The conundrum - I am stuck!

[IAMDOODLEBUG]

I haven't been as active on here recently, but thought now was an ideal time to emerge from my cave! After reaching my peak skill level at DR S a while back, I was at the stage of diminishing returns. Most days I could feature on the top 10 leaderboard during the day and by close of play on average would be in the top 30-40 ish on my favourite combo's. To extract the last tenths and reach the aliens would take me months of practice. I found myself stressing over DR, not wanting to drop any points in races. I had become frustrated at finding the plateau in pace. I was burnt out and wanted a new challenge!

I bought Pcars 2 just before GT and it gathered dust. It was time to load it up... First time on track and I feel like rocking in a corner - suddenly I can't trail brake into apexes like a nutter, the cars have weight and inertia and have to be coaxed to change direction, the ffb is making the wheel shake over bumps in the track, go light over crests. I'm a mess, but I appreciate the challenge - GT is so forgiving that it teaches terrible habits in the pursuit of fast times. I had to reign back my instincts and start from the basics, braking in a straight line, feathering the throttle, understanding weight transfer. Soon I could keep the car on track and began working to get my pace back.

Fast forward to now - I am nowhere near as fast as I am in GT, but I have an acceptable pace and consistency is returning. Big problems arise - the AI is better than GT by far, but it's not the same as racing other people. Online on PS4 is frustrating as hell, with limited lobby races. There is no "sport mode". You can't guarantee you'll be racing with respectful drivers. It's miles away from the slick operation of GT! In frustration, I logged back onto GT last night. Straight into an online race, great! Then I drove out of the pits.... Disgusting! The car felt like a toy, no weight to it, I could chuck it into corners without fear of losing the back end. There was next to no ffb and the track was smooth like glass. I genuinely don't think I can accept the forgiving nature of it.

This is the conundrum and I don't know what to do - pcars 2 is miles ahead of GT in terms of physics and tracks, GT has an unmatched online experience. I don't think I can deal with pcars online and I dont think I can accept GTs simple physics model. I dont have a PC or I would look into iRacing! I'm stuck.

 

[Lebowski]

Erm, accept its just a game and enjoy it?

 

[IAMDOODLEBUG]

It's not in my nature unfortunately! If you don't see the the predicament then you are wired differently to me which is fine, most people are

 

[Lion-Face]

Play what you like and get enjoyment out of. I can (and have played) play iRacing, or Assetto Corsa, but I enjoy GT Sport more, so that's what I play.

 

[Macboyilija]

I know your post was about much more than this, but I highlighted this part.

I could chuck it into corners without fear of losing the back end.

I understand your post regarding the physics. But no fear of losing back end means you need to switch of all the aids. If still you are not losing your back end then you are just a good and controlled driver.

 

[Akwaaba]

so if your choice is between GT Sport and Project Cars, then you have to compromise. Pick the one you will enjoy the most and either sacrifice the online or physics.

To begin with I hated the floaty feel of Drive Club, stuck with it and started to enjoy the game more and more.
So, it might be that you'll get used to the physics rather than the AI?

 

[IAMDOODLEBUG]

I know your post was about much more than this, but I highlighted this part.


I understand your post regarding the physics. But no fear of losing back end means you need to switch of all the aids. If still you are not losing your back end then you are just a good and controlled driver.

The only aid I use is ABS as GTs lack of pedal adjustment means without it on the wheels lock after a miniscule input! TCS I have on low for most cars for consistency but that doesn't alter what's going on in the braking zone, It's just not right that you can brake heavily while turning in hard and not swap ends, even with brake balance all the way to the rear.

My main point is that it is enjoyable to play but it 100% will introduce bad habits which don't transfer to more realistic games or real racing technique. Either I need to overlook it's shortcomings or I need to move on, but I love the online mechanics to bits!

 

[vxr58]

I’ve always had this problem myself. I love different aspects of different games but nothing is perfect. Recently I was enjoying aspects of GTS, PC2, Assetto, Forza 7, and Dirt Rally.

Unless you fancy dabbling with PCs, I think you’re stuck. It may be worth the investment once AC Competition arrives as then you’ll have that and I racing to dabble in. I think I’ll be taking the plunge at that point.

Agree btw that PC2 does somethings very well. It’s the graphics and frame rate issues that destroy it for me. Have you tried Assetto? The console versions are pretty dire but the physics are a step on again from PC.

 

[Slapped]

I think what you have to consider is that GTS, PCars2, and AC are all very much approximations of driving physics, and for a given car none of them actually agree with each other. You also have to consider that concessions may well have been made for playability as well.

I enjoy all 3 for what they bring to the table, but there's no way I'd expect, say a Porsche GT3 RS, to behave in real life the same way as it would in any of those games. For that you'd probably need to blag your way into the simulation room in Porsche's R&D HQ.

 

[Crazy Taylor]

Maybe you just have become rather versatile in both games. An example is Shaun White is known for both being a skateboard half pipe specialist and snowboard half pipe specialist. I feel playing different types of racing games is similar (IMO, important that) to that. Transferring styles from one to the other dosen't always work. Maybe its just a case of switching off PCar mindset when playing GT and the other way round to find your groove again.

 

[VBR]

The car felt like a toy, no weight to it, I could chuck it into corners without fear of losing the back end. There was next to no ffb and the track was smooth like glass. I genuinely don't think I can accept the forgiving nature of it.

Neither can I, & that's yet another reason I don't wanna buy GT Sport. My advice to you is to go back to P CARS 2 & find a good league to race with. That way, you get the great physics & FFB but without the lame drivers in public online lobbies.

 

[Sven Jurgens]

Nurb24 is anything but smooth, nor could I chuck the fiat 500 into corners without doing pirouettes. I guess I should stay far away from pcars2

I've played project cars, it was quite boring and not fun to play with a controller at all. Hence I never bought project cars 2. The AI was kinda weird too in the first one, from huge traffic jams to 1% difficulty change resulting in either finishing first or last. It all felt kinda meaningless, but I liked some of the lesser known tracks it offered.

Project cars 2 with the same attention to DS4 controls and matching system as GTS would indeed be great.

 

[cjr3559]

Play something totally different like a Rally or F1 title.

Neither GTS or PC2 do much for me even if they are good games.

 

[Sick Cylinder]

VBR has provided the answer -

My advice to you is to go back to P CARS 2 & find a good league to race with. That way, you get the great physics & FFB but without the lame drivers in public online lobbies.

If you join a league (or two) your practise will gain a purpose and as you race more with the same group of people you will start to learn their driving styles and how to adapt your driving to suit - in satisfaction it will be a quantum leap above racing with random people.

 

[GTWelsh]

Use ABS - WEAK. Far better and more inline with what people expect when playing a sim. It brings brake bias and general car balance into the mix pretty well.

I have the GT3 Nissan GTR setup with some rear bias and it understeers only a bit when feathering but will change if I mash the brakes so the rear starts to come round, weight transfer onto the front I guess makes the rear light.

With ABS on default you get very little of this, 100% brakes into and halfway round the corner, car remains perfectly stable with zero lockups.

ABS on WEAK and slam the brakes while turning you'll find yourself in the barrier.

ABS off is pretty atrocious though.

 

[Phd77]

With so many games on the market your unlikely to find any one perfect, until someone combines the best bits of all games it's just a case of play what you enjoy the most , I played assetto corsa for the 1st time in a while and I'd forgotten how good the physics are and how bad the game is , it is frustrating how no one Dev can get it right .

 

[morpheus9394]

There hasn't been a "perfect" racing sim/game since arguably GT4.
The physics is Assetta Corsa are probably the best on PC at least and when using a wheel.
Forza 7 and Project Cars 2 have the most content.
Dirt Rally/Dirt 4 has the most off tarmac feel/handling.
GT Sport best graphics and online.
Forza 7 and GT Sport have the best controller feel out of the box.
F1 2017 get an honourable mention for being a great F1 sim, whether you use a controller or a wheel.
RaceRoom Racing was pretty good but took some tinkering to get the wheel to feel right
iRacing is just too expensive for me to give it a serious try and I don't have enough space time to invest.

Forza 7 and GT Sport do have the best "pick up and play" feel in my opinion.