http://www.racedepartment.com/threads/racedepartments-simracing-mid-year-report.124512/ With all sims of my interest they have hit the nails on the top.
I agree with R3E needing to introduce some new features, but on the same token, for me at least, aside from a login problem i had for a day or two, the game has been refreshing bug free lately. Multiplayer sessions no longer ever descend into solo runs amid spinning triangles on the map. Car's no longer disappear randomly. Timing does occasionally get off track, but usually only for a car or two. But the progress is there, if a bit harder to quantify.
Going to have to mirror you there, game feels alot more polished and I've not had login issues for quite some time. I also feel I need to point out that report is basically a "what's happened since may" and far as I'm aware that means well, summer vacations happened and that's about it. But agreed, more features would be nice.
Not posted for a while... ...but yeah, I completely agree with RD's assessment. I've not played R3E so much over the past couple of months, in part because it's summer but also because I feel the lack of progression in terms of sim features is taking its toll on the game's longevity. The wealth of quality content to play with doesn't mask the lack of depth to R3E. It's a shallow sim at present.
What exactly is meant by "lacking depth"? I mean RR does not more or less than for example rF2 or AC. It does even a little bit more, I'd say: it offers series seasons, and a season editor, both of which AC so far has not. Not meant to attack or criticise you, just a curious question, I do not really, understand what differences you see there. Or do you mean some kind of story mode like some Codemasters games in the past? If so, I would disagree. I never saw these things as the right way.
Simulation depth. Flag system, dynamic track surface, tyre pressure and caster setting, manual pitlane control/formation lap/in lap, safety cars, flat spots, tyre gradients, a more realistic damage mechanic... ...just to name a few. R3E has everything on the surface but dig below and it's a bit lacking.
Most of the games mentioned in the report lack even more features, which makes the sentence "the title still lacks many of the main features expected of a racing simulation in 2016" pretty pointless.
Maybe i am too fixated on driving. And from AC i am used to not have most of things, too. I have the new Nascar title under observation. Lets see how it will do. I would not mind to finally get a worthy sucessor to Papyrus legendary Nascar 2003.
Sure, but it doesn't mean we should accept a race to the bottom when it comes to sim features, many of which were in games from 10+ years ago.
Pretty much this. Add the fact that included license race series don't even have proper rule sets really minimizes their use. My personal feeling is that S3 favours content to keep a cash flow. I'm not buying new content until it's more feature complete.
It will be a Raceroom decision rather than Sector3, but regardless, I get the impression plenty of others are doing likewise and curtailing their spending. I am too. I don't know if I can justify buying yet another DTM or WTCC update without seeing significant progress to the core game.
Agreed, it would be different if the main race features were all in place. But as is, there is still plenty missing that a multiplayer race sim needs with regards to starts, finishes, pits, comminication, and flags. That's ignoring any sort of potential environment upgrades.
I totally agree. I went back to GTR2 just because of that. Car setup is a huge part of the immersion for me. And right now RRRE is seriously lacking in that department. After working with the P&G mods whole tire setup and GTR2 advanced garage mod. Coming back to here and looking at the car setup was a bit depressing. For example, how are you supposed to figure out the camber if you don't know what your tread temps are? Seriously! I still love this sim. And several people have remarked that this shouldn't be listed as a beta. But with all the missing parts, it's still in beta. It's my feeling that Raceroom is making too much money putting rigs at real tracks for people to play with during racing events. Most folks there don't care about car setups. They want to sit down and go. So why develop it if it's not needed for your biggest sales.
Just want to point out that the two things you explicitly mention aren't part of the game itself, but 3rd party modifications made to it
Yes, but they use the basic setup interface. Advanced garage is just a differently arranged display of gtr2's interface. Yes it does give a much more comprehensive in game FFB interface. Which I don't use, because I've found that for me I can get a more accurate response by editing the text files myself. And yes the P&G tire discussion is not part of the basic game. But it too is done using GTR2's core engine. These are GTR2's basic setup screens And this is raceroom's Raceroom is lacking some basic content. I've spent around $150 U.S. On this sim. I've spent $30 on GTR2. And currently I'm spending more time in GTR2. A lot more. For my money, I don't think it's out of line to expect a little more than I'm currently getting from raceroom. I could go on and on about this. But suffice it to say. I'm not feeling inclined to spend anymore money here. It's not a threat. It's just how I personally feel. This is a fun game. There are a lot of great things about it. And at the same time, I think it's time for the publishers to step up to the plate. Let S3S finish the core game and take it out of beta.
The setup possibilities of Raceroom are enough for me because I am not the setup guy. I just want to race and adjust a few things if the car doesn't handle well. What I hate about all other sims that the setup is completely fantasy and Raceroom as far as I can say uses real life numbers. This is huge point for me. What Raceroom offers is more than enough and that it locks setup features that are also locked in real life. There is a reason there is bop if you race GTR3 cars. I've tried all sims out there and Raceroom is by far the best in terms of car handling and ffb as a package (+ feeling of speed). PCars is crap and AC is a fantastic road car simulator but imo not a good race car simulator. The last time I tried for example the GTR3 cars all of them had way too less grip especially on the front tires. As a result the lap times are miles away from real life. And let us not forget what a crappy sound the other sims offer. I've analyzed thousands hours onboard cams with telemetry and I just cant go back to crap sounds. Sounds of Sector3 was the reason I started sim racing.
Most of below is subjective, of course. It is difficult to distinguish between depth and immersion, for example some people might feel stronger about graphical details and VR than I do (and I do own Oculus, which sits in dust mostly), that said: Where rF2 outshines R3E in depth: - Safety Car - Flag rules - it changes your driving - Real Weather - it changes your driving/strategy. Within 5 laps of finish rain starts, what do you do? - Deeper damage model - Some form of flat spot simulation is present in some mods. Scripted or not scripted, it is so annoying that next time you think twice before locking your wheels - Race doesn't end at finish line - Super subjective, but physics feel deeper. There's more degree of freedom as to what happens to cars. - More configurable AI. R3E also has got some things rF2 doesn't yet: - Mandatory pit stops and option tires requirement. Pit stops themselves can be worked around, but not lack or rule. - Penalty weights - Track set for complete championship, to me that's element of simulation depth.