That's why it was a question. You framing my question as a statement is actually idiotic. How is that even true when I mentioned three things as fundamental? You just don't understand that dynamic track condition isn't fundamental, because it relies on other - actually fundamental - elements to be well done in order for it to even work. Here's a definition: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/fundamental fundamental - forming the base, from which everything else develops Dynamic track conditions are not forming the base of a racing sim, from which everything else develops. That statement would be absurd.
The hardcore sim community core values currently seem to be physics (with FFB) and good multiplayer functionality, at least that is how I see them. Hardcore simracers don't give a whistle about graphics and other "superficial" qualities and generally race agains other humans. However, I personally don't find weather with day & night cycle or a good AI a superficial value in a sim. Does that make me less hardcore? Probably. But if Raceroom would include these and some other, it could attract more players even without a better graphics and I would enjoy it more. Wouldn't you? At least somewhat more? Yes, the fundamental quality of a sim racing game needs to be solid physics and FFB - if that is lacking, no other functionality will convince a simracer to play & support a game. But do you really want to stay focused only on the hardcore values and disregard all other qualities? Would a good weather implementation somehow diminish the value of a good core physics implementation? Would a better AI (which Raceroom's is currently still one of the best racingwise if a bit unbalanced at moments ) diminish a well implemented multiplayer experience? Would a good UI (which Raceroom's, again, is a very solid one) make a game less user friendy? It wouldn't. But it could give you and me a better, more rounded and easier to use racing sim. So, simracing community should ask itself : does it want to support racing sims that only promote core values? Or should it strive for sim racing games that implement core values AND other values, that see superficial at first glance, but should be considered core for a game that tries to be a simulation of car racing? I'm thinking... day/night, weather, seasons, wind, altitude, track evolution, realistic damage modelling, good AI, sound, custom championships, customizable racing rules, safety cars...all catering for a changing and engagind driving environment. Many of the current sims scratch some of those ideas to a bigger or lesser degree, none does it all. I would love to witness a publisher and developer brave enough to bring us a next level sim racing game that would include all of those and more somewhere in the future. Insisting on core values only won't make that progress happen. Regards, TinMan
No current game in my view offers a complete package of enjoyable yet challenging physics, a wide range of official content, single and multiplayer environments,excellent graphics and sound and able to run on a mid range system and not be a cash grab. They all miss at least one of these key aspects although some add extra nice-to-have ones like customisation, modding of cars, tracks and liveries. Of the games still under development, RRE is standing still in terms of features and the active player base has been stagnating since the worst of the pandemic passed. I am not a big fan of the gimmicky stuff like progressive or real historic weather but when other games are offering it with little performance impact, you don´t want to be the only one without it either. If you add the lack of driver swaps, limited realistic mechanical damage (engine, clutch, brakes), track surface evolution, altitude, wind, temperatures, dirty air etc then it really puts a lot of strain on the redeeming features to compensate.
My point was that this wasn't the choice at all, because the sims that deliver on other values, fail to some degree at core values. In the end you need to compromise either on one or the other. And you can't really expect the genre to advance if you compromise on the most elementary features, even if that means more features in total. Complexity doesn't equal fidelity. But I agree it makes sense from a marketing point of view. People in general want more over better, because unless the difference in quality is big enough, or somebody is conscious enough about his options, it's easier to judge quantity than quality.
I personally think that Raceroom is the best all round sim out at the moment, shiny stuff im not really bothered about but changeable weather can make things interesting. I believe the FFB is the best out of all the sims not fussy with loads of options and provides really good feel as what the car is doing, the gui is also really good. The cost to play the sim is very reasonable, I believe £100 could buy the complete game unlike iRacing with that only covering the subscription for a year and their extremely expensive cars and tracks and free otterhud is awesome. ACC looks great if you got a high end PC which I haven't so I have to run it with loads turned down even with DLSS on and the FFB can sometime for me feel like your on ice or floating an inch off the ground and the car variety boring! RF2 rubbish UI and no real content, I know its meant to have the best FFB but I dont like it. AC I do like the single player element of the game dont ever really do any multiplayer. Negatives for Raceroom the multiplayer base which is where iRacing shines I wish could be more populated and sometimes the driving standards (I have another thread moaning about that ) are pretty bad! Overall though for me Raceroom has great car variety, great track variety, graphically ok for me just needs a multiplayer boost.