What is the experience of taking a driver's license: good luck people can "take off" after 2-3 months of intensive brushing and practicing, and the battle line of the fateful people may be as long as one to two years, during which the experience of sun and rain, greed and early blackness, nervous convulsions, coach insults, etc. is really cold and warm self-knowledge.
The above feelings are not for the sake of giving new words, it is a few months ago, A Jun obtained his C1 driver's license, recalling the past, as if smelling the familiar smell of leather in the carriage again, and the palms of his hands are about to begin to sweat.
▲ There are pictures as evidence, applauding yourself
Recently, the Steam platform launched a simulation game "Driving Test Simulator" based on the author's own driving test experience in Xifu Town, Qingdao.
The game has a high degree of restoration of the driving test process, there can be said to be very similar to the actual exam, can only be said to be exactly the same electronic examiner voice to accompany the journey, there are other test vehicles along the road with the same speed as you, even gear shifting, refueling and other sounds are also clearly audible, suitable for the new experience and the old driver to remember the bittersweet.
▲ When I opened it one day after going online, the game evaluation has changed from "praise" to "special praise"
Open the game, the garage body printed with a large "test vehicle" car model and the bottom left corner of the simple and rough "subject two" and "subject three" feed are to remind you that this is not a fun racing game we often play.
Its simple and plain UI, cool colored graphics, and impersonal background music make it full of evidence.
First try to choose subject two. As you are not familiar with the route and sequence of the exams in this game, you can check the "Turn on text prompts" option and open "Practice Mode" here to experience.
When ready, the player will drive an automatic car into the exam room of subject two from a first-person perspective, the interior of the carriage is realistic, the scene outside the window is very clear, and the blue signs around you warn you that this is a serious exam.
There are no text or voice prompts in the practice mode, and players can warm up on their own in the exam room. The W key is the throttle, the S key is reversing, the A and D keys are the left and right steering wheels (the arrow keys are also operational), the long press and space bar is the handbrake, and moving the mouse can simulate the driver's gaze about 180 degrees to observe (can not look back).
There will be turn signals and speed warnings above the window, but because we are used to racing games, we are too accustomed to pressing the W button to "refuel" to move forward, so it is easy to drive the speed to more than 20 km/h during the game, in fact, in the second subject, the speed is kept below 5 km/h.
In reality, the second subject can be divided into several parts: "left and right reverse into the warehouse", "fixed-point parking (slope start)", "side parking", "right angle turn" and "curve driving", which vary according to the order of examination in different examination rooms.
▲ Reverse into storage
▲ Side parking
▲ There is a slope in the examination room, which should have been parked at a fixed point, but there is no deduction point in the game
▲ Curve driving
▲ Right angle turning
In practice mode, players can press the V key to freely switch between first-person or third-person perspectives. In the first-person perspective, we look at the pavement by looking at the left and right rearview mirrors.
For example, when performing the "reverse into the garage" operation, we observe the distance between the body and the library line by looking at the right rearview mirror, so as to determine whether the steering wheel hits the left or the right, and whether it needs to hit more or less.
▲ The design of the rearview mirror viewing position can be described as very restored
▲This is a GIF of reversing into the warehouse, but the speed is too slow, and the picture changes in the rearview mirror is not obvious
In the third person perspective, we can intuitively control the movement of the car from a bird's eye view, which can be used as an auxiliary when the first person perspective cannot judge.
After a period of inactivity in the "Practice Mode" Subject 2 exam room, you can experience the real simulation test. Mock exams have familiar electronic examiner female voices, and text descriptions will also appear to prompt the exam tasks.
When the player makes a mistake, the electronic examiner will broadcast the test failure, the place of the operation error and the corresponding deduction of points, and the red character of "Test Failure" on the front of the car will also be heard.
Subject 3 mainly examines the driver's strain when walking on the actual road, such as whether to turn, whether the red light is stopped; whether to turn, whether to change lanes, whether to remember to play the corresponding lights; when passing the crosswalk, when turning, remember to slow down, etc., if driving a manual car, also assess the flexible change of gear.
There is a night lighting test before starting the road test, which requires memorizing more than ten kinds of lighting rules, although it is not difficult, it can also make many students turn over.
Only because many people have experienced several days of early and dark training in preparation for subject three, memory and reaction will decline, and if one does not pay attention to the wrong headlight, the exam will fail.
▲ Press different number keys according to the voice prompts to turn on different lights to complete the night driving light test
Some people have not even touched the steering wheel when they get into the car, and they have already been kicked off because of a lighting test error before stepping on the accelerator, and they can only send off the hero with sympathetic eyes when they see the candidate get on the car for a while.
▲ Guangzhou Exhibition and Trade South Examination Hall subject three real shooting
After passing the lighting test, follow the prompts to hit the left turn signal, honk the horn, look around the road conditions left and right, you can start, the electronic examiner will issue instructions for various operations, follow the instructions in a timely and correct manner to light, turn, change lanes, overtake to complete the exam.
▲Straight line driving
▲ Prepare to turn right
▲ Prepare to pass through the school section
After a few hours of experience, the defeated A Jun checked everyone's game reviews on steam, although there were many praises, but someone frankly pointed out the "pain points" of the game and said the voice of A Jun - the game is too difficult.
"The test information is being verified, please wait, your deduction is: not driving in the order of the following route, deducting 100 points, the test is over, and the score is not passed."
"Test information is being verified, please wait, your deduction is: did not drive the two front wheels across the fixed line before reversing, deduct 100 points, the test is over, the score is not passed."
Despite the tree-lined scenery of our exam room and the crisp and pleasant birds and insects chirping from time to time, the mechanical sound of "deduct 100 points, end of the exam, fail the test" can still be irritating with the mechanical sound of "deducting 100 points, failing the test" in five minutes.
The variety of deductions in the game is understandable, because this is the case with the actual exam.
However, the inability to switch the third-person perspective in the simulated exam mode makes it difficult for players to see the car condition clearly after failing the exam, and it is difficult to improve next time; the rearview mirror vision is not clear, and it is impossible to adjust the visual height up and down.
Coupled with the fact that it is not known whether the difficulty of the "Xifu Town" examination room referred to by the game author is itself large or the problem of game design, the parking space of subject two into the library is extremely narrow, and the third subject is judged to be lane change as long as the dotted line is slightly pressed, and the direct examination fails.
In addition, since the author himself is well aware that driving tests are not easy, why can't he imitate the rules of the driving test in reality and add the setting that the first test failure can be "retaken once"? It is not reasonable to have to go back to the main page to reload it yourself every time you fail an exam.
After three hours of game experience, the feeling of taking the driver's license half a year ago was indeed found, but the difficulty of the game was too high (or it may be that the level of the operator was too low), so that I really couldn't stick to playing until I passed the second and third sections smoothly.
▲ I tried my best to get a screenshot that did not "not yet pass" to save my dignity
In addition to adjusting the difficulty, the fun of the game may also be a point that the designer can further strengthen in the later improvements.
For example, people who have experienced the driving test know that the driving test is a very test of psychological quality, excellent technology and on-the-spot play is important, but resisting the death gaze and reprimand from the security officer next to them is also an important test content, many players have lamented that the game should be equipped with a security officer who will scold people after experiencing the game...
Anyway, as one game review put it, "What about a bike for 6 bucks?" Come and pull up the self-proclaimed old driver friend who is highly skilled in driving and return to the driving test test to see if he/she can easily pass the life-threatening driving test in Xifu Town.