Racing Sims

audiobliss

Anybody here into racing simulators? I've always loved racing games, no matter the platform. I now have GT Legends and GTR2, and they have great driving physics. I've never had a wheel (that works, anyways), but am expecting a nice package here pretty soon. In light of that I downloaded Live For Speed last and purchased the S2 license. That's a great game, too!!

Anybody else here into racing sims? What do y'all like to play? Anybody play rFactor or iRacing?

concealer404

Not a true "sim," but i still play GT4 a lot.

audiobliss

The Gran Turismo series has definitely been fun along every step of the way. I can't wait for GT5 to come out. So then I can pull my hair out trying to figure out how to pay for a PS3.

concealer404

I mean... i actually race in real life, too, so i really just play sims for the fun of it.

nadams

live 4 speed has one of the best things going for it.

audiobliss

concealer404 wrote: »

I mean... i actually race in real life, too, so i really just play sims for the fun of it.

Sweet, what kind of racing? I'd love to get into that at some point.

nadams wrote: »

live 4 speed has one of the best things going for it.

What's that?

george daniel

he,he, Mario Kart:)

Sherardp

Big fan of Mario Kart also. I'm more into real motorcycle racing but I have played Forza and a few others out there. Not the greatest @ racing games.

audiobliss

Sherardp wrote: »

Not the greatest @ racing games.

Nor am I, as anyone who has seen me play will attest to! :eek:

However, I'm really looking forward to getting better with a wheel!

comfortablycurt

Racing sims have always been my favorite types of games. I've played all of the Gran Turismo games a lot, as well as the Forza games. I've never really had good luck with any of the steering wheels personally, though I haven't tried any for the newer consoles.

+1 on Mario Kart. One of the most enjoyable racing games ever created.:D I've wasted hours upon hours of my life playing that game...lol

Systems

I like the GT series as well as the Tourist Trophy cycle racing game. My son got me hooked on the GT series and I ventured off to the TT series since I like bikes.

TT Intro : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IuES_s0vXg

concealer404

audiobliss wrote: »

Sweet, what kind of racing? I'd love to get into that at some point.

Mostly autocross and quarter mile drag at the moment.... i have a couple track days coming up, trying to get the necessary liscences to try my hand at hillclimbing.

Right now in my main car i'm hopelessly overclassed in F Street Prepared in my Celica. Oh well, just for fun at the moment, i don't think i'm quite good enough to be nationally competitive at any rate.

But here's the mule pretty much as she sits now:





It's got a laundry list of stuff done to it, but the motor still remains stock at the moment, with just an intake and a timing advance from hell. I'm having a new transmission and LSD checked out now, and when that comes back, i'll start the transplant of the new 335whp motor.

Jstas

I got a long list. I've played all the usuals.

The GT series is my favorite. It rewrote the book on racing games when it came out and I think Forza soundly kicked GT's butt with Forza and Forza 2 compared to GT3 and GT4. But from everything I've seen of GT5, I think Forza 3 will be a very good game but GT5 will likely have it outclassed.

But for some serious fun, the Codemasters games DiRT and the soon to be released DiRT2, FUEL and GRiD are a blast! My favorites of the current crop by far and I can't wait for them to come out!

But a couple driving games that I think get pretty neglected are the Driver series and Project Gotham Racing. They are quite fun and Driver is pretty realistic in car control considering the kinds of cars they use. The arcade-ish-ness of the whole thing kinda makes it a bit cartoonish though.

I'm not a huge fan of the Need for Speed series. They just don't catch my interest as much. They are very arcade-ish and a bit outlandish. They try to be a simulator but also an arcade game but can't seem to decide which. I think it detracts from the games with all the gimmicks they run.

As far as racing games, my favorites aren't even very well know. ToCA racing which is touring car stuff was flat out awesome in play control and physics but not so hot with the graphics. I also had Viper Racing which was about the same as ToCA. Play control wasn't as good but it was very challenging because the cars were equally matched. It rewarded good driving instead of a big bank account. Colin McRae Rally was a good one too. While the physics engine behind it wasn't the most accurate, the cars were infinitely tunable and behaved in the same manner one would see on TV. Codemasters' DiRT used a more developed and refined physics engine derived from the original WRC and Colin McRae rally games. They also had real rally stages with real pace notes. The car didn't always behave the way you would think but the experience was just like you were watching the in-car camera and along for the ride.

By far though, my favorite racing game was Le Mans 24 Hours. It was a kind of obscure title and not many people know about it. It's from Infogrames but from what racing I have been able to do myself on a race track, the cars behaved just as they would in reality. Even wind speed affected everything from how straight the car tracked to how fast your top speed was. I still haven't beaten it. That 24 hour race to beat the game is a killer! I think you can still find it. Might be available for download from Infogrames' site.

Sami

F1 GP and Colin McRae Rally series are my all time favourites. Although know I play GT and DiRT on PS3, I hardly play racing games on my PC anymore.

audiobliss

Wow, I had forgotten about Viper Racing, but I loved that game! I played that way back when with my MS Sidewinder joystick! Loved that game.

nadams

Wow, been forever since I played Viper. It doesn't run too well on windows XP, and really doesn't like modern sound cards. I loaded it a few years ago, and remember that the audio was horribly distorted. We used to play that game for hours, either racing or using the one oval track to do demo derbys in the infield. Last car moving "won" . Anyone remember "Horn Ball"?

Anyway, Live4Speed is an excellent simulation, that's what it has going for it. The free version is great to see if you're going to like it, but the public free servers have more idiots trying to cause wrecks than anything. I never paid to get a license, so I stuck with the free servers. If you managed to find one that was good racing, it was one of the best sims out. Absolutely unplayable without a wheel, though. Oh, and then there were the times that I'd ACCIDENTALLY cause a wreck in a corner, or spin someone out, and get banned from the server. Like I hadn't been racing there all week without incident or anything *rolls eyes*

I've also played the Driver series on both PC and xbox. Much preferred it on the PC, but again, I have a wheel. I think I paid $10 for the original in a best buy bargain bin (BBBB, anyone?), and it was the best $10 I've ever dropped on a PC game.

I wish I could get one of the top-end logitech wheels with the clutch pedal and all. Mine's gas/brake only, though it does have the paddle shift, which is incredibly fun.

audiobliss

Hahaha, horn ball. Had totally forgotten all about that!

I bought the license for LFS (just under $40), so all the servers I've played in have been great. I've just been using the keyboard, and been doing pretty well with it, actually, but of course I can't keep up with the other guys. Still fun, though, until I get my wheel...tomorrow!!

nadams

Don't get discouraged when you get that wheel... I played racing games with the keyboard for a LONG time 'til I got my wheel, and it took me just as long to get used to the wheel from the keyboard as it did to get used to the keyboard in the first place. Make sure it's calibrated best you can, then have fun! Sometimes my wheel will get slightly out of calibration on the brake pedal, which means that even when I have it floored, it's not quite floored in the game. A simple recalibration fixes it, but it's annoying if I'm in the game already. I just had to get used to checking the calibration before each session. Enjoy your wheel!

Sami

audiobliss wrote: »

Still fun, though, until I get my wheel...tomorrow!!

Don't forget this...

http://www.amazon.com/Playseats-Evolution-Gaming-Black-Silver/dp/B000K9Q5UK/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1245121064&sr=8-2

audiobliss

Sami wrote: »

Don't forget this...

http://www.amazon.com/Playseats-Evolution-Gaming-Black-Silver/dp/B000K9Q5UK/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1245121064&sr=8-2

Oh don't worry, I won't. Every time I get set up with a cheap little table and putting the pedals on the floor, I'll definitely remember what I'm missing!

nadams

how's it going with the wheel?

audiobliss

Man, wheels are great. Friend just upgraded to a G25, so I went over and played with that last week. Man, that's a ball! Heel and toe downshifting, slamming the gears!

The wheel I had coming didn't work out. Oh well. I should probably save that money anyways.

ohskigod

GT and Forza (2) are the only ones I really like