Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[GoesTuna11]

First off, you don't want to use someone's free three months. A much better deal is to go with the Cadillac promotion.  You get three free months plus three tracks that you don't get with the basic package.  That's a $45 value.  Go here: https://cadillaccupracing.com/

There is also a thread on GTPlanet that has a bunch of codes for different packages.

The areas where iRacing excels is the organized pick up racing and the laser scanned tracks.  The safety rating system makes it more likely that a public race will be clean.

The physics are good for the most part but not as good as rFactor2 or AC imho.  It's hard going from rf2 to iRacing because of the lack of feedback with oversteering in iracing.  There are a few other quirks like cold tires are faster than warm tires.

The biggest thing keeping me from running more races is that it takes me a good amount of practice before I feel comfortable racing a certain combo.

[MX5#98]

Shoot, missed your post about the codes. Finally got it running on my mac. Once my new wheel shows up, I plan on giving it a shot. Hope to try rFactor 2 and any of the other games that come along too when time allows.

MX

[MX5#98]

One quick observation about iRacing .... why are there not more tracks? I get that they have to be laser scanned. But ... if you charge $15/track, why wouldn't you scan more? I guess if only one person buys Eagles Canyon Raceway in Slidell, TX., then you haven't justified the effort to get it scanned, huh? Guess I answered my own question.   

[MX5#98]

Ok, I finally played iRacing last night. Here are my first impressions.

1. Holy crap. This is hard!! It's like driving in GT5 except with comfort hards. I was averaging about 5 incidents per lap at Laguna Seca in a Miata driving at about 8 or 9 tenths. Braking in the Miata is a real issue, car does not want to stop. I'm sure it's something I'm doing wrong. But in this car, braking should really shine. I'm having to brake very early into the cork screw and just can't seem to get that part right. If I go too fast, I get wheels off into the grass. If I go too slow, I get plowed into from behind by the other drivers. Did I mention this is hard? I'm pretty scared right now to go into a race. I don't trust myself or the other drivers enough yet.

2. Graphics are a lot better than I thought they would be. Love the overall feel of the game, feels very immersive. Cars handle well, except for the occasional skid that almost always results in a spin. I'm hopeful that I can get better handling that with more seat time.

In general, I think the game is pretty close to as real as you can get. When you cut corners in this game, it seriously unsettles the car and most times very bad things happen. So everything in the game pushes you to keep all four tires on the racing surface. They don't need penalties in this game. But if you do manage to save it, they make you pull into the pits for a penalty, just like in real racing. Pretty cool.

However, the realism ends when you compare the human-computer interface to real life. In some ways, they've made the game too real, because you just can't get the seat of the pants data acquisition that you get in a real car. This is where I struggled immensely last night. I've done multiple track days in real life, and in that time, I've had about one or two incidents per day. And let me tell you, it is way harder in iRacing to keep the incidents down to one or two incidents PER LAP. Holy shitfuck. Anyways, I'm pretty sure the problem lies with the human behind the wheel and not the game. I just need to learn to adjust my sensory inputs to pickup on the queues the game is giving me. But based on what I've seen so far, this is going to be a long process.

Oh, one other observation ... driving last night was kind of lonely. I drove for several hours and even though there were other cars in the practice room, I definitely missed the camaraderie of the folks here. Food for thought.

MX

[TunaPhreak]

Ugh, they're requiring too much personal info and consenting to have GM contact me about buying leasing a cadillac.  I'll have to head over to GTP and find these threads....

My other issue is while my wheel rig works great for gt5 on my ps3 in the living room on the big tv, my gaming PC is in a totally different room with no chance of a wheel setup, I'd have to start out trying this on joystick w/throttle while I decide if it's worth it or not, and that sounds like it'd be even harder to keep on the track than with a wheel!

[MX5#98]

Ugh, they're requiring too much personal info and consenting to have GM contact me about buying leasing a cadillac.  I'll have to head over to GTP and find these threads....

My other issue is while my wheel rig works great for gt5 on my ps3 in the living room on the big tv, my gaming PC is in a totally different room with no chance of a wheel setup, I'd have to start out trying this on joystick w/throttle while I decide if it's worth it or not, and that sounds like it'd be even harder to keep on the track than with a wheel!

Ummm, let me see if I can help you there. Not sure what the issue is the the gaming pc not having a chance of a wheel setup, but ... let me tell you what I did to mine. Basically, like you, I have the PS3 and tv setup in such a way that the wheel rig works pretty well. But with the pc, I needed a different setup. I went to Ikea, and for about $20 you can build your own table. You pick out the top and the legs, then go down to the pickup area and pick out your parts and assemble yourself. A small black tabletop was $12 and then each leg was like $3. When I'm playing iRacing, I actually move my computer and monitor over to this table and attach my wheel to it. When I'm done, I move it back. The table legs screw on, so the table could actually be broken down and stored as well. Don't know if that will help you or not. But I toss it out just in case. Very low cost and simple solution.

MX

[TunaPhreak]

Heh, it's not a matter of needed equipment, unfortunately the issue is space.  The pc desk sits opposite the bed, and has room for the PC chair in between, and that's about it.  As it is I kind of have to side-step into the chair.  I did however sign up for the free 3 months from cadillac after reading the gtp thread and finding the only real info you need to supply to receive the code is your e-mail.  So now Mr. Psycho Phreak of 1313 mockingbird lane who drives a porche 911 is in gm's database.  Let you all know when I signup to try it, code expires 5/1 so it'll be fairly soon!

[DudeTuna]

Heh, it's not a matter of needed equipment, unfortunately the issue is space.  The pc desk sits opposite the bed, and has room for the PC chair in between, and that's about it.  As it is I kind of have to side-step into the chair.  I did however sign up for the free 3 months from cadillac after reading the gtp thread and finding the only real info you need to supply to receive the code is your e-mail.  So now Mr. Psycho Phreak of 1313 mockingbird lane who drives a porche 911 is in gm's database.  Let you all know when I signup to try it, code expires 5/1 so it'll be fairly soon!

Relation?

[Tuna_Girls_n1cup]

Ok, I finally played iRacing last night. Here are my first impressions.

1. Holy crap. This is hard!! It's like driving in GT5 except with comfort hards. I was averaging about 5 incidents per lap at Laguna Seca in a Miata driving at about 8 or 9 tenths. Braking in the Miata is a real issue, car does not want to stop. I'm sure it's something I'm doing wrong. But in this car, braking should really shine. I'm having to brake very early into the cork screw and just can't seem to get that part right. If I go too fast, I get wheels off into the grass. If I go too slow, I get plowed into from behind by the other drivers. Did I mention this is hard? I'm pretty scared right now to go into a race. I don't trust myself or the other drivers enough yet.

2. Graphics are a lot better than I thought they would be. Love the overall feel of the game, feels very immersive. Cars handle well, except for the occasional skid that almost always results in a spin. I'm hopeful that I can get better handling that with more seat time.

In general, I think the game is pretty close to as real as you can get. When you cut corners in this game, it seriously unsettles the car and most times very bad things happen. So everything in the game pushes you to keep all four tires on the racing surface. They don't need penalties in this game. But if you do manage to save it, they make you pull into the pits for a penalty, just like in real racing. Pretty cool.

However, the realism ends when you compare the human-computer interface to real life. In some ways, they've made the game too real, because you just can't get the seat of the pants data acquisition that you get in a real car. This is where I struggled immensely last night. I've done multiple track days in real life, and in that time, I've had about one or two incidents per day. And let me tell you, it is way harder in iRacing to keep the incidents down to one or two incidents PER LAP. Holy shitfuck. Anyways, I'm pretty sure the problem lies with the human behind the wheel and not the game. I just need to learn to adjust my sensory inputs to pickup on the queues the game is giving me. But based on what I've seen so far, this is going to be a long process.

Oh, one other observation ... driving last night was kind of lonely. I drove for several hours and even though there were other cars in the practice room, I definitely missed the camaraderie of the folks here. Food for thought.

MX

Hey man, glad you gave it a shot. I remember feeling a lot of the same things you felt last night the first time I hopped on.

Unfortunately I'm at work, but have a ton of feedback and can respond to some of your statements, but my workload is insane. I'll chime in later about my initial impressions vs. where I am now with the sim. The biggest change was the camaraderie, that was what I missed most....but like anything else you make new friends, plus there are a lot of GT guys over there; you just have to find us.   

[GoesTuna11]

Heh, it's not a matter of needed equipment, unfortunately the issue is space.  The pc desk sits opposite the bed, and has room for the PC chair in between, and that's about it.  As it is I kind of have to side-step into the chair.  I did however sign up for the free 3 months from cadillac after reading the gtp thread and finding the only real info you need to supply to receive the code is your e-mail.  So now Mr. Psycho Phreak of 1313 mockingbird lane who drives a porche 911 is in gm's database.  Let you all know when I signup to try it, code expires 5/1 so it'll be fairly soon!

I'm not sure what info I put down, but they never contacted me about buying a caddy.  I got in when they were still offering the 6 months free.

With this game it pays to do a lot of practicing and reading before you start racing.  There are two things you have to pay attention to, your iRating and your Safety rating.  You won't know what your iRating is until you get out of rookie but it is still there.  SR is what determines whether you get promoted to the next license level.  It has nothing to do with how well you finish, only how many incidents you get.  iRating determines what split you get in and is based on how well you finish.  If you finish in the top half of a race you will gain iRating, if you finish in the bottom half, you will lose iRating.  The vicious cycle that some beginners get themselves into is that they start off racing hard against other rookies, get into accidents and finish poorly.  They lose SR and iRating.  The lower iRating gets them into a lower split with worse drivers so it's easier to get into an accident.

The first two races that I ran, I started in the pits.  You avoid the first turn problems that way.  I ran safely and didn't push to pass other drivers.  I still finished podium my first race.  Other drivers just drove themselves off the track.  I gained SR and IR that way which made getting out of rookie easier.  When I started oval racing, I tried racing harder right off the bat.  I still made it through rookie but it did take longer.

[Feldynn]

I signed up with the Caddy special offer last year, I do remember them wanting some basic personal info (name, address, phone, email contact info type stuff) though that may have changed.  At most I get one email from GM / Cadillac every 2-3 months, nothing more.

Phreak.. probably not a solution you'd be all that interested but for what it's worth I did pretty well on iRacing using just a PS3 controller with 3rd party drivers.  Asside from the obvious physics / learning curve of a different game it wasn't any harder than GT5 with a controller once you get the hang of it.

MX5.. regarding the skidding / not stopping control issues you're having I did have a similar experience early on, assuming it's the same then it's mostly due to how you're braking and that the cars probably have ABS turned off.  There should be some options in the settings to put ABS which I did for a bit until I got used to the rest of the physics, then turned it off and got the hang of braking properly.  I remember finding that the best results came from quite a gentle and progressive braking technique until I figured out the sweet spot, even if it doesn't lock up the tires I found heavy braking wasn't always very effective unless you mimic the ABS effect by sort of pumping the brake a little.

[MX5#98]

Thanks to everyone that's commented with tips/suggestions. Feld, you're probably right about the braking. It's also compounded by the fact that I have a new rig and the brake pedal is stiff as hell. I'm probably overcompensating and hitting it too hard (although, you'd be surprised how hard I hit the brake pedal on the back straight of Eagles Canyon, hard enough to reset your spine, lol.) Light grippy cars ftw.

GT11, I remember reading you saying that about the pits earlier in this thread. I've taken that advise to heart and when I race the first time, my goal will simply be zero incidents and a finish. I've learned how to get the little display up that tells you where the traffic is relative to your position, that's a big help. But what do you do to avoid getting pummeled from behind by the other new drivers? I tried early braking and staying off the racing line, got planted into a wall by someone who went around me, spun and then tboned me reentering the track. It's like I can't get away from these guys.

N1cup, first thing I did was send friend requests to everyone who posted their iRacing name in this thread. IOW, you have mail.   

MX
IRacing: Michael Schaefer2

[GoesTuna11]

Thanks to everyone that's commented with tips/suggestions. Feld, you're probably right about the braking. It's also compounded by the fact that I have a new rig and the brake pedal is stiff as hell. I'm probably overcompensating and hitting it too hard (although, you'd be surprised how hard I hit the brake pedal on the back straight of Eagles Canyon, hard enough to reset your spine, lol.) Light grippy cars ftw.

GT11, I remember reading you saying that about the pits earlier in this thread. I've taken that advise to heart and when I race the first time, my goal will simply be zero incidents and a finish. I've learned how to get the little display up that tells you where the traffic is relative to your position, that's a big help. But what do you do to avoid getting pummeled from behind by the other new drivers? I tried early braking and staying off the racing line, got planted into a wall by someone who went around me, spun and then tboned me reentering the track. It's like I can't get away from these guys.

N1cup, first thing I did was send friend requests to everyone who posted their iRacing name in this thread. IOW, you have mail.   

MX
IRacing: Michael Schaefer2

The beauty of starting in the pits is that if you have good race pace, you won't have the bad drivers behind you.  They will be in front of you where you can see them and most will run off themselves.  You need to be able to run a decent pace with almost no incidents.  Fast enough that you won't be lapped by the end of the race.  So you want to be running on the racing line with proper braking points.  You need to keep your eyes down the track so you can spot problems before you get there.  Some people think that as long as they run slow and careful then they will be fine but then you are an unpredictable speed bump for people behind you.  Then you have to rely on their skill to get around you.  Not something that you want to do in rookie.

[MX5#98]

Well, I'm pulling anywhere from 1:46 to 1:50 at Laguna in the Miata. I'm going to get online tonight and setup the Atlas Express / McLaren Electronic Systems racing telemetry and take a good look at my data to see where I'm leaving time on the track. Should be able to look at the G's I'm pulling during braking and cornering to figure out where my friction limits are and if I'm hitting them repeatably. If I can do that and stay on the track, I may be ready for the next step.

MX

[Feldynn]

Something else I found useful when I first started was Ghost racing, you can effectively insert yourself into any currently running race (that you're licensed for) and drive laps with other people racing on the track around you.  The cool thing is you're completely invisible to them, they can't see or touch you on the track, it can be a bit disconcerting as others will drive right though you but it's good tool to help practicing race craft and following other racers around.

Like GT11 said starting from the pits is awesome in the Rookie division, if I remember right once you get the green light you can sit and wait for all the other pit starters to pull out and go then follow them and keep an eye out for if / when they go off (and they usually do).  I spent most of my early races starting last from the pits and often ended up with at least a mid position finish due to wrecks and people leaving the races. 

Also finishing races is very important, even if you're last place (from a wreck / spin out say) and have been lapped if you keep going til the end you'll get a better reward than if you just leave.  If nothing else you can make up places from all the others dropping out, I did that before even after being lapped early due to a wreck, other people left but I plugged on and finished 3 or 4 spots higher than if I'd have quit.

Heck all this talk of iRacing is almost making me want to pick up my subscription again, maybe next time I get an "come back to us" offer in the email I might .