Observations:

• Graphics look pretty good in motion, not so good standing still.
  
• Netcode looks great, though that was probably LAN racing.
  
• UI looks pretty smooth and minimal.
  
• The oval racing looks very good, as expected from the NR2003 guys.
  
• Good to hear private leagues will be supported.
  
• Karting in the sim = awesome, assuming they drive well.
  
• Darin & Shaun need to tone down the fake enthusiasm a bit, as usual.

Quote from Shotglass :

• all these huge tvs and nonlogitech wheels must have been expensive

I'm sure they'll have been budgeted for in the overheads calculations.. just more added value for money for all of us in the sim

The steering lag looks bad though. Not nearly as bad as in nkpro but still as bad as in N2k3 for me and it was the main reason I never really got into it.

The VPP wheel is kinda notorious for the borked drivers so the lag with that wheel is kinda understandable but it was just as laggy with the G25 :/

There's something about iracing in our all-time favourite internet magazine as well: http://www.autosimsport.net/

• bah
  

Quote from Ahriman4891 :

• The dude from iRacing really doesn't look like someone I'd like to work/do business with. Just not a likeable guy

Brilliant :rolleyes:

Quote from Ball Bearing Turbo :

Brilliant :rolleyes:

seriously lol. u know alot of people think the same way as him, sadly.

iracing sounds a bit like CTRA... except....

Quote from Ball Bearing Turbo :

Brilliant :rolleyes:

What? That's the impression I got.

Well my only problem about iRacing is the price and still they don’t seem to be bothered about that factor.
I am really curious to see how this system is going to perform… and how long it will last.
It has to be something really groundbreaking new and well designed to last for long with that kind of pricing philosophy…

Or it is designed in that way so it can survive in a small market such us club racers that are interested in those very cars and tracks the game supports.

Quote from Ahriman4891 :

• The dude from iRacing really doesn't look like someone I'd like to work/do business with. Just not a likeable guy.

Now that's a usefull comment illepall

For the market they're targeting, the price is actually really cheap. It's $156/year to race in the virtual iracing world every second of every day versus $250-750 for an hour or two at a real track (not factoring in the costs of damaging your car or yourself!).

But when you compare that to LFS, and future/present sims where you have a one-off payment will you really be satisfied seeing that money dissapear every other month.

iRacing will have to offer something vastly better than the current sims to get this income.

It's the typical wait and see game but is it really going to be worth that much more than what we get in LFS??

Yeah I have no idea.

With LFS as it stands right now, I'd be willing to pay $50/year for all the services they provide (skin downloads, lfsworld, master server, etc).

you raise an interesting point, but if this iRacing is popular we can expect o see more subscription based sims in the future.

Quote from Intrepid :

you raise an interesting point, but if this iRacing is popular we can expect o see more subscription based sims in the future.

The way I look at it, it costs me nearly $10 to go out to lunch. IRacing is only $13/month. I can afford not to go out to lunch 1-2 times less a month

One thing I didn't like in the interview is the iracing guy said the subscription method ensures "everyone is using the same version". That's complete BS. What percentage of S2 licensed users are not using the latest version? Less than 1%?

Quote from Technique :

For the market they're targeting, the price is actually really cheap. It's $156/year to race in the virtual iracing world every second of every day versus $250-750 for an hour or two at a real track (not factoring in the costs of damaging your car or yourself!).

But sim racing is not the same as real racing, I'm sure most here wouldn't think twice about spending their annual sim racing budget for an hour or two of real racing. I still don't believe iRacing will be any more useful for real racers than a sim using fantasy cars/tracks and even if it is any good the actual target market of real racers running that car/track combo is tiny.

Quote from Technique :

For the market they're targeting, the price is actually really cheap. It's $156/year to race in the virtual iracing world every second of every day versus $250-750 for an hour or two at a real track (not factoring in the costs of damaging your car or yourself!).

iRacing (or any sim) is not remotely comparable to real racing - If I could I would happily give the £80-£90 i've spent on LFS and £300+ on PC hardware for LFS up to do a real racing season, but with nothing but a broken moped ~£500 won't get me anything.

iRacing is going to have to be stockingly brilliant.

Also with he promise of karts and bikes they run the risk of diluting themselves. I am not expert but in terms of physics karts, bikes, and cars are all completely different.

And ais anyone willing to pay for that?

Quote from SamH :

I think we all are. But some of us are a bit more life-experienced than others, and some of us are a bit more familiar with the flowery talk of marketing departments and how poorly they so often translate to the reality. After the nKP debacle, we don't take anything said by sim developers to be the truth until we see it for ourselves.. and as in life in general, when something seems too good to be true, it genuinely usually is. But we still live in hope.

It's fair to be wary, as you say the NK situation did not turn out well. But I like to support all sim developers if I can, because that will help to keep this hobby alive.

Secondly, Dave Kaemmer has never produced a sim which wasn't excellent. With the time, money and apparent passion that appears to have gone into iRacing, I can't see it being anything less than stellar.

Quote from ajp71 :

But sim racing is not the same as real racing, I'm sure most here wouldn't think twice about spending their annual sim racing budget for an hour or two of real racing. I still don't believe iRacing will be any more useful for real racers than a sim using fantasy cars/tracks and even if it is any good the actual target market of real racers running that car/track combo is tiny.

Here's the cost for me to do one 1-2 hour track session:
Average performance tires for my car: 4x$225 = $900
Mounting/balancing on stock wheels: ~$120
Track day with local club: $225 ("up to" 2 hours of track time)
Gas: $60-70 (210 miles travel + track time)
Food: $10
Helmet: $>200

So the total comes to $1520 for me to take the car to the track once. I also didn't include things like oil change, performance alignment. If I didn't want to swap tires back and forth on the stock wheels add another ~$900 for 18" wheels. Of course the tires will last more than one track day. But I guess I'm saying for "me" to go to the track next weekend, this is how much it would cost. And of course, it's not even a real race - just lapping and I run the risk of damaging my car.

That one track day (that lasts 1 to 2 hours) will cost the same as 10 years of playing iracing!

I don't know much about alternatives. I know karting is fairly cheap. I run slow carts (~35-40mph top speed) at the local indoor karting places. In fact, I just got back and it cost me $56 for ~25 minutes of track time - not bad... but it's not real racing either!

So.... i thought twice. And instead of spending my money on a single track day and equipment I bought some real quality sim racing hardware!

Quote from Technique :

So.... i thought twice. And instead of spending my money on a single track day and equipment I bought some real quality sim racing hardware!

Maybe I just have a very unwilling suspension of disbelief, but how can you honestly treat a computer game as some sort of legitimate substitute for the real thing?

Even so, you need to compare apples to apples. iRacing is a game. Yes, game. Compare it to other games with similar specs. LFS, nKPro, NK2003.

Quote from Mattesa :

Maybe I just have a very unwilling suspension of disbelief, but how can you honestly treat a computer game as some sort of legitimate substitute for the real thing?

Even so, you need to compare apples to apples. iRacing is a game. Yes, game. Compare it to other games with similar specs. LFS, nKPro, NK2003.

Real? What is real? How do you define real? If you are talking about your senses, what you feel, taste, smell, or see, then all you're talking about are electrical signals interpreted by your brain.

I can't compare iracing to other games because I've never played it. But my real point was that iracing is really cheap compared to real racing. You can't simply say, "why pay for iracing if I can just do the real thing!?". The costs are nowhere near each other.

Quote from Technique :

Real? What is real? How do you define real? If you are talking about your senses, what you feel, taste, smell, or see, then all you're talking about are electrical signals interpreted by your brain.

Okay Morpheus, if I ever find myself bleeding after crashing into the wall, or my neck sore from constantly pulling G's, I'll concede your point.

Quote :

You can't simply say, "why pay for iracing if I can just do the real thing!?". The costs are nowhere near each other.

That's my point exactly. It's not iRacing vs. a Trackday, it's iRacing vs. LFS. Why pay 3,4,5 times more for iRacing when I'm already 90% of the way there with LFS?

And let's not get into the whole "they provide a league clean racing service" BS argument. That's just a secondary feature, and I can't it's the most often talked about topic over at RSC. They want this as an off season training tool, and they only way that's going to happen is with an outstanding physics/graphics engine. I assume LFS is 90% there (if not more) on that front.