March 30th, Saturday.
In the afternoon, Zhang Yan started her stream two hours earlier than her usual Saturday schedule because today was competition day!
Rabbit Tail Live had been preparing for this competition for a long time, and Zhang Yan had already passed the initial selection.
This week was the online competition phase. After determining the winners, they would earn spots in the offline competition. At that time, professional coaches would teach them how to drive real race cars, helping them transfer their simulator skills to real racing skills.
Whoever adapted more quickly and effectively would win the amateur division!
Of course, the ultimate champions would be from the professional division. No matter how talented the amateurs were, they couldn’t compete with professional racers.
Unless an amateur transitioned to become a professional and then steadily improved step by step—only then would there be hope.
For Zhang Yan, her goal was simple: make it to the offline competition!
Once she reached the offline stage, she would give it her all. The result didn’t matter much—participation was what counted.
The key was to earn the opportunity to handle a real race car.
After all, her skills were developed on a simulator, and no matter how realistic a simulator might be, it still differed significantly from a real race car.
On a real track, no one could guarantee how well she would perform. She could only do her best.
Before the competition started, Zhang Yan began her warm-up practice.
In the live chat, viewers occasionally asked: “Wow, streamer, you’re so persistent! I saw you running this track last month, and you’re still at it? Don’t you get tired of it? Stream something else for a change!”
Initially, Zhang Yan gained a lot of popularity due to the “Safe and Civilized Driving” game.
At that time, she was getting her driver’s license and driving big trucks, which attracted quite a few fans.
But ever since she started practicing racing, her followers began to slowly drift away.
It couldn’t be helped—race practice was just too boring!
She would run the same track for an entire day, pursuing improvements of mere tenths of a second. Often, a single mistake would undo all previous efforts. Unlike driving long distances in a big truck, where one could relax mentally, racing required complete concentration, leaving no energy to chat with viewers. So the more she practiced, the fewer people stayed in her stream.
There was no shortage of mockery among the comments.
“Instead of streaming properly, the streamer is just fooling around. What’s the point of a female streamer running racetracks all day? Your viewership is dropping, isn’t it?”
“Keep it up, and you’ll eventually ruin yourself! You had such a good start, and you’ve completely wasted it!”
“Exactly! If you don’t have the talent, why persist? Why not accept that you’re better suited to being a comedian?”
Such comments were common.
But Zhang Yan remained unmoved and continued practicing diligently.
Finally, Zhang Yan’s moment arrived with this Safe and Civilized Driving Championship!
Almost all streamers on Rabbit Tail Live participated in this competition, along with many streamers from other platforms and skilled players from the game.
The results were shocking—many well-known streamers didn’t even make it through the preliminary selections!
These streamers would often show off during their regular streams, boasting about their driving skills, but when it came to the actual competition, they all fell apart, completely exposed.
It was like some GOG streamers who play in low-tier matches for the entertainment value. On the surface, they seem skilled and impressive, but ultimately they’re just dominating weaker players.
Once they faced high-tier matches or competitions with opponents much stronger than their usual prey, their skills suddenly became ineffective. They seemed like different people, making frequent, pressure-induced mistakes.
When it came time to test raw skill, the receding tide revealed who was swimming naked.
Zhang Yan was different. All her skills were genuinely developed through practice, so she wasn’t afraid of real challenges.
As the preliminary competitions concluded, viewership in Zhang Yan’s stream began to rise steadily.
Viewers were surprised to discover that Zhang Yan’s diligent practice had truly paid off, fundamentally distinguishing her from other streamers!
Those who had previously left began to return.
They had left because they couldn’t see the entertainment value or anything that set Zhang Yan apart from other streamers. After all, practicing driving skills was extremely tedious, and most people didn’t have the patience to keep watching.
But now it was different. Achieving good rankings in competitions and defeating opponents with real skill was inherently entertaining.
Since the entertainment value had returned—and better than before—what reason did viewers have not to come back and continue watching?
Many fans of other streamers also flooded into Zhang Yan’s stream because those streamers had already been eliminated, while Zhang Yan could continue to the online competition to face more powerful opponents in the final rounds.
Those who had consistently supported Zhang Yan now felt a sense of vindication, like seeing the sun break through after a long storm.
They had always unconditionally supported Zhang Yan’s decisions. When they saw her viewership continuously dropping and popularity declining, they became anxious—perhaps even more anxious than Zhang Yan herself.
Now that her popularity had returned, they naturally felt the satisfaction of knowing they hadn’t misjudged her.
After completing two solid practice laps, Zhang Yan entered the official competition room and began preparations.
This opportunity was extremely important for her. Zhang Yan had dreamed of racing for a long time, but the expenses were far too high for her to afford.
This situation was different. If she could place well in the online competition, the organizers would cover all expenses and provide her with highly professional coaching.
This meant that through this opportunity, Zhang Yan could gain a cost-free chance to transition toward becoming a professional racer!
If she achieved excellent results, it would prove her talent and perseverance, likely reducing resistance from her family as well.
…
Soon, the competition officially began.
Large numbers of viewers flooded the Rabbit Tail Live platform, eagerly discussing and waiting for the competition to start.
“Hello to all viewers in the stream! Welcome to the online competition stage of Safe and Civilized Driving! Today’s online competition will be somewhat different from the preliminary stage because our streaming platform will be using a new broadcasting method…”
The competition was hosted by two official GPL commentators.
In this aspect, Rabbit Tail Live had an overwhelming advantage compared to other platforms because they had abundant excellent commentator resources. These commentators were not only articulate and humorous but also had a deep understanding of the game, earning viewers’ recognition.
Having them commentate today’s Safe and Civilized Driving Championship made perfect sense.
They were all part of the Tenda family, so guest appearances were quite normal!
Many viewers in the chat were curious.
“How will it differ from the preliminary stage competitions?”
“I remember the directing during the preliminaries was already excellent, with the camera smoothly switching between popular competitors, making everyone feel comfortable. Is it really possible to improve the broadcasting technology even further?”
“That should be difficult, right? Weren’t they already using GPL’s professional directing team during the preliminaries?”
“Or maybe there are new spectator features?”
Soon, the hosts revealed the answer: based on the streaming function in “Safe and Civilized Driving,” they had developed competition-specific features!
These features could be roughly divided into the following points:
First, players could freely enter the official competition room in “Safe and Civilized Driving” and view any competitor’s first-person perspective, or they could watch the director’s view or a god’s-eye view.
In the competitors’ first-person view, players could see very detailed data, such as gear position, engine RPM, and the depth and force applied to the gas and brake pedals.
This data was very important for viewers to gain a deeper understanding of the competitors’ basic abilities and skill levels.
Second, players could synchronize their steering wheels with the competitors, allowing them to more intuitively see the competitors’ operation patterns and details.
Of course, like in streaming mode, the steering wheel couldn’t be touched in this state—touching it would automatically exit the mode.
This was to prevent accidents.
This feature was essentially a derivative of the streaming function, but there were definitely differences between a streamer’s operations during a stream and a competitor’s operations during a competition.
Moreover, compared to the initial version of the streaming function, there were new improvements. This time, players no longer needed to install “Safe and Civilized Driving”; they could directly connect their steering wheels to Rabbit Tail Live’s broadcast signal!
After all, the data from steering wheel movements wasn’t large and didn’t need to rely on the game’s content. The streaming platform only needed to transmit this data to the players’ computers, which would then transmit it to the steering wheel.
Even players without steering wheels could open a small window to see the competitors’ steering wheel and pedal operations through a simulated display.
Of course, compared to the complete in-game experience, the web function was somewhat limited, with many limitations.
For example, viewers could only choose from a few official perspectives rather than selecting any participating competitor. There might also be slight inaccuracies in data transmission compared to the in-game version.
But for players who didn’t have “Safe and Civilized Driving” installed on their computers, this was still quite a novel viewing experience.
Third, players could generate replay files during the competition, allowing them to repeatedly study and learn from competitors’ techniques in cornering or specific routes.
There were other detailed features as well, such as Rabbit Tail Live’s multi-window stacking mode.
In Rabbit Tail Live’s streaming room, the main window naturally showed the game’s real-time competition footage. Beyond this, viewers could open small windows to view other content and freely stack these windows or place them anywhere on the main screen.
For example, players could place the camera feed of a competitor they were interested in at the bottom right corner, or position the current scoreboard rankings or detailed data on the screen wherever they preferred.
Compared to other streaming platforms where the layout remained fixed during competitions, this ability to freely select preferred information and move it as small windows on the streaming screen provided viewers with a new choice.
As the competition officially began, commentators started their passionate commentary while viewers enjoyed the exciting competition while exploring Rabbit Tail Live’s new features. The stream’s popularity continued to climb!