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EspañolCOMPARISON OF RACING SIMULATORS
The following tables compare general and technical information for a number of racing simulators. Please see the individual products' articles for further information. This article is not all-inclusive or necessarily up-to-date.
In each table, the simulators list follow the same order; the ordering is by sim engine and evolution:
★ Grand Prix Legends, NASCAR 2003 (all developed with David Kaemmer)
★ Racer
★ GTR, GT Legends, GTR 2, rFactor, RACE (using evolutions of the ISI engine)
★ netKar Namie, netKar Pro (Using Stefano Casillo engine)
★ Live for Speed (by Scawen Roberts, Eric Bailey and Victor van Vlaardingen - Not to be confused with the Need For Speed series)
★ Richard Burns Rally, Driver's Republic (1st beta) (different engines, but both physics engines are developed by lead physics designer Eero Piitulainen)
★ Virtual Grand Prix 2
★ X Motor Racing
Physics
Tire simulation - part 1
| Tire model | Based on data from tire manufacturers | Dynamic wear | Dynamic temperature | Dynamic pressure | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Prix Legends | Milliken & Pacejka "Similarity" Model | ||||
| NASCAR 2003 | Milliken & Pacejka "Similarity" Model | ||||
| Racer | Pacejka | ||||
| GTR | Pacejka-like | ||||
| GT Legends | Pacejka-like | ||||
| GTR 2 | Pacejka-like | ||||
| RACE | Pacejka-like | ||||
| rFactor | Pacejka-like | ||||
| netKar Namie (v0.9.9) | Milliken & Pacejka "Similarity" Model 1 | ||||
| netKar Pro (v1.0) | Pacejka 96 full model 2 | ||||
| Live for Speed (S2) | Own System 3 | ||||
| Richard Burns Rally | Own System 3 | 4 | |||
| Driver's Republic (1st beta) | Own System 3 | ||||
| Virtual Grand Prix 2 | Quasi-finite elements | ||||
| X Motor Racing | Own system | ||||
| F1 Challenge '99-'02 | Pacejka-like |
Note 1: with several modifications.
Note 2: "plus some integration for dynamic behaviour for the quick spinning on the Y axis of the tire (quick steer)".[1]
Note 3: similar to models like "string model", "spring model", "brush model", "slip model".
Note 4: There's one data file per manufacturer, but the files do not differ. Therefore at least one of them is not based on real data.
Tire simulation - part 2
| Flat spots | Dirt on tire affects grip | Racing line affects grip | Walls deformation | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Prix Legends | ||||
| NASCAR 2003 | ||||
| Racer | ||||
| GTR | ||||
| GT Legends | ||||
| GTR 2 | ||||
| RACE | ||||
| rFactor | ||||
| netKar Namie (v0.9.9) | ||||
| netKar Pro (v1.0) | ||||
| Live for Speed (S2) | 3 | 4 | ||
| Richard Burns Rally | 2 | 1 | ||
| Driver's Republic (1st beta) | ||||
| Virtual Grand Prix 2 | ||||
| X Motor Racing | 5 | |||
| F1 Challenge '99-'02 |
Note 1: On non-tarmac stages, there's higher grip after previous cars have swept the racing line.
Note 2: On non-tarmac stages, soil accumulation on sliding tires increase their grip.
Note 3: 48 sampling points, arranged as 16 along the circumference by 3 across the width of the tire[2].
Note 4: 16 sampling points along the circumference.
Note 5: 3D wheel simulation.
Suspensions
| Wishbone component | Strut bar component | Axle component | monoshock component | Trailing arms | Double wishbone | multilink | Front MacPherson strut | Rear MacPherson strut (Chapman strut) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Prix Legends | |||||||||
| NASCAR 2003 | |||||||||
| Racer | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||
| GTR | |||||||||
| GT Legends | |||||||||
| GTR 2 | |||||||||
| RACE | |||||||||
| rFactor | |||||||||
| netKar Namie (v0.9.9) | |||||||||
| netKar Pro (v1.0) | |||||||||
| Live for Speed (S2) | 2 | ||||||||
| Richard Burns Rally | |||||||||
| Driver's Republic (1st beta) | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Virtual Grand Prix 2 (v1.06) | |||||||||
| X Motor Racing | |||||||||
| F1 Challenge '99-'02 |
Note 1: Instead of dynamically modeled suspension components, Racer uses parameters that define linear camber and toe change per unit of suspension deflection. This allows a rough approximation of the camber and toe effects that a dynamically modeled suspension has. Roll centers are static, and their placement is defined by a parameter.
Note 2: Suspension geometry in LFS can move only in X-Y plane, so trailing arm is approximated by moving the wheel up and down along the Y-axis.
Note 3: As of the beta version, suspension geometry in DR is completely customizable in the number, position and characteristics of any suspension rod, spring, damper and axis.
Drivetrain
| 4wd layout | Rwd layout | Fwd layout | Open diffs | Locked diffs | LSD (Clutches) 4 | LSD (Viscous) | LSD (EDL) | LSD (TBD) | Active diffs | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Prix Legends | ||||||||||
| NASCAR 2003 | ||||||||||
| Racer | 6 | |||||||||
| GTR | 3 | |||||||||
| GT Legends | 3 | |||||||||
| GTR 2 | 3 | |||||||||
| RACE | ||||||||||
| rFactor | ||||||||||
| netKar Namie (v0.9.9) | ||||||||||
| netKar Pro (v1.0) | ||||||||||
| Live for Speed (S2) | ||||||||||
| Richard Burns Rally | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 | ||||||
| Driver's Republic (1st beta) | 7 | 7 | 7 | |||||||
| Virtual Grand Prix 2 (V1.06) | 2 | |||||||||
| X Motor Racing | ||||||||||
| F1 Challenge '99-'02 |
Note 1: No proper RWD support; the RWD cars available for testing are made by switching the front and the back end, therefore handbrake affecting to the front wheels.
Note 2: This diff behaviour can be achieved through correct setup of the active differential mappings.
Note 3: No proper 4WD support. Cars can be set to 4WD, but power distribution is always 50%/50% (front/rear), and there are no means to adjust centre diff locking. This gives the 4WD cars a tendency to understeer.
Note 4: Limited Slip Differentials (LSD), are divided in four categories: Viscous Coupling (Syncro), Clutches, EDL and Torque Biasing Differential. The Clutches category include Passive Clutch, Progressive/Locking Clutch (Positraction or Salisbury type), Simple Hydraulic Clutch and Electronic Clutch.[3]
Note 5: Their settings cannot be changed while driving, unlike in real life WRC.
Note 6: Power distribution is customizable. Racer is hardcoded so that only one differential per car is allowed. Therefore in a 4WD car, all four wheels are driven, but only two of the wheels can have a "real" differential. Also, Racer does not implement a center differential for 4WD.
Note 7: Transmission layout, as of 1st beta version, is completely customizable in DR. Only one type of differential is provided, probably an open one, but not verifiable.
Road surfaces and covers that affect handling
| Asphalt concrete | Concrete | Tarmac | Unpaved, dirt road | Unpaved, gravel road | Unpaved, ice | Water (rain) | Snow | Hail | Dirt (sand/soil) on non-dirt-roads | Mud | Tire rubber | Oil (engine) | Rubber marbles | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Prix Legends | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | ||||||||||
| NASCAR 2003 | 10 | |||||||||||||
| Racer | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | ||||||
| GTR | 4 | 4 | ||||||||||||
| GT Legends | 4 | 4 | ||||||||||||
| GTR 2 | 4 | 4 | ||||||||||||
| RACE | ||||||||||||||
| rFactor | 4 | 4 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 4 | |||||||
| netKar Namie (v0.9.9) | 1 | |||||||||||||
| netKar Pro (v1.0) | 1 | |||||||||||||
| Live for Speed (S2) | 6 | 7 | ||||||||||||
| Richard Burns Rally2 | 4 | |||||||||||||
| Driver's Republic (1st beta) | ||||||||||||||
| Virtual Grand Prix 2 (V1.06) | ||||||||||||||
| X Motor Racing | ||||||||||||||
| F1 Challenge '99-'02 |
Note 1: The physics of the interaction between tire and wet asphalt is fully implemented, but in version 1.0.1 is not used yet.
Note 2: RBR initially has a total of 132 different surfaces (be it road surfaces or elements such as different types of rocks, water... even several types of bushes and poles!).
Note 3: There are 3rd party tracks featuring non-conventional surface types, such as snow, dirt (Blackwood for GPL), rain (Nurburgring in rain), and probably more. Also, there is a track surface type (surface type 8) that was supposedly going to be used as water, however it wasn't finished and doesn't work properly. It usually results in the car sinking into it, then being launched.
Note 4: In every surface type, there are parameters such as ''SoilThickness'' and ''SoilDensity'' in RBR and WetGrip/DryGrip in ISI-based sims that can be adjusted.
Note 5: Racer surface types have several parameters that can be customized on a per track basis. Specifically, these are grip, rolling resistance and viscosity.
Note 6: Ice is only used for internal testing, not present in the official tracks yet.
Note 7: Only visible, no effect on grip.
Note 8: rFactor engine can be adapted to model any kind of surface editing a terrain data file, but at the moment there is no specific support to model the interaction of different tire models with different surfaces.
Note 9:The event version of rFactor, that taken to demonstrations with BMW and Intel supports full wet weather, wet lines and rain drop particles. ISI have stated that this feature will reach the public version of rFactor at some point.
Note 10: A 3rd party track (Watkins Glen Wet) has modified grip values to resemble wet-weather racing.
Aerodynamics
| Downforce simulation | Wings | Undertray | Ground Effect | Car pitch affects downforce | Car yaw affects downforce | Slipstream | Flexible wings | Aerodynamics damage | Aerodynamics dependent engine performance | Wind affects Handling | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Prix Legends | 2 | 2 | |||||||||
| NASCAR 2003 | |||||||||||
| Racer | |||||||||||
| GTR | |||||||||||
| GT Legends | |||||||||||
| GTR 2 | |||||||||||
| RACE | |||||||||||
| rFactor | |||||||||||
| netKar Namie (v0.9.9) | |||||||||||
| netKar Pro (v1.0) | |||||||||||
| Live for Speed (S2) | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||
| Richard Burns Rally | |||||||||||
| Driver's Republic (1st beta) | |||||||||||
| Virtual Grand Prix 2 (V1.06) | (really basic) | ||||||||||
| X Motor Racing | |||||||||||
| F1 Challenge '99-'02 |
Note 1: The undertray angle is not adjustable and the undertray angle does not vary with the pitch of the car. The ground clearance of the car does not affect undertray downforce.
Note 2: The physics engine that Grand Prix Legends shipped with did not model downforce. Downforce was added to the model with the release of the 1969 mod for GPL.
Chassis
| 3 axis Moment of inertia (pitch, yaw, roll) | Anti-roll bars | Chassis flex | Axle flex | Engine torque transmitted onto chassis | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Prix Legends | |||||
| NASCAR 2003 | |||||
| Racer | 1 | ||||
| GTR | |||||
| GT Legends | |||||
| GTR 2 | |||||
| RACE | |||||
| rFactor | |||||
| netKar Namie (v0.9.9) | |||||
| netKar Pro (v1.0) | |||||
| Live for Speed (S2) | |||||
| Richard Burns Rally | |||||
| Driver's Republic (1st beta) | |||||
| Virtual Grand Prix 2 | |||||
| X Motor Racing | |||||
| F1 Challenge '99-'02 |
Note 1:see Car.ini fields reference [1]
Damage
| Visual car body damage | Suspension damage | Steering alignment damage | Engine damage | Gearbox damage | Aerodynamics damage | Brake wear and fade | Normal wear and tear | Driver injuries | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Prix Legends | |||||||||
| NASCAR 2003 | |||||||||
| Racer | |||||||||
| GTR | 4 | ||||||||
| GT Legends | |||||||||
| GTR 2 | |||||||||
| RACE | |||||||||
| rFactor | 4 | ||||||||
| netKar Namie (v0.9.9) | |||||||||
| netKar Pro (v1.0) | 3 | ||||||||
| Live for Speed (S2) | 6 | ||||||||
| Richard Burns Rally | 5 | ||||||||
| Driver's Republic (1st beta) | |||||||||
| Virtual Grand Prix 2 | 2 | ||||||||
| X Motor Racing | |||||||||
| F1 Challenge '99-'02 |
Note 2: Only wings and suspensions.
Note 3: Front wing.
Note 4: Simple graphical representation, only large body panels fall off.
Note 5: Includes damage vulnerability based on suspension stiffness with stiffer settings on uneven/bumpy surface causing damage more easily.
Note 6: Engine damage does not result from impacts - only from over-revving the engine.
Force Feedback
| Avoids predefined effects | Flat spots | |
|---|---|---|
| Grand Prix Legends | ||
| NASCAR 2003 | ||
| Racer | ||
| GTR | ||
| GT Legends | ||
| GTR 2 | ||
| RACE | ||
| rFactor | 1 | |
| netKar Namie (v0.9.9) | ||
| netKar Pro (v1.0) | 2 | |
| Live for Speed (S2) | ||
| Richard Burns Rally | ||
| Driver's Republic (1st beta) | ||
| Virtual Grand Prix 2 | ||
| X Motor Racing | ||
| F1 Challenge '99-'02 |
Note 1: Available using the 3rd party Real Feel plugin.
Note 2: Disabled in netKar Pro version 1.02.
Artificial Intelligence
| AI | Player blocking | Dynamic strategy | Track learning | Faster as tires warm | AI mistakes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Prix Legends | 1 | |||||
| NASCAR 2003 | 1 | 2 | ||||
| Racer | ||||||
| GTR | ||||||
| GT Legends | ||||||
| GTR 2 | ||||||
| RACE | ||||||
| rFactor | 4 | |||||
| netKar Namie (v0.9.9) | ||||||
| netKar Pro (v1.0) | (Does not apply) | (Does not apply) | (Does not apply) | (Does not apply) | (Does not apply) | |
| Live for Speed (S2) | ||||||
| Richard Burns Rally | (Does not apply) | (Does not apply) | (Does not apply) | (Does not apply) | ||
| Driver's Republic (1st beta) | (Does not apply) | (Does not apply) | (Does not apply) | (Does not apply) | (Does not apply) | |
| Virtual Grand Prix 2 | ||||||
| X Motor Racing | ||||||
| F1 Challenge '99-'02 |
Note 1: Of a rather rudimentary sort.
Note 2: Not as shipped-most AI wrecks due to bad LP lines or errors in the .ini file, but some modding has been done in this area.
Note 4: AI Mistakes are only considered partial in rFactor because they are not convincing to anyone. As of V1.087 beta there is a
★ .PLR variable called "AI Mistakes".
Multiplayer
Connection quality
| Max offline human drivers | Max online peers | Max online human drivers | Max online spectators | Dynamic throttling 1 | Avoids join lag 2 | New peers' cars loaded directly | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Prix Legends | |||||||
| NASCAR 2003 | |||||||
| Racer | |||||||
| GTR | 5 | ||||||
| GT Legends | 7 | ||||||
| GTR 2 | |||||||
| RACE | |||||||
| rFactor | 4 | ||||||
| netKar Namie (v0.9.9) | |||||||
| netKar Pro (v1.0.1) | |||||||
| Live for Speed (S2) | |||||||
| Richard Burns Rally | 6 | 3 | |||||
| Driver's Republic (1st beta) | |||||||
| Virtual Grand Prix 2 (V1.06) | Unapplicable | ||||||
| X Motor Racing | |||||||
| F1 Challenge '99-'02 |
Note 1: More data packets are send to peers who are closer on track, network conditions permitting.
Note 2: "Yes" is good. Here, "significant" means any outright freeze of the program or a decrease or stutter of fps significant enough to impact the driving experience negatively (e.g. causing a crash or loss of control).
Note 3: Third-party plug-in needed.
Note 4: Must be enabled in .PLR settings.
Note 5: Only when cars of new joined players are loaded into garage. It is settable in multiplayer settings or .PLR file
Note 6: Hotseat mode.
Note 7: "Every time there are more than 27 racers on the track, the excess players are unable to race properly due to all kinds of strange errors."
Configurability options
| Configurable sessions (e.g. practice, quali, warmup, race) | Track can be changed w/o stopping server or disconnecting peers | Allowed cars can be changed w/o stopping server or disconnecting peers | Automatic download of personal car textures (aka skins) | System keeps track of contact or crash ratio | Results consider multi-class racing (e.g. 3rd overall, 1st in class) | Statistics can be accessed online | Setup changing | Driver Changes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Prix Legends | 1 | ||||||||
| NASCAR 2003 | 1 | 2 | |||||||
| Racer | |||||||||
| GTR | |||||||||
| GT Legends | |||||||||
| GTR 2 | |||||||||
| RACE | |||||||||
| rFactor | 3 | ||||||||
| netKar Namie (v0.9.9) | |||||||||
| netKar Pro (v1.0.1) | |||||||||
| Live for Speed (S2) | |||||||||
| Richard Burns Rally | |||||||||
| Driver's Republic (1st beta) | (P2P) | ||||||||
| Virtual Grand Prix 2 (V1.06) | |||||||||
| X Motor Racing | |||||||||
| F1 Challenge '99-'02 |
Note 1: Possible by server uploading results to a third-party website.
Note 2: Possible by killing the program then the next driver connecting with the same name.
Note 3: Results (XML) log contacts and incidents and these stats can be viewed, for example, when uploading XML results file for viewing with rFactor Report (one example).
Sound
| Synthesized vehicle engine sound system1 | Recorded vehicle engine sound system1 | Echo | 3D | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Prix Legends | ||||
| NASCAR 2003 | ||||
| Racer | ||||
| GTR | ||||
| GT Legends | ||||
| GTR 2 | ||||
| RACE | ||||
| rFactor | ||||
| netKar Namie (v0.9.9) | ||||
| netKar Pro (v1.0) | 2 | 2 | ||
| Live for Speed (S2) | ||||
| Richard Burns Rally | ||||
| Driver's Republic (1st beta) | ||||
| Virtual Grand Prix 2 (V1.06) | ||||
| X Motor Racing | ||||
| F1 Challenge '99-'02 |
Note 1: "Recorded" if long microphone-recorded sound samples (>=0.3 secs) were used for the vehicle engine main sound; "Synthesized" otherwise.
Note 2: The user can choose any of the two systems.
Graphics
part 1
| Newest graphics API used | Normal mapping | Specular mapping | Displacement mapping | Dynamic lighting (changes with daytime while on track) | Dynamic environment reflections | Soft shadows | Visual tire deformations | Visual tire wear | Visual dirt on tire | Visual 3D suspension travel | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Prix Legends | DirectX 7 & OpenGL(beta only) | ||||||||||
| NASCAR 2003 | DirectX 8.1 & OpenGL | ||||||||||
| Racer | OpenGL | ||||||||||
| GTR | DirectX 8.1 | ||||||||||
| GT Legends | DirectX 9 | ||||||||||
| GTR 2 | DirectX 9 | ||||||||||
| RACE | DirectX 9 | ||||||||||
| rFactor | DirectX 9 | ||||||||||
| netKar Namie (v0.9.9) | |||||||||||
| netKar Pro (v1.0.1) | DirectX 9 | ||||||||||
| Live for Speed (S2 U) | DirectX 8.1[4] | 1 | |||||||||
| Richard Burns Rally | DirectX 9 | ||||||||||
| Driver's Republic (1st beta) | |||||||||||
| Virtual Grand Prix 2 (V1.06) | OpenGL | ||||||||||
| X Motor Racing | DirectX 9 | ||||||||||
| F1 Challenge '99-'02 | DirectX 8.1 |
Note 1: Suspension travel is only visible in open wheeler cars (LX4, LX6, MRT, FOX, FO8, BF1). Real-time two-dimensional overlay schematic available for all cars.
part 2
| Rain | Animated 3D Box crew | View changeable to Topview | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Prix Legends | 1 | 2 | |
| NASCAR 2003 | |||
| Racer | |||
| GTR | |||
| GT Legends | |||
| GTR 2 | |||
| RACE | |||
| rFactor | 3 | ||
| netKar Namie (v0.9.9) | |||
| netKar Pro (v1.0.1) | |||
| Live for Speed (S2 U) | |||
| Richard Burns Rally | |||
| Driver's Republic (1st beta) | |||
| Virtual Grand Prix 2 (V1.06) | |||
| X Motor Racing | |||
| F1 Challenge '99-'02 |
Note 1: Rain is available for some tracks as a third-party add-on. It does not affect physics.
Note 2: A configuration file hack allows players to change the driving view to the rollbar (top) view.
Note 3: Currently implemented in the demonstration build taken with BMW and Intel to demos based on the current 1.250 build, to be implemented in the public version at a later date.
References
1. Post by Stefano "kunos" Casillo on DrivingItalia.net forum, accessed May 07, 2006.
2. LFS website, News item of Jun. 25th, 2005, 20:00
3. http://www.houseofthud.com/differentials.htm
4. LFS S2, Patch U, readme
External links
★ Differentials descriptions: [2], [3], [4]
★ Race Sim Central: The world's largest simracing forum
★ RBR: differentials
★ Live for Speed: LFS Forum, LFS Manual Wiki
★ Racer: Wiki, AWD problems, 3 differentials, Some tire data
★ The Pits: oldest sim racing site, files & forums
★ Race Simulations: downloads and lots of stuff for most of the driving simulators
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psst.. try this: add to faves
