rec.autos.simulators

Throw in a political desire for rFactor to succeed over future
competitors they have publicly fallen out with and it is hardly
surprising the review has a degree of bias.

That is not to say I am critical of rFactor, just that hopes were raised
that it would raise the bar in all areas - physics, graphics, sound,
control, gameplay etc. similar to the way GPL did in '98 and this
clearly has not happened yet and we will need the community to evolve
rFactor into the next generation sim it has the potential for, which is
how it would appear to be designed.

I certainly don't feel cheated, I let myself hype it partly from a
desire to have a new generation of racing sims and partly from the
A.S.S. review which I knew was from a group desperate for its success.

The cost of rFactor is the same as I have spent on LFS which still has
Alpha in its title. There are many similarities - neither feels
particularly polished as a finished product - because neither is.
RFactor will add more features (such as weather) in the future.

I am quite happy rFactor has been released in its current development as
the physics and graphics engine are essentially complete and we can
enjoy these and start to develop the mods to enjoy them. The single
player game and the interface doesn't seem very compelling other than to
  practice and have a bit of fun whilst the multiplayer will need
leagues to get organised to administer the competition element (just as
happened with GPL). rFactor adds no value here but again many of us
would rather sample the physics of the trainer now rather than wait for
an automated league structure or more compelling career and championship
mode.

The F1 lookalike feels like a desire to appeal to as wide an audience as
possible rather than a serious attempt at F1 simulation. The looks,
sound and feel all pale compared to the Trainer IMHO, plus the F1 AI
seem all over the place compared with the Trainers.

I look forward (already) to the Euro F3 mod and potential for online
leagues along with some real tracks to race on.

I believe rfactor will be the basis for the best sim racing for the
immediate future but reviews placing it as the complete racing sim are
stretching the imagination somewhat.

Cheers
Tony

I started reading this post, until mention of GPL cropped up.  Once I saw
that, I closed her down.

Alanb

If you do read the rest of my post you will see I do feel the rFactor
trainers are probably the best experience in sim racing right now.
However, as an overall package I am less convinced. For good leagues,
providing the online aspect proves to be good the overall feel of a
somewhat limited product will be immaterial anyway.

Cheers
Tony

One tough track for me is Toban in the formula car with the
aids off, at least when I not using any force feedback (using
twin joysticks instead of my momo racing wheel,too lazy to
setup the wheel, the sticks are always ready to go).
Most of the Toban GP track is OK, but about 3/4 into the
lap, there's a right, then short straight with a seam/bump
followed by a left. Even in 4th gear, it's enough to send
the rears spinning if you're at full throttle. With the
aids turned on, I never even noticed that seam there before.
It's just enough that I have to let off and I can't take
the following left at

Still, I know it's just me, as I've seen a couple of players
qualify in the 1:07's with all aids off, while my best is like
a 1:09.6. With the aids on, I'm down to 1:08.2. Could just be a
setup issue, once some good setups get posted, I'll start trying
them out. To deal with traction control off, you either go
real easy on the throttle in the low gears, or just run a gear
taller at full throttle. A lot of players just don't use 1st
gear, and you have to be pointed straight to go full throttle
in 2nd gear.

Although it's not realistic, turning on most of the aids (ell
but the steering / braking aids) lets you really get agressive
with the formula car, which is a fun factor for me.

Turning off the auto blipping option (also can be turned off in GTL
don't know about GTR) makes for an additional challenge which I like.

Cheers
Tony

Mitch

The FO8 is actually fairly* easy to drive. It's just LFS defaults to full
non-linear steering and doesn't even call it that ("centre reduction" or
something to that effect). Took 12 simmers over an hour to figure that one
out at the Belgian LAN.

Nevertheless, it's my experience LFS is the easier game for experienced
simmers and novices to pick up, compared to ISI-based stuff.

Jan.
=---
(*): it does remain a 450hp+ single seater. Did you expect it to be docile?

Exactly my main gripe with it. Judging from the demo they haven't moved it
far enough ahead of previous incarnations to warrant a purchase. I can see
myself going for GTLegends, because the game is solid enough, the
subjectmatter interests me and it should come with a good version of the
current Zolder circuit, but for me LFS S2 already has fantasy cars/tracks, a
better tyre model, FF and online play.

Jan.
=---

Don't get me wrong, I do really enjoy LFS too and have spent way too
much time playing it ;-)

Todd Wasson
http://www.VirtualRC.com
http://www.PerformanceSimulations.com
http://www.PerformanceSimulations.com/files/ToddSim7a.wmv  <---You
ain't seen horrible graphics until you've seen this ;-)

F1's on a small track are just that fast in real life. Pesonally, the
F1 is my favorite car in rFactor.

Here's a video of a real F1 doing a fast lap at Spa, a 4 mile
track in about 1:45:

http://jeffareid.net/cgi-bin/spaf1.wmv

and F1C99-02 RH2004 mod's version of it (unlike the real thing
I'm using manual shift in this 7 speed Ferrari):

http://jeffareid.net/cgi-bin/f1cspa.wmv

rFactors formula car at Toban (dual view video):

http://jeffareid.net/cgi-bin/rfrf1tgp.wmv

Now this is arcade fast:
http://jeffareid.net/cgi-bin/nfsu2sx.wmv

People act like they've never seen an onboard lap at Monaco. The cars hit
300kph there, and it's the slowest course on the schedule.

--
David G Fisher

--
David G Fisher

    Yeah, the F1s seem ok to me. I don't know what people expect! Maybe they
have all the aids on or something. Mind you, I have not done many laps in
them yet - really enjoying those trainers! :)

Hey I need those aids (at least traction control) to make my videos look
cool, else I'd never be using 1st gear in the F1. I'm finally got into the
1:07's with aids on, haven't tried with all aids off again since my last
session, where I just got to mid 1:09's. For me, it's about a 1.5 to 2 second
difference per lap with an without aids. Part of the issue is a different
setup is needed for no aids (taller gearing, more forward brake balance
can help when not running any aids [except auto clutch]).