rec.autos.simulators

The packaging is quite bare.  Just a DVD in a snap-case.

-Larry

Printing out all the INI files and downloaded the manual on the forum to
learn more.

At first glance, ver rFactor-ish.  Not saying that's good or bad.  There is
no mistaking this for anything but an ISI based Sim.

One thing I've found so far, if you start to spin in the corner, you are
DONE.  After messing with the setup a bit and about 15 spins, I never was
able to recover from a single one of them.

Lots to learn yet.  Take everything with a grain of salt.

-Larry

http://www.arcasimracing.com/

Supposed to be the NR 2003 killer. I personally have to agree its got a good
start. Great fun so far!

I'm still digging in to it and have a long way to go.  However, I'm seeing
some ISI-based traints that, game after game, simply don't seem to friggen'
go away:

1.  Controller setup.  It's still too finicky.  You have to fiddle and
fiddle and fiddle and fiddle until you stumble upon something that works for
you.  DEVELOPERS - NO ONE RACES SIMS WITH KEYBOARDS.  GET RID OF THE STUPID
DIGITAL SETUP SHIT ALREADY!  I don't know why any developer has put effort
into re-designing the canned ISI based controller setup system.  It's beyond
my comprehension how something so badly designed can go on, and on and on
and on, game after game after gane.  Paleeeease!

2.  INI Hell.  Yet another ISI engined game with a bazillion INI options,
and no interface to manage them with.  Is it SO HARD to put a few more
configuration screens in the game for us to access these through?  I've
printed out all the readable INI files, and as before you've got to sit
there for hours and study and figure out what you can adjust to make the
game better for you, or for the game to work better overall.  Enough of this
madness!

The rest I'm still working with.  These are two Legacy problems that every
single ISI based game have had, and it's just beyond me how they keep
cropping up, game after game.

Now, before you ISI fans get your panties in a bunch (you know who you are
:) ), I am not dissing the game.  Certainly not enough time has passed for
anything like that.  I like a lot of what I see, and I REALLY hope this is
"THE ONE".  It just sets me free to see these same ISI based deficiencies
over and over again.

BTW... The low-end bass response of the sound is awesome :)

-Larry

 Ran a bunch online yesterday with ASR and for the first time in a sim
experienced real side by side racing.You can actually run the high
line which was almost always impossible in N2003.  This game isn't
perfect but it is very good and if you give it a chance I am confident
you will enjoy the racing.

  I ran the Papyrus Nascar games from 97 thru 06 and just got tired of
the same old thing. It's always comical to me how the N2003 guys talk
about realism when in all the leagues I ran in over half the guys were
driving on the roof. For years we tried to run *** (in the car
view only) and could never get more than 10 racers. Realism ? Yea
Right .
  Maybe Nascar will put sunroof's in the COT cars so they can drive on
the roof.

Steve P

What you call .ini hell others call options. You would rather they
encrypt all that stuff and give you hardly any options at all like some
games do? Not me.

2. Yes, they are options and for the most part, welcome. But I think
what Larry was getting at was those options should accessible from
<within> the game, not only via a text editor.

Larry,

If I may ask, when did you order the game?  I ordered mine last Wednesday,
hoping it arrives soon.

Alan

-Larry

That hasn't been my experience.  I've caught some big slides in ARCA.
Sometimes I've been really surprised at how far out of shape the car
has been and I still saved it.  ARCA is probably better to me than any
other sim in that regard.

Now that I think about it, I've had real life drivers get into my
simulator with the ARCA sim and catch some big slides without much
seat time.  Probably has a lot to do with my steering configuration
and chassis setups.

One thing - make sure you have enough steering lock available to be
able to point the wheels in the direction of the slide.  If you are
using the low steering locks that seem to come with the default
setups, like 9 degrees at a SS, or 12 at shorter tracks, you won't be
able to steer enough to save it.  I seem to need 15 degrees or more to
feel comfortable, and part of that comfort is the ability to correct
oversteer.

Also, non-linear steering makes catching a slide almost impossible.
Remove any non-linearity from the steering by setting the steering
axis to 50% (full linear) or as close as you can stand.  Same thing
goes for speed sensitive steering - set it to zero.

Keep at it for a few days and I'll be surprised if ARCA doesn't grow
on you :)

Pat Dotson
http://www.ultraforcesim.com

The options aren't the issue.  The issue is that after all these years
there's still no in-game interface to get to them.

-Larry

-Larry

2. Yes, they are options and for the most part, welcome. But I think
what Larry was getting at was those options should accessible from
<within> the game, not only via a text editor.

-Larry