Here is how this blog entry works:
WHAT THEY WANTED:
^ This explains what kind of experience the certain element to be featured in a game. This is primarily about a certain experience or facility that they wanted to express or feature. The items featured are based on what a certain experience clearly expresses.
WHAT WE GOT:
^ Based on what the game developers PROBABLY wanted, I try to express what we eventually got in the game.
HOW DOES IT COMPARE?
^ How does what we got in the game compared to the kind of real-world experience the game tried to feature? That is the question I hope to answer with my own commentary.
--- The Next Best Thing: Basics ---
Here is a basic look at what this blog entry is about.I am categorizing this as "The Next Best Thing" in talking about how racing games feature a variety of racing game experiences. While a lot of games don't feature actual cars and experiences, what developers try to do instead is to make their own racing experiences in the spirit of the real life series they represent. The same goes for fictional race tracks and cars. A lot of the cars have some fictional paintschemes despite the cars being 100% real. Some games even have fictional drivers and teams either representing real-world drivers or simply fictional altogether.
Is it, then, a bad thing to not feature actual racing series and drivers and tracks? It depends on the game and what the game is about. I will mention four games in this blog entry. All of which, feature a variety of things that was offered when the game developers PROBABLY were looking to add certain real-world features. What were the game developers looking to add to their games? What were we given instead? How do these experiences compare to what the games were probably trying to deliver or emulate?
--- The Next Best Thing: Gran Turismo Series ---
Unlike the ToCA Race Driver series, the Gran Turismo series is more focused on cars and racing than any sort of intense commitment to real-world motorsports. This focus has changed in recent times as Gran Turismo 5 has featured NASCAR and the World Rally Championship.* Formula GT.
WHAT THEY WANTED: Formula 1 Racing
WHAT WE GOT: Formula GT/Formula Gran Turismo
HOW DOES IT COMPARE?
Gran Turismos 3 and 4 featured Formula GT. There was a plan by Polyphony Digital to make their own Formula 1 racing game. The plan was dashed as Codemasters built their Formula 1 game. The first true Formula One race car was first featured in Gran Turismo 5 Prologue when the Ferrari F2007 was featured. It would also be featured in Gran Turismo PSP. Gran Turismo 3 is the most diverse of the F1 racing as multiple F1 cars of various kinds were featured. Gran Turismo 4, however, only featured one F1 car. I've never done a Formula GT race except for doing some qualifying in one race in the Nissan R92CP at Tokyo R246.
* Ferrari, Porsche, and Lamborghini.
WHAT THEY WANTED: Ferrari, Porsche, and Lamborghini
WHAT WE GOT: Ruf (GT2, GT3, and GT4) and Cizeta (GT4)
HOW DOES IT COMPARE?
People have constantly complained of a lack of supercars and sports cars in Gran Turismo titles. Like, I had to deal with people constantly bitching about how there are no supercars in GT4. So I guess cars like the Saleen S7, Ruf RGT, Ford GT, Jaguar XJ220, and Spyker C8 Laviolette are just a bunch of Kei cars. Bull. The lone Cizeta in GT4 is sort of a combination of a Ferrari and a Lamborghini as it looks. So I'd say it's a pretty good tradeoff. For Gran Turismo 5, you won't need to worry about a Cizeta because Ferrari and Lamborghini will be featured with their own lovely cars.
--- The Next Best Thing: Enthusia Professional Racing ---
Some people saw Enthusia Professional Racing as a failed attempt at making a game that could contend against Gran Turismo 4. Many others, however, sensed the goodness this game had to offer and thought it was much better than what people said they were.WHAT THEY WANTED: Indianapolis Motor Speedway
WHAT WE GOT: Speediapolis Ring
HOW DOES IT COMPARE?
Speediapolis Ring is a dead giveaway of what Konami was going for. The name sounds completely unoriginal, but you do get to race [in spirit] the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Since there are no pit stops in Enthusia, prepare to race for a long time around this course.
--- The Next Best Thing: Pro Race Driver ---
More than anything, the ToCA Race Driver series on PS2/Gamecube/XBOX featured a variety of series that offered experiences that seemed to mimic what Codemasters really wanted to go for (or could have gone for). Here is a short list from this 2002 game:WHAT THEY WANTED: NASCAR
WHAT WE GOT: AAS (only Chevrolet Monte Carlo stock cars)
HOW DOES IT COMPARE?
First of all, the cars are only Chevrolet Monte Carlo stock cars. Second, the one-size-fits-all cockpit suggests the cars have MoTeC-style data loggers and a sophisticated cockpit. I don't think there is a single thing inside of a stock car that is digital. The action is... pretty good for what it is. Also, these ovals have styrofoam boards denoting distance into a corner. Name me a single oval that has styrofoam boards to note the distance into a certain corner. The courses could even be raced in the rain. I even tried to race Sears Point in the rain in a Free Race. Rain on an oval is pretty dangerous having high-speed racing on an oval. So, it's your call as to how it REALLY compares.
--- The Next Best Thing: ToCA Race Driver 2 ---
Pro Race Driver was an epic fail despite its great qualities. ToCA Race Driver 2 is where the series really wanted to evolve and make itself worlds better than Pro Race Driver. It featured a lot more styles of racing that the series hasn't yet experienced before up to this point. It does, however, have a bunch of racing experiences that I think Codemasters was trying to accomplish with real-world series, but failed in doing so. So here are the next best THINGS we got:* Lightning Truck 500.
WHAT THEY WANTED: NASCAR Truck Series
WHAT WE GOT: Lightning Truck 500
HOW DOES IT COMPARE?
For starters, these are actual stock trucks and not the pure race cars perceived and and taken like stock trucks. These are essentially stock trucks racing on two different ovals in the game. These trucks, however, make give-or-take 1/2 of the brake horsepower a NASCAR Truck puts out.
* Truman Stockcar League.
WHAT THEY WANTED: NASCAR Cup
WHAT WE GOT: Truman Stockcar
HOW DOES IT COMPARE?
Unlike Pro Race Driver, the stock cars are all fiction. As an added bonus, however, you get to race these stock cars around Laguna Seca and Road America. None of the stock cars' paint schemes even resemble any real stock cars. The cars are just simply called "Championship Stockcar."
* Pan-American XKR Series.
WHAT THEY WANTED: SCCA Trans-Am
WHAT WE GOT: XKR Series
HOW DOES IT COMPARE?
This championship only features the Jaguar XKR Trans-Am race car. The paintschemes are all fictional, but most everything about the car is authentic from bumper to bumper. The action is Trans-Am intense as well.
* American 1000.
WHAT THEY WANTED: more likely the IndyCar Series or even the Champ Car World Series (now defunct and merged with IndyCar)
WHAT WE GOT: American 1000
HOW DOES IT COMPARE?
American 1000 is clearly inspired by either the IRL or CART. The car is fictional, yet clearly can be made out to note some of the Indy car features of it.
* World GT Series
WHAT THEY WANTED: (maybe?) traditional sportscar racing series
WHAT WE GOT: World GT Series
HOW DOES IT COMPARE?
The reason why I mention traditional sportscar racing is because this series features only the Jaguar XJ220 and the Koenig C62, which reminds me of the Porsche 962C. Part of me probably says that the Koenig would be able to easily beat the Jaguar XJ220, but the racing in this series is so close that there isn't really any comparison as to which is better. At least, the Career Mode version features some intense racing...
* Masters Grand Prix.
WHAT THEY WANTED: Formula 1
WHAT WE GOT: Masters Grand Prix
HOW DOES IT COMPARE?
I haven't gotten this far in ToCA RD 2 yet. This is the final regular championship in the game, and the championship you work to race your way into through Career Mode. The ultimate goal is to race in the Masters Grand Prix with some of the fastest cars in the game. While it's called the Masters Grand Prix, the action CLEARLY resembles Formula 1. Again, I haven't gotten this far in ToCA Race Driver 2, so I cannot comment any further.
--- The Next Best Thing: ToCA Race Driver 3 ---
ToCA Race Driver 3 was a quantum leap in featuring many more styles of racing and mutliple disciplines of motorsport. A lot more real racing series were featured throughout the grander scope of the game. Two of the newer series featured in the game are the IndyCar Series and British GT among others.* US Muscle Car Tour.
WHAT THEY WANTED: (maybe) vintage Trans-Am Racing
WHAT WE GOT: US Muscle Car Tour
HOW DOES IT COMPARE?
This series reminds me a whole lot of old-school Trans-Am racing. Maybe it doesn't have any premier muscle cars that has helped define Trans-Am, but it does have good old vintage racing.
* Silver Arrows Grand Prix Series, Silver Arrows Grand Prix Endurance, 1930s Vintage Grand Prix, and 1960s Grand Prix
WHAT THEY WANTED: vintage Formula 1 racing
WHAT WE GOT: Silver Arrows Grand Prix Series, Silver Arrows Grand Prix Endurance, 1930s Vintage Grand Prix, and 1960s Grand Prix
HOW DOES IT COMPARE?
Nothing like vintage formula-type racing. The series mentioned feature various forms of motorsport through the glory days of racing. Racing with all of these cars gives you a sense of old-school formula racing- even before the Formula 1 namesake (especially the 1930s Vintage Grand Prix). As with any kind of vintage racing, the eminent challenge is to try to keep all four tires on the track while trying to wrestle with old-style technology. You'll have your work cut out here.
* 1970s GT.
WHAT THEY WANTED: (Historic GT racing?)
WHAT WE GOT: 1970s GT
HOW DOES IT COMPARE?
All you get are the BMW M1 ProCar and the Lancia Beta Monte Carlo, two sensational GT racing machines. This was great GT racing from way back when. Both cars are a joy to drive in this series.
* GT Tuning Cup
WHAT THEY WANTED: Ferrari, Porsche, and Lamborghini in one series
WHAT WE GOT: GT Tuning Cup - Koenig GT, Gemballa GTR 750 Evo, and Koenig GT-D
HOW DOES IT COMPARE?
Who doesn't love seeing a battle between three of the most famous exotic sports car marques? Codemasters couldn't get Ferrari, Porsche, and Lamborghini; so they got Koenig and Gemballa.
* World Sprintcar Series.
WHAT THEY WANTED: World of Outlaws (maybe?)
WHAT WE GOT: World Sprintcar Series
HOW DOES IT COMPARE?
Nowhere near traditional sprint car racing, it just doesn't have the level of performance and skill in handling sprint cars on dirt ovals. This series could have benefited from true short dirt ovals instead of the fairly longer ovals. Both of the oval races are fictional courses.
* US Speedtruck Challenge.
WHAT THEY WANTED: NASCAR Trucks
WHAT WE GOT: US Speedtruck Challenge (Chevrolet Silverado stock trucks only)
HOW DOES IT COMPARE?
Anyone who is a fan of NASCAR Trucks will find something to love about racing these trucks. It compares very nicely.
* Dodge Super Speedway Tour.
WHAT THEY WANTED: NASCAR Cup
WHAT WE GOT: Dodge Super Speedway Tour (Dodge Charger stock cars only)
HOW DOES IT COMPARE?
You only race Dodge stock cars. In addition, some of the many paintschemes somewhat resemble actual cars, though completely fiction.
* Supertruck International Series
WHAT THEY WANTED: FIA European Truck Racing or (more relevant) the former STRANA series
WHAT WE GOT: Supertruck International Racing
HOW DOES IT COMPARE?
In ToCA Race Driver 2, the Ford 9000 truck was used with up to eight of these to a track. This series features an outstanding 20 super trucks on the track at once. I think the model is supposed to be a racing truck from Freightliner.
* BMW Williams F1 Challenge, Williams Team Challenge, 1980's Williams Grand Prix, and 1990's Williams Grand Prix
WHAT THEY WANTED: Formula 1
WHAT WE GOT: BMW Williams F1 Challenge, Williams Team Challenge, 1980's Williams Grand Prix, and 1990's Williams Grand Prix
HOW DOES IT COMPARE?
Formula One Racing has always been perhaps the grandest goal of any simulation-type racing game. What you get here is Formula One in all of its intense challenge. I have always been terrible at Formula One racing in games. Since you're using just one car (unless doing the Williams F1 team challenges), you don't have to worry about one car dominate while everyone else leaves you in the dust. You still need to race hard. If you want a real challenge, try to unlock the Bonus BMW Williams F1 Challenge and race around Bathurst in an F1 car! A lot of the cars in these series have just one actual Williams F1 paintscheme to each series, then a bunch of fictional ones.
If I think of any others (or if you like to contribute), I'll edit this section.
--- The Next Best Thing: rFactor ---
rFactor drew on the modding success of Sports Car GT and expanded upon it. The variety of racing series and tracks in rFactor makes for one of the best out-the-box racing experiences anywhere. A number of the series featured immediately are based more on real cars rather than actually featuring real cars. So let's see the next best things rFactor came along with.* Formula IS.
WHAT THEY WANTED: Formula 1
WHAT WE GOT: Formula IS
HOW DOES IT COMPARE?
Even though rFactor gives you the BMW Sauber F1 cars, its own response to the Formula 1 World Championship is Formula IS (with the IS more than likely meaning Image Space, makers of rFactor and various other racing games). You have to do a LOT of racing and spend about 2,100,000 Credits to purchase your own Formula IS car. When
* rF3.
WHAT THEY WANTED: Formula 3
WHAT WE GOT: rF3
HOW DOES IT COMPARE?
The rF3 cars are very fun to race. These are great cars to race in this game. Absolutely fun.
* rTrainer.
WHAT THEY WANTED: Skip Barber Dodge Racing
WHAT WE GOT: rTrainer
HOW DOES IT COMPARE?
rTrainer makes for a wonderful introduction to racing. It is to help you to racing some of the more powerful and capable formula cars.
* NSCR.
WHAT THEY WANTED: NASCAR Cup
WHAT WE GOT: NSCR (all fictional cars)
HOW DOES IT COMPARE?
While none of the cars are real, NSCR features three fictional cars. The three car companies are Centennial, Edgar, and Titan. You can purchase and equip packages designed for four different kinds of racing. The action is pretty intense and fierce. It's pretty cool stock car racing unique to rFactor.
* Jacksonville.
WHAT THEY WANTED: Daytona International Speedway
WHAT WE GOT: Jacksonville
HOW DOES IT COMPARE?
Jacksonville has the right kind of idea. Daytona Beach is in northern Florida, and so is Jacksonville. The track rides a lot like Daytona for the most part. Jacksonville is the restrictor plate-type oval.
Of course, many mods were created featuring real series and real paintschemes. rFactor just featured a broad variety of racing series and kinds of racing out the box.
--- The Next Best Thing... Good or Bad? ---
I don't want anyone to think that all of this is a bad thing in any such way. It's just that not every game and game developer can deliver the kind of experience. A lot of people just think that every racing game should feature every possible racing series to avoid being a fail. On another hand, maybe some game developers just want to make their own experiences without having to actively pursue actual licenses. In this sense, you have to credit the creativity and resourcefulness to make their own experiences apart from the actual series, cars, and tracks represented.For most people, it's inexcusable to not have actual racing series, cars, and drivers. That's true if you are trying to market a racing game to feature all kinds of licensed racing series, but not as critical to have if you're just trying to deliver any kind of real racing experience. Gran Turismo 5 will feature NASCAR and the World Rally Championship (to what extent of the WRC remains to be seen). However, is the Gran Turismo series predicated on real racing series? Never has, never will. The reason why is because Gran Turismo is focused on driving and a variety of cars. Gran Turismo is giving itself some new character by featuring actual series. Still, cars and driving is more the focus rather than the most intense and realistic racing experience. ToCA Race Driver, however, is more focused on intensely realistic racing experiences more than cars and driving. It is this authenticity that gives ToCA its character. So any focus on real racing series and real venues really depends on the game and the game developer.
So is looking for these alternatives a good thing or a bad thing? To me, it depends more on what you look for in a racing game and what a game actually has to provide. Not every racing game should go out and pursue all sorts of licenses to feature all kinds of real-world racing series. Also, it doesn't make a game bad to not feature any kind of real-world racing. It just means that the developers of a game will have to make a racing game to emulate a certain experience. And yes- you CAN make different experiences based on real-world racing series. You just have to be creative and thoughtful. I am someone that admires creativity more than trying to always seek the licenses to big name cars and car companies. Even rFactor shown to be a great racing game even with a majority of fictional race cars and some fictional tracks. Just be creative and make something of your game.
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