Feedback and Comments from Sim Newbies

[vee10]

I invited two friends round last night and a jolly time was had, i introduced them to my driving setup and games and let both of them have go at each game to get a feel for them. Both my friends are pretty good drivers, one is a regular at track days in an Accord Type R and an S2000 the other friend has done a lot of karting etc so i would say the know a bit about how a car should drive.

I showed them various games using different car and track configurations in this order-

Rfactor
Power and Glory
F12013 (not really a sim i know)
Raceroom
Game stock car 2013
Assetto Corsa

After watching both of them have a go and me not really giving much away in terms of tips or help they got to Assetto Corsa last, first car they want to have a go in the Type 49. They were blown away firstly by the graphics and secondly by the feel. My mate Kev (karter) who isnt really a gamer but who knows how to drive was struggling a bit with the other games until he tried the Type 49 on classic Monza, i thought this is going to be a crash fest anyway the first lap not fast but still on track second lap a lot faster but still on track and he was like this until the fifth lap when over confidence got the better of him. Same with my other mate Baz (the track day man) he could not believe the feel through the wheel (a logitech DFGT with Fantatec csr elite pedals) and he was hooked up fairly quickly.

So what does this tell us?

I dont know is the answer, other than Baz now wants a PC and my setup so he can play Assetto.

 

[Bram Hengeveld]

To mean it tells that Kunos have listened to the feedback of real drivers.

With not one exception all the real drivers I spoke to over the years give exactly the same feedback on modern games that we deem as "simulation":
- too little grip (all popular sims)
- weird second slip (mainly ISI based games)

I am curious to hear more real (non-marketing) feedback from real drivers on this game.

Could be a nice feature article for the site. Will have a look if thats possible.

 

[vee10]

Hi Bram, looks like Niels in his latest talk and drive agrees, about two minutes into the video he says about simulators being too difficult when in my opinion anyone who can drive in real life should be able to use that knowledge and drive a simulator. The skill is in doing fast lap times, race craft etc

In my short experience with sims the problem is it does not work like that, although authentic you have to learn how they work rather than supplanting what you know already as real world driving. You should be able to use that knowledge as a starting point in driving games.

Everyone loves a challenge and some wear it as badge of honour but is it real and also is it actually any fun?

I think that is why my friends were so impressed as they are not big gamers, what they knew already made sense in Assetto.

 

[Bram Hengeveld]

Thats absolutely true. Most racers (or any non simracers for that matter) will end up in the gravel trap in their first outing on a virtual track.

How did your friends do at first? Were they capable of keeping the cars on track in AC immediately?

 

[Stelios]

My 28 year old sister visited me 3 days ago, i was trying out Elise.
She is a fast driver in real life compared to other women, she drives a 150bhp Alfa Romeo MiTo.
She wanted a try, and i let her sit in my racing rig and put Imola + Lotus Elise on to try,
I was pretty sure she would be tasting sand @ first corner, but no, she managed to do 3 laps in a track she never saw before, in a rig she never sat in before, with a G25 that never touched before, using H shifting @ pro settings with a clutch.
Only on 4th lap she started having a grin on her face and started pushing and she inevitably got out of track.
After that she tried the Lotus 49, and did surprising well as well!
I have to say it was very difficult to pull her out of my rig

 

[John Cunningham]

My buddy hates any of my tarmac/Track games (does a bit of RBR). He thinks AC rocks!! Which if you knew him, is high praise indeed!

 

[Justin Swan]

@Mark Bushell Marshalls arounds the UK and knows a few REAL race drivers that have raced in some of the sims, perhaps he could ask a few questions and give us some feedback on this for an article? I work with mark in the real world, so I'll have a chat with him if he doesn't pick up this tag first.

I've know they say that sim racing is harder because some of the senses that you really rely on in driving/racing cannot be simulated, so you are racing with a reduced sense of whats going on.

 

[Bram Hengeveld]

@Justin Swan thats a great idea actually.

 

[vee10]

Hi Bram
Assetto just seem to come a lot more naturally to them, rather than it being easy they just felt at home with it. My friend Kev has a good feel for cars through karting and in the type 49 he said he could feel what the car was doing better and so he did not fall off the circuit too much then started to get quicker and quicker.

 

[betterstranger]

Some time ago my dad (he's driven surely more than half of million km) was testing GTR2 (both standard and P&G2), rF1 and even shift 1 (which he said hasn't got anything in common with driving real car) and even nKp, and he didn't like them because of low speed grip (cars sliding at 50km/h) or doing wired things when on the limit (spinning).
So when I showed him TP in February or so and he really enjoyed it and said it's the best of what I showed him through the years.
Last week he visited me and I showed him AC early access. Abarth 500, than M3 E30 and finally 458 all at Magione. He had no problems with keeping cars on the track and drive them fluently and the problems finally appeared when he started to push cars (458 with TC3) except of Abarth.
He said that the cars behaves like in normal life and are doing things he expect them to do at given moment.
And after 20 or 30 laps he started to ask me about my times on that track and said that he think he can beat me after some training So yeah, he enjoyed it very much.
And everything on my ancient Logitech DFP.

 

[Ben Lee]

I have effectively grown up playing race sims. I also kart on a easy-going and semi-serious level. I'd like to think that my sim racing has helped in some way, certainly the basics of car control like how to control slides, racing lines etc. A friend of mine and myself are thinking of buying an old BMW for no more than two grand to chuck around on a few track days. Maybe something like a 328 etc.

 

[Mr Whippy]

The tyre physics especially are way beyond everything else I've tried.

But so far having just smooth race tracks does make it hard to gauge the softer road cars/road tyres properly.

AC does feel good to me in the fundamental sense. I'd like to have some bumpy roads to drive along to really get an idea how good AC is at simulating road cars.

Dave

 

[Marcel Pfister]

Some friends tested Assetto Corsa a couple days ago.
In the past they tested some other games like rFactor2 and GT5 but lost interests very quickly because they can´t figure out how to drive in those games (both have a driving license).
With AC it was different, they could drive smooth just from the beginning. They had only a bit trouble to find the correct speed for a corner because it looks a bit slower as it is. Then they couldn´t stop driving until a few hours trying to beat their laptimes.

 

[eobet]

I also tested AC on friends who do not often play racing sims, and they both liked it.

The Ferrari was a bit too difficult, but the other cars were great, especially the KTM.

The Lotus 49 also provided a fun and unique experience for them!

 

[Qazdar Karim]

I think that also hardware is very important to get the right feeling ! especially pedals ... most of the pedals on the market don't provide that progressive effect you get on real cars !

 

[88qba88]

Well, what can I say. My friend (very experience driver - a lot of track-days and even real-life Nordshleife) visited me some time ago and I showed him AC TP on my rig I build especially for AC. The same day he decided he wants it too, so now we both have custom build rigs with simvibe chassis (4 bassshakers), Full Fanatec ClubSport set (Wheel, pedals and shifters) and of course the rason for all that - Assetto Corsa.

 

[Stelios]

I wish i could find the Aurora shakers in Europe.
No one is selling them.

 

[Marcel Pfister]

I wish i could find the Aurora shakers in Europe.
No one is selling them.

I have the same problem (germany) i will order them next week from USA 41$ for shipping :-( 44$ for each shaker

 

[Stelios]

I have the same problem (germany) i will order them next week from USA 41$ for shipping :-( 44$ for each shaker

Dude, the transportation cost is as much as the product itself.
Doesn't that suck or what.

Edit : Hey man check this out : http://shop.rightthing.nl/index.php?main_page=shopping_cart&number_of_uploads=0

I am thinking of ordering 2 or 4....