There is no question that car driving games are fun! Getting to drive cars of your choice on some of the leading tracks throughout the planet, pitted against other sim racers couldn't be anything but fun.
What is not as well recognized, is if car driving games actually make for a good training aid.
According to Dale Earnhardt, Jr, often the correct answer is certainly a resounding YES!
During a recent interview, Dale was quoted as reporting that when he heads to a brand-new track, its takes him approximately an hour to get himself up to speed, and its not until that hour has gone by that his feedback actually becomes usable to the team's engineers. Now, in lieu of "wasting" that hour, Dale heads out onto the brand new track on his computer, some time before he ever gets to the actual facility.
So, how is it that a game can genuinely make you a far better racing driver? Lets take a look...
Most notably, the tracks in modern PC racing games are exact replicas of the real thing. Advanced technology, including precise GPS statistics is used extensively by developers when building a new track. This contributes to a seriously realistic virtual racing experience and armed with this, racers are able to get to know not just the rough layout of the track, but also their braking and turn in points for every corner.
As an example, should you head into turn one inside the track of your selection on your pc, you'll find the fact that the trackside objects in the video game, are precisly the same as the trackside objects in real life. Moreover, their placement on the side of the track, relative to the corner, is precisely the same as their placement in the real-world.
Possibly the next most helpful part of the online racing experience is the car setup. The engineers that design today's games put immense effort in to the game's physic model and this brings about a much more "realistic" feeling race car. Ad to that the plethora of adjustments that one can make in the garage, and the outcome is that the virtual racer has an opportunity to do extensive testing of assorted race setups; all from his computer. Even though the exact settings would not transfer to his race car, the principles behind the adjustments to transfer over, and that is going to make the driver drastically more valuable to his team with regards to giving feedback to the race engineers.
Lastly, we now have the actual head-to-head racing that today's online racing experience provides.
Inside the real world, many a race has been forfeited because of an accident that occurred when the driver made an gaffe in judgement. To phrase it differently, many races are lost in the first turn because of a collision.
With online racing, the mental element of the competition is precisely the same as it is in the actual arena. The additional value of being able to find all this supplemental competitive seat time is massive, and without possessing the PC racing experience, the only way to get all this seat time was to go to the track. Now, without spending a dime, today's budding racer can log literally enormous amounts of hours of practice against other racers; all from the comfort of his PC. Of all the amazing benefits we've just covered, this one is quite possibly the biggest.
Trust me, I know from experience.
What is not as well recognized, is if car driving games actually make for a good training aid.
According to Dale Earnhardt, Jr, often the correct answer is certainly a resounding YES!
During a recent interview, Dale was quoted as reporting that when he heads to a brand-new track, its takes him approximately an hour to get himself up to speed, and its not until that hour has gone by that his feedback actually becomes usable to the team's engineers. Now, in lieu of "wasting" that hour, Dale heads out onto the brand new track on his computer, some time before he ever gets to the actual facility.
So, how is it that a game can genuinely make you a far better racing driver? Lets take a look...
Most notably, the tracks in modern PC racing games are exact replicas of the real thing. Advanced technology, including precise GPS statistics is used extensively by developers when building a new track. This contributes to a seriously realistic virtual racing experience and armed with this, racers are able to get to know not just the rough layout of the track, but also their braking and turn in points for every corner.
As an example, should you head into turn one inside the track of your selection on your pc, you'll find the fact that the trackside objects in the video game, are precisly the same as the trackside objects in real life. Moreover, their placement on the side of the track, relative to the corner, is precisely the same as their placement in the real-world.
Possibly the next most helpful part of the online racing experience is the car setup. The engineers that design today's games put immense effort in to the game's physic model and this brings about a much more "realistic" feeling race car. Ad to that the plethora of adjustments that one can make in the garage, and the outcome is that the virtual racer has an opportunity to do extensive testing of assorted race setups; all from his computer. Even though the exact settings would not transfer to his race car, the principles behind the adjustments to transfer over, and that is going to make the driver drastically more valuable to his team with regards to giving feedback to the race engineers.
Lastly, we now have the actual head-to-head racing that today's online racing experience provides.
Inside the real world, many a race has been forfeited because of an accident that occurred when the driver made an gaffe in judgement. To phrase it differently, many races are lost in the first turn because of a collision.
With online racing, the mental element of the competition is precisely the same as it is in the actual arena. The additional value of being able to find all this supplemental competitive seat time is massive, and without possessing the PC racing experience, the only way to get all this seat time was to go to the track. Now, without spending a dime, today's budding racer can log literally enormous amounts of hours of practice against other racers; all from the comfort of his PC. Of all the amazing benefits we've just covered, this one is quite possibly the biggest.
Trust me, I know from experience.
About the Author:
Angelo Dyrzra has been a PC racing games enthusiast for over 10 years. To learn more about car driving games and also enter to win a free game, visit his PC racing games website.
