Support NeoGAF

[Shaneus]

SKIVECLUB is pretty much living up to their name when it comes to leveling, I believe I'm about 45 and the club is at about 25 Only got three/four members though

I had to look up what "skive" meant. Must be a term used exclusively outside of Australia.

I hadn't really thought about it when I posted that but I guess there's nearly double the number of PS4's out there compared to xbones so it's probably to be expected that DC got more votes. I think it was brave decision on Evo's part to discard a lot of the driving game features that have crept in over the years (open world, driver aids, rewind etc).

I don't think it's down to the number of consoles... same theory was mentioned regarding DC vs. FH2 in that Eurogamer poll, but Mario Kart was #1 and there are a fraction of WiiUs out there vs. the XBO/PS4.

 

[jellies_two]

Got an error code on my PS4 logging me out of Driveclub.

...




Just as I was about to cross the finish line and post my best time on a hotlap.

Got the same thing.
Again, as I finally beat a target time and crossed the finish line.
I'd been racing and restarting the lap many times.
After a while the sound started to glitch slightly - like a small gap of silence.

Memory leak error?

 

[jellies_two]

While the racing and visuals engine is great, sound is great, the courses and cars are great, the weather is great, the DLC cars and courses are (so far) great..

I do think the social aspect of Driveclub is sort of a _fail_, or at least just an experiment in progress.

1/ most clubs are dead and there is no way to easily spot if a club is a zombie or not
2/ if you are in an active club you have to be pro-active to actually make it mean something and issue challenges to other clubs (that you know are active), communicate with your team out of band, etc. A whole lotta busywork tbh.
3/ in-race challenges are pointless.
a. Nobody is interested in a drift challenge when racing to win or post a best lap
b. Driving line challenges are useless as well, they are either easy (slow down) or get in the way (you already know a better line and want to use it)
c. Average speed challenges are also a 'so what' thing
d. in-race challenges issued are just random picks from a big database - sometimes ludicrous (beat this average speed of 28kmh). Who is this random person? what club are they from? how good are they? when did the challenge get stored? all a mystery.
4/ Time trial challenges issued or available, show promise because they are a complete race, but winning them feels empty. Winning one with more than 50 participants is hard, but if you do, the fact you won is lost in time. A challenge from a friend who still plays the game is about the best you can hope for.
5/ Driveclub fame points are pointless - they just accumulate with time, and are not "precious" as some tool tips suggest. The level and number of points means nothing other than a guess at how many hours logged. Although some people can reach level 50 so much faster than others, there is no recognition of how good you are, really. You can get a sense for how far up the tables your times are on each event, but only you really know that information.
6/ Once you beat the 3 stars, you can beat two ghosts: one is the ghost of the next fastest player, the other is the ghost of the top player. This is undeveloped. How about selecting what ghost you want to beat. Maybe your friends ghost, or a top 10 ghost.

IMO without
- leagues
- seasons
- events you must qualify to compete in
- scheduled events with spectator mode and replays
- and then a club system built on top
then the whole social aspect has almost no traction beyond racing ghosts. Jumping into multiplayer, is just substituting AI drivers for unpredictable drivers some of whom will use the mic. Winning in that, isn't satisfying because two seconds after the race is over it is like it never happened.

there is huge potential in a club based. social, racing game. And Driveclub can develop the idea but a lot of what they have already done would need un-doing and re-doing. I'm not sure they have the patience to go down the mountain in order to climb a better one.

 

[benzy]

Just an informed guess on my part. We will know in a couple of weeks

EDIT: Ha...

Ha what?!

 

[Shaneus]

While the racing and visuals engine is great, sound is great, the courses and cars are great, the weather is great, the DLC cars and courses are (so far) great..

I do think the social aspect of Driveclub is sort of a _fail_, or at least just an experiment in progress.

1/ most clubs are dead and there is no way to easily spot if a club is a zombie or not
2/ if you are in an active club you have to be pro-active to actually make it mean something and issue challenges to other clubs (that you know are active), communicate with your team out of band, etc. A whole lotta busywork tbh.
3/ in-race challenges are pointless.
a. Nobody is interested in a drift challenge when racing to win or post a best lap
b. Driving line challenges are useless as well, they are either easy (slow down) or get in the way (you already know a better line and want to use it)
c. Average speed challenges are also a 'so what' thing
d. in-race challenges issued are just random picks from a big database - sometimes ludicrous (beat this average speed of 28kmh). Who is this random person? what club are they from? how good are they? when did the challenge get stored? all a mystery.
4/ Time trial challenges issued or available, show promise because they are a complete race, but winning them feels empty. Winning one with more than 50 participants is hard, but if you do, the fact you won is lost in time. A challenge from a friend who still plays the game is about the best you can hope for.
5/ Driveclub fame points are pointless - they just accumulate with time, and are not "precious" as some tool tips suggest. The level and number of points means nothing other than a guess at how many hours logged. Although some people can reach level 50 so much faster than others, there is no recognition of how good you are, really. You can get a sense for how far up the tables your times are on each event, but only you really know that information.
6/ Once you beat the 3 stars, you can beat two ghosts: one is the ghost of the next fastest player, the other is the ghost of the top player. This is undeveloped. How about selecting what ghost you want to beat. Maybe your friends ghost, or a top 10 ghost.

IMO without
- leagues
- seasons
- events you must qualify to compete in
- scheduled events with spectator mode and replays
- and then a club system built on top
then the whole social aspect has almost no traction beyond racing ghosts. Jumping into multiplayer, is just substituting AI drivers for unpredictable drivers some of whom will use the mic. Winning in that, isn't satisfying because two seconds after the race is over it is like it never happened.

there is huge potential in a club based. social, racing game. And Driveclub can develop the idea but a lot of what they have already done would need un-doing and re-doing. I'm not sure they have the patience to go down the mountain in order to climb a better one.

If I can address a few things:
* The drift challenges, from what I can tell, are still bugged in that people can still drift parts of a track over and over. Hate putting in a good score, then during another run seeing the ghost just loop a section over and over.
* Driving line challenges are never fixed, you can't get the best driving line score by going slowly over it. You can get a good one, but the faster you go the more points you get. So someone may get a highish score by going slowly, but if you can take it faster you'll get a better score.
* Average speed challenges push me to get faster around certain sections of track, whether it's taking entire parts of it or even just be faster at the start of the face off.
* The random scores that are picked are (from what I can tell) based on both friends and the nearest score. So if you haven't raced that part of the track in that same car, it'll likely give you a lowball target. But once you get better, it'll pick a friend's score if it's close enough to your best. More often than not, I'm running up against challenges from people like viveks and Evo X amongst many others on my friends list.

I can't disagree with anything else in your post though, you've made some really good points and covered a number of things I'd never have even considered. Good stuff!

 

[jellies_two]

But I would forgive sorting out the social thing if they add this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Piy-uDrT0-Q

 

[viveks86]

IMO without
- leagues
- seasons
- events you must qualify to compete in
- scheduled events with spectator mode and replays
- and then a club system built on top
then the whole social aspect has almost no traction beyond racing ghosts. Jumping into multiplayer, is just substituting AI drivers for unpredictable drivers some of whom will use the mic. Winning in that, isn't satisfying because two seconds after the race is over it is like it never happened.

there is huge potential in a club based. social, racing game. And Driveclub can develop the idea but a lot of what they have already done would need un-doing and re-doing. I'm not sure they have the patience to go down the mountain in order to climb a better one.

Totally agree with those bullet points, but I don't see what needs to be undone or redone to achieve them. All of them can be realized within the current framework. Fame, as you said, is pointless. It can still be there as XP, but it cannot be the metric used for ranking individuals/clubs. The only thing they need to add is some other ranking system that isn't based on fame, but actual achievements in competition and leader boards.

Ha what?!

Ha… My guess wasn't all that informed after all. Brace yourself, Sir Price is coming.

 

[lordxar]

While the racing and visuals engine is great, sound is great, the courses and cars are great, the weather is great, the DLC cars and courses are (so far) great..

I do think the social aspect of Driveclub is sort of a _fail_, or at least just an experiment in progress.

1/ most clubs are dead and there is no way to easily spot if a club is a zombie or not
2/ if you are in an active club you have to be pro-active to actually make it mean something and issue challenges to other clubs (that you know are active), communicate with your team out of band, etc. A whole lotta busywork tbh.
3/ in-race challenges are pointless.
a. Nobody is interested in a drift challenge when racing to win or post a best lap
b. Driving line challenges are useless as well, they are either easy (slow down) or get in the way (you already know a better line and want to use it)
c. Average speed challenges are also a 'so what' thing
d. in-race challenges issued are just random picks from a big database - sometimes ludicrous (beat this average speed of 28kmh). Who is this random person? what club are they from? how good are they? when did the challenge get stored? all a mystery.
4/ Time trial challenges issued or available, show promise because they are a complete race, but winning them feels empty. Winning one with more than 50 participants is hard, but if you do, the fact you won is lost in time. A challenge from a friend who still plays the game is about the best you can hope for.
5/ Driveclub fame points are pointless - they just accumulate with time, and are not "precious" as some tool tips suggest. The level and number of points means nothing other than a guess at how many hours logged. Although some people can reach level 50 so much faster than others, there is no recognition of how good you are, really. You can get a sense for how far up the tables your times are on each event, but only you really know that information.
6/ Once you beat the 3 stars, you can beat two ghosts: one is the ghost of the next fastest player, the other is the ghost of the top player. This is undeveloped. How about selecting what ghost you want to beat. Maybe your friends ghost, or a top 10 ghost.

IMO without
- leagues
- seasons
- events you must qualify to compete in
- scheduled events with spectator mode and replays
- and then a club system built on top
then the whole social aspect has almost no traction beyond racing ghosts. Jumping into multiplayer, is just substituting AI drivers for unpredictable drivers some of whom will use the mic. Winning in that, isn't satisfying because two seconds after the race is over it is like it never happened.

there is huge potential in a club based. social, racing game. And Driveclub can develop the idea but a lot of what they have already done would need un-doing and re-doing. I'm not sure they have the patience to go down the mountain in order to climb a better one.

A lot of that is build up while your learning the cars and levelling up. For me the drifting and lines were great for boosting my fame early on to get cars unlocked. Especially when I'd already lost the race anyway. Now the post game, so to speak, parts need developed. All the last things you mention would be great adds. Once you hit 50 and plat the game + base tour there isn't much out there aside from DLC.

 

[IKizzLE]

Yea, the online multiplayer is in desperate need of custom lobbies.
And the whole social aspect of DriveClub still needs work. There are things NFS AutoLog does that DriveClub doesn't do and it even does some things better than all of DriveClub's social aspects. Like why aren't individual lap times in single player and multiplayer recorded and put into a leaderboard, possibly shared and or used for a TrueSkill ranking system?

Should've combined burnout revenge's trueskill ranking system, NFS Hot Pursuit 2010's Autolog, and GRID's lap recording and leaderboards and added custom lobbies into one cohesive package.

 

[viveks86]

Yea, the online multiplayer is in desperate need of custom lobbies.
And the whole social aspect of DriveClub still needs work. There are things NFS AutoLog does that DriveClub doesn't do and it even does some things better than all of DriveClub's social aspects. Like why aren't individual lap times in single player and multiplayer recorded and put into a leaderboard, possibly shared and or used for a TrueSkill ranking system?

Should've combined burnout revenge's trueskill ranking system, NFS Hot Pursuit 2010's Autolog, and GRID's lap recording and leaderboards and added custom lobbies into one cohesive package.

The notification system pretty much does everything the autolog did. Unfortunately, that has never been enabled since launch when shit hit the fan. A TrueSkill style ranking system is much needed for sure.

 

[slop101]

So, since it hit $39, I finally picked up this bastard and played it for a couple hours last night - I actually really like it! Maybe my expectations may have been tempered by all the lukewarm reviews, but I've found it to be more than a solid racer. Sure, it has no big frills, but it more than makes up for that with some of the best videogame graphics I've ever seen in my life so far.

The only real bummer is that the stuff behind the paywall are in the gameplay menus with everything else. I understanding having DLC and all, but they need to separate that shit from the rest of the game. Seeing that stuff, locked up, ready to charge your credit card if you click on it, right next to the regular game is a pure asshole move.

 

[benzy]

Ha… My guess wasn't all that informed after all. Brace yourself, Sir Price is coming.

Damn. So February?

 

[viveks86]

Damn. So February?

 

[Inf3cted_b3ast]

I'm totally enjoying Driveclub so far and I love the game but every time I go back and watch this video, I can't help but feel like they(Evolution) took out a lot of the cool things they talked about in the video.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9tgcQV1IY0

 

[bananafactory]

What's the big feature this month?

 

[TEH-CJ]

Going crazy with the Alpine

turn up the sound guys. Hope you enjoy it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LldbU2z2ypM

 

[djjinx2]

What's the big feature this month?

Replays?

And if Sir Price is coming then maybe it's in the next few days?

Viveks gif me either way

 

[xrnzaaas]

Is it just me or are the driver statistics unavailable (accolades are displaying fine)? I've tried loading them a few times and no go. I wanted to find out how much points I needed for the million pts drift trophy (got it anyway).

 

[DHC-Shannow]

Soony. Expect the unexpected!

Ooo you bloody tease!

Is it just me or are the driver statistics unavailable (accolades are displaying fine)? I've tried loading them a few times and no go. I wanted to find out how much points I needed for the million pts drift trophy (got it anyway).

No they've not been loading since the last patch.

The only real bummer is that the stuff behind the paywall are in the gameplay menus with everything else. I understanding having DLC and all, but they need to separate that shit from the rest of the game. Seeing that stuff, locked up, ready to charge your credit card if you click on it, right next to the regular game is a pure asshole move.

I know what your saying but looking at the trophy list, fewer than half the people who have the game have realised you can customise the car livery! I think we kinda forget there's a lot of people who play games that don't know what they've got or can do - showing DLC in the tour and car selection menus at least gets the point across that there is that stuff available...

I had to look up what "skive" meant. Must be a term used exclusively outside of Australia.


I don't think it's down to the number of consoles... same theory was mentioned regarding DC vs. FH2 in that Eurogamer poll, but Mario Kart was #1 and there are a fraction of WiiUs out there vs. the XBO/PS4.

Hehe you really didn't know what skive meant

Yeah good point about MK, I hadn't thought of that. It's also got to be said that DC is a new IP so didn't have the existing fans to automatically by the latest version.

 

[viveks86]

Viveks gif me either way

But Sir Price is coming alright. He will need a couple of weeks to recover from the holiday parties.

 

[CozMick]

Challenges, Multiplayer, Time Trials and find a new club? You can help me get the 5 challenges sent/won trophy, mine seems to be bugged.

Here's how I got it,

Send to at least one other player, that player has to try the challenge at least once, then sit at the "challenges sent" screen and watch the countdown reach zero, the trophy will pop up after 5 attempts.

It you're not at the challenges sent screen when the timer expires it wont count (Rushy says a fix is coming)

 

[PepperedHam]

I am at my wit's end with this complete a clean lap objective. How the friggin fuck am I supposed to do that when the AI ass rams me? First place on lap three almost there and the CPU decides to come wreck my day. Why do I get penalized for the AI being jerkfaces?

 

[Nyx]

I am at my wit's end with this complete a clean lap objective. How the friggin fuck am I supposed to do that when the AI ass rams me? First place on lap three almost there and the CPU decides to come wreck my day. Why do I get penalized for the AI being jerkfaces?

Just wait a bit and let the AI drive far ahead, then you can do a clean lap easy. ;-)

 

[xrnzaaas]

I am at my wit's end with this complete a clean lap objective. How the friggin fuck am I supposed to do that when the AI ass rams me? First place on lap three almost there and the CPU decides to come wreck my day. Why do I get penalized for the AI being jerkfaces?

Why not back off and complete a quiet lap behind everyone else? Once you get a star you won't lose it again so you can repeat the race and fight for other stars (and for the race win).

Here's how I got it,

Send to at least one other player, that player has to try the challenge at least once, then sit at the "challenges sent" screen and watch the countdown reach zero, the trophy will pop up after 5 attempts.

It you're not at the challenges sent screen when the timer expires it wont count (Rushy says a fix is coming)

So it's confirmed that it's the only way to get this trophy or is it bugged only for some people? It sucks if it's true, because I'd like to leave challenges open for at least a day and check back on them when I turn on the console the next day.

 

[viveks86]

Why not back off and complete a quiet lap behind everyone else? Once you get a star you won't lose it again so you can restart the race and fight for other stars (and for the race win).

Or you could stay close behind them for one lap and then catch up. Clean lap objectives normally have 3 laps and catching up shouldn't be too difficult.

 

[PepperedHam]

Just wait a bit and let the AI drive far ahead, then you can do a clean lap easy. ;-)

Why not back off and complete a quiet lap behind everyone else? Once you get a star you won't lose it again so you can repeat the race and fight for other stars (and for the race win).

I do not know why I haven't thought of that. I always just kept thinking I'd break away into first and get it but hanging back sounds lovely too. I will give this a shot.

 

[CozMick]

Why not back off and complete a quiet lap behind everyone else? Once you get a star you won't lose it again so you can repeat the race and fight for other stars (and for the race win).



So it's confirmed that it's the only way to get this trophy or is it bugged only for some people? It sucks if it's true, because I'd like to leave challenges open for at least a day and check back on them when I turn on the console the next day.

Pretty sure its bugged for everyone (the trophy rarity seems to indicate this).

 

[danowat]

Just diving back into the add-on tours, and shit a brick man, the requirements are unbeliveably unbalanced.

Some are a piece of cake to 3 star, first time, no problem, others are teeth grindingly hard.

 

[DHC-Shannow]

So it's confirmed that it's the only way to get this trophy or is it bugged only for some people? It sucks if it's true, because I'd like to leave challenges open for at least a day and check back on them when I turn on the console the next day.

I think you just need to be in the game when the challenge expires - I was in a multiplayer race when the trophy unlocked for me.

 

[witness]

Just diving back into the add-on tours, and shit a brick man, the requirements are unbeliveably unbalanced.

Some are a piece of cake to 3 star, first time, no problem, others are teeth grindingly hard.

Yeah all the add on tours just kick me in the balls, they are all incredibly difficult and frustrating. I wish there was something to help, either a driving line, a rewind function, or a difficulty selector. Anyone of those would be incredibly helpful. I know a lot of this community loves the difficulty, but Evolution should try and help out people who don't have that kind of time or skill. Don't get me wrong, I love the game and look forward to keep playing it for a long time, but that is my biggest problem with it.

 

[danowat]

Yeah all the add on tours just kick me in the balls, they are all incredibly difficult and frustrating. I wish there was something to help, either a driving line, a rewind function, or a difficulty selector. Anyone of those would be incredibly helpful. I know a lot of this community loves the difficulty, but Evolution should try and help out people who don't have that kind of time or skill. Don't get me wrong, I love the game and look forward to keep playing it for a long time, but that is my biggest problem with it.

I don't mind them being hard, as long as they are all on the same playing field, but there is very little balance.

I like to think I am a pretty experienced sim racer, many many years on PC sims, original beta tester for iRacing etc etc, and some of them really make me sweat, so with a lack of difficulty adjustments or assists, and huge difficulty spikes, I can imagine they really hit those that aren't quite so accomplished very hard.

There is a strange juxtaposition in this game, it's clear its not a hardcore sim (and probably not trying to be), but the lack of assists and difficulty adjustments seems at odd with this, to be perfectly honest, I am not 100% sure what demographic it was trying to appeal too.

 

[m@cross]

You can change the color of cars in the garage. It seems like a lot of people don't know this.

Yes, the same day I posted this I found this out. If you go to your garage you can customize all the paint spots except club (unless you are the club owner) and factory. You can select numerous colors and patterns as well as a few other options. It is well done and negates my previous comment.

 

[Snkfanatic]

Got the game not long ago and I have been enjoying it.

Anyone have room in their club? Would love to join one.

 

[DHC-Shannow]

I don't mind them being hard, as long as they are all on the same playing field, but there is very little balance.

I like to think I am a pretty experienced sim racer, many many years on PC sims, original beta tester for iRacing etc etc, and some of them really make me sweat, so with a lack of difficulty adjustments or assists, and huge difficulty spikes, I can imagine they really hit those that aren't quite so accomplished very hard.

There is a strange juxtaposition in this game, it's clear its not a hardcore sim (and probably not trying to be), but the lack of assists and difficulty adjustments seems at odd with this, to be perfectly honest, I am not 100% sure what demographic it was trying to appeal too.

I must admit my initial reaction was that there's nothing wrong with the difficulty level and I detest the rewind option that is in many driving games these days, but looking (again) down the trophy listing to see how other people are doing is quite revealing.

Fewer than half the people with the game have achieved the Rookie Trophy (46.7%) which is the first section of the game. After that the numbers drop off like this - Amateur 27.4%, Semi Pro 10.8%, Pro 8.2% & Legend 5.3%. Thats not even getting all the stars in a section, just winning the trophy in the final event. The DLC completion is even worse with less than 1% of players reaching any of the DLC's final trophy (Elements is 0.1%).

Is the difficulty to blame?

 

[Denur]

There is a strange juxtaposition in this game, it's clear its not a hardcore sim (and probably not trying to be), but the lack of assists and difficulty adjustments seems at odd with this, ...

I'm a bit struggling with the same question. last week I installed Assetto Corsa and ran the KTM X-Bow on Imola with Pro settings (only factory settings, which boils down to no aids), using the Thrustmaster T300RS racing wheel. I noticed one big difference with this car between the two games immediately, and that is the braking. In AC the brakes lock up right away, so I need to be gentle with the brakes and in DC the brakes do not lock up at all. When I set ABS on in AC I get about the same behavior as with DC. From that moment on, I find it much easier to control the X-Bow in AC than in DC and I think this is because in AC the car is much better tuned for the track (in this case it was Imola). In DC I get much more lift-off oversteer than with AC on Imola (with the default Imola tune for the X-bow). Also, the feedback I get trough the wheel is much much better with Assetto Corsa, which also helps a lot to control the car. So, I do think that DC is trying to have the cars behave as close to real life as possible, but with some aids like ABS, TC and some stability management in case of collisions. This is however only based on one car. I also wonder whether DC uses one and the same tune for each track, maybe even regardless of the track condition.

 

[xrnzaaas]

In my opinion it would be impossible for the Evolution Studios to add difficulty settings in the "career mode", because a large part of it is to compete with other people for the highest place in the leaderboards. They should add difficulty options though for single events and for multiplayer (as global restrictions for all participants).

PS. I don't mind the difficulty myself, however I must admit that some of the tours have unbalanced events.

 

[m@cross]

I must admit my initial reaction was that there's nothing wrong with the difficulty level and I detest the rewind option that is in many driving games these days, but looking (again) down the trophy listing to see how other people are doing is quite revealing.

Fewer than half the people with the game have achieved the Rookie Trophy (46.7%) which is the first section of the game. After that the numbers drop off like this - Amateur 27.4%, Semi Pro 10.8%, Pro 8.2% & Legend 5.3%. Thats not even getting all the stars in a section, just winning the trophy in the final event. The DLC completion is even worse with less than 1% of players reaching any of the DLC's final trophy (Elements is 0.1%).

Is the difficulty to blame?

Speaking for myself; once you get to the higher tiers you drive so fast that small mistakes can cause you to be in 10th when you where in 1st for 80% of the race. In earlier races it was about learning the tracks and driving them efficiently. In later races it is more about handling the speed and keeping control as well as avoiding a NPC vehicle smashing you off the track. Still playing it, but if I am doing it single player, I can only take so many Hyper car races where one bump from the road or a NPC destroys my effort before I turn to something else.

 

[Merun]

Rather than making it easier, I would prefer if the game helped the player to get better. Explanations are really barebone for a lot of things, especially if you are not familiar with cars and race.

If you look back into the OT, basic concept like apex isn't always known, so this is a starting point. Braking in straigth line, how to control a drift, understanding the feedback of the car, weight shifting and so on.


Also I wish we had more info on each car like weight, weight distribution, horsepower, engine/drive layout. I can Google them but would prefer to have them in game.

 

[danowat]

I'm a bit struggling with the same question. last week I installed Assetto Corsa and ran the KTM X-Bow on Imola with Pro settings (only factory settings, which boils down to no aids), using the Thrustmaster T300RS racing wheel. I noticed one big difference with this car between the two games immediately, and that is the braking. In AC the brakes lock up right away, so I need to be gentle with the brakes and in DC the brakes do not lock up at all. When I set ABS on in AC I get about the same behavior as with DC. From that moment on, I find it much easier to control the X-Bow in AC than in DC and I think this is because in AC the car is much better tuned for the track (in this case it was Imola). In DC I get much more lift-off oversteer than with AC on Imola (with the default Imola tune for the X-bow). Also, the feedback I get trough the wheel is much much better with Assetto Corsa, which also helps a lot to control the car. So, I do think that DC is trying to have the cars behave as close to real life as possible, but with some aids like ABS, TC and some stability management in case of collisions. This is however only based on one car. I also wonder whether DC uses one and the same tune for each track, maybe even regardless of the track condition.

The "dynamic" assists in DC are (IMO) actually worse than having them off completely

Rather than making it easier, I would prefer if the game helped the player to get better. Explanations are really barebone for a lot of things, especially if you are not familiar with cars and race.

If you look back into the OT, basic concept like apex isn't always known, so this is a starting point. Braking in straigth line, how to control a drift, understanding the feedback of the car, weight shifting and so on.


Also I wish we had more info on each car like weight, weight distribution, horsepower, engine/drive layout. I can Google them but would prefer to have them in game.

Yes, agreed.

Drifting is still a bugbear of mine, it really shows up the lack of depth in the physics model, it's almost bordering on the type of "canned" effects that old Simbin games had.

I did ask a while back if anyone knew what tyre model DC used (Pacejka?) but never got an answer.

 

[Vaga]

I like to think I am a pretty experienced sim racer, many many years on PC sims, original beta tester for iRacing etc etc, and some of them really make me sweat, so with a lack of difficulty adjustments or assists, and huge difficulty spikes, I can imagine they really hit those that aren't quite so accomplished very hard.

Honestly I'm not a racing games addict, I just play them for fun be it a Burnout/NFS/GT/Grid etc. Don't even have a dedicated wheel or fancy setup.

And still I think DC's sp to be fairly easy, went through the tours like hot knife through butter which it's kinda sad because I was expecting a bigger challenge. With the exception of the first 3-4 hours of races it took to accomodate with the game I don't think there were more than a few tour events which I restarted more than once or twice (the Venom hot laps is where I spent about 30mins each). 3 staring an event is very far from difficult and you can easily see this by checking the leaderboards top times. Usually there is a huge gap between the time set by Evo and what good drivers are acheiveing.

Take the infamous first Venom hot lap, IIRC the top time is about 1:12, the time for 3 stars is 1:16. That's a fucking huge gap for a 1 minute track lap. I won't expect anyone to reach that best time but a 1:14-1:15 is easy as hell. So there's no challenge for the rest of us who like the game and actually get better as we play it. The only thing Evo should do is lower the stars requirements to participate in the events. Not everyone should 3 star an event if they don't improve their driving skills.

Driveclub is that type of game where you're constantly pushed over the limits you impose on yourself the more you play it and for me at least this is what makes it special and so rewarding, that moment where you beat someone's time that you thought was impossible (which is why the challenges are so addictive).

Hell, I wanted the entire sp career to be designed around those kind of moments with cars being locked as special prizes behind certain requirements that would be more of an incentive for people to practice their driving and win them. The current star system just makes people frustrated that they can't complete the event in one or two tries and move on. Who knows, maybe a next DC will change this

 

[Summer Haze]

The more I play of this game, the more I adore the handling model. I love how it feels to let off the gas while approaching the apex, and then applying the gas again on the way out. So smooth. It reminds me of PGR.

 

[Bl4ckSunsh1n3]

I don't mind them being hard, as long as they are all on the same playing field, but there is very little balance.

I like to think I am a pretty experienced sim racer, many many years on PC sims, original beta tester for iRacing etc etc, and some of them really make me sweat, so with a lack of difficulty adjustments or assists, and huge difficulty spikes, I can imagine they really hit those that aren't quite so accomplished very hard.

There is a strange juxtaposition in this game, it's clear its not a hardcore sim (and probably not trying to be), but the lack of assists and difficulty adjustments seems at odd with this, to be perfectly honest, I am not 100% sure what demographic it was trying to appeal too.

I find it difficult but, I'm by no means anything more than just a dude who enjoys racing games. I've played almost every racing game but, I don't 100% any of them. Most are more like 50%.

I'm pretty sure I'm not the demographic for this game though, even though I like it a lot and still play it. Like you, I'm not sure what it's actually aiming at actually. Based on the comments in here, it's too easy for dedicated racing games fans. Based on what I've seen playing it, it's pretty damn difficult for your average PS4 racing game player.

I must admit my initial reaction was that there's nothing wrong with the difficulty level and I detest the rewind option that is in many driving games these days, but looking (again) down the trophy listing to see how other people are doing is quite revealing.

Fewer than half the people with the game have achieved the Rookie Trophy (46.7%) which is the first section of the game. After that the numbers drop off like this - Amateur 27.4%, Semi Pro 10.8%, Pro 8.2% & Legend 5.3%. Thats not even getting all the stars in a section, just winning the trophy in the final event. The DLC completion is even worse with less than 1% of players reaching any of the DLC's final trophy (Elements is 0.1%).

Is the difficulty to blame?

There are things in the game I'll never unlock, due to lack of skill but, I'm OK with that. I've made it up to the Semi-Pro trophy but, will probably never get the Pro one. I definitely won't ever get Legend. As for the DLC, I have like 5-10 stars in each. I think it's hard but, I'm not sure if I'm the outlier or the central use case.

 

[xrnzaaas]

There are things in the game I'll never unlock, due to lack of skill but, I'm OK with that. I've made it up to the Semi-Pro trophy but, will probably never get the Pro one. I definitely won't ever get Legend. As for the DLC, I have like 5-10 stars in each. I think it's hard but, I'm not sure if I'm the outlier or the central use case.

Actually a lot of the legend events are very easy, as long as you have good vehicles in your garage. McLaren F1 LM or a Pagani Zonda R are extremely easy to control and plus some events don't have high star requirements. A lot of the lower class tours from the DLC's are far more challenging.

 

[danowat]

Actually a lot of the legend events are very easy, as long as you have good vehicles in your garage. McLaren F1 LM or a Pagani Zonda R are extremely easy to control and plus some events don't have high star requirements. A lot of the lower class tours from the DLC's are far more challenging.

The whole of the default tour is very easy, I got most stars on my first try, only a few events I had to repeat, mainly drift ones

The DLC tours are a different matter, some are again, very easy, but some are quite tough (the lack of visibility in the elements one can attribute to some of this), I am sure I can get 100% in them all at some point, but I can see some people who don't have as much experience in a driving sim getting frustrated with them.

It would be interesting to hear what demographic Evo were shooting for.

 

[Merun]

There are things in the game I'll never unlock, due to lack of skill but, I'm OK with that. I've made it up to the Semi-Pro trophy but, will probably never get the Pro one. I definitely won't ever get Legend. As for the DLC, I have like 5-10 stars in each. I think it's hard but, I'm not sure if I'm the outlier or the central use case.

You have just reached a difficulty spike which I also met. Better say that if you overcome it, you will get to enjoy DC at its fullest. BAC Mono, Mclaren 12C, Renault Alpine A110-50, Pagani Zonda R, Hennesey Venom GT and more great and fun car.

However to jump into supercar, you may need to review your driving. Brake earlier and be gentler on the throttle when exiting corner. Also don't beat too much your head against it. Finish some previous event if needed. Also, some car are easier than others. BAC Mono and Pagani Zonda R are the easiest, though it's no advisable to get too used to the Mono because only very few other car share its trait.

 

[Bl4ckSunsh1n3]

Actually a lot of the legend events are very easy, as long as you have good vehicles in your garage. McLaren F1 LM or a Pagani Zonda R are extremely easy to control and plus some events don't have high star requirements. A lot of the lower class tours from the DLC's are far more challenging.

I have all of the cars unlocked so maybe I will get the Legend. I think what is easy to you is probably not what is easy to me, which is the way it should be though.

 

[viveks86]

I have all of the cars unlocked so maybe I will get the Legend. I think what is easy to you is probably not what is easy to me, which is the way it should be though.

Yeah it's all relative. I find drifting easy and racing tough, for example. I can get all stars, but it takes some work.

 

[xrnzaaas]

I have all of the cars unlocked so maybe I will get the Legend. I think what is easy to you is probably not what is easy to me, which is the way it should be though.

Sorry if it sounded like I was bragging or something. What I meant to say is:
a) choosing good vehicles can make a lot of the events much easier so don't give up
b) most DLC events are tougher (in some cases a lot tougher) than the primary career mode

I also think that the main tours are much better balanced (expect for the Venom lap that is too much for my nerves ).

 

[sneaky77]

I don't see anything wrong in having to repeat events and trying to get stars and get better. But then again I really like the handling and the tracks and the lack of "xtreme!!"
I am sure a lot of people dropped the game after launch because of all the issues, and is probable some people just play online and not single player.

 

[ADRIANF1esp]

Hi, I leave you a gameplay with the dynamic weather, it's a race at the Putre track of Chile, with the Marussia B2.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOa2TnZCVOc


And the pic: https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7492/16197229016_0d8aa541d2_o.jpg

Simply, the most photorealistic game.