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PC Racing Sims Thread

spuckthew

Member
You could try verifying the game files from the Steam client. No idea if it'd try to overwrite mod files, but if it detects that the sound files are not originals it might try to re-download them.
 

TJP

Member
https://www.studio-397.com/2017/07/roadmap-update-july-2017/

We have some even more exciting news: it’s no secret that we are releasing a McLaren GT car. And now, we are pleased to announce that it will be….drum roll please… the awesome McLaren 650s GT3!

Many of you saw our rendition of Zandvoort at the Max Verstappen days. Since then, we have optimised and further enhanced the track. Like the McLaren above, Zandvoort will be used in the World’s Fastest Gamer competition and will be released as a free addition

zandy4.jpg

DX 11:
Ever since the beginning of the year, we’ve showed you the evolution of our DX11 graphics engine. Right now, we’re close to the point where we are happy enough with the visuals and performance of this engine to soon switch it to become the default.

UI:

Physics:
One of the things we have been working on over the last few months is our tyre model. You may have noticed some changes in the latest version of the Radical, and you will also see them in the upcoming McLaren. These updates reflect our work on improving accurate tyre fidelity. We have a number of tyre updates underway, making one of the best tyre models in consumer racing simulation even better.

More at link...
 

Mascot

Member
You could try verifying the game files from the Steam client. No idea if it'd try to overwrite mod files, but if it detects that the sound files are not originals it might try to re-download them.

Thanks, I might need to look into this (never done it before). Copying the old 458 GT2 sfx folder from my laptop didn't work for some reason. I had no sound except for kerbs and gravel.
 

Patrick S.

Banned
I downloaded and installed these early this morning and (blaming the lack of sufficient coffee in my veins) made the the most basic of schoolboy errors: I didn't back up the original sound files first.

The first car i tried, the 458 GT2 (my baby), was awful. Most of that wonderful rasp had been stripped from the exhaust note and all of the brutality was gone. The screaming banshee was now a librarian.

Fuck.

Luckily i remembered I had AC on an old laptop from early access so can harvest a lot of the original SFX folders from there if there's any other cars I want to revert, but is there a resource anywhere of the vanilla sounds? Many (like the Porsche pack) I obviously don't have backed up. The files I have on the laptop are from 2015 so might have been updated since then. Naturally I want to avoid a fresh install if I can. And I'm hoping it's only the 458 GT2 that needs attention.

Right click on the game in your Steam library, then select local files, and do "verify local files", and it will redownload only the files with mismatching checksums, i.e. the files you replaced.
 

Dave_6

Member
Sweet! Can't wait to hear the glorious Porsche sounds with R3E's fantastic audio work.

Hopefully the 2017 RSR with the updated exhaust is included!
 

B.K.

Member
I'm thinking of trying iRacing, but I have a couple questions.

Is the game playable with a controller? I don't really want to invest in a wheel right now.

I'm most interested in oval/stock car/NASCAR racing. I was watching a NASCAR race at Martinsville a while ago and the guy driving was talking to someone who was acting as a spotter and crew chief. Do you have to have a partner to do that stuff for you?
 
"I'm thinking of trying iRacing, but I have a couple questions.

Is the game playable with a controller? I don't really want to invest in a wheel right now.

I'm most interested in oval/stock car/NASCAR racing. I was watching a NASCAR race at Martinsville a while ago and the guy driving was talking to someone who was acting as a spotter and crew chief. Do you have to have a partner to do that stuff for you?"


Playing with a controller would probably be very, very challenging. I wouldn't call it impossible. Making small corrections, especially those necessary in Oval racing would probably require some practice, but I haven't tried it and I'd hate to scare you off. Give it a shot!

iRacing has a built in spotter that notifies you of cars on your sides, your fuel level, your position, wrecks ahead of you, whether you're lapping someone or they're lapping you, etc.
 

AxeMan

Member
I'm thinking of trying iRacing, but I have a couple questions.

Is the game playable with a controller? I don't really want to invest in a wheel right now.

I'm most interested in oval/stock car/NASCAR racing. I was watching a NASCAR race at Martinsville a while ago and the guy driving was talking to someone who was acting as a spotter and crew chief. Do you have to have a partner to do that stuff for you?

I'll add to Teknopathetic's response.
Once you try iRacing with a controller you'll go out and buy a wheel. You just will.
 

kiyomi

Member
I tried iRacing with a controller briefly a few months ago and thought the handling felt less demanding than Assetto Corsa, I actually thought it was pretty easy and I was a little disappointed. Think it was a Ford GTE at Laguna Seca.

I'll be interested to try it again with a wheel.
 
"I tried iRacing with a controller briefly a few months ago and thought the handling felt less demanding than Assetto Corsa, I actually thought it was pretty easy and I was a little disappointed. Think it was a Ford GTE at Laguna Seca.

I'll be interested to try it again with a wheel."

For road racing, a controller is manageable. For oval, when you're 2 wide on the inside going around a corner and your tires are shot, you have to make lots of corrections to keep from pushing into the driver right next to you, causing a massive chain clusterfuck. Pads aren't great for that.
 
I posted this in the rift thread, but figure I might get more responses in here.

I picked up a rift specifically for iRacing. So far I've tried iRacing and PCars, both games after a lap or so I feel pretty ill. Is this normal? Do I need to just ease myself into it? Kinda sick because it is quite the experience.
 

Dave_6

Member
I've had my Rift for nearly two weeks now and I still get some mild nausea depending on what type of track (lots of turns and elevation still get me). I did a 60 lap race at Michigan in the Indy Cars last night and it never bothered me though.

Edit: Definitely ease your way in. I could barely handle a couple mins the first day. Then did maybe one hour total the next day. Took me nearly a week before I could do an extended session on just an oval.
 

terrible

Banned
Thankfully I feel totally fine while using my Rift. The way the camera moves on its own in replays in Assetto Corsa feels a bit weird but other than that there's no discomfort at all for me. The replays are amazing though so I still watch them anyway but it does mess with my head a bit.

The only thing I don't like right now is that picking up brake lights from the cars ahead of me is damn hard in AC, I practically have to be bumper to bumper to see them. Even with that issue the Rift is great fun. I forget I'm even in VR after a few laps, that's how immersive it is. If you mostly just like doing AI races and you're not super competitive (I'm average at best) the Oculus Rift is really really impressive. The elevation changes alone while in VR blow my mind. That reminds me, I haven't tried Laguna Seca in R3E in VR yet. I'm excited just thinking about it right now.
 

Mascot

Member
The only thing I don't like right now is that picking up brake lights from the cars ahead of me is damn hard in AC, I practically have to be bumper to bumper to see them. Even with that issue the Rift is great fun.

There's an ini file you can edit to get better glow from the brake lights in AC to make them more visible. I coincidentally happened upon this info yesterday by accident while searching for something else and don't have it to hand right now, but I'm sure Google would find it for you?
 

terrible

Banned
There's an ini file you can edit to get better glow from the brake lights in AC to make them more visible. I coincidentally happened upon this info yesterday by accident while searching for something else and don't have it to hand right now, but I'm sure Google would find it for you?

I didn't think of that. I'll check it out before I play the next time. I just assumed it was because the Rift is a bit low res.

edit: I also turned off post processing before even playing AC with the Rift, maybe that's part of it too. I figured it'd guarantee 90 FPS (it did!) and turning it off entirely rather than just turning things down one by one was by far the quickest/laziest way lol.

2nd edit: Yeah turning on post processing alone did the trick. I don't think I'm consistently hitting 90 FPS with it on but it still seems playable.

Small tip: since Assetto Corsa doesn't show the menus while in VR just use the Big Screen beta in the Oculus store and view your desktop through that. Saves you from having to take the headset on and off all the time.
 

Mascot

Member
Posted this in the Rift thread, but you guys might know best:

Finally got my Rift today by roundabout methods for £328. I'll have to wait for the Touch controllers which have the second sensor so my first question is: will this work fine seated in a racing cockpit with just the one sensor? I've bought it mainly for sim racing so am not too bothered about the wait for the controllers, but I'm champing at the bit to get stuck into some VR Assetto Corsa, Project CARS and RaceRoom.
 
Yes, you only need one sensor for sim racing. The headset itself has sensors in the back, so even if you felt compelled to turn around and look 180 degrees behind you, it'll still track, no problem.
 

Mascot

Member
Yes, you only need one sensor for sim racing. The headset itself has sensors in the back, so even if you felt compelled to turn around and look 180 degrees behind you, it'll still track, no problem.

Just what I wanted to hear - ta very muchly. Any tips on mounting position?

This is basically my current setup:


Maybe behind the tablets on top of the screen, facing downwards? Mounting points could easily be fudged there.
 

Mascot

Member
Either behind the tablets on the screen or perhaps on that set of drawers on the left?

Ah, great. I thought front & centre would be objectively 'better' but it sounds like it doesn't really matter. I'll probably just place it on the amp on the RHS of the cockpit then.

Gonna have fun groping around in the dark for the keypad I just fitted...

 

kiyomi

Member
Bit the bullet on a G29 + Shifter for £140. Seemed like a better deal than what I could've gotten last week, so thought, fuck it. Should arrive on either tomorrow or on Thursday. I hope it's good.

Anything I should be super aware of/any tips to get comfortable? I'm imagining this is going to be quite a learning curve consider I've never driven anything with a wheel, IRL or otherwise. D:
 

Mascot

Member
Gah! Can't complete setup of the Rift because I need a DP-HDMI adapter. What i thought was a second useable HDMI socket was the one from the motherboard, so apparently useless.

I won't get one locally so will have to order. The wait will be torture.
 
Anything I should be super aware of/any tips to get comfortable? I'm imagining this is going to be quite a learning curve consider I've never driven anything with a wheel, IRL or otherwise. D:

It's hard to tell without knowing how much you already know about cars, grip, tracks, etiquette etc.

Probably a good tip in general is that at first you should try to have fun and not focus on being fast or being able to drift like some guys on youtube.
Don't look at the wheel as a tool to be more competitive but a toy to enjoy driving sims more.

My last tip - and I'm sure many people here will disagree with me - is that rally games and historic open wheelers are really good at making you understand what FFB is and what the forces on the wheel are supposed to tell you. Not meaning this as a "good beginner car/tracl combo to get faster", just as a "get the idea behind FFB quickly" thing.
 
Bit the bullet on a G29 + Shifter for £140. Seemed like a better deal than what I could've gotten last week, so thought, fuck it. Should arrive on either tomorrow or on Thursday. I hope it's good.

Anything I should be super aware of/any tips to get comfortable? I'm imagining this is going to be quite a learning curve consider I've never driven anything with a wheel, IRL or otherwise. D:
I think FFB is largely a distraction if you're learning how to use a steering wheel and pedals for the first time. But it's probably not a good idea to disable it fully either. I'd set the main FFB strength in the Logitech drivers pretty low to begin with, maybe 30%. Make sure the steering lock is set to 900.

I'd not bother with the shifter/clutch immediately. If you've never driven IRL, that's probably an overwhelming number of things to coordinate.

Easiest way to start is to use a sim with a decent calibration wizard, e.g. iRacing or Assetto Corsa, to ensure that you're driving with the correct steering lock (it will automatically be set appropriately for each car). Stick a few assists on - auto clutch, auto shift, ABS, TC. Run some laps on a simple, short track so you can quickly repeat the same braking zones and corners.

Next step would be to start shifting with the paddles (with auto clutch) and use a car with no ABS or TC - this will quickly teach you how to modulate the brake and throttle pedals. It helps to use an open wheel car when you're learning threshold braking, because you can see when your fronts are locking. (If you leave ABS and TC on, you can basically treat the pedals as on/off switches, which is a fun way to start, but ultimately very bad practice!)
 

terrible

Banned
Gah! Can't complete setup of the Rift because I need a DP-HDMI adapter. What i thought was a second useable HDMI socket was the one from the motherboard, so apparently useless.

I won't get one locally so will have to order. The wait will be torture.

I have stolen the HDMI port I usually use for my 2nd monitor (main monitor uses display port) and I have half my USB devices unplugged to make room for the Rift. Damn you VR!
 
Man AMS is just the gift that keeps on giving, the series that currently is making me lose several hours is Formula V10... GAT DAM! so much fun!
 

spyshagg

Should not be allowed to breed
Man AMS is just the gift that keeps on giving, the series that currently is making me lose several hours is Formula V10... GAT DAM! so much fun!

Too bad the online public racing experience is poor to say the least. Last weekend I couldn't enter one single server because of tracks mismatches.

But rfactor2 is even worse in that regard. You are either in some league and know exactly what mods to use, or forget about it. Even the built-in content manager is incompetent to download the missing packages (failed, failed, failed).

so, for casual public racing whenever you feel like it, nothing beats AC, R3E and ProjectCars if you can tolerate their bugged online code.
 
"so, for casual public racing whenever you feel like it, nothing beats AC, R3E and ProjectCars if you can tolerate their bugged online code."

Nothing beats iRacing for casual public racing whenever you feel like it. Skill-based matchmaking, semi-effective safety system to at least try to encourage clean racing, and probably the largest consistent online playerbase that I've seen (on PC) though it's car dependent. MX5, Skippies, and IMSA consistently have at least 2-3 splits 24/7 every race.
 

spyshagg

Should not be allowed to breed
"so, for casual public racing whenever you feel like it, nothing beats AC, R3E and ProjectCars if you can tolerate their bugged online code."

Nothing beats iRacing for casual public racing whenever you feel like it. Skill-based matchmaking, semi-effective safety system to at least try to encourage clean racing, and probably the largest consistent online playerbase that I've seen (on PC) though it's car dependent. MX5, Skippies, and IMSA consistently have at least 2-3 splits 24/7 every race.

forgot about that one. Its not on my radar.
 
"forgot about that one. Its not on my radar."

If you're into public racing it really is night and day comparing iRacing and everything else. Yes, it's relatively expensive and I'll never argue that it's not, but it's inarguably a far more robust multiplayer racing experience than everything else.
 

Effect

Member
Enjoying Dirt 4 in both (sim and gamer handling) but thinking I might pick up Dirt Rally just because it's low enough in price at the moment and it will have different tracks and cars. Crazy how much I'm enjoying Rally racing. Still like normal track racing but this is a welcome change. That and the progression system is closest I've found to what I'm looking for in a racing game after enjoying GT6 so much. I just honestly really like having to earn cars or enough money to buy them in games.

I didn't get to deep into Rally when I tried it out before but is there a female co-driver voice in the game? If not any mods that add one or plans to add one? Or is it best to just stick with Dirt 4 since that is an option there?

Really prefer that option to be honest if I'm going to be hearing another person talking to me constantly.
 

DD

Member
Enjoying Dirt 4 in both (sim and gamer handling) but thinking I might pick up Dirt Rally just because it's low enough in price at the moment and it will have different tracks and cars. Crazy how much I'm enjoying Rally racing. Still like normal track racing but this is a welcome change. That and the progression system is closest I've found to what I'm looking for in a racing game after enjoying GT6 so much. I just honestly really like having to earn cars or enough money to buy them in games.

I didn't get to deep into Rally when I tried it out before but is there a female co-driver voice in the game? If not any mods that add one or plans to add one? Or is it best to just stick with Dirt 4 since that is an option there?

Really prefer that option to be honest if I'm going to be hearing another person talking to me constantly.

Dirt 4 deserves much more love than it gets. And, no, there's no female co-driver in Dirt Rally. But it's not Nicky Grist either. It's Paul Coleman's voice.
 
Question for VR cockpit sim racers: have you tried locking your view to the horizon to counter motion sickness?

This article strongly recommends it

I should finally have my Rift up and running this evening so have been reading up on motion sickness today, just in case.
Their follow-up article covers the more important stuff I think.

Locking to horizon might help some with sickness, but for me, it just doesn't make a lot of sense when sitting in front of a set of fixed controls. The cockpit is moving about relative to what you're holding on to, which affects hand/body presence. In my experience, a locked horizon slightly increases the possibility of nausea due to this odd mismatch, and it makes the car slightly harder to control.

But as they say, using a stiff race car on a smooth, flat track, the difference between the two is subtle, so if you're suffering from nausea from one or the other, it's very unlikely to solve your problem by switching. If you do a ton of banked oval racing or rally driving however, the difference is significant. There is no right answer, unfortunately, as shown by the number of options that RealHeadMotion offers. But for me, if the option is simply between locking to horizon or cockpit, then it's definitely cockpit. On Dirt Rally, the horizon lock is totally distracting, and quite unpleasant.
 
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