Current state of sim racing?

Finally got my wheel and pedal set hooked back up (logitech G25).

I've mostly been playing Simraceway, though I'm like 10-seconds down on the fast times for the hotlaps .

What's everybody else doing? Is iRacing still the hot ticket? Are there other new games that people are playing?

If I want to race against AIs, what's my best bet at this point? NFS: Shift? Shift 2? Live for Speed?

I've got an iRacing subscription and no time to use it regularly, but it was very helpful figuring out Laguna Seca without stuffing the real life Miata into the scenery. I also have SimRaceway and the same problem with time...

Anybody who's done both have any thoughts on how much more realistic iRacing is than, say, GT5?

I think the lack of feedback may mean that I'll never be happy, and will never spend much time driving the TV. But it'd be neat if there was a genuinely good option...

FWIW my real world skills got a little better at road america from driving a gazillion laps on it in forza 3, then I got busy and never got around to forza 4 and now I kinda don't care any more... wheel and pedals didn't matter, it was more about familiarity to the point of knowing the track in your sleep.

NFS Shift 2 on the PC with the tire mini-mod is good, sometimes the AI is plenty challenging and at others it's a pushover. It was especially not smart to allow a C6 to be classified as a muscle car. I lapped the modern muscle class "boss" multiple times on an oval (that car was a bloody hard to set up though, spent WAY more time testing it than racing it).

I was on the fence about I racing versus PS3 Gt5. My wife solved it for me by getting me a new top of the line PS3, a wheel and racing seat setup. Although Gt5 is a "game" It is very good for what it is. I just could not get over the pay to play part of i racing. Seeing a bit of $$$$ go to them every month would drive me nuts. With the PS3 it is mine there are not more fees (unless I want to add some of the race car packs). There is no guilt about not playing it.

Come join in the fun on GRM GT5 group. I just did a couple weeks back and it is a great bit of fun!!! Very competitive yet friendly group. The system for how they conduct the races should be a model for other's.

I

The only complaint I have about GT5 is how the force feedback wheel works. There is some level of computer intervention (I think it is simulating resistance) that unforchinitly can result in some funny oscillations occurring if you let off the wheel at high speeds resulting in loss of control that would not happen in real life. I am sure that this is a setting or something I need to adjust. Since have only had it for 3 weeks I am still learning everything it can do and what all the settings and calibrations are for the system..

IRacing is the place to be if realism is what's important to you. The accuracy of and effort that they put into the tire model, tracks, and cars is way beyond anything else available on the consumer market today. As a bonus I find that the drivers are well behaved and their sanctioning body generally works well.

Nothing against forza/gt5 but they are more focused on having 100s of cars and pretty graphics. They are nice sims too, but not on the same level as Iracing.

Ymmv

dean1484 wrote: Come join in the fun on GRM GT5 group

That would involve me giving money to Sony, and I don't buy Sony products .

CrashDummy wrote: IRacing is the place to be if realism is what's important to you. The accuracy of and effort that they put into the tire model, tracks, and cars is way beyond anything else available on the consumer market today. As a bonus I find that the drivers are well behaved and their sanctioning body generally works well.

Well, my concern is that I'm simply not good enough to race with real humans. My laptimes are pretty atrocious compared to others in Simraceway, and with a single-monitor setup, I don't trust that I won't accidently ram other cars that happen to be next to me.

Basically I want to race, but I don't want to piss anyone off by being a newb. Hence why I was looking for somethign with some AIs to race against; I don't feel bad if I punt the computer into a tirewall on the last lap of a long race.

dean1484 wrote: The only complaint I have about GT5 is how the force feedback wheel works. There is some level of computer intervention (I think it is simulating resistance) that unforchinitly can result in some funny oscillations occurring if you let off the wheel at high speeds resulting in loss of control that would not happen in real life. I am sure that this is a setting or something I need to adjust. Since have only had it for 3 weeks I am still learning everything it can do and what all the settings and calibrations are for the system..

In sims, if you take your hands off the wheel, all bets are off. To get the forces tuned finely enough for realistic "hands off the wheel" handling, the sim would have to be coded specially for each model of wheel out there. The force feedback control is just not fine enough to be this accurate.

iRacing for the most realistic experience to club racing. It is expensive and if you haven't had an account in a while they might magically renew your account and charge the last card you paid with without consent. Other than that it is a very fun game if you have the time.

Forza is a step above GT5 in terms of realism. It has a proper damage model, a better feel, and you can actually tell a difference when you tune your car to different settings.

What is simraceray/ GT5 was a major disappointment to me and this new GT6 demo feels a wee bit better but it still feels like a game made to appeal to the visual senses over anything else. I do hope to win the GT Academy though.

dean1484 wrote: The only complaint I have about GT5 is how the force feedback wheel works. There is some level of computer intervention (I think it is simulating resistance) that unforchinitly can result in some funny oscillations occurring if you let off the wheel at high speeds resulting in loss of control that would not happen in real life. I am sure that this is a setting or something I need to adjust. Since have only had it for 3 weeks I am still learning everything it can do and what all the settings and calibrations are for the system..

Interesting, I can't remember ever taking my hands off the wheel when I'm on track in real life, so I can't compare that data point.

The only legit reason to do it is drifting, sometimes the only way to countersteer fast enough is to release your grip and let caster do the work.

z31maniac wrote:

dean1484 wrote: The only complaint I have about GT5 is how the force feedback wheel works. There is some level of computer intervention (I think it is simulating resistance) that unforchinitly can result in some funny oscillations occurring if you let off the wheel at high speeds resulting in loss of control that would not happen in real life. I am sure that this is a setting or something I need to adjust. Since have only had it for 3 weeks I am still learning everything it can do and what all the settings and calibrations are for the system..

Interesting, I can't remember ever taking my hands off the wheel when I'm on track in real life, so I can't compare that data point.

Now that I think of it neither can I. LOL It occurs even at moderate speeds / normal road speeds as well. It is like it gets in to an oscillation left to right and it tries to correct each time adding more impute. It can occur even with your hands on the wheel and getting it to stop is a challenge. I crashed out last week partly due to this problem in the GRM race we had. Coming out of the first corner I got tapped. The wheel started the oscillation thing and I could not stop never mind correcting for the slide I was in. Was to bad as I thought I had a good chance in that race.

DirtyBird222 wrote: What is simraceray

Free to play racing sim. All real cars and tracks. Can't really speak to the physics, but IMO they're at least as good as Live For Speed. You get a couple cars for free, then you can either pay for more cars or earn them via acquiring credits, which are won through various methods (the few I have were simply from completing laps in hotlap challenges) Simraceway