Sim Discussion Monday - RaceRoom Racing Experience

[Paul Jeffrey]

Another working week on the horizon and to lighten the mood (probably), let's have ourselves a discussion about RaceRoom Racing Experience..

The sim with the silly name, RaceRoom Racing Experience has plenty of licenced racing content to offer players who can navigate their way through the occasionally confusing pricing and store structure.

If you do manage to find you way into the game itself then you are rewarded by a product that has come on leaps and bounds in recent years. With plenty of officially licenced racing series to be found (no road car nonsense here), a very robust and varied selection of greater and lesser known circuits and easily the best audio experience in the sim racing marketplace, RaceRoom and Sector3 Studios have pulled together a very compelling product for sim racers to enjoy.

With all that said, the core game experience does still lack in several fundamental areas before it can genuinely be considered a true racing simulation, to be frank that same accusation can be levelled at pretty much all the current crop of sims to varying degrees, and what it does it does very well indeed.

So in the spirit of sharing our collective experiences and knowledge can our community let us all know what we like / don't like about the sim, share any useful tips to get the most from the title, let us know what you'd like to see in the future and just generally shoot the breeze for a day or two about Sector3 Studios current racing simulation..


Mondays be like...

Image credits: M-Bimmer and TheReaper GT

 

[James Cook]

@M-Bimmer

I have a T300 too so will try your settings. Thanks.

 

[James Hall]

This is currently my favorite racing sim. I keep going back to it after trying the others. Assetto Corsa just has something missing for me. I am not sure what it is. The graphics and force feedback are better in my very humble opinion, and that sound. The price structure does not bother me as I only want to pay for what I will drive. I pickup cars when they are on sale, sometimes 90% off. I have payed as little as 38 cents for cars. I am new to sim racing, and not very good. Perhaps this is why RaceRoom appeals to me, but more experienced drivers also like it. You can drive the challenges cars and tracks for free, which I find a lot of fun. It is satisfying to go from 7th division to 3rd division in the leaderboards.

 

[James Hall]

For those who don't know about it....
I find the Crewchief app really beneficial in this sim (as well as all the others!)
Really helpful for fuel, sector times and spotter

http://crewchief.isnais.de/CrewChiefV4.msi

I tried this app but it killed my Bluetooth for some reason.

 

[Vangelis Parginos]

At first i want you to know that i own all the major sim racing games except i-racing, so i bought all of them included all the DLC's and i dont have a reason not to like some of them.
We are lucky to have all this amazing sims, so we have plenty of options to choose from.

Im in to R3E all the way, for my taste is the best racing game with some minor issues but all of the games have some of that.
The sounds is the main reason i got in to it. I was skeptical at the beginning for the pricing model but if you think of it as it is, a hobby, its not that bad. Even though i have bought all of my content before the packs.
The feeling of this game for me is the best, lately i realize the default settings for the FFB at my t300 is great and i will put it right next to AMS. I love FWD and i cant find anything close to it in that class.
Graphics is very good for a 32bit DX9 game. A lot better than AMS and RF2 and close behind AC.
The missing weather and day/night thing is not an issue to me, AC dont have this either. I rarely try those at RF2.
From the modding side, i dont care about mods cause the original content is more that enough, the only thing im missing is a personal skin choice.
Im waiting for evaluation system, tyre selection and some improvements at the netcode.

I will keep buying the DLC's for other games to support the developers,
but my main focus will be at R3E because its my choice.

My suggestion, try to join our raceroom club events, its a game changer.

 

[Deleted member 99238]

The feeling of this game for me is the best, lately i realize the default settings for the FFB at my t300 is great and i will put it right next to AMS. I love FWD and i cant find anything close to it in that class.
Graphics is very good for a 32bit DX9 game. A lot better than AMS and RF2 and close behind AC.

Well, if objectively, then FFB in AMS is the best of sims and it works right away without additional settings, unlike R3E. The openwheel class is also the best among simulators in this it has no equal. As for graphics, I can also say that AMS already outperforms R3E and this is especially noticeable on new european tracks. AMS has been very advanced recently in terms of graphics.

 

[Case_]

I also do not like when my steering wheel rumbles due to excessive effects.
Try this setting that I use for my G27 to remove unnecessary clatter.

Do not pay attention to the value of the effects equal to zero, since the main effects you will still feel.

You might be lowering the clatter by setting the minimum force to 0, but on G27, that also means you're bound to get the FFB deadzone problem as that's exactly what this setting is meant to work around. Your minimum force should be fairly high on a G27, around 15 percent or so.

Tips for people on a tight budget: look at results and only buy one car for a series, but get all the tracks you want to race on when sales are on. Be patient for the sales!

Even better tip for people on a tight budget - always take advantage of the Test drive feature that allows you to drive any car in the game for as many times as you like on Raceroom Raceway in 5 minute sessions. Then pick the car you like best.

Also, unless buying packs, always buy just a few pieces of content and then check if there's a better deal available for you. R3E store always gives you discounts for content you already own, so if you own say two cars out of five in a certain class and want to buy another one, it might actually be cheaper for you to just buy the whole class as a pack at that point. For example I was just looking at the WTCC 2015 cars to widen my choices - I already own 2 (with one livery each) and getting a 3rd one with one livery would cost me 3 euro, but since I have a discount on the whole class for the two cars I already own, I could get both of the remaining cars, as well as all of the liveries for every car in that class, for only 4.5 euro. Same applies to every other piece of content available - you can maximize your cost effectiveness by being smart about what you buy and when.

The business model of R3E can indeed be kinda confusing for newcomers, but I also consider it one of the best business models on sim market when it comes do being able to do as much racing as possible with as little money spent at a time as possible if that's a concern for you. If not, then obviously get the 10000 vRP pack and then get the Complete pack to get all of the content.

 

[Vangelis Parginos]

Well, if objectively, then FFB in AMS is the best of sims and it works right away without additional settings, unlike R3E. The openwheel class is also the best among simulators in this it has no equal. As for graphics, I can also say that ams already outperforms R3E and this is especially noticeable on new european tracks. AMS has been very advanced recently in terms of graphics.

As i said its my personal choice and my personal view.

 

[Deleted member 99238]

You might be lowering the clatter by setting the minimum force to 0, but on G27, that also means you're bound to get the FFB deadzone problem as that's exactly what this setting is meant to work around. Your minimum force should be fairly high on a G27, around 15 percent or so.

Maybe that's it, but this is the only way to get rid of knocking for G27. This is especially noticeable in modern DTM cars and on formula bolids due to their rigid suspension. This is the imperfection of FFB in R3E for me.

 

[Yetch]

I would love RRRE (I love WTCC), but for some reason I can't get the driving wheel 1:1 with the virtual one, and that drives me crazy. Also, VR in RRRE sucks ATM.

You've got a wheel in your hands, why would you need another?

* Having originally owned a G27 wheel myself, please do not judge any Sims FFB with this thumb as your rule, I foolishly believed I was buying a decent wheel (will say the pedals are moddable and of a decent build quality, decent enough to take 5 years of my River-dancing) but having swapped the G27 out for a TX300 the difference is astounding, first things first, I was so much quicker with the 300 (reason enough to dump the G27) but best of all is the feel, smooth, strong, quiet and far more accurate than the Logitech. All Sims had bad FFB back in my G27 days!
While I'm here I will big up the Devs at Sector3, good guys, very approachable, creating wonderful things with a small team, old engine, suicidal start, overbearing overlords (RR) and limited funds. Fancy RRE is more for the elder Sim racer, as some patience is required when it comes to announced content and features but I will say more often than not the reasons why are explained via the excellent S3 forum (another plus point).
Tyre compounds are imminent as is the ranking system, as for most of the other features requested in the above comments I see little chance of seeing any of them before the jump to U4, with Simbin creating GT3 in U4, this leaves S3 to evolve RRE into the European iRacing and perfect the esport side of things and once GT3 is all nicely polished S3 can then port RRE to the U4 engine with all its bells'n'whistles, this time next year at the earliest imho, as I said previously, patience is the best hardware to own with RRE and being old and miserable myself, my only fear is dying before triple screen support!

 

[apex11]

I wanted to try it so I got the free base game and then saw the pricing after about 30 min of trying to find out how to adjust my wheel and get the gpx up to something other than 600X800 I took the bmw out and that lasted about 30 min ..for me it was awful the view the tires ..it all seemed off for me ..lol but I'm spoiled with all the other sim's in 4k and the other titles for me out of the box did not leave me feeling confused as to why I can't change this or that .lol ..but it was the over all feel that turned me off .I know I didn't give it much of a chance but owning every other sim I refused to spend more $ on something I felt so/so about after the first hour or so .. & the AI that were in the race were ,well, terrible lol ! as for this >
It's simply not true ISI started this with rf2 and its quite a masterpiece as rf2's AI continually learn the more laps they do .. In fact rr3 sits on ISI's GMotor engine does it not ?
Anyway I'm glad ppl like it and I do sometimes see online races I would like to join but this sim's just not for me in this day & age of sim racing ..

Thats all well and good and its your opinion, but if you dared say you gave PCars / AC / AMS / RF2 30 mins of your time and decided they were rubbish you'd get absolutely ripped on their forums.
You can have a view of a sim game after just playing 30 mins, but it would not be a fair or valid one IMO.... It's taken me 17 hours of play to finally really understand and appreciate RF2 for example, had i of given up after 30mins it would of been unfair of me to simply say its rubbish.

 

[Metalogic]

I actually prefer how it looks to AC, also the FFB. Did Anyone mention the sounds

Can be pretty cheap if you work the sales & packs out, the pricing structure is a a bit of a pain, however, though better than it used to be. Fantastic series car selection, but no Ferrari or Lamborghini, and no Porsche (except Ruf), though that's coming.

And release the damn AMG GT3 soon!

 

[apex11]

I actually prefer how it looks to AC, also the FFB. Did Anyone mention the sounds

Can be pretty cheap if you work the sales & packs out, the pricing structure is a a bit of a pain, however, though better than it used to be. Fantastic series car selection, but no Ferrari or Lamborghini, and no Porsche (except Ruf), though that's coming.

And release the damn AMG GT3 soon!

For me road cars in sims are wasted as i hate using road cars, sim racing was a way of getting my racing driver kicks from the comfort and relative economy of my home compared to actually racing. Driving a hyper car designed for rich footballers / Saudi Oil princes and celebrities to drive around London at a snails pace with more driving aids than mario kart just isn't for me, so I like tht raceroom concentrate on the racing side of it.
I have AC on xbox one so once i migrated to PC i picked up AC and have added the DLC but i only have about 6 hours play compared to RRE 130 hours!
Much of that is the fact i already played it a lot on xbox so feels like nothing new.
Having said that finally now after 17 hours of dialing in RF2 and DX11 beta i think RF2 is starting to shine above all others... ok some cars are outright broken (FWD BTCC honda...) but man RF2 in right conditions and set up is simply perfect.

I will add that if you can (and sales are plentiful on steam) own them all, don't set yourself up to just like one title and then blind yourself to others, all have wonderful moments within them that you will remember long after.
From the list you have one will be favored but frankly if you can pick up these games in steam sales then at least you can try them, hell you can even refund them!

I can come at this topic with the opinion that i have played and do play ALL the sims and don't hate any of them, just that i do prefer some of them.
Anyone who simply dismisses a game without fully exploring it isn't worth listening to IMO.

Also i come at this from the fact i purchased RF2 xmas steam sale for £11.99, hated it didn't understand it or the fuss and refunded it after 1 hour.... I thought it was rubbish and over hyped....then i got it again in most recent sale for again £11.99 and after spending time on forums etc i just figured it out and found the cars that worked and now its i'd say my favorite sim title... so give them time at least before you jump to conclusions..

 

[Ryan Robbins]

Here are my settings for T300 if it can help anyone.

 

[apex11]

Something else I find, it may be a really divisive opinion to have but..... the can really sense the DNA of RF2 in RRE and also in PCars.
For sure RF2 really gives me a sense of PCars, not necessarily physics, but in the general feel and for sure RF2 DX11 beta has a similar colour palette as RRE and the same feeling of the cars being a solid mass but with a flex to the chassis.
Having never played RF2 when i first had PCars on my xbox (aside from at those race sim booths at race tracks etc which all use RF1 and RF2) i cannow on reflection see that PCars is in my view at least trying to of been more polished user friendly manageable RFactor....i mean those terms as in ease of use rather than the physics handling though.

Certainly going into RF2 and setting up a race from practice to race with variable weather and time of day is basically PCars and the gritty feel of being at a living world track and the marks and such like of use and also the gritty feel of the UK club tracks is all there...

I am currently in a love affair with RF2 i must admit. But RRE and RF2 for me are almost what i have ever wanted in a at home race sim.

 

[Andy_J]

Other than the need to have a constant Internet connection I find nothing wrong with RRE. To me it is the only one that gets the FWD touring car simulated just right. WTCC is superb in RRE. Closely followed by the DTM92 and Touring Classics for brilliant dynamics and handling. The GRP 5's are monsters as they should be.
It's a fantastic bit of software.

What is there to not like about it. Ok other than the constant internet connection req'd and the pricing structure. I have all the content and it has cost quite a bit and that is what worries me if the game becomes un-supported or the servers are switched off all that money will be wasted I really would like it converted to stand alone before that happens.

I have just about every race sim ever created, many still in the big boxes that they used to come with. Some of them are 14-20 odd years old and I still keep some of them alive with mods, car sets etc With this I won't be doing that. It would be nice if one day the game can be stand alone and allow mods.

 

[Facundo Estevez]

You've got a wheel in your hands, why would you need another?

In VR you don't see your real hands/wheel

 

[Emery]

Maybe that's it, but this is the only way to get rid of knocking for G27. This is especially noticeable in modern DTM cars and on formula bolids due to their rigid suspension. This is the imperfection of FFB in R3E for me.

The imperfection is the Logitech gear system, not R3E's FFB. I notice the latest wheel from Logitech (the Sparco) is now belt drive.

 

[Deleted member 99238]

The imperfection is the Logitech gear system, not R3E's FFB. I notice the latest wheel from Logitech (the Sparco) is now belt drive.

I know about the existence of wheels with gear and wheels with belt drive. But the best is the wheel with direct drive.
The wheel of the logitech G27/G29 for today is the best offer on the ratio of price and quality and this is unquestionable. The question all the same concerns the FFB. I'm completely satisfied with FFB or the ability to configure it on my G27 in simulators like AC, AMS, Pcars. The FFB setting for my G27 worst in R3E. That is the question.

 

[Vangelis Parginos]

@Newproto my friend the only unquestionable is that you dont need answers, you have made up your mind.

Im enjoying R3E for three years and only the last 6 months with a T300, before that i was using G27.
If you think that the FFB is better at pcars than R3E im sure you re doing something wrong and you have not found the correct settings, or maybe R3E is not for you.

If you need some help, feel free to PM me to give you the settings i was using with the G27.

@Emery the new Sparco wheel is the TS-XW from Thrustmaster not Logitech

 

[Deleted member 99238]

@Newproto
If you think that the FFB is better at pcars than R3E im sure you re doing something wrong and you have not found the correct settings, or maybe R3E is not for you.

After all the patches and personal settings FFB in the PСars is not so bad as it is commonly believed. Simply if you do not criticize FFB in PCars, then you're not a real simracer. I know that.
I'm completely satisfied with FFB in R3E, but only with the settings that I've posted here.
The best FFB is the one that does not need to be configured, but unfortunately there are none.