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TOCA Race Driver 2 - First Look Preview
Derek dela Fuente
19/02/2004
TVG chats to Codemasters and gains the lowdown on the most ambitious racer ever known...
Codemasters is one of the few publishers who constantly fuse, seamlessly, solid and compelling gameplay with the right mix of inventiveness and technology. The Codemasters brand now not only offers the usual fix of real challenge but also manages to exude a familiarity that ensures you will feel comfortable whilst conversely conjuring up a fistful of surprises.
The TOCA license continues and it goes without saying it is looking exceptional as it nears its release date.
The spec and feature list is extensive and TOCA Race Driver 2 boasts an extensive list of âin gameâ activities, including the whole gambit of the fastest motor sports events ever seen in one game, along with 31 championships covering 15 different motor racing styles including GT Sports Car Racing, Street Racing, Rally, DTM, V8 Supercars, Global GT Lights, Rally Cross, Formula Ford, Open Wheel Grand Prix, Classic Car Racing, Super Truck racing, Stockcar Oval Racing, Ice-Racing, Convertible Racing, and Performance Cars.
The rather grandiose billing for the game means it has a lot to live up to and both the research and technology focus that has gone into the creation of TOCA Race Driver 2 (TRD2) is equally imposing. TRD2 has two main modes - simulator and career - and the amount of in game challenge and diversity makes other car games pale into insignificance. Clive Moody, the Producer, added weight and substance, clarifying the focus for the team, which leaves no doubt that Codemasters believes this could well take video gaming onto a higher plane. âTRD2 really stretches expectations beyond what racing titles have been able to deliver up until now. The diversity of racing types - 15 different motor sport championships - presents the player with an unprecedented variety of challenges never before brought together in a single title.â
Clive expressed that the most meticulous and very highest quality research is essential in bringing accurate representations of both the tracks and cars to the game. Track data has come from a variety of sources that include CAD data, GPS data, photographic and video reference from both aerial and ground based sources. Close working relationships with the car manufacturers have ensured the team has had access to high quality technical reference material ranging from CAD data right down to paint samples to match colours correctly in the game.
âThe one element that sets TOCA Race Driver 2 apart is the diversity of racing types. No other game can take you through such a range of motor sports, each presenting it's own unique challenges. For example, racing a Ford GT around the high speed sweeping corners of Road America requires a totally different driving style to swinging a Hot Rod around the tight corners of a street circuit. Finding grip on the loose dirt of a rally stage is poles apart from the out and out speed of drafting past the opposition in open wheel oval racing.â
The damage model system for TRD2, The Terminal Damage Engine, has been completely re-written and Codemasters believe it is one the most realistic damage engines ever created for a racing game and affects the performance of each of the different 35 in-game cars. Windows smash, doors can be ripped open, and a head-on collision can end your race. Clive added: âSome of the key changes are that you can't crash and still trundle around the circuit; if you have a 100mph crash, your car is out of the race. For lower level impacts, there are plenty of visual and audio cues to let the player know their car is hurting.â The bottom line to all gamers is that what happens in reality pertaining to a crash, which is based on real-life motor sports collisions, will be duplicated faithfully in the game and you canât say more than that!â
Some of the cars included are top of the range and Coademasters boast the fact that
this will be the first video game to fully simulate the new Aston Martin DB9, one of the world's most sophisticated and technically advanced sports cars ever.
6.0-litre V12, 450 bhp, drop-dead good looks! The DB9 provides the power, excitement and aspirational qualities that any would-be race driver would want a chance of taking on to a track and pushing to its limits.
Tactics form an important part of TRD2. Goals for the player are varied and rather than always needing to win every race it is possible to progress past some championships by making podium positions or simply beating specific drivers. The player can always choose to go all-out for the glory of a first place, but equally, they may choose to simply block an opponent or build a steady points tally through a series high placed finishes.
It was refreshing to hear from Clive, and not often said, although obvious to most, that ultimately the result of any race or challenge is down to the driving ability of the player, however, good the AI. The AI is there to not only challenge the player but also push the player towards being a better driver. TRD2 has however a sophisticated and complex AI system that models large numbers of individual driver characteristics. These include steering control, braking ability, acceleration control and race start reactions. In addition, the AI models other behaviours such as side-by-side awareness and knowledge of where best to overtake or block on the tracks. The enhanced side-by-side awareness means that in âneck and neckâ situations the AI will be driving to win, but not be unfairly colliding with other cars. For the final sense of realism it is also important that the AI is fallible. The AI drivers can make mistakes just like the player, especially when put under pressure.
The various threads in TRD2 give added impetus and one route for the player
revolves around an all-new story with a completely new cast of characters. This follows the player's career from a hard-up independent racing team striving to reach the ultimate goal of champion Grand Prix driver. A significant change in TRD2 over the previous game is that the story is now played out entirely in first person to create a far more personal result. The narrative is based upon both the player's performance and the attitudes and agendas of the supporting cast, the result being more palatable for the player than the previous game. Visually, the quality has been significantly raised with a move away from real-time playback to full use of FMV throughout. This has allowed the team to produce much more detailed characters and environments, greatly enhancing the overall experience.
Xbox Live has been a fundamental part of the design for TOCA Race Driver 2. Offering more online racers simultaneously than any other motorsport title in Xbox, TOCA Race Driver 2 enables up to twelve players to race with no lag and was essential from the outset; so we have put a lot of effort into developing advanced compression and prediction algorithms to enable this. Feature wise, there is support for matchmaking, friend lists, real-time voice and player statistics. The player statistics includes Elo ratings, a widely used system for rating players based on the outcome of games with players of differing skills.
From top to bottom from front to back â“ even inside to outside - TRD2 explores and extends certain criteria and reinvents ideas that many have not even thought to tinker with but at the same time, more importantly, Codemasters is trying to create their own original mix â“ which they are doing very successfully. Staying unbiased and not becoming ingratiating to the team is impossible up against the expertise on offer.
Certain racing games tend to look too clean and polished with not enough real substance and layers underneath its shiny veneer. As you can read, TRD2 has so much going for it, far too much for us to inspect in one go. Clive finalised things as we made comment to the games tagline, 'The Ultimate Racing Simulator', as we wondered if it was perhaps a dig at the weak racing action featured in the Gran Turismo series!
âThere is no question that the GT series has been the benchmark for driving games but TOCA Race Driver 2 eclipses this and the rest of the opposition with its mix of exciting pack racing, twenty-one cars on the track, advanced AI, full damage modelling, including terminal damage, and stunning new graphics. It's a big game.â
