Should we have a sim racing omnibus thread?

[Cam]

Yeah, you have to have rubber arms to make the hairpin in iRacing/Long Beach.

[CudaMan]

I can't remember the last time I had a problem with wheel lock. Modern sims should have the wheel at a 1:1 ratio with the virtual car's steering, as long as you have your total wheel degrees set correctly for your wheel (not sure what DD wheels do in this instance since they have no physical stops FWIU). Racing games just work correctly on my T-GT anyhow.

Speaking G2x wheels in general, they are incredibly durable for how inexpensive and "toy-like" they are, I'll give them that. Mine served me well for many years, though I must admit my G27 felt pretty cheap and weird after I went back to it for one weekend from the T-GT.

The weirdest thing my G27 made me do is avoid serrated curbs (apex or exit) in ACC because the FF vibrations over those curbs made the G27 feel and sound like it was going to shake apart. Which of course it didn't. :) But that still slowed me down or made me cringe every time I used a curb.

Even a T300 is a good step up from G27 in terms of wheel FF. The Logitech pedals are definitely better at that level, though.

[Tom Servo]

ACC definitely has the in-car wheel lined up with the actual wheel, and the FF in it feels great. F1 2019 on the other hand, that's the one where I'd say the wheel is going at about a 2.5:1 ratio, where I have to go hand-over-hand to get around slower corners.

I haven't tried the other ones yet only because FS2020 took up all my disk space. Also the only reason I haven't picked up Cyberpunk 2077 yet. I have another drive that I need to install, then I can get back to optimum levels of screwing around.

[Rare White Ape]

Not every game handles wheel rotation the same. Some racers I see on YouTube even have rotation set differently per car. But in general if the on-screen wheel rotation matches your hands then you should be right.

If you're having trouble, the easiest way is to use the tuning menu (here (https://fanatec.com/us-en/faq/details/id/36)) and adjust the maximum rotation. What I do is spin the wheel either 90 or 180 degrees, open the tuning menu, and adjust the SEN value - you can literally see the on-screen wheel change its position live while you're doing it, no need to enter or exit the game - until both wheels line up. It's super handy.

While we are on the topic, I set my brake force (BRF) to 50% with my load cell - just firm enough to give me control without being overbearing. I've never used the V3 pedals but there's a handy hint for you.

Another similar topic, look for and download the Fanalab software. It gives you full access to all of the controls in the tuning menu as well as a few extra features that are in beta at the moment, such as customising the behaviour of the LED rev counter lights or what the 3-digit LCD display shows you on your wheel.

[Tom Servo]

I'll have to look into that, I was just changing the steering saturation in F1 2019 which helped, though it's still not quite there yet.

I didn't realize my pedals had haptic feedback.

[Tom Servo]

The Dark Ages are coming. EA's buying Codemasters, so I wouldn't expect too many more great Dirt Rally's.

https://www.theverge.com/2020/12/14/22173732/ea-codemasters-buyout-agreed-price-need-for-speed-dirt

[Rare White Ape]

I think they'll keep it. Remember the WRC license is coming to Codies from next year. If anything that might make the rally games cheaper overall when compared to the properly expensive full game plus season passes they had in 2.0. So as long as they have the WRC license they will keep churning out yearly WRC titles.

Same goes for the F1 license. Remember when EA used to publish the F1 games back in the early 2000s? They could roll it into the EA Sports library again, but under Codemasters' stewardship.

As for their other titles, it is hard to say what they will do with the DiRT series. It's a well known franchise, but EA already have arcade racers in their stable. And Project Cars... would that be any great loss to the sim racing community?

[Cam]

EA ruins everything it touches.

[Tom Servo]

Oh, I have no doubt they'll keep making Dirt Rally games. I also have no doubt that they'll be pale imitations of what we've gotten in the past.

I'm with Cam. EA (and Activision) have a long history of picking up publishers, focus grouping their franchises to death, then laying off enough of the staff that the publisher exists in name only when they're done with it.

[Cam]

Add Ubisoft to that list.

[Tom Servo]

Ubisoft's left at least some studios mostly alone, but yeah, they've definitely got a history too.

[Rare White Ape]

Fanatec owners:

They're re-releasing the McLaren 650S GT3 rim with some important updates over the original, it's reasonably priced, and it's out today!

It'll feature magnetic shifters (at this price? wat?), upgraded rotary switches, more structural rigidity, improved analogue paddles, and the new simplified quick release from the WRC wheel - which you can still upgrade with the much cooler ClubSport quick release adapter if you wish.

I have been hands-on with the original in real life I've been eyeing them off on the 2nd-hand market for a while now but they've been severely overpriced and sell quickly whenever they pop up. Now that this is out I would seriously recommend anyone with a Fanatec wheel base puts some serious thought into buying one.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBEpDmTMtro&ab_channel=ChrisHaye

[Cam]

I would not buy a wheel that was not round.

[Tom Servo]

That's a very strong stance.

[Blerpa]

I will not buy a wheel I cannot afford.

(But I can selfpleasure myself watching it)

[Cam]

When I have to go hand-over-hand to turn around the hairpin at Long Beach or maneuver my Russian logging truck through the forest, that wheel is... inconvenient.

[Tom Servo]

I could see it being handy for F1 cars and others whose wheels don't go very far lock-to-lock. That is one cool thing about the Fanatec setup though, if I want to get really crazy I can swap the wheel based on what kind of racing I'm doing.

[JoeW]

I'm with Tom and Blerpa. Non round unaffordable wheels are stupid.

[Rare White Ape]

I’ve only ever ‘needed’ a round wheel for rallying. Unless you’re rallying or drifting or driving Russian logging trucks, I believe that if you need to take your hands off the wheel while racing then something’s amiss. There are two situations: you’re navigating the hairpins at Monaco and Long Beach, or you’ve spun out and need to reposition yourself.

But hey I’m not here to force anyone to embrace not-round wheels. You can make do on whatever sim hardware you want.

Moving right along, currently I have a 270mm F1 eSports wheel and a 320mm D-shape GT wheel (which I bought off eBay for $45) attached to a $450 Podium Hub.

When my situation stabilises a bit in the new year I will buy this McLaren wheel for three reasons:
1. It has analogue paddles that can be put into throttle and brake mode which means I’ll be able to sim race again using hand controls while my knee is recovering.
2. The curved top of the GT wheel covers part of the screen, which is really annoying in GT Sport, and since I never put my hand on that part of the wheel it is useless and redundant.
3. Once I get the McLaren wheel I will swap the D-shape wheel rim for a similarly sized round rim on my Universal Hub and use that for rally games.

So yes, I am a bit of a sim racing gear whore who has multiple wheels for my Fanatec setup. It does feel really pimp to remove the wheel and swap it for a different one. I could also reenact the many scenes in many open-wheel races where an angry driver ripped the wheel off and flung it across the gravel pit if I was really keen on immersion :p

[Tom Servo]

It does feel really pimp to remove the wheel and swap it for a different one.

I wasn't kidding when I said I felt cool as fuck taking the wheel on and off. It's surprisingly powerful at enforcing the "I am driving a fucking racecar" feeling.

[Rare White Ape]

And don't discount the hanging onto the removed wheel and doing the whole air guitar version of pretending to drive, paddle flaps and all.

I show my friends my wheels and they all react the same way: woah that's sick!

[Rare White Ape]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0gKExkNKn0&ab_channel=NielsHeusinkveld

[Cam]

I started watching Dave Cam recently. He has Heusinkveld pedals. He said they cost between $1100-1200 Euros! :eek:

[Rare White Ape]

That would probably be the Ultimate pedals. The Sprint pedals are half the price and are geared toward the home user, whereas the heavy duty Ultimates are aimed at professional motorsport simulation or public demo rigs. But you would be surprised at how many home users get the Ultimates instead of the Sprints just because they cost more and are supposedly that much better.

[Phil_SS]

I love well engineered items and if my dedicated hobby was sim racing I wouldn't have an issue with paying for the Heusinkveld pedals.

[Cam]

For sure, but I don't have a real job. :lol:

[FaultyMario]

cuda, do you have rF2?

https://www.fiaformulae.com/en/gaming/accelerate

[Rare White Ape]

Hmmmm saucy.

[Kchrpm]

Another question from Cuda: have you played the console version of ACC on a wheel? Does it mirror the PC version?

[CudaMan]

That FE qualifier looks cool! I'll see if I can find time to do it next week. I'm doubtful it'll work out, but if my ancient rF2 license is easily found and I somehow manage to figure out top 3 pace in a day or two, maybe.

Krunch, I haven't played the console version, I've heard it's identical to the PC version in terms of physics but not graphics, and that there's a framerate limit on console that of course isn't there on PC. I forget that framerate limit, make sure it isn't 30 because that would probably be weird with how advanced and nuanced the physics are.

In other news, real quick before bed, I've been busy today... https://photos.app.goo.gl/fYBq5DcBc1ugHoeg6
[I can't believe it either!]

[Rare White Ape]

Anyone else remember this supposed game?

20 years ago!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEtRKygjAs4&ab_channel=GPLaps

[FaultyMario]

That FE qualifier looks cool! I'll see if I can find time to do it next week. I'm doubtful it'll work out, but if my ancient rF2 license is easily found and I somehow manage to figure out top 3 pace in a day or two, maybe.

Krunch, I haven't played the console version, I've heard it's identical to the PC version in terms of physics but not graphics, and that there's a framerate limit on console that of course isn't there on PC. I forget that framerate limit, make sure it isn't 30 because that would probably be weird with how advanced and nuanced the physics are.

In other news, real quick before bed, I've been busy today... https://photos.app.goo.gl/fYBq5DcBc1ugHoeg6
[I can't believe it either!]

Oh, come on! Not only is it going to be good looking out of the box, I'm sure you are going to find 17 little details that -with a little bit of love and patience- can be adjusted to make it immaculate.

Congrats!

[Rare White Ape]

:twitch:

https://forum.fanatec.com/discussion/22281/fanatecs-groundbreaking-gt3-partnership-means-teams-earn-real-points-from-sim-racing

So Fanatec is now the title sponsor of the SRO GT World Challenge.

PLUS, they're doing this:


During all five rounds of the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup and Total 24 Hours of Spa, esports contests will be hosted using Assetto Corsa Competizione, the official video game of the Fanatec GT World Challenge Powered by AWS. Both Pro and Silver teams will nominate one actual race driver to participate in a virtual race which awards championship points. The official rules and regulations will be announced at a later date.

[Phil_SS]

Anyone else remember this supposed game?

20 years ago!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEtRKygjAs4&ab_channel=GPLaps

Absolutely! Was just thinking of this the other day.

[Blerpa]

Impressive.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpMcWnP8r5w

[Kchrpm]

I remember seeing that live/day of, it was crazy.

[CudaMan]

That is impressive indeed! Racer mindset. [Plus the luxury of having another sim rig handy that can easily slide into place, of course].

The Fanatec / SRO announcement is pretty interesting too. I wonder how that will play out. Sim racing is going places I never thought it would!


Oh, come on! Not only is it going to be good looking out of the box, I'm sure you are going to find 17 little details that -with a little bit of love and patience- can be adjusted to make it immaculate.

Congrats!
Thanks! It won't look any better than normal when I'm done with it, but I do have a few ideas on how to make it suit me specifically a little better.

[Kchrpm]

https://www.motorsport.com/gaming/news/motorsport-games-aco-le-mans-esports-joint-venture/5210295/


Motorsport Games Inc. (NASDAQ: MSGM) (“Motorsport Games”), a leading racing game developer, publisher and esports ecosystem provider of official motorsport racing series throughout the world, today announced an important update to its joint venture agreement with its strategic partner, the Automobile Club de l’Ouest (the “ACO”), which will now see the Le Mans Esports Series Ltd create, develop and publish video games, in addition to esports, based upon the iconic 24 Hours of Le Mans and FIA World Endurance Championship.

[Cam]

That kind of explains why iRacing's "Le Mans" series is now called the "European" series. Someone on iRacing's forums pointed out that the Special Events (which normally includes the LM24H) has only been published until May. This creates speculation whether or not iRacing is going to have a Le Mans 24H race this year. They probably will, but it will not be called that.

[Rare White Ape]

So I guess we will see another couple of rFactor2 Le Mans 24 Virtual races over the coming years but no more Forza Motorsport Le Mans eSports series, and then a new game will take over everything Le Mans in an official capacity once that is finally ready.

I do hope the game they produce is a worthy sim racing title.

[Cam]

Motorport Games still has the Forza Le Mans E-Sports Series on their web site.

Motorsport Games does not appear to actually develop games. They are a marketing company, from what I can tell.

[Kchrpm]

They are now a game producer in addition to being a marketing company, as they invested in 704 Games, the producer of the NASCAR Heat series. They also have a BTCC game coming in 2022, and non-game where you predict race results

https://motorsportgames.com/our-games/

Oh wait...


After having Monster Games develop the first four installments of the rebooted NASCAR Heat series, publisher 704Games took over development and handed publishing over to Motorsport Games.

And the game was not reviewed well. Hopefully they got a new team for the BTCC and any upcoming LeMans games, or are just going to hire some advanced team.

[Cam]

Maybe invest in rFactor 3? *shrug* No one could develop a completely new sim from scratch in less than a year... not a good one, anyway. Like RWA said, Le Mans Virtual will have to be in rFactor 2 for the foreseeable future.

[Kchrpm]

Actually, considering Assetto Corsa Competizione's status and success as the official GT World Challenge game, packaging up a version of rFactor 2 or 3 with the appropriate cars and tracks as the official LeMans game seems like a very smart idea.

[Rare White Ape]

That’s a very good point, assuming the developer is the right team to do it. Games with a very narrow focus on a specific vehicle and race type can potentially be a lot better than those with a wider vehicle and race type. I think ACC is the first modern sim to attempt this and it’s paying off. Kunos just had to get past the whole “is this AC2?” and “where’s the Nurburgring?” nonsense among the proletariat.

My wish list for an official game of the ACO would be quite long and comprehensive: a full season of WEC with all cars and tracks ranging from LMP3 and GT3 (road to Le Mans) up to LMH/LMDH and LM-GT, plus integration with IMSA and a full season of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. Races ranging from 10 minutes to 24 hours. All the tracks from both series. Unf…

You can probably do all this without crossing over with the SRO.

[stephenb]

https://youtu.be/iNP-4tJwkJ4

Just had a quick spin around all the new tracks in my beloved Porsche. Beautiful :)

Oulton Park has some tricky corners in the Porsche with its tendency for lift off oversteer and is very bumpy, as evidenced by my Buttkicker working overtime! Snetterton flat and featureless; Coram also a very tricky corner in a rear engined car. Circuit is missing the corner name boards which I am used to seeing when other race series visit the track. Donington a joy, the old hairpin must be one of the best corners on any race track, period. Doesn't seem to matter what car I'm in I know I've nailed when inducing a subtle four wheel drift through the apex :D

The British GT track DLC also brings offline multi class racing for GT3 and GT4 but only in the British GT championship mode which restricts it to those tracks raced on in the 2019 season - which does include Spa :up: Server browser now has filters which many people have clamoured for.

Edit: turns out you can race multiclass against AI on any track provided you use the British GT rule set.

[Rare White Ape]

Ooooh yeah I love me some Oulton.

Two days ago I had my first real desperate urge to drive again. I’m tempted to awkwardly slide into the seat to see if I’ll even be able to bend my leg enough, but I know it will end in disaster :(

[Cam]

iRacing released it's full 2021 special events schedule... No Le Mans. However, there is an asterisk at the bottom that says, "We are looking to include an additional endurance event in France at some point in 2021." Obviously, they are negotiating with the controlling interests to run a 24H Le Mans. It seems silly that iRacing has done it for years, only to be told now that they can't. It's stupid, but hey, there's money to be made off Le Mans! :smh:

[Rare White Ape]

Hopefully they're just being cautions, to avoid being sued out their arse.

I am sure there will be no problem hosting a 24hr race on that circuit, but I would imagine there will be topics to cover such as it's name, scheduling (typically a week prior to the real event), level of promotion, maybe even the format of the top split, etc.

Don't want to get it mixed up with the LM24 Virtual.

[CudaMan]

I got iRacing set up on the new rig and have run it a bit this past week. The force feedback in iRacing seems to be way behind that of ACC. ACC on a belt-drive wheel is leagues better than iRacing on a DD wheel so far. I've been running older cars in iRacing, the Riley DP and C7 DP. Every once in a while there's some nice detail that comes through the wheel but mostly it's vague and non-linear in the feeling of tire loading. I can run different or additional FF with the SimCommander software when I get that set up. I was just really surprised the "off the shelf" iRacing FF feels so off.

Still getting the new setup dialed in as I make time here and there. Last night I re-did the pedals, adjusting the clutch and throttle positions for rest point and travel, and firmness/compressibility of the brake pedal. And I calibrated the handbrake. :D It'll be fun to try some rallying or drifting this year.

The monitors are G-Sync and they forced that feature on, which is fine, it just took me a minute to figure out why my FPS was capped lower than what I had set in iRacing. Interestingly I had the monitors set at 160Hz at first and iRacing, with the settings I was running, could only stay locked at 160 fps about half the time. The other half it'd dip down, sometimes as low as 80-90 fps, and it could stutter in the process. I set the monitors (in their OSD menus) to 180Hz and iRacing then locked to 144 fps dead steady. No dips, no stutters. I'm confused but happy with that. :lol: I want to try with G Sync off and fps capped around 200fps, see what happens there. On my old system with ACC and a single 240Hz monitor I ran it that way and it was perfect.

[stephenb]

Bryan, cap your framerate to 1 below the max refresh rate of your monitors. This gives the lowest latency on Gsync displays.

[Blerpa]

PC3, or Piece of Crap 3... is still a piece of crap.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BP1x-q7LRW0

[CudaMan]

Bryan, cap your framerate to 1 below the max refresh rate of your monitors. This gives the lowest latency on Gsync displays.

The 180Hz mode is an overdrive mode so maybe that's why the FPS capped itself at 144, 180 not a native refresh rate. iRacing settings have my frames capped at 200, it's probably the nVidia driver overriding that. I'll keep playing with it. On my old single monitor setup I ran with no sync and a fps cap like 10% below my refresh rate. It was butter and had no perceptible lag.

[FaultyMario]

How did you fix the refresh rate issue you had?

[Kchrpm]

PC3, or Piece of Crap 3... is still a piece of crap.

It's quite funny seeing the CBO (Chief Bullshit Officer) Ian Bell now on Twitter finally saying yeah, we were wrong, PC4 will be the most realistic sim ever created, including accurately modeling individual leaves. You snake oil selling mother fucker, your ego check apparently didn't instill enough humility.

[CudaMan]

How did you fix the refresh rate issue you had?

The scrolling lines from the USB-C adapter? That went away on its own, though now that I think about it it might have been when I switched overdrive modes from 160 to 180 Hz. Hmm. More testing may be in order!

[Rare White Ape]

PC3, or Piece of Crap 3... is still a piece of crap.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BP1x-q7LRW0

That YouTube channel is great! How come I’ve never seen it before you shared that video?

[Blerpa]

It's quite funny seeing the CBO (Chief Bullshit Officer) Ian Bell now on Twitter finally saying yeah, we were wrong, PC4 will be the most realistic sim ever created, including accurately modeling individual leaves. You snake oil selling mother fucker, your ego check apparently didn't instill enough humility.

Totally.
Huge vibes of West Brothers once again.
But... less humble!

And RWA, I just started following it myself!

[Rare White Ape]

ARRRRGGGHHHHH

I caved in and bought one of these.

https://www.trakracer.com.au/trak-racer-tr8-mach-3-cockpit-with-monitor-stand-a

https://www.digoptions.com.au/assets/htmlcode/RS6/images/left-first-image-trws.jpg

Currently I use the Next Level F-GT. I honestly cannot recommend it. It's strong but wobbly, and really hard to adjust to my liking. The worst part is just how much the wheel deck moves due to the design of its attachment to the rest of the frame. 2nd-worst is that the seat itself is a tailbone killer after an hour. 3rd worst is actually its selling point: the ability to swap between formula-style and GT-style seating positions means it is OK at both but great at neither.

And I figure since I had only used it in formula mode for a month before permanently changing it to GT mode, I upgraded.

I have a few good excuses:

1. The TR8 has a nice open frame to climb into and I can't bend my injured leg enough to fit into the F-GT
2. Playing racing sims will be great exercise for getting strength back into my leg
3. I'd much rather try my hand at simulated driving before going back out onto the road again - I haven't driven since September (or ridden since October)

And some reasonably shit excuses:

1. I was planning on buying one at some point anyway
2. I've got plenty of time off and I might as well enjoy it fully, rather than staring longingly at my unused sim setup every day

Now, Trak Racer makes a good pre-fab 8020 rig for about $100 cheaper than the TR8, but again the leg access issue is still there with the vertical wheel uprights, and the TR8 comes with a monitor stand if I want to do something like attach a big ol' screen to it down the line and have a permanent rig ready to go. This could genuinely be my 'forever' sim because it'll even handle direct drive loads if I ever buy one of those arm killers.

I'll be back in hospital on Wednesday for an overnighter while they knock me out and manually bend my knee (https://www.roh.nhs.uk/patient-information/knees/913-mua-knee-v2/file#:~:text=What%20is%20an%20MUA%3F,and%20reduce% 20pain%20and%20stiffness.). I am hoping it appears on my doorstep sometime on Thursday so I can get stuck in.

[Kchrpm]

Looks spiffy :up:

My sim racing aspirations have greatly cooled since the peak of the pandemic, so I'm glad I didn't make any hasty choices. But it seems your use and desire completely justifies such an investment.

[Kchrpm]

My wish list for an official game of the ACO would be quite long and comprehensive: a full season of WEC with all cars and tracks ranging from LMP3 and GT3 (road to Le Mans) up to LMH/LMDH and LM-GT, plus integration with IMSA and a full season of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. Races ranging from 10 minutes to 24 hours. All the tracks from both series. Unf…


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85cL1HisrNc

[Rare White Ape]

Looks spiffy :up:

My sim racing aspirations have greatly cooled since the peak of the pandemic, so I'm glad I didn't make any hasty choices. But it seems your use and desire completely justifies such an investment.

All or nothing here!

I’ve decided I will finally hop into iRacing too. Like really really this time I promise.

[Cam]

Whoa. Nice. Break a leg! Oh wait...

[Tom Servo]

https://www.redpelicanmusic.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Sad-Trombone.jpg

[Rare White Ape]

Ha!

Now to pull all the Fanatec bits off the old seat and advertise it on Facebook.

[Cam]

I got a Live for Speed newsletter the other day. It's still a thing, I guess, as they seem to release updates every few years. It's still on version 0.6. I briefly tried it last year after I got a new computer. I still like how it drives. Too bad that it did not go anywhere. It probably still has its die-hard fans. I'm not a big stickler for graphics, but it looks dated, even to me. If Blerpa thinks iRacing looks awful, he must think LFS looks stupifyingly terrible. ;)

[Rare White Ape]

Niels Heusinkveld had a go of it on YouTube a few months ago. He says it still has the best tyre physics of all the sims.

[Cam]

I have to agree with that. You can actually see the tires deforming during corners and bumps if you watch closely. There is an in-game tire temperature and tread wear black box. Tires wear unevenly across the tread (insides wear faster, obviously) and feel different as the race goes, not just, "Oh, I'm losing grip." You can also flat-spot the tires. You can see and feel how the tire wear and temperatures affect the car.

[Kchrpm]

It's wild to me that the sim I played on my laptop in college ~20 years ago has the best tire physics. I'm just going to hope that they aren't the same now as they were then.

[stephenb]

https://youtu.be/1gmXw0dGz3A

Gave me a laugh :lol:

[Rare White Ape]

It'd be nice to take all the best bits of every sim and moosh them all together into one.

GT Sport's visuals and car models

iRacing's laser scanned tracks, it's evolving grip levels, and its online support

ACC's extreme focus on one category and its weather

LFS's tyre physics

rFactor 2's force feedback

AC's variety and modabilitiy

Automobilista's pure innocent heart

[Rare White Ape]

So my new rig arrived this afternoon. I built it all by myself with great difficulty. I adjusted all the distances and angles to my liking. Then I started racing.

It is sooooooooooo much better than my outgoing F-GT. It’s so sturdy and tight. Everything is more or less perfect on it. I only wish there were extra holes on the seat brackets to let me tilt it back a little further.

If you’re ever in the market for a good setup, then I really do recommend t the Trak Racer TR8.

[Kchrpm]

Articles were posted and removed indicating that Motorsport Games was going to acquire Studio 397, the developers of rFactor 2, including a quote from MG's president. Here's a cached version of one of them: https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:qC2BS5CV1Z0J:https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2021-03-03-motorsport-games-moves-to-acquire-rfactor-2+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=firefox-b-1-d

[Blerpa]

I got a Live for Speed newsletter the other day. It's still a thing, I guess, as they seem to release updates every few years. It's still on version 0.6. I briefly tried it last year after I got a new computer. I still like how it drives. Too bad that it did not go anywhere. It probably still has its die-hard fans. I'm not a big stickler for graphics, but it looks dated, even to me. If Blerpa thinks iRacing looks awful, he must think LFS looks stupifyingly terrible. ;)

I agree on everything said.
Still wonderful to drive, especially with a wheel.
Tyres feels is fantastic.

[Cam]

Motorsports Games entered an agreement buy Studio 397 and rFactor.

https://forum.studio-397.com/index.php?threads/new-ownership.69103/

Jeez, that sounds so corporate. MG will become the EA of sim racing; throttle the magic out of everything it touches. Shareholders will be more important than the users of the software. Making a profit will be more important than delivering a good product.

Edit: I somehow completely missed Kch's post. :lol:

[Rare White Ape]

Articles were posted and removed indicating that Motorsport Games was going to acquire Studio 397, the developers of rFactor 2, including a quote from MG's president. Here's a cached version of one of them: https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:qC2BS5CV1Z0J:https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2021-03-03-motorsport-games-moves-to-acquire-rfactor-2+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=firefox-b-1-d

Good old Eurogamer. The author Martin Robinson is their resident based sim racer. He doesn't post much about it, but uses his opportunities well. Did you know he shared a kart track with a young Lewis Hamilton?

Each week they will put up a what are we playing? article. The other writers will comment on a new RPG, a puzzler, or some indie game. Martin will say he's playing a 13-year-old racing sim and he and his buddies will be staying up all night driving a Dallara LMP2 at the Daytona 24 Hour and their team name is Scuderia Chickenhaus.

[Rare White Ape]

Before and after. Look at how GAD DANG SEXY the new setup is.

https://i.imgur.com/ujiOkow.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/KYqkG9Z.jpg

[Kchrpm]

That's hot.

[Freude am Fahren]

Yeah the seat on the F-GT is horrendous.

The frame feels fairly solid for me. I used some felt strips to shim/dampen any movement on the wheel part. It is also a pain to get in and out of, and hurts like hell when you bang your feet or knees or whatever on it. It's also really heavy.

I may just try to replace the seat.

[Rare White Ape]

Yeah it looks like the F-GT has some holes available to attach a different seat. You might need completely different sliders if you wanted to stick a bucket onto it.

[stephenb]

That's hot.

QFT :up:

[Cam]

A YouTuber with a sim racing channel recently called out a modding organization for ripping off other's content and calling it their own. The organization then retaliated against the YouTuber by giving him a bunch of copyright strikes. :smh:

[Rare White Ape]

Yeah. It’s fucked. That company is called Sim Dream Development and they are notorious for copy-pasting other peoples mods or straight-up ripping them from other games, then reselling them and giving no credit or remuneration to the original creators. They even ripped the new iRacing M4 GT3, which was spotted by Jimmy Broadbent and passed along to iRacing’s legal team. Part of their MO is to copyright strike any YouTube videos showcasing the content, basically erasing it from YouTube and making it “their own.”

It’s theft, pure and simple. And now their shady tactics are being extended towards silencing any negative commentary on YouTube, going so far as to take down Mike from SimRacing604 who has a fairly well established presence among simtubers.

So anyway if anyone wants any of Sim Dream’s content for free I’ve got a link to a Google drive that has all of it ;)

[Rare White Ape]

Stuff related to ACC:

Today I learned that the Fanatec GT World Challenge Powered By AWS branding is being adopted in Australia (round 1 is at Philip Island this weekend). I wonder if that means that all teams and circuits for this year's calendar (https://gt-world-challenge-australia.com/calendar/year/2021/) might appear as DLC in the next 12 months. Same goes for the FGTWCPBAWS Asia series as well. Hopefully!

Another thing, with six months out of the seat, ACC has been going very strongly. It has had three new DLC packs (2020 updated cars + Imola, the GT4 pack, and the British GT pack) plus improvements across the board.

But one thing that I'd hoped was addressed but sadly hasn't, is what in my opinion is how the cars feel basically unrecoverable if you lose the rear end. There is zero feel for a car that is sliding even a little bit. I'm not a real-life driver - all of my experience is with fake racing cars, so I rely heavily on FFB to tell me if I'm losing rear traction. So that means in ACC without that information all I have is visual feedback, and that ain't enough! I should note that this is different to the situation I posted about last night in iRacing, where you can catch a slide if you're quick enough.

For example, coming through Brooklands at Silverstone. It's a flat profile with a fast entry and tightening radius. As you decelerate you need to know how much rear grip you have available. The steering will load up as the cornering forces increase, and if you lean on them too much the forces will pull to the right, as is normal. It should be a simple matter of correcting the steering, but then it feels limp because there seems to be no aligning torque centering the front wheels in their direction of travel if the car is sliding. For me that usually results in very slow, frustrating spins into the grass.

Outside of this, the game looks, feels and sounds fhhhuggin fantastic and deserves its place as the best racing sim that's not iRacing. I just wonder if anyone else has encountered what I am describing here.

[Cam]

I've never driven it.

[Phil_SS]

I have only driven it on my Xbox with a controller.

Paging the hotlapper!

[FaultyMario]

Hit It!
Nah, na na na nah


Here comes the hotlapper, murderer
The mechanical gangster, murderer

[stephenb]

Stuff related to ACC:

Outside of this, the game looks, feels and sounds fhhhuggin fantastic and deserves its place as the best racing sim that's not iRacing. I just wonder if anyone else has encountered what I am describing here.

Can't say I've ever felt this problem, I drive the Porsche exclusively (special events not withstanding). ACC feels absolutely fantastic to me on my CSW 2.0 with Porsche 918 wheel. I use the wheel settings recommended by Fanatec.

[Rare White Ape]

Just popping in here right this minute to say that I fucking love sim racing.

[Cam]

:lol:

[Blerpa]

Stuff related to ACC:

Today I learned that the Fanatec GT World Challenge Powered By AWS branding is being adopted in Australia (round 1 is at Philip Island this weekend). I wonder if that means that all teams and circuits for this year's calendar (https://gt-world-challenge-australia.com/calendar/year/2021/) might appear as DLC in the next 12 months. Same goes for the FGTWCPBAWS Asia series as well. Hopefully!

Another thing, with six months out of the seat, ACC has been going very strongly. It has had three new DLC packs (2020 updated cars + Imola, the GT4 pack, and the British GT pack) plus improvements across the board.

But one thing that I'd hoped was addressed but sadly hasn't, is what in my opinion is how the cars feel basically unrecoverable if you lose the rear end. There is zero feel for a car that is sliding even a little bit. I'm not a real-life driver - all of my experience is with fake racing cars, so I rely heavily on FFB to tell me if I'm losing rear traction. So that means in ACC without that information all I have is visual feedback, and that ain't enough! I should note that this is different to the situation I posted about last night in iRacing, where you can catch a slide if you're quick enough.

For example, coming through Brooklands at Silverstone. It's a flat profile with a fast entry and tightening radius. As you decelerate you need to know how much rear grip you have available. The steering will load up as the cornering forces increase, and if you lean on them too much the forces will pull to the right, as is normal. It should be a simple matter of correcting the steering, but then it feels limp because there seems to be no aligning torque centering the front wheels in their direction of travel if the car is sliding. For me that usually results in very slow, frustrating spins into the grass.

Outside of this, the game looks, feels and sounds fhhhuggin fantastic and deserves its place as the best racing sim that's not iRacing. I just wonder if anyone else has encountered what I am describing here.

An italian sim racer has done a video - after a well timed 2 weeks hiatus from any sim racing - about what sim feels more natural and comunicative, especially at first approach.
The main differences between ACC and iRacing were in two areas: graphics (dah!) and the sim way of communicating the limit of losing grip, especially at the rear.

He also tried Assetto Corsa, Automobilista 2, rFactor 2 and Project Cars 2.
Unfortunately he did not try Live For Speed, still the sim with the best tyre model ever created.

[Cam]

Enduracers mod for rFactor had the same no-rear-grip-at-slow-speed problem, resulting in many lazy spins in low-speed corners. I am not the only one to complain about it.

[Rare White Ape]

I've come to really embrace the slip angle in iRacing. I don't use it when I'm not confident, but as I mentioned to Cam on the weekend, it helped me gain 1.5 seconds of lap time with the 488 GT3 and a P2 at Hockenheim in VRS Sprint simply by allowing the car to slide gently on corner entry. The guys in the top splits were still 2 seconds quicker though :p

I could not imagine trying to do it in ACC and having no confidence in the grip. However, since I wrote that post I have seen videos from a few people outlining correct wheel settings for the game (which vary from car to car, and you don't have to do any of that in iRacing) that might help. But I am pretty deep into iRacing at the moment so I don't really see the point in trying to hard to 'fix' that game right now.

[Rare White Ape]

Some new reasonably-priced hotness from our friends in Germany:

https://forum.fanatec.com/discussion/comment/64873#Comment_64873

https://forum.fanatec.com/uploads/965/TYK5WYZ63CW8.jpg

Available Q3 2021.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCT2728F-rY&t=2s&ab_channel=Fanatec

[Cam]

Still more than I am willing to pay at this time. :shrug:

[Tom Servo]

Had a hard time gleaning what makes it better than the one I have now. It sounded like maybe slightly more torque? I do like the smaller form factor, anything that helps with space usage now that I've also got all this Honeycomb gear lying around too is welcome.

[Kchrpm]

Direct Drive wheels are better because the wheel/shaft is directly connected to the motor, allowing for better force feedback. (according to articles I've read, at least) If you already have a direct drive wheel, this likely isn't an upgrade.


Direct drive is the gold standard of sim wheel force feedback technologies. With direct drive, the steering is connected directly to the motor shaft, meaning that all forces transmitted from driver to game and game to driver are undiluted by separate slave motors connected by belts or gearing systems. This allows for a much finer, analog response, rather than the more granular feeling of other technologies.

However it’s also generally very expensive. Up until now, if you wanted a direct drive wheel, Fanatec’s own Podium range started at $1,000. The new CSL DD comes in at a fraction of that, at $349.99.

[Cam]

The price is for the motor only. You still have to pay for a steering wheel, pedals, shifter (if you want one,) and a way to mount it to your table or rig. Not “reasonably priced,” in my opinion.

[Kchrpm]

It's all relative! Some people spend 6 figures on their sim racing setup, and I haven't been able to pull the trigger on a $300 Logitech or Thrustmaster wheel and pedal set to plug into my XBox and put on a wooding folding tray.

[Rare White Ape]

It really depends on your intent with where you wanna go with sim racing. For me that base would be an easy swap-in with the current wheel base as I am already using Fanatec gear.

But remember when you get up towards this price range many people are in the beginning stages of mixing and matching components from different brands while they climb towards the top-end of the gear tree. It doesn’t make you faster though ;)

[Blerpa]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsc4thZPkOQ

I honestly laughed. A lot. Genius.

[Rare White Ape]

:lol:

I’ve seen the top 12 GT Sport Oceania guys having a laugh with the commentary via liveries before. One guy was Russian-Australian and put the pronunciation of his surname on the bonnet. Another driver wrote “Hi Tom!” on his car, in reference to Tom Brooks, who’s Jimmy Broadbent’s co-announcer for the broadcasts. And at one point there was even a KFC livery meme that I cannot explain.

[Blerpa]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkv7e9eEGD4

[Tom Servo]

Preorders for Fanatec's CSL DD drive are up now, it looks like you can only pre-order it if you get the boost module as well.

Annoyingly, different links for different markets.

EU (https://fanatec.com/eu-en/bundles/csl-dd-boost-kit-180-bundle)
US (https://fanatec.com/us-en/bundles/csl-dd-boost-kit-180-bundle)
Australia (https://fanatec.com/au-en/bundles/csl-dd-boost-kit-180-bundle)
Japan (https://fanatec.com/ja-en/bundles/csl-dd-boost-kit-180-bundle)

I guess if you're not in the EU or one of those three other countries, you can go fuck yourself?

[Cam]

The whole, "market is not big enough for us to bother" thing is annoying. :rolleyes:

[Rare White Ape]

I’m surprised to see that pre orders are still available. Wave 1 (for existing Fanatec customers) sold out in less than a day. This is wave 2.

But anyway, if I buy one it’ll be the planned PlayStation compatible version and it won’t be for quite a while.

[Tom Servo]

I think this is wave 3. I got an invite for wave 2 as an existing customer yesterday and then the open invite today, I'm assuming wave 1 was for people who've spent enough money with them or something.

[Rare White Ape]

Ahh yes, it's wave 3. Wave 1 was for people with an order history.

Meanwhile, they have updated a few pieces of gear with a lower price and more features:

There's the Universal Hub V2, that now comes with magnetic shifters and updated innards, which comes in two flavours: vanilla (PS4 ready, PC) and Xbox (PS4 ready, Xbox, and PC) with the Xbox one being slightly more expensive.

And then the Formula V2.5, a rather tasty carbon fibre jobbie that also now includes magnetic shifters. Though not as sexy as the F1 limited edition wheel which sold out in a matter of hours last week.

All of which are upgradeable to the new quick release system which will come out alongside the BMW M4 GT3 wheel in the future.

It seems as though Fanatec is phasing out regular non-magnetic shifters entirely over the coming months, except for their super-dooper cheap stuff. like the CSL hub and WRC wheel.

[stephenb]

Picked up AMS2 + 20/22 season bundle in the Steam sale. Don't know when I'll get around to trying it I generally don't race during the summer. Heard enough good things about it recently to give it a go.

[Blerpa]

Series Registration – Ferrari Esports Series
https://esports-registration.ferrari.com/series-registration/

Register to this to get the code for Steam (in your email) for a free new Ferrari 488 GT3 Challenge for Assetto Corsa (AC).
Enjoy!

[FaultyMario]

Blerpa's link is only useful for lighter skinned neanderthals.

[Yw-slayer]

Blerpa's link is only useful for lighter skinned neanderthals.

Yes, save for the possible exception of Turkey.

[FaultyMario]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D0o5AVKXcAA8SOs.jpg

Tarkans are included.

[Blerpa]

Blerpa's link is only useful for lighter skinned neanderthals.

Uh, what happened?

[Rare White Ape]

The competition is only for Europeans.

But you can still get the free cars by picking a random country from the list.

[Blerpa]

Sorry guys, did not know about the limitation.

[Yw-slayer]

Not your fault.

[Kchrpm]

Motorsport Games has confirmed that they have a new NASCAR game in development, NASCAR 21, and it is using Unreal + rFactor 2 physics instead of the previous engine from the Heat series.

https://www.ign.com/articles/motorsport-games-confirms-nascar-21-new-engine-new-physics

Motorsport says they want to have multiple branded series like this. There's no mention in the article of supported hardware but I would assume PC and hope for consoles.

[Kchrpm]

Motorsport says they want to have multiple branded series like this.

https://twitter.com/A_S12/status/1415642317302779905

https://www.indycar.com/News/2021/07/07-15-Motorsport-Games


INDYCAR has formed a new, official partnership with leading racing game developer, publisher and esports ecosystem provider Motorsport Games Inc. (NASDAQ: MSGM) to create and distribute INDYCAR video games, with a debut title expected to launch in 2023 on Xbox and PlayStation consoles and PC.

In addition to the new game, an NTT INDYCAR SERIES esports competition featuring potential driver participation and collaborations could begin as early as this year. Details will be announced at a later date.

https://digbza2f4g9qo.cloudfront.net/-/media/IndyCar/News/Standard/2021/07/07-15-Game-Palou.jpg?h=564&la=en&w=940&vs=1&d=20210715T030351Z

[Rare White Ape]

Good!

But also, poo!

iRacing already has a licence, and I’m still green with that game. I missed out on a proper Le Mans special event by a year. That sort of thing IS my jam, baby. I should spend the next 18 months making the most of IndyCars in iRacing.

My current thoughts are that it might be the wrong business decision to have multiple titles for each individual series. People slate iRacing for how archaic it is in modern times but at least you’re guaranteed a consistent level of quality for your subscription fee.

[Blerpa]

I'm always amazed people still plays rFactor 2.
I notice even more Grand Prix Legends aficionados than big R ones and I don't see any streamer pushing the title online.
At least they have the Indycar license to push, though in the busy market with iRacing, Assetto Corsa, Automobilista 2 and Raceroom for multi series (Indycar as well) and AC Competizione for GT racing, I wonder where they will stand.
Without forgetting Gran Turismo and Forza Motorsports.

Let's see, maybe they will do something nice.

[dodint]

I see this as a console announcement as I'm not buying into yet another PC 'sim'.

[Kchrpm]

The WEC is joining the party in 2023 as well: https://www.racedepartment.com/news/wec-game-expected-in-2023.112/

[Blerpa]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PiFNIlVPCI

Think about being such a buffoon to believe rain in sim racing is a gimmick. In 2021.
That or a certain company from Massachusetts.

[Rare White Ape]

I watched both videos. I agree with Gamer Muscle for the most part. It’s the same scenario from the mid 2000s when everyone wanted damage in simcade games, and when they finally got damage they found it made driving frustrating and turned it off anyway.

It’s only been the last few years where dynamic weather can begin to be done with the right level of fidelity. The first time I experienced good dynamic weather to a satisfying degree was in ACC in a career mode race: Hungary at night, starting with a wet track that dried out gradually, leaving a dry line with small rivers of water flowing across the track at certain points. It was very intense. And that was back when everyone was still shitting on ACC because it wasn’t as good as they’d hoped… but that game has progressed in leaps and bounds.

I think the only way to make dynamic weather make sense is if it’s made to be nothing notable. And by that I mean don’t exaggerate it’s presence. Whenever you see rain in a game it’s in torrential downpour conditions to show off the visuals, or you start a race in the dry and oh! suddenly it’s pissing down and everyone has to pit on lap 2. Nobody ever does it subtly. Feel our physics! We can do crappy handling!

I think ACC can almost do it realistically. But that game hasn’t got a built-in matchmaking system to the same level that iRacing does, which is a shame. The market can probably only cater for one game where people pay that much to subscribe and maintain a service like that.

iRacing could definitely do it from a physics point of view by making some adjustments to its dynamic track system. The visuals that compliment such a system would probably cause headaches for a lot of racers because it’s an older title and many of these people have delicately balanced settings to get it to run smoothly on lower-spec systems. So it will be a while off before it’s introduced into iRacing. Hell, they’ve only just upped the unique car count to 7 per race and are maybe sorta thinking about updating to DX11 graphics!

If they DID make it a feature in iRacing, the smart thing to do would be to never introduce rain into rookie and D class races, only have it in races that are longer than 1 hour, and give all players a tab on the menu showing local weather conditions with a simple rain radar so that they can predict and make adjustments to their strategy.

[Rare White Ape]

Hmmmmm......

https://scontent.fool1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.6435-9/s2048x2048/237310318_6721045594588368_2562479671861755139_n.j pg?_nc_cat=105&ccb=1-5&_nc_sid=9267fe&_nc_ohc=x2Eetlf5LL4AX9gwQM_&tn=vZaJsNnQ3UFAk2Ay&_nc_ht=scontent.fool1-1.fna&oh=656f98a7695eccf0bd8d953aaf590547&oe=613E1ACF

[Kchrpm]

It's for their mobile game

https://www.gtplanet.net/assetto-corsa-mobile-previewed-20210813/

[Rare White Ape]

Oh... oh no...

Oh well!

[Rare White Ape]

https://youtu.be/5Rdo7XpqkRw

AC Mobile shown off. It’ll be about as good as you’d expect a sim with touch controls to be. E-sports and British GT driver James Baldwin is seen to be really struggling to play it in the video.

Meh.

[dodint]

"sim"

[Blerpa]

"sim"

Probably still more "sim" than Codemasters' F1 2021.

[Blerpa]

Hey people, who here has the TR8 Trak Racer? An acquiatenance is possibly buying it and he is worried about two things: back problems with the seat and that the pedal plate is sturdy enough to not flex when in use.
What do you people reckon? I may recall RWA and Yobbo have this, but I'm not sure.

[Rare White Ape]

Yeah I have one.

Seat: if they have back problems just buy some foam from a hardware store and shape/attach where needed. All racing seats are hard and uncomfortable in some way. I added a cushion for the bottom of mine to ease the pressure on my tailbone. Otherwise I’m good with it, and I’ve got herniated discs!

Pedal plate: stiff as you want. I run load cells and it moves only a few mm when pushed really hard. The Mach 3 version of the rig includes updates to make the pedal plate even stiffer.

[Tom Servo]

Got an email from Fanatec that my CSL DD base is delayed due to worldwide supply chain and shipping problems. I am not shocked by this.

[Yobbo NZ]

What he said above.
I tilted the seat down at the back from the original setup instructions. That helped a bit with my back getting a little sore.
I'm finding my ass is getting a bit sore, but like RWA said, a little more foam will help.
Other than that, it's a damn good setup for the price.

[stephenb]

I may have just found my new favourite combo in sim racing :) Brabham BT46B around 90's Spa in AMS2. I may be dog slow but what an experience. Good to give my h-pattern a work out once in a while and practice my heel 'n toe. And now that I can crank the graphics (I've got everything on high 1.2, super sampling) and comfortably maintain 90FPS in the Rift CV1 it looks great and runs butter smooth. Which having played ACC exclusively the past couple of years is a welcome change :lol:

[stephenb]

A little taster of how I've been spending my time recently :D


https://youtu.be/2GrBAFsvwmY

[Tom Servo]

The good news is that my CSL DD wheelbase arrived today. It is pretty small and very heavy.

The bad news is that it didn't ship with a desk clamp. I don't remember being given the option to order one when I placed my order a while ago, but now that I know, it's $30 for the clamp and another $13 to ground ship it from La Mirada, which is a whopping 30 miles away.

Meh.

[2ndMoparMan]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i38wWkRHr2w

The ultimate punterino.

[Kchrpm]

That was strange.

[Rare White Ape]

Motorsport Games has confirmed that they have a new NASCAR game in development, NASCAR 21, and it is using Unreal + rFactor 2 physics instead of the previous engine from the Heat series.

https://www.ign.com/articles/motorsport-games-confirms-nascar-21-new-engine-new-physics

Motorsport says they want to have multiple branded series like this. There's no mention in the article of supported hardware but I would assume PC and hope for consoles.

It's already not looking good. David Schildhouse was given early access to NASCAR '21 to stream on Twitch. The game featured multiple oddities and glitches, most famous of which is where his car was teleported to pit lane on the white flag lap and then spent the next 10 hours making repeated pit stops while he slept. I'm sure this will be fixed, but not a good look for a publisher who is trying to muscle its way into the sim racing space.

Watch it here from the 4h 27m mark :lol:

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1180695836

[Kchrpm]

Related: https://twitter.com/BlackFlagMatter/status/1450287289494478851

They got themselves in some trouble. Can they patch themselves out?

[Rare White Ape]

Oh sheeeeeeeeeeit

Worse than Cyberpunk

[FaultyMario]

Is it a problem of the (red)engine?

[Rare White Ape]

Red engine?

As far as I know, this is built in Unreal Engine, with the rFactor 2 physics engine underneath that.

It’s most likely a problem of it being early access. If it’s still like that on full release then it’ll be a problem of low quality product development.

[Cam]

EA style!

[Tom Servo]

Finally got the desk clamp for the CSL DD. Took a surprising amount of time considering I can ride my bike to where it shipped from in like an hour and a half.

I really like it so far. I don't know that I feel *that* much difference from the CSL Elite 2.5 I was using before. It feels a bit stronger maybe, but there's still that same force but subtlety that the Elite had and, as expected, none of that gear-driven notchiness. It's incredibly quiet, I don't think I heard a single sound out of it, but I am getting a bit of an unnerving *clank* out of the wheel when I hit a curb or something. I think it's something in the quick release mechanism, presumably it's not actually a problem, just a bit annoying. It's a bit taller than the Elite but significantly narrower, which means it's easier to store away when I take it off the desk. That is a huge bonus for me. I also really like that they use USB-C for the USB connection now, which means it can share a USB cable with my Honeycomb gear.

It actually does take some force to turn the wheel. It tops out at 8Nm, I'm afraid of the 25Nm from the top of the line DD2 wheelbase.

Happy with the purchase, and happy that I think I may have found a home for the old CSL Elite wheelbase. It's the PlayStation version and someone at work has grand schemes for when GT7 comes out.

[Kchrpm]

It’s most likely a problem of it being early access. If it’s still like that on full release then it’ll be a problem of low quality product development.

It has been reported that the version distributed to all streamers is indeed the launch version, with the day 1 patch included.

https://twitter.com/RealRadman/status/1450618168620224512

And this is how they have responded to the posting of and reporting about all of the issues:

https://twitter.com/NASCARignition/status/1450966977569300482

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FCLd8kJX0AIq4JH?format=jpg&name=4096x4096

[FaultyMario]

red engine is what those polish cyberpunk developers are using.

i wouldn't think it was the unreal one as that one is used in that trucking sim.

[Cam]

It tops out at 8Nm, I'm afraid of the 25Nm from the top of the line DD2 wheelbase.
Many years ago, I once drove an endurance race in a go-kart (6-hour, with a team of 4.) I do not know what force it took to turn, but it was significant. I pulled a muscle or something in my abs and could barely get out of bed the next day. Within the same year, I also had the pleasure of driving two older Formula Fords. They were way easier to steer than the kart.

At what point is the force realistic? I am not sure having higher force would be better. Of course, it depends on the car, but I can't see modern race cars being super difficult to steer.

[Tom Servo]

They claim that 25Nm is the peak force in a modern race car with power steering. When I drove the Skip Barber car, the forces felt stronger than what I'm getting now, but part of that might have been the tiny diameter steering wheel (I'm seeing it was probably about 7 inches). There was not a lot of mechanical advantage there. I definitely wouldn't say it felt 3x+ what I get out of the CSL DD though.

[Tom Servo]

One issue I'm having with the CSL DD is that the table clamp (that you have to pay extra for) is not the best. The left side especially kept slipping as I was racing, every few laps I'd have to take a second on the front straight to push it back into place. Not an issue for those of you with actual rigs set up, but if you just need to attach it to a desk, I found the CSL Elite's clamp to be much more stable.

[CudaMan]

A DD wheel clamped instead of bolted down does seem like it'd be a challenge.

[Rare White Ape]

To be fair it is a low power DD wheel and should be as easy as clamping a CSL Elite to a table.

[Rare White Ape]

It has been reported that the version distributed to all streamers is indeed the launch version, with the day 1 patch included.

https://twitter.com/RealRadman/status/1450618168620224512

And this is how they have responded to the posting of and reporting about all of the issues:

https://twitter.com/NASCARignition/status/1450966977569300482

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FCLd8kJX0AIq4JH?format=jpg&name=4096x4096

Back to this discussion:

Sizeable oof. Jimmy Broadbent does not approve.

https://youtu.be/I7HEvsvXPMo

[stephenb]

Calling all CART fans!
https://forum.reizastudios.com/threads/automobilista-2-november-development-update-part-2.21794/

[Kchrpm]

I am looking forward to seeing videos from those races.

[Blerpa]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSrUvOdoMxM

[stephenb]

CART has arrived :D


https://youtu.be/izFg6dUS8BI

[Kchrpm]

Looks good!

[stephenb]

What's not to like about these cars :D


https://youtu.be/SFyK1G8h348

[stephenb]

At the risk of spamming! Got my 15 minutes of fame earlier on today thanks to Dave Cam :D


https://youtu.be/rSdaFt9-hY4

[Rare White Ape]

That makes two of us :D

I was in an iRacing video with him a few months ago. I didn't do too well :(

[Rare White Ape]

I finally got round to watching that Dave Cam video. Man there was some poor driving on display here! And you did well to navigate and stick with Dave to the end.

I'm curious, was that race hosted by simracing.gp or whatever it's called?

[stephenb]

That was a top split race (1/5) on the games official competition servers. I think the racing has got a little more frantic since they reduced the length to half an hour. Used to be 1hr races predominantly with some being 45m.

[Cam]

I only just heard of this now, but apparently, Live For Speed now allows mods. Not really a big enough deal to get me to race LFS. Too little, too late, really. :shrug:

[Cam]

At the risk of spamming! Got my 15 minutes of fame earlier on today thanks to Dave Cam :D

He paid you a nice compliment too. :up:

[Blerpa]

Ermin Hamidovic is a quite flamboyant sim racing personality but the first 3 minutes of this video comprises of what I find lacking in many sim racers these days: knowledge, interest in real motorsport and accumulated experience in various sims.

I mean... really, you have never raced in Lime Rock Park in a game or sim? Have you started sim racing like yesterday?
Also, you don't know there are series that do standing starts? Or in general most motor racing?
(Yes, Mazda Cup in US do rolling starts, point is it should not take much to learn about the race you are going to be involved in a short bit).
Lame, truly lame.
And it is more common than I thought.
Bah.
This is like when people racing in sims expects blue flags to work in GT or endurance series like in F1.
Dear lord, get informed.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpnw8xSmu0I

[Rare White Ape]

He’s also a bit of a right wing chudweasel who adores Trump and moved away from Australia to escape lockdowns and vaccine mandates which are designed to limit the spread of COVID. I refuse to watch any of his videos.

[Blerpa]

Good to know, I was already a bit fussed about him in the whole confusing fallout stuff with Overtake (which are better off without such a "star").
Looks like the usual capitalist rich kid self made (of shit).

[Cam]

I watched a couple of his videos, so YT often suggests his videos to me, especially when he has a new one out. I did not watch the videos, but he had one several months ago that said he was moving to the Nurburgring. His most recent video was, "Why I am not moving to the Nurburgring." :erm: What happened between him and Overtake?

[Blerpa]

A month passed before he finally explained it in the video I'll link in this post: basically if he moved to Germany for work any income from all his activities in other countries would be taxed by german fiscal tenure which is like 42-45% and he, poor lamb, would be really paying too much in taxes in that case (which also felt a bit like a slightly arrogant flex in his "I'm a genius entrepeneur since I was 18 year old and I'm a god given value" stance).

EDIT: seems the highest you pay normally in Germany is 38%.
42% and more are for annual income over 240,000 euro, which in my book means you are fucking rich.


https://youtu.be/vZZ2AfzvPa0

Also this.
What a clown.

https://i.imgur.com/TiweDh3.png

[Rare White Ape]

So he’s NOT working with Overtake?

Does this mean I can watch their videos again?

[Blerpa]

Yes, we can!

[Rare White Ape]

Fabulous!

[Rare White Ape]

The Le Mans 24 Hours Virtual is on now, and I just don't care enough about it to watch :lol:

[Blerpa]

Ok, I need some thoughts about what happens in this clip - the game is F1 2021, a league race:


https://clips.twitch.tv/RichObservantFlamingoRlyTho-CTi7hApzJlRcC0r9

[Rare White Ape]

That’s a tough one to call. If I was the Ferrari driver I would have pulled out and gone for an overtake into turn 4.

I can’t really assign fault though. Maybe if the Ferrari was further alongside then it would be the Mercedes at fault.

[Cam]

IronGeko is at fault, IMO. First, they overcooked the corner, went wide, leaving not much space for FakeAndrew. Then, they went for the next apex, despite FakeAndrew having significant overlap. Typical over-aggressive driving from a douchebag driver.

[stephenb]

Ferrari driver went for a gap that was always going to disapear.

[Blerpa]

I'm back, sorry for the absence.
Ferrari driver was passed fair and square at the end of a straight.
Mercedes driver went wide but Ferrari driver stayed easy on the track (as per ANY real motor racing series), so no fault at all, just racing.
Ferrari driver was more than half a car lenght behind, out of ideal trajectory, out of priority to the corner and was going to "try" to pass transiting outside the track, but ended up punting the car ahead.

I find interesting Cam believes a driver behind can legitimally punt another one in front.
Also interesting to hear a driver is deemed a douchebag from analyzing a single valid and correct pass (to me, obviously).

EDIT: forgot, the series steward sided with Cam's opinion.
"The Driver of Car 58, while transiting turn 2 in Lap 12, left no space on the
inside of the turn while Car 39 was significantly flanked"

Significantly flanked.
In a track as wide as a motorway as Barhain.

It has erupted a lot of clamor and polemics among drivers and spectators.
But then we all settled down: it just means it is legal to punt someone when you are behind.
Good to know.
Forgot... the Ferrari driver is a friend of the series' steward.

[Cam]

The car was not behind though. How is that not apparent to you in the video? :erm:

I wish I could see another angle. If a car is "significantly flanked" (which I assume means the cars are side-by-side with enough overlap) then it is up to both cars to leave room for each other on the track. Clearly, IronGeko did not do that. :shrug:

I can see how it would be controversial.

I apologize for calling them a d-bag. I threw that out there too casually. However, I often deal with that kind of aggressive driving in iRacing and had someone do the same thing to me before my response.

Fast-forward to 44 minutes in to see me review the incident.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CS6yyGU3ndg

[Rare White Ape]

Yeah nah I think more weight of a penalty should be placed on the Ferrari than the Merc. Pulling an outside move at turn 1 in Bahrain is very ambitious. If he was trying to compromise the Merc's corner exit then he'd need to be way further forward. Look at the two cars ahead in the video and see how it can be done.

I have the same opinion as before: the Ferrari driver should have slotted in behind the Merc, kept his momentum, and used the DRS zone just ahead to attempt a pass into turn 4.

[Cam]

The Ferrari's front wheel is ahead of the other car's rear wheel at the time of impact. Regardless of what else is happening, the other car should leave them room, as there was enough overlap. If you think the Ferrari was "behind" the other car, you're not watching the same video I am.

[Kchrpm]

You know what I see when I watch that replay?

- A Mercedes driver that is so focused on the two cars in front of them, they don't notice/respect the car behind them
- A Ferrari driver so focused on the Mercedes in front of them, they don't notice/respect that the Merc driver is not going to notice/respect them because of the drivers in front of them

This, to me, is a "racing deal". There was so much focus on the action directly in front of them that the drivers did not sufficiently consider the bigger picture. IMO it's just as important to see everything around you as it is to understand that no one else sees everything around them.

The Mercedes driver should have seen the Ferrari's move in the mirrors, the Ferrari driver should have assumed the Mercedes driver would not see his move in the mirrors. They both should have been more cautious and lived to race another corner.

Just my opinion.

[JoeW]

I steward an online series as well and we have a rule that it is the responsibility of the following driver to complete a pass cleanly.

It appears to me that the Merc drove in deep on the first right hander shown in the clip because he is off the normal line. But he made it stick and is clearly ahead of the Ferrari. At the point of the first apex the Ferrari is half a car behind the Merc. Then they both straighten out and go for the next apex. The Merc clearly having the favorable line now. The Ferrari has a front wheel on the rear portion of the Merc sidepod...which, if they were going down the straight and heading into a braking zone, I would say the Ferrari had established some overlap. BUT in this situation it was a hard right turn, hard left turn. The Merc can't see the Ferrari after the first apex. He has made a clean pass (or was already ahead) on the Ferrari. Now he is driving for the open track (and apex) in front of him. The Ferrari guy clearly was just going to go for that spot on the track no matter who was there.

I would say no penalty. But if he had hit the Merc hard enough to spin them both I would give a penalty to the Ferrari.

Now I don't play the game they are playing so I can't comment which game options are always on but I don't know of any decent driver that uses "Driving line: On". This has noob written all over it.

[Kchrpm]

*cries* I use driving line! But only for braking

[JoeW]

Whoops...insert foot in mouth ;)


https://youtu.be/EPC0Kn03Ork

[Tom Servo]

I kinda love this.

https://www.reddit.com/r/arduino/comments/tnknlo/using_an_arduino_uno_to_control_servos_from_a/

[Rare White Ape]

Damn that is cool!

[Kchrpm]

There's a sim-racing focused Humble Bundle: https://www.humblebundle.com/games/ultimate-racing-sim-bundle

[Rare White Ape]

Damn that looks like good value.

[Rare White Ape]

For no reason other than curiosity I have downloaded the GPL2020 demo, and I am really curious about how one gets into NR2003. I've found a site that looks like it is archiving a buttload of NR mods, and I have seen some videos of really good AI NASCAR racing, so I might spend a bit of time exploring that sim just for the hell of it.

[dodint]

Imagine if someone took NR2003 and spent the last 15+ years building all kinds of racing around it. And it's populated with live racers all day every day.

[Cam]

I can still hear Ned Jarret's voice in my head, "From Papyrus, this is NASCAR Racing." :lol:

Oddly enough, I only ever tried that game once. The PC I was using was not powerful enough to run it.

[dodint]

Oh yeah, the original? I had it for DOS with my 486 computer. I remember the paint function was a completely different executable so you'd have to leave the game to get into the paint shop. I only had enough processing power to run a livery on two cars. :lol:

[CudaMan]

It's Paul Page's voice I remember. :) "From Papyrus, THIS, is IndyCar Racing!"

[Cam]

Exactly. :lol:

[Blerpa]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMPiecaXNK8

[Blerpa]

Dan Suzuki on ACC as well... what the hell is going on? Just a break from iRacing or some kind of statement from "some" of the "populars" against iRacing? (LOL)
Meanwhile it seems Pablo is cursing constantly against ACC... some things never change (LOL x 2).

I am the tortoise in ACC, Keith [replying to the post in the iRacing thread].
But I rather be safe and get to the end than to jeopardize mine and other people's race throwing out SA points with risky manouvers.
That's not what ACC reasonate... and so my reckless teammate - he is quick, tries to be fair but also takes way more risks than me - has got +59 SA points in a week of online racing (I was at 48, now at 52, he was at 4, then at 63) whilst not finishing some races and so on.
But... he lost all of 10 SA points yesterday in a single afternoon because of public lobby races and punters, so he ragequit, uninstalled ACC (and all the other sims he had installed) because the "way it works is retarded".
Yet to ACC system he is a better driver than me.
Duly noted.

I told him to try iRacing, maybe it would find that system fairer... but he thinks paying a subscription plan for a game is unfair, obsolete and morally wrong.
Cool story, bro. Fine, really, to each his own.
But now I'm without a teammate for the October GT3 championship (ACC) in the community I'm in; that means I will enroll as a privateer and out of 10 races I'll probably miss 2 of them since they are endurance and a pilot switch is mandatory.
Lame arse.

[Rare White Ape]

Was your team mate perhaps caught out by some sort of ELO system with the SR points in ACC? In other words, making gains quickly while his SR was low, but then losing them quickly where it's weighted to punish better drivers more if they make mistakes.

I have no idea how the ACC SR system works, but in iRacing the SR is calculated by the number of corners per incident, and you need to maintain an average of 25 corners per incident point to stay at the maximum A 4.99. It's harder to keep a higher CPI average than a lower one, so high SR drivers could lose lots of incident points quite quickly if they have a few bad races, whereas rookies and lower licence drivers can easily get up to a B or A licence by being clean for a dozen-or-so races.

[Kchrpm]

iRacing streamers will dip their toes in other games just to have the conversation around it, no need to send a message. Gotta mix things up and then tell people to leave their opinion in the comments, like and subscribe, hit the bell, etc etc.

[Blerpa]

RWA, obviously he made gains quickly because he started with non existant SA (he had 4, out of 0 - 100 max), but also the system is made so you gain more and more if you pass people or stay engaged with them without doing an incident.
There's not only SA in there, but also Trust, Pace and other stats... the bigger difference from iRacing is that, albeit punishing both the culprit and the victim in a shunt in both games, in iRacing - IIRC - there's different grades of penalty points deducted from each drivers according to the degree of gravity of the incidents.
In ACC it is always the same, no matter if it was a minor touch or a big crash, if I've understood right.

It remains the fact that we did an hour race in Spa in a public lobby last week: it was late at night, like from 11pm to midnight, we qualified 6th and 9th or such, out of like a dozen racers... people made mistakes, some retired, my friend got up to 2nd place (first place racer was an alien compared to the rest of the field) and I was at 4th place.
There was no mandatory pitstops but in the end I realized I had put not enough litres in the tank and I wouldn't be able to finish the race, I tried lift and coast, I went to a saving engine map... still couldn't help.
So I dived into the pits for a splash and go.
The third placed driver made a big mistake at Eau Rouge so I actually passed him since he was repairing the damaged car at the pits.
My friend soon had the same fuel troubles as me... he decided to pit, refuelled, then started again.
I was third by then and it was like 40 minutes I did drive by myself almost all the time.

By midnight and with still some minutes to go my friend said "Fuck this, I've to wake up at 5am to go to work!" and disconnected.
I ended up 2nd, the guy I passed in the pits got third and my friend was registered at 4th in the end, even if he retired.

I earned 2 SA points for the whole race, keeping my place, not having incidents and bringing it home in a podium position.
My mate, having incidents and retiring willingly... got 8 SA points.

If I'd be salty I'd abandon sim racing, but I honestly do not care much about ratings and such (I've already stated in the iRacing thread that at times it seems it becomes an obsession and it matters more than the racing and fun itself), but I find laughable the fairer and safer racer get less points by the system than the other one.
I mean, ok, my friend did more passes, stayed more in the pack in front, but in the end, if we talk about concrete performance and results... I got 2nd and he didn't even finish the race! LMAO

Keith: actually just 30 minutes ago some fellow iRacing racers visited Dan Suzuki's stream and they were pretty snarky about iRacing, Dan itself, which is not the hothead type like Pablo.
It seems they are unsatisfied about the structure and also about the last season choices.

[Kchrpm]

Oh I'm not saying people aren't unhappy with iRacing, they always have been and always will be. But unless they completely stop paying for and playing in iRacing, I don't think it's a big deal. There's no reason to not bounce around and play different sims when they're mostly reasonably priced or even free to play.

[Blerpa]

I'm not saying that it is a big deal, either.
I find it funny they have chosen this way to communicate their displeasure with iRacing... unless they stop paying, playing and making live videos on iRacing while escaping en masse on ACC or Automobilista 2 there's not much they will achieve.
IF there is anything they want to achieve, anyway.
Maybe it's just what it is: they don't like this week of iRacing, they are bluntily honest about it and they have decided to play something else for a bit.
Fair enough, I mean, it's not like they are forbidden by law to play other sims.

[Kchrpm]

Maybe it's just what it is: they don't like this week of iRacing, they are bluntily honest about it and they have decided to play something else for a bit.
Fair enough, I mean, it's not like they are forbidden by law to play other sims.

That was always my take, a result/limitation of the coordinated calendar.

[CudaMan]

What's the importance of Safety rating in ACC, beyond being able to join the highly competitive CP servers?

Anyway it drives better than iRacing, maybe more and more people are discovering that and trying it out or playing it more. ACC used to be just GT3 mainly, it's been getting a regular stream of added content lately, unfortunately it's paid DLC but the pricing is better than iRacing too. Now there's GT4, the new 992 Cup car, Ferrari Challenge and Lambo Super Trofeo thing, even a TC class M2 CS that should provide some good close racing and a different experience on some tracks like Hungaroring - where passing in a GT3 is pretty difficult without a big pace advantage.

[Kchrpm]

Let me know when they add a Corvette and some IMSA tracks!

(and when I can get an XBox Series X and wheel)

[CudaMan]

It's the official esports sim of SRO, so good luck on the IMSA content! :lol:

[Cam]

You can try Raceroom for free. I think it comes with a handful of cars and a track or two.

Blerpa, sorry to hear of your teammate rage-quitting. Not cool of him. If I raced ACC at all (or even owned it) I might offer to sub.

I like my iRacing experience. Yes, it is costly, but I get my money's worth, I think. It's not for everyone. I understand it has its issues, as many have said. I'm not a fanboy by any means.

[Rare White Ape]

I love iRacing more than almost any sim I’ve ever played, but I don’t get all uppity when people say good things about other sims.

The elitist attitude around iRacing is one of the things that turned me off from playing it for so long. I regret not signing up earlier, but now I’m a dedicated player who’s involved with multiple communities of people who love it like I do but also aren’t dicks about it.

You’ll find a lot of dicks in the IMSA and GT3 grids, and increasingly in the junior open wheel classes that are full of Netflix kiddies who watched a season of Drive To Survive and think they’re the next Max Verstappen. It’s best to steer clear of them and race classes with a lot of more pure motorsports fans: V8SC, GT4, PCup, etc

[Blerpa]

A certain amount of SA is required to get into some leagues and also in at least a good 60-70% of public servers.
Some public servers are totally open, some have 20, 30, 40 SA requirement.
Many have 50 SA requirement.
Some leagues have a minimum req of 60 SA but most of them have an hefty 70-80 SA requirement.

I've to get to SA 80 by October in order to be accepted in that league I was talking about.
Also, to add to the SA minimum req often public servers have a 2 or 3 medals requirement (something you get playing single player for doing a podium finish in a race or 4 constant good practice laps in a track, and so on).

This is not taking into account the Competition Servers which are almost not used by anyone (even aliens or Kunos Simulazioni's staff like Aristotelis "Aris" Vasilakos do drive in simple private lobbies or LFMs ones).
If you buy the game and want to race online right away... you will be lucky to find 10-12 servers available for people with no medal and no SA at all.

Also, but that is the leitmotiv of online sim racing in almost any sim since AFTER Grand Prix Legends and Nascar 2003, people always want to race only at Monza, Spa and Nurburgring with the odd Imola, Brands Hatch and Kyalami once in a while.
Servers with other tracks are empty 99% of the times.
Sim racers are boring sods, at times, it seems. (Back in the days we had like 50 or more tracks installed in GPL, N2003, GTR2, GT Legends, ecc.)

That's why, although criticizable for other reasons, iRacing structure is the best: the system forces you to try different tracks every season.
You cannot host a server on your home PC in iRacing and ACC - unlike what you could do in F1 2021 or Live for Speed - you need to rent or buy a proper server... but in iRacing you are pushed to try different tracks among the race servers already present in the game structure periodical turn around, in ACC this is missing and it's a sore eye to me, personally.

On the rest: as Bryan says there's GT3 (GTWC, Asian and so on), GT4 and Challengers (Lambo Super Trofeo 1 and 2, Porsche Cup (old and new), 488 Challenge and the BMW M2 CS that races in TC America, as well as the same car Racing Cups in Benelux and Italy).
Since the M2 is enlisted in TX class in the game servers, it would be nice if other cars from TC America would turn into the game.

IMSA? They are too tied to ACO Le Mans, which still run GTE cars (meh) and have manufacturer's direct involvment: in SRO series manufacturers are forbidden to have official teams, they can only provide customer cars to teams and BoP is quite often regulated and fixed.
I find it the best for GT racing and I would welcome something like that in Le Mans, since to me car manufacturers direct involvment in racing series is the bane of motorsports, but I digress.

Other sims to look into are Automobilista 2 (similar to the original Assetto Corsa but less than an hassle to mod) and Raceroom (a cheeky easy going sim free to play with few cars and tracks and mimicking iRacing buying car and track plans), then rFactor 2 (which I really do not like and it is mostly played by veterans), but I rather focus on a single sim like ACC which is played by several people I know online.

I would get back to iRacing but I don't have the time to finance it and mainly to focus on it.

Thanks Cam, I appreciate it.
I'm fine, he did ragequit an afternoon I was at work, he just told me after. I kinda LOLed about it, but he is pretty serious about quitting sims.
My post was a bit of a critique on ACC SA system and the way it is balanced and a vent of frustration to not be able to field a proper team (which is the same we have in Forza Horizon 5 and the clan/club/squad/crew/whatever we - me and the mate - have in games together with other 3-4 people, who unfortunately do not play racing sims).
I dunno, sims have been one of my passion all along as watching real motorsports, and I'm pretty clear of my capabilities and limits, but I like the experience and the whole racing feel, I'm ok with the drawbacks and problems related; my mate found out he cannot stand them.
Too bad since he is a close friend too, so there is that kind of camaraderie you can only have with a long lasting friend or a brother (it comes to mind you and your brother Tim) involved together in a common passion.
Well, no safety net, I'll go privateer and raid the merry seas! Hahaha

I have often criticized iRacing, for his business structure or the graphics (but in the last year I've noticed they have gone a long way since the past, I must say - and accidents look phenomenal now), but I can see the merits on the game, the server and season structures and so on, so the sim has plenty of good, I truly believe you are getting back what you are investing in it.

[CudaMan]

If you want to game the SA system and bump up your rating: https://www.overtake.gg/news/3147-how-to-gain-safety-rating-in-assetto-corsa-competizione

Are the medals the same as the stars? Stars for running a few clean consecutive laps at each track were pretty easy to come by. It was also a nice no pressure introduction to each track when I did that first thing - kind of like license tests in Gran Turismo, except speed wasn't the ultimate goal.

Also you can turn off stats keeping if you want to mess around offline (let a friend try the sim or whatever).

[Kchrpm]

It's the official esports sim of SRO, so good luck on the IMSA content! :lol:

But SRO America goes to many of the same tracks, and there has been a C7 in it!

https://www.gtamerica.us/timthumb.php?w=800&src=%2Fimages%2Fgallery%2F2022%2F72%2F379%2F%2F041 422_Sonoma_bcpix2264919.jpg

[Rare White Ape]

So NASCAR Ignition 22 has been cancelled (to be replaced with a season update for Ignition 21) and the CEO of Motorsport Games is allegedly a con artist. Who knew ¯\_(ツ)_/¯


https://youtu.be/NlImGLTqxaw

[Cam]

:lol:

[Tom Servo]

There are a few sims on sale as part of Steam's racing sale they've got going through the morning of the 30th. https://store.steampowered.com/category/racing/

[Cam]

I have Beam NG Drive on my wishlist. It's 20% off right now. I am not sure when I would play it though, as I do a lot of iRacing.

[Rare White Ape]

Beam is more of a screw around in a physics sandbox simulator than a racing sim. For me it would be fun for an afternoon but then I’d forget about it.

It’s also on my wishlist but I keep passing it by when it’s on sale for the above reason.

[Tom Servo]

Am I getting things mixed up or was that the one that eventually became Wreckfest?

[Rare White Ape]

Nah Wreckfest is a different game to BeamNG.drive.

Weird name, that: beam en gee dot drive

Beam is like Garry's Mod but for vehicles.

Wreckfest is a more curated experience with decent single and multiplayer. It's a bit like Mario Kart but with physics that surpass GTA, and you get to drive things that range from school buses to lawnmowers, or three-wheelers (think of the Reliant Robin) or V8 muscle cars. Or couches. There are no weapons except for the might of your front bumper.

[dodint]

Wreckfest spent four years in beta as "Next Car Game."

Beam and NCG/Wreckfest both feature soft body physics as its definitive feature.

[Tom Servo]

Ahh, I think I was conflating Beam and Next Car Game.

[Kchrpm]

I finally broke down and bought Assetto Corsa Competizione, figuring I'd see how it was with a controller.

But then I searched Best Buy for force feedback wheels in stock, and lo and behold, my nearest one had a Logitech G923.

Had. Past tense.

Because I have it now.

I set it up on my old desk (the one I bought in ~2006 for the Xbox 360 Wireless Racing Wheel I got from a coworker for cheap), and aside from walking a little under hard braking, it works great, then rolls out of the way.

ACC felt great after I got the settings right (hint: load the presets for this model of wheel, which shows up automatically but I screwed up and had to go back to). I still have not gotten the Forza settings right, and/or it and I suck with this wheel.

[Yobbo NZ]

Good stuff Keith.
Forza with a wheel is a frustrating experience, I couldn't do it. Yet any proper sim feels fantastic.

[Kchrpm]

I tried the first suggested settings from a Google search and it was much better, though I still had a snap spin in the esses at Road Atlanta.

[Tom Servo]

I have also never had a wheel feel good with Forza (or FH, for that matter). I'm pretty sure the whole it was designed with a controller in mind and the wheel was an afterthought that was never really tuned correctly.

[Rare White Ape]

Excellent Keith!

[Cam]

Nice.

[Kchrpm]

Project CARS 2 feels great! Wow. The framerate is still bad, even on the XBox Series X, and I know the game probably still has its bugs, but man...

[Freude am Fahren]

I had a lot of fun with one of the Horizons with a wheel. I think it was the one is Oz. I may have even gone back to the first one with it. But then I got about 5 minutes into playing the one in Britain with a wheel and had to give it up.

[Kchrpm]

I was feeling really down after ACC's career mode had me in a Lamborghini that kept launching itself at the inside wall on turn exit, and then dealing with all of the 1st gear chicanes and corners at Zolder.

But then I grabbed the GT4 and Intercontinental packs and tried the Camaro at Suzuka (in an online race against one person struggling in a GT3 BMW) and Laguna Seca (against AI). That restored my confidence, so I took the Camaro to Spa in an online room.

There were only two other cars, both GT3, but one was just hanging around me and only passed me a few times, then almost immediately gave me the position back each time. I figured they were doing some kind of safety/trust rating building.

After I was able to complete that race without a major incident, I switched to a GT3 McLaren and went back into the Spa room. This time there about a dozen cars in it. I was the slowest qualifier, but I was able to stay out of trouble and ended up with a decent finish. I don't even remember what place it was, honestly, and I'm not too worried. It felt so good being out there, getting around other cars and, for the most part, feeling in control of the car and my decision making.

Also I figured out how to make customized teams/paint jobs for cars, and made Tyler and Nathan my co-drivers.

[dodint]

Happy to be part of your adventure. ;)

[Rare White Ape]

Hell yeah bring it on!

[Cam]

Sweet.

[Blerpa]

ACC career is not great but a good thing to get your feet in the water if you do not want to jump right away in the hell that are the public lobbies.
Unfortunately car roster is limited during the career seasons.

Every car (GT3) has a different behaviour in ACC: Aston Martin and Bentley are usually the safe choice for the beginners (the first is quick, the second is a curb eating behemoth).
Mercedes is another curb smasher but not exactly easy to handle, Mclaren is quick and difficult to bring on the limit in mixed conditions, Ferrari is quick but twitchy on the curbs and not an easy car to drive.
Lexus is an all rounder, Skyline, NSX are hopelessly behind, albeit the Honda's is a bit better.
Old Audi R8 was understeery, new Audi R8 Evo 2 is less understeery and packs a punch in terms of power and TC systems.
Lambo some times is good, other times is atrocious, Porsche is... well, a Porsche and totally different to drive.
BMW M4 was OP when initially added to the game, now it has been nerfed, but it seems nimble and quick.

Choose according to your driving style: I do race online on Lexus and Audi Evo II - reliable and predictable, but I also like the Bentley and the Merc for their juggernaut feel.
I cannot stand the Ferrari. I wanted to like the Mclaren but it requires finesse which I lack mostly.

Also: Zolder is an arse of a track and a bit of a shock start to get used to the game. It still bites badly, even after many races, if you are not concentrated enough.

[Kchrpm]

I've been really enjoying the McLaren 720S, but will have to try some others.

[Cam]

…Skyline, NSX are hopelessly behind…

Seems to me the Nissan was nerfed after Cuda’s success. :rolleyes:

[Blerpa]

Problem is car is so old nobody is racing it anymore in real GT WC races since quite some years: even in GT WC Asia there is not a single japanese car on the grid (so no GT-R, no NSX nor Lexus).

[Rare White Ape]

I always liked driving the Lexus, both in ACC and GT Sport. Meaty FR V8 but not a tank like the Bentley or the AMG.

Just wait until the Corvettes get more competitive and they start entering more series, including the GTWC. Then there will be no point at all in trying to tell Keith what to drive :p

[Kchrpm]

I've been saying the Callaway C7 should be included...

[CudaMan]

Blerpa is right. The GT-R was pre-nerfed before I started running it in ACC races. There were a couple tracks where it was not too far off pace. I'm not sure now where it stands in the game. But dang if it doesn't drive a lot like the real one. :cool:

[Kchrpm]

I was trying to find your paintjob and gave up on the GT-R when I couldn't find it.

[Kchrpm]

My friend with GT7 and a Thrustmaster wheel came over today to try ACC and the G923. He was not a fan of the stiff rubber on the brake pedal (he was lifting the front of the chair off the ground a tiny bit on hard braking), but once he was at Laguna Seca in a Cayman GT4 he was doing pretty well. It's funny how similar and yet different GT7 and ACC are in actually playing them.

I've been having a good enough time with the 720S that I've started looking for an all-skill-levels-welcome series (since I'm still not actually fast). I've also realized that there isn't really a spectator mode, and the saving of replays and highlights is inconsistent.

[Yobbo NZ]

I upgraded all my springs with GTeye springs. Made it feel better.
I eventually shortened the rubber, then removed it.
In the end I got annoyed with a crappy brake pedal feel and bought some Fanatec V3s.
Still have the G920, but it's just holding on until I can afford a Simagic Alpha.

[Rare White Ape]

When I had my Logitech I simply set the inner brake dead zone to coincide with the start of the firm rubbery part of the brake travel, so the less-resistant part was just the slack taken up in the brake system before anything happens. Yeah I lost 50% of brake accuracy but really, how good am I as a driver and does that really matter with my comparatively shit level of skill?

It made me more comfortable, and that's what matters most :)

[Blerpa]

I've been having a good enough time with the 720S that I've started looking for an all-skill-levels-welcome series (since I'm still not actually fast). I've also realized that there isn't really a spectator mode, and the saving of replays and highlights is inconsistent.

If you feel comfortable with the 720S that's a great car to keep competing online.
On PC I've replays and highlights set to be automatically saved every time I race, should be in the general settings.

[Kchrpm]

I will check that. But I had a highlight saved, and then it disappeared without me deleting it AFAIK. Maybe just because my XBox's hard drive is nearly full.

[Blerpa]

"The new Lando Norris Mclaren brake camera has shown that even F1 cars have quite large brake travels. So whats happening? Why do simracing companies sell us the idea a brake pedal is very short and stiff?"


https://youtu.be/EzyLRVWB6NE

And Asetek a bit called out, on the side.

[Tom Servo]

I can definitely say the brake pedal in the actual Skip Barber single-seater doesn't really move at all. There was maybe 1/8 inch of play where you're not even activating the brakes and then it's like hitting a brick wall. I actually thought it was broken the first time I got in the car.