Enabing freedom during races: Good Idea...?

[BLeonard]

So, here's my dilemma:

 

I like racing in GTA, the problem is, the checkpoints can sort of handicap a player, if they know a "shortcut." I get that that's part of racing, to race an actual "track," but my thought was to have a couple checkpoints on a relatively long race, but enough mileage between the checkpoints that racers can use their creative freedom to get from checkpoint to checkpoint.

 

So, I came up with a race I call the LSC Grand Tour: http://rsg.ms/TOEQGP

 

I'm on PS3, but if anyone on Xbox is interested, it's pretty easy to duplicate.

 

Starting at the southwesternmost LSC (1/4 on the ingame map), the first checkpoint is at the La Mesa LSC (2/4 on the ingame map). From there, the next checkpoint is at the LSC in Burton (3/4 on the ingame map) and the finish line is at the LSC on Route 68 up in the Grand Senora Desert (4/4 on the ingame map).

 

I know that it isn't a "traditional" type race, where you can almost always physically see the next checkpoint on the map and some won't like it due to that, but that's not the point or purpose of this particular race.

 

The purpose is to take advantage of the open world provided, so that individuals can use their knowledge of the map to get to the LSC's as they please, instead of having everyone basically follow one uniform path. In this type of race, you could literally have 16 racers taking 16 different paths to get to the finish line.

 

The only real negative I've found to this after testing it a few times is the fact that you can occasionally get the "Wrong Way" to pop up, even if you are taking a shorter path. But, again, for those that know the map (or specifically, the locations of the LSC's, it's not really an issue, as there is no right or wrong direction to hit the checkpoint from.

 

You'll also want to be careful to not destroy your car, as respawning from the last passed checkpoint could be a huge penalty, in terms of "track" position.

 

I'm sure others have thought of this sort of thing, but I personally had not seen any race with this type of mindset, so I figured I'd get people's opinions on the idea behind it, not necessarily the track itself. Is this something that racers would have an interest in, sort of a "freestyle" type of racing, where you have to hit checkpoints, but they are so far apart, there are many different ways to get from one to the next? Or, does everyone out there like having a set, dedicated track in all races, where every car has to take the exact same path everytime?

 

Not really asking people to play the track, per se, just posted it to better explain the idea behind it... Of course, those who want to play it, feel free. I have a couple other ideas similar to this one, if this is something that people out there like.

 

-Bill

Edited May 27, 2014 by BLeonard

[Coin]

Personally I prefer set routes to follow when racing. As close to free roam as I'd be inclined, would be the possibility of divergent routes (you're one route of checkpoints diverging into two ((or more)) routes of which you only have to choose one to follow, before later converging back into one route) but this isn't possible with the race creator.

 

There's been a few threads lately of this nature though, so I would suggest that there are indeed people enjoy that out there.

[Cuz05]

I think its a decent idea. I much prefer to do this sort of thing in an impromptu race as its then completely open, but making it in the creator adds an extra element to it and will obviously make the experience more accessible to players who don't have a big crew to meet up with.