I don’t know if any of you even remember this, but back when the Nintendo Switch was announced in 2016, a list of third party developers and publishers who were working on the system was also shared. Every single company listed on there, and even a fair few who were not, has since put out at least one game on the Switch, or announced one at the very least.

The one company who was listed there, and didn’t release or announce any Switch games in the last two years, was Codemasters. However, now we know what Codemasters is bringing over to the Switch. Today, out of nowhere, very randomly, they announced that GRID Autosport will be coming to the Nintendo Switch. It will be launching in 2019, and it will be developed by Feral Interactive, who were also the folks who worked on the game’s iOS port (which means it is in good hands, since the iOS port was well received).

You can check out the trailer for the Switch version below. If you want to play GRID Autosport, the soon to be five year old racing game is also available on Xbox 360, PS3, and PC. Not to mention iOS, as already specified.

Long renowned UK based developer Codemasters, best known for releasing autosport based games such as Dirt, GRiD, and the F1 series, appears to be in trouble- the studio, it has been confirmed, was just hit by a round of layoffs, with 50 jobs being reviewed, and as many as 30 of those slated to go.

“As Codemasters continues its programme of strategic realignment in line with market changes, the company has reviewed its current structures to focus on areas of increased importance and decrease resources in areas where work requirements have been reduced,” a company spokesperson told Eurogamer.

“As a result of this review, a small number of roles have been proposed as being at risk of redundancy. Those in potentially affected roles are now involved in a consultation period to discuss the proposal. The proposal does not affect the on-going production of titles in development and no projects have been cancelled as a result of the proposal.”

I’d love to tell you that games you are looking forward to, such as the new Dirt game, won’t be affected by any of this, but then I would be lying, as it has been confirmed that the team working on that game has been reduced to just about 20 people- which is, incidentally, far less than the number of people who were working on Grid Autosport. Codemasters assures us, however, that work on that game is continuing uninhibited.

The studio currently has at least two games in the pipeline- the next generation version of F1 2014, slated to release some time in the first half of this year, and a new Dirt game. We will keep you posted.

Gotta go fast? Yep, gotta go fast. So do it in style with some fine cars from a finer type and more enjoyable time of racing when you didn’t have more computers than a space shuttle aiding you. That’s right, we’re talking touring cars!

Today, Codemasters released the Touring Car Legends expansion pack for their popular racing title, Grid Autosport. The expansion pack, which is available for £9.99 or $14.99 through the Steam, PSN and Xbox Live.

But what’s in the pack? Just what are you paying for? Cool stuff! That’s what. The pack includes two multiple route racing circuits, a new single player championship and five new touring cars.

There’s Silverstone Circuit, of which you can play in six different ways, that has hosted Toca events since 1985 and there’s Donington Park, the first permanent racing circuit built in the UK, you can race around it in four different ways.

The four cars you can look forward to racing in are the 1994 Volvo 850 Estate Touring Car, the 1994 Alfa Romeo 155 Touring Car, the 1996 Audi A4 Quattro Touring Car, the 1991 BMW E30 Touring Car and finally, the 1989 Ford Sierra RS500 Cosworth Touring Car.

Codemasters is known for two original series, above all else- GRID, and DiRT.

Of these, GRID just had a recent entry, GRID Autosport, which released on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC. But now, it seems Codemasters is already looking ahead and starting to tease DiRT 4. Today on their Twitter, they tweeted just ‘4’ which was followed up right after with a tweet saying ‘Oops, sorry, finger slipped.’

A likely story, Codemasters. I see through your lies. I see through all of them.

DiRT 3 was released in 2011, so it’s high time for a new one, since, presuming a 2015 release date, it will be launching four years after the previous one; unlike GRID Autosport, which hit the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3, there is hope that DiRT 4 will be for PS4 and Xbox One, especially given Codemasters’ recent move towards the newer machines with their upcoming F1 game. Stay tuned for more coverage either way, though.

I don’t want to try to beat you with a perfectly taken corner, or a great block. I don’t want to follow a racing line.  That’s not my style. I want to hit you with a red shell or run you into a wall or force you into the path of an oncoming semi truck. My mentality in racing games is this: I can’t lose if there’s no one left to race against me.

"Grid Autosport isn’t so much a true racing sim so much as a cross between a sim and an arcade racer, but those who are more familiar with sims will definitely be more comfortable with what Autosport has to offer."

So when I tell you, dear reader, that I am more than a little out of my depth when confronted with a game like Grid Autosport, I hope you’ll believe me. Admittedly, Grid Autosport isn’t so much a true racing sim so much as a cross between a sim and an arcade racer, but those who are more familiar with sims will definitely be more comfortable with what Autosport has to offer. The series has always taken a multi-disciplined approach to racing, and that returns to Autosport. The game’s career mode is divided into five segments: Touring, Endurance, Open Wheel, Tuner, and Street.

Autosport will require you to play them all before you unlock the Grid Grand Slam, which features events from each and every discipline, but beyond that how you progress is entirely up to you. I chose to start out with Street racing, which features tight tracks and intense turns, but all of the racing styles are engaging on some level, especially Touring and Open Wheel, which are the other standouts.

The former is high contact racing on larger tracks that requires you to play the same track twice, with grid orders reversed the second time around (if you start in first the first time, you’ll start in sixteenth place), while the latter resembles Codemaster’s F1, only more forgiving and with more of a focus on fun and less on pitting at the correct time.

"Endurance is also the only category that features tyre wear, but the wear is scaled to the length of the race. This, coupled with the lack of pitting, basically means that you can’t manage your tyre wear unless you adjust the way you race."

In fact, there’s no pitting in Grid Autosport, which makes the Endurance category a little odd. The default length of these races is eight minutes, which is pretty long when compared to the other categories,  but still relatively short for an endurance run. Endurance is also the only category that features tyre wear, but the wear is scaled to the length of the race. This, coupled with the lack of pitting, basically means that you can’t manage your tyre wear unless you adjust the way you race.

You won’t do this, of course, because the scaling means that you don’t need to. But it does mean that should you puncture a tyre, you can’t fix it, and no one in their mind is going to suffer through a punctured tyre when they have no way to fix it. They’re going to restart the race, which makes you wonder why they bothered to feature tyre wear (and punctures) to begin with. All in all, it’s a little disappointing as a mode.

It is not, however, the weakest. That honor belongs to the Tuner category, which is a mixture of time trials (which is basically like playing a qualifying round for another category without the satisfaction of actually playing a race afterwards), drifting, and actual races. Drifting is something I never really got the hang of, but the actual races are a lot of fun. It’s just a shame they’re bundled with these other, lesser events.

"The enemy AI is also very impressive. The other drivers will jockey for position, block, perform risky overtakes, and even make realistic mistakes, adding a much appreciated sense of realism to the proceedings. The most impressive bit is that the AI’s reactions will change between flashbacks."

The actual structure of the career follows a sponsorship model. After deciding on a mode, you’ll choose an event and a sponsor. Like any driver, you’ll be starting from the bottom, so you won’t have any offers from high quality teams, at least not at first. This means your cars, which are pre-selected for you, will be of a lower quality, and your AI partner will be lucky if he finishes in 15^th place at an event, and not in last. It also means that you won’t have to finish particularly well to meet your sponsor’s goals and advance your career. Do well, and you’ll get more offers from more respected sponsors, which will give you access to higher quality cars, better upgrades, and competent AI partners.

This approach doesn’t give you a lot of control – you won’t make too many meaningful choices about your cars or how your teammates race – but it does ensure that the focus is entirely on the racing, and that you feel a sense of progress and improvement as the seasons pass. Thankfully, the racing is what Grid is all about. There are assists for people who aren’t really comfortable with sims, and a flashback mechanic that allows you to rewind time and ensure that you don’t take that corner too fast and slam into the car in front of you the second time around.

The enemy AI is also very impressive. The other drivers will jockey for position, block, perform risky overtakes, and even make realistic mistakes, adding a much appreciated sense of realism to the proceedings. The most impressive bit is that the AI’s reactions will change between flashbacks. In one instance, I saw a group of cars collide after taking a turn. After running into them and utterly wrecking my car, I flashbacked and attempted the turn again, and this time all but one of them took It cleanly. It’s a nice touch, and one that ensures that each section feels unique, even if you’ve approached it before.

"That’s really what Grid is about, the driving. The career mode isn’t structured in an exciting way, but any problems with the modes are largely remedied by the maps and cars, which are fairly varied and actually quite pretty to look at, odd blemishes like the lackluster cockpit view and the poorly detailed crowds aside."

The AI also changes its approach based on the style of race you’ve chosen, which means they’re more likely to try to take you out during a Touring event, and more inclined to pursue a safer, more precise style during an Open Wheel competition. This differentiation carries over to the types of cars, as well.  The Touring cars, for instance, are much faster than the Street cars, and feel easier to steer, while the Tuner cars are sluggish in the turn, and the Open Wheel vehicles are precise and efficient. The game may only feature 78 cars, but the sheer variety of driving experiences on display ensures that you’re never bored.

That’s really what Grid is about, the driving. The career mode isn’t structured in an exciting way, but any problems with the modes are largely remedied by the maps and cars, which are fairly varied and actually quite pretty to look at, odd blemishes like the lackluster cockpit view and the poorly detailed crowds aside. Things only get better if you’re into online play, which allows you to create your own teams and manage your own cars, though it should be noted that the visual customization available, even online, is quite limited.

Grid Autosport promises racing, and that’s what it delivers. It’s certainly not the deepest simulator on the market, or the prettiest, and the career mode could stand to be a little more exciting outside of the races. It’s not the kind of game that’s going to blow people away and change minds. I still think racing sims are pretty boring, but Grid offered me a lot of variety, and met me halfway in terms of accessibility. It’s not the best racer ever, but those who value racing above all else will find quite a bit to like here, even if other racers are still on the track at the end of the last lap.

This game was reviewed on the PlayStation  3.

Grid Autosport just launched, and now it’s time to see what kind of post launch support in the form of DLC it will be receiving. Just in case you were worried that the DLC will be exploitative like it has been for so many racing games recently, you don’t need to worry. It doesn’t seem to be all that bad, according to their plans for DLC that Codemasters detailed on their blog.

Three Car Packs will be released, as will three separate expansions, each of which will be focusing on a theme, and each bringing with it a new single-player championship alongside new tracks, routes and cars. All of this DLC is apparently due out before October 2014, and will be available via a Season Pass on the PS3 and PC, although not on the Xbox 360.

Meanwhile, Codemasters is also working on patches to add new features and peripheral support to the game, so it sounds like it is going to be well supported at least for the foreseeable future.

Grid Autosport is developed by Codemasters and is now available for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC.

Customization:

Grid Autosport features an in-depth customization system. Check out the video below to know more.

5 Tips to Improve Street Racing:

Here are five tips to improve street racing in the game.

Tips for Dealing with Traffic:

Here is how you can deal with the oncoming traffic in Grid Autosport.

All Cars:

The video below takes you through all the cars you can unlock in Grid Autosport.

Tutorials for various car disciplines:

“Touring Car” Discipline Tutorial:

“Endurance Racing” Discipline Tutorial:

“Open Wheel” Discipline Tutorial:

“Tuner” Discipline Tutorial:

“Street Racing” Discipline Tutorial:

All Tracks And Circuits:

Racing Circuits:

Autódromo Internacional do Algarve, Portugal
Autosport Speedway, Japan
Brands Hatch, United Kingdom
Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium
Circuit del Jarama, Spain
Circuit Mont-Tremblant, Canada
Circuit of the Americas, USA
Hockenheimring, Germany
Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Indiana, USA
Istanbul Park, Turkey
Mount Panorama Bathurst, Australia
Okutama, Japan
Red Bull Ring, Austria
Sepang International Circuit, Malaysia
Yas Marina Circuit, United Arab Emirates

Street Circuits:

Barcelona, Spain
Chicago, Illinois, USA
Detroit, Michigan, USA
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Paris, France
San Francisco, California, USA
Washington, D.C., USA

GRID Autosport PC Crashes, Freezing, Stuttering, Sound Bug, Cockpit Blur, Controls:

Screen freezes: Update your drivers to the new Beta version 340.43

Stuttering issues: This is not a problem within the game but it is related to your PC. Most likely related to your RAM speed and SSD.

Sound issues: Turn up the AI Sound Limit and the Voice Limit.

Blurry Cockpit: Download this mod to fix it – http://www.racedepartment.com/downloads/cockpit-cam-no-blur.2553/

Controls are not saving: Don’t hit start or enter when the game begins. Use some other button to proceed.

Game Crashes: Turn off advanced lighting. If that does not fixes the issue, delete the game and re-install.

Achievements and Trophy Guide:

Most of the trophies and achievements can be unlocked by completing single player career objectives, but here is the complete list just in case.

Sign on the dotted line

You accepted your first Team Offer; your Career starts here.

Just warming up 

You completed your first season of your Career

First of Many 

You showed them how it’s done by winning a race in your Career.

Brand Awareness

You pleased your sponsors by satisfying all 6 objectives in one season.

Through the Hoops 

Impressive, you fulfilled both of your team’s targets in one season.

Top step 

You made a name for yourself by winning a driver’s championship in your Career.

Well rounded education 

You completed a season in all 5 racing disciplines.

Extra curricular 

You proved that you can drive anything by winning a cup competition in your Career.

Toured with the Best 

You raced for Ravenwest in a Touring Car championship.

Endured with the Best 

You raced for Ravenwest in an Endurance Championship.

Raced with the Best 

You raced for Ravenwest in an Open Wheel Championship.

Flowed with the Best 

You raced for Ravenwest in a Tuner Competition.

Battled with the Best 

You raced for Ravenwest in a Street Racing Championship.

No longer the rookie 

You unlocked the “International Touring Car Championship”.

Moving up in the world 

You unlocked the “International Endurance Championship”.

A good track record 

You unlocked the “International GP Championship”.

Making your mark 

You unlocked the “Pro-Tuned World Masters”.

Been around the block 

You unlocked the “Pro GT World Masters”.

One for the cabinet 

You stood on the podium of the “Ultimate Touring Car Championship”.

It’s been a long road 

You stood on the podium of the “Ultimate Endurance Championship”.

Pop the cork 

You stood on the podium of the “GP World Championship”.

I make this look good 

You stood on the podium of the “Super Modified World Masters”.

King of the Streets 20

You stood on the podium of the “Supercar World Masters”.

Done the Tour 

You mastered the Touring Car discipline.

No longer afraid of the dark 

You mastered the Endurance discipline.

Mr Consistent 

You mastered the Open Wheel discipline.

Need some new tyres 

You mastered the Tuner Competition discipline.

Street Cred

You mastered the Street Racing discipline.

I’ve got what Rick Scott’s got

You won the most prestigious driver’s championship, in every discipline, for Ravenwest.

Everyone’s a winner 

Well done! You survived the “GRID Legends Series”.

A True Legend 

Congratulations! You won the “GRID Legends Series”.

Here are the keys 

You splashed the cash and bought your first car in Online.

Member of the Pack

You reached level 10 in Touring Car Online.

Durable

You reached level 10 in Endurance Online.

Downforce to be reckoned with

You reached level 10 in Open Wheel Online.

Tuned In 

You reached level 10 in Tuner Competition Online.

Streetwise 

You reached level 10 in Street Racing Online.

Tek-Domination 

You created a monster by fully upgrading a car in Online.

An icon in the pit lane

One of your cars reached level 99 in Online.

FTW 

You left everyone in the dust and won 100 Online races.

I’ve stopped counting 

Your total Online discipline levels reached 250.

Just the way I like it 

You completed your first offline Custom Cup.

Long-Haul Legend 

You went the distance and won a 5 event Custom Cup offline.

Leading them off 

You qualified for the front row of the grid.

Tweak to Peak

You tinkered and went on to win a race with a custom tuning set-up.

Jack of all Trades 

You sampled all of the race types.

Badge of Honour 

You joined the elite by earning a platinum medal in RaceNet Challenge.

The Journeyman 

You raced one season with each of the 10 teams in the career.

Sofa, so good 

You completed a race in splitscreen.

Side-splitting 

You won a 5 event Splitscreen competition.

GRID Autosport was released on the Xbox 360, PS3 and the PC not long back and since has been the centre of attention for enthusiast racing genre gamers, for a variety of reasons. I’ll save the best of the lot for the last; starting with the older generation of consoles, it seems the Xbox 360 takes the lead somewhat.

" Every detail in the environment is beautifully brought about by the - most certainly NOT rudimentary - global illumination and the reflective surfaces carefully emulate the shadows and reflections of the objects around. There are ample number of polygons in every scene without (much) compromise on detailing. "

GRID Autosport runs on the Ego 3.0 graphics engine which till now hasn’t failed to impress us with its potential. The older generation of consoles have given enough time to the developers to crack their secrets and let pure power unleash.

Keeping that in mind, it has quite hard to distinguish a well optimised game on the Xbox 360 and the PS3. Nonetheless, some differences do crawl up in the actual performance of GRID Autosport between the two platforms and we resume the ancient rivalry between the two almost antediluvian consoles. Sort of.

Before mentioning the handful of differences, I take to the sweet side of the picture. The following are the elements that are common to the game on both, the Xbox 360, and the PS3.

The Ego engine does a superb job of utilising the old generation of hardware in making the game look splendorous. The reflections and lighting are simply lovable; of the most excellent quality!

Every detail in the environment is beautifully brought about by the – most certainly NOT rudimentary – global illumination and the reflective surfaces carefully emulate the shadows and reflections of the objects around. There are ample number of polygons in every scene without (much) compromise on detailing.

The depth of field is laudable too, although try not to pry too close about the crowd stands and the fencing, not that you’re likely to though. The crowd otherwise seems realistic enough, although you’d only notice them as dummies in suits flashing by one after the other. Still, a rather fine job on the developer’s part.

The crowd may suck, but the reflections are awesome.

"The 2D skybox on both the consoles is admirable and so are the particle effects on both the systems, although the latter lack shadows. But that’s not a problem since mimicking real world particle shadows is a no-nonsense hardware mole. "

I was expecting the devs to be lazy with the foliage – no matter how little of it may be out there – but on the contrary, it looks pretty. The textures of the cars, the track and everything on track are superb; the case is not the same for anything lying beyond the meandering, sable strip of tarmac.

The 2D skybox on both the consoles is admirable and so are the particle effects on both the systems, although the latter lack shadows. But that’s not a problem since mimicking real world particle shadows is a no-nonsense hardware mole. Bloom is present on both the consoles and it looks good to say the least, but it could certainly have been better than it is in its current state. It is not like to cause any major case of TV smashing fury at the developers, but it still nags me every now and then.

There seems to a very simple form of ambient occlusion used, although it could very well be high level shadow effects. Either way, the ambient occlusion could certainly have done with a more careful eye about it in development. The physics of the game seem in place and so do the car and track models. Although the latter two haven’t been made from scratch but seem to have been borrowed more often than not from the earlier GRID title.

Even with all the game’s glory on both the consoles, there are times when you will no doubt furrow your brows in confusion as you start to notice differences on the two consoles. There aren’t a lot of them, mind, but there they are nevertheless. The PS3 quite visibly has better implementation of anti-aliasing in the game.

" The Xbox 360 happens to maintain a more consistent frame rate. While the PS3 is near about at par with the MS console, it is affected by horizontal screen tearing a lot more than the 360. The particle effects too seem to be more polished on the 360. "

The AA implementation is better on both, polygons (or set pieces), and their shadows. The Xbox version of GRID Autosport has a considerably more number of jaggies than its Sony counterpart. The textures too ’seemed’ better on the PS3 to me. But that seems to be an unlikely case and may very well have been a situational difference. At this point, the Xbox takes the lead.

The Xbox 360 happens to maintain a more consistent frame rate. While the PS3 is near about at par with the MS console, it is affected by horizontal screen tearing a lot more than the 360.

The particle effects too seem to be more polished on the 360. These factors alone are enough to determine the victor in the case. While the screen tearing issue on the PS3 is not ridiculous, why play a game like that when you can play it all smooth and slick?

There’s a been a lot of contempt for Codemasters for not bringing GRID Autosport for the new generation of consoles. The developers giving the reason that they had their engine optimised for the older generation and making it further multi-plat would have marred its beauty and efficiency. It has also drawn the wrath of the PC users.

"You can have a laptop running an i5 with the Intel HD 4000 running and the game runs almost flawlessly at 25+ fps on medium settings. Make a combination of low-med settings and you can take the frame rate further up. Low end cards like the HD 6670 easily manage and average frame rate of 35 fps with all settings set to medium even with a bit of AA enabled. "

But not quite as much as we were led to believe. While the decision to release the game on the older generation DOES hold the game back a tad for high end PC users, it also means that the game is now capable to be run on fairly low end systems. You can have a laptop running an i5 with the Intel HD 4000 running and the game runs almost flawlessly at 25+ fps on medium settings. Make a combination of low-med settings and you can take the frame rate further up.

Low end cards like the HD 6670 easily manage and average frame rate of 35 fps with all settings set to medium even with a bit of AA enabled. Which is awesome because the game looks pretty darn good even with those settings.

On the flipside, high end cards like the GTX 690/780 or Radeon the R9 290x hit the sweet spot right away. With the graphics menu allowing you to fiddle with everything, be it AA, SSAO, crowd, night lighting, fog, particles, smoke shadows, global illumination, anisotropic filtering, and what not, you can just throttle everything up and see your card hum furiously and render out the most beautiful of scenes in the most intricate of details.

All this in at a amazing 50+fps. Reduce the AA and anisotropic a bit and you’ll be get an assured 20 fps gain. The game scales well with multi-core CPUs, utilising them to make the rendering less tolling on the GPU whilst producing smoother visuals.

While the SLI profile for the game is not available, you can use the GRID 2 profile for the same, which works really well. The game may have been held back by the release on the old gen consoles, but Codemasters weren’t gonna leave the PC users just like that.

"The reflections on the PC are breathtaking. Environment effects like bloom, (gorgeous) lighting and ambient occlusion make the game look all the better and the shadows are never off, with the anti-aliasing failing you not once. Depth of field is nice and crisp and there are a fair number of polygons. "

They brought out a high resolution texture package for the PC users and the game looks absolutely glorious! Obviously you would need a glorious GPU for the stunning performance, but it’s well worth it for an enthusiast. Particle effects are smouldering hot and beautiful.

Particle shadows may be missing but again, particle effects are a hardware hog and emulating their behaviour would be impossible as of yet while providing consistent performance for a ‘laygamer’.

The reflections on the PC are breathtaking. Environment effects like bloom, (gorgeous) lighting and ambient occlusion make the game look all the better and the shadows are never off, with the anti-aliasing failing you not once. Depth of field is nice and crisp and there are a fair number of polygons. You would fall in love with the race day overshadowed by clouds. Although the 3D skybox isn’t great per se, it most certainly isn’t bad; same is the case for the 2D skybox.

Motion blur seems a bit off at times, when it apparently sets in later than it should making the experience seem odd at times. But you’re not like to notice that while enjoying the game as you will be. I would gladly kvetch about the foliage, crowds, crowd stands and some buildings as they no doubt, could have been made MUCH better.

But Codemasters have kept their focus where they should: on the tarmac. And so, my bleating has almost unsound basis. Still, I wish they could have improved them further. As mentioned before, the car models seem to be borrowed from the earlier game and so do some tracks, especially from Demolition.

" GRID Autosport is a vast improvement over GRID 2; it has its noticeable drawbacks but in the light of the enhanced experience that the game provides, they are sidelined; almost completely. "

But other than that, the game firmly rests its case with its resplendent beauty and absolutely slick compatibility and performance; not just on the PC. GRID Autosport is a vast improvement over GRID 2; it has its noticeable drawbacks but in the light of the enhanced experience that the game provides, they are sidelined; almost completely.

All in all, you would find few things to complain about in this game. Get the game for a high end rig if you want the game to look heart thumping beautiful.

If you want to play the game and enjoy its glory on the older generation while appreciating the boundaries of excellence the game manages to touch on the old hardware, get it on either of the old consoles. Preferably the Xbox 360 version, solely for the reason that the game runs ‘relatively’ smoother and cleaner on the MS console.

After the short deluge of big name games, the market has slowed down a bit until the September/October flood. This means that consumers will need to make do with what’s available. According to the latest UKIE game charts, courtesy of Gfk Chart-Track, that’s more or less what happened when Sniper Elite 3 released. It immediately debuted at first place, toppling EA Sports UFC.

GRID: Autosport also debuted this week but with considerably less enthusiasm at seventh place. It still cracked the top 10 though, which consists of Watch Dogs, EA Sports UFC, Titanfall, Wolfenstein: The New Order and FIFA 14 lording above it.

Call of Duty: Ghosts maintains its popularity in the charts at eight place while Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition and Minecraft: PS3 Edition occupy ninth and tenth place respectively. We’d wonder what became of Transformers: Rise of the Dark Spark but after the abysmal movie, we could care less. Stay tuned for more information on releases in the coming weeks.

We caught up with James Nicholls who is the Chief Games Designer of the game to know how the title is shaping up. Check out his responses below.

Rashid Sayed: I found it a little surprising that GRID AUTOSPORT is not coming on the new consoles. Given the lack of racing games on the new consoles, do you think this is somewhat of a lost opportunity? 

James Nicholls: I think to call it a lost opportunity would imply that it was an opportunity. It wasn’t, at least not from our perspective after GRID 2. If we wanted to go to next-gen, we’d be porting our old engine which would have delayed the project and would have tied up our talented programmers in porting an old engine rather than working on our new one(it is being worked on). And next-gen really has to mean something to the team from a design and gameplay point of view too. I think there’s a real risk that you set your benchmark at a high-end PC and next-gen console level, but then you only use that power for superficial improvements and don’t advance the game experience. When we do ‘next-gen’ we want to do it properly, not just from a graphics point of view but pushing the ‘experience’ forward, and we won’t rush that.

Instead, we had a different opportunity. At the end of GRID 2 we had the engine, the team, and the technology already assembled – but most of all a lot of feedback from our core community and the chance to address that. We’re really proud of GRID 2, but we know it wasn’t what some of our more hardcore fans were expecting – consciously appealed to a broader audience in terms of handling, the style of the game.

So we really wanted to make a game that addressed those concerns, on the platforms that those players played on, and that we can reach with our existing tech. On the consoles, we wanted to deliver a complete, content rich, and authentic racing experience that is as good as anything else available. On PC you get all of that, plus the game pushes out a solid 60fps and looks fantastic even on relatively modest gaming rigs (for those with top end PCs, you’ll get a truly special experience.)

We’re delighted with how it’s coming together and the approach we decided to take. Any other approach for this team at this point would have involved a sacrifice in quality and we’re not prepared to do that.

"Handling wise, we’ve jettisoned the TruFeel handling that featured in GRID2, and we’ve gone back to square one with GRID Autosport’s handling. We built it up, we got our community in to try it out in secret, then we tuned it some more, then we got motorsport experts in to try it, and then we tuned it again!"

Rashid Sayed: Can you describe the core differences between GRID 2 and GRID AUTOSPORT?

James Nicholls: There are a lot, especially on the multiplayer side, but to boil it down to three headline areas, I would say: Handling, Premise and Motorsport Focus.

Handling wise, we’ve jettisoned the TruFeel handling that featured in GRID2, and we’ve gone back to square one with GRID Autosport’s handling. We built it up, we got our community in to try it out in secret, then we tuned it some more, then we got motorsport experts in to try it, and then we tuned it again! We’re extremely pleased with it – it’s deep and rewarding without being a full and inaccessible simulation, and it’s a long way removed from GRID2. We’re also offering a lot of assist options to allow you to custom-tune the experience any way you like it.

Premise-wise, GRID2 had you following a relatively linear story charting the rise of the WSR. For GRID Autosport, we’re letting the racing do the talking, and we’ve structured the career mode as a fantasy racing driver’s career. We’ve made sure the career structure is really open, so that you can move from one style of racing to another as you see fit. You’re racing for teams and for contracts in this game, so you have to hit the team’s objectives if you want to improve the teams you race for.

The motorsport focus runs throughout the game, and makes a stark contrast from the city racing-focused GRID2. The majority of our locations are racing circuits, and street racing in production cars takes up one of the five racing disciplines in the game, the others being Open Wheel, Touring Cars, Endurance and Tuners. Each discipline has numerous series with them which deliver new experiences in and of themselves. We’ve also really carefully chosen the cars and tracks that you’d identify as representing those motorsports, both in terms of contemporary and classic cars that are synonymous with the sports they represent.

Rashid Sayed: Is it fair to assume that GRID AUTOSPORT is GRID 3, like a sequel made from the ground up, or is that coming later?

James Nicholls: It’s a completely new game, built from the ground up. As we were coming out relatively soon compared to GRID2 and yet repositioning the game and its style, we felt that we needed to clearly explain that this was something different, with a more motorsport-focused theme. That’s where the name ‘Autosport’ came from.

Rashid Sayed: So the cock pit view is one of the features in GRID AUTOSPORT. What are you guys doing to make it different from some of the other games out there who utilize the cockpit view?

James Nicholls: Firstly, we’ve introduced a couple of in-car perspectives: a dash mounted camera position and a head-position camera. The dash camera’s nice if you play with a wheel, because you don’t get that weird thing where you’ve got your real wheel and hands in your line of sight and then an onscreen set of wheel and hands, lagging behind yours.

For these views themselves we’ve elected to create a kind of depth of field effect where the track is in focus and the cockpit is out of focus. It has a surprisingly powerful effect when you’re racing, inducing a kind of tunnel vision as you fixate on the road in the centre of the screen, and coupled with the amazing work our audio team do, it’s a highly immersive way to race.

"Multiplayer has benefitted hugely from the feedback we received whilst running the GRID2 patching programme last year. We’ve completely gutted the way we do progression and rebuilt it in GRID Autosport, giving you the ability to purchase a garage of persistent cars."

Rashid Sayed: Can you tell us what kind of changes have you done to the Ego Engine to get GRID AUTOSPORT up and running?

James Nicholls: We’ve pushed the engine hard to up the number of cars on the grid to 16, an increase of 4 since GRID2. This was pretty essential for creating a motorsports experience and getting that density in the pack races, but it was a significant engineering feat in terms of rendering, physics and AI. Adding an in-car view was a significant amount of work for us in terms of optimizing the engine even further to keep the frame rate up when you’re looking out at the world through the cockpit glass.

The PC players benefit from further graphics improvements as well as benefitting from our Intel partnership to ensure the game runs well across a broad spectrum of machines.

Beyond that we’ve made a massive number of changes that underpin racing experience, such as the way the game flows from race to race, the technology powering the handling, hundreds of new AI improvements and features, a new mechanical damage and wear and tear system, tire wear for endurance and so much more besides. It’s staggering just how much we’ve achieved in the last year!

Rashid Sayed: What kind of multiplayer options can players expect in GRID AUTOSPORT?

James Nicholls: Multiplayer has benefitted hugely from the feedback we received whilst running the GRID2 patching programme last year. We’ve completely gutted the way we do progression and rebuilt it in GRID Autosport, giving you the ability to purchase a garage of persistent cars.

Firstly, you can buy any car in the game if you have enough cash – there are no unlock restrictions. If you find yourself in a session where you don’t own a car, you are free to loan one – there are no restrictions here either.

When you do purchase a car, you can either buy a factory-fresh new car, or a second hand one which already has miles on the clock and a history of its own. Once you own a car, you are free to customise it with your own livery, and apply sponsors to it, who will set you goals and reward you with cash when you hit them.

Your car will pick up wear and tear in each race, and will need to be maintained. As it gets older, it’ll get more costly to keep it running at top racing condition. However, the more racing miles you clock up in a car, the more ‘Vehicle XP’ you earn with it, which in turn opens up more unlocks for upgrade kits and tuning. In this way, you form a kind of affinity with your car – the longer you own it, and the more miles you race in it, the more you’ll gain the ability to customise it to your heart’s content, and set it up perfectly to your liking for every race.

Our game extension platform, RaceNet, has gone from strength to strength since we launched it and we’re extremely proud that it’s topped over 1 million accounts now. For this game we’re taking the RaceNet functionality further than we’ve done before. As well as weekly RaceNet challenges and leaderboards, we’ve introduce a new feature this year – RaceNet Clubs.

ViaRaceNet, you can create a club and invite up to 100 other RaceNet players to join it. In game, you can then create a custom livery for your club and upload. Then everyone will earn points for their club by wearing their club livery in-race. You’ll get a clantag before your name when you’re racing in your club livery, so you’ll really get a sense of a shared identity online.

On RaceNet, you’ll be able to compare how clubs are tracking against each other through online leaderboards and statistics. It’s a really great feature, and we’ll no doubt take on community feedback and improve it over time.

Rashid Sayed: Can you please talk about the changes you have done in the physics and damage model?

James Nicholls: We’ve done a lot of work on the handling, as mentioned previously. One of the key areas we focussed on, based on the feedback of the community when they played the game, was to work on the sensation of grip falling away, whether through sliding laterally or through wheelspin. This has been a real revelation to our handling, because now you get the briefest of windows to catch and correct oversteer or just bleed the speed off if you’ve carried too much into a corner without going into an uncontrollable slide. It makes the handling feel very organic and lets you feel out the limits of each car, especially when you turn all the assists off!

We’ve reworked the car-to-car collisions for this game, to try and get the sensation of weight transfer between the two cars absolutely spot on at a variety of different impact speeds and angles.

We’ve also introduced a new mechanical wear and tear system whilst you’re racing, that simulates the way the car is gradually wearing out as you race. In long races where you’ve pushed the car hard For example you’ll notice a very subtle loss of brake performance or the gear changes taking longer. You’ll even hear these changes happening if you listen carefully to the changes in the car’s audio as you race. It’s incredibly immersive, and it takes that GRID style immersion of bringing a compromised car home through the last few laps to a new level when you’re, say, nursing a gear box that has lost a gear.

"No track editor plans to announce at this time, but we’re always experimenting with cool technology behind the scenes."

Rashid Sayed: So one of the exciting new things I find about GRID AUTOSPORT is the addition of over 100 tracks. I am really keen to know whether there will be a dynamic weather system and day/light cycle?

James Nicholls: We’re very proud of our track roster, which is comprised mostly from licensed real world circuits. We’ve got 22 locations in all, and a grand total of 100 different routes. Bearing in mind you’ve got full control of racing just about any one of over 80 cars on any track, that’s a huge amount of content to go and play with, and the most we’ve ever put into a GRID game. We’ve already announced the likes of Yas Marina, Sepang, Circuit of the Americas, and Brands Hatch – iconic racing tracks from around the world. However, we’re also really happy with the fan reaction to tracks such as Jarama and Mont Tremblant, which aren’t as famous, but are great racing circuits that put different demands on drivers.

We’ve got a range of different lighting and time of day and whilst not dynamic, we do have night lighting variants for many of the tracks, with our endurance racing in career taking part in a variety of evening and nighttime lighting settings.

Rashid Sayed: Given that DriveClub and Project CARS are due after GRID AUTOSPORT is released, do you think you guys are under pressure to deliver and live up to expectations? Furthermore, what makes GRID AUTOSPORT unique when compared to those two games?

James Nicholls: We’re very focused on what we’re doing, so any pressure there has been ensuring that we’re giving our fans what they want and maybe a few things they didn’t expect. As this project has gone on, that pressure has changed into excitement as our vision becomes reality.

What makes GRID games stand out is that they are games about racing. Not driving simulators, but games. They are balanced as a videogame, and they are built to create a game experience about what it feels like to be a racing driver. It’s an important distinction and that’s what makes a GRID game feel different from anything else.

For us, the racing experience lies in the AI, the goals set to you in the race, and the atmosphere created around you that convince you that you are a racing driver, in the thick of the action.

GRID Autosport delivers that alongside a focus on motorsport, capturing what it feels like to take part in five completely different disciplines of modern motor racing and, most importantly, capturing the different skills and techniques you need to succeed at each.

I think we’ve nailed that feeling of racing for a team objective in career mode. When limping home in 5^th place with misaligned steering and a damaged radiator seals your team goal for the season, it can be as elating as any podium in any other game. The memories you come away from racing in GRID Autosport are those formed out on the track – chasing down a championship rival, working with your team mate, coping with car damage mid-race, navigating a spectacular pile up with the AI… these are those racing moments that capture the sport of racing like no-one else is able to.

Rashid Sayed: Are there any plans to have a track editor?  Furthermore, what kind of car customization options will GRID AUTOSPORT provide?

James Nicholls: No track editor plans to announce at this time, but we’re always experimenting with cool technology behind the scenes.

For multiplayer, we’ve made some upgrades to the livery editor seen in GRID2, such as HSL colour sliders and more livery patterns. I think one of the coolest uses for the livery editor is creating your team livery for RaceNet clubs. You can make your livery in game, upload it to RaceNet and then everyone in your club can wear that livery to earn points for it.

It’s really amazing seeing rival teams squaring off against each other in online races!

"The PC players benefit from further graphics improvements, such as our high resolution (4k) texture pack, our procedural grass technology and improved lighting and shader effects. Running the game with ultra settings at 60fps at 1080p is quite a sight to behold!"

Rashid Sayed: This is coming from personal experience; the original GRID had one of the most phenomenal AI that I have ever witnessed in racing games.  How are you taking it to the next level in GRID AUTOSPORT?

James Nicholls: We’ve made a huge number of AI improvements in GRID Autosport, and you feel it from your very first race. Our AI are very tough opponents, they keep a really good race pace and they compete like human beings.

The first thing to understand is that there are separate AI set ups for each of the five racing disciplines, so you’ll see very different behaviours in each. Touring cars will defend the racing line aggressively, open wheel racers will avoid contact, endurance racers will slow through corners to maintain traction, time attack AI drivers will yield if you catch them… there are lots of details like this that make each game mode feel unique. We’ve also had to create AI for our drift mode, which hasn’t been easy.

Having an AI team mate that you can request help from makes a difference in race too. If you get him to push, he’ll attack corners and overtakes more aggressively, but risks making mistakes. If you set him to defend, he’ll protect the racing line as best he’s able, which is a great tactical option for reversed grids. When he’s in defensive driving mode, he’ll also yield to you if you catch him up.

In terms of general AI, I’m most proud of what the team has achieved with the overtaking behaviours. The AI drivers are really able to spot a gap and take it. It’s amazing to start at the back of a grid with Ravenwest and see them fighting through the pack at the same rate as you! It’s such a difficult thing to achieve technically, and they’ve nailed it. No more forcing the player to the back of the grid or starting your rival at the front!

We’ve also made sure that each AI driver has their own set of attributes for GRID Autosport, so that as your rivalries build throughout a season, you’ll get a feel for the behaviours of those drivers on track. For example, you’ll get to learn that a particular driver is prone to mistakes, so it might be worth pressuring him and waiting for him to make an error rather than trying a risky overtake yourself. Similarly, if you know you’ve got an especially aggressive driver bearing down on you in an endurance race, you’ll be extra tense that he’ll go for a gap and take you both off the track, so you’ll need to decide on whether it’s worth fighting for that place and taking the risk.

Rashid Sayed: Tell us more about the PC version. What kind of graphical options can we expect in GRID AUTOSPORT?

James Nicholls: The PC players benefit from further graphics improvements, such as our high resolution (4k) texture pack, our procedural grass technology and improved lighting and shader effects. Running the game with ultra settings at 60fps at 1080p is quite a sight to behold!

Our partnership with Intel for this title has meant that as well as these high end features, we have made a fleet of optimisations at the other end of the spectrum to make sure the game runs at a solid framerate even on a modest home PC spec. This version of our EGO technology is now very highly optimised, and you see that straight away on the PC version.

Rashid Sayed: How is work going on next-gen Ego engine? Is it safe to assume that there will be next gen announcement from Codemasters this year?

James Nicholls: Obviously we’re focussed on GRID Autosport at the moment, so nothing formal to announce for other titles at this stage. However, work on the next-generation EGO technology is continuing apace, and I look forward to our team making our next game with that tech.

Rashid Sayed: Is there anything else you want to tell us about GRID AUTOSPORT?

James Nicholls: I just can’t wait to get the game into our community’s hands and see their reaction! Developing this game in the way we have, and getting the community, racing drivers and motorsport journalists in really early to feedback on the game has been a revelation, and I’d recommend this approach to any developer reading this.

I’d stress that we’ll be listening again to fan feedback when the game is live, and I’d like to sincerely thank those who have stuck with us and are giving such positive messages of support as the team works flat out closing this game.