[bee]

well seeing as though everyone is posting these black friday deals i thought i'd post this one and also pimp my favourite game at the same time

http://www.iracing.com/

New Members: PRBLACKFRIDAYNEW09

Existing Subscribers: PRBLACKFRIDAY09


for anyone unfamiliar with the game its PC racing sim and its simply the best sim out there on any platform for $15 more than your average console game, complete bargain. its not very demanding you only need a 2 or 3 year old pc and a decent wheel, say driving force pro and upwards

this isn't some game for screenshot warriors to argue about non in game 96x supersampled bullshots though, this is pure racing with laser scanned tracks within 2cm accuracy of real life, an online safety rating that prevents wreckers and which consequently provides the safest, fairest racing i've ever come across online and a really great community. it also has big grids with i think a theoretical maximum of 64 players but with regular grids of 30 or so cars

there is no aliasing on this game with stupid names like umm bee! you use your real name on your credit card/paypal account so when you see you're racing against dale earnhardt jnr, justin wilson, alex gurney etc then yeah that's actually them, the real racing drivers who frequent the game

http://www.iracing.com/testimonials/

sure its expensive, for your $75 you get 5 cars (technically 3) and 8 tracks as standard with everything else as DLC. short tracks are $11.95 and long tracks $14.95 with cars being $11.95 (you keep all the dlc of course if your subscription lapses and you resubscribe at a later date) but if you're into this sort of game this really is the pinnacle, just buy the skip barber car and if you're not having fun within 2 mins then you're not a real sim racer

heres a few vids/screens of it to hopefully show it off, although its more the accuracy not the graphics to look for as its certainly not great looking although there are updates planned for hdr lighting, motion blur and all that other next gen shite

[IMG]http://i48.************/2ag0yzm.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i45.************/v6izp3.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i48.************/28hliqc.jpg[/IMG]

Watkins Glen

Virginia International

Justin Wilson talks iRacing

random fun 24hrs of fun vid i found

[Chris Murphy]

I'd soo get into this if I didn't work 12 hour days 7 days a week. My G25 is aching to be used.

[Diablohead]

This thread is the first time I heard of this sim, always thought bee's avatar was related to some racing forum, not a game.

The last PC sim I brought was LiveforSpeed (S1, years ago), is there any kind of trial for iracing? even if it's only for an hour or two.

[Kosma]

wtf is that spider doing there

[Drkirby]

Sounds pricey.

[Doc Evils]

I thought those screens were photos till I saw the spider thing.

[Metalmurphy]

What's with the creepy spider? I would have crashed for sure if I suddenly saw that in my rear view mirror oO

[bee]

This thread is the first time I heard of this sim, always thought bee's avatar was related to some racing forum, not a game. The last PC sim I brought was LiveforSpeed (S1, years ago), is there any kind of trial for iracing? even if it's only for an hour or two.

there is a trial of sorts, go here http://www.radicalsportscars.com/racing/virtual-racing its free and you get additional content with the radical car and silverstone track, but you will need to provide a credit card or paypal account details but as soon as you're in simply goto your account page and cancel the auto renew thing its pretty straight forward

What's with the creepy spider? I would have crashed for sure if I suddenly saw that in my rear view mirror oO

its really there at barber motorsports track, real life on the left, game on the right

[kennah]

Holy shit. This is made by ex-Papyrus employees? Now i want it!

[Chinner]

look at these screenshots of gt5 and forza 3. this game does not compare.

[Teknopathetic]

iRacing is absolutely amazing and if my wheel hadn't died (coincidentally, while I was playing the iRacing beta...), I would definitely take a long hard look at this deal, assuming I wasn't already subbed.

[WEGGLES]

look at these screenshots of gt5 and forza 3. this game does not compare.

In what way?

[Chris Murphy]

look at these screenshots of gt5 and forza 3. this game does not compare.

This is a subscription based racing sim built for racing pros and amateurs. Graphics are not the point of a service like this.

[Metalmurphy]

its really there at barber motorsports track, real life on the left, game on the right

Yeah I noticed that. I just didn't knew the track. Creepy.

[x3n05]

OK, that's insane. Is there a demo so I can try before I buy?

[VGChampion]

Those screens don't have the fancy look of these newer racing games but I really couldn't tell if they were real photos or not. Looks like a good game. If I was more of a racing person I would be all over this.

[Animal]

I'm very impressed.

But the virtual cars seems too stable. I'm not convinced I'll feel the grip of the wheels coming and going several times throughout the turn.

I guess it also might be highly dependent on the wheel I'm using too no?

[bee]

I'm very impressed. But the virtual cars seems too stable. I'm not convinced I'll feel the grip of the wheels coming and going several times throughout the turn. I guess it also might be highly dependent on the wheel I'm using too no?

use a g25/g27 or fanatec wheel and you definitely will, the only reason they seem stable is because the videos are of good drivers

[Ignignort]

sure its expensive

I never knew my digital entertainment would be worth so much money.

[EvilDick34]

How hardcore of a racing gamer do you have to be to enjoy this?

[speedpop]

Such an awesome program. I had a 1 year subscription back in '07 and had the time of my life with it.

How hardcore of a racing gamer do you have to be to enjoy this?

I'd say if you enjoy Forza Motorsport or Gran Turismo thoroughly then you might consider it.

[EvilDick34]

Eh, just went looking around at decent wheels and sorry, i am pretty hardcore but damn son, 250 dollars+ for a wheel to play a game for 75 dollars 1 year only is just too much. That isnt hardcore, that is just nerdville right there.

[Kawasaki]

Playing Forza 3 really made me appreciate iRacing. iRacing is pretty much the only racing game you can play online with collisions on without having to worry about the first corner. I’ve only had one race where there was a crash in the first corner and that was a rookie race so things might be even better in higher classes.

Handling is simply the best in any racing game and setting up your wheel etc is really easy. My only problems are the engine sounds on some cars and how expensive content is. I’d like to get the Lotus 79 F1 car, but I know it’s not suited for the original tracks so I’d have to buy new tracks as well.

[speedpop]

Eh, just went looking around at decent wheels and sorry, i am pretty hardcore but damn son, 250 dollars+ for a wheel to play a game for 75 dollars 1 year only is just too much. That isnt hardcore, that is just nerdville right there.

Depends on the content of your argument; what is more valuable - buying a $100K+ sports car to drive, or buying a $400 setup to drive the same car in a virtual-reality environment on a racetrack thousands of flight-hours away?

I'm always of the opinion that physics and gravity are what really contribute to how a car races and handles, but a decent substitute is better than none.

[DarkJC]

Eh, just went looking around at decent wheels and sorry, i am pretty hardcore but damn son, 250 dollars+ for a wheel to play a game for 75 dollars 1 year only is just too much. That isnt hardcore, that is just nerdville right there.

Removing the fact that you need a wheel, $75 for a year is a steal compared to pretty much any MMO

[TTG]

I'd say if you enjoy Forza Motorsport or Gran Turismo thoroughly then you might consider it.

I haven't played it, but I would think this is a lot closer to a flying sim than GT or Forza. Console racing sims are for fun first and foremost, they're only "realistic" as long as it makes the game better.

I gotta admit, I don't see much point in a pure racing sim. You can't simulate a thing like driving effectively no matter what wheel you buy, it's too much of an analogue experience. Weight transfer, brake feel, g force... it would be like simulating rock climbing with one of those latter climbing cardio machines at the gym

[speedpop]

I gotta admit, I don't see much point in a pure racing sim. You can't simulate a thing like driving effectively no matter what wheel you buy, it's too much of an analogue experience. Weight transfer, brake feel, g force... it would be like simulating rock climbing with one of those latter climbing cardio machines at the gym

You'd never ever be able to stimulate those things in a gaming environment due to the simple applications of a desk, chair, steering wheel and pedals.

That's why us lesser plebs have to resort to different means to try and emulate the feeling of racing around a track at 250-300km/hr on a circuit.

[Joseph Merrick]

amazing game. I'm just waiting for more euro tracks for resub'ing now. and more euro/non-crap american style racing vehicles. jetta is awesome, need more of this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnU-96zfjrs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNMVTcHOpLo&NR=1

[TTG]

You'd never ever be able to stimulate those things in a gaming environment due to the simple applications of a desk, chair, steering wheel and pedals. That's why us lesser plebs have to resort to different means to try and emulate the feeling of racing around a track at 250-300km/hr on a circuit.

That's my point. Emulating the feeling of racing around on tracks all over the world in any car money can and sometimes can't buy and having the most realistic tire wear model are on different ends of the scale in what I look for in a racing game. :lol

[Joseph Merrick]

let's stop making excuses for why forza and gran turismo are horrible games.

iracing is incredibly fun.

[Metalmurphy]

Removing the fact that you need a wheel, $75 for a year is a steal compared to pretty much any MMO

Yes, but that's only half of it. You'll need to buy new cars and tracks as you advanced through your ranks. :S And they're not exactly cheap.

[marvelharvey]

Like LFS, can this be activated on more than one single computer? I'd like to race both at home and the office.

[Diablohead]

I'll dip into iracing once I get some solid income again, it looks great but quite expensive.

[Joseph Merrick]

Like LFS, can this be activated on more than one single computer? I'd like to race both at home and the office.

pretty sure you can play it wherever you are. you just need to log on to the website and it's played through the website kind of, there is a client download but you launch it from the site.

[SecretBonusPoint]

sure its expensive, for your $75 1 year sub you get 5 cars (technically 3) and 8 tracks as standard with everything else as DLC. short tracks are $11.95 and long tracks $14.95 with cars being $11.95 (you keep all the dlc of course if your subscription lapses and you resubscribe at a later date) but if you're into this sort of game this really is the pinnacle, just buy the skip barber car and if you're not having fun within 2 mins then you're not a real sim racer

My eyes are wide with horror. I don't care if they game fucking fellates me, no game is worth that much. Buyers are completely insane at that price and setup.

[Ledsen]

My eyes are wide with horror. I don't care if they game fucking fellates me, no game is worth that much. Buyers are completely insane at that price and setup.

I don't think it's a game as much as a simulation. It's comparable to wannabe pilots who get insanely expensive set-ups for flight simulator then spend 12 hours real-time flying a Boeing from Europe to Asia.

[Scipius]

My eyes are wide with horror. I don't care if they game fucking fellates me, no game is worth that much. Buyers are completely insane at that price and setup.

This is sim racing. As with any serious simulations, the game should not necessarily be compared to its arcade cousins, but to the real thing. Compared to the price of real racing, this is dirt cheap. The only question that matters is whether or not the simulation is convincing enough or not for that price.

Anyway, I'm always keeping an eye on this game, if only because of my love for Grand Prix Legends. I would love to try it, but the current crop of cars and especially the tracks are just not compelling. It badly needs a European focus.

[epmode]

My eyes are wide with horror. I don't care if they game fucking fellates me, no game is worth that much. Buyers are completely insane at that price and setup.

Hardcore sim people are a special kind of crazy. Have you seen Railworks yet?

[marvelharvey]

pretty sure you can play it wherever you are. you just need to log on to the website and it's played through the website kind of, there is a client download but you launch it from the site.

Thanks, that sounds promising. I'd have hated for such an expense to be locked onto a single machine.

It badly needs a European focus.

This is the very reason I haven't bitten yet. Not only is motorsport at its most popular in Europe, sim games tend to sell in greater numbers there, so it's odd how US-orientated iRacing is.

[Darklord]

I don't think it's a game as much as a simulation. It's comparable to wannabe pilots who get insanely expensive set-ups for flight simulator then spend 12 hours real-time flying a Boeing from Europe to Asia.

Yeah but look at the old Flight Simulators. They only cost a normal price and had WAY more content than this and had a ridiculous number of mods and user made add-ons.

To me it seems this game either wants to be some "high class" racing sim or just wants to rip you off like some crimecraft bullshit. It's not like one of those crazy racing sims where you sit in a racing seat replica thing or whatever. $75 for only 1 year plus expensive as hell DLC? $15 for one track? Are you kidding me?

[Joseph Merrick]

Hardcore sim people are a special kind of crazy. Have you seen Railworks yet?

yeah. railworks and rise of flight are the same style of thing. I think they went over the top with railworks though, as I can see that being more of a thing where as a player you'd want to have as much of the content as possible. iracing not so much, you really only buy the stuff you're interested in racing. and at least I don't stay subbed more than a month at a time. as I'm really on/off with the different games I play. not sure how expensive iracing has been for me yet, but not more than a normal game.

[Burai]

Yeah but look at the old Flight Simulators. They only cost a normal price and had WAY more content than this and had a ridiculous number of mods and user made add-ons. To me it seems this game either wants to be some "high class" racing sim or just wants to rip you off like some crimecraft bullshit. It's not like one of those crazy racing sims where you sit in a racing seat replica thing or whatever. $75 for only 1 year plus expensive as hell DLC? $15 for one track? Are you kidding me?

You're totally approaching this game from the wrong angle. This really is a serious simulation. It's not a game at all. If you want a lower quality game with hundreds of cars and a nice photo mode, there are plenty out there.

But don't expect this title to drop to that level. There's a damn good reason why so many NASCAR drivers use this as part of their training regime and it's not because of a "totally sweet livery editor and auction house."

[Teknopathetic]

The thing to remember is that you're not just paying for the game, you're also paying for a service with all the dedicated servers, league management, etc. iRacing doesn't just simulate racing cars, it simulates the entire experience of organized racing. Most leagues/ladders that you'd play in other sims like rFactor, LFS, etc. would also have you pay a fee to take care of servers/website stuff.

And as mentioned before, the price doesn't even compare to doing *actual* racing.

[Darklord]

You're totally approaching this game from the wrong angle. This really is a serious simulation. It's not a game at all. If you want a lower quality game with hundreds of cars and a nice photo mode, there are plenty out there. But don't expect this title to drop to that level. There's a damn good reason why so many NASCAR drivers use this as part of their training regime and it's not because of a "totally sweet livery editor and auction house."

Yeah but like I said, Flight Simulators can be used my real pilots and I think even ARE used in training. They cost $50-60, have a ton of locations and planes plus a giant ton of extra stuff made by fans. What makes this so special it warrants $75/y + $15 DLC and those flight sims don't?

And whatever it comes down to this isn't real racing. It's silly saying "It's cheaper than racing a real car". Well duh but it doesn't have that feel of racing a real car which is on a whole other level.

[Teknopathetic]

"Yeah but like I said, Flight Simulators can be used my real pilots and I think even ARE used in training. They cost $50-60, have a ton of locations and planes plus a giant ton of extra stuff made by fans. What makes this so special it warrants $75/y + $15 DLC and those flight sims don't?"


The aforementioned servers, league management stuff.


"And whatever it comes down to this isn't real racing. It's silly saying "It's cheaper than racing a real car". Well duh but it doesn't have that feel of racing a real car which is on a whole other level."

That doesn't make the fact that it's significantly cheaper than actual racing irrelevant, sorry. The fact is, if you *want* the experience of organized racing but don't have the cash to do it for real, then iRacing is the closest to it, by far.

[Durante]

My eyes are wide with horror. I don't care if they game fucking fellates me, no game is worth that much. Buyers are completely insane at that price and setup.

Last I checked WoW was $180 a year, plus expansions. Not that I play either game, but I also don't think people that spend a bit on their hobby are crazy. Seriously, compared to many other hobbies that is still dirt cheap.

[Darklord]

"Yeah but like I said, Flight Simulators can be used my real pilots and I think even ARE used in training. They cost $50-60, have a ton of locations and planes plus a giant ton of extra stuff made by fans. What makes this so special it warrants $75/y + $15 DLC and those flight sims don't?" The aforementioned servers, league management stuff.

It's cool but I still can't see how it justifies that price, especially on the DLC. But hey, I think it's one of those games I just don't get. I'm sure there will be plenty of people who'd want it.

Does the game have things like tuning set-ups? My uncle is an ex-race car driver and he might like this but only if it has that. He loves tweaking racing cars(in fact, he built one).

[Wax Free Vanilla]

i tried the radical/silverstone free trial a while back and it's not worth it.

eagerly awaiting s3 for the superior lfs.

[Talamius]

It's cool but I still can't see how it justifies that price, especially on the DLC. But hey, I think it's one of those games I just don't get. I'm sure there will be plenty of people who'd want it.

There are. The super hardcore guys (some of whom are racers themselves, from the local to professional level) will spend thousands on their setups easily. In addition to the road racing cars and tracks, it has the NASCAR COT, Nationwide, and Trucks. That means this is as close to a NASCAR Racing 2010 Season as we are ever going to get.

Racing simulation is like flight simulation on the PC, it is THE hardcore end of the spectrum.

[Joseph Merrick]

i tried the radical/silverstone free trial a while back and it's not worth it.

don't hate the game just because silverstone is a shitty track. not fair