Best PC racing game to play with DS3/Xbox Controller

  • Thread starter NixxxoN
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NixxxoN

NixxxoN

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I was wondering which one would you guys recommend me. I dont have a racing wheel.
I only have a DS3 controller pluged in my PC and using MotionInJoy as a driver for it - and emulating and xbox controller so it becomes compatible with most games.

So far I have tried Need For Speed Shift 2 and its awful. Awful to play with controller. Yeah I have tried all possible settings. The cars either turn very little or turn too much and makes you lose control of the car. Also the game physics havent really impressed me. It looks good in some aspects but also so fake and arcade-ish from many points.
I know its kind of weird question, I know you guys will tell me that a racing game/simulator should be played with a wheel and all kinds of stuff, but sorry I dont have 250-300€ to spend on a good wheel at the moment.

Cheers
 
DS3? Euro Truck, Simbin Games, rFactor. Basically any game that allows you to rebind the keys for controllers. Also, if you have the V3.0 update for GTASA, DS3's should work on that (Althought I've only tried DS4 with it). Some games (Like NASCAR 14 and the NFS SHIFT 2 you state above) play horrible but all the games I've played (All games above included) have worked perfectly fine.

Edit: Video of GTASA V3.0 with DS3
 
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GTA SA is a sandbox, not a racing game. And I played it like... 7 or 8 years ago. But thanks anyway...

I played also rFactor several years ago. Good game, but I wanted to try something newer.
 
NixxxoN
GTA SA is a sandbox, not a racing game. And I played it like... 7 or 8 years ago. But thanks anyway...
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There's still the Simin games (RACE 07, GTR2, GT LEGENDS). I have used a DS3 with them, and once you get the key bindings done you're good to go. I got everything I need assigned to just the DS3 for all games
 
Wreckfest, Assetto Corsa, F1 2014, Race Injection, Richard Burns Rally all work very well with DS3, DS4 and 360pad. Project CARS used to lock the game under braking for me and when released I would be down the road by a few yards making it unplayable using DS3 and 360 emulation. Hopefully fixed by now but I have not played in months so I don't know.
 
Basically anything arcade or casual is actually better with a pad than a wheel, but anything known by the community as a simulator is playable on a pad, but with some compromises. I think Project CARS is probably going to be the best crossover but that doesn't help you right now.

If you want the best PC racing game designed for a controller that you can buy right now, I'd probably say Grid: Autosport. If you want the best racing game that you can play with a controller but probably shouldn't because of the lack of fine control that a wheel would otherwise give you... I guess you can take your pick, even iRacing is playable on a pad. But that's a sim where people question whether or not you can be competitive without a clutch pedal, so you probably wouldn't want to get into that. Oh and the community is apparently petitioning to have controller support removed because they're such huge idiot babies.
 
neema_t
Basically anything arcade or casual is actually better with a pad than a wheel, but anything known by the community as a simulator is playable on a pad, but with some compromises. I think Project CARS is probably going to be the best crossover but that doesn't help you right now.
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Daytona-a-a-a-a-a-a. Definitely don't prefer that with a pad. Maybe it comes down to the fact that arcade games tend not to have very good ffb, rather than the game style being more suited to pad? Something like Outrun is borderline with it's minimal ffb, but it would be a no brainer for me with full and good feedback.

To the OP - if trying Assetto Corsa, it's possible to go through "wheel/custom" set up instead of the standard gamepad set up, when using a pad. On default settings it's pretty weird, but tinker a bit and it can be quite good. Some much prefer it. Assetto is actually quite decent with a pad.
 
I always recommend checking out the demo for Live for Speed, just because it's free and runs smoothly on so many computers, and the physics are outstanding. It doesn't offer a speed-sensitive filter, but it does offer a "smoothing" function that helps tame steering inputs (they have it tucked away under the "Misc" menu).
neema_t
Oh and the community is apparently petitioning to have controller support removed because they're such huge idiot babies.
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Sometimes the sim racing community is just embarrassing, and not only iRacing fans.
 
LeMansAid
Daytona-a-a-a-a-a-a. Definitely don't prefer that with a pad. Maybe it comes down to the fact that arcade games tend not to have very good ffb, rather than the game style being more suited to pad? Something like Outrun is borderline with it's minimal ffb, but it would be a no brainer for me with full and good feedback.

To the OP - if trying Assetto Corsa, it's possible to go through "wheel/custom" set up instead of the standard gamepad set up, when using a pad. On default settings it's pretty weird, but tinker a bit and it can be quite good. Some much prefer it. Assetto is actually quite decent with a pad.
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I've tried Assetto Corsa before on pad and it was pretty much unfun for me, at least with basic settings, didnt try to fix it. RRRE works really well with it in comparaison, I can achieve good time with my pad on no aids settings.

I've tried a november build of Project cars and well, couldnt drive very well with pad.

RRRE have a free demo mode kinda, so I would recommend you to try that. It's really amazing on pad.

I'll get Project CARS when it's release and will be able to tell more if the final version is more controller friendly.
 

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