I'm back...sorta (NAR_Erick)

[Sibelius19]

After 15 years? Finally got back to racing a little... with a controller mind you.

Posted a 1:05.326 at Austria on YT
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qowrnEywDs8
Now I have a 1:05.1, but haven't posted on YT yet.

Right now it's just for fun. But once I get a steering wheel perhaps I'll get more serious

Current personal bests:

Monza: 1.21.8
Monaco: 1:11.9 (few laps)
Azerbaijan: 1:39.700 (yes, that was the literal time haha).
Austria: 1:05.1
Canada: 1:10.3
Australia: 1:22.2

I have to learn a lot of new tracks. I don't recognize some. Azerbaijan was difficult, and I still don't know it well. I had to use the racing line for that hot lap, but I'm now faster without it... I just have to get a good lap together
It's encouraging to see my times get between 1.5 and 3 seconds off the World Records considering I'm using a controller, and not a great one at that.
Especially since I've only be playing for the last 2-3 weeks on and off. So with time I think I could get back to my former pace or even be better.

Maybe with all of this COVID19 stuff going on online careers won't be laughed at so much anymore. Social Distancing!!!

Anyways, hope everyone is safe. Not even sure if anyone frequents the forums. But maybe???

[Sibelius19]

Update:

Personal Best at Spain: 1:19.3

[Sibelius19]

Personal Best China: 1:32.4 (first time playing it)
Personal Best Bahrain: 1:29.5 (very sloppy lap)

[Bilbo]

Hi Erick, nice to see you back...sorta

This place is not as busy as it once was but a few of the old gang still come around to say hello once in a while. I still check almost daily for new posts out of habit but there are not that many.

So far I'm part of the lucky ones who is both healthy and got to keep his job although I'm working from home now and actually have LESS time than ever to get back to "serious" simracing... Can't have everything!

Your times look good but it's hard to judge without racing myself. It makes sense that F1 2019 would be good with a controller as it was made primarily for the console players. I have tried a few laps of F1 2018 but found it hard to adapt to (like almost every other game/sim out there) after experiencing the excellent (IMO) physics of rFactor2 and I did not have enough free time to tame it... I still have to try F1 2019 to see if it has improved, though.

I was surprised to see real-racing sites talking about e-sport/simracing as someting relatively serious, especially now that the real racing teams also have simracing/esports teams. Not that they had much else to report but it was nice to see the "Not the AusGP" and "Not the Bahrain GP" virtual races get coverage in otherwise serious places instead of real F1...

I hope you stay safe and still manage to have fun in these stressful times!

[Sibelius19]

Good to hear from you Bilbo!

My family is safe, except some of us our having a harder time with the restrictions.
Things haven't really changed much though. I've been working home since 2015 as a composer and sound designer.
I've been super busy because essentially I work based on commission - if I don't work I don't get paid.

I honestly only started racing because I saw a Humblebundle deal with F1 2019 for free if I did their subscription plan. So I took it and then cancelled the sub lol.
But I'm having a lot of fun with the game, even without a wheel.

I've heard that people can be 1-2 seconds slower on a controller.
The problem is the lack of feedback and responsiveness. You cannot really effectively race without aids. And many of the aids slow you down, especially traction control. I can run that on Medium with the controller. But off is just a chore. I can do it but I'm much slower. Gotta be really careful on the throttle. Can't really adjust the steering sensitivity as far as I know so it makes it impossible to tailor it for the loss of traction.
Then there's the shifting aspect, which being able to shift at a higher RPM can save time. And then there's the smoothness of your steering haha. Maybe others are better than me with a controller, but I'm not smooth. Maybe with time I'll get better.
So while I think you can get by on a controller, and get decent results with higher racing aids, I think it would just be faster with a wheel. I'll probably pick one up in a month or so and find out

Hope you and your family remain safe in these times!

Peace

[Bilbo]

So while I think you can get by on a controller, and get decent results with higher racing aids, I think it would just be faster with a wheel. I'll probably pick one up in a month or so and find out

Judging from my own experience when I went from a few years of racing with a joystick (a CH Flightstick actually, the original 2-button one, which probably shows my age ) to my first try of a racing wheel (Thrustmaster T1), I had improved my personal best times within minutes. So I'm pretty sure you'd really be faster with a wheel!

[Sibelius19]

Been trying to do tracks I'm not familiar with now, or which I haven't done in a while. So I think I could still improve on the ones I've already posted, but I'm working on all of the tracks so I can be "well rounded" haha

I did hockenheim about a week ago and got a 1:16.4,
Just now with only a few laps I've improves by over 4 seconds with a 1:12.2 ... which I think is about 2.4 seconds off the record. I think I'm just feeling better with the controls of the game, and getting better in general. Still doing only medium traction control... which can be tough on races when you factor in tire wear. But okay on hot laps.
I think I definitely want to invest in a steering wheel soon, before I get to used to a controller

[Steve]

I just downloaded Automobilista 2 on Steam, and so far I am liking it. It is Early access, so not representative of the finished game, but it is pretty cool. On my aging system, I have to turn down the graphics, but it still looks good. I do prefer the feel of rfactor 2 though. But we will see how AMS 2 is after it is optimised. Good to see someone still active on here, I miss the good old days for sure!!

https://youtu.be/LqPOFuu8vNE