Racing Sim Thread, Part II

[pk500]

It might be the ugliest, bare-bones, effed-up attempt at a racing sim on the XB1, but damned if I can't stop playing NASCAR Heat Evolution.

The racing model is superb. And while there's far too much of a handling gap between Normal and Sim physics with a controller, racing on Normal lets you really focus on good lines and finding a rhythm for longer races. Plus this game does a superb job of simulating the weight and push characteristics of the handling of 3,500-pound Cup cars.

I'm really enjoying running 25 percent races in this game.

[TCrouch]

Tried telling you clowns that last year!

The racing you get in that game is fantastic. Aside from the odd door check you get in doglegs and stuff like that, it's fantastic fun, which is more than can be said for the last 4 or 5 NASCAR games that released. Even on simulation, you can at least manage the car with a controller (I alternate playing controller and wheel, depending on my mood), if you lower the steering sensitivity.

It's a heck of a time from flag to flag, it's all the extra stuff that's missing.

[TCrouch]

iRacing's Dirt release is coming this week. Pre-purchase begins today, and the full release is on 3/29.

It'll have some dirt content for existing subscribers (USA Speedway dirt version, a dirt street stock and a dirt legends car), and 3 new dirt tracks for sale: Williams Grove, Eldora (YES!), and Volusia Speedway. There's also a new dirt late model (with 3 versions, basically limiting HP), but you buy one, you get all 3. Lastly, there's the new dirt sprint car. I cannot tell you guys how excited I am for this. They have 305, 360, and the full 410 sprints.

I go gaga for dirt racing WAY more than pavement racing, so I'm hoping this finally supplants the old WoO 2002 game as my favorite dirt track racer.

[TCrouch]

I know it's pretty much just me interested in this around here, but iRacing's Dirt release is UN-BE-LIEVABLE.

They took what other games tried to do in single sessions (tracks that wear lap to lap), and included it within a single session. If you get out at the start of a session, the track is tacky and perfect. As cars turn laps, you start to see the groove develop and dry out. As more cars hit that section, it dries out even more, developing a true cushion. For those of you not familiar with dirt racing, the cushion is a small pseudo-berm in the groove that you can hook your right rear tire on, and find some moisture/grip in the loose dirt. You can rip around the track riding that thing, but you'll push the cushion slightly further out in doing so.

Do that enough, a rut may develop (I've seen a few, but not really bad ones like in real life), so you could end up sliding into a corner and hopping the car a little bit. But the beauty of it is that the track will change as the session wears on so much that you barely recognize the surface, it ends up being so different. You'll have dry/slick sections 2 lanes wide, and you'll be forced to run around the outside, out of your comfort zone (unless you're on outside type of driver anyway, but then early on you're probably slower as the guys cutting down to the inside are faster).

And this was literally my first few laps in a 360 sprint around Williams Grove, so the first couple I'm trying to come to grips with it, and then about a minute in I start to figure it out...there are few things in sim racing as exhilarating as a Sprint Car cockpit cam (and sorry, I don't do videos much. I had a bunch of weird mic crap going on at the beginning of this):



I cannot recommend it highly enough. Oddly, the Street Stock is probably the HARDEST car to drive, outside of maybe the Truck. It's heavy, it doesn't have a ton of power, and it takes more planning-ahead than even Dirt Rally to be fast. The Late Models feel a bit like driving an airboat as it slips and slides around, but at least you can correct it (the Pro Late Model is much easier than the Limited to drive, though)...but a Sprint Car is a beast all its own. Fly into a corner much faster than you think it's capable of doing, drag the brake a bit so the huge wing helps set the left rear, and then you're throttle steering it all the way out. It's similar to a Formula 1 car in that respect---the faster you go, the better the car works, and you have to be so aggressive.

I was thinking of actually starting up a league in iRacing for this, likely with 360 sprints. First, because that's what we ran years ago in the Crouch household, and second because the 410 is an absolute nightmare to race with unless you're intimately familiar with the nuances of throttle control and weight transfer (think of it as Dirt Rally at double the speed). The 360s are just racier. You get a nice combination of balance and speed.

Even though I'm pretty sure I know the answer, is ANYBODY interested in something like that?

[pk500]

Sorry, I dropped iRacing when I went Mac for work in 2014. Sold my G25 wheel, too.

I'm back at IMS and on Windows as of late February, but I don't have the time, dough or desire to buy another wheel, subscribe to iRacing, and devote time needed to be competent at this while playing it on an underpowered work laptop. We have switched to Mac for our home laptop, too, and I'm not slicing any cheddar on a dedicated PC for one game.

Maybe in 16-17 years when I retire!

Sure looks fun, though. Looks like iRacing did it right, as always. Glad you're digging it!

[DChaps]

I know it's pretty much just me interested in this around here, but iRacing's Dirt release is UN-BE-LIEVABLE............

....... I was thinking of actually starting up a league in iRacing for this, likely with 360 sprints. First, because that's what we ran years ago in the Crouch household, and second because the 410 is an absolute nightmare to race with unless you're intimately familiar with the nuances of throttle control and weight transfer (think of it as Dirt Rally at double the speed). The 360s are just racier. You get a nice combination of balance and speed.

Even though I'm pretty sure I know the answer, is ANYBODY interested in something like that?

ABSOLUTELY INTERESTED! I finally got to give iRacing Dirt a try tonight (well, early this morning) with the Dirt Sprint Car - 305 at Williams Grove using the Rift. Now that's what I'm talkin' about!! This was made for VR! I truly felt like I was sitting in this beast. In fact, after about 30 minutes of hot lapping, I almost threw up. Never got sick in a VR game yet, but I also never played one so intensely as I was with this.

All I can say is Terry is not exaggerating at all. iRacing has nailed this.

I am definitely interested in a league. In fact, I will pay for the Winged Sprint Car and Eldora Speedway for the first four established DSP members who will commit to a league with us. All you have to do is have a basic iRacing subscription which right now are on sale for 40% off. Just post your official iRacing login here, first come first served. You can get a 3 month subscription for $19.80 and it comes with 15 cars and 13 tracks.

http://www.iracing.com/membership/

Terry, unfortunately I am going to be out of town from Sat April 1 - Sat April 8, but I am definitely up for a league.

**established DSP Member = been posting on here for at least a few years, and has raced with us at some level in the past so that someone can vouch for your racecraft or lack thereof You don't have to be good, just willing to try and race clean and for fun

[pk500]

Wow, what a kind offer, The Donald. You are a paragon among fine men here at DSP.

If only I had a gaming PC and wheel. I would jump on your offer like a voluptuous porn star on a stiff johnson.

Enjoy, fellas!

[Jimmydeicide]

Damn Don i dont have a PC either. Hopefully someone takes you up on this as it sounds awesome.

[TCrouch]

I am definitely interested in a league. In fact, I will pay for the Winged Sprint Car and Eldora Speedway for the first four established DSP members who will commit to a league with us. All you have to do is have a basic iRacing subscription which right now are on sale for 40% off. Just post your official iRacing login here, first come first served. You can get a 3 month subscription for $19.80 and it comes with 15 cars and 13 tracks.

Wow, Don! That's incredibly generous. And just to try to convey how cool it is with the Oculus, I recorded a few laps (finally figured out how) earlier today. You still can't get how cool the depth perception and "everything in 3D" effect is until you sit in it, though.

[GB_Simo]

That's a wonderful offer, Don, and I'd love to get involved. Sadly, my G25 has been in its box on an almost unbroken basis for very nearly 2 years now. What was my racing space is now my daughter's bedroom (beautiful girl, even temperament, just took her first unaided steps this week, melts my heart, can't hit an apex). My PC is in the dining room, where the space a G25 would otherwise slot into is being taken up by a dining table and chairs, because guests will apparently not be entertained by having to balance their plates on an H-pattern shifter. Clearly, what we should actually be doing is reconsidering who we invite over for tea, though while this is abundantly obvious to you and I, it is yet to gain traction with the ladies of the house.

I'd likely be bloody awful on dirt anyway.

I've been playing NASCAR Heat Evolution with an X360 pad since just after Christmas, though. Finally a game where I can genuinely enjoy single player superspeedway racing, or finishing 22nd at Dover, or finishing at all at Dover.

[TCrouch]

iRacing released the wingless sprint car yesterday.

All I can say is...holy hard. With no downforce, it's the snappiest, twittchest, slippiest (yeah, that's a word I'm using) thing on wheels. Just stringing together a few laps feels like a major accomplishment.

I would put it right up there with Grand Prix Legends in terms of difficulty to drive. It might require some setup tinkering to get it to drive how I want it, because out of the gates it will just snap left with throttle input, and snap right when you let off...just like our real wingless car we ran decades ago. But with no seat of the pants feeling, those things you can just sense coming through your ass in a real car are missing from a sim. That's always been the case, of course, but the wingless dirt sprint is the single biggest "two percent more throttle means you spin out" experience I think I've had in sim racing.

And getting around in a pack? LOL...good luck with that for the foreseeable future. In a practice session last night, I definitely wasn't alone. Guys were the wrong way, rubber side up, flipping over fences, spinning out, stopping mid-track, snapping it around one way or the other. Absolutely comical.

So yeah....it's fun! Get it!

[DChaps]

Wow, i did not even know that one was coming so soon. Very cool. I will have to give it a try tonight. Just saw that they are scanning Knoxville too! Yeah!!!

[pk500]

YES! Classic cars are back in F1 2017:

https://www.motorsport.com/sim-racing/n ... rs-907072/

DAY. ONE. PURCHASE.

[Dave]

The classic cars turned the game into a must-buy for me, was already leaning that way to see how they updated the handling model for the faster 2017 cars but I can't wait to try out the classics again.

[GB_Simo]

Apparently, this official Isle of Man TT game was actually announced a year ago and I just wasn't paying attention. It's being developed by the folks who are currently doing a very solid job with the WRC licence, might finally allow me to shelve my PS2 copy of TT Superbikes and should be with us towards the back end of this year. One to keep an eye on.

[Rodster]

Anyone else get an invite to the Gran Turismo Sport closed beta test ?

[pk500]

Apparently, this official Isle of Man TT game was actually announced a year ago and I just wasn't paying attention. It's being developed by the folks who are currently doing a very solid job with the WRC licence, might finally allow me to shelve my PS2 copy of TT Superbikes and should be with us towards the back end of this year. One to keep an eye on.

Holy f*ck -- I'm harder than Guy Martin's accent is to understand. Didn't know about this one at all. Thanks for the tip!

[Rodster]

I was so excited to fire up Gran Turismo Sport that I don't know if I agreed to an NDA when accepting the terms to the closed beta.

Needless to say, GT Sport ticks all the boxes and is one f*cking beautiful game that runs ultra smooth on a standard PS4. The car handling is spot on with it's weight transfer from front to back and side to side. I didn't really care about GT Sport until I played the latest closed beta version. Supposedly GT Sport is built from the ground up and uses no legacy code from previous GT games. So if a familiar track from a previous GT game is used it was also built from scratch. From what i've read is that GT Sport is going to emphasize racing and AI more so than in previous games. We'll see how it all comes together but so far so good. Brands Hatch is one beautiful track in this game and surprisingly it offers a good sense of speed in cockpit mode where 85 MPH doesn't feel like 35.

[GB_Simo]

I was so excited to fire up Gran Turismo Sport that I don't know if I agreed to an NDA when accepting the terms to the closed beta.

If anyone around here, say any English friends of yours, had received a beta invite too, they'd be able to tell you that there was definitely an NDA. We're only meant - that is, the beta testers are only meant - to be posting on the official beta testing forums. Then again, Eurogamer ran an impressions article the other week...

The impressions of an Englishman who may or may not be writing this post involve some scepticism over whether there's no legacy code. Certainly, that fellow finds there's an easy familiarity to it after the recent patch removed some of the bastard hardness being experienced by pad users, though improvements in the tyre modelling are immediately noticeable even through a DS4 pad. This, in his eyes (which, you'll recall, aren't necessarily mine), isn't a bad thing, for Gran Turismo has always been a hugely enjoyable drive. What it hasn't been, a lot of the time, is a convincing racing game, and the fear is that the apparent increased focus on the online side of things might be a way of moving away from single player modes so as to have to worry less about the AI. We shall see.

Yeah. Yeah, that should fool 'em.

[GB_Simo]

Holy f*ck -- I'm harder than Guy Martin's accent is to understand. Didn't know about this one at all. Thanks for the tip!

Always a pleasure. Not sure what's so tricky about Guy's accent, mind. Here he is demonstrating the commitment to careful diction and clear articulation for which he's world-renowned:



That same commitment has, of course, been seized upon by the makers of The Boat That Guy Built, How Britain Worked, Speed with Guy Martin, Guy Martin: Last Flight of the Vulcan Bomber and a host of other TV programmes with his name placed in the title so that people might watch. I've never seen stats on how many of those people watch with the subtitles switched on, though...

[Gangrel]

Have any TX wheel owners had overheating issues? Twice in the past few days I've tried to play some Asetto Corsa on my Xbox ( i got it on sale) and the wheel shuts off about 30-45 minutes in. Then another 30 minutes or so later and it comes back on.

I'm assuming it's overheating, but that seems like wayyyyy too short a session to get warm. I even have the latest FW on and have the fan running full time.

I have smelled something electrical coming from the base, so i'm wondering if I have a dud and need to contact TM, as the wheel is less than a year old.

[Jimmydeicide]

Mine has been doing the same thing lately when ive tried it, which his hardly ever so for the overall hours that i have on the thing is really low and it doesnt seem very durable at all and ive always handled it with care and turn the forces lower to not put too much strain on it.
It seems worse since its had a long break.
Dont know if i could recommend it to any one if they where looking for a wheel.

[pk500]

Impressive car list for Project Cars 2:

http://www.projectcarsgame.com/the-cars.html?lang=en

[Rodster]

Impressive car list for Project Cars 2:

http://www.projectcarsgame.com/the-cars.html?lang=en

Are you buying the game after your exchange with the lead developer?

I adjusted the control settings on my X360 controller to make the cars handle predictably. So i've been happy with Project Cars.

[pk500]

Impressive car list for Project Cars 2:

http://www.projectcarsgame.com/the-cars.html?lang=en

Are you buying the game after your exchange with the lead developer?

I adjusted the control settings on my X360 controller to make the cars handle predictably. So i've been happy with Project Cars.

Yeah, I'm buying it. Ian Bell is a first-rate d*uche canoe, but the patched version of the XB1 game with modifications to the controller settings is a very fun experience.

I expect PCars 2 to be buggy at launch, with Bell denying any problems and berating anyone who suggests them. Then a few patches later with no admission of fault by that arrogant f*ck Bell, the game will be sublime.

In other words, just like PCars.