Grid just Grid but the new just Grid not Grid Autosport or Grid 2 just Grid the newer one. Grid

Why the heck did they call it Grid.
Grid Redux or Gridier or Grid 3 Clone of the Time Attack. Anything - as searching for Grid to watch pre-purchase videos is a mix of all the Grids that there is, it's so confusing.

What's also confusing is my recent Grid purchase. Having tried the demo on PS4 and driving less than half a lap of "drop in and drive" resulting in my general hate of the game I've ended up with it on PC. I do have a reason though!!

As is the way with wet Sunday afternoons, the desire to have new things, the funds to have old things and the patience of an old dog waiting on couch time, I found myself pondering what Grid Autosport (yes that one) would be like on a current-gen PC. I used to like Grid Autosport, as a learned friend said, it was great elbows out racing. Certainly not the physics fest of current sims, but enough predictability to make it a good racing game - and surprising career depth. I had unfinished business...

So a trip to Steam and I was about to pull the pin on my sub $8 purchase (high roller that I am) when I noticed for $17 I could have Autosport and new Grid. Why not... it looks gorgeous and one never knows. From cart to library was as easy as it ever is.

I'll start this review with why I hated it on PS4, as a demo...

The thing with new games is that they are there to excite you and draw you in within the first few minutes. This is often with an opening cut scene to get you in the mood, and it's no different with Grid - just with Grid you can't skip it and it's way too long. In this day and age where everything needs an ad break I felt they were trying too hard to show just all the things the game can do from 'interesting angles', like a kid who's just got the latest nintenbikeformer thing and is busy showing grandpa just how and what it is. Stop already, I get it. But I couldn't, and that actually soured me straight away. And it got worse, from the cut movie (not scene, movie) it went straight to race. And not just on the line but mid second lap, chase cam, every assist on, auto gearbox the lot. There's a lot going on anyway as it's quite pop-art in its approach, so that plus dropping me into a setup that was far from what I wanted made the start possibly the worst introduction to a game I've ever played, and that's including half-hour Skyrim loading times on a PS3.

I managed less than a lap of driving what I can only assume is a rear steer converted corvette with overly pimped imagery and sounds. It was not for me. Demo deleted.

And so I had low hopes for the PC version, after all the current approach is to have PC and Console games much the same, and it certainly is - navigation of the menus for example is with the G29 controls (mouse optional).

But to gaming... what was it like?

Yep, the same cut scene, but maybe the year or so since I saw it, or the fact I knew it would end has tempered my temper, so I dutifully sat through it (pressing every. single. key) and dropped into the race. And then I pressed escape. Two things... you can restart (yay) and you can also turn off most of the crap that makes it little more than hotwheels* on one of those orange track things that we all had (*I had matchbox, superior in every way, except to siku).
I turned down ABS to three, turned down to two the traction control and ummed and ahhed over the stability control but left it at one. I figured this game was designed with that lot turned on, so why not embrace it. I'm glad I did.
I still am not a fan of the "drop into the race" start to racing games or any games for that matter. I want to learn the controls, spend time checking out what's what before I start and generally wouldn't choose to launch without any time to figure out setup. Still, I persevered and it wasn't all bad. I won two of the insta-races and placed third in NASCAR as I punted P2 and couldn't get the draft back to catch up in the final lap. I had enjoyed it enough to carry on!

The things I like...
It actually drives OK. It's not a constant drift fest in the cars. I bought a Porsche GT2 thing, think GT3, and it went well. Very well in fact. It sounded amazing and I'm running "WQHD" (2560x1440) on ultra at a locked 60fps and it looks amazing, and stable at that FPS too.
Handling is certainly relaxed, and generally you can get away with all sorts. But it's not a sim, and really not even a simcade - which is the copout that most devs make when they fluff the handling and can't get it back in a patch. I'm not sure if there was a physics update for the game that made it to the PC but it's certainly tamer in the tail than I remember. Enjoyable in fact I am pleased to say.
Drifting is still there, but it's more an "oh sh*t" moment followed by some tail out action and feeling like a hero. This is what the game is about, making you feel like a driving genius.

So I did some custom races. You have to buy the car as although there are loan cars they're not the Porsche and you lose 10% of your winnings. Once you have the car though, a few races and you've paid for the cheaper cars at least. And so it was, Suzuka, Brands, Red Bull Ring and some city race and I'd covered the cost of my fancy Porsche. And they were easy races - I'm going to have to put the AI up to hard for sure, hopefully that'll give more credits too as I can see it being a grind to get the more expensive cars.

The things I don't like...
I'll skip past this not being a sim, it has no intention of being one, lovely as it looks it's just not that.
I don't like the career menu format. Certainly, it's all a bit better since the updates (three 'seasons' added) and without that it would have been a shell of a game. But I do like the PCars2 approach of pick a car and race and go, though apparently that's changing on PCars3 - much contention over that release though.
I don't like the never-ending "perfect corner" pop-ups, again they can be turned off, but really stop trying too hard to make this outrun, I know it's a perfect corner as I'm a perfect driver. Mostly.
I am in fact sitting here wondering what I don't like about the game, it is what it is and doesn't pretend to be anything else.
Ah yes... my pet hate... If you're going to implement H pattern support, let me use one or the other in-race, don't make me go to options to change it. Driveclub did this oh so well, and RFactor2 does it too if you have auto clutch (heresy!). I can use either paddles or H pattern to shift. In fact, Assetto Corsa took it to the next level with forced shifter use on specific cars, that's awesome, and surely not hard as you're supporting the device anyway. It wasn't too bad last night when racing apart from racing some old classics, which surely are H pattern. They felt awkward.

What about online?
I had a look, two servers in our antipodean area with under ten racers across both servers. Poor show.
Mind you, I can create a session and fill it with AI and invite a friend or two (so all of them) to race. Not sure how long the Grid servers will bother to stay up though, it's not been the most successful of games after all.

Overall...
Well worth the Steam sale price, even on its own (I've not installed Autosport yet!).
I've not bothered with the season add-ons. I had a look at the reveal videos and really the only one I like the look of is the hot hatch one (the first one), the other two are exotica road cars. The add-on tracks and other updates are all added in anyway so I'm going to wait and see, I have another fortnight of this game before the sale ends.
And I think that in a fortnight I'll be done with this game other than occasional nostalgia, for two reasons, 1. It doesn't have replay depth that I can see, just not enough post-career, and 2. I'm probably going to play it to death in the next few weeks as it's actually good fun.

And that's it - if you set your expectations low enough you'll always be pleasantly surprised!

Budget Sim Racing

If you're like me you're broke. Or at least have to avoid checking out fancy multi-thousand dollar 'sim rigs' cos why spend it on the sim when there's a car begging for a new set of pads.

So it's budget time, and I suppose in that space it's cheap shoes - the saying goes buy expensive shoes as they wear out less than cheap ones and ultimately will cost less in the long run (just noticed the pun!). The challenge is to be able to afford expensive shoes upfront. Barefoot it is then.

And so it is that I came to own three G29s in the space of around two years and vowed to never buy another one (one was a warranty swap in fairness). Simply put, anything that's electrical and has contact points is a cheap point of failure. For me, it was the buttons on the wheel and twice pedal pot woes - albeit once self-inflicted (very thin wires inside it turns out).

But this one has lasted - and this the journey I'd like to share, one of customisation on a budget that's ended up with an excellent experience to say the least, and super cheap. I'll go through this in a bit of instruction, a few links and generally share my journey, I hope it helps.

Firstly, the approach - for me enjoying driving is key, and that's about enjoying the sensory touchpoints - it has to sound good, feel good, smell good and probably taste good if that's possible. And the one that's highly subjective, has to look good, but not necessarily in an "I spent a fortune on this" way, no, more an "It's usable and enhances the experience" sort of way. Function over form if you will.

It started with the wheel stand, this one in fact:

It is terrible.
Name and shame, it's actually a Fanatec (yeah man, a Fanatec rig, heh), which goes to show you can swing your manufacturing genius too far to one end of the spectrum, and that's the far end from this to be clear.
The issue, and it's twofold - is firstly as you'll know from elementary maths, is that the hinge at the bottom is a long way away on a lever from the steering wheel - and the clamp thing at the bottom is never ever going to cope with long term abuse on a wheel up top, and it didn't. The second issue is that the pedals just don't sit on the stand, it's polished aluminum for sure (and looks nice) but you'll soon be collecting your pedal box from the carpet with this. There is a sneaky third issue - it's not very heavy, it's OK for standard pedals but if, like me, you awake (quite literally) as you crest the curb at the end of the Mulsanne straight you'll be heavy on the brakes from time to time. This moves the unit.

The solution...
First, Isambard Kingdom Brunel would be proud, build a triangle. So that's what I did.
I bought a length of threaded rod from the local hardware shop (always, always Bunnings) and then fashioned ways to attach it top and bottom. I was going to weld something, but in fact, using wingnuts means I can adjust it - albeit not needing too very often.

It looks something like this:

It doesn't interfere with feet at all, and in fact, became a very handy way to route the myriad of cables up from the floor, and in later pics, you'll see I mounted (cable tied) the power pack on the sled bit at the bottom too. It's still cable mayhem on the floor, but at least my cockpit is clean - always clean your cockpit gentlemen.
This solution is stiff enough that the wheel moves not at all, but has enough give that it'll be the bit that breaks if something does happen, if it's possible to roll a sim in real life I suppose...

Next was pedals - I'll not post the pics here, they're not exciting, but check your pedals for a threaded hole underneath, they'll likely have one. Then it's a matter of fashioning a length of metal to make the clamp. Be careful though - if you clamp down too tight the top casing bends in and cracks - I solved this (on the second set) by using the same material across the top too - so basically the metal does the clamping. You might see it in later pics.

Next, the upgrade of the pedals. If you've not done the GTEye thing for your pedals then I heartily recommend it - just be careful not to catch a (very thin) wire in the casing as that kills them I know...
These are they:

Thrilling.

The final upgrade on the pedals is probably the most important, behold:

This simple (post-race) addition stops the accumulated fluff of household pets from dropping in and carefully wrapping itself around the exposed potentiometers of the pedals. The lesson learned, every so often I spray contact cleaner in there and also a can of air to buff the fluff out basically. Bad design by Logitech frankly.

So to the gears.
There's not really too much wrong with the Logitech gearbox, it's a bit limp but as a H pattern it works OK. But I wanted better feeling in the gears.

So I bought this kit from 3DRap:

Yes, initially it was Strong V2, but it's calmed down now I think. Mostly it's a satisfying snick into gear. First has become a bit softer. It's a non-intrusive change though, so I can replace or remove easily enough. What does it look like on the wheel? Well, err, that is to say I didn't stop there.
No, being the closet Ferrari fan I also bought the gated shifter add-on as well as a metal top plate... and then I bought (more recently) a metal shifter. Originally for my car as a replacement, I didn't like it there. But it works very well indeed on my 'rig'. I can't stress enough the good feeling of a metal knob to fettle through the gears.

It is a thing of beauty to use I must say. Fun times.
And did I stop there? Nope.

I was looking at button boxes, but blimey they're pricy, and they're limited in what they can do - it's a one-trick pony basically. But I happened to be clearing out the tat cupboard (one of them at least, and by cupboard think room) and came across an old tablet. I'd been playing with the idea of a raspberry pi and making that into a touch screen device, but that really is hard and I think the hobby is in the making it, not the using it which is what I wanted.
Enter Stryder. Stryder-IT is some chap who's made an entire touch screen ecosystem for sim racing. It's amazing frankly.
So from a button box, I've gone to full sim dash on the side, with shift lights and lap times the lot. You need to go have a look for yourself - it works on android phones (the best ones) and allows multiple screens per game.

I've done a few of my own in fact:

Assetto Corsa - all the basics

Project Cars 2 - Handy addition to wheel

Rfactor2 - Pit In controls plus essentials

These are awesome, as are some of the amazing designs done by others, all free with the very reasonably priced pro version (<$20).

The tablet itself is so out of date it won't update the O/S anymore and is crazy slow for all but this. I think it's well over five years old. I've left it plugged into the PC to make sure it's charged all the time, and in fact may remove the battery too as don't want battery failure - this thing is more dear to me than any other device I've owned given its current service!

And the installation is like this:

The TV does look a mile away, but it's 65" and not so bad. All a matter of perspective!

And there it all is. But remember I said the stand was too light - yeah, fixed that for sure with all this bolt-on stuff. I rarely notice any carpet creep in the night, even with the stiffer pedals.

Total cost?

One should never price a hobby, so here's the list of bits;

• Wheel - G29. Prices vary frankly - don't buy second hand, they fail gradually and you'll buy scrap.
• GTEye upgrade - I did all three springs. Plus an afternoon carefully fitting them (the second time).
• Fanatec stand - get something else, or get this and build the triangle. Useless without.
• 3DRap shifter upgrade - I thought it was worth it. Necessary if you're putting a metal shift knob on (weighted throw), which is essential now I've done it.
• Metal knob - Get onto eBay. Consider how you're going to fasten it to the shift lever, Logitech's isn't standard, so pull it apart and have a look.
• Sim Dash - get onto eBay, buy the cheapest decent-sized android WiFi tablet you can buy, and install the Stryder-IT dash, even for PS4 it'll work (Assetto and PCars, not GT Shart).

Do I like my solution? Not sure. I like that I've done it, but offer me a proper rig with seat and I'll change in a heartbeat. I'd still have the dash, but could forgo the shifter - actually I'd buy a proper metal shifter and avoid using it on the PS4 I think. In fact, I may even still do that - I feel the shifter won't age well.

And I was thinking of getting a fancy G29 aftermarket wheel, something like this from https://mvhstudios.co.uk/ in fact:

I am in fact still tempted, but then I like driving old cars and this very much is not a quick release solution. I think an upgrade to Thrustmaster, or save many pennies and Fanatec is the way forward. We'll see!

Links to the places I went to buy stuff:

• https://www.3drap.it/
• https://www.stryder-it.de/simdashboard/
• https://www.gamesmen.com.au/rennsport-wheel-stand-by-fanatec
• https://www.ebay.com.au/usr/epman_au (knobs)
• https://www.gteye.com.au/
• https://www.bunnings.com.au/ (never-ending need to get something DIY)

Nice Ass.etto!

I decided to see if I could record what all this PC master race stuff is all about. After all, for years, I've been a PS player with PS2, 3 & 4 being cornerstones of my late-night gaming.

But I won't be buying a PS5 I think. And the reason is that with games like Rfactor2 and Assetto Corsa the amount of content available to keep the games fresh is going to far surpass the need to buy another console. And that's before mentioning AC Competizione or "I'll eat all your resources" as it's better known.

But of late I've been courting Assetto the hot lap simulator. In fairness the AI is robust, it's just that I like driving, and this game is great for that.

So behold, a quick lap in a car that is amazing and a track that I'd never heard of before an episode of Chris Harris Drives.

The track is known as Charade: https://www.racingcircuits.info/europe/france/charade.html
The car is a singer (3.8), I'll confess to using the content manager app to rectify the sounds, it had way too much bass rumble. Now sorted.

Anyway, enjoy:

Very nice indeed, not least as I'm trialing a new knob. As it were. I'll post up some shots and a write up of "how to make your sim environment rock for next to nothing" soon. Certainly, I've got more than a basic G29.

And all of this is why I'm sticking with a PC. And even Project Cars 2, which I lived on with the PS4 is now on the PC, and I think that PCars3 will be on here too - once it's on sale...