Project Torque

Project Torque
Project Torque Logo
Developer(s)	Invictus Games
Publisher(s)	Aeria Games & Entertainment (2007-2010) Jogara Ltd. (October 2019-present)
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows
Release	WW: April 30, 2008 WW: December 20, 2019 (re-release)
Genre(s)	Racing MMO
Mode(s)	Multiplayer

Project Torque is a multiplayer online racing game (MMORG) with partially chargeable content, or micro-transactions. It features gameplay elements such as tuning and customization. The game is titled as Level R in Europe with a slightly different game interface and menus. Europe, US, Russia, Indonesia, Thailand, China, and Japan versions, are developed by Invictus Games and are subject to Invictus copyright.

Level-R was originally developed for the Japan market in 2006, which was based on CRC2005. The Level-R versions across the world will all be the same with minor physics and content tweaks. The current build, Julia, was released on June 3, 2010.

The Level-R versions combined with the Project Torque version have 64 cars in total. None of the versions have all 64 cars due to licensing issues, and any version may not receive a certain car if it does not gain proper licensing. The 2019 version, however, has no licensed cars, nor does it have cars from post-2010 builds, such as the Corus R4 or certain Thunder Alley cars.

As of July 31, 2010, the Project Torque service, hosted by Aeria Games Entertainment, is no longer in service. Invictus Games Ltd. signed a deal with to publish a new North American service of Level-R, called Heat Online.^[1][2]

As of May 1, 2014, the HEAT Online service has been discontinued.

In August 2019 fans of Level-R and Project Torque started a crowdfunding campaign for $10,000 to get the game back online.^[3] The funds were supposed to cover contract and legal fees for gaining the publishing rights to Project Torque from Invictus Games.^[4] The campaign goal was reached^[3] and in late August 2019 ., a fan-run company, signed the publishing contract.

In December 2019 game was re-released on Steam.

Game modes[]

Screenshot of the Thunder Alley Pro cars during the initial pace lap.

Project Torque features various cars, some of them being licensed version of actual production cars while others are imitations. It features a variety of game modes such as Simulation, Arcade, and Thunder Alley.^[5] CTF and Drift modes were removed after the release of version "Julia." As of March 15, 2012, the service of Level R has been shut down.^[6]

Simulation[]

Simulation is a mode designed to portray the realism of racing. With recent updates, the mode has become a mix of arcade and simulation mechanics. Differences from arcade mode is less forgiving steering, cosmetic and mechanical damage, and bonus points rewarded for racing in simulation mode. This mode features up to 2–8 players and a variety of tracks that can be raced on several lap segments (1/3/5/7/10/15/20).

Arcade[]

Arcade is a mode similar to most other racing video games. Unlike simulation mode, it has an easier steering system, a optional "no collision" system ( called ghost mode), and less mechanical damage. This mode features up to 2–8 players and a variety of tracks that can be raced on several lap segments (1/3/5/7/10/15/20). Newer players to the game will only be able to race in arcade mode until they unlock access to simulation mode tracks.

Thunder Alley[]

Thunder Alley is very similar to NASCAR. It is one of the most popular modes of Project Torque and includes three classes of cars: Rookie, Pro, and Intimidator. The Rookie class is similar to the NASCAR Featherlite Modified series, the Pro class to the NASCAR Sprint Cup (Car of Tomorrow car with wing), and the Intimidator class to the NASCAR Nationwide series. With ongoing updates, a few other cars were added later to expand the number of available cars in this mode.

Thunder Alley mode provides a wind tunnel mechanic and a fuel consumption mechanic that the other racing modes lack. Currently there are five tracks for this mode: Sunbay Speedway(resembling Talladega), Livenport Raceway (resembling Bristol), Jankwill Raceway, Nurgenhoch and Red Rock Speedway. The mode features the ability to race up to 20 players, and to run up to 60 laps a race. Unlike the NASCAR series where they have caution flags, Thunder Alley has a penalty system that forces a driver to do a pass through the pit lane when the driver breaks too many violations. This system, however, has been criticized for the inaccuracy of the penalties as it would penalize a victim of another driver's faults.

Drag[]

Drag is a mode where 2–4 players line up in a quarter or a half mile strip to smoke some rubber and see who is the fastest racer. You have to shift manually in Drag mode, as it requires shifting at the right RPM to gain a faster run. Drag mode also features a different engine damage system, compared to other modes, which makes the engine blow up from improper shifting. A drag race session can involve multiple heat runs, and the player with the best set of heats wins.

Capture the Flag[]

Capture the Flag is an arena "cat and mouse" type mode played with 2–8 players. One player grabs the flag and runs through checkpoints, while other players try to grab the flag away by running into the flag carrier. The flag holder can also lose the flag by repairing, recovering, or rolling their car over. The player who scores the most points wins. Players gain points by holding the flag for long periods, running through checkpoints with the flag, stealing the flag or chasing the flag holder.

Explorer[]

Explorer is a "freeroam" type mode with 2-8 players. The goal is to pick up the most tokens as possible that are placed around the entire map. The tokens have different colours and designs, while most of them have just a simple colour, a few also grant the player an enhancement for his (better grip, more power) or have a direct positive influence in the gameplay to help the player for a short period of time (magnet to collect tokens easier, radar to guide to the nearest token etc.). A very special variant of the tokens is the question mark. It can not only contain the positive effects you can find on the street, but also might surprise the player with a trap that disturbs the player for a short period of time (reversed steering, flipped screenview, slippery tires etc.). If the player is lucky enough, it also might reward him with special items that normally only can be bought in the shop, reaching from simple flame skid marks to cars and other special items.

Drift[]

Drifting is a 2–8 player mode that uses the same tracks as simulation and arcade modes and also comes in addition with an currently for this mode exclusive track. Lap times and position do not matter, rather the winner of a drift round is determined by how many drift points the players can score. Drift points are determined by angle (of the car in the curve), speed, length of the drift, and the drift multiplier. A unique feature of the drift mode is the ability to use specialized drifting cars, one of which resembles the Falken Mustang driven by Vaughn Gittin.

Challenge[]

Challenge is a 4-8 player mode that uses the physics and a small number of tracks of simulation. The difference is, that the optional "no collision" system ( called ghost mode) is always enabled and the players start at the same position instead of distributed on a grid.

The most important difference is that the first and second place gets rewarded not only with the ingame currency (RP) and experience (XP) but also rewards with GP (Ingame currency that normally only can be bought with real money).

Having GPs as reward, makes the entry in this mode quite special. Not only are at least four players needed to start the race, but in order to join this lobby the player has to get a "Racing Challenger Ticket" first. This ticket can only be bought with GP or found with much luck in the explorer mode when picking up a question mark token.

Invictus controversy[]

In October 2009, the developer company of Project Torque, Invictus, issued an IP ban of all non-US accounts on Project Torque.^[7][8][9] The reason is to be believed that the Europe publisher of Level-R, , filed a complaint concerning a breach in contract because Europe players were playing Project Torque which is claimed to be a North America only version.^[10] Aeria Games & Entertainment (AGE) had to comply with the IP ban, and as a result the player base of Project Torque dramatically decreased. Fellow users of Project Torque gathered together in an attempt to dodge the IP bans in forms of Proxies and VPN clients, but the tools used to dodge the IP Bans became blocked as well.

Soon after the IP ban was issued, Invictus stated that they would no longer support the Project Torque version of their game which was very different from the Level-R version.^{[citation needed]} This means that Project Torque would not receive anymore special builds from Invictus. On May 24, 2010, AGE had announced that a new build, Julia, was coming to Project Torque.^[11] CTF and Drift modes would be removed from the game, there would be a GUI refresh, and a few new modes added. However, the patch did not promise a lift of the IP ban of non-US IPs. On the morning of June 3, 2010, the Julia build was released as a current, but "open beta," version of the game.^[12] There was much criticism from the build as it was similar to the Level-R version, and the patch removed all the unique features that had made Project Torque popular.

Reception[]

The game's critical reception was average. Some users have complained about the change in the steering mechanics from some builds, and the inability to sell cars.

MMO Huts gave Project Torque a "Good" rating saying, "Project Torque is a really polished and fun racing MMO."^[13] They also noted the beautiful graphics compared to other MMO games, and the solid gameplay. Users gave it a 3.99/5 rating.

MMORPG Center rated Project Torque an 8.0/10. "Overall Project Feature is a great online racing game, played in small sessions or sometimes you will want more and more."^[14] Users on MMORPG Center gave Project Torque a 9.3/10.

Swift World rated Project Torque a 7/10 for great gameplay, but mentioned the lack of players during the time.^[15] Users of Swift World rated Project Torque a 9.7/10.

Kei Beneza of OnRPG said, "If I were to judge this game, I would say that the game is a lot better than most of the racing games out there."^[16] He noted that the game had great graphics, was able to run on low-end PCs, and had a simple solution to connection-lag during races.

End of service[]

On July 8, 2010, Aeria Games announced that they could no longer support the running of Project Torque, and that the game would be completely shut down on August 2, 2010.^[17][18] Aeria also stated that they will hold a series of events, refund AP (Aeria cash currency) to players who had spent AP in the past 90 days, and even grant access to "hidden content" that had never been released before.

On July 29, 2010, Invictus announced a new publisher for Project Torque. The game would be called HEAT Online, and would be hosted by the publisher, Innologin Ltd.^[19][20] The publishers are allowing people to try the game as guest accounts before registering under the Innologin service.

On July 31, 2010, Aeria Games shut down the servers for Project Torque. The download for the game was taken down shortly after.

On August 1, 2010, the Project Torque forums were shut down except the general discussion area. Aeria Games left open a "Project Torque Community" section on their forums for the players to stay in touch.

On February 15, 2014, Invictus Games Ltd. announced that they will discontinue service of HEAT Online.

On May 1, 2014, Invictus discontinued service of HEAT Online.

A few months later, after HEAT Online's servers discontinuation, the download and forums for the game were taken down.

An attempt by Killz Gaming community to save the game with a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign failed.

The reason for this was the high amount of money needed to buy the game from Invictus Gaming.

In addition, many players had already lost their account several times due to rebranding.

It became clear that the community was not prepared to invest in the game once again.

The Kickstart project ended on 5 September 2014 with only a few backers.

It was released on Steam on 20 December 2019^[21]

References[]

External links[]

• Level R Official site