Patches for SIMBIN games on DVD/PC

[Tobbe Bergman]

Hi

I just bought two games on DVD/PC from Ebay

1 GTR Evolution
2 Race on

Are there any patches I should install in order to get the latest bug fixes etc etc ?

I know Evolution has one 1.2.01 but what about race On ?

Any help will be greatly appreciated !

Thank You​

 

[UMC 22]

v1.2.0.1 is the latest patch for the offline version. For the very latest patch, you'll need to install the online version. (It'll update itself via Steam)

 

[Tobbe Bergman]

I don't have Steam and I don't think I want it on my PC either!
Can I run it online without Steam ?

 

[UMC 22]

No.

 

[Dave Flower]

I totally understand your reluctance to install Steam on your PC, as in the past sooo many people complained and found problems with it. However that was back then and in my opinion Steam have taken steps and have improved a lot since then - but it does show how much damage Steam did to their reputation in the past, and that this has not been forgotten.

I would go further and question why anyone actually needs an offline install of Race On or GTR Evolution at all. I find it simply confuses issues in that you end up installing twice as much on your hard drive (not a problem with modern day storage capacities but very pointless IMHO) - It also causes problems should you want to install extra tracks or mods because you need to install them to both installs to be able to use the them online/offline. Note that if you start Steam while not connected to the internet you get a message asking of you want to Run Steam in OFFline mode so you can still play Offline, using your 'Online' Install anyway..

Edit - because you got the DVD Version of Race On your will also get all of the STCC The Game content (Swedish tracks, Volvo c30, Audi etc) so thats a bonus!

The only potential problem I see is if you have purchased USED copies of GTR/Race On and the previous owner had ACTIVATED the Games on Steam - If thats the case your screwed, since the games can only ever be activated ONCE on ONE Steam Account (no exceptions to this) - so unless the previous owner is prepared to give you their Steam Accounts ie, have no other games on their accounts, no credit cards registered to them etc, you will not be able to play them online full stop, although I am sure you would stand a good chance of opening a successfull Ebay Dispute if thsi is the case. I really hope they have not been registered before but it is something to be aware of, when considering purchasing used games.

Also - playing online is a different experience to Offline - trust me get into online against real opponents and you'll never want to go back to playing against the computer again!

 

[Tobbe Bergman]

I totally understand your reluctance to install Steam on your PC, as in the past sooo many people complained and found problems with it. However that was back then and in my opinion Steam have taken steps and have improved a lot since then - but it does show how much damage Steam did to their reputation in the past, and that this has not been forgotten.

I would go further and question why anyone actually needs an offline install of Race On or GTR Evolution at all. I find it simply confuses issues in that you end up installing twice as much on your hard drive (not a problem with modern day storage capacities but very pointless IMHO) - It also causes problems should you want to install extra tracks or mods because you need to install them to both installs to be able to use the them online/offline. Note that if you start Steam while not connected to the internet you get a message asking of you want to Run Steam in OFFline mode so you can still play Offline, using your 'Online' Install anyway..

Edit - because you got the DVD Version of Race On your will also get all of the STCC The Game content (Swedish tracks, Volvo c30, Audi etc) so thats a bonus!

The only potential problem I see is if you have purchased USED copies of GTR/Race On and the previous owner had ACTIVATED the Games on Steam - If thats the case your screwed, since the games can only ever be activated ONCE on ONE Steam Account (no exceptions to this) - so unless the previous owner is prepared to give you their Steam Accounts ie, have no other games on their accounts, no credit cards registered to them etc, you will not be able to play them online full stop, although I am sure you would stand a good chance of opening a successfull Ebay Dispute if thsi is the case. I really hope they have not been registered before but it is something to be aware of, when considering purchasing used games.

Also - playing online is a different experience to Offline - trust me get into online against real opponents and you'll never want to go back to playing against the computer again!

The games are brand new and sealed !
What I dont get is what Steam is doing !
Is it some sort of servers that you connect to or what ?

 

[Christophe Berton]

The games are brand new and sealed !
What I dont get is what Steam is doing !
Is it some sort of servers that you connect to or what ?

more about steam can you find here

 

[Dave Flower]

Pleased that they are sealed and not used!

Steam, hmmm I suppose its main use is to ensure that your installation of the game is always as up to date as it can be, without you having to bother to update the games. Ignore the adverts that it presents you with, unless you want to but from Steam, I personally have NEVER purchased anything from Steam - prefering to buy the DVD versions and then ACTIVATE them on my Steam accounts (I have three as I have bought multiple copies of the Race and GTR Evolution so that friends can play).

One big advantage I have found of Steam is that I can go anywhere to any PC install Steam and then log into one of my accounts and because the Games are 'tied' to the account Steam will then download and install my games to that PC, and it will be the most up to date version. Ok its very rarely I use it like this, but having the option available is useful (note that you can only play on that PC while logged into your Steam Account on that PC - it does mean your not tied to only having your game installed on just one PC (again useful if you move around or like me switch between playing on the Laptop and the Desktop).

Its mainly for security to stop people playing online with copied software, but it works well in that it allows you to take your steam games with you without actually having to carry anything with you.. I would NOT recommend installing on machines that your only going to be at once though because obviously the downloads can be quite big and time consuming. Also Steam allows you to Add people as friends so you can meet in servers and supports Steam ingame chat.

Make sure you Activate both Race On and GTR on the SAME steam account, (STCC will activate with your Race On Install) that way you will be able to play on all tracks, all cars from all three games and join servers that utilise content from the different games. For example - you will be able to race in the say the Aston Martin DB9 (GTR Evo), on Knutstorp (STCC) when you have actually started playing Race On.

 

[Tobbe Bergman]

Pleased that they are sealed and not used!

Steam, hmmm I suppose its main use is to ensure that your installation of the game is always as up to date as it can be, without you having to bother to update the games. Ignore the adverts that it presents you with, unless you want to but from Steam, I personally have NEVER purchased anything from Steam - prefering to buy the DVD versions and then ACTIVATE them on my Steam accounts (I have three as I have bought multiple copies of the Race and GTR Evolution so that friends can play).

One big advantage I have found of Steam is that I can go anywhere to any PC install Steam and then log into one of my accounts and because the Games are 'tied' to the account Steam will then download and install my games to that PC, and it will be the most up to date version. Ok its very rarely I use it like this, but having the option available is useful (note that you can only play on that PC while logged into your Steam Account on that PC - it does mean your not tied to only having your game installed on just one PC (again useful if you move around or like me switch between playing on the Laptop and the Desktop).

Its mainly for security to stop people playing online with copied software, but it works well in that it allows you to take your steam games with you without actually having to carry anything with you.. I would NOT recommend installing on machines that your only going to be at once though because obviously the downloads can be quite big and time consuming. Also Steam allows you to Add people as friends so you can meet in servers and supports Steam ingame chat.

Make sure you Activate both Race On and GTR on the SAME steam account, (STCC will activate with your Race On Install) that way you will be able to play on all tracks, all cars from all three games and join servers that utilise content from the different games. For example - you will be able to race in the say the Aston Martin DB9 (GTR Evo), on Knutstorp (STCC) when you have actually started playing Race On.

So basically, -Steam is my ticket to online playing even if I buy and install all content from the two game DVD's ?

 

[UMC 22]

I totally understand your reluctance to install Steam on your PC, as in the past sooo many people complained and found problems with it. However that was back then and in my opinion Steam have taken steps and have improved a lot since then - but it does show how much damage Steam did to their reputation in the past, and that this has not been forgotten.

I have to jump in here. Steams issues are most certainly not all in the past. It doesn't take a great deal of searching to find problems and complaints, some with Steam itself and their customer service, others about problems with Steam games that don't affect their non-Steam counterparts. But that's just the bugs.

At the beginning of this year, a friend on mine saw three separate charges on his card which he knew nothing about. It turned out that threes game had been purchased via Steam without his knowledge or authorisation. He is single, he did not hand out his details to anyone, he had not logged into Steam for over a year, and his PC at the time was only two months old which negates the possibility that his system had been hacked in any way. For the next three months Steam denied all knowledge and blamed him for everything. And that's how it was put across too... no questions, no attempt to investigate, just a flat out denial. It took the intervention of a lawyer and the threat of court to make them do anything, and it still took a further month to sort out.

And as if that were not enough, my own cousin had exactly the same thing when a game was purchased on his account a couple of months ago. He's still fighting with Steam about that. So no, Steam is not a particularly great service and if I were not forced to use it for Race 07, it certainly wouldn't be on my computer right now.

So basically, -Steam is my ticket to online playing even if I buy and install all content from the two game DVD's ?

Yes, and its your ticket to the latest patch too. I agree with Dave here... online racing is soooo much more fun than racing the AI... assuming you race on the RD servers, of course. :wink: Just don't use Steam for anything else, and don't give them any card details if you want to avoid the above.

 

[Tobbe Bergman]

So you have to give out your VISA info in order to play online ! ?

A guy at work said he had the same games that I have and he had version 1.2.0.8 offline version !

 

[Dave Flower]

No you do NOT have to give Steam any Card details - you have purchased the DVD's all you need to do now is set up a Steam Account - which does NOT require card details (unless you want to buy something from them).

Like I said I prefer the bought DVD route and then activate them onto my Steam account. Having read what Ross just put I am glad I do it this way now!

 

[UMC 22]

So you have to give out your VISA info in order to play online ! ?

No, that's not what we said. You can have a Steam account without giving anyone your card details. You already HAVE the game on DVD, so all you would need to do is pop the disc in, start the installer, choose the online version which also installs Steam, create a Steam account which the game will then become assigned to, and voila. Job done.

A guy at work said he had the same games that I have and he had version 1.2.0.8 offline version !

Yeah, I may have been slightly out on the latest offline version number. The point is, the fully updated ONline version is v1.2.1.2, which is at least one patch newer.

 

[Tobbe Bergman]

No, that's not what we said. You can have a Steam account without giving anyone your card details. You already HAVE the game on DVD, so all you would need to do is pop the disc in, start the installer, choose the online version which also installs Steam, create a Steam account which the game will then become assigned to, and voila. Job done.



Yeah, I may have been slightly out on the latest offline version number. The point is, the fully updated ONline version is v1.2.1.2, which is at least one patch newer.

If I want to be able to drive BOTH online and offline I HAVE to install both packages...... RIGHT ?

 

[Dave Flower]

I would go further and question why anyone actually needs an offline install of Race On or GTR Evolution at all. I find it simply confuses issues in that you end up installing twice as much on your hard drive (not a problem with modern day storage capacities but very pointless IMHO) - It also causes problems should you want to install extra tracks or mods because you need to install them to both installs to be able to use the them online/offline. Note that if you start Steam while not connected to the internet you get a message asking of you want to Run Steam in OFFline mode so you can still play Offline, using your 'Online' Install anyway..

I think and its been a while since I did this, that the best procedure would be :
1- Download and install Steam from the Steam website.
2 - Create a Steam Account.
3 - Wait for the postman(or woman) to arrive with your discs.
4 - Make sure you are NOT logged into your Steam Account, before you start.
5 - Insert on of the DVD's (does not matter which as both come with Race 07 - the base game)
6 - Start to install from disc.
7 - As the install progresses you will be asked to install Steam, let it do this, even though it seems odd..
8 - It will then ask you if you want to create a Steam account or LOG into an Existing Account - choose EXISTING Account.
9 - The install will proceed and should say 'Installing from disc'.
10 - The install will then tell you that updates are being downloaded in the background - don't be surprised if you see quite a lot being downloaded here.

The main reason I say to do it in this order is that it is so easy to end up with Steam installing the entire game from a download - not a problem unless your on limited download - but much slower than installing from disc and then only updating the install.

I hope this is proves helpful, please let us know of any issues you have with the install (hopefully none), as I like to try and keep myself up to date with how the install procedure is working - avoids much headscratcing next time I install.

On a side note I am currently in the process (this morning) of attempting to install the Race Series on a Linux desktop using WINE (WINdowsEmulator) - I have little or no experience of Linux or WINE so by this afternoon I would recommend not walking past my house as you may encounter a low flying PC landing on your head as I throw it out the window...

 

[Tobbe Bergman]

It'll take at least a week before I get the DVD's I guess !

In the meantime it would be nice to learn more about the setup of the cars and what everything means and does (Cambers Differentials etc etc).

I found a guide (gtr_engineers_handbook.pdf) but it's about the FIA GT Racing Game.

Is there a more in depth guide somewhere for people like me who want to know everything about how to set up a car for best performance?

 

[Senad Subasic]

Camber is camber, be it on a tractor, or a GT car :tongue:

This is quite good: http://www.racedepartment.com/gtr-evolution/3511-racedepartment-setup-guide.html

 

[Tobbe Bergman]

Camber is camber, be it on a tractor, or a GT car :tongue:

This is quite good: http://www.racedepartment.com/gtr-evolution/3511-racedepartment-setup-guide.html

Thanks

 

[UMC 22]

If I want to be able to drive BOTH online and offline I HAVE to install both packages...... RIGHT ?

No. The Steam version is EXACTLY the same as the offline version, but with added multiplayer modes. All the offline modes such as practice, race weekends and championships are still there.

 

[Tobbe Bergman]

Thanks everyone for your time !

Now I am just waiting for the postman to deliver the goods!