Blog - New Driver Skills

New Driver Skills

Some of our long time managers already accompanied few drivers during their careers and finding motivation to start another driver becomes harder and harder. Some of them already left the game and that is not a big surprise. But can I do something to keep them in the game longer? Maybe! But surely that must be something different than what they already experienced in the game.

After longer consideration I decided to add more career paths than just formula circuit racing we had from the beginning. We already have MotoGP style series in our game but at the moment they does not seem to be very cool as there are only 4 series and building career in general is not much different.

The long term plan is to add more motorcycling series but also rally championships. There are already 2 special skills which are valuable for drivers to have success in motorcycle races and in rallies. But that does not seem quite enough. Therefore we are going to add more attributes. And here is the introduction to them.

Riding Finesse

This new skill will be specifically useful for motorcycle riders and represents ability to use advanced riding techniques like trail braking, throttle/brake overlapping and some more.

Trail braking is a motorcycle riding technique where the brakes are used beyond the entrance to a turn, the rider gradually releases brake pressure between turn-in and the apex of the turn. The term trail braking refers to the practice of “trailing off” front-brake pressure gradually as you progress into the corner. 

Throttle/Brake Overlapping is another dangerous technique. The idea is to think about the throttle and brake as actually one apparatus and not two - so when the brake gradually comes off, the throttle gradually comes on and vice versa. Smooth on and smooth off.

Both of this techniques are dangerous but in our game higher finesse skill will not lead to more errors. Mastering this skill will lead to better lap times and also easier overtaking on motorcycles.

Body Positioning

The way a rider has their body positioned has a great effect on their center of gravity, overall stability and their lean angle when performing a turn. By shifting body weight to the inside of a turn, however, the rider’s center of gravity helps to reduce the lean angle and better stabilize the bike.

Knee dragging as well as Doctor`s dangle (leg dangle) is also part of proper body positioning. Mastering proper body positioning also improves speed in corners but also helps a bit with braking.

Space Awareness

Space awareness is special skill which is useful in tight position battles.

Helps defending position and also overtaking allowing to keep more speed in side by side battles due to being well aware of opponents location and not being worried of collisions. This gives significant advantage in NASCAR racing.

In-race Adjustments

Track conditions are changing during a long race and ability to do some in-race adjustments to car in combination with drier feedback can avoid losing performance or even improve the performance of the car.

Of course this skill is useful only in cars which allows to do adjustments during the race.

Smoothness

Smoothness is a special skill useful on soft surfaces where smoother approach to throttle and brake is needed.

Can be called also pedal feeling but is also applicable on bike handles.

Adaptability

Adaptability is another attribute which is not useful in circuit racing. There is enough time to spend in testing and on simulator that it is easy to remember where the racing line and braking points are and drivers are following the same line lap after lap.

That is not the case in stage races where drivers does not have perfect knowledge of every corner and kind of improvisation is needed. Adaptability is skill which allows drivers to go faster and don`t lose time due to track  unfamiliarity. Good co-driver also helps.