What would you recommend?

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Live_Fr0m_NY

Live_Fr0m_NY

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Live_Fr0m_NY GTP_YoungTurbo45
Hey, i've been thinking about maybe getting into a PC sim. I've been playing Gran turismo since i was 12, and never like PC games (keyboard and mouse? ughhh)

anyway, i was wondering what game you would recommend for a GT player? I basically hear about Rfactor and Live for speed alot lately, which is better and why?
 
COlin Mcrae dirt. not dirt2.

those games like rFactor, etc have really crappy graphics....i dont know if you can stand that or not...
 
cb1021
COlin Mcrae dirt. not dirt2.

those games like rFactor, etc have really crappy graphics....i dont know if you can stand that or not...
Click to expand...

i have played colin mcrae and Dirt 2 on the consoles, was looking for a road racer... is rFactor and LFS graphics really that bad? lol like how bad? if you could compare it to a gran turismo, which would it look like?
 
I'd agree with rFactor, but isn't that a subscription game? Or is that iRacing?
On-Topic, I'd suggest (for rally) DiRT and (road only) a new SimBin title. But a classic game I love: TOCA:3 :D.
 
iRacing is subscription.

rFactor is a 110mb download for the base, then you need mods.

And lots of them.

Mods make rFactor the great sim it is.
 
Well since you brought up Live For Speed and rFactor in your initial post I figured you didn't mind mediocre graphics. Most PC sim games don't have the greatest graphics but that doesn't really matter, at least not to me or most people who are into sim games. If you compare the graphics for some of these games to those in Gran Turismo you will see a huge difference. It's like night and day.

If you are picky about that sort if thing then I would say check out GTR Evolution which has pretty decent graphics for a sim racer, as shown below:

imageview.php

evo1.jpg


The pros about GTR Evolution are the graphics although you may have to change the settings to get the most of the graphics, the input configurations designed for players on a keyboard/pad (I use a PS3 pad now that my wheel broke) are nice, it is pretty realistic and is fun as hell online (it runs on the Steam engine).

If you don't care too much about the graphics I would probably still stick with my GTR2 suggestion. Sure it has some outdated graphics but the gameplay, physics, challenge and realism are above average. The damage is realistic and can be easily turned off. The AI is intelligent and fully customizable as is pretty much everything else in the game (weather, time of day, tuning/car set-up, etc). On top of that there seems to be plenty of mods floating around for this game also. Here are a few shots of GTR2 to help you decide.

GTR2_webrocksWEB.jpg

F360_setup2sm.jpg

gtr2.jpg



Lastly you have Live for Speed which was a huge hit when it came out. LFS' physic engine seems a tad more relaxed than the other two which is a good thing if you are new to the sim world. The weight transfer, braking and overall FF are great in this game, you really feel everything especially if you have a nice rig. The online racing is the meat and potatoes of LFS and is where it excels and does not require monthly fees like iRacing does. The graphics are actually a bit worse than GTR2, though, so I am not sure if it would interest you as far as that in concerned.

I hope that helped.
 
waggles
Mods make rFactor the great sim it is.
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But the AI just run into the back of you most of the time...

The other options (LFS, iRacing, GTR2) have been mentioned apart from GTR2 successor (but not as good in my view) Race07/Evo/Race On series.

I would suggest downloading the demos of rFactor, LFS and Race on and seeing what one you prefer.
 
thanks guys, some great feedback here. Im going to start downloading some demos, and testing them out. i am basically looking for a game with a good amount of tracks and cars with a good physics engine.

iRacing i didnt even mention because from what i seen the graphics are horrendous, they look like playstation 1! I really wasn't expecting any of these games to look better than GT5p, but i do find it pretty ironic because PC gamers talk all this trash about how the graphics on PC are better than consoles, which i never really could believe. i think crysis is the lone exception.
 
It tends to be your Grid/Dirt/NFS titles that concentrate on the graphics, but they're not sims. Sims tend to concentrate on the sim part rather than the graphics.

Both GTR2 and rFactor would suit you, I think. They both have numerous cars and tracks that you can download for free.
 
yea i figured that. anyways, i just tried live for speed... not impressed. the FFB was twitchy, the graphics looked like a dreamcast launch title, and the demo didnt even have sound. im D/l the rFactor demo now.

by the way didnt the dev's that make GTR series make NFS:Shift?
 
Live_Fr0m_NY
iRacing i didnt even mention because from what i seen the graphics are horrendous, they look like playstation 1! I really wasn't expecting any of these games to look better than GT5p, but i do find it pretty ironic because PC gamers talk all this trash about how the graphics on PC are better than consoles, which i never really could believe. i think crysis is the lone exception.
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Your PS1 must have been crazy good :crazy:. Iracing doesnt have the best graphics in the world, but if you enjoy on-line race simulation it is at the top of the league. I would recommend rfactor and GTR2 both great games with hundreds of mods to go for, If you can look past graphics and enjoy some truly great physics engines, pc simming is the way to go.

Some Iracing screens.
impala_ss_1_screen_full.jpg


fmazda_ss_2_screen_full.jpg
 
scoobasteve
Your PS1 must have been crazy good :crazy:. Iracing doesnt have the best graphics in the world, but if you enjoy on-line race simulation it is at the top of the league. I would recommend rfactor and GTR2 both great games with hundreds of mods to go for, If you can look past graphics and enjoy some truly great physics engines, pc simming is the way to go.

Some Iracing screens.
impala_ss_1_screen_full.jpg


fmazda_ss_2_screen_full.jpg
Click to expand...

what the hell, i seen them playing this on that sim racing youtube show... and it did NOT look like that^^
 
Live_Fr0m_NY
what the hell, i seen them playing this on that sim racing youtube show... and it did NOT look like that^^
Click to expand...

Well to be honest I took them straight off the iracing site, Have just run a few laps on my own pc. Not the highest spec in the world and i dont run on full graphics (third best) . Its not too bad like i say its on an average pc.

texas.jpg


ah well it looks to have come out a lot grainier and blurry after a changed the size.
 
Ok now my DFGT is stuck at 200 degrees and if i change the settings it goes back to 200 by default... now i remember why i hate PC games.

Edit: got it working... apperenntly i have to install the driver 3 times?? lol

sorry for double post
 
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So, so far i have dipped into rfactor, & live for speed... I'm not feeling them at all. all of this junk is so old and outdated, and im not seeing how thiese are "more realistic" than anything... While iRacing looks decent, im not exactly a fan of Nascar or F1. Last on my list is GTR, but im not expecting much form that either.

Rfactor's FFB sucks and LFS isnt much better overall... this is just my opinion but i think i may just stick to console games. PC gaming is too much of a hassle for me. Always something going wrong, or drivers not working correctly... I have little patience for such things. anyways thanks for the help guys but i guess this is just not for me.


EDIT: My last attempt will be "Race On" if this isn't good i'm done with PC games forever!
 
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For rFactor, you need to download the RealFeel and LeoFFB mods for the FFB to wormk properly-and make sure you use decent mods (not 100mb, >500mb)
 
As for driving experience i recommend both rFactor and GTR Evolution. But GTR Evo simply has better and stunning graphics so 1:0 for GTR Evo!
 
Live_Fr0m_NY
...but i do find it pretty ironic because PC gamers talk all this trash about how the graphics on PC are better than consoles, which i never really could believe. i think crysis is the lone exception.
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Any multiplatform game always looks best on PC, for a start, and sure, Crysis is one of the most impressive "PC only" games in recent years, but it shows what PCs are capable of and the consoles will never be able to achieve those graphics on present generation hardware no matter how many optimisations are made. One of the most glaring examples i can think of is Left 4 Dead 2 - now, i'll say straight off the bat that i don't really like the game much (i did't like the first either), it just simply doesn't draw me in, but i tried it out on PC and though it was at least alright - i then downloaded the 360 demo just for comparison's sake and it was appalling in comparison in every single way possible (apart from maybe sound, but i don't know how that could be different between versions, really), especially the difference in graphics... The difference was like comparing PS3 to PS2...

You said you hate mouse and keyboard, but nearly all shooters are best played with mouse and keyboard (i won't even start to go on about RTS games and stuff). Games that are better with a controller or wheel, then you can use them instead (i know you've got the wheel covered, but you can use 360 controllers with the PC too - and i readily do for certain games).

I've got a PS3, 360 and PC and i've got to say, if there's a game that comes out on all three platforms there's no dout i'll pick it up on PC; not denying that there are some great exclusives on both the PS3 and 360 that the PC misses out on, but there's also quite a few games (especially indie ones) that you can only get on PC.

/rant :D
 
I brought GTR evo last week and I must say that I'm not impressed with the graphics but the gameplay is solid. The only thing I have to compare it against is NFS shift on my ps3 which looks great. If I could get the graphics of shift with the game play of GTR evo then I would be hooked. I'm now thinking of getting rfactor or iracing.
 
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You can usually find a cheap copy of GTR2 and GTlegends bundled for about 20 USD at places like best buy. A great deal since there are plenty of mods out there to supplement it. I also found a greatest hits style copy of GTR at target for 10 bucks.

Don't be afraid to check out http://www.netkar-pro.com/

Limited on content and a bit hardcore for some, but will give you excellent sim experience if your not into the iracing subscription thing.
 
Ok so I changed the graphics settings in GTR evo and it has greatly improved. I'm still trying to get use to the handle and braking of the cars but so far I kinda like it. There doesn't seem to be a lot of people online playing, is this usually the case? Also in the control settings there is a key for turning on/off the race line but when I press it nothing happens, is there a race line in the game like shift or gt5p?
 
I would like to know more about this too. GT5P got old quite a while ago and I'm about to finish GT4 for another time. So, I decided to download and try Richard Burns Rally and LFS. Richard Burns seems pretty awesome but for some reason FFB doesn't work on it.

LFS seems very very boring to me. I do not see how people hold this game in such high regards as far as being one of the best "sims" and say GT doesn't compare with this game. To me GT5TT is much more difficult and seems more realistic that LFS. LFS is just totally boring to me. Maybe it's because I only have the demo but none of the three cars you get on the demo seem to be powerful at all. You have to really try to make them lose control. On LFS all the training I did I got Pro on the first try with almost all of them. On RBR it was hard to even get through the training which is more what I'm looking for in a "sim" racer. Anyways, I'm going to try rfactor and GTR and see if either of them meet the hype.

And I'll agree that this is why I stopped playing PC games. Took me forever to get it off 200 degree mode. For some reason even though i have the box checked to let the game control all the wheel options the logitech program is actually what controls them. Then I had to setup the options in the Logitech program so I could actually navigate the screens with just my wheel. Then I realized when I use X for Enter and O for Escape that I can no longer assign them in game to anything else. Also, I cannot assign to use both the shifter and the paddles to shift gears at the same time. I like to use the paddles on the cars that actually come with them and the shifters on vehicles that don't. I have to change the options everytime I want to do this. Gets annoying. Platforms are so well put together. Oh well, just looking for a good sim to hold me over till GT5 is released.

I will give it to PC though that a keyboard and mouse is a little more precise for FPS's and that RTS's will only work on PC's. Well, unless Sony finally puts out a firmware update where you can use a keyboard and mouse and then RTS's would work on the PS3 also. And I would bet you would see a lot of die hard PC FPS people come over to the PS3. But, when Starcraft 2 comes out. My PS3 will take a much needed, extended nap.
 
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Ok, to start, sorry for the double post but here's the deal...

So far I have downloaded the demo's for LFS, rFactor, RBR, and GTR2. Of all of these I find RBR and GTR2 to be more to my liking and I'll explain why. All games were played on hardest physics setting with all aids off and difficulty (where applicable) on hardest settings.

Live For Speed:
This demo just seemed super easy and super boring. Both of the "production" based cars just seemed very underpowered and made the races drag on. The cart based vehicle even seemed like it didn't have much power but was a bit of a step up from the other two. Over all, with the not spectacular visuals, sounds, and gameplay I only played this one for a couple hours after getting everything setup to my liking.

rFactor:
This one's a little different. Even though the graphics were garbage the game seemed like it could be pretty fun. But with only an hours worth of demo available I spend about 30 minutes of that just getting everything setup. While playing I noticed that for some reason the game had a hang up every once in a while. Usually when it was rendering smoke, or some other special effect. Turned everything down... (which I shouldn't have to with my pc) and it still happened. I run all other games including GTR2 in full HD with all options maxed and still run at about 80fps.
Another downfall of this game was the fact that no matter what I tried the FFB seemed horrible and the steering overall felt very mushy. With a huge deadzone in the middle. This and the graphics is where the first 30 minutes of the demo went to. I tried letting the Logitech software control it and tried letting the game control it. Neither worked properly to my liking.
So, there were some good things to this demo. I liked the feeling of the clutch and certain other things. Sound overall wasn't bad. In fact I loved the sound of the whine and jerkiness of the cars motormounts. But I found that the sounds and some of the menu layouts seemed a lot like GTR2's. So anyways, I just went ahead and played out the rest of the demo and it seemed like it could be a fun game. But, I didn't really have enough time with it to decide whether I would purchase it or not.

Richard Burns Rally:
Only played through the training course and one rally so far. Love this game but dissapointed that for some reason FFB doesn't work with my DFGT. No matter how I try. Right now though I wasn't really looking for a Rally game, I was looking for a Circuit game that will tide me over till GT5 comes. But I would highly recommend this game to anyone that loves Rally. I have Dirt2 and it's like apples and oranges. Dirt2 is very arcadey like a NFS title (pre-shift) but very fun. RBR is all simulation. Prepared to be frustrated... In a good way.

GTR2:
Wow!! All I can say is wow!! This game is pretty much everything I was looking for. I love the physics, love the sound, and love the graphics. I'm pretty much sold on buying this game to keep me occupied till GT5 comes out. The only dissapointment for me on this game... (and I could be wrong) is that I don't believe there will be any production, or close to production based cars to race. Seems like it will be all full race cars. Which I don't think I will mind too badly. Everything about this game worked without a hitch. It was like playing a PS3 game. FFB worked and works well. Steering feels very stiff, weighted and responsive. The Ferrari I was using seemed very fast. I had a constant feeling that I was about to lose it if I wasn't careful. And I like that a lot. This is a game that you definitely have to use your throttle very cautiously. Anyways, after about 4 hours of playing it so far I'm hooked. I still haven't put in but a few back to back "hotlaps" with out having a bobble or complete wreck and the AI is murdering me when I try to race them. But, after trying the race over and over again for about an hour (rest of the time was time trial to get used to the car/physics) I actually led one lap. Then I blew the second corner of the next lap and ended up in the wall. lol But man is it fun trying.

I'll admit that I'm not a super fast person when it comes to racing games but I love pushing myself and playing games that are above my skill level. The fastest I could place on the GT5:TT was 442nd. But, that doesn't stop me from loving a good challenge. Right now I'm going to take a break from GTR2 and play something easy to build my confidence back up. So, I popped in GT5p and guess I'll go beat up on their AI for a while. I just need some gold trophys to counter all the FAIL I've been receiving from GTR2. BTW, I think GT5 will be the best physics of all when it comes out. I really wish the clutch in GT5 would operate more like these "sims".
 
Hey Nsane1 have you tried gtr evo? I'm new to sim racing as well, I picked up gtr evo about two weeks ago and then got race on a few days ago. The game rocks, FFB is good, graphics with everything on high and full AA are good, and gameplay is dead on. I would say that they are worth checking out. I have the DFGT as well, what clutch are you talking about?
 
Yeah, to tell you the truth I just saw were somebody posted the link to the GTR2 demo so I downloaded it thinking it was the newest version. After looking around on simbin's website I realized that Evolution is the newest. Something you may be able to answer me is do you have to have Race 7... Meaning is GTR Evo an expansion or is it a stand alone game? Also, seeing that Nurburgring and some production cars are in GTR Evo, this is definitely the one I want. The 'Ring is probably my favorite track of all time. Where'd you pick your copy up at and for how much?

I set up the left paddle button to work as my clutch. You can go into the options and adjust how fast it releases the clutch. The main reason I did it is because I like the idea of having to lift throttle during shifts even in a sequential tranny car. I'm not positive on this but I would assume the real cars have to lift the throttle on shifting as well. This way I can turn off the automatic clutch and make it more fun.

But, on the other hand, I would love to have a set of G25 or G27 pedals and actually have a clutch. Not positive that the DFGT would work with the G25 pedals but I believe I saw it somewhere on this forum. Just didn't think the G27 was worth the triple amount in price. Plus, all racecar tranny's change from helical gearing to straight cut teeth because they are stronger. Much louder than the helical but much stronger. So I don't know if the helical gearing in the G27's would actually be an upgrade.
 
You need race 07 to play gtr evo. You can get the combo from steam for $25. Race on is the latest expansion pack. It came out last year. It is also on steam with the race 07 combo.
 

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