I really didn't like oval until I did some iRacing. Once you get past the rookie license up to the class D cars where the pace car is used, it's really a lot of fun. Certainly worth giving a go for those skeptical about oval!
It's a complete system, that includes very accurate tracks and the outfield too for braking points.
If you want to give it a go, you can get a 1 month free trial or I think there are other deals around too that are 3 months for a very cheap price too.
Once LFS brings in some laser scanned tracks (!), it will certainly improve LFS a lot, but laser scanning really does make a huge difference to the feel.
Well, I really dont care for laser tracks and real cars, though they are a nice extra. But the physics, etc etc. The future and all that.
Is this sim better then LFS? What good is a sim if it is the best in simulation but you got a better over all package in another sim like iracing.
LFS is like, hook up online and do some races and so on. If you go to iracing, don't you do more leagues and so on? I get the feeling that this is more incorporated then LFS.
iRacing has it flaws, but like most things they have to be outweighed with the cons.
Obviously the major flaw with iRacing at the moment is the pricing structure (which has beed talked to death) and the number of series on offer. The problem I'm seeing is that some series can be lowly populated, and even ones that are busy one week, could be empty the next due to the track being raced. Case in point this season was the trucks, first 2 weeks were on big speedway tracks, as soon as it got onto the smaller tracks numbers dropped. In saying that you will not see this being an issue untill after license D
On the plus side is the whole structure is desgined to give scheduled racing at a spercific time, this means I can base my evenings around a race time and race 1/2 times a night in a highly competitive race. Also due to the SR system the chance of being taking out by the last of the late breakers is reduced (not zero, it's racing after all).
Truthfully iRacing is not for everyones tastes, only way to find out is to try it and see.
I'm skeptical about oval & would like to give it a go but iRacing is just to expensive. You cant just jump into a COT or Late Model race for a bit of fun you have to drive the lower classes first & then the big catch *buy content*.
You cant even get above D in oval without buying content @ $15 for a car & $20+ for the big ovals it really is a niche market. You'd have to be a fan to really want all that stuff. If i wanted to experience American style oval racing i'd probably go & buy NR2003, all content included & if dont play it for six months its not gona cost you a dime.
Difference between LFS and iRacing is that with LFS you get the sim and you can do whatever you want with it, run private leagues or cruising servers. iRacing is more like a service and sim is just one part of the overall package.
iRacing series are not exactly like leagues, races are going on around the clock and you join a race rather than specific server. To get a better idea, I added this season's schedule in attachment which should explain it.
As for the track details, having great physics engine doesn't really help if tracks are smooth and perfect, which they definately are not in real-life. It's kinda hard to explain how it changes the driving experience, but it does make a difference.
anttt69: I think the idea is to gradually get you into oval racing, I've never really got around running full season in LM and instead I jumped straight from Legends to Silverado.... let's just say that it wasn't the smartest thing ever, I was doing ok on big tracks but on short tracks I was horrible and got involved into many accidents. Probably shouldn't have skipped LM for that short track experience.
Thanks for posting the schedule, that helps those of us on the outside a lot. I'm wondering, are there many people who "slum it" in the lower series even though they could race in higher ones? I like racing slower cars more than the fast ones and I can't see myself wanting to go much past the D license events.
The tire model is (at the moment) some degree better than LFS. Of course, they have many more tools at their disposal to develop that, so it would be odd if that wasn't the case.
Since that's the most 'important' part of a racing sim, it does make iR feel more accurate and engaging than LFS. The tire model combined with the scanned tracks are what give the sim it's feel, and that part is second to none by a fairly large degree.
That being said, there is currently less being simulated in iRacing overall than in LFS. This is seen in the drivetrain mostly where there is no stalling, clutch heat and whatnot.
It certainly isn't as flexible, although for testing / practice purposes you can run any car on any track as long as you license it.
I did think that the laser scanning was just a gimmick until I tried, clearly it isn't. Give one of the free trials a spin and make your own conclusion about it though by all means.
Also, laser scanned tracks are a gimmick if it isn't done to or close to iracing's standards.
iRacing is accurate down to like the mm or something...they say that most laser scanning processes can be wildly inaccurate, or not as high resolution.
get the free month, try it and make your own judgement. Each sim/game has its own merits and it's therefore, on personal preference if it ticks the boxes or not
I'm afraid if I do try, I will not go back. I can afford the price tag. But I'm not sure if I wanna find myself in a position where i abandon LFS. I just wan't to know if there is a future in iracing or in LFS, well, LFS allways have a somewhat vague future but we all hope for the best.
But maybe iracing is the sim to go with. I would rather spend more money on LFS, but Scawen wont let me put more money into his pocket except donations, I would go on with donations if just Scawen could get more in contact with the community. Like explaining more on what he does for the moment, show a screenshot and so on. Get in contact with community sort of speak.
I would gladly pay 10 pounds or more for every update. Like 2 stable updates per year and maybe a patch (free ofcourse) here and there for the updates.
But right now, im really tempted to go and try iracing, but I'm not sure yet over how they are handling online servers and just jump into a car and just race some here and there.
Probably doesn't affect you road racers as much, but iRacing has FINALLY found the photo finish issue that was giving wins to the second place guy instead of who was in first.
This never actually happened to me but it just annoyed me how iRacing acted like this was not a problem and blamed it on "the speed of light" when no other sim to date has had such a huge issue with not being able to score people accurately.
Basically, try out iRacing for 3 months, then when it is up LFS will (hopefully) have its patch out and you will have the chance to compare and see which sim you really want to stick with.
If you do get involved in iRacing seriously, I highly doubt you will just abandon LFS. Seriously, it's almost impossible.
@UncleBenny: About freakin' time!
EDIT: Cancelled even the 3 month promotion I just posted?
Does that actually stop you from signing up though? I think it says that for everyone as a warning.
PMD, 3 month thing still looks like it works for me:
"Your membership registration includes the following promotion:
3 Month Membership Special for New Members - $25
A three month subscription to iRacing, including the basic content."
Haha you'd think people would have started doing that. One guy did post that someone took him out coming to the line in a Legends race and his reason was "I didn't want iRacing to steal my win".
