Good handling (not sim or arcade in particular, I'll play either if the handling "just works") Frequent physics updates Minimal input lag Steady framerate (30fps or 60fps is fine as long as it's not "30fps" or "60fps") Good sound design Immersion from either the graphics or the sheer fun of playing it Modular assists that let you make any combination Damage
This. Its by far one of the main points of any racing game in my opinion. Its the reason that taking a tight street circuit or rally track in GRID or DiRT was so fun, you know that going off the track could put you out of the race or severely damage your car and is just a much more immersive and exciting way to play. It makes you drive properly. GT6 is an example of a game that would be much better with damage other than just simple scratches, driving in GT6 is dull and boring most of the time as you are able to go through a corner at 100mph and just grind the barrier barely slowing down at all even on the highest difficulty the game is easy to complete, even basic mechanical damage would be fine really.
When I was young I played alot of NFSU2. I liked the freedom, the okay physics, the great engine sound samples, and the cars. (I've always loved japanese cars). It's still a game I have alot of fun in when I play it occasionally. It's definitely a nostalgic game however, my all time favourite car game is by far Live for Speed. And here is why. The multiplayer community I've always liked the kind of multiplayer games where a community is formed around a server. You get to know people who plays on the same servers as you, and you have fun together. I've played other similar games such as JK2 (jedi knight 2) and Garry's Mod where the gameplay doesn't neccessarly involve a competition. I'm talking about cruise and drift servers now, not so much racing servers. It's a fun way to kill 2 hours just roaming the streets of LFS, chatting with other people who are into cars as you drive with them. Accurate and inspiring handling physics If I'm looking for driving experience, the game of choice is by far LFS. It just feels right when it comes to traction losses, counter steering, weight shifting, understeer, oversteer. The cars don't drive on rails. It doesn't feel fake or animated, it feels as if the car you're handling is a real car, with real limitations and possibilities as to what it can and will do. Any input from the steering wheel in LFS is just so direct and responsive. At this point I think it's still the best in any game. LFS is also the only game so far in which I think you can properly drift. Limited content but alot of possibilities Even though LFS only have 16 cars. (even fewer base models) I think they've really diversified these cars in a good way. They have a low number of versitile cars which can represent a whole category of cars each. They have the light hothatch representative XFG representing alot of cars such as the golf, peugeot 106, civic etc. They have the RWD coupe to represent the bmw's, nissan silvia, AE86 or any other RWD sports car you can imagine. Then you have the RB4 which would represent a car similar to the Toyota Celica GT4 which also has similar characteristics as the impreza and evo. What I'm trying to say is that even if there are only a few cars, the few cars that are there are of a wide variety of types to meet as many needs as possible. The ability to create your own textures for everyone to see only increase the versitility of these vehicles. The XRG and XRT even provides a good surface where you in your skin can include a set of headlights to appear very realistic at first glance. I bought LFS in 2008 and I've had so much fun in it. Progress in development is slow though and the community isn't as big as it used to be which is sad. BeamNG compared to LFS The aspects of BeamNG which are better than LFS is of course the vehicle detail and deformation but also the environment style with the rough roads and hazardous obstacles such as rocks and junk. BeamNG has a quite realistic touch to it, which comes naturally with how it's designed but I think that the handling is a little bit unresponsive. I think it has something to do with the tyre model. There is just too little grip (which goes hand in hand with the limited controls). I'm talking about of course the lack of FFB steering wheel useage. I think that beamNG driving with a steering wheel (including force feedback) would appear quite sluggish and understeery. But it's all subject to development.
Only one thing matters in a racing game. Is it fun? If yes, it's a good game, no matter it's flaws. If no, it's not good then, even if it's features are innovating and out of the ordinary. Take Burnout and Gran Turismo, for example. The Burnout games were never top shelf game of the year award winners (except for Paradise), but my god are they fun. I've logged hours and hours in Burnout 2's crash mode alone. Burnout Dominator was weird, we do not speak of it, but that's to be expected. But all of the cars are unique and interesting. The car names in Paradise alone were worth the $30 I payed for it. Then there's the other end of the spectrum, games like Gran Turismo. They may have a huge car selection, a huge track selection, and many, many, MANY innovating features, but they aren't fun. Now, granted, I have logged several hours on GT 3 and 4 and I still claim 4 to be the best PS2 game to have ever been released, but I never had fun. I only ever played it when I didn't want to play anything else. And, even then, it was boring. All of the cars sound like vacuum cleaners. No V8 sound from a Mustang, no Vtec from a Civic Type-R, no annoying wizzing screeching of a Mazda Rotary. Fun is what makes a racing game, plain and simple.
Lets think... It's always good if it's possible to add more cars/tracks other stuff made by end users. The game will live longer that way. I liked the performance upgrade system of NFS Porsche Unleashed. It was very good and I was disappointed when NFS Underground and the later games had only those lame packages. Endless space for bought cars was good too, also the one try events where you can win an expensive car like Spyder and 911 "Moby Dick". I have to give some points for NFS Underground 2 for the amount of visual upgrades - but sadly it basically forced me to buy some ugly stuff to get higher star rating. :< That was extremely stupid idea. I agree with the OP about 1nsane: it's "border-less" maps are awesome and also the height differences. However this concept wouldn't work for other games unless they are just like 1nsane was: a lot of off-road racing. The best world price may go for Test Drive Unlimited... the island was huge, it took almost one hour to make a full lap around it's borders. There was even race/event/whatever to do it for some extra cash. I might also add Crashday because sound effects. The sound of shattered glass was awesome. Damage modeling from FlatOut/DiRT2 is pretty good. While GTA IV isn't a racing game, it also got nice damage modeling. The upcoming Carmageddon: Reincarnation looks promising, pretty much because that style of damage modeling fits for the series. I don't care about soundtrack due I always turn it off. So if you can turn off the game's own music, it's a plus. But! What makes a game extremely annoying and unpleasant? We should look into that one too. First of all, I hate the nagging screens and unskippable videos/tutorials. It should always be an option to skip them or completely turn it off. Same goes for voices, in both menus and while driving. Forcing a player to login to something like "Games for Windows Live" or "Rockstar Social Club" to save your progress is also very annoying. TL;DR: Stuff that makes/should make the game good: - Possibility to add more content for free (made by other players) - Large amount of cars from different decades and from different countries (ricers, americans and others) - Realistic but maybe not too realistic damage modeling (visual damage is worse than real damage that affects handling, or visual only) - Sounds for all kind of stuff like crashes, engines and whatever happens in the game, maybe ambient sounds - Tuning: upgrade system like seen in NFS: Porsche Unleashed - Candies/extras like action cam for someone getting destroyed or when you make a high jump - Possibility to buy/collect cars. More than one, maybe own them all Stuff that makes the game horrible experience even when most things above were done right: - Unskippable tutorials and videos, voices that can't be turned off - Lack of options to customize graphic/game settings - The game forces the player to buy something like a spoiler or body kit even when it looks horrible
A few other games I enjoy and why TDU Huge open environment with nice landscapes and many nice roads. SLRR Detailed cars (similar to beamNG) and a fun gameplay when it comes to building and repairing cars. rFactor An alright game, the handling physics isn't really anything special from what I've felt but there is loads of content available for it. Gran Turismo 4 & 5 + Forza 3 & 4 Huge selection of cars (anyone can find a car they like pretty much) and featuring nordschleife among other tracks. A nice casual game to play with friends
Good Physics + detailed cars and tracks + many cars to choose from + good career mode = a great racing game Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
