A new rabbit hole: sim racing

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and related cancellation of F1 season, sim racing has been receiving a lot of attention, and after a while I gave in and bought a wheel for my PC. In this post I summarise my initial impressions from Raceroom.

Hardware

Dealing with hardware is unavoidable here - while in a real car the driver gets plenty of physical feedback from, well, being in the car, in sim car all sensations have to be conveyed either through the screen or through the wheel. For that reason, wheels provide so called Force Feedback: the wheel can rotate itself (or resist rotation) with a force that varies depending on the state of the simulated car. Naturally, some games (although realistically simcades rather than full blown sims) can be played with a gamepad and purely by visual cues, but having an almost regularly sized wheel makes a world of difference for car control (and also for immersion).

I bought the Thrustmaster T150, which was by far the cheapest force feedback option on the market. This is the review that convinced me, and this video provides an overview of racing wheel types and models. Although all videos I watched put Logitech G29 as the king of budget options, the T150 seems to trail mainly in the pedals department - and not having any other experience, I am fully satisfied with what I got (especially given the price difference).

The only minor gripe I have is with the desk clamp. I haven’t found it clearly stated in any reviews, but it requires the desk’s lip to be about 7 cm long (deep?). Given that I sit at an Ikea Kullaberg, I have only 5 cm to work with, and I can’t slide the wheel fully in - luckily putting a folded piece of paper under the wheel to keep the upper part level (while front rubber feet are in the air) is enough to get a stable mount.

Software

Following the advice from Chris Haye’s What’s The Best Racing Sim For Beginners video, I chose Raceroom and the impressions have been overwhelmingly positive. The game is free to play with a rather limited number of cars and tracks included (I’d go as far as saying it feels like a demo), but most of content is available through microtransactions. Such a model can be a bit of an issue, as costs may sometimes build up, but I think in this case it is fair (especially given that paid DLCs seem to be popular in sim racing games). For 25 euro I was able to get enough to keep me entertained for, I imagine, quite a while: a “starter pack” (10 cars, 5 tracks), plus two Volvos, Seat Cupra and the fabulous Spa-Francorchamps track.

Judging by the patchnotes (example from here), the game is actively developed, and the developers are taking things really seriously:

All cars - Modifications to upshifts and downshifts engine revs. Gearshifts are now more brutal™. Older cars from 70’s / 80’s / 90’s also received specific upshift backfires.

Wetware (impressions)

The feel

This is probably the most important part: the game can get really immersive. The first two afternoons were filled with a rather frustrating struggle to keep the car on asphalt, but on day three things clicked and I found myself dialing in lap after lap, mouth half-open, fully focused. The ‘one more lap’ syndrome is serious. Of course, each car or track is a completely new learning experience, but progress feels good.

The Force Feedback really gets the job done. The steering gets heavy (more than I imagined) under normal loads, lightens up when the car starts slipping, and twitches convincingly over kerbs and bumps (or after some gearshifts), forming a very convincing impression. I won’t pretend that I can catch a slide when things go awry, but the weight transfer and car behaviour are communicated very clearly. The paddles for sequential gearbox feel great - they are made of metal and give a very reasurring click (they can be used to control any car, also those that technically have a manual gearbox).

Perhaps the first thing I learned was that the game really does not like going fast into the corners. It’s perfectly logical - that’s just like in real life - but given that most arcade games have you going hard and fast (years ago I spent many hours in Need for Speed: Porsche, of which I have very fond memories) it takes a while to get used to. Overall, the physics seem reasonable, and a lot boils down to managing weight transfer and being progressive (as opposed to on/off) with the inputs. Different cars do have a very distinct feel.

Another aspect which deserves a highlight is the sound design. Raceroom boasts on their website that their “industry leading sound engine gives you the most realistic and breathtaking sound”, and indeed, the cars sound properly mechanical, with engine, gearbox and turbo each contributing their noises.

Getting started: cars & tracks

There is little in the way of tutorials (apart from an option to show an ideal racing line), and my first attempt (having picked the Canhard car and the Raceroom Raceway track, both fictional designs made for the game) was a struggle.

It would seem that the best car to learn (not just in my opinion), and the one which tremendously helped me understand the game mechanics, is Formula Raceroom Junior. A fictional single seater with rear wheel drive, no aerodynamics, no ABS or traction control, light and adequatly powered: the rear is more than ready to snap if you make a mistake, but things happen at a digestible pace. Great for figuring things out. Another good choice is NSU TTS (paid content) from late 60s, which favours smooth driving, but is slow enough to allow focusing on the track.

First, I used Stowe circuit to get used to the car and then went back to Raceroom Raceway for a completely transformed experience compared to my day 1. The track is fantastic as a demonstration of driving physics (much more readable in FRJ compared to Canhard), but also incredibly tricky. Take this sequence for an example. The right hander leading to the tunnel has a crest at the exit, which means that going on the throttle even a little too quickly ends up in a massive spin as the rear gets unloaded. The tunnel itself is a very long left hander, almost full throttle, but not quite, as bumpy surface unsettles the car a little. The exit has to be planned in advance, as there is another crest waiting to throw the car out of balance. Then an awkward breaking zone into a right hander, leading into an awesome sweeping section ending with a heavy breaking right out of a fast corner into a slow chicane. That I was able to type that out of memory is perhaps the best testament to how involving the game can be.