iRacing

trickycurve · 2 May 2013 at 21:09

I need to force myself to spend some time with this game. Every now and then I buy a sub but only use it to do a handful of test laps before giving up, but I decided to spend a bit of time on it this evening and am getting used to it more than I did any time before.

Took the MX-5 around Lime Rock for about 40 minutes and managed to get consistently into the 1:02s, though I honestly have no idea if that's a decent time for a relative beginner at iRacing.

Anyway, really enjoying it for the first time so hopefully I can make the most out of my 3-month sub.

Spils · 2 May 2013 at 21:10

Ill be on in half an hour for some mp4 fun. May diva laguna race after a few practoce laps if anyones up for it.

Murray · 2 May 2013 at 21:12

I done a race on Laguna Seca earlier in the MP4, good fun. I'll join you after the Skip Barber race.

Also 1:02s on Lime Rock isn't bad at all for a beginner. I do 1:00s and I consider Lime Rock to be my best track.

Spils · 2 May 2013 at 21:13

trickycurve said:
I need to force myself to spend some time with this game. Every now and then I buy a sub but only use it to do a handful of test laps before giving up, but I decided to spend a bit of time on it this evening and am getting used to it more than I did any time before.

Took the MX-5 around Lime Rock for about 40 minutes and managed to get consistently into the 1:02s, though I honestly have no idea if that's a decent time for a relative beginner at iRacing.

Anyway, really enjoying it for the first time so hopefully I can make the most out of my 3-month sub.

Just add us all or post you name here. Nothing gets you up to pace like running laps with other people. It's a lot more fun.

barmyllama · 2 May 2013 at 21:32

Totality said:
Murray, what series are you racing in with the Mclaren? I'm D now but can't see a series that features it - are you just doing practice runs? You seem to be doing well and I suppose some people are just naturally good at racing (you git!). My mate came over yesterday and had a go. Within 30 mins he was hitting my lap times! I must be one of the naturally average players

It was either the Mclaren, Skippy or a NASCAR as I actually like oval races (oh the shame!). Out of the Mclaren or Skippy which would you say is better? Plan on buying one this weekend.

A mate just joined so I received the referral bonus. He also bought my wheel off me so I purchased a T500RS kit. I'm finding it a heavy wheel to turn even with dampening turned off? Anyone else have one? The G27 was very light and this one is very heavy haha!

I have a T500

I have spring and damper on 0%, everything else is default.

Totality · 2 May 2013 at 23:45

barmyllama said:
I have a T500

I have spring and damper on 0%, everything else is default.

Yeah I have those on 0% but it still feels heavy when turning corners. Not massively so, but a lot heavier than a real car. Is that just normal?

I adjust the spring and damper between 0-100 and don't actually notice any difference really. Is it quite subtle on the T500? On the g27 you would feel it from going really loose to heavier and clunky

PLazarou · 2 May 2013 at 23:53

Totality said:
A mate just joined so I received the referral bonus. He also bought my wheel off me so I purchased a T500RS kit. I'm finding it a heavy wheel to turn even with dampening turned off? Anyone else have one? The G27 was very light and this one is very heavy haha!

There is a thread in the iRacing forums with very detailed recommendations for the FFB settings for most wheels including the T500. If you have it set up properly it should be both very delicate and very forceful when appropriate. I don't find mine to be heavy at all, and I came from a Driving Force Pro which was powered by a flea. The first thing you need to make sure you have ticked is the 'linear' option in iRacing. Make note of the force gauge that is displayed in the top right of the screen by default (it has a few bars that display framerate, connection quality, etc. the bottom one is FFB). If you find that it is maxing out and flashing red a lot during cornering, you probably have the feedback slider up too high.

By the way, the damper will do nothing unless you set it in both the Thrustmaster driver and in iRacing. So if you put it at 100% in the driver, and have it at 0 in iRacing, it will have zero damping. But keep it at 100% in the driver and turn it up in iRacing and you'll soon feel like you're steering through treacle.

Bleek · 3 May 2013 at 09:20

On the Fanatec GT3 I set in game to around 15-20 depending on car, 100% on the wheel with 0 damper and it feels pretty realistic.

I'd like the game to communicate undulations and curbs a bit more (better) though.

barmyllama · 3 May 2013 at 09:21

I wouldn't say the T500 feels heavy, but it is harder to move quickly than a G25 or G27. That might also be down to the fact that the actual wheel rim is bigger, so you physically have to move your hands further than with a smaller rim.

I might get te new Ferrari 458 add on wheel, it's slightly smaller than the GT rim I have. I'm a bit disappointed it doesn't have an Alcantara finish though like Fanatec's BMW GT3 rim.

Totality · 3 May 2013 at 13:18

Sorted the T500 out now and it's good! Also picked up the Skip Barber for a bit of a fun car and its just that - great fun.

It's a shame you can't play with mates on tracks without paying for sessions though. I thought you could do practice sessions with a mate, but it appears you can only join in the official practice sessions which is a shame. We don't get to race together in races due to different iratings so I was hoping to get some one on one racing round lime rock in the skippy but I can't without paying to host a session from what I can see?

barmyllama · 3 May 2013 at 13:21

Totality said:
Sorted the T500 out now and it's good! Also picked up the Skip Barber for a bit of a fun car and its just that - great fun.

It's a shame you can't play with mates on tracks without paying for sessions though. I thought you could do practice sessions with a mate, but it appears you can only join in the official practice sessions which is a shame. We don't get to race together in races due to different iratings so I was hoping to get some one on one racing round lime rock in the skippy but I can't without paying to host a session from what I can see?

What settings did you change? Wouldn't mind trying yours to compare.

PLazarou · 3 May 2013 at 13:43

Totality said:
Sorted the T500 out now and it's good! Also picked up the Skip Barber for a bit of a fun car and its just that - great fun.

It's a shame you can't play with mates on tracks without paying for sessions though. I thought you could do practice sessions with a mate, but it appears you can only join in the official practice sessions which is a shame. We don't get to race together in races due to different iratings so I was hoping to get some one on one racing round lime rock in the skippy but I can't without paying to host a session from what I can see?

I believe that is correct. But what's stopping you from joining the official practice sessions? Sometimes it's not busy and you should be able to follow each other around the track at least for a few laps without interruption...

Totality · 3 May 2013 at 14:10

PLazarou said:
I believe that is correct. But what's stopping you from joining the official practice sessions? Sometimes it's not busy and you should be able to follow each other around the track at least for a few laps without interruption...

Yeah we were doing official practice ones without a problem, but you can't choose the track which was the only issue we had.

T500 is 60% for overall strength. Will need to check the other settings in control panel.

In game is where I changed it right down. FFB at around 15-20 for the Skippy, 0 damper and 2% minimal force thing.

PLazarou · 3 May 2013 at 14:32

Sounds about right.

I read somewhere that 56% is where the T500 motor's delivery stops being linear, so I've left it at that. Constant and Periodic are at 100%, everything else at 0%. In iRacing I use about 18 for the MP4, 20 for the Skip and about 28 for the MX-5. In the FFB thread the guy lists maximum figures for all the cars, but that results in all of them delivering pretty much the same force through your hands, and I like to maintain a bit more of a difference between vehicles, where the MX-5 still feels considerably lighter than the MP4 for example.

Murray · 3 May 2013 at 15:36

To drive with friends its probably better just to join the same official practice session. Its easy to run with laps with people on them anyway

Spils · 3 May 2013 at 16:17

PLazarou said:
I believe that is correct. But what's stopping you from joining the official practice sessions? Sometimes it's not busy and you should be able to follow each other around the track at least for a few laps without interruption...

yer this is what we do we all just have each other on friends list and join each other in a practice session then run laps together.

If you want your own personal race and your own personal settings then you have to pay for it don't worry its super cheap about 50p-£1 for 2-4 hours is it.

It would be nice to have everything for free but Iracing costs have to be meet, with the cost of a scan running around half a million quid, very good quality servers, you tell me any other racing game where you can race a guy in Australia and its as if hes sat in the same room as you. Some race games Ie codemasters heaps of junk thats gets churned out every year. The net code you can be playing someone in your local area and they lag like mad.

Its a small price to pay for such great quality. IMO

Anotehr reason why they do it i guess is everything must stay server side to stop hacking and piracy. Hacking is at basically 0% and so is piracy. There doing a great job imo and theres not going to really change a winning formula.

PLazarou · 3 May 2013 at 16:38

They could add the option to host a private race from your PC, avoiding charges, but that opens up a huge can of worms. Having everything centralised maintains their consistency and a connection quality that is unrivaled in my experience. It still amazes me to this day!

Murray · 3 May 2013 at 17:30

It costs £1.50 for a 6 hour session which isn't bad at all to be honest. We should maybe do one once a month if we get enough people.

trickycurve · 4 May 2013 at 16:17

Did my first ever qualifying session at Summit Point Raceway in the MX-5 just now and managed a very low 1:26, which I was reasonably satisfied with until I saw the results at the end with me at the bottom

But still, it's a track I used to struggle with because I would constantly lose the car coming out of turn 4 and going into turn 5. But now, though, I can complete dozens of laps in succession without making any big errors. Just need to get my sector times down now!

Murray · 4 May 2013 at 23:52

Won my first race in the Skippy

Didn't really mess up once during the race, went from 7th to 1st in the first few laps.