trusteft: Is Drifting required to play?
I hate drifting in racing games.
Thanks for your info.
So, I played a bit more after responding yesterday. The single player isn't totally linear. Each page of missions is unlocked by completion percentage. The drift mission I was stuck on apparently wasn't the only one I had unlocked. I could have skipped it. That said, the drift missions aren't as bad as I originally thought.
For said first drift mission, you need 300 points total across 4 laps, while also meeting maximum lap time allowances. Your drift needs to be minimum of 10 points to bank. Drifts fail if you go too far off course or spin out. I'm not sure of the exact threshold, but it seems like you need to be over about 50mph for drifts to accumulate points. I was able to complete the mission by going for 10-25 point drifts around any corner where the car was in 4th gear on approach, & racing normally otherwise. I found bumping the brake & handbrake while downshifting to 3rd & turning got enough of a slide to get drift points while not spinning out. It took a bit of practice, but wasn't too hard overall.
I'm not sure whether you can finish the single player while completely skipping the drift missions, but so far they're a very small portion of my available missions. Probably close to 10% of events so far as a high end estimate. Even then, the focus is split between drifting & lap times. I feel like the game would be better without it, but it's not something that will keep me from playing more.
Also, quick note. Events have provided cars or choice of cars so far, but if you want to purchase a car for yourself (maybe only useful in side content/multiplayer (if any form of it still exists)), you use the joyride option. Then you can purchase a car & proceed to drive it somewhere.