Home simulator
Author
Discussion

TurboSHerts

Original Poster:

127 posts

80 months

Friday 6th August 2021
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I am looking at buying a home race simulator that I can use (possibly start online racing/prep for track days/ having some fun) but also my 2 boys (9 and 12) who are more used to PS5 type gaming.

I don’t want to build my own simulator, I want a decent one and I want it to be intuitive, easy to use and adjustable (kids and me to use) …

What are the options out there for ready built plug and play options and what are the best software options etc

Very new to this so apologies for very basic questions !

Thanks

Stevil

10,799 posts

249 months

Friday 6th August 2021
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There's a few threads on this forum that are probably worth a look at, but the first question is probably what's your budget? Cheapest setup is probably an XBox / Playstation with a basic wheel and pedals bolted to a table and you can probably get something for £500 or thereabouts, going all the way up to £100k+ for fully-immersive rigs with gyro-movement, multiple screens and all sorts.

TurboSHerts

Original Poster:

127 posts

80 months

Friday 6th August 2021
quotequote all
OK … I will search the threads … budget - I would go to say £15-20k … ideally closer to £10k …

Stevil

10,799 posts

249 months

Friday 6th August 2021
quotequote all
For 10 you'd definitely get something awesome, most of the guys here are running some great home built stuff and can probably advise on the best gear better than me, but Fanatec wheels and shifters have a good rep.

Quick Google throws this up https://www.twentyoneperformance.com/collections/e...

Would also be worth thinking about whether you want one screen, multiple wraparound ones or a VR headset which will give you loads more immersion but at the cost of a bit of visual fidelity.

hilts uk

83 posts

110 months

Monday 9th August 2021
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You can build one yourself and save £1-2k but if you want an out of the box I'd recommended FPZero. I've had mine for about 18 months and they have great aftersales service (my wheelbase was faulty so they lent me another one).

https://www.fpzero.co.uk/


MrVert

4,455 posts

259 months

Monday 9th August 2021
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Depending on your room layout…A PC / PS4, plus a PlaySeat with a decent wheel / pedal set and a projector can be pretty good…less than £1k all in…and it’s great fun to use.

PlaySeat also folds up, quite handy to tuck it out of the way sometimes…

Projector top left of the shelf unit..



BillyWhizz888

959 posts

173 months

Monday 9th August 2021
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For a 10k budget you'll have a very top end.

Fanatec dd1 or dd2 be ideal for a wheel base and i cant fault heusinkveld sprints for feel.

Lots of different rigs depending how compact you want. From sim lab, track racer.
I use a next level racing rig.

Also option for curved TV for amazing fps, tripples that will require a good high end pc to run full smooth. Or take the immersion to the full and go vr


SCEtoAUX

4,119 posts

101 months

Monday 9th August 2021
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Oh... when the thread title was 'home simulator' I imagined a VR setup in an office where a virtual wife tells you to stop drinking so much and spend more time with the children before going to bingo again and returning home at 2:00am stinking of aftershave and the remnants of some third-rate Asti Spumante spilled on her latest Primark ensemble.

rodericb

8,347 posts

146 months

Wednesday 18th August 2021
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SCEtoAUX said:
Oh... when the thread title was 'home simulator' I imagined a VR setup in an office where a virtual wife tells you to stop drinking so much and spend more time with the children before going to bingo again and returning home at 2:00am stinking of aftershave and the remnants of some third-rate Asti Spumante spilled on her latest Primark ensemble.
Ha ha. I was thinking of that Simpsons episode with "I wanna go on the yard work simulator!!"

Dave.

7,772 posts

273 months

Wednesday 18th August 2021
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rodericb said:
SCEtoAUX said:
Oh... when the thread title was 'home simulator' I imagined a VR setup in an office where a virtual wife tells you to stop drinking so much and spend more time with the children before going to bingo again and returning home at 2:00am stinking of aftershave and the remnants of some third-rate Asti Spumante spilled on her latest Primark ensemble.
Ha ha. I was thinking of that Simpsons episode with "I wanna go on the yard work simulator!!"
Without taking this thread too far off topic.... i thought this was a pisstake when i first saw it!

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/lawn-mowing-simu...redfaceverviewtab


Griffith4ever

6,105 posts

55 months

Thursday 19th August 2021
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To actually get the feel of depth of corners, like in real life, you want VR. Big high definition monitors look lovely but are not 3D, and if you are wanting practice for real tracks then VR will literally put you there.

For example. Pick up a game, do a fast lap in a new car, new track, new game, first time. You'll understeer round most corners or spin / run off onto the grass . After a while you'll learn the corner rates and adapt. Do the same with VR, and just like your first lap on a track day, you won't spin off or crash, because the curve of the corners is real 3D and you can see and feel their progression.

For me this was the biggest surprise of VR. I thought the immersion would be the killer feature but it's the true 3D that is.

The best bit? A Quest 2 is only £299 and utterly superb for the money.

4anascooter

318 posts

207 months

Thursday 19th August 2021
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Ooh £299 you say..that peaks an interest. However my graphics card isnt man enough to drive VR so any suggestions for a sensible budget option that will run the current set of sims (AMS2, ACC etc) at a decent rate?

Griffith4ever

6,105 posts

55 months

Thursday 19th August 2021
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Well I run an RTX 2060 which wasn't expensive and runs the Quest 2 with ease, but they are quite hard to get hold of right now I imagine, for a sensible price anyhow.

The QUest 2 is really amazing. It'll play PC linked games at full tilt wirelessly. Wireless is a game changer too. You can barely see pixels too. Unlike my original Quest.

saxon

428 posts

270 months

Wednesday 25th August 2021
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I second the VR recommendation - it's literally a whole different world! I can run the original Assetto Corsa and P Cars 2 in VR on an I7/7700 and GTX1080 but I think for best results and latest racers you really need to move up to the RX6800XT/RTX3080 class of graphics. I've just paid £950 for an RX6800XT after waiting 8 months for an RTX3080 that is seemingly never coming. That's £300 over RRP and seemingly a bargain at present due to supply constraints. The easiest way to move up to a top class video card is to buy a whole new machine though.

Saxon


Bullett

11,107 posts

204 months

Wednesday 25th August 2021
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I have a cinema screen in my gaming room but use VR for most of my racing.
The early ones (first Vive, first consumer Rift) were an amazing experience but as someone said you didn't quite have the fidelity of vision but you didn't really notice once racing.
I use a PIMAX 5K+ now improved resolution and more importantly larger FOV.

For 10k you are at the top end, screens, VR, motion platforms, top end PC/GPU's