Looking for Racing Game

[Costas Athan]

I just got NFS Shift and am goin to play that while i mine in eve online but any oppinions on the best racing games available right now that has good graphics and circuit racing im not really into the racing through city streets i want the best simulation experience possible.

The best simulation experience unfortunately doesn't come with the best graphics.

But if you want ultimate simulation try rFactor. It has many excellent mods. Tones of cars and tracks here ==> http://www.rfactorcentral.com/ to install for free. rFactor 2 will come with improved graphics.

nKPro is another good simulation racing title.

And of course LFS must be included in this list, although development is really slow nowadays. But it still has a big community if you are interested racing online with other simracers.

Ferrari Virtual Academy is a sim developed by Ferrari and features the previous year's F1 car. I think it is based on nKPro. If you consider that it is developed by Ferrari it must be simulation at its best because they sure have available every detail of the real car.

I would be remiss not to mention iRacing (but you have to pay a subscription for it) and you should really check SimBin's titles.

That's all! I hope I have covered every major simracing title in this post...

 

[theb144]

rfactor looks great i appreciate it i think i got all i need to know now

 

[marcplante]

Gtr2 then go to nogrip racing and add your favorite real tracks. I teach for the BMW club, and can drive a lot of favorite tracks. I use a G 25 wheel, and the tracks feel very close to the real thing. Wish graphics were a little better, but the physics are pretty good.

 

[Dankk]

A little video I took driving Nurburgring...not the best quality, but you kind of get the feel.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W36cGu7hpEc

That's an impressive-looking game. Looks fun, too. I've haven't played either of the Shift games, but I might just have to pick this one up.

Aggh... I also still have to buy Trackmania 2. So many racing games, so little time and money. I'll most likely wait for a sale on both. (Shift 2 at least).

For now, the closest thing I have is GRID. Damn good game. Come to think of it, I haven't even gotten that far in career mode. I need to fire it up and play some more. Thanks for the reminder.

Edit: I understand what you're saying about "feeling on-edge". Really, that game looks intense.

 

[AstroManLuca]

The controls feel on-edge as well. As in they're overly twitchy with the default settings, at least if you're using a controller. I don't have a wheel.

The good thing is you can adjust them to your liking. It's kind of a lot to try to do on your own, but there are guides online for how to alter the controls to make it a little more manageable with a controller. Even with the tweaks, there's still a lot of oversteer, but it's manageable and overall it's a pretty fun game. Shift 2 also has the modding aspects that you don't get with most PC racers. Not as huge a selection as Forza or Gran Turismo, but at least you can maintain a garage full of cars and mod them however you'd like, including going all the way up to the "works" mod which converts your car to race spec.

 

[Costas Athan]

rfactor looks great i appreciate it i think i got all i need to know now

rFactor is my favorite simracing game. rFactor PRO is used by professional teams as a simulator. You can see many videos of the Red Bull F1 simulator on Youtube which uses rFactor PRO.

You can find the car mods here ==> http://www.rfactorcentral.com/list.cfm?cat=Cars&type=All
and tracks here ==> http://www.rfactorcentral.com/list.cfm?cat=Tracks&type=All

 

[Stringjam]

The controls feel on-edge as well. As in they're overly twitchy with the default settings, at least if you're using a controller. I don't have a wheel.

The good thing is you can adjust them to your liking. It's kind of a lot to try to do on your own, but there are guides online for how to alter the controls to make it a little more manageable with a controller. Even with the tweaks, there's still a lot of oversteer, but it's manageable and overall it's a pretty fun game. Shift 2 also has the modding aspects that you don't get with most PC racers. Not as huge a selection as Forza or Gran Turismo, but at least you can maintain a garage full of cars and mod them however you'd like, including going all the way up to the "works" mod which converts your car to race spec.

This is very true. There is a mod (known simply as "minimod") that helps reduce a lot of the floatiness and makes the game far more playable with controllers.

Prepare to spend a little time frustrated with the handling if you are coming to this game from GRID....it takes a bit to get used to, and definitely download the above mod!

This is a game where you will really benefit from dealing with the steering ratio and oversteer settings......you can set them up per car / per track type, or even down to individual tracks. Like Astro said, a lot of the cars oversteer quite a bit, and I find myself pulling back the balance settings to drastic understeer to compensate.

I know it seems like a lot of trouble, but I really like the game. I almost quit playing it in frustration until I spent some time in configuration.

 

[GoStumpy]

I just bought Need For Speed: Shift 2, will give that a go today

Also found my old CD for Need For Speed III: Hot Pursuit (Circa 1998)

Will be using a Logitech Wingman Momo Force wheel

 

[theb144]

i am about half way through nfs shift and loving it also made about a bil isk in eve online while playing so my plan is working out how i imagined it to

 

[funboy6942]

Nascar racing season 2003. Nuf said.

Thats if you are able to find a copy.

 

[12andy]

Ah yes, Papyrus... the forefathers of PC sim-racing.

Wonder what ever happened to them...

 

[GoStumpy]

Ah yes, Papyrus... the forefathers of PC sim-racing.

Wonder what ever happened to them...

You just blew my mind...

First ever racing game... Played on a 486DX... IndyCar Racing released in 1993

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IndyCar_Racing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hl2Vdu0qvJc

And I'm only 26!! lol

 

[iCyborg]

Ah yes, Papyrus... the forefathers of PC sim-racing.

Wonder what ever happened to them...

They shut down and the main guy (Kaemmer) is working on iRacing. Perhaps the best sim right now, but their monthly subscription model doesn't suit many...

 

[GoStumpy]

Well I got my machine up and running yesterday, with an i3-2100, HD6850, 8gb ram, Win7, and HOLY SMOKES BATMAN, NFS:Shift2 has amazing graphics! So far so good on gameplay too, but I'm just speechless on the graphics...

It's damn near TV quality... Unreal. Unreal. :wub::wub::wub::wub::wub::wub: