This Sim is just simply amazing.....

[Sascha Henken]

Finally the package arrived today in Germany. Just sitting here since 5pm without a break and was mostly online. The Sim Factory have done an incredible job. All my personal expectations gone true with this simulation. I do enjoy this sim with max. GFX settings without a framerate lost and I don´t think it looks cartoonish or blurrish that some people stated. Also the fact how good the physics are. I´m NOT a real racedriver and therefore I cannot judge on real stockcar physics but this is just simply amazing. YOu have to be serious with your throttle and brake. It just feels set right entirely. Driven on Milwaukee, Tona, DuQuoin (i love that one) so far and cannot get enough.

It is also absolutely amazing what a simple wedge adjustment can have affect an entire opposite effect. Started with a default TSF factory setup and Milwaukee, did 20 laps to get used to the track, cornering speed etc. and then just adjusted the wedge into the negative let´s say 5 clicks from the original setting and the car felt different. More snap loose mid-corner and so so I had to play more with the throttle, not to loose my car. Getting hotter tires gives more grip and the car settles in, you can go a bit more aggressive but not that long or your tires loose grip if you overstress them to much. I´m also much impressed with the ingame admin panel. You can easily manage an entire race event without letting the game manage the things. You can easly call and withdraw yellow cautions periods, you can give players penalties, Longest Line, Laps+ Laps- etc. and everything with just a simple click with the mouse.

The install of the sim went smoothly. No problems during DVD verification when starting the sim. Setting up the G25 with its default profile that comes with the sim is for me sufficient enough to start with. Just needed around 10 minutes until set up and beeing ready for a ride.
Thank you The Sim Factory, to everyone ínvolved and also all the Beta Testers and real stockcar drivers that helped you through all this. It was worth the wait absolutely and I am yet not be disappointed.
The only contra I have to post here is:

• Improve the spotter please. The default one is way annoying. I hope you get the chance to have a real spotter recording all the available words into the sim that makes it even more realistic.
• The AI sucks mostly. They are just dumb, don´t have a brain, crash you mostly. They don´t have eyes and don´t even try to avoid you at some tracks if you´re beeing run over by them. It´s in fact more fun online than offline. The AI will never offer the racing experience that you can get online! But for the fairness to every customer try to improve the AI part as good as you guys can

I know that i´ve mostly written positive things but yet I haven´t found any negative spots myself. For a serious simracer that wants to join a serious league and you do enjoy oval racing, that THIS sim is the right thing for you! You won´t regret it
Thank you very much! :up:

[Attila Domján]

Ollle, very nice review, now i am waiting even more unpatiently...

[Christophe]

nice review

[Marcel Hulsbergen]

I can only say, buy it, it is awesome, i did some racrs online and it can be very very close. Racing at 300 Kmh with 3 or 4 cars arround you at 1 m is amazing.

[Jarrod Crossley]

Hey Mr postman please hurry up.

[Jacco Cornelissen]

I'm waiting and waiting

[Christopher Aponte]

& keep waiting

[Gareth Hickling]

Tick tick tick........ My head is going to explode!

[Marcel Hulsbergen]

Maybe i will sell mine

[Jarrod Crossley]

Originally Posted by Marcel Hulsbergen

Maybe i will sell mine

Checks Ebay ....

[Bram Hengeveld]

Originally Posted by Marcel Hulsbergen

Maybe i will sell mine

Why is that?

[Marcel Hulsbergen]

I think i can make serious money with it now I will never sell it it's amazing i just posted a sound fix which is really needed.

[Mark A Warmington]

Mr postman paid me a visit today [at work] and left me my "postage still to pay" card. Which immediately got me excited as I knew the only thing that I was expecting through the post, with customs charges, was my copy of ARCA.

Fortunately the depot was a 10 minute walk from my office [via an ATM].

£12.50 customs charge on top of the initial $55.98 including P&P means I have paid a total of £41.65 ish for the game. Not bad if it turns out to match all of the rave reviews it has been getting during development.

I'll be sure to come back and update this post with my initial reactions.

[Sascha Henken]

Nice you got it Mark. You have two more days to get excited but then I need a draftpartner on track at our first event. I hope you still remember ;)

[James Johnson]

sasha how about me i can do 48.3s with good draft partner

[Mark A Warmington]

Now to put it in words:

I have not raced a stock car game for a few years now [Papy's Nascar 2003] so I can't really make a fair comparison.

What I can say is that from the little tactile memory I do have - ARCA feels smoother [to me at least]. Maybe this is because I have a better controller and it is setup better than the one I had those years ago. Maybe I am a little older and wiser [pfft - yeah right].

However - running on my own at Daytona I could do 49.6's lap, after lap, after lap, after lap. Setting the car on exactly the line I wanted without any problems what-so-ever.

I never ran the stockcar mod for rFactor - so I can't compare to this either.

Running with the AI was an eye opener - as bump drafting was a new experience [it resulted in wrecks in N2003]. However - in ARCA I wasn't aware the AI had caught me until I felt/sensed a slight nudge in the rear and felt the car step a bit through the turn. I immediately realised the nutter in the AI car was bump drafting. Unfortunuately - not being used to this, he then bumped me out of the way and off the track.

During a quick AI race on 100% I was amazed at how sturdy the cars were when being bumped around in the pack and slammed into the wall. Again - immediate result in N2003 [wreck] in ARCA [nothing but some bent panels and some angry drivers. The cars literally bumped into each other and banged fenders but did not crash [not even me!!!].

Gut feeling - ARCA is going to be good. I need to do some serious practice as I can see this being fun.

NB - just my initial gut reactions.

[Mark A Warmington]

Originally Posted by Sascha Henken

Nice you got it Mark. You have two more days to get excited but then I need a draftpartner on track at our first event. I hope you still remember ;)

Deal!!!