Track Day: A Racing Career of Mere Mortals
Release Date: TBA
A realistic racing game, featuring a Polish setting and focused around an extensive career mode. In Track Day we start by puchasing a used car, which then we can use to participate in amateur races. We gradually upgrade our machine and unlock professional driving licences. This allows to race in national and European competitions.
Track Day is a racing game set in Poland, focused around a single-player career mode. It is the work of a Polish company Weasel Games, which previously developed Project Wunderwaffe. Both of these projects have separate development teams, however their common part is the head of the studio: Krzysztof "Szymik" Szymikowski, a veteran of the Polish simracing and modding scene. The initiator of the project is Krzysztof "Draug" Mysiak, an editor working for GRYOnline.pl and Gamepressure.com.
Track Day allows us to experience a motorsport career in a fairly down-to-earth, Polish version. The main source of inspiration for the creators were the first installments of Gran Turismo, but Weasel Games added many of their own ideas to that formula. They were inspired by the racing realities of Central Europe, and emphasized realism in gameplay (although the game provides a wide range of difficulty options for less advanced players).
The fun begins with a visit to the dealership, where we buy an old, used car - we can choose from unlicensed equivalents of models such as Fiat Cinquecento, BMW 316 Compact or Honda Civic. With such a car, we can first start in amateur competitions on various tracks scattered around Poland. While earning money, we need to gradually upgrade our machine (modifying the engine, chassis, body, interior, etc.), and also take courses to become a professional driver.
Only after obtaining the selected license we can participate in real races (flat and/or rallycross) or drifting competitions. By achieving successes and building or acquiring increasingly advanced vehicles, we get the chance to participate in events of increasingly higher rank - first at the national level, and then at the European level.
What distinguishes Track Day from similar games is the design of the race tracks, created as open maps. They are used to mark out routes in various variants (like between cones) and for free exploration with side activities.
The game also offers an individual approach to tuning mechanics, emphasizing the modifications done to car interiors, as well as forcing us to install specific components (related to safety, for example) as a condition for participating in professional races. While improving performance, it is necessary to monitor the exhaust noise so as not to exceed the permissible standards on individual tracks.
An interesting feature is also the judge mode, in which we oversee the rules during the races, imposing penalties on drivers for offenses. This is a way to earn extra money, which is important because the virtual economy in Track Day is designed to be quite ruthless. For example, we have to pay for car repairs, which are subject to realistic damage, and for replacing worn tires (although these rules can be mitigated by adjusting the difficulty level).
There are also influences from the RPG genre in the form of a dialogue system, which resembles Disco Elysium in form, and serves to convey information for the beginners to help them navigate the world of motorsport.
In addition to career mode and other "quick" variants of single player fun, an online multiplayer is also available.
The game is being developed based on Unreal Engine 5 and offers full for mods.
Platforms:
PC Windows
Developer: Weasel Games
Publisher: Weasel Games
Age restrictions: 12+
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