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Smart steering is the best underated feature From Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, should be in all Kart racers going forward

ApeEscaper

ApeEscaper

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Oct 27, 2017
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If you didn't know, Switch version of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe added a default new option called Smart Steering enabled by default, it helps anyone jumping in play 'well enough'

Lessens the skill gap of newcomers to skilled player especially with a family friendly game like this as a skilled player i don't need to play EXTRA trash to let the newbs win sometimes or make it purposely close to show they had a chance (lol) and not make it too one sided makes for a more fun experience for all players

Of course if you're playing alone or online then if you're good at the game i recommend you turn it off for more control. Options are great, hope they implement this feature in Crash Team Racing Nitro Fueled and Team Sonic Racing too

Smart Steering is a mechanic introduced in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe as a way to make gameplay easier. With Smart Steering turned on, the player will auto-pilot along with the road's edges and not be able to go off-road. Also, an antenna is inserted onto the back of the player's Kart or Bike and will light up whenever the player moves along the edge. Smart Steering is useful for those new to the Mario Kart series and those who tend to go off-road frequently (especially in the higher engine classes). However, it has disadvantages too, the Ultra Mini-Turbo cannot be accessed while it's enabled and off-road shortcuts can't be reached (fortunately, a Mushroom or Star can allow players to access such shortcuts). Sometimes, Smart Steering may cause the chosen path to switch unexpectedly, which may cause frustration.
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oni-link

oni-link

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Hated it because it's on by default

Should be buried in the options menu not forced on everyone till they figure out why the game plays like shit
 
oni-link

oni-link

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entremet said:
That's it on by default makes it genius.
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Yeah but me and my gfs brother spent an hour Xmas morning trying to understand and figure out why the Switch version was shit compared to the Wii U version

It should at least ask if you want it on when you fire the game up
 
Wiseblade

Wiseblade

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Oct 26, 2017
962
I hated it, but having it on by default is the right choice. The people who need it aren't going to know how to turn it on and those who hate having control ripped from them by nanny AI will know to quickly turn it off.
 

Deleted member 48897

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They do a really terrible job of telling you where the feature is or what it even actually does. The choice also isn't immediately obvious to a newcomer, and defaults to whatever the previous choice of what that player number was (i.e., if 2P turned it off last session, it's still off). That's not inherently bad but frustrating when people just take the first controller they get when playing and are casual enough players they don't recognize that it was even an option -- this has been a source of confusion when I get my family over and we all play the game.
 
Minotaur

Minotaur

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Oct 25, 2017
283
oni-link said:
Yeah but me and my gfs brother spent an hour Xmas morning trying to understand and figure out why the Switch version was shit compared to the Wii U version

It should at least ask if you want it on when you fire the game up
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Yup. I had yo google why the game steering was weird and what those icons meant. I would prefer an option when picking characters in a fighting game. Like simple vs normal mode in marvel vs capcom
 
oni-link

oni-link

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LinkStrikesBack said:
Nope. The kind of person who would want it on would have no idea to look or where to find it or anything. On by default is 100% the right idea.
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You will never convince me that a game tricking everyone into playing on easy unless you google why the game is playing like shit is a good idea

A prompt at the start would be enough for everyone to get the best experience for them
 
Kunka Kid

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Oct 27, 2017
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entremet said:
That's it on by default makes it genius.
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No. Having to explain to my non gamer friends how to turn them off every single time we play is the worst. I suppose it's fine that it's on by default when turning the game on for the first time, but you should then be able to decide you don't ever want them to be on.
 

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It's absolutely trash and was a sin to be on by default. I legit thought the game was terrible because I didn't know it was an option
 
oni-link

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Kunka Kid said:
No. Having to explain to my non gamer friends how to turn them off every single time we play is the worst. I suppose it's fine that it's on by default when turning the game on for the first time, but you should then be able to decide you don't ever want them to be on.
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Holy shit

You can't turn it off and have it stay off?

How can anyone think this is a good idea?
 
Jahranimo

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Oct 25, 2017
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It is a pretty good idea. It's not only suited for beginners but also players who want to better focus on driving and avoiding RNG items, which can be a negative to the Mario Kart experience.

Options are good!
 
PotionBleue

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Nov 1, 2017
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I think Mario Kart Wii did it better. Before playing there was a prompt asking each player to chose between the newbie-friendly "Automatic" drift mode or "Manual".

aid3066990-v4-900px-Drift-on-Mario-Kart-Wii-Step-4.jpg
 
Alek

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Oct 28, 2017
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Wipeout HD deserves credit for this, not Mario Kart 8. Pilot assist (as it's called in Wipeout) is not an original feature.

Jaded Alyx said:
Yep there should be a prompt.
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New players would shoot themselves in the foot, given the choice. I prefer it being on by default, personally. It means I can play with friends and they can have fun without me telling them they should play in assisted mode.

It could make sense if they labelled the options 'smart steering' and 'expert steering' and presented that choice to players. I think that way a lot of new players would still go for smart steering. But if it's just the choice 'do you want help or no' I think a lot of players that would benefit would be unwilling to accept.
 
Nome

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Agree with OP, it's a brilliant design choice, and one that only works because it's on by default and hidden.
 
Herb Alpert

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Oct 25, 2017
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Yeah it's awesome to play with kids.
My son doesn't use it, my younger daughter do, and everyone has fun.
It's a wonderful feature.
 
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HighspeedRefleX

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Feb 8, 2018
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It's never a good thing to make a game too easy. When I was a kid I played most of the sport/arcade/simulation games to get better at them. It's part of the magic.
 
trugs26

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Jan 6, 2018
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Easily one of the best family friendly features in any video game. I've never really had a game that could accommodate both the little kids in my family or people who just don't play video games very much as well as advanced players at the same time (without sacrificing one for the other, like in Wii Sports or something where everything is just simplified). Everyone can have a good time.
 
Black_Stride

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Oct 28, 2017
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What does it do?
OP starts describing how good this feature is but doesnt actually explain what the the feature does?


Is it assisted mode like in Forza games?
Mild steering assist, brake assist and the cars basically never spin out drift uncontrollably....err pretty much most of the control is taken from you.
 
Cels

Cels

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Oct 26, 2017
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Black_Stride said:
What does it do?
OP starts describing how good this feature is but doesnt actually explain what the the feature does?


Is it assisted mode like in Forza games?
Mild steering assist, brake assist and the cars basically never spin out drift uncontrollably....err pretty much most of the control is taken from you.
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steers your kart for you so all you have to do is hold down the gas and you can complete a race

i don't think you can crash into walls or off the track with smart steering on, the game will turn you away automatically
 
OP
OP
ApeEscaper

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Linde

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It should definitely be on by default but should prompt the user

Good addition, especially for really young ones
 
oni-link

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Nah it's terrible design

Accessibility options are great but without a prompt it leads anyone who is not a child into a bad and confusing experience

My girlfriends brother got a Switch and MK8 for Xmas, I've put 40 hours into the Wii U version and we thought the joycons were broken because of how bad the game felt, the auto drive basically prevents you from drifting in most situations. It feels awful

I understand it's great for when kids or people who don't play games much play, but it shouldn't be on by default. If they offer a prompt at the start explaining what it is and what it does, and a player still picks an option that makes the game less fun, and then fails to try the other option, they probably shouldn't be catered to at the expensive of everyone else

I literally had to google "MK8 on Switch bad controls" to find out how to make the game work properly

If I'd never played the Wii U game I'd have probably just thought the game was shit

If they made a Souls game start with checkpoints and the ability to keep your souls when you die, and they put on that by default, and hid how to turn that off behind an obscure pause screen toggle, people would be mad and rightfully so

Accessibility options are great but MK8 implements them in the worst way possible
 
Chopper

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Oct 25, 2017
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It's pretty cool. It's a godsend for my 4 year old. But I don't understand why it's on by default.
 
MesaEterna

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oni-link said:
If they made a Souls game start with checkpoints and the ability to keep your souls when you die, and they put on that by default, and hid how to turn that off behind an obscure pause screen toggle, people would be mad and rightfully so
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First of all the game doesn't "play horrible" when you have smart steering on, you can still drift.
To the quoted point, now the pause menu is an obscure screen toggle?
 
fourfourfun

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Oct 27, 2017
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entremet said:
That's it on by default makes it genius.
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Agree wholeheartedly. It remembers my settings when I turn them off but keeps them on for the kids.

I remember this topic coming up before and having it on for people who wouldn't usually menu dive and more than likely need it is the best way. If you know you want it off, you can find it.
 
Watchtower

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Oct 27, 2017
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It's a pain in the ass as someone who knows what he's doing, but it's very clearly not for me. For someone who doesn't know what he's doing it's perfectly fine, and the fact that it denies you from the cool shortcuts kinda works as an incentive to "ween off" it.

Also I agree that it's great that it's on by default. Far better forcing experienced players to opt-out than hoping newbies will figure out how to opt-in.
 
JershJopstin

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oni-link said:
Holy shit

You can't turn it off and have it stay off?

How can anyone think this is a good idea?
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Only player 1's preferences are saved. 2-4 are assumed to be guests, which makes sense, but this means they always go back to the default controls when you boot the game up. Customizable default settings, like Smash finally added, is the way to go imo - again, leaving it on out of the box.
 
hibikase

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Kunka Kid said:
No. Having to explain to my non gamer friends how to turn them off every single time we play is the worst. I suppose it's fine that it's on by default when turning the game on for the first time, but you should then be able to decide you don't ever want them to be on.
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Why are you forcing your "non gamer friends" to turn it off?
 
KartuneDX

KartuneDX

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Jan 12, 2018
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There seriously needed to be an option to turn it off for everyone playing all at once.

Explaining it is tedious and at this point either everyone I play with knows by now or I'm forced to undock and turn it off myself via touch screen.

hibikase said:
Why are you forcing your "non gamer friends" to turn it off?
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Personally I don't enjoy playing with others who play with them on. You might as well be a CPU character.
 
ShiningBash

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Oct 29, 2017
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I agree OP, I think it's a great feature. On the whole, I think it's better to assist the novice players among the 15m Switch MK8D owners, even at the cost of those annoyed who didn't realize it was on.
 
Adamska

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I do not think it's a good feature because it doesn't allow players to understand what they are getting wrong and thus will not let them ever get any better. Alas, I pretty much always turn assists off in most games, so I might be the minority.
 
sleepnaught

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oni-link said:
Hated it because it's on by default

Should be buried in the options menu not forced on everyone till they figure out why the game plays like shit
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Agreed took me a few hours when I first played to figure why I was fucking up simple turns. I think all that shit is on by default. Auto acceleration, smart steering, and motion controls.


KartuneDX said:
Personally I don't enjoy playing with others who play with them on. You might as well be a CPU character.
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If you're losing to someone relying on smart steering, the problem is probably you lol
 
hibikase

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Adamska said:
I do not think it's a good feature because it doesn't allow players to understand what they are getting wrong and thus will not let them ever get any better. Alas, I pretty much always turn assists off in most games, so I might be the minority.
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The people this is intended for won't give a shit about getting better at a video game.
 
KartuneDX

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hibikase said:
Are you so insecure that you refuse to let casual players have fun because they might stand a chance to maybe beat you on a single race sometimes?
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What does any of that have to do with being insecure? Though I'm not even the person who you initially responded to, I flat out won't let anyone (my age that is) play with them on. It's just silly, restrictive, and ultimately not a good way to learn how to play. Obviously younger players can do whatever the hell they want but that won't fly with some players my age IMO.

sleepnaught said:
Agreed took me a few hours when I first played to figure why I was fucking up simple turns. I think all that shit is on by default. Auto acceleration, smart steering, and motion controls.




If you're losing to someone relying on smart steering, the problem is probably you lol
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It's weird how you and the other poster just assumes it has to be because I'm losing or insecure that I don't want people playing the game with kiddy controls lol

Get the stick out your ass fellas. It's great for younger players, I haven't argued it isn't, but if you're a grown ass man playing Mario Kart on my Switch I'm probably not going to let that slide.
 
SilkySm00th

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So I mean ... how do you get better though? Like isn't that the point of racing games? To learn the tracks and the karts and get a feel for the slides and then improve as you play?

Seems so weird that it's so well liked here. I imagine something like this in any other game and I feel like people would be walking away from it immediately.
 
Harry Potter Obama

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It is a smart idea, but I absolutely hate that it's on by default. At the very least the game should make that clear before you play it, and it should save everyone's preference when you play multiplayer. Such a pain in the ass.
 

darkazcura

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Oct 25, 2017
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Sometimes hearing people say that it is fine for it to be on by default and hidden away makes me wonder how often some play with casual gamers who would have no interest in playing assisted mode. Saying those who want it off will find a way to figure it out isn't a good reason to have it the way it is. Trying to explain what buttons to press to make them turn everything off is frustrating even if I only have to do it once before every session. Especially with joycons. 'Press x, that's not working? uhhh sorry not x, press the top button of the diamond.' Every time lol

Prompts or a way to change the system default would be 100x better.
 

Romanithegreat

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Nov 21, 2018
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I had the game for months and I didn't know how to turn it off. I stopped playing the game because of this, it was annoying.
 
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