rec.autos.simulators

I'm not sure if I should buy ARCA or not...  I tend to buy most new
auto racing "sims" when they come out (I currently have GPL, GTL,
rFactor, GTR2, Race07 and LFS installed.  I felt a bit of buyers
regret after playing Race07 for a few weeks, as it feels very much
like a mod for GTR2 (and indeed, you can install pretty much the exact
same content for GTR2 - whether that is 100% legal or not...).  I have
most of the available good mods for rFactor, and I am a bit worried
that ARCA will feel like just another mod for that sim.

Can some of you who have ARCA please comment on how it differentiates
itself from the available rFactor mods - especially the stock car
mods.  For instance, does ARCA add radio comms (spotter, crew chief,
etc...), more advanced oval racing rules, etc... over what standard
rFactor mods offer?

Also, I race about 80% offline and 20% online.  Is ARCA's offline
racing ok?

Thanks in advance for any input!

-Pat

I haven't ran the newer versions of the rFactor mods, so I can't make
a direct comparison.  I do have limited experience with the rFactor
stock car mods.  I ran a couple of Race2Play oval races with one of
the mods.  There were all sorts of penalty and black flag bugs.  Those
problems may have gotten better with newer mods, I don't know.  There
are occastionally problems in ARCA with online starts and restarts in
terms of people getting penalties, but it happens very infrequently
compared to what I saw with rFactor.

If you like racing ovals I can't see any reason against buying ARCA.
It's a lot better than rFactor in terms of flag rules.  The tracks are
much nicer than any conversions I've seen from other sims.  There is a
spotter included.  The best thing about ARCA is that it's self-
contained with default tracks and vehicles so you don't have to worry
about online mismatches or downloading anything new before racing
online.

Offline I don't know about.  I've ran a few offline races.  The cars
run OK, but you can outwit them easily.  I haven't had any great
offline racing with the AI, but I haven't really tried that hard
either.  Racing online is easier, and I haven't grown at all tired of
running endless test sessions to improve setups.

Pat Dotson

Thanks for the reply, Pat.
Based on your response, I think I'll go ahead and give ARCA a try.

-Pat

simhq.com just put up a review of ARCA. I haven't read it yet but am
going to now.