Am I Just Bad At Racing Games? (I move this post to this thread)

[oldgamerz]

I moved this post from the other thread because it was way off topic and I just wanted another answer. there is a drifting thread somewhere but by typing in drifting or drifting in racing games in forum search I can't find it.



Does anyone else have trouble with racing video games that have some cars in them that slip, and slide all over to the point. You're then rapidly pressing left and right on the d-pad or analog stick, and the car just can't drive straight? and while you  keep crashing, and sliding all over the place trying just to drive the freaking car. the CPU opponents are then way ahead of you?

why do the developers even leave or put those kind of cars  in most racing games? A major grudge I have for a lot of racing games is this, over steer crap where a whole lot of these racing games leaves you stuck fighting and trying to control the car instead of actually racing the car.

this one car I found in Need For Speed High Stakes on PlayStation 1. a (Ferrari) that it's absolutely  impossible to control on full upgrades. and no other car I've encountered yet in this game that was as horrible as this car was to control.

So I loaded a previous save before, I got the Ferrari and then went with the less expensive Chevy Corvette and upgraded it, and I can even do a decent race in it. this is still a great racing game, because most of the cars are drive able and the computer is also fair in this game as well

(edit) I do brake and if I brake wrongly the same thing happens. but not every racing game or car in most racing games do this

[Warmsignal]

Most racing games implore the use of some kind of strategy depending on how the controls are set up. In most cases it's knowing when to let off, when to let on, when to actually use the brake, and how to take the turns with minimal slow down or loss of control. Some games use a drifting mechanic and others don't. Simply mashing the throttle and trying to go fast is usually not the winning strategy in most racing games.

[bikingjahuty]

They're all a little different. I game like Need for Speed is going to be played very differently than Gran Turismo or Mario Kart. I know I'm certainly better at some racing games than others.

[marvelvscapcom2]

Racing games are the games I am best at.  I have played the Forza games at a competitive level for years now and have won a few tournaments.  Have loved and beaten almost all need for speed games except for payback..  and of course arcade racers.



As a whole, it's hard to tell if you are bad at them or just new to them so it might take time to get good. If you have been playing them for a long time and still are bad they might just not be for you.  But if you don't play them often, you just need to get better by practice.  It's a decent learning curve with the controls of semi realistic to realistic racing games.  I know I suck bad at RPGs and any turn based games.  And i'm awful at flying games.  But I excel at shooters and racers.   Probably because it's what I grew up playing.    The more you play them the more natural it will come.


My tips usually with new racing fans is "less is more".  When steering.  It's very easy to turn more than you need to and then you counter steer to try to correct it causing the car to drift or slide out.  Keep it very gradual.  Not so much hitting the stick from right to left to try to correct.  But more very slightly tilting the stick to make the car turn gradual.   And the one mistake I see people make when they first start playing is they forget to brake before the turn.  Or brake very lightly.   The car must be dropped down to a good turn speed.     

It's hard to explain and it comes with getting the feel of the games.   I'd suggest keep it on easy difficulty and keep all assists like traction control and steering assist on.  if the game has those.


Need for speed in particular has oversteer for drifting.  It's a street racing game so they have that as kind of their personality.  They all do that.  It does taking some getting used to.  Especially coming from simulation or mario kart style games.

 

[hoshichiri]

As someone who is inexperienced/bad at racing & driving games as well, I know exactly what you're talking about. While it's going to vary from game to game, for most titles it's less that the slip n' slide car is poorly programmed & more that it's designed for a very experienced player. With subtle enough button presses & stick movements, it will control, but you need to know how & where to make those adjustments.

For a similar experience, look to rhythm games on high difficultly. You can't make a full, solid press and have enough time to reset your fingers for the next button. You need to be able to apply the minimal amount of pressure to register the button so you can move through all the inputs fast enough, as well as learning the exact tempo & buttons to be hitting. I have an easier time with these games due to the audio cues, but I still struggle & fail at the highest difficulties- my reflexes just aren't up for it.

I may need to learn these kinds of games better soon, as I just recently bought the only driving game in my collection. I have a handful of racing games- mostly Mario Karts, a Wipeout, retro stuff, etc. But a few months ago I got myself a copy of Driver: San Francisco. I'd watched a video review and was intrigued by the bonkers story. The end of the review pointed out the game's been quietly delisted from online stores (music licensing stuff), so I wanted to get a copy before the secondhand market dried up. I played a bit- and boy do I suck- but I find myself drawn to the world the game's created. There's a LOT of detail in this game. I look forward to klutzing my way through it in the future!

[dharmajones93]

My favorite racing games are 80's era arcade racers, Rad Racer, Super Hang-on, even a bit later stuff like Virtua Racer and Daytona USA. While I would say I am okay at these, I wouldn't say I'm great. I even like motor sports like Moto GP and F1.

I like sims too like your Forza's and such. I even have a wheel rig! But dang'it all if I'm not absolutely terrible at them. I don't even bother with online. I usually have to run stock cars in time trials for 25-30 minutes just to finish a single actual race, let alone podium. I understand racing lines and everything, but when it comes to actually doing it I just always seem way out classed. I'm starting to get into games like DiRT and V-Rally. There are competitive modes in there but most of the racing is against yourself. It's about beating your own times and using the class car/strategy that is the most fun to you.

I'll also second @hoshichiri, some games really are just bad. MotoGP 18 for Switch is borderline unplayable. I wager anything without analogue triggers is going to be frustrating unless the game was specifically built for digital input (Mario Karts and arcade racers).

[oldgamerz]

I was just thinking about this, and I forgot to mention a vary strict racing game (PC version) called
"Bill Elliot's NASCAR Challenge" it was actually my vary first racing game I played in my life. I eventually got good at it, and still use some of what I learned from that game helped on just about every racing game I've played after.

I am really into racing games now because I got a bunch of them in the last 4 months some for $2 USD a piece.

Now as far as "Bill Elliot's NASCAR Challenge" PC version goes, it's basally an early racing sim that currently has good scores on google. but if you make one single mistake you automatically lose the race. if you over steer just one time during an entire race you end up spinning out of control and the game will stop your race car with a cracked windshield animation and you can't race no more.


I have not played this game since childhood, but it was hard, when I played other PC racing games where you could wipe out and still recover I used to think they were amazing.

I should note on PC/DOS that this game required a correct answer to a trivia question. If you got the wrong answer you were kicked out of the game, I would just randomly guess the right track and sometimes the game let me in, most time it used to take me 10-15 of going in and getting kicked out of the game, and reloading the game in order to play that game as well