GESC Racing: The perpetual all things virtual cars thread. (includes GT6,Forza 5,etc)

Is that like the original OutRun I used to play... 35 years ago at the arcade? May have to grab it.

iRacing next month is making the biggest change to the sim in years - the Tempest dynamic weather system. The wreck fest in turn 1 is going to be 10X more... wrecky... in the rain. Tried doing some GT3 racing this weekend after nothing but F4 for the past 3 weeks, and even a Ferrari feels like driving a dump truck after open wheel go-karts.

Looks like AC2 is coming out in a few months as well.

TK_SVT said:

Not sure this is really the right thread, but it's general sim racing, I suppose.
GoG is currently giving away free the original FlatOut game. (Until Feb 22nd, I think?)

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I decided to check it out & that deal is either over, or I'm looking at the wrong thing. It's currently showing as 20% off.

Kilkenny said:

I decided to check it out & that deal is either over, or I'm looking at the wrong thing. It's currently showing as 20% off.

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It ended over the weekend

Kilkenny said:

I decided to check it out & that deal is either over, or I'm looking at the wrong thing. It's currently showing as 20% off.

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It showed that 20% off for me too in the search results page. But once I clicked into the actual page, then it had a pop over with "Free" button on it. It's possible the free giveaway has ended early? I don't get the pop over on my phone, now. (I can't hit GoG from my work PC. Auditors take away all our fun.)

NervousEnergy said:

Is that like the original OutRun I used to play... 35 years ago at the arcade? May have to grab it.

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Naw, it's banger racing. Basically Dukes of Hazzard overland racing style driving. Lots of door contact, pushing, shoving, etc. Cars that are one step better than ready for a demolition derby. A kind of neat mechanic in that contact and causing some property damage increases your boost. But you don't want to risk getting much damage to your own car, because a bent wheel or something can really slow you down. So there's a good risk/reward balance there. (IMHO, later FlatOut games leaned too heavily into causing wreckage and got away from that risk/reward balance and just made it all reward for causing chaos, which wasn't really my gig.) All sorts of vaguely American cars from things that strongly resemble 80's Omnis and Daytonas, through 60's Mustangs and Chargers, and 70's luxobarges, and bunches of stuff in between. None licensed, but easy to see what they were going for by size and design language.

The tracks are fairly varied, with some technical bits and some straights, hills, crests, etc. Many have a shortcut somewhere on them. But again, there's a risk/reward, as the shortcuts tend to be high danger. (narrow with hard walls, or need a precise jump, etc)

Overall, it was a great early 2000's game that kind of dropped in out of nowhere and then disappeared. At least until Wreckfest came out a few years ago. (Wreckfest did away with the boost mechanic and the shortcuts, but otherwise is a very close successor.)

NervousEnergy said:

iRacing next month is making the biggest change to the sim in years - the Tempest dynamic weather system. The wreck fest in turn 1 is going to be 10X more... wrecky... in the rain. Tried doing some GT3 racing this weekend after nothing but F4 for the past 3 weeks, and even a Ferrari feels like driving a dump truck after open wheel go-karts.

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Yeah, I was wondering if I'd renew my iRacing. It's been a few years. Mostly I haven't been doing enough serious driving lately, though. The weather system they're hyping looks like a pretty big breakthrough for them. Should be wild.

NervousEnergy said:

Looks like AC2 is coming out in a few months as well.

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Yeah! I'll certainly pick up that one. Assetto Corsa has been my go-to for just wanting to drive since it came out.

I hadn't raced in 8 months or so, but went and picked up a F1 rim for the DD base, and it completely changed the game. Having a blast in F4. Though even in the 1K IR low splits the top drivers are scary machines that have obviously done hundreds (thousands?) of laps on whatever track the series is on, when I have the time and focus for 40 or 50 at most. Tough to be competitive at all.

Need to work up the oval license.

I think somewhere back in this thread I talked about liking Project Cars 2, and haven't re-found the recommendations made after that (was lazy in my search and only looked for the game I'm about to ask for info on). But just got a Humble email that includes Assetto Corsa Competizione being on sale. I've got the old red Logitech MOMO wheel and pedals, and an i5-9600K with GTX-1080 under Win10/64. Will it run acceptably? Think I have a decent chance of liking it given that I like (still) PC2? Thanks.

Wrakkenruan said:

I think somewhere back in this thread I talked about liking Project Cars 2, and haven't re-found the recommendations made after that (was lazy in my search and only looked for the game I'm about to ask for info on). But just got a Humble email that includes Assetto Corsa Competizione being on sale. I've got the old red Logitech MOMO wheel and pedals, and an i5-9600K with GTX-1080 under Win10/64. Will it run acceptably? Think I have a decent chance of liking it given that I like (still) PC2? Thanks.

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I assume the GTX 1080 will be able to give you decent performance, however it will depend on your monitor resolution. 1080p will be great, 1440p will require you to reduce some settings (since your card doesn't support DLSS, but you could use FSR so that should get you a good enough result). 4k will be a struggle to get good frame rates.

The wheel itself is really old, though. Not sure it will work very well in game (I'm honestly surprised it worked in pCARS 2 to be honest). You could try googling FFB settings for Logitech cog-driven wheels, but there won't be many people out there still using that wheel.


As for liking ACC? I find it one of the best race sims currently available. It looks great, has a big selection of laser scanned race tracks (although you have to pay extra for some of them as DLC), the AI is superb to race against, and the physics and FFB are top class. However, it's limited to GT3 cars (with GT4 and recently GT2 cars added as DLC packs). If you want a more varied set of vehicles to drive, then you would need to look elsewhere.

"somewhere back in this thread I talked about liking Project Cars 2, and haven't re-found the recommendations made after that"

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Automobilista 2 is from the old PC team, apparently. Well worth checking out, in addition to AC and ACC.

Just to clarify: Automobilista is from a team which started off modding rFactor to make their first game, then they switched to use the pCARS engine in Automobilista 2. They are Brazilian based and their game focus was always on that part of the world, not the US or Europe. So their track list differs as a result.

AMS 2 is definitely a decent game, if a little bit dated in visuals compared to ACC. It offers a mixed bag in terms of tracks and cars which are licensed or unlicensed (with a lot of the good stuff being DLC). Where it is especially well regarded is in the VR mode and the quality of the AI. But you can also get the base game very cheaply in a Steam sale.

But to be clear, apart from the use of the pCARS engine, Automobilista 2 is very much a separate development team.

iRacing released their big quarterly update yesterday, and this one included the largest singe feature they've done in a decade - the Tempest weather system, and it's amazing. Racing in the rain is something other sims have done, but the degree of realism iRacing is getting with traction effects, standing water, sounds, spray, etc is just incredible. Finding a line through a well-used track where the main line has been worn smooth is a challenge, as the traction on the smooth part of the track is way worse than the less-used part. Rain tires also drastically change the feel of the ride.

It's going to make beginner races tough, so it remains to be seen where it will be implemented. The popular Events that mirror real-world races (24 hours at Daytona / Le Mans, etc.) are supposed to follow the real-world forecast, which should bring a neat element of immersion.

Seems to be about a 20% framerate hit, so not as bad as some were expecting, but still might crater marginal systems.

I've been super excited monitoring the progress of Tempest over the last year or so once information started coming out. I haven't been doing much racing but have a subscription and really itching to try this out. The depth they've taken the system to is amazing.

I'm curious to see whether weather can be enjoyed by the average driver in the race series this is implemented on. Driving in the rain is bloody hard in the real world. Very easy for your own or someone elses minor screw up to end a race weekend. I love that they implemented it, love that they're trying to integrate it into their regular series. Not sure if the skillset in the average driver even after practicing will be high enough to still make for a fun hobby experience.

Will be curious to see if they find they need to dumb down damage or something else to balance reality/fun for their official series and leave hardcore rain for leagues and large events.

Biscuit said:

Not sure if the skillset in the average driver even after practicing will be high enough to still make for a fun hobby experience.

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You don't need rain to make that a true statement. I can see them adding an extra free fast repair to rain events at C and lower.

Finally picked up rookie ovals in the last week after getting frustrated by all the (to me) Aliens in C class road racing. Even in the low splits in F4 and F3 there are drivers pulling off consistent times I can't get within 2-3 seconds of. There's a big cliff in terms of track practice - if you haven't done 500+ laps on a particular track you're not competitive.

Ovals so far have been a blast. You learn two (or three) braking and accel points, then it's all about avoiding the idiots. I got my first podium finish in ages yesterday (third) after downtime in rookie street stock, starting at 8th. Just leave enough space for emergency dodges and watch half a lap ahead. In road racing I'm very lucky if I can finish top 10.

Some of my most favorite memories of iRacing was way back in the day when they released The Milwaukee Mile and running Star Mazda practices/races there. Easy enough to set that car up with the limited options it had and there was plenty of participation.

It probably didn't hurt that I knew how to set the car up and felt like an open wheel version of Days of Thunder in practice sessions.

Assetto Corsa Competizione has finally released their 24h Nurburgring track DLC (€12,99).

It's really very good. Clearly heavily updated from their AC original, complete with a vast amount more trackside detail, and of course with the modern ACC lighting model (HDR included). Looks amazing, drives great. Highly recommended.


P.S. This update also changed BOP so that the Ferrari Challenge and Huracan Super Trofeo are now in line with the cars from the GT2 pack. For the Lambo that's expected since there's actually a factory GT2 modification kit to get the car into the class, however Ferrari doesn't seem to make such a kit for the 488 Challenge, so it's a little surprise to see it getting this modification. Good move, though, since the GT2 class can have a Ferrari properly now.

Steam has the AC Dream Pack 1 for $2.79

• Features the legendary Nurburgring-Nordschleife circuit in three all-new layouts: Nurburgring-Nordschleife, Tourist, Endurance.
• Features the Bridge To Gantry mode, that allows to simulate the real track day rules of Nurburgring.
• Features Alfa Romeo 4C, GTA and 155 Ti V6 ‘93
• Features BMW M235i Race car
• Features GM Corvette C7r GTE
• Features McLaren P1 and F1 GTR
• Features Mercedes-Benz 190E EVO II and C9
• Features Nissan GT-R NISMO 2014 GTR

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I had picked up the game a couple years back, huge 1.5h of playtime, moved on to Forza Horizon 4 then 5, but I was disappointed with lack of Nurburgring in AC, so for little bit more than $2, might try it out.

Assetto_Corsa_Competizione is also on sale, 70% off, CDN$ 14.99, not bad.

Ha, Foza Horizon 5 also 50% off. Ha, Forza Motorsport too.

In other news, Goosiest did a review about the new Unlimited Test Drive Demo, and it didn't seem to be ultra positive.. I was looking forward to the game, now... Think it'll be a skip for me. Nice scenery, trash AI, ok'ish gameplay and physics.. The last minute is worth watching, about the state of racing.

He mentions The Crew, think I heard the name here and there, never checked it out, maybe I should... Also BeamNG might be interesting

The Crew 2 was FH5's competitor for a long time. It's set in a quite empty USA and includes cars, bikes, planes and boats. You should be able to get the full game in a sale for under $10 if you just want to have a go, but be prepared for mediocre physics.

The Crew Motorfest was released late last year as a direct FH5 wannabe. It is set on Hawaii Island and has a very pretty and more dense locale, but smaller compared to The Crew 2 (slightly larger than FH5 though). I tried it in beta but found that while the physics were much improved over The Crew 2 it still doesn't really appeal to my Forza-based preferences. Also the career mode is rather clunky. And it seems lower resolution on the Series X compared to FH5 as well (doesn't seem to hit 4k much).
But again, it's older now so you should be able to have a go relatively cheaply if you want.

TDU Solar Crown is in beta still, so a lot will change. Performance was apparently bad in the version everyone got to try. But having watched a few comments on it, I concluded that it won't meet my physics requirements either, still a bit too bland/arcade driving experience. I will definitely not preorder and will wait and see how the finished game looks.


ACC is my favourite non-Forza driving game for use with the controller. And it has superb AI and therefore great single player GT racing. I enjoyed myself so much I bought it on Xbox and PC, and even rebought most DLC on the Xbox too (only missing the 2024 DLC, waiting for a sale). If you want to try it with a controller let me know since I have put quite a bit of time into making it feel as Forza-alike as I could.

BeamNG is a car sandbox far more extreme than FH or The Crew. You can model whatever you like and then take it driving. Physics are quite serious. It's something which can be great or confusing depending on how much time you can put into it. But don't expect to just chill there in the same way you could on FH or The Crew.

FH4 is getting delisted. I find that I own the Ultimate edition. But I remember some cars I do not own as they were sold after the ultimate edition was released. I wonder if that car pack will be lost.

Using FH3 as an example:

• I own the Ultimate Edition, which includes the Hot Wheels and Blizzard Mountain expansions, plus car pass (which came in the form of 6 named car packs - https://forza.fandom.com/wiki/Forza_Horizon_3/Downloadable_Content ), VIP car pack and launch (Motorsport) car pack.
• After delisting, I decided to install it on a new Series X and a new PC:
  Xbox: I was able to install the base game and expansions directly from the store, since I already owned them. This included all DLC cars which were part of the Ultimate Edition.
  PC: (this was a year or so later) I was able to install the base game easily (including VIP and the free cars with the Ultimate Edition). I was also able to install the expansion packs, but only after finding the Xbox Store URLs. Log in to the Microsoft website with your Microsoft ID, then you get the option to select "install to" and pick "PC". This gets you the expansion packs successfully installed onto your PC.
• However, post-launch free or paid DLC car packs that I never downloaded before were a different issue. I didn't qualify to have the free Mountain Dew DLC pack since I didn't download it before delisting, and the paid Porsche pack was unable to be purchased since it was delisted. I can see all cars from both packs in the Dealership in game, but I can't purchase either pack since it can no longer be found on the store.

I think that if the Store has a flag set that you own a free or paid DLC car pack (which in the case of FH4 is only the HotWheels car pack), it should let you continue to download and use that pack if you install the game on a new device post-delisting. However there is a small risk that stuf like free DLC packs might disappear. I'm not 100% certain.

To be safe, make sure you qualify for all FH4 DLC before the game is delisted. You should have from mid August until early December when the game is still available on the store but there are no new seasonal playlists coming to catch up and get hold of all the cars in the game that you want.

Official statement:


Delisting in the Store will take place in December, but that shouldn't affect anything in game.

Writing a separate post: Apparently Microsoft has already delisted the DLC car packs.

Edit: I just checked and I can access all cars and all car packs which I could access before. This means that even though certain car packs have been delisted (potentially including the Hot Wheels paid DLC pack, the free Formula Drift and Mitsubishi packs) if you have them installed at the moment then you will still keep access to them.

Potentially you won't be able to install those car packs on future Xbox or PCs, however. This is kind of what happened to me with FH3, however I was expecting that paid packs like the Hot Wheels pack would still be available to download if you own them. I guess we'll find out later in the year.

Been shopping for a rig upgrade to the 14 year old Obutto - specifically to help with a more rigid wheel mount and easier flexibility with swapping pedals between racing and rudders. There's a LOT of competitors out there now - almost too many. Prices all over the place, making shopping difficult.

Racing the Dallara IR18 IndyCar almost exclusively lately in iRacing. I do fairly well on the ovals where not driving right on the ragged edge is generally rewarded, but I'm the slowest driver on the track by a huge margin on any road course. Car's a blast to drive, though.

I'm in the same position with an Obutto I bought in 2016. I think my current decision is a SimLab P1X. But, I have to figure out what do to for pedals: buy new pedals or parts to mount my hanging pedals.

y2k_se said:

I'm in the same position with an Obutto I bought in 2016. I think my current decision is a SimLab P1X. But, I have to figure out what do to for pedals: buy new pedals or parts to mount my hanging pedals.

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I looked closely at SimLab and considered them, but there were two large issues: Microcenter is the exclusive US distributor and I have one close to me, but they're perpetually out of stock. The other issue is the slanted supports for the wheel deck. They look neat and I suppose they facilitate getting in and out of the rig easier, but after-purchase reports showed regret for getting that style ran at least 4-1 over happiness. The issues were attachment support (you can't attach anything to the uprights that isn't made for slant posts, which is rare) and difficulty in getting a perfect adjustment between wheel, seat, and monitor. I have a LOT of stuff that's been attached to this Obutto over the last 14 years, mostly with RAM mounts, and I want to get away from that.

Placed order for a TrakRacer 160-4 over the weekend. Best combination of style, attachment support, and out-of-the-box suitability. Packaging and QC troubles at the start of the pandemic seem to have been near completely alleviated according to most recent reviews. Will be mounting the rudder pedals to the add-on floor plate. They also have a pretty effective looking top-mount frame for a bit more money that may suit your needs perfectly. My pedals are top mount as well but they're the old MPPC Simpedals (not made anymore) in their own specific frame. I'll probably have to drill a few extra holes in the wheel deck to mount it.

If I'd wanted to burn a lot more money I'd have gone with MonsterTech MTS - they have the most flexibility and support for switching between flight and racing, and since since every bit is made in Germany I'm sure the quality is cadillac - but so is the price and the astronomical shipping costs from Hannover to Dallas.