PC Racing sim suggestions

  • Thread starter lilcat89
  • 12 comments
  • 1,460 views
1,720
United States
Pikes Peak, CO
GTP_MPower
What do you need this for!
I’m just now getting into the PC side of sim racing. I’ve been on the console side up until now and wondering which sims and any mods that should be on my shortlist to get. I’m already going to get Assetto Corsa and ACC with iRacing coming later on. Suggestions?
 
I always suggest Live for Speed, because it runs on any recent PC, it's easy to get up and running, and there is a free demo to try. LFS is old news and has fallen off of most people's radar, but taking the demo for a spin is worth the download. :)
 
I’m just now getting into the PC side of sim racing. I’ve been on the console side up until now and wondering which sims and any mods that should be on my shortlist to get. I’m already going to get Assetto Corsa and ACC with iRacing coming later on. Suggestions?
I would agree with @Wolfe that Live for Speed is well worth a look as the demo is free.

With AC you want to start off with following mods:
Content Manager & Custom Shader Patch
Sol 2.0

Which if you run them together and add in the preview version of CSP (for the rain, which requires a very cheap Patreon sub) makes AC look like this:



As for Cars and Tracks, take a look around our own Mod thread, as that contains a huge amount of content, the AC videos thread also showcases a lot of the really good stuff, and be sure to visit Race Department as well and take a look at the top-rated mods. Any Track by a modder called Fat-Alfie is a must (they are utterly stunning). Don't however pay for a mod until you have done your research on it, as an unfortunate number of people sell crap and/or ripped off content (such is the world of modding I'm afraid).

If in doubt ask here, and you can always subscribe to my you-tube channel (link in my signature) as I do cover a lot of mod stuff for all the title listed below as well.

For example:



Rfactor 2 is worth a look as it also supports mods, it doesn't look as good as AC (after Mods) or ACC, but its physics and FFB are both excellent.
Video Playlist

RaceRoom Racing Experience also has a free content demo and is great for Touring cars, again with good physics and FFB, as well as some of the best AI you will find.
Video Playlist

Automobalista is also a great mod platform (uses the same engine as RFactor 2), with the same pro's and cons as RFactor 2 as well.
AMS & AC vs Reality

Automobilista 2 uses the Madness engine from Project Cars but has a very different feel to it, and they have (and continue to) resolve the issues that have never been fixed with the Project Cars series, its also got a really nice balance of solid physics and FFB, alongside looking great and being really well optimised.
Video Playlist

iRacing I personally avoid as it still has some serious issues with its tyre model and is a massive money pit (expensive cars and tracks on top of a monthly subscription fee).
 
Last edited:
I’m just now getting into the PC side of sim racing. I’ve been on the console side up until now and wondering which sims and any mods that should be on my shortlist to get. I’m already going to get Assetto Corsa and ACC with iRacing coming later on. Suggestions?
I agree with Scaff’s breakdown. Avoid iRacing, unless you’re a hardcore online sim racer. The other games should give you plenty of enjoyment. Personally, I didn’t go for Rfactor2 because I already have Assetto Corsa and its large amount of mods. I know if I buy Rfactor2, I will be hunting down mods for it. And I have not seen enough unique cars and tracks for RF2.
 
Thanks @Scaff and everyone else for the recommendations. I just got my PC up and running and taking care of getting settings where I think I want them. Just scrolling through Steam for a second has me frothing at the mouth!
 
Thanks @Scaff and everyone else for the recommendations. I just got my PC up and running and taking care of getting settings where I think I want them. Just scrolling through Steam for a second has me frothing at the mouth!

Don't get too carried away, remember you can only play one game at a time, and all the sims have many hundreds of hours in them :) 👍
 
Don't get too carried away, remember you can only play one game at a time, and all the sims have many hundreds of hours in them :) 👍

So far, I only have downloaded AC and RaceRoom. Even then, I cant seem to get my G29 to work properly with either of them. Everything works in the G Hub but when I open the either game, nothing works.
 
So far, I only have downloaded AC and RaceRoom. Even then, I cant seem to get my G29 to work properly with either of them. Everything works in the G Hub but when I open the either game, nothing works.

Hmmm that's odd. I take out you have tried the calibration in the games themselves ? Does the G29 work on PC or is it PS4 only ? I thought it was the G920 that is Xbox/PC.. ?
 
Hmmm that's odd. I take out you have tried the calibration in the games themselves ? Does the G29 work on PC or is it PS4 only ? I thought it was the G920 that is Xbox/PC.. ?

G29 works with PC and PS3/PS4 according to Logitech. I got it to work with AC once I inverted the pedal calibration in AC. RaceRoom however, no clue what to do. I can only get the steering axis to work, nothing else. I really puzzled.
 
G29 works with PC and PS3/PS4 according to Logitech. I got it to work with AC once I inverted the pedal calibration in AC. RaceRoom however, no clue what to do. I can only get the steering axis to work, nothing else. I really puzzled.
You might find a solution in the RaceRoom official forums or the RRE forum on Race Department.
 
You might find a solution in the RaceRoom official forums or the RRE forum on Race Department.

I searched for anything pertaining to my issues earlier to no avail. I will post up a thread on the official forums tonight and see what comes of it. I have been enjoying playing around and figuring out AC instead. Its a shame I cant get R3E to work though, as I love the content selection just on the UI menus.
 
So many simulations, not enough time. RBM recently posted a video that showcases a few of the best modern choices, I'm currently running mainly AMS 2 and rFactor 2 league schedules.

 
So many sims so really need to be careful sometimes to not spread yourself too thin and miss out on the depth in some of these sims. For me my two games of choice are Project Cars 2 - I'm a long time league racer on that game on PS4. The game that takes most of my sim racing time these days is iRacing. It has it's list of problems (all the sims do to be honest) but it is unmatched if online racing is your primary sim racing goal. It will cost though. Despite the relatively low entry cost (great new member discounts) you will soon get drawn in to the wonderful content available and can expect to burn through $300 to $500 in your first year assuming you have the spare $.
 
Back