Would You Race Fictional Cars & Tracks, And Why Not?

stenovitz said:

Fellow purists: don't say this isn't tempting!

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OK, I won't say it, but I think it.

Jean-Pierre Sarti said:

I'd distinguish "fictional" from "fantasy"

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I agree, even if I have very (very) limited appetite for Fictional, I have seen some older track creation, so well made, that to me, in VR, they feel real and much better than a lot of "real" old track where the graphic are so poor that immersion is very hard.
At the end of the day, we have access to so much "real" content, cars and track, that spending any time using, fictional content, feels to me like wasted time if the fictional is not absolutely and unequivocally exceptional.
This is too good not to use for example.

I rarely drive fictional tracks as I'm currently hooked on Historic recreations of the long long type of track. Dundrod, Isle of Man, Targa Floria, 66 Spa, 67 Nords, when I learn all those corners.. maybe I'll take a peek at other venues
I guess you could say many of these are 'fictional' tracks as I'm sure there are no laser scan available and the amazing track builders use videos, stills, topographical maps etc to re-create those old relics.

I am ok with fictional tracks, in fact there are some outstanding tracks out there. (Gran Turismo, Forza, Grid, rFactor) I not OK with fictional cars though... the design and the look of a car is what a sim racer want plus the physics... because in the end i want to feel what is like driving a Porsche 911 RSR in Le mans... and not just driving a fictional designed GT-Formula-Prototype-Rally car.

Matthew327 said:

Just a side note, Vitus does exist in Assetto Corsa

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So, we'd need to convince @Heikki21 or @DIGGA or @cortinhas or any other awesome convert-stars to get it over to rF2 you mean?

Fictional tracks are for me perfectly fine.
Fictional names on real life cars are fine as well.

I do however struggle with total fantasy-cars. I just can't get into it.

Ole Marius Myrvold said:

So, we'd need to convince @Heikki21 or @DIGGA or @cortinhas or any other awesome convert-stars to get it over to rF2 you mean?

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That looks somewhat familiar to an existing rF2 track, but I don't think they use the name Vitus Park. Does the circuit have another possible title?

davehenrie said:

That looks somewhat familiar to an existing rF2 track, but I don't think they use the name Vitus Park. Does the circuit have another possible title?

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Don't think so, no.

This is a ploy to encourage game racing to be popular, instead of pure simulation by the developers, to save money.

To the best of my knowledge then Racerooms Lakeview Hillclimb is fictional.
Eventhough I have heard that some of this fictional track does actually exist in the mountains in Sweden.

CatsAreTheWorstDogs: The video was a new WR on this track - at the moment

One problem with sims is talent files. I was driving F1 2021 mod and Giovanazzi was 2nd. Anyone who watches F1 knows Giovanazzi could never do that is his Alfa Romeo Ferrari.

Every track and every car in every sim is fictional. It's just numbers fed into a physics engine.

It's purely psychological unless you're specifically doing something like re-creating a real-life season of a series - then, yes, you'd only pick the "real" car/s and "real" tracks and in the real order - or if you're trying to prepare yourself for a real-life upcoming race.

Vehicles
You can get the same car in 10 different sims and it'll drive differently in all 10 different sims. So how could they all be the "real" car? That makes no sense. So are you just going to declare 1 of them the "real" car and ignore the rest of them?

Furthermore, you can get a "real" car in a sim that you love, slightly change the shape of it (which makes no difference to performance, it's just polygons with no connection to physics, air, mass, etc.), remove the company's logo pixels from the car and, what? Now all of a sudden a "real" car is not real anymore because of some different pixels and because it has different text for it's car name/model in the videogame's menu? Are you now suddenly going to dislike the very car you loved for years and never drive it again because some changed pixels and menu text means it's not "real" anymore? No sense nor logic behind that.

Tracks
A track is a track is a track. It's just a series of corners and straights. Whether that same design happens to physically exist somewhere on Earth at the present time, in the past, or will in the future, or not, has no affect on how that affects driving it in the game.

When I first got into rFactor 1, I thought some of it's tracks were real-life tracks. I was in love (and still am) with ISI's fictional tracks. I only found out maybe a year or so later that tracks like Toban, Lienz, and others did not physically exist in real life. So what? So should I now all-of-a-sudden switch from loving driving those tracks to suddenly hating them and swearing to never drive them again because I just found out that they just-so-happen to not be currently physically built somewhere on Earth? No sense nor logic behind that.

There are tons of tracks, especially mods, that I don't even know if they're currently real, previously real, or never real. So, before I decide to do some laps, before I can decide if I love or hate driving the track, do I have to research the track to see if it's real, and if it's real only then I can love it and if it's not real then I must dislike it and swear to never race it? What difference does it make? What if some day that track design does in fact become built in real life? Are you all of a sudden going to stop ignoring it like you did for years and then all of a sudden start liking the track? No sense nor logic behind that.

Exceptions
Of course I'm not talking about incredibly unrealistic vehicles or tracks, eg., cars with 9000 hp and weigh 35 Kg or tracks that have banana peels in the middle of the circuit or have a large hole or speed bump in the middle of one of the straightaways. I'm talking about "normal" cars and "normal" tracks - ones that people can't tell if they're real or not just from driving them.

Side-note
I hate tracks, real-based or not, that are just a bunch of repetitive, long curves as if you're driving on some country road or the highway. I see a lot of Gran Turismo's tracks are like that (I'm guessing they're fictional but they could be real). Another good example is Azure Coast in Project Cars 1/2 along with the majority of the driving in Forza Horizon and Need For Speed games.


P.S. You can apply everything above to reverse tracks.

Racegames ARE fictional and so are the tracks. They look like the same on the screen but it is Just a fictional as every other game

Tracks like movies are all based on a true story. Car branding in the modern era is equally based on the same true story.

TBH, There are fictional Tracks better then most Real life Tracks. As an Example Anadara for AC. For some applications they work way better. As for some tracks they do absolutely not work. I would rather Drive Anadara in the Official F1 then Monaco or Saudi Arabia. Sometimes fictional Tracks can show whats possible as they can be actually be made.

As for me, no need any fictional... What I need it's the holy trinity (Imola, Mugello, Monza) and other fine real locations e.g. Laguna Seca. Let fictional race tracks go to gamers: sim is not a game.

There's an analogy to be made between digital synthesizers in the 1980's and sim racing today.

In both cases, they can emulate real experiences, such as creating a trumpet sound or driving at Spa, from the comfort of one's home. It will, of course, always be imperfect.

Synth enthusiasts, however, would tell you that sure, a fake trumpet sound is fun and all, but why bother recreating something that already exists when you can use the medium to create bespoke experiences that takes advantage of it? Analog synthesizers that don't try to sound like other instruments have aged far better, and perhaps it would be the same for sim racing. We're not limited by real life budget and engineering constraints, we can create cars and tracks that create far better racing than real tracks.

I say that, but I'm a sucker for driving the Lotus 49 at the 10km Monza. I just wouldn't dismiss fictional stuff that takes full advantage of the medium.

Jimlaad43 said:

rFactor 1's modders were the absolute masters of fictional circuits.
Vitus GP, Piddy, Thermalito, La Dahesa, Troyton Raceway, Reservoir GP, Groningen, Eifel!

All of these were incredible models and tracks to drive. I'd absolutely love for them to be converted to the currently popular such as AC or rF2, but I can never find them.

If anyone was able to find Vitus for rFactor 2 we would be racing there on the rFactor 2 Club right away!

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How/Where do I pay? Also, why do you sound like me?

Also also, throw in Maginificent Park. I know it's been converted by Nibiru, but I hear there might still be some occasional bugs left?

Been racing Thermalito on AMS1 and AC because I've been taking part in Daniel Finey's(the creator) special event there at the end of the year, it's still lovely.

David Jundt said:

How/Where do I pay? Also, why do you sound like me?

Also also, throw in Maginificent Park. I know it's been converted by Nibiru, but I hear there might still be some occasional bugs left?

Been racing Thermalito on AMS1 and AC because I've been taking part in Daniel Finey's(the creator) special event there at the end of the year, it's still lovely.

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We raced Magnificent Park a few months ago in the rFactor 2 club. We could do it again if you wanted!

Yes I would. South City in Live for Speed is still one of my favourite street circuits

Lester from rf2 is one of the reasons the sim race bug bit so hard, the industrial vibe and feeling of extreme danger with concrete walls is an experience not easily forgotten.