Review: GTR2

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NaturalPoint TrackIR

TrackIR is supported out of the box, as long as you remember to download the latest drivers here at the NaturalPoint web site. It works very well and native support for TrackIR is becoming more and more a ”must-have” for any new racing sim. You can even assign a button on your wheel to center the TrackIR. A very useful addition!

On the Track

Physics include the driving model, the physical damage to your car and the physics governing the environment; e.g. do tires and cones move away realistically when leaving either car or track.

Where GTR at times presented the driver (including yours truly) with an enigma as to why the car suddenly spun out, GTR2 offers the driver much more indication concerning incipient slides of the rear-wheels, and thereby the opportunity to save the slide before it is too late. This makes GTR2 an ”easier” and much more intuitive drive. Has it been "dumbed" down? My own impression is that the driving has become more natural by offering the driver clues that substitute for real world sensations that the sim racer does not have at his or her disposal. A sim racer is ”sensory deprived”. We do not get the ”seat-of-the-pants” input while sitting in front of a flat monitor staring at a representation of a 3D environment, no matter how advanced the graphics hardware and software.

More intuitive to drive, but still hard to master. The low-speed handling feels much better than in GTR, and while I have been at or over the limit on occasion in these cars, I still have not been able to drive those sleighs consistently and near the limit for one single lap. This is not the simulation's fault. Rather, it is because I'm not the world's best driver!

GTR2 accomplishes quite a feat with it's driving physics. It tells me I can improve my driving skills and it does so in a way that convinces me that given enough practice and dedication, I might actually accomplish this task. Finally, practicing and driving is fun! I can think of no higher accolade to bestow on any sim.

To get the best driving feel, make certain that you are in ”simulation mode” and ensure that you are driving without training wheels a.k.a. stability control, ABS and other driving aids. The FIA GTR cars do use traction control, but I like to turn it off for a bit of extra fun.

Driving Model

The overall issue when designing a physics (driving) model seems to be deciding to which extent you wish to go by accuracy in numbers, or by accuracy in the driving feel, realizing that the latter term is a very subjective perception, and not entirely removed from the accuracy-in-numbers factor.

Given that any sim running on a PC or other platform found in the household is still only a model of reality and an incomplete one at that, accuracy in numbers might give you the right lap times and the correct readouts in your telemetry software relating to slip-angles, but if you cannot feel the car under you all the best intentions will likely fail.

So, the numbers are tweaked to make things "feel" right. That "feel" is pretty much the opinion of the folks that develop the sim. And, it may be balanced with other factors, but the result is not so much a left-brained, digital yes/no output but more of a right-brained, artistic expression done in digital code.

In spite of the original GTR’s claim to realism — the numbers and parameters were likely the most accurate ever fed into a simulation engine — the original GTR (at some level) left me unconnected with the car I was driving.

Without sacrificing realism and accuracy, GTR2 offers suspension movement that looks very credible when viewed from the inside and the outside. The weight of the car is felt very clearly in the force feedback as well as seen on the monitor from the world moving up and down as your springs are loaded and unloaded. At Imola there is a sudden drop in elevation during a fast turn and going over that part of the track you can feel the car being light, the rear-wheels just losing a bit of their grip and the only thing missing is that sensation in your stomach as you experience the negative gravity. Superb!

The redefined driving physics also allow for more driver confidence. You simply dare to try a bit more in GTR2, which leads to better battles between drivers.

Due to the reworked physics model, the default set ups appear to work much better this time round and I have been able this time to make sense of the physics and jump into any car without the frustration of having first to search for a set up that would make the cars drivable. Drivable although not earth-shatteringly fast. The default set ups are somewhat "understeery" and ”safe”. The cars tends to push and carry straight on if you over-cook your driving. They are especially sensitive to hitting the correct entry-speed. Recovery is usually possible unless you're badly off your marks or out of track. You can usually recover by slowing down and taking a wider line. Momentum is lost and the fast time for that lap is a but a memory.

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