Racing Sim Thread, Part II

[pk500]

I've been waiting for a Steam sale to pickup PCR2. I still play the original PCR and for all the negative reviews about it's faults regarding this or that and the crappy AI, I will say this. I have yet to find a racing game where I can actually race the AI and challenge it and it challenges me. I have yet to find a racing AI that takes its braking points in a realistic manner. There isn't any of that go fast on the straights and slow down in the corners where you can predictably pass the AI in the corners.

F1 2019. PCars 2 is a better driving experience than F1 2019, but that game has superb AI. The best I've seen in a console game.

[Dave]

I bought it at the same time but haven't put the effort into it you have--but I did have a ton of fun racing IndyCars around Texas Motor Speedway, took me back to the days of modding Papyrus' all-time great IndyCar Racing 2 with some tracks from NASCAR like Charlotte. The tire deg model was outstanding and eventually I couldn't hold on to the loose car and wiped out after moving up the field over the course of the stint. Long Beach was a different story, something didn't click.

Speaking of IndyCar Racing 2, I finally took time to learn a little about DOSBox and installed it on a new computer. Still brilliant after all these years, especially the thrill of driving the beastly mid-90s cars on a superspeedway. Hard to imagine controlling it with a single-stick Sidewinder joystick like back in the day...

[Naples39]

I've been waiting for a Steam sale to pickup PCR2.

PCars 2 was on sale for $15 pretty much all of December and again a few days ago. I'm sure it will go back on sale soon.

[TCrouch]

I didn't announce the iRacing Skip Barber AI release last time, and it seems at least Don was interested in it later, so I'm putting this here in case anybody cares

AI NASCAR coming tomorrow with Daytona and Talladega.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgRfBn4LFHI

[DChaps]

I didn't announce the iRacing Skip Barber AI release last time, and it seems at least Don was interested in it later, so I'm putting this here in case anybody cares

AI NASCAR coming tomorrow with Daytona and Talladega.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgRfBn4LFHI

I am super excited for this!! Now we will eventually have the true successor to Nascar Racing 2003. Pretty cool to see the old Papyrus #98 of Fred Jones in that video. Can't wait to see the throwback seasons that get created by the user community for this. I would give anything for iRacing to add some 70's, 80's. and 90's Nascar models to the sim for more historic racing. They are already in the process of adding North Wilkesboro Speedway as it was in 1987. Thanks for the heads up Terry!

https://www.iracing.com/north-wilkesbor ... 05_1-copy/

[pk500]

Well, well, well: Here's a pleasant surprise. Tony Stewart announced today that a winged and wingless sprint car game bearing his name will be released Feb. 14 for PlayStation and Xbox. The game also will have TQ midgets:

https://www.tonystewartgame.com/

Gameplay trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_cont ... =emb_title

Looking forward to this!

[dbdynsty25]

Holy crap. We were just talking about World of Outlawz a few weeks ago. This is awesome!

[pk500]

Holy crap. We were just talking about World of Outlawz a few weeks ago. This is awesome!

At $30, it's a borderline must-buy for me on release day next Friday. It's worth a flyer at that price, even if it sucks. But something tells me Smoke wouldn't put his name on a piece of sh*t just to earn money. He doesn't need money, that's for damn sure!

[TCrouch]

I'm super excited for a new dirt game (obviously, my avatar hasn't changed in years lol), but basing an entire game around Monster's dirt mode from Nascar Heat scares me a little bit.

It had no balance in there. You were either pushing like a dump truck or sliding way too much. No fine control mid-corner. However, it's sprint cars, so I'm all over it day 1

You also seem to go from Three Quarter Midgets to 305 Wingless cars to 410 winged. Not sure why we couldn't have winged and non-winged versions of both of those cars (and why no 360s?).

Lots of questions I have, but I hope it sells well and we get some updates to it like other racing sims.

[pk500]

Lots of questions I have, but I hope it sells well and we get some updates to it like other racing sims.

It's a digital-only product, which should allow for frequent, easy patches and updates.

[Dave]

Really looking forward to hearing what you guys think about the Sprint Car game, I was cleaning up in the basement and found my old copy of World of Outlaws for XBox 360 and thought about finding a cheap system to play it on again.

We got a gaming-capable laptop recently so I took the plunge on iRacing. The AI races are really, really fun--pushing my abilities against AI in a Skippy at Mid-Ohio, Barber, and Lime Rock has been a blast. It's been 9 years since I last subscribed, so quite a few updates since then and the amount of included content is a nice improvement. Excited to see which cars/tracks get AI next.

[TCrouch]

Lots of questions I have, but I hope it sells well and we get some updates to it like other racing sims.

It's a digital-only product, which should allow for frequent, easy patches and updates.

Yeah, I was thinking more along the lines of an annual release type of update. Where they might release a base game that's fairly bare-bones, but then the next version opens up new series, etc. Similar to what we saw with NASCAR Heat, then 2/3/4. It'd be nice to see a steady flow of dirt games!

[TCrouch]

We got a gaming-capable laptop recently so I took the plunge on iRacing. The AI races are really, really fun--pushing my abilities against AI in a Skippy at Mid-Ohio, Barber, and Lime Rock has been a blast. It's been 9 years since I last subscribed, so quite a few updates since then and the amount of included content is a nice improvement. Excited to see which cars/tracks get AI next.

The Skips are probably my favorite car on the service. They are the perfect springboard to everything else, because they'll teach you so much about weight transfer, throttle control (and how NOT to drive on cold tires! ).

If you get into running with real people, it'd be fun to fart around in a practice session or even a league race (I'm in a few, you'd be welcome!).

[TCrouch]

Favignano with a gameplay video for Tony Stewart's game:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9mMG_XLo44

[Dave]

Can't believe I actually won in iRacing last night, sure it was a rookie-level MX-5 Cup race at Summit Point where 2nd and 3rd were nice enough to collide in turn 1 but the last time around with the service (9 years ago!) I couldn't keep any damn car on the road at any road course. So I'll take it! Another clean race and class D here I come...

The brilliance of iRacing (vs. a Forza) is that fine line between finding speed and being out of control--that's one thing that makes the AI set-up so great. Setting a really wide skill level let's you learn how to control the car in traffic and eventually brings you up against cars close to (or a little faster than) your speed and you either find the few tenths needed to get around or lose control. Last night's race is a testament to what a great training tool the AI can be.

[TCrouch]

Indeed! Congrats!

Most of the time lately I'm running in league races (there's a really fun "Tuesday Night Mustangs" league that I run in, as well as The SimPit's Sunday F3 series), but any win feels fantastic. I went years without winning a race, then they started coming frequently in the past few months, which is crazy. I won in a Skip Barber, then a Pro 2 Lite Truck on a rallycross course. A Mustang, then an F3 car.

It felt like that "first" win after a long gap just sort of launched me into others, so you may see the same type of results. Maybe just a confidence level? No idea, but congratulations, Dave! Savor it

[pk500]

Classic bikes confirmed for Isle of Man TT: Ride on the Edge 2. YES!

https://www.teamvvv.com/news/classic-bi ... he-edge-2/

[DChaps]

Well, well, well: Here's a pleasant surprise. Tony Stewart announced today that a winged and wingless sprint car game bearing his name will be released Feb. 14 for PlayStation and Xbox. The game also will have TQ midgets:

https://www.tonystewartgame.com/

Gameplay trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_cont ... =emb_title

Looking forward to this!

Did any of you end up picking this up? I did but only had time for about 15 minutes. Turned all the assists off and out of the box it seemed to be working pretty well with the Thrustmaster TX wheel on Xbox. Frame rate seemed a little smoother in the dirt than Nascar Heat 4, but I did not do a side by side comparison. Bare bones for sure, but I'm always up for any kind of attempt at dirt racing. The tracks are all fantasy, but could not tell if they were maybe loosely based on real world tracks. Don't know the series well enough to know if the AI drivers are real world. Let me know if anyone wants to try some multiplayer tonight. Probably 10:00pm EDT or later. In reading the review from Operation Sports, I did not realize that Monster Games had parted ways with 704 and are no longer doing the Nascar Heat games. That sucks as Nascar Heat 4, while still desperately needing an engine upgrade, was the best version yet and had some great AI going for it. Anyway, read the Operation Sports review for more info.

Summary from Operation Sports Review:

https://www.operationsports.com/tony-st ... han-wrong/

Bottom Line
It has been a long road back from the days of Dirt to Daytona, World of Outlaws and Dirt Track Racing 2 (all from 2002), but if the initial iteration of Tony Stewart’s Sprint Car Racing is any indication, we may be in store for another run of games in the genre. TSSCR certainly has its issues, but overall does an extremely solid job of conjuring up memories of past glory days spruced up with shiny new graphics.

From veterans to newcomers, the game is accessible and can be modified for people of all skill levels. TSSCR does an admirable job of blending the world of arcade and authenticity together, and if you listen to media reports, it sounds like there is a lot more planned for the game through patches and DLC.

I not only welcome the world of sprint car racing back into the racing genre, but I champion it. I understand that iRacing provides dirt racing on multiple levels, but for many, iRacing is just not an option. Tony Stewart’s Sprint Car Racing provides a lot of quality racing, modes and options for those who love the sport and for those who are just mildly interested.

For $29.99 (USD), adding Tony Stewart’s Sprint Car Racing to your rotation is an absolute must for racing fans with any level of interest in dirt racing.

[pk500]

Did any of you end up picking this up? I did but only had time for about 15 minutes. Turned all the assists off and out of the box it seemed to be working pretty well with the Thrustmaster TX wheel on Xbox. Frame rate seemed a little smoother in the dirt than Nascar Heat 4, but I did not do a side by side comparison. Bare bones for sure, but I'm always up for any kind of attempt at dirt racing. The tracks are all fantasy, but could not tell if they were maybe loosely based on real world tracks. Don't know the series well enough to know if the AI drivers are real world. Let me know if anyone wants to try some multiplayer tonight. Probably 10:00pm EDT or later. In reading the review from Operation Sports, I did not realize that Monster Games had parted ways with 704 and are no longer doing the Nascar Heat games. That sucks as Nascar Heat 4, while still desperately needing an engine upgrade, was the best version yet and had some great AI going for it. Anyway, read the Operation Sports review for more info.

Summary from Operation Sports Review:

https://www.operationsports.com/tony-st ... han-wrong/

I bought it. This is a $30 game, and that's a compliment and a criticism.

First, there's a lot to like. The racing seems to be a perfect blend of arcade and sim. The AI is competitive, and navigating lapped traffic is a ton of fun. The physics are a mix of believable dirt sliding mixed with a few "WTF?" moments. You do need to tweak a custom AI setting to find something that's competitive, as I crush the AI on the Hard level but fall toward the rear of the field on the next-highest standard setting.

The physics feel a lot like the late models in NASCAR Heat 4. Probably too much, as the midgets and non-winged sprints probably feel a bit too heavy. The power-to-weight ratio of those cars is insane in real life, and this game doesn't capture that nearly as well as iRacing. But no one expects this game to be iRacing, and the developers wisely leaned more toward the "fun" side than the "realism" side.

Between the ability to tune the AI strength and use assists, anyone can tweak settings to create fun, exciting, competitive action. And you can race just fine with a controller in this game, which is a big plus.

I've enjoyed a ton of fun races in Championship and one-off mode. Haven't started Career or tried online racing yet.

Now for the negatives. The graphics aren't great. Definitely early Xbox One quality, with some framerate niggles. The sound is mediocre, and PA announcements must go. I'm still laughing at the PA announcer urging us to go to the concession stand every four laps because all of the proceeds are rolled back into track prep, but that will get old fast.

I wish the tracks were licensed, but I guess NH 4 has those all locked up. Would love to see a list of the real track upon which each of the fictional tracks was based.

Rob Kollars at OS is reaching by saying this game approaches the brilliance of Ratbag's Dirt Track Racing and Sprint Car Racing series for PC and consoles. This game isn't that good. But it's solid and a very good purchase that will deliver a lot of fun for $30.

Sometimes we overlook just how important pricing is to the reception of a game. Everyone agreed that NASCAR Heat 4 was a cruel joke at $60 retail, with essentially just reskinned cars over an old gaming engine. Similar outcries would be justified if Tony Stewart's Sprint Car Racing was priced at $40-60 at retail, as this is essentially a sprint car add-on for NH 4. But for $30? This game is a winner.

TL;DR: If you enjoyed dirt racing in NASCAR Heat 4, there's a lot to like in TSSCR -- especially for only 30 bones. Dirt racing probably was my favorite part of NH4, so I'm digging this game.

Will try to jump online and race with you cats soon.

[dbdynsty25]

And if you’ve never played NH4...and only WoO...will I like it? LOL.

[TCrouch]

As long as you don't mind the cars handling like boats. My initial impressions that I posted at OS after the game unlocked on the 13th:

1) Played on an XBox One X with a controller (no way I'm moving my sim rig or my XBox to play this lol).

2) Out of the box, I jumped into a TQ race and the cars felt like absolute boats. Turning felt so sluggish, it was like trying to steer a NASCAR truck at Eldora. In a TQ.

3) Left the first race and went to controls, and they now have a Steering Sensitivity as well as "Turn Rate" setting. I kept messing with them...turning one up and then the other. I could never find a happy performance spot with a controller. I could watch the wheels turn sluggishly, so I'd increase sensitivity...then I'd get snap-overcorrections mid-corner. Eventually I found a setting that let me get around the track alright. But in a race, when you get hit inside on the nerf bar by somebody, I immediately went into a crazy fishtail when trying to correct it. Not a fan. I'll try with a wheel when it comes out on Steam next week. I haven't raced any racing game outside of Supercross with a controller in years, so YMMV.

4) Once I got the car semi under control, I at least found that the handling model is predictable enough. I could figure out where the slide point would be (didn't have the dreaded "center pivot point" I hate so much. I could actually try and drive it off rear tire, which was nice).

5) I ran the AI at 100% (didn't even want to try 105 with a controller that I can barely use) and had a good challenge in a couple of quick races I tried. Think I was 2nd in the A Main and want to say 7th or 8th in another when I got nerf bar'd and kicked around the track. It has enough challenge for me, considering there's another 5% above what I ran last night.

6) Career mode is awesome, and each upgrade is a tangible difference. I started on Expert AI with all the assists off, and was qualifying high 20s. First race didn't come close to the A main, so I got a 2-star suspension with higher durability. That improved my position by about 3 spots. Next race, B main again, missed the A Main again, but got better performing tires. Barely missed the A main in the next race, and finally got a better engine. This time I was fast enough to make the A-Main (granted, I finished 21st), but each seemingly minimal upgrade in the car gave me a boost on the track. I dig it.

7) Cockpit camera seems to have a pretty good angle, but when I could barely control the car with a gamepad, I settled on external for a lot of my races.

The car models are still trash, but they don't distract me as much as I thought they would. I got used to it pretty quickly.

9) AI did a fairly good job of racing hard without massive punts every corner. It happened a few times, and I really sent it on a few others and did it to the AI, but there were also several stretches of exchanging slide jobs every corner that really got me going. Overall I'm happy with their performance so far.

10) Performance on the X1X is surprsingly inconsistent. It doesn't look like a demanding game, but I'd get stutters and slowdowns that were noticeable. Maybe all of the dust/dirt effects, not sure. I noticed it and shrugged, kept right on playing.

11) For anybody curious, I streamed most of it past my initial Heat Race. The video is here (I'm not really a "streamer", I just streamed gameplay with nothing else):

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/551637614

Overall, I'm excited to play it some more--especially with my wheel. I'll have to watch Favignano's video to see what to expect, but I heard in my SimPit discord that he never quite got it feeling the way he thought it would, so I'm not expecting great wheel support there.

[DChaps]

Automobilista 2 early release beta tomorrow - February 28th

Tomorrow is the early release beta for the Reiza backers of Automobilista 2 and I can't wait! The love and attention to detail this small development team gives to their products is quite impressive and considering the magic they performed on the aging rFactor engine, it will be interesting to see how they can improve on the Project Cars 2 engine that is being used for Automobilista 2. I don't think I will be able to disclose any details yet, but if there is anyone else that is part of the early release beta, let me know. I have provided links to the monthly development updates for anyone interested in seeing the level of detail and cool features they are planning for this product.

Automobilista 2 Announcement Teaser!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hv_s-VcSqRA
https://www.youtube.com/user/ReizaStudios/videos

https://twitter.com/reizastudios?lang=en

January 2020 Development Update
https://www.bsimracing.com/reiza-studio ... -previews/

December 2019 Development Update
https://www.bsimracing.com/reiza-studio ... bilista-2/

November 2019 Development Update
https://www.bsimracing.com/reiza-studio ... -previews/

October 2019 Development Update
https://www.bsimracing.com/reiza-studio ... -progress/

September 2019 Development Update
https://www.bsimracing.com/reiza-studio ... nt-update/

August 2019 Development Update
https://www.bsimracing.com/reiza-studio ... nt-update/

Automobilista 2 – 2019 Stock Car Trailer
https://www.bsimracing.com/automobilist ... r-trailer/

https://forum.reizastudios.com/

Automobilista 2 Early Backing Campaign
https://forum.reizastudios.com/threads/ ... aign.6233/

Automobilista 2 is the culmination of a project developed over the course of nearly a decade. At its core, it is a comprehensive simulation of the brazilian motorsports scene, featuring all major brazilian racing series, race tracks and manufacturers.

Automobilista 2 will also celebrate Brazilian motorsports heritage by featuring some of the country´s most iconic heroes and achievements through its rich history in the sport. Packing an even larger roster of diverse cars and tracks than its predecessor, Automobilista 2 will venture further into the best of international motorsports, including prestigious brands such as Mclaren and BMW along with iconic venues such as Brands Hatch and Imola, at the same time continuing to explore the more exotic and exciting forms of motorsports from around the world.

Boosted by a new technical partnership with the developers of the award-winning Project CARS series, Automobilista 2 is built on the MADNESS engine, providing incredible graphical quality, the most advanced dynamic weather and track condition systems in a racing simulator and superior VR support, to deliver a substantial realism upgrade and a fully immersive visual experience.

With Automobilista 2 we aim to combine the strengths that made its predecessor unique with major evolutions in all areas. The sim will offer some exclusive features for both single player and multiplayer, which we look forward to sharing over the remaining months of development!

[Dave]

For a quick second I thought this was a sequel to the cel shaded Auto Modellista built on the Project Cars engine, haha

[F308GTB]

Automobilista 2 early release beta tomorrow - February 28th
Tomorrow is the early release beta for the Reiza backers of Automobilista 2 and I can't wait! The love and attention to detail this small development team gives to their products is quite impressive and considering the magic they performed on the aging rFactor engine, it will be interesting to see how they can improve on the Project Cars 2 engine that is being used for Automobilista 2. I don't think I will be able to disclose any details yet, but if there is anyone else that is part of the early release beta, let me know. I have provided links to the monthly development updates for anyone interested in seeing the level of detail and cool features they are planning for this product.

What can I say? The beta of AMS2 is everything I wanted in AMS, which is basically AMS in VR. I loved AMS, but switching to a 2D monitor is always a hassle for me (have to move my rig around) and keeps me from playing non-VR racing games with a wheel. I was surprised at just how many cars and tracks were already included in the beta version, and stepping behind the wheel in some of my favorites had pretty much the same handling as in AMS, which is a positive thing. Further, the AI is just as solid (some of the best in sim racing IMO). The only performance issues I have had in VR have been when trying to run a 22 car field at "Azure" (aka, Monaco).

To me, the 2 best racing games out there are the AMS series and Raceroom, due mainly to each having a number of cars and tracks not found in other games. AMS, far and away, however, gets the tip of the hat for all the Brazilian circuits and funky cars/series they run down there.

It was a pleasant surprise when I learned I'd get AMS2 for free based on my AMS Indiegogo level, and it was an even better surprise as to the implementation with the PC2 engine. Certainly a few bugs and missing features in the game, such as no car setups (and the most entertaining was driving a right-side drive car with hands on the steering wheel but the legs were dangling from the left seat!).

Looking forward to the progress Reiza makes with this one.

[DChaps]

TT Isle of Man: Ride on the Edge 2 is out now on Xbox One

Anyone downloaded it yet?

https://www.racedepartment.com/threads/ ... 660/page-2

Great news, TT IOM2 is superb, the bike handling is massively improved to the point where it's now enjoyable and feels fully connected to the road (rather than the stress-filled when will the bike kill me next for no obvious reason experience of the first game!).

The TT circuit looks absolutely stunning too. I make no claims about the 'realism' of the riding as I haven't got a clue about that (my mountain bike is fast enough for me on 2 wheels) but as a TT/bike game it is instantly good to play. 2 laps into IOM TT2 and I already matched my previous best lap on IOM TT (I ran a couple of laps on IOM TT last night and couldn't get within 2 minutes of my best lap time due to the need to learn all the points that make the bike fall over once again!). The new helmet cam is brilliant too, it's close to a VR type experience of being on the bike. Get a corner slightly wrong in IOM TT2 and the line can be trimmed, in the first game, it just chucked you off the bike. Whatever the term for bike understeer is, it's a handy pointer to going too fast in this game.

No need to take my word for this either, plenty of reviews are saying the same, a huge improvement in terms of the bikes and ability to access and enjoy the game.

I look forward to the RD news article and to seeing what you all think of it. My view is it's safe to buy and I think anyone who enjoys motorbike games will love this - the feeling of speed is so intense, nothing this side of WipEout gets close.

TT Isle of Man: Ride on the Edge 2 review - probably the best motorbike game out there right now - eurogamer
https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2020 ... -right-now

TT Isle of Man: Ride on the Edge 2 review - godisageek.com
https://www.godisageek.com/reviews/tt-i ... -2-review/

TT Isle of Man 2 Review - sportsgamersonline.com
http://www.sportsgamersonline.com/tt-is ... -2-review/

Review: ‘TT Isle Of Man–Ride On The Edge 2’ Is Your Ticket To The Race Canceled By Coronavirus - Forbes
https://www.forbes.com/sites/mattgardne ... 81b86a31bb

TT Isle of Man – Ride on the Edge 2 Review - thesixthaxis.com
https://www.thesixthaxis.com/2020/03/18 ... -2-review/

TT Isle of Man Ride on the Edge 2 Game Review for PC/STEAM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujp0Juh1QwY