Driving Games?

[Arkaign]

I also liked Grid. I thought the new NFS Most Wanted is actually surprisingly good. Tons of cars, and trolling the cops is fun. Not as insanely arcadey as the recent NFS : World. For some reason I thought TDU was better than TDU2, but neither of them I really liked very much, they look (and feel) way older than they are.

In a perfect world, we'd have the Forza series on PC, or perhaps the full Gran Turismo series as well. Even with significant hardware limitations compared to PC, the production values and depth of those games is pretty amazing even compared to fairly good games like GRID and the Shifts.

 

[maniacalpha1-1]

Curious how you liked TD2 with that wheel?

Others I would definitely consider (wait for the sales)
+Dirt Series
+Driver San Francisco
+Flatout Total Carnage
+Grid 1/2
+Need for Speed World (free online)

I didn't get it yet, Newegg shipped it from NJ - adverse weather lol.

 

[Phynaz]

NFS: Most wanted
Grid
Blur
Flatout

 

[velvis]

I have a G25 myself. I haven't raced in a while but when I did it was for many years using rfactor with friends. It had good multiplayer and the physics were really good. There are many mods available for free which adds to the replay value. Check out http://www.nogripracing.com/files.php?maincat=3

On steam there is RACE07. The graphics are better than rfactor but the physics weren't quite as good. Many mods for this one as well. http://www.nogripracing.com/files.php?maincat=5

My favorite to play was Richard Burns rally which you can get from Amazon for about 6.50 then around 4 bucks shipping. Graphics may be a bit dated but this game will work wonderfully with your G27. The physics are amazing and you wheel will love you for it. It looks like the modding community is alive and well for it too. http://www.gtplanet.net/forum/showthread.php?t=178743

All three of my selections can be had for a good price, have good/great physics but are a bit dated graphics wise. I strayed away from the arcade style games since others have already provided you with good information about them.

Good luck and have fun with whatever you get.

 

[JETninja]

The company that makes the Simulators for many of the worlds auto manufacturers has been making consumer racing sims for years. Image Space Inc or ISI. SportscarGT, F1200, 2001, 2002, F1C (F1 games were sold by EA) and made for the mod crowd so any track and any type of racing..rFactor and now rFactor2. The physics in rF2 shows its roots, and tire wear, graphics, weather and much much more. Its still in late Beta form (you still purchase it, they release updates all the time) and allows online play with with well over 40 racers.

I've raced in rFactor (the first one) Leagues for the past 5yrs, we do ALMS races and even have a true endurance league with 6/8/12hr monthly races...rFactor allows another online teammate to take over when you pit, and he now has control of the car and does his stints. Its very cool. Hard core as you want it....

http://imagespaceinc.com/

 

[velvis]

Ah yes. EA Sports F1 Challenge 99-02. That's the game that started it all for me. Many hours spent learning how to drive around the circuits w/out spinning out. Many laps preparing for a Thursday night race only to have one of the newer guys wreck you in the first corner. Good times!!

 

[yepp]

SSV8NC Superstar V8 Next Challenge is a free giveaway at GMG for the day, maybe worth a punt. The catch is you need to accept some spam and link a playfire account to your GMG account.

http://www.greenmangaming.com/s/gb/en/pc/games/racing/ssv8nc-superstar-v8-next-challenge/

 

[Stuka87]

Euro Truck Simulator 2

http://store.steampowered.com/app/227300/

Probably a bit out of your price range right now, but definitely grab it when it goes on sale.

How realistic is this? I have been tempted to buy it, but don't want to without trying it first. Do you really have to take gearing and braking into consideration on grades and such? Not as interested in the freeway bits. But if their is mountainous driving, then I am in. City driving could be challenging as well.

EDIT: Just noticed steam has a demo.

 

[Dankk]

How realistic is this? I have been tempted to buy it, but don't want to without trying it first. Do you really have to take gearing and braking into consideration on grades and such? Not as interested in the freeway bits. But if their is mountainous driving, then I am in. City driving could be challenging as well.

EDIT: Just noticed steam has a demo.

Yup, try the demo and see how you like it.

 

[BurnItDwn]

I was a big fan of "Midtown Madness" and "Midtown Madness 2", as you could drive around in a decent mix of cars in real cities. But those are somewhat old ....

I'll agree ETS2 is pretty fun, but also not the most exciting...
I think Dirt / Dirt2 / Dirt3 have all been decently fun....

The test drive unlimmited 2 looks like it could be fun ... I might have to try that one out

 

[CuriousMike]

I find Driver: San Francisco to have some of the charm of Midtown Madness series.

Physics are solid, decent selection of cars ... really really easy to hop from car to car.
Lots to explore.

 

[Renob]

Why in the world would you play Trackmania with a wheel? D:

why in the world would they put a wheel on an arcade driving game lol its fun!!!

BTW OP I have been playing Trackmania for years of and on lots of fun.....

 

[maniacalpha1-1]

Anyone played Trackmania Canyon? Saw that this came out on Steam last week. That's not the Trackmania referred to earlier in the thread is it?

http://store.steampowered.com/app/228760/

 

[Dankk]

Anyone played Trackmania Canyon? Saw that this came out on Steam last week. That's not the Trackmania referred to earlier in the thread is it?

http://store.steampowered.com/app/228760/

Yup, been playing Canyon since it came out about a year and a half ago. It's really fun.

Trackmania 2: Stadium just came out though, and everyone seems to be migrating to that one. It's cheaper too. I actually like it a bit better.

 

[Whitestar127]

Checkout Project Cars. It's in development and slated for release this year. It's like Gran Turismo but takes advantage of the advanced features of the PC. Unfortunately the user support tool packs are closed, they have reached their funding goal of 3.75million euros.

The way it worked was they offered people opportunities to purchase tool packs which funds the game and gives you perks. The lowest tier was less than $30 and would give you access to monthly playable builds and their forums. When the game released it would entitle you to a discount on the purchase. The higher tiers allowed you to actually get an opponent AI car named after you, access to track days (where they go to a real track and drive real cars to get data to be used in the game), give you a free copy of the game at release, use some of the billboards in the game to advertise yourself etc. Was pretty cool. They closed this, but it is worth keeping an eye on the further developments of the game. I have played an older build and I must say, it looked and felt fantastic. I posted a few screenshots below. The detail is incredible.

http://www.wmdportal.com/projects/cars/

Thanks for bringing this to my attention! Wow, the graphics look unbelievable!!
Did you do any benchmarking on the build you tested? I've ordered a 670. Will that be enough, or should I go SLI like you?

Yup, been playing Canyon since it came out about a year and a half ago. It's really fun.

Trackmania 2: Stadium just came out though, and everyone seems to be migrating to that one. It's cheaper too. I actually like it a bit better.

Strictly speaking it's just the open beta that's out, but there are a lot of servers up and it's really fun.

Btw, how does Canyon run on your card? I run in Crossfire on a 5970 and there is absolutely HORRIBLE stuttering!

EDIT: I set Shader Quality to Nice and the stuttering was gone. Seems like my 5970 isn't powerful enough for Very Nice. Maybe it uses more than 1GB on Very Nice?

 

[xian37]

guys are you playing driving games on what console gadgets?