I started to play the arcadey Codemaster's F1 series (2013 and 2014) and then got into Raceroom, R3E. Wich i've been playing religiously for the past week (vacation! woo!)
My first racing game ever. I´m old... So I raced a lot of racing games in my life so far. - Grand Prix (Accolade) - Test Drive 1 & 2 (Accolade) - Grand Prix - Series (Mircoprose) - most GP2 with many good mods from the community) Also buyed GTR 1 & 2 and GTL, but my first Wheel a G25 I bought 2006 with Race - The WTCC Game. At this I was infected with the Simracing-Virus. After that I played Race07 with all his addons since 2007 and up to now. I also race in Assetto and RRE, but I love my good old Race07. And I hope, that Sector 3 makes RRE to the quality of GTR, GTL and Race - Series. They are on a real good way, but there are also some work for the future.
The game that really got me back into driving games/sims in general this time was Eurotruck SImulator 2. I'm not sure what possessed me to buy it, but once i did, I HAD to have a wheel...NOW! Then I found R3E and dabbled in that a little. Then found Assetta Corsa and really dove in. Now I have come back to R3E and prefer it at the moment - it's just fun and immersive. But yeah, I owe it all to ETS2, and still play it regularly - (bring on Scandinavia!!) Before my current gaming obsession, there was Rad Racer back in the day, and Gran Tourismo 1 was mind blowing at the time - really got into that.
It was Microprose Grand Prix on Amiga, but Sports Car GT was the first real addiction. Also bought my 1st Logitech FFB wheel in those days, I remember it costed 2,5 times more than my monthly salary, but i never regret it, have had really good times with it.
For me it started with AC for about a year ago, and I was blown away. I had only played arcade racers before that, and I couldn't dream of how big of a difference it could be with sim racing!! But ironically AC that amazed, and showed me all the good things of sim racing. Is now at the bottom of my list.. .
Like many here I've been playing racing games for over twenty years. My first was 1990's Days of Thunder on the Amiga 500. In retrospect, an incredibly poor game but I was only 9 years old. Again, like many, Geoff Crammond's Grand Prix (Amiga, 1992) was the racing game that first started me on the simulation path. It may look terrible now but at the time that game was so immersive and had a surprising amount of depth. However my interest in "hardcore" sim-racing is a fairly recent thing. Between owning an Amiga 500 (then 1200) and my current PC I was pretty much exclusively a console gamer, although I did have a fairly basic PC that I played the occasional game on, but not race sims. So to answer the question: "which initial Racing Experience brought you to (Hardcore-)Simracing ?" It was actually a combination of Gran Turismo 5 and Forza Motorsport 4, or more specifically the shortcomings of these games. They left me feeling unfulfilled and wanting more realism and depth rather than the glossy graphics and hundreds of cars of GT and Forza that disguise what are essentially quite one-dimensional, hollow experiences. So towards the end of 2011 I decided to get myself some decent Fanatec gear and start saving for a capable gaming PC which I built in May 2012. Since then I haven't looked back. I packed up/sold my consoles and embraced not just sim-racing, but PC gaming as a whole.
Formula One Grand Prix by Geoff Crammond for me as well (PC however) and I remember loving driving through monaco with an analog joystick. played a lot of the very first need for speed, which my memory still makes me think was the best, also enjoyed the Colin McRae titles. was drawn towards the more modern sim racing by GPL, and the FIA GT mod by simbin for some F1 game. Though took until Race07/GTR-Evolution to actually get a wheel and much more joy out of it, and since then wouldn't want something else.
It started in 1992. I can still remember Ayrton's voice over during the race. In his English Brazilian ascent he would say "com on, com on". Sega Megadrive. Then i upgraded to the Sega Saturn and that wheel, high tech bit of gear that was. From there i went to PC and a Hyperstimulator and GC's F1 games. Since then there have been many Rig changes and upgrades. I have owned most every Sim game from GPL to Race07. The GTR 1&2 , Live for speed , IceRacing, Papyrus, R Factor, and so on and so on. SOME SAY HE NEEDS PSYCHIATRIC HELP ALL I KNOW IS THEY CALL HIM A SIM RACING ADDICT.
I'm older for it was Indy car racing 2 and nascar by Papyrus ( the iracing dev ) that made me buy a wheel. I even had a wheel ( that needed batterie) on my coleco vision. Had and still have a wheel on my dreamcast. But I think the Original GTR and Gt legend really got me into it, got in leagues and the passion never stopped after
In my childhood i played Road Rash, Grand Prix 2 and later NFS Underground. I came closer to Sim Racing then with more or less F1 2010/11, the CMR and DiRT Series and Shift 1+2.
All of them, from Geoff Crammond`s F1GP 1 onwards, but particularly Codemaster`s Toca 1/2 and the Colin Mcrae`s up to CM5. Then there`s Richard Burn`s Rally and Gran Turismo, Forza etc etc. I just dabbled in the `hardcore` sims though, playing them for a little while and then moving on. Until now. Despite it`s many faults, I`ve fallen in love with R3E enough to spend vast (for me) amounts of money on a wheel (Thrustmaster T300), pedals, racing seat and frame, and a dedicated TV, just for the game, which sits next to my normal pc and monitor setup. Mind you, I still think the best driving controller I evcer owned was Namco`s Negcon......
Im still quite a young gun with sims but it started for me when i brought gran turismo 3 for ps2 about 5 years ago when i clocked it i realised i quite like racing "sims" (gt is a bit of a mix) I then played the odd bit of gt4 and ferrari challenge during my world of tanks stage(i still play a bit). one cristmas got my wheel (my mate got it off trademe but gave it to me.) a logitech driving force EX 180, which prompted me to move to pc sims (even though ) on steam so i bought race07 and in turn brought all the dlc(because i loved it) then r3e became avalible followed by ac. since then I have tryed iracing but was turned off by the exessive price, ac which while graphicly impessive has yet to be a very enjoyable sim due to very poor ai and poor support for older wheels. so r3e has become my main sim (i still played race07 and gtr2)
Uuuh, love these topics Ill just list my corner stones, otherwise there are way too many. Indianapolis 500 on the Amiga has to take credit for being the first that really hooked me. Was in 1989. Grand Prix for being the first sim on PC that got me. IndyCar Racing 1 and 2 brought me back the to fluent driving of Indy 500. Grand Prix 2. Spent so many hours with this. Need for Speed II SE: My first multiplayer experience. Well, 2 people over a T-based network. Need for Speed Hot Pursuit: Large scale multiplayer over network at some LAN events. Massive fun. Rally Masters: First real competitive online experience. Grand Prix Legends: Oh boy, life has never been the same since then. GTR: Hit like a bomb and threw GPL into my drawer. Since then, been dabbing with the usual suspects. GTL, GTR2, Race07, RBR, LFS, rFactor and rFactor 2, netKar Pro, iRacing, GSC, Assetto Corsa and R3E.