Does anyone actually enjoy rubber banding? Why is it so common in racing games? I get that it’s meant to keep races exciting regardless of skill level, but in practice it just undermines any real sens
A little bit is fine, and does make racing a bit more fun while improving but it is very annoying at very low and very high skills levels. At low levels even a little seems like the game is holding your hand, while at high levels it kills the momentum of getting a solid lead.
The worst is when it is obvious and clearly designed to make every finish a close call. I absolutely hate Mario Kart because it does this.
If it's noticeable, it's bad design.
I've had games where I so far ahead of the computer, I get slowed to easily half speed, and when looking at the mini map I can see the computer catching up at impossible rates, plowing through 270° turns at Mach 7. That's just not fun. It's not challenging. It's just bullshit in disguise.
I've also had games where I've been told the rubber banding is bad, but I've never noticed it. Maybe I'm just bad at Need for Speed Heat?
However, racing games aren't my thing anymore, I end up just driving around chilling. Sometimes playing "how long can I obey traffic laws before someone taps me and I rage smash their car" and all that.
Most racing games have some form of rubber banding unless they’re proper simulators e.g. Asseto Corsa.
It’s a mechanism that allows for moment to moment tweaks to the player experience whereas without it, you can only do tweaks per race from an AI behaviour and challenge perspective.
It means you can make your game fun and accessible to new players as well as challenging to experienced players without having either race after race of no challenge or a brick wall of a race the player can’t overcome.
When implemented best, the mechanic is invisible to the player. So it’s hard to say whether one enjoys it or not because, unless you’re fully for it, you’re never too sure if the game you’re playing has “cheating“ AI or not.
Do you enjoy it?
I’m not sure. I like racing games, from arcade to sim. So probably?
Never seen it as a feature. It's a bug in the netcode imho. They implement rubber banding on purpose?
Yes. https://game-wisdom.com/critical/rubber-banding-ai-game-design
One of the oldest challenges of game designers is providing the player with an adequate AI that can challenge and keep them engaged. If you make the AI too good then the player is going to get beaten into the ground, too sloppy and the player gets bored. This led to a design option called “rubber-banding” the AI that while it is popular, it is also a big example of poor game design.
super mario kart had it. it's a feature.
If it's strong enough for you to notice it, it sucks. But there is a reason why it exists, and if it's subtle enough to be done right, you won't hear players talking about how much they enjoyed a mechanic they never noticed.
One of the most important issues multiplayer game designers need to be cognizant of is snowballing. If a player that gets a lead continues to gain advantages that widen their lead, or is even just able to stay stable in the lead without too much effort, there might be no hope for opponents to catch up. This isn't exclusive to racing games, comeback mechanics exist in all kinds of genres. As do arguments about whether comeback mechanics are too much, it's a fine line to walk, but when done right they do have a purpose. Developers keep implementing them for a reason.
Kirby Air Riders showed off a pretty interesting way of tackling this in the recent Direct. Players in front have an advantage in that they have first access to enemies and powerups. That's a potential snowball situation, and it's one that applies to most kart racers with pickups, which is why comeback mechanics are common for the subgenre. So to counterbalance this, Air Riders has players leave behind a star trail that opponents can gain speed by following. It's a skill-based rubberband that requires you to actively stay in the trail to earn the maximum boost, but it is still a rubberband mechanic.
Wow what you described from Kirby Air Riders is great!
Skill based rubberband sounds fairs to me.