What are your experiences when playing a Driving game ? (Left or Right side)

[Yukio]

When a game is localized for use on the United Kingdom or in the Japanese archipelago it think that their should use the left side of the track. In the American way their drive into the opposite side (right).

Someone told that this is from the time of the Knights and has something to do with the hearth of the knights. But I am not sure if this is the truth.

What are the cars and games that use this type of orientation !? Any good first hand experience ?

[SpaceHarrier]

Gosh I hadn't thought much about this... I realized awhile back during a race on a japanese course in Gran Turismo 3 that I tend to just always drive right down the center of whatever raceway I'm on. I actually tried staying in a lane while driving 100+ MPH but it proved difficult..

..just like real life. Look out people, Ford Focus blazin' through! I need all 6 lanes! -__-


not the answer you were looking for, I know

[theChad]

As above, I drive in either lane as it is so whether the games go for realism (which I think they should in this instance) or not, it doesn't make much of a difference to me.

[FrakAttack]

In some driving games there's less traffic in the oncoming lanes anyway, so it's easier to drive on the "wrong" side of the road.

[Yukio]

What's about mobile phone games? Wasn't those supposed to have a ("left") correct way !? Anyway, a lot of places can not download those games or buy the licenses (register) to play ...

By the way, I meant Heart in the original post. The thing that is on the left side of the body !!!

[Leo_A]

If you're talking about racing games, there's no point to this thread. You follow the racing line, you don't hug one side of the track for the entire way around the course. That's not how you race, you're not going into a game like Gran Turismo for a leisurely drive through the countryside, you're on a racetrack.

If you're talking about traffic on a game like Grand Theft Auto or The Italian Job for the PSOne, it should follow the patterns the locations they're modeling in real life do. So the right hand side if its Vice City set modeled after Miami, or left if its London in The Italian Job.


Gosh I hadn't thought much about this... I realized awhile back during a race on a japanese course in Gran Turismo 3 that I tend to just always drive right down the center of whatever raceway I'm on. I actually tried staying in a lane while driving 100+ MPH but it proved difficult..


Huh? You go as fast as you can using every inch of paved real estate you have to use. You're saying you actually tried to race while hugging the right side of the road? lol

No wonder it proved difficult, its wrong and the slowest possible way to race around a track. You realize there isn't on coming traffic on the left side of the track, right? :)

Watch this lap of Massa around Monza in his F1 Ferrari from a couple of years ago to get a idea of what racing is about. You're not playing a driving simulation, you're playing a racing simulation.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcUGC_GoVnc

[UK Collector]

Well, in 'real life', people drive on the left because swords were drawn from the right (in horseback knight times), allowing easy access to attack, which is the same reason people shake hands with the right hand, so as to show they are coming in peace and will not draw swords, as the right hand is busy. As for games, well i guess it depends when they were made, where, and if they are track racers. Race tracks generally do not have a preference.

[Yukio]

Well, in 'real life', people drive on the left because swords were drawn from the right (in horseback knight times), allowing easy access to attack, which is the same reason people shake hands with the right hand, so as to show they are coming in peace and will not draw swords, as the right hand is busy. As for games, well i guess it depends when they were made, where, and if they are track racers. Race tracks generally do not have a preference.

Yes, I have heard this type of stuff ... It is weird, but some persons believe that this is the true. Sure, it means that the place is a ancient country and in the past there was horses and weapons on that land. This without talking about "magic sword's" for the King's and Emperor's !!! But those were other types of games, not driving with sport cars on the road ... I think that there could be a difference between "Driving" and "Racing" games!

[UK Collector]

Well, Im fairly sure (Im from England, but Im not an expert) the shaking hands is true, but the rest could be rubbish. Also, being left handed in 'olden times' was frowned upon, people were known as 'cack-handed'. Racing games, I feel that it is just the region where a game was made (or if it was made in a left driving nation, where the money is). I dont know many 'driving' games, the only ones I can think of are things such as Tokyo Bus Driver, but I cant remember if that was left hand drive, or if there was an option to switch. I suppose Crazy Taxi is a driving game, that was right hand drive (although set in the USA).

I think maybe they should use the left side of the road, but it doesnt bother me at all, even though I drive on the left myself. It has never bothered me, but that may be because of the Hollywood influence, and because I did not now until now that the Japanese drove on the left!!!!!!!

[Leo_A]

As for games, well i guess it depends when they were made, where, and if they are track racers. Race tracks generally do not have a preference.

No racetracks, unless its a dragstrip or public roads between rally stages, have lanes where you're supposed to be. You always use the entire surface of the track if its to your advantage speed wise. They are not public roads with lane markings where you're expected to restrict your activity to a specific direction in one lane. You use the entire paved surface between the retaining walls, grass, sand, etc. Unless a area is desginated as somewhere you're not supposed to go for safety reasons (The apron at Daytona for example), its all fair game. You're racing, not driving. You use every inch of available real estate to maximize your speed. Remember, real life isn't Need for Speed, you do not have oncoming traffic. In any kind of organized motorsport, the vehicles are all going the same direction around a racetrack.

For the few uninitiated here that are unfamiliar with automobile racing, I highly recommend you turn on Speed Channel sometime over the next several hours if you get that channel, and watch the ALMS sportscar professionals as they tackle one of North America's best natural terrain roadcourses, Road Atlanta.

Might make your videogames more enjoyable if you realize you don't have to stay on the right hand side of the road (Or left if you're on the other side of the pond) in games such as Gran Turismo. lol

[UK Collector]

Like I said, race tracks do not have a preference. You can drive anywhere. It is up to you which is the fastest line. Whether you take a corner out-in-out or in-out-in would decide which side of the track to be on. However, some street race tracks (eg. monaco) are real streets, and in places the corner placements do favour being on the correct side of the road. I was replying to what I thought the thread entailed, which was the difference between 'driving' and 'racing' games. 'Driving' games would naturally have a favoured traffic control preference.

[Leo_A]

You said generally, not always. :)

Places like Monaco and Long Beach, while laid out on city streets, are still racetracks. You always go the fastest way around, which in the case of most every road/street course, including Monaco, is hugging the left side of the track if a right hand corner is coming up in order to diamond the corner and make the radius of it as minimum possible so you carry as speed as possible through the turn; and the opposite for left hand corners.

As you can see from this video, they never use a specified lane. The only time they deviate from what I said above about how they try to minimize how much they turn the wheel to carry as much speed as possible, is one time where everyone, including Schumacher in this video, dive low a few feet in the middle of a straight to avoid the bumps of what in real life is a intersection that's blocked off for the grand prix.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1ah-WfgkUQ

[UK Collector]

[QUOTE=Leo_Ames;1441567]You said generally, not always. :)

Lets not quibble. Im not quite sure why we are, I just think Im struggling to put into words the same thing you are saying!!! What I was getting at was that street racing circuits can benefit driving on the 'legal' side into corners as they are designed for everyday use.

Obviously, the fastest racing line rules. You are right, Schumacher etc would dive to a different part of the track for grip/tire warming/brake saving/ or many other reasons including momentum into a corner.

But I think the OP was regarding more 'legal driving' type games.

Edit: Im also posting whilst quite drunk, so maybe im confusing myself too!

[SpaceHarrier]

Huh? You go as fast as you can using every inch of paved real estate you have to use. Your saying you actually tried to race while hugging the right side of the road? lol

No wonder it proved difficult, its wrong and the slowest possible way to race around a track. You realize there isn't on coming traffic on the left side of the track, right? :)

Watch this lap of Massa around Monza in his F1 Ferrari from a couple of years ago to get a idea of what racing is about. Your not playing a driving simulation, your playing a racing simulation.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcUGC_GoVnc


I have strange hobbies LOL .. I wasn't driving the Escudo or anything -- just your average sedan (I forget exactly which). Trying to keep it in a lane and drive speeds relative to what my 4 cyl can do in real life still proved exceedingly difficult. I see your point though :wink 2: