So fellas, it's been about 15 years since I last was into an online racing league. That was in Grand Prix Legends. In fact, I was practicing my laps at Brands Hatch when the first plane hit the World Trade Center, and I ran to the TV blaring in the background.
Anyway, I finally got the urge to race again, so I bought myself a Thrustmaster T500RS racing wheel and pedals, and picked up Project Cars on Steam. I must say, I'm having a blast! I think i will eventually invest in iRacing, in order to race Indy Cars.
In my racing future is going to be a dedicated racing chair, and a VR set like the Oculus Rift.
Is anyone else doing any online racing?
I haven't done any online racing yet. Like JD, though, I really enjoy the F1 series by Codemasters, although I've spent most of my time with 2012 and 2013. It's offline for me, but the AI is pretty good IMHO.
I would like to try some online racing at some point, but I'm not iRacing level into it. I'm thinking something closer to free.
As I've probably mentioned elsewhere, I've got Project Cars and like it, and spent a bunch of time there a couple seasons ago when iRacing wasn't running for me and I needed a racing fix. You can occasionally get a good race on Pcars, but its a lottery like all "open" online racing. Just as likely to get some idjit trying to wreck everyone as you are to get someone that wants to race. Sadly my poor old comp can't run Pcars on my triple screen setup so I haven't messed with it much lately.
RaceRoom Racing Experience is another one I bought a lot of content for during my iRacing hiatus. It looks and sounds and drives really well, but it too lacks the structured racing format of iRacing and most of the servers/players seem to be European so my online racing experience was pretty weird with cars blinking in and out of existence at random intervals. Fun to drive single player though.
Automobilista is also quite good, though I spent more time in its original incarnation as Game Stock Car Extreme. They seem to be rolling out new content for it pretty regularly, and I really should give it more attention but... Online was kind of like R3E, I'm in the wrong time zone/country.
And for cheap ya can't go wrong with Race 07 and GTR 2 and the rest of their offspring from Simbin. Especially if you can catch them on sale on Steam. A million tracks and cars, and the Power and Glory mod is worth the price all by itself. Still a strong online player base in private leagues but I never had much luck finding races online otherwise.
Have not tried Asseto Corsa, but it has been described as a great hotlap simulator but not so much for online multiplayer racing.
You don't need to spend a ton to have a lot of fun in iRacing, unless you are already super fast and can compete in the high level cars. Especially if you use one of their new member deals like 3 months for the price of 1 or the 40% off deals they're always running. You get a collection of free cars and tracks with a basic subscription and the rookie series are setup to run with that content. The MX-5 and SRF are your basic road cars. The MX-5 runs a rookie series entirely on free tracks, the SRF runs a mix of free and paid tracks. I ran my first couple seasons on the MX-5, and raced the SRF when it was on a free track. Then I picked up the Skip Barber car (reminds me of the open wheel cars in GPL but won't kill you instantly) and started adding tracks to my collection, always buying content six or more items at a time to get the discount. At this point I've got all but a couple of the road tracks but I don't feel like I've spent a fortune considering how much use I've gotten out of it. I've spent way more on the stuff in my Steam library that is covered in virtual dust.
The thing that sets iRacing apart from the others is the structured racing that keeps most of the idiots out, and fairly quickly removes the ones that do get in. And the fact that there are races going off every hour or so in multiple series.
My suggestion: Get a Visa gift card and open up a 3 month iRacing account under an assumed name and give it a try. If ya like it then go back and pick up a year or two subscription using your own name and take advantage of the 40% off new member deal. I'd be happy to host some sessions to get your feet wet.
Quote from: Slick Wilhelm on September 27, 2016, 07:23:56 PM
Is anyone else doing any online racing?
No ;D
The experience is way too hit and miss for me.
I watched some videos of a group of people racing online in pCars. They were dedicated and structured and the online experience looked fun.
Unfortunately, the reality wasn't like that. Don't get me wrong, they were very welcoming, polite, etc, etc...but the structure put a lot of stress into racing online. As an example, when they were having the formation lap, there was someone watching and kind of telling people off for leaving too much of a gap. You were getting concertina's at corners and people were getting "blamed" for it by people behind them (including myself).
You were being told not to speed up and slow down but to keep a constant speed...which I did but because the "officiator" noticed a huge gap in front of me, I got the instruction not to leave too big a gap which was left because I was keeping a constant speed but the car in front shot off...because the car in front of him shot off...because the car in front of him shot off...etc, etc, etc
I was like "Well, you either want me to speed up to catch up with the cars in front or you want me to keep a constant speed??" They were nice enough, but it was stressful and I told them as much in the forums (they asked for feedback after the races).
It could've been good, but I had two races one evening and then sacked it. That was an example of where people's competitiveness ruin the experience as much as people's ability to be arses online.
There was a group of guys that used to hold a meet every week and they were great. They met up, had a laugh and a blast and raced, chatted and laughed afterwards and everyone left stress free. Unfortunately they were using a much older game that I wanted to move on from.
For racing, it's all offline for me.
As for pCars - it's a great game. My best experience in it so far is racing the RUF GT3 around Bathhurst.
Actually, Judge, I haven't done any online racing yet in Project Cars. I've been focusing on racing the AI in different cars, only at Road America so far. It's pretty interesting how all the different cars behave on track.
I will eventually go to iRacing, but I want to work my skills up to a higher level before I tackle that.
I just bought pCars on sale from Steam and am blown away. My last racing game attempt was maybe 15 years ago. The visuals and attention to detail are mind-boggling. I have started out just letting the AI race offline and watching telemetry and reviewing races so I can start tinkering with cars and Tires (not tyres).
I'm an Iracer. If you want to race seriously online, It's your best option
It can be a little pricey initially, but it is worth it. The competition is fierce. Who would have thought the Finns are the best drivers in the world LOL. Like Slick Wilhelm said, it can be stressful. But that is what makes it great. Not many games that can really get the adrenaline flowing, and Iracing is one of them. Most of my stress comes from drivers who are too reckless. Of course as I have increased my irating, you see less of them, as Iracing puts you in races with drivers of your caliber.
This season I am driving the Skip Barber 2000 again. Thought that my road driving skills in the Blancpain GT Spint series had degraded. So I wanted to go back to basics, and hone my skills.
Iracing also offers the whole Nascar experience if you are so inclined. You might not think doing ovals around a track would be much fun, but trust me, your heart is beating fast when you are in a tight pack making a turn around Daytona.
This is a video of me doing some testing at Watkins Glen.
I don't want to and probably won't race online. I am little tired of the multiplayer guys, in every gaming genre, stepping and being somewhat condescending about online play. You can't have a discussion about any game without online bigots jumping and talking about how great their experience is.
Its the gaming version of being vegan or a cross-fit fanatic. Not happy unless they insert their online perspective and subtly insinuating you're doing it wrong if you're not online. I see it a lot in racing and wargames. Steel Beasts is the worst. You can't ask a question about the game without someone jumping and trying to get you online so you be "helped" and trained properly.
Not everyone has a lifestyle where they can set aside a couple continuous hours to play a game. I see guys who play several games a week online and just have to wonder what kind of life they live having that kind of time.
Sorry for venting my rage. I have asked a couple questions on a few racing forums and ended up getting lectured on how stupid it is to play offline. I have had my fill of that. btw, I am not vegan, don't crossfit, and don't play online. That is my tinder profile.
Quote from: Slick Wilhelm on September 28, 2016, 12:59:59 PM
Actually, Judge, I haven't done any online racing yet in Project Cars. I've been focusing on racing the AI in different cars, only at Road America so far. It's pretty interesting how all the different cars behave on track.
I will eventually go to iRacing, but I want to work my skills up to a higher level before I tackle that.
iRacing isn't "that" taxing an experience. Practice before each live event is key so you can stay out of peoples way and stay on track.
If you like racing and you'd like to try iRacing, I wouldn't hold out on being semi-pro (exaggeration was deliberate)...just go for it. I really enjoyed it. I just found the interface quite difficult and stressful - both on track and off (which cars to buy into, which circuits to buy, was I going down the right path!!!) - but the racing experience itself was very good.
Quote from: RyanE on October 03, 2016, 09:42:42 AM
I don't want to and probably won't race online. I am little tired of the multiplayer guys, in every gaming genre, stepping and being somewhat condescending about online play. You can't have a discussion about any game without online bigots jumping and talking about how great their experience is.
Its the gaming version of being vegan or a cross-fit fanatic. Not happy unless they insert their online perspective and subtly insinuating you're doing it wrong if you're not online. I see it a lot in racing and wargames. Steel Beasts is the worst. You can't ask a question about the game without someone jumping and trying to get you online so you be "helped" and trained properly.
Not everyone has a lifestyle where they can set aside a couple continuous hours to play a game. I see guys who play several games a week online and just have to wonder what kind of life they live having that kind of time.
Sorry for venting my rage. I have asked a couple questions on a few racing forums and ended up getting lectured on how stupid it is to play offline. I have had my fill of that. btw, I am not vegan, don't crossfit, and don't play online. That is my tinder profile.
RyanE - I'd suggest you get your membership at Dogs of War VU. Asid (a prominent poster on all things Steel Beasts here) is over there and when I started Steel Beasts he was incredibly helpful. Any time I played Steel Beasts online it was a very good experience.
http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php
Again, its not the experience I am concerned about or is the limiting issue. Its find a solid hour to play. I travel a lot, and work 12-13 hours a day, close to 6 days a week. I have two sons, a dog, a house, and most of all, a wife. My only large chunk of time is sitting on an airplane, like right now, or watching a football/baseball game. Even with the game on, I am usually reviewing reports or exchanging emails with someone. I might grab an hour at most, but that hour is filled with interruptions. I tried playing World of Warships and it was kind of fun. But the matches were 15 minutes at most and even then, I had a hard time not getting questions or requests for time.
My company does technology research and our gaming tracking group shows that around 15% of PC gamers have ever played online. And as expected, they tend to dominate online forums. As I stated, vegans, cross-fitters, and multiplayers.
btw, I do play multiplayer with a few turn-based and WEGO games. I play by email. Its the main reason I am always looking for turn-based or WEGO games. I can control and manage my time. I have a few close friends I play CM with. Although I haven't played in almost a year.
I've been thinking about getting Project Cars for some while and probably will next time it is on sale. What's it like to play with a controller? Decent enough?
Quote from: RyanE on October 03, 2016, 10:40:23 AM
Again, its not the experience I am concerned about or is the limiting issue. Its find a solid hour to play. I travel a lot, and work 12-13 hours a day, close to 6 days a week. I have two sons, a dog, a house, and most of all, a wife. My only large chunk of time is sitting on an airplane, like right now, or watching a football/baseball game. Even with the game on, I am usually reviewing reports or exchanging emails with someone. I might grab an hour at most, but that hour is filled with interruptions. I tried playing World of Warships and it was kind of fun. But the matches were 15 minutes at most and even then, I had a hard time not getting questions or requests for time.
My company does technology research and our gaming tracking group shows that around 15% of PC gamers have ever played online. And as expected, they tend to dominate online forums. As I stated, vegans, cross-fitters, and multiplayers.
Ah. Apologies. Indeed the SB scenarios I took part in were considerably longer than an hour...just meeting up, setting up and the briefing took a while sometimes.
I don't envy your positions. Sounds like a right hectic life.
I am playing with a controller. I don't own a wheel. I have been able to adjust pretty quickly. It doesn't make me a super driver, but it works.
Quote from: rocketman on October 03, 2016, 10:50:21 AM
I've been thinking about getting Project Cars for some while and probably will next time it is on sale. What's it like to play with a controller? Decent enough?
No idea I'm afraid...and as I posted in another thread, I couldn't possibly recommend playing a racing simulation with a controller. I'm not being snobby about it...just in my experience (which is out of date to be fair) it's just not conducive to having a very good experience. I'd use a controller any day of the year for a football game or a boxing game, but not a racing game.
Now that I've said that, in the other thread I speak of (F1 2016), Grim Reaper is playing it with a controller and having a seemingly good time with it too.
Do not, I repeat. Do not even think of Iracing , unless you can practice for at least a few hours before an actual race. Racing is actually 50% memorization of the track. If you do not practice, you will look like an ass, and are a big danger to anyone you are driving against.
You race a new track every week, so my typical preparation is:
Tuesday: Watch videos on you tube and practice new track. 1Hr
Wednesday: Same thing again. See how close my times are to the top racers and racers of my level. 1Hr
Thursday: Practice again for an Hr. If I am confident I might race that night. 1-2Hr
Friday - Sunday : Its race time
This is this guys first race ever in the Skip Barber 2000, and he does a great job coming in 9th in his first race.
Quote from: JudgeDredd on October 03, 2016, 11:44:01 AM
Quote from: rocketman on October 03, 2016, 10:50:21 AM
I've been thinking about getting Project Cars for some while and probably will next time it is on sale. What's it like to play with a controller? Decent enough?
No idea I'm afraid...and as I posted in another thread, I couldn't possibly recommend playing a racing simulation with a controller. I'm not being snobby about it...just in my experience (which is out of date to be fair) it's just not conducive to having a very good experience. I'd use a controller any day of the year for a football game or a boxing game, but not a racing game.
Now that I've said that, in the other thread I speak of (F1 2016), Grim Reaper is playing it with a controller and having a seemingly good time with it too.
Although I am guessing that a wheel would be the best setup, I am finding it totally acceptable using a controller in F1. Not sure that would be the same in all racing games, but at least that one it feels just fine. If I stick to racing games for a while, I'll likely invest in a wheel some day.
Question....I see they are working on Project Cars 2 now, does anybody have a timeline for it? This year? Next Year? Few Years? Just thinking about potentially buying at some point but if a new version is anywhere on the horizon, may hold off.
Quote from: bboyer66 on October 03, 2016, 12:10:27 PM
Do not, I repeat. Do not even think of Iracing , unless you can practice for at least a few hours before an actual race. Racing is actually 50% memorization of the track. If you do not practice, you will look like an ass, and are a big danger to anyone you are driving against.
I can't agree more about seat time behind the wheel O0
I built SCCA race cars with my Dad for 30 years and drove them for 15 years. I never have been able to find a racing sim that feels like driving a real car. I have IR tracker (works great to turn your head to
see the apex and checking mirrors) and bought a driving setup with frame to mount seat, pedals, shifter and wheel. I used tracks we raced on in real life and used cars that we built or I drove in real life.
I think I spent more time just testing trying different suspension setting, than we did with our real cars. I would make a shock setting change and then go out and run 10 laps. I used the Motech app to record data like in our real cars and then spend hours reviewing the data from the 10 lap runs. What was the hardest issue was that real data for shocks, springs, caster, chamber etc just didn't relate
to any of the sims. rFactor, GTR, GTR2, Iracing etc.... I found this VERY frustrating :tickedoff:
In the end I slowly drifted away for racing sims as I just couldn't replicate the feeling of driving the real cars :-[
To be clear, this...
Quote from: JudgeDredd on October 03, 2016, 09:53:55 AM
iRacing isn't "that" taxing an experience
...
...seems to have spurred a couple of warning posts. I wasn't suggesting for a second that you can just jump into iRacing and in fact my posts immediately followed the statement above with "Practice is key".
Quote from: Grim.Reaper on October 03, 2016, 05:38:54 PM
Question....I see they are working on Project Cars 2 now, does anybody have a timeline for it? This year? Next Year? Few Years? Just thinking about potentially buying at some point but if a new version is anywhere on the horizon, may hold off.
No idea I'm afraid. pCars took it's sweet time iirc
Gosh darn it....Project cars on sale this weekend on steam....$15 for standard and about $25 for game of the year.....that seems like a good deal, but so many games bought recently:(
I just bought the darned thing for $50 5 days ago!
Quote from: RyanE on October 07, 2016, 06:42:01 PM
I just bought the darned thing for $50 5 days ago!
Ouch...that's why I may just need to pick it up now, don't know if I'll see that kind of price drop anytime soon.
And I caved....figured that I wouldn't see this kind of price for GOTY edition, so what the heck...at it to the backlog.
First race....finished 13 out of 20.....was a pretty tight course and was able to take one of my favorite cars a Mustang for a spin....certainly different than F1 2016 but satisfying so far....using a controller is working out just fine....kicking myself for holding out on these games since I thought I would need a wheel (still would be fun).
Bought the GOTY edition yesterday on sale for more or less a bargain. First test drives with controller felt pretty good. Lowering steering sensitivity helped. I think I will like this game even though not a hard core driving game player.
So far I am liking as well, haven't spent too much time tinkering with options yet since felt pretty good out of the box, but I am sure to do it at some point....really like how there is so many cars and tracks to try.....really going to keep me busy.
Keep an eye on your local Craigslist and you can usually find a deal on a decent wheel. Look for Logitech DFGT, G25 or G27. Or even the old Driving Force Pro. All solid wheels, some of the hot drivers on iRacing still use them, was in a practice last night with a guy that races Pro level and is still using a DFGT. I picked up my current Fanatec setup off Craigslist for a very good price.
I've tried a little controller driving on Forza and PCars and even mouse driving on iRacing when I couldn't use my wheel at various times, but a wheel makes a huge difference.
Out of the racers I have, F1 2016, pCars, GTR2 and Grand Prix Legends are my favourite.
There's a lot of car in pCars for your money.
Quote from: Grim.Reaper on October 03, 2016, 04:42:10 PM
Quote from: JudgeDredd on October 03, 2016, 11:44:01 AM
Now that I've said that, in the other thread I speak of (F1 2016), Grim Reaper is playing it with a controller and having a seemingly good time with it too.
Although I am guessing that a wheel would be the best setup, I am finding it totally acceptable using a controller in F1. Not sure that would be the same in all racing games, but at least that one it feels just fine. If I stick to racing games for a while, I'll likely invest in a wheel some day.
I'm the same as Grim.Reaper in that if I spent way more time playing racing games, I probably would invest in a good wheel. But right now, I mostly just play Nascar '15 on and off and my Logitech 3D Pro does enough for me to race well in that game.
Joystick is probably a good bit better than a game controller due to the range of throw, you can make more precise inputs. There were guys setting hotlap world records back in the heyday of Grand Prix Legends using joysticks.
I am sure wheel is good, but have to say doing pretty well with a controller at the moment on the racing games I just purchased.....and JD, your at it again, saw you mention GTR2 and of course I now bought that too:) As I mentioned before, if this sticks with me for a long time, will consider getting a wheel but for the moment things are fine for me....
Quote from: Grim.Reaper on October 10, 2016, 04:22:15 AM
I am sure wheel is good, but have to say doing pretty well with a controller at the moment on the racing games I just purchased.....and JD, your at it again, saw you mention GTR2 and of course I now bought that too:) As I mentioned before, if this sticks with me for a long time, will consider getting a wheel but for the moment things are fine for me....
:o OMG :o - you are sick! :2funny:
Quote from: JudgeDredd on October 10, 2016, 06:57:57 AM
Quote from: Grim.Reaper on October 10, 2016, 04:22:15 AM
I am sure wheel is good, but have to say doing pretty well with a controller at the moment on the racing games I just purchased.....and JD, your at it again, saw you mention GTR2 and of course I now bought that too:) As I mentioned before, if this sticks with me for a long time, will consider getting a wheel but for the moment things are fine for me....
:o OMG :o - you are sick! :2funny:
I found it for $2, couldn't pass it up:) Saw people talk about the driving school feature which sounded like a good way to learn things, even beyond this game.
You want to do the race driving school without a proper wheel, Grim?
Do yourself a favour and get one, be it a cheap wheel.
Quote from: Yskonyn on October 10, 2016, 09:03:35 AM
You want to do the race driving school without a proper wheel, Grim?
Do yourself a favour and get one, be it a cheap wheel.
Nope, doing just fine with a controller at the moment.....sure is a lot of wheel salesman out there:)
Again, maybe someday if my racing enthusiasm stays with me for awhile...
Ok, your call. But there aren't a lot of Gold medals available to win in there with a controller. >:D
Quote from: Yskonyn on October 10, 2016, 09:45:49 AM
Ok, your call. But there aren't a lot of Gold medals available to win in there with a controller. >:D
Not so sure....from what I have read, seems like some folks believe controllers actually can perform better on the track. In driving school, so far have achieved gold status in each tutorial:)