Would You Race Fictional Cars & Tracks, And Why Not?

Forza_Motorsport_2023_Maple_Valley_Raceway.jpg
Okay, so let me be clear from the beginning, I know the sentiment of the average sim racer. "Fictional is ew" is about on par with "no VR no buy". The main thing is trying to simulate real racing. That's sim racing, right? But with all the knowledge, creativity and imagination, so many beautiful fictional tracks and cars could come to life. Why would or would you not race them?

Famous racer and commentator Alex Brundle actually asked this question the other day. The brit tweeted the following:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1617301635805450241

And I have to say, it is a valid question.

I know from myself, though, the only race tracks I have not at all tried in RaceRoom, for example, were RaceRoom Raceway and the hill climb stage. Aka the only fictional tracks in the sim.

But why?

I don't even understand the reasoning behind it, to be honest, I just did what everyone said was the good thing to do, and that was to skip out the fictional tracks on RaceRoom.

However, as I said in the opening paragraph, with all the combined knowledge, creativity and imagination of the modding community, the greatest of tracks could become (virtual) reality. You may have never heard of them, but they could be more interesting to drive than the Nordschleife or Spa.

An Excursion Away From "Sim" Racing​

Come to think of it; it's only in the sim racing scene that such demands are being made. The much larger general racing gaming group has no such quarrels.

In most racing games, the player gets to experience something born completely out of imagination. Just take Need for Speed, one of the most successful video game franchises of all time. How many games in the Need for Speed franchise just feature real race tracks? Now, I get this is a very far stone's throw. So let's also take a look at something that hits a bit closer to home.

Gran Turismo is yet another gaming franchise among the most successful video game franchises of all time.

And what are the most revered tracks in Gran Turismo?

I have never played a GT game, yet I also know of Trial Mountain. And that is just one of the many great fictional circuits featured in the games, which I am led to believe.

Same counts for Forza. With the expected 2023 release of the new instalment, what was the first circuit they showed off in gameplay? Maple Valley Raceway. Another fictional track.

But let's get back on track because I would like to hear your opinion on the matter now.

So, tell me: Would you race fictional cars & tracks, and why not? Please, let us know in the comments down below!
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About author
Julian Strasser
Julian Strasser
Motorsports and Maker-stuff enthusiast. Part time jack-of-all-trades. Owner of tracc.eu, a sim racing-related service provider and its racing community.

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Comments

BillyBobSenna
Premium
My preference is sims of real stuff. I like the idea the developer is trying to recreate something real and I am experiencing the result of the work. There is an extra level of enjoyment driving on a track you have been to or watched on TV.
 
F2020
Im all for fictional tracks, with the tools at devs hands, they could make some absolute belters!

Would love a pack for AMS2, there are some great ones in AC!

Ideally some nice 20 min drive point to point ones would be awesome.

That tropical island type one for AC is lush.

EDIT: On a side note, being able to build a fictional track that doesn't have safety rules would be highly appealing. If you think back to some of the older F1 circuits before they got dumbed down, they were awesome. To drive some tracks designed purely for speed and fun = decent!
 
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dazzyb2k3
Bram Hengeveld said:
I am all in favor of fictional cars and tracks. The more, the merrier.

For me that is one of the most beautiful things of sim racing: we can create and enjoy what isn't always possible in real life. Explore beyond the boundaries. Love it :inlove:
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Exactly this. I fully appreciate that it's not for everyone and of course it needs to be done well but one of the amazing things about simulation is that you can recreate things that used to exist or that never existed in the first place.

One of my favorite tracks ever was a fictional track for rF1 called Rattlesnake Point. Better than many real world circuits and was used in pro level endurance back in the day. There are a ton of others, but generally the fictional side of simulation is under exploited and under appreciated. It's a largely untapped sub genre that just requires a change of mindset.
 
Dzul
Premium
Blackwood... Westhill... Fern Bay... Live for Speed had funtastic fictional tracks and some of their cars were great too. So YES and YES to this question... and looking at some replies here we've all been doing it in some title or another. :coffee:
 
James Skinner
Premium
Normally I prefer real world race tracks as I like the simulation value of racing real world cars and tracks, however I have nothing at all against fictional circuits and they can provide a welcome change of scene - this weekend for instance I spent much of my free time having an absolute blast around Fat Alfie's Fonteny in a Shelby Cobra and various other AC Legends cars, would highly recommend!
 
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AndyC709292
Never say never...

But in my experience fictional tracks are less likely to have the same flow as historically accurate tracks - in fact, the same issue hits the newer F1 tracks, they just don't feel good.

So, I'll try a track that's fictional - and some of the earlier Gran Turismo tracks were great as I recall (Deep Forest remains excellent in AC for example), but overall I prefer established real tracks.

Fictional cars - much the same really - a fictional car often has mad physics or capabilities, and that's meh for me.

Having said all this, ultimately all the stuff we race is fictional and made to feel like we think it should feel... cos sure as heck a 917 at the Nord' doesn't feel like a fiberglass seat in my living room...
 
Dan!Ger
For me it really depends on what I am looking for when I get behind the wheel. Most of the time I am looking for a simulation of real life events from the past. So obviously that will be with real cars, real liveries and real tracks from the correct time period with the correct layout. If I want to get nuts I could even try to have the correct weather for the events, which take place at the right date and time of day...... you might see where I am going. Simulating the real thing has no boundries. As a content creator I love the research involved and the little details you come across when you try to replicate something as close as possible.

Of course I have no problems to modify cars from RSS or other big modding groups from being fictional (because of licensing issues) to being named and looking like the real thing. same goes for tracks.

But sometimes I look for another experience. I want to drive circuits build with real passion, but not existent in real life. I want to see and drive cars which are an expression of pure creativity of our great sim racing modding scene. Especially for tracks I have the feeling, that modern circuits do not immerse me that much. They are often very boring, so why not driving a circuit which is fictional but has a really cool flow.

In summery I love that we are spoiled with choice again.
 
ZeldaACFan17
Matthew327 said:
...
Fictional cars/tracks are fine imo, as long as they feel realistic/believable.
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I can agree with you. Fictional cars and tracks that look and feel realistic and believable are great! Take the great tracks by DoubleZero for AC, for example, like Anadara and Heart Lake; Those are some of my favorite fictional tracks, as well as the ones from GT and Forza, like Trial Mountain and Maple Valley. But there are some tracks that only made it into one or two GT games, like Red Rock from GT2, Special Stage Route 11 from GT1 and GT3, or even Cape Ring from GT5 and GT6, that I feel could have a new life as an AC mod if they don't come to GT7 :)
 
McClutch
Tried some games with fictional cars and tracks, Wreckfest, BeamNG and AMS2 comes to mind, with its fictional formula and super V8 cars. But... it never catched me. There is something special about a true to spec legendary car in it's appropriate livery.
 
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RB89
we all raced LFS, fictional cars and tracks, some real...we all tried mods that were ficitional but crap... but we all share a dream that one day we might compete in real life maybe. or at least use this as alternative to be as close to that dream as possible. thats the reason.. i think we tend to look for real racers and how we can compare to them. if we drive simulators, we try to simulate reality, isnt that the goal? im not gonna lie, fictional tracks are awesome if they are made well. and lfs and raceroom are proof of it. but cars? if its a challenge to drive then id say yes. but if its full grip and all that BS id say no to that..
 
Raymond Racing
Premium
I am all on-board with fictional cars in sim racing. It allows designers to cut loose and design their dream machine while the implementation into a sim means they still need to tether it to reality, if even slightly.

My first experience with seeing such a style of car was the GTbyCitroen concept in Gran Turismo 5: Prologue; though I never got far enough in the game nor got enough credits to drive it firsthand, I loved its visual design; even if it was an EV.

The first game-specific concept car I drove was the Mercedes-Benz AMG Vision GT in Gran Turismo 6, and while I didn't think it looked as good as the GTByCitroen, it felt great to drive.

However, my favourite concept cars of this type were the "Extreme" cars from the WRC games by Evo Studios; introduced in WRC II: Extreme & appearing until WRC: Rally Evolved as a special selection of unlockable bonus cars, the "Extreme" cars took each manufacturer's current World Rally Car, and essentially turned them into what the canned Group S rally cars would have been; doubling the horsepower to 600HP, fitting radical aerodynamic bodywork and in some cases, even moving the engine amidship.
 
M D Gourley
Premium
If the tracks look good and vehicles also look and handle great that appeal to me personal, i'm all for it:D. It gives the Environmental Artists on Tracks / Maps total creative control to do whatever, try ideas out etc.

Have been really enjoying some BeamNG at the moment with versions of cars loosely based on the real life version or totally made up...if the looks, handles and sounds great, that's fantastic:inlove:

Personal Opinion only;)

0 BeamNG Gavril Cabstar ROLLBACK with WINCH copy.jpg
0 BeamNG Piccolina DRAG copy.jpg
0a BeamNG Codename OLDSFULLSIZE Rusty to RACECAR copy.jpg
1a BeamNG Soliad Wendover RACE Supcharger copy.jpg
3 BeamNG Hiroshi Sunburst RALLY at JOHNSON VALLEY copy.jpg
3 BeamNG Ibishu Miramar RACE at ITALY Docks copy.jpg
3 BeamNG Ibishu Signia RACE Fire copy.jpg
9 BeamNG SET ROUTE Arrows copy.jpg
4 BeamNG TRACK CAR and TRAILER copy.jpg
7 BeamNG VIVACE RALLY at ITALY copy.jpg
 
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AccAkut
Premium
Another one who grew up in Live For Speed - it all depends on how "real" these fictional cars and tracks are made. I think with tracks it's inherently easier to make something realistic, with cars you either really know what you're doing, or you start copying from real world material anyway.

With more recent fictional tracks, my mind immidiatly drew to @doublezero 's tracks. Instead of focusing on real world streets & locations, he rather focused on FIA documentation, making his tracks feels like the real deal.
 
Peter Kerényi
On one hand I simrace because I want to get as close as possible to something I cannot afford to do in real life, therefore I prefer stuff that exist in real life.

On the other hand I would love to have great versions of classic Gran Turismo tracks in my PC sims (and more in GT7 for that matter). But I have no interest in "new" fictional tracks.

I have absolutely no interest in fictional cars though. Branded concepts (like Vision GT, fictional Gr. 3 cars in GTS/7) I can tolerate, but not fictional "generic" brands.
 
Maxell
RaceRoom Raceway is one of the best fictional circuits ever made! I'd say as long as the track feels like it would exist irl, I'll race on it. For the cars - I like driving fictional race versions of real cars, like gr.3 and gr.4 cars in GT7 or WTCC Extreme in GTR Evolution. Fully fictional cars are not my cup of tea.
 
Richard Coleman
I for one quite like some fantasy tracks. Both Forza and GT have had some brilliant ones over the years. rFactor had a plethora of great fantasy tracks.

I am pretty sure that Grand Valley Speedway (full track) is the track with the most laps I have done on in any GT game (to GT6 as I can't afford a PS4 or PS5 right now.
 
FinFan
I've driven on many fictional tracks in GTL or GTR2. Some were good some were bad. So I'm not totally opposed to fictional tracks.
I've not driven many fictional cars to be honest but I think it's the same as with tracks. One shouldn't say no before trying it. You could see them as prototypes I guess if you don't like the term "fictional".
 

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