Return Online
Finding players for board games isn’t easy. Perhaps my location makes this task particularly hard or perhaps it’s simply a sign of the times. While I am still playing OCS and ASL among other games, I have decided to jump into a bit of online racing in the hopes of human competition. I avoided other online options like shooters as, although they are enjoyable, I’m really bad at them.
*Note – I know I could use VASSAL or any one of the myriad of other options to play board games over the internet but for me that takes a large part of the experience away from what I am looking for with board games.
What to race?
What I was looking for in particular was some good racing. I didn’t want the usual demolition derby at the first corner, then a quest for survival if you manage to remain unscathed on the first lap. That’s not to say that this type of crash-em-off racing isn’t a valid form of entertainment. It just simply wasn’t what I was looking for. I was craving something more real. Something that would at least attempt to ensure drivers tried to race cleanly. In essence. Real racing.
I get double whammied with high ping races that I can only enjoy if change my entire lifestyle
At first I jumped into GT Sport. It was an obvious choice as I had a PS4 going mostly unplayed and the game has sat gathering dust on my shelf for some time. While the racing is enjoyable and the competition is mostly clean (once you get your safety rating raised to a reasonable level) I was hindered in the most annoying way. As I hail from the UK I have a PS4 account from that region. However, I currently live in Asia. Polyphony Digital (the creators of GT Sport) have, in their wisdom, decided that I may only take part in competitions from my PS4’s region. Not only am I tied to the (I guess) European servers. I am also tied to beginning the main FIA events from that timezone. Midnight being the earliest I’ve found. Most starting about 1 am. Insane! I get double whammied with high ping races that I can only enjoy if change my entire lifestyle. I can play the daily races but I am really looking for something more. Leagues. Competition. Getting to know the drivers that keep popping up on my server and maybe one day joining a team.
Feeling a bit let down I fired up Wreckfest on my PC. I’d picked this up on a whim back in 2014 whilst feeling a bit nostalgic about Flatout 2. It’s the polar opposite of what I was looking for but I could vent some frustration with it (oh, and it is great fun!).
The Choices
A bit of further research led me down a Sim Racing path where the games that kept cropping up were
- Assetto Corsa Competizione
- iRacing (Full disclosure: This is a referral link that will credit me a bit should you decide to sign up for an extended period)
Project Cars 2- Race Room Racing Experience
- rFactor 2
I’ve scratched PC2 off because I still feel burned from the first one… Purchased for Playstation (then again accidentally on PC) I despised the shaky cam and the game never felt finished – complete with “coming soon” buttons on the main menu that stayed that way until I gave up on it… I “may” take another look once I’ve tried all other possibilities.
Step up iRacing
Online only racing with actual punishments including bans for bad/unsportsmanlike driving!
I tested (and enjoyed) Race Room and rFactor, and skipped ACC as I own the original and although reviews put it up there with the better sim racers one simple factor drove me to settle on iRacing. Online only racing with actual punishments including bans for bad/unsportsmanlike driving! The other racers don’t offer these “out of the box” and require third party mods or joining player made leagues. Something I will probably look into in the future but for now, dipping my toes into this ecosystem for the first time I wanted to keep it simple where possible.
keep some of the shunt-for-fun folks away
iRacing is a subscription based service which will put a lot of people off ($10 per month), plus can get expensive if you want to try a lot of the disciplines available in-game. Cars and tracks beyond the ones included in the subscription mostly cost $12 and $15 respectively. I actually like the subscription format as I hope this will keep some of the shunt-for-fun folks away (especially given that a perma-ban is possible for repeat offenders).
So Far So Good
My initial few months on iRacing have been great. Sure, there are still plenty of drivers trying to win the race on the first lap (particularly the first corner) but overall once those hurdles have been passed the racing has very solid and competitive. I’m hoping as I progress up the license classes this becomes even less apparent – although I’m told some series are definitely worse than others… GT3’s having some of the most aggressive drivers). When iRacing is at it’s best, it’s absolutely fantastic. Considerate, but tight, racing where no driver wants to crash out and fail to even register a finish. Each race feels like an event and even after two months and over a hundred starts I still get a bit nervous as we line up on the grid.
Just the Beginnings
At present I’m coming to the end of my first season. Each season is 12 weeks long so I only partially participated and am looking forward to beginning a full season in a few weeks time.
| Category | Starts | Wins | Top 5 | Poles | Avg Start |
Avg Finish |
Total Laps |
Avg Pts Per Race |
Top 5 % | Laps Led % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Road | 116 | 0 | 32 | 1 | 8 | 8 | 1530 | 32 | 27.59% | 0.98% |
I’ve got no wins under my belt yet but do have a couple of second places (I’m still trying to forget an 8 second lead I had at Imola in the Skip Barber before being punted by a back marker into a hair pin to effectively kill that winning opportunity – oh well).
I should also mention that about 6 of these 8 weeks I was using a Dual Shock 4 controller which really hampered my ability to compete. This is seemingly looked down upon by the “community” as you can’t be as precise which in turn can lead to accidents, although I would say it is possible to try the game out this way to see if it is your “cup of tea” rather than diving in and picking up the somewhat expensive kit (wheel and pedals at a minimum) straight off the bat.
Now I wait for the my second season (Season 4 of 2019) where I hope to steadily improve 😉
Cheers,
J