Which car racing sim for PC?

Quartz · 15 Feb 2023 at 00:09

I've been bingeing on racing sim videos recently. I used to play TOCA (in various iterations) with friends way back when, but that was over a decade ago. I remember trying other sims but we kept returning to TOCA. This time, however, I will be playing alone, at least initially: I know I won't stand a chance against the youth of today.

What I want is to play any car on any track, with a decent number of tracks and a decent number of vehicles. I'm not interested in a 'career' or having to unlock vehicles. I just want to have fun. I liked playing the odder vehicles, like trucks - the beep of a reversing truck always caused a laugh - and the three-wheeled Grinnell Scorpion (?). Cars that are just super-fast didn't do it for me.

So if I were to restart, which game should I get? The racing wheel is perhaps for another thread.

Rroff · 15 Feb 2023 at 00:35

Assetto Corsa is one of the more popular ones - I'm not convinced by the driving model personally though despite all the acclaim it gets - cars have a tendency to understeer in corners at half the speeds I know from experience you can push them to in real life

(and I'm far from a good racing driver).

Uncle Petey · 15 Feb 2023 at 00:39

Original Assetto Corsa with a ton of easily installed mods gives you all that and more if you don't mind looking around for stuff to play with. You'll ideally need a wheel, though you can get away with a pad if you can find some decent settings.

Out of the box sim with a large variety of the kind of stuff you're wanting, I dunno... BeamNG perhaps, but still would probably need mods.

sgavan · 15 Feb 2023 at 05:41

Assetto corsa competizione is my favourite at the moment, only gt3\4 cars but really good with a pad and I only play single player and it's a lot of fun and a challenge if you wanted it to be. Available on console as well, I have both and have fun on both. Graphics and sound are great as well

Spleen Sauce · 15 Feb 2023 at 06:20

sgavan said:
Assetto corsa competizione is my favourite at the moment, only gt3\4 cars but really good with a pad and I only play single player and it's a lot of fun and a challenge if you wanted it to be. Available on console as well, I have both and have fun on both. Graphics and sound are great as well

I find it incredibly hard with a wheel, some of these sim drivers make it looks so easy. Rewarding when you get it right but incredibly frustrating when you lose control on the last lap because you lifted less than a second too early.

Uncle Petey · 15 Feb 2023 at 06:36

Guys, I think you missed the point of what he's asking for.

sgavan · 15 Feb 2023 at 07:24

Wreckfest is a good game as well but has lots of unlocks required to access card and tracks, unsure if there's a way around this, I also find the sound a bit irritating as well though.

Not really Priapus · 15 Feb 2023 at 07:26

sgavan said:
Assetto corsa competizione is my favourite at the moment, only gt3\4 cars but really good with a pad and I only play single player and it's a lot of fun and a challenge if you wanted it to be. Available on console as well, I have both and have fun on both. Graphics and sound are great as well

Agreed. It's a proper sim racing game that is used by professionals too, like Max Verstappen and even some GT3 drivers.

Quartz · 15 Feb 2023 at 15:33

Thanks everyone. I'll start with Assetto Corsa and progress from there if I enjoy it.

MikeTheNative · 15 Feb 2023 at 16:01

+1 For asseto corsa, actual simulation may be a bit behind others now but there's a mod for every car and track in existence. Useable on a pad as well.

Quartz · 15 Feb 2023 at 17:25

MikeTheNative said:
actual simulation may be a bit behind others now

Pure sim stuff is currently beyond my interest, but if I get there then I'll move up.

Uncle Petey · 15 Feb 2023 at 17:32

@Quartz I highly recommend you grab these to make a start on getting the best out of AC.
Content manager is far better launcher that allows you to easily install mods with a simple drag/drop/confirm and allows you to massively improve visuals/lighting with shaders patch, which should be included. SOL adds weather effects, day/night cycles etc and comes with easy to follow instructions on getting it all set up.

Content Manager - alternative launcher for Assetto Corsa

Content Manager — A brand new alternative launcher for Assetto Corsa. Consist a complete list of standard launcher features, plus huge extended functionality with advanced ability speed and usability.

assettocorsa.club

Sol

Alternate download link: MODSFIRE: https://modsfire.com/UW0f92464a69wYc !!! Sol needs CSP 1.76 or later !!! Sol does not bring Rain! RainFX is a part of CSP preview versions, You must subscribe to Ilja Jusupovs account to get a CSP preview...

www.racedepartment.com

Content manager may seem daunting at first, but it's actually pretty simple when you get used to it.

Quartz · 15 Feb 2023 at 18:19

Uncle Petey said:
I highly recommend you grab these to make a start on getting the best out of AC.

Thanks. I've downloaded both.

Craig R · 16 Feb 2023 at 15:14

Just got myself a wheel and pedals and been using them with Project Cars 2 in VR. Excellent.

McGraw · 16 Feb 2023 at 22:17

AC is reckoned to have the best force feedback. If you're not bothered by having iracing's class leading online set up and you want plenty of cars and tracks then I think AC has no peer. I run ACC online and AC for messing about

Quartz · 17 Feb 2023 at 18:09

Well, I tried my first laps in Assetto Corsa in a Mazda MX-5 and I suck. Really suck. That's not surprising, of course. I jumped the gun and purchased a Thrustmaster T-248 wheel and pedals and was surprised to find that AC doesn't recognise the D-pad even as buttons.

Uncle Petey · 17 Feb 2023 at 19:13

Quartz said:
Well, I tried my first laps in Assetto Corsa in a Mazda MX-5 and I suck. Really suck. That's not surprising, of course. I jumped the gun and purchased a Thrustmaster T-248 wheel and pedals and was surprised to find that AC doesn't recognise the D-pad even as buttons.

Have you tried mapping them in the system and patch tabs? Failing that, maybe joy2key will work.

Quartz · 17 Feb 2023 at 19:36

I have another utility, AntiMicroX, which fixes the issue.

Craig R · 17 Feb 2023 at 22:02

Quartz said:
Well, I tried my first laps in Assetto Corsa in a Mazda MX-5 and I suck. Really suck. That's not surprising, of course. I jumped the gun and purchased a Thrustmaster T-248 wheel and pedals and was surprised to find that AC doesn't recognise the D-pad even as buttons.

It took me a few races to start to get the hang of my G920 and pedals. Now I love them.

Learning to be gentle with the throttle instead of just slamming your foot to the floor is key.

I also just bought AC and the lack of menu control with the wheel pad controls is certainly annoying.

phrases · 18 Feb 2023 at 00:25

Went from a G920 myself to just upgrading the pedals to Fanatec V3s. Now i'm all in with a moza R9 DD. GS wheel and still rocking the V3s
Haven't raced in 6 months as mothballed everything as we moved then couldn't find the mounting parts for my rig (now found) So will be getting back into it at some point.
AC with mods is good fun
But for competitive i don't think you can touch iracing - But it comes at a monthly sub plus tracks and cars to pay for. One of those really, if you enjoy it money well spent but you will feel like you have to race to justify the spending.
I like ACC but its handling doesn't hit the spot for me at times.
Rennsport have a title coming up using UE5 looks decent from playtests that have happened the last few weeks looking forward to seeing how that develops.

I noticed you don't want to go the sim route
with AC mods you can pretty much do as you please
There are shutoko servers with traffic that just let you rip up in any vehicle you can want.
Also blast around the scottish highlands
Plenty to do really. Racing games have come a long way since TOCA