Is iRacing worth it?

[William Moody]

I have rfactor 2 and AC i am thinking of getting iracing just for the open wheelers is it worth it just for that?
If so how much would it be for 1 year membership and the open wheelers?

 

[Blkout]

I wouldn't argue with you about needing more grip. It has always seemed to favor less traction than every other sim. That being said, it adds a certain on edge tension to racing as you're always worried that you're just a slight mistake away from losing control. In some ways I find it enjoyable, although it can be very stressful in an official race.

I also believe that iRacing doesn't convey a sense of speed as well as other racing sims either, which compounds the problem because you're usually traveling faster than you think you are when you approach a turn. It may feel like you're barely moving sometimes but then look at the speedo and you're doing 80-100mph. That's quite fast for most cars to take most tight turns and you just aren't watching your speedo constantly so you feel like the cars have no traction under braking and turning.

I concur that all of the Simbin titles are fun to play, including R3E and DTME. Love them all.

 

[Aaron Markham]

I wouldn't argue with you about needing more grip. It has always seemed to favor less traction than every other sim. That being said, it adds a certain on edge tension to racing as you're always worried that you're just a slight mistake away from losing control. In some ways I find it enjoyable, although it can be very stressful in an official race.

Yeah, one mistake sends you into the slickest grass I've ever seen in my life

 

[Bakkster]

No racing sim will ever please anybody. No matter how accurate it might be. Everybody has their own opinion of how a car should drive. I personally think iRacing's tire model needs a little more grip but that's just my opinion.

I would actually say iRacing is pretty agnostic to how the car drives. They'd rather be objectively accurate with their data than subjectively feel better for whoever decides what 'better' is. And that's what some people don't like.

We actually have a bit too much grip with a lot of our cars, their corner speeds are significantly higher than reality. It's about what happens to the tire after you go past the edge that makes it feel like there's less grip. The maximum grip is higher, it's just easier to lose it so you can't depend on it in all cases.

Yeah, one mistake sends you into the slickest grass I've ever seen in my life

Pfft, I've got races where all my fastest laptimes include trips into the grass, its grip is fine. If you're depending on it to stop you before the tire barriers, that's your problem

 

[Aaron Markham]

I would actually say iRacing is pretty agnostic to how the car drives. They'd rather be objectively accurate with their data than subjectively feel better for whoever decides what 'better' is. And that's what some people don't like.

I agree. That is one reason they take so long to release a car. They make sure the data they have is as accurate as possible. They will also update their cars with new or additional data in later builds. I heard they were having a very hard time getting data for the Honda BTCC car so that's why it's on the back burner for now.

Pfft, I've got races where all my fastest laptimes include trips into the grass, its grip is fine. If you're depending on it to stop you before the tire barriers, that's your problem

LMAO! Good point!

 

[Bakkster]

I heard they were having a very hard time getting data for the Honda BTCC car so that's why it's on the back burner for now.

Sounds like they finally got data for the Civic, it should be getting worked on after the DW12.

 

[muscimol]

I also believe that iRacing doesn't convey a sense of speed as well as other racing sims either, which compounds the problem because you're usually traveling faster than you think you are when you approach a turn.

Are you recalculating FOV between iRacing and other sims?

iRacing uses horizontal FOV, while almost all other sims are using vertical one, so if you are setting same FOV in iRacing and other games the effective FOV in iRacing will be lower thus you will feel that you driving slower.

I don't feel difference in speed switching between different sims.

 

[Blkout]

Are you recalculating FOV between iRacing and other sims?

iRacing uses horizontal FOV, while almost all other sims are using vertical one, so if you are setting same FOV in iRacing and other games the effective FOV in iRacing will be lower thus you will feel that you driving slower.

I don't feel difference in speed switching between different sims.

Yes I'm aware that iRacing used horizontal vs. vertical and I do use a different FOV in iRacing, about 65-70 for my setup which is pretty close to 45-50 for most other sims. I usually like my FOV so that I can just see the top 1/3 of the steering wheel and all of the in-dash gauges. Still, I think it still lacks a sense of speed but maybe I'm partial to racing games that implement motion blur. If iRacing uses it, its nowhere near as much as other sims. NFS Shift and R3E have the best motion blur and sense of speed I've ever seen. Shift is a bit exaggerated but you will never make the mistake of wondering if you're traveling fast. R3E feels more realistic in terms of its motion blur, but both are considerably ahead of iRacing. If there's any motion blur in iRacing, its not in the graphics options so they may not be using much at all.

 

[Bakkster]

There's no motion blur in iRacing, thankfully. Can't do motion blur accurately unless you know where the user is looking, your steering wheel and surroundings are only blurred if you aren't focusing on them...

Don't remember if you said you're using MCV or not, there's your sense of speed.

 

[Blkout]

There's no motion blur in iRacing, thankfully. Can't do motion blur accurately unless you know where the user is looking, your steering wheel and surroundings are only blurred if you aren't focusing on them...

Don't remember if you said you're using MCV or not, there's your sense of speed.

When you say thankfully, that applies to you. It would be nice to have an option like most sims do.

I do use MCV and it helps some when accelerating quickly, turning or braking, but not while you're traveling in a straight line at high speed. I like motion blur, I know many people don't but I do.

 

[Bakkster]

When you say thankfully, that applies to you. It would be nice to have an option like most sims do.

Don't get me wrong, I'm sure there are people who find it useful. It's just unrealistic unless you can track the user's pupils. It would be a wrong step, IMO, away from the view being that of the driver toward the view being that of a TV camera.

Now that driving cameras are editable, I wonder if the FoV is modifiable.

I do use MCV and it helps some when accelerating quickly, turning or braking, but not while you're traveling in a straight line at high speed. I like motion blur, I know many people don't but I do.

What are your settings in MCV and what is DriverHeadWobble set to in your .ini? You can definitely get the camera shake feeling with MCV.

 

[Blkout]

Don't get me wrong, I'm sure there are people who find it useful. It's just unrealistic unless you can track the user's pupils. It would be a wrong step, IMO, away from the view being that of the driver toward the view being that of a TV camera.

Now that driving cameras are editable, I wonder if the FoV is modifiable.

What are your settings in MCV and what is DriverHeadWobble set to in your .ini? You can definitely get the camera shake feeling with MCV.

Its set to 1.0 in the iRacing ini.

My MCV settings are:

[default]
camera_x=0
camera_y=0
camera_z=0
camera_pitch=0
yaw_effect=0
gpitch_effect=-20
gyaw_effect=10
groll_effect=0
long_force=100
lat_force=100
norm_force=0
long_speed=39
lat_speed=30
norm_speed=39
long_spring=10
lat_spring=10
norm_spring=10
lat_uspring=-1
norm_uspring=20
long_curve_max=5
long_curve=
lat_curve_max=5
lat_curve=(0.46,0.08,0.57,0.57)
norm_curve_max=5
norm_curve=(0.80,0.91,0.80,1.00)
auto_save_setup=0
log_file=1

 

[Bakkster]

Its set to 1.0 in the iRacing ini.

If you want camera shake, set it to 0.0, and read this thread:
http://members.iracing.com/jforum/posts/list/3139686.page

While RA can be a bit whacky on his fundamentals, if that's the kind of driving view you're looking for he has it pretty well sorted.

 

[Blkout]

Thanks Bakks, I've read a lot of RA's posts before, he has a different way of wanting to simulate head motion compared to what Stephane was trying to do with MCV. I'll check it out though, I've never actually seen what RA's implementation can do.

 

[Kjell Eilertsen]

Weird I have the opposite problem, I have no issues with sense of speed iRacing but I keep missing my brake point in R3E because i have no idea how fast I'm going. I do not use motion blur though plus I tend to race with a very low FOV.

 

[Eckhart von Glan]

interesting video, but it would annoy the hell out of me. Ever since head movements appeared in racing games i have always switched them off. i get literally sick after a couple of minutes, real life starts to get all wobbly and shaky. there is a medical explanation for this, something to do with connection between what the eyes report and what the rest of the nervous system reports regarding your orientation in space. quite unsettling (at least for me).

 

[Kjell Eilertsen]

interesting video, but it would annoy the hell out of me. Ever since head movements appeared in racing games i have always switched them off. i get literally sick after a couple of minutes, real life starts to get all wobbly and shaky. there is a medical explanation for this, something to do with connection between what the eyes report and what the rest of the nervous system reports regarding your orientation in space. quite unsettling (at least for me).

it's called motion sickness or simulation sickness and it's the reason why Michael Schumacher and several other drivers can't use simulator. http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motion_sickness

 

[Blkout]

interesting video, but it would annoy the hell out of me. Ever since head movements appeared in racing games i have always switched them off. i get literally sick after a couple of minutes, real life starts to get all wobbly and shaky. there is a medical explanation for this, something to do with connection between what the eyes report and what the rest of the nervous system reports regarding your orientation in space. quite unsettling (at least for me).

I like some head wobble; its more immersive to me, but some games go a bit overboard...I'm looking at you GSCE.

 

[Blkout]

Weird I have the opposite problem, I have no issues with sense of speed iRacing but I keep missing my brake point in R3E because i have no idea how fast I'm going. I do not use motion blur though plus I tend to race with a very low FOV.

The motion blur in R3E is quite possibly the best I've ever seen implemented. As for FOV, if you're using the cockpit view, I like .9 instead of 1.0. The hood view is probably fastest but less immersive.

 

[Eckhart von Glan]

it's called motion sickness or simulation sickness and it's the reason why Michael Schumacher and several other drivers can't use simulator. http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motion_sickness

cool, i'm in the same league as schumi with regards to something race-related. once in a lifetime.

 

[Dinca Andrei]

I`ve got to try iRacing fir the first time 2 days ago when i got a cupon of 5 bucks/month...just to try it.
My thoughts...
I did around 20 laps offline to get to understand how the car behaves (Mazda MX-5 Cup @ Jefferson Course) and jumped online.I have to say that now i understand the online system of Assetto Corsa...its practicaly the same except that in iRacing you have to exit the server in order to join the next seasion (from qualy to race) and you have to wait for some minutes to get in..like the booking system in AC.
Anyway i got some practice laps in iRacing then jumped to qualy and after that my first race.I was on 7th place out of 10 and after 16 laps i finished on 7th but i had around 5 off track penalties from wich only 2 of them i was really off track...the other 3 times with only a wheel or 2 slightly...The system its really to tight on this...i mean you need to drive perfectly.
In my 2nd race i started on 2nd place and had a good fight with 1rst place but finished on 2nd.
My 3rd race i started in pole and finished 1rst..my first win hehe.
Overal i learned the car and track fast in 3 races...the physics feels closer to AC but with less grip,especially when entering a corner.
The graphics on the other hand loooks outdated..the only thing that keeps it somehow on the level is the lightning system..
The textures seem low on some objects,cars and track (this is based on only what i can try as a default content and yes i had all praphics at HIGH level).
What i was pleasantly surprised was the non-laggy cars in multiplayer..i mean in all 6 races that i have done,there was no lagging car.
Finally,i am not going to continue with subscription only because its to expensive for only a hand of tracks and cars that 90% i dont like and will never use in the default content.
To enjoy the game i need to by lots of tracks and cars that together are to much for my pocket.And the 2nd thing that makes it not worth it are the outdated graphics.
I think they need a new engine and i didnt do any reserch but i am sure they work on it because i cant see this old engine getting new subscriptions at a high rate as it use to do...And the pricy content is to much for some people not to mention that in the end after my month of iRacing is gone it will be impossible to use it as offline since everything is happening on servers.So in other words,if you get in to deep it will be a pain to leave it behind after a big investment in cars and tracks.

I`ve try it,i dont dislike it but i cant get myself hooked.