Qualifying in Racing games

[sethisthegoat]

So...I've been back into racing games now for about 6-7 months, playing a lot of different games. My favorite games have been GT Sport and F1 2017, but I've played just about anything including Dirt 4, Ride 2, Monster Energy Supercross, etc.

For the games that have qualifying before career mode, it seems like I can never qualify very well, then do fine in the races.

For Supercross, it really doesn't much matter, but it still feels odd to qualify in 40th place, then win my heat and podium the main race...I was playing on Medium, and have bumped up to hard now.

Same with F1...I'd routinely qualify in 13th-18th place, only to end up in the top 5 in the race. I realize, especially w/ F1, that there's qualifying trim vs. race trim, and varying strategies...but it seems to be a constant across games.

Played NASCAR heat 2, always struggling to qualify better than 25th place, but routinely winning/top 5-ing races.

Is there a game where the qualifying and race paces are more balanced? Do they become more balanced as you increase the difficulty somehow?

[doubledeuceR6]

Re: Qualifying in Racing games

I haven't played any of those that you've mentioned, not an open wheel/F1 fan and don't care for NASCAR unless it's on a road course.

You might try Project Cars though, I enjoyed the career mode in that and mainly ran the GT series so there were practice sessions before quali. which helps.

[eagletal88]

Re: Qualifying in Racing games

So...I've been back into racing games now for about 6-7 months, playing a lot of different games. My favorite games have been GT Sport and F1 2017, but I've played just about anything including Dirt 4, Ride 2, Monster Energy Supercross, etc.

For the games that have qualifying before career mode, it seems like I can never qualify very well, then do fine in the races.

For Supercross, it really doesn't much matter, but it still feels odd to qualify in 40th place, then win my heat and podium the main race...I was playing on Medium, and have bumped up to hard now.

Same with F1...I'd routinely qualify in 13th-18th place, only to end up in the top 5 in the race. I realize, especially w/ F1, that there's qualifying trim vs. race trim, and varying strategies...but it seems to be a constant across games.

Played NASCAR heat 2, always struggling to qualify better than 25th place, but routinely winning/top 5-ing races.

Is there a game where the qualifying and race paces are more balanced? Do they become more balanced as you increase the difficulty somehow?

I think a lot of it has to do with AI programming. In Monster Energy Supercross during qualifying, the AI is able to do clean fast laps, but during a race they are all bogged down due to due the close proximity, (especially the first few laps). To a lesser degree I noticed this in F1 2017 as well. I think AI just isn't powerful enough to deal with racing situations while hitting full speeds and being aware of other racers.

We could go back to the older games where the AI was programmed to hit one line and not be aware of other racers, haha.

[profholt82]

Re: Qualifying in Racing games

Whenever possible, utilize the practice time available. Get a better sense of the race lines and have them memorized before qualifying. In the F1 series in particular, they have a dotted line feature you can use that tracks the best line. It even changes between green and red to denote when you'll need to brake. The Forza games have a similar feature.

Not every racing game has this feature I realize, but most allow practice laps before qualifying, and that would be my advice. Get an overall sense of the track, put in a number of laps until you figure out the quickest way around, and then try to duplicate that in your qualifying run.

[sethisthegoat]

Re: Qualifying in Racing games

I do use the driving lines when available...for braking as much as anything.

In F1, which I just jumped back into after a long layoff, I do the practice to both familiarize myself with the track, and to get development points.

Just ran the Australia race. I'm in season 2, with Haas. Qualified in 5th, behind Merc & Ferrari, 1 ahead of Ricciardo. Finished the race in 7th, thanks to a "racing incident" with my idiot teammate Grosjean, who bumped me on the side, overtook me and then slammed the brakes to damage my front wing in the 4th lap. Had to fight my way back up to 7th from 20th, aided by my massive undercut on the field and a Vettel retirement. Also had a couple fun overtakes, including one on Verstappen into a corner (probably a very Verstappen-like move)

Anyway...maybe I'm finding my sweet spot there between qualifying pace and race pace.

I've also tried Project Cars 2...and I know I'm a noob...and playing just on my Dual Shock 4...but I can't control cars in that game...and I've tried different tunings, etc....I just spin out when I accelerate too much...

[pk500]

Re: Qualifying in Racing games

I've also tried Project Cars 2...and I know I'm a noob...and playing just on my Dual Shock 4...but I can't control cars in that game...and I've tried different tunings, etc....I just spin out when I accelerate too much...

You're not alone, dude. Project Cars was pretty bad with a controller, but I found some settings that worked halfway decent with most cars.

Project Cars 2 is horrible with a controller. Tried various settings for hours, and everything sucked. That game is made for a wheel only.

[sethisthegoat]

Re: Qualifying in Racing games

You're not alone, dude. Project Cars was pretty bad with a controller, but I found some settings that worked halfway decent with most cars.

Project Cars 2 is horrible with a controller. Tried various settings for hours, and everything sucked. That game is made for a wheel only.

Well, glad I'm not alone, I suppose...Wish I wouldn't have wasted the money on it. Really...if you could take Gran Turismo's controls/overall feel and combine it with the career mode in Project Cars 2...and it would be just about perfect.

[doubledeuceR6]

Re: Qualifying in Racing games

I've also tried Project Cars 2...and I know I'm a noob...and playing just on my Dual Shock 4...but I can't control cars in that game...and I've tried different tunings, etc....I just spin out when I accelerate too much...

Sorry I forgot about how bad it was with a controller. My experience is with a wheel setup and it was pretty decent on the wheel.