iRacing may have ruined GT5 for me...

[swiftwilly]

Blaze, few things regarding your post. In GT5 you also get to keep the cars for life and you actually do own it. Iracing is a license to use their cars. Both cases you get to keep them for life but in a legal sense, GT5 even more because there is nothing to stop iracing evoking your license.

Second, totally agree you can just spend 49 for the first year but seriously, how many of us has done that. Lol. I know you have multiple tracks and cars Blaze. I estimate you probably spent another 60 atleast to take in consideration of the multiple purchase discounts.

 

[Mac K]

GT5 works for me, it's realistic enough to satisfy me in that aspect and I enjoy playing it(which is the whole point). I just don't have the time to get into Iracing, as much as I'd love to, I wish they had some sort of demo, I'm not a big PC gamer, but if I could have a solid week on Iracing, then I might be convinced. I wouldn't just drop GT5 though, I love it and the entire GT series, so

 

[CodeRedR51]

Don't get me wrong, I would play both if I could in a heartbeat. But until I can afford to do so, GT5 is my game.

I just think the comparisons of the two are a bit awkward. Even though they are both racing games, the are designed for two different types of systems, one of which limits what the designers can do with it.

 

[Coxis]

I gotta be honest with you people, I was skeptical to join iRacing at first. I definitely did not agree with their pricing model and to be honest I kinda still don't... However the service has proven worthy of the price tag so far. I've liked it very much.

There's two major reasons why I joined iRacing. The first one was that for the year that I played GT5, I could never join into an online lobby and race without connectivity problems, save for maybe 4 occasions at the most. I've never had a single issue with either LFS or iRacing in this regard. The second reason was that a friend kinda pulled me in. If it wasn't for him I probably would've bought an LFS license.

 

[Patrocles]

Don't get me wrong, I would play both if I could in a heartbeat. But until I can afford to do so, GT5 is my game.

I just think the comparisons of the two are a bit awkward. Even though they are both racing games, the are designed for two different types of systems, one of which limits what the designers can do with it.

Cool!

No need for any sour grapes! Comparisons can and will always be made between racing games/sims. Enjoy what you got!

 

[Eric.]

$500-600 for a decent PC and $100 for a decent monitor vs $250 for a PS3 and $500+ for a decent HDTV. Doesn't seem any different to me. You'll need a new $600 PS4 before you have to spend that much again on a PC upgrade.

GT5 would be dramatically better if it had some strict online racing. Cars that are already prepared by the developers and are capable of lapping within tenths of each other. If you ever wonder why there aren't multiple cars in one class in iRacing, its because you can't possibly have them be evenly matched and call it realistic. The most you can do is have air restrictors and set a minimum weight, and award success ballast (not really possible in iRacing's format though).

 

[AlexGTV]

You guys have to remember that GT5 is still a console game, which will never be as "hard core" as iRacing or anything similar. That's really all it comes down to.

That is correct.

The tagline "Real driving simulator" was coined in the PSX era when it was rightly so.
Now GT5 is the real driving simulator "on consoles" and a car culture videogame and car encyclopedia of sorts carrying its Japanese Heritage.

On a scale of 1-5 arcade-to-sim I would rate GT5 as 3.5 and iRacing at 4.5. I reserve the perfect 5 for future graphics, rotating cockpit e.t.c. How would you rate the games guys?

 

[CodeRedR51]

$500-600 for a decent PC and $100 for a decent monitor vs $250 for a PS3 and $500+ for a decent HDTV. Doesn't seem any different to me. You'll need a new $600 PS4 before you have to spend that much again on a PC upgrade.

It doesn't come down to total expenditures for me, but the amount of money I need right now to make the jump. Money that I don't have. One thing I can skip though is that monitor. I can use my TV.

 

[tissimo]

It doesn't come down to total expenditures for me, but the amount of money I need right now to make the jump. Money that I don't have. One thing I can skip though is that monitor. I can use my TV.

Haha, I'm doing that... mainly because the seat i built doesn't fit down the hall. But now I'm spoiled and need a huge tv for the monitor permanently... Lol

 

[Nastradamus87]

I don't even own a decent monitor. The PC went straight to the TV.

 

[Jav]

Lol!! Same here! My monitor is actually a 32" samsung LCD that I bought on black Friday2010, it's my one and only TV and it's seen nothing but PC and PS3!

 

[Mac K]

I gotta say, it's a nice change to see some friendly well mannered discussion, we may have different opinions, but it's nice to see you all keeping it civil, and I think it's safe to say no matter what game/sim we all play, we're all having a great time with it

 

[WedgeX]

guys let me just put this in perspective since I saw someone posting all the race car drivers that frequent iRacing

iRacing is literally targeted first and foremost at the real-racing community ... its been their business model from day 1

Make a simulation that is realistic enough to benefit and even enhance the skill of 'race car drivers' - basically if we make a game that is That realistic - it will be good enough for everyone else down the line from the grass roots auto-enthusiast racers and motorsports hobbyist to just general race fans.. it is a simple straightforward racing simulator with scheduled events... ie competition.

GT5's target is a mass audience... the content is more diverse but perhaps the racing suffers because of it .... I don't really know, all I know is that while I still 'like' the game its got too many issues that prevent it from being anything like what I experience in Iracing .... i just did my first 2 hour and 40 minute Event race on Daytona road course last weekend in iRacing.... probably the most incredible experience I've ever had in a mulitplayer game .. there were 43 other people in the race who battled along side me continuously with NO LAG whatsoever and it consumed my attention for almost 3 hours....

in GT5 people complain about doing more than 1 lap of the Ring because its 'too long' ... I've chosen to stick mostly to single player elements of the game but with those sometimes its just a feeling of 'why am I soldiering on in this game'... let's be honest, the only real competition is the time trials and that's just not enough, I've tried leagues but they just weren't for me. The races in GT5 where I felt I had an equal car and an equal chance to the other competitors has been few and far between.

there are many tweaks and changes I believe could bring GT5 up to that level...but I've already posted them in several other threads and they are numerous.

 

[Blaze_409]

Ditto on the Daytona 2.4! Race of my life. I bought the car the night before and still went pretty cleanly. Slow.. But cleanly lol. Until I told my spotter to 🤬 and I got dq'd. Lol. (For ignoring black flag with 20 mins to go )

Hey Turbo, Whenever you do get the chance. try it out! I cant imagine the havoc you would wreak

 

[CodeRedR51]

Taking donations for a PC.

 

[Jav]

Lol!! I'd love to see that too I know you'll do pretty damn good! Hope to see you make the move soon man!

 

[left888]

I always tried to get races longer than 3 laps in GT5 but most every room I entered in said the same thing, that's too long. Even my friends I raced with balked at me for setting up a 10 lap race at Suzuka Circuit.

I remember my first rookie race at iRacing, 30 minutes or so, I loved it. Maybe next year I'll give the 2.4 hour a shot. It certainly looked like a race of a lifetime.

 

[Beowulf]

$500-600 for a decent PC and $100 for a decent monitor vs $250 for a PS3 and $500+ for a decent HDTV. Doesn't seem any different to me. You'll need a new $600 PS4 before you have to spend that much again on a PC upgrade.

GT5 would be dramatically better if it had some strict online racing. Cars that are already prepared by the developers and are capable of lapping within tenths of each other. If you ever wonder why there aren't multiple cars in one class in iRacing, its because you can't possibly have them be evenly matched and call it realistic. The most you can do is have air restrictors and set a minimum weight, and award success ballast (not really possible in iRacing's format though).

500 dollars for an HDTV hhmm you do know you can run a PS3 or XBOX off any computer monitor that has an HDMI cable input. My monitor was only $150 that I use with my PS3.

 

[sandboxgod]

I still play gt5 a little when it gets a new dlc. It has several nice qualaties. Its all bout the host that determines fun factor. Offline is a lil fun. Very easy to play split screen with family too

 

[CodeRedR51]

I always tried to get races longer than 3 laps in GT5 but most every room I entered in said the same thing, that's too long. Even my friends I raced with balked at me for setting up a 10 lap race at Suzuka Circuit.

We have hour long races every Sunday.

 

[Nastradamus87]

We have hour long races every Sunday.

Which are without a doubt as good as GT5 can be.

 

[CodeRedR51]

Which are without a doubt as good as GT5 can be.

👍

 

[SpecMiata-JSW]

I can confirm that R1600 and my friends over at the Tuners Pit run great and professional leagues. With that being said the two sims are diabolically different in every fashion. I love them both, hell Sony and Nissan flew R1600 and I over to England to drive cars for them, how could we not be GT fans?

The truth is depending on what you want is where you need to go. GT is fun for me and iRacing is all business. I've always enjoyed iRacing since i joined, but just recently I started my first full season for a points championship, and all I can say is it's the business and I'm having a great time with it. Nothing is hidden, your stats both good and bad are out there for everyone to see. I like that because I'm big on accountability and earned results.

I've had really bad nights of racing and really good nights of racing on both sims, even in high splits of iRacing you can get taken out by a bonehead. iRacing's membership doesn't give you immunity to not race with 13 year olds who want to take you out, but the fee does provide many things that a console can't.

It took me a long time to look into iRacing and when I did muster up the time and coin to find a computer it was worth it. If you have the means and are curious give iRacing a try, if you can't join for what ever reason keep enjoying GT5. The true great leagues out there have bridged the gap and done a great job with the tools PD have given us.

Please keep this positive discussion rolling it's fun. Also sorry for any punctuation errors, i posted from my phone.

 

[Coxis]

Spec,

I used to run with the Tuner's Pit in the dark days of GT5P. No private rooms, rotating races every month, etcetera. This was when the league was ran on the PS3 forums, before they moved to their own website/domain. The racing was great, the best I've had in a GT game. The effort these guys put into organizing these events was also outstanding, so I completely understand you and R1600 when you say you've found great leagues to race with. Unfortunately, this is the exception rather than the rule.

But yeah, I agree completely. Aside from that "r4ce me if u think ur f4st!!11!!" bully who misinterpreted my post completely and that one guy looking for pity, this has been a great, constructive discussion.

Keep it up, GTP.

 

[TomBrady]

I don't agree with you guys. Iracing does not ruin GT5, if anything it strengthens it.

The problem you guys are having is because GT5 is only as realistic as you make. It's a console title so of course there are compromises, it's up to you to try and make up for those compromises. Obviously don't use driving aids, but what I think is most important, and frankly most obvious to me is tire selection.

Polyphony has always stated that if you want to truly simulate driving in GT, you need to use lower grade tires, as in, lower than what the cars come with, and especially never ever use racing soft or medium. The tires are too grippy for what they're names claim them to be. If you realize that fact, and race on the tires that you feel are more realistic, especially after playing iracing you should be able to tell. You will have just as fun if not more fun in GT5 because of the crazy amount of cars and tracks. Not to mention tracks like nurburgring and monaco, that you can't race in iracing.

The real problem with GT5 is the online racing community. It's really tough to find people that are even a little bit serious. It's really pathetic but if you go online anyday and look at the lobby list, you'll see that 90% of all the lobbies use racing soft tires, even if they're racing on road cars. That's just sad, and lazy of them. It's much more fun and challenging to race on realistic tires.

The physics in GT5 are not far off the mark, the tires are. Select tires appropriately and you have an arguably more fun to play sim than even iracing

 

[GTP_FastM3]

I haven't played GT5 since Christmas. Even before I got into iRacing I had basically stopped. I did participate ina really good league an enjoyed that immensely. However I have a very busy life and it's hard to make the same time every week. Aside from that league I didn't find much I wanted to do anymore in GT5. I find the AI too boring to race against and it's just too hard to find good racing online. It was actually better on GT5P when they had matchmaking

I really enjoy the racing on iRacing. The sound is so much better. I do however miss having some offline races. If iRacing added this I'd have nothing to complain about

 

[Nastradamus87]

I don't agree with you guys. Iracing does not ruin GT5, if anything it strengthens it.

The problem you guys are having is because GT5 is only as realistic as you make. It's a console title so of course there are compromises, it's up to you to try and make up for those compromises. Obviously don't use driving aids, but what I think is most important, and frankly most obvious to me is tire selection.

Polyphony has always stated that if you want to truly simulate driving in GT, you need to use lower grade tires, as in, lower than what the cars come with, and especially never ever use racing soft or medium. The tires are too grippy for what they're names claim them to be. If you realize that fact, and race on the tires that you feel are more realistic, especially after playing iracing you should be able to tell. You will have just as fun if not more fun in GT5 because of the crazy amount of cars and tracks. Not to mention tracks like nurburgring and monaco, that you can't race in iracing.

The real problem with GT5 is the online racing community. It's really tough to find people that are even a little bit serious. It's really pathetic but if you go online anyday and look at the lobby list, you'll see that 90% of all the lobbies use racing soft tires, even if they're racing on road cars. That's just sad, and lazy of them. It's much more fun and challenging to race on realistic tires.

The physics in GT5 are not far off the mark, the tires are. Select tires appropriately and you have an arguably more fun to play sim than even iracing

How does iRacing strengthen GT5? I don't see that claim supported in your post.

See the above conversation with R1600Turbo. Most of us have seen the very best GT5 has to offer by racing in online leagues organized here on GTPlanet. My main interest is road racing, and when it comes to this iRacing does everything GT5 does, but better, and then it does a bunch of other stuff I always dreamed GT5 would do.

In the past three months I've entered over 100 races on real tracks from all over the world using cars with identical specifications and with competitive, mostly fair drivers who have racing skills similar to mine. Realistically, I could never have this kind of experience on GT5. If online racing is what you're looking for in a racing sim then it's hard to see how iRacing couldn't ruin GT5 for you.

What I mean to say is that using appropriate tires in GT5 does not elevate the racing experience to the level of iRacing.

 

[TomBrady]

How does iRacing strengthen GT5? I don't see that claim supported in your post.

See the above conversation with R1600Turbo. Most of us have seen the very best GT5 has to offer by racing in online leagues organized here on GTPlanet. My main interest is road racing, and when it comes to this iRacing does everything GT5 does, but better, and then it does a bunch of other stuff I always dreamed GT5 would do.

In the past three months I've entered over 100 races on real tracks from all over the world using cars with identical specifications and with competitive, mostly fair drivers who have racing skills similar to mine. Realistically, I could never have this kind of experience on GT5. If online racing is what you're looking for in a racing sim then it's hard to see how iRacing couldn't ruin GT5 for you.

What I mean to say is that using appropriate tires in GT5 does not elevate the racing experience to the level of iRacing.

Iracing makes you appreciate the game aspects of GT5 and it especially makes you appreciate the MASSIVE amount of content, and the price you pay for it $0. There's just too many cars and tracks I love more than what's in iracing for me to ever abandon gt5 and I'm shocked that other people don't feel the same way. I mean, it's not like things are that bad compared to iracing, with the right tires and lack of aids the physics are just as enjoyable. Plus I love buying, and upgrading cars, not to mention the course maker. I mean where else can you literally have an unlimited supply of brand new tracks to try?

Iracing is the tops as far as online racing, you're right. It's consistent, and what I love, is there's matchmaking. That's something GT5 sorely needs to implement, especially since there's no longer the stupid standard/pro physics like in GT5p, it would be great to have matchmaking. A safety rating would also be cool as long there was a way to not blame the wrong driver (or both like iracing does, hate that) for each incident.

The other thing I love about iracing is there are only one tire compound for each car. honestly the one thing that keeps me from playing GT5 online literally all the time is the fact that so many noobs use racing soft tires all day, I can't stand that. It's tough for me to find lobbies I can even stand to race in because of the sheer amount of noobs with controllers that don't realize that using slicks on road cars is ridiculous, let alone the most grippy slicks ever imagined.

One thing I hate about iracing though, is the way the races are set. There are certain car and track combinations that you may never get to see unless someone pays to open their own race, I don't like that.

There are a bunch of things iracing does better but there's also a lot of things GT5 does better so I can't really see how either could ruin the other.You can say the same thing about any sim. netkar does physics and graphics better, rfactor has more mods, etc. If you're a sim racer, you should enjoy them all like I do, not let yourself ruin such a brilliant sim like gt5

 

[superbike81]

Iracing makes you appreciate the game aspects of GT5 and it especially makes you appreciate the MASSIVE amount of content, and the price you pay for it $0. There's just too many cars and tracks I love more than what's in iracing for me to ever abandon gt5 and I'm shocked that other people don't feel the same way. I mean, it's not like things are that bad compared to iracing, with the right tires and lack of aids the physics are just as enjoyable. Plus I love buying, and upgrading cars, not to mention the course maker. I mean where else can you literally have an unlimited supply of brand new tracks to try

I disagree with this wholeheartedly.

Racing in iRacing and then racing in GT5 makes me appreciate the limited amount of near-perfect tracks in iRacing. Laser scanned tracks in iRacing make every track in GT5 feel completely lifeless. Sure, they've got elevation changes and stuff, but the tracks feel dead, not lively at all, very few bumps, very few camber changes, etc.

With all aids off and "correct" tires, the physics in GT5 still feel completely numb and so many cars feel way too similar. Every car in iRacing has a completely different personality and you have to really learn to be fast with each car. In GT5, if you are a fast driver, you will be very fast in pretty much every car with very little practice needed. In iRacing, to really be running with the fastest guys, you have to spend hundreds of hours practicing. When you switch to a different car, you have too spend an additional hundreds of hours to be running with the fastest guys in that car.


I've been playing iRacing since 2008, when my best friend found out about it through his Grand Prix Legends league. We made a joint account (iRacing was much more expensive back then) and played it for hours every weekend while our wives hung out together. I took about a year long break from iRacing, and casually played GT5. I like GT5, I really do, but I can't enjoy it as a racing game. I enjoy it as a car collection game, just casually driving different cars, but even then, since I started playing iRacing again back in October, I picked up GT5 once, played for 10 minutes, and couldn't stop laughing how numb everything felt.

I understand why millions of people love GT5, and I don't look down on them for loving it (some iRacing elitists look down on EVERYTHING that isn't iRacing).

As far as cost goes, iRacing has to be as expensive as it is to keep the quality the way it is. I am a 100% content owner, and I don't regret a single dollar that I spent.

 

[MagpieRacer]

What he said ^

The laser scanned tracks make this feel like something else entirely. knowing that it is accurate to within 1cm, there can be no arguments or questions about accuracy, because it is as accurate as it can be. And that is part of the overall fun and attraction.

As for it ruining my GT5 experience, I can see why it might for some people, but if anything its taken me away from Forza 4 for the longest time since I got it.