With the help of all staff at the Nürburgring Nordschleife, development progressed rapidly.
In just one week, Lin Lixin and his team created a testable EM from scratch.
They haven't had a chance to join the track and add vehicles yet.
The data and mechanisms used were also very rudimentary.
But for testing driving feel, it's sufficient.
But...
Everything has two sides.
The physics-based simulation that " T Racing " emphasizes is far from something that can be easily controlled.
"Squeak--"
"Bang!"
With a screech of brakes, the makeshift miniature car on the screen crashed straight into the wall at the edge of the track.
Vivian gripped the handle somewhat awkwardly, clumsily trying to back the car out. In a sense, this was her first time being featured on the Nürburgring Nordschleife, making it a significant moment.
"See? It's not my fault, but her picture is on the wall too."
Seeing that she had smashed the car, Sam was actually quite amused.
He had just made that mistake himself.
"That's strange."
Lin Lixin looked at the situation on the screen and checked the data automatically recorded by the program.
They're not the only two experiencing this today.
But that's where the strangeness lies.
The parameters of the physics engine were handled by Bethesda, and after tuning and testing, they were determined to be basically reliable.
Moreover, Lin Lixin himself Test Drive it twice, and the performance was quite good both times.
But when it came to Sam, he just hit a wall.
What's even stranger is that this situation is quite common. And it's not just Sam.
Vivian, Sid, and several staff members present all appeared on the wall one after another.
Left with no other option, they had to call in even more staff to participate in the testing.
But the result remained the same.
It's not just that some items are displayed on the wall; in fact, most of them are displayed on the wall.
This is not a good sign for a game that is about to be released to players worldwide.
"Vivi, tell me what just happened."
Lin Lixin sat down in front of her.
This time, I simply kept my eyes glued to the controller, constantly observing the situation.
The result was as expected.
With a screeching sound of brakes, the car slammed into the wall once again.
"I don't understand, I already pushed the steering wheel." Stumbling in the same spot again was naturally hard for Vivian, given her pride.
However, Lin Lixin's expression finally relaxed after this incident.
"That was the braking point; you braked too late."
Lin Lixin looked at the data on the screen and recalled today's test.
Drivers with extensive driving experience and a good understanding of the Nürburgring Nordschleife generally passed the test with ease.
The problems all stemmed from ordinary people who don't usually pay much attention to driving.
This makes it impossible for them to determine the actual brake window.
In an environment like a racetrack where decisions are made every millisecond, differences in braking timing can lead to understeer.
When facing sharp bends, it's easy to end up on the wall.
"Okay, so it was my problem."
Vivian grabbed the handle, intending to heed advice and adjust her driving strategy.
But Lin Lixin shook his head. "No, Vivi, it's not your problem, nor is it anyone else's problem. We made the simulation too realistic."
"But isn't ' Gran Turismo ' a game that focuses on realism?"
Vivian turned around, puzzled.
She roughly understood what was going on.
Real-world racing is completely different from the racing games we've played in video games to date.
Every detail must be controlled with extreme precision.
She lacked experience in this area and was too focused on maximizing her time, which resulted in her not having enough time to handle sharp turns.
After all, it's difficult for a real car to perform such exaggerated cornering maneuvers as those in classic racing games.
but...
If we cut this part, wouldn't that be putting the cart before the horse?
If that's the case, they might as well just stick to making a sequel to Need for Speed.
"Look, this is where the misunderstanding has arisen," Lin Lixin waved his hand.
Now that we know what happened, the solution is actually quite simple.
"Physical realism and a car being easy to drive are two different concepts."
As he spoke, he looked at a driver who was sitting quietly waiting to the side.
These are professionals hired by Amenva.
Sabine Schmitz, 24-year-old Queen of the Nürburgring Nordschleife.
A tough guy who started running the Nürburgring Nordschleife 24-Hour Race at the age of 20.
She would help Amenva drive the mapping vehicle around the Nürburgring Nordschleife, and also drive various cars at high speeds on the track to obtain the cleanest and most beautiful data for Amenva.
Despite her young age, she hasn't yet made a significant name for herself this year; she's only quite popular locally.
Upon seeing her name on the list submitted by the racetrack organizers, Lin Lixin decisively offered her a contract and hired her.
" Sabine, could you come here for a moment?"
For Sabine, Nürburg driver born and raised in Nürburg, she could complete a full lap of the Nürburgring Nordschleife even with her eyes closed. Fortunately, Lin Lixin had briefly studied German for a day in her spare time, so she had no problem communicating with the locals.
What do you think of this EM?
"Yes, sir, it's perfect. I've never seen such realistic physics."
Sabine praised without hesitation.
This was indeed the most realistic racing game she had ever seen.
"No, no, no, Sabine, what I want is constructive feedback, not just empty praise. You see, we're running into some technical issues right now, and what I want to know is, what's the difference between this and your actual driving experience?"
Sabine slightly widened his eyes and nodded. After hesitating for a moment, he slowly spoke:
"Relying solely on the controller and the graphics, I can't feel the inertia of my body, the resistance of the steering wheel, or the feedback from the tires. I'm not saying that's bad, I mean... it's a game after all."
Yes, this is a console game.
It was destined to be unlike the motion-sensing racing arcade machines made by Yu Suzuki, which were filled with dazzling motion effects and made the hydraulic rods push the seats around.
The only windows through which players can interact with the game world are the monitor and the controller in their hands. "You mean... the physical feedback is insufficient?"
"Yes, but the vehicle's responsiveness is excellent. Every action I take is very precise, allowing for accurate control of the car's attitude."
Sabine hesitated for a moment, then added.
This is indeed a rare and valuable quality.
Although the car was in a virtual game world, the controls didn't feel sluggish or unresponsive to her.
On the contrary, the handling gave her a sense of compatibility that only a performance car could provide.
"Hmm... I think... perhaps that's the root of the problem."
Lin Lixin picked up the controller again and sat down in front of the development machine.
This time, he simply shut down all his racing knowledge and approached the entire EM from the perspective of a complete newbie.
"Squeak--"
While driving straight, the car veered slightly off course, and he instinctively steered in the opposite direction.
The tires rubbed against the road surface. As he approached the bend, he tried to brake and then pulled sharply.
The result, unsurprisingly, was that it ended up on the wall.
"Ah, I see."
After the test was over, Lin Lixin finally smiled.
The problem isn't actually that complicated.
"What we need is to use games to let players experience the joy of realistic driving, rather than completely simulating real-world driving."
Real driving isn't always as enjoyable as it is in games.
Drivers need to consider all the various difficulties that may arise during driving.
What is reality like?
This is very important.
But more importantly, what is the player's experience like?
They shouldn't rely solely on the absolute realism of a physics engine; they should also subtly incorporate a large amount of driving assistance into the game. "The realism is already sufficient; now, we need to make it even more fake!"
Lin Lixin accessed the parameter adjustment and input system processing section.
After a lot of rebuilding, I recompiled and ran it.
"Come on, Vivi, try it now."
Compared to Sabine, the queen of the Nürburgring Nordschleife, Vivian better represents the travel experience of "an ordinary person".
"Okay."
"Buzzing--"
Vivian carefully applied the oil.
This time, she was more careful and didn't push the oil all the way to the bottom like before.
I don't know why.
Although the overall physical feedback she received was unchanged, the driving experience was instantly elevated. It was the same curve again, and this time, the car didn't lose control; instead, it swerved past the curb at a seemingly not-too-fast speed.
There were no further mishaps on the road ahead.
Has my skill improved a lot?
Vivian gently shook her head.
Perhaps this factor is involved.
But the biggest change is the complete reconstruction of the entire input system.
If she really had to find a description for her current actions...
It's probably... comfortable.
If the original em was "realistic," then this version is "comfortable."
It's a pleasure to drive.
It's that simple.
"That's amazing! What did you change?" She looked at Lin Lixin with surprise and asked curiously.
"It's nothing, just deleted some unnecessary things."
Lin Lixin smiled.
"See, driving in real life is actually much easier than in our initial version of EM. That's because driving a car is inherently intuitive, and these human-computer interaction paradigms accumulated over the years play a crucial role."
"Then why in the game...?"
"Yes, that's the problem. Theoretically, as long as the simulation is high enough, driving shouldn't be difficult, because it's not difficult to begin with. But the reality is quite the opposite. This makes it a bit... not so 'realistic'."
What is real, and what is unreal?
It's actually just a relative concept.
Sometimes, making something too realistic makes it seem unreal to players.
The current version is very comfortable to drive thanks to the driver assistance features. This feeling of complete control naturally overlaps with the player's real-world driving experience.
Here, the false seems more real than the true.