R3E Community Q&A

[Peter]

http://insider.simbin.com/r3e-community-qa/

''When we hit the 10 million kilometer mark in RaceRoom Racing Experience last week, we told you that we would be answering your questions about SimBin and direction of R3E. We want to jump right in and we can’t think of a better way to begin than with a good old fashioned community Q&A session!
Write your questions in the comments section below. We’ll collect your questions for a couple of weeks, then compile your inquiries and deliver them to the individuals in the studio who can provide the best answers. Our team is busy so it may take a little time, but we’ll share their responses with you as soon as possible.''

 

[Jay Ekkel]

Most of us don't think like that...........................BTW ...... a Q&A video is a nice thing, but what is all the fuss about the many tries to record this video? It delayes everything. I would be happy if you bring this Q&A to us in a more simple way but more "just-in-time"

yeah well, as said, the first tries were a bit (read extreme) long with regards to answers. By the end of some answer you basicly forgot what the question was, and damn you missed lunch as well!

So yeah, sometimes it takes a few edits. And in this case it didnt at all help that we are distributed and that Diego lives in Denmark and our video guy, Georg, sits in Lidkoping! So a reshoot sometimes means a wait of a week, before Diego is back in the office...

So all in all lessons to be learned from all departments, I hope you like Part 1, and the parts that follow.

 

[Jay Ekkel]

That goes both ways then.

It absolutely does!

 

[Sonat Ozturk]

http://insider.simbin.com/r3e-qa-response-part-1/

 

[Rupe Wilson]

@Jay Ekkel @Marcus Jaeger @Sonat Ozturk
What about if you ask us the drivers a question to get specific feedback on a particular item in the sim. car, track, hud, game menu, etc
maybe this could help in the feedback, when there is so much going on its often hard to focus on one aspect...
set out a brief description of what you looking for in the feedback what points to cover

 

[Rupe Wilson]

Just watched the part 1 of Q&A

i can see what your trying to achieve,
you are giving an informative answer to the questions with background and substance.
not just a quick yes or no ...
whilst you may of only answered a few question and maybe not the one most wanted answered i now understand why you took the said route in the sim from the answers given.
with so many question that were asked it could lead to a lengthy set of vid in getting it all out..
i don't envy your task.
But it does leave me looking forward to the next one, and now you have a format to do it in they should soon be flowing into RD

 

[Jebus]

I don't wanna sound ungrateful but 8 mins and only 4 answers, come on. I'm not interested of how epic track the schleife is, just answer the question and move on.

If I'm perfectly honest I'd prefer written Q&A. Appreciate the effort tho.

 

[Jay Ekkel]

I don't wanna sound ungrateful but 8 mins and only 4 answers, come on. I'm not interested of how epic track the schleife is, just answer the question and move on.

If I'm perfectly honest I'd prefer written Q&A. Appreciate the effort tho.

Then you should be extremely happy its this short, first version was +20 minutes for the same four questions. In my opinion it is still a little bit on the long side, but seeing where we came from, a huge improvement.

@Jay Ekkel @Marcus Jaeger @Sonat Ozturk
What about if you ask us the drivers a question to get specific feedback on a particular item in the sim. car, track, hud, game menu, etc
maybe this could help in the feedback, when there is so much going on its often hard to focus on one aspect...
set out a brief description of what you looking for in the feedback what points to cover

Feedback for game items or the game in general (inc ideas) etc can be delivered to our support system. And otherwise use the feedback thread here at RD, we read it all the time!

 

[Jebus]

Then you should be extremely happy its this short, first version was +20 minutes for the same four questions. In my opinion it is still a little bit on the long side, but seeing where we came from, a huge improvement.

Yeah definately too long for the real amount of info it provided. Maybe add some simple and quick yes/no answers in between those longer ones to break the rhythm. And all in all go more to the point. We don't need nice pictures just necessary info imo.

 

[Peter]

Yeah definately too long for the real amount of info it provided. Maybe add some simple and quick yes/no answers in between those longer ones to break the rhythm. And all in all go more to the point. We don't need nice pictures just necessary info imo.

Who is ''we''?

 

[Jebus]

Who is ''we''?

Obviously not you, but I bet I'm not alone. And last time I checked more than one is we. Might be wrong tho as english isn't my native language.

 

[Keith_G]

"With R3e we are basically back at the beginning, but this time creating our own tech along the way. Right now its making its first (baby) steps in public, it needs time to mature for sure" - Jay

First off, thank you Jay and Marcus for being engaged! As Sean suggested, a PR person might be a good investment but then that seems to be your job even though it isn't your title SimBin has produced many good games so I think some people forget that this is a new technical venture with a lot of development time and I am fine with it because I assume that you will provide SP, MP, and great tracks like nurburgring etc., as soon as you can or as soon as your resources allow.

While I appreciate the information of detailed game inclusions and progress, what I would really like to know is what type of driving game are you trying to create. What is the General Direction of the game and your intended typical customer and platforms so that I can decide if it is a game I will really focus on.

There is a lot of talk about the "majority of players", "broader market", "make it easier", "novice mode", etc. In my mind that speaks to a mass market console racing game like GT4 or Forza rather than a more detailed simulation type of game. I do understand that you need a return on your investment but I have also found that games that are designed to appeal to the widest range of players aren't really very engaging for me. SimBin is synonymous with Simulated Racing and the tag line "Get Real" so that is what I hope for from a SimBin game.

So, I'm really asking what is SimBin working toward with R3E? Is it a game that in the end is aimed at the largest possible audience and will be ported to consoles, be designed to be driven with a controller and have basic tuning or is it a game that will be best played with a PC and a Driving Wheel, have a lot of detail and tuning parameters, take some effort to learn and a lot of effort to master?

I'm not sure of the actual job descriptions and titles in a software company, so pardon my ignorance, but I assume Diego, as Creative Director, is the main strategist who defines your target audience and what you want to sell to them. If that is so, then a quick summary of what you hope to create and what customers you are hoping to sell to would be very welcome.

Thanks again for keeping us as informed as you can! and sorry for the long post.

 

[Keith_G]

Hi Jay, one more thought.
Like some others here I am not enthralled with video, so maybe a quick summary of the Q & A on each video, posted by you or someone at RD would clarify some of the answers and make life a little easier for you rather than have to reply to each post. Example:
Q: Why the Brake Markers and will we be able to change them?
A: It is a design decision that we made early on and thought it would make it easier for the vast majority of players. Obviously many of you would prefer the distance markers, so sometime in the future, when time allows, we will make it so you can toggle between them.

Q: When will SP races be ready?
A: You will have it soon but we are working hard on producing a better AI that will evolve with you as you race. It will be a great addition to single player racing but we want to get it right! It is taking a long time to develop but, I assure you we are working hard on it, it will be worth the wait, and we will make it available as soon as we can!

etc.

You get the idea! Sorry for paraphrasing and hope I didn't put words in your mouth but it might be a nice addition to the video which I liked, but as you said took a long time to do and was hard to shorten. Good luck on getting Diego and the video guy together!

 

[Jay Ekkel]

I am currently on the road without the promised wifi in the accommodation. When I am back or have some solid internet here i will try to find some time respond to your question/replies.

In the meantime just keep going on I will catch up when I am back!

 

[Keith_G]

It appears that many of my questions are answered in the video posted by Terry Evers in the thread about "Why Novice Difficulty". Wasn't interested, so I didn't look but it does speak to much of what they are thinking while developing this game. Interesting that this thread has 5400+ views but the one that actually explains their plans for the game only has 142 views.

It appears that the game is built to a great extent around the needs of the RaceRoom Centers, which makes sense but not having ever seen one didn't register with me. Especially because they need an easier racing game to use at Corporate and Public events where a "simulator" would discourage the drivers and wouldn't go over too well.

Sounds like they will eventually add more of the wished for realism to the "Get Real" mode but their first priority was to make sure it could be used by novices with a bit of scaling up as they get better. After all, it is a business so I can't argue with their logic. Just hope they get to the "Sim lovers" wishes (and a race mode) sooner rather than later.

Link to the video that is also posted in the Thread started by Terry Evers:
http://www.racedepartment.com/forum...y-setting-interview-with-diego-sartori.71718/

 

[Rupe Wilson]

This is also interesting to read Click me

more great info in this Click me
allot of the answers that people want have already been answered.
If i look at all the footage already released from simbin, im prepared to wait and see what they can deliver.
Yes it may be different to what were used to with GTR2 GTL Race07 but with a history of these titles
you cant say they dont know what there doing.
And now there trying to introduce it to a new audience which i hope will secure there future,

@Jay Ekkel nice pictures have fun on the trip

 

[Keith_G]

Thanks Rupe for the links (good interview on Portuguese site and I could read it rather than watch it) I am prepared to wait also

 

[Jay Ekkel]

.................There is a lot of talk about the "majority of players", "broader market", "make it easier", "novice mode", etc. In my mind that speaks to a mass market console racing game like GT4 or Forza rather than a more detailed simulation type of game. I do understand that you need a return on your investment but I have also found that games that are designed to appeal to the widest range of players aren't really very engaging for me. SimBin is synonymous with Simulated Racing and the tag line "Get Real" so that is what I hope for from a SimBin game.

So, I'm really asking what is SimBin working toward with R3E? Is it a game that in the end is aimed at the largest possible audience and will be ported to consoles, be designed to be driven with a controller and have basic tuning or is it a game that will be best played with a PC and a Driving Wheel, have a lot of detail and tuning parameters, take some effort to learn and a lot of effort to master?
............

I took a bit of your text otherwise it became quite a long thing to qoute!

All of the above I will try to comment on with one answer. Our aim is to create more (sim) racers, simple as that. We try to do that by creating low entry level gameplay, and gradually making it more difficult when the player is ready for it.By having a hard game (like GTR, GTR2) you will have a hard time engaging and entertaining new comers. And harder doesn't mean more real!!
So for R3E we started with the Get Real mode, and then added assists to create the lower difficulty modes. So if you dont like driving with driving aids then stay away from the novice/amateur mode. The only interference you will get in the Get Real are the Novice brake markers, which we will try and find time to fix in the future (on/off swtich).

So in essence R3E is "Get Real.... But lets not forget that even the Get Real is still in development and adjustments and additions will be made. But we are only that many (we are not many at all) so things take time and prioritising beyond the "wishes" of the community. We (the RaceRoom Entertainment division) do a lot of onsite events on races, car shows, sporting events etc etc. We like to plant seeds in all the people that try our game, and hopefully get them interested in racing games in general. We all started with a first racing game, and probably most of us were kind of crap at it, but we got bitten by the bug and here we are now...

Hope that answer your questions.

 

[Rupe Wilson]

You got me hooked with Race Pro on the Xbox,
Within weeks i had bought a wheel and was Ranting on about if for a while to a friend. He showed me RD on his pc( I didn't even own a pc).
i then saw Race 07, GTR2, GTL and as they say the rest is history..
Hooked on GTL by the way. Hope we see a large dedicated class for historic racing in R3E with some nicely matched cars. (TC-65 style)
In my dreams i see GTL reborn in R3E

 

[Keith_G]

Thanks Jay for the answer. I got hooked with GPL and yes it was very hard but really fun at the same time. GTR really got me hooked so I'm still here and looking forward to what you can do with R3E. I'm all for expanding the audience and good luck. I'm old so have plenty of patience.

 

[cliopatra]

To Simbin
Hi, not sure if following hasn't already been asked:

Will new content be available for testing in "Try before you buy" actions? If so it would be nice to announce it some time in advance.
If I am not mistaken neither the BMW 320 Gr 5 nor the Zolder circuit have been out for testing or did I miss it? I mainly check insider.simbin.com for announcements.

I'd like to buy additional content but want to test it before spending money on it. Apart from this, I find the test offerings exciting and I'm looking forward to them. As suggested in the recent video composing your own game with the content you like most being part of the concept, test before buy would be welcome.

Cheers, cl.