Questions about a few PC sims

[sesselpupser]

Hi guys,

So I'm building a sim rig right now (I've gotten as far as buying some timber to support the MX-5 seat I have and thoroughly CADing and pricing up the rest), which means I need to stock up on sims. This is a list of the sims and sim-like games I have:

Race 07 (with the Retro and GT Power packs)
GTR Evo
GT Legends
Dirt 3
F1 2011
Grid
Shift
TDU 2.

This is a list of sims I'm interested in:
Richard Burns Rally
Grand Prix Legends
rFactor
GTR2.

This is a list of sims I'm interested in but probably will not buy:
iRacing (too expensive)
Live For Speed (I've heard rFactor is better)
Project CARS (not sure I want to pay for something that's incomplete when the completed version will be free, if I understand it correctly)
Shift 2 (I will get it when it's cheap on Steam, but not before).


I need some help with the four that I'm interested in. I need to know whether they run on modern hardware, namely an i5 2500K, GTX 580, Windows 7 64-bit and with a Driving Force Pro and G27 (I have the former, I'm going to get the latter sometime after building my rig).

I'd also like your opinions on rFactor; with rFactor 2 coming out, is it worth paying as much as £25 for? I'm also put off by the fictional cars, but I've heard you can get free additional content from the site (I haven't seen any mention of this on said site, though), is this true?

Also, does anyone know of any other sites which host sim mods other than nogripracing.com?

Finally, if you have any other recommendations for sims or mods I'd love to hear them. A few things I'm particularly keen on are classic F1 cars (basically pre 2000's), classic Japanese racing cars like the KPGC10 Group A and AE86 TRD N1/N2s, Super Taikyu, SuperGT, 1980's WTCC, ProCar (that BMW M1 race series), maybe some NASCAR, DTM, WRC, Group A, B, and N rally... Actually now that I think about it, I'm into loads of stuff, but especially classic Japanese cars. It's such a shame that GT5 doesn't have racing versions of the KPGC10 and AE86 in there, for me at least.

Thanks in advance, guys!

 

[Sharky.]

I need some help with the four that I'm interested in. I need to know whether they run on modern hardware, namely an i5 2500K, GTX 580, Windows 7 64-bit and with a Driving Force Pro and G27 (I have the former, I'm going to get the latter sometime after building my rig).

I have Race 07/GTR Evo, GTR2 and Shift (2) and run them fine on an i5 750 and crossfired 5770s. They'd work better than fine on a 2500k and GTX580

I'd also like your opinions on rFactor; with rFactor 2 coming out, is it worth paying as much as £25 for?

IMHO yes, as the content worth having for rFactor 2 is going to be a long way off - the better modding groups may do a straight conversion from their rf1 files but to make the most of all of rf2's new features they'll require a decent amount of additional work. I wouldn't expect to see something like HistorX or Enduracers for rFactor 2 until 2013. The best rFactor 1 mods are extremely good as it is so if you're in no hurry to play rFactor 2 then it's the best 25 quid you'll ever spend.

I'm also put off by the fictional cars, but I've heard you can get free additional content from the site (I haven't seen any mention of this on said site, though), is this true?

Not from the official ISI rFactor site, but there's a whole stack of mods on nogrip, rfactorcentral and other sim modding sites. Bear in mind that some mods/tracks are better than others and many were hosted on Megaupload - as a result of Dotcom-gate some are likely to be unavailable for download from rfc, but you *should* be able to find a mirror elsewhere.

 

[sesselpupser]

Awesome, that's very useful info, thank you. I've just thought, you know how the way Race handles mods can lead to conflicts which may stop certain combinations of mods working, does rFactor suffer from anything like that or can you add every mod in existence with no ill effects? I've already got a few mods for Race but the worst I've seen is driver files getting mixed up (according to my copy some Porsche Cup drivers also drove N1 Levins), so I'm reluctant to install more mods because I still don't fully understand how to completely remove a mod. That is, of course, mainly as a result of my ignorance and unwillingness to learn, I find my desire to fix such issues wanes when I realise I could be racing instead.

Oh, and another thing, are there any sims with a reasonably realistic representation of Pikes Peak out there? I have a mod for Race which adds one but it's a little... How can I put this? Basic. For example the timer only starts when you reach the top, and then you have a long straight corridor to return to the bottom. Also, as the sim is designed for circuit racing, you have as much grip on the dirt as you do on any tarmac circuit. Still, it is fun doing the climb in a McLaren F1 GTR!

 

[Sharky.]

In rFactor the only real issue with trying to run multiple mods at once is that with some mods the game is unable to load the vehicle models, due to the way the modder made the vehicle gen files. It's never an issue if you use mods by themselves, but when you add more than one mod into the mix rFactor can end up looking in the wrong directory for the vehicle models, and as it won't be able to find them the game will usually crash. It's straightforward enough to manually fix mods that do this with Notepad, although it can get quite time consuming. rFactor 2 supposedly prevents this from happening, although as there's only the three default ISI mods thus far I'm not 100% sure if it does or not.

There's a Pikes Peak track for rFactor - likely the same one as in Race - but having tried it I can tell you it is rubbish

 

[pay2021]

Get RBR and rFactor ASAP.

For rFactor MODs, all you can get, the best IMHO are in F1 Classic. You have almost every series and tracks.

And for RBR get the 2011 update.

I can recomend, pCars, yes, it has better graphics than GT5 and the physics are some similar, more muted and more easy to drive, but i must recomend rFactor 2, it has great present to be a beta and a wonderfull future.

👍

 

[Seismica]

For Grand Prix Legends you may want to have a look at the GPL preservation society (http://gplps.org/wb/). They have a few updates I think which make it compatible with newer hardware (Including wheels etc.).

I'd recommend at least trying iRacing (Subscription is cheap, it's the cars and tracks that are expensive), I just got it yesterday and it's pretty awesome 👍

 

[sesselpupser]

Thanks for your advice, guys, I have just bought GTR2 (on the assumption that it will work with all my hardware), GPL and RBR, with rFactor to come next week once I've been paid. Well, I better bloody well be paid, anyway!

It's just occurred to me that I should probably wait until after I've built my cockpit or else I'll get completely sidetracked, but at the same time it'll be motivation to finish it off I suppose... I think I'll save trying iRacing until after I've built it, but I'm really put off subscription fees for games and such because then I'll feel guilty for playing anything else if I'm always paying for another, and I imagine my urge to play will turn into a sense of duty. In short, I'm worried that it'll consume my entire life! However, I am now going to see what the deal is with that.

Can anyone persuade me to buy into pCARS? I'm currently thinking I'll just wait. I presume pay2021 has it, does anyone else?

Thanks again, guys, particularly for the rFactor mod info and the GPL preservation society link.

 

[NLxAROSA]

Project CARS (not sure I want to pay for something that's incomplete when the completed version will be free, if I understand it correctly)
Shift 2 (I will get it when it's cheap on Steam, but not before).

You can buy into Project CARS for 10 euros, which is pretty cheap IMO. Also, they moved away from the F2P model. And you get the money you paid to take part in the project as a refund on the full retail version.

As for Shift 2, just grab a physical copy from the bargain bin (should be really cheap now). If you prefer electronic copy, just enter the serial from the game into EA Origin and it will appear as digital download (not sure if this may work in Steam as well).

 

[sesselpupser]

You can buy into Project CARS for 10 euros, which is pretty cheap IMO. Also, they moved away from the F2P model. And you get the money you paid to take part in the project as a refund on the full retail version.

As for Shift 2, just grab a physical copy from the bargain bin (should be really cheap now). If you prefer electronic copy, just enter the serial from the game into EA Origin and it will appear as digital download (not sure if this may work in Steam as well).

I hadn't heard about the move away from F2P, that does change things, thanks for the tip.

I'm in no rush to get Shift 2 so I'm happy to wait for a Steam or Origin sale, I'm sure after about two more NFS games Shift 2 will have come down a lot, and there'll probably be a generous discount in the Easter/Summer/Autumn/Christmas sale this year anyway. Maybe if I get bored of everything else I'll pick a physical copy up, but it's not likely.

 

[Hirokisoki]

Have you acquired the mods you are interested in on your post?

Drivingitalia.net is a good site for mods. They have some mods that No Grip doesn't and there is no 100mb cap (only downfall of No Grip ) other than that a great site. Drivingitalia pretty much covers all sims for mods and tracks so go check them out. You don't need to be a member to download there.

I too suggest go get rFactor, It is still a great sim and GTR2 is not bad as well.

I'm a mod hoarder for the Race series so if there is a mod out there that you cannot DL because it is on Megauload or whichever site that has been shut down, leave me a message here and i might be able to help with you getting a certain mod.