Changes to UKGTL beginning January 2023

[Wiltshire Tony]

Currently on my PC I have installed

RRE
AC
ACC
Automobilista 2
rFactor2
Project Cars 2 (some historical content in there to be fair, but I feel the quality is patchy on some of the cars in the physics)
Dirt Rally
Dirt Rally 2.0
Wreckfest (kudos for hilarity)

I have RRE but find it too hard to be competitive, which usually ends in me overdriving and spinning off the track

I also have AC but not currently installed.

PC2 is awesome IMO. For me the career mode alone is worth every penny. The racing is hard but fair and the weather effects are the best ever like when you hit a large puddle and it effects the steering.

Wreckfest is played here every day. The daily tournament races are a blast.

We did run P&G (Matt was admin I believe) but attendances dwindled so it was cancelled.

I'm currently trying the competitions in GTR2 which are quite hard to progress but good fun (and I didn't think I liked "modern" cars  )

[EvilClive]

Some interesting views expressed here about the various options to get our weekly "fix" of simracing.

(TBH it took me a while to work out what this new sim ACC was, never heard of that one and had to do some digging to discover Assetto Corsa Competizione  lol.)

Took a look on Steam for ACC and see that I need basic ACC pack and then add-on the GT4 pack to join the Low Fuel crowd. Somewhere in the £50-£60 range if that is all that I need? Not too expensive as I already have the seat/rig etc., so basically would be ready to go.

RRE is an option and I have tried the Leaderboard challenge with the flying Tupperware car. Maybe I am like Daz, but the setup felt wrong and I was struggling to get any meaningful lap times  FFB felt good and I suppose the physics were accurate, but I have no idea if they are realistic. A little too clinical and technical IMHO.

Shameless plug follows    :-

Some of you might enjoy GPL and are more than welcome to join in the mayhem. We run two classes/servers for most races to try and get more evenly matched grids with PRO and AM level groupings. We have some green tentacled aliens but many drivers who have unadulterated DNA.

Currently I race GPL on Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays, with GTL sandwiched in on Mondays and Wednesdays, so maybe when Wednesday GTL is finished, I will see how I feel about picking up and learning another new sim. The big advantage is that GPL is totally FREE ( once you pay ~£5 for the game CD ). If you know someone with GPL already installed, then a copy on a memory stick can be installed on your PC for free.

The GPL servers are totally free and all add on content is free, provided by the GPL enthusiasts worldwide. Graphics/car details have been dramatically improved over the original Papyrus offering and are not bad given the age of the original game (1998!! ).

Besides the GP cars of 55, 65, 66, 67, 68 and 69 we also have the 67 F2 cars and the 1967 Lemans sports cars plus the 66 Can Ams and 71 Can Ams. So quite a good selection.   Installing all of the various upgrades and car mods can take a while, but once it is done you are good to go. A Track Database with over 300 circuits for download as required is also free.

The one thing that we don't have are the tin top saloons ( St Mary's Trophy) which is what I enjoy in GTL.

As Daz has said, there are a nice group of guys involved here at UKGTL and it would be a shame to lose touch and fade into the sunset. I trust that Mondays will be well supported and keep the flame alive 

[Geoffers]

I'm currently trying the competitions in GTR2 which are quite hard to progress but good fun (and I didn't think I liked "modern" cars   )

Exactly what I used to think Tony. Although I started with the old Codemasters Grand Prix games I never got seriously into sim racing until GTL came out, as that was the sort of era of racing that I was most interested in. I also had GTR2 but rarely played it as at that time I found the cars a bit boring to drive, they didn't slide around much. However as time has gone on I have come to realise that driving the modern stuff can be just as much fun as driving the classics & quite often produces better, closer racing as with the ABS & traction control the cars are easier to drive, if somewhat faster, & people make less mistakes so the field does not get so spread out. Having said that, in the last few days I have done 3 RRE races with the BMW 235i (which has ABS & TC) & have managed to crash out of all 3!  

On another note, there is a new sim due out next year called Rennsport, like RRE it is German. No idea how good or bad it will be, but if I get to try the beta, which I have signed up for, I will let you know. Also no real idea what content it will have, but on their Discord channel they had a poll for what types of car people like to drive in sims. Modern GTs came out top followed by Modern Prototypes (Le Mans type cars) & Modern Touring cars. However there were quite significant numbers that liked Historic stuff too so there is certainly a demand for Historic content in sims, & maybe a dedicated Historic sim is something some developer could be considering.

One thing which could be a hurdle in creating a new historic sim is the cost of licenses from the car manufacturers. I would hazard a guess that when GTL came out & sim racing was probably not as popular as it has now become, the cost of a license to include a particular manufacturer's car was relatively cheap. Now the manufacturers are most likely asking a lot more money to license the use of their cars in sims & to include the number of different manufacturers that GTL had is prohibitively expensive for a developer. So creating a full grid of say 60s Touring Cars may not really be possible.

[EvilClive]

Maybe we should approach Lord Richmond down at Goodwood and suggest that he initiate a new simracing game based on the Goodwood Revival and all of the cars that regularly appear?
A guy like that must surely have some contacts

From Tony and Geoffers' comments I assume that you are talking GTR2 OFFLINE?

[goldtop]

This turned into a lengthy one  

Thanks to Tony, GTL has been the best supported series here over the last 10 years and still seemed to be going strong last time I looked. Hopefully Mondays will still attract a decent grid to keep the regulars here  

I used to race and enjoy GTL (and GTR2/PnG) a lot but then strayed over to AC and RRE.

A few years ago RRE had a massive physics/ffb update which I never got to grips with. They changed it again a couple of years ago and although things were improved, I never had the same feeling about it again so currently don't even have it installed.... shame.

I tried reinstalling GTL recently and just could not get it to run, two days of head scratching until I finally gave up. Again, a shame because I would enjoy racing some of those cars here again. And no, unfortunately I can't face spending more time going bald trying to figure out why it's not working  

I tried GPL for a while, even partaking in a couple of races here but always felt like I was driving a shopping trolley and didn't have a clue what I was doing regards setup. Would have loved to have given that more time but it seemed like a deep rabbit hole and life was very busy back in those days.

I spent some time with rF2 and really enjoyed the ffb and immersion, even had the graphics to a state where they looked great. Again a game update blew the fun out of that one and as well as the official content becoming very expensive I also became aware of some annoying physics shortcomings, so off to the recycle bin it went!

I tried dipping into AMS but that would not run on my system at all so had a refund. Also tried the demo of AMS2 which I found a bit numb and looking further into the content decided not to take the plunge.

Which leaves me with AC. Ah AC   There are so many brilliant cars and tracks to drive that I am literally spoilt for choice. Whether it be 1920's death machines or modern day Hypercars, AC has everything that I could possibly want in a sim. Even racing the AI is a pleasure as long as you get to know their little foibles and even though I regularly get my ass handed to me, it always brings a silly grin to my face. It took me a long time to dial AC into a state where it looks great, performs great and feels incerdible. Mods like Content Manager and Custom Shaders Patch have totally transformed the game and the quality of some of the car and track mods out there are breathtaking.

I bought ACC a while ago and have spent some time with it but never had it feeling or looking anywhere near as good as AC (maybe my system  ). But add to that the fact that it is only GT3 and GT4 and is not moddable means it will likely stay in my recycle bin.

There is still a strong online community for AC but with so much variety on offer, big grids can be hard to find.... but they are out there. Tim does a wonderful job organising series here on Wednesdays.... I believe he has another one of his specials starting very soon so keep a look out for that and please come and give it a try.

Edit: if it is classic/vintage GTs and TCs that light your fire, check out Bazza's free mods. Note that they will probably not get used here because of our rules, but there are well known leagues that run them regularly with no issues and they do provide some great racing offline.

https://www.f1classic.net/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=36

https://www.f1classic.net/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=293

https://www.f1classic.net/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=35

and my personal favourite.....

https://www.f1classic.net/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=33

[Daz9]

@Goldtop

I have always thought that I should like AC more than I have ever actually managed to. I can't put my finger on it really, but every time I have put some time into it I've always come away unsatisfied somehow. Probably not got it setup properly somewhere. I'm sure some of the mods are fantastic, but some are not. That is the same in any moddable sim though of course. Valid comments on ACC re content and modding, but to me it is a quantum leap on in terms of the way it looks and sounds over AC. Then again, if that is down to system I can understand, been there myself in the past. My 'new' pc is now about a year old, but still quite strong with an i9 10900K, 3080, 32 gig of ram, SSDs only etc...I've not had to turn anything down yet...

@Clive

If you are looking to get some content, Instant Gaming can be useful to bring the cost down.

https://www.instant-gaming.com/en/3153-buy-assetto-corsa-competizione-pc-game-steam/

https://www.instant-gaming.com/en/7333-buy-assetto-corsa-competizione-intercontinental-gt-pack-pc-game-steam/

https://www.instant-gaming.com/en/7309-buy-assetto-corsa-competizione-gt4-pack-pc-game-steam/

https://www.instant-gaming.com/en/8199-buy-assetto-corsa-competizione-british-gt-pack-pc-game-steam/

https://www.instant-gaming.com/en/10662-buy-assetto-corsa-competizione-challengers-pack-pc-game-steam/

https://www.instant-gaming.com/en/8235-buy-assetto-corsa-competizione-2020-gt-world-challenge-pack-pc-game-steam/

https://www.instant-gaming.com/en/12430-buy-assetto-corsa-competizione-the-american-track-pack-pc-game-steam/

That would get you all of the content, for less than just the 3 bits you spoke of, including the latest pack with the american tracks.....

I've used this website for a couple of years now, and some of the discounts are really good. I know Steam does sales sometimes, but this has been cheaper for me.

For anyone that does not have AC (the original), the Ultimate Edition that has all of the DLC included I think is only £6.67....

https://www.instant-gaming.com/en/3098-buy-steam-assetto-corsa-ultimate-edition-ultimate-edition-pc-game-steam/

I hope I'm ok putting these links up Tony, I gain nothing from it.....

Also Clive, I did say in an earlier post in the thread that

In fact, just someone make 'Goodwood Revival - The Sim' and I would probably die happy....

so if you can tap up the Earl of March then feel free to have my permission 

Great convo guys.

[Geoffers]

In fact, just someone make 'Goodwood Revival - The Sim' and I would probably die happy....

so if you can tap up the Earl of March then feel free to have my permission 

The forthcoming Rennsport sim that I mentioned has already demoed the Goodwood hillclimb, so maybe the tie up there could include the circuit & maybe some Revival type content, who knows.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ellat6PEJsg

[Geoffers]

From Tony and Geoffers' comments I assume that you are talking GTR2 OFFLINE?

Yes, although of course P&G was based on GTR2.

[EvilClive]

In fact, just someone make 'Goodwood Revival - The Sim' and I would probably die happy....

so if you can tap up the Earl of March then feel free to have my permission  

The forthcoming Rennsport sim that I mentioned has already demoed the Goodwood hillclimb, so maybe the tie up there could include the circuit & maybe some Revival type content, who knows.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ellat6PEJsg

Just looked at the Rennsport stuff on Youtube and noted the early commitment by them to include "Historic" content in the eventual release. So the  big unanswered question is what constitutes historic in their view??

I am floating this out there.............

Is there any appetite amongst simracers who like the older stuff to lobby/petition Rennsport directly to put 50's/60's cars into the sim??? Could we start a "movement" to get the GTL 2 we are wishing for? Are there enough of us?

[phspok]

I did some AC in Stephen's Sunday night series, and I liked some of it
Biggest problem for me was that I was even slower than in GTL where I can
usually find someone to race with.

I will really really miss GTL Weds 

[Dimitar Dulichki]

Always nice to hear that Tony will organize GTL for at least one more year. 

[Daz9]

Always nice to hear that Tony will organize GTL for at least one more year. 

That's a great observation Dimitar, very true


@ Clive, I'll swap your 50s for 70s if you don't mind 

[EvilClive]

OK, 50's 60's AND 70's!!  let us have a proper GTL2 

[Nappe1]

As the view to amount of free time in next year is greatly shadowed by our first child to be born in December, I still do have some sort of small series idea for GTL in 2023. Most likely it would be 6-8 races half being spring and another half in autumn. As Tony fills in the Mondays, Wednesdays slot is now free, I would like to pre-reserve it in selected Wednesdays starting from mid March. 

Most likely it would be some sort of Classic races  tied up as series. In mid March has been 15 years since the original F1 Venue Championships was ran, so you could expect see Melbourne as season opener. However everything for next year is bit fuzzy, so I will tell more about this somewhere in January.

[phspok]

I used to run P&G, but it became just me and Non Evil Clive, with an occasional other driver
so I packed it in. I think P&G is still alive and running as DD does it on some site
I wouldn't consider restarting a P&G series unless there was a lot of demand.

I looked at a few options before I started with R3E, but non had the same (mostly good)
grouping of classes as R3E has. I have limited time these days for organising series
but I like the driving