User blog:Sirebel/Why learn to drive ...

without assists.

I've been playing this game since almost the beginning and had many hours enjoyment from it. I also discovered this wiki about this time last year and eventually created a profile last July. One of the things that has frustrated me on here more than anything else is the phrase "Learn to drive without assists" made by many experienced drivers when responding to "I can't do this event, it's too difiicult" statements. Whilst the advice is valid, it is often delivered quite abruptly, condesendingly and without explaination. Consequently, I thought it worth writing this blog as to why, and to some extent how, you should learn to drive without assists. So how do you learn to drive without assists? Well, the first step is easy, turn them off ;-). If you are already at the point of farming the 10 lapper Le Mans then you can practice there, especially if you've slowed your bots down. Get into first place with assists on, build up a bit of a lead then pause and turn them off. Go slowly, if you are at risk of not winning then turn assists back on. You'll get the hang of it soon. If you aren't at this stage then pick races you have already gotten gold in.
 * 1) You will get much more enjoyment out of the game, it does require more skill but not as much as you first think
 * 2) The firemonkeys have been playing with the low level assists and it doesn't seem to work very well now with the faster cars, they spin out far to easily if you get your line even slightly wrong.
 * 3) You will set faster times and find it much easier to control the car in the long run. New cars take less getting used to and you spend less time messing about.
 * 4) You may crash more frequently but you can also recover much faster. The assists don't handle this very well and doesn't let you use standard techniques to recover. The physics model in RR3 is quite good so you can get out of spins and skids if you know how to drive but only with assists turned off.
 * 5) You can go much faster off track. The assists automatically slow you down if you go off track but without assists you can just cut corners if you get your speed wrong without losing too much time. Yes I know this isn't fair racing but then there aren't any stewards either.

Some driving tips: These are not exhastive tips and I'm sure there will be those that disagree with some or all of them but the are general rules about driving, in the real world as much as RR3.
 * 1) If you drive in real life then you'll know that you should never brake whilst cornering at high speed, it's not very safe. Braking in a straight line is much more effective and the trick is to get your speed right going into the corner. When practicing slow down too much so that you learn to handle the car through the corner and gradually brake later and later until you lose control.
 * 2) Look at the apex of the corner as you turn. This is the point you are aiming for no matter what line you take through the corner. Looking at it as you go into the corner helps you aim for it. If you don't believe me, ask a racing driver.
 * 3) Don't accelerate before you hit the apex, it won't help you get around the corner any faster (unless you are going really slowly). You might also lose the back end in the more powerful cars but you will just force yourself wide and generally lose more time.
 * 4) If you do lose control, let go of the controls. Stop accelerating or braking if you are doing either, stop turning if you can, let the car come back into a straight line and then apply the power.
 * 5) Don't worry about going off track (unless you are doing a time trial) but do be more careful about applying power, braking or turning sharply.

The bottom line is: give it a try, go slowly and build up your confidence, and don't be afraid to turn assists back on for special events or new cars. You can use the low assists to find out where the braking points are and to practice lines through corners. Even if I turn on assists, I still accelerate and brake at the right times, it helps me learn the circuit or car more safely when time is of the essence.