Opinion | Real or Fantasy?

[F_B]

If you look at Tilke’s tracks you often think "How can this shite even be real?!". No flow, totally unnatural constructed sequence of corners etc.

On the other hand there are many excellent fantasy tracks for AC available (Sveg, Gentrack, Hope, Lucca Ring, Toscana, Lake Louise, Great Wall…)

Also I don’t want to limit myself too much so I enjoy both.

 

[racingdud3]

Simracing is fantasy compared with racing sports but it could help you in the raceline learning process and give you some skills to be used on your real wheel but is not compared with the frightening experience of driving a car at its limit , that never will change infront of your computer...

May be when the VR will evolve... and with great cockpit equipment with motion system can simulate something more similar...

Appart from that , only covering the Physics aspect of the cars...is also unreal the way we feel them but its the best we have these days...

Because its fantasy some eathletes can beat Verstappen on the sim, they know that he will crush them on real life but what the f... let them dream and fantasy win Verstappen, LOL.

Ammm and dont trust on iracing when they tell you "iracing is simracing" hahaha nein nein nein! for physics go for rf2 or ams , if not go for Assetto . Iracing is Ipaying, in that is the absolute champion edition!

Cheers!

 

[Steve Worrell]

No problem racing on fantasy tracks. Mills in rf2 is one of my favourite tracks in sim racing. I also have a new found love for Toban in rf2, its actually an amazing track.

As long as it looks good, drives good and the AI are a good that matters to me.

 

[Tr0nic]

Both!
Simracing wouldn't be the same for me without some of the fantasy tracks... otherwise, what you don't know you won't miss...

 

[mantasisg]

The poll is flawed, the first "yes" option is not even needed due to how poll is constructed. I have voted "yes" in a way of protest, it would have been obviously "both" otherwise.


This thread makes me want to go back to doing few projects, both are based on real life locations, I think thats the best way to go with fantasy tracks. Also had some ideas for fantasy tracks... basically anything that has curves can become a base for a fantasy track Any existing road bit, or any path of anything. From a perspective of a modeller to me there is a lot of beauty in concept of fantasy creations tracks or cars, whatever... It is beautiful in a way not to completely depend of something that already exist, and just be replicating it down to smallest detail, but being able to go fully creative and truly express your self.

I really wish to go back to fantasy projects now

 

[randomcallsign]

Whoever doesn't like fictional tracks never felt the rush of rainbow road when a blue shell is homing in fast

 

[elloLeo Kinnunen]

It is all these imperfections.

Yes totally fair point. Curiously enough it still leads me to my original conclusion: I think it's hard for fantasy track modders to capture imperfections... as well as perfections too. I've just taken a look at an onboard video of Horsma though and I can see you've made an enormous effort to give road texture and transition between different track surfaces. It's very impressive!

 

[Andrew Harper]

I race on both. The one argument you can have for fantasy tracks is that as more and more modern tracks are hindered by regulations the fantasy tracks are a nice alternative. In the 70's you could have as much camber and elevation as you liked but nowadays most modern circuits are flat because the regulations require it.

There are two types of fantasy track though. There are those that are purely scratch built on an imagery piece of land and those that are created by individuals that use existing topology and surroundings. Like a street track through your local city for example. Both are great fun and for people who spend a lot of time creating them they should be thanked for taking the time.

 

[Alex Harkett]

It’s reality for me I’m afraid. Although of course there’s a lot to be said for all the time and effort that goes into making a fantasy circuit which is believable.

For me, there’s nothing better than watching a race or some historic footage, or reading about a moment in time relating to motorsport which captures my imagination, and then I can go into a sim and thanks to all the great people who put time and effort and such care and attention into all these circuits and cars that are available, re-live the moment that I have seen or read about.

For example having read about Stefan Bellof, I can jump into AC, select a Porsche 962 and proceed to try and match his 35 year old record lap time at the ring. Or I can relive the BTCC at Snetterton 1996 when Jo Winkelhock in clearly the fastest car had an epic race 1. One of my favourite BTCC races.

I find that games which have fantasy tracks I play for different reasons. I’m thinking about BeamNG for example. I love that game, but I don’t go to it for the same reason as my sims. I’ll play that to kill an hour or just dick about smashing the cars up. Maybe this is why wreckfest is so popular, you can put aside the need for everything to be perfect and real and just enjoy yourself.

My 2 cents

 

[JoeAMGC63]

is Jim Clark laserscanned though?

The risk of radiation exposure was too high, so they scanned his wax figure, which is now gone...

 

[Phantazm]

I like both.

Some of the best and closest racing I have had is on fantasy tracks, I remember one called the greyhound for RFactor, that at the time was one of my favourite tracks to race on, I haven't seen it for ages though .
Since then i have done a few real track days and its nice to drive the track on the computer to bring back the memories.

 

[Cote Dazur]

One of the aspect of SIM racing I particularly enjoy is pretending I am actually racing or driving a particular car at a particular location in a particular event. In VR, the experience can be very immersive and enjoyable. So not only I prefer by far a real track, but I also like it to be accurate and graphically convincing. Lucky for us moderns SIM with their improved graphics in VR are a huge step forward toward making the illusion more real.
We also now have a huge choice of different real tracks in many discipline that I usually do not feel like wasting my driving time on fake tracks or even on old material with obsolete graphics.
In an arcade game I guess driving a fantasy track backward with a controller if one is really bored might work. If I was that bored or not into experiencing simulation in 2020 at its best level, I think I would try to find a better hobby.
But this is 2020, we have access to a higher level of driving and racing than ever before, for me a very well reproduce real location is an integral part of the immersive package.

 

[Rally_1337]

I like both when fantasy tracks have the look and feel like the real ones (e.g. in the WRC series, only the SSS are real, the rest are fantasy tracks with iconic real sections like Colins Crest).

 

[joostingh]

If the fantasy track looks like it is real and has a proper flow i would like it. When it is fantasy like a mario karting track I will not. So if proper made and feels like a official racetrack I don't care if it fantasy

 

[Highbank]

I don't mind a fantasy track now and then, but like has been said by others in various ways in this thread, I sim race to do exactly that. I paint carsets to 'simulate" actual historical events (especially Trans-Am Series) and put myself in the rear of the grid as if I were a privateer trying to get a top 20 finish. Without the real-world connection the tracks provide, I find it less immersive...

But y'all can run those fantasy tracks all day, some of them are brilliant.

 

[bsmooth]

I'm talking AC mostly, but come to think of it some Automobilista as well. There are some tracks in AutoM that I never heard of, because I wasn't familiar with them, so to me they seem like fantasy tracks, but they aren't I just haven't heard of them before, and they are extremely good.
Other more modern, what I call "cookie cutter" tracks just bore me to death, even though they are real I just don't care for.
If it has good flow, with some elevation changes, and isn't loaded with safety chicanes, its probably going to be good.
As far as real tracks that are great: Old Spa is probably the best at least to me, along with the Green Hell, not because I like it so much but its such a challenge. Right up there with those are Highlands, and Fonteny which I have to say is a gem. It glistens with all sorts of details, in some ways its better than real tracks, because the time was taken to put in the small details, which are missing from real tracks.
Some tracks just are waiting to be found, and someone puts the tarmac to them and there they are. Some however are truly created from nothing into true works of art.

 

[KittX]

I'm talking AC mostly, but come to think of it some Automobilista as well. There are some tracks in AutoM that I never heard of, because I wasn't familiar with them, so to me they seem like fantasy tracks, but they aren't I just haven't heard of them before, and they are extremely good.

There are 3 fantasy tracks, though. Floripa, which is a lovechild of Alex, and Buskerud which is a lovechild of me.
You can spot one thing thats clearly fantasy at Buskerud Kart track (Ice track is a completely different track actually), but that's the homage to the very first version that was done years ago for rf1.

Well, and Mendig is semi-fantasy of course.

 

[David Mann]

I like racing on any track, real or fictional. Some of the original Gran Turismo tracks (Grand Valley, Autumn Ring, Deep Forest, Trial Mountain) are still among my favorites.

 

[GRaFkiyv]

The reality is better

 

[Eckhart von Glan]

The games i am playing atm, iRacing and ACC, only have real tracks, but i used to enjoy Live for Speed back in the day, who only had fantasy tracks. Their tracks sort of got real after playing them for the 50th or 75th or even 100th time, very well done tracks. Basically, I don't much care but I love watching real life events and then thinking: Ah, yes, that turn, glad these guys tend to go off there as well on cold tires ...