DriveClub Game Director Discusses 30fps, Wheel Support & More

DriveClub Game Director Paul Rustchynsky was very busy today, answering a ton of questions about the game over on the EU PS Blog, with his answers including an expanded explanation of why they’re going for 30fps:

We want to push the boundaries on PS4 with the visual detail in DriveClub, so we’ve now locked the game to a rock solid 30fps. Doing so means that we don’t compromise on the staggering native 1080p visual quality or the seamlessly networked connectivity while you race.

We’ve got a lot of experience at Evolution Studios and members of the team who worked on Gran Turismo, WRC, Grid, F1, MotorStorm, Project Gotham and more have all contributed to the handling dynamics. We’re confident that it gives everybody a fluid and authentic driving experience that is accessible for beginners, yet deep enough to satisfy even the most track-hardened racers.

He then added, “The most important thing for a racing game is a locked frame-rate – whether it’s 30fps or 60fps. It’s vital that every controller input you make is consistent and also equal for all drivers. We chose a locked frame-rate for this very reason and with 30fps we don’t have to hold back any of the obsessive visual detail in our game.”

There were many other topics covered by Rustchynsky, which we’ve place below in bullet point form:

When someone brought up Forza’s specs, he said, “We’re using the power of PlayStation 4 to give you an innovative, fun and staggeringly detailed racing game. It’s about the experience and entertainment, not the stats on the back of the box.”
When asked about racing wheels, he said, “We love racing wheels! We’re working closely with Thrustmaster to support their awesome wheels already, and when Logitech support wheel peripherals on PlayStation 4, we’d love to support them in DriveClub too.”
Adding to the racing wheel thought, he said, “We’re big fans of wheels, so whether its Logitech or Fanatec we’d love to support their wheels if they choose to bring them to PlayStation 4.”
When using a racing wheel the steering animation “will be 1:1. With the wheel lock we decided to restrict it to 720 degrees to provide a more accessible experience.”
Here’s what Rustchynsky had to say when asked if the full time day/night circle is still there: “We tested this because on paper it sounds really cool, but when you actually play at the real time of day for a while you lose a lot of the magic and diversity. We allow you to customise the start time and the time compression (time lapse) in every race you set up, so you have lots of flexibility yourself.”
He then talked about how you can play single player, but being connected is always better: “DriveClub is at its best when you’re connected, as you’ll always have fresh and exciting new challenges around every corner. It’s up to you how you play, when you play and who you play with. You can play solo if you want: online or offline. There’s a full single-player campaign for you along with the ability to set up your own events, which will all help you earn access to new cars and rewards. Everything is better when you’re online though, connected to friends and playing in a club, sharing every moment and competing in engaging challenges.”
Answering yet another question about the PlayStation Plus Edition, he confirmed that you’ll still be able to upgrade to the full version (price not announced).
Here’s his explanation of FAME: “In DriveClub, every action you perform, whether that’s drifting in style, reaching insane top speeds or drafting an opponent to set up an overtake, you earn FAME. When you earn enough fame you level up and when you do you unlock new cars to race with! The same goes for you club. When your club reaches specific levels you’ll earn new cars, which everyone in the club gets immediate access to. It’s a simple and focussed approach that allows everyone to help each other to earn more and play more.”
“We will be showing you more of the game before and at E3, including direct gameplay captured from PS4.” It will also be playable at E3 and gamescom.
“The length of the roads and race tracks in DriveClub vary massively, with some that you can speed around in less than a minute and others that stretch on for miles. The longest takes 5 minutes end-to-end, even with your foot to the floor in any one of the quickest cars in the game! We did try our hand at making even longer tracks and while it was possible, it was difficult to keep super long tracks feeling fresh and exciting, especially when you’re racing because the pack you’re racing with tends to break up the longer the race goes on.”
“All of the tracks that feature in DriveClub are authentic and based on real world reference trips, but rather than just recreate reality we exploit the freedom of games design to make them more exciting and enjoyable!”
On handling physics: “Our ambition was always to transcend “arcade” and “simulation” stereotypes because we want to bring fans of all racing games (and all of their friends) together in DriveClub. The driving model we’ve developed offers the best of both worlds, with handling that offers many layers of depth to allow players of all ability to race together. If you come from a background of arcade racing or you’re completely new to racing, you’ll find it easy to pick up and you’ll quickly learn that you do need to use the brakes more than you would in most arcade racing games. If you come from a background of simulation racing or you understand the art of race craft, you’ll be able to pull off advanced driving techniques and use the weight and velocity of the car realistically to keep to the racing line and shave milliseconds of of your lap times.”
“You’ll be able to customise your vehicles using liveries that you unlock throughout the game, changing colours and paint finishes of the various layers. This will allow you to create unique paint jobs that’ll make you and your club stand out from the pack.”
There’s no plans “right now” to do a 3D option like Gran Turismo 6.
Monster trucks won’t be in the game.
You can turn off the HUD if you wish.