Associate
Looks lovely Muska, congrats!
iRacing
- Thread starter Gimpymoo
- Start date
I got an email earlier today from them offering me the same deal to come back. Ive got $100 credit iirc, whatever their discounted credits ended up as.
So its just the difference of 'active' and 'lapsed' in the code.
Im not even convinced i want to bother, however just going through the renewal process, its ignoring the fact that ive got credit and sending me to be processed through PayPal or VISA etc. I know its possible to pay with credits, because i recall people saying a while back that you can double-dip on the free credit and half price membership if you plan for it.
- ah, found the tickbox. Seemed like something that should be with the credits, or explained there.
oh well, maybe i'll try and get into it again, but last time i just got fed up of practising alone (or online, just by myself rather than working with friends) as nobody else plays. Spent a good 6mo playing regularly, but it'll have been about a year since i stopped and very little has changed.
Last edited:
Associate
A few things have changed in the time you've been away Paul, I think everything now is on the newest tyre model, dynamic tracks have come in. You used to race GT3 right? There is now the Blancpain sprint or endurance series, whichever you prefer.
Is finding yourself a team an option? There are some great leagues out there and I've met all my team mates this way.
Is finding yourself a team an option? There are some great leagues out there and I've met all my team mates this way.
Last edited:
Soldato
That wheel looks immense, Muska. Are the two buttons on the wheel itself connected up as well?
Associate
Thanks 
They are yes, I am planning to use them both as PTT.
They are yes, I am planning to use them both as PTT.
Yeah, the GT3's were what i enjoyed most, and the 911/Ford GT/Daytona Proto/LMP one, WDSC or something similar (i believe thats changed now, with a new riley replacement).
What is their definition of 'Endurance'? cos i used to love the 70-90min races much more than the 30-45min ones, and the only races i ever had damage in were the shortened ones. Everyone seems too eager to jump 2-4 places at T1 when their pace probably doesnt merit it.
If its 2h+ or team orientated, thats probably not of much interest. I was hoping they'd try splitting the GT3's though, or simply making an endurance series with GT3 & LMP seeing as they were both very popular and already had longer length races as part of their season, which seemed to divide opinion.
Its a bit of a vicious circle though, i cant see what series there are, because i dont have an active subscription. If i did get back into it then im not sure if i want to join a team, and i dont know whether i'd still be interested even if i did find a decent active and reasonably capable team.
I used to be in an LFS team, back in the very early years i just found a server which happened to have decent activity during the hours i was on, and got talking to them between races. I ended up joining them, and although 3/4 of us split from them to form a more serious team, i got lucky and ended up with a great bunch and we were one of the top teams for the 5yrs we ran for. I was one of the slowest, and i wear the fact that i'd never get into our team on race pace, as a badge of honour
From my time in LFS, i also know theres a new team created every day, and fading away a month later.I think my iR was about 2600, im not exactly the fastest, and my consistency isnt great unless ive done a decent number of laps to get into a rhythm, and it tends to take me longer to get to a competitive pace as a result.
That said, my race craft is better than my speed, im clean (screw iR and its penalising for putting an innocent tyre on the dirt!) and respectful. Im sure finding a team wouldnt be hard, its just finding a worthwhile team.Im fairly up to date on the engine features side of things, as i still watch all of Empty Box's iRacing videos (incl oval) and he's usually got a video or 2 on updates when they come along, although i'd never heard about the GT3 endurance.
Could you grab a screenshot of the seasons schedule for things like venues, race length and timetable? Its probably not a bad time to jump in, get some practice in before the next season starts. I finished the BMW Z4's first season, and did a few races after the rebalance and tyre update, and did the 2.4h Spa on both the Saturday times and loved that, but wasnt so keen on how the Z4 felt (possibly because it was too good/easy originally) especially the cold rubber.
Im also guessing they've not updated the Ford GT to a GT3 spec? Im sure it was said they were doing this. Is the field pretty mixed now, or is there still an obvious favourite? I couldnt drive the RUF for love nor money, managed to get a refund on it and went with the BMW which was like night & day.
I've put the current schedule here for you - https://www.dropbox.com/s/ppnwj0trhw5gc22/GetSeasonSchedulePDF.pdf?dl=0
3h 2 driver minimum is a shame.
Associate
Little update on my OSW project.
I've got everything mounted in the case now, tested it for power and it's all working (so far!) as it should. I just need one more D-Sub connector and then I'll be putting the final bit of software on the IONI and it should be good to test it out then. I imagine my rim will arrive next week so it should be just in time. As I need to get a metal plate cut, then attach it to my Obutto mount so I can mount the Servo on there.
Here are a couple of pictures from the build
This is a D-Sub breakout, the connector will sit in the back of the case so I can quickly disconnect the servo encoder cable if needed.
Here is the internal cable in full, the left side goes to the IONI and the 4 jumper wires go to the Discovery board.
There have been quite a lot more pictures inbetween, I got some really nice Neutrik connectors for quick release for servo power & emergency stop but I've not got shots of those right now. As I write, everything is mounted in the case, and before I rewired it all, it was looking pretty tidy, after I spend the morning measuring and drilling/modifying the case:
but then, even in a case that has reasonable room, the PSU is so big and heavy, space fast becomes limited:
So right now, the case mounting and wiring is complete, save for all the connectors hanging out the back. I need a back plate cutting so I can mount each of the connectors, I'll shorten a few things when I come to sort that and maybe I'll feel enthused to tidy up the wiring a bit. The small jumper cables could be much neater If I made them twice the length.
All in all, coming to the end of this project I'm quite glad it's nearly over. I was out of my depth a little with some of the wiring, even though the schematic is very easy to follow, if it's not something you've done a bit of there are a couple of things that can catch you out but once you're past those it's really not that hard. This has definitely been a learning process. I'll no doubt have lots of words on this once I've tried it out, circa one week from now.
I already have my next project in mind, one of my team mates just released some free software he made that will make a small LED light panel mimic the flags in a race. Nice simple little mod that will cost >£20 in parts.
http://members.iracing.com/jforum/posts/list/3341549.page
**edit for post above
The Aston is only GT1 right now, GT3 is coming, not certain when though. The GT1 is a cracking car though. You mentioned IMSA before too, 45minute races, forced pit stop (you can only carry half fuel load) and the HPD has been switched out for the new C7 DP, another nice addition to the service. That races with the ford GT3 & C-Spec.
I've got everything mounted in the case now, tested it for power and it's all working (so far!) as it should. I just need one more D-Sub connector and then I'll be putting the final bit of software on the IONI and it should be good to test it out then. I imagine my rim will arrive next week so it should be just in time. As I need to get a metal plate cut, then attach it to my Obutto mount so I can mount the Servo on there.
Here are a couple of pictures from the build
This is a D-Sub breakout, the connector will sit in the back of the case so I can quickly disconnect the servo encoder cable if needed.
Here is the internal cable in full, the left side goes to the IONI and the 4 jumper wires go to the Discovery board.
There have been quite a lot more pictures inbetween, I got some really nice Neutrik connectors for quick release for servo power & emergency stop but I've not got shots of those right now. As I write, everything is mounted in the case, and before I rewired it all, it was looking pretty tidy, after I spend the morning measuring and drilling/modifying the case:
but then, even in a case that has reasonable room, the PSU is so big and heavy, space fast becomes limited:
So right now, the case mounting and wiring is complete, save for all the connectors hanging out the back. I need a back plate cutting so I can mount each of the connectors, I'll shorten a few things when I come to sort that and maybe I'll feel enthused to tidy up the wiring a bit. The small jumper cables could be much neater If I made them twice the length.
All in all, coming to the end of this project I'm quite glad it's nearly over. I was out of my depth a little with some of the wiring, even though the schematic is very easy to follow, if it's not something you've done a bit of there are a couple of things that can catch you out but once you're past those it's really not that hard. This has definitely been a learning process. I'll no doubt have lots of words on this once I've tried it out, circa one week from now.
I already have my next project in mind, one of my team mates just released some free software he made that will make a small LED light panel mimic the flags in a race. Nice simple little mod that will cost >£20 in parts.
http://members.iracing.com/jforum/posts/list/3341549.page
**edit for post above
The Aston is only GT1 right now, GT3 is coming, not certain when though. The GT1 is a cracking car though. You mentioned IMSA before too, 45minute races, forced pit stop (you can only carry half fuel load) and the HPD has been switched out for the new C7 DP, another nice addition to the service. That races with the ford GT3 & C-Spec.
Last edited:
Soldato
At present I only have a Logitech Momo wheel and pedals, is this worth getting into? Father-in-law mentioned that I should give it a go.
Soldato
That's exactly what I use. It's not the best wheel, but it's definitely good enough.
Associate
Sure, no reason why you shouldn't
Personally I think it's the best online racing you will find, bar none.
It doesn't have the best graphics, but they're not bad at all but I prefer it's physics to all other racing sims I've played.
Be aware it does have a pay wall, and on top of a monthly subscription cost you have to pay for each car/track you want to use on the service. This puts some people off.
If you decide to subscribe there are often deals around to be found, possibly even a free month trial or something but if you decide to sub for 3 months or more let me know and I can give you a code that will give me 10 dollars as a finders fee which I'll then transfer to you. Nearly enough for your first car/track.
https://www.youtube.com/user/iRacingTV/videos
Plenty of videos here on their official channel to give you an idea what it's like.
Personally I think it's the best online racing you will find, bar none.
It doesn't have the best graphics, but they're not bad at all but I prefer it's physics to all other racing sims I've played.
Be aware it does have a pay wall, and on top of a monthly subscription cost you have to pay for each car/track you want to use on the service. This puts some people off.
If you decide to subscribe there are often deals around to be found, possibly even a free month trial or something but if you decide to sub for 3 months or more let me know and I can give you a code that will give me 10 dollars as a finders fee which I'll then transfer to you. Nearly enough for your first car/track.
https://www.youtube.com/user/iRacingTV/videos
Plenty of videos here on their official channel to give you an idea what it's like.
Soldato
I see many references in reviews to Assetto Corsa being better (and cheaper obviously). What is the driving experience between the two like?
Night and day to be perfectly honest.If you want to race against other like minded people, who are out to race cleanly then iracing is for you. Yes it can be expensive, but if you are going to invest in a online racing game, then this is it.
Sure the graphics aren't as good, the presentain isn't as good, sound is better, all round handling is better.
I asked my son, who actually races karts and has raced open wheelers to drive the skippy around monza. His face lit up, as he could feel the wheel feeding back exactly like he feels when he races. His handling of it was sublime compared to my throwing it around the place.
Next I asked him to try both Pcars and Corsa. They were good, but no where near the real life feeling that he got from iRacing.
There are a few 3 month free codes flying around, PR-RINGEXPO2015 try it and see how you get on. I'll trust you my email which you can use as a reference..
On the more exciting news for myself, just ordered the Fanatac V3 pedals. Now the waiot begins for Black Friday deals on wheels for my base..
Not playing it atm, but iRacing is an absolute must if you want proper racing with proper racers. You might find it with other games, but its a lot harder, and almost certainly set to a predetermined schedule (ie 8pm on Wednesdays), whereas at least with iRacing plenty of the popular series are every hour, and you'll get a competitive race.
I used to do a race at say 10pm, be finished around 11pm, do a load of nonsense on the web and chat to friends on teamspeak, jump into bed around 1-2am and watch TV for an hour or 2, and catch a glimpse of the clock at say 3:55am and think 'hmm, could just jump in and have another race' and low and behold, im in a race with a dozen other people.
You simply cant get that anywhere else. Not on a whim. That said, i hate them double-dipping on the monthly subscription AND its content too. I wouldnt mind if buying content gave you credit towards the subscription, so as long as you're feeding them your money, thats the important thing... but no, they want it all. Thats stopping me from considering coming back, ive got $105 in credit, enough for a 2yr subscription, and about $250 in content... but i dont want to spend $50 of that on a 1yr sub (no point buying anything else while its half price) only to give up after a month or so. I'll just wait another year or w/e and reconsider then.
But the racing is why you consider it.
pCARS is just average IMO, its fun enough but nothing special. Assetto is a better car game, but theres not much to say about AI/career racing, so its either enjoying it for the car handling on your own (of which its very good, probably the best IMO) or its playing online with whatever you happen to stumble upon.
It really annoys me that LFS still has the best public online lobby type solution, just join whatever server mid race, often join in mid-race too. None of this 'server has started, cant possibly connect you now' lark. If Assetto had this, it'd be a lot better IMO. You'd get servers where they were well populated and people stuck around in them, other decent drivers would join cos they could see good drivers were in there too. The absolute bog standard solution thats so common these days, console-style lobbies, is terrible.
I used to do a race at say 10pm, be finished around 11pm, do a load of nonsense on the web and chat to friends on teamspeak, jump into bed around 1-2am and watch TV for an hour or 2, and catch a glimpse of the clock at say 3:55am and think 'hmm, could just jump in and have another race' and low and behold, im in a race with a dozen other people.
You simply cant get that anywhere else. Not on a whim. That said, i hate them double-dipping on the monthly subscription AND its content too. I wouldnt mind if buying content gave you credit towards the subscription, so as long as you're feeding them your money, thats the important thing... but no, they want it all. Thats stopping me from considering coming back, ive got $105 in credit, enough for a 2yr subscription, and about $250 in content... but i dont want to spend $50 of that on a 1yr sub (no point buying anything else while its half price) only to give up after a month or so. I'll just wait another year or w/e and reconsider then.
But the racing is why you consider it.
pCARS is just average IMO, its fun enough but nothing special. Assetto is a better car game, but theres not much to say about AI/career racing, so its either enjoying it for the car handling on your own (of which its very good, probably the best IMO) or its playing online with whatever you happen to stumble upon.
It really annoys me that LFS still has the best public online lobby type solution, just join whatever server mid race, often join in mid-race too. None of this 'server has started, cant possibly connect you now' lark. If Assetto had this, it'd be a lot better IMO. You'd get servers where they were well populated and people stuck around in them, other decent drivers would join cos they could see good drivers were in there too. The absolute bog standard solution thats so common these days, console-style lobbies, is terrible.
Associate
- Joined
- 20 Nov 2011
- Posts
- 19
Muska PC ordered yesterday gone for an i5-4690 3.5GHz, 8GB 2400MHz RAM, 250GB SSD, 1TB hard drive, MSI Radeon R9 380 4096MB card, can't wait
Last edited:
Associate
Nice one, I think you're all set for triple screens when you upgrade to them
I'm not sure OCUK will like you posting that link as it's for a competitor, but I think it's the same one they stock unless I'm missing what the difference is? Either way, well worth asking OCUK to price match
I'm not sure OCUK will like you posting that link as it's for a competitor, but I think it's the same one they stock unless I'm missing what the difference is? Either way, well worth asking OCUK to price match
Associate
- Joined
- 20 Nov 2011
- Posts
- 19
thanks for the reply, edited now and will ask them
Associate
Good stuff
My OSW is now finished, all wired up and working correctly. I can't wait to get my rim now (it's in the UK!) I had a little bit of a problem chasing a broken connection but it hasn't held me up much. I just have to drill holes to mount the servo, ground my pedals and it's ready to test out! 
I hope it's all been worth it...
My OSW is now finished, all wired up and working correctly.
I can't wait to get my rim now (it's in the UK!) I had a little bit of a problem chasing a broken connection but it hasn't held me up much. I just have to drill holes to mount the servo, ground my pedals and it's ready to test out! I hope it's all been worth it...
Last edited: