SimHQ.com - Motorsports Zone - Interview: Codemasters Motorsports

First an introduction: I'm Richard Tysoe, Codemasters' Motorsports CLO. Mike Rowland, the previous CLO for motorsports, had his hands a bit full dealing with both the shooting and the driving, so I've taken over the motorsport. I've worked for Codemasters for 5 years, and in that time worked on ToCA2, CMR2, ToCA WTC, 1nsane, Race Driver, CMR3, IndyCar Series, and Race Driver 2. I'm a huge racing fan (so much so that I convinced my fiancée to spend part of our honeymoon at the Le Mans 24 hours) and I've been playing racing games ever since I've had a computer. Faves are GPL, NASCAR 2003, GTR-2002 and ToCA, Colin McRae and IndyCar series, though I will play anything with cars in it at least once.

Q. The next big thing in motorsports sims seems to be realism based rally sims. Multiple significant ones are currently being produced. Is Codemasters planning to address this new interest in realism based driving sims? If yes, how?

A. The Colin McRae Rally and Race Driver games have wide, mass appeal so we've got to make sure we're providing games that a large audience, with a range of skills, can enjoy. However, we understand that for a lot of people in the "hardcore" crowd only want a high end sim. Part of my job is to try work on that and show we do have people who live and breathe motor racing and rallying, who do, on occasion, sit down and read very dry technical books about vehicle dynamics and suspension design for "fun". But we know that fundamentally, to the community, words only go so far, particularly when you're starting from the point we are. So we have to show what we've got. So we're including things, in our new games, to appeal to that harder crowd. It all really starts with the PC version of Race Driver 2, but it won't end there. We have been listening to the community, and there will be switchable features in the game solely for that hardcore player.

Q. A distribution questions for the U.S. We cannot find Colin McRae 3 or IndyCar Series anywhere in U.S. retail stores for the PC platform. Were both released in the U.S.?

A. Yes, they were. If you're having difficulty getting either game from your local retailer, then head to the Codemasters Eshop (and select Eshop from the menu running across the top) and we'll gladly sell you a copy.

The Colin McRae Series

Q. How will Colin McRae 04 differ from the other rally sim contenders?

A. We've got the monstrous Group B machines, for a start, parts testing, and the Colin McRae "feel". No other rally game drives like the McRae series, and I think that's the main strength and we've upped the handling model for 04 to be more realistic. I think we've also got the widest range of rally cars in terms of period, style and power, than anyone else.

Q. Have you made any decisions about Colin McRae 04 being available for the PC platform?

A. Colin 04 is being developed for PC, but we've yet to confirm distribution in the US.

Q. Will Colin McRae 04 have additional driving physics than CMR3 has?

A. The driving model in CMR04 has been seriously revised, with a four-point model (effectively taking the stabilizers off the cars, but without compromising the "feel".

Q. Will you have real-time online multiplayer rallies hosted by Codemasters?

A. The CMR 04 does have real-time online multiplayer, but I don't think we'll personally be hosting games. The game web sites and forums will feature areas where players can arrange games, but lots of other dedicated game hosts already do a great job of hosting.

Q. Do you plan to present "stages" more like the actually rallies?

A. Realistic-length stages are a big technical challenge, and visually can be very boring. We focus on making the tracks as interesting and challenging from a gameplay perspective as possible, while keeping them a manageable length. It's one of those mainstream/hardcore balances that can be very tricky to get right. It's worth pointing out, though, that the average stage lengths in the games have been getting longer.

Q. Do you plan to have "team" communications built into CMR04?

A. Rallying Team-to-car comms seem less frequent than in circuit racing (and anyway, the driver always has a co-driver yelling in his ear about the road), and I'm not sure players would want to be told to slow down and drive conservatively so the team gets the manufacturers title at the expense of the driver's title (for example ;-))

Q. Do you plan to have mechanic repair capabilities along the rally route?

A. If you mean in the sense that Colin 2 did, then yes, CMR04 has that system again.

IndyCar Series

Q. Now that IndyCar Series is out, what is the next step in the series?

A. It's still in discussion.

Q. Will we see a patch to add multiplayer to the PC version?

A. It's not planned.

Q. Will we see a patch to add mirrors to the cars for the views missing them?

A. Again, It's not planned.

TOCA Race Driver 2

Q. You released Race Driver (RD) then added the patch that significantly improved to realism driving experience. Will TOCA Race Driver 2 (RD2) have a more realism based physics model from it's inception?

A. Most definitely. The physics model has been subject to a ground-up rewrite, with no artificial driver aids, even in the default setting. The goal has been for the default physics model to maintain the level of accessibility but with the greater driver involvement that a more realistic model brings.

Q. How will RD and RD2 differ?

A. It's much bigger in terms of motorsport content — we have 15 different motorsports fully simulated through the game and you get to experience a great variety through to many championships. Cars are hugely varied too and all monstrously powerful. The cutscenes are a lot better, with a more realistic first-person viewpoint and more gritty — it's not about a fictional character (like Ryan Mckane in RD) it's all about your progression through the championships. The DTM and V8 championships are bigger, with more tracks and cars, and it looks a lot better, mostly due to being able to concentrate on fewer platforms to really squeeze the hardware.

Q. Will you drive Ford GT's one week then switch to "big-rig" trucks the next, or can you select just the trucks or GTs to follow the entire "season"?

A. When you've picked a championship to race in, you'll race through to the end of that championship, then pick another. They aren't all the same length — some are just one race long, others are 5 or 6 races. Some are long enough that you have to do them in 2 halves.

Q. If you're mixing driving vehicles to that extent, won't that significantly detract from the realism?

A. Nope, with a good physics engine, you can model anything with four wheels and an engine. If you put in data for a truck, then it'll play like a truck, if you put in a formula ford, then it plays like a formula ford. With the model RD2 has, it's given us this "free" effect where the cars display pretty accurate behaviour, without having to spend a huge amount of time feeling in the dark.

Q. Will it have multiplayer?

A. Yes, Xbox Live and PC online play have been subject to a complete start-again-from-scratch approach. It's a huge improvement.

Q. Will Codemasters host multiplayer racing?

A. I'd say see the answer for CMR04 above.

Thank you Richard for your time and we'll look forward to Codemasters increasing interest in realism-based motorsports sims. It's nice to see Codemasters has a racing enthusiast communicating with their customers about new products.

A very special thanks to Didier Vanoverbeke for coordinating this interview.

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