Decent Racing Games for PC

[Funkysandwich]

Is there a good racer for the PC? I'd really like a good, technical racer I can play on PC, but I can't really find one.

I currently have: NFS: Shift, Grid and Dirt.

Shift was the best of the three, being the most technical.
Grid was alright but had less tracks and cars and no tuning/upgrading.
Dirt sucked, lots of bugs and terrible handling.

Is there a decent racer with lots of cars, tracks, tuning, upgrades and customization for the PC? Or I am asking for the impossible?

 

[Unrulyhandbag]

At the moment your asking the impossible. Personally I'd love a proper driving sim that was encased in a pretty good game but Shift is the only one out there. Shift uses a proper simulation engine so there is a few mods kicking around that make it more realistic and tweak the steering wheel settings.

GTR 2 and GT Legends still rule the roost in PC racing Sims but they won't tickle your upgrading and customising needs (or any sort of campaign\ career need either)

 

[Funkysandwich]

Bugger. I was hoping there was some sort of collaborative project somewhere out there or open source game I wasn't aware of. Someone should think about starting one.

 

[Unrulyhandbag]

I feel your pain Funky sandwich.
It has to be said than the best PC simulations are far more realistic than anything on the consoles, but it would be nice to have a PC simulation equivalent of Gran Turismo or even a non arcade version of "Need for speed: boy racer shtick"

 

[Megacherv]

Burnout Paradise is very good, and very addictive

 

[tomtom94]

Big Rigs: Over The Road Racing.



OH FINE.

It's old, but if you can find it, Lego Racers is simple cartoony fun. GRID is the best realistic racer and Trackmania Nations Forever is a mixture of both categories I guess.

 

[migo]

Bugger. I was hoping there was some sort of collaborative project somewhere out there or open source game I wasn't aware of. Someone should think about starting one.

One has been started, I forget what it's called though.

 

[Wolfram23]

Those are basically it. Dirt and Dirt 2 are awesome tho IMO. Handling is fine... that's what happens when you're on dirt. You should try driving IRL in snow, it's like 10x the effect of dirt for the sliding and shit. When you get on the cross tracks with asphalt they handle quite well.

I definitely liked GRID more than Shift, but Shift does have some nice aspects as far as sound effects and in car view effects go, lots of cars, customization etc. But I felt GRID was a much more solid driving experience. Shift is pretty arcady in the handling... somehow all the cars can oversteer, rarely ever understeer.

 

[Hiphophippo]

I'm not a racing game fan, but isn't there a game called Trackmania that's pretty well the end all be all of PC racing?

 

[PurpleSky]

[HEADING=1] OH MY GOD [/HEADING]
[HEADING=2] This is what you want[/HEADING]


Live for Speed,the demo is free,you steer using mouse,super tehnical,basicaly a racing sim.
GO!


Customization you say? How about choosing how much fuel the pit crew put in your car,8.6% or 9%? How about custom skins for any car? How about no HUD,instead you look at the dashboard/formula1-type steering wheel for info on speed,and others.


This. A thousand times this.


I play the demo,it has insane servers,where Formula BMW championships are held daily,with everything from Qualifying to Blue Flags implemented.You really focus on taking seconds of your lap,until you reach the time needed to participate.

 

[PurpleSky]

I'm not a racing game fan, but isn't there a game called Trackmania that's pretty well the end all be all of PC racing?

Track mania is arcadey fun,but it's free,as far as I know,tried it ,many people racing at once,but not so fun after a while.

 

[GiantRedButton]

Burnout Paradise is very good, and very addictive

In which parallel universe is burnout paradise a racing sim? You gain bonus-points for making stunts and refill your turbo-bar. How is that a simulation
Good game anyway.

 

[Megacherv]

Burnout Paradise is very good, and very addictive

In which parallel universe is burnout paradise a racing sim? You gain bonus-points for making stunts and refill your turbo-bar. How is that a simulation
Good game anyway.

He never asked for a racing sim. He asked for a good racer on the PC

Besides, sim or not, it's pretty awesome

 

[JWRosser]

It's old, but look for Star Wars: Episode 1: Racer (not to be confused with the sequel, Racer Revenge)
I haven't played it in a good few years, but I remember it being awesome!

 

[shaboinkin]

rFactor is a pretty good racing sim
although rFactor 2 is supposed to be coming out in a bit. Lots of mods for the game.

Trackmania is a freaking amazing non racing sim. There's the free version which you can never get tired of due to the amount of servers running user made maps. And the one that costs $40 (go on sale for $20) has 4 or 5 different cars (each with it's own handling)/environments

Good shit

 

[GiantRedButton]

Burnout Paradise is very good, and very addictive

In which parallel universe is burnout paradise a racing sim? You gain bonus-points for making stunts and refill your turbo-bar. How is that a simulation
Good game anyway.

He never asked for a racing sim. He asked for a good racer on the PC

Besides, sim or not, it's pretty awesome

Oh right, sorry about that.
Well then he should definatly get burnout, if he can get it with the dlc that ads the restart race option. (ehich is sadly the worst dlc but the feature is required^^)

 

[Unrulyhandbag]

Burnout Paradise is very good, and very addictive

In which parallel universe is burnout paradise a racing sim? You gain bonus-points for making stunts and refill your turbo-bar. How is that a simulation
Good game anyway.

He never asked for a racing sim. He asked for a good racer on the PC

Besides, sim or not, it's pretty awesome

Oh right, sorry about that.
Well then he should definatly get burnout, if he can get it with the dlc that ads the restart race option. (ehich is sadly the worst dlc but the feature is required^^)

the words "technical racer" rather imply simulation. But burnout is as good as pure arcade games, should get it if you like driving games even slightly.

 

[Megacherv]

Burnout Paradise is very good, and very addictive

In which parallel universe is burnout paradise a racing sim? You gain bonus-points for making stunts and refill your turbo-bar. How is that a simulation
Good game anyway.

He never asked for a racing sim. He asked for a good racer on the PC

Besides, sim or not, it's pretty awesome

Oh right, sorry about that.
Well then he should definatly get burnout, if he can get it with the dlc that ads the restart race option. (ehich is sadly the worst dlc but the feature is required^^)

You have to get The Ultimate Box for the PC, which has the restert race option built-in.

He never asked for a racing sim. He asked for a good racer on the PC

Besides, sim or not, it's pretty awesome

Burnout, for its merits as a game, is not particularly technical, and doesn't really reward proper driving. That was specified in the OP.

I...urm...it has 1s and 0s...that's technical...right...right?

 

[Funkysandwich]

I have Burnout Paradise, I just forgot it was a racing game.

To be honest I haven't played it for months. I'm not after an arcade-style game, I've already played plenty of those.

Someone mentioned Star wars podracer. I used to love that game! But not really what I'm after.

I'd like something similar to Gran Turismo but on PC instead. I'm guessing it hasn't been made yet though.