iRacing or any simulation driver game.

[Soupytwist]

I'm thinking or giving one of these proper simulation racing ago. They are pretty expensive upwards of �200 for a wheel/pedals set and monthly subscriptions. I was wondering if anyone had experience of anything like this?

iRacing seems to be the highly rated one, with actual proper race drivers using it (including Danica Patrick -drool) with Rfactor and Live for Speed other alternatives.

http://www.iracing.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IRacing.com

I wasn't sure which forum to this in, so if it's wrong please move it.

Thanks.

 

[Artanix]

I've not played iRacing, i'll give it a look

rFactor is dog poo, don't bother with it.

Liveforspeed is good fun, I do alot of drifting on that to be honest (www.driftworks.com if you've never seen it). I have a Logitech G27 setup, cost me �230, but it doesn't get much better than that, its a really good wheel, I've also recently purchased a cheap Saitek joystick from ebay to use as an analogue handbrake (important for drifting), so its a funky setup

Live for speed is a very accurate sim in all honesty, I've done some circuit racing and a fair amount of drifting and it seems fairly spot in, shame there isn't more of a modding community for the game, as updates aren't very forthcoming.

What are you planning on doing in these games though? drifting, rally, racing? and then what sort, GT cars? single-seaters, etc?

 

[Soupytwist]

I downloaded Liveforspeed trial over the weekend, as it allowed for mouse/keyboard controls, but to be honest without a wheel or even a stick it was really hard to get a feel for. I'm at abit of a Catch22 position in that I want to try them before I commit to spending � on a decent wheel, but you can't try them properly without a wheel!
I'm looking at getting a G25 logitech one of Ebay they seem to be going for just under �100 brand new which isn't to bad. I saw a couple of wheels in PC world both around �50 but i'm not sure they'd be any use if I ended up really getting into it - also my PC might need an upgrade as i've got a pretty old graphics card right now.

Purely racing for me, well at least to start with.

 

[Artanix]

the mouse controls on LFS can be done, just takes a while to get used to, and you need to make sure you have a setup for it. I found I'd get loads of oversteer with a mouse and keyboard (touchy steering, on/off throttle), so had to change my setup.

You can change the LFS settings to steering wheel, and then use the mouse as an axis, which will then let you change sensitivity (to an extent), and also there is an option for how fast it will go to full throttle with keyboard keys (can't remember the option, but around 0.3 is a good smoother setting).

I'd go with the G25 in all honesty, well worth the �100, and they aren't dropping in price anytime soon, if you decide to sell it on.

 

[Soupytwist]

Thanks for the info but i'm going to hold off for a while. Right now i'm playing Batracer, obvisously it's not the same thing, but i'm having fun and you can play it for nothing, or for a one off payment of about �10 you can unlock a few features, plus you can play it at work!