Sim Racing is good for the soul

[Skybird]

Somehow this movie linked up to me, and it is more the narration than the - as usual - high quality editing I have learned to expect from Chris. His videos are top class. While not doing league racing myself or even much of online, I know these moments as well, though more in Raceroom since its AI is more human-like and less pacifistic than that of AC Competizione. Racing against one and the same car in te field for several laps, that does try tricks ony you, fights back, and attacks you from unexpected opportunities while you had just overtaken it and thought you were safe form it, having a stubborn opponent glued to your sidedoor or bumper like a Darth Vader homing in on Rebel cross wing fighters, and then realising you did this for laps and there was no accident, and no contact, just duelling and fighting but with fair means - that can create a strange, almost trance-like state of mind when you indeed are focussed and relaxed at the same time, and then tak emuch more enjoyment from what you just do, then during 95% of the sim racing time you spend. And while it is just playing, a game, not real, in the end you nevertheless feel great satisfaction if the event ends and you know you had not messed it up and have not caused unfair harm on other cars and made it through until the end in one - virtual - piece.

Chris is right. It can be therapeutical - on one of those rare, neither usual nor always to be expected opportunities. But if it is one those rare precious times, it really lights your candle. Not because it matters for the world, or the rest of Your life - but because you realise that you just have spend time truly enjoying yourself and enjoying what you were doing. This experience can be had in many different ways. Handcrafting. Cooking a perfect meal so delicious the taste of it brings back a precious memory you considered lost since long. You resting in silence and forgetting yourself while watching the face of a sleeping cat. Magic can lie in so many occasions that might appear profane to others. But that is okay, because it must only matter to you.




The shown title is Assetto Corsa Competizione which happens to be one of my two race sims of choice (beside Raceroom). And in rain, maybe even at night, and in VR, its hell to drive, a real fright ride. Simming does not get more intense than this.

[mapuc]

There's a 85 % discount on Project Cars 2 on STEAM(today is last day)

Wonder if I should buy it.

Have also been looking at F1 2017. 2021 Cost to much for me.

I'll drive using my keyboard(w-a-s-d) and other keys.

Markus

[Skybird]

Get a ffb wheel and pedals. Or save for one. Serious.

[mapuc]

Originally Posted by Skybird

Get a ffb wheel and pedals. Or save for one. Serious.

Have been looking at it, but can't decide what I want..since I have never used it before.

Markus

[Catfish]

I would also be interested in which ffb wheel and pedals you use, or which you can advise.


Edit: just looked around - god there's a lot! I wonder, when there's so much pedals and wheels and whatnot, why can't they design a new joystick with believable FFB??? The last good one is MS's Sidewinder ffb, and this was decades ago.

[Skybird]

Originally Posted by Catfish

I would also be interested in which ffb wheel and pedals you use, or which you can advise.

Personally, I have worked up the ranks in the price hierarchy. I started with a Microsoft Sidewinder FFB Wheel, 20 years or so ago.


Next then came a Thrustmaster Ferrari 430.


Number three then was the classic Logitech G27, which imo offered very good buck for the bang. I money is a factor to consider, I still would recommend this combo. I do not know the newer model G29, some say its not as good, some say it is okay and en par. Shifter must be bought separately, with the G27 it came as an included item.

The G27 had the best quick mounting system I have ever seen in any wheel. Reference design imo.

And then I finally reached the upper league of quality with gear by Fanatech. Its obviously more expensive, but it indeed offers superior quality and massive, solid hardware (and good, quick service), while wheel and wheelbase are not even the top pricing category, I made compromises there (that I do not regret, the quality nevertheless is extremely good). The pedals and shifter however are top class, the pedals for a reason (see below).
The CSL Elite wheelbase and original (first generation) PS4-PC-compatabile wheel rim (two sorts of leathers used).

These two in combination form a good combo, because the wheelbase offers surprisingly strong and quick-reacting FFB and reaction time, and the rim is very light: very quick rotation is the result. As a VR driver exclusively, looks do not concern me, and Fanatech has some unbelievably sexy wheel rims on offer (but the prices...). Heavier wheels however better are used on the stronger wheelbases of theirs, I assume. this is not to say the CSL Elite base is weak, it isn't! I have dramatically reduced FFB, else it would move my table!
The CSL Elite wheelbase is out of production now.

However, and here I come to the asked-for recommendations, pedals I finally went with the best I could find for under 500. This is because a wheelrim and base and FFB may add to your sense of immersion, you may enjoy it by the looks and feels, but it will not make you a better, faster, technically more competent driver. But good quality pedals will do that! If the springs are too soft, you tend to notoriously over- or underdose the input, especially on the brake, result is you miss braking points and their according distances, and this makes itself felt, obviously. So my advise would always be: if you want to not just add immersion, but also want to become a techncially better driver, then first get better pedals, and the brake with not springs, but a loading cell, before you go after wheelrims and bases.

Fanatec Clubsport Pedals version 3:


Springs can be replaced with other versions (stiffer, softer), the load cell on the brake can be adjjusted as well. Additonal dampers can be attached. Gas and brake have spinners (vibrating motors).

I find it difficult to do extremely close infighting with cars dorr to door and bumper to bumper, or tightly crowded pack racing, without good pedals, especialyl the brake. The brake pedal is the most important single item in your combo! I just cannot get as precise and enduring with that precision, as is needed in such situations. Too much is left to luck with the brake dosing.



A manual shifter is an immerison thing completely. The one by Fanatec allows easy switching between H-pattern and sequential shifting modes, and comes with two different knobs, a steel (!) ball and a rally-car style steel knob. Heavy, and serious business, the weight is almost 3.5 kg. Very good feeling when kicking in the gears. Spring resistance can be adjusted. Height-adjustable.



More expensive I am not willing to go. This combo serves all my needs and desires, I love it.

DD drives, I have never had the opportunity to test one, but I assume they come to their real meaning only when hardmounted in dedicated sim racing platforms/cages, they are said to use so heavy forces that a simple table quick mount may not do the trick. Also, they are very expensive. To me and for my needs, they are not worth to worry about. I'm happy.

So, I can recommend my gear, but I invested almost around 1000 bucks into this. For quite some people I assume its not worth it, while others even spend factors more on it. If money is a concern, I would tell you to check the Logitech G29, but I have no experience with it. I would recommend as a budget wheel however the G27, if you still find it available.

[Catfish]

Thanks,
budget IS of course a thing (real car(s) intervening), so i guess i will try the G27 for now. Can imagine how better hardware feels but ..
Is there a "handbrake" simulated, in Assetto Corsa?
Sry, i never tried this out in digital style ..

Much appreciated

[Skybird]

Handbrake in AC, separate axis, or button-press( digital, on or off, not recommended). I do not mess with it.

G27 is out of production, you need to be lucky to find one left in stock, or a well-maintained second hand. G29 took over years ago already.


Assetto corsa ( I assume you mean Classic, not Competizione), is still a good choice due to its in principle good quality, and its many, many, many, many mods and high quality mod tracks. If you go into it, tell me, I direct you you at the must-have mods and tracks. Primary source is Race Department.


Also, while AC already wanted a beefy platform, Competizione is even more demanding. All AC and DLCs can be had at smile prices at Steam during sales.



I also recommend Raceroom. Forgiving hardware demands for AC's standards, and a once-in-a-lifetime offer: for 100 bucks you can get ALL content avialable at that point of time: all tracks, allc ars, all skins. The sim has the best AI in business (imo), and since the arrival of Alex Hodgkinson also superb physics, plus very well doen FFB and the best sound sbesiode Competizione.

Check the trakc list and then consider this option: no other sim has such an excellent track list, and they all are of very high quality. 52 tracks/locations, 131 track layout variations. But: no night racing, no weather/rain. Time can be set from morning to sunset (and accelerated). Raceroom can be tried free.



Track physics-wise, Competizione rules the pack, has dynamic racing lines in the drying and wetting conditions, models track surface temperatures going up and down, and so forth.



Public server racing: know what you are going into.

[Catfish]

The G29 costs as much as th G27 used, if you can get the latter at all
Example

[Skybird]

The G29 exclusive the shifter.

Just saw there is a new combo by Logitech, G 923, it includes shifter again. I dont know anything about this.

Please understand, when I recommended the G27 and my Fanatech gear, I do so because I know them. It does not mean that there are no other options on market worth to be considered. For example, there is still Thrustmaster. But I do not know the others.


Also the customer support is worth to be considered. And Logitech scores unterirdisch in this regard, many people seem to say.

[Threadfin]

Originally Posted by mapuc

Have also been looking at F1 2017. 2021 Cost to much for me.

F1 2017 is good, it has the voice commands, which is a fantastic feature. It allows you to talk to your engineer and change strategies on the fly, or get info about all sorts of things. With dynamic weather this is crucial, because fiddling with menus while lapping at speed is beyond me. Being able to switch tyre type for the next stop without taking eyes off the road is awesome.

Personally, I'd recommend F1 2020 for the My Team feature, which allows you to start an eleventh team on the grid. Some won't care for this I reckon, but I like it even if progression is too fast, especially with regulation changes that the AI does not handle as well as the player.

I'm a long time sim racer, going back to the original Indy Car by Papyrus. I ran in online GPL leagues for years. I have many, if not most, of the racing sims, and my current favorite is F1 2020.

The dynamic weather system is the best I have seen. It's difficult to overstate how well it is implemented and the massive effect it has on the racing. The AI is well done too, and probably the best I have seen in terms of clean racing against the player. The main issue I have is there is little to no chaos. Formula One is often chaotic, but the AI cars in this sim run like AI cars, rarely making any mistakes, running wide, spinning. It would be a far better sim with some AI variability. But there isn't much more I could fault about this sim. I really enjoy what it has to offer.

I wrote a fairly long thread about it at SimHQ last year when I gave it a go. It's sort of a first look/review/AAR thread with pics!


F1 2020 thread @ SimHQ

[Skybird]

A must-have app for Assetto and Raceroom and quite some other sims, is CrewChief. I use it mostly, or esclsuoively for getting a spotter'S warning son cars nearby, but I think it also can add voice commands to any sim it is available for. And recently some tool came out for Raceroom doing something like that, too.



However, I stick to it, if you already have a sim and still drive with keyboard, get a wheel and pedals prior to another sim title. At least a decent gamepad. The motion control pad with Playstations also works fine (in Gran Turismo) - you can use the pad and turn it like a mini wheel, right in the air, but it is a playstation thing only, AFAIK.

EVERYTHING seems to be better than "driving" with keyboard, wouldn't you agree?

[Skybird]

It seems Fanatec only sells DD wheelbase anymore...? Two of them, costing 1200 and 1500 coins..??? Without wheels (additional 300-600 coins)? Plus pedals (300 coins). Plus shifter (short of 300, I think)



This will cost them customers, I think. Too exclusive in price. The Wheel and base I bought, costed 500 alltogether. It seems customers like me are not good enough for them anymore. If my gear breaks down one day, I will not consider them anymore. Too expensive.

[Eichhörnchen]

Returning to the underlying theme of the OP, more and more we appreciate the importance of being in the moment. I get it from painting and listening to music, but also for sure in the virtual worlds of flight simming... especially within a good photo-real environment... and of course in the sheer escapism of shooters

[Skybird]

Originally Posted by Eichhörnchen

and of course in the sheer escapism of shooters

Dat haddu fein gesacht!