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Realistic Driving Simulator Games?
modoquasi writes "I have a son approaching the age when it is legal to hurtle through the air at insurance-raising speeds. I would like to educate him to hurtle safely and legally as soon as possible, and not use my car to do it. I thought I would find a number of driving simulator/educators for teens at home. but all I found are the likes of GTA Vice City and Crazy Taxi. Though Big Mutha Truckers might educate him on correct parking procedures in tight spots, I don't think it covers four-way-stops and passing on a double yellow line. Do the readers of Slashdot have any clues where to find this type of software?"
Two words: Gran Turismo.
Get a good steering wheel, shifter, and pedals, and your son will be doing clutchless double-downshifts, lift-throttle shifts, and heel-and-toe driving in no time. I've seen nothing closer in realism for street cars. And it's a great way to learn how to react in "panic" situations.
brought forth This beauty. Now to dig deeper and find an OSS game or two...
No one ever says, 'I can't read that ASCII E-mail you sent me.'
Mafia: La Cosa Nostra actually has fair traffic rules and a good physics system... if you don't mind driving a Model T up a hill at 5 MPH. And getting shot at by a rival family. If you're just doing the driving, it's like GTA: Capone Edition.
And now, for a sig that's a complete copout.
An excellent racing sim - still "in development" but with very accurate physics... Live For Speed. It's not OSS, and for Win32 only.
For OSS racing sims, there's Racer, or TORCS.
Realistic racing sims like LFS are a great tool for teaching a new driver, IMHO, because they'll teach respect for control of your vehicle. and that there are consequences to bad driving... unlike some of the "arcade-y" driving games where it's not even possible to get go off the track.
Originally, if I remember the story correctly, this game was used for Law Enforcement/Student Drivers due to it's very realistic physics and force feedback. Later adapted into a game by Atari since there wasn't a huge market for it.
One of my favorites and was a good way to understand how to drive a clutch 'n stick.
There was some bus driving game from the Dreamcast in Japan, never played it myself. But who knows, might be a close approximation.
You want him to learn in a "real-world" settings rather than a video game - there is no "reset" button in the former. Along those lines, the local police almost always have a "drunk driver/accident" exhibit which shows what a car looks look after a crash - and may also have pictures of victims - yea, it's a SHOCK, but you really want to impress upon him that he has to be careful, not only for himself, but for others.
And going out with him (again, in the real-world) might be FUN for father/son rather than sitting in front of a screen - he'll be leaving the house shortly and going off on his own, so you might regret not spending this time now.
Finally, I still do something like this with my wife who's "worried" about driving in snow - I take her to a empty parking lot and have her drive around to see what it feels like to slide/brake/etc. in snow - highly, highly recommended with your son if you live where weather is a factor - slippery roads are a whole new ballgame. Make sure you emphasize the difference between pumping the brakes (for older cars) and anti-skid braking where you do NOT want to do this.
Oh yeah, one more thing - tell him to watch out for Photo Radar - we don't need any more pictures like that one! ;-)
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