I didn't read the article, but I know we have some racing sim fans here:
http://www.xconomy.com/boston/2008/0...he-green-flag/
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I didn't read the article, but I know we have some racing sim fans here:
http://www.xconomy.com/boston/2008/0...he-green-flag/
Yep - I was under the NDA Closed Beta and am also the Mid-Atlantic Club Liaison to iRacing. Racers are divided up into geographic 'clubs' based on geography, etc. and I'm their main contact to iRacing and the competition board. I actually represent Dale Earnhardt, Jr... but I have a feeling he has no problem getting his opinions known to John Henry and the gang at iRacing. ;) My biggest complaint has been lack of time to race! I've only got one practice session, a time trial, and a single race in this week.
But this is NOT for the casual sim racer or gamer. It's really being built as a full simulation tool for those who love driving/racing. It doesn't have many of the bells and whistles of even titles like NASCAR Racing 2003. The sim is an ongoing production with many features and items being added ongoing. As they consider it, it's a 'living' simulation which will never be finished. They have talked about adding dirt sprint cars, motorcycles, go-karts, and even motorcycles to the mix. It's also not "cheap". It's $156.00 a year for the 'base' if you pay annually, but additional cars and tracks cost extra. Alot of people hate this model, but I think it works for this case and allows those who don't like ovals or don't like road courses to tailor their content purchases to what they like/want. Luckily I got everything up to the release point for free as a BETA tester reward, but I did have to pay for my annual subscription and used my "iracing dollars" for the new content released since then.
What it does have is rock solid network code, fantastic physics, laser scanned tracks and vehicles that are completely authentic, and a community that includes actual professional racers such as the forementioned Jr, (Who is up until the early hours of the morning racing with the Europeans and Australians I think), Martin Truex Jr., Justin Wilson (Indy Cars), and several others from the Skip Barber series, Grand-Am series, etc. Rumor has it some teams are using customized versions of iRacing for their in house testing simulators.
John Henry is a hell of a nice guy and although he doesn't post as much as he did when it was a closed BETA, he still posts now and then in the forums to 'clear the air' when you get the inevitable complainers thread that won't die. But the community does a pretty good job of policing itself anyways. There has already been one 'banned for life'. LOL
If anyone is truly interested, let me know. I do believe there is a free 30 day coupon code in Grassroots Motorsports and Classic Motorsports magazine this month - but I'm not 100% sure yet. Additionally - iRacing scales very well as long as you have somewhat modern hardware.
Sounds really cool. Goes way over my head, but in terms of price, $156 for the year is cheaper than the MMOs a lot of us are playing right now. I don't even change my own oil, but sounds like a great time for gearheads and race fans.
This is why iRacing fricken rocks. Laser scanned vehicles and tracks. Awesome simulation - there is no other comparison to it.
More info here.