Career Mode: Discussion, Feedback, and Suggestions

S

Sirozha

Active member
Hello everyone! I am a big fan of Career Mode, so I wanted to start this thread to share my feedback and suggestions on how to improve it. To keep the player base engaged—especially when multiplayer lobbies are quiet—the single-player experience needs to be deep and rewarding.
Here are my main points and suggestions for the developers:
    • Lack of Progression and Depth (Licence & School System)
      Currently, the career mode feels a bit empty. There is no real sense of progression, and the game doesn’t do enough to teach or reward newcomers. I would love to see a structured learning system integrated into the career or as a separate mode—similar to Gran Turismo 7. This could include track acclimatization (learning circuits sector by sector) followed by a full hot lap challenge. Crucially, this should be categorized by car classes (N-GT, GT4, GT3, GP1, etc.) and tied to earning specific racing licenses. It would be both highly educational and engaging.
    • Grid Size (PS5)
      Please increase the number of cars on the track to at least 20–22 cars on current-gen consoles (PS5). Racing against only 16 AI drivers feels a bit underwhelming and lonely on longer tracks.
    • Rivalries and Teammate Progression
      It would be amazing to see a dynamic progression system for both the player and their teammate. Adding a "Primary Rival" feature across the season (similar to the system used in the F1 games) would add a lot of dramatic tension and narrative weight to the career.
    • Engine Maps (Fuel & Wet Weather Management)
      Since the game features many car classes without traction control, driving them in the rain is nearly impossible—especially near the end of a stint when the tires are completely worn. Adding adjustable Engine Maps across all classes would be a realistic and highly practical solution. This would allow players to manage fuel on longer distances and reduce power output to stabilize the car in wet conditions.
    • Calendar-Based Career Structure
      The calendar-driven career format found in Project CARS 1 was fantastic. Switching to a proper seasonal calendar format would make the career feel much more realistic and immersive.
    • Dynamic Sponsorship Contracts
      Sponsorships should feel earned. As the player progresses and improves their reputation, better sponsors should approach them with realistic performance-based contracts and objectives.
To be continued! Please join the discussion and share your thoughts on Career Mode. Let’s gather our ideas here—hopefully, the developers will see this and take our feedback into account!
 
Can we please get better AI behavior for blue and yellow flags, including proper penalties for AI drivers? Right now, when the AI exits the boxes, they immediately start racing and blocking me while I’m on a flying lap. It completely ruins my qualifying and practice times. They should respect blue flags and give way instead of fighting for position right out of the pits.
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Team, do you even playtest your own game??? PS5. Nurburgring Nordschleife 24h, 10 laps. Career mode. Authentic (realistic) setting. How is anyone supposed to play this? (Mod Edit)
What is going on with the lighting? Where are the headlights? Where are these windshield glares coming from? Why is it bright in the rearview mirrors, but pitch black in front of the car? Doesn't this hurt your own eyes??? What did I just waste 2 hours of my life on...
 
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Sirozha said:
Team, do you even playtest your own game??? PS5. Nurburgring Nordschleife 24h, 10 laps. Career mode. Authentic (realistic) setting. How is anyone supposed to play this? (Mod Edit)
What is going on with the lighting? Where are the headlights? Where are these windshield glares coming from? Why is it bright in the rearview mirrors, but pitch black in front of the car? Doesn't this hurt your own eyes??? What did I just waste 2 hours of my life on...
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Kindly keep your posts respectful, there is absolutely no reason to make statements like that. While I understand your frustration that is crossing the line.

Thanks.
 
Savoury said:
Kindly keep your posts respectful, there is absolutely no reason to make statements like that. While I understand your frustration that is crossing the line.

Thanks.
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"This is a direct quote from the patch 2.3 notes: 'Visuals and Weather Significant improvements have been made to rendering and weather systems. The environmental lighting model now simulates solar intensity, colour temperature and sky-driven illumination throughout the full diurnal cycle. Smoother temporal transitions and improved low-light exposure provide stable visibility from sunrise through night racing, while preserving a natural atmospheric response. Meanwhile changes made to tone-mapping has improves luminance mapping, contrast response and colour reproduction across the full dynamic range. Trackside detail remains legible in high-intensity skies, specular reflections, shadowed areas and headlight illumination, producing a more consistent visual reference.'
Why does the text in this description contradict what we can all see in my video? What other grounds are needed to make such statements, as you put it? My tone is more than respectful! I haven't insulted or demeaned anyone. I asked completely fair questions, which I doubt I'll get answers to... Nevertheless, let me rephrase:
Dear team, do you actually test your game before releasing patches with such promising descriptions? That’s a rhetorical question at this point. I can see that you don't..."

 
I removed a sentence from your post that was inflammatory and in very poor taste, I didn't remove the entire post. You know what I've removed and why.

I can see by the last paragraph you have written that you are continuing to post in a hostile and demeaning manner towards the studio.

All members are expected to post in a polite and constructive way. If you have an issue, kindly report it without resorting to sarcastic or nasty language. Your current approach is going to get you nowhere fast.

Thank you.
 
Here is my review of the game after patch 2.3. Running short races in daylight is fine and fun. But how do things look in endurance races with 100% AI and time-of-day transitions?!
First, I completed the "Endurance Hall" mode: N-GT MILLENNIUM NORDSCHLEIFE 250. You can't adjust the difficulty level here. I should note right away that I am not a fast driver. So, after lap 3, I had to pit because I crashed the car. I left the pits in 4th place, 17 seconds behind the leader. After lap 7, I pitted again for the exact same reason (crashed the car). This time, I left the pits in 1st place, 45 seconds ahead of the opponent. I won the race. The AI finished almost 3 minutes (!) behind. Two pit stops and a three-minute lead... Question: What did you do to the bots? Are they grounded?)))
Next, I started the "Authentic" career mode. Same track, same class (N-GT), and the same distance (10 laps). In qualifying, my time was 8:42.8. The closest AI opponent clocked 8:56.8... What is wrong with the bots??? Again, I am not a fast driver.
The race started in the evening. It was still light out, and I was slowly pulling away from the bots. It was boring. No fighting whatsoever. And then darkness fell... The headlights don't illuminate anything, yet the mirrors are completely bright... Horrible glare on the windshield. It literally hurts the eyes... That's when I crashed the car for the first time. The headlights went out. There was still one lap to go. Yes, I finished it with no headlights in pitch darkness, but I crashed a second time and lost 1st place.
But it gets even more interesting. The game still handed me the victory and a trophy. Granted, instead of 2,000,000, it only awarded me 1,350,000 (which matches 2nd place, and that actually makes sense).
My verdict: Endurance in career mode is broken. The AI is broken. The lighting is broken. I'm attaching a short video clip as a visual example. The YouTube link is unlisted.
/Wishing you all the best.
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Savoury said:
I removed a sentence from your post that was inflammatory and in very poor taste, I didn't remove the entire post. You know what I've removed and why.

I can see by the last paragraph you have written that you are continuing to post in a hostile and demeaning manner towards the studio.

All members are expected to post in a polite and constructive way. If you have an issue, kindly report it without resorting to sarcastic or nasty language. Your current approach is going to get you nowhere fast.

Thank you.
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You are mistaken. I am the kindest, most polite, and most patient player in PMR. If you noticed any insults, it was just a mistake by Google Translate. Yes, there is sarcasm, but absolutely no offensive tone! My only desire is to provide the developers with a report on the game's issues. Unfortunately, there are a great many of them.
 
Sirozha said:
You are mistaken. I am the kindest, most polite, and most patient player in PMR. If you noticed any insults, it was just a mistake by Google Translate. Yes, there is sarcasm, but absolutely no offensive tone! My only desire is to provide the developers with a report on the game's issues. Unfortunately, there are a great many of them.
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I very much doubt that a translation tool misunderstood what you were saying and decided to output that you wished a member of S4 staff to be "sacked immediately" erroneously.

Consider this a warning.
 
Savoury said:
I very much doubt that a translation tool misunderstood what you were saying and decided to output that you wished a member of S4 staff to be "sacked immediately" erroneously.

Consider this a warning.
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Dear moderator. What exactly happens to people who fail to do their jobs? Do they get a bonus? Well, I suggested giving him an Oscar. What's wrong with that? Out of all the in-game bugs, description mismatches, and patch issues I pointed out, the only things you care about are my sarcasm and disrespectful attitude???? Are you threatening me? With what??? A ban? Are you actually serious right now??? Are we only allowed to praise you? I think with this kind of attitude towards your players... you know what, I'd better say nothing. If you've decided to ban me, go ahead and do it. ;) Good luck to you. And if not, then don't stand in my way of pointing out game errors to the developers in order to make it better. / I will no longer communicate with you personally. I wish you all the best!
 
You are more than welcome to report any issues you experience, however, you are not allowed to do so in a disrespectful or confrontational manner.. so, yes, that is exactly what I care about as a Moderator.

If you wish to stay on this forum then I strongly suggest that you behave in an appropriate manner to everybody on here, staff, Mods and members alike.
 
Sirozha said:
Team, do you even playtest your own game??? PS5. Nurburgring Nordschleife 24h, 10 laps. Career mode. Authentic (realistic) setting. How is anyone supposed to play this? (Mod Edit)
What is going on with the lighting? Where are the headlights? Where are these windshield glares coming from? Why is it bright in the rearview mirrors, but pitch black in front of the car? Doesn't this hurt your own eyes??? What did I just waste 2 hours of my life on...
Click to expand...

What car are you using? And what time of day was it? And do you see these windscreen reflections/glares in a custom race weekend, or is it just in career mode?
I'll test it at my end and see if i get the same.
 
Womp83 said:
What car are you using? And what time of day was it? And do you see these windscreen reflections/glares in a custom race weekend, or is it just in career mode?
I'll test it at my end and see if i get the same.
Click to expand...
For some time now, I’ve stopped playing ranked races in PMR. The ranked system and matchmaking are poorly implemented, so I only play Career and occasionally the Hall of Endurance.I first noticed these track glares at Imola during evening hours (around 9-10 PM). I actually recorded a video about it, but then update 2.3 was released. The patch notes stated that the in-game lighting had been completely reworked and improved (I quoted the patch notes in my message above). Because of that, I decided not to upload the video to YouTube and deleted it.Now, the exact same lighting issue has popped up in Career mode during the Millennium Nurburgring Nordschleife 250 endurance race. It starts getting dark around lap 8. I’ve included clips from laps 9 and 10 in the video.In another thread on this forum, I read that this glaring issue, as well as poor track illumination from headlights, happens during the evening-to-night transition.
 
Authentic Career Mode. Night race (no evening-to-night transition). Millennium Nurburgring Nordschleife 250. The headlights are much better. The track visibility is satisfactory. There are fewer glares on the windshield. Yes, they are blinding, but they don't strain the eyes too much. The AI bots are driving way too slow. Their best lap is an 8:57.xxx. I recorded two practice laps. You can clearly see here where the strong windshield glares appear on the track, as well as exactly where the bots slow down.
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Hi everyone! I’m continuing to test the single-player modes. In the Authentic Career mode and the Endurance Hall, the AI bots do not react to yellow and blue flags, do not receive any penalties, and have generally become very slow.
So far, I’ve only tested two tracks: Spa (36 laps) and Nordschleife (10 laps). Right from the first lap, the race turns into a time trial and a struggle against myself. The bots fall behind significantly, and there is no excitement at all. By comparison, in the Classic Career mode, the AI is much faster, even at 95% difficulty.
 
Just a note on "Blue Flags". Flags have two options in racing: Command and Informational. Only in open wheel racing (mostly F3/F2/F1) is a Blue Flag a Command Flag. In other racing, it's an "Informational Flag" stating "Faster Car Approaching". i.e. the AI does not need to move out of the way.
 
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