iRacing - My view

[vobler]

Where do I start, what can I say about it that has not already been said?
Not much. Thats why this is not a review but rather my personal views about the environment. Yes because its not just a sim. It's a racing environment. There are many similarities to LFS.

Feel and physics:
Regarding the physics in the cars it is not possible to say that they are better than in LFS.Some cars feel very much like a similar car in LFS.
But there is a but. The tracks. But first, the hype about the laser scanned tracks is not to be taken to seriously because the track bumps mainly comes from suspension information from cars. They even released tracks with wrong bump information at some stage. So much for the laser scanning hype. But the tracks. They are superb. The feel is at least as good as in Netkar Pro.
What I find so good is that you constantly are changing the wheel input when driving on the edge. Just as you see on tv :-). Not as you do in LFS, keeping the same wheel input througout the turn. I think this might be just down to the resolution of the tracks and if LFS had similar tracks it would feel similar. I have tried the Solstice, the Skip Barber, the Formula Mazda and the Radical. They are all very different and all fun. The Radical on Silverstone was realy superb.

The environment:
The sim is launched from their net site and that works very well. You select the race you want to be in and sign up. There is all kinds of info on the sites and it is laid out well. There is both text and voice chats you can join both before and after races. (and in race) Text chat key is; T same as in LFS . On track everyting is straightforward to do but not always so easy to do as in LFS.
There is no car skins as such, but you select skins from a set of templates and selects tree colors for it. It works good.
Attached is an example for of a dMr Solstice.

The plonker filter (Safety rating) is working well. If you hit anything or anybody you loose safety points. These are needed to get higher in the ranks. I just had a 20 minutes race where 8 cars was within a few seconds of each other and not a single incident among us. Close racing for so long was very fun. If someone takes you out you also looses rating, but a few incidents per race still lets you advance in rating. For a dMr the safety rating is a breeze. For a plonker it may be a serious hurdle.

iRating is the system that makes the great racing. Everyone is grouped after their iRating. The rating changes every race. The winners take away points from the loosers much like the elo chess rating system. This rating and grouping ensures very close racing.

Currently there are no system to cater for people like dMr wanting to race together. There are a Friends system that will try to enter you in a race with those you have chosen as friends. Private series will come soon.

The player stats are also similar to those in LFS, and after every race whe get the same stats that Oldie used to make for us. Those with the lap graphs etc. The way the races are laid out is that all the time there are several series going with different cars. Every week this series is racing on one track. Currently every second hour you can race in one of these series. At my level races are 30 minutes so that means I could race once every our. But that would be in different series. At higher levels you would have problems with doing more than one hour race in a two hour period due to warmup and things. But it would suite many people just knowing that at every second hour there will be a race in your selected series. Every night and every day. That would even let us do something in and around the house too...

Cars and tracks
You have to buy them. I got most road cars and a few more road tracks. If you suspend your membership you still have your cars and tracks when you return. More cars and tracks will be developed constantly. I am now waiting for the SpecRacer Ford that is nearly finished. iRacing owns the rights to over 60 tracks so they are scanning new ones as we speak.

Performance:
Its more demanding than LFS, but not much. I have 50fps in iracing with a 12 car field on the grid. It does not bog down as fast as LFS. I dont have dual core or a fast gpu only a 3500+ with a 7600gt. But I can't have full graphics. I use some settings that gives me similar detail to LFS. With at dual core and a fast gpu u can do all kinds of shadow rendering and stuff.
I had big issues with TrackIr at the start had to disable it. The framerate was good but the graphics would studder. This was solved by increasing the priority on the Trackir exe. It's superb now.

Whats missing:
Pit stops are missing. Some flags like blue flags are missing. But you can use
F3 to monitor who is in front and behind you. This is like the list in LFS. But the names are colour coded like in the map in LFS so you know who is laps down or in front of you. Engine wear is missing. Weather is missing. Lots of stuff is missing that should be in there.
The good thing with iRacing is that it will be developed in a much faster rate than LFS can and everyone will demand quality from it due to the subscription system.

My suggestions for dMr:
Anyone that feels for racing sims as much as I do and is spending so much track time as we do just got to try it. There is actually no excuse. If you don't want to pay the price thats up to you, but then you loose out on a very special experience.
For dMw i suggest to embrace it, make a forums section for it like we did for LFS and GTL because several of our members will start racing there as soon as it opens. Still I don't think it will replace LFS as the dMr sim just yet. But I have tried and own a lot of the sims out there and I feel that if one is going to tip LFS of the throne, iRacing will be a very strong contender to do that in the not so distant future.

[Aquilifer]

Nice review

As a sim it sounds interesting and good, but I really don't like subscription system and the 'plonker filter' and 'elo system' are bit iffy imho.

Safety rating
Like Werner mentioned it doesn't see who caused it. If you race in a group where accidents are rare this might work, but in a system which is open to everyone this begins to suck and blow quite soon I guess. For this to work it would require that every incident is checked by some neutral human jury (not like in FIA where they are apes :norty:). But you should have a chance to improve and clear the record over time, because for many people accidents happen just because the car was more what he could handle. Then this could be great actually, even I have no clear picture wher this rating is used.

Skill rating (elo or what ever)
This sort of system are implemented in many places. Even XBox live (or what it is called) have an improved versio of ELO. Actually the vanilla ELO system doesn't work at all in racing games like these (if it even works in chess is questionable). So far I don't know any system which would work so well in computer games that I would have been ready to implement it (to see if one works requires a larger user base and a longer observation period though).

I studied this skill rating when I was coding the VCom system in LFS to see if I could make one in it. I came to conclusion that a fair system in a racing game is almost impossible to make. Without going too deeply into the subject, just think that you really should have different ranking for EVERY combo (which is also slightly controller, computer and connection affected), then how to rank a new player in that combo. Then they should take into account the finnishing time differencies NOT the order (losing 1sec is sure better than 2 laps). But how to take into account mid race joiners and those who left mid race (own decision, out of fuel, accidents, disco,...). Remember than in real racing you do not have discos or mid joiners. In the end there is the human user who wants as simple as possible system which shows the least amount of numbers on screen.

So trying this to make as fair as possible becomes soon a very complex task, maybe even impossible at the full complexity. Mathematically and in computer science this is must be an interesting problem to solve. Micro Soft clearly understood the level of the problem, but could not quite solve it in LiveRating(name?). Instead, what if this could be solved by simply naming servers as "novice","veteran" and "pro"? In the end after all this hard thinking, I came to the conclusion based on the level of the problem, risk of unfair decisions and in my dreams wanting this to be a game where everybody just wants to have fun, where beginners can get advice and setups and learn from more experienced drivers... is it REALLY worth all the trouble?

I remember when I started LFS and learned from drivers who were greatly above my level at the time (and still?). Would this ranking be just a tool to brake this friendly help between people of different experience and speed when they drive in same servers? The exact same thing what I have always loved in Dead Men Racing. We are always open to people of different speeds.

Sorry if I got bit carried away...never intented to write this much or hijack the thread

[Doorman]

An interesting review. I must say that I'm willing to put my money down for a month just to know for myself and you haven't chahanged my mind.
A good point raised by Aquilifer, racing against people of like ability. :g:

I'll check it out first and then see.

[vobler]

I'll check it out first and then see.

I think it is still possible to get an early invite if you register for updates on their web site.
http://www.iracing.com/contact/register.php?lc=3

[Doorman]

I think it is still possible to get an early invite if you register for updates on their web site.
http://www.iracing.com/contact/register.php?lc=3

Yeah, I did that already.

[Doorman]

Many thanks to Verner(Vobler) for the invite.
Very first impressions
Downloading/updating was a breeze.
Setting up wheel/pedals was less of a breeze, but meh, OK
Can't find how to implement TrackIR :sideways:
Looks OK but tbh not HUGELY better than LFS.
Handling seems ok in the rookie Solstice (is a convertible Solstice a summer...?)
Tyre squeal IS loud. :eyebrow: Not very subtle at all.
I'll be back!

[Doorman]

I take it back. The graphics ARE better. Laguna Seca is superb! Bloody hard track to stay on though! :blink:

[vobler]

Can't find how to implement TrackIR :sideways:

First in Track ir program go to Update, Game Updates.

Then edit the profile and make sure it loads.

Then if it does not work correctly in game increase the priority on the Trackir exe file in the Task Manager. In task manager select the TrackIr.exe process, right click on it. Select set priority or similar, select high.

Regarding not "hugely" better than LFS, its not. But the car has power steering so it does not feel that good either. Try it at Lime Rock (a bumpy track). If that is not more convincing try the Skip Barber at Lime Rock.
Also the Rookie Soltice understeers badly. I think you can try the advanced one in test or practise.

Edit : Ok you where talking abt. the graphics!

See yo in rookie soltice race later. Hope we get in the same server. Add me as a Friend. Search for me in the top right corner of the memb er site and hover the mouse over my helmet by my found name and select add Friend.

[vobler]

iRacing is now sending out more invites from their mailing lists. If you don't get anything but would like one, try this:

Send them your full name and email address to:

nominations@iracing.com

[OldBloke]

iRacing is now sending out more invites from their mailing lists. If you don't get anything but would like one, try this:

Send them your full name and email address to:

nominations@iracing.com

email sent

[spudgun55]

i have been playing iracing all weekend and i can honestly say that i am not really sure about it, the graphics(i have everything maxed out) are a little better than LFS but not much, the cars are very very slow, what i mean by this is that the sensation of speed, 90mph feels like 20mph?.so the solstace cars are a bit boring to drive (laguna seca),  i have also found that the force feedback is some what way behind the LFS feel, Iracing has alot more track effects like bumps and judders, but the actual cornering ff is not there, for example i have downloaded the Mazda single seater and silverstone race track, when you go into and out of all the bends round the track they all feel exactly the same?. after speaking to a few players when playing this game they seem to share the same views and also point out a lot more, its a good game which should be a whole lot better.

 what i will say is that in some sort of perverted way i do like going round and round an oval track in the legends, trying to shave a mear fraction off is so rewarding(is that normal),  :g:

[Doorman]

Like everything in this world not everything is for everybody. In all sims/games there is something one game has that the other one doesn't so it's a case of if you like, it's for you, if not, it's not. :blink: When I first tried it I was sceptical like yourself. In fact I uninstalled it! Then, because I still had 3 weeks left, I reinstalled it. It dawned on me that it costs to go off the track, it costs to hit a tyre wall and it costs to hit another car. That added a whole new frisson that isn't there with LFS.
iRacing isn't a sim I can play all night. One 15 minute practice session, a warmup and a 30 lap race is stress enough for one night! Good stress though. Give it a bit more time. Wait till you've got 4 Safety Rating then you get to race the good guys.

EDIT: Yes it's normal. Wait till you try an oval race. The build up for a start is terrific

[vobler]

but the actual cornering ff is not there,

Do you mean the force that you can sort of "lean" against in the turns in LFS? It is present sometimes like in the Skippy up the hill at LimeRock Park. I think the reason for it not being so dominant in iRacing is that you in LFS don't have that same feel of front tire grip as you do in iRacing. In iRacing the loss of frontgrip (and FF) reduces the weight transfer force.
I think this is something that makes iRacing way better than LFS. In LFS there is a different feel if you are loosing grip by braking or when you are skidding. This I feel is totally wrong. Take a car to the track and make it understeer through a turn. The forces is the same as if you had full grip. But next make the wheels skid by braking. The force is gone. I'm not sure what is correct, but iRacing feels better to me.

Edit: link to VIR vs VIR in the Skippy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cn96JwbB1Ag

If this don't convince you. nothing will.

[Aquilifer]

Do you mean the force that you can sort of "lean" against in the turns in LFS? It is present sometimes like in the Skippy up the hill at LimeRock Park. I think the reason for it not being so dominant in iRacing is that you in LFS don't have that same feel of front tire grip as you do in iRacing. In iRacing the loss of frontgrip (and FF) reduces the weight transfer force.

Dunnio, but there are no same cars either afaik. No experience of iRacing, but I think it should be related to the turning radius how you feel the centrifugal force. So how much it pushes you to side is irrelevant of grip. To FFB feeling it should have slight effect that you can feel the grip loss. In LFS I have learned to see if quite well before I lose it totally, because I have no FFB.

I think this is something that makes iRacing way better than LFS. In LFS there is a different feel if you are loosing grip by braking or when you are skidding. This I feel is totally wrong. Take a car to the track and make it understeer through a turn. The forces is the same as if you had full grip. But next make the wheels skid by braking. The force is gone. I'm not sure what is correct, but iRacing feels better to me.

I read this 10 times, but not quite sure what you ment with each game. In real life to my experience it does feel different if your front tyres are skidding or if rear is skidding or if both ends are skidding. I don't know what feeling you mean, but I feel in my butt at least.

Edit: link to VIR vs VIR in the Skippy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cn96JwbB1Ag

If this don't convince you. nothing will.

Sorry for my scepticism, but what exactly is that supposted to prove? Imho it only shows how close to real the scenery looks like. I doubt nobody can compare feeling between the real thing and iRacing based on that.

[spudgun55]

people have done the same youtube videos of rfactor? lol


i am just trying to say that LFS makes you lean in your seat when you are racing why i have no idea but its that kind of feeling you get when playing it, the adrenaline starts to flow, you just dont get that thrill with iracing,
example = single seaters should be seat of the pants stuff like real life, the open wheel mazda is more of a sunday drive.(grandad caps required)

but like ron rightly says i must stick with it which i will as i have paid for a months gaming, but my view is a monthly fee game needs to be far beyond that of its ageing rivals which at this early stage its not, it needs to be like World of war craft the best in its Category people will then pay for the experiance.

 i hope that iracing can iron out its faults quickly. already the game is offering discounts on subs /  cars and tracks from the marked prices, is this a sign of unwilling people not paying for the extra content?

i would love to see a next generation racing simulator that shows the pc can have real next gen graphics and ffb technologies and interface and not a very small if any improvement over ageing sims.:g: