Clean Road Car Racing LeagueOpen 

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I'm actually excited about the coming B-spec because I hope we get proper endurance races in GT6 with it. :)
If that's the case I will get my wheel out of the closet (it's funny in that Tom Cruise kinda way... :P) and boot up my PS3 and Gt6 again.

Driveclub is arcady, but still fun to me even if I'm struggling driving with a controller.

Project CARS is looking good, but the lack of road cars is why I didn't back it when I first encountered it a few years ago. Now I'm thinking that a GT3 series (where I'd get to drive a Porsche RUF) in racing weekends could be fun. It depends a lot on the AI of course.
And the possibility of always having a full grid on the line even if there are not enough players (i.e. filling out the grid with NPCs) is a killer feature to me.

Oh, and I'm finally in Neat Lines, Least. Thanks!

Perhaps we can schedule an evening of GT6 racing, just for fun? Monday still OK for everyone?
Just reply here so we know who's in and who's out. :)
Currently I count myself and Mad... ;)
 
RewindTape
Perhaps we can schedule an evening of GT6 racing, just for fun? Monday still OK for everyone?
Just reply here so we know who's in and who's out. :)
Currently I count myself and Mad... ;)
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In it to win it. (or at least make an attempt) ;-)
 
Nice session last night, guys! :)
I'm surprised how easy it was to get a full lobby! When I last played, this autumn, that was not the case. Perhaps the community's become more focused with the (I'm guessing) dwindling number of players?

Anyway, great fun. Thanks!

PS. Oh, how I've missed driving with a wheel. To me, it's so much better than a controller. :D

Edit: And I don't know, but floating host (mesh-networking) worked much than fixed better last night. The exact opposite to how it was before... :boggled:
 
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Yes, it was good fun after some months without playing GT6. Nice to see that it's still populated and also we had some good company I have to say, fair too. Maybe some "casuals" (read: people with detuned race cars in a 500PP road cars lobby) have left and we have more or less only the "hardcore" gamers? Probably too soon to tell and too harsh, but I liked it, I'll turn on my PS3 more frequently I guess :).
 
marco89IT
... Maybe some "casuals" (read: people with detuned race cars in a 500PP road cars lobby)...
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I don't understand this. Is this a viable strategy in other lobbies?
Out of the thousands of races since I started playing online in GT5 I can count on my fingers the number of times a racecar have won in the lobby. :boggled:
 
RewindTape
I don't understand this. Is this a viable strategy in other lobbies?
Out of the thousands of races since I started playing online in GT5 I can count on my fingers the number of times a racecar have won in the lobby. :boggled:
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Exactly. That's probably because 90% of online lobbies, even the ones with road cars, have no tire restrictions. This has always been one of my Gran Turismo "obsessions"; I used to spend at least 20 minutes to find a good room, there were lobbies with FWD 400PP hatchbacks with race softs:banghead: and stuff like that. Completely pointless, in my opinion.
I guess these players are very used to be competitive with a race car against road cars in lobbies without tire restrictions. So, when once in a while they face lobbies with sports or comfort tires they're still convinced to have an advantage with a race car, not realizing that tires make a huge difference.
I'm also convinced that a few of them are so inexperienced about cars (not a criticism, everyone has his own interests) they don't even realize the difference between a race and a road car, because the game doesn't have a clear distinction. For example; the Murcielago SV has splitters, carbon parts and massive wings, it must be a race car!

I think it's not even necessary to warn them to change car, they'll always end up a)quitting after a lap (99% of the cases) or b) switching to a road car for the subsequent race for obvious reasons.
 
Well, I'm a bit disappointed that I missed your GT6 gathering - I would have made an effort to join! I'm a fan of Midfield Raceway from the days of old! However, it might not have been possible - I've managed to annoy my wife recently by playing games too much, the fact is that Destiny has me in it's vice-like grip. I think it's one of the best games I've ever played, I'm loving it, but I've been on so much that I'm having to ration the amount to time I'm spending online now. My poor wife has been by herself too often in the evenings recently, I have to sort it out.

Glad to hear you're in Neat Lines, Vuja. Haven't even loaded Driveclub recently. It's all Destiny at the moment. But I'll be back tio Driveclub for sure. It's arcady, but once I got used to it I discovered that I liked it. At it's heart it's a precision racer, drive it like a sim and you'll get the best times...

Also, I don't have a PC or a wheel; so I've pre-ordered Project Cars for the PS4. I'm be there, playing with the pad as usual :). Don't know much about it, I've kind of taken a flyer on it because it's the first serious driving sim for the PS4 and I've decided I'll definitely get it. Out in April I believe; I hope it gets good reviews! If anyone else gets it on the PS4, I'll see you there!

I'll keep an eye on here, try and drag myself off Destiny and meet up in GT6 the next time that you're on.

Cheers fellas.
 
marco89IT
...
I think it's not even necessary to warn them to change car, they'll always end up a)quitting after a lap (99% of the cases) or b) switching to a road car for the subsequent race for obvious reasons.
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I used to point it out to them, but as you say, it usually has no effect. They quit or change to a de-tuned super car instead. :rolleyes:

LeastResistance
Well, I'm a bit disappointed that I missed your GT6 gathering - I would have made an effort to join! I'm a fan of Midfield Raceway from the days of old! However, it might not have been possible - I've managed to annoy my wife recently by playing games too much, the fact is that Destiny has me in it's vice-like grip. I think it's one of the best games I've ever played, I'm loving it, but I've been on so much that I'm having to ration the amount to time I'm spending online now. My poor wife has been by herself too often in the evenings recently, I have to sort it out.

Glad to hear you're in Neat Lines, Vuja. Haven't even loaded Driveclub recently. It's all Destiny at the moment. But I'll be back tio Driveclub for sure. It's arcady, but once I got used to it I discovered that I liked it. At it's heart it's a precision racer, drive it like a sim and you'll get the best times...

Also, I don't have a PC or a wheel; so I've pre-ordered Project Cars for the PS4. I'm be there, playing with the pad as usual :). Don't know much about it, I've kind of taken a flyer on it because it's the first serious driving sim for the PS4 and I've decided I'll definitely get it. Out in April I believe; I hope it gets good reviews! If anyone else gets it on the PS4, I'll see you there!

I'll keep an eye on here, try and drag myself off Destiny and meet up in GT6 the next time that you're on.

Cheers fellas.
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You, and a lot of others, were missed on Monday, Least. It's understandable though as this thread has been quiet for a bit.
I believe there will be more informal racing in ol' GT6 this coming Monday, right guys? ;)

He he he... Destiny seems to have that effect. But I think you need to play with friends. I'm still only a level 8 (I think), and haven't played since it was released because of early adopter syndrome (amongst my friends I was the only one playing), and at that time it just didn't stick.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to content patches for both GTA Online and Elite: Dangerous this coming week, after the racing. :P

Friday, fellas!
:cheers:
 
OK, I'll try and get a Midfield lobby going again tonight. For some reason Spa works, but not Midfield which keeps disconnecting me.

Anyway, some racing will be had tonight. Join me if you can. ;)
 
Vuja, if you see that RumpyStumpy and I are on Destiny, get your headset on and feel free to join our fire team! we'd like to have you.

We're at a higher level now (24 for me, 25 for him), but we'd be happy to hang around with you, kind of flanking a less powerful player. Destiny soon makes you comfortable with replaying old levels :) It wouldn't take you long to get the level 20 experience cap. I think you're right though - Rumpy and I have played it all together so far, and I think that's part of what has made it so enjoyable.
 
Project Cars delayed...again! Basically the only games I play are sports and racing games, so I've decided to take advantage of the discount on the Driveclub PS+ Version in the store to fill the lack of racing games on my PS4. 17 GBs to download, given my bandwidth I should be able to play it around September :). Hope to catch you guys on Driveclub, and of course I'm always ready for a GT6 night once in a while.
 
Hey Marco!

Haven't played anything except Destiny for a while now - I'm a bit addicted I think - but if I see you are online playing Driveclub then I'll try and join you. I'll send you an invite to my Club, 'Neat Lines' - the club has unlocked a couple of cars and so on, so this will give you some fun vehicles to drive from the start if you join.

The trouble with Destiny is that it requires so much organisation and arrangement with friends (that the game doesn't handle) to try and access the Raids - the high level content - and once you've tried to commit to some of this, it's hard to find time for other things! Even getting 6 people together at the same time and place is a heroic effort. Fortuantely it is at least, in my opinion, an excellent game. But I'm a bit short of gaming time in general at the moment, and Destiny uses all that I have!

I'll look out for you sir though :)
 
RumpyStumpy tells me that Slightly Mad Studios have announced that Project Cars on the PS4 will support straight PC code for Fanatec steering wheels - basically Rumpy's high end Fanatec settup will work on the PS4 version of the game, without the wheel even being switched into Console mode. Rumpy is pleased and excited (though he'd be the first to admit that he's no driving game genius).

Now, I don't use a wheel so I don't know much about it, but it seems to me that they might have therefore managed to build in support for other wheels. Check it out, you wheel using guys, before you go ordering the PC version! Seems to me like there's a chance that we could get most of the CRCR crew together on Project Cars on the PS4, if it supports your wheels...
 
marco89IT
Project Cars delayed...again! Basically the only games I play are sports and racing games, so I've decided to take advantage of the discount on the Driveclub PS+ Version in the store to fill the lack of racing games on my PS4. 17 GBs to download, given my bandwidth I should be able to play it around September :). Hope to catch you guys on Driveclub, and of course I'm always ready for a GT6 night once in a while.
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I saw that. A little bit surprising since it was scheduled to be released last autumn.

What do you think of Driveclub, marco?

LeastResistance
RumpyStumpy tells me that Slightly Mad Studios have announced that Project Cars on the PS4 will support straight PC code for Fanatec steering wheels - basically Rumpy's high end Fanatec settup will work on the PS4 version of the game, without the wheel even being switched into Console mode. Rumpy is pleased and excited (though he'd be the first to admit that he's no driving game genius).

Now, I don't use a wheel so I don't know much about it, but it seems to me that they might have therefore managed to build in support for other wheels. Check it out, you wheel using guys, before you go ordering the PC version! Seems to me like there's a chance that we could get most of the CRCR crew together on Project Cars on the PS4, if it supports your wheels...
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Excellent news! This would probably make my gaming year, if they support the G27 with internal drivers on the PS4.

Long live the CRCR! :D

I'm currently "stuck" in GTA Online. The random stuff that keeps happening when you don't play with pixelcidal (:dopey:) maniacs and the new more involved heist missions are very fun. But as with every online experience, it's the people you play with that makes it great.

Happy Easter! :)
 
Mad Marty
Howdy fellas,

if anyone's up to leave some virtual rubber on some digital tracks tonight - I will be there from around 8pm
Central Euro time.
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Shucks! I missed that racing evening.
Note to self: keep better track of this thread!
 

Automation, a business tycoon type game. Now I want to race the cars I can build in this! :D
Anyway, it looks very interesting.

Apparently Slightly Mad Studios have released a compilation of Ben Collins and Nic Hamilton's input into Project CARS. Cool... :cool:

I really, really hope they'll support my G27 with Project CARS on the PS4.
According to this article they have used the delay to add "additional hardware support", but perhaps they mean the Fanatec support announced recently.
Their Supported Hardware page doesn't make me very hopeful that it will be there at launch. Maybe they'll add it later, who knows? :nervous:
 
This is one of the reasons that I don't have a wheel though (the major one being space in my small house) - it seems to me that for items that cost you hundreds of Pounds/Euros/Dollars, they have an alarmingly brief 'support window'. OK, I understand that the manufacturers are making new models and need to drive forward sales, but the problem is the people willing to spend these hundreds of 'insert currency here' are, comparatively speaking, a rather small market - specially given the price of the items. Stopping supporting a wheel that still functions fine after a few years seems rough to me.

£300 for a good one is a lot of money, but I'd love a wheel to improve my driving game experience; but it seems that the actual investment is £300 every 4 years or so as they stop supporting the wheel that you have. If it wasn't for this I'd try and come up with some way of dealing with the space issue...
 
LeastResistance
This is one of the reasons that I don't have a wheel though (the major one being space in my small house) - it seems to me that for items that cost you hundreds of Pounds/Euros/Dollars, they have an alarmingly brief 'support window'. OK, I understand that the manufacturers are making new models and need to drive forward sales, but the problem is the people willing to spend these hundreds of 'insert currency here' are, comparatively speaking, a rather small market - specially given the price of the items. Stopping supporting a wheel that still functions fine after a few years seems rough to me.

£300 for a good one is a lot of money, but I'd love a wheel to improve my driving game experience; but it seems that the actual investment is £300 every 4 years or so as they stop supporting the wheel that you have. If it wasn't for this I'd try and come up with some way of dealing with the space issue...
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Agreed, Least, and I understand you. It's an expensive peripheral and therefor also a niche market, especially since there's no guarantee how long it will be supported. Logitech apparently even pulled out of gaming steering wheels all together.

However, as I look at gaming as a hobby it's allowed to cost me money, and if I look at how much I've used the PS3 and the G27 I must say I still got my money's worth (probably less than €1 an hour, even if I include the cost of the console and GT5 & 6). My real problem with it now is one of principle; I find that just plain not supporting the G27 in any way on the PS4 is bad and not something I want to condone. The PS4 has been out for about a year and a half and Sony has not released an USB isolating adapter that would make all devices work as before (if they're really afraid of the PS4 being hacked as the PS3 was). That leaves me with the feeling that they're truly in bed with Thrustmaster, whom I have limited faith in quality wise.

What I think I'll have a very hard time resisting is if/when something like Project Cars supports the upcoming Morpheus, and I can use it comfortably. (Sadly, I believe Polyphony Digital need to restructure themselves and Gran Turismo to keep up with today's gaming and their competition). I would then have to really consider a Fanatec setup if the G27 is not yet supported then, especially if you guys are there too to bring the racing to our previous top notch level.
Sitting in my own racing world with a head set, head mounted display, and a wheel will probably bring me as close as I'm gonna get to in Actual Reality racing a multi-million <insert currency> speed machine. :)
 
Logitech pulling out of the gaming peripherals market is the point here. Abandoned support shouldn't happen with Thrustmaster or Fanatec whose target area is gaming/wheels and gaming only. G25/27 have been around for a long time and are extremely popular and it's frustrating for their owners being left out in the future. But I don't think that the general rule applies that you'd have to buy new gear every 4 years.
It's like Vuja puts it - if you treat it as a hobby there's nothing wrong with investing in it - or even continuously investing in it as in my (mad) case.
I've had my T500RS for 3 years now. 500+ hours of racing - I consider it well spent. Build and feel quality are very nice. There's been a warranty replacement though after about 1.5 years of heavy duty on Gran Turismo. I was very disappointed with TM at that point and had eyes on Fanatec. The replacement wheel I got however was night and day difference. It must've been a 2nd generation of the T500, the packaging looked different too. I can only say that this wheel is performing flawlessly, hasn't let me down. The issues I had with the previous model (noisy fan, worn out steering column) seemed to have been addressed by TM and with now more mileage on it than the predecessor this one performs and feels like on day one. :cheers: I am not sponsored by TM by the way. :lol: But my faith is back.
Fanatec have a bad failure and support record and their new pricing policy is just ridiculous. Plus, who wants to wait a year to receive their products. My advice sell those Logitech wheels as soon as you can.

Here is a picture of my setup. It evolves. Lots of work as this is a DIY rig, lots of money on "things", but a helluva lot of fun guaranteed. For me it's all about immersion. Requirements: madness, space and a spouse that loves you - lots.

image.jpg
 
That is truly a beautiful settup, Marty. Wow. The feeling of speed must be fantastic, with so much of your peripheral vision taken up. Count me as properly jealous! :-)

I'm with Vuja though - I'm hoping that within the next couple of generations of VR headsets, I'll pretty much think that I'm actually sitting in a car, on the 'Ring, ready to go. Friends alongside. There's a video of a guy driving an old Lotus 49 single seat racing car round the 'Ring on Asseto Corsa, using the Rift DKII - it looks simply stunningly good, I want a go of that so bad that it actually hurts...

www.youtube.com/watch?v=afMpH1sF-V0
 
Undoubtedly, Least - once they equip the rift with a decent resolution and zero lag it may very well revolutionize the sim racing world. Can't wait for it either..
 
Very nice setup, Mad! The thing I dreamed of as a kid, and there you are - living it. :lol:

As one of those with a stylish shortsightedness, wearing glasses have me a little worried about the Morpheus and what-ever-the-valve-one-is-called. I'll be quite heartbroken if I can't join the virtual reality wave of displays. Anything played from a cockpit (racing, piloting) I suspect will be mind blowing! :D
 
Ha! Yes - my friends have been wondering if a future Destiny might support Morpheus... we've come to the conclusion that trying to get people to do something that seems like walking, or aiming by actually holding a gun, would require hardwares that are years away from practical function or affordability - so you'd have to settle for sitting in a chair, with a pad in your hands.

This means that effectively you'd feel like you were sitting on some totally insane super invalid carriage / mobility scooter. One that can go sideways and backwards as fast as it can go forwards, or bound around the scenery in a way that I suspect, with total immersion and an apparently full sized environment, would be initially terrifying.

But the funny thing is, I think as long as the visuals are clear and the lag is largely non-existent, you'd get used to it pretty quickly. I think this because of how much my brain goes along with the experience already, even just sitting with my 27" TV and surround sound 'phones. Already I'd say that I don't notice the pad, already I'm partially convincing myself. Improving the immersion could only increase that effect. I WANT IT.

Plus, I don't want to get fit while playing an FPS. Imagine how noisy any swiveling treadmill type of arrangement would be, with a 15 stone guy trying to run for cover pounding away on it :-)

Vuja, apparently Morpheus is fine with glasses. Plenty of space inside even in the most recent build.
 
Well, it's out, and my first impressions of PS4 Project CARS is this it's very good. I'm playing with the DS4 - and it took a while to sort out the sensitivity and so on, but I'm reasonably happy with it now.

The handing model is definitely more realistic around the loss-of-grip point than GT. There's no doubt that Gran Turismo is too smooth and too progressive with loss of grip, it's much tougher on P. CARS. Sudden oversteer is faster, arriving (at least with how much I've played it) less predictably, and when it does arrive your catch reaction needs to be faster, and accurate, or you're going to spin. Or, as I've done several times, tank-slap for 200 metres and then spin. Depending on the car and tires, cornering speeds are lower in general than GT. My early opinion is that it has GT comfortably beaten from a physics point of view.

The weather effects are excellent, and the 1 player racing is far, far more competitive then anything GT can throw at you. you can fight for 3 laps to comes from the 7th that you qualified in, to come, say, 3rd - and that can feel like a great victory (I'm trying to get out of the habit of restarting whenever I'm not winning :-))

Sound and graphics, fantastic. My only complaints are that I generally prefer road cars to race cars and this is a race car based game, but there are some road cars and anyway they are all beautifully modeled and characterful to drive, so that's not so bad. my second complaint is that I drove a couple of front wheel drive cars for the first time last night (a Focus racecar and a Megane cup car) and they felt.... weird. Just like they would not turn enough. I know that front drivers can be understeery, but there just felt like they weren't turning quite right, didn't feel natural.

But, this is a game where I expect a thorough patching schedule over the next few months. In short, I would suggest that any of the CRCR crew who are considering it should go ahead, I think it's going to be excellent, it seems very much our type of game.
 
RewindTape
What do you think of Driveclub, marco?
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Sorry about the very late reply. Driveclub never managed to completely captivate me, despite being a wonderful game in some aspects. The graphics are great, especially weather effects. Tracks are visually fantastic, but a bit too "fast" for my liking, I've got the feeling that on most of them you make the difference in lap-times flying through wide chicanes and fast corners, instead of smooth driving on hairpins. It's an arcade and the physics are perfectly fine for a game of this kind, but I've always preferred racing games that require smooth driving (even if I'm not smooth at all :)). You can feel the effort they put to make a really refined game, especially the online part, but it's a bit too "plasticky" for me. I love when at the end of a lap a game makes you feel precisely where you can gain that tenth, where you can try a different approach to a corner and stuff like this.
Which brings me to Project Cars: it's still early to tell, but I'm enjoying it a lot. As Least said, the physics are remarkable. They reward precise and smooth driving and it's appreciable how the developers tried to make the player feeling what's going on under the tires while driving, even with a DS4. So, I guess a steering wheel really transforms the experience into higher levels on this one, more than other console racing games. Once you get used to the driving physics, it's not really hard to exploit let's say 95% of the car potential. But the remaining 5%, getting on the very limit, that's really hard.
The game has its rough edges (more than average to be frank), but so far I think it's really worth the money. Especially if they're going to develop it properly. The online section at the moment is really basic, a bit like it was in the early days of Gran Turismo. If they'll be able to improve it like PD did with GT's online, I think Project Cars is going to be great fun for months and months.
 

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