Online multiplayer has been one of the most important elements of sim racing in recent years, forming the foundation of its recent esports success. Even sim racers who do not run in professional leagues, online events or public lobbies are usually the way to go nowadays - as a result, single player modes are often overlooked.
The possibilities of online play for sim racing are numerous, and being able to take part in 24-hour races with racers from around the world while in the comfort of your own home is nothing short of amazing. However, there used to be a time when all that was not possible and we had to make due with what we had available offline.
Classics like Geoff Crammond's Grand Prix series became legendary mostly because of their offline playability. While the need for good AI racing may seem unnecessary in 2022, it still offers a great chance to completely immerse yourself in races past and present. Automobilista 2 is a great example for this.
Recently, I downloaded @chrisi2174's outstanding skin pack for the F-USA Gen 3 cars, or rather the CART cars of the 2000 season for Automobilista 2. This pack includes AI files giving the AI drivers real names and performance from the actual season, so it is possible to battle it out at Long Beach with fields that not only look like they did back in the day, but also perform similarly - all while having crew chief in your ear telling you that Andretti set a new fastest lap, for example.
Console racing games like the recently released and long-awaited Gran Turismo 7 or the Forza series still rely heavily on races against the AI for their campaign or career modes. But what do you say? How important is AI racing to you? Let us know your experiences in the comments below - and if you have a particularly fun combo for the RD community to try, feel free to leave those as well.
The possibilities of online play for sim racing are numerous, and being able to take part in 24-hour races with racers from around the world while in the comfort of your own home is nothing short of amazing. However, there used to be a time when all that was not possible and we had to make due with what we had available offline.
Classics like Geoff Crammond's Grand Prix series became legendary mostly because of their offline playability. While the need for good AI racing may seem unnecessary in 2022, it still offers a great chance to completely immerse yourself in races past and present. Automobilista 2 is a great example for this.
Recently, I downloaded @chrisi2174's outstanding skin pack for the F-USA Gen 3 cars, or rather the CART cars of the 2000 season for Automobilista 2. This pack includes AI files giving the AI drivers real names and performance from the actual season, so it is possible to battle it out at Long Beach with fields that not only look like they did back in the day, but also perform similarly - all while having crew chief in your ear telling you that Andretti set a new fastest lap, for example.
Console racing games like the recently released and long-awaited Gran Turismo 7 or the Forza series still rely heavily on races against the AI for their campaign or career modes. But what do you say? How important is AI racing to you? Let us know your experiences in the comments below - and if you have a particularly fun combo for the RD community to try, feel free to leave those as well.
