Driving games..PS2, PC, Xbox...?

I have an Xbox and The 2 Racing games that are my favorites are, Forza Motorsports and Project Gotham 2. All I used to play was Gran Turismo. But Forza has taken GT's place with my top choice.

 

PS2 and GT4 are hands down my favorite. Get the Logitech pro 900 degree wheel and pedal set, and it's actually work to do a long race.

 

I like GT4, but it needs Ferrari's and Lamborghini's in it too!! I noticed you can get a Cizeta too!

 

Best combo for simplicity and enjoyment?

In that case you already ruled a PC out since they are powerful yet complicated. At least mine always have some gremlins I have to fight, be it new drivers for the FFB wheel or the latest OpenGL software for NVIDIA, you name it.

That leaves the consoles XBox and PS2, which are almost a tie: PS2 has the best wheel around with the Logitech FFB wheel for GT4, an unbeatable combination. OTOH XBox combined with the Speedster wheel has some limited FFB, but offers you Ferraris in PGR2 and Forza (assuming you're into Ferraris since you're posting this on a Ferrari website).

Clearly there is the new 800 pound gorilla in town who rules it: XBox360, but the problem is, that a) you can't get one and b) it doesn't have a steering wheel yet, so realism goes out the door.

 

Keep with your PC, and buy the most recent F1 game you can find. I've been playing F1 2002 lately, which works marverlously, and the wheel will fight you the whole time. COMPLETELY customizable with all the tracks, it's so much fun, and your arms will get a serious workout.
B

 

After years of playing F1 2002 I finally retired it and got myself a Euro PS2 and the 2005 F1 game. I simply got tired of driving with the wrong teams, drivers and tracks.

 

i highly recommend getting an xbox360 and a copy of PGR3. the inside cam is unbelievable. you get to see the stearing wheel and dash board. you can sholder check, and look in side mirrors.
I've never experienced a racing game like this. It really adds to the challenge and makes it that much more realistic.
The only thing that the game doesnt have is real tracks (aside from Nurburgring). The tracks are made from real city streets in NYC, Las Vegas, and Tokyo. You can also customize your own tracks using the city layouts and picking the streets that you want.

Also, one of my favorite features of the game is that you get to keep your cars that you own in garages. You can place the cars how you want them, and you can then walk around and admire your collection. It makes you feel like your a multimillionaire.

the realism of the game is astounding. The sounds, the lights, the citys, the detail of the card. They didn't slouch on this game. Its great.
The only downfall is that its fairly short on the medium difficulty, but when you up the difficulty it becomes far more challenging.

as you can see i highly recommend this game. and if you don't want to fork out the cash for the new xbox, PGR2 is a great alternative. its nearly as good, but it doesnt have the advanced features like the fancy in car view and the garages for your cars.

 

PC still alive and kicking you just have to know where to look! Only snag with your request is that "it should be realistic and easy" - that just dosnt happen!

For maximum fun / minimum cost you need a copy of EA's F1-Challenge 1999-2002 which is a slight re-hash of F1-2002. Using this game as a base you download free "mods" to create any racing game you like really and drive on virtually any major circuit you cann think of (Nurburgring Nordschleife?). I am presently running in an online league using the "Prototype C Mod for F1C" which is a free download. Racing 1985 Group C cars (Lancia LC2, Rothmans Porsche 962's etc). Mid next week is a 3 hour online race at LeMans (no chicanes on Mulsanne) and last round of championship is Nordschliefe 3 hours (14 miles a lap!).

But if you want THE latest thing for the PC then you need rFactor which has been created by the guys that produced the F1 games for EA. Extremely realistic and cutting edge graphics - this game is a download and comes with a default couple of made up circuits (nice realistic tracks though) and a saloon and open wheel racing series. Again it is intended to be modded with free downloads on the net and currently you can get EuroF3 and Porsche Carrera Cup (which came out yesterday!). Links below...

MODS for F1-Challenge
http://www.bhmotorsports.com/F1C/mods

Online League
http://www.f1rst3.com (F1 Race Search Tool - but loads of stuff)

rFactor (the future)
http://www.rfactor.net/

Porsche Carrera Cup (for rFactor - F1C version also available)
http://www.team-gsmf.com/

Merry Xmas

ps. All extremely realistic (not "gamey") and I would recommend the DFP - Logitech 900degree PS2 wheel for PC aswell, it works fine (USB) but drivers available from www.wingmanteam.com to get the most out of it.
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Or get the best of both worlds as I have it in my setup: I use this wheel with a USB switch box to connect it to my Euro PS2 (F1 2005, GT4) and my PC (GPL, GTR, P4, GP3 with mods).

 

I own and played (extensively) ALL of the following games:

1. Project Gotham (X-Box)
2. Grand Tourismo 3&4 (PS2)
3. Forza Racing (X-Box)
4. Toca Racer (X-Box)

Trust me on this, if you are looking for realism, There's nothing better than Toca Racer.

Here's what you do, go to a local Blockbuster and rent a copy. I know once you try it, you will love it to death.

It's probably the most realist game out there in terms of resemblence to actual driving experience.

 

Codemasters sim engine is good (especially Colin Mcrae 1) but its still a bit gamey as thats the market they are selling to. rFactor really is/will be the new GPL.

 

PGR, PGR 2 (much better) and Forza are all XBox franchises.

PGR3 should be awesome in hi-def on the XBox 360.

GT4 is the one and only for PS2.

I think GT Legends is the new GPL!

-Peter

 

GP4 with the latest season, track and physics updates is still probably the best F1 game.

FIA GT Racing (GTR) is the most realistic racing game - it accurately simulates all the real teams, cars and tracks in the 2003FIA GT Championship. You can also download other cars and many extra racetracks (R. America, R. Atlanta, Leguna Seca, Lime Rock, Nurburgring Nordschliefe, Fiorano, Mugello, Imola, etc etc etc). I don't play GP4 anymore since getting this, because it makes GP4 feel too easy!

The Project Gotham Racing games are the most fun I've had racing on a console. They don't come close to the above games for realism, especially GTR, but they're still great fun and feel very immersive with the wonderfully recreated cities.

 

Bit of history for you guys, Image Space Incorporated (ISI) are the programmers behind EA's F1 games (F1-2002 and F1 Challenge) both of which are based on ISI's SCC (Sports Car Challenge circa 1999).

SimBin (authors of GTR and GT Legends) were originally "modders" of F1-2002, where they created GTR-2002 (free download) as a precursor to GTR (commerical product). SimBin bought the rights to ISI's code to create GTR and GT Legends. They have modified things quite a bit but utlimately both GTR and GT Legends are built on ISI's original sim engine and hence "feel" a bit like F1-Challenge (although more realistic).

rFactor is ISI's brand new racing simulation engine created from the outset to be "modded" and is subsequently cutting edge and far in advance of the code produced by SimBin in GTR and GTL...The difference is that ISI are trying to sell rFactor themselves bypassing the use of a publisher to maximise their return. Hence its only available as a download and has no "licensing" associated with it. It comes with fictional saloon and open wheel classes and circuits.

As I mentioned above there is already a Euro F3 and Porsche Carrera Cup available for free download and the mob who produced PCC are also working on a Nordschliefe 24 hour "mod" with loads of cars etc. Sooner or later there may well be an F1 mod for rFactor but Ecclestone and co. may start clamping down on free mods to protect Sony's F1 game rights (as Sony are complaining about this matter). One major aspect of rFactor is its online efficiency. With F1C a "normal" broadband connection (256K upload) could cope with hosting 6 users max before bad warping starts - rFactor almost doubles this limit.

Slightly off topic but maybe of interest to you guys is that a group of "modders" have recently cracked the 14 mile limit in GPL. That is the restriction of the original GPL to a circuit lap length the same as the Nordshcleife. The upshot of which means they are now producing a full and detailed Targa Florio for GPL (all 40+ miles of it)!!! now that will be awesome...

 

Oh wow, awesome! Keep us posted on that one please.

Track size was always an issue in GP3 as well. There is a minimum limit, which made it impossible for me to make an accurate Le Luc track (the original is too short) and there is a max limit which never allowed things like the Ring on GP3.

If GPL can go beyond that, I'm wondering whether we'll see Pikes Peak one day. Now that would be a dream come true for me.

 

This is the forum link for GPL Targa Florio:

http://forum.racesimcentral.com/showthread.php?t=206602

 

This is a sensation in the making. I can't wait for this. According to the thread they got the whole track as a "driving lane" and about one third of it with the appropriate surroundings. I copied the picture below from their site.

GPL tracks can be transformed to NASCAR2003. Why is that important? Because there is a P4 mod for N2003, which lets you drive P3, P4 and a few other cars.

In essence the building blocks for doing your own Vaccarella stunt are in the making.
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Your turn for a link ?

 

I bought PGR3 today. AMAZING!

 

I got it for Christmas, definatly the best racing game I have ever played, by far.

 

Need 4 Speed Most Wanted on XBox 360's currently my fav. Great fun

 

Strange thing. I can't find it anymore and went on the US Pits site. N2003 mods are readily available but the P4 mod is gone. Then I found a discussion in a forum about some copyright issues etc. Bummer.

Luckily I downloaded it all while it was still available. But do a search, allegedly it is still around. It was written by FChat member c'one.