Racing Sim Thread, Part II

[DChaps]

I picked up Nascar Heat 3 for Xbox One last night and played online dirt racing for about 3 hours into the early morning and it was surprisingly good, both from a difficulty, realism, physics, force feedback, and control perspective, as well as pretty solid online code, and not a bunch of wreckers. I may have just lucked into a good group, but man was it fun. We were doing 13% races which on the dirt tracks appears to be 13 laps every time. Just about right for online, at least for me. Each dirt track is just different enough to make each one a new challenge and require a different approach. I don't think the groove and the cushion changes real time like I believe iRacing does, but it felt real enough for me. My last race I had a 3 lap battle with a guy where literally we were passing each other back and forth and I slid past him right at the line and we never even touched. Could be some fun pick up and play if any of you end up getting it. Would be interested in your thoughts Terry since you raced on dirt in real life and I believe have also spent some time with the dirt in iRacing.

[pk500]

Nice to hear such good feedback, Don. I'm definitely getting NH 3, but I'm waiting for my free copy from work.

[Rodster]

I tried the PC version and it's basically the same game as last year. Same graphics which are uninspiring along with stutters and micro-stutters. The AI feels improved as Don noted, they are really aware for the most part of their surroundings. At 95% with a gamepad I can still beat them. I'll have to bump it up to 100% and test again. I'm leaning on buying the PS4 version later this year when it's on sale during BF.

Small caveat, I made the mistake of buying the 2018 add-on for Nascar Heat 2 which is what Nascar Heat 3 is out of the box. So keep that in mind that these are yearly releases and next year they'll offer the 2019 add-on for NH3, which NH4 will be based on.

I'm not a huge fan of Dirt racing on ovals but I did discover some smokin' hot blonde in the driver's lineup. Hope she makes it to the big show one day.

[Rodster]

Assetto Corsa Competizione is now available as Early Access for $24.99 which is not bad as judging by their prelease release the price went up to $50.

[TCrouch]

Would be interested in your thoughts Terry since you raced on dirt in real life and I believe have also spent some time with the dirt in iRacing.

I've put a lot of time into this one now, and I'll say it's definitely fun. The dirt racing is nowhere near realistic or close to iRacing's implementation, however. That doesn't make it any less fun for me, as it's predictable once you figure out what they're asking you to do with it.

At first, I put the career mode on hard and felt like the Late Models pushed way too hard, and had no ability to pitch them sideways. The cars were underpowered, had no straight-line speed. It was just a mess. I pushed on through a couple of hot seat contracts and found their "sweet spot" they expect you to drive. You can essentially stab the brake just as you let off the gas to rotate the car around (they don't really simulate a LF brake like LMs have, but they do use some physics to just throw it sideways when you transfer weight abruptly), and then you can actually apply bits of throttle until the rear wheels "lose grip", and that rotates the car. It's bizarre to have that on dirt, as there's not really any grip threshold that's abrupt like that to start with, but I could just set every car I had to "Loose - 9" on the setup, and throttle-steer cars through the corners. Harder to explain in words than feeling...on dirt, you can have a dry/slick track where you're on ice, or it's very wet and sloshy, but very rarely do you ever have this magic "grip threshold" that you pass where the car sticks on rails prior to it--then breaks loose as soon as you pass it. It's just indicative of taking a pavement engine and applying it to a dirt racing model, but it's not something I really thought about once I figured out what they were asking me to do.

The problem was, once I figured that out, I literally won every race by a mile. I was lapping the back 6 to 8 cars in the (usually) 7 lap races and never lost a race from that point on through an entire XTreme Tour season (oddly, though, I never won a pole position. Finished 2nd a lot, but never did get a single pole). That wasn't fun, either, so I reset career progress and put it on Legend.

Now that's an official challenge! I managed to complete a couple of hot seats, usually fighting for position in the back, but I managed to nab a 4-star team for the season, and now I can fight for top 5s or top 10s with some white-knuckle driving.

The AI cars tend to drift too high into corners when you can just push it really deep into each entry, then stab-and-pitch and throttle-steer off once you find the game's "grip loss level", so you can make a lot of passes down low almost everywhere, but overall it's really, really fun. Not exactly realistic, but fun.

What I absolutely LOVE about it is the AI. This is the first game I can recall where I've run several dozen races and can't remember a single instance of the AI not respecting my position. I even demonstrated it to a buddy--set the AI to 100 at Kansas in the XFinity car, and started from the rear in a 40 car field for 19 laps. I was doing all sorts of insane stuff--coming hot off of turn 4, immediately cutting sharply down below a pair of cars in front of me, almost nose-clipping a car I chopped down on, etc.

The AI smartly spread a bit and gave some room for the idiot human doing things that should never happen on a race track, and I went from 40th to finish 6th without a single incident occurring (OR the AI not respecting me and blowing off a fender when they clipped down). That is something that cannot be understated--they've done a really fantastic job with the racing AI this version.

Difficulty is subjective to everybody, but that 105 difficulty seems to be about perfect for me, which is good, because I can't set it any higher. But I get fantastic racing wherever I am on the track, and they finally got rid of that ridiculous "qualify last every race, then yard the entire field" issue that they had in the past 2 versions. If I qualify 13th, I'm likely just about as quick as the other cars around me. But again, I can do some stupidly aggressive sh*t to pick off a few places immediately, and then race hard against the last 2 or 3 cars in a run.

Overall, I'm very, very pleased with it, although it's definitely on the more arcade side than an all-out sim. But I'm perfectly fine with that. As long as the handling model is predictable (it is), the AI is good (it's great), and races aren't identical (they're not), it's something I can have a blast with.

[F308GTB]

Assetto Corsa Competizione is now available as Early Access for $24.99 which is not bad as judging by their prelease release the price went up to $50.

Downloading now.

[Rodster]

Assetto Corsa Competizione is now available as Early Access for $24.99 which is not bad as judging by their prelease release the price went up to $50.

Downloading now.

I also bought it at 44% off but it only has one car and one track in the pre-release state which i'm OK with that.

Developer Notes:
How is the full version planned to differ from the Early Access version?
“The full version will include all official cars and circuits of the 2018 season of the Blancpain GT Series Championship. As soon as our team collects the visual, technical and driver performance data from the 2019 season, the game will be upgraded through a free season update. Furthermore, the full version will feature career and championship modes, including all official entries and tracks, and a fully operational online rating system.”

[Rodster]

Early impressions and yes it's one car, one track but boy is this headed in the right direction. There is going to be MP later on so it'll be awhile before we get a chance to judge the AI. So far the driving model feels great, the braking system is something I have not yet seen implemented in any other racing sim like in ACC. If you enable "Brake Temperature" the car's braking will behave as it should within a window. If the brake temps fall out of the window, braking will take longer to stop until they are in that window.

Codemaster's F1 2010 tried this in their game with tire temperature and I always liked that feature. It gave you the sense that you had to be careful of tire grip until they got in their window.

Graphics look great, and it runs absolutely great even on my 5 yr old rig with an i7-3770K and GTX 780. I can't say if it will still be the same when more cars are added but we'll see. I'm not sure if this game is running on the UE4 Engine but I thought I read something awhile back that it might.

Overall a steal at $24.99 and what they plan on adding.

[F308GTB]

Did some hot laps and a race. One thing, I hate how the Lambo drives in the game as well as Asetto Corsa. I just can't dial out the understeer. At least only driving the one car for the next few weeks should make me improve.

Game ran great out of the box with no slowdown on my i5-4670 and 1080ti at 3440x1440. I do need that VR support as the in car camera doesn't give me enough visibility. Looking forward to more detailed FFB as the curbing didn't give much bounce.

I thought the AI was really good. They battled me pretty good, and some of the faster cars lost pace near the end which made for interesting position changes. I had to pick my overtaking spots carefully as the AI would not give space if I tried to muscle my way in through a corner. Of course, maybe it comes down to the difference in aggression setting between the 2 games.

Looking forward to the updates, especially VR!

[Rodster]

Yeah i’m not crazy about the way it drives either. It’s too grippy for my taste, has that arcadish feel to it. The graphics and the special effects are top notch especially the sun bloom and reflection. I did have to dial down some settings but not many to achieve 60FPS with 19 cars on the track. I quit the sunset race challenge to make some gameplay settings changes and now the game won’t let me get back in to do the race with the 19 cars. I never got to check out the AI. So far I haven’t seen any major bugs other than I can’t get rumble to work on my wireless X360 controller.

[Rodster]

I just realized that the Blancpain GT series is a 54 car field. It looks like i'll be dialing back some more settings.

Oh and this series is streamed live on YT https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_nfPQ8WKdg

Here's the Roadmap for ACC: https://www.assettocorsa.net/competizione/roadmap/

[F308GTB]

New build of Assetto Corsa Competzione came out this week. New track, new car, and VR. It took awhile to dial in some acceptable settings for VR, but overall I'm liking what I'm seeing for an initial VR release. It just needs to crisp up as the images are a bit blurry. No slowdown for me with this release, though last weekend I did upgrade my PC to a new MB and CPU (i7-8700k), so now it hums along with my 1080ti .

The driving model during the wet to dry transition is fantastic, as you can really feel the grip increasing with each lap of a drying track. The force feedback has improved, and the AI is still fantastic. Was having an epic battle for 20 minutes where I just couldn't close down the car about a second ahead. Finally made the pass and wanted it to stick but this early access game crashed due to the Unreal engine cratering. I was really expecting the Bentley to handle like a land yacht, but it's surprisingly balanced and can be nudged through the turns with a little weight transfer.

If you plan on getting it for the PC, you've got a month before the price goes up.

[Rodster]

This certainly doesn't fall under racing sim but last night I was watching Live Snocross races from Jackson Hole Wyoming on my Apple TV. It got me thinking that it would be killer for EA to resurrect the Sled Storm series or perhaps the developers who did the Snocross sled game on the original Playstation back in the late 90's. Actually the Polaris Sno Cross Championship Racing game was a lot more sim than Sled Storm and actually quite good but Sled Storm had the soundtack and sim/arcade blend to make it a lot of fun.

[pk500]

Sled Storm is one of the best arcade racing games I've ever played. So much fun!

[DChaps]

Thrustmaster VG Thrustmaster Sparco Rally Wheel Add-On - $117 at Walmart

This add-on wheel for the Thrustmaster ecosystem (TX Racing Wheel Servo Base, TX Racing Wheel Ferrari 458 Italia Edition, T300 Racing Wheel Servo Base, etc) normally retails for about $250 and Walmart is selling it right now for $117 with free shipping at the link below. This wheel has received very good reviews, but it is just the rim, you will need a compatible Thrustmaster base/wheel to use this wheel. Have been waiting to see a price drop like this.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Thrustmaster ... TSEALw_wcB

http://www.thrustmaster.com/en_US/produ ... o-r383-mod

Inside Sim Racing - Thrustmaster Rally Wheel Add-on Sparco R383 Mod Review
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLk_KBnJfB8

Team VVV - Thrustmaster Sparco R383 Mod First Look
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQvI8ORlnRs

KevEdwards SimRally - Thrustmaster R383 Sparco Rally Mod Review
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5umu3t76onQ

[F308GTB]

Thrustmaster VG Thrustmaster Sparco Rally Wheel Add-On - $117 at Walmart

This add-on wheel for the Thrustmaster ecosystem (TX Racing Wheel Servo Base, TX Racing Wheel Ferrari 458 Italia Edition, T300 Racing Wheel Servo Base, etc) normally retails for about $250 and Walmart is selling it right now for $117 with free shipping at the link below. This wheel has received very good reviews, but it is just the rim, you will need a compatible Thrustmaster base/wheel to use this wheel. Have been waiting to see a price drop like this.

Thanks for the tip. Ended up getting one even though I didn't really need it. Arrived today and just need to get motivated to hook it up.

[F308GTB]

KartKraft is shaping up nicely. I bought it a month+ ago as Steam Early Access. The developers dropped AI racers today and it plays great. Even the time trialiing in the game is addictive, and now the AI racing just puts a cherry on it. Only 3 tracks so far, and as more are added this is just going to be a mainstay in my library. The racing is intense with little room to pass, completely foreign handling to someone like me who hasn't karted, and the visuals are unbelievably good. Plus you really learn how to carry speed through a corner, as these single gear karts suffer at low rpm. I'm anxiously awaiting the day VR gets enabled, as it will likely be as intense experience as Dirt Rally with VR. KK will get to console next year, but if you have a PC, try it out now.

[DChaps]

KartKraft is shaping up nicely. I bought it a month+ ago as Steam Early Access. The developers dropped AI racers today and it plays great. Even the time trialiing in the game is addictive, and now the AI racing just puts a cherry on it. Only 3 tracks so far, and as more are added this is just going to be a mainstay in my library. The racing is intense with little room to pass, completely foreign handling to someone like me who hasn't karted, and the visuals are unbelievably good. Plus you really learn how to carry speed through a corner, as these single gear karts suffer at low rpm. I'm anxiously awaiting the day VR gets enabled, as it will likely be as intense experience as Dirt Rally with VR. KK will get to console next year, but if you have a PC, try it out now.

Thanks so much for the feedback on this. Picked it up on Steam Sale and Wow!!, this really shows great promise. I had been following this title in it's different iterations for like 10 years and assumed it was complete Vapor Ware. Not only is it looking good, the developers seem to be responding well to feedback and criticism and are making great progress during this early access stage. Clearly this developer just has a passion to make a great karting sim and took his time and many starts and stops and complete re-writes to try to get it done. It wasn't just a hype machine after all. I have tried lots of kart sims/mods and this one feels very close to the real thing. Can't wait for the VR!

[Rodster]

KartKraft is shaping up nicely. I bought it a month+ ago as Steam Early Access. The developers dropped AI racers today and it plays great. Even the time trialiing in the game is addictive, and now the AI racing just puts a cherry on it. Only 3 tracks so far, and as more are added this is just going to be a mainstay in my library. The racing is intense with little room to pass, completely foreign handling to someone like me who hasn't karted, and the visuals are unbelievably good. Plus you really learn how to carry speed through a corner, as these single gear karts suffer at low rpm. I'm anxiously awaiting the day VR gets enabled, as it will likely be as intense experience as Dirt Rally with VR. KK will get to console next year, but if you have a PC, try it out now.

Thanks so much for the feedback on this. Picked it up on Steam Sale and Wow!!, this really shows great promise. I had been following this title in it's different iterations for like 10 years and assumed it was complete Vapor Ware. Not only is it looking good, the developers seem to be responding well to feedback and criticism and are making great progress during this early access stage. Clearly this developer just has a passion to make a great karting sim and took his time and many starts and stops and complete re-writes to try to get it done. It wasn't just a hype machine after all. I have tried lots of kart sims/mods and this one feels very close to the real thing. Can't wait for the VR!

I missed out on the sale but I put it on my wishlist. The regular price is now $19.99, what was the sale price?

[F308GTB]

I missed out on the sale but I put it on my wishlist. The regular price is now $19.99, what was the sale price?

Whatever sale there was would have been minimal. I got it for $16 or $18 As a first week special a bit more than a month ago.

[DChaps]

I am not sure what I think about this one:

https://www.racedepartment.com/threads/ ... ox.163293/

Ian Bell Announces 'Mad Box'

Slightly Mad Studios Ian Bell has confirmed on Twitter that the developers behind Project CARS are working on a new and super powerful console.

Intending to pitch right into the fight for console supremacy with the likes of Microsoft and Sony, Bell has confirmed that SMS are working on the provisionally titled 'Mad Box' device, with plans to significantly move the console marketplace forward with what has been described as "the most powerful console ever built...".

Although plans are in the infancy at this moment in time, Bell has stated that the new Mad Box console should be VR compatible from the off, with a proposed 90fps per eye, 180 FPS internally expected at the point of the consoles release - expected to be two or three years away at this stage.

Although much of the internal spec is still under consideration by Slightly Mad Studios, the overall design of the console has surfaced earlier today, as can be evidenced by the screenshots in this article, and Bell has been in very bullish mood during much of initial reveal discussions on social media - coming straight out of the blocks with some very impressive statements about the consoles capabilities once launched - easily putting the new Mad Box in the frame as a potential Xbox and PlayStation 4 beating piece of hardware......

Mad Box Game Console: Slightly Mad Studios Shares More Possible Designs:
https://www.gamespot.com/articles/mad-b ... 0-6464213/

What the ambitious Mad Box console implies about the future of gaming:
https://www.pcworld.com/article/3331168 ... lysis.html

Mad Box console to deliver 90 fps to VR headsets:
https://www.roadtovr.com/slightly-mad-s ... -headsets/

Slightly Mad Studios Reveals Striking Concept Renders Of Mad Box Game Console
https://hothardware.com/news/mad-box-console-renderings

As for the design, which is much more flamboyant than anything Microsoft, Nintendo, or Sony is offering, Bell says we should celebrate gaming. He tweeted "We aren't making no stinking black slider to hide away in your rack." However, Bell did say that he felt the concept design was a bit garish and that it would probably be toned down for release. Bell has offered no further details on when the console will be delivered, but stated earlier this week the console was about three years out.

[Jimmydeicide]

Yes i saw that too, just don't criticize it whatever you do
Isnt it a kick starter or something along the lines.
They will never get the top 3rd party games will they unless they can wrestle some Microsoft exclusives away from them .
Your still going to need one of the other consoles for EA im sure.

Bell is still a Twat.

[Rodster]

Yes i saw that too, just don't criticize it whatever you do
Isnt it a kick starter or something along the lines.
They will never get the top 3rd party games will they unless they can wrestle some Microsoft exclusives away from them .
Your still going to need one of the other consoles for EA im sure.

Bell is still a Twat.

Not only is he a twat but he can't take criticism. Just go check out the Project Cars and PC2 forums which were shutdown because he couldn't deal with negativity. So all those would be buyers of his Console's "good luck with customer service".

[pk500]

I'm biggest Bell critic there is at DSP. But I will mute my criticism for a little while because Bell offered on Twitter $10,000 and free SMS games for life for the person who devised the best tagline for the yet-to-be-named upcoming console.

I was one of many who tweeted ideas, and Bell replied to mine, "Strong yes." So maybe I'll be the contest winner, take his dosh and games, and then return to ripping him.

[Rodster]

I'm biggest Bell critic there is at DSP. But I will mute my criticism for a little while because Bell offered on Twitter $10,000 and free SMS games for life for the person who devised the best tagline for the yet-to-be-named upcoming console.

I was one of many who tweeted ideas, and Bell replied to mine, "Strong yes." So maybe I'll be the contest winner, take his dosh and games, and then return to ripping him.

I hope you get it PK but I have serious doubts his project will ever see the light of day. As the saying goes: "two's company and threes a crowd" with Nintendo. I don't see how a 4th console would ever compete against the established players. Hell, Microsoft had to spend BILLIONS just to become #2 in the console race.