PC Sim Racing

[hpiguy]

So I've been playing with the Rift for a couple hours now. I started out with some of the Oculus store stuff, both to get a feel for VR, and because I didn't have my wheel setup yet since I had to calibrate everything. I just got done with some laps in Project Cars, and Dirt Rally both. I'll post more detailed thoughts later, but for now, I'll simply say this; VR is the single biggest revolution in gaming since the early consoles, and the advent of more affordable PCs that enabled people to not go to the arcade. Is is INCREDIBLE!!

 

[hpiguy]

So after a bit of time last night in Project Cars, Dirt Rally, Assetto Corsa, and finally iRacing. All I can say is, HOLY S$%TBALLS! There are no words, or Youtube videos that can ever hope to convey what you feel in VR, it simply does it zero justice. Sitting in, TRULY sitting in a Lotus 49 and flying through the undulating Nordschleife while being able to turn your head intuitively for every apex and upcoming corner, along with the gorgeous visuals that the SMD team put into Pcars is simply incredible. Same can be said for AC and iRacing, both also well done, though iRacing is feeling old graphically speaking. I saved Dirt Rally for last, as I had heard it was very intense. I loaded up Halemati Finland as it's one of my favorite stages, in one of my favorite cars, the 2001 Imprezza. Never in my life have I felt my stomach drop while sitting still in an office chair, or noticing that I was holding my breath through a corner with tress or rocks close by while hurtling through it at triple digit speeds, fearful for my own safety and that of my co-driver.

My God man, what a time to be alive!!

 

[EeePee]

I totally want that shit.

 

[hpiguy]

Just to be clear and upfront, it does have it's shortcomings for sure. The God ray thing is real, at least for me, but only apparent when it's brightly lit things on a very dark background, like text on a black screen. And in some of the race sims, Pars in particular, when the sun is in your face, you do see some SDE (screen door efffect) every now and then. But overall, I couldn't be happier with my purchase. I went into it knowing there were trade offs for the immersion factor, and if you go into it with the same mindset, I think you'll have the same reaction that I did. If you expect it to compete graphically with triple 4K setups, then you're expecting first gen VR to be something it isn't.

 

[STANG KILLA SS]

how does it work when you want to play non VR ready/compatible games?

 

[hpiguy]

^^Yep, sure does. You can run either Bigscreen (free), or Virtual Desktop (paid) either one. I played some Spintires last night on a 120" curved TV from about five feet away, while sitting on the balcony overlooking the city.

Also, this is from my ride along with Cory after crashing in a practice session in iRacing once the timer had expired. Cory had me cycling through all the views, and all of them were pretty bad ass in the Rift. Told ya that paint was chipped :mrgreen:

 

[STANG KILLA SS]

whats better than seeing, hearing, and feeling all your favorite sim racing cars at Circuit of the Americas?....

<iframe width="853" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/iiREGzncqS8?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

....Well racing sims at COTA!
Mazda had two 4 post Motion rigs running G27s with iRacing with the Star Mazda open wheeler. $700 for the fastest lap of the day:shock:"thumbsup" i did terrible. brake pedal was setup so different than mine i couldnt do any good.

WEC had some setup but i didnt recognize what game they were running. i asked and he said PS3.... not sure thats possible with the G27s they were using?

Wife said the Porsche booth also had sims setup inside(with air conditioning) but we never checked them out.

 

[EeePee]

PS3 and G27 work fine. Looks like GT6

Ford GT is sweet!

 

[hpiguy]

After some reading and research, I decided to mildly OC my GTX 970. I used the Asus tool, and didn't miss with voltage other than giving it 6% more headroom, and leaving it linked to temps. Very happy with the results, from my research, it puts it on par with a non OC GTX 980. All tests done using Uningine Heaven.


Before

After

 

[STANG KILLA SS]

<iframe width="853" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/b-8i3Ft-UuQ?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

boost doesnt sound quite as prevelent as the Audi 90, but still there. also love that its another stick shift car. i really enjoy them. it looks blindingly fast. id love to see it VS the Corvette DP. i think it may win.

 

[STANG KILLA SS]

looks like its no contest :shock:

Nissan: 953 kg, 795 hp
Vette: 1039 kg, 600 hp

i gotta say i do like how iRacing has posted videos about the history of the car on these last two vintage cars.
<iframe width="853" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_EqaJKMvlWI?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[hpiguy]

Holy crap! Almost 1:1 ratio.

 

[hpiguy]

So I just spent the past 90 minutes practicing for a race, that I had registered for, which iRacing did not place me in. This was after I had to track down why the available races wouldn't let me enter them due to it constantly saying invalid session ID. Whatever, I didn't want to race that shitty track anyway.

 

[STANG KILLA SS]

did you "withdraw" from the GT3 practice first?

 

[hpiguy]

Yup, and was in a practice session for the Miatas, which I exited in time to run my race.

 

[hpiguy]

Looks like I shouldn't have left the practice session, I guess it automatically throws you into qualifying from there. As a long time gamer, getting used to how iRacing does things is really frustrating.

 

[STANG KILLA SS]

correct.
theres a 3 minute practice, like 6-8 minutes for qual, and then the race, all rolled into one "session"

they started that a year ago or so. before you had to enter qual (which was optional then) yourself, and leave yourself, then go enter the race.

 

[hpiguy]

(Bangs head against wall) Yep, guess I get to re-run it tonight. I don't want to, but I also hate that all those practice laps would go to waste if I don't. I'm going to skip qualifying this time, start at the back, then pick my way through. Maybe that will avoid the first corner carnage.

 

[STANG KILLA SS]

just remember tracks change around 6-7pm texas time. so make sure your ahead of that.
im not sure if you can skip qualifying. go ahead and do it.
but then when the green "grid" button pops up with the count down timer, dont click it, and it will start you from the pits. releasing you after the entire field has passed pit exit. thats how i did all my R, D, C etc class races.

 

[hpiguy]

Yep, looks like they use GMT for their timezone. Might not make that cutoff.

Good advice, that's how I'll do it if I can't skip the qualifying. Thanks Cory.