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NASCAR Simulators?


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#1 Denier

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Posted 23 May 2008 - 18:43

Here is my quandry.

EA Sports has effectively destroyed NASCAR video games by acquiring exclusive rights to them. The games regress annually, the handling is idiotic, the AI is a complete disgrace... It is really a huge shame and I do not understand why it is legal. I would love to play a great NASCAR game on my Playstation 3, but EA Sports has effectively rendered it useless for stock car racing.

So I need to find another NASCAR game. I want realism. I am not a crew chief and do not want to set my car up necessarily, I just want to drive and compete somewhat realistically.

I know a lot of people play Nascar Racing 2003. Is this the best option? Is the game available? Where? Can I play it on my MacBook?
I have also heard about a new ARCA sim racing game. Is this a better option? Once again, can my computer run it smoothly?

I am also going to purchase a racing wheel. Is there a consensus best wheel?

Anything else I should know?

Hopefully someone has some knowledge about this.

Thanks.

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#2 Georg_Kuyumji

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Posted 24 May 2008 - 02:08

Originally posted by Denier
Here is my quandry.

EA Sports has effectively destroyed NASCAR video games by acquiring exclusive rights to them. The games regress annually, the handling is idiotic, the AI is a complete disgrace... It is really a huge shame and I do not understand why it is legal. I would love to play a great NASCAR game on my Playstation 3, but EA Sports has effectively rendered it useless for stock car racing.

So I need to find another NASCAR game. I want realism. I am not a crew chief and do not want to set my car up necessarily, I just want to drive and compete somewhat realistically.

I know a lot of people play Nascar Racing 2003. Is this the best option? Is the game available? Where? Can I play it on my MacBook?
I have also heard about a new ARCA sim racing game. Is this a better option? Once again, can my computer run it smoothly?

I am also going to purchase a racing wheel. Is there a consensus best wheel?

Anything else I should know?

Hopefully someone has some knowledge about this.

Thanks.


Hello Denier!

Most Sim Racers are going to say NASCAR Racing 2003 by Papyrus is by far still the most realistic NASCAR Simulation today, Dale Earnhardt Jr, Martin Truex Jr., Denny Hamlin, they all kept playing this Sim for years.





A very important thing is that you use a decent steering Wheel, I would recommend:

The Logitech Driving Force Pro, a mass market product, the cheapest but good enough to start this hobby, it costs around $60

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It says it is for Playstation only, but it does work with the PC and has drivers for it.

The next best wheel in its price range would be the Logitech G-25, its very popular and costs around $ 190

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Then come the Pro Wheel Hardware, they are very popular with experienced Sim Racers, because they are made of high quality materials and hardly ever brake down, and if a part fails after 5 years or more you can change it easily.

The Thomas Super Wheel is popular, I use it, its very smooth, Dale Earnhardt, Denny Hamlin, Ryan Newman, Carl Edwards uses it too for example. It costs between $700 and $1500

http://www.thomas-superwheel.com/

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After that there comes the ECCI Wheel which is also very popular for serious Sim Racers for about $1200 - $1700, and others aswell like the VPP for $2600.

But these are high Quality hardwares that you should buy if you find this as a long time hobby, for starters the DFP or the G-25 are recommended.

You can buy NASCAR Racing 2003 only on places like ebay as it is not sold anymore. Prices might be very high, last year it was around 100 - 150 Dollars for this 5 year old game, but it is really worth it, it is still excellent in Physics, and still good in Graphics and Sound, the Multiplayer Mode is also good and you can find alot of good leagues to enjoy Online Races, for example the TASCOR League:

http://www.tascor-league.com/

I have been in that league to in the past ;) http://www.tascor-le...tout/index.html

Buy a Wheel, buy the Sim from ebay, get the latest patch, and if you have anymore question register at racesimcentral.com THE international Sim Racing Forum, you will find endless info about Hardware, all Sims, leagues etc...

http://www.racesimcentral.com/ - Go to the Forum for endless informations on Simulations

You dont need to worry to much about Setups, you can get a "baseline" setup from numerous pages, but if you really want to find your limits in online leagues you need to learn some basics of how to setup the race car depending on your driving style, depending on if its cloudy or clear and track air temperatures they all make a difference, you should now some basics about tire pressures, track bars, wedge adjustments, tape adjustments, pit stop strategy, how to save tyres, how to be concentrated and patient at the same time... but these things will come automatically with experience in Online Simulation Racing.

The guys at Papyrus by the way are now working on there next masterpiece, they are now iRacing.com, they have Laser scanned Race tracks to mm accuracy, laser scanned cars and took cars apart to weight each part to include it in the physics calculations, the developers have also raced themselfs, and this program is going to be a training tool for real racers, it will be released this year and cost $160 per year.

http://iracing.com/

#3 WildmouseX

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Posted 24 May 2008 - 05:19

nascar racing 2003 is the most realistic sim that you can buy for stock cars, however if you have to resort to the E.A. games on consoles (as 2003 might be hard to find through legal means) - then it is the opinion of most of the drivers in rain delay interviews that the trucks in the games handle/race more like cup cars then anything else in the game.

i have no experience to tell you if it will or won't run on a mac book, i would suspect that the sim racing forum listed above (or any others you may find with google) would be able to answer it . - i would be very suprised if you were the first ever to try it... it's a win 98 game to begin with, so if you can run win xp, you should be fine in ability to run it.


Gerog - papyrus has been promising us that game for years now - i wouldn't get too excited about it again untill it goes gold. every year since 05 they've said it'll be ready the following year, and every year they delay another year - i've lost the faith.

if you really want to put your money where your sim racing is, i'd go looking here...
http://store.videoga...rniture024.html

#4 Georg_Kuyumji

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Posted 24 May 2008 - 12:20

Originally posted by WildmouseX
nascar racing 2003 is the most realistic sim that you can buy for stock cars, however if you have to resort to the E.A. games on consoles (as 2003 might be hard to find through legal means) - then it is the opinion of most of the drivers in rain delay interviews that the trucks in the games handle/race more like cup cars then anything else in the game.


After years of having this discussion I have yet to hear any prove about any real driver saying that the NR03 Trucks drive more like the Cup cars then the Cup cars do, I wrote Dale Earnhardt Jr and he said he always gets falsely quoted on that. The Trucks in NR2003 do not drive more like a Cup car then the Cup cars do. And if you look at comparisons and real onboard videos you see alot of drivers get out of the throttle very early on entry, let it roll, and get back on the throttle rather late and smoothly.



With the Trucks in the Game which have less power you can stay on the gas threwout the same corner and just need a slight lifting of the throttle, there are tracks like for example Texas that you can drive flat out in the Trucks, that is impossible to do in the real Cup cars or the Cup cars in the Game.

i have no experience to tell you if it will or won't run on a mac book, i would suspect that the sim racing forum listed above (or any others you may find with google) would be able to answer it . - i would be very suprised if you were the first ever to try it... it's a win 98 game to begin with, so if you can run win xp, you should be fine in ability to run it.


About the Mac, here is a Patch: http://www.macupdate...fo.php/id/11954

Gerog - papyrus has been promising us that game for years now - i wouldn't get too excited about it again untill it goes gold. every year since 05 they've said it'll be ready the following year, and every year they delay another year - i've lost the faith.


Papyrus and this group of people around Dave Kaemmer have brought out more then 10 Racing Sim titles since 1989, they always take a lot of time to get it right for release, remember Grand Prix Legends, it was 4 years in development, or NR2003 was also 3 years in development.

iRacing is now nearly 4 years in development and beta testing has already started, the first public release should come next month already. But this Sim is not a Sim in the traditionel sense, it will get updated with new content and Leagues constantly

Here is an interview from some weeks ago

http://www.insidesim...=122&Itemid=181

And another interview is in the April magazine of autosimsport http://www.autosimsport.net/

if you really want to put your money where your sim racing is, i'd go looking here...
http://store.videoga...rniture024.html [/B]


The Hot Seat Gamer chair moves more like a Gaming chair then from Simulated forces from within the Simulation Physics Code, if you ever tried out the FREX Simconmotion or a Force Dynamics theres no going back to any other Motion Simulator. They are widely considered to the best Motion Simulator for Racing Simulations.







The Force Dynamics:





#5 WildmouseX

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Posted 24 May 2008 - 14:54

Originally posted by Georg_Kuyumji


After years of having this discussion I have yet to hear any prove about any real driver saying that the NR03 Trucks drive more like the Cup cars then the Cup cars do, I wrote Dale Earnhardt Jr and he said he always gets falsely quoted on that. The Trucks in NR2003 do not drive more like a Cup car then the Cup cars do. And if you look at comparisons and real onboard videos you see alot of drivers get out of the throttle very early on entry, let it roll, and get back on the throttle rather late and smoothly.



With the Trucks in the Game which have less power you can stay on the gas threwout the same corner and just need a slight lifting of the throttle, there are tracks like for example Texas that you can drive flat out in the Trucks, that is impossible to do in the real Cup cars or the Cup cars in the Game.


it's not the NR2003 trucks that i was refering too - it's the the trucks in the E.A. games that i heard that about... and i don't think it was jr. that said it, i think it was either denny (or shrub) that said it first durring a rain delay at (i think) dover couple of years ago, and the other agreed. - and it was a comment on handeling only, not power...- personaly in the E.A. games, i prefer the modifies on the dodge bull ring.

#6 Georg_Kuyumji

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Posted 24 May 2008 - 19:37

Originally posted by WildmouseX


it's not the NR2003 trucks that i was refering too - it's the the trucks in the E.A. games that i heard that about... and i don't think it was jr. that said it, i think it was either denny (or shrub) that said it first durring a rain delay at (i think) dover couple of years ago, and the other agreed. - and it was a comment on handeling only, not power...- personaly in the E.A. games, i prefer the modifies on the dodge bull ring.


Ah then I misunderstood you, I thought that was in regard to NR03. I dont have alot of experience with EA Games, I think what they do are just normal games for the masses, I dont think they are true Simulations.

#7 WildmouseX

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Posted 24 May 2008 - 19:43

Originally posted by Georg_Kuyumji


Ah then I misunderstood you, I thought that was in regard to NR03. I dont have alot of experience with EA Games, I think what they do are just normal games for the masses, I dont think they are true Simulations.


i don't consider them true sims either, but i still buy and play them - their still fun for when you just want to do a quick half hour race, without the hassel's of 03.

#8 Denier

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Posted 24 May 2008 - 21:08

I am considering just getting NASCAR 2009 and a wheel. It sucks but NR2003 sounds like too big of an investment for something I probably won't end up playing enough to make it worth it.

Thank you so much for all of the advice guys, and keep it coming. Hopefully this thread can be of educational value to others as well. I have been curious about NR2003 for quite some time, this was a big help.

#9 pingu666

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Posted 27 May 2008 - 20:19

theres the arca sim out there, highly regarded :)

#10 Denier

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Posted 27 May 2008 - 22:30

The frustrating thing is that I have my PS3 hooked up to my HDTV... So absurd that EA buys the license and puts an awful product on the market that makes me want to spend 6x the money to play the game on my freaking laptop. I really, really hate the concept of buying exclusive rights to a video game, it is so anti-competitive. It would be like one sports team buying exclusive rights to the league or something.

I AM going to purchase the wheel suggested above right now, and might stick to playing Gran Turismo or something. They should have ARCA cars on Gran Turismo.

#11 Georg_Kuyumji

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Posted 27 May 2008 - 22:51

Originally posted by Denier
The frustrating thing is that I have my PS3 hooked up to my HDTV... So absurd that EA buys the license and puts an awful product on the market that makes me want to spend 6x the money to play the game on my freaking laptop. I really, really hate the concept of buying exclusive rights to a video game, it is so anti-competitive. It would be like one sports team buying exclusive rights to the league or something.

I AM going to purchase the wheel suggested above right now, and might stick to playing Gran Turismo or something. They should have ARCA cars on Gran Turismo.


'm not sure but the DFP may not work with the PS3, the G-25 does for sure. If I would be you I would still give proper Sim Racing a chance, you could connect the PC to the TV.

#12 Denier

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Posted 28 May 2008 - 10:38

I am going to wait for NASCAR 09 to come out in June and see how I like it. My main problem with the game in the past is the AI; if the online play is decent I might be alright.

If the game totally sucks I will start thinking about NR03 again.

Thanks again for the advice; I was going to get NR03 until I consulted with my girlfriend who about slapped me ;) She hasn't been in town for the last couple of weeks which has left me playing video games and posting here a lot; its easy to forget that I don't always have five hours of free time after work!

#13 Georg_Kuyumji

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Posted 28 May 2008 - 17:53

http://cgi.ebay.com/...1QQcmdZViewItem

http://cgi.ebay.com/...1QQcmdZViewItem

By the way there are also free modern skins and COT Mods on the net

#14 pingu666

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Posted 28 May 2008 - 20:12

http://insidesimraci...id=17&Itemid=66

review of arca sim racing, and a logitech wheel :)

#15 Pascal

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Posted 02 June 2008 - 02:47

I've been playing NR2003 on a Mac for years now, and it is a worthwhile investment for whoever enjoys racing games. Also, keep in mind that the game is still extremely popular, and new mods keep being developed for it on a regular basis.

On that topic, the best mod developers (www.simthunder.com) have decided today to call it quits after one of their recent mod had shamelessly been ripped off for another game. It is too bad because their latest project was a 1955 mod which looked extremely promising...

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#16 Denier

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Posted 11 June 2008 - 22:24

The new NASCAR 09 game is absolutely awful. So disappointing. :down:

I hate EA. HATE.

#17 Denier

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Posted 17 June 2008 - 10:18

Georg, I got a great deal on the Driving Force Pro; got a refurbished one (that I can't tell has ever been used) for $60.

Just playing GTA5 Prologue with it online, it is incredibly fun. Feels like I am really racing, a great way to get stress out! Thank you for the recommendation. I don't know what I am going to end up doing regarding software. I wish they would release the ARCA game on PS3!