Should I buy rFactor?

Woodee · Post by **Woodee** » Mon Nov 20, 2006 11:39 pm

nutty wrote:
I recommend it, come join us at v8's on wednesday's its great fun

I may just do that

Righteous · Post by **Righteous** » Wed Nov 22, 2006 7:19 pm

I would say that if your not to fussed about the $$$ then buy it. I have really been enjoying the v8's. If nothing else it serves as a good distraction while more work is being done on lfs.

Im not a big fan of the way the cars sit on the track from the external views compared to lfs and the "feel", like everyone says, is a bit odd for me. But I have had as much fun with need for speed as I have with richard burns rally. Im not ever really to fussed with the way a game feels as long as it is consistent and understandable. I know how the v8's will react for the most part of it so that means I can learn where to get the most out of them.

I just want to see a field of 30+ v8's on a wednesday night, i reckon that would roxor my soxor. We had 20 last week and that was great.

Latch · Post by **Latch** » Wed Nov 22, 2006 7:27 pm

rF can have servers of >30?

Hazelb · Post by **Hazelb** » Wed Nov 22, 2006 8:00 pm

Most certainly...

Ran a PCC series at ATR where the first two weeks we had 36 entrants..

The Proton series had 40 entrants as well...

Sensational having lots of people to crash with!

steve_w05 · Post by **steve_w05** » Wed Nov 22, 2006 8:01 pm

I know of one race that had over 100 starters.

VIPEROSI · Post by **VIPEROSI** » Thu Nov 23, 2006 2:33 pm

I wrote an enormous reply yesterday here at work detailing why i like rfactor so much but my computer stuffed up posting it and i really cant be bothered posting it.

Im one of the people who actually feel it is more realistic then lfs with how the cars feel and i can relate to the handling in rfactor alot better when comparing it to how it feels to drive in real life.

Fantastic sounds/ graphics/ real tracks, real cars etc. I also think the sense of speed is far better in rfactor. Just try the f1 car its a eye opener!.

When rfactor first came out i thought it was a bit poxy, but with so many real world tracks in it now, some actually made by the developers themselves and so many awesome mods and cars available its way too good to ignore now.

The v8 mod in particular is simply awesome, it feels pretty close to the real thing...which i can actually say from first hand experience having taken a v8supercar sports sedan around a track.

I also feel that setup changes in the game react far closer to real life then lfs. I always need other people to make setups for me in lfs because the stuff i would do in the real world in a car or the karts i race doesnt translate as it should. In rfactor i can do exactly what i would do in real life and it feels just right when i get in the car and test it.

Online is very stable and only second to lfs, but not by much.

I dont know if you respect my opinion or not but im coming from the perspective of having raced karts, and driven race cars recreationally in real life and i only play racing games such a Richard Burns rally, GTR and LFS because of there simulation aspect.

I think Rfactor is as good as those games mentioned above and the v8's top it off!.

Exar Kun · Post by **Exar Kun** » Thu Nov 23, 2006 2:58 pm

VIPEROSI wrote: I also feel that setup changes in the game react far closer to real life then lfs. I always need other people to make setups for me in lfs because the stuff i would do in the real world in a car or the karts i race doesnt translate as it should. In rfactor i can do exactly what i would do in real life and it feels just right when i get in the car and test it..

Yeah, that's one thing that seems to come up a bit. Aris, who is a setup guru and has some experience with real race cars (and is involved with nkp and did some work on GTR) is puzzled by the way LFS reacts to setup changes and said as much in an article in ASS. It must be a quirk of LFS's physical physics model where most the other sims are using maths models.

Latch · Post by **Latch** » Thu Nov 23, 2006 6:49 pm

Great post Viperosi.

Very insightful.

Davo · Post by **Davo** » Thu Nov 23, 2006 10:48 pm

I feel disconnected from the car in rf and feel more like im on a rollercoaster ride. I've only tried the demo and not really played it much because I can't get into it. Is there a way to try the v8s on the demo? If the V8s impressed me I'd probably buy it, but atm it hasn't grabbed me.

r8response · Post by **r8response** » Thu Nov 23, 2006 11:46 pm

no mods work on the demo version of rFactor

Woodee · Post by **Woodee** » Fri Nov 24, 2006 3:05 am

Davo wrote:I feel disconnected from the car in rf and feel more like im on a rollercoaster ride. I've only tried the demo and not really played it much because I can't get into it. Is there a way to try the v8s on the demo? If the V8s impressed me I'd probably buy it, but atm it hasn't grabbed me.

your force feedback may need a good tweaking?

Hazelb · Post by **Hazelb** » Fri Nov 24, 2006 6:50 am

ISI are simply awesome...

The level of support and constant upgrading of the original product is just fantastic...

All this improvement for no extra cash...and even if they asked...Id pay...

LoudHoward · Post by **LoudHoward** » Fri Nov 24, 2006 11:15 am

I find rFactor looks more like it does on TV for me, LFS may be more accurate but I don't know, I've never driven a high powered race car...

Blowtus · Post by **Blowtus** » Fri Nov 24, 2006 12:37 pm

I agree rfactor looks more like it does on TV. I have a lot of trouble believing v8 supercars *feel* that disconnected from the road though, so the illusion is instantly shattered for me.
LFS feels more like it does in real life, with street cars, to me. LFS still doesn't quite have the 'bite' of the tyres you seem to get in reality, though that may just be lack of physical sensations. Funky will be able to tell us when he builds his motion system in a few years time hehe.

funkdancer · Post by **funkdancer** » Fri Nov 24, 2006 1:36 pm

Sssssshhhhh..... Don't let the wife know!

I get tonnes more feeling from LFS at the moment, but next time I sit down with rF I'll try & get the settings worked out properly. In particular the delay in trackir head panning is driving me nuts - lfs is just superb in this respect.

Still, after I reformatted my box with a separate gaming partition, LFS in particular is shining in the smoothness and "feeling connected to the road" department.

On the other side, I can't quite escape the awesomeness of the v8 sounds and lush graphics. And the gearbox/stick shifting quality, plus things like having real race starts with automatic penalties (including corner cutting ones). The LFS devs could certainly borrow some of those aspects. As for the racing, hopefully I'll be a bit better seated to comment on that in a race or two.

As it is not quite like we're married to one or the other, though, the solution seems perfect: Driving both! I'd even like to throw GTR2 into the mix for a mÃƒÂ©nage ÃƒÂ trois, but that's a different discussions altogether.

Sterling · Post by **Sterling** » Fri Nov 24, 2006 2:16 pm

I had the same problem when I first started driving rF but the disconnected-ness(such a word?) I found became less and less as drove LFS less and less, obviously I still needed to tweak my FFB settings but because I raced LFS day in day out I was so used to how LFS 'felt' that rF just felt completely alien when in fact it is just different, rF is much more subtle than LFS with its feedback of oversteer/understeer.

VIPEROSI · Post by **VIPEROSI** » Fri Nov 24, 2006 4:09 pm

I dont get how they feel disconnected? i guess because lfs has such extreme feedback that a game which doesnt portray that quiet as strongly may take a while to get used to.

650HP with very low downforce and low levels of tyre grip with no electronic aids makes for a pretty slippery drive. This is reflected pretty well in rfactor, theres plenty of wheelspin if u dont drive sensibly, but the oversteer and the understeer in the game is very controllable and predictable.

I can see how some people think LFS has greater feeling, and its probably true but i just think the actual handling of the cars in rfactor is closer to real life. It might not portray the feeling of the car to user quiet as well but it does it more accurately.

LFS has cheap sound, acceptable graphics and a vry good physics engine in comparison to most games.

Rfactor has real tracks, real cars, fantastic sound, good to great graphics and also a great physics engine.

Both have great multiplayer modes, i havnt had any issues with rfactor online.

I wont stop playing LFS but at the moment its pretty damn boring compared to the possibilities and flexibility of rfactor.

The supercars, look good, sound great, and are hell of alot of fun to drive on the limit. Get rfactor, even just for novelty value its worth it.

The only direct comparison you can make between rfactor and lfs is the f1 car.

BMW Sauber gave both companies the telemetry and data etc to make the car. Driving the f1 car in lfs is a hell of alot of fun but it sounds horrible and that has alot to do with how immersive a game feels.

I took the f1 car out at barcelona in rfactor and i was absolutely blown away, It sounded incredible, i could have sworn i was watching a f1 telecast. Switching to replay mode and i could have listened to the replay over and over again. And the sense of speed in ractor is portrayed so much better, and as a result i found it a huge challenge to drive.

The ability for LFS to immerse you in the moment is very minimal, the sounds at best sound like something sega or atari were making a decade ago. Rfactor simpy craps all over lfs in that department as do the GTR and GTR games.

Yeah the demo feels very poxy doso! trust me the full game with its real tracks and cars is a hell of alot better.

Both are good games and ill continue to play both, but Rfactor just seems a bit more profesional, and immersion factor is very important in a simulation.