Where have you been having your fun?

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Apart from online racing every monday night, I'm going through the invitational events. Settings are AI at 100/100. Took damage off (bar engine damage, that one's still on) and I've had great races. In a just pick up and play mode.

Currently having great fun with a Group 4 Invitational race at Imola. 10 laps, no qualifying, the grid has 22 cars and we start 18th. Managed to win it with the Ferrari GTB, will try to win it also with the other two cars available in that class (BMW M1 and Porsche 944)
 
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Apart from online racing every monday night, I'm going through the invitational events. Settings are AI at 100/100. Took damage off (bar engine damage, that one's still on) and I've had great races. In a just pick up and play mode.

Currently having great fun with a Group 4 Invitational race at Imola. 10 laps, no qualifying, the grid has 22 cars and we start 18th. Managed to win it with the Ferrari GTB, will try to win it also with the other two cars available in that class (BMW M1 and Porsche 944)
Yeah turning off damage when you have to do an overtaking race is advisable. As I found out yesterday after my (literally) 50th attempt at Formula C in Donington coming from 14th. Those things are made of paper and in combination with unpredictable behaviour from AI it just wasnt fun anymore.. had a good race with damage off though, as a tiny mistake by me or the AI didnt result in an instant DNF.
 
Apart from online racing every monday night, I'm going through the invitational events. Settings are AI at 100/100. Took damage off (bar engine damage, that one's still on) and I've had great races. In a just pick up and play mode.

Currently having great fun with a Group 4 Invitational race at Imola. 10 laps, no qualifying, the grid has 22 cars and we start 18th. Managed to win it with the Ferrari GTB, will try to win it also with the other two cars available in that class (BMW M1 and Porsche 944)

For some reason this invitational doesn't allow us to pick the BMW M1. So all I could do was try to win it with the Porsche 944. Which I did after a few failed tries, in a grid mostly made up of BMWs.

Grueling race with a few setbacks but it was mine at the end. Barely I might add, only got to 1st position in the penultimate lap, and did the entire race in a pack of cars. In fact the first 17 cars (me plus all the BMWs) finished the race within 10 seconds between them!



Next invitational up is ... Spirit of Le Mans, it's the classic track with 70's cars. Drooling already! :D
 
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For some reason this invitational doesn't allow us to pick the BMW M1. So all I could do was try to win it with the Porsche 944. Which I did after a few failed tries, in a grid mostly made up of BMWs.

Grueling race with a few setbacks but it was mine at the end. Barely I might add, only got to 1st position in the penultimate lap, and did the entire race in a pack of cars. In fact the first 17 cars (me plus all the BMWs) finished the race within 10 seconds between them!



Next invitational up is ... Spirit of Le Mans, it's the classic track with 70's cars. Drooling already! :D

Before the green light went off I was hooked.

Miss you guys on Mondays too. Didn't realize you were still racing
 
Miss you guys on Mondays too. Didn't realize you were still racing
Hi S. Oh yes, a few of us grizzled combat veterans are still hanging on in there. šŸ™‚
You're always welcome to make an (re)appearance. Along with anyone else I might add. šŸ‘
 
There it is, the "Spirit of Le Mans" invitational. Tried it with the 512M but a very troublesome first lap and a few mistakes after made me end 5th (could be 4th but come race end I thought we had another lap to do and my car was dry so I headed for the pits only to lose one place and finish the race in pit lane!)

It is definitely winnable, even at 100/100, so I have unfinished business with this one. For Le Mans and classic cars enthusiasts this is a treat!


 
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I just did a 25 minutes race simulating Daytona 24h with Group C, Gr.5 and Gr.4 and it's been so fun, I was driving an XJR9 + 2 team mates with the same car and there was a swarm of Porsches 962...Just like in the 88 edition.

When the AI doesn't act like it's blind and tailgates you with some form of respect this game is unparalleled.
 
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:D For some reason this invitational doesn't allow us to pick the BMW M1. So all I could do was try to win it with the Porsche 944. Which I did after a few failed tries, in a grid mostly made up of BMWs.

Grueling race with a few setbacks but it was mine at the end. Barely I might add, only got to 1st position in the penultimate lap, and did the entire race in a pack of cars. In fact the first 17 cars (me plus all the BMWs) finished the race within 10 seconds between them!



Next invitational up is ... Spirit of Le Mans, it's the classic track with 70's cars. Drooling already! :D

So you guys convinced me to do some invitationals as well. And I will admit with damage off and difficulty lowered to about 50 it can be pretty fun but it's also hit and miss. I think I did the same one on Imola and it was fun. I also did one with a Carrera GT on the Porsche track and it was absolutely dreadful. That car is just impossible to drive, the FFB is off, I didnt like the track, and THEN it started to rain as well.. :D

They do force you to try different cars which can be cool. I never really enjoyed the roadcars before but maybe my FFB settings are different now or something but most of them feel pretty good now.
 
So you guys convinced me to do some invitationals as well. And I will admit with damage off and difficulty lowered to about 50 it can be pretty fun but it's also hit and miss. I think I did the same one on Imola and it was fun. I also did one with a Carrera GT on the Porsche track and it was absolutely dreadful. That car is just impossible to drive, the FFB is off, I didnt like the track, and THEN it started to rain as well.. :D

They do force you to try different cars which can be cool. I never really enjoyed the roadcars before but maybe my FFB settings are different now or something but most of them feel pretty good now.
Oh, there's definitely some misses, and they seemed way too eager to show off their weather system. Like, the first manufacture drive for Bentley is a GT3 in the snow at Silverstone. For real. There's another one that has you in a GT car on the California highway, no weather but equally stupid. But there are some genuine hits too, even considering the absurd amount of rain and such that seems to crop up.

Not sure exactly what hardware you're running but I noticed a difference in wheel feedback from the OG XB1 to the X1X and then a huge leap with the XSX that helped everything but the road cars in particular.
 
Hm thats interesting. To be honest I dont recall much difference between PS4 and PS5 other than a messed up contrast and slightly more stable framerates :) over the years I did change the FFB settings a number of times and have now settled on something I'm pretty sure is the best the game will give me for my setup.

I never drove any of the pre 1970 cars either, despite usually preferring the more "analog" cars of the 80's and 90's, so kind of curious about those as well. The historic Spa and LeMans might be fun to learn to drive. It's incredible thatafter 100's of hours I havent even driven all classes in the game, let alone all the cars!

I think I spend like 10-20, euro's on this game on a sale and I allmost feel guilty about it :D
 
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The difference going from a Xbox one X & a thrustmaster tx to a Xbox Series X & a thrustmaster tsxw is definitely improved this game even further, it was definitely created more for higher end equipment.
And now I have my th8a I can't stop driving all the cars that use manual with clutch it's so much more fun (although more tiring).
I've also just purchased this off Ebay for a more tactile feel for the shifter aswell, apparently it's one of the the better mods that don't require a clip or cable tie to hold it in place.
 

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That's an interesting device @Mr Grumpy, can I ask you the price and I'm assuming you liked it but how would you describe that "more tactile" feel?

@Mr_D and @r_outsider I hear you both on the "hit and miss" aspect of the invitationals. There was one I did a long time ago that I got so mad/frustrated with I left them entirely for a while. I don't remember its name but it is to be raced with a Porsche 935 in the old Hockenheim. It should be an interesting race but weather intervenes mid race and after just one lap the track becomes undriveable. I even tried to "learn" what lines would avoid the aquaplaning but in at least two points of that track there was no possible avoidance. A shame.

I might also add that this is one of the most annoying aspects in a otherwise very good game. I know aquaplaning and have experienced it many times in real life. And NO, the cars don't automatically pull to the right or to the left when it happens, if you lift the throttle and keep a steady hand on the wheel the car will go just straight until it finds grip again. Like an airborne car, basically.
 
That's an interesting device @Mr Grumpy, can I ask you the price and I'm assuming you liked it but how would you describe that "more tactile" feel?

@Mr_D and @r_outsider I hear you both on the "hit and miss" aspect of the invitationals. There was one I did a long time ago that I got so mad/frustrated with I left them entirely for a while. I don't remember its name but it is to be raced with a Porsche 935 in the old Hockenheim. It should be an interesting race but weather intervenes mid race and after just one lap the track becomes undriveable. I even tried to "learn" what lines would avoid the aquaplaning but in at least two points of that track there was no possible avoidance. A shame.

I might also add that this is one of the most annoying aspects in a otherwise very good game. I know aquaplaning and have experienced it many times in real life. And NO, the cars don't automatically pull to the right or to the left when it happens, if you lift the throttle and keep a steady hand on the wheel the car will go just straight until it finds grip again. Like an airborne car, basically.
Ā£26 & free delivery from Spain to the uk, I can't tell you how it feels because it hasn't arrived yet but there's plenty of youtube videos about similar mods that do the same thing, apparently you can tighten the 4x ball bearing grub screws to replicate a mechanical feel.

Regarding weather in project cars 2, it's not so much the weather it's when you start to compress the weather settings that it becomes problematic. Yes the AI can drive through puddles but they are slow compared to dry racing so it evens thing out.

You can do a race completely in rainy condition from start to finish without any real issues the minute you introduce more weather settings & squash them into the length of a race that's when things go wonky.

You can try this easily yourself, set up a race with 1 rain weather setting & see how it goes (20 minutes should be a good test) then do the same race again but choose 4x the exact same rain settings with fit to race length option, it'll start off the same but you'll get a wetter track 4x as quick with puddles forming 4x quicker as you introduce a new rain setting every 5 minutes.

Also just like curb pull in this game, a good lsd setting can practically eradicate the problem (not completely) but I always start my car setting with lsd & go ride curbs just to check curb pull on/off & neutral throttle, then I'll adjust my suspension to cope with certain curbs because hitting a curb hard can be just as bad as curb pull.

Edit: I already done a little mod myself on the shifter with a bit of 8mm rubber tubing, cut about 15mm of tubing & place it over the black plastic rotating collar on the shaft for protection & noise damping when changing gear. Just make sure you cut it slightly smaller than the collar as you don't want it catching on the metal shaft because it needs to rotate freely on the collar. I did try 9mm internal diameter at first as the shaft is 9mm but it moved about & didn't engage in the slots due to the thickness of the tube 12mm outside diameter so I dropped down to 8mm internal diameter with 10mm outside diameter, it was a tight fit but it won't move now & it fits in the gear selection with no wiggle. The only way to get it off will be with to cut it off with a Stanley blade, luckily I've got a lot of tubing left.
 

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The difference going from a Xbox one X & a thrustmaster tx to a Xbox Series X & a thrustmaster tsxw is definitely improved this game even further, it was definitely created more for higher end equipment.
And now I have my th8a I can't stop driving all the cars that use manual with clutch it's so much more fun (although more tiring).
I've also just purchased this off Ebay for a more tactile feel for the shifter aswell, apparently it's one of the the better mods that don't require a clip or cable tie to hold it in place.
Nice! Driving with the TH8A is awesome. But it definitely needs some kind of mod to make the feel better. I have something similar to yours, cheap from alixpress I think. It improved the feeling a lot but It didnt take very long for the 3d printed material to tear even though I dont use a lot of resistance. But its still holding together, sort of. Mine has double the amount of bearings for some reason, but it's very difficult to get them to provide equal resistance because there is no point of reference, other than just testing it.. I saw one called the clixbeetle I think that has a metal plate where the screws go, if you find the durability a problem that might be worth looking into.

I also got one from 3drap but I do not recommend that one. I didnt like the feel and it was very noisy because there is some play in it. To be honest using zip ties to fix it in place works perfectly, just a bit timeconsuming to initially place it.

I now have even another one coming in from Nox3d which is made out of rubber, curious to see how that holds up. It wasnt really necessary to buy it but I like experimenting with different things :)

Your idea is pretty good too, I might try it out myself!
 
Nice! Driving with the TH8A is awesome. But it definitely needs some kind of mod to make the feel better. I have something similar to yours, cheap from alixpress I think. It improved the feeling a lot but It didnt take very long for the 3d printed material to tear even though I dont use a lot of resistance. But its still holding together, sort of. Mine has double the amount of bearings for some reason, but it's very difficult to get them to provide equal resistance because there is no point of reference, other than just testing it.. I saw one called the clixbeetle I think that has a metal plate where the screws go, if you find the durability a problem that might be worth looking into.

I also got one from 3drap but I do not recommend that one. I didnt like the feel and it was very noisy because there is some play in it. To be honest using zip ties to fix it in place works perfectly, just a bit timeconsuming to initially place it.

I now have even another one coming in from Nox3d which is made out of rubber, curious to see how that holds up. It wasnt really necessary to buy it but I like experimenting with different things :)

Your idea is pretty good too, I might try it out myself!

Yeah I'm absolutely loving the shifter, still learning heal & toe but getting there with only a few mistakes.

I looked at the rubber one before choosing the one I ordered, purely based on not needing a clip or cable tie to hold it in place as it's designed to fit around the whole mechanism.
 
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Since I'm going to the Rolex 24 tomorrow morning with my son-in-law, to catch the last 6 hours of the race, live, I decided to do my own mini Rolex 24

30 laps at Daytona international. Cloudy/Rain/Overcast

I love this game (still believe it's the best overall package available to any console racer) but there are two primary things that bother me a little too much:

1. Braking is a nightmare. I feel like with a planted vehicle like a GT3 car you should be able to brake in a straight line without unsettling the car.

It's possible it's just my lack of skill but I have to be so careful when braking. Conversely, in ACC, braking is phenomenal. There's nothing but confidence in the ability to break hard and a straight line and then accelerate through a turn

2. Sometimes I feel like the car gets spun out too easily. I understand spinning out if you catch too much curb and touch a little grass but I'm talking about spinning out / getting runoff track too easily by a car that barely taps you.

It's hard to explain it but the cars feel a little bit "light"

That said, it's 2024 and I had to go back to a game from 2017 to simulate the Rolex 24 šŸ‘šŸŒž

@Ian Bell PLEASE give us a true successor to PC2

CAN'T WAIT
 
Braking is a nightmare.
ACC is all about the ABS. Well on the GT3s anyway, the GT4s slightly less so. Stamp on the brake and the ABS will cut in and prevent lockups. In PC2 stick the ABS on high to replicate this somewhat. Also try moving the brake balance forward a bit, it'll help prevent the rear wheels locking on weight transfer. (I know @Hun200kmh likes to do the reverse šŸ™‚)
Soft tyres will also help, see below.
Sometimes I feel like the car gets spun out too easily.
After swapping about with various Sims the cars in PC2 do at times feel less planted. You can "tune" the cars to improve things (there's been a discussion on that recently), but with the GT3 cars they are fitted as standard with hard tyres. Depending on conditions these don't always get to a proper working temperature. Fit the soft tyres for more instant grip. Also, going back to ACC, its GT3s use TC quite heavily. Switch it on in PC2 (on high if needed) for a quick fix to spin outs and slippery curbs.
 
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Yeah I'm absolutely loving the shifter, still learning heal & toe but getting there with only a few mistakes.

I looked at the rubber one before choosing the one I ordered, purely based on not needing a clip or cable tie to hold it in place as it's designed to fit around the whole mechanism.
It was mentioned here recently, but decreasing the engine braking (increasing the value in the menu) helps with h&t.

Also if you find you're missing gears because you're not pressing the clutch enough you can increase the pedal sensitivty in the menu so for example pressing the clutch only 50 percent will register as 100 percent. This works especially well in Dirt Rally 2.0 where gears shift are very sensitive to having the clutch fully pressed. In PC2 it's usually not so big a problem, and EA WRC is a bit more forgiving too.

Another tip I have is you can upshift in PC2 without pressing the clutch, but of course you have to slightly release the accelerator during the gear change. In older cars, the Sauber C9 comes to mind, you have to be careful not to fully press the accelerator too soon after shifting gear as the gear hasnt yet 'taken'. There's a bit of timing involved just like in real life, you'll figure it out soon enough if you havent allready :)

Final bit of advice is to use the sequential gear mode to practice h&t as you can focus a bit more on your foot movement.
 
Since I'm going to the Rolex 24 tomorrow morning with my son-in-law, to catch the last 6 hours of the race, live, I decided to do my own mini Rolex 24

30 laps at Daytona international. Cloudy/Rain/Overcast

I love this game (still believe it's the best overall package available to any console racer) but there are two primary things that bother me a little too much:

1. Braking is a nightmare. I feel like with a planted vehicle like a GT3 car you should be able to brake in a straight line without unsettling the car.

It's possible it's just my lack of skill but I have to be so careful when braking. Conversely, in ACC, braking is phenomenal. There's nothing but confidence in the ability to break hard and a straight line and then accelerate through a turn

2. Sometimes I feel like the car gets spun out too easily. I understand spinning out if you catch too much curb and touch a little grass but I'm talking about spinning out / getting runoff track too easily by a car that barely taps you.

It's hard to explain it but the cars feel a little bit "light"

That said, it's 2024 and I had to go back to a game from 2017 to simulate the Rolex 24 šŸ‘šŸŒž

@Ian Bell PLEASE give us a true successor to PC2

CAN'T WAIT
To be honest the braking problems are not something I recognize. Personally I really like the braking in PC2 as there are good indicators to the limit of the grip. Primarily try to listen to your tyres, they will tell you exactly when they are about to break traction. What else can help is using the inside camera where the camera moves under g forces, you can really see how much g you're experiencing when braking.

The advice from ifandor is excellent and should help you out quite a bit.

Other tips I could think of are setting up brake pressure in conjunction with the bias. Using time trial can be helpful as you dont have to warm the tyres, however if the actual race is much colder grip levels will of course be different and require more finetuning. Put the brake bias relatively far to the the rear, turn off ABS, and run 100 percent brake pressure, now drive into the heaviest braking zone of the track and slam the brakes. If the rear steps out move the bias forwards. Do this untill you find the point where the rear remains stable. This way you make maximum use of the rear brakes without compromising stability.

Next adjust the brake pressure, again go into the hardest braking zone and slam it. If the tyres lock immediately lower the pressure. Do this untill you reach a point where at high speed they dont instantly lock but you still have to gradually release the brake as you lower speed to prevent lock ups. Of course this has a degree of personal preference as well. Finding a setting that gives you confidence is more important than shaving of .003 seconds.

Then you can finetune the bias at other corners on the track, maybe there is a trail braking corner where the car is still unstable, again move the bias more forward to stabilise the car.

Other tips are softening the springs at the front as the car will load up the front tyres more which typically brake hardest. And finally making the rear differential stronger under braking (lower value if you use a clutch lsd) can help stabilize the car (but it will affect rotation especially while trailbraking)

And come to think of it, maybe the rear damping is too stiff and a bump can unsettle the rear? So you could soften the fast bump on the rear as well.

Ok now I'm done giving advice nobody asked for! :D
 
It was mentioned here recently, but decreasing the engine braking (increasing the value in the menu) helps with h&t.

Also if you find you're missing gears because you're not pressing the clutch enough you can increase the pedal sensitivty in the menu so for example pressing the clutch only 50 percent will register as 100 percent. This works especially well in Dirt Rally 2.0 where gears shift are very sensitive to having the clutch fully pressed. In PC2 it's usually not so big a problem, and EA WRC is a bit more forgiving too.

Another tip I have is you can upshift in PC2 without pressing the clutch, but of course you have to slightly release the accelerator during the gear change. In older cars, the Sauber C9 comes to mind, you have to be careful not to fully press the accelerator too soon after shifting gear as the gear hasnt yet 'taken'. There's a bit of timing involved just like in real life, you'll figure it out soon enough if you havent allready :)

Final bit of advice is to use the sequential gear mode to practice h&t as you can focus a bit more on your foot movement.
No I'm not talking about problems controlling the cars while H&Ting in game, more my physical ability to do it without thinking about it. In real life I drive a manual car but in sims I've always used left foot braking & paddle shift, now I have the shifter you would think it would be easy to get used to it as I do it daily in real life, but for some reason it feels weird, maybe because I'm not feeling any forces I feel from my real car as I'm only getting wheel ffb + any vibration that comes through the sim frame as opposed to everything you feel in real life. Maybe I should buy a motion rig :)
 
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No I'm not talking about problems controlling the cars while H&Ting in game, more my physical ability to do it without thinking about it. In real life I drive a manual car but in sims I've always used left foot braking & paddle shift, now I have the shifter you would think it would be easy to get used to it as I do it daily in real life, but for some reason it feels weird, maybe because I'm not feeling any forces I feel from my real car as I'm only getting wheel ffb + any vibration that comes through the sim frame as opposed to everything you feel in real life. Maybe I should buy a motion rig :)
It just takes a bit of adjusting. Just like when switching to a load cell. It'll feel natural in no time when your muscle memory is reprogrammed. For me personally rallying worked very well (I bought the TH8A specifically for DR2.0) as you constantly switch between left foot and right foot braking.

Funny thing is if I left foot brake in my real car I fly through the windshield :D
 
It just takes a bit of adjusting. Just like when switching to a load cell. It'll feel natural in no time when your muscle memory is reprogrammed. For me personally rallying worked very well (I bought the TH8A specifically for DR2.0) as you constantly switch between left foot and right foot braking.

Funny thing is if I left foot brake in my real car I fly through the windshield :D
So did I when I tried it, luckily no one was behind me at the time.
 
The difference going from a Xbox one X & a thrustmaster tx to a Xbox Series X & a thrustmaster tsxw is definitely improved this game even further, it was definitely created more for higher end equipment.
And now I have my th8a I can't stop driving all the cars that use manual with clutch it's so much more fun (although more tiring).
I've also just purchased this off Ebay for a more tactile feel for the shifter aswell, apparently it's one of the the better mods that don't require a clip or cable tie to hold it in place.
Quick review of my latest mod....

Brilliant but noisy...

Easy to install, just undo the 9 screws holding the metal base & clamp around the shaft, you have to cut the little cable tie holding the sequential wire in place as its a snugg fit but does not effect or trap the wire due to rounded edges.

Not even tightened it up to the fullest & it makes the world of difference but I might have to do my rubber collar trick for the bottom half of the shaft to dampen & protect from metal on metal noise & wear.

Edit: rubber collar damping trick installed & running absolutely spot on, quieter & stiffer šŸ‘
 
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