Esports
We spoke with the CEO of the Drone Champions League about the upcoming DCL – The Game and how its mix of IRL sport and esports is breaking new gaming ground.
The popularity of drone racing over the past few years has hit new heights, having been embraced as a means of competition, with FPV (first-person view) racing now established as a burgeoning motorsport. Arguably, drone racing's greatest stage is the Drone Champions League (DCL), which established a heated competitive format perfect for spectators and competitors alike.
So, as DCL grows and racers become better and better, showing incredible feats of navigation and reflexes, it was only a matter of time before we welcomed the sport to the world of gaming. That time is now, with DCL – The Game arriving on PS4 on February 18. DCL worked with Climax Games, the team behind DiRT Rally 2.0's VR offering, to bring these races to console.
We spoke with DCL CEO Herbert Weirather about the game, the challenges of capturing the sport's intricacies and how it represents the birth of the first ever hybrid sport.
First, how exactly does drone racing – and DCL, in particular – work? According to the DCL website, "The pilots sit next to each other on stage in their 'cockpit' and wear FPV goggles to fly through the track from the perspective of their drones, whereby the drone is controlled by remote control. LED lights in different colours are attached to the quadrocopters, so that spectators can follow which pilot belongs to which drone. From the start to finish there are different gates and natural obstacles that form a three-dimensional race track."
The DCL places this in a tournament format, complete with qualifications, single heats (a 1v1 round) and big heats, which is a chaotic-sounding 4v4 race. It's no surprise to read the warning on the website that accidents are often unavoidable.
So how do you translate the kinetic thrill of drone racing for those at home? First, according to Weirather, by directly involving them in the league itself. "As there's no g-force when flying drones via video goggles, the feeling of flying a virtual drone on a console is exactly the same," he explained. "That's why we developed this simulation game over the past two-and-a-half years, so that people can actually qualify for real races. That means it's an esport as well as a real sport, so it's the first hybrid sport."
Yes, you read that right. By playing the game, you can put yourself in contention for the real DCL, via the Draft Selection format. There'll be a series of online events starting from February 19 and running through to mid-March, and if you're among the top 300 players, you'll be invited to the draft selection.
"DCL Draft Selection is where the best pilots from DCL – The Game are invited to an offline event. The slowest team from the previous year selects [their draft picks] first and the fastest team select theirs at the end," Weirather added. "The first time we had many picks, but this year I would expect to have between eight and 16 new pilot picks."
And, according to Weirather, this is the only way to get into the DCL. The teams aren't allowed to bring in any other pilots, except through the Draft Selection. So why was it so important to blend the IRL motorsport with esports?
"I think the coolest thing is that this game is so real that it triggers all the emotions you would get flying a real drone. It has a competitive aspect – racing against the best pilots in online events, where you can win prizes or qualify for real races. It has a social part, where you can fly as a team or against your friends, chat with them and have fun."
Beyond the competitive element, the game still offers a wealth of content for those eager to spread their wings. "It also has exploration," Weirather continued. "Where players can fly through the three-dimensional levels with cool freestyle moves."
Weirather also explains that the game can actually be used as a tool for improvement in a few different ways. Whether it's a camera operator or pilot, DCL – The Game can help you hone your skills.
A question of control
In order to get good at DCL – The Game, users will need to quickly get to grips with controlling a drone via your trusty controller – a unique challenge given the movement and kineticism of the drones and races. According to Weirather, if you're looking to make the leap to pro, you've got some work to do.
"If you intend to become a pro racing pilot, you ideally need to connect a real life RC Drone to your PC or Mac. Then, you can also fly in the Acro mode, which can be compared with the highly realistic modes in car racing games," he explained. "You can still do it on a normal gamepad, but it's quite a bit harder to be on the same level as a pilot with a RC, so people flying with a gamepad would usually fly in Arcade mode. The thumb pads help you to be somewhere between a remote controller and a normal gamepad."
Weirather also promises that the team are working on getting a licensed manufacturer, so that players can use an actual transmitter to play the game – something which would absolutely come in handy for the punishingly challenging Acro mode. What can newcomers expect from this mode?
"Newcomers start with a simpler flight mode, which holds the altitude for them and allows them to have fun immediately," Weirather explained. "Acro mode is really challenging. Coming from beginner mode it helps to understand the movement principals, but managing all four inputs in a coordinated way takes a lot of patience before you can get to a level to complete a hard track. It pays off, though: managing Acro mode is extremely fun and enables full freedom in the air."
As for other, possibly less brutal game modes, Weirather tells us that the game includes asynchronous and synchronous multiplayer options, with the latter, named Race Flow, seeing 30 players competing on one track. There's also Time Attack, a "kind of a ranked mode, where you level up until you're competing against the best in the world"
Talking track
According to Weirather, DCL – The Game features real-life tracks. So, what can racers expect of the environments they'll need to navigate?
"Players can expect a city, an oil bando, a ski resort and castle locations," he said. "All DCL original tracks and environments will also be available and updated through the 2019 season in a stylised quality. There'll be at least one new track coming every single week, which can be played in the event mode."
If that's not enough for racers eager to test their wits in the most challenging of environments, you can just create your own. The game features a Track Editor, which is a custom version of the Unreal Editor. "It comes with a massive set of features, where you can build amazing tracks within a very short timeframe. It will not be integrated into the game directly, as you need to download it from the UE4 marketplace. You'll be able to share tracks with your friends and the whole gamer community," Weirather added.
The Track Editor won't be immediately available, though racers can expect to build their own brilliantly barmy locales in the months following launch. DCL – The Game arrives on February 18 for PS4, PC and Mac, and while Switch was also considered, it was unfortunately not possible in the timeframe.
Regardless of platform, racers can expect an experience unlike any other, in which sporting lines are blurred and competition is fierce.
