iRacing - My view

Romus · August 31, 2008, 08:57:10 AM

I'm also not sure if I like FF in iRacing, but it could be that I am so used to FF in LFS and expecting to get the same in iRacing and when not getting it I'm confused. Also sound feedback is so very differend. When these two major feedbacks are quite different it takes time to re-adapt and learn to drive the iRacing in the limit.

In LFS when I make the car to "take a set", to turn it to the corner so that suspension is all compressed and the wheel turned max for that corner, I feel the FF is quite tight. When the corner starts to straighten out and I can apply more throttle I feel how the FF gradually gets softer. I'm so used to this and it's the main tool for me driving fast, that when missing it in iRacing it apparently takes quite a lot longer to be fast there. Or it could well be that it's my impression that the FF is so important, I have not tested without FF in years.

At the moment I would say that FF in LFS is sharp and accurate, whereas in iRacing it can be a bit dull. Many people say the FF in iRacing is very good and better than in LFS. It could very well be that we just need to learn to tweak the settings and learn to interpret it so that we can use it as a good tool, just like we had done in LFS.

Still, there is something that for now keeps me with iRacing. New very high quality tracks is perhaps the major reason. Then the quality of other racers is better then what the average LFS racer is. I've met one racer that has stayed at around 2.5 in safery rating for a few weeks - this means that they have not earned any safety points to be promoted from the very first rookie level - and still he did not crash on me nor anybody else, though he made moves that did not show the level of maturity that dMr racers have. But total wreckers I've not met yet.

vobler · August 31, 2008, 10:12:39 AM

Quote from: romus;242781In LFS when I make the car to "take a set", to turn it to the corner so that suspension is all compressed and the wheel turned max for that corner, I feel the FF is quite tight. When the corner starts to straighten out and I can apply more throttle I feel how the FF gradually gets softer. I'm so used to this and it's the main tool for me driving fast, that when missing it in iRacing it apparently takes quite a lot longer to be fast there.

I agree that this makes it easier to find the limits in LFS, hence makes it easier to be fast. But I do not agree that it is "better".

But I rest my case about iRacing for now. At any point in time I will use the sim I feel gives me the most realistic feel of racing a real car. Not the one that makes me win the most races.

If NetKar tomorrow comes with its patch. With more cars and even better feel than iRacing, and lots of new drivers; I would not hesitate a minute to abandon my 1 year sub in iRacing if I felt that would give me a better feel for racing.

Romus · August 31, 2008, 10:49:54 AM

Quote from: vobler;242785If NetKar tomorrow comes with its patch. With more cars and even better feel than iRacing, and lots of new drivers; I would not hesitate a minute to abandon my 1 year sub in iRacing if I felt that would give me a better feel for racing.

That's interesting, because I've never tried NetKar. Let us know when the patch is out, so I'll perhaps try it as well.

Doorman · August 31, 2008, 11:07:30 AM

Quote from: romus;242787That's interesting, because I've never tried NetKar. Let us know when the patch is out, so I'll perhaps try it as well.

The truth is that NetKar Pro is very good as it is. The big frustration is hardly anyone uses it on a 'public pickup race' basis. There is a hardcore of league racers for whom nkp works well. I have, and can still, run a server. In my opinion the physics are first class. Probably the best of all sims. It's worth having on your hard drive. I still have practice sessions with it. I'll go as far as to say it's the only sim I can simply lap in. I can't do that with LFS. LFS has to have mates on.

vobler · August 31, 2008, 12:40:47 PM

Quote from: romus;242787That's interesting, because I've never tried NetKar. Let us know when the patch is out, so I'll perhaps try it as well.

I said *IF*.

But yes. Netkar *IS* good. I'm sorry to say I tried and I tried. I wanted it to be good and usable for me. I was in the GPC Championship, but I could only do practise and qualifying. In months I did not race one race. There where 100 people fighting for 15 spots in a race. I was not fast enough. So I gave it up.

spudgun55 · August 31, 2008, 01:23:03 PM

i also have netkar pro, it does seem to have a good driving experiance but for some reason i just cant get the graphics to look good, i seem to get loads of jaggy lines, i have tried nvidia control panel settings and upped the settings there ect but made no differance.

vobler · August 31, 2008, 02:18:37 PM

Quote from: spudgun55;242801i also have netkar pro, it does seem to have a good driving experiance but for some reason i just cant get the graphics to look good, i seem to get loads of jaggy lines, i have tried nvidia control panel settings and upped the settings there ect but made no differance.

It works normal here. I set it to 4AA 16AS for track day. (in races I use 2AA)

vobler · August 31, 2008, 03:48:15 PM

Try to make an entry in the Nvidia profiler for NetKar. Make sure you select the correct exe. Its nks.exe in the nkp sub dir.

spudgun55 · September 01, 2008, 01:23:57 PM

Quote from: vobler;242785I agree that this makes it easier to find the limits in LFS, hence makes it easier to be fast. But I do not agree that it is "better".

found this reply to a very poor review for iracing.(the way it has been written)

http://www.sk-gaming.com/content/17641-iRacing_First_iMpressions

The handling of the cars is certainly as good as any other Sim out there but using the basic Solstice as an example for this creates quite a false impression due to the fact that this comes with power steering so dampens the effects somewhat. You really notice the difference on the Legend.

could this be the reason why i find the legends a joy around the oval, but the solstice a totally detached experiance?i will also check to see if the mazda has power steering as well, :g:

Romus · September 01, 2008, 02:11:34 PM

Quote from: spudgun55;242895
Quote from: vobler;242785I agree that this makes it easier to find the limits in LFS, hence makes it easier to be fast. But I do not agree that it is "better".

found this reply to a very poor review for iracing.(the way it has been written)

http://www.sk-gaming.com/content/17641-iRacing_First_iMpressions

The handling of the cars is certainly as good as any other Sim out there but using the basic Solstice as an example for this creates quite a false impression due to the fact that this comes with power steering so dampens the effects somewhat. You really notice the difference on the Legend.

could this be the reason why i find the legends a joy around the oval, but the solstice a totally detached experiance?i will also check to see if the mazda has power steering as well, :g:

Interesting. I've been mostly driving Solstice, so I will have to try Skippy more today to check how it feels.

Gnomie · October 11, 2008, 01:21:10 PM

Quote from: vobler;235872I 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.

I have a question about Trackir in iRacing. I've only seen one video of it (this one), and he doesn't show whether you can look 90 degrees left or right. Is this possible? In nKP you can only pan about 20 degrees to each side (at least in the demo), which is totally stupid in my opinion..

vobler · October 11, 2008, 01:41:57 PM

Quote from: Gnomie;247167I have a question about Trackir in iRacing. I've only seen one video of it (this one), and he doesn't show whether you can look 90 degrees left or right. Is this possible? In nKP you can only pan about 20 degrees to each side (at least in the demo), which is totally stupid in my opinion..

In todays iRacing there is a 90 degree limit. But in the Skip Barber the view is obstructed by the cars body (rollcage).

The 20 degree limit in NKPro is that you are wearing a HANS device that limits your head movement. I still think the limit is to severe. I use look buttons and TrackIr in NKPro.

Gnomie · October 11, 2008, 02:12:21 PM

Cool, thank you.

Mille Sabords · November 03, 2008, 08:08:12 AM

By invitation of Verner / Vobler, here are my thoughts on iRacing - I hope it is the appropriate place.

Let us start with a disclaimer: I have not tried it! It may seem sufficient to skip the rest but please bear with me...

I purchased LFS after spending years (I think close to 2) on its demo. This is the first "game" I have purchased since my long gone teenage years.
I purchased LFS S2 but it was not in order to get S2 content. At this time I had no idea what that would be.
I purchased LFS because I was astonished by the quality and quantity of this piece of software, made by 3 guys, who live their dream and risked all to work the way they want, be their own bosses, do what they like.
I purchased the game because I wanted to support them and thank them for the fun I had during 2 years (even with a mouse

for free.
For all this I sneaked LFS into my home, although my wife is more like :ranting2: at the mere evocation of online racing and computer games in general.

Now with iRacing:
I think that the piece of software they now have is at least on par with LFS, from reviews and videos. I also think it will become better that LFS real quick due to the incredible development power they have.

I dislike very much the marketing process they used to sell ("rent") their game. Laser scanning stuff, "selected" few for public testing giving the selected the impression of being special and making others begging to pay and join, real life racers hype, wild emphasis on software strong points and blackout on the approximations and missing features (flags? Clutch?).

I dislike the pricing principle. It is way too expensive to be democratic and only appeals to us rich developped countries, it "forces" the user to buy a lot of extras once hooked, and I do not like "renting" a piece of software.
The monthly fee, subscription, is in my opinion a very dangerous precedent for sim racing. I would like this part of iRacing to fail while the rest survives!
I do not think the subscription can be defended, because there is very little service offered for this price. Updates are free but new content has to be payed for, and the league system they have in place can not cost this much (CTRA does somethin similar for free...). Servers only are not this expensive.
I think this high price is done for the following (non politically correct) reasons:
Keeping kids out
Keeping bad ping third world users out
Providing a sense of elitism to the subscribers (I pay this much, it must be the best - like champagne) especially in the US.

I think iRacing will fail at creating a community because there is not much to do apart from racing, and no need for a community, only subscribers. Once it allows private leagues communities already established may join iRacing (like you here

but that's about it.

End of my own little rant. On my end there is nothing wrong with iRacing except what it conveys...

OldBloke · November 03, 2008, 08:20:54 AM

Quote from: Mille Sabords;249470By invitation of Verner / Vobler, here are my thoughts on iRacing - I hope it is the appropriate place.

Yes it is and I totally agree with the rest of your comments.

I have tried it and found that the lack of the simple things that we all take for granted within LFS was not surpassed by shiny graphics and laser scanned tracks.

I appreciate that the development has moved on at a terrific pace since then but for a 'fun' racer like me the regimented racing just doesn't appeal. A well-run drop-in server is much more suitable for my needs and, spookily enough, there's one to be found right here.