I love driving in real life, and that love translates into the gaming realm for myself as well. Over the last few years I've played several Need for Speed iterations - Underground 1 + 2, Most Wanted, Carbon, I've played a few different Grand Turismo versions. I bought Racedriver GRID and a MOMO wheel for my PC, followed by Dirt before that game fried my video card. The first game I bought on my ps3 slim was Dirt 2, and when GT5 comes out I'll be buying it with a new ps3 wheel (a must for a racing fan).
I have been thinking about these games and upcoming games, and wondering how could a racing game be really good? I mean, REALLY good?
I've come up with a few ideas. Firstly, merge Career mode with online. Imagine you just get GT5, buy a Honda, and hit your first race with 6 first time human players and a few computers (they help set the pace and show you proper line/speeds). This of course can play havoc with the current progression systems, which usually require a victory to continue on, when there's a distinct possibility that you end up against some players who just win every time and cause your game to stall. Instead, add up player points from whatever position they finish in, and have an online Driver standings possibly based on average finishes weighted by difficulty/car class and also possibly only allow 50 finishes worth of points so that by simply playing more, you won't necessarily win.
Next, while car upgrading is fun, why not have pit crews, whom you can upgrade? My idea is that you could buy a stock car and put more money into race tuning it, or you could just buy race ready car... either way, once your car is maxed out for performance parts, how can you get an edge over the competition? Easy - the same way it's done in real life - with a pit crew. Imagine being able to purchase a Port Polish good for +10ft-lb torque for 5kms of racing. Then imagine "training" a pit crew member in engine systems, and getting 10kms out of a polish - and beyond. Remember, in most racing games a race is usually less than 10kms, so if you're in need of a boost for a race, there's one. Also, it adds a cash sink which I think most racing fans know is much needed by mid-game. The pit crew could also give you improved aerodynamics for a max speed boost, or ECU programming for better acceleration. There's plenty of possibilities here for "car buffs" based on pit crew stats.
One of my most liked features of GRID was the sponsorships. You needed to win and prove yourself to acquire new sponsors, and then after customizing your decals and entering a race, you needed to complete the sponsor objective for the cash. Things like "place 3rd or better," "Finish without damage" or even just "finish the race." I like this a lot, and it should be featured in basically any and all racing games as your main cash source.
I suppose the final element I would enjoy is needing to fork over some cash to get into a race. That's one thing I've never understood; why is the only thing I have to spend money on is new cars and parts? What about the 2-3 sets of tires and all the race fuel (among other things) you burn in a race? I'd like to see entree fees, as this could also be a very good way to separate the different callibur players - if you're awesome, have tons of cash, you can enter the most expensive races with the fastest cars. On the other hand, if you're broke, you should still be able to race and gain money so in that case, I would like to see you be able to rent yourself out to another (NPC) team, where you are guaranteed a small sum plus bonus based on finishing position so that you can get back into your car and make real cash with your sponsors. Also, as I mentioned before about tires, the reality is that there are TONS of different types of tire compositions. So possibly you need to maintain a stock of tires, and as you progress you can buy better and better ones for increased handling.
Racing games have come a long way, and have a long ways to go. With the addition of these ideas, I think we could have a truely gripping racing game with more to it than an infinite number of identical races. I especially like the pit crew and car buffs.
I have been thinking about these games and upcoming games, and wondering how could a racing game be really good? I mean, REALLY good?
I've come up with a few ideas. Firstly, merge Career mode with online. Imagine you just get GT5, buy a Honda, and hit your first race with 6 first time human players and a few computers (they help set the pace and show you proper line/speeds). This of course can play havoc with the current progression systems, which usually require a victory to continue on, when there's a distinct possibility that you end up against some players who just win every time and cause your game to stall. Instead, add up player points from whatever position they finish in, and have an online Driver standings possibly based on average finishes weighted by difficulty/car class and also possibly only allow 50 finishes worth of points so that by simply playing more, you won't necessarily win.
Next, while car upgrading is fun, why not have pit crews, whom you can upgrade? My idea is that you could buy a stock car and put more money into race tuning it, or you could just buy race ready car... either way, once your car is maxed out for performance parts, how can you get an edge over the competition? Easy - the same way it's done in real life - with a pit crew. Imagine being able to purchase a Port Polish good for +10ft-lb torque for 5kms of racing. Then imagine "training" a pit crew member in engine systems, and getting 10kms out of a polish - and beyond. Remember, in most racing games a race is usually less than 10kms, so if you're in need of a boost for a race, there's one. Also, it adds a cash sink which I think most racing fans know is much needed by mid-game. The pit crew could also give you improved aerodynamics for a max speed boost, or ECU programming for better acceleration. There's plenty of possibilities here for "car buffs" based on pit crew stats.
One of my most liked features of GRID was the sponsorships. You needed to win and prove yourself to acquire new sponsors, and then after customizing your decals and entering a race, you needed to complete the sponsor objective for the cash. Things like "place 3rd or better," "Finish without damage" or even just "finish the race." I like this a lot, and it should be featured in basically any and all racing games as your main cash source.
I suppose the final element I would enjoy is needing to fork over some cash to get into a race. That's one thing I've never understood; why is the only thing I have to spend money on is new cars and parts? What about the 2-3 sets of tires and all the race fuel (among other things) you burn in a race? I'd like to see entree fees, as this could also be a very good way to separate the different callibur players - if you're awesome, have tons of cash, you can enter the most expensive races with the fastest cars. On the other hand, if you're broke, you should still be able to race and gain money so in that case, I would like to see you be able to rent yourself out to another (NPC) team, where you are guaranteed a small sum plus bonus based on finishing position so that you can get back into your car and make real cash with your sponsors. Also, as I mentioned before about tires, the reality is that there are TONS of different types of tire compositions. So possibly you need to maintain a stock of tires, and as you progress you can buy better and better ones for increased handling.
Racing games have come a long way, and have a long ways to go. With the addition of these ideas, I think we could have a truely gripping racing game with more to it than an infinite number of identical races. I especially like the pit crew and car buffs.
