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August 29, 2003[]

Server Shutdown
"We at Electronic Arts and MCO Staff both past and present would like to say thank you for being a part of a great online racing game experience. Motor City Online service ends today, but it will live on forever in the hearts of the racers who loved the game.
Thank you for all your enthusiasm for Motor City Online and making it such a great place to play.
Regards,
MCO Staff"

January 6, 2003[]

Update 8.3

What's New[]

  • Sports Cars - The 1966 Shelby Cobra, the 1996 Toyota Supra, and the 1997 Mitsubishi Eclipse are now made available for players to own. Each player is entitled to purchase one of each through Righteous Rides.
  • More Parts - 200+ parts include springs, sway bars, chin spoilers, rear spoilers, brakes, transmissions, air scoops, blowers, NOS, tires, tires, and more tires! Majority of these parts can be purchased through the parts catalog.
  • Part Auctions - Parts auctions have been slightly modified for springs, transmissions, and tires. 20+ common parts will no longer be spawned, but still available through the parts catalog.
  • Parts as Prizes - New parts introduced in this update will also be available through parts as prizes.

December 18, 2002[]

Update 8.2

What's New[]

  • Holiday Paint Jobs - 3 specialty paint jobs have been created by the MCO team for this year's holiday giveaway. Each persona will receive a specially painted truck body before Christmas 2002. See paint jobs for: 1956 Ford F-100, 1955 Chevrolet Cameo and 1953 Chevrolet 3100 Pickup.
  • Custom Paint Jobs - 15 custom paint jobs created by players for the 1949 Mercury Coupe, 1957 Ford Ranchero, 1969 Oldsmobile 4-4-2 and 1970 Ford Mustang. See Custom Paint Job Gallery for images.
  • More Parts - 50+ parts include engine blocks, crankshafts, connecting rods, pistons, exhaust manifold, intake manifold, and more.

Bug Fixes[]

  • The following parts will no longer cause race violations: Dunbar Domed 1.0 Pistons (Buick BB); Dunbar Competition Crankshaft (Buick BB & SB); Perfect Port Usurper Dual Plane Intake Manifold (Buick SB).
  • The following parts will no longer break your car: Dunbar Premier Roller Valve Train (Buick BB & SB); Dunbar Lightspeed Roller Valve Train (Buick BB & SB).

November 7, 2002[]

Update 8.1

Bug Fixes[]

  • Fixed a bug that prevents 1957 Chevrolet Corvettes from entering Classic races.
  • Fixed a bug that causes race violations for the Buick Small Block Piston - Dunbar Domed 1.0.
  • Removed Lindstorm Monster and Vindicator Blowers from Parts Auctions. Existing blowers will remain in player inventory, however, they will not function properly.

October 24, 2002[]

Update 8

Bug Fixes[]

  • Fixed a bug that prevents 1957 Chevorlet Corvettes from entering Classic races.
  • Fixed a bug that causes race violations for the Buick Small Block Piston - Dunbar Domed 1.0.
  • Removed Lindstorm Monster and Vindicator Blowers from Parts Auctions. Existing blowers will remain in player inventory, however, they will not function properly.

October 24, 2002[]

Update 8

Additional Changes[]

  • Race rewards on Industrial Flats have been increased for all game modes.
  • Base model of the new trucks will be available through auto sales.
  • Some Buick and Hemi engine parts will be available through parts catalog.
  • Club Races and Open Trials now share the same class restriction.
  • Potter NL 30 Nm sway bar will be removed from the catalog and all auction car spawns.
  • Competition records will be tallied and reset on 10/25/02 due to track setting changes.
  • 1997 Mitsubishi Eclipse will be added to the game once the manufacture gives the final approval.

October 19, 2002[]

Update 8

What's New[]

  • Industrial Flats - A brand new 4.6 mile street track that takes you through the industrial section of Motor City. In addition, Industrial Flats will be split into 3 smaller segments - The Scrap Ya, The Foundry, and The Loading Docks. For more information, visit Industrial Flats under Upcoming Features.
  • Public Race Records - Accessible through the Community Center, Public Race Records will display race results of Circuit Races and Street Races for up to 2 weeks after the race. A perfect tool to track results for all event organizers. See Public Race Records under Upcoming Features for more details.
  • Imports - 1996 Toyota Supra and 1997 Mitsubishi Eclipse. These cars will be available through sponsored mode only.
  • Trucks - 3 trucks have been added to Motor City. They will be released through auction houses. The models are 1953 Chevrolet Model 3100, 1955 Chevrolet Cameo Carrier, and 1956 Ford F-100.
  • Custom Paint Jobs - 24 player created paint jobs spread across 4 cars: 1949 Mercury Coupe, 1957 Ford Ranchero, 1969 Oldsmobile 4-4-2, and 1970 Ford Mustang. Majority of the paint jobs will be available through auction houses while a few are available through the detail shop. See Custom Paint Job Gallery for images.
  • More Parts - Engine parts for Buick SB, Buick BB, Oldsmobile SB, and Hemi engine families. Other part categories include performance tires, springs, transmissions, and more.
  • Sports Class - A new car class reserved for specialty cars. This feature will allow cars like the 1966 Shelby Cobra to be released for the players to own.

Changes/Improvements[]

  • Sponsored Races & Trials - Imports are added to existing list of cars available for sponsored races and trials.
  • New Track Settings - New track settings for Open Trials and Sponsored Trials.
  • Reward Adjustment - Minor race reward adjustments have been applied to selected tracks and game modes.

Bug Fixes[]

  • Fixed visual corruptions while viewing cars at a distance.

September 18, 2002[]

Update 7.2

What's New[]

  • Jade Antelope - Ghoughakka's Egyptian vacation took him onto a search for the Jade Antelope. His victorious pink slip race against the ghost of Trouble's grandfather won him the car that used to belong to his own grandfather, Fast Freddy, the 1959 Chevy Impala. Now citizens of Motor City may purchase this car through Auto Sales.
  • Beach Baby - A brand new custom paint job for the 1932 Ford Coupe. This paint job will only be available through selected events (player and/or staff) and not spawned through auctions.

July 31, 2002[]

Update 7.1

Changes/Improvements[]

  • Righteous Rides - Stock version of the cars released in Update 7 will be available in Righteous Rides.

Bug Fixes[]

  • Custom Paint Job "Voiture de Course" now contains the proper image file. This change will only impact new spawns of this car. Cars with the old "Voiture de Course" paint job will still display the "Diablo" image but with the name "Voiture de Course". That version of the car will no longer be spawned.

July 24, 2002[]

Update 7

What's New[]

  • New Home Screen - A simplified home screen to improve navigation within the game. Players may customize their navigation through the Favorites bar. All areas of the game are still accessible via the pull-down menus. For more information, visit New Home Screen under Upcoming Features.
  • Custom Paint Jobs - 24 player created paint jobs will be available through car auctions. There are 6 paint jobs for each car body: 1932 Ford Coupe, 1957 Chevrolet Nomad, 1965 Ford Mustang, and 1967 Chevrolet Chevelle. Every player will receive a car body with a random custom paint job.
  • More Cars - 4 new cars including '70 Plymouth AAR Cuda.
  • More Parts - A series of new parts including rear ends, wheel rims, valve trains, carburetors, and more. Some parts will be available through catalogs while others will be available through auctions.

Changes/Improvements[]

  • Drag Racing Race Results - Race results screen for drag racing has been cleaned up to improve usability.
  • Parts as Prizes & Parts Catalog - A list of parts formerly available through Parts as Prizes are now available through Catalog.
  • In-Game Help - Help text in-game has been updated to reflect the latest version of MCO.
  • New Track Settings - New track settings for Club Turf Wars, Open Trials, and Sponsored Trials.

Bug Fixes[]

  • Drag racing results will display the correct winner consistently now.
  • Drag racing times will add up correctly now.
  • 1970 Ford Mustang paint jobs no longer have the Boss logo on them.

June 26, 2002[]

Update 6.3

What's New[]

  • 4th of July - Trouble made a deal with Mayor Gassenplume to release some surprises to the citizens of Motor City come 4th of July. In exchange, Trouble get to release 24 Custom Paint Jobs in Update 7 instead of 15. Read about it in Local News.

Bug Fixes[]

  • Having 40+ Paychecks un-cashed will no longer crash the game.
  • Various server side bug fixes.

May 22, 2002[]

Update 6.2

What's New[]

  • The Truth - Update 6.2 sets the ground for what's forthcoming to the MCO Community. If you haven't had a chance, be sure to follow "The Stuff Mystery" under Local News.

Bug Fixes[]

  • Final Biddings for cars should work as intended now.
  • Various server side bug fixes.

May 15, 2002[]

Update 6.1

Changes/Improvements[]

  • Improved Rewards - A boost to all Race Rewards so that they are similar to what they used to be before Update 6.

Bug Fixes[]

  • Fixed 345 Tires so that they are really 345 tires and not 335 tires.
  • The Boss 429 will now spawn with the Boss engine. Existing 429 owners will receive the Boss block in their inventories.
  • Fixed Club Re-registration fee to $50,000. Club Registration remains $500,000.
  • Reverted Final Bidding back to the way it was prior to Update 6.

May 2, 2002[]

Update 6

What's New[]

  • Team Trials - A brand new race mode for Circuit Racing and Street Racing. This cooperative mode pits racers against a clock and award players based both individual performance and team performance. For more information, visit Team Trials under Upcoming Features.
  • Hub View - An alternate view of chat channels. Hub View displays active cars of players in the current chat channel / lobby. If the location has more than 4 players, the highest level persona's car will be seen. There is a 10 second delay between cars pulling into the Hub View. Please refer to Hub View under Upcoming Features for more details.
  • Goose Pointe - A brand new 5.4 mile circuit track for level 11+ racers in Motor City. Details and screenshots can be found on the Goose Pointe page under Upcoming Features.
  • Classified Ads - A new addition to the Community Center. For a fee, Classified Ads allow players to post messages in one of the pre-defined categories such as For Sale, Wanted, Club Activities, and Events. Please refer to Classified Ads under Upcoming Features for more details.
  • Player Index - Another addition to the Community Center. Similar to Club Index, Player Index is a centralized listing of all players in Motor City. See Player Index under Upcoming Features for more details.
  • Local News - The third addition to the Community Center for this update. Local News replaces Competition, Commerce, and Club News. It will be dedicated to feature player generated content through our Submit Story Program. Please refer to Local News under Upcoming Features for more details.
  • More Parts - Tires, camshafts, cylinder heads, spoilers, rear ends, and shocks. Also a new engine block family. Some of the parts will be available through the parts catalog while others will be available through auctions.
  • More Cars - 4 new cars, including '70 Plymouth Hemi Cuda.
  • Club Title - Club Captains and Officers can give each member a customized Club Title.
  • Club Re-registration - Registered Clubs have the ability to change logo, acronym, and club details with a fee through re-registration.
  • Persona Profile - Players can now add a text description of themselves from the "My Profile" screen. The description is displayed while viewing personas.
  • New Vehicle Power Classes - Added Power Class SA, SB, SC, and SD. These new classes begin at a power to weight ratio of 0.20.
  • End Race Camera - The end race camera now shifts to the next player who has not yet crossed the finish line.
  • Populated Races - Available from the Racing drop-down menu. Populated Races will display a list of racing lobbies that are most active at the moment.

Changes/Improvements[]

  • Improved Progression - Race rewards tuned to ease level progression. Tracks and Righteous Rides are unlocked by level instead of rank. For best payout, race the track of your current level.
  • Trade Interface - A warning dialog will appear if content of a car has been changed while viewing details.
  • Club Races - Club races now carry Open Race rewards.
  • Class Restricted Turf Wars - Turf Wars are now Class Restricted. Each track requires a different class of car.
  • Expanded Turf Wars Rewards - Top 5 Turf War clubs will now receive rewards upon weekly tally. The Captain, Top 5 Racers, and all Members will receive in-game cash reward.
  • Expanded Open Trials & Sponsored Trials Rewards - Top 10 Open Trials & Sponsored Trials Champions will now receive rewards upon weekly tally, instead of top 3.
  • Expanded Top Dog Rewards - Top 5 Top Dogs will now receive rewards upon weekly tally, instead of the number one player.
  • Car List Sorting - Cars are now sorted by year in all pull down menus.
  • Garage - The garage now exists in a pop-up window, combined with the active car selection pop-up. You can also view car details from this menu.
  • Player Hosted Auctions - The auction has been limited to 3 days maximum with new prices.
  • Parts as Prizes - Winner of the race will have a random chance of winning a part, instead of a guaranteed chance.
  • New Player Info - New Player Info has been renamed to General Chat.

Bug Fixes[]

  • Fixed redline bug when both gas and break are engaged.
  • Fixed redline bug when downshifting using computer shifting.
  • Fixed the shifting problem when the car hits air.
  • Fixed a bug where parts would be completely worn out after a race.
  • Fixed the Auction paging bug where the same page was visible after clicking page 1, then page 2, etc.
  • Fixed a problem with ghost car states, which will improve the effects of "Lag".
  • Fixed various vehicle auction mail notifications.
  • Fixed the 4 hour time discrepancy when putting cars up for auction.

April 5, 2002[]

Update 5.1

Changes/Improvements[]

  • The Troubleshoot menu now has a Disable Sound option. If you are experiencing exception errors or random lockups, try disabling sound to see if the problem goes away. If it does, you may have sound hardware conflicts that you will need to resolve to restore proper sound compatibility.
  • The Troubleshoot menu now has a tool to reset all user settings.

Bug Fixes[]

  • The sub-menu inaccessibility bug in the workshop and auctions is fixed.
  • Fixed an exception error during racing.

March 26, 2002[]

Update 5

What's New[]

  • Bug Report Form - There is now an in game bug report form, available from the Request Help link.
  • Wind - There is now wind in races. Wind is randomized with every race type on all tracks and varies in direction and velocity. Wind direction and speed is displayed during racing.
  • Club Un-Invite - Club Captains and Officers can now un-invite players who have not accepted the invitation, yet remain on the member roster as pending.
  • Club Logo - Club Logo of previous week's Turf Wars winner will be displayed on the Lobby screen.

Changes/Improvements[]

  • Paycheck - Weekly Paychecks are at $1000 per level instead of $250.
  • Bank Balance - While viewing another player's profile, his/her bank balance will no longer return $0. Instead, bank balance will not be revealed.
  • Top Ace Inventory - Top Aces now have an inventory limit of 1200 instead of 1000.
  • Permanent Muting - Permanent Muting now disallows muted players from trading and emailing the muting player.
  • Race Create / Join Timeout - The game will timeout after 90 seconds while trying to create / join a race, if the game is experiencing a blocked port (port 9000-9500) or severe internet latency.
  • Race Start - When the race host leaves the room, all readied players become un-readied.
  • Race Rewards Tab - Improved user interface for Race Rewards Tab during race creation.
  • Parts as Prizes - Parts as prizes have been re-enabled and the exploit eliminated.

Bug Fixes[]

  • Fixed another tire wear issue.
  • Fixed the Pentium 4 front end frame rate problem.
  • Fixed the disappearing mouse cursor bug while in the Workshop.
  • Fixed security violation caused by the JE Ford BB pistons (1.25).
  • Fixed the lap time display in drag racing test drive.
  • Fixed the default sorting for year in the auctions.
  • Fixed the problem related to conflicts between adding contacts and muting.
  • Fixed the problem of attempting to create a club without a description causing a

-52 error.

  • Fixed various random crash bugs resulting in a lockup or Exception Access Violation Errors.
  • Fixed the problem of saving options with fresh installs.
  • Fixed the server list bug which causes the game to hang and retry indefinitely.
  • Fixed the congratulation message for Top Ace rank achievement.

February 20, 2002[]

Update 4

What's New[]

  • Parts as Prizes - In addition to the usual cash and points awards for the number one racer in a multiplayer race, the system will also distribute a random part! For more detailed information, please refer to Parts as Prizes under Upcoming Features in the Development section of the website.
  • Club Registration - Clubs can now "officially register" with the Motor City Chamber of Commerce. Registered clubs can choose a club logo and a club acronym. Logos can be seen on the cars, and acronyms can be seen in chat rooms. Please refer to Club Registration under Upcoming Features for more details.
  • Hazard Hollow - This brand new 4.1 mile street track is designed for level 15 racers in Motor City. Screenshots can be found in Hazard Hollow under Upcoming Features.
  • More Parts - Electronic Fuel Injection (EFI) Carburetors and a whole new block family: Oldsmobile big blocks!
  • More Cars - 6 new cars, including the '69 Oldsmobile 4-4-2 and '69 Pontiac GTO.
  • Troubleshooting Tools - The new login interface will provide easy access to Troubleshooting Tools. These tools include the following: Port Checker (to check if your system can communicate with Motor City servers); Web / Proxy Configuration (allowing you to bypass your system default proxy settings to resolve login issues); Complete File Integrity Check (automatically forces an integrity check of the game files to validate that you patched correctly and there are no corrupted files); and Generate Error Log (allowing you to turn on logging when requested by customer service representatives).

Changes/Improvements[]

  • Multiplayer Payouts - We have modified the payout value for multiplayer races. In general, racers will now earn more money from multiplayer races than from time trials.
  • Hide Info - The ability to hide info in Persona Profile has been removed.
  • Club Captain Quit / Resignation - Notification emails will now be sent to all club members when a club captain quits / resigns from the club. The interface for captains leaving clubs has also been updated to include a "yes/no" confirmation popup (to minimize the chance of "accidentally" quitting).
  • Turf Wars Notification - Notification emails will now be sent to all club members when a club wins a Turf during weekly Turf Wars.
  • Turf Wars Rewards - The cash reward for winning a Turf is now $30,000, awarded to the Club Captain.
  • Drag Races - Several improvements to Drag Races have been made that ensure consistent rewards and winning conditions.
  • Improved Race Results for Time Trials - Race Time, Top Speed, First Lap Time, and Best Lap Time are now displayed.
  • Trade Request - When a player requests a trade with you, you will now see who is requesting the trade in your chat window along with the trade request notification.
  • U-Sell Auto Barn - When selecting a car from your inventory to sell in Player Hosted Auctions, a thumbnail image of the selected car will be displayed.
  • Closed Car Auctions - When an auction closes on a car, all links that allow viewing of details for that car become disabled.
  • 57 Corvette Camshaft - The camshaft "57 Corvette" has been renamed to "57 Corvette Camshaft".
  • Spam Control - Improved spam control should dramatically reduce number of repeated messages in chat rooms.
  • Persona Delete Interface - To avoid "accidental" deletes, a confirmation popup has been added to the persona deletion process. Players must now actively check "Yes" to complete a persona deletion.
  • Improved Incident Report - Incident Report in the Game Help/ Request Help section now allows you to search for personas (both online / offline).

Bug Fixes[]

  • Extreme tire wear under certain driving styles has been fixed.
  • Replay no longer experience strange camera bumpiness. Note, this will break existing replay files.
  • Reset points that provide racers unfair advantage have been fixed.
  • Fixed graphics display errors for Voodoo and ATI based video cards. This fix disables alt+tab and windowed mode.
  • The bug where players would lose their mouse cursor after taking screenshots during a replay has been fixed.
  • A typo in Class System Info has been fixed. Class D should now be >= 0.07 and < 0.11 (instead of 0.7).
  • Permanent Muting should be working correctly now. The setting will be retained between game sessions, until you choose to un-mute the player.
  • '57 Corvette and '58 Impala are both Classic cars now.
  • Fixed an incorrect engine redline calculation bug.
  • A calculation bug with 850 carburetors has been fixed.
  • Pink slip races now display an appropriate cash winning if the winner has reached their maximum inventory cap.
  • Drag Race results display the proper winner now.
  • Drag Racing display now shows Total Time instead of Estimated Time.
  • The lag-induced artificial red-lights encountered in Drag Racing have been fixed.
  • Club Races can have 2-4 players now, instead of always 4.
  • Club Creation fee in Help section now reflects the proper fee, which is $5,000 instead of $10,000.
  • The level restrictions and prices of the '70 Mustang and the '70 Mach 1 in Righteous Rides have been fixed.
  • Server selection screen displays the correct ping time for the correct servers now.
  • A page refresh bug that caused the Community Center to display a blank page has been fixed.
  • When searching for a persona in Top Dog Standings, proper points for that persona will be displayed.
  • "My Top Dog" page under Standings will now display correct points for players who are not in the Top 5.

January 23, 2002[]

Update 3

Altered Content[]

  • Approximately 500 different parts will be added to both Sparky T's Parts Auction House and Parts Catalog. There are new parts for nearly every part type and every engine block family. Big Engine Blocks will have the most parts.
  • New Time Trials settings for Sponsored Trials and Unrestricted Open Trials. Class Limited Open Trials will remain unaffected.

Bug Fixes[]

  • All 1964 Mustang should appear as 1965 Mustang to reflect proper naming for this car. No Mustangs were created in 1964.

December 19, 2001[]

Update 2

Altered Content[]

  • A new dealership - "Righteous Rides" - will be added to MCO. Righteous Rides offers high end cars at a discount to players who have achieved higher levels.
  • Many new parts and engine blocks will be released, raising the performance bar across the game.
  • A new class system for Time Trials and Multiplayer racing will be implemented. The class system will allow for more equal competition, and will enable newer and more casual players to compete successfully in weekly competitions. The system will also increase the value of the classic and vintage cars in MCO by providing competitions only available to drivers of those cars.
  • "Test Install" will be added to the catalog and auctions. This will allow new users to try before they buy, thus making the process of upgrading more rewarding by greatly reducing the risk of buying the "wrong" part.
  • We have implemented a new multiplayer reward structure. Previously, the rewards weren't significantly different across multiplayer tracks, and when compared to Time Trials. The new system will greatly reward players for teaming up and racing with friends, and will also reward players for racing on the more challenging tracks.
  • Turf war standings will be directly linked from the race lobby.
  • A new set of higher end sponsored cars has been created and added to the game.
  • The Filth Filter will be pre-populated with the basic nasties. Players need only enable the filter now to avoid hearing these basic bad words in chat.
  • Players under level 5 will no longer be able to participate in pink slip races.
  • A ticker will be added to the persona select screen to display server status.
  • Car weights have been adjusted to more closely match real world specifications.
  • A new option to allow / disallow NOS will be added to multiplayer race lobbies.

November 11, 2001[]

Update 1

Altered Content[]

  • Starter cars for new personas have been reduced in cost.
  • The cars sold in MCO Auto Sales have been reduced in cost.
  • The cars in MCO Auto Sales have been given better tires to improve performance.
  • Parts in Sparky T's Parts Auctions will now have starting bids that are significantly lower than their retail prices.
  • Higher performance parts have been added to the parts catalog.
  • All race settings are now set during race creation, and are not modifiable in the pit.
  • Auctions now have direct page links at the bottom of the auction list.
  • Added a timeout when players are logged in for long periods of time with no activity.
  • Reduced the timeout length in multiplayer races. This was done to keep players from refusing to finish after the winner, in an attempt to bore him into quitting.

Bug Fixes[]

  • Fixed a bug by which incorrect race rewards would be given if a host quits the race.
  • Fixed a bug in the patcher that could cause infinite restart loops.
  • Fixed a bug by which players could inadvertently be locked out of accessing their inventories.
  • Fixed a bug which caused replays to behave erratically.
  • Fixed a bug which caused the servers to think a persona was logged in when it wasn't, thus keeping some players from logging in.
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