Downloaded the Race 07 demo tonight and entered my first event after spending an hour and a half trying to get my wheel to work with the game. Eventually got it to work under a different device name. Go figure.

Won my first event (13 laps), driving a BMW. Fun game. No damage modeling or else there'd be a LOT of scratches on my ride (I did a little pushing and shoving on the way to the checkered flag).

Hey, they don't call me "Crash" for nothing!

Here's me taking my victory lap.

You're a bloody good sport Leemz, good show. You faired much better than I would have with the S3 group.

Thanks, bish.

Yeah, I never even meant to finish the race. It was getting a little late (had to be up at 4am) and I was only going to go a few laps and then call it a night. Well, after about 6 laps or so I found myself in the lead and wanted to see if I could hang on and win. By the end, I was well out in front and even though I spun out once or twice I still won by a comfortable margin. Of course, this was all on Novice settings so I need to step up the difficulty.

I think I'll grab this game even though I'm not crazy about having Steam on my PC again. Dang. It took about a half hour to install the damn demo just because of setting up an account with Steam.

I'm still bummin' that I can't get my wheel to work with TOCA 2. I really liked that game and it still holds up graphically despite being 4 years old. No idea what the problem is. I'm thinking it's a device/driver issue but not certain. Couldn't find any drivers/software at the Logitech site so I may be out of luck.

I really don't want to have to buy a new wheel because I just don't play the racing games all that much. Of course, it'd be nice to have FF because the wheel I have for my PC doesn't have it, though the one I have for my 360 does.

you do know you can use your x60 will with your PC right? just need that 360 gear receiver for your PC.

Are you talking about the MS 360 racing wheel? I don't have one, I have a Logitech (with FF) but it's not wireless, for my 360. I really think I prefer the gamepad to the wheel on the 360. Not sure why. I might give the wheel on the 360 another try though.

But, I almost got the receiver to use with the 360 gamepad for my PC too. That might work with TOCA2. If not, I think I'll be OK with the wheel I have for Race 07.

Yeah, I got the racing "bug" again. It never lasts long but I have it now and I'm having fun with these games. Looking forward to Baja this summer. That looks like a hoot.

Hey Magnum,

I got the wireless receiver for my 360 gamepad up and running (I think). Is it supposed to show up in the Game Controllers from the Control Panel? Cuz it doesn't.

ToCa didn't see it either. But, that game sees nothing but my keyboard. I'm going to try it in Race 07, just to see if it's working.

Man, I'm likin' this game.

Just installed the full version and won another race (on 2nd lowest difficulty). Having a lot of fun with this one. Maybe I don't need to bother with ToCa2.

Get yourself online, its even better. And dont worry about not being the fastest, there's always someone to race



or race against yourself

I haven't installed the online version of the game yet. Still need to practice. But, I'm really liking this game.

I also want to grab one more racing game. I've narrowed it down to rFactor, GTR2 or GT Legends. I've been playing the demos of all 3.

GT Legends is only $10 at Best Buy so I think I'll buy that anyway. So, it'll really come down to either rFactor or GTR2. I liked the demo for rFactor the best. But, it's a close call. One thing I'm not crazy about with rFactor, however, is the digital/direct download purchase. On the other hand, I had an issue with the GTR2 demo and had to un-install it because it simply stopped working. Odd.

I was leaning towards getting ToCa 3 but I've cooled on that idea after reading more about it.

I've also been having fun with Forza 2 (though Kerpal isn't liking that I'm enjoying Forza 2 so much).

You can get GT Legends and GTR2 in a package deal for about $20 I believe. Here it is on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Viva-Media-00347-G...11685166&sr=8-2

And I think I saw it at Best Buy too. If you are going to buy GTR2 I would get GT Legends as well so that you can use the Power & Glory mod for GTR2. It is basically the GTL cars with handling physics from when they raced whereas GTL is old cars with some modern upgrades on the cars.

On the other hand, if you want to race with the SimHQ crew you need to get rFactor. I have all of the above. I can't recommend one above the other - each has it's advantages.

Thanks for the info, Biff.

Yes, I noticed that many SimHQ'ers are facing rFactor and I love all the downloads available at rFactor Central. I'd like to race with others from SimHQ but I'm a complete noob and a bit of a hack on the track (just ask any of the Forza2 gang that gets together on the 360 on Saturdays). I can't make it through a race without ruining someone's day.

I'll probably take a ride to Best Buy today and see what they have. There's also a Gamestop next door and a Circuit City down the road a bit so I should be able to find something.

Hey Leemz don't worry about TOCA3. I bought it and Race07 almost at the same time and they are both great games to play. OK so we know they are not true sims but I think they have got the balance about right in both especially after you have taken some time with the settings.

You can pick TOCA3 up cheap now so just go for it.

I use a Thrustmaster wheel and pedals and they work great with every racing game I have although I tend to use the paddle throttle and brake as I prefer it.

If you want any info on TOCA3 first then let me know.

PS I just found a review I did for TOCA3 for another forum. .......

Quote "It is an excellent game and a big improvement in the same way that 2 was much better than the first.

3 is much easier to find your way around and winning a championship unlocks 3 more and so on and you only have to win 1 championship in a tier of 3 to move up to the next and you can move up and down to re-play any races you want as you unlock them.

The graphics are superb when set to max with nice shiny cars and detailed backdrops. The cars move far more realisttically too and don't hop around the track any more. The cut scenes of the boss telling you how well you are doing is of much improved quality with almost film like characters and the modelling of the pit girls has to be seen to be believed!!

There are two gripes though. First is that if you come into contact with another car nothing ever happens to them but you get sent off the track. You try and muscle your way past into a corner for example and you always come off worst.

Secondly, as with most racing sims the others cars have far better grip than you. Winning the races relies on a good grid position and being faster through the corners to stay ahead but start from near the back and you will see all the cars going around corners on rails as you slide off into the scenery.

But it's all good fun and once you have learned the track getting a decent grid position is easy. In fact it is an easier game to play all round because the cars handle so well with 4 wheel slides possible through the corners finely balanced on the throttle.

If you like motor racing games then I can certainly recommend this which will give you hours of fun."

Don't bother with the Toca series if you're into sims, they are not.
Start racing Race07 online it's great.
As for another sim, get the GTL/GTR2 package, forget rFactor. GTL is on eof the best racing games i've played.

I've got one major concern about GTR2. Anytime I try to run the demo it crashes and I get Microsoft's famous dialog box: "Sorry for the inconvenience but MS must close this program blah blah blah".

Not sure why this is happening. I could have sworn I was able to run this demo at one point but now it won't work. Today I downloaded and installed the original GTR demo and got the same error.

Oddly, the GT Legends Demo runs fine (same developer, isn't it?).

Well, I just ran the ToCa 3 demo again and I've pretty much ruled it out. A few things stuck out right away after driving in Race O7 and the GT Legends and rFactor games.

First, it seems like all the races are 3 laps long. I remember this from ToCa 2 as well. Unless there are longer races in the "campaign", I seem to recall all the races being no more than 3 laps, which is ridiculous.

Second, the cars handle like they're on rails. I just ran a race in a Mercedez and I was doing 150+mph and tapped the breaks and completed a hairpin turn in a fraction of a second. WTF?!?!?

Now, I don't need something to be 100% realistic but this is just wrong. And it was on Hard difficulty.

I mean, sure, the game actually looks pretty good, especially since it's a few years old. But, the physics just aren't there.

I'm leaning towards rFactor now even though I don't really feel like spending $40. I was hoping to get GTR2 for $20 but I'm afraid it won't run.

If Race 07 runs on your machine then GTR2 will run no problem.

Yup. I got the demo to run for GTR2. I was forgetting to select which version of DX to run (7, 8 or 9) in the video config screen. Once I chose DX9 the game started and ran nicely.

This will be the game I buy. It's half the price of rFactor which is nice. I think I'll order it today.

Must be something to do with your set up. I find the cars handle brilliantly and far better than in the first 2. The only thing I find like I said in my review is that your car goes off on the corners where the AI cars go round and the same speeds. But the car control is much better.

As for the laps well I think they are defaulted at 3 but from memory it's easy to make them much longer in the menus before each race. Remember that the demo is not full featured and your handling could be down to it being pre-release. The full game is so cheap now it's no big risk just to buy it.

ToCa 3 looks nice but it's a much lower priority now. I found it for $20 online but I got GTR2/GT Legends for $18 (+ shipping). Even rFactor is only $30. I might get that eventually.

I really liked ToCa 2 but now that I've played Race 07 and the demos for GTR2 and rFactor I can tell that those are the games I'd prefer more.