Funselektor found their place on the racing game grid with the charming Absolute Drift and art of rally. With Golden Lap, the indie studio goes down a different path - here are our first impressions.
From top-down racers to management - Golden Lap certainly marks a turnaround in Funselektor's lineup. Instead of hands-on action, the gameplay is a bit more relaxed, as manager games tend to be. That does not take the charm of the studio's other entries out of the equation, though.
Golden Lap is an F1 manager game set in the 1970s. The preview version available to us started in 1970 and featured a four-race calendar, using tracks that looked suspiciously like Jarama, Monaco, Silverstone and Monza - without actually being them. Instead, they had alternate names that strongly hinted at what they were supposed to portray. Anyone want to guess what the Circuit de Casino might be?
Can you guess all the real 1970s F1 teams that Golden Lap is referring to?
All teams come with different expected finishing positions, which translate to the difficulty level of the game. In the preview, LaBrahn (McLaren) and BFC (most likely BRM) were available, with LaBrahn being the easier of the two teams. You get to pick drivers, an engineer and a crew chief yourself, but the budget available for these positions varies. LaBrahn had $100 to spend, whereas BFC could only spare half that. Probably astronomical sums in the 1970s, though.
Once these choices have been made, it is time to pick a sponsor. These beneficiaries offer a per-race payout of varying amounts, plus bonus payments with different finishing positions as the goals to trigger them - fairly standard racing management game things. After that, you can maintain your cars ahead of the first race, although it is not really needed and also restricted by your remaining budget.
Should you have ever played the first Motorsport Manager game, the process will be familiar to you. Cars go out, set a lap, and come back in. Depending on the proficiency of your crew chief, they then have resource points available to improve the aerodynamic, engine and handling setups. The player gets to select how many resource points they want to invest in an upgrade, which will consist of a range of points. For example, you could spend four resource points for an upgrade of 3-6 points - meaning that you will improve at least by 3 points, but could improve by as much as 6.
Each category has a limit, however, so if you are in danger of exceeding that limit, treading carefully is important. Sure, you could stay under if the upper limit is 15 points away, but select a 8-16 upgrade and you could go over that - and if you do, you lose a good chunk of your progress.
The races themselves are fairly long, and the tactical elements at your disposal are rather self explanatory. Drivers can be instructed to adhere to one of three levels for fuel and tire wear, and ordered to pit - that is it. Unless one of them is complaining that they are faster than their colleague, but stuck behind them. Then, you can either let them battle it out or make use of team orders.
Other elements that we could not quite test yet because of the length of the preview include the career status of drivers, engineers and crew chiefs. These seem to be like an experience level of sorts, which apparently changes during the off-season. It likely also influences when they retire and become unable to re-sign.
Driver traits are another thing that likely plays out much better over the course of a longer season. They can be positive attributes, like a driver being able to take good care of their tires, but also negative ones like the one called "Jerk". A driver with that attribute is probably not the one to send to sponsor events and fan meetings.
Golden Lap seems to be well on its way to being a relaxed, more casual title - like its predecessors. Make no mistake: It will be nowhere near as deep as the F1 Manager series, but that is also not what it sets out to do. The game does not have a release date yet, as only '2024' is listed for its launch.
However, you can currently try it out for yourself. As part of Steam Next Fest, a demo version of Golden Lap is available until June 17.
If you do try the game, feel free to let us know how you liked it in the comments below!
From top-down racers to management - Golden Lap certainly marks a turnaround in Funselektor's lineup. Instead of hands-on action, the gameplay is a bit more relaxed, as manager games tend to be. That does not take the charm of the studio's other entries out of the equation, though.
Golden Lap is an F1 manager game set in the 1970s. The preview version available to us started in 1970 and featured a four-race calendar, using tracks that looked suspiciously like Jarama, Monaco, Silverstone and Monza - without actually being them. Instead, they had alternate names that strongly hinted at what they were supposed to portray. Anyone want to guess what the Circuit de Casino might be?
Can you guess all the real 1970s F1 teams that Golden Lap is referring to?
Nods To Iconic Teams
Similarly, the ten teams - two of which were playable - are fictional versions of real 1970s teams. All of them are given nationalities and short descriptions, strongly hinting at their real-life counterparts. The only one we could not quite figure out was Pope - it could have been Brabham, but Surtees or Ensign (if we think about the mid to late 70s) could also fit. For squads like Chapman (Lotus), April (March), Night (Shadow) or Ezzolini (Ferrari), this proved to be a bit easier.All teams come with different expected finishing positions, which translate to the difficulty level of the game. In the preview, LaBrahn (McLaren) and BFC (most likely BRM) were available, with LaBrahn being the easier of the two teams. You get to pick drivers, an engineer and a crew chief yourself, but the budget available for these positions varies. LaBrahn had $100 to spend, whereas BFC could only spare half that. Probably astronomical sums in the 1970s, though.
Once these choices have been made, it is time to pick a sponsor. These beneficiaries offer a per-race payout of varying amounts, plus bonus payments with different finishing positions as the goals to trigger them - fairly standard racing management game things. After that, you can maintain your cars ahead of the first race, although it is not really needed and also restricted by your remaining budget.
Golden Lap Gameplay
Heading to the track is a relatively straight-forward process. Each race weekend consists of a qualifying session and the race itself. Quali length differed depending on the track, but was always over 30 minutes - and it is up to you to put them to good use. Not only do these sessions serve to determine your drivers' starting positions, but you also get to "set up" the cars.Should you have ever played the first Motorsport Manager game, the process will be familiar to you. Cars go out, set a lap, and come back in. Depending on the proficiency of your crew chief, they then have resource points available to improve the aerodynamic, engine and handling setups. The player gets to select how many resource points they want to invest in an upgrade, which will consist of a range of points. For example, you could spend four resource points for an upgrade of 3-6 points - meaning that you will improve at least by 3 points, but could improve by as much as 6.
Each category has a limit, however, so if you are in danger of exceeding that limit, treading carefully is important. Sure, you could stay under if the upper limit is 15 points away, but select a 8-16 upgrade and you could go over that - and if you do, you lose a good chunk of your progress.
The races themselves are fairly long, and the tactical elements at your disposal are rather self explanatory. Drivers can be instructed to adhere to one of three levels for fuel and tire wear, and ordered to pit - that is it. Unless one of them is complaining that they are faster than their colleague, but stuck behind them. Then, you can either let them battle it out or make use of team orders.
The charm is in the details
What makes Golden Lap fairly charming are the smal details, though. The sounds of cars flying by only being played when they pass the pits on the main straight are just the beginning - things like the tracks having certain traits that influence car and driver performance (like being narrow, bumpy, at high altitude, and more), or the little notice that a certain driver has partied too hard the night before (it is the 70s, after all...) and will suffer a minor decrease in performance for being hungover were what made us smile multiple times. As did the corner names that pop up when pointing your cursor at them on the track map.Other elements that we could not quite test yet because of the length of the preview include the career status of drivers, engineers and crew chiefs. These seem to be like an experience level of sorts, which apparently changes during the off-season. It likely also influences when they retire and become unable to re-sign.
Driver traits are another thing that likely plays out much better over the course of a longer season. They can be positive attributes, like a driver being able to take good care of their tires, but also negative ones like the one called "Jerk". A driver with that attribute is probably not the one to send to sponsor events and fan meetings.
Golden Lap seems to be well on its way to being a relaxed, more casual title - like its predecessors. Make no mistake: It will be nowhere near as deep as the F1 Manager series, but that is also not what it sets out to do. The game does not have a release date yet, as only '2024' is listed for its launch.
However, you can currently try it out for yourself. As part of Steam Next Fest, a demo version of Golden Lap is available until June 17.
If you do try the game, feel free to let us know how you liked it in the comments below!
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