Road Racing Simulators
 

Anyone know of any video games that simulate tracks like Road Atlanta?? I would like to practice in the off season to improve my lines.

Raj

Le Mans 2003 IIRC. It has the ALMS Audi prototypes, Vipers, and some others. A friend of mine had just gone to the Panoz school up at Road Atlanta and said the game is almost spot on for the track up there.

What platform is that Lemans game on?
I did a search and no place seems to have it.

Grand Prix Legends is rather authentic and should have Road Atlanta (people have made 200+ tracks for this sim).

You might want to ask over at www.racesimcentral.com

If you are on a Windows platform, pick up F1 2002 or F1 Challenge 99-02. There are sports car mods for this game as well as addon tracks:

http://www.teamspeedsims.com/F1/f1ctrack.html

Road Atlanta should be done fairly soon. It's available now for the older Sports Car GT game. You can probably pick that up in a bargain bin somewhere for very cheap (or if you purchase a Logitech Formula GP FF wheel, it comes with it).

GPL is a good game, but definitely not like driving an RX-7 on a track. ;)

Dude Sports Car Gt for your PC It's awesome I was addicted for months I have the momo force feedback wheel Theres also Lime Rock and a few others, gotta check it out

SC GT is an awesome game, but beware of the "stock" Road Atlanta track it comes with. I played the game for about a year before I drove the track. The game was good for getting a feel for the basic layout, but I actually had a poblem diving the (real) esses due to errors on the game track. Another thing racing sims don't prepare you for is the elevations change. Turn 12 at RA is a shocker!

Gene

Thanks for the info must be why I do so well in the sim.

SCGT is teh shit! Theres updated tracks to d/l. I think theres more RA's out there. Maybe one thats more accurate? GPL is ok, but the cars dont handle at all like ours, very tough to drive.

GPL is most realistic sim...pre-aero
 

Grand Prix Legends is still one of the best sims available. They don't sell it anymore (released 6 yrs ago?) but there are still thousands across the world competing online at hundreds of tracks (11 original tracks).

If you want to get better at DRIVING...this is the game for you. Other games are either too arcade-ish (minimal skill required) or not transferable (any car with a wing).

C U Online!

Merkin:rock: :weed: :jerkit: :chef: :mspank: :werd:

You can still get GPL at www.amazon.com thats where I got mine.

Sorry for the OT, but while we are mentioning video games with good physics and good wheel to wheel racing (GPL), I thought I'd mention Live For Speed. There's a free demo available ( at www.liveforspeed.com )..

Downsides: fictional cars and tracks
Upsides: very nice physics and good netcode and online multiplayer play.

Purchasing the full version costs about US$20.. Lot's of people think the one of the cars is modelled on the NA FC..

I enjoy the game immensely (played SCGT a lot before this, haven't been able to lay hands on GPL), and thought I might mention it, even though it unfortunately does not have Road Atlanta..

In my experience games are pretty good for learning the layout of the track, but completely lack the car feel. I've been a video game developer for almost 10 years and a road racer for the last five years. I rely heavily on the feeling of the car when I'm road racing and no matter what they do in a game it just can't convey that feeling. In most games you have no idea if you've locked up the brakes or if you are too hot in a corner. On a track you really know when something is happening. From my video game playing experience I can say that I must get to Laguna Seca and feel that drop after the rear straight in something fast.

-Trent

Agree totally. One thing I practice in GPL is taking quick peeks at the corner workers, and scanning gauges, mirrors at the appropriate times. It's something that you can actually get out of a game is good habits.

For guys who race in the northeast, Sports Car GT is the only game I have played that has Lime Rock. Again, it is very similar to the real layout...but don't do your first lap there in a real race car expecting to hit the games apex's and braking points! It does do very well however for learning the layout.

Hehe, I used to be very good at GPL - like 3-4years ago. Search for "Tadej Krevh" in google.com and you'll probably find me :D ;)

Its true playing GPL is not the same as driving RX7 around the track. You'll probably end up wanting 600hp out of you Rex if you play with the Lotus :D

Its the best sim up to date IMO. And has a steep learning curve. Love the time I was learning the old Nürburgring. Only what - 177corners to remember ? :D

Hmm... come to think of it - I played it already in 1998 :)
It was one of the reasons I wanted a sports car :D
And its one of the reasons I will probably never have enough hp in my car to get the throttle response of those beasts from 1967 ;)

It really depends on the individual. For me, I never could get into driving old cars. Granted the game is challenging (and it wasn't that I "couldn't get the hang of it"), but that wasn't enough to keep me interested. I preferred newer sports cars and F1 racing to GPL and the Nascar stuff.

The funny thing about GPL is so many people claim how real it is, however 99% of those people have never driven a car like the GPL cars in real life (let alone on a track). ;)

As far as PC simulations verses the real thing? You can't compare the two. However, for those of us who have winters and/or can't travel to warmer locations for track days, simulations are something that will fill the void until the next track season. ;)

Sims are fun and can teach you track layouts, that's it.

The only interaction you as the "driver" have with a sim is yor eyeballs on the screen. You get no sensation through the "car".

Given that, I have always been suprised that people are capable of "driving" a sim or a radio controlled car for instance.

Well, with sims, you basically drive by gauges... You know you can take the corner at XXXmph without losing grip, so you do that with every turn. It works, but as you said, it's not the same as the real thing. In a real car, you use the feedback the car is giving. Heck, I think the only time I ever glance at any gauges is on a long straight in my car. ;)

I have SCGT, had it for a few years now and still enjoy it.
I have a Microsoft force feed steering wheel and after a recent program crash and reinstall I can't get the paddle shifter to activate, I can only use the buttons on the front of the wheel.

I went into options, and went to the settings for the controllers, bypassed the keyboard selections and tried to enter the shift up/down for that action using the paddles on the back of the wheel. For what ever reason they do not work anymore.

Is there anything in the settings, or options with the install that I may have overlooked?

I do have the settting for "enable forcefeed" on, and I think it is "enable outside controller" (Maybe)?? The one right next to forcefeed.

I really miss the paddle shifting, please help!:)

Did you re-install the MS force feedback software?

I didn't uninstall it, or at least I don't belive I did as the steering wheel still gives forced feedback.

When my SCGT crashed I simply uninstalled it and then reinstalled it. I didn't do anything to the MS program, should I have?

TIA

Well I work at a racing school (Russell Racing, i.e. formula cars) and all the driving instructors, including myself think GPL is about the best out there. Grand Prix 3&4 are also very good along with F1 2001/2002. Some of us have even gone to the extent of cutting off the back half of a star mazda chassis and installing a pc and all the goodies on it, inculding the poured foam seat. Pretty sad really :jerkit:

I think GPL is the best at what it simulates. However, I don't think it's the best "car simulator" out there.