Are any of you into any of the racing simulations on PC? I used to be really into GTR 2. I even had the steering wheel and pedals. But I gave all that up when I went through a divorce several years ago. I hadn't really played any video games since then. Probably a good thing since I've had plenty of other things to keep me busy
Fast forward to a couple weeks ago when friend was telling me about how he plays Xbox with his kids. I've had a little extra down time lately and I have this nice gaming laptop that I bought to do 3D modeling with. I remembered that it came with a couple free game downloads. One game I had downloaded was Grid Autosport. So I ordered a bluetooth controller from Amazon and I was driving again :)
So then I started to get curious about other racing sims. I soon found Assetto Corsa. I fired up my old Steam account and downloaded it. All I can say is wow! It's kind of tough to do with handheld game controller but I found some things on the web that helped me dial it in. It's much better now. Last weekend I decided to try rFactor 2. Also wow! I went back to Assetto Corsa last night and I think I like that one a little better. I've downloaded all kinds of different cars and tracks for each. So I'm sure I'll end up playing both.
Now I'm trying to remember how to do car setups for different tracks. I found a few guides online and my memory's coming back. It's crazy how much there is to tweaking these things. Just like the real thing
Now I'm kind of wishing I didn't get rid of my wheel and pedals. They're probably outdated now anyway. I wish there was a decent handheld controller with a wheel. I used to have a Ultra Racer (below) but I think it either died or GTR 2 didn't support it. That's why I went with the a wheel set up. Which was a game changer. But I really don't want to deal with a big wheel and pedal set up.
Now I've started researching how to create car skins. I want to make a (mock) Spyderco sponsored vehicle :)
Of all the things I've lost I miss my mind the most!
I don't have any racing sims currently but I spend some time on flight sims and train sims . I now have a very moderate PC/video card setup so I'm not at all currently doing anything cutting edge . The best days of flight sims seems to be over now but I still enjoy flying . I need something to de-piss me off after reading the news now and sims do that fairly well.
I don't have any racing sims currently but I spend some time on flight sims and train sims . I now have a very moderate PC/video card setup so I'm not at all currently doing anything cutting edge . The best days of flight sims seems to be over now but I still enjoy flying . I need something to de-piss me off after reading the news now and sims do that fairly well.
I could get hooked on flight sims too. I did a couple several years ago and really enjoyed them. I'm more into road course racing so that's what I stuck with. I also agree with your last statement. Running laps around Watkins Glen (or whatever track) really helps me tune out the BS that's going on
Both the sims I mentioned have Karting mods. I think the racing karts are as fun as race cars
Of all the things I've lost I miss my mind the most!
I really was into gran turismo back in the ps2 days. Then Forza on Xbox. Then I got into iRacing. Man, that was awesome! I haven't done it in a long time though because life. I have a logitech g27, and sometimes hook it up, but play with an Xbox controller mostly, because assetto corsa isn't that bad with a pad. Certainly not perfect, but a little practice goes a long way.
I've been really into MX Bikes lately. Motocross Sim. Very difficult, but so much fun. Was big into MX Simulator before that, even did pro races for a while,. Supercross mostly. Recently got it again and I suck... Lol just need more seat time.
GP Bikes is great too, I really need to get back into that. I love bikes!
So yea, I love Sims. I used to be pretty quick, but I just don't throw laps down like I used to anymore. So many hobbies, have my job, my family. Always wanting to hit the range and get better at shooting, or better at sharpening my knives.
So yea, I love Sims. I used to be pretty quick, but I just don't throw laps down like I used to anymore. So many hobbies, have my job, my family. Always wanting to hit the range and get better at shooting, or better at sharpening my knives.
So little time!
You pretty much summed things up for me the past few years. Except the kids are grown and on their own now. I have a few solid hobbies that keep me busy including my little 3D printing gig where I make some shooting accessories to help fund other hobbies (knives, guns, drones). I was really trying to avoid getting back into PC gaming but I finally succumbed. The thing about all my hobbies is that I'll pick something up for awhile and run hard with it and then move to something else. It keeps things interesting for me. There's always something for me to do and I can't say that I'm ever really bored. So no complaints
I actually saw iRacing awhile back and thought it looked really cool. But I managed to stay away. I looked at it again the other day and it does look awesome but it also looks like it's a monthly subscription and that's a big no go for me. I've never been into the whole online racing thing anyway. The few times I've tried it back in the GTR 2 days it didn't really thrill me. Maybe iRacing is different idk. I'm not likely to find out anytime soon because I won't pay for a subscription for something that I won't be using full-time
Forza is another one that I've always wanted to try. Looks that one can get pricey in a hurry too. If there was an old PC version for a bargain price I'd try it. For now I think I'll stick to AC and rFactor 2. They're both exactly what I like
Of all the things I've lost I miss my mind the most!
So yea, I love Sims. I used to be pretty quick, but I just don't throw laps down like I used to anymore. So many hobbies, have my job, my family. Always wanting to hit the range and get better at shooting, or better at sharpening my knives.
So little time!
You pretty much summed things up for me the past few years. Except the kids are grown and on their own now. I have a few solid hobbies that keep me busy including my little 3D printing gig where I make some shooting accessories to help fund other hobbies (knives, guns, drones). I was really trying to avoid getting back into PC gaming but I finally succumbed. The thing about all my hobbies is that I'll pick something up for awhile and run hard with it and then move to something else. It keeps things interesting for me. There's always something for me to do and I can't say that I'm ever really bored. So no complaints
I actually saw iRacing awhile back and thought it looked really cool. But I managed to stay away. I looked at it again the other day and it does look awesome but it also looks like it's a monthly subscription and that's a big no go for me. I've never been into the whole online racing thing anyway. The few times I've tried it back in the GTR 2 days it didn't really thrill me. Maybe iRacing is different idk. I'm not likely to find out anytime soon because I won't pay for a subscription for something that I won't be using full-time
Forza is another one that I've always wanted to try. Looks that one can get pricey in a hurry too. If there was an old PC version for a bargain price I'd try it. For now I think I'll stick to AC and rFactor 2. They're both exactly what I like
IRacing can definitely get pricey. It's a more serious platform though, and is more akin to real racing, with licensing, penalties, etc. If you're into competition it's the best there is, bar none. It is not for everyone though, and at the moment isn't for me. One day I hope to get back into it.
I stick to assetto right now for cars. So much content, it has great physics, models, tracks, as well as the mods. It's #2 for me, behind iRacing. I hear they're working on a sequel finally... Can't wait to see what that becomes!
Forza is great... I haven't really played much of the series since 4, that was the last one I had on Xbox 360. It was pretty great though. I went full steam back into pcs after that though!
Ive always been a pc gaming guy. I've had consoles, but they're so limited. I build my computers as well, so that's another hobby! And pc gaming is enjoying a huge resurgence, for a while there I thought it was going to die. I was the only one at game releases getting pc versions (skyrim, for the mods of course! And battlefield 3). Now pretty much everything I could want has a pc version. No need for a console because I don't need an all in one entertainment solution, or an extra payment to play online.
Now if I could just get a decent upgrade for my video card. I don't feel like putting another mortgage on the house for one... Lol!
I was a pretty hardcore Gran Turismo guy up until GT4 and then I just stopped buying gaming consoles. I still have my PS2 and I've been thinking about buying a PS1 for the older games and maybe getting a PS5 for GT7 that just came out. I also played some of the rally games on PC but not as much.
Now if I could just get a decent upgrade for my video card. I don't feel like putting another mortgage on the house for one... Lol!
I entered the NewEgg shuffle (raffle for regular price video cards) almost every day for 4 months before I was finally able to buy one.
Like a lot of people, I have been an intermittent gamer for years. Every 4 or 5 years I'd pick up a game and play it on my laptop all the way through, playing intensively for a month or two.
One of my oldest friends (we used to ride our bikes to school together in the 5th grade) is a lifetime gamer--gaming has been his primary form of recreation since computer games existed (1980s). I think he was the first kid I knew with an actual computer at home (his dad was an engineering professor who worked with computers in the early 70s). Late last summer he got my daughter and I to play a game with him on a server he hosted out of his home office (he works in server administration at a high level for one of those companies that owns a massively multiplayer online franchise). That led to my longest period of video gaming in 30 years (six months so far, and still going), which was probably because both of my kids started playing with us, which led to me buying a desktop PC (I've been a Mac guy since the 90s and started playing this game on my work desktop running Bootcamp), and then to a couple of gaming laptops so we could all three play at the same time. Which led to me trying to upgrade the video on the desktop machine...
So far my wife seems pretty happy about it, because it's both cheaper and safer than most of my other hobbies, and because I'm doing it with the kids. She was the one who decided to buy gaming laptops so the kids could play with me more easily.
I still haven't gotten into any other games though. I might have to have a look at racing sims, sometime.
I've never went the gaming console route (aside from the Wii we bought the kids when they were small). We bought my son a Xbox (years ago now) and I thought I might get Forza for that but then we let him move the Xbox into his room and that's the last we saw of him lol
I've always been a PC gamer. I've never built a gaming PC from the ground up but I've upgraded a few to make them acceptable for gaming. The MSI laptop I'm using now is actually handling games much better than I thought it would. I haven't tried anything that's really new yet though. I have no plans to upgrade anything at this point but the storage is filling up faster than expected now. I may get a dedicated gaming PC at some point but not until I know I'll have time to continue messing around with all this. I'll keep using the laptop for now
Of all the things I've lost I miss my mind the most!
Now if I could just get a decent upgrade for my video card. I don't feel like putting another mortgage on the house for one... Lol!
I entered the NewEgg shuffle (raffle for regular price video cards) almost every day for 4 months before I was finally able to buy one.
I guess I haven't thought about how the whole chip thing is effecting availability of PC components. I won't participate in having to enter raffles just to get a better card for a reasonable price. I'll just go back to not playing. Like I said above. For now I'm ok with using my laptop
Of all the things I've lost I miss my mind the most!
Raffles... If I really needed one, I would do it, but my rx570 is working just fine for everything I've been playing. I only game at 1080p, so it's not a big deal. I do notice a difference between my card and my wife's 5500xt...she has better fps, smoother graphics, prettier, but she also has a newer TV she's using. Mine is from around 2008? So refresh and latency are probably a factor. Like I said, works for me and that's all that matters! When cards come back and are normally priced ill pick up and upgrade.
And speaking of storage, I need another hard drive. I've pretty much filled mine (1TB). I'll have to see what magnetic drives are right now... Maybe pick up a 2TB. Or another 1TB since they're probably dirt cheap still.
The desktop PC I bought was running integrated graphics (no graphics card) and adding an actual graphics card was a substantial improvement. I did that on purpose (to reduce the cost of the machine itself, since graphics cards are so expensive right now), with the intention of doing a long term shop around for a reasonable graphics card at a not insane price. In retrospect, I probably spent 10 minutes per day during that time (so 800 minutes total maybe?) for that $500 savings on the card. Not sure if that's worth the time or not, but it's done now.
The desktop PC I bought was running integrated graphics (no graphics card) and adding an actual graphics card was a substantial improvement. I did that on purpose (to reduce the cost of the machine itself, since graphics cards are so expensive right now), with the intention of doing a long term shop around for a reasonable graphics card at a not insane price. In retrospect, I probably spent 10 minutes per day during that time (so 800 minutes total maybe?) for that $500 savings on the card. Not sure if that's worth the time or not, but it's done now.
Yeah the when I upgraded my previous desktop PCs the first thing I did was add a dedicated graphics cards and more ram. I think that's pretty much all I did.
Keep it in mind that I bought it to do 3D CAD modeling and not to run PC games. It was also almost half the price on Amazon Prime Day a couple years ago. So pretty good considering. I can add some more RAM if I need. I also find myself needing more storage. I can move some stuff off the HDD. It's unclear to me if there's open port for another drive. I can use an external SDD if I need to but I'd rather not do that. Some of these games are huge! So I need to expand or remove some stuff if I want to install anything else
EDIT: I just realized the laptop I linked above is not the same exact one I have. Mine's basically the same specs except the graphics is a notch lower. Still pretty good for a laptop
Of all the things I've lost I miss my mind the most!
I received a notice yesterday that Steam had Dirt Rally 2.0 for $5 or the full package (all add-ons etc) for $10. I opted for the latter and downloaded it onto a external drive last night. It was 109 gb and it still wasn't done downloading when I left for work this morning lol
I'm just now getting a handle on driving well in Assetto Corsa. I finally decided to settle on learning to set up and drive a Mazda MX-5 Cup car. Kind of like training wheels. I chose a shortened version of Watkins Glen to started doing laps. I thought I was turning some good laps (for me). So I decided to try a race weekend. I used 8 AI opponents at 95% and didn't make it through the practice session. All the AI drives were at least 6 seconds faster than I was. I don't see how I'll ever get 6 seconds faster. I guess I need to find a shortcut haha
Of all the things I've lost I miss my mind the most!
I just built a mid tier gaming PC for my daughter before Christmas. She's loving it. The hardest part right now is getting your hands on a GPU at a reasonable price.
The Dirt and Grid games are great. I don't really play video games much anymore, with those two and Far Cry being the exceptions when I do. I like the mix of arcade and sim handling characteristics that Dirt and Grid combine pretty well. All the silly fluff (cut scenes, sponsorships, etc) that isn't actually driving the car can get a little annoying, as does the gymkhana.
Dirt 1 actually came free with the first gaming card I bought years ago to run Crysis. Ever since I've been enjoying going unreasonably fast through the woods with no consequences. I'm able to run all of those games maxed out with an old GTX1080 @ 1080p FWIW.
I received a notice yesterday that Steam had Dirt Rally 2.0 for $5 or the full package (all add-ons etc) for $10. I opted for the latter and downloaded it onto a external drive last night. It was 109 gb and it still wasn't done downloading when I left for work this morning lol
I'm just now getting a handle on driving well in Assetto Corsa. I finally decided to settle on learning to set up and drive a Mazda MX-5 Cup car. Kind of like training wheels. I chose a shortened version of Watkins Glen to started doing laps. I thought I was turning some good laps (for me). So I decided to try a race weekend. I used 8 AI opponents at 95% and didn't make it through the practice session. All the AI drives were at least 6 seconds faster than I was. I don't see how I'll ever get 6 seconds faster. I guess I need to find a shortcut haha
I may have to jump on that dirt rally... I'm going to see if it's still available!
As for gaining speed in assetto... Its just seat time. Also depends on the car. Some I can beat the ai handily, some I have no chance (like F1 cars). I REALLY like the Ford escort 1600. Such a fun car... Getting it on the limit and just staying there all the time, staying on the ragged edge of slip to get the maximum grip is exhausting, but so rewarding. Now I want to go play lol
I received a notice yesterday that Steam had Dirt Rally 2.0 for $5 or the full package (all add-ons etc) for $10. I opted for the latter and downloaded it onto a external drive last night. It was 109 gb and it still wasn't done downloading when I left for work this morning lol
I'm just now getting a handle on driving well in Assetto Corsa. I finally decided to settle on learning to set up and drive a Mazda MX-5 Cup car. Kind of like training wheels. I chose a shortened version of Watkins Glen to started doing laps. I thought I was turning some good laps (for me). So I decided to try a race weekend. I used 8 AI opponents at 95% and didn't make it through the practice session. All the AI drives were at least 6 seconds faster than I was. I don't see how I'll ever get 6 seconds faster. I guess I need to find a shortcut haha
I may have to jump on that dirt rally... I'm going to see if it's still available!
As for gaining speed in assetto... Its just seat time. Also depends on the car. Some I can beat the ai handily, some I have no chance (like F1 cars). I REALLY like the Ford escort 1600. Such a fun car... Getting it on the limit and just staying there all the time, staying on the ragged edge of slip to get the maximum grip is exhausting, but so rewarding. Now I want to go play lol
I tried Dirt 2.0 briefly just to test it out. Seems pretty good. I had a Rally sim awhile back and it was lot of fun. I'm sure Dirt 2.0 will be fun too. I'll probably keep it on the back burner for awhile until I need a break from driving on road courses.
I don't think any amount of seat time will gain me 6 seconds on that small track. I have the line down and I'm driving it pretty hard already. I seem to remember that GTR2 penalized you for using driving aids. I wonder if AC is the same. I'm not using much but I do have the racing line turned on and maybe a little traction control. I also have the gearbox in set to auto but I'll down shift going into a corner before the sim does. I was about to start manually shifting anyway. Maybe I'll turn everything else off too and see if I go faster. I remember having this same issue with GTR2 and it was an eye opener when I finally figured out how much of a difference turning off the driving aids made.
Last night before bed I ran a Porsche 919 Hybrid prototype car around SPA. It's crazy how fast it is after driving a MX-5 for awhile. Then I switched to a Ferrari F1 car and was doing 193 mph up the hill. I forgot how much fun these racing sims can be! I'm still trying to resist buy another wheel and pedal set. I've read there are racing sim competitors who do quite well using only a game pad. The one I bought is in the link below. I'd like to continue with that for awhile before deciding I have to have a wheel to be consistent. Like I said I don't really have the room or desire to own another wheel set up but I do want a good racing experience. So I'll buy another if I decide it's a must have
The Dirt and Grid games are great. I don't really play video games much anymore, with those two and Far Cry being the exceptions when I do. I like the mix of arcade and sim handling characteristics that Dirt and Grid combine pretty well. All the silly fluff (cut scenes, sponsorships, etc) that isn't actually driving the car can get a little annoying, as does the gymkhana.
Dirt 1 actually came free with the first gaming card I bought years ago to run Crysis. Ever since I've been enjoying going unreasonably fast through the woods with no consequences. I'm able to run all of those games maxed out with an old GTX1080 @ 1080p FWIW.
Now that you mention it, Grid Autosport did seem pretty good. I need to go back and revisit.
I've started looking at some first person shooters again too. I used to like Doom and Half Life a lot. Also some of the CoD and Battlefield games. I like doing the campaigns more than the crazy online stuff. I can also only play those kinds of games for short periods at a time. Just too intense for me. I see there's been several versions since I've last played. Maybe I can get some of the previous stuff for cheap
I need to slow down a little for the moment and mess around with what I have. Time is limited and I've already bitten off more than I can chew at the moment
So far everything I've played is pretty much maxed out graphics-wise and my laptop is handling it all. I haven't tried running a race with several AI cars yet though. We'll see how it does soon.
Of all the things I've lost I miss my mind the most!
Check out Far Cry 3-6. I like them because they are massive worlds with lots to do and no real need for any online play. I never really loved sci-fi shooters and much prefer running around in the woods/jungle shooting stuff. They run fast and smooth with a more natural feel for me than the EA stuff. Run and gun works for most things, and a stealth approach is often rewarding.
Spyderco : Resilience, Tenacious, Persistence, Manix 2 G10, Para 3 G10, Para 3 LW, Paramilitary 2, 
