Focusing on a Single Sim

[Boby Kim]

Problem would be solved if all sims would feel and drive the same. In the end there is only 1 reality, but all sims pretending to be par on reality but they all feel different.
I think reality is just wrong

 

[Jonathan Young]

I have them all too, but limited time means that I have to specialize. I’ve mainly found myself focused on Raceroom and ACC.

Raceroom- because it’s pick up and play and just works. It has a great variety of cars and they do a good job of hyping up their new DLC which I get sucked into buying. The variety here is key. Currently enjoying the GT4s, the F3 and the new Porsche 964!

ACC - is my primary focus right now. It’s not complete but it’s truly next gen already imho and is showing the way. It is deep but not broad. It is simulating absolutely everything about that series. The dynamic track, the dynamic weather, the day /night, the graphics, the sound, the lighting, I could go on. Just awesome and will only get better. If we get GT4 and the American series as DLC, I’ll die of happiness.

Every once in a while I’ll dip into wreckfest or dirt rally too, but the above two have my attention for now and the foreseeable future. A golden age indeed!

 

[Dobermann92]

I have no problem enjoying multiple sims because I'm not as competetive to begin with anyways and I prefer variety. I usually practise an hour before online racing but I'm used to both Assetto Corsa and Project Cars 2. For me sim racing is mostly focusing on hotlapping in your favourite cars.

I have ACC as well, I'll play it more ofthen when it fully comes out.

 

[hotak]

I dont know if this is just me, but i find myself getting sim overload sometimes. I would turn on my rig and sit and try to decide which i want to play ( i have them all besides iracing ) and end up playing nothing because i cant choose. lately I find myself playing AMS a lot less though because of lack of VR. I remember a year ago, I would laugh at people who said no VR no buy. And call them elitists. But after going all out on my new rig ( 2080ti - 9700k - samsung odyssey+ ) I find myself leaning more towards VR titles. With that being said, I find the most enjoyment out of rf2 lately. For whatever reason it now performs the best in vr. AC and raceroom are great too, but RF2 has a better image quality in vr and the latest content just feels fantastic.

May not be your cup of tea, but pCars2 has absolutely the best VR support, it may be worth a try, you have 2 hours to refound it on steam anyway

 

[Greg Latty]

May not be your cup of tea, but pCars2 has absolutely the best VR support, it may be worth a try, you have 2 hours to refound it on steam anyway

I have pcars 2. vr works good with it but i cant get over the aa. the AA is not that great without vr. its even worse in vr. I havent found any settings yet that give a great image quality like the rest. The graphics look good but too many jaggies. especially on the tracks.

 

[The Iron Wolf]

I've always been a man of a single sim. I stick to whatever feels more real to me since I never drove a real race car. The only time I have more than one is if I'm making a transition, then the number rises to 2 lol
What makes me try a sim and see if I'll like it is features. Right now 24h cycle, rain, dynamic track rubber/dryline, rejoin and FCY are a must. If one of these is lacking I wont even try.

Have to completely agree with you here. Having limited time to race, it feels like a waste of time to use something that doesn't allow recreating real life autosport event, and to recreate that features above are a must. Would also add rich flags, safety car and flat spots. I spoke to numerous real life racers, and everyone confirms that a flat spot tire damage is real part of the autosport.

However, all of above is just my personal preference - not everyone cares about those things, and it is completely fine.

I recently noticed two more things: there are nice alternatives to my favorite sim emerging currently, but two things keep me from switching: time needed to set up motion rig and lack of Crew Chief. Crew Chief became a must in my choice of a game to play, and if it is missing (or has very limited feature set) that's another barrier for even trying something else. But on the bright side - I am feeling content and happy with my primary sim alone. Yes, less is more indeed.

 

[dussard]

Like many, I have several sims AC, ACC, RACEROOM, R FACTOR 2, DIRT RALLY 2, KARTKRAFT, Project Cars 2, among others .... If today I do not focus on a single simulation, it is that they are complementary for me. There is not a simulation to date that stands out! ... The ultimate simulation that will make everyone agree ... In current simulations, there is always something wrong: - series - content incomplete, and / or too limited - - license problem - price "iracing for a rental game" - FFB for others, etc. Here are friends developers my ultimate simulation Multi-players: iracing, FFB + tire management: rfactor 2, sound + content (gt1,2,3,4 dtm wtcr history, etc.) raceroom R3E Dynamic Graphics and Weather + VR: PROJECT CARS 2 Official Licenses: Assetto Corso Competitizione Modders MODDING: Assetto Corsa Indeed it is a period rich in simulation currently! Time better to simracer us ... it promotes competition between different developers to get us out of the best creations for our greatest pleasure! Live your passion without risk more realistically ... "" Lower cost "" than investing in a real race car

 

[Will Mazeo]

Have to completely agree with you here. Having limited time to race, it feels like a waste of time to use something that doesn't allow recreating real life autosport event, and to recreate that features above are a must. Would also add rich flags, safety car and flat spots. I spoke to numerous real life racers, and everyone confirms that a flat spot tire damage is real part of the autosport.

However, all of above is just my personal preference - not everyone cares about those things, and it is completely fine.

I recently noticed two more things: there are nice alternatives to my favorite sim emerging currently, but two things keep me from switching: time needed to set up motion rig and lack of Crew Chief. Crew Chief became a must in my choice of a game to play, and if it is missing (or has very limited feature set) that's another barrier for even trying something else. But on the bright side - I am feeling content and happy with my primary sim alone. Yes, less is more indeed.

I wish more people would refuse to give money to products that are not consistent with the cars they offer, that would put some more pressure on the devs. Sure you can miss a small feature here and there but IMO releasing endurance cars without 24h cycle or weather, or worse... Indycars on ovals without FCY... what the duck...

 

[motoliser]

Right now if I had to stick to only one would be AMS. Simply the most satisfying driving experience available.

 

[Lir]

I can't decide from games I have now installed, each has its beauty: AC, ACC, DIRT4, DIRTRALLY2, RaceRoom, ProjectCars2, WRC7, so I decided to drive every car on every track, and write down each lap/stage time, and than will compare and maybe I should have better picture.

 

[pabletux]

I really think that when AI arrives on iRacing, it will be a game changer, it can sound stupid, but I really feel it. And if all the promises arrives, it will be a really good platform for all kind of racing disciplines , online when I want, and offline when I want.

 

[Will Mazeo]

I really think that when AI arrives on iRacing, it will be a game changer, it can sound stupid, but I really feel it. And if all the promises arrives, it will be a really good platform for all kind of racing disciplines , online when I want, and offline when I want.

If their AI is at least NR2003 level with defending line then other sims are going to have a strong competition for the offline racers. That of course if they rework their subscription model, as it is right now it doesn't make much sense for this crowd.

 

[snyperal]

If their AI is at least NR2003 level with defending line then other sims are going to have a strong competition for the offline racers. That of course if they rework their subscription model, as it is right now it doesn't make much sense for this crowd.

I agree, I don't know if it'll take much too rework it, or whether they will just keep it the way it is in fear of losing current subs in favour of the presumably cheaper AI only sub.

 

[pabletux]

I agree, I don't know if it'll take much too rework it, or whether they will just keep it the way it is in fear of losing current subs in favour of the presumably cheaper AI only sub.

Yeah, My sub expired 3 weeks ago, and will not renew until I see what´s going to happen, and how good the AI is. My personal view is that nothing will change on the price, who is there, will be there, and I´ll think about it as I´m more offline racer these days due to time.

 

[hotak]

I have pcars 2. vr works good with it but i cant get over the aa. the AA is not that great without vr. its even worse in vr. I havent found any settings yet that give a great image quality like the rest. The graphics look good but too many jaggies. especially on the tracks.

Did you try supersampling in the VR options panel? I play with it at 1.2 + SMAA.
In the graphics config file there are also another pair of options for the sharpen filter you can try to play with

 

[Greg Latty]

Did you try supersampling in the VR options panel? I play with it at 1.2 + SMAA.
In the graphics config file there are also another pair of options for the sharpen filter you can try to play with

yup supersampling is at 2.0 and msaa at high. tried smaa but its even more jagged. msaa is less jagged but blurrier. Oh well. game is still good though. just not my go to when it comes to vr

 

[sonicviz]

I think you can do both approaches, depending on your goals.

To go deep and really understand the nuances of a sim and its control algorithms, strengths, and weaknesses it's definitely good to focus on one.

But the flipside is to use a couple of sims to facilitate interleaved learning by varying experiences as well. I only have AC (with CM+mods) and PC2 but find it's interesting to play them back to back with the same car and track under the same conditions (more or less). Some knowledge is transferable, such as the track layout, but they also vary with the driver model etc. Using a telemetry tool like Z1 you can also go deep on the post race telemetry analysis to compare and contrast your technique to maximise your learning between them.

PC2 track times are about 10 seconds faster than my AC times for a couple of reasons. AC feels a little "grittier" while PC2 is a little "stickier" would be one way to describe it. Good fun though!