How do you drift in racing games?

geraltofrivia

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jun 12, 2012
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409
I've never been able to drift well in any racing game. What happens is that my back end always swings around and I crash into the near wall. This seems to happen at any type of reasonable speed. How do you stop a drift and get your grip back? Hitting the gas doesn't seem to work, I just keep turning in and spin out. Steering the other way doesn't seem to work either. What's the secret?

(I am playing on a keyboard so I know it's not ideal but there's gotta be a way, someone help me!)
 
it is about a controlled slip some games like NFS series are crap for drifting overall almost a mix of luck as well as control. Anyways, its a controlled loss of backend grip, I usually turn one way then the other sharply or handbrake to start the drift then try to hold a constant speed at mid range rpm for the gear you are in (usually 2nd or 3rd) I tend to feather or pulse the gas to constantly cause the tires to slip and feather the turning as well. I personally recommend a game pad, A 360 controller, PS3 controller, or a Logitech rumble pad 2 Link for rumble pad2 at amazon would be great choices. Gamepads or racing wheels of course but the pads while not quite as good also tend to be less expensive and it is much less likely to get a flaky one they also do not tend to wear out near as fast.
 
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I've never been able to drift well in any racing game. What happens is that my back end always swings around and I crash into the near wall. This seems to happen at any type of reasonable speed. How do you stop a drift and get your grip back? Hitting the gas doesn't seem to work, I just keep turning in and spin out. Steering the other way doesn't seem to work either. What's the secret?

(I am playing on a keyboard so I know it's not ideal but there's gotta be a way, someone help me!)

To drift you turn sharp while applying enough gas that your lose traction and your rear will start to move the opposite way you are turning.

To get out of it turn the opposite way you are turning (the direction your rear is moving) and let up on the gas. As soon as you start to gain traction straighten out your wheels to the direction you want to be going.
 
To drift you turn sharp while applying enough gas that your lose traction and your rear will start to move the opposite way you are turning.

To get out of it turn the opposite way you are turning (the direction your rear is moving) and let up on the gas. As soon as you start to gain traction straighten out your wheels to the direction you want to be going.

This is pretty much how it is explained, in simpler terms, take a corner and add enough gas while turning and you will start to "drift" but you want to counter the car turning by steering into the other direction to straighten it out if that makes sense. My first game learning to drift was actually mario kart for the GBA.
 
I think the first game that got me to drift was GRID for pc. it's multi-platform and I think there are demos out. Excellent game to learn how to drift imo.
 
Go watch initial D. It basically explains how a drift works in every episode.
 
tap the brake once it twice? its not the same for all games.
 
Thanks for the advice guys, I've gotten a lot better at it in the past couple days... at least in GRID2.
 
Turn left or right than back the opposite direction, tap the handbrake and feather the gas pedal between 1/3 and 2/3 power. Since my steering wheel isn't recognized properly I use my keyboard. It's a bit tougher than using a steering wheel.
 
you are very welcome, sounds silly but the Fast And The Furious movies do a great job to show how drifting theory is done, it is all about controlled slipping and good control on turning direction and use of accelerator(NOS sometimes as well) Using physics as your "tool" if you will is the key, so many games out there that allow it but so few that are fine grained enough to do it well, mostly lag issues, sometimes poor physics calcs, but it is wicked fun when you get the hang of it, well that and drag racing as well.

Never did play Grid myself, I more like the concept of NFS, Gran Tourismo, Forza and the like where you work your way up through the game and can tweak out the car that you really like to use, Grid and/or Dirt I believe are the same in this that the cars are "use it as is style"?
 
Start the drift by turning semi-hard in the direction of the turn and briefly applying the break (medium drift) or handbrake (sharp drift) while holding the accelerator. The back end of your car will lose traction and start to slide out of the turn. At this point if you keep turning in the direction of the turn your car will just spin all the way around, just as you say you experience.

The solution to this is to constantly apply microcorrections to both left and right. Once the back end starts sliding, you immediately ease off on your one-sided input in the direction of the turn, and you apply little corrections in whatever direction required to 1: Keep you on the road and 2: Keep you sliding.

Try this by going fast into a gentle (but LONG) turn, initiating a drift, and just trying to control it without worrying about keeping the accelerator down 100% of the time. Eventually you'll want to keep the accelerator down most of the time, even while drifting.
 
Go find an old copy of NFS: Underground and enjoy the drifting events in the game. They were always a blast to play. :)
 
Go find an old copy of NFS: Underground and enjoy the drifting events in the game. They were always a blast to play. :)

NFS: Most Wanted was really great for drifting too, or at least the game in general anyways. It'll always be my favorite old school need for speed game (not talking about the latest remake, although heard it was good too)
 
In arcade games, don't worry about it, they're simple enough and you'll get it in the end, Grid 2 applies here.

In sim racing games, look up driving techniques on youtube, and practice.
 
The only game that got me into drifting was Dirt 3. Once i finally mastered drifting in circles and going around the gymkhana courses i was hooked and it felt great. I remember watching the Gran Turismo drifting videos and would just say DAYUM. That must've taken forever to master. I tried and failed miserably as i'm sure most people did. I can't really explain how to drift in Dirt 3 it's just very touchy between the handbrake and gas. The game doesn't really give a tutorial either.
 
Get trackmania 2 canyons, its easy to drift in and the stock maps get harder and harder until you are drifting with nearly zero fault tolorence, it is amazingly fun, especially on the easy tracks where you can just drift around and work on timing, seeing how breaking/turning affects your drift, and using that knowledge to get past the next set of tracks...

Good times, good times
 
I downshift and turn sharply, sometimes I'll tap the brake to upset the balance of the car if necessary
 
Digital control such as the keyboard is your worst enemy for drifting. An analog based controller such as the XBox 360 controller or a steering wheel is your best bet.

Drifting on a computer is visual and auditory based as you can't "feel" the car. Watching how the car rotates and the speed it rotates while trying to counteract those motions with smooth control is key.

In other words, lots of practice with the right equipment.
 
Grid 2 is a pretty easy game to control drift in, it was a bit more involved in the first one I believe.

I would absolutely grab a 360 controller though so you can not only vary the steering but the amount of throttle also. I actually bought the gamestop one for $25 at the local store, plugged it in, and drivers downloaded and installed automatically.
 
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