Simbin GTR
DustyC reviews Simbin GTR - an incredibly accurate game based on FIA GT racing
“Yes please” was the response given for the rare chance to take a racing Dodge Viper GTS-R from the FIA GT Championship round Donington circuit.
With some help I clambered into the snug cockpit and was given an overview of the controls and how to operate the necessary systems. It wasn’t long before the engine roared to life with a sound only an 8 litre V10 could make. As the pit crew move of out the way I edge it carefully out of the pit garage and down the pit straight. Have a quick check in the mirrors as I enter the circuit and I’m off.
Oh……No I’m not. I switch the pit speed limiter off and try again. My god! Does this thing go! The sound is phenomenal, and the gear box whine sounds just as when heard from the in car view on TV footage, fantastic!
Surprisingly it grips like its glued all around Redgate thanks to the pre-warming of the tyres during practice. Using the paddle shift I start to flick it up through the gears, building confidence and gaining revs. Wow this thing sounds good! Approaching the next corner, gently brake (oops, next time gentler brakes! These are real anchors).
Accelerate again getting the power down, feeling the force of the corner build up against me through the steering wheel. The back progressively losing grip as I wind on a little oversteer and then boot it down the hill towards Craner Curves. It feels like I have been shot out of a canon as I hurtle past the Spitfire statue disappearing in a blur to my right and the Bluebird on the bridge fast approaching.
I start to notice that the Old Hairpin looks a lot tighter from the driver’s point of view and start to worry as I approach with too much speed. Desperately trying to get as much width from the track as possible I feel the brrrrrrr vibration through the steering as the wheels edge off the tarmac. As I turn in the back comes round too much and 270 degrees later I’m sat looking up towards the toilet block on the outfield! Somehow I didn’t stall but it surprised me just how quick it was to lose control and how hard it was to control. The feedback and technology are there, the skills are lacking though! I hear the yellow flag warning over the radio as I manoeuvre off the green stuff and back on to the black.
Hacking up through the gears again towards McLeans, getting the line just right and I’m through successfully. Feeling really good about it now and I drop speed quickly ready for the sharp Coppice Corner.
The feedback I’m getting from the steering tells me I have found the perfect smooth line through. As soon as I see it open up I start to squeeze the heavy throttle and blast off down the straight. I briefly notice the medieval ticket office building vanish on my left as the Dunlop bridge rapidly approaches. The Viper is really shifting now and the acceleration doesn’t seem to be reducing. I can see one of the Porsches up ahead and he is slowing up pretty quickly. That’s when I notice the old train carriage on the left.
Arrghhhh, the Esses! I slam on the brakes and lock up. Lift my foot off slightly and squeeze hard again. Corner rapidly approaching, I’m off the brakes again and flick the paddle down through the gears. By the time its too late I realise what engine braking does in a powerful rear wheel drive car. The back wheels lock momentarily, sending me sideways towards the Porsche.
Cringe, curse and crunch! Such a horrendous sound as the right hand side of the Viper smacks the rear of the Porsche hard. As I go airborne into a barrel roll I realise its time to give up on car control and start to think about bowel control. The car whacks down on its side and slowly tips back on to its wheels. Its certainly looking worse for wear but at least I kept it shiny side up!
“Do you want to try another car? The Elise is a little easier,” says the car dynamics developer. The voice isn’t coming from the pit radio this time. “Just press escape to get back to the menu”. Thank god its just a game. But what a game it is!
GTR – The Ultimate Racing Game
GTR is the new PC (and X-Box) game from Simbin developments. I took a trip up to Donington to try it out on the new Nixim racing simulators, and it was as close to racing as it could possibly be.
The President of Simbin is a driver of a Viper GTS-R in the FIA GTs (hence my first choice of car in the game). The development team have been attending FIA GT races since mid-season 2003, gathering masses of reference material (including video footage, sounds and thousands of photographs) which have all been utilised in the development of GTR.
In addition, GPS measurements taken at each circuit and 3D CAD prints sourced from the track designers and constructers have been used for modelling the circuits with unprecedented detail.
Co-operation between Simbin, the SRO organisation (organisers of the FIA GT) and the racing teams has been crucial in trying to achieve the utmost in realism. The teams competing in the FIA GT Championship have also provided real telemetry data from their cars during each race. This data has been input directly into GTR’s physics engine to give what must be the most realistic physics and car handling yet seen in a game.
This will explain why when I got out of the cock pit I was shaking just like after a spirited track drive! The real driving feel was definitely there. The fact that it didn’t like engine braking made me realise just how authentic a simulator it was.
Because the cars dynamics have been developed in such a realistic way the game even comes with the same Motec software as used by race teams for data analysis. This allows logging of a number of figures such as G force, revs, speed, oil temp etc at any point on the circuit.
The sounds and level to which the environmental noises can be manipulated is perfect for the sim racer. The engine sounds have all been recorded directly form the real cars.
For those of you that would prefer to keep it simple there is an arcade type mode, as well as a number of others. For the rest of us that dream of running a GT car, we now have the chance!
Features include:
- 10 individual wheel/suspension settings for each corner
- Motec data Analysis
- Aerodynamic adjustments
- Gear ratios
- 2 driver settings (as another player or AI)
- Network/internet link up
- Weather settings
- A multitude of video and audio settings
- Various views with the best in car views possible.
- Car damage
Now for the real hardcore racing sim fans there is another breakthrough with this game. The catchy sounding, "Naturalpoint ® TrackerIR Enhanced™Mode support”.
In essense this means that you can use a small set top unit and a pair of clear glasses to control your view of the circuit. Turn your head a little to the right when coming into a right-hander and you can effectively look across the corner!
GTR contains 10 officially licensed real world tracks and 68 officially licensed team specific GT and NGT cars including:
- Ferrari 550 Maranello
- Ferrari 575 GTC
- Ferrari 360 Modena
- Chrysler Viper GTS-R
- Lister Storm
- Lamborghini Diablo GT-R
- Lamborghini Murciélago R-GT
- Saleen S7
- Mosler MT900
- Chevrolet Corvette C5-R
- Porsche 993 GT2
- Porsche 996 Turbo
- Porsche 996 GT3-RS
- Porsche 996 GT3 Cup
- Seat Toledo
- Morgan Aero 8
- BMW Z3 M
- Lotus Elise
- Vertigo Streiff
Although the game features additional unlockable bonuses it doesn’t need them to keep me hooked. I’d be quite happy trying to beat my lap times over and over. A cheap alternative to track days?!
Game release on the PC is this summer, quickly followed by an X-Box version.
For pictures and teaser clips see www.simbin.com
The simulator units I used to try the game were also new and were made by Nixim. They include pedal and steering weighting control and can be fully adjusted to give the exact feel you want.
I want one! More details at www.nixim.com
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