Looking for an epic Racing Sim

Mystic5hadow · Post by **Mystic5hadow** » 25 Nov 2008, 20:53

I'm not so sure which Sim I should start with, I want one that has realistic driving physics but doesn't require I know everything about cars to get into it and race.

Obviously it must support TH2G.

Anyways, any awesome Racing Sims you guys know of I'd like to know of as well, so let's hear'em.

Oh, also, free games are preferred but I'm willing to pay if I must.

njracer · Post by **njracer** » 25 Nov 2008, 21:09

Hey Mistic, if you really serious about racing and you want something hardcore that really feels like you're driving a car then i suggest you check out http://www.iracing.com this is by far the greatest sim ever released so far and is miles ahead of the competition. It also matches you up against people that are similarly skilled so you always have a chance to win.

The community is great too, the tracks and cars are all laser scanned to 1mm accuracy. It is pay to play but if your serious about racing there is no doubt that you will love this sim. Also, there are safety rating for drivers so in order to advance up the ladder and race faster cars you need to be a safe driver. This really makes the racing super clean and also miles ahead of the competition. You're going to need to find a good league to run if you get a game like gtr2 or race 07 but with i-racing every race is really good. another good perk is that real world drivers race this sim a lot too. I have personally raced with Dale Earnhardt Jr. 3 times and AJ Allmendinger 2 times, both drivers from nascar.

Here is a really good show about i-racing. In the latest episode it has Dale Earnhardt Jr. as a guest and he talks about how realistic it is and compares it to real life. http://radio.psrtv.com/

Check this Sim out man, it is really an awesome sim and an awesome service with a great community. You will learn more from this sim then all the other sims combined. You can really feel the weight of the cars in iracing and really teaches you finesse, being smooth and weight transfer

Mystic5hadow · Post by **Mystic5hadow** » 26 Nov 2008, 00:17

Wow! I'm at the site now and it all looks amazing!
Thanks for showing me this, I'm definitely going to try it out.

djib · Post by **djib** » 26 Nov 2008, 13:50

Hey,

I strongly suggest you try rFactor. rFactor is a great racing simulation (the engine gMotor2, that was developped by the same team, is used in many racing sims : GTR2, GT Legends, Race 07, GTR-Evolution, ...).

As is, rFactor is rather poor in content, but there's an incredible number of Mods that you can find on rFactorCentral and that will let you drive just about any car you can think of, on thousands of tracks : rally, GT, F1, Trucks, ... and even RC-models !

Surround gaming works out of the box with rFactor.

I also want to give iRacing a shot, since I like the concept of keeping track of every single mistake you made (crashes, cut-tracks, ...), but it turns out to be very expensive ! Let me know what you think if you try it out !

njracer · Post by **njracer** » 26 Nov 2008, 18:04

hey djib, i have rfactor to and honestly man they're not even in the same league. don't get me wrong, rfactor was a great sim before i tried out i-racing but since then i don't even touch it. the ffb is absolutely amazing, a lot better then real feel, and the tracks are alive man. you can actually feel the bumps in the road and the off camber turns through the wheel. djib, just try it out for a month, its 20 bucks and it won't break your bank account. words can't really express how good it is, you just have to see for yourself.

TMK · Post by **TMK** » 26 Nov 2008, 21:24

Richard Burns Rally
Grand Prix Legends
rFactor with many mods
iRacing (online sim)

refugee_x · Post by **refugee_x** » 26 Nov 2008, 21:28

And everyone forgot mentioning Live For Speed
http://www.liveforspeed.net
avid driver since 2003 ;)

Mystic5hadow · Post by **Mystic5hadow** » 27 Nov 2008, 01:38

Alright, I picked up a G25, it came with a copy of rFactor, I also purchased GRID just for some non-sim racing and I've also gotten Race 07, GTR2, aaaaaaand.. I think that's it for now, I'm going to be trying out iRacing pretty soon here.

So far, it's all pretty amazing, however.. GRID is supposed to support surround natively yet it doesn't seem to adjust the FOV and whatnot automatically.. So I'm working on that.

djib · Post by **djib** » 27 Nov 2008, 12:55

hey djib, i have rfactor to and honestly man they're not even in the same league. [...] words can't really express how good it is, you just have to see for yourself.

Thanks for the feedback. I guess I'll have to try it out at some point. I did read a lot of good reviews about i-Racing... but the business model scares me : I don't want to become like some friends of mine who spend their life and money on WoW. I know it could be worse : they could ask you to pay when you want to repair a car :D
Just a quick question: can you actually get more content without having to pay extra dollars (apart from the subscription of course). A couple of cars is not much to start with :(

PS: I agree with you that the FFB is not excellent in rFactor. I don't use RFFB because I can't "feel" the car well with it. I just stick to the default FFB, that is much better in Race 07 btw !

Richard Burns Rally

RBR is awesome, and some mods even allow you to compete online (RSRBR08)

And everyone forgot mentioning Live For Speed
http://www.liveforspeed.net
avid driver since 2003 ;)

I'm not a big fan of LFS... but I've only tried the demo.

You could mention Netkar Pro as well... I think the feeling is better than in NFS... but I'm still not a big fan.

Alright, I picked up a G25, it came with a copy of rFactor, I also purchased GRID

rFactor bundled with the G25 is only a demo :(
Is GRID any good with the G25 ? I kinda want a cool arcade game as well :D

njracer · Post by **njracer** » 27 Nov 2008, 13:54

gotta agree, if you're into rally racing get richard burns rally, by far the best rally sim out there.

as for the content in i-racing, depending on which subscription you get you get a certain amount of i-racing dollars to buy more stuff. also, if you win in your division you get i-racing dollars to buy stuff. i think you can only win 15 at a shot but there is tt, racing, and different divisions so you could technically get a few bucks to pay for things if you're good enough.

djib · Post by **djib** » 27 Nov 2008, 14:04

could technically get a few bucks to pay for things if you're good enough.

Now that's quite good!
I'll probably get an account in January then...

njracer · Post by **njracer** » 27 Nov 2008, 20:41

after rereading my post i don't know if i came across the right way. when i say you can win money if you win your division, i mean that there are 12 weeks to a season and if you are in first at the end of the 12th week you win the money, you don't win money for every race you win if i confused you i'm sorry.

djib · Post by **djib** » 27 Nov 2008, 23:52

after rereading my post i don't know if i came across the right way. when i say you can win money if you win your division, i mean that there are 12 weeks to a season and if you are in first at the end of the 12th week you win the money, you don't win money for every race you win if i confused you i'm sorry.

Ouh, that's much harder then! I can't believe there's no way to get better cars than paying... :(
Thanks for rewording!

borgbjerg · Post by **borgbjerg** » 28 Nov 2008, 19:59

I have tried almost everything: Need4Speed, ColinMcrae, GT Legends, Race07, LFS, iRacing, etc.

If you want the most realistic sim, iRacing is the answer.

You may find better graphics or sound in other games but anyway iRacings sound and graphics is very accaptable.

iRacing is NOT an arcade racer and you need to invest a lot of time to be able to stay on the track and be able to get good laptimes.

iRacing is more expensive to buy than e.g. Race07 but iRacing will last longer and new cars and tracks become available over time.

The safety rating system in iRacing is excellent because you need to race fair and clean to be able to advance, so the wreckers are "over and out".

skeeder · Post by **skeeder** » 28 Nov 2008, 23:42

Not sure if its a sim...but GRID is excellent.

njracer · Post by **njracer** » 28 Nov 2008, 23:46

nah grid is an arcade racer all the way, it is an awesome, fun game

RKipker · Post by **RKipker** » 30 Nov 2008, 15:26

I personnaly feel the Simbin products are best overall.

GTR2 has fantastic mods.
The game feels great with a G25 and offers many options in online racing, which I for one can not particapate in due to DirectWay Satelitte connection.

I think Race07 is the best new game on the market.
It offers some great cars and with the add-on from GTR Evolution and the new STCC all from Steam is another fantastic game plus some mods are available such as extra tracks etc.

iRacing... well this is probably top dawg today from all I hear. Plan on spending well over 500US if you want to enjoy all the tracks they keep releasing (which are all availalbe for Simbin games mentioned) I would love to try for sure, but feel my Sim Racing online due to connection is not in my immediate future.

rFactor, this is another game that has fantastic mods.
rF offers more mods than any sim on the market. Offers fantastic online options as well. However RealFeel is a must to even come close to a SimBim game such as Evo.

My recommendations as money for the following is far less than iRacing and once you feel you're ready, get iRacing.

Buy GTR2, rFactor, and Race07 with GTR Evolution and STCC all together these will run about 100US. D/L all tracks and mods and play until you feel you can beat the AI's in Semi-Pro or Sim mode. If not then iracing will be a really tuff learning curve I'm sure.

iRacing is a Sim and Great Sim racers play I'm sure, if you're not fast.... your Last... LOL!

Good Luck and enjoy.

And BTW... with patch for GRID TH2G works perfectly, though the best looking the worst Sim out there.

Hope this helped
Rkipker

Mystic5hadow · Post by **Mystic5hadow** » 30 Nov 2008, 21:06

Not sure if its a sim...but GRID is excellent.

Indeed it is, I've gotten my hands on almost all the sims recommended here, but I've become hooked on GRID, it's 100% arcade but it's just so damn fun, that and it's gorgeous to boot!

Aside from GRID, as Djib mentioned, the rFactor that comes with the wheel is a demo, but I downloaded the full game and I've been having fun with that as well.

I want to try iRacing so badly, but budget constraints at the moment prevent me from being able to do so, hopefully I'll be able to around Christmas.

Anyways, thanks for all the recommendations guys!
I'll keep checking back here if any of you have more to mention.

RKipker · Post by **RKipker** » 01 Dec 2008, 19:48

Well, I agree Grid is fun and it's all because the career mode IMHO. Collect cars, race both your team and offers, collect more cars.

Try the mods at the grid page. I found a mod which sets the AIs to drive clean. You must bump difficulty up, but it makes for great racing!

Simbin and others need to consider the single offline player, I for one can not obtain a good connection where I live. I pay 100US/month for satellite and it sucks most of the time.

Enjoy
RKip

BTW... try Dirt!

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