I’m playing MotoGP 20 on Game Pass. The last time I played one of these games was MotoGP 13. I ended up really enjoying that one.
I started a career and I was disappointed I couldn’t boom my research economy. They just missed out on a hundred sales from QT3.
I began with Moto3, but when I scrolled the calendar, I realized I would never have the time or patience to do every race in the year. I need DLC that gives me a pandemic-shortened season or something. Moto3 was a bit too easy and simplistic – you mash on the controls and the bike takes it just fine – so I decided to switch. The full GP bikes were an exercise in how precisely I can press the left trigger without doing a stoppie. I settled on Moto2 instead. It’s a little more forgiving but I still need to be careful with the controls.
It’s a silly idea to get started on a motorcycle game when I have a wheel under the tree for Christmas. That’s okay!
Speaking of which, I purchased ACC and took a quick peek with a gamepad. It’s a beautiful game, and I was surprised to see it ran at really high framerates. Unfortunately, those cars have terrible sightlines past the A-pillar. I’m not sure if I should try look-to-apex or get my TrackIR out. I don’t want to use my Quest or buy two more monitors!
I also have MotoGP20 and it’s funny that my feeling is almost exact opposite to yours - I freaking adore Moto3. It’s amazing fun to watch in real life as it’s a collection of teenagers on single cylinder motorcycles that are extremely draft dependent, meaning you get enormous packs of them.
It’s a great place to learn racecraft, as you’ll be stuck with 10 other riders and frequently the guy who comes out of the final corner in first is sixth or seventh by turn one.
I’m in the middle of a moto3 career right now and it feels like they turned down some of the slipstreaming power in the 2020 version because it is possible to break away from the pack if you run perfect enough lines.
I always try to jump from a Moto3 career right to the back of the MotoGP grid if possible, because in real life Moto2 is a meat-grinder where careers go to die so I try to avoid it.
But the bikes sound so annoying! I think I’d rather retire and sell motorcycle insurance.
I don’t remember it being quite so bad in 13, where I think I spent a long time in Moto3.
The funny part about a motorcycle game is having to aim at the apex at the right time. Too early and you have to back out of it a bit or take one of their aggressive time penalties. Too late and you sail out wide, which the track nanny doesn’t seem to mind as much. It’s like shooting a basketball with the hoop moving at 100mph. I’m still a couple hours into the game and I’m wearing out the rewind button. It’s so easy to make a disaster out of corner entry – at least in Moto2 and above.
You don’t like the sound of a single cylinder 250cc engine screaming at 140mph? It does sound a bit like someone’s shaking a cookie tin full of very angry bees at times.
As for apexing, if I have a league race coming up I can’t spend any time in Moto3 because you’re right - the corner approach and cornering methods on the bikes are so different to how I take the corner in a car.
There are some corners where after five years of playing the Moto games I still struggle - the first left-hander in Argentina for example. It’s crucial to get it right because of the easy right and very long straight that follow, but I get jumped by the AI there on every single lap because I’m too slow.
I had a brief scare that I forgot to order a desk mount for my new CSL Elite wheel. I saw on the website that it comes with one. While confirming that, I saw a blurb about how I’d need a PS/2 to RJ12 cable to connect my old ClubSport V2 pedals. Here’s that cable:
According to the Internet, I should be able to plug them in with a USB cable and have them show up as a separate controller. Hopefully Dirt Rally 2 and ACC support that without a lot of fuss.
I’ve had a hell of a time setting the AI difficulty in MotoGP 20. I either win by 10 seconds or come in 15th place. There’s no in-between. They regulate the AI speed at the top end, but it’s much better than me on narrow tracks with short straights and lots of tight turns. Oh well, almost finished with the season.
As for the MotoGP AI, I think there’s an innate problem with these kind of career mode games. If I set the AI to 90 and have a great race one, does it still hold up five races into the season when I’ve done a bunch of bike development? I don’t know if the AI bikes also progress through the year too.
I think I have it set right now at 99, but I also make things interesting by constantly screwing up the starts and then having to fight back through the pack.
I’m not going to mess with the wheel and pedals till next weekend. I’m trying to wrap up some games and then I have a hobby project to do this week. Once I start back into sim racing, I might not come up for air for a while.
I set the AI to 65 but I only do one lap of Q1 and one lap of Q2, then it’s off to the races. So of course I struggle with tricky turns. I just had a miserable time at Japan, then had maybe my most exciting and intense race of the season in Australia. I’ll take it.
Today I made it as far as unboxing the CSL Elite. My initial impression is that I don’t like the included wheel. It’s thinner than my plasticky CSR wheel, and the paddle shifters are too stiff and just a hair too far away.
I’m sure I’ll get used to it and enjoy it. It’s just a little disappointing.
Interesting as when I watched videos that looked like a pretty solid wheel. My only issue with getting the F1 version is that well I can’t exactly drive a rally game with it. So I’ll have to get the other wheel at some point. I don’t play rally games that often so there is that. 1st world problems and all that.
If you thought learning the Nordschleife was a challenge then the Steam workshop just added the Targa Florio course that makes a circuit around Sicily for a 72km loop.
Looks like it’s the same version they’ve had since GPL or whenever. I might have played this in Assetto Corsa a few years ago maybe. I don’t remember. Heck, it might’ve been one of those modern GPL ports.
While looking through the forum post for details, I came across the description of an amusing bug/limitation in some of the modern sim engines:
I think for tracks like Targa and the 60s Spa they’re all ultimately rFactor 1 mods if you follow them back and then those rF1 versions were ripped out of GPL.
I wish there were an easy track creator out there that let you paint the track and then add detail to it, but even the one that uses Google maps to start things off appears to need quite a lot of arcane knowledge and goat sacrifice just to even make a loop.
I’ve raced that track before. I think it was in AC using some 60s touring cars. Very fun. I did not memorize it as I sight-read it like a rally (without a co-driver calling notes).
Changing topics: So Daytona 24 is coming up so I’ll be running as part of a team with iRacings 24hr race. I don’t know about others, but I really enjoy the multi-driver team enduros.
My son bought himself a Quest 2 with money he from his grandparents, so I took the old Rift and the PC that was attached to it in the living room to my office / den with the goal of getting back into sim racing after 15 years of occasionally firing up a racing game here and there playing with a gamepad. I pulled my 16 years old momo wheel out of a box and was delighted to find out it’s still working well. I played a little project cars 2 but then switched to Assetto Corsa chasing fond dreams of Netkar Pro. Driving around in the KTM X Box in VR is just great. I suck balls but having so much fun.
Next I turned to another oldie. I still have my RBR disks from 2004 (although I given to understand that the game can be had from other, err, sources). Surprisingly, both 16 year old disks were readable and I got it installed with no problems. More amazingly, the game works as is before I even patched it. What a great piece of craftsmanship! Even more amazingly gloriously, I installed a couple of plugins, and it works in VR.
Huzza!
Anyway, what do people play here. I’m a shit sim driver but I’m careful and happy to lag (speedwise) behind everyone else. Do we have any QT3 league or somesuch?
