Looking Back on GTR2

[Paul Jeffrey]

Almost 13 years on from release, does GTR2 still have what it takes to entertain sim racing fans in 2019?

Many considered GTR2 to be one of the all time sim racing greats when it released back in 2006, however plenty of time has passed since those glory days of this sims early life - leaving me to wonder if the title still has what it needs to hold water with some of the more modern racing games of today.

Armed with the 10th Anniversary patch and the HQ Textures update, plus a few cheeky updates to the force feedback settings, we've embarked on a journey back in time to find out if this once legendary sim can still do the business in 2019.

Don't forget to check out the GTR2 sub forum here at RaceDepartment, a great place to continue discussing this olden but golden title, and pick up a few mods too!

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[9kret9]

One of the all time best ones. It was really so complete, that I don't think we ever had such a simracing title ever since.

Still great after all this years, but we are around two generations ahead now, so wouldn't say it can compete with modern ones. GTR represents times when less grip = more realism, times changed.

Regardless of that I still fire it up from time to time (also P&G or GTL) and it's always an awesome experience. Much love for the old GTR2, but I'm glad we moved on.

 

[St3fan]

I have a quick question on GTR2: pretty much all setup guides I have seen for GTR2 say that your should set the camber such that the IMO tire temperature is the same. Is this really a good practice specifically for GTR2?

 

[couri]

yes, its still amazing!!

 

[Shovas]

Thanks for doing this Paul it's great to see modern GTR2 get some exposure! Amazing and funny you tried such an old game with a SimSteering System 2! lol

Did I miss something or did you pick a non-HQ car? I noticed when you were picking car classes I thought it was non-HQ. You did mention you preferred the HQ so maybe you did. And I agree the HQ Cars are a step up.

Wasn't sure if you mentioned using something like Bill's Process Manager to use all cores and gain a much, much higher frame rate?

Which FFB PLR did you use? The one from that post you linked or a recent one from my blog? There's been *a lot* of changes, much improved I feel.

I still recommend trying VLM Sebring it's a beautiful experience both visually and ffb-wise, you really feel the track.

Kudos to all the modders who keep it going, like GTR233, DurgeDriven, etc.. There is *still* new mods/cars/tracks coming out here and over at EEC, as well.

Thanks, again, enjoyed!

 

[Koen Verlinde]

> Save Race

Even without all the rest that made GTR2 great, those 2 words should say enough to explain why that sim is still loved today.

The sim itself is now considered easy mode compared to IRacing, AC, ACC and other realistic simulators out there just because in 2006 less could be programmed into the base game. That doesn't make it less realistic, but it certainly makes it easier to drive.

 

[Koen Verlinde]

I have a quick question on GTR2: pretty much all setup guides I have seen for GTR2 say that your should set the camber such that the IMO tire temperature is the same. Is this really a good practice specifically for GTR2?

+5/0/-5 in the corner that tyre is stressed the most. That's how you get the most grip in GTR2 in the corners.

 

[Eckhart von Glan]

> Save Race
Even without all the rest that made GTR2 great, those 2 words should say enough to explain why that sim is still loved today.

so true. Nascar titles had that, too. i used and abused it to run full 500 miles oval races against full 40+ fields in little bits of maybe 30 mins. brilliant while the kids were small

 

[Michel Bélisle]

Does that game run well on Windows 10? Anything special to do to configure a modern wheel like a T300RS?

 

[Cristian Luis]

I released days ago Julien Regnard's guide with much more information about all the parameters that affects Force Feedback. Now I am testing with raindrop and rainspray, and I am preparing an Excel career mode (with expanded features).

I have done all for my private F1 Hero mods for F1C, but it will be a pleasure to adapt them to GTR2. (But I need a lot of time...)

Hope it helps to expanding the game's possibilities and diversity.

 

[GTR233]

Brilliant video Paul, thanks : just added it to patch overview page

@LoTone16 : just install GTR2 (DVD or STEAM), download GTR2 10th Anniversary Patch and extract archive where you have installed the game, you NEED ABSOLUTELY to right click on ALL EXE files in your GTR2 directory in order to set WinXP compatibility + Administrator Rights, then run gtr2config.exe (choose any 32bits resolution, check dx9 and that's all, DO NOT SET AA/AF here but in your graphic card driver instead), now you can run GTR2.EXE and enjoy
About your wheel, I suggest Shovas FFB PLR settings : txt are available in readme folder inside GTR2 10th Anniversary Patch, so copy-paste lines in your PLR file. Check Shovas blog as he makes updates quite often.

 

[frankonia]

Still love this game. One of the best ever.

 

[Andor]

It would be good for a GTR2 and GT Legends Remastered or GTR 2 GT Legends Two In one in the future with Unreal Engine 4!

 

[Qazdar Karim]

GTRitis ? move on mate ACC is the future

 

[pcraenme]

When I played it a few months ago I noticed that my FPS were much too low for such an old game on my current hardware (core i7 7700hq and GTX 1070). FPS was around 70-90 only. However, when I changed processor affinity in task manager to use all CPU cores, my FPS jumped to a value over 300 FPS.

 

[GTRacer123]

Yes, it definitely still is great. The list is long to describe the contents featured but I'll start with my own important one : AI capacity!

 

[Shovas]

It would be good for a GTR2 and GT Legends Remastered or GTR 2 GT Legends Two In one in the future with Unreal Engine 4!

Even if they just remastered the old engine with professionally improved textures, sounds, physics, ffb, etc. I'd buy it and be happy.

Edit: Oh, and fixed certain things like weather scheduling/progression, AI damage slowdown, etc. it would be amazing

 

[Koen Verlinde]

Does that game run well on Windows 10? Anything special to do to configure a modern wheel like a T300RS?

T300 is great in GTR2. To run it under Win10 needs a bit of attention, but in general the 10th Anniversary Patch should get you started.

 

[Sonoafafayon]

62 car grids! This is what we need in ACC to properly recreate the feel of Blancpain, especially Spa 24h

 

[Lentoveloz]

GTR2: I will play while I live or as long as I can handle turning a steering wheel. Two reasons: one of the best of all time at all and save race.