iRacing vs other games

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Having played iRacing in the past but not owning a gaming PC. I don't really follow up anymore updates, etc...

What are the pro and cons vs GT Sport, Project cars, ACC, etc...?
 
Cons: Expensive, like way more than other sims
Rookie season, early on, can be really discouraging

Neutral: The physics model is controversial. I think it’s really good, some think it’s really bad. Whatever.

Pros: Racing is scheduled in advance, which means that rather than random matchmaking your matched with the closest people to your skill level
Safety and rating system encourages (but doesn’t always achieve) clean racing.
Customer service is always really good, the few requests and protests I’ve made have all been handled within 2 business days.
 
To explain what I mean about scheduled racing better:
Let’s assume you and me are the perfect matchup and we’re randomly playing AMS2 and both want to race F3 cars. You queue up for F3 at Kyalami and I queue up for Brands Hatch, so we don’t race. Or you queue up at 5:45, I queue up at 6:10, we don’t race.
iRacing says, this week F3 is racing at Kyalami, every race starts at the top of the hour. So we both get online a little before 6 and race that race together
 
Having played iRacing in the past but not owning a gaming PC. I don't really follow up anymore updates, etc...

What are the pro and cons vs GT Sport, Project cars, ACC, etc...?

There are no comparisons from those games you mentioned. iRacing is a service, a online racing service used by hundreds of real race car drivers, both road and oval. iRacings strengths include realistic physics and race craft. There really is no comparison, the service gets updated on every 13 weeks. So there are 12 week schedules and week 13 the engineers update the software.
 
There are no comparisons from those games you mentioned. iRacing is a service, a online racing service used by hundreds of real race car drivers, both road and oval. iRacings strengths include realistic physics and race craft. There really is no comparison, the service gets updated on every 13 weeks. So there are 12 week schedules and week 13 the engineers update the software.
There are comparisons to draw because sim racers have choices to make on where they spend their money.

I am currently subscribed to iRacing (I have had a few breaks over the years) and whilst I love the game it does have some shortcomings. The graphics engine is a decade old dog, the force feedback leaves a lot to be desired in comparison to some other sims, and it has taken iRacing years to sort out the tyre physics (still needs a lot of work). And in 2020 they still don't even have rain, and day-night came years and years after other sims - those changes present huge problems for iRacing due to the ancient graphics engine.

The question of value also needs to be considered. Last month for example you could buy Assetto Corsa Ultimate Edition (40 laser scanned tracks and countless cars) for less than the price of a single car in iRacing. That's nuts!
 
Daz you do make some fair points, however iRacings graphics have been upgraded over the years, perhaps not as fast as other games. IMO they are comparable to any racer out there. Rain is coming, I feel rain is more of a nuisance and don't like it in any game that I've seen. iRacing's online racing is head and tails above all the other games combined.

As for the force feedback goes, I use an Accuforce ver II and it is by far superior to any racing game and for pedals the HE Ultimates and they rock in iRacing. Assetto Corsa is close but much to rigid, I know a lot of folks that use a DD wheel feel the same. The tire model 7 has many complaints from oval racers but oval racers complain about everything. lol and that's why I strictly road race. Name one person that has the pedigree that Dave Kaemmer has, he's the chief architect of the tire modelling and has computer degrees for doing just that. His knowledge is far above anyone in the business and that is a well known fact.

No software is perfect but iRacing is so far above them all. Name one game that is updated four times per year? iRacing is, iRacings cars and tracks are far better and more abundant. iRacing is used by hundreds of real race car drivers, more then all racing games combined. I am coming up on ten continuous years as a member now at iRacing, I own every racing game, pretty much. I started sim racing in 1979 and now at the age of 60, I seen them come and go and iRacing only get better.

The one thing that the pro's will tell you, is they are all just games except iRacing, it is a service. A lot of folks don't like their pay model, the fact you don't own but lease. I am fine with that, it was expensive in the beginning. I am a 100% content owner and will support them until the day they have to peel my hand off the wheel, lol.
 
My main gripe as an iRacing customer however is the pay model. I just wish they would switch to the Netflix model where everything is available for a set monthly fee (maybe even Full, Oval and Road packages). The current Amazon Prime model of subscribing AND having to buy stuff is just bloody annoying.
 
Daz you do make some fair points, however iRacings graphics have been upgraded over the years, perhaps not as fast as other games. IMO they are comparable to any racer out there.
Sorry but the graphics of iRacing are not comparable to any racer out there, iRacing has improved its visuals over the years, but it's still a way behind the best looking titles on the market.


Rain is coming, I feel rain is more of a nuisance and don't like it in any game that I've seen.
Rain is an integral part of racing for almost every real-world racing series sin existence, any objective look at it has to come to the conclusion that its omission is a negative for iRacing.

iRacing's online racing is head and tails above all the other games combined.
100% agree, its its best feature and its biggest draw.

As for the force feedback goes, I use an Accuforce ver II and it is by far superior to any racing game and for pedals the HE Ultimates and they rock in iRacing. Assetto Corsa is close but much to rigid, I know a lot of folks that use a DD wheel feel the same. The tire model 7 has many complaints from oval racers but oval racers complain about everything. lol and that's why I strictly road race. Name one person that has the pedigree that Dave Kaemmer has, he's the chief architect of the tire modelling and has computer degrees for doing just that. His knowledge is far above anyone in the business and that is a well known fact.
Qualifications don't guarantee accuracy, and iRacings tyre model still has some serious issues in terms of over the limit behaviour being inaccurate.


No software is perfect but iRacing is so far above them all. Name one game that is updated four times per year? iRacing is, iRacings cars and tracks are far better and more abundant.
Rfactor2 and R3E are both updated that regularly.


iRacing is used by hundreds of real race car drivers, more then all racing games combined. I am coming up on ten continuous years as a member now at iRacing, I own every racing game, pretty much. I started sim racing in 1979 and now at the age of 60, I seen them come and go and iRacing only get better.
Many of them use it for the excellent on-line and raking system, however, if you want the real answer to your question in the environment that counts, then its a variant of RFactor and RF2. RFactor Pro is the most commonly used platform for professional race team simulators (right the way up to F1) and the vast majority of OEM's for development and simulation. The source code shares the exact same origins despite the two being separate developments for many years now, with Pro also providing bespoke customisation to teams, as well as supporting OEMs and teams and in their own telemetry and specific software.

So, in reality, one of the most common sim platform used by professional race drivers is actually a relation of RFactor. Its closest rival? Well, that would be a company that doesn't play in the 'games' market (and iRacing is still just that, a game, as are all the others as well), which is Cruden.


The one thing that the pro's will tell you, is they are all just games except iRacing, it is a service. A lot of folks don't like their pay model, the fact you don't own but lease. I am fine with that, it was expensive in the beginning. I am a 100% content owner and will support them until the day they have to peel my hand off the wheel, lol.
Being a service doesn't make it a better product or a better simulation, nor stop it still being a video game. SaaS models don't suddenly stop software being software or video games being video games.
 
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My humble ipinion as someone that plays all the available sims but not that often iR because i do not have enough freetime that a ongoing subscription would be worth it... And i love details like for real ^^ #addicted

You can't really compare iR pricing to other sims imo. No other sim has a ranked multiplayer in so many different car classes in oval, road, dirt oval, dirt road events...

Beside of that the attention to detail in iR is impressive. You will miss alot features, functions when you go back to others sims.

The downside of iR is the tire model, especially the ntmV7 which still has some issues in a couple car classes.
 
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My main gripe as an iRacing customer however is the pay model. I just wish they would switch to the Netflix model where everything is available for a set monthly fee (maybe even Full, Oval and Road packages). The current Amazon Prime model of subscribing AND having to buy stuff is just bloody annoying.


iRacings pay service isn't for everyone. I really like it, as I said earlier, no other racing game on the planet updates their software as often as iRacing, that's every 12 weeks. In case you aren't aware, iRacing offers some great deals on renewal prices.

Re up your sub on black friday, they offer 25% off. They use to do 50% on black friday but no longer offer that deal. There is no question, iRacing can be expensive, for me I am a 100% content owner, as many members are. If you want to race on the cheap, the best thing is pick a series, whether road or oval and try to use the free content and that will save a lot of cash.

I like to support the Service by purchasing all cars and tracks. This helps with R & D and brings in new content. There is a reason that iRacing is used by more pro racers then all other games combined, it really is heads and tails above all others. I own pretty much every racing game ever made, well maybe about 80% of all racers, I started in 1979 and buy everything, except for some of the arcade games like Cars 3 and the Need for speed crap, lol.
 
My humble ipinion as someone that plays all the available sims but not that often iR because i do not have enough freetime that a ongoing subscription would be worth it... And i love details like for real ^^ #addicted

You can't really compare iR pricing to other sims imo. No other sim has a ranked multiplayer in so many different car classes in oval, road, dirt oval, dirt road events...

Beside of that the attention to detail in iR is impressive. You will miss alot features, functions when you go back to others sims.

The downside of iR is the tire model, especially the ntmV7 which still has some issues in a couple car classes.

There seems to be more complaints on ver 7 tire model coming from the oval guys. Us road racers don't have "as" much trouble with it, but I do agree, ver 7 has issues and many members have complained. Dave Kaemmer is the man responsible for developing iRacings tires. He has more degrees in computer science then you can shake a stick at. He really is a genius at what he does. I'm sure ver 8 will address issues that have popped up in ver 7.
 
And thats the problem. A theorist who lacks practical experience ...
Are you saying Dave Kaemmer lacks practical experience? Because he is a exceptional coder who wrote much of iRacing's software and prior to those 12 years he wrote most of Papyrus games.
 
@left888 ... I think he means actual real life track experience... But this is where we go around in circles... What use is practical experience if you cant put it into theory...And what use is theory without actual practical experience ??

But I must admit this is where I do have faith in iRacing... I'm sure they have a wealth of knowledge in their office of both theory and practical experts, it's just a matter of them both working together in sim... I guess this is where it's much easier said than done though.
 
There is a reason that iRacing is used by more pro racers then all other games combined, it really is heads and tails above all others. I own pretty much every racing game ever made, well maybe about 80% of all racers, I started in 1979 and buy everything, except for some of the arcade games like Cars 3 and the Need for speed crap, lol.

You keep saying this, yet not only did I address it (repeated below) and get ignored, but it also makes a massive assumption that its due to it being the most accurate sim around, yet plenty of real-world drivers are quite open about its issues.

Real-world race driver and instructor (twice), you also need to remember that Josef Newgarden was heavily critical of the iRacing tyre model following the on-line races he did during lockdown earlier this year, as did whole lot more (serious language warning on the last one, as a host of GT, NASCAR, V8 Supercar and Indycar drivers take serious issue with iRacing and in particular its tyre model). What is even more concerning is that iRacing seems to be trying to put pressure on drivers to not give us their actual views on iRacing, with a number of videos being removed at iRaicngs request, however, they don't seem to understand how the internet works, as that is simply futile.

Many of them use it for the excellent on-line and ranking system, however, if you want the real answer to your question in the environment that counts, then its a variant of RFactor and RF2. RFactor Pro is the most commonly used platform for professional race team simulators (right the way up to F1) and the vast majority of OEM's for development and simulation. The source code shares the exact same origins despite the two being separate developments for many years now, with Pro also providing bespoke customisation to teams, as well as supporting OEMs and teams and in their own telemetry and specific software.

So, in reality, one of the most common sim platform used by professional race drivers is actually a relation of RFactor. Its closest rival? Well, that would be a company that doesn't play in the 'games' market (and iRacing is still just that, a game, as are all the others as well), which is Cruden.
 
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