Newbie (older gamer!) - help needed.

[Mark Curtis]

Hiya…

As a UK ‘older ‘gamer I suppose, sadly my mum has had a bad stroke, now I can’t go out anymore in the evenings, and to be honest I am getting quite bored in the evenings I need something to occupy my time (once the nurse leaves when I get home from work, and mum is settled for the night) and fancied putting together a bit of a chair, and proper driving set up with pedals, clutch – ‘proper’ gear changes etc….

I know it is a bit of daft question to many, but I just want a realistic driving sim experience - What’s the best set up and game console, compatible game to run it?

If it helps - I quite liked Forza motorsport on my old 360, but like all racing games, lack of pedals, gear changes (real world stuff) that would, essentially be what I’m used to in a real car.

Couldn’t care less about racing against others online, just want something decent I can play with on my own time, and hit pause if mum needs me.

Can anyone help? I’m ok for a few quid in terms of budget… but not insanely rich!

 

[Emery]

To narrow down suggestions from our fine community:
Sounds like you want road cars rather than race cars? Or does that difference matter to you?
Also sounds like you'd rather a console than a PC due to expense?

 

[Mark Curtis]

Thank you emery, road cars - console I think (though work here at Cam Uni has kindly bought me something called a Dell SSD Optiflex 3040 4 gb ram intel core i3-6100 cpu@ 3.70Ghz on Windows 10 - to use if I can't get into the office, if that's any good for anything - I have admin priviliges.. so can install whatever I like (having checked) - is that any good for anything?

 

[Emery]

The PC is probably good for mid-2000 games, but you'll need a video card.

Someone else will have to chime in as to what's available for consoles & road cars.

 

[Mark Curtis]

Thank you! All a bit bewildering... Just want to drive very realistically very fast in my own little world, with something that will work 'out of the box'

 

[Kenny Paton]

is that any good for anything?

It will certainly run older games like GTR 2, GT Legends and Race 07, all still really good games just not having the eye candy to match the newer ones. Try RaceRoom's free content, and Steam let's you try AC and PC2 for 2 hours and offers a refund if they don't work.
And welcome to RD.

 

[Mark Curtis]

Thank you Kenny, A logitech g29 steering wheel pedals and shifter look nice... with a 'compatible' stand from ebay? And buy a PS4 too? Will that all work together ok? Any game advice?

 

[Kenny Paton]

Any game advice?

I'm afraid my console days are long gone, but I know Project Cars 2 is okay on them, not sure about any others and of course there's Gran Turismo Sport.

 

[AJ McDaddy]

If you liked Forza Motorsport an Xbox One is a good choice. Game options will still include Project Cars2 and you could also try Assetto Corsa and the Codemasters F1 series. Gran Turismo is PS4 only.

Welcome to RD

 

[newbert]

Thank you Kenny, A logitech g29 steering wheel pedals and shifter look nice... with a 'compatible' stand from ebay? And buy a PS4 too? Will that all work together ok? Any game advice?

IMO, a compatible stand isn't really necessary for a G29. I use my G29 on an old desk and that's fine for me. You'll need to use the pedals on a good carpet to prevent them from sliding though and/or put something together that will stop them from sliding away from you.

You sound like you may be a bit "PC-challenged" (No offense intended). So, if I were you I'd probably go the console route since they are a bit more straightforward to use.

And welcome to sim racing and to RD.

 

[Jason Mullin]

I've been running Forza 7 lately and it has surprised me with just how much fun it is, a wonderful break from the online racing.

If you're just wanting some simplistic plug and play fun get an Xbox One.
As far as titles you'd have Assetto Corsa, Project Cars and Forza.
I have Fanatec kit running on PC, I think many are quick to dismiss Forza 7 but honestly it's quite good.
The latest ffb update has really awakened this title, and it's stunning visually.

 

[RasmusP]

I just upgraded from a g27 (which is basically identical to g29) to a fanatec v2.5. Comparison is night and day. Like going from a plastic toy to a real car.
You don't seem to fancy about messing around with installations and wheel base drivers etc etc so I would recommend:
Buying an Xbox one s or ps4 pro since fps are important for the feel of speed.
Xbox got forza which has lots of content and is fun!
Ps4 got grand turismo which imo tries to be a bit more realistic overall and is made with steering wheels in mind.
Both consoles supper project cars 2 though, which is probably what you'd want to buy

Then there is logitech, thrustmaster and fanatec.
Regarding the h-shifters:
Logitech: plastic toy with no resistance. It's nice but absolutely nothing like reality!
Thrustmaster: good shifter, around 130€ for the shifter only
Fanatec: really good shifter, 230€ for it only

For consoles and simplicity you'd want to have one brand so you plug pedals and shifter into the wheel base and start driving. Consoles don't support multiple devices so you can't mix a fanatec wheel with the thrustmaster shifter.

Fanatec got the two versions of the csl elite with pedals for 400-500€. Shifter would be 230€ on top. Kinda expensive but definitely closest to real life while still "budget friendly". The csw 2.5 base is a step above but a lot more expensive!

Thrustmaster got the t300/TX which are ps4/Xbox compatible and the ts-xw sparco for Xbox and the ts-gt for ps4.
Good wheels and the more expensive, the more realistic.
Thrustmaster would be more budget friendly but also a bit less real overall.

Thrustmaster and fanatec are know the fail every now and then. The internet is full of horror stories sadly. The big part of the consumers is happy and just not complaining though as usual.
Logitech is the most reliable probably but the wheel is loud, weak, has a dead feeling around the center and just not really... "real".

I really won't recommend going with a pc as you probably just want to fire up the console, select the game and have fun. With pc Sims it's always complicated. Overall quite a lot "better" but just.. Complicated. And your i3 is kinda weak and you don't have a gaming graphics card.

If I were you I would grab a ps4 pro, grand turismo sport, dirt rally (or dirt rally 2.0) and maybe project cars 2 and be happy.
For wheel I would probably grab a thrustmaster TX with the t3pa triple pedals and the shifter from Amazon. They have a good warranty service from my experience

Or if your budget is higher grab the fanatec csl elite ps4 bundle and the shifter on top and enjoy a really awesome experience!

Logitech might make you happy in the first moment but I can tell you... It's just nowhere close to reality at all and the rattling combined with the deadzone made me become very frustrated every now and then up to a point I almost quit simracing. Grabbed the fanatec bundle and now I can't stop driving!