User:BleuJavaughn/Contribute RacingGame Components

The year 1999 introduced Crash Team Racing, a kart racing game featuring the characters from Crash Bandicoot. It was praised for its controls and courses. Crash Bandicoot and its racing series has continued, with the most recent game being Crash Team Racing: Nitro Fueled (June 2019). The year 1999 also marked a change of games into more "free form" worlds. Midtown Madness for the PC allows the player to explore a simplified version of the city of Chicago using a variety of vehicles and any path that they desire. In the arcade world, Sega introduced Crazy Taxi, a sandbox racing game where you are a taxi driver that needed to get the client to the destination in the shortest amount of time. A similar game also from Sega is Emergency Call Ambulance, with almost the same gameplay (pick up patient, drop off at hospital, as fast as possible). Games are becoming more and more realistic visually. Some arcade games are now featuring 3 screens to provide a surround view.

In 2000, Angel Studios (now Rockstar San Diego) introduced the first free-roaming, or the former "free form", racing game on video game consoles and handheld game consoles with Midnight Club: Street Racing which released on the PlayStation 2 and Game Boy Advance. The game allowed the player to drive anywhere around virtual recreations of London and New York. Instead of using enclosed tracks for races, the game uses various checkpoints on the free roam map as the pathway of the race, giving the player the option to take various shortcuts or any other route to the checkpoints of the race. In 2001 Namco released Wangan Midnight to the arcade and later released an upgrade called Wangan Midnight R. Wangan Midnight R was also ported to the PlayStation 2 by Genki as just Wangan Midnight.

In 2003, Rockstar San Diego's Midnight Club II was the first racing game to feature both playable cars and playable motorcycles. Namco released a sort of sequel to Wangan Midnight R called Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune.

There is a wide gamut of driving games ranging from simple action-arcade racers like Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (for Nintendo Switch) and Nicktoon Racers to ultra-realistic simulators like Grand Prix Legends, iRacing, Virtual Grand Prix 3, Live for Speed, NetKar Pro, GT Legends, GTR2, rFactor, X Motor Racing, CarX Street, and iPad 3D racer Exhilarace — and everything in between.

Racing Game Components
In racing games developers and video game designers have certain components that make the ingredients for the formula of a racing game. This is interpreted by the common data, track designs and the playstyle of each hit video game such as Mario Kart, Need For Speed, Forza or Gran Turismo. Each formula makes up the particular style of the game that along uses different types of Game Mechanics that would be used efficiently to get the best time in a racing game.

Drifting Mechanics

There's a various amount of racing games that uses a drift mechanics but in different ways. Starting with kart racing Mario Kart for example uses it to obtain boost and can be controlled mid drift depending on long corners or tight corners. The more you hold a drift button the longer you will drift and obtain boost or points depending on the mode. Many simulation games like Forza or Gran Turismo uses actual physics to obtain a drift whether it is needed torque to spin out the wheels and the angle and speed you would approach a corner.

Vehicle Customization

Vehicle Customization also depends on arcade-type racing or simulation racing. In arcade racing it will focus more on the aspect of cosmetics and looks. Some games will change the attributes of the car from customizing it but the majority of the games will be colors, looks and bits of attachments. This is heavily influence in the game Need for Speed: Underground (EA Games, 2003) that have cars that can be customized to increase performance and visuals. Simulation-type racing games will focus on a more in depth cosmetic customization of the car, but also the various adjustments or tuning of the vehicle. For example Forza Motorsport 7 has customization for the handling of a vehicle, how much horsepower, braking power, aerodynamics and etc.

A.I Drivers

A.I Drivers ensure to mimic human behavior in some manner like making small adjustments to the car's direction while driving or accelerating and decelerating. A.I not only have to be at a certain difficulty but have to be better at navigating though corners turns and obstacles better than the player. For example Mario Kart has a optimal route that the A.I takes for a good run. Simulation racing will are similar but in more recent games became more advanced. Forza have A.I that are called Drivatar that employs neural networks to control the drivers in-game. Each A.I driver has different skill levels and driving tendencies like how aggressively they try to overtake or approaching a corner.