The Racing Game Thread

[Meacon Keaton]

I'm not sure what they're going to be able to offer that will make me want to upgrade from Assetto Corsa, which already has literally every car and track that I can imagine for download, for free. They may surprise me, but AC with all the mods is already too complete for me to warrant paying full price for the sequel. 

[Schlitzbrille]

I dunno, GT3 and LMP machinery on Monza and Spa sounds tempting as shit and highly innovative 

[Bobfoc]

They put mechanical failures in.

[Mad Jack]

F1 Manager is out now! With all new features like mechanical failure and create a team! There's barely any commentary so the game feels oddly quiet during races and setting up the car still requires you to master an evil slider mini game.

But it's ok, I guess.

[Your Mom]

This thread popping up reminds me I was at Goodwill with my mom because we love some good thrift and I found something called "Nascar Heat 3" and like even though I tend to hate being forced to drive in any game I couldn't pass up the call of an Xbox game for 99 cents. 

Anyway is this going to have any appeal to me as someone who sucks at driving? I like a good career mode though does it have that? Or did I just throw away a buck?

[Meacon Keaton]

4 minutes ago, Your Mom said:

This thread popping up reminds me I was at Goodwill with my mom because we love some good thrift and I found something called "Nascar Heat 3" and like even though I tend to hate being forced to drive in any game I couldn't pass up the call of an Xbox game for 99 cents. 

Anyway is this going to have any appeal to me as someone who sucks at driving? I like a good career mode though does it have that? Or did I just throw away a buck?

It's absolutely fine for what it is. It is a "console sim" but still quite lenient and user friendly. You'll likely wreck at Daytona and Talladega, but everyone does, so don't judge based on that. If I remember correctly, I think you can own a car and build it up in Heat 3, but if not, you can still do the regular career mode starting in the lower circuits and working your way up to the Cup Series. NASCAR games can be fun to just mess around with and you'll likely enjoy it if you just try to have fun and not win every race.

[Bobfoc]

49 minutes ago, Mad Jack said:

F1 Manager is out now! With all new features like mechanical failure and create a team! There's barely any commentary so the game feels oddly quiet during races and setting up the car still requires you to master an evil slider mini game.

But it's ok, I guess.

It looks as though the actual race management is almost identical to how it was before. The new features are welcome, though, and the game has launched at under £30 too.

[METALMAN]

2 hours ago, Mad Jack said:

F1 Manager is out now! With all new features like mechanical failure and create a team! There's barely any commentary so the game feels oddly quiet during races and setting up the car still requires you to master an evil slider mini game.

But it's ok, I guess.

I am tempted by this. I got 22 and was really shocked that it didn't have mechanical failures. Dealing with them just seemed like such an elementary part of a racing sim that it really is quite bizarre they weren't in for the first two years. So while I might buy 24 for that reason I'd also feel like a sucker for giving them money for a feature that really should have been there the last time I gave them money.

[Meacon Keaton]

I'm likely going to wait for it to be on Gamepass. I did not care for the "feel" of 23, so whenever I get the itch, I just hop on '22 until I remember how simple it is. 

[Baddar]

Does anyone play The Crew Motorfest?

I gave it a go briefly around Christmas time, and I'm looking to hop back in this weekend. One thing I noticed then, and after updating and loading it up yesterday, is how overwhelming everything is. Like it throws 100 things at you with the current season, events etc and everything on the map feels a bit cluttered. No idea where I'm supposed to be starting to make any kind of progress.

I'll have a proper look when I'm next on. I think the Horizon series suffers a bit from that too. You have the base events to enjoy but with constant content, it's hard to keep track. I know I shouldn't moan about extra free content but still. 

[Chris2K]

It's a game I've thought about playing for a while, but Forza Horizon 5 still dictates my racing game time even after nearly 4 years of it being released. The fact they are still bringing in new cars this far into its cycle blows my mind. 

I loved the first Crew game, but got turned off by the second's decision to bring boats and planes into the mix, and I believe Motorfest has them as well. It's seemingly permanently on sale so I expect I will get it at some point, but probably not whilst FH5 is still being serviced.

[Mad Jack]

Some amazing driver moves in my F1 Manager save:

Sainz to Red Bull
Lewis to Ferrari
Isack Hadjar to Draig
Gasly to Aston Martin
Pepe Marti and Bottas to Mercedes
K-Mag and Logan to RB
Ayumu Iwasa and Ocon to Williams
Perez and Zhou to Haas
Oliver Goethe and Russell to Alpine
Alonso and Hulkenberg to Sauber

[METALMAN]

Are you enjoying it? I've watched a few videos of it and it does seem like there's enough there to justify me getting it (I bought 22 but not 23) but it seems like there are a fair few bugs still to be sorted out.

[Mad Jack]

56 minutes ago, METALMAN said:

Are you enjoying it? I've watched a few videos of it and it does seem like there's enough there to justify me getting it (I bought 22 but not 23) but it seems like there are a fair few bugs still to be sorted out.

The only obvious bug I've experienced has been a UI thing where sometimes the strategy view stays on the screen and the entire UI just stops responding, only way to fix it is to quit to desktop. Probably worth getting on sale or waiting until it's had a few patches.

[Baddar]

Finally managed to sink a few hours into Motorfest today. It very much still throws a lot of "Here, do this. And what about this? Also there's an online demolition royale starting soon" but once you're playing through a set Playlist, you continue through each one in that section before moving on.

It's very good, especially paired with Spotify or whatever to listen to your own music whilst cruising. Lots of things to do and collect. Haven't felt the need to spend any money but there is of course that side of it if you desperately want a certain vehicle straight away.

One of the big complaints on release was the car levelling system. I think it's been tweaked a bit since, but each car you drive starts at Level 1 and you have to advance through each one separately, unlocking parts and the like as you go. It's fine though, and each of the new Playlists you try have you using a loaned vehicle throughout anyway.

[Chris2K]

On 03/08/2024 at 13:16, Mad Jack said:

The only obvious bug I've experienced has been a UI thing where sometimes the strategy view stays on the screen and the entire UI just stops responding, only way to fix it is to quit to desktop. Probably worth getting on sale or waiting until it's had a few patches.

I've been watching WorkTheSpace's Twitch streams of it, and there are some big issues with contract negotiations, particularly at the end of the season. People who you sign might just end up at a different team instead, but you won't get notified of that happening unless you manually check, and any money you've spent on them (signing bonus, contract buyouts etc.) doesn't get refunded. Also as soon as the final race ends it's impossible to make contract offers, so teams start the next season without drivers/team personnel in place.

 

15 hours ago, Baddar said:

One of the big complaints on release was the car levelling system. I think it's been tweaked a bit since, but each car you drive starts at Level 1 and you have to advance through each one separately, unlocking parts and the like as you go.

This was very much my favourite part of the original Crew game, because I'm weird like that, so that might tempt me into giving Motorfest a try.

[Baddar]

I will say though, despite levelling up the cars, the Playlists, which make up the main part of the single player experience, always use a loan car based on that theme so you only use your own vehicles when free roaming.

A quick Google tells me that once a Playlist has been completed, you can go back and replay it with cars you own of that same type, so that's something at least.

[Baddar]

Turns out FH5 runs great on the Rog, Motorsport on the other hand, doesn't.

Will 100% put more time into it. I'd already done a lot of the offline stuff on release, but never got around to playing the Rally or Hot Wheels DLCs, so there's all of that to do, plus I never finished all of the Horizon Stories so there's still plenty of content there.

Can't believe they're still churning out new online stuff too to earn the Forza and Season points to get new cars. Some of it is grindy but still fun.