Looking for a racing game

Math Geek · Dec 3, 2014

Alright racing fans i'm looking for a racing game to play on my pc. i'm kinda picky so here's what i have enjoyed on consoles over the years.

i love good simulation games like gran turismo on playstation and forza motorsport on xbox. i am not a big fan of the open world concept with my simulation games and also do not want to play multiplayer. just a simple time spent racing my cars on a track against other cars. what i also do not like is an arcade type feel to simulation racing. no crazy nitro shooting me to 300 mph nor crazy slo mo button to let me take a 90 degree turn at 200 mph instead of 40 mph. just a true driving sim.

on the other hand i also loved many of the need for speeds games. most specifically need for speed most wanted that has been out for 10 years or so. (have not played the new one released a couple years ago) i liked the arcade feel of it and enjoyed running from the cops and smashing the cars up and such to compete the missions to be able to race the next guy on the list.

if you can kind of feel what i'm saying i'll try to sum it up. i want either pure racing simulation or pure arcade style play. not a mix of the 2. the few xbox games i played (like need for speed shift and a couple others in the lineup) that tried to mix the genre's failed miserably and i hated playing them.

any suggestions would be awesome and welcome. a nice demo to let me get the feel of the game would be a plus. i'd also like to avoid a $30 game with $150 in DLC and more coming out every day. I don't mind spending the cash on a game but i don't want to have to spend more every week just to enjoy it and to be able to progress.

again something like forza or gran turismo is the sweet spot i'm looking for.

OriginalCadaver · Dec 3, 2014

Check out Dirt 3, awesome rally racing game.

bicycle_repair_man · Dec 3, 2014

If you want a pure racing sim, Project C.A.R.S. is currently the best bet. I've heard it's quite hardcore though, whereas GT and Forza are rather forgiving.

Personally, I'm holding out for Assetto Corsa, which seems to be about as close to GT and Froza as you can get on the PC.

Math Geek · Dec 3, 2014

was looking around steam and assetto corsa was mentioned a lot but it's still in early access and i can wait for it to be done before buying. (what an awesome tool for developers to have people pay full price to beta test your software!!)

anyway i kept also seeing many references to GTR 2 FIA GT as the best of the best. it's a little old but i assume with the active modding community the game does not feel as old as it is.

i also saw a free to play raceroom racing experience that looks interesting. i'm pretty afraid of "free to play" but this one sounds like it's not overly priced and you only have to buy what you want and not what you need to play.

any experience with either of these games? i don't need top notch graphics but top notch game play matters to me. i will look into project cars as well.

Math Geek · Dec 3, 2014

i can't seem to find project cars for the pc. site seems to say it's only on console for now. do you have a link to the pc version so i can check it out?

RCguitarist · Dec 3, 2014

I have GTR2, Race Injection and GT Legends and they are the best sim racing games for PC at this point. Shift 2 is closer to forza and GT since it is a semi-sim racer but is good as well. Those games will keep you happy until Project Cars and Asseto Corsa come out.

RCguitarist · Dec 3, 2014

Math Geek :

http://store.steampowered.com/app/234630/

madmatt30 · Dec 3, 2014

Grid Autosport - one of the best racing games Ive played in years
A little arcadey - no more so than forza though - it can be tempered to near simulation level if you tinker with the options a little
Very good game engine - 6 different type of racing/cars,very good championship modes, a lot of tracks ,100+
Itll play on low end machines no problem ,on high end machines it looks absolutely incredible imo.
Its very cheap now if you look around the cheap steam key website,like $10 or thereabouts
theres a season pass available which is not really required but it adds a lot of track/cars for multiplayer modes.
http://www.fast2play.com/category/7676/grid-autosport-steam-key/?utm_source=cheapdigitaldownload.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=cheapdigitaldownload
http://www.fast2play.com/category/9356/grid-autosport-season-pass-steam-gift/?utm_source=cheapdigitaldownload.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=cheapdigitaldownload
http://store.steampowered.com/app/255220/

RCguitarist · Dec 3, 2014

I found grid to be a little to boy racer and drift oriented for my tastes. Be sure to watch some gameplay videos before you buy so you know what to expect.

Math Geek · Dec 3, 2014

the freemium raceroom game is not that good. pretty but the physics is a little off makine it go between extremes of too easy to drive and impossible. no sweet spot in the middle.

i'm gonna try the gtr2 game next. sounds like a good one.

good idea on videos too. i assumes youtube will have plenty to watch.

any ideas on arcade style. was looking at new need for speed most wanted but it has too many dlc packs already and i'm not sure i want to get into an ea game when they clearly are gonna offer 1000 more packs this year.

Frag Maniac · Dec 3, 2014

SIM-like
DiRT 1, NFS Shift, Shift 2 Unleashed, and the upcoming Project CARS, which could easily be best game of that type ever made.

Arcade
GRID, DiRT 2, NFS Underground 2, NFS Most Wanted (2005), NFS Rivals,

A key thing you didn't mention is performance and handling settings, which I feel is one of the primary things that separates SIM-like games from Arcade games.

All of those I put in the SIM-like category def have a LOT of settings, including toe, camber, suspension, tire pressure, etc.

Most I put in the Arcade category have just 5 or so basic settings, save for GRID, which also has things like steering saturation, linearity, brake saturation, etc.

Now a days you're lucky if you can even edit a file in most arcade games to tweak things like saturation.

Math Geek · Dec 3, 2014

thanks for the list frag. and you hit it on the head, though i did not say it, arcade type to me also leaves out all the settings and such. just let's you make it faster and stick to the road easier. that's all i want in an arcade game. remeber th eold top gear games on super nintendo? that was the sweet spot

Frag Maniac · Dec 3, 2014

Math Geek :

Yeah and that can be fine for most arcade games, but for many it isn't. There's a lot of arcade games that don't have the old style grippy handling of NFS circa Underground and Most Wanted, yet they lack basic saturation settings that are necessary for those using keyboard or even those on modern gamepads with digital triggers. You should really play GRID if you want the best of both worlds, fantastic game.

There's also analog filters some devs program into the game to simulate acceleration ramping and gradual curve arcing vs twitch steering, but no analog filter meets everyone's needs. Some are going to want a tighter or looser timed arc, some are going to want a fast or slower timed accel ramp. This is where steering, acceleration, and braking saturation settings are invaluable.

Slightly Mad are one dev team that does both. They work hard on their analog filters and they give you LOTS of settings. They've gotten out of the arcade-SIM hybrids though and are leaning more toward full on SIM now. It remains to be seen how SIM-like ProjectCARS will be with all driving assists on though.

Math Geek · Dec 12, 2014

ok i'm back to revisit the racing genre

think i'm ok with the racing sim as gtr2 is good enough for now.

i got dirt 3 from steam free and it won't start up. been trying for a week and no joy so i deleted it and am looking for some other arcade racing to fill my need for reckless driving. origin has need for speed rivals complete pack on sale and i was wondering if anyone has any experience with it.

the trailer reminded me of the original nfs most wanted with hot pursuit cop stuff thrown in. does it play like most wanted? if so i'm sure it would amuse me a lot since i love that game. is the gameplay the same as most wanted? it comes with all the dlc so extra cars and such are there as well.

any thoughts would be appreciated.

Frag Maniac · Dec 12, 2014

Rivals is pretty good. Great racing, great graphics, and cool effects like lightning. It's a bit chaotic at first getting used to having to get to a safehouse to bank your earned points, but you don't have to lose cops to enter a safehouse, so that makes it a lot easier.

I wouldn't get it on Origin though. Both Origin and Uplay are far inferior to Steam. I've had less download and other problems on Steam than anything. I even got the Freedom Cry AC IV DLC a week before those on Uplay because Valve sorted out Ubi's mistake way before Ubi did. They forgot to enter the necessary Season Pass code as part of the DLC's SKU.

Typical Screwbisoft. LOL

Math Geek · Dec 12, 2014

sadly steam does not have rivals. happened to see it on origin for $25 complete so thought it might be fun to mess around with when i'm in a smash em up mood.

does the game have milestones and objectives and such to go after like most wanted did? was a challenge sometimes to complete but added to the fun.

Frag Maniac · Dec 13, 2014

Math Geek :

It has 3 event types each for racer and cop, with a medal system. It also has cameras, speed zones and jumps.

There are no superficial (simple and easy to obtain) sp milestones in Rivals, it's more based on "SpeedPoints" earned via using Overwatch, which ties into online play.

http://nfs.wikia.com/wiki/Need_for_Speed:_Rivals/OverWatch

Math Geek · Dec 13, 2014

thanks for the link and the thoughts.

sounds like something i might enjoy and for $25 with all the dlc included not a bad price.

Frag Maniac · Dec 13, 2014

Math Geek :

Just make sure you research workarounds for possible problems with Origin. As far as I know they are similar to those of Uplay, such as disabling the overlay, cloud saving, etc. Just hope you don't have to play in offline mode, because that wouldn't let you do the Overwatch stuff.

Good luck

Math Geek · Dec 13, 2014

decided against it for now. i do have dirt 3 which looked like some smashing fun but it will not start up for me on steam. perhaps i'll give it another try. can't get the windows live log in assistant thingy to install so can't run the game. at least i think that's most of the problem. found lots of tutorials on the web about it but none worked for me. at least the game was free if it won't work.

Looking for a racing game

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