59 replies to this topic

[Georg_Kuyumji]

Hello!


I have been beta testing iRacing and now all beta testers have become 10 invitations to let the first paying customers join the iRacing Sim and Service.

If you dont know about iRacing, it is a state of the art Racing Simulation, cars have been laser scanned, taken apart and each part weightened, a group of experts visited all tracks and laser scanned them, the Track are in cm accuracy replicas of there real life counterparts.

The iRacing Team has a great track record, namely NR2003, by most people still considered the best NASCAR Simulation today, Grand Prix Legends, a famous Formula 1 Racing Simulation, Indycar, NASCAR 1 (which was the best selling Racing Game ever on the PC)

And now after 5 years there new product is coming out. The Sim costs $156 per year and tracks / cars cost between 15 - 25 Dollar, you could also sign up for half a year, 3 months or 1 month. You will get 2 cars and 4 tracks with your subscription with which you can start the League Racing Online.

There is a reason this Simulation is so expensive, it comes with unprecedented accuracy. The track are of cm accuracy. We had great Racers in the beta test like Martin Truex Jr or Dale Earnhardt Jr. and numerous other real Racers who were pleased with the Sim and very communicative.

So if you have interested in beeing one of the first customers at iRacing, go to iRacing.com and read more into it. Then write me your full name and email address.

Note: This is a serious Simulation - you must have a Steering Wheel and Pedals to use it, there are no driving aids, and everyone has to drive with his real name.

http://iracing.com/index.htm

iRacing.com exists to create the world's most authentic racing simulations, enable and organize real-time, online racing, and advance and expand motorsport. We invent and provide the tools and environment to enhance the skills of racers — novices to experts — around the world, deepening their understanding and enjoyment of the sport. We invite all with interest into the world of simracing.

iRacing.com was founded in September of 2004 by Dave Kaemmer and John Henry. Kaemmer was co-founder of Papyrus Design Group, Inc., developers of award-winning racing simulations including NASCAR Racing: 2003 Season and Grand Prix Legends. Henry is principal owner of the Boston Red Sox and Fenway Sports Group — the co-owner of Roush Fenway Racing — as well as an avid simracer. The iRacing.com team combines more than 100 years of real-world racing experience with more than 50 years of successful racing simulation development.

You can also take a look at these videos for more information:

http://insidesimraci...=122&Itemid=181

http://www.insidesim...=148&Itemid=206









Here are some Screenshots:

http://tru-grit.com/...s/iscreen01.htm

[Ross Stonefeld]

The lasering system seems amazing, these are the first time I've seen race tracks where they seem true to life. Looking at a place like Road America they're all slightly different and none of them felt right compared to laps I've done there in person. I struggled mightily to figure the track out in Forza 2 and it was like relearning the circuit all over again.

What really got me excited was I saw some video the other day of an onboard of the Skip Barber car. Having driven them for real I was bouncing up and down in my seat over how right it seemed. Just on video footage alone it looked like it handled exactly as it should. Well at least as close as you're going to get without McLaren designing you one.

Do you reckon they'll do any sort of licensing or customising? For instance if I was racing in a series like GP2 or something that had really restricted testing, I'd want to work with them pre-season collecting data for them to make me a GP2 car so I could at least practice circuits with it.

[Georg_Kuyumji]

Originally posted by Ross Stonefeld
The lasering system seems amazing, these are the first time I've seen race tracks where they seem true to life. Looking at a place like Road America they're all slightly different and none of them felt right compared to laps I've done there in person. I struggled mightily to figure the track out in Forza 2 and it was like relearning the circuit all over again.

The Laser Scanning is indeed making a huge difference. In other Sims tracks were created by Fotos and GPS data, alot was approximating and guessing. I have also driven on tracks in real and then in Sims and it always bugged me when track widths werent correct or bumps at the wrong places.
With the laser scanning technology all tracks have the right width, length, curbs shape, elevation changes and very importantly the asphalt surface and the bumps at the right places and shapes in cm accuracy to effect the cars handling. It's hard to describe what a huge difference that makes in terms of 'beeing there' feeling. Its a huge leap forward in commercially available Racing Simulations.

Originally posted by Ross Stonefeld
What really got me excited was I saw some video the other day of an onboard of the Skip Barber car. Having driven them for real I was bouncing up and down in my seat over how right it seemed. Just on video footage alone it looked like it handled exactly as it should. Well at least as close as you're going to get without McLaren designing you one.

Do you reckon they'll do any sort of licensing or customising? For instance if I was racing in a series like GP2 or something that had really restricted testing, I'd want to work with them pre-season collecting data for them to make me a GP2 car so I could at least practice circuits with it.

The real racers have used there real life setups in the Sim. iRacing will never be a finished product and is going to be constantly deloped and new cars / tracks added for years. As were just at the beginning, and everyone has to start out Online Racing with less powered cars, the big performance cars like GP2 cars, F1, or NASCAR Cup, GNS, Trucks are not here yet.
It is doubtful that there will ever be a modern F1 car, F1 teams would not allow to laser scan there cars, take them apart to weight each part or give all the necessery data out, but one can presume that there will be away to include older F1 cars were the data will be easier to get.
At the iRacing Website in the Tracks section there is a list of what is beeing developed at the moment. All tracks come with all available configuratons, for example you can driver Silverstone with 4 configurations, Road America with 2.

[kanec]

I just got the news update email.

Looks like it's not far away now from release.

http://www.iracing.c...ticle.php?id=58

[MaxScelerate]

Well, yeah, I guess the pricing scheme makes it all the more realistic... :

For the rest, however, g!d it looks amazing.

[Georg_Kuyumji]

Ross your might be interested in this Video so I thought I post it, its the Radical at Road America

http://blip.tv/file/990652

[pingu666]

is there gonna be a free demo? be interesting to see how the payment method works out, but i just dont have the disposable income to go onto it really

[karlth]

Looks very interesting, the only negative I see is that it is currently very US biased when it comes to cars and tracks. I miss seeing Porsches and Caterhams.

Any idea when invitations to members will be sent out?

[mahelgel]

Originally posted by karlth
Looks very interesting, the only negative I see is that it is currently very US biased when it comes to cars and tracks. I miss seeing Porsches and Caterhams.

That, and i'm not quite sure about the subscription system, but i still probably end up with a years subs. to start with

[karlth]

Originally posted by mahelgel


That, and i'm not quite sure about the subscription system, but i still probably end up with a years subs. to start with

Of course I've signed up as well, I'm must whining a bit.

[kanec]

Originally posted by mahelgel


That, and i'm not quite sure about the subscription system, but i still probably end up with a years subs. to start with

Yeah I'm a little unsure on this aspect - not in regards to having a subscription itself, but what that subscription represents seems somewhat backward as far as PC gaming (using that term lightly) is typically. Having to pay for each additional car and track which we'd effectively be hiring, seems very odd to me regardless of their accuracy.

Saying that though I think the price is right, around 80 GBP for the year. However, I know I will never race on the speedways and would gladly change those out and the Legends car for a Formula racer and Silverstone. A shame that isn't an option.

For me it boils down to the cost of the cars and tracks. Simply, if they're not well priced than there won't be enough people to race on the service.

[Ross Stonefeld]

I reckon they're aiming it at a completely different market, ie the semi-pro or hobby racer; not the gamers.

[kanec]

Yeah i agree with that sentiment Ross.

I'd also add that it appeals to people looking to getting into racing at some level or track dayers.

Also GPLers, et al will be looking at this with a keen eye.

[Ross Stonefeld]

Does anyone know how they are doing the physics? The Skip Barber cars look almost like watching in-car camera footage. Is it simply doing the laser-recording of all the bits on the car and running it through their physics simulator or is a lot of that based on the fact the Barber cars are easy to access and some of the senior people in the company have raced them?

[kanec]

Think I read in one of their newsletters last year that it's all in the physics engine, they were pulling cars apart and weighing each part, etc to get the data. They were especially touting the tyre model, so something a bit special might be happening there. (edit: was something like this http://iracing.com/t...gy/car.php?lc=2)

Saying that though, I do recall Kaemmer was running races in the Skip Barbers around 2 years ago.

I noticed that one of the vids posted earlier of the SR8 seemed to pitch around and finally got grip in the corner just like i remember it doing in real life. Very cool.

edit:
http://blip.tv/file/990652

At 1m 35 how the car drifts out and then steering input to get the front end to bite. Brilliant!

[mahelgel]

Originally posted by Ross Stonefeld
I reckon they're aiming it at a completely different market, ie the semi-pro or hobby racer; not the gamers.

That i understand, but paying subscription AND paying for additional content seems a bit much, even though it is cheaper than running real cars on real tracks

The subscription fee, if you sign up for a year, isn't that bad though. And buying extra cars and tracks i guess depends on what they release, and if it is of interest...

One thing i do fear a bit though, is that for the casual racer, the level of skill and commitment demanded to be able to get some fun out of it might be too high. I do hope they have some "free training" servers, or "track day" servers where one can have the fun of driving, without the pressure of setting laptimes and people lapping you

[Rob]

Originally posted by mahelgel

I do hope they have some "free training" servers, or "track day" servers where one can have the fun of driving, without the pressure of setting laptimes and people lapping you

You can run test sessions where you can practice to your heart's content.

[Norseman]

The other cool thing about iracing, besides laser scanned tracks, is how well ALL competitors will have to keep their driving clean.... competitive online racing has been well thought out and every effort is being made to insure clean racing will be rewarded. Very cool experience indeed.

[Georg_Kuyumji]

Originally posted by mahelgel


One thing i do fear a bit though, is that for the casual racer, the level of skill and commitment demanded to be able to get some fun out of it might be too high. I do hope they have some "free training" servers, or "track day" servers where one can have the fun of driving, without the pressure of setting laptimes and people lapping you

As Rob said you can make endless Practise Sessions, and in the Races your laptimes and incidents are recorded so that after a few Races the System will place you into Races where you will drive against others of the same skill. The system in the background is really complex to give everyone an enjoyable experience.

[pingu666]

would be nice to have free races.... without u having to worry about the rating system, for **** n giggles

im pretty sure the package and the pricing will change, maybe to something like WOW, i dunno, or a all you can eat thing

[mahelgel]

well... i did sign up, and i did buy the skip barber and radical...

Just had an hour of testing before i had to go to bed to be able to get to work tomorrow, and from the little testing i had it seems to be pretty good.

Still have some adjusting of the steeringwheel to do though, as it seems as the game is made for those 720degree wheels, and not my 270degree momo... Probably a few tips on the forum or in the faq, but the excitement of installing and testing it got the better of me, so i haven't really tried to figure it out yet

tomorrow is going to be a long day at work....

[kanec]

Looking forward to reading your thoughts on it.

I haven't as yet got an invite, which is probably just as well as the only time spare i have atm is when i should be sleeping.

[mahelgel]

Originally posted by kanec
Looking forward to reading your thoughts on it.

I haven't as yet got an invite, which is probably just as well as the only time spare i have atm is when i should be sleeping.

From the first 45min of driving last night, all i can say is that the skip barber is quite nice to drive, and feels very "connected" to the road, in the sense that you believe in the physics.

The radical is just scary fast and i think it will be tons of fun

[kanec]

Sounds promising.

Were you running on Laguana Seca?

What other tracks are available at this point for purchase?

[mahelgel]

there where 3 "road" tracks, laguna seca, lime rock (the one i drove the most).. the third i didn't test last night, so i'm not quite sure what that was. Reason i drove mostly limerock was that it was on top of the list

working until 18:00, then i have to do some chores for my mum who has operated on her left knee, and can't do shopping for food etc, so it will be another late night i fear, as i don't get home until quite late today

[kanec]

Damn the need for work to pay for these things! There's nothing worse than having a shinny new sim sitting there that you can't find the time to race on!

[Eli]

I got my invite yesterday and got a one-month sub. I haven't been able to drive yet, but just the interface, the stats, and so on are awesome.

[kanec]

Jealousy is really starting to override any logic of me not having time to race it anyhow.

[mahelgel]

had a solid hour of driving, and i really like it, even driving the slowish pontiac solstice you get the car drifting to the exit of the corner, just adjuseting steering or lifting a bit to get the exit...

Did a 30min "fastest lap" session, and had half a tyer on the grass and got a "penatly for cutting", a bit harsh, other than that, the system for safetyrating seemed to work ok. Was 1.5sec off the fastest guy on the track though.

One of the strongest points about the sim probably is the way the car reacts to cambers and bumps on the track. Mostly driving Lime Rock, and at some corners you sense the car "sits down" in the corner due to the camber if you get it right. That said, GTR2 has a version of the Nurburgring as a addontrack, and that too has a bit of the same feel with cambers in corners... the car feels a bit more "floating" in GTR2 though.

[mahelgel]

Originally posted by kanec
Were you running on Laguana Seca?

Been running laguna seca quite a bit the last few days, as its this weeks "league race". It is hard to get the Pontiac Solstice around there quickly, as you really need to keep the speed up thorugh the turns due to the lack of enginepower.

Also, getting the wrong line, usually means you understeer too the edge and need to get completely off the accelerator, and even brake if you really mess it up. Get it right, and you just can feather the trottle and keep the speed up. With the Radical, you still loose out, but the power makes it easyer to cover up the mistake

Still haven't gone for a years subscription yet, and i do think i might be playing to little to justify a monthly expense on top of the extra tracks and cars i want at my disposal. Tried a few laps of GTR2 right after driving the radical, and GTR2 felt a bit "flat"...

[Youichi]

How do they handle track-layout variations ?

e.g. If you purchase Daytona, do you get both the oval and the road course version ? and Sears point has several layouts, are they all available ?

And how long did you all have to wait for an invite ?

[Georg_Kuyumji]

Originally posted by Youichi
How do they handle track-layout variations ?

e.g. If you purchase Daytona, do you get both the oval and the road course version ? and Sears point has several layouts, are they all available ?

And how long did you all have to wait for an invite ?

If you buy a track you get all variations of it.

You need to register for the newsletter at iracing.com , they are going to invite subscribers of the newsletter soon.

[karlth]

Originally posted by Georg_Kuyumji


If you buy a track you get all variations of it.

You need to register for the newsletter at iracing.com , they are going to invite subscribers of the newsletter soon.

Do you know how soon?

[karlth]

Got it.

[mahelgel]

Well, driving iRacing again after over a week away due to vacation, it still felt pretty neat. The laptimes where a bit slow, but atleast i managed to string enough laps togheter to make the "time trail" at Lime Rock. And now i subscribed for a year, and bought the silverstone, VIR and Road America tracks... The VIR was pretty neat, and had lots of different layouts. Nice elevationchanges too.

As for the cars, the Radical is my favourite, but i do hope they make some powerfull GT/Le Mans cars or touringcars in the future, as i think something like that would be interestring around the non oval tracks

[Norseman]

Originally posted by mahelgel


As for the cars, the Radical is my favourite, but i do hope they make some powerfull GT/Le Mans cars or touringcars in the future, as i think something like that would be interestring around the non oval tracks

I'm with you mahelgel on the Radical... by far my favorite as well. I think I'm going to try and work my way into just competing in that thing once they start competing and I have the license. But I hear you won't be able to actually compete in the SR8 until you're a class C or possibly class B... means you can be stuck in cars you don't particularly like for quite a while when it comes to competing in points competitions. But I think that if I continue on with iR I'll just concentrate on road racing... crazy stuff goes on in the iRacing circle track races.

I do like the Late Model for competition too, but you really can't drive it the way a real LM is driven... afterall, real Late Models are always about a LITTLE fender bangin', but in iRacing you'll either get penalized for ANY of that, or you'll have some whiney little brat crying about it afterwards ... which sort of defeats the purpose of making the online racing real, authentic and exciting. I realize that it has to be done to keep things clean and under control, but I think it's going to be real hard for them (iRacing) to pull all that off without at least some people getting pretty discouraged.... I think there's still a lot for them to figure out on how to police everyone and still allow it to be enjoyable. Heck, I know a lot of highly competitive real race drivers who really seem to struggle with simulation since there is no real accurate "seat of the pants" feel... and I don't think any of those guys would be enjoying some no-name sim racer in NC chewing them out and telling them how to drive a race car.

[mahelgel]

Originally posted by Norseman


I'm with you mahelgel on the Radical... by far my favorite as well. I think I'm going to try and work my way into just competing in that thing once they start competing and I have the license. But I hear you won't be able to actually compete in the SR8 until you're a class C or possibly class B..

I do like the Late Model for competition too, but you really can't drive it the way a real LM is driven... afterall, real Late Models are always about a LITTLE fender bangin', but in iRacing you'll either get penalized for ANY of that, or you'll have some whiney little brat crying about it afterwards

To be honest, i do more "testing" with the Radical than i do driving that increases my rating... and thats a bit of a shame.

Also, the collisionpoints are a bit annoying when you get a bunch of them because other people drive into youre rear under braking...

Acctually lost rating at a race due to being hit twice in the rear. When people bump into me during braking for the turn, it isn't really my fault, but i still got shitloads of collitionpoints :

[Menace]

I'm loving iRacing so far. Great detail and feel.

[mahelgel]

iRacing is going public the 26. of august

Last night i had a really fun race at Laguna Seca, and even though i'm still awfully slow, it was great fun, and i could stay with the car infront while having to watch the mirrors from time to time... great fun

[SteveG]

I got my invite and I subscribed about a week ago and I am very impressed with what I have found so far. I haved added Silverstone, Road America and the Radical to my collection and I am yet to really try an online race as I get up to speed with the 'feel' of the game, though I did try one and failed badly! I have to say the way that they have delivered force feedback is the best I have come across, bettering GPL which I STILL thought was better than anything since until iRacing arrived, and with my G25 I find it very good indeed. The cars also respond very well and as I would expect and I think this game has finally moved the simulation world forward more than anything since GPL.

I have all of the previous bests, GTR, GTL, GPL, rFactor, LFS etc. and I think iRacing is better than all of them in terms of realism. I have never been happy with the FF in rFactor with the exception of probably the Caterham mod and iRacing is excellent in this area. Silverstone is VERY close to the real thing and of course Road America is amazing fun. I shall take out a 12 month subscription I suspect and buy everything out there and get into the racing but at the moment I am having fun trying to get my Radical around Silverstone in under 1.48 at the moment, which I am yet to achieve but the times are coming down!

[Exar Kun]

I've been running for a month and a half now. Enjoying the Skippies the most. Got my iRating up to 2900 and my road SR is safely at 4.99 on D license. The Mazdas aren't quite as fun for me but I might give them a go at VIR this week.

[exFSAE]

I will have to give this a try.

Have fooled around with rFactor a lot, but the force feedback and tire breakaway feel just aren't there.

[MLC]

iRacing seems very interesting. I think I saw a demo of this at the PRI convention in Orlando last December. I couldn't remember the company name, but I do remember that the focus was on simulation for weekend racers rather than an arcade gamers.

I will be doing some Skip Barber regional races at Laguna Seca toward the end of the year and iRacing may be just the thing to get some more seat time. For those of you that have spent a little time with this, what wheels and pedals do you recommend? Is a force-feedback wheel the way to go?

[Eli]

Logitech G25 if you can afford it and Logitech Driving Force Pro (or GT, as the new version is called) if you are on a budget.

DFP is a great wheel, but the G25 pedals are just on a different planet.

You can't play any games without FF these days.

[Tenmantaylor]

No demo? Not sure Im willing to fork out without trying. I do have every confidence that these guys can make the best sim in the world but would be great to have a 1/2 hour demo to get a feel for the overall experience.

[mahelgel]

a months fee isn't that bad for 30 days of trying.... and if you like it you can go to a years subscription and buy other cars and tracks at the pace you want...

[Tenmantaylor]

A month subs gets you 2 cars (neither of which Im that interested in racing) and 7 tracks (heard of 2 of them) http://www.iracing.c...bscriptions.php.

Doesnt go into much detail about how much additional cars and tracks actually cost, does anyone know? Does the $2.50 credit you receive allow you to actually buy anything extra? Seems like alot of info is held back till you commit, this info should be more readily available to potential customers.

[mahelgel]

cars are about 15$ a piece, tracks from 15-25$ each. Yeah, it is expensive, but you don't need all the oval cars and tracks. Still, the solstice at limerock and laguna seca is pretty fun when you get used to it. The Radical is down right scary fast after driving the solstice

[Tenmantaylor]

Have you played LFS extensively? Do you think the physics are a big step up in terms of realism (if at all)?

[mahelgel]

Have played LFS a bit, but i allways ended up drifting the cars instead of going fast Never got the hang of the way the car got so increadible light at the rear when getting up to speed (usually drove pretty standard setups, so there might be something there). The light rear and my drivingstyle made it drift everywhere (i like to chuck the car into the corner to "feel" where the limit of the grip is, and sort it out before the exit of the corner, hence oversteer all the time in LSF)

IMHO iRacing feels much better, and even though the first few days i was dissapointed in only getting to start with the solstice for roadracing (haven't really driven the oval bit yet), but after a few races in the sluggish little car i acctually started to like it. The car feels heavier, and more natural, and FWIW i think iRacing its better than most other products out there...