The last lap, in the first lap.
To the Real Racing 3 development team,
To be honest, when I first downloaded Real Racing 3, it was simply out of curiosity.
It was the first time I truly came into contact with games built around simulation and realism. In a sense, it opened a window for me — one that came infinitely close to reality, yet could never truly be experienced in real life.
It was also from that point that I went on to discover Euro Truck Simulator, Forza, Assetto Corsa, Formula One, and other titles that are more complete, more rigorous, and more widely admired.
It was zero.
And it was the origin of infinity.
It was not perfect. Compared with next-generation games offering more powerful systems and more direct feedback, players could only explore the limits of sound, speed, and oversteer within very limited feedback — and still choose to persist.
At that time, it was the best choice I could have encountered. Even though I later traveled much farther along this path, I still remember the very first lap, the first press of the throttle, the braking point, and that “optimal racing line” we kept searching for and testing.
Because of its existence, I found a way to use the virtual to touch dreams that were unattainable in reality.
Was it becoming a business tycoon of immense wealth?
Was it traveling the world and collecting breathtaking scenery?
Or was it standing in a circuit where every second matters, again and again, just to gain a little more speed?
Unfortunately, by the time I truly learned that the servers would be shut down, it was already the next day.
I never provided any financial support to the game. The most recent car I obtained — and also the best-performing one — was still an F1 car from several years ago. Only when the final deadline arrived did I have to accept reality and look back, much like the Chinese phrase “gathering morning flowers at dusk.”
Over the years, I completed 1,333 events and raced a total of 2,359 times, earning 946 victories, 75 second places, and 33 third places.
My favorite car was the McLaren MCL34. I drove it 459 times, and my garage holds 91 cars in total.
Of course, I once tried a cracked version. But I have always believed that achievements should not be obtained instantly, and that many results are not meant to be owned at the very beginning. So I chose to uninstall that shortcut.
I would not call myself a hardcore fan — many achievements remain unfinished.
Nor was I a fanatic, endlessly chasing lap records.
But it was the kind of game that, no matter how many phones I changed or how much time passed, its files would always remain in my storage.
Only at this moment did I truly realize that this feels more like saying goodbye to a departed old friend.
Am I saying farewell to its future — or to my past self?
It was also at this moment that I seriously began to ask myself for the first time:
can code possess life?
Is it found in repeated launches and shutdowns?
In installations and deletions?
Or on the day when everything is finally wiped away?
I hope that in the future, it can still leave behind a small trace of itself in the long river of time.
This time, I will take the best-performing car in my garage and drive the best lap I am capable of. I will spend as much time as needed to complete this video.
Not for results,
but simply to exist.
Just like the very first time I entered the game, when those words quietly played:
“The sun is shining every day.”
As Chinese is my native language, my English may not fully express what I truly mean. So I would like to end by sharing my original intention.
说实话，一开始下载《Real Racing 3》，只是出于猎奇。
它是我第一次真正接触到，
模拟、拟真这一类的游戏。
某种意义上来说，
它为我打开了一扇——
无限接近现实，却无法在现实中真正感受的窗户。
也正是从它开始，
我后来才接触到《欧洲卡车模拟》《极限竞速》《神力科莎》《Formula one》等等
这些更完整、更严谨、
也更被人追捧的游戏。
它是零点。
也是无穷的起源。
它并不完美。
对比功能更加强大、反馈更加直接的次时代游戏，
一群人只能在有限的反馈中，
去寻找声音、速度与甩尾的极限，
并为此执着。
它是我在那个时候，能遇见的最好选择。
即使后来我在这条道路上走得更远，
我依然记得——
最开始的那一圈、那一脚油门、那个刹车点，
那条被反复寻找试探的“最佳路线”。
正是因为它的出现，
我才找到了
通过“虚拟”，去触碰现实中遥不可及的梦想：
是成为一个富可敌国的商业大亨？
是周游世界，收揽美不胜收的风景？
还是在分秒必争的围场里，
一次又一次，
只为多争取那么一点点速度。
很可惜，
在我真正得知它即将停服时，
已经是第二天了。
我甚至从未给它提供过任何经济上的支持。
我最新获取的车，
也是性能最好的车，
还停留在几年前的 F1 赛车。
直到最后“Deadline”的到来，
才不得不接受现实，重拾过去，
就像中国的词语“朝花夕拾”。
这些年里，
我完成了 1333 个赛事，
总共跑了 2359 场比赛，
拿下了 946 个冠军、75 个亚军、33 个季军。
我最爱的车型是 迈凯伦 MCL34，
我驾驶过它 459 次，
车库里一共停放着 91 辆赛车。
当然，我也获取过破解版。
但我始终觉得，
成就并不是一蹴而就的，
很多结果，
也不是在开始时就该被得到的。
于是我把捷径卸载了。
我算不上一个死忠粉丝，
很多成就我都没有完成；
也不是一个狂热的玩家，
一圈又一圈地刷新记录。
但它是那种——
无论换过多少手机，过去多少时间，
它的文件都会出现在我文件夹里的游戏。
直到这一刻，
我才真正意识到，
这一切更像是在告别一位逝去的故人。
是在告别未来的它，
还是过去的我？
也正是这一刻，
让我第一次认真思考：
代码，是否拥有生命？
是一次又一次的启动与关闭？
是一次又一次的卸载与下载？
还是在某一天，
被彻底归零？
但愿在未来，
它还能在岁月的长河里，
留下一点属于自己的痕迹。
这一次，
我会用车库里性能最好的车，
跑出我能做到的最好圈速，
用最多的时间，
去完成这段视频。
不是为了成绩，
只是为了存在。
“The sun is shining every day”。
