How Slightly Mad Studios decided what to include in its new Project Cars 2 demo, and what to leave out

The “Official Project Cars 2 Demo” is the first demo we’ve ever delivered for the Project Cars franchise. We went into it knowing that condensing a game as content-rich as Project Cars 2 was going to involve a few interesting challenges.

During our brainstorming, a few fundamental questions began to surface: How to choose three cars and one track from 180+ cars and 60 locations? And given the game features four seasons of authentic weather simulation and dynamic day-to-night transitions, what conditions would we feature? Rain? Snow? Varying conditions?

Back to the core question then: Why were we making the demo? We want players to get a taste of the variety of racing action on offer in the full game, and to experience for themselves why Project Cars 2 is one of the highest rated multi-platform racing games of the year.

We’ve also recently seen the launch of new console hardware like PS4 Pro, and knowing that the owners of the new hardware are wanting content that is specifically optimized for this, the demo allows us to showcase these enhancements that will be rolled out in an imminent update for the full game.

Another challenge when creating a demo is initial accessibility. Project Cars 2 delivers the full experience of what it is like to race in some of the most harrowing conditions ever simulated in a racing game, and this can be an intimidating experience if you’re not familiar with authentic racing games.

This led us to decide on presenting the player with preset “scenarios”. The three scenarios in the demo will build you up from the road-going Lamborghini Huracan, racing on the laser-scanned Red Bull Ring on a misty morning in the summer, to the intermediate Formula Renault 3.5 race that begins on a chilly day in April with light cloud cover that soon darkens with the menace of rain.

And then it’s time for the big test: a multi-class race with the player in the Ferrari 488 GT3. The race begins shortly after a rain shower had drenched the track surface in ominous puddles of water that can wreck your race if you are caught aquaplaning through one of them!

In summary then, the demo needed to: Illustrate the enjoyment that is delivered by the immersion provided by a game that simulates all the various aspects of the thrills of real-world motor racing, as well as impressing you with the handling physics, the graphics, the sound, and the sheer intensity of the experience.

Racing is more than just driving, it’s about the visceral feel of a race car screaming down the track, when you’re looking up at the sky and seeing the rain clouds darken, the anticipation, you know? In the end, that was what the demo was about. To show you the “soul” of Project CARS 2.

We hope you enjoy it!

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