iRacing 3 month free trial

[sbridgey]

iRacing usually costs $12 a month

I am a iRacing co-ordinator on the www.apexracingleague.com forum, we have managed to source a limited number of 3 month free trial codes, the only catch is you sign up for our league which is free of course and will be great fun.

If you are interested sign up to the forum and come on the teamspeak server one evening or message a member of the iRacing team.

iRacing as many will tell you is possibly the best simulation game available for the PC and i would say it is way better than Rfactor.

The game runs on pretty basic kit and some people run it on there laptops, my macbook pro 13 runs the game really easily so most people should be able to play the game with ease.

 

[Pearcy]

Too bad it's shite.

 

[sbridgey]

have you ever played it?

 

[Pearcy]

Yes.

 

[sbridgey]

Clearly not properly then, did no one ever tell you if you have nothing good to say don't say anything at all?

 

[Sym0n]

Oh oh, a differing of opinion!

OOOOH THE DRAMA!

 

[Pearcy]

You don't know what i've done and what i haven't mate, i did play it properly and it's not just my opinion it's alot of other respected sim racers opinion too.

 

[Cliotoby]

Does it feature a Clio V6, and does it set on fire?

If no, then its not realistic.

 

[Cliotoby]

HOLY s**t

This requires a monthly subscription? What the hell. I always liked the look of this game, but theres no way id pay monthly for a game.

 

[sbridgey]

Give it a go for 3 months to see what you think then

 

[Cliotoby]

Im not buying a racing wheel ive got no where to put it. Looks really good, but its all the wrong concepts for me. Im happy playing on my own or against Ai with a controller. Forza will do.

 

[iain187]

it's decent but i found it confusing tbh.

 

[sbridgey]

Yeah i found it dead confusing to begin with.

Apparently you have to buy one month and then we will give you three months free, sorry for the confusion

 

[z8jay]

It's ok but far too focused on turning left, which is boring as f**k

I also don't like paying for a monthly fee AND having to pay out for cars/tracks

 

[Alex H]

I found it to be the worst physics of all the PC racers I've tried too.

 

[Pearcy]

To be fair the tracks are spot on, content is added regularly but the subscription, the physics and the layout of the races are piss poor. They've tried to fix the tyre physics about 3 times iirc and each time they've got worse...

 

[sbridgey]

The tyre physics are now working properly, the games handling physics are the best of any game i have played (rfactor, forza 3 and 4, f1 2010/11, live for speed).

If you think the physics are crap you are obviously thinking it should handle like a arcade game.

 

[Chris n nic]

I have no experience on this game but it certainly looks superb going off this video

 

[Silent_Scone]

I'm gonna give it a shout if it's free for a time. Christ that almost looked real!

 

[Pearcy]

The tyre physics are now working properly, the games handling physics are the best of any game i have played (rfactor, forza 3 and 4, f1 2010/11, live for speed).

If you think the physics are crap you are obviously thinking it should handle like a arcade game.

The tyre physics don't work properly at all, it's just not realistic, endless understeer to snap oversteer, unrecoverable slides. How long did you play live for speed for? That's has the most realistic physics out of everything out there even though it's outdated, it's just lacks graphics and updates. Alot of the top guys in iRacing came from live for speed and they all **** it off...

 

[Christopher]

I'd really like to try it using a proper setup. I bet it's superb!

 

[McGherkin]

The tyre physics don't work properly at all, it's just not realistic, endless understeer to snap oversteer, unrecoverable slides. How long did you play live for speed for? That's has the most realistic physics out of everything out there even though it's outdated, it's just lacks graphics and updates. Alot of the top guys in iRacing came from live for speed and they all **** it off...

This, but NetKarPro is supposed to be slightly better physics (It's based on LFS).

That said, iRacing comes a close second, and has the copyright to put brands in there, and better graphics. I won't be going for it though, cause I can't afford the months after, but it's probably worth it if anyone else was considering.

 

[z8jay]

I have no experience on this game but it certainly looks superb going off this video

Just to show the difference between someone who can drive quite well and err.. me..



Really find it tough to get a decent lap out in the game. The physics might be "realistic" but with no gforces or anything it's very hard to tell when a car will loose grip

 

[sbridgey]

Do you still play?

 

[z8jay]

I got a months membership with 2 months free, about a week ago, so technically I still play

Haven't played for a few days tho

 

[sbridgey]

live stream for the race http://www.apexracingleague.com/content.php?171-live-streams

 

[Darren S]

Looks pretty damn fine that.

D.

 

[Alex H]

I'd really like to try it using a proper setup. I bet it's superb!

It's not.

 

[sbridgey]

Have you people calling it s**t actually played the sim or are you just guessing, i think the way it works with the web interface is the best of any sim. It may not be the best but after playing f1 2011 it feels amazing to me.

 

[generaljake]

i don't know how people can compare console games to sims such as iracing... does not compute
I recommend anyone who has a pc and a wheel setup to give it a go as an experiment just to see currently where we are at with sim racing as iracing is widely known as the market leader, however, C.A.R.S is on the way and rfactor2 which won't be subscription based.

on topic:- try it, get a promo deal or something for a month or two even if it costs you a few quid (e.g. 40 fags or 4 pints equivalent) and make up your own mind

 

[Pearcy]

It's the market leader because it has so much investment that other sims can't compete with but not because of the way it drives, to get the physics right you need a team of guys that understand how tyres work and how to implement them properly, which is what live for speed is doing but with only 1 guy on the job it's taking a long time to build. The other problem with iracing is if you don't drive the car the way they want you to drive it you don't have much chance of being fast all the cars are pretty dodgy and do some questionable things at the limits. They have got pretty much everything else right apart from the core basics of how it feels and drives, which with all the money they've chucked at it is pretty poor especially as they've had a few years and quite a few attempted fixes. Not to mention the collision system, nudge someone up the ass? Bent steering column, Rub side by side with someone? Your chassis just snapped in half. The main problem they've had is they've made it too hard to drive for the average joe, everything is over exagurated because most people that play it will think, ohh the car spins when i lift of the throttle, lift off oversteer, this is pretty realistic, no.

 

[sbridgey]

Whilst i agree with what you say Pearcy i would like to ask when the last time you played the game was because the tyre model has recently been updated and is being rolled out to all cars at the moment.

I have found the handling to be very very good, the way the whole game works is brilliant for league racing with live streaming and commentary.

Yes the damage can seem over the top but when was the last time you hit a kerb in your road car, i have never done it but i am fairly confident that it would knock the tracking out like i seems to do in game so i think the damage is actually quite realistic but of course i haven't driven every car.

I also think the method the game has used to promote clean racing is brilliant.

 

[Pearcy]

The last time i played mate was a few weeks after they brought the Williams out, i've played it on and off about 5 times usually after they say they've made physics improvements but usually i can't tell the difference i've not had a go on the "new" physics but from what i've read by people hat know their stuff it's no better, the devs just don't listen to peoples criticism. You don't need a dodgy collision system for clean racing, i've never had a problem really in the sims i've raced on and it just takes the fun out of the game people take it too seriously and are scared to put one down the inside. You can hit kerbs in RL and have no damage, just look at the F1 cars battering kerbs (with the exception of massa) BTCC rubbing and touching one thing you shouldn't do with a sim is make it harder than it is in RL.

I know i've been quite critical of it but in fairness it's probably the biggest out there at the moment, the tracks are brilliant, some of the cars are decent (the williams being one) and the development rate is pretty awesome. It's just expensive and if you want to learn how a car reacts at the limits then i'd go with something else.

 

[sbridgey]

Oh right so quite a while ago then, i think things have changed a fair bit since then, and if F1 drivers use the game it cant be that bad, apparently ex f1 driver scott speed was on the other day.

I completely agree about the contact but it would be so difficult to police and people would be constantly arguing about incidents so would be too much hassle.

The only reason i posted this is because it is expensive and people may want a bit of trial before having to spend a load of cash to find out if they dont like it.

 

[z8jay]

bridgey, any ideas why they focus so much on the oval racing (nascar etc)? It's so f**king boring. They probably have the physics for that side of the game nailed, it can't be too hard to simulate turning in one direction. IIRC they borrowed some stuff from Nascar 2003 which was pretty much on the nail already. I'd assume it's due to a lot of Americans playing the game but I dunno.

 

[dunganick]

This better be worth the effort. I've just infected my iMac with Windows to try it.

 

[dunganick]

The game is quite weird. The graphics are very average, sound effects (particually engine noise) make GT5 sound like real life. The brakes are very odd, if this is me being used to other games i have no idea. Someone needs to put force feedback into the brake pedal. Damage is also laughable, they shouldn't of bothered.

On the up side, the cars seem to drive as i would expect (i dont drive on tracks) and they are quite easy to push hard. The weight of the car feels spot on, if you clip a kerb on the inside of a turn the car lifts up much more like in real life. Bumps on the apex/run off also unsettle the car much more realisticly than any other game i've tried.

What i dont like is having to pay to unlock all but about 5 tracks and cars (oulton park and brands hatch cost about £8 each), having to pay a monthly subscription also bothers me.

Its more fun to drive than GT5, but i suspect it will get very old quickly from the shocking interface, graphics and monthly cost.

 

[sbridgey]

I am guessing you are driving the mazda, but the brakes require little pedal movement as it is kind of like real life where pressing the pedal fully will cause a lock up, but for maximum realism you need clubsport pedals which use a loadcell instead of the traditional spring and location sensor.

If you get someone to refer you you will get $15 of credit to buy cars and tracks.

Doing a certain amount of races in a season will give you credit to pay for the subscription aswell. I am guessing you got three months for the price of one if you want more join up to apex racing league join one of the leagues and you will probably be eligable for another 3 months free.

 

[sbridgey]

bridgey, any ideas why they focus so much on the oval racing (nascar etc)? It's so f**king boring. They probably have the physics for that side of the game nailed, it can't be too hard to simulate turning in one direction. IIRC they borrowed some stuff from Nascar 2003 which was pretty much on the nail already. I'd assume it's due to a lot of Americans playing the game but I dunno.

I think it is because the game was initially developed for nascar drivers to practice with.

The physics are really good on pretty much all cars but yeah there are alot of americans who love oval racing playing the game, i love doing oval just to wipe to smiles of the americans faces when i get pole and win at an american sport, they get very annoyed when it happens aswell.

 

[Cliotoby]

Oh right so quite a while ago then, i think things have changed a fair bit since then, and if F1 drivers use the game it cant be that bad, apparently ex f1 driver scott speed was on the other day.

I completely agree about the contact but it would be so difficult to police and people would be constantly arguing about incidents so would be too much hassle.

The only reason i posted this is because it is expensive and people may want a bit of trial before having to spend a load of cash to find out if they dont like it.

But I dont have a racing wheel. So theres that matter too. Also ive got no where to put the thing, I prefer a controller.