A Letter to Racing Game Developers: Offline Singleplayer is Key

Sim Racing Singleplayer.jpg
In a recent poll asking what OverTake community members plan on racing next, the results overwhelmingly pointed to offline racing. As a result, OverTake Editor Angus believes developers must listen to the call for greater single-player functionality in racing games.

Image credit: Reiza Studios

This is starting to feel like I am beating a very old and very tired drum. But sim racing online in the traditional public ranked servers, and even the idea of league racing is becoming more and more tiresome in my opinion. But thankfully, I feel less alone as last week, we ran a pole on the main page asking what the community is planning on doing next in sim racing. The result? Over half of us voted in favour of an offline experience.

Surely then, now is the time for game developers to listen to the outcry of the community, hit pause on the procession of always online arcade titles and ranked racing systems and instead give single player fans a bit of substance.

The proof is in the Poll​

Starting last week, OverTake Project Manager @Jimmi Allison launched a poll destined for the website's home page asking community members where we all plan on racing next. Initially focusing on a specific list of various racing games and ranked racing services, the comments show AI racing offline quickly became a desperately missing option.

50.3% of OT Users aim to race offline next.

50.3% of OT Users aim to race offline next.

Within a day of launching the poll, Offline racing had been added to the options and already amassed a great deal of votes, quickly hitting a majority. The response held over 50% of the votes throughout the week until now when, at the time of writing, Offline racing accounts for 50.3% of all responses.

Second place saw iRacing get 12.7% of votes whilst Le Mans Ultimate represented 10.8% despite its Early Access state.

Holding a majority of the votes, albeit from just 959 participants, this shows a renewed interest from community members in back-to-basics, offline racing experiences. And that is not the only reason developers should finally divide their attention away from the cash cow that is always online gameplay.

Always Online, Always Problematic​

In recent weeks, several stories within the open-world racing game niche have highlighted the major issue with always-online gaming, especially in the racing game world.

Earlier this month, Test Drive Unlimited: Solar Crown launched to, shall we say tempered success. You can read our review of TDUSC here. Whilst we appreciated fun arcade driving physics and impressive engine sounds, there was no getting around the, at times game-breaking, server issues leaving many stuck in loading screens or even unable to launch the game.

Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown may look pretty, but feels empty.

Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown may look pretty, but feels empty. Image credit: Nacon

Those lucky enough to enter the main bulk of TDU gameplay in its 2024 guise faced baron landscapes struggling to capture the life that a 1:1 scale of Hong Kong Island should. It seems the push for 'natural' player encounters whilst exploring the world led to a disappointing priorities ladder in which AI cars and other solo gameplay elements like a living world fell to the wayside.

This sort of title is no better after a few years however as Ubisoft's The Crew showcased earlier this year. Back in March, the first of its name was delisted from store pages. But it gets worse as not only could new players no longer purchase the game, but those who did buy the 2014 title could no longer access it either. The title's so-called always online servers now became always offline with servers shutting down.

Since then and no doubt following backlash from the decision, the game's developer has implemented offline modes for both The Crew 2 and the most recent Motorfest. But the first title which, in many fans' opinions was the best of the bunch, will never be officially accessible again.

How to Improve Offline Racing?​

This whole idea of putting effort back into the offline experience and pushing single-player development is not just about making games fun and as immersive as possible in the here and now. Instead, it is about ensuring a title lives on well beyond the community's online adoration has faded away. And all that starts with a fun and engaging offline experience.

I hope Assetto Corsa EVO gets better AI than the series' previous entrants.

I hope Assetto Corsa EVO gets better AI than the series' previous entrants. Image credit: Kunos Simulazioni

In my opinion, there are two main areas developers must make strides to ensure a captivating single player experience with one very much requiring the other. At the core of it all is stronger AI.

AI Development is Lacking in 2024​

AI, computer opponents or bots. Whatever you call them, the rivals that make single-player racing work are one key aspect in sim racing that struggles to receive the love of developers, especially in recent years. Sure, Automobilista 2 is set to receive vastly reworked AI mechanics whilst the likes of Le Mans Ultimate and iRacing are slowly pushing smarter AI. But for the most part, I feel progress has been slow when you consider the advancements of AI outside of gaming.

Take a look at chatbots like ChatGPT, and you will realise that these fully programmed computers almost give off an impression of self-awareness and reasoning. Whilst I understand that a field of 20 cars individually driven by a powerful open-source chatbot would blow up even the most advanced PC builds, selling the lie of aware AI is crucial.


We need to see rival cars that defend at the right time, react to how you are placing your car and think far into a race regarding tyre strategy and aggression. Instead, we currently have a collection of locomotives following a set of pre-selected train lines including pre-programmed spins and pitting at predictable tyre wear percentages.

Racing Games Deserve Better Career Modes​

But there is no point to competent and believe AI cars if it is just to set up random races. Recent racing game releases have also shown a lacklustre and uninspired approach to offline game modes. From EA Sports WRC's repetitive Career to Forza Horizon 5's campaign, the idea of an immersive Career Mode is desperately lacking in modern racing games.

I remember playing games back in my youth like V-Rally 3 with its cool contract signing idea and later the original Forza Horizon and its progression system restricting you to certain cars throughout the game. Nowadays, developers either throw every bonus at players from the get-go or make a game so hard that grinding for hours might just about earn you a set of fuzzy dice.

Then again, a truly iconic career mode requires a great amount of creativity and that is something I do not have. All I can do is hope a modern racing game will be released soon with immersive AI and a progression system that actually makes me want to come back time and time again.

Do you think racing game developers are doing enough for the single-player experience? Let us know in the comments.
About author
Angus Martin
Motorsport gets my blood pumping more than anything else. Be it physical or virtual, I'm down to bang doors.

Comments

Nice shoutout to V-Rally 3, i enjoyed that game immensely. It was always fun to go through the ranks in a nicely crafted and realistic racing game. Another one like that was Formula Nippon, an obscure Ps1 game where you progressed from go karts, to F3, to Formula nippon.

That said, i think having good offline AI is really the top piority now. Things advanced nothing on the front in the last 25 years, and that is just not acceptable.
 
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Premium
I was just thinking that an article or post about this emblematic poll result should be written and published, hopefully for the developers to see.

I have always been reluctant to try online racing. I did it after some of my friends convinced me, and raced on LFM for a year. It was fun, but I grew tired of the silly accidents, puns and crashes, and most of all, being forced to stick to a schedule to compete. I only have time to race in the evenings and I was tired of waiting until 10 or 11 at night to race. Also, there were people out there who were putting a lot more time into it, practicing and doing specific set-ups, and it was just impossible to compete against them.

Offline racing is where it's at for me. But basically all of the AI models are so bad and outdated, since they are based on the same coding process that is now 20-30 years old. Great strides have been made in all areas of simracing, but unfortunately AI seems to have gone backwards.

And, as Angus says, a proper career mode to 'keep you hooked' is all the more necessary. I'm having so much fun with Gran Turismo 4 at the moment (Spec-II mod) and I wonder how it is possible that something like that hasn't been successfully replicated since, not even by PD. They all try to stick to the GT model, with tons of cars and tracks, but with no cohesion (most of the time not even among the content itself) or something that binds all the content together.
 
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Funny how everyone wants diff things.... if you like me that i have almost 54 years old, lived in the time where Offline was the only thing, you would think that a strong MP is key and i dont give a rats ass to offline ,AI's etc ...
 
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You don't need a poll is clearly evident and much higher then 50%

Like people point out to me..... sim sites don't dictate true levels of anything.

So if offline is key ( I AGREE 101% with you ) then I would ask what sim engines in past 30 years have real time dynamic AI ?

You tell me :rolleyes:
 
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On one hand I cannot say that I have an issue with AI, I have daily races with AI in different SIMs that are challenging and fun. To me, as I used to race offline in the past, AI , within their respective limits, drive better than Human SIM players.
On the other hand, I will welcome any improvement that the Devs can bring to the table.
AI, like any other aspect of a SIM, like FFB, physic, ands so on, are highly subjective, my favorite FFB setting can be someone else worse FFB ever.
So for AI, a way to alter them into behaving in ways that please our individually, more adjustability, like we have FFB adjustment or car setup, might be an avenue to explore further, beside strength and aggressivity.
 
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Premium
You don't need a poll is clearly evident and much higher then 50%

Like people point out to me..... sim sites don't dictate true levels of anything.

So if offline is key ( I AGREE 101% with you ) then I would ask what sim engines in past 30 years have real time dynamic AI ?

You tell me :rolleyes:
rFactor 2 obviously. But AMS1 come pretty close. I hope the new update "coming soon" to AMS2 will be just as good.
 
AI is not highly subjective ?
They are canned apart from ISIMotor

When the rest of sims load 20 of the same car they only need one and just load 20 skins.
That is because the cars are clones of each other and follow a canned routine.

ISIMotor must load the entire 20 cars so one is free to do crazy thing.
You know why that is ? ;) ISIMotor2.5 AI have half a brain.
Even the haybales have brains ? lol

ISI Motor is also the only engine you can actually force AI to understeer from your slipstream / dirty air.
That is dynamic.

So maybe all these other studios need to go back to the drawing board :p catch up with a 20 year old engine.... ;)
 
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And of the people that chose "offline", I would bet most of them would give 2 reasons. Time and/or the FACT that most sim racers are just crappy, rude punters. Who wants to put in the practice time, qualifying time, only to be tossed in the next corner after completing a pass. That's the people who ruin online racing and there is an abundance of them. Happens constantly on iRacing and they pay money for that horrible experience.

Edit: Great article. Very thoughtful and couldn't agree more.
 
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Premium
Time is my main reason for avoiding online games, I have no intention of applying an online event schedule to my free time. This is also why leagues and such also don't hold my attention.

Sit down, fire it up, Hit the track.

iRacing was the only platform that suited in regard to this criteria, as there is always a race about to start and very little time wasted getting into the game and onto the track.

I'd likely do more online casual racing if the online user base supported it,(chicken and the egg problem) and it was a more seamless experience to get into a race. Quite frustrating to spend 15 minutes trying to get into an worthwhile online event and then just to fire up the single player instead.
 
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I hope I'm not breaking any rules by informally conducting a poll within article comments.

I'm curious, maybe comment or throw a like on this if you're primarily a single player racer but really have little desire for a career mode. Just like there seems to be “silent masses” of single player simracers, I wonder if there might also be silent masses of offline racers who really wouldn't care about a career mode.

For the record, I am indeed someone for whom a career mode holds pretty much no appeal at all. I just want to drive what I want to, on the course I want to, when I want to. For me the choice of an open/test session, an individual race weekend, or a championship, is all the event structure I can imagine ever wanting in a sim title. I'm just wondering how much of an exception I may be.
 
Premium
I have no interest in a career. My interests are very similar to what's nominated, Track day, Single event or custom championship. I'm a pretend race car driver, Not a pretend soap opera actor, or a pretend engineer, or a pretend team manager.

I generally have an ongoing championship open for longer sessions, Or I just burn through a quick race.
 
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Premium
As an offline player, I really enjoy the hotlap challenges as the ones featured in Assetto Corsa, and wish new ones could be added over time (including cars and tracks from the modding community).
AMS2 has something similar, weekly challenges tied into an online leader board.

I really need to fire up that game a bit more frequently.
 

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Angus Martin
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