Any Sim Racing Fans?
Aug 30, 2013 at 1:19 AM Post #121 of 181
I've never played Grand Prix Legends myself, although I've been intrigued from time to time. I'm more of a GTR2 man myself, although I'm planning on trying rFactor 2 when its fledging is more full.

Considering the number of virtual racing devotees on Head-Fi, I've always thought we should organize a Head-Fi Virtual Series - but the issue is that none of us seem to play the same games :p

EDIT: And I think the advances in simulation equipment probably have as much to do with the ease of transfer as any potential dumbing-down of race cars; my own car isn't anything near as computerized as a Formula car, and I've found that simulation driving helps noticeably with the real car.


Nice Idea. I'd be into that. Unfortunately time differences would likely preclude me from online racing (not to mention latency issues - I play BF3 with my buddies in Canada but always have ping in the 250-300 range).

Long, long ago I was in an offline ICR2 league where we would run our race and then screen shot our finishing time and save a reply for verification if needed. Then the race times were charted to determine a winner. Very basic but loads of fun. Ahh, the good old days.


Man, I hope at least one of pCARS, rF2, AC delivers the goods.




--As an aside, anyone keeping an eye on IL-2 Sturmovik: Battle of Stalingrad?
 
Aug 30, 2013 at 3:43 PM Post #124 of 181
What car did you run in the demo. I would say it´s quite hard overall yes but the physics is great so you will learn and adapt as you get used to it. Tires is such that you can´t push like nuts or they will start to overheat and you have to take a calm down lap and then push again they really need to be in the right operating temperature. Also the track conditions change with rubber as you go on. And there is always the electronic aids that is more realistic to use then not to nowadays lol. 
 
rFactor 2 is the best sim I run so far in close competition with Game Stock Car. I am currently in an endurance championship at SimHQ SCES. http://simhqmotorsports.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/forums/392/1/2013_SCES_rF2_Series 
 
Done a 6h race at Mid Ohio and 4h at TWS as well as a 12h at Sebring. Our SSR team had some technical issues at TWS but we are currently in second place in the GT 2 class. Next is 6h of Monza.
 
Assetto Corsa will be nice surely I liked all Kunos previous sims. Ferrari virtual academy could be worth a test if you want to bench yourself against Alonso and Massa they are fast for real obviously :wink:
 
Netkar Pro but there is no real action in these sims so you would have to pretty much race on your own. The communities overall seems more set on rFactor 2, Asseto Corsa. And iRacing. I would love for Game Stock Car to come off. I am surely getting the next season package of it.
 
Aug 30, 2013 at 3:58 PM Post #125 of 181
iRacing is far too expensive for me to ever consider it - even if I had money to burn, I find the price insultingly high. I've been following rFactor2 for a while now, and I'm downloading the demo now to see what I think of its current state; I remember the original as pretty realistic for its day, so I'm looking forward to it...
 
So far it seems like rFactor2 would be our best bet for a Head-Fi series, since there's a lot of players and it's easy to obtain. I personally prefer open-wheel racing and don't do much in the way of endurance racing - never, in fact. The longest I've done is a full 190-mile Formula-style race.
 
I'll post again when I've had some time with the rFactor2 demo and see what I think.
 
Aug 30, 2013 at 5:07 PM Post #126 of 181
Quote:
Has anyone here played rFactor2?
 
I tried the demo and it was brutally hard, I'm wondering if that's just a hard car to drive though?

 
Just finished the demo, so my impressions now:
 
The car is a Corvette C6, so handling is a bit twitchy and you have to steer with your right foot a lot. Personally, I like Corvettes, so once I got used to it that was no issue. I don't know the track the least bit; I did 10 laps and the fastest I got was a 0:57.9, but I have no idea if that's a decent lap or not. I'm thinking not, because I was a real wuss through the chicane. I couldn't get my braking point figured out at all. The next two corners were pretty much flat - they almost reminded me of the Lesmo corners at Monza, although slower and with some elevation changes.
 
I thought the physics model seemed really good, and once I realized that setting damage multiplier to +100% makes your car a Ming vase (realistic for a Formula car, probably not so much for a stock car) I didn't have too much of a problem. Since the damage model is also pretty good once you've banged the car up once you're going to have problems for the rest of the race.
 
The biggest problem I had actually was a bit of an embarrassing one - I'm so used to Formula One racing with paddle shifters and a wheel clutch that my manual shifting is really pretty terrible now. I don't know how many times I spun the car because I shifted down without properly engaging the clutch. I'm also used to Formula brakes, so I went straight through at the first corner and into the tire wall
tongue.gif

 
I thought the AI was good - I did 5 laps alone for practice, then a 5 lap race with the AI. I started 17 out of 22 (random grid position, not my fault) and finished 5th after a spin. I had set the AI down a fair ways from 100% though, so it's not a fair test of their speed. They do actual overtaking moves, which is nice, and they don't yield position like babies, unlike some other big racing games.
 
On the whole, I liked it, and I'll probably get it later, assuming the open-wheel support is there. I think I saw some screenshots of Formula cars when I was on their website, so I'm assuming there's at least some support. Hopefully also a few Grand Prix circuits - I'm partial to Spa, Monza and Suzuka, so I'd like to get at least one of them in there.
 
EDIT: I looked up the track - Lime Rock Park - and apparently the lap record is 43 seconds
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So I guess I'm rustier than I thought...
 
ANOTHER EDIT: Something I forgot to mention initially - the Force Feedback in my wheel (G25) was a bit dodgy; the feedback was detailed and good, but very weak. I couldn't figure out how to turn it up to get any real feeling, so it sort of felt like I was floating on the surface. Does anyone else either a) have this problem or b) know how to fix it?
 
PS: I'd never heard of Battle of Stalingrad, but it looks pretty cool. I don't do flight simulation nearly as much, though - I think it's fun, but I don't have good equipment for it.
 
Aug 30, 2013 at 6:14 PM Post #127 of 181
Thanks for the detailed impressions guys.
 
I am very new to sim racing so I don't think I ever even made it around the track in rFactor2. I'm going to give it another shot now that I'm more used to my wheel but I've mostly been jumping between sims to see how they feel. I got the SimBin pack from the Steam summer sale which includes a bunch of their games... my favorite so far has been GTR2 but RACE07 is also nice. Plus it has the Audi R8 which makes me feel like I'm not a terrible driver.
 
Most of my wheel time has gone to Euro Truck Simulator 2 since I got my wheel though. It's a little more my speed at this point. Awesome game.
 
Aug 30, 2013 at 7:13 PM Post #128 of 181
I've heard good things about that one (Euro Truck 2), and it certainly has impressive graphics. Never played it myself.
 
I've done a fair bit of RACE07 myself, mostly going around the Nurburgring - I have a modder version of the 'Ring for GTR2, but it's not quite as good. I also play the Formula Raceroom expansion thingy as an alternative to the official F1 game when I'm too frustrated with the difficulty level cliffs in F1 2012 (if you haven't played it, there's a gap of about 2-3 seconds of single lap pace between the 4 difficulty levels, leading to one category being much too easy, while the next one up is still too hard). GTR2 is still my favorite at the moment for stock cars, but it doesn't have very much Formula support, which is more of the direction I've moved in.
 
Aug 30, 2013 at 7:23 PM Post #129 of 181
Quote:
 
Just finished the demo, so my impressions now:
 
The car is a Corvette C6, so handling is a bit twitchy and you have to steer with your right foot a lot. Personally, I like Corvettes, so once I got used to it that was no issue. I don't know the track the least bit; I did 10 laps and the fastest I got was a 0:57.9, but I have no idea if that's a decent lap or not. I'm thinking not, because I was a real wuss through the chicane. I couldn't get my braking point figured out at all. The next two corners were pretty much flat - they almost reminded me of the Lesmo corners at Monza, although slower and with some elevation changes.
 
I thought the physics model seemed really good, and once I realized that setting damage multiplier to +100% makes your car a Ming vase (realistic for a Formula car, probably not so much for a stock car) I didn't have too much of a problem. Since the damage model is also pretty good once you've banged the car up once you're going to have problems for the rest of the race.
 
The biggest problem I had actually was a bit of an embarrassing one - I'm so used to Formula One racing with paddle shifters and a wheel clutch that my manual shifting is really pretty terrible now. I don't know how many times I spun the car because I shifted down without properly engaging the clutch. I'm also used to Formula brakes, so I went straight through at the first corner and into the tire wall
tongue.gif

 
I thought the AI was good - I did 5 laps alone for practice, then a 5 lap race with the AI. I started 17 out of 22 (random grid position, not my fault) and finished 5th after a spin. I had set the AI down a fair ways from 100% though, so it's not a fair test of their speed. They do actual overtaking moves, which is nice, and they don't yield position like babies, unlike some other big racing games.
 
On the whole, I liked it, and I'll probably get it later, assuming the open-wheel support is there. I think I saw some screenshots of Formula cars when I was on their website, so I'm assuming there's at least some support. Hopefully also a few Grand Prix circuits - I'm partial to Spa, Monza and Suzuka, so I'd like to get at least one of them in there.
 
EDIT: I looked up the track - Lime Rock Park - and apparently the lap record is 43 seconds
frown.gif
So I guess I'm rustier than I thought...
 
ANOTHER EDIT: Something I forgot to mention initially - the Force Feedback in my wheel (G25) was a bit dodgy; the feedback was detailed and good, but very weak. I couldn't figure out how to turn it up to get any real feeling, so it sort of felt like I was floating on the surface. Does anyone else either a) have this problem or b) know how to fix it?
 
PS: I'd never heard of Battle of Stalingrad, but it looks pretty cool. I don't do flight simulation nearly as much, though - I think it's fun, but I don't have good equipment for it.


C6R is a bit of a tank. You really have to straighten out every corner all you can due to it´s mass. Also it has tons of torque so don´t be afraid to gear earlier then you might think. If you enable auto clutch you don´t have to worry much just paddle shift like you are in an F1 car :wink:. Smoothness is key as always. That is my dilemma I am just not smooth enough :frowning2:
 
In the homepage you see all cars there is plenty of open wheelers already. I am more into GT racing though F1 is just to arcade and goes to fast. Btw if you like open wheelers you can check out Game stock Car. I love the F3 there and also the classic F1 is great fun. Again not a fan of F1 but the F1 car here is among the more fun. A lot is the south american tracks which is just about all very nice and most importantly new. I have done european GP tracks to death already. But it will be easier to find mp races with rFactor 2 most likely.
 
As for iRacing I did the 6 month chevrolet tryout and bought some cars. It´s okay but just didn´t hook me. It´s really expensive but nice format otherwise.
 
As for FFB that is what I like the most. The problem is they don´t compromise with it. I think they lowered the ffb on the G27 because it can´t quite handle it fully. In the old builds it used to totally flip out when going over kerbs or grass. I sit with the T500RS now and the ffb is just superb here. Better then in any other sim I tried followed by Game Stock Car. Then it´s LFS and iRacing for me.
 
Aug 30, 2013 at 7:40 PM Post #130 of 181
Quote:
As for FFB that is what I like the most. The problem is they don´t compromise with it. I think they lowered the ffb on the G27 because it can´t quite handle it fully. In the old builds it used to totally flip out when going over kerbs or grass. I sit with the T500RS now and the ffb is just superb here. Better then in any other sim I tried followed by Game Stock Car. Then it´s LFS and iRacing for me.

 
Ah, that's good then - I don't intend to keep the Logitech too much longer. I have my eyes on upgrading to a Fanatec with a proper Formula rim on it and enough buttons so I don't need to keep reaching over to the shifter array, just as soon as I've cleared out a more proper area in the basement for my setup. A proper cockpit is also a possibility around that time, and definitely a pedal set with a proper brake - the G25 brake has literally zero feel, which makes locking up your brakes perilously easy if you don't use ABS, which I don't.
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We'll see how much abuse my wallet feels like taking when I get there, though.
 
Classic F1 cars are certainly a blast - you get much of the speed, but without the ultra-high downforce that makes a modern F1 car so unlike a normal car. A classic Formula series might be the best compromise between the people who like GT cars and the people who like F1 cars, I suppose.
 
Aug 30, 2013 at 8:37 PM Post #131 of 181
I have the Fanatec Porsche GT3 RS V2 wheel myself, as well as the CSR elite pedals plus the inversion kit. It's a nice wheel and the pedals are really nice. Inversion kit is a bit expensive for what it is(just some metal pieces) but it's worth it IMO.
 
The brake on the CSR elite pedals is quite nice, it's like a real brake where the majority of braking is done using foot pressure rather than just moving it a certain distance.
 
Aug 31, 2013 at 2:28 AM Post #132 of 181
Sorry, is there a demo now for rF2? I mean one that you don't have to buy the game and then do a refund within the time limit? I have been avoiding rF2 up till now. I want to see some AI improvements before plunking down cash. They seemed to be focused on multiplayer for a long while.

Exediron, Game Stock Car has some great 80's F1 action - really, really fun to drive. And I think the AI may even be bit better than GTR2 (and far, far ... far better than rF).
 
Aug 31, 2013 at 4:11 AM Post #133 of 181
Quote:
Sorry, is there a demo now for rF2? I mean one that you don't have to buy the game and then do a refund within the time limit? I have been avoiding rF2 up till now. I want to see some AI improvements before plunking down cash. They seemed to be focused on multiplayer for a long while.

Exediron, Game Stock Car has some great 80's F1 action - really, really fun to drive. And I think the AI may even be bit better than GTR2 (and far, far ... far better than rF).

 
Yeah, there is - the first link under Download Installer on this page is for a free demo with just one car and one track. I was also waiting for a real demo to come out before making any decisions, so I was happy to see it there.
 
As far as the AI goes, in my brief time with it they're pretty decent (assuming you put the skill slider high enough, that is), but they do seem to have the annoying habit of running up along side you and then forcing you to either back off or get spun. I guess they're all Senna wannabes
wink.gif

 
I'll give Game Stock Car a look; you're not the first person I've heard say some good things about it, so it's next on my list of things to try. Is it in the same sort of realism level as GTR2?
 
Aug 31, 2013 at 4:28 AM Post #134 of 181
Both GTR2 and GSC2012 are what rFactor should have been in the first place. GSC feels more refined than GTR2 (noticeably so) in the handling, car behaviour, force feedback, and AI - to me at least. The UI still feels like rubbish rFactor, but once you get in the car, it feels so much better.

I get better sense of mass and momentum from GSC than I do GTR2 and it feels like there's more connection to the pavement through the steering wheel. The stock cars are quite fun, but I really like the late 80's F1 buggies. There's a bunch of converted tracks available for it now too so you can make a historic season if you like ( I have a '91 season set up).



I'll have to download the rF2 demo (thanks for the link) and see what's on offer. Also saw there was a Champcar 05-08 mod released this week for RACE ( I know, crappy game) - but I will probably check it out too.
 

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