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What does everyone think the future of sim racing games is going to look like? The further delay of GTR3 got me thinking about it. I was looking forward to it, and I still hope it comes out of course. But being a GT3-based title, it begs the question; what was it going to offer that ACC doesn’t already do pretty well? What gaps was it going fill in the sim racing landscape? How many times can we get excited and wait 4 years for a new rendering of Spa or Silverstone? Sim racers crave realism and authenticity, and there’s only so many circuits and race cars in the world. (I suppose I’m talking mostly about sims in the new console generation. Sure, we all know PC is the gold standard, but let’s stick with the accessible end of things for now, as the spec wars and modding scene just complicates matters). I think there is a load of room for improvement in rally sims, where I firmly believe that things like open world environments with user created stages, road sections and recce cars are the future there. However, this is a thread for another day. So what about circuit sims?
This train of thought also led me back to Project Cars 2. A flawed title, definitely. But I think in the end, it got more right than it did wrong. Since upgrading to Series X I’ve revisited it a fair bit, and it is night and day compared to on previous generation. The cars (for the most part anyway) feel excellent, and there is no more weird loss of physics when racing with large grids or day to night transitions (which look even better on XSX). There are certain cars and classes that still feel borderline undrivable, especially after playing ACC for so long, but seeing as I’ve never driven a real GT3 car at full chat I can’t really comment on which is the more authentic experience. But for the likes of LMP, GT1 and single seaters, I honestly don’t think PC2 has ever been rivalled on console. And I do include Assetto Corsa in that. I don’t want to join the PC3 hate train, but I do feel that it was a huge missed opportunity, and particularly console sim racing has taken a hit and left a huge gap in the market. I feel that a new title with a multi-discipline, motorsport-focused sim approach with the depth of PC2, with all of PC2’s issues addressed and new features such as driver swaps or even some licenced series added, would be the ultimate grail as far as I’m concerned. Perfect this formula, and there would be no sequel needed. Once you get the base game right on something like this, all subsequent energy could be put into new content, officially approved third-party content and whatever else. That’s a game-as-service that I’d be more than happy to shell out for over the years. This is pretty common on PC, so why not on console too? Have developers considered striking a deal with modders? Surely everyone wins that way? AM2 seems like it’s heading in the right direction with tracks and cars outside of the usual and is based on PC2 mechanics, I’d love to see it on console soon!
So, where do you think sim racing is headed? What will be the next innovation besides physics and graphics tweaks? Sorry, I didn’t mean for this post to be anywhere near as long as it turned out to be!
This train of thought also led me back to Project Cars 2. A flawed title, definitely. But I think in the end, it got more right than it did wrong. Since upgrading to Series X I’ve revisited it a fair bit, and it is night and day compared to on previous generation. The cars (for the most part anyway) feel excellent, and there is no more weird loss of physics when racing with large grids or day to night transitions (which look even better on XSX). There are certain cars and classes that still feel borderline undrivable, especially after playing ACC for so long, but seeing as I’ve never driven a real GT3 car at full chat I can’t really comment on which is the more authentic experience. But for the likes of LMP, GT1 and single seaters, I honestly don’t think PC2 has ever been rivalled on console. And I do include Assetto Corsa in that. I don’t want to join the PC3 hate train, but I do feel that it was a huge missed opportunity, and particularly console sim racing has taken a hit and left a huge gap in the market. I feel that a new title with a multi-discipline, motorsport-focused sim approach with the depth of PC2, with all of PC2’s issues addressed and new features such as driver swaps or even some licenced series added, would be the ultimate grail as far as I’m concerned. Perfect this formula, and there would be no sequel needed. Once you get the base game right on something like this, all subsequent energy could be put into new content, officially approved third-party content and whatever else. That’s a game-as-service that I’d be more than happy to shell out for over the years. This is pretty common on PC, so why not on console too? Have developers considered striking a deal with modders? Surely everyone wins that way? AM2 seems like it’s heading in the right direction with tracks and cars outside of the usual and is based on PC2 mechanics, I’d love to see it on console soon!
So, where do you think sim racing is headed? What will be the next innovation besides physics and graphics tweaks? Sorry, I didn’t mean for this post to be anywhere near as long as it turned out to be!