General Sim Racing Thread

Re: C.A.R.S. - World of Mass Development / SMS

Vindaloo said:
Just got Race07 for £2.39 on steam :)

I used to play a lot of GTR/GT Legends when they were first released but then kind of drifted away from driving games. Dug out the old steering wheel and played Race07 last night and it is still a great game. Graphics are a little dated but still easily good enough. Physics still feel spot on.
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I must admit I've not been on Race 07 for many weeks now. It's all about Game Stock Car 2012 right now, a must if you haven't tried the 30 day demo.

RFactor 2 is on the back-burner at the moment. I'm thinking perhaps I should have waited longer before buying into the beta? The glacial pace of development means there is not much for me to do in this game. Most of the modders are waiting for the game to go gold before releasing content. I'm a bit bored of the ISI cars and tracks. The other thing that puts me off rF2 at the moment is the graphics. The game looks a little rough right now. Hopefully ISI step up the visuals otherwise the game will be left behind by the likes of Assetto Corsa and pCARS.
 
Thought I would revive this thread as it has been very quiet of late.

So what is everyone playing? For me it's all about rFactor 2. I'm enjoying watching its progress even if development is slow. The driving physics are the best out there in my experience. Apart from that I play a bit of Reiza's Game Stock Car and Formula Truck.

I've been trying R3E from Simbin but I'm really not sure about it. The driving experience feels a little basic. Also the F2P model is not for me. I hope GTR3 is still in Simbin's plans but common sense tells me it's dead and buried.

On the hardware side of things, I've got some Fanatec Clubsport Pedals V2 on pre-order. Unfortunately they are not back in stock until the 14th June.
 
I took delivery of my Fanatec Clubsport v2 pedals a few days ago. Very pleased with them. I posted these pics on AVForums but thought I would share them here too:

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CalcioCalabrese said:
Nice. What's the wheel plus pedals cost?
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You're probably best checking Fanatec's site as they have an Australian online shop. That will give you prices in Aussie dollars.

The pedals were about £230 imported from Germany. I forget what the wheel cost as it was bought as part of a bundle in 2011. I think it's less than £200. Wheel and pedals are attached to a Wheelstand Pro, which is about £100.

So yeah, it's and expensive hobby but if you're serious about racing games it's worth the outlay.
 
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Just check for compatability before spending big on a wheel. Very few work with the current Xbox and the ones that do (some of the Fanatecs) most likely won't work with the Xbone. PS4 should be fine as PS3 supports any USB wheel and I don't see this changing.

It's all a bit up in the air at the moment.
 
Yeah I heard that Thrustmaster are doing something for Forza on the Xbox One. I'd be keen on checking out a PS4 but I much prefer my 360 controller. Not sure if there's any good Xbox shaped controllers that I will be able to use on a PS4 though.
 
Cheers man, looks good.

p.s. I won't reinstall the game until I get a new PC but I might download the mods this week if the links still work.
 
GP4 Instructions:

The GP4 patch files and carsets are all available on the following Googledrive:
user: gp4files@gmail.com
pass: evowebgp4

The carsets I have available are:
1979,
1984, 1986, 1988
1991, 1992, 1994, 1995, 1999
2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011

GP4 Installation and Patching Instructions:
1. Install the game.
2. Patch the game from the patch folder.
3. Open gp4exe102.rar and replace the GP4.exe with the one in the .rar file.
4. Open the utilities folder and and install GPXPatch
5. Install CSM(Carset Manager), then open CSM.
6. Click 'File' then 'Install carset/updates"
7. Open the Carsets folder and install the carsets you want to play with
8. Open GP4 directory and find 'f1graphics.cfg' open the file with notepad and change this line:
Increase car texture quality (1 on, 0 off) - make sure a 1 is in front
Full 32bit textures - make sure a 1 is in front of it
Now save the file.
9. You can now run the game and play as normal.

ADDITIONAL GRAPHICS TWEAKS:
Open you Nvidia or ATI control panel.
In Nvidia settings select 'Manage 3D settings' now change all the settings in the column so that everything is maxed out.
I cant remember how to do it with an ATI card but the principle is the same.

Here is a comparison between screenshots:

Normal:



With Tweaks:



You can actually do the above to any old game, which needs tweaking.
 
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Cool :) Having a look through my drawer, I have the following old PC games:
- Hitman 2
- Championship Manager 05-/05 (with Mourinho on the front)
- FIFA 08
- FIFA 06 Road to the World Cup
- Tomb Raider Legends

I was thinking of maybe getting a Mac instead of Windows based PC. I wonder if they'll work on there. If I get a Windows PC I will probably stick with an onboard video card for the time being - should be alright to run those old games though?
 
http://www.virtualr.net/simbin-studios-to-shut-down

Very sad to lose a prestigious name like Simbin. I always liked their games and the fact that they were one of the few studios to bring full racing series to their games, with all the cars, tracks and series rules.

Jay Ekkel's comments put a positive spin on things so hopefully this is not the end, but a restructuring, with the majority of the team continuing together under a different name.

I think releasing Raceroom Racing Experience (R3E) with its free to play model rather than GTR3 (what everybody wanted) was inevitably the problem here. It's a largely unpopular sales model, particularly so with the sim racing fanbase.

That said, R3E is really coming along nicely at the moment. With the release of the DTM Experience add-on it's become the racing sim I play the most. The ADAC GT and WTCC series are coming to the game soon so I hope the new development team keep the game on the right path. Sounds like most of the Simbin guys will still be working with this project under the new name.
 
that sucks, sinbim was classic, GTR2 especially, spent many hours with saleen s7r on enna pergasa. sucks that gtr3 will never happen, i'm gonna have to get on the R3e, played the demo a while back but forgot about it and just been on simraceway..
 
Well, it seems things aren't bad for Simbin after all. One of their guys - Jay Ekkel - has been posting on Race Department giving more details on what is actually happening. Sounds like the company is restructuring and looking to continue under a new name. There are a few jobs losses but this is due to the company looking to move the studio to a more advantageous location (they are based in a small town in Sweden) so they can attract better talent in the industry. I wouldn't be surprised if they are moving to Stockholm or a major city outside Sweden, but I guess all will be revealed.

Ekkel assured everyone that the future of R3E is bright and unchanged. End users shouldn't notice any difference during the studio's move. Normal sevice, etc...
 
Looking to possibly pick up a reasonable racing wheel at decent price as something quite interested in, what or where is best to look?
 
aitken said:
Looking to possibly pick up a reasonable racing wheel at decent price as something quite interested in, what or where is best to look?
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I always recommend the Logitech Driving Force GT as an excellent starter wheel.

http://gaming.logitech.com/en-gb/product/driving-force-gt-gaming-wheel

I had one a few years ago before I moved on to a Fanatec wheel. Mine was about £80 from Argos but I'm not sure where sells them now. Shop around and you can find them for under £100.

The wheel itself is very good at the entry level price point. It feels really solid and well made, the FFB is strong and it's comfortable to use. You get plenty of face buttons which is handy for assigning controls in PC sims.

The only downsides are the lack of proper paddle shifts (it has buttons on the back of the wheel instead - you get used to them!) and the pedals, which feel a bit cheap and don't give enough resistance, but there are mods you can do to stiffen them up.

Other then the DFGT you are looking at a Logitech G25/G27 - more money, more features, not sure where you would get one of these as I don't think they are in production.

Thrustmaster T80 would be another option although I don't know much about this wheel. Probably a bit cheap and cheerful but Thrustmaster stuff generally has a very good reputation. The newly released Thrustmaster TX maybe worth a look but it's over £200.

Edit - check compatibility....the TX is PC and XB1 only, not PS3/4.
 
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:TU: Great information, will look into these and see how my budget sits once the hectic end of the year has been sorted, thanks for help.
 
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