AlaCarcuss
Arbiter
Anyone here into racing simulators?
Not console or arcade games like Grand Turismo, Forza or Grid - but real simulators like GTR, LFS, or rFactor?
I was a sim fan years ago and just recently got back into it. Bought a Logitech G25 wheel, built a nice rig and got a 3 monitor setup going.
Started playing around with the 3 sims mentioned above, then I heard about iRacing. It's an on-line subscription based service - a bit like how an MMO works but for racing. At first I thought - meh, I'm not paying to play online, but I did hear some pretty impressive things about it, so I thought I'd give it a try for 1 month ($20).
It's freaking awesome! It has by far the best graphics and physics of any sim out there. The tracks are all laser scaned and super acurate.
What I love most about it though is the organisation. Your career is pretty much all laid out for you - with some variations (oval, road, car, track) etc. Each series you join focuses on one track per week, the setups are a breeze, everything auto-calibrates - you just practise, qualify (if you want) and get in and RACE!
It's class/experience based, so you're usually racing against drivers of similar ability. You go up a class at the end of each season based on your Safety Rating - not on how many points you accumulate. Which is also great at keeping the racers clean, as no one want's to ruin their SR.
Somthing else that's pretty unique is - no body is allowed to be annonomous, you have to use your real name - it's obtained from your credit card details. This helps keep the kids out and everyone civilized, after all - we know who you are lol.
A lot (more and more everyday it seems) of big name RL racing drivers use the iRacing service - it's that damn realistic. I was in a race the other night with Dale Earnhardt jr! - he blitzed the field of course
When he went by me (he lapped me more than once), I was so proud - how many (non-race cars drivers) can say they got lapped multiple times by Dale Earnhardt jr!! It's not just some kid using his name - it's him - I even chatted to him on my headset - nice guy too.
The kicker is though, it can get a bit expensive, as you have to buy extra cars and tracks as you progress through the ranks and series - but the fun I'm getting out of it makes it totally worth it. If you want to have a go though, you need only pay for 1 month and you get all the cars and tracks you need to compete in the rookie series. Then decide where you want to go with it after that - so sim fans, check it out:
http://www.iracing.com/home.html
Edit: Oh, BTW - unlike most commercial MMO's, there's no initial game purhase either - just the subscription fees.
Not console or arcade games like Grand Turismo, Forza or Grid - but real simulators like GTR, LFS, or rFactor?
I was a sim fan years ago and just recently got back into it. Bought a Logitech G25 wheel, built a nice rig and got a 3 monitor setup going.
Started playing around with the 3 sims mentioned above, then I heard about iRacing. It's an on-line subscription based service - a bit like how an MMO works but for racing. At first I thought - meh, I'm not paying to play online, but I did hear some pretty impressive things about it, so I thought I'd give it a try for 1 month ($20).
It's freaking awesome! It has by far the best graphics and physics of any sim out there. The tracks are all laser scaned and super acurate.
What I love most about it though is the organisation. Your career is pretty much all laid out for you - with some variations (oval, road, car, track) etc. Each series you join focuses on one track per week, the setups are a breeze, everything auto-calibrates - you just practise, qualify (if you want) and get in and RACE!
It's class/experience based, so you're usually racing against drivers of similar ability. You go up a class at the end of each season based on your Safety Rating - not on how many points you accumulate. Which is also great at keeping the racers clean, as no one want's to ruin their SR.
Somthing else that's pretty unique is - no body is allowed to be annonomous, you have to use your real name - it's obtained from your credit card details. This helps keep the kids out and everyone civilized, after all - we know who you are lol.
A lot (more and more everyday it seems) of big name RL racing drivers use the iRacing service - it's that damn realistic. I was in a race the other night with Dale Earnhardt jr! - he blitzed the field of course
When he went by me (he lapped me more than once), I was so proud - how many (non-race cars drivers) can say they got lapped multiple times by Dale Earnhardt jr!! It's not just some kid using his name - it's him - I even chatted to him on my headset - nice guy too.The kicker is though, it can get a bit expensive, as you have to buy extra cars and tracks as you progress through the ranks and series - but the fun I'm getting out of it makes it totally worth it. If you want to have a go though, you need only pay for 1 month and you get all the cars and tracks you need to compete in the rookie series. Then decide where you want to go with it after that - so sim fans, check it out:
http://www.iracing.com/home.html
Edit: Oh, BTW - unlike most commercial MMO's, there's no initial game purhase either - just the subscription fees.
