Racing Sim Thread, Part II

Gurantsu · Post by **Gurantsu** » Tue Mar 30, 2010 2:14 pm

There are usually a few practices running at the same time also, so if we came here first we could decide which one we could all jump into. It would be open to the public, but on iRacing I've found thats not a bad thing.

Nozzleman_216 · Post by **Nozzleman_216** » Tue Mar 30, 2010 4:11 pm

Can we all run in the same league/season together?

I want to race with friends (you guys) and my uncle is interested in this as well and it would be NO FUN if we can't run together.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Tue Mar 30, 2010 4:30 pm

Nozzleman_216 wrote:Can we all run in the same league/season together?

I want to race with friends (you guys) and my uncle is interested in this as well and it would be NO FUN if we can't run together.

Only if it's a hosted (private) league, which costs $3 per race. Not per person, just per race.

While racing with friends is great fun, I guarantee you'll also enjoy racing with strangers. iRacers are almost all courteous, clean and helpful, and the ladder system and Safety Rating system built into the game forces you to learn how to race cleanly and advance to more powerful, more challenging cars at a deliberate pace.

Remove your preconceptions about racing games -- in terms of physics, track modeling and especially race structure -- and you'll love iRacing. If you're expecting it to be rFactor or like an XBL racing game, you'll be disappointed. It's much better than those, to be honest!

Nozzleman_216 · Post by **Nozzleman_216** » Tue Mar 30, 2010 10:01 pm

Thanks Paul!

I don't have XBL expectations at all. Heck, believe it or not, I was involved in beta testing Race2Play 3 or 4 years ago with GTR2 and Rfactor.

I just don't fully understand how you log on and practice or whatever anytime you want. If you called me up right now and said lets runs some laps at Indy, can we get together and practice without paying a fee?

I am really just debating about dropping the coin. I am probably going to need a new or newer PC and have to buy a new wheel as I sold my old DFP on ebay when I got out of it. I plan to use my 42" tv I think as a monitor as long as I can get something to mount wheel too.

I have been watching youtube videos of this for hours now

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Tue Mar 30, 2010 10:34 pm

Nozzleman_216 wrote:I just don't fully understand how you log on and practice or whatever anytime you want. If you called me up right now and said lets runs some laps at Indy, can we get together and practice without paying a fee?

You can practice any car on any track -- if you own them -- at any time you want by yourself.

Otherwise, you must follow the iRacing license and schedule structure if you want to practice with friends without a private session fee.

There are six license levels in iRacing for oval and road racing -- Rookie, D, C, B, A and Pro. You only can advance to the next level once you have participated in a certain number of events and have reached a certain Safety Rating. You increase your Safety Rating by driving cleanly -- staying on course and not hitting anyone. Speed is not vital early; clean driving is.

Only certain cars are eligible to race at each license level. As you earn new licenses, more powerful, faster cars are available. For example, when you start, you'll only be to race a Rookie Solstice in official road races and a Rookie Legends in official oval races -- at times around the clock set by iRacing, not you. There's only one track available per week for each car at each level for official races, too. It forces you to learn the track and learn the car in a consistent environment.

You can race, qualify, practice or time trial as much as you want every week on that track with that car. It shouldn't take you long to increase your Safety Rating enough to qualify for the Spec Racer Ford on the road and the Advanced Legends for ovals, which race every week on different tracks than the other two rookie cars. So your options grow. Then you'll move up to the final four rookie cars, the Jetta and Skip Barber on road courses and the SK Modified and Chevrolet Late Model on ovals. Then your choices will really blossom.

If you want to practice with friends for free, then everyone must jump into the same practice room. But everyone also must have a license eligible to race in that room. If I was running a Class D car, you couldn't join me if you were still a Rookie. It prevents people from running in official races or practice sessions in machinery that's over their heads.

All license restrictions are off for hosted races. You can run any car on any track with buddies as long as everyone owns it. A hosted race or session is really the only way you could run a Dallara at Indy right out of the box.

Some people don't password-protect their hosted sessions, so you can jump into them if you own the car and track. That's fun, especially when you find a great group of guys.

Hosted races have no effect on Safety Rating, so they can be a bit more sloppy than official races. But I've found that most guys in hosted races try to drive the same way they would in an official race.

Nozzleman_216 wrote:I have been watching youtube videos of this for hours now

Video does no justice to this sim. You must feel it to believe it. It makes GTR 2 and all but the very best rFactor mods feel like a toy.

Let us know if you have any questions, man. We're here to help!

Nozzleman_216 · Post by **Nozzleman_216** » Tue Mar 30, 2010 10:49 pm

Yea, you are really helping.............I feel my wallet getting lighter and my wife nagging more!! Thanks

In all seriousness, thanks! I was just making a general statement about Indy. I have been reading a lot of FAQs etc on Iracing. Let me ask this. I will be at rookie level, you are say at D, can you bump down and race with me? Just wondering what happens if I or my uncle progress at different paces and it ends up we aren't running together much.

Something else I was wondering about. What about chatting etc........do they encourage chat, is it built in? Headsets etc............ I read there are spotters as well.........

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Tue Mar 30, 2010 11:15 pm

Nozzleman_216 wrote:Let me ask this. I will be at rookie level, you are say at D, can you bump down and race with me?

Absolutely. You can "race down" any time you want. Just realize that you won't get as many Safety Racing or iRating points if you're a Class C racer and kick ass in a Rookie race, which is only fair!

iRacing also tries to mix and match racers of equal skill level in various races so you always have someone of comparable skill to race against.

That's important, because the SHORTEST official race in iRacing is 20 to 25 minutes on road courses. The longest race can be an hour. No rFactor five-lappers here!

Nozzleman_216 wrote:Something else I was wondering about. What about chatting etc........do they encourage chat, is it built in? Headsets etc............ I read there are spotters as well.........

Chat is built-in. No need for Ventrilo or Teamspeak. Chat is encouraged for clean racing, and guys enjoy chatting about setups, techniques, etc., during practices and between sessions.

But trust me: You're going to need to focus your powers of concentration on driving. Not much time for idle chatting when your hands are on the wheel with this baby. Some cats in this sim are seriously quick.

I thought I was a solid racer on consoles, GTR 2 and rFactor. iRacing showed me otherwise, yet I'm still digging every second of it.

Let me know if you want a discount trial. I know some of the dudes at iRacing and probably can get you a coupon code for a cheap one-month or three-month trial.

Gurantsu · Post by **Gurantsu** » Wed Mar 31, 2010 5:58 pm

iRacing will humble most who try it at first. The coolest thing is that you will eventually see yourself getting better and learning more about racing, which is cool.

Most of the races I run have guys in them who have higher licenses than I do, so you can certainly do that.

Rodster · Post by **Rodster** » Mon Apr 05, 2010 2:16 pm

New GTR from Simbin in 2011.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/simbi ... r-for-2011

"will take gamers back to the roots of SimBin style racing games", and will offer a "significant step up in both realism, visuals, and sheer immersion".

The studio also said to expect "innovative online features and activities, in addition to a very comprehensive DLC plan".

DChaps · Post by **DChaps** » Mon Apr 05, 2010 6:07 pm

Rodster wrote:G27 $149.99 at Bestbuy.com

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Logitech+-+ ... &cp=1&lp=1

Well, I actually found one in the stores today. The shelf price next to the PCs actually said $149.99 for the G27, but there were none on the shelf. They looked and found 1 left in another location in the store, but it rang up on the computer at $299.99. They said the shelves had not been updated because they were closed. No budging on the price. It was $299, so I left the store without. Apparently there are people posting in the iRacing forums that their online orders placed last week are now showing as cancelled with no explanation. This must have been a mistake that Best Buy are now trying to recover from. I saw at least 3 stores in the ATL area that had the shelves marked with the $149 price tag, even though they did not have any in stock, and it was the G27, not the DFGT. Oh well, probably best that I did not spend the money on it anyway. It looks like those people that found them in the stores last week for $149 are the lucky ones.

Rodster · Post by **Rodster** » Thu Apr 08, 2010 7:57 pm

Just a heads up. I know some of you were mourning the loss of Race Sim Central. Well they're back

http://www.racesimcentral.com/news/

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Thu Apr 08, 2010 8:16 pm

Rodster wrote:Just a heads up. I know some of you were mourning the loss of Race Sim Central. Well they're back

http://www.racesimcentral.com/news/

Yep. Simraceway.com is running the revived RSC, with help from Darin Gangi and Shaun Cole from Sim Racing Tonight.

Sadly, all of the great information in the RSC forum from its inception to its demise late last year is gone. So this is RSC about as much as the new Lotus F1 team is Jim Clark, Colin Chapman and Mario Andretti.

But I'm glad that Darin and Shaun have taken on the task of reviving RSC. I've talked with Shaun before, and he's a really good guy who is passionate as hell about sim racing.

DChaps · Post by **DChaps** » Thu Apr 08, 2010 8:19 pm

Rodster wrote:Just a heads up. I know some of you were mourning the loss of Race Sim Central. Well they're back

http://www.racesimcentral.com/news/

Unfortunately, I believe they are back in name only. The 10 years worth of forum info for games like GPL, Nascar 2003, GTR series, etc. has supposedly been lost for good.

Best place for GPL info both old and new, appears to be here for now:

http://srmz.net/index.php?showforum=84

Edit: Heh, Paul beat me to it. What he said.

Rodster · Post by **Rodster** » Thu Apr 08, 2010 8:21 pm

They're forums are back too. http://www.racesimcentral.com/forum/for ... imulations

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Thu Apr 08, 2010 9:38 pm

Rodster wrote:They're forums are back too. http://www.racesimcentral.com/forum/for ... imulations

It's criminal to call those even a shadow of the old RSC forums.

The old RSC forums had tens of thousands of informative posts overall on every sim racing game imaginable. They were the Library of Congress, World Book Encyclopedia, Encyclopedia Brittanica, Encarta and Wikipedia of sim racing -- combined.

Watching the old RSC and its information die was like watching the Smithsonian and Library of Congress burn for a history buff. Sad, sad, sad.

Rodster · Post by **Rodster** » Thu Apr 08, 2010 9:46 pm

pk500 wrote:
It's criminal to call those even a shadow of the old RSC forums.

I say arrest them then, burn em at the stake.

DChaps · Post by **DChaps** » Fri Apr 16, 2010 2:46 pm

The $5 for a month promotion is over, but there are two new iRacing promotions for new members that offer some pretty significant savings if you are wanting to give iRacing a trial.

Indycar Promotion:

•3 month iRacing.com Membership for $24.00 (reg price $36.00)
•Dallara IndyCar for FREE (reg price $11.95)
•Total Savings = $23.95

To activate the promotion, enter “PR-INDY” on the Subscription page

http://www.iracing.com/promotions/dallaraindycar/

Talladega Promotion:

•3 month iRacing.com Membership for $25.00 (reg price $36.00)
•Talladega Super Speedway for FREE (reg price $14.95)
•Total Savings = $25.95

To activate the promotion, enter “PR-Talladega2010” on the Subscription page

http://www.iracing.com/talladega-2010/

All memberships start with the following:

•Unlimited racing, 24/7, for three full months
•3 Cars modeled flawlessly after their real-world counterparts
•7 Tracks with 14 different variations that have been laser scanned on-site to provide millimeter accuracy
•Rookie road racing and oval racing license

Default Cars:
•Legends Ford '34 Coupe
•Pontiac Solstice
•Spec Racer Ford

Default Tracks:
•Laguna Seca (Road)
•Lime Rock Park (Road)
•Summit Point Motorsports Park (Road)
•Charlotte Motor Speedway (Oval, Legends, Roval, Kart)
•Lanier National Speedway (Oval)
•Oxford Plains Speedway (Oval)
•South Boston Speedway (Oval)
•Stafford Motor Speedway (Oval)

DChaps · Post by **DChaps** » Tue Apr 20, 2010 7:28 pm

Steve Myers has posted the 2010 iRacing Season 2 Race Schedule and there are a couple interesting items, particularly mixed class racing.

You need to be a member to link to the iRacing forums, but I will quote the gist of it as well.

http://members.iracing.com/iforum/threa ... 9&tstart=0

http://members.iracing.com/iforum/servl ... hedule.htm

Attached is the 2010 Season 2 race schedule. From a scheduling perspective this is very similar to last seasons schedule.

Some items to note are that Phillip Island and Zandvoort have been mixed into some of the road racing series, the Ford Falcon V8 Supercar will be introduced as a Class C car, and we have combined the Daytona Prototype and Radical into one mixed class series.

The new Pro schedule has been created with the Class B Impala being the oval car and the Daytona Prototype the road. We have also changed the last race of the DWC season to coincide with the Pro schedule and added Phillip Island and the soon to arrive Mid Ohio as well.

Steve

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Tue Apr 20, 2010 7:56 pm

The Falcon is a Class C? Cool! I'm going to bust ass to leave my Class D status so I can race the Falcon in official races!

Plan on running plenty of Hosted races in the Falcon, too!

Also very cool that Watkins Glen was added to the Spec Racer Ford schedule and that Philip Island was added to the Jetta schedule.

Thanks for the head's up, The Donald!

DChaps · Post by **DChaps** » Thu Apr 22, 2010 7:37 pm

pk500 wrote:The Falcon is a Class C? Cool! I'm going to bust ass to leave my Class D status so I can race the Falcon in official races!

Plan on running plenty of Hosted races in the Falcon, too!

With the new season starting, I really, really want to get back to racing. I have been Class C forever, but rightly so. I am going to try to commit to one official series and stick to it. My goal is to do this with the Falcon. Paul, I know you are limited for time with the Indycar series in full gear, but if you can get to class C, I promise I will join you in some official Falcon series racing!

As the iRacing shill I have to post another promotion I somehow missed. Until tomorrow, you can get up to $6 iRacing credit if you pre-purchase the Falcon and Phillip Island.

Pre-order the Aussie Ford V8 Super Car plus Phillip Island Circuit and we’ll give you $6 iRacing credits! All you have to do is buy them both between 4. 5.10 and 4.23.10. We’ll automatically send your bonus credits the week of the 26th.

The Aussie V8 and Phillip Island will be available for download during the 13th week of Season 1, or shortly thereafter. Bonus credits are in addition to any volume discounts you are eligible for. Limit one $6 iRacing credit per account. Purchases must be made between 00:01 GMT on 4.5.10 (19:01 EDT 4.4.10) and 23:59 GMT on 4.23.10 (18:59 EDT on 4.23.10) to qualify.

Just got mine ordered. $6 is two more DSP hosted events.

GB_Simo · Post by **GB_Simo** » Fri Apr 23, 2010 7:11 pm

I've got the Falcon and the Island on pre-order so I'll try to hop in should there be a hosted race. I love love love V8 Supercars but I've never really been convinced by the rFactor mods I've tried, so I've got my fingers crossed.

Speaking of rFactor, for the three of us who still wheel it out every so often, I've been having a go at two of the more recent single-seater mods, the complete version of Markus and Valiante's 1985 F1 mod and the F1.Seven F1C 1975 conversion.

The 1985 mod is brutal, to a greater degree than I remember from the beta. Ever since I saw this video a year or two ago, I've had an enormous fondness for taking turbo cars around the streets of Adelaide:

<embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/8c0o697F1g8&hl=en_GB&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed>

With the beta version of the mod and carrera.4's lovely take on Adelaide I could put a couple of very moderate laps together on qualifying tyres, something like three seconds off the pace in that video. With the full release, I can get through the first chicane OK but at the point where Senna comes up to pass Philippe Streiff, I tend to end up in the fence when I put the power on. As you'd expect, it arrives in one big savage lump once you get the engine to about 6500 revs, and while you can avoid massive wheelspin by keeping the engine in the power band at all times, it's far easier said than done.

Assuming you manage to get to a corner, though, the cars are very well behaved. In fact, they understeer like an airport luggage trolley. Nothing that's going to harm you there, but the speeds seem convincing enough. My next task is to have a crack at Keke Rosberg's 160 mph lap of Silverstone, but to do that I'll need to get beyond my out lap without having an enormous crash, a task that's so far been beyond my capabilities.

The 1975 F1 conversion is fascinating. I'm not sure I've ever felt quite so disconnected from a mod - it might be different for RealFeel users, but with Leo's I've got no sensation whatsoever. What I discovered from a quick run around Zandvoort GPC79 with Vittorio Brambilla's March is that the cars are well modelled if understandably basic, there's a different car model for each race of the 1975 season so all the in-season updates are there, and that driving those different models is an exercise in buttock-clenching terror of a kind I've rarely experienced anywhere.

A typical run into a corner involves a certain amount of guesswork about where the front end will be by the time you've arrived at the bend, a wide-eyed piece of hanging on through the apex, and a stab at the throttle once you think you've safely negotiated that bit. At this point, the lucky ones will sail serenely (trans: chase the front end all the way down the next straight) into the next corner, ready to do it all again. The unlucky will experience one of two slides.

First up is the gripless slide, in which the back steps out, the driver corrects but nothing at all happens, leading to an arcing slide into the inside barrier. Fans of variety may want to try out the grippy slide, in which the back steps out, the driver corrects and the front end miraculously grips like a truck full of contact adhesive, leading to an arrow-straight collision with the outside barrier. Those who opted for a clean run to the next corner needn't worry - one slide or the other will get them within a couple of laps.

I want to give it more time, because the 1975 season is a particular favourite of mine, and it may well be that with practice there'll be a way of getting to know the mod's quirks and staying on the road for more than 35 seconds at a time. Then again, it might be a really bad piece of work. We shall see.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Fri Apr 23, 2010 8:49 pm

Don:

I admire you: You're a glutton for punishment for sticking with rFactor. Every time a new rFactor mod tempts me to reinstall the game, I realize just how great and intuitive iRacing is out of the box and get lazy, sticking with iRacing.

DChaps · Post by **DChaps** » Sat Apr 24, 2010 12:04 am

pk500 wrote:Don:

I admire you: You're a glutton for punishment for sticking with rFactor......

Not me. That is our good friend Adam from across the pond keeping us abreast of the latest rFactor mods. Do you really think I have the racing skill, or writing skill to pen this awesome description?

With the full release, I can get through the first chicane OK but at the point where Senna comes up to pass Philippe Streiff, I tend to end up in the fence when I put the power on. As you'd expect, it arrives in one big savage lump once you get the engine to about 6500 revs, and while you can avoid massive wheelspin by keeping the engine in the power band at all times, it's far easier said than done.

It is true that I am a glutton for punishment when it comes to racing sims, but not with rFactor these days. In fact, the only racing sim installed on my machine is iRacing. After my old PC crashed back in the fall, I never reinstalled anything else. I even abandoned my attempts at Grand Prix Legends and Richard Burns Rally re-installs with updates. iRacing has spoiled me, plus I just don't have the time anymore to dedicate 3-4 hours getting a mod installed and working properly!

Thanks for the impressions Adam!

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Sat Apr 24, 2010 12:38 am

Damn, I've been working too much lately. Delirium has set in.

Sorry, Adam!

GB_Simo · Post by **GB_Simo** » Sat Apr 24, 2010 9:36 am

I'm more than happy to be mistaken for Don, mate. No worries on that score.

After I was done messing around with rFactor, I had a go at iRacing's Zandvoort in the Lotus 79. The thought did occur to me, tazzing around the Dutch coast being a complete hooligan, that it might be time to give up on rFactor, but there's still just about enough enjoyment in it for me to press on. If I were to uninstall it, though, I'm sure it wouldn't come back.