Get ready to burn some rubber with the latest episode of Technically Speaking!
In this episode, we have the distinct pleasure of speaking with Paul Coleman, Chief Game Designer of the DiRT game series with Codemasters Games UK! Paul *gets technical* with us as we ask him how his team managed to develop such a realistic driving feel in DiRT 3, without being too difficult for the average gamer to learn to control. And maybe, just maybe, he’ll tell us about the awesome benefits of working at Codemasters UK…
And since Paul is so awesome, he stuck around to Brainstorm with us about why it is that “nice” small cars have never caught on in the United States! I mean, we drive SO many more miles per person, you’d think that we’d want better fuel economy, RIGHT? How do we make fuel efficiency SEXY in the United States? What do you think? Email us your thoughts!
Listen! Comment! Share with your friends and email us some future brainstorming ideas!
Music:
“Blind Faith” – Chase & Status
As featured in DiRT3
“Fuse” – Hudson Mohawke
As featured in DiRT3
…And here’s the video Paul mentions when discussing comparing real life to the game. Paul is the co-driver, you’ll hear him calling out pace notes.
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Hey, guys! I listened to this episode yesterday/today. I have a ford focus (not fiesta, mostly because I don’t like coupes and hatchbacks. I like people being able to get into the back seat without someone having to move their chair, and hatchbacks just look goofy to me.) Anyways, the Focus panel has an option to monitor your gas mileage, and I do pretty well. I often meet or beat the highest estimated fuel efficiency number ford advertises.
I do have a question, though. How is fuel efficiency estimated? I’ve seen criticism about how the EPA does their tests, because they don’t use real-world conditions. What are your thoughts on that?
As in, how are the EPA numbers determined, or how is your Focus estimating fuel efficiency? I assume you mean the EPA numbers, and that would probably make a decent segment.
The Focus pretty much knows how much fuel it’s using and it knows how far it’s driven, so that’s just basic math off the odometer and electronic fuel injection system.
As a gamer I’m always interested in hearing about the inner-workings of game development. Replicating a real world system as complex as rally driving is an interesting challenge. I also liked the brainstorming on small, but not cheap vehicles. I drive a Honda Civic which gets pretty good gas mileage, but 90% of my driving is in the city. I’d love to get a small and hopefully electric vehicle. Now if the car companies can just release something I’d want to buy and can afford (sorry Tesla).