, Extreme Racers, Mad Racers, Star Racing (my favourite from Gametop), Crimson Road





Then a few more HERE from FreeGamePick:


:!: A word of warning when installing any Gametop or FreeGamePick game. They are increasingly including toolbar and browser hijack practices, thankfully these can be avoided by un-checking the appropriate boxes during installation. All Gametop games do open up your internet browser when you close the game down, but this isn’t a browser hijack as your home page isn’t changed and once you click on the X, that’s it.

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Commercial Alternatives:

Finally……If you have some spare cash my advice for purchasing a racing game would be to get one of the latest games called Fuel or Need For Speed: Shift The former has loads of different vehicles ranging from bikes and cars to trucks and ATV's. and Shift has many high profile sports cars to choose from. Not In Fuel you get to drive around some of the most beautiful areas of the U.S. The developer has used satellite imagery to recreate areas such as the Grand Canyon. There’s over a 100 000 miles of road and track to explore and 500 000 square miles of ‘off road racing’. If you're looking for something a little cheaper Need for Speed Carbon or Test Drive unlimited are good choices. You can pick either one up for $10 or less. The latter game has over a 1000 miles of road which you can drive around on and join various types of races. It's a recreation of the Hawaiian Island of Oahu.