[Shaneus]

Update: Don't fucking bother. 2.5gb, one track, several cars, basically the demolition/figure-8 mode from GRID, except even more frustrating. I don't even know why the Dirt name is attached, because from what I could tell going by the "Coming soon" promo screens, it's strictly a demolition-focused game.

At least it looks good, but I won't be touching it with a 50ft. pole.

[TJP]

Update: Don't fucking bother.

Indeed. I thought it was a pile of shite too.

Showdown will be a big seller though; the Dirt name will attract lots of gamers who crave the OTT gameplay of Dirt 2 & 3.

[KillerAJD]

Indeed. I thought it was a pile of shite too. Showdown will be a big seller though; the Dirt name will attract lots of gamers who crave the OTT gameplay of Dirt 2 & 3.

It's a pile of shit to you guys because it is completely 180 to what you guys are expecting in regards to a rally/off road sim. That's absolutely fine if that's not what you want, but to call the game shit outright is just dumb. If you actually think it's a bad game, regardless of what type of racing game it is, that's your opinion, but I think a lot of people are overreacting to what Showdown has turned out to be. Then again, I'm stoked for the game (I love me some Test Drive: Eve of Destruction, and this is the closest we've gotten this generation), so I'm biased towards it I guess. Also, it looks like at least Shaneus was more annoyed at the content of the demo(?) than the game itself, which I think is totally valid in this case. I've had plenty of fun with the demo, but it sure is lean on content that you actually get to demo, haha.

[TJP]

We'll agree to disagree. I didn't get the excitement that you clearly did from Showdown. I doubt my 'it's shite' will cause a lack of sleep at Codemasters ;-)

[pappakenoo]

I saw Simraceway being mentioned on the last page, did not know about the game until now. I have been playing some pCARS lately and while it's fun and all, i don't really care for the selection of cars. At all. I want more "normal" cars if you know what i mean, and judging by the screenshot on the previous page, Simraceway seems to include alot of them. I do of course realize that pCARS will still have a shitload of cars added, but judging by the selection available right now, i'm not sure the direction their going in is something for me.

So have anyone given this game a try? I will give it a go tonight since it's free, but i just wanted to hear some impressions.

I'm also not really the type who plays these games online, i mostly just do time trials. pCARS does leaderboards really well, anything similar in Simraceway?

[Shaneus]

It's a pile of shit to you guys because it is completely 180 to what you guys are expecting in regards to a rally/off road sim. That's absolutely fine if that's not what you want, but to call the game shit outright is just dumb. If you actually think it's a bad game, regardless of what type of racing game it is, that's your opinion, but I think a lot of people are overreacting to what Showdown has turned out to be. Then again, I'm stoked for the game (I love me some Test Drive: Eve of Destruction, and this is the closest we've gotten this generation), so I'm biased towards it I guess. Also, it looks like at least Shaneus was more annoyed at the content of the demo(?) than the game itself, which I think is totally valid in this case. I've had plenty of fun with the demo, but it sure is lean on content that you actually get to demo, haha.

It's not so much what it turned out to be (though CM using the "Dirt" name as a catchall for racing games a la EA's NFS seriously grinds my goat) but that it reminds me of the very worst parts of Grid, those being the figure-8 destruction derby-esque levels where any skill to win can be completely be zeroed by getting T-boned at a crossover by a guy you're about to lap. There's no fun in that.

If they dropped the name and call it something else, I would have less of a problem with it, but it's 2.5gb for a single-track demo of a style of racing I don't like. Hopefully above goes a little further into rationalising exactly why I didn't like it, but it doesn't really matter, I guess... still have Dirt 2 (and to a lesser extend, Sega Rally) to tide me over until anything else comes along that isn't Showdown.

[_machine]

So have anyone given this game a try? I will give it a go tonight since it's free, but i just wanted to hear some impressions.

I think it was decent, but it feels a bit unfinished(tracks and cars don't have their preview images yet, there's not that much content) and the physics are imho a tad soft and floaty, at least on the free Mitsu. I would've tried the 1M, but you have to buy credits for at least 5$ so I couldn't be bothered. It looks fine though, and the UI feels solid and clean, much better than either rFactor or SimBin's titles. The car list is pretty nice though, even if it doesn't have much actual race cars, and they add more cars constantly, but I miss some bigger(more famous) European tracks. Don't know about the online/TT component though, but for me there wasn't enough yet to keep me playing and I was slightly disappointed in the physics department.

I've been playing a lot of GT Legends lately(probably one of my favorite sim titles as it's the one that got me into the genre), but I keep ragequitting because of my Momo; it's so damn heavy yet mushy and sluggish as hell. My non-FFB Formula Feedback Wheel was so much better in it's day. I wish I had money for at least a used G25, but no...

EDIT:
I tried the DiRT Showdown demo and uh...it wasn't very good. I loved the first DiRT, I very much liked the second, third was good, but a bit of disappointment and Showdown felt pretty crap compared to any of the previous ones.

[pappakenoo]

I think it was decent, but it feels a bit unfinished(tracks and cars don't have their preview images yet, there's not that much content) and the physics are imho a tad soft and floaty, at least on the free Mitsu. I would've tried the 1M, but you have to buy credits for at least 5$ so I couldn't be bothered. It looks fine though, and the UI feels solid and clean, much better than either rFactor or SimBin's titles. The car list is pretty nice though, even if it doesn't have much actual race cars, and they add more cars constantly, but I miss some bigger(more famous) European tracks. Don't know about the online/TT component though, but for me there wasn't enough yet to keep me playing and I was slightly disappointed in the physics department. I've been playing a lot of GT Legends lately(probably one of my favorite sim titles as it's the one that got me into the genre), but I keep ragequitting because of my Momo; it's so damn heavy yet mushy and sluggish as hell. My non-FFB Formula Feedback Wheel was so much better in it's day. I wish I had money for at least a used G25, but no... EDIT: I tried the DiRT Showdown demo and uh...it wasn't very good. I loved the first DiRT, I very much liked the second, third was good, but a bit of disappointment and Showdown felt pretty crap compared to any of the previous ones.

Okay, thank you for your input. 100% true to life physics is not very important to me, lack of content is a bigger issue. I'll give it a go when i get home from work. Are all the tracks free? Cars are the only things that cost money?

[mclaren777]

Are all the tracks free? Cars are the only things that cost money?

Sadly, no. :(

[pappakenoo]

Sadly, no. :(

Oh, that might be a dealbreaker. Doesn't it also split the online community when everyone can't play on all tracks? I really like the selection of cars they have though, are there any alternatives? I have as i said been playing some pCARS but i really only enjoy two of the cars, the gumpert and the Zonda R.

[1-D_FTW]

My Leo Bodnar USB cable arrived today. Have to give it a whirl tonight:)

[mclaren777]

The Aquila CR1 is going to be in an upcoming Simbin game, but nobody knows which one yet...



A community member is bringing the Audi R18 to rFactor 2....



And these are the new cars for Simraceway....

[1-D_FTW]

That's as far as I can get my pedal movement with the Leo Bodnar cable? Is this an issue? Seems like that could be an issue (especially for games that don't allow you to reset the min/max). I swear I'm not accelerating as quickly now. I suppose it's in my head, but I'm not in love with this at the moment.

EDIT: Out of frustration at things clearly being slower, I went into the control panel and it seems Windows does have a generic calibration setting for "G25 Pedals". After resetting it and calibrating it, I'm now getting full range of motion out of things.

2nd EDIT: Ran some laps with it. Yeah. That makes a bit of difference:) I like.

[mclaren777]

Reiza Studios is looking for people who might be interested in joining its team of beta testers. Selected candidates will probably focus on Game Stock Car 2012, but Reiza Studios is also working on the Ayrton Senna game so who knows what testing might someday include?

Requirements:
- Good command of the english language
- Commit a couple hours/week to testing for the next couple months

Send them an e-mail (dev@reizastudios.com) with information similar to what I asked for in the Fanatec beta thread.

[TJP]

New in-game shots of the Aquila CR1 on the SimBin Insider website



SimBin need to release a video and start the invite only beta testing ASAP. I want to see GTR 3 in action, not just screenshots.

[Three60]

Its been confirmed that images above are NOT from GTR3.

[mclaren777]

Its been confirmed that images above are NOT from GTR3.

Oh snap!

"It is too early for us to release too many details but I can confirm shots are not from GTR3. We will soon release a lot more information so please stay tuned!" – Sofie Madsen, SimBin

[Dilly]

Wasn't that Automaniax game supposed to be in open beta 3 weeks ago?

[1-D_FTW]

rfactor in 3D is absolutely glorious.

Got a new 120hz 3D monitor and since my GTX 460 can't handle 1080P 3D at 60fps (120hz) in rfactor 2, decided I'd re-install rfactor last night. WOW! 3D is absolutely superb with the game. And with 1080P cranked and the AA at supersampling, it's an absolute sight to behold. It's a shock and awe in the IQ space that I really haven't experienced since the old Sega racing arcade days.

Tried rfactor 2 in 3D, but without the ability to drive the framerate, it just isn't as good for me.

[mclaren777]

rfactor in 3D is absolutely glorious.

Super jealous. :(

[1-D_FTW]

Super jealous. :(

I was skeptical. But Amazon Warehouse had the Asus VG236H for 254 dollars (included the 3D Vision kit) and I figured despite my skepticism, was going to finally cave at that price. Even though it was a return, I can't find anything wrong with it. No dead pixels or anything.

Of course, 2 days after I ordered, Amazon dropped the new price to 305.99 and you can get a 30 dollar rebate through Asus. So I would have went new if I'd know it was only gonna be twenty dollars more.

For people who don't have problems with 3D, I can't recommend these monitors enough. Between the super smoothness of 120hz and the 3D, it's amazing. And this is coming from someone who was super disappointed with the Sony HMZ-T1.

[Arucardo]

rfactor in 3D is absolutely glorious. Got a new 120hz 3D monitor and since my GTX 460 can't handle 1080P 3D at 60fps (120hz) in rfactor 2, decided I'd re-install rfactor last night. WOW! 3D is absolutely superb with the game. And with 1080P cranked and the AA at supersampling, it's an absolute sight to behold. It's a shock and awe in the IQ space that I really haven't experienced since the old Sega racing arcade days. Tried rfactor 2 in 3D, but without the ability to drive the framerate, it just isn't as good for me.

Wanna know what's even better? Head tracking and 3d vision combined on rFactor and doing a lap of Targa Florio with an old 911 :P .

[saladine1]

Are we ever going to see a 'AAA' full blown high production valued racing sim on PC?
When I first started playing rFactor, I tried to bring in my mates. They couldn't get into it purely because it didn't have the values a console game like GT or FM do.
I know it's a niche market out there but perhaps someone, someday can woo the console players in with a game like Forza or Gran Turismo.
Highly unlikely?

[mclaren777]

Are we ever going to see a 'AAA' full blown high production valued racing sim on PC?

If SMS pulls off a miracle, pCARS might fit the bill.

Otherwise, your best bet is rF2, GTR3, or Assetto Corsa. The sim racing community just isn't large enough to sustain large AAA games.

[TJP]

Oh snap! "It is too early for us to release too many details but I can confirm shots are not from GTR3. We will soon release a lot more information so please stay tuned!" – Sofie Madsen, SimBin

Where is the quote from? Only places I can find the quote are here and on VirtualR.

[mclaren777]

Where is the quote from? Only places I can find the quote are here and on VirtualR.

About halfway down...

http://www.raceroom.net/forums/index.php/topic,1802

[TJP]

About halfway down... http://www.raceroom.net/forums/index.php/topic,1802

Cheers!

RaceDepartment sent an e-mail to SimBin and got that response.

[1-D_FTW]

Wanna know what's even better? Head tracking and 3d vision combined on rFactor and doing a lap of Targa Florio with an old 911 :P .

I'm gonna have to skip the head tracking, but sounds great otherwise. Challenge accepted:)

Only problem is I'm like a kid in the candy store. Keep trying different games that have excellent or 3D Vision Ready ratings.

[mclaren777]

[mclaren777]

Coming soon to rFactor 1 & 2...

Youtube

[Shaneus]

Wait... are they (officially) all the F1 2008 season drivers and cars? Holy shit.

[mclaren777]

Yes... "officially"

;)

[Shaneus]

Ahaha, good call. Glad they're not shying away from using actual helmet/car designs. If they have all the tracks in there as well from the season, that would be 100% epic and make the whole game even more worthwhile.

[TJP]

SimBin and Kunos met during the 24 hour race at the Nurburgring:


Aristotelis Vasilakos, Jay Ekkel, Alex Hummler, Thomas Jackermeier (Fanatec CEO), Alexander Loodin Ek, Georg Ortner and Marco Massarutto

SimBin:
After some long talks and discussions about our philosophy, approaches and many other subjects of live we of course had a go in the simulator. We also used their simulator to give them a taste of sounds engine, Marco started waving his hands and speaking like a true italian, so I guess we have his approval! Kudos to Kunos, we thoroughly enjoyed our test drive! They are making good progress with their project and we cant wait to give it a go once it has been released!

Kunos, thanks for your hospitality and thanks for the healthy, interesting and friendly discussion! As discussed next time we shall have a battle to find out who is fastest, either in real life or on a simulator…We shall meet again!

Kunos:
What a great surprise! The Simbin team on tour at the 24 hours of nurburgring paid us a visit and had a go on Assetto Corsa. They also showed us some of their impressive future work, very high quality. The most important thing? Being able to talk face to face with fellow developers that share the same passion for simracing. Happy faces everywhere and totally relaxed atmosphere.

Thank you for visiting us guys and looking forward for the next "duel" either virtual or real, cheers!

[dubc35]

Wow, that's pretty cool.

[mclaren777]

If any of you are using ancient AGP videocards or (Heaven forbid!) integrated graphics, please check out this Newegg sale...

$30 after rebate and promo code 'EMCYTZT1675'

[Arucardo]

Bah, been wrestling with rFactor (1) tonight trying to get Formula Nippon 08 working correctly. I get mis shift sounds (grinding gears) even with auto clutch on. I'm not sure if it's even affecting the transmission but my god does it bother me :F . Not sure how to go about fixing it or removing the sound completely.

[mclaren777]

What attracts you to Formula Nippon? I'd suggest Formula Armaroli instead.

Download

[Arucardo]

I'll hook up my sequential and try it out, thanks for the suggestion!

Is it an auto or manual clutch sequential (I mean should I leave auto clutch on or off)?

EDIT: Tried the car out on a few tracks and it's awesome, BUT having the same shifting problem with this. It's fine on upshifts but every time I start braking and shift down for the first time I hear the gear grinding sound, no matter how much throttle blip I give. I've been spending most of my time in rF with gated shifter cars so I haven't encountered this before. I wonder if one of the mods/series I have installed is causing this.

EDIT 2: Figured out the problem, one of the mods I have installed Grinding Transmission Mod and it was activated for all cars instead of just the mods/cars requesting it, I didn't try it out yet but I'm positive this fixed it. The gear grinding was driving me crazy last night, lol.

EDIT 3 (Oh god): awesome rF vid of my favorite mod http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=WWzgaHdFpm0

[Cuban Legend]

ISR leaked the CSP V2 recently which didn't go down to well either. I watch ISR but never rated them, bought my GT2 on the Fanatec hype and was never happy with it, funnily enough the CSRE which they hardly spoke about turned out to be massively better. Thier review of the MadCatz FFB Xbox wheel was quite awful to watch, that review could and should have been the CRSE.

I'm currently on an Xbox 360 Wireless Racing Wheel (bought 3 months ago, my first wheel as I was on a budget at the time), using it for Forza 4 and hacked together a Wireless 360-to-PC adapter to get the wheel working on PC (without FFB)... I love racing with a wheel now and would like to step up my game. I'm currently sizing up building the PVC Rig that ISR built/reviewed.

I'd like a FFB Wheel for all 3 systems (360,PS3,PC), I'd like to ask you (or anyone willing to answer) is the GT2 going to drop in price anytime soon as a new Fanatec Wheel is rumored, or will it drop out of production completely, is it still the best wheel for the $250 price point?

Anything you don't like about it, any little 'gems' of info that an experienced owner like you has learned about the GT2 from your usage of it?

Thanks in advance.

[Arucardo]

I'm currently on an Xbox 360 Wireless Racing Wheel (bought 3 months ago, my first wheel as I was on a budget at the time), using it for Forza 4 and hacked together a Wireless 360-to-PC adapter to get the wheel working on PC (without FFB)... I love racing with a wheel now and would like to step up my game. I'm currently sizing up building the PVC Rig that ISR built/reviewed. I'd like a FFB Wheel for all 3 systems (360,PS3,PC), I'd like to ask you (or anyone willing to answer) is the GT2 going to drop in price anytime soon as a new Fanatec Wheel is rumored, or will it drop out of production completely, is it still the best wheel for the $250 price point? Anything you don't like about it, any little 'gems' of info that an experienced owner like you has learned about the GT2 from your usage of it? Thanks in advance.

I love my Turbo S wheel which is pretty much the same thing but the rim is covered in leather . There should be a Forza Motorsport CSR (does work with ps3 too) wheel value pack still on sale at fanatec that's worth looking at. The GT2 is 250 just for the wheel I think but the value pack has CSR pedals in it too for the same price. It's the same base on both wheels but the steering wheel itself is a bit ligher on the CSR from what I hear, haven't had a chance to try it myself so I can't give any comparisons there.

[drugstore_cowboy]

I didn't get on with the GT2 so well, there's nothing wrong with it but it didn't turn so fast and freely as the G25. There was a dragging feeling from the belt and the (nice but heavy) rim dulled some of the subtle effects.

Take a look at the CSR (same internals as GT2 iirc) or if you can afford it, CSR Elite.

[Arucardo]

I didn't get on with the GT2 so well, there's nothing wrong with it but it didn't turn so fast and freely as the G25. There was a dragging feeling from the belt and the (nice but heavy) rim dulled some of the subtle effects. Take a look at the CSR (same internals as GT2 iirc) or if you can afford it, CSR Elite.

The drift mode alleviates this a bit but most PC sims are fine without it. A good comparison is using the G25 drivers for both wheels (fanatec drivers tend to have a bit more mushy, slow ffb). I should take my G25 out and do a proper comparison between both wheels but I already know I vastly prefer the Fanatec.

[drugstore_cowboy]

If I had nothing to compare the GT2 to I may not have been so down on the wheel but going from G25-GT2-CSRE made it's niggles stand out more. Drift mode works to lighten up the steering but it didn't feel natural to me.

People who've come over to play had no issues with the GT2. The CSRE just feels like the wheel I wanted the GT2 to be, albeit at twice the price.

[Arucardo]

If I had nothing to compare the GT2 to I may not have been so down on the wheel but going from G25-GT2-CSRE made it's niggles stand out more. Drift mode works to lighten up the steering but it didn't feel natural to me. People who've come over to play had no issues with the GT2. The CSRE just feels like the wheel I wanted the GT2 to be, albeit at twice the price.

Oh yeah, I'm sure the CSRE is a significant upgrade. I'd love to get a chance to test the CSRE and the T500 some day, especially in a sim, car and track combo I'm already familiar with.

[Cuban Legend]

Thanks fellas, the ISR fellas mentioned the dulling of some effects on the GT2 as one of the very few cons for it as the time because of it's heavy feel in their review, though they did balance it out with mentioning it had the strongest FFB they'd seen at the time.

I don't know how i like that very much as my XBOX 360 wheel might already be a bit heavy (havent done the bearing mod to it, it's on the original plastic bearing that makes the wheel heavier), so i might be used to the heavy feel.

I'll take a look at the CSR value pack. I'd love a value pack, as im not very rich at all , and I'm sad the GT2 clubsport edition is no longer made.

THANKS, I Will report back when I make a decision

EDIT: Yeah, looks like the CSR Value Pack XL will be my purchase. love the metallic CSR Elite pedals that come with it, 50 bucks more and i've got the conversion kit in the bag for the pedals, seems like the best money/value I can get right now?

[drugstore_cowboy]

If you need the Xbox compatibility, yeah it's probably the best value for money.

They get a lot of flack but I quite like those Fanatec shifters, pull the bearing out at the very least to stop the noise, it's an easily reversable mod. Elite pedals aren't far off the CSPs too.

[mclaren777]

PiBoSo has released the first beta for World Racing Series.

Features:
- automotive industry-standard tyre model
- dynamic track surface groove buildup
- wet track simulation and dynamic drying
- dynamic marbles generation
- tyres pickup of marbles, grass and dirt, affecting grip
- output of CSV files with telemetry data to analyze driving sessions
- a plugins interface allows external programs to receive realtime data from the simulated car
- LAN and online racing. Dedicated server available
- support for custom paint schemes for car, helmet and suit
- advanced users can build new tracks and integrate them with the provided tools
- user-selectable driver gestures

http://www.worldracingseries.net/

[scogoth]

New simulator at the McLaren dealership in Toronto. Not a bad little setup, cost = $50,000. They said they will be upgrading it with 3x 120Hz 3D monitors when LG releases their DM92 and a new F1 wheel (seen at the bottom)

[mclaren777]

The belts are an extreme touch.

Any pictures of the cars?