TOCA Race Driver 2006 Q&A

Announced today and scheduled for release this winter, TOCA Race Driver 2006 is currently in development for the PC, the PlayStation 2, and the Xbox. The game will boast no fewer than 35 different motorsport disciplines and, as Codemasters studio head Gavin Raeburn explains, will seek to improve upon its predecessors in just about every way imaginable.

GameSpot: Will TOCA Race Driver 2006 feature a story-driven gameplay mode like its predecessor? And if so, what can you tell us about it?

Gavin Raeburn: TOCA Race Driver 2006 will continue the story-driven precedent established by the previous titles. In this game, we are focusing a lot more on both the aspirational and technical elements of motorsport. To this end, there will be a lot more information divulged in the scenes pertaining to both the cars the player will drive and how to get the best out of them on the track. Many of the scenes are dedicated to showcasing the various cars and motorsports available in the game.

With over 35 disciplines to choose from, the motorsport world is your oyster.

In parallel to these scenes, the narrative arc builds on the glamour and all of its trimmings that is associated with high-end motorsport and the player's increasingly high-profile career. We've also maintained the most successful aspects of the previous story such as strong characterization, dry humor, and even a rather memorable wry Scotsman. Technically, we are also raising the bar to give the scenes an extra lick of gloss and realism. Consequently, every scene of the new story will have something of value for every type of player.

GS: Any chance that you'll return to a TOCA Race Driver 1-style career mode in which players receive multiple offers from various teams and get to choose whom they drive for?

GR: The world tour mode of the game, as seen in TOCA Race Driver 2, now has more choices for the player. When choosing the next championship to race in, the player will usually be presented with three championship race options. In TOCA Race Driver 2 the player would quite often be limited to two or even just one choice. In addition to this we also have our new pro career mode where the player can select from a range of seven different main disciplines (for example, open wheel, touring cars, off road, etc.) and then progress from the lower ranks to the highest ranks of that discipline. When progressing through the championships, the player will be able to race for any team they like.

GS: What other gameplay modes will be on offer?

GR: Our existing TOCA Race Driver 2 modes have been extended to allow control over a greater number of race options, such as qualifying, practice, etc. To cater for the sim fan we also have the new pro career mode, which allows the player to map out a career in one of seven main racing disciplines. For example, the player can select the open wheel discipline and start racing in professional go-karts, move up through a range of single-seaters, and end up racing for the WilliamsF1 team.

Each of the seven main disciplines in TOCA Race Driver 2006 has been made as fully comprehensive as possible, and players will be able to experience the complete spectrum of racing found within that motorsport. The player can move between disciplines at any time but must work through the different discipline tiers in bottom-up sequence. The player has full control of all the race options here, including full rules and regulations, such as flags, shoot-outs, qualifying and practice sessions, race length, car tuning, driving assists, difficulty, and, where championship rules allow, car part upgrades from a list of almost 80 fully licensed car parts.

In TOCA Race Driver 2006 we have also taken online play even further, to fully re-create the excitement of real-life motor racing. Players can now compete in open or closed qualifying rounds, shoot-outs, and practice sessions. Each championship will be fully customizable, with players being able to select independent rules, race lengths, starting grid selection, and AI. Players will also be able to tune and upgrade their vehicles offline using the new track-telemetry feature, then take their saved vehicle setups online to compete against other drivers.

Crashes like this won't be the only way that you can damage your car.

The ranking system which was so popular in TOCA Race Driver 2006 has also been improved and updated. Each player will now have an individual rating for every championship, a rating for each of the seven main disciplines, and then finally an overall driver rating based on all of their individual championship ratings. We are also including a Hall of Fame-style leaderboard for Xbox Live in which the top 50 fastest players on each track, in every championship, will be able to post their ghost cars, allowing other players to compete against them offline. Finally, we are also going to allow players to unlock game content through online, as well as offline, play so that those gamers who just want to race against their friends can still experience the full content of the game.

GS: How many different racing disciplines do you plan to feature this time around? And which of those are new to the series?

GR: TOCA Race Driver 2 featured around 15 different styles of racing, but TOCA Race Driver 2006 features well over 30. Most of these exciting championships are new to the series, and we will be releasing information about these over the coming months. I can say that all of the cars we are including are actual licensed racing cars--we have no concept or road cars in TOCA Race Driver 2006! In TOCA Race Driver 2006 we have included some truly iconic racing cars from the last 80 years of motorsport.