Including the famous German track Nürburgring Nordschleife in modern video games isn’t the rarity it once was. Console players were technically first introduced to the Green Hell back in 2003 with Project Gotham Racing 2, though that version was scaled up by roughly 10% to increase passing opportunities online. A more accurately-sized model arrived a year later with Gran Turismo 4, and has since spread to numerous other titles in the decade following.
Owing to the latest advances in technology (such as laser scanning), this course can nowadays be used as one benchmark by which the skills of video game developers can be contrasted and compared. Handily enough, the folks over at Youtube channel FTRRacingTv have crafted a five-way split video to do just that.
Featuring four laser-scanned Nürburgring Nordschleife replicas from the latest batch of driving simulators – Forza Motorsport 6, Assetto Corsa, iRacing and RaceRoom Racing Experience – as well as the real thing, the video offers gamers the chance to compare more directly. Although the windows are small, and the laps don’t synch perfectly, we hope you’ll be able to notice changes in detail between all four tracks.
Which version looks best? Which one nails the important track-side details? Share your thoughts in the Comments section!
See more articles on AC vs Reality, Gaming vs Reality, and Nurburgring Nordschleife.
Well, they all look pretty good! It would be nice if the tracks were a bit more synchronized, even if it meant dropping a few frames here and there in some of them. But since they all looks perfectly fine I guess it’s a bit of a moot point.
What I would like to see is a professional race-car driver taking a model of car that is included in all of the games, driving it with the best wheels available, after driving the real car around the ring, and rating each sim based on physics and ffb rather than how it looks. That would be a very interesting read.
That was very interesting. I do wonder why GT didn’t make the video. Oh, well. It’s not laser scanned….
It’s would be interesting to know – how does track change with every repair and how does it influence on games replicas? If tracks are maintained trying to reach the ideal replica of project design/plan, so why don’t gamedevs just digitize it’s primary design? The only thing that they need to replicate is visual part – textures.
Gran Turismo 6
GT6
It has never been beaten, sorry other sims.
Nurburgring in gt6 also my favorite, weird that comparison left it out… I told that and will tell again, that releasing gt6 on old console was a mistake, not only it hurts sales and overall quality but also lack of interest from people who do these comparisons… 99% of the people don’t appreciate physics what gt deliver.. Most people see only graphics.
Someone has obviously never driven a laser scanned version of the Nords.
I know Polyphony takes thousands of photos for each course, but did they not laser scan the Nürburgring? The track’s dimensions in GT6 seem to be rather solid compared to real life.
Except from GT6, AC, and PC? No I haven’t.
Perhaps you could explain WHY it is better? Just saying it hasn’t been beaten tells us nothing but your opinion.
From experience, how else? I’ve watched countless videos of the nurburgring, and everytime the one from GT6 looks extremely identical. The other ones are not bad, no, but lack the detail that is unique to GT6. When comparing from reality to GT6 it is very hard to find wrongs. On the other sims it feels instantly different, you recognize that you drive a nurburgring from a game, whereas in GT6 you recognize as if you drive the real one.
Oh and note, experience doesn’t mean there that I’ve actually been on the nurb. Didn’t have that chance (yet…) but it means that it is not a mathematical feedback.
Congratulations then, you’re the “one”.
Saying “because I said so” would be just as compelling of a reason.
GT6’s version is better than forza’s that’s for sure. Forza’s isn’t fully laser scanned. Only portions of it is and those portions are as inaccurate as forza’s other real world tracks used to be before they started laser scanning.
It’s amazing how well PD’s real tracks hold up against laser scanning. You need a microscope to tell a difference
And of course you can provide proofs that FM isn’t fully laserscanned, right? ;)
It doesn’t make any sense to scan only parts of a track, both from the logistics and common sense perspective. Only takes a couple days for a track like Nur.
http://www.gamespot.com/articles/e3-2014-how-turn-10-rebuilt-the-world-s-most-daunting-race-track/1100-6420174/
So PD manage to get FIA certified without laser scanned tracks? Wow…
@TomBrady So you win the fanboi of the day award…. Where have you learned that the FM6 is not “fully” laser scanned? The fact is that IT IS. You neef to give your head a shake…. The “Ring” in FM6 is as acurate as any “laser scanned” version and by that right moreso (accurate) then GT6. That is the nature of things laser scanned… they are more accurate then two guys taking photos.
I’m sorry, the method doesn’t change the real outcome that currently exists. https://youtu.be/-Mi_xKz3WLw
The thing is visually Nurburgring changes quite dramatically during the year, kudos to Sony’s marketing team for finding footage that matches GT’s version closely, but again it doesn’t look like that all the time. Other versions are just as accurate if you find footage from the season the teams went to capture the track.
Personally I’m more concerned about the track surface than the surroundings, along with the accompanying game physics and it’s ability to put that laser scan to the test.
Iracing,
Assetto Corsa,
Forza 6,
RaceRoom
Agreed.
How did they expect that comparison to work, when the real life video was recorded at a different season, when there is no foliage?
FM6
AC
iRacing
RaceRoom
GT6
It’s really hard to tell from a video like this, especially because the field of view wasn’t the same in all of them (look at the track width in the Assetto Corsa version, it makes it feel faster with a narrower track).
One day I’ll buy the iRacing version to compare it with the Assetto Corsa version, but I still find the Assetto Corsa version to be excellent. Very good feel as well, which is more important than the visuals.
1. iRacing
2. RaceRoom
3. Assetto Corsa
4. Forza Motorsport 6
I haven’t driven any of them except the one in Assetto Corsa (which i found pretty good) but seeing the video i think those other two are better.
All these Nordschleife versions all come from the same Lidar data which is licensed to the pubblishers. Basically we are commenting textures and trackside objects.
Totally agree.
I mean with Nasadus
HKS Racer – That’s not completely true. iRacing has there own laser scanner and engineering team.
Turn 10 has a similar team, but last I checked they borrow a scanner from Microsoft.
@isocuda: Turn 10 IS Microsoft.
@HKS, not true. Iracing did it themselves and they scan much more than just the track. If you look at the scans of iracing’s vs AC’s you’ll see a lot more of the surrounding area and iracing makes sure to get everything placed correctly, not just the track itself.
Forza’s version isn’t complete. Only parts of it is scanned
The real life one looks pretty fake. Anyways i still think AC has the best version of Nord, Iracing is getting very close though. Forza is so smooth, i dont even know why they bothered scanning it.
The model looks to include bumps in Forza. It might not be clear enough, though they’re there.
(Forza)They tend to be smooth and the “jump” in the back section has always been pretty crazy.