F1 2017 Playing from the TV pod view

[Nick Hill]

I know this topic has been done before and I've seen it get quite acrimonious (though I'm trusting that won't happen on RD), but I gotta get it off my chest: am I nuts that I prefer playing F1 20xx from the TV pod?

It's weird because I don't play any other sims that way (cockpit only, for me) but for some reason I feel the license to do so in these games. To be fair, most of my simming is being done in VR, so that sort of shakes up the view discussion calculus.

Even with the newer codies titles which have very good view options (angle/offset/for, etc), something just feels "more right" in terms of feeling at one with the game experience from the pod view. Am I the only one?

Maybe it's just wanting to take in the eye candy, but I wonder if there is something else to it. Putting VR aside for a moment (which is a game changer) and just talking flat representations of a 3D game world, I think you lose something in translation (even with triple monitors, proper fov, etc).

Something else that has made me think is I went through a period over the winter where I didn't do a lot simming and spent a lot more time in the ARMA series. I really came around to the 3rd person view in that series. The first person view is obviously more "realistic" just in terms of what you can visual take in at any point in time IRL, but in ARMA (or any shooter) there are certain aspects of situational awareness that just can't be fully conveyed to you at the level of fidelity you'd get in reality (I see a lot of parallels with sim racing here in that we are lacking g-force/seat-of-the-pants feedback).

Dunno, just sort of rambling now with no coherent point - just sort of interesting for me to think about!

 

[tigermilk]

I use the pod view as well. Cockpit view is too limited for me. On my single monitor. All my other Sims with open wheelers I use VR and the visibility is top notch.

 

[Nick Hill]

I use the pod view as well. Cockpit view is too limited for me. On my single monitor. All my other Sims with open wheelers I use VR and the visibility is top notch.

On further reflection, I do have to wonder if my migration to the TV pod has been VR-induced. VR just has such a sensation of depth perception, it's hard to transition back to a flat cockpit view. Truth be told, the TV pod probably distorts your view a bit, but it just seems to give a more complete sensation for where the car is heading relative to the track (for me, at least).

I'm quite certain effectively all sim racing will be done in VR once it becomes feasible (i.e. widespread adoption among both devs and players). I'm convinced I'm driving the most consistent laps of my sim racing career thanks to the sensation of depth VR affords. I have to laugh at myself to think I was skeptical of VR just a short time ago - to the point where I had nearly convinced myself that a 2D screen was actually *better* in terms of gauging what the car was doing. I was so very wrong, but I think it's one of those things you have to see to believe (that was the case for me, at least).

The only downside I have found is I think the scales have started to tip for me (as evidenced by having to switch to TV pod in F1 20xx) in terms of not really enjoying some non-VR sims that I really have loved as much as I used to. Kind of sad, but time and tech moves along.