Betta Lines
Member
Funny how you're asking for evidence when you have failed to provide any of your own to back up your statements regarding the suspension models of various sims, despite me asking you directly twice.
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PC Racing Sims
- Thread starter mclaren777
- Start date
DirtyLarry
Member
Ive been really into both Forza 5 & Gran Turismo 6 lately.
I only have a Logitech GT wheel for my PS3 however, and it is hardly a high end wheel.
I also just watched the movie Rush last night. It really got me wanting to get as close as an experience as possible to really being able to drive fast.
Long story short, I have a basement with a decent amount of room. It is half finished.
For those that have already done so, what type of financial commitment would I be looking at (minimally) to get myself a really nice racing seat and I am assuming a 3 monitor setup via a nice gaming PC?
I know it is in the thousands, but is it more like $2000. Or more like $5000??
If it is the former, I may slowly start collecting what I need over the next couple of months to make this all a reality. If it is the latter, well then I will just keep on thinking of it as something that would be cool that I will never do.
One possibly important side note.
I plan on building myself a new gaming PC next year regardless. It is time.
The other side note. I am a grown ass man. This happens to fall under my preferred hobby. This would be my project for 2014. So no judging please. I am just someone looking at my options for a tech related project is all.
Any references and resources are appreciated. No doubt.
I only have a Logitech GT wheel for my PS3 however, and it is hardly a high end wheel.
I also just watched the movie Rush last night. It really got me wanting to get as close as an experience as possible to really being able to drive fast.
Long story short, I have a basement with a decent amount of room. It is half finished.
For those that have already done so, what type of financial commitment would I be looking at (minimally) to get myself a really nice racing seat and I am assuming a 3 monitor setup via a nice gaming PC?
I know it is in the thousands, but is it more like $2000. Or more like $5000??
If it is the former, I may slowly start collecting what I need over the next couple of months to make this all a reality. If it is the latter, well then I will just keep on thinking of it as something that would be cool that I will never do.
One possibly important side note.
I plan on building myself a new gaming PC next year regardless. It is time.
The other side note. I am a grown ass man. This happens to fall under my preferred hobby. This would be my project for 2014. So no judging please. I am just someone looking at my options for a tech related project is all.
Any references and resources are appreciated. No doubt.
guitarhero
Member
Look, mate (can I call you mate?), if there's ONE place in the whole GAF community where you will not be judged by wanting to get an expensive 3-monitor setup/gaming PC/racing seat/wheel stand/pedal stand combo, it's here. Welcome to the "bitten by the racing sim bug" club.
As for the prices...these are rough estimates:
Gaming PC: between $500 and $1000, depending if you want to "future-proof" and if you really want the extra shiny graphics.
Triple monitor setup: between $400 and $600, depending on size and resolution.
Rig: with some carpentery skills and a trip to the junkyard, this could be quite cheap. If not...between $150 and $300.
My personal opinion: go first for the rig, then build the PC (because prices fall constantly, being patient can give you some good deals) and do the 3-screen thing last.
GH sounds about on the money. Also, don't look past maybe second-hand monitors. If you can find someone upgrading their setup, you might be able to get 3x older LCDs for about the price of a brand new one. Might *not* happen, but not worth discounting... just be on the lookout 
Although I did find out the other day that Sega GT had a PC port(!). You could try hunting that down... it's fun
It very much does suck. Your only realistic avenues for doing it solely on PC is via emulation... even then, I don't know how good proper wheel support is for, say, the PS2 emulator (as in, does it even recognise a G25/G27 as a proper wheel, or just an analogue stick with the wheel's axis assigned to a horizontal joystick thing?).
Although I did find out the other day that Sega GT had a PC port(!). You could try hunting that down... it's fun
guitarhero
Member
Although I did find out the other day that Sega GT had a PC port(!). You could try hunting that down... it's fun
Well, the physics are a bit wonky, the graphics are dated and I don't think the wheel support is any good, but it's got some remarkable things:
A "build-you-own-car" mode, where you can select engine displacement, number of cylinders, location of engine, wheels driven and what kind of body you want (and if you win specific races, you can unlock LMP look-a-like bodies). You can even use them on regular "career" races.
There's also a "works racer" thing, where if you beat a difficult time trial with a road car, you get the option to do a race in the racing version; win and you keep the racecar.
And of course, there's the normal Gran Turismo stuff: prize cars from races, second-hand dealership, buying upgrades and rims, etc. Something I found weird is that the car classes are based on the engine capacity...
EDIT: Blimey, almost forgot about another feature: sponsorships. Win a championship, get a sponsor, and you get extra money. And they stack, so you can have like 12 sponsors, each one paying more than the race itself.
I fired it up via a DC emulator the other day (PC version was very fiddly, can't remember if I got it running or not) and it all came flooding back... the sponsors, the works car (such a great idea!) and the upgrades. It's a shame the DC didn't last, because I think that was a gaming franchise that could've made it much bigger than it did. I know about Sega GT on the Xbox, but if that was the third game in the series after two successful iterations on DC, we could be seeing it continue today IMO.
Music is pretty great, too... but that might just be the memories it fuels
Is there is a chance that occulus rift could be a more viable display option mid next year? That would also handle the head tracking unless there is a flaw with using it for sim racing that i don't know about.
Mengy
wishes it were bannable to say mean things about Marvel
I fired it up via a DC emulator the other day (PC version was very fiddly, can't remember if I got it running or not) and it all came flooding back... the sponsors, the works car (such a great idea!) and the upgrades. It's a shame the DC didn't last, because I think that was a gaming franchise that could've made it much bigger than it did. I know about Sega GT on the Xbox, but if that was the third game in the series after two successful iterations on DC, we could be seeing it continue today IMO.
Music is pretty great, too... but that might just be the memories it fuels
Man, I completely forgot about Sega GT, and I own the damn game!!!
I played the hell out of that on my DC, I loved it more than PGR, more than Test Drive (but not more than Test Drive Lemans, that game was incredible). You know, with Sega bringing back an awful lot of old franchises to the PC via Steam, Sega GT would honestly be a great candidate to do as well. There really aren't any games like that made for the PC even today, it would fill that Forza / Gran Tourismo niche that the PC is lacking in.
I wonder how Sega GT runs in NullDC? I made an ISO of my Crazy Taxi and that seems to run just fine (took forever to do it), I may have to try Sega GT next.
TJP
Member
Auto Club Revolution might be worth a look - http://autoclubrevolution.com/en/ I've never played it despite having an account set up; I've read it's a Forza like experience on the PC but I've no idea how accurate the statement is.
A video of a laser scanned Brands Hatch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTkt72HCofo
A track for PGR fans: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONFE2IFLKp8
You should link to the original video. I think the compression on the other one may have damaged my eyeballs!
Betta Lines
Member
Yes. I tested the devkit for a few weeks, back when iRacing first implemented their Rift support. Even at those early stages, with some tracking problems and painfully low res hardware, it was still more amazing than any triple screen setup I've used. The teething problems made it less practical, and at that stage I'd choose triple screen every time for clarity and comfort. But clarity should be addressed by the first consumer version, and they've already fixed the tracking problems in iRacing. Comfort remains an unknown. I'd still like the option to race with a monitor for longer runs, but I'd suggest holding off on building an expensive triple setup these days if it is just going to be for personal use. The Rift should be more immersive, cheaper and space-saving. However you might not want many people mucking about with your headset, so if the rig is going to be used by others, triple screen might be the way to go. And if it needs to be built right now then triple screen is the only option - the headset might not be out until the second half of 2014, maybe even later.
Big Takeover
Member
Paz, can you just tell me a little bit about the fov possibilities using the rift in sims. I assume you can run whatever fov you'd like, but did you get a chance to experiment with that at all?
Betta Lines
Member
I think iRacing restricted it by default, not sure about others. You could force it, but there is no reason to do so. The Rift hardware is designed specifically to match the FOV of reality. As such, there is only one correct FOV setting - it should be locked down in all Rift games. If you force a different value it would be immediately obvious that it is incorrect (compared to running an incorrect FOV on a monitor, which you can adjust to). For instance I'm always running an unrealistic FOV on my single screen because I want to make a compromise between realism and allowing some peripheral vision. No such compromises are required with a Rift. You put it on, and it simply feels like you are sitting in the car, more perfectly than even the most accurately-calibrated triple screen setup.
FOV doesn't matter as much with headtracking, I find. I use a fairly low FOV in most games because I'm typically far back, but with a TrackIR it's a lot more manageable.
I'm very much looking forward to the Rift. Even though I lack the ability to see stereoscopic 3D, it's going to be awesome to have a head mounted screen that I can use.
I'm very much looking forward to the Rift. Even though I lack the ability to see stereoscopic 3D, it's going to be awesome to have a head mounted screen that I can use.
Big Takeover
Member
I think iRacing restricted it by default, not sure about others. You could force it, but there is no reason to do so. The Rift hardware is designed specifically to match the FOV of reality. As such, there is only one correct FOV setting - it should be locked down in all Rift games. If you force a different value it would be immediately obvious that it is incorrect (compared to running an incorrect FOV on a monitor, which you can adjust to). For instance I'm always running an unrealistic FOV on my single screen because I want to make a compromise between realism and allowing some peripheral vision. No such compromises are required with a Rift. You put it on, and it simply feels like you are sitting in the car, more perfectly than even the most accurately-calibrated triple screen setup.
Oh right, of course. Doy, of course the fov would be the correct one for the setup.
I think it must be the full frame output to an external monitor that you see so often in Rift vids that makes it difficult to remember it looks significantly different when your eyes are right on top of the screen.
Brain fart.
Man those new Hondas in rFactor 2: at first I thought they were awful, the FFB unresponsive and weak. Then realised there was no rubber on the road. Left it to run for 10 minutes came back and had a ball with it. Shame the rest of the sim is fucking awful! The UI looks like something you'd see in a students project and the mod management is from the 90's. It does make me think about Sim Racing though, everyone is doing something well, but no one is doing everything great.
Bugger that... I'm pretty sure you can knock up something that's TrackIR compatible for SUPER cheap. Have a feeling that all you need is a PS3 Eyetoy camera (usually cheap now) a cap, some UV LEDs and I think that was about it.
Old article and possibly mostly irrelevant, but gets my point across
Phanatic8390
Member
I actually have a TrackIR so I've never used this but I'm fairly certain I've seen it recommended on some flight sim forums.
http://facetracknoir.sourceforge.net/home/default.htm
Might be worth a shot first.
Betta Lines
Member
Assuming it's pretty much the same driver as the DFP, my typical setting was overall effects strength 100%, spring and damper 0%. No centering spring. Rotation 900 degrees. Do not combine pedals (unless you really have to - almost all modern games accept pedal inputs on separate axes). Usually better to adjust the strength within the sim rather than in the driver.
If the sim has proper FFB, the centering spring will be part of the physics - the one in the driver is a fake effect for driving games with no proper FFB support. Damper varies by sim too - but generally all it is doing is adding an extra layer of softness that obscures the direct feedback, but some people like it at a low level. There is the odd game that uses the 'spring effect' slider as the main FFB, so if you aren't getting any feedback in a particular game you might want to experiment with that slider. The steering response can often be managed within the sim itself with steering lock, so I'd keep it at 900 unless you're in a very snappy car like an F1 car or you're doing rally and want less of an arm workout - RBR for instance works well at about 500 degrees for me. With Dirt 3 I leave it at 900 and just mess with the linearity/saturation settings in the game. ISImotor stuff like rFactor, older Simbin titles, GSC, etc all have steering lock settings for each car so I leave it at 900 for those too (GSC recommends 540 for certain cars, something to experiment with). iRacing automatically limits the lock correctly for each car, so I also leave that at 900. I'm sure there are profiles somewhere but for me generally it was just set once and leave it, occasionally messing with rotation.
I've been playing around with it for the last hour and it just doesn't work. I'll try to find if people have special settings they use for FSX or something. The tracking in the app looks allright but it's fucked in game.
Dash Kappei
Not actually that important
I honestly think those projected budgeting totals are completely busted (not engaging you, just stating my opinion and I'd be happy to reconsider if proven wrong!). Unless you want to go for low settings no AA on almost every game ($500 rig) and considering that building anything not capable of keeping at least a steady 60fps would be a total waste, that's not going to cut it for a triple monitors set-up. $400 to $600 for three monitors? That's be with awful LCDs panels lacking any blacks whatsoever and with abysmal viewing angles and response times.
If I had to build a triple monitors set-up that poor than I'd go for a pretty good one screen set-up any day of the week. If he needs to buy everything (case, keyboard, ram, hdd, etc.) $2.5k sounds about right to get a worthy rig that won't be ancient by the next couple of years and be a good investment instead, together with pretty good monitors.
Add $600 for wheel + racing cockpit if he knows how to shop (I don't, so I'd be looking on at least another $400 on top of that... that's why I'm content with my wheel stand pro)... if I had a chance I'd go second-hand shopping for the cockpit (but never for a wheel, unless from a good friend).
If I had a 2k budget I'd go (trusted) second-shopping for mostly everything but the wheel. That way you could make a killer set-up. 3k would translate into not being tied down by anything other than your ability to find good deals and building an uber cool racing rig + 3-monitors cockpit set-up.
But I would never build the video-side of things right now, I'd either wait to see how the Oculs Rift pans out, look into 3D Vision and/or into G-sync monitors. So yeah, I'd wait and just go with one monitor you might already own right now or go guerrilla for the other two (find very cheap second-hand 1080p monitors which will do you good for the year you'd need to wait for either consumer-prices to catch up with technology or new technology to find its way into lower-than-high-end consumers spend.
TJP
Member
How close is enough? An article on rFactor: http://drracing.wordpress.com/2014/01/03/how-close-is-close-enough/
Link posted by Tim Wheatley via Twitter
Link posted by Tim Wheatley via Twitter
Betta Lines
Member
That was a fascinating read, thanks for the link
Big Takeover
Member
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Cx0AF6_tzs&list=PLi_QWeqwmTCsaBYf_tqdQlr11yoyfYK3Z&index=8
It's like watching a real race, pretty awesome.
-edit
If you squint your eyes, it actually is real!
It's like watching a real race, pretty awesome.
-edit
If you squint your eyes, it actually is real!
marvelharvey
Member
Big Takeover
Member
Happy to see VVV Alan has finally got a PC/wheel combo going, and declaring "the PC will be my choice of format moving forward" *will still cover consoles too of course.
He's been doing a great job with his yt channel for a long time now. It'll be fun watching him traverse the PC space now.
rF2 Clios@Lime Rock
He's been doing a great job with his yt channel for a long time now. It'll be fun watching him traverse the PC space now.
rF2 Clios@Lime Rock
TJP
Member
Without wishing to steal Alan's thunder, his PC is quite a beast with SLI'd 780's. Further, Alan has good relationships with quite a number of sim developers so his PC coverage should be excellent. I hope to see some GSC up on his channel soon as I plug Reiza every chance I get - I must be getting paid for my opinions 8)
Look what's coming for Game Stock Car 2013:
Preview for next Niels 'talk and drive' series: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJ2qQV1c2h0 Rally time 8)
Speaking of GSC:
Consensus seems to be that it's Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve, possibly circa 1988 (no idea if there's a difference between that and the current layout). Do Reiza do laser scanning as well?
Edit: I'm guessing that with asking "when" and including the Formula Classic, it would be that specific era/year. Woo!
Consensus seems to be that it's Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve, possibly circa 1988 (no idea if there's a difference between that and the current layout). Do Reiza do laser scanning as well?
Edit: I'm guessing that with asking "when" and including the Formula Classic, it would be that specific era/year. Woo!
Anybody dabbled into those HDMI and USB over ethernet extenders? Just got a Playseat so I transferred my G27 from my desk to the living room, but only games I can use it over there is on GT5 and GT6.
All my other racing games ( Dirt 1/2/3, Grid 1/2, NFS Shift 1/2, F1 2011/12/13 ) are on my i7-3770k - GTX680 4Gb SLI - Triple Monitor setup in my room and I can't move it. I was wondering if I can shimmy my rig to run on my LCD TV in the room, and with the G27 running over ethernet. (as oppose to getting a new htpc setup)
All my other racing games ( Dirt 1/2/3, Grid 1/2, NFS Shift 1/2, F1 2011/12/13 ) are on my i7-3770k - GTX680 4Gb SLI - Triple Monitor setup in my room and I can't move it. I was wondering if I can shimmy my rig to run on my LCD TV in the room, and with the G27 running over ethernet. (as oppose to getting a new htpc setup)
Speaking of GSC:
Consensus seems to be that it's Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve, possibly circa 1988 (no idea if there's a difference between that and the current layout). Do Reiza do laser scanning as well?
Edit: I'm guessing that with asking "when" and including the Formula Classic, it would be that specific era/year. Woo!
Yeah that's definitly Montreal...I can see the Jacques-Cartier bridge (that you see in the background) from my window right now lol.
Did you see any F1 cars with "Reiza" written on them driving around the track?
Unfortunately no.... But then again in 1988 I was still in pre-school! lol
Big Takeover
Member
Oh wow, very nice, and he got someone else to pay for it? Rascal! Mars tell us about your new kit, brother.
Circuit GV, Floripa, and Floripa karts? Yeah, baby. C:GV had the super fast ess on the back straight in '88. I'm a big fan of using previous layouts. It mixes it up a bit, and safety is obviously a non-issue for us. Looking forward to the updates.
gutterboy44
Member
Cut a strip from your sock, jam it inside the brake spring. Works surprisingly well.
TJP
Member
I'm just glad his new PC is working flawlessly as Alan appears to be quite unlucky when it comes to owning stable PC hardware.
Anyone else receive an e-mail from BugBear stating they'd doubled their sales over Xmas.
This. It's made in Australia too, so I took delivery of it within a day or two
Will have to look into that I assume it is also for the G27 pedal set? The break pedal really isn't all that great on the stock pedals.
Hm just got info that my GTOmega Wheelstand will not be shipped before the 22nd, apparently the container ship is delayed because of bad weather and busy port.... Ah well it's not to bad, I don't really have time for much racing before that.
This. It's made in Australia too, so I took delivery of it within a day or two
Thanks for the recommendation, bought one and looking forward to trying it!
They dispatch from within Europe as well according to their Ebay shop. I ordered one for here in the UK says Fri-Mon on delivery so might even be posted from within UK.
I did consider using a sock but its cold and I need both my pairs for my feet and as comedy mittens
marvelharvey
Member
Looks great! Now I want a some pizza, coke and an escort.