Yah boo!

Textual update time...

So last night I fired up my samsung tablet with trembling fingers, the excitement was real.

Nope.

A few short minutes later, the fingers were trembling with rage...

• Too small screen.
• Wrong version of tablet.
• Not available in your region.

Bummer. This is not good.

But I have been working on a solution that might, just might, cut it.

See, I've installed a virtual android device on my laptop - which isn't some weird sexbot, no, it's a funky bit of software from AMIDuOS. What's more installing this has given me the latest Android OS, a nice interface (mouse/keyboard) and the ability to install my beloved GT6 Track Path Road Hill Editor Maker thing.

Better yet...

Somewhere in all the hype, you can upload a GPX file (GPS logging data). Great as that might sound it's not going to be much fun creating that. Wrong... 

Check out JustGoRide which is a free site that generates GPX files from your happy clicking around on Google Maps. I have now mapped Lakeside raceway, and later tonight will be looking at how I can get that into my laptop/droid and then across to the PS3.

If this works I'm away, I'll have the ability to map my local shopping run, or even my commute to work (hah, like I can drive that faster). Great stuff.

I think though, my lofty expectations are a precursor to a reasonably lengthy fall...

I'll keep you posted!

p.s. anyone know how to do pinch zoom with a mouse?

Hype Train - Next stop Course Maker

It's here. It's really here.




Course Maker.

Or rather Track Path Editor.

All you need is a tablet PC, a racing pedigree and to be overly hipster trendy and you're in.

To be frank, I think it looks pretty clumsy to have implemented this on a tablet device, a PC version would have been much better, but meh, I am technology so I'm in!

First order of my day is to recreate this:

I must confess to some trepidation around doing this, and I wonder about the options on elevation, but if I can eclipse that issue then this may well become my done deal as a racing game.

I'll see what I can knock up before our Thursday night race.

Marvelous!

Buyers remorse?

I ummed and ahhed over this post title. Mostly as it's not buyers remorse, but I think many folks will tell that I have got it.

Why? Because I went out and bought a G29 steering wheel for my PS3. There I've said it. I've not bought a T300RS (Terminator be proud) or a second hand sweaty G27 and I've not bought a squash ball for my DFGT Pro either.

Am I made of money? Not any more I'm not. But if you start reading up on the G29 I'd say 90% of the postings are why you shouldn't buy one because it's a G27.
Whatever. I don't own a G27, the G27 doesn't work on the PS4 (a future purchase) and the DFGT Pro I bought was an ebay special some five years ago. So was this purchase worth it? I'd say yes. Should I have bought a T300RS? I don't think so because you can't stretch helical gears... I need something that'll last as long as my current/last wheel has.

So, I'm just like the guy in the pub working hard to prove that buying a 'high end' Proton is a better deal than a base VW Polo - you know the components are made from the same elemental mass don't you....

So what am I reviewing?

• G29 - no shifter addon (yet).
• My (t)rusty PS3
• Some games, notably:
• GT6
• Grid Autosport
• Shift 2 Unleashed
• F1 2013
• My couch and the wheel stand reviewed elsewhere in this blog I'm sure

First Impressions
I'll not talk about helical gears or hand stitched leather - you'll know all about that.
No, for me, the USB and power cables are too short to sit a reasonable distance from the PS3/TV, so I've now got a twin core cable and USB extender from the local Jaycar and I'm set (if I'm honest I stretched everything last night and made it work anyway).

The pedals are big. much bigger than the DFGT set, not least as there's a clutch now. There's also no gear noise and no resistance when the wheel is turned off.

Fitting it to my wheel stand was pretty easy. Easier than the DFGT in fact as this had a couple of metal screw mounting holes that lined up with my stand - G27 like I guess.

So to the games...

GT6
First game for me to have a go with, and to be honest I was a bit "meh". Certainly the feedback isn't all that, but the thing I noticed most was the return to centre wasn't accompanied by a scream of gears, the reaction time was very nice indeed.
For reference I race with "power steering" turned on - it makes the flicks easier when racing, and I think that probably exacerbates the slightly light feeling. But then I think that's a common complain these days with Gt6 also.

Of the pedals? Much of a muchness with the accelerator. Interestingly the clutch doesn't work as the wheel is detected as a DFGT Pro. I'll say that again, ingame the wheel is detected as a DFGT Pro. So the leap from the real to this wheel isn't so big.

And the brake pedal. Well, it's much firmer and no mistake. A very nice feel compared to the sponge of the DFGT. But I noticed I wasn't getting 100% on the brakes, you've got to mash it down and no mistake to get that, all good and possibly more real, but after five years of gentle brake caressing this new mistress is going to need to require some serious slapping.


Grid Autosport
Ohmergerd!
This has revolutionised this game and no mistake. The DFGT limited lock to lock to 180.deg, and whilst it was OK, it was very unnatural having the steering wheel lock up so quickly. But this isn't the case with the G29. What's more with the better pedals, the clicky gears and general step up it's really opened up this game. I very nearly didn't get to try the other games actually, the racing with this wheel in this game is so good.
Interestingly, I went back to GT6 after this and reckon it wasn't so bad either - so maybe I was getting used to the wheel by then. To be honest though - I'll be spending a lot more time in Grid as a result of this purchase.


Shift 2 Unleashed
Time to return to the bar and talk about my Proton... I like Shift Unleashed but it's an acquired taste the same way that even if you are partial to a bit of cheese you'll still think that goat's cheese tastes like chalk. You need to push past the bite and savour the flavour for what it is.

So Shift. Even with the DFGT the handling was a bit out there. Understeer city would be a good phrase, but if you're careful, and learn the cars you can get a reasonably good race out of it. Read the review below if you want more - basically the club racers are it, any more and the handling is out.
So it's a tough call for the G29 to make this better. And I think it hasn't. It hasn't made it worse either though.

What it has done though has stuffed up my braking. I think I need to reset something in the options. The reason, remember that progressive brake pedal, well, getting 100% is a stretch in this game, I've spent a few corners overshooting which is no fun. In fact I need to get back to this game, I really did look for excuses to move on.

F1 2013
Following Shift I wasn't holding my breath. I've struggled a bit with F1 2013, mostly I suspect that I'm not an F1 driver coupled to the attention span of a mosquito - less actually.

And my first hot lap wasn't great, hmm, have I got something for a future console more than the current crop? But then I had a look at the settings for the steering wheel.
Joy, turning everything to zero - deadzone, saturation (what is saturation anyway) and turning linear steering to 100% and all good. Actually, more than good I actually really enjoyed the F1 racing and I must say it felt more immersive. Great stuff.



So there we have it, my cheap games on an old console on a second hand couch with a steering wheel that's probably worth more than the entire system put together.

The good things:

• Major step forwards from the DFGT Pro
• Lovely lovely wheel
• Nice pedals and pedal feel
• Quiet (compared to the DFGT)

The bad things:

• Not really price sensitive if I'm honest.
• Cables are too short
• Most games are going to see this as a DFGT Pro wheel, so no clutch.
• No shifter - I liked my sequential box!

Am I glad I bought it after all that? Yes. I race a lot, and this will last me into another console too which is very good indeed (it better had). But, the day after I bought the G29 Thrustmaster announced the T150, which if I'm honest might be the better casual racer wheel.
I don't regret my purchase though, even if it is the top of the range Proton.

Committed

He probably should be...

For the record, here are the records;

Outright Lap Record
2:03.8245
Set by Chris Anthony in a Kumho shod Dallara Mrecedes Benx F3- 19th April 2014 (Bathurst Motor Festival)

Lap Record (Touring Cars)
2:08:4651 
Set by Jamie Whincup in a Ford BF Falcon V8 Supercar - 7th October 2007 (Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000)

Lap Record (Racing Cars)
2:04.6187
Set by Chris Gilmour in a Dallara F307-Mercedes Benz - 8th April 2012 (Bathurst Motor Festival)

Lap Record (Sports Cars)
2:03.8506
Set by Shane Van Gisbergen in a McLaren MP4-12C GT3 - 9th February 2014 (Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour)

So not so far off the V8 Super Car lap record. Blimey.

Shift 2 Unleashed

So you might think that I’m writing this review about three years too late, and in some ways you’re very right. But if you’re like me scratching out every last inch of use from your PS3 before upgrading to a PS4 & Project Cars (which lets face it is shaping up to be a very good game indeed) then you’ll be perusing the PSN shop on a regular basis. And you’ll have found out that that this game is for sale for less than a beer in Melbourne, actually many things are for sale less than a beer in Melbourne, but you get my drift.

So what to get? From a DLC point of view there’s two must haves – the Legends pack (M1, old skyline, Alpha Sprint, etc) and the unlock all cars (all $0) and races option. This way you get a plethora of cars and a myriad of race scenarios to go play with. Not too much grind going on which is good.

So to review the essential stuff…

Cars

The cars are excellent in the main. Lots of variety, and only one sort of MX5 which is nice. They’re well modelled and all have interiors. What’s more, just about all of them have visual upgrades, some are minor in comparison to others – my current fave is the Camaro SS upgrade, it takes an already nice looking car and puts it into some super touring spec or other, very bad ass. I’ll cover the handling in racing down below, but each car is fully tuneable depending on it’s level of tune, from shopper to GT3 spec in many cases. You’ll have seen a Bentley GT3 car in the press, well, with a tune you can have the same car in this game – great.

And of tuning, it’s possible just like GT6 (in fact worse than) to tune a car too far and make it largely undriveable. Better though is that removing the upgrades gives you the cash back, which is handy as it’s very easy to run out of cash fast.

I did find that the racers, and in fact any car with upgrades of note, needed to be tuned, without it they were terrible handling cars to be honest.

Tracks

So. Many. Tracks.

Yes, many many tracks. But if you get this game please do not ever attempt the Monaco rip-off. It’s so bad that it’s virtually undriveable. I think more because it’s clearly sort of the same track, but all the breaking distances are different. They’d have been better off making it either the same, or very very different. I dread a career race at this circuit.

And they have Bathurst, but Bathurst isn’t the same as the Bathurst that we know, well, it is, but the track widths are broader, making for a faster run across the top. A casual players version then.

In fact the story above is repeated for many tracks. Brands is different, but easy to learn the differences, and the others often have a subtle difference. Not the end of the world, but don’t get this because you want sim like accuracy in the tracks, unless all the others are wrong! (deep!).

Racing

And this is where the highs and lows really sit. The highs – I’ve had some of the best club level racing I’ve ever had in this game. The lows, I’ve experienced undriveable handling GT3 cars – to the point where I can’t drive fast down a straight road the handling is so bad.

The AI has been slammed by many too. And I think I’ve figured it out. Firstly, watch the replays, more often than not the accident is your fault, the AI isn’t that bad really. But it’s compounded by sticky collision detection. So, if you lean on a car on the outside when going into a corner, you’ll stick to that car and be taken out to the gravel trap. This is very frustrating to say the least. But I can see it happening now, so avoid contact at all costs.

But, if you pick a race and tune a car, the AI cars will be suitably tuned to race with you. This makes for the same race being completely different based on the car you choose, and what’s more really no point in pushing for the crazy performance rating. I think it’s stepped at 500, 1000, 1500, etc, but I could be wrong. Anyway, get a lower PP (it’s not PP but we know that) car, take the weight off, put an aero pack on, stickier tyres and a lightweight flywheel and you’ll be set for some great racing.

You’ll see from the replays below that I won my races with ease. This wasn’t the case a couple of weeks ago – not getting punted off is the key. If you can stay on there’ll be a place to pass. But get into the pack and it’s going to be very hard to get to the front. Not impossible though. Perhaps time to up my AI skill level a bit.

Replays

Camaro SS at some track or other!

Prizes for guessing the track. This race was just about impossible with my initial Camaro tune. I had it super lightweight but no aero. So then I added aero, it went over spec, so I added weight back on. And this car has become a great race car. Not sure how it compares to the other cars, but as you can see it out handled most of them.

This race is a career race that nets me $10k. Well worth it for such a fun and quick race.

Porsche GT3 at Brands GP

Oh yes, Porsche is in this game, actually early on a GT2 Porsche was my go to fast car. It handled so well. In fact I’d say all the Porsches handle well. It’s like they’ve made sure they race well.

Certainly in this race I did OK. The car isn’t tuned up at all, it’s just slack AI that gets me to the front. As you can see though I do have a reasonable race with another AI car. Great fun, but only worth $200 as it’s a quick race – way too low.

E30 M3 at Donnington

(Note, poor show - apparently copyrighted music - for a game replay!)

I grew up watching races like this. Such a good car and such a good track. For the $8 I spent on this game, this race (or rather a slightly harder one!) is well worth the investment. I did tune the car, and perhaps I need to take the tune back a notch – or better still, with a $0 car cost I can just buy another one. Nice.

Summary

So should you get this game? If you want GT6 again, no. If you're mad about racing and like tuning at a 'club racer level' and are prepared to learn the slightly left of normal handling and general quirkiness of the game, certainly - it's a cheap game after all.

And some things I didn't write above... Great sounds, in-helmet view, no pits, 180.deg lock steering and a host of other different things make this a love/hate game. But it gets my attention at the moment over GT6, Grid Autosport, Ferrari Racing Legends and F1 2013 - all very much in the bargain bin, if not quite in the bin outright...

Replay Matinee

Seems we might struggle to get online this week with scheduled outages hitting the lobbies.
I for one vote for it being course maker finally. oh yes!

In the meantime, here's a stack of replays, most awesome,

Just me running a car I like around a very long track indeed.

GT590 at the legendary Spa.

Iconic car at an iconic track.

GT590 @ Rome - These cars love street racing.

Skyline racing at Suzuka - great fun, mad cars.

I raced in a ROOZ race recently, great racing and a great crowd to race with.

My other passion, can't beat a bit of rally.

...just adjust the mirror

There's some rock steady race nerves right there...

Replay Catchup

I've finally found time to get on and do some replays, there's a heap coming (5Gb in fact, ouch to my bandwidth) and the first two are below, of course, links to my YouTube channel on the right hand side to get the list.
Enjoy...

Muscle cars at Laguna Seca.

GT590 Race cars at Midfield Raceway

Hoonigan

Not really into the Gymkhana extremes form Ken, but the car, and this decomposition of it in this show, a worthy watch:

and this is what it does...

Awesome.

Long track racing

As we see a few more racers back racing on Thursday nights I'm putting a bit more time into the blog posting thing. Replays will follow, promise, but I'm queued up behind two children occupying Minecraft and more often than not "Deadly 60" which I should point out is not a macabre version of Joe 90.

Anyway, to business, this week we'll explore some of the longer tracks and faster cars of GT6, so we'll race 590GT and 650Open if we all have cars in that class.
The regs are in the charter, and on the right hand side banner, but if you're reading this on a mobile:

GT590:

• Any race car
• Race Medium Tyres
• 590pp

650Open:

• Any race car (not 4WD)
• Open Tyres
• TC allowed

For both classes the following exclusions apply:

• No X cars
• No open wheel cars

Whilst I'd like to say no GT vision cars, or only allow 'real' cars I think the cost of 650pp cars may mean that we see some of the free weird cars racing. If they're too fast I'll introduce the ban.

Here's some pics of times past...

Old school cool

GT5 had these as "guest cars". Awesome fun

Pricey perfection

Could this get more Japan

Kudos Racing - he won a few in this you know

Arty nonsense

The fast...

... and the furious

Such a good car, honestly, I have one for sale...

Pops proving it's not about the car

Time for a break