Competitive Racing Games Online

smr · 13 Jul 2011 at 18:57

Hi all,

I know this is a game thread and probably belongs in the PC or Games Console section but I don't know which of those to put it in, and as it's about motorsport games I thought there may be a few people on here who can advise me...

Basically, I used to be a hardcore Quake 3 (FPS for those of you (as if) who don't know) and I loved it for it's competitiveness; playing skilled real people over the Internet.

Anyway, I hung up my Rail Gun a couple of years ago when Quake 3 died and QL came out, and since then a void has formed which needs filling.

I'm looking to get involved in some sort of Online motor game action where there's competition and decent people.

F1 2010 is a bit of a joke online so that's a no go. The game doesn't have to necessarily be Formula 1, I'm into Rally as well and Gran Turismo etc.

I really enjoyed the OCUK F1 2010 Time trialling when it was going, that's the kind of fair competition I'm after.

Also I'm wondering which platform it would be better to get involved in. I've got a PS3 with GT5/ Dirt 3 and F1 2010.

I've got a beast PC (minus a decent GFX card) with no games whatsoever.

I've also got the G27 Wheel with pedals so I can use them on either platform.

Any advice much appreciated!

Kenai · 13 Jul 2011 at 19:18

If you're after simulation racing, then there are plenty of guys in the PC games into their online racing. Typical suggestions to look at, Life For Speed, rFactor, iRacing...

Housey · 13 Jul 2011 at 19:23

The only place to be is iRacing, nothing else comes close and iRacing 2 due, I think, this month will move the game on again. iRacing is serious, crashing and spinning will damage you and your ability to climb the ranks so it prompts proper driving standards and you can find yourself on the grid with some proper racers too as there is a big community of them out there racing on iRacing.

smr · 13 Jul 2011 at 19:50

Housey said:
The only place to be is iRacing, nothing else comes close and iRacing 2 due, I think, this month will move the game on again. iRacing is serious, crashing and spinning will damage you and your ability to climb the ranks so it prompts proper driving standards and you can find yourself on the grid with some proper racers too as there is a big community of them out there racing on iRacing.

Sounds just like my sort of thing, thanks

TaKeN · 13 Jul 2011 at 19:52

Have a look at the iRacing thread in the PC Games section smr. They do nice deals from time to time!

smr · 13 Jul 2011 at 19:59

TaKeN said:
Have a look at the iRacing thread in the PC Games section smr. They do nice deals from time to time!

can't find it :confused:

weyland yutani · 13 Jul 2011 at 20:25

Be prepared to pay for content on iRacing, does seem worth it though.

RaceDepartment is a great resource for racing game fans and a good place to find organised races and championships.

http://www.racedepartment.com/forum.php

RWS is quite good apparently, haven't raced there myself though.
http://www.raceworldseries.com/forums/

TaKeN · 14 Jul 2011 at 14:37

smr said:
can't find it

Sorry chap

It's not under the title of iracing, Here it is for you

pcoltrane · 14 Jul 2011 at 15:20

Iracing is without question where you want to be.

The quality of the online racing is absolutely second to none.
The licensing system ensures that people race fairly and cleanly.

The racing can be as competetive (or not) as you want it to be. There are championship seasons held for each car, 4 seasons per year. The very best even compete for cash prizes at venues around the world.
It equally suits those who are just looking for some fun clean exciting racing too.

If you rush out and buy all cars and circuits you can spend a fair amount on it. But there is no need to do this. If you instead pick a car you like and gradually buy the circuits you need to race, the cost is very reasonable for what you get out of it.

See you on track soon

SKILL · 14 Jul 2011 at 15:33

Another vote for iRacing here, especially for it's competition structure:
1) 12-week 'seasons' 4x a year, seperated by 'week 13' which is an oddball week where they drop a new build of software with some new goodies (next one is in a couple of weeks and is the '2.0' already mentioned)

2) Each week for each car is a different track, and you're placed in a division for both racing and tt'ing based on your skill level

3) Due to the 'Safety Rating' the races are far cleaner than general public/pick-up racing, bad driving can be protested to the 'chief steward', there are flaws in this system but it's better than anything else.

And then you get onto the actual sim software, it's basically the best there is right now, and with the 'new tyre model' rolling out now it's looking to get a whole heap better (it's on one oval car so far, and it's a massive improvement for that style of racing at least, unknown how good it'll be for road cars though but can't imagine it being crap

)

Downside, of course, is cost, you pay a monthly sub ($99 for a full year iirc, they do 1, 3, 6, 12 and 24 month packages I believe getting progressively cheaper per-month) and then content over and above the 'basic' package (essentially just rookie level stuff and some tracks) is $11.95 for cars and $11.95-$14.95 for tracks.

If you go straight for 100% content it's a lot, but once there, or if you just buy what you need/want to race with then it's not too bad, I'm at 100% and there's 2 cars and 2 tracks coming out with the new build that I'll end up buying, think it's around $35 with my discount (25% for having/getting all content, otherwise would be 10% for more than 3 items but less than 6) so not too bad really, last build was 'free' to stay at 100% iirc so it varies but generally it's 1 car and track per 3 month season.

Over the past 3 years I've been a member constantly, and bought all content (and it used to be more expensive) so I've spend over $800 now, plus pc upgrades and triple screens, and frankly it's worth it, no other game has been played as much as I've played this, and with the constant updates it just keeps getting better

weyland yutani · 14 Jul 2011 at 17:59

What sort of systems are you guys running, are they built for sim racing or more powerful to cope with more graphicaly intensive games and applications too? Coming off consoles I want to get into more serious racing and thinking i5 2500k, 4GB Ram, 5850 1GB, 650W psu.

I'd really like to overstretch my budget to a 6950 2GB for possible tho unlikely future triple screen but for now it's single screen at 1080p. Is the 5850 adequate?

SKILL · 14 Jul 2011 at 19:18

weyland yutani said:
What sort of systems are you guys running, are they built for sim racing or more powerful to cope with more graphicaly intensive games and applications too? Coming off consoles I want to get into more serious racing and thinking i5 2500k, 4GB Ram, 5850 1GB, 650W psu.

I'd really like to overstretch my budget to a 6950 2GB for possible tho unlikely future triple screen but for now it's single screen at 1080p. Is the 5850 adequate?

Mine's not all that powerful really:
Core 2 Duo E8500 @ ~3.9-4.15GHz
4Gb mem
1Gb 5850 driving 3x 26" screens 5760x1200

It's not idea, struggles especially at Spa but does do the job,

For a single 1080P screen that system should do nicely, I think it's the GPU/1Gb VRAM that causes most of my issues but that's with 3x the res so understandable

For iRacing at least I'd imagine a 2500K (preferably oc'ed as it's quite cpu bound) + 2Gb 6950 would be ideal for a triple monitor setup

weyland yutani · 14 Jul 2011 at 19:58

Thanks, triple screen must be a ton of fun!

I've seen lots of Spa videos on youtube, the fidelity looks stunning, can't imagine how epic Suzuka will be. Are there more European circuits on the horizon?

d_brennen · 14 Jul 2011 at 20:06

The lack of a decent Gran Toursimo style collect-em-all online racing game (with leagues and cups etc) is pretty criminal on the PC imo

Sims are good though

SKILL · 14 Jul 2011 at 22:23

weyland yutani said:
Thanks, triple screen must be a ton of fun!

I've seen lots of Spa videos on youtube, the fidelity looks stunning, can't imagine how epic Suzuka will be. Are there more European circuits on the horizon?

Triple screen is something else, really would struggle to go back now

Spa is a beautifully done track, with each release they seem to get that little bit better, as for tracks the two I know they've scanned are Oulton Park and Zolder, there's also another aussie track iirc, and they've got a deal but had some issues with Interlagos (getting the scanning gear into Brazil)

They do seem to be working towards the F1 level tracks, Silverstone was out way before the FW31 but then they've added Spa, Suzuka and Interlagos as deals/released, and I'm sure they're aiming to get more of them. It started off very USA-centric for fairly obvious reasons but that's changing over time...

pcoltrane · 15 Jul 2011 at 12:48

My System is relatively low spec, but handles iracing just fine.

X2 550BE unlocked to 4 cores and a lowly HD4670 running on a single 22" screen

I run with a little detail turned off (just some shadow detail and external mirrors) purely to ensure I stay on the frame rate cap even in races with the biggest grids.
Graphicaly it still looks decent.

Kerming · 16 Jul 2011 at 14:45

ok, only one game can rule here. that game is called rfactor.

but the new one i think is comming out in september called rfactor 2 is going to be an iracing killer.

Housey · 16 Jul 2011 at 16:10

Kerming said:
ok, only one game can rule here. that game is called rfactor.

but the new one i think is comming out in september called rfactor 2 is going to be an iracing killer.

Nah. rFactor is good for the sheer choice of tracks and cars for zero outlay, but it's not on the same page when it comes to realism or controlled and structured online racing and iRacing 2 is out this month. There is a reason you pay for iRacing and not for rFactor. Good game, not as good as iRacing when it comes to simulating racing.