I have recently trialled iRacing. I enjoy this but still feel there is something missing i cannot put my finger on. The subscription model does not faze me. In fact after many years of avoiding due to this I now understand why this approach is taken.
I have raced sims and racing games mainly on console in recent years but I have returned to the good old pc. But my problem is i now have too much choice. Console is easy Forza and F1, however full of kids or plonkers just smashing up all the time and ruining my concentration and fun.
iRacing is well structured compared to any other racing game/sim i have found, but i have had my eye on rFactor for along time but no matter where i look i just see people reporting problems and it seems there is so much hassle involved in finding a league, setting up and racing (one reason why i got fed up with pc gaming in the first place). I fully understand that both rFactor and rFactor 2 are always essentially works in progress. Maybe I am just reading the posts from the usual people who expect everything to be perfect all the time otherwise it is 'rubbish'.
However the choice of cars on rFactor seems untouchable and the community seems good at developing the product with more cars and tracks and ongoing dev. Multiple F1 cars from all decades really appeals to me and the touring cars and karts the list goes on. I am a very adaptable racer and enjoy racing all types of cars and have a good understanding of the different driving styles required. I am getting very excited at the prospect. I will of course practice offline before going online and racing. But that's the problem. I just constantly see 'server empty' posts and 'technical issues' with a program that has now been around many years. i find it difficult to commit to a specified time each week due to other commitments and do not want to develop my rFactor skills only to find I then cant find a race.
I am not worried about learning the physics of a new race sim as I am able to adjust and dont just plough the accelerator or brake and expect it to go around corners. Its the hassle of setting it all up and ongoing issues which there just seems to be a lot from my outside perspective.
I need a bit of advice as to where to start as there seems to be no structure to the sim and my head is a bit bamboozled going through forums. Here are a few questions.
- Is the content officially sanctioned from the racing series or only developed by the MOD community? (i do not mean 'only' to be derogatory. Modders tend to do a better job than developers)
- What is the AI like. Is it realistic and competitive?
- In terms of finding people to race. What is the advantages of rFactor over iRacing?
- What tracks are available?
- rFactor or rFactor 2?
Any advice would be much appreciated. Thank you for your time.
Matt
I have raced sims and racing games mainly on console in recent years but I have returned to the good old pc. But my problem is i now have too much choice. Console is easy Forza and F1, however full of kids or plonkers just smashing up all the time and ruining my concentration and fun.
iRacing is well structured compared to any other racing game/sim i have found, but i have had my eye on rFactor for along time but no matter where i look i just see people reporting problems and it seems there is so much hassle involved in finding a league, setting up and racing (one reason why i got fed up with pc gaming in the first place). I fully understand that both rFactor and rFactor 2 are always essentially works in progress. Maybe I am just reading the posts from the usual people who expect everything to be perfect all the time otherwise it is 'rubbish'.
However the choice of cars on rFactor seems untouchable and the community seems good at developing the product with more cars and tracks and ongoing dev. Multiple F1 cars from all decades really appeals to me and the touring cars and karts the list goes on. I am a very adaptable racer and enjoy racing all types of cars and have a good understanding of the different driving styles required. I am getting very excited at the prospect. I will of course practice offline before going online and racing. But that's the problem. I just constantly see 'server empty' posts and 'technical issues' with a program that has now been around many years. i find it difficult to commit to a specified time each week due to other commitments and do not want to develop my rFactor skills only to find I then cant find a race.
I am not worried about learning the physics of a new race sim as I am able to adjust and dont just plough the accelerator or brake and expect it to go around corners. Its the hassle of setting it all up and ongoing issues which there just seems to be a lot from my outside perspective.
I need a bit of advice as to where to start as there seems to be no structure to the sim and my head is a bit bamboozled going through forums. Here are a few questions.
- Is the content officially sanctioned from the racing series or only developed by the MOD community? (i do not mean 'only' to be derogatory. Modders tend to do a better job than developers)
- What is the AI like. Is it realistic and competitive?
- In terms of finding people to race. What is the advantages of rFactor over iRacing?
- What tracks are available?
- rFactor or rFactor 2?
Any advice would be much appreciated. Thank you for your time.
Matt