Gt5

[racrguy]

Anyone still playing, or is everyone on Forza?

[Slowhand]

I'd still be playing GT5, but I'm mostly playing iRacing these days and trying to flip between iRacing and GT5 just messes with me.

[Geor!]

I gave up on it. The seasonal races or whatever they released every few weeks were cool, but they were little more than races just to store some money away. When they made them so difficult that even getting into the top 6 was a beating, I said fuck it completely.

[racrguy]

I'd still be playing GT5, but I'm mostly playing iRacing these days and trying to flip between iRacing and GT5 just messes with me.

I've been looking into iRacing, what wheel/pedal setup do you use?

[Slowhand]

I've been looking into iRacing, what wheel/pedal setup do you use?

I just pulled my Logitech DFGT that I had been using for GT5. First thing to replace will be the pedals with a Fanatec unit, as the DFGT brake pedal sucks. I might grab a nicer setup in the future, but what I have works for now.

Also, you can get 3 months of iRacing for free from Cadillac right now. Gives you the full basic package.

But do it. Everyone I've talked to that has real racing experience has had nothing but good things to say about the physics engine.

[racrguy]

I REALLY like that fanatec gear, but holy balls its expensive, it's like a grand for pedal/wheels/base. Are you playing on a single screen or 3? I found a nifty product called TrackIR that moves the camera with your head, but I'm worried about sinking a ton of money and not liking it.

[Slowhand]

I REALLY like that fanatec gear, but holy balls its expensive, it's like a grand for pedal/wheels/base. Are you playing on a single screen or 3? I found a nifty product called TrackIR that moves the camera with your head, but I'm worried about sinking a ton of money and not liking it.

Yeah, fanatec stuff is expensive, but apparently entirely worth it. Luckily, the pedals can be found used for cheap, and that's really the biggest drawback of the DFGT system.

I'm just playing a single screen, which is fine for now; they give you a virtual spotter, so you're not flying blind when racing side by side. Like you, I was skeptical of dropping a ton of money on getting into it, so when I found the free trial and was able to use my existing wheel, I jumped on it. Unfortunately, I like it, a lot. My wallet will be getting lighter in the future because of iRacing.

I'm two and a half weeks in and I've already won two races and I'm generally finishing on the podium or in the top 5. The first month is really tough because you're in the rookie league with all of the other newbs, but the difference is that a lot of them still race like they do on GT5 or Forza, and there are a lot more consequences for doing so in iRacing.

On the other hand, just finishing the races and avoiding early chaos will go a long way. I'm not the fastest guy out there yet by far (probably 2 seconds/lap behind the top times in the world on most tracks), but I make a very big point of staying out of early trouble and then picking my spots to pass, and that alone will lead to a top 5 finish most of the time.

With your racing experience you'll be just fine if you can stomach the first month in the rookie league. If you start now, you can finish the last two weeks of this season and should be more than capable of getting your safety rating high enough (safety rating is the only thing that matters for promotions) to get out of the rookie league without having to spend a full season (4 weeks) down there.

[racrguy]

There's a way to bypass spending a whole season as a rookie, I think if your safety rating is high enough. I'm subscribed to a YouTube channel about sim racing, simracingtonight. You may check em out.

I can't star just yet, I'll have to pick up a wheel and whatnot.

[Slowhand]

There's a way to bypass spending a whole season as a rookie, I think if your safety rating is high enough. I'm subscribed to a YouTube channel about sim racing, simracingtonight. You may check em out.

I can't star just yet, I'll have to pick up a wheel and whatnot.

If you go above a 4.0 safety rating you jump immediately in some situations. I'm at a 3.5 right now, so 3/4 good races and I'd be in, but I haven't been able to play much this week.

[racrguy]

If you go above a 4.0 safety rating you jump immediately in some situations. I'm at a 3.5 right now, so 3/4 good races and I'd be in, but I haven't been able to play much this week.

Quit hittin shit, rookie!

Edit: where'd you find your fanatec stuff, eBay or Craigslist?

[Slowhand]

Quit hittin shit, rookie!

Sheeyit, hitting things isn't my problem, continually dropping wheels off track is, lol.

[racrguy]

Sheeyit, hitting things isn't my problem, continually dropping wheels off track is, lol.

Check my edit!

[Slowhand]

Check my edit!

I don't have any Fanatec gear yet, but I have my eye on some pedals on Ebay right now. Figure it's probably a touch obscure for local craigslist, but I'm sure searchtemptest will bring up something nationally.

[racrguy]

Ok. What pedals are you looking at? I wouldn't mind getting my hands on a set of club sports. Dropping wheels is 1 point, right?

[Slowhand]

Ok. What pedals are you looking at? I wouldn't mind getting my hands on a set of club sports. Dropping wheels is 1 point, right?

Yeah, Clubsports.

The points system is hard to pin down to pure points because each infraction is a multiple (1x-4x, varying from dropped wheels up to solid contact with another car), which is then multiplied by another multiple depending on when the infraction happens (race is 1x, warmup is .5x, qualifying is .5x), and then that's multiplied by some mystery multiple of the number of corners you complete in the race and the distance of the race.

My best guess is that, if you run a completely clean race, you'll get somewhere between +0.2 and +0.3 safety points on an average track.

I had the misfortune of dropping several points in my first few races as I got used to the realities of wheel to wheel racing in something that wasn't GT5/Forza, so I had a hill to climb, but after that I've been pretty good. Still dropping too many wheels, but I still pick up ~+.15 safety points each race. There's no assignment of blame for incidents, though, so getting tagged, even if it's not your fault, can easily scrap your safety points for a race.