GTR2, PnG, or rFactor for vintage racing?

[Jean-Paul Sarti]

I have GTR2, PnG, rFactor, and Assetto Corsa. My interest is vintage racing (before mid-70's). I mostly do hot laps, so AI isn't a big concern. I'm going for believable (if not realistic) physics and immersion. Based on a couple of month's experience, I've concluded that AC is the best for me *if* there's a given vintage car and track that I'm interested in.

So for the remaining, non-AC cars and tracks, it comes down to rFactor, PnG, or GTR2. My questions:

1. Given that those games have the same engine, are there any physics differences between them, given a well-modeled car?
2. Given that it seems that GTR2 cars and tracks work just fine in PnG (remember, I don't really care about AI too much), is there any reason to run GTR2 at all vs. PnG?
3. Aside from rFactor's hideously ugly GUI (and kudos to the PnG GUI devs -- it's surprising how much music and fonts contribute to immersion), are there any real differences between rFactor and GTR2/PnG given my focus on hotlapping vintage cars on great-looking tracks?

Thanks!

PS -- I have GPL with all the mods, and, while the tracks are often beautiful and the GUI contributes to that vintage feel, I often don't find the car handling believable. Hard, yes, but not entirely convincing compared to more modern sims.

 

[Shovas]

I'd say rF1 would have the most modern physics as it was developed for longer. If not that then PnG because it already has the content you're looking for.

 

[GTR233]

PnG is modded GTR2 so after installing PnG you are still dealing with GTR2 : if you did not choose "slim down" option then you've got both GTR2/PnG3 and even GTL2 as most cars come from old GTL (with remastered graphics/physics).

I have the same feeling with rf1 : gui is awful to use compared to DucFreak UI, I don't like the default screen colors/tint, no pit animation, no rain... That said the strength of rf1 is the plethore of mods (much higher than GTR2) : the main 60-70s rf mod is HistorX with all GTL converted cars.

My advice would be to stick with PnG3 but as says my friend DurgeDriven : why would you choose between all these games when you can play with all of them when you want ?
I still do not understand why some people want to be a fan of only 1 thing and reject any other alternatives : you can like AC, RF1/2, GTL/GTR2,... Besides you do not have exactly the same content between these sims so they are more complementary than competitors to me

 

[Jean-Paul Sarti]

I totally agree about using more than one! However, I don’t have a lot of experience in the hobby (and none in real racing), so I’m interested in others’ opinions since they might be more informed than mine.

At this stage I can easily confuse bad physics or modeling with my own incompetence .

I find comparing the same car or track in different sims is quite interesting, even though I can’t always tell where the differences come from (modeling, physics, FFB feel.etc.).

Thanks for the replies - I’m interested in everyone’s thoughts.

 

[cangrejin]

I partly agree with gtr233, you can have several sims with different content.

but ... it depends on the "approach."
EXAMPLE: I would not use a sim designed for F1, to use it with rally mods. I would not use a sim designed for GT endurance 24 hours (with dynamic day and weather) for F1s (F1 has weather, but I don't need dynamic time).

in that sense GTR2 (or if you want png) is the most complete. It has neither fixed hours nor days, it is dynamic, and 24-hour races.
ac and rf1 parace designed only for hotlap and simple racing. no championships (I think)

 

[boomn]

My vote is for PnG. (I admittedly only have a little experience with rFactor HistorX to compare)
GTL was replicating the physics of these cars as seen current-day vintage racing leagues with more modern tires installed, and sometimes other performance improvements. HistorX was converted from GTL to Rfactor and I think carries that with it (or did they make some physics adjustments too?)

In comparison, the PnG team spent a huge amount of time researching the original cars and trying to replicate their performance as seen in the 60s and 70s. The original physics team was, believe it or not, Aris and Neils!

The PnG mod team also did an incredible job at providing a consistently high level of quality across all the included cars... Sound, graphics, physics, cockpits, skins, driver names, notes about car history, etc

 

[Durge Driven]

Seems at least some have not heard of rFactor xUI & Showroom v1.80 by Riff & MaxB

Lovely UI, amazing how black can entirely transform it

 

[jgf]

Seems at least some have not heard of rFactor xUI & Showroom v1.80 by Riff & MaxB

Lovely UI, amazing how black can entirely transform it

Hi Durge,

Pardon the Lazarus post but I've been seeking that UI mod for ages, the only link everywhere is to rfactorcentral, and the wayback doesn't have d/l links.

jgf

 

[Durge Driven]

https://gtr2-endurance.forumotion.org/t2131-xui-and-showroom-1-80-by-riff

xUI_v1.80

MediaFire is a simple to use free service that lets you put all your photos, documents, music, and video in a single place so you can access them anywhere and share them everywhere.

www.mediafire.com

 

[jgf]

https://gtr2-endurance.forumotion.org/t2131-xui-and-showroom-1-80-by-riff

xUI_v1.80

MediaFire is a simple to use free service that lets you put all your photos, documents, music, and video in a single place so you can access them anywhere and share them everywhere.

www.mediafire.com

I had found that page but couldn't find a link on it; thanks for the mediafire. Saw screenshots of the mod some time ago on a different site and deemed it a decided improvement.

 

[Durge Driven]

S397 should have employed them to do the new UI, this still looks better