Re: PC Sim Racing
 

As an iRacing newbie, I see lots of inexcusable issues. Other games wouldn't get a pass, but for some reason iRacing does. They shouldn't, especially with the insane cost of this game.

Re: PC Sim Racing
 

I wouldn't say the cost is insane. Did you ever play any of the multiplayer shooters like Call of Duty? By the time you buy the new game every year, and all the map packs, it's about $150 a year. You can play iRacing cheaper than that, provided you choose to not buy content. I've said before on the iRacing forums that going to movies, which is roughly 100 minutes of entertainment is more expensive than a month of iRacing.

It has it's flaws, don't get me wrong, but for multiplayer online sim racing, nothing else competes with it that I've found yet. If someone comes along with something better, I'm happy to change my tune.

Beyond being penalized when another driver takes you out (everyone has complained about that one) what specific things do you think are the huge flaws with it?

Re: PC Sim Racing
 

the latest update was HUUUUUGE one. it took forever for everyone. luckily the CF guys had forwarned me about this and you can "select none" of the update, (tiny letters, hard to find) and it will only do the required updates, then each time you open a car or track that was in the update but wasnt part of the manditory, it will download just those files on the spot. pay me now or pay me later situation.

Tommy i was hitting exactly 180 at that braking point in my tuned ferrari as well. once i saw 182, but that was a 1 time deal.

Re: PC Sim Racing
 

I don't think iRacing to COD is a direct comparison. COD comes as a complete game and you can play tons of hours online and offline without ever paying another cent if you choose not to. In iRacing you can't even compete in a series without buying tracks. At least I haven't found a complete series that is included in the game.

What do you get for $100 a year of iRacing? Not much. You basically get an online service and a couple cars and tracks. $100 a year for an online service is extremely expensive

COD has tons more users and a lot less connection problems. That goes back to my point - nobody holds iRacing accountable. They are given a pass and I simply don't understand why.

Don't get me wrong, I have a ton of fun with iRacing, but I don't know if I'll renew.

-Connections issues (I hate getting taken out by a car bouncing all over the track)
-Horrible rating system. No accountability. iRacing rarely punishes somebody even when offenses are blatant.
-Dirt physics need lots of work.
-Can't compete in a series without putting out money.
-Damage and wrecks are not simulation level. This is a huge one. Just one small example - Ricky Racer can sit at the start and rev the piss out of his engine and he will never blow it up.
-The web interface needs work and join times are longer than they should be and that's with an upgraded high speed cable connection.
-Baseline settings, direct from iRacing, fail tech inspections.
-Expensive
-Updates take forever when they are released. And then there's often errors connecting. iRacing can't handle the load. Again - more connections issues.
-Etc.

Lots of these things would be acceptable if iRacing was a year or two old. It's not. They've been doing this for a long time and they still haven't fixed the connection and ratings issues. Completely inexcusable.

Re: PC Sim Racing
 

They are both massive multiplayer online games, that's the comparison. The largest FPS franchise, vs the largest sim racing franchise from a count of daily users. From years of playing COD, once new map packs hit, you will have tons of issues finding matches if you don't buy the new map packs. You get enough content in a one month subscription to get you out of rookie class, and get a feel for whether or not you want to continue to spend money on it, or not. Ubisoft also has a shit ton more budget than iRacing for hosting, keep that in mind as well.

Connection issues happen with all online games, lag (car bouncing all over the place) happen in all online games. I was a victim of it many, many times in COD. When you have players from all over the world, you only have some much control over this not matter what game is being played. It sucks, don't get me wrong, but as a network guy for a living, I understand the challenge behind this. Join times are directly tied to this as well.

Dirt is very new, and they're still working on it. As you said, they've had years refining the road physics, and I'd say the physics are pretty damned good. I personally think Dirt is pretty damned good to. But, I've never driven an actual dirt oval in real life to compare it to.

I've personally blown engines in iRacing and got a DNF as a result. Perhaps the cars you're referring to have a rev limiter?

I agree about the accountability, but as you rank up, drivers get better, and the crash rate does go down drastically. At least in road racing, I don't do oval racing. I also agree about the damage modelling, it could be better. BUT, I'd rather have them make the overall game look better, as I spend more time driving than crashing.

Sure, it's expensive, but so are lots of things people waste money on for hobbies. I enjoy it a lot, so I do it. All my other hobbies are more expensive than iRacing by far. Hell, Xbox live is $60 a year now just for comparison.

Re: PC Sim Racing
 

We'll probably have to agree to disagree here, but these are my thoughts.

True, they are both massive online games. When I said it wasn't a good comparison was because you can't play iRacing without buying more content. Like I said, you can't complete one single season without DLC! How's that acceptable? I don't care if they give you the worst cars it should still be at least one full-season of tracks included with the subscription!

I was an avid COD player and I never had issues finding matches when the new map packs came out. Sometimes it took a little longer, but there are so many people online that I never had an issue not finding a match.

Yes, connection issues and lag are everywhere. iRacing is as bad as any game I've ever played though.

I didn't know blowing an engine was even possible in iRacing. I don't remember if the dirt cars have rev limiters, but I've run entire races with bad gearing and never blown an engine. I'm glad it's possible.

I've heard people say that the competition level improves as you move up and less wrecks happening. I'm not finding that true. A C-level race (the highest level I've achieved at this point) was the worst I've ever been in. Just about the entire field of sprints were taken out by morons. Sometimes you get a clean race with zero wrecks. Other times you get a destruction derby. It's more luck of the draw than actual skill level in my short experience.

Again, I'm less than a year into iRacing so these are my impressions at this point.

Re: PC Sim Racing
 

Yeah, I'm less than a year in as well, and agree with some of your points as stated above. I don't do oval racing for many reasons. One of them being that I've both been told, and experienced first hand that the amount of crashes goes up significantly it seems on ovals. If you add open wheels and dirt to that equation I can only imagine the carnage. Then again, there are lots of crashes in sprint cars in real life, and those are pro drivers. I have hosted some dirt sessions for friends, and that's a lot of fun IMO. I think part of the issue with ovals is the lack of run off room. Any incident and the offenders seem to ping pong back and forth across the track, collecting more cars.

Also, turned some laps in the 488 last night, 3:56:6 lap at LeMans. Haven't messed with the tune yet, just running a downloaded setup. I think some rear suspension changes would get me in the :55s.

Re: PC Sim Racing
 

So iRacing released a statement about the issues. And they're offering a 25% membership discount through the end of the month as an apology (my guess).

Hi All,

Sorry for my delayed response. I have been tied up in life outside of iRacing for the last 24 hours.
I know it is just words but we do apologize for the issue with the 24 hour race. We became aware late in the week last week that there might be a software issue specific to the Le Mans track. When discussing our options we came to the conclusion that we really only had 2 options. Run the race in the hope that it was not a major issue or cancel the race and let you down by not being able to run in an event that may not have issues. So really not an ideal situation with either option and of course the issue was bigger than we had hoped.
This is not a server or network issue. This is an issue specific to the track that as of this moment we still are not sure what it is. We have had a debugger attached to race servers that are running and we have not been able to get the issue to happen with those machines.
I wish I had more information for you at this time but I don't. We will continue to look for the issue and when we get it fixed we will reschedule the event. Yes this is a crappy situation but we push very hard to try and deliver as much as we can to the service as quickly as we can. Sometimes we are going to push too hard and have errors happen. I am sorry again that the race did not go smoothly.
Thanks for your understanding.

Steve

Re: PC Sim Racing
 

you beat me too it. although i dont think they are related.
https://files.constantcontact.com/36...3da573568d.jpg

Re: PC Sim Racing
 

This is pretty big news in the sim racing community, price wise for a plug and play OSW wheel setup. I will own a direct drive wheel setup eventually. I know it's a lot of money, but during the winter months, I spend a lot of time in the cockpit. And, it's still cheaper than a set of tires for a real sports car, which I'd burn through here in a summer. Figure with the rim and button plate about $1250 all in.

https://sim-pli.city/collections/all...ct-drive-wheel

Re: PC Sim Racing
 

haha i got a kick out of this. so true.

Re: PC Sim Racing
 

Yeah, I see a lot of complaints online about the cost of sim racing gear. And I always question whether any of those folks have ever owned any real life toys. Sports cars, motorcycles, boats, etc. I vividly remember going through 6 complete sets of moto tires during the 2011 season, at $300 a set. Not to mention oil changes every 800-1,000 miles, gas, etc. Hobbies aren't meant to be cheap, they're meant to drain your wallet of excess cash. Any fun, enjoyment, or occupation of free time is an extra and not guaranteed. :mrgreen:

Re: PC Sim Racing
 

DigiProst in the 488 GTE. I CANNOT get the car that planted.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/cAfWS_1o4wc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Re: PC Sim Racing
 

watched that yesterday. yeah hes got that thing pretty good. never saw any issues with brake lockup.

Re: PC Sim Racing
 

fyi The Lap Time challenge this week is the 488 at Lemans. baseline tune only.

one of the CF guys tested both. he was .7ths faster in the ford. both using baseline.

http://i364.photobucket.com/albums/o...ns_ferrari.jpg

http://i364.photobucket.com/albums/o...emans_ford.jpg

Re: PC Sim Racing
 

Gonna turn some laps here in a bit. Found some wheel settings for iRacing from one of the guys at ISR that I want to try also.

Re: PC Sim Racing
 

Here ya go kids. Cory, sending you a PM with the wheel settings also. I'm really digging them.

http://i.imgur.com/fRB39FF.png

Re: PC Sim Racing
 

What wheel are you using?

Re: PC Sim Racing
 

A modded Thrustmaster TX.

Re: PC Sim Racing
 

Same here. How is yours modded?