PsEG

The inability for offline play bothers me the most, even though it's unlikely to affect me, and to a lesser extent, I have concerns over losing the ability to play these games at the console's end-of-life point. I can trust Valve enough when they say they'll find a way to let me keep any games I've purchased from them should Steam die, but I'm not certain I'll be comfortable with any reassurance Microsoft provides.

There's still a chance I buy the Xbox One, since its TV stuff intrigues me on a tech geek level and Forza Motorsport 5. That's why I'm hoping there's a Forza demo at PAX Prime in August, so I can see if the new edition and what it offers is intriguing enough. If not, or if there's enough missteps, I might end up going PC-only.

@laivasse: I think it depends on what sort of pad you use, and your comfort with its nuances. The 360 controller is fine for gas/brake on the triggers, but it needs somewhat of a large dead zone in the center; otherwise, you're going to have centering issues. I didn't mess with any dead zone settings, and that was part of my issue.

The other issue is dealing with full range of steering on a stick, and no assistance in potentially steering past the useful limits, which will scrub off a little speed and can unbalance the car in some situations. Furthermore, that means the useful input you'll have to work with will be minuscule by comparison to Forza with its "normal" steering assist or a similar game.

I'm not sure what racing games you play with a pad, but it's certainly possible in iRacing, just difficult. You might not be as fast, and I feel very safe in saying you won't be able to be as consistent. You will, however, be able to counter-steer inhumanly fast.

Both of these are great ideas. Quality VR support for a racing game would be pretty amazing.

As for the guide, it's something I want to do at some point, but I want to improve my skills to a point where I'd at least have some authority in spouting knowledge about racing technique. There are a few training options I haven't dealt with yet, including school layouts for certain circuits, so those might be covered in future blogs, as well.

Cla-CLACK, cla-CLACK, cla-CLACKcla-CLACK cla-CLACK. ...cla-CLACK.

@chavtheworld said:

iRacing's the spiritual successor to the Papyrus racing sims (NASCAR Racing/Indycar Racing/Grand Prix Legends), many of which I greatly enjoyed back in the day. I don't know how true it is now, but iRacing used to run off a modified NASCAR Racing 2003 engine in its infancy, and that game alone was amazingly fun and realistic. Beyond that, the developers have a reputation for working really hard with drivers and engineers from the various series to make sure they pin down as much of the nuance for each car and track, and it pays off in the end product, even if iRacing isn't the most visually pleasing game. I'm not really into name-dropping, but their testimonial page has real-life drivers vouching for the product, and many of the drivers listed have been known to show up in the online leagues from time to time.

Outside of quality reasons, it's the most punishing game and community out of any modern racing game, making it very hard to just jump in and succeed. It's a game where elitism tends to gravitate and settle towards, and that's a challenge I've entertained taking on in the past. Now that I can afford the financial burden required for iRacing, I can finally see just how punishing it is for myself.

I know of Project CARS, but I have absolutely no interest in spending any money on it, since it's the same developers that were behind SHIFT 2: Unleashed. While Shift 2 was a beautiful game, its car physics and netcode were nothing short of atrocious, as far as I'm concerned.

While we generally don't have problems with people giving away codes, something like the 1000 comments part would be an issue. Encouraging people to make excessive posts that don't add to a meaningful conversation, much like forum games, are discouraged on the site.

Selecting people within the first 100 (if it reaches that point) or something similar works. It adds a cut-off point, but doesn't encourage spamming to reach a milestone.

Any further requests or inquiries to join GB's STO crew should go in this newer thread. Thanks!

Good luck with your game, but please don't advertise on Giant Bomb. Thanks!

So you're openly admitting to trolling? All right, then.

While there's probably worthwhile discussions about community demeanor in MOBAs to be had, given the way this thread's initial post and subsequent downward spiral, I highly doubt we'll get such conversation here.

For any decent conversation this thread may have had earlier, it's spiraling into a cesspool of transphobic intolerance right now. We don't need that sort of garbage taking place on Giant Bomb.

Since I don't see the conversation improving any, I'm going to lock this.