Is this the most realistic driving/racing sim according to some of you guys?

I'm talking mostly about the driving physics itself rather than the damage and stuff. Understeer, oversteer, how cars handle, etc.

Compared to games like, say, Gran Turismo, would you say BeamNG.drive is the most realistic driving sim out there, since all the physics of each car is simulated, especially at like a thousand frames a second?
Just asking the community what people think.

 

Damage yes, handling no.

For handling most people rate the Assetto Corsa series quite highly from what I've seen.

 

its certainly very realistic. The cars flex and transfer wieght like they would irl which helps the handling feel real. The force feedback im not too sure about, but i fell like its ok

 

What makes you think that? Are cars still just a bit too floppy/more flexible than they need to be? What do you think removes from the realism in terms of handling?
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I'm sure that's gonna get tweaked, and I'm also sure it's a hundred times better with one of those Direct Drive wheels.

 

The forces on the car body/chassis itself feel perfectly fine, but the tire model leaves something to be desired. I couldn't put my finger on what it is, but compared to real driving and other sims, it doesn't quite feel right.

 

The way the tire's are simulated isn't very realistic due to the game engine's capability's, compared to the body. if I remember right
(Vaguely remember a dev member saying something about it.)

 

Maybe they're not as grippy as they should be? Like they understeer/oversteer when they shouldn't?

 

i think its like running on cold tyres all the time, they dont heat up
correct me if im wrong

 

I believe tires are always at operating temp. No tire thermals/flatspots atm, it seems like those are a "maybe someday" on the to do list.

 

There is not any simulator like this, that simulates engine thermals, clutch, gears and wheels as BeamNG does. I don't know how to properly explain it as I find it difficult even in my native language. You may think that cars are slippery, or they tend to understeer too easily but it's just as real life. Even with the best wheel and seat setup you don't have the same force feedback and G forces you have while driving a real life car, so your reaction times and awareness are totally affected as a half second delay in your response may lead to a spin or your car going straight on a curve.
And that's the ideal case as most of us play the game with an Xbox controller (and some insane players use the keyboard, ugh).

Where the game shines is at low speed driving. I love to let off the clutch slowly as I press the gas, just as in my real car, I love having the same fear to stall the car in ramps or the steep roads of WCUSA, as I do have with my own car too. I love to disable the ESP and do crazy things like crashing into a big pile of Covets as I do with m... oh, well, forget about that part.

Jokes aside, I'm aware that this game has some issues, and the tyre simulation isn't perfect, but then again no one is doing that either! I get angry when people call this an indie game, maybe because it's my favorite game but I guess it's on par or even better than some AAA driving titles. I'd love that the graphics and sounds at low RPMs get tweaked in the near future, as those are my only gripes with this game.

 

The advantage beam has, is that everything is simulated, in all other Sims most ffb effects are faked in some way... This means car setup plays a big role in ffb quality, some official cars are better than others, apart from the lackluster tire physics beams ffb is definitely the most realistic overall out there... But definitely the best feeling...

 

Totally agree with TheAdmiester here, the body physics are pretty much spot on, but the tire model is still kinda lacking. The devs are working on it thought last I heard.

 

BeamNG.Drive is independantly produced, as the company publishes it themselves. So it is an indie game by definition. AAA studios have massive teams and equally large budgets, whereas BeamNG is only around 50 people.

 

And what's hilarious is that usually indie games end up being a hundred times better than AAA publishers.

 

I know, it is an indie game, I just get angry because it feels quite a lot more polished than a lot of AAA games. (Looking at you, MAFIA III)

 

Welcome to Indie Games 101, lmao

 

https://blog.beamng.com/a-look-at-tire-development-in-beamng-part-2/

This is the last we heard about tire development... it is basically the last "great hurdle" in this games physics engine to really nail down. (yes there is lots more to do, but you all know what I mean... I hope)

I think its fair to assume that they have made great progress in their tire model since then... I mean, it was pretty darn close to begin with... but then again the last 20% of the results usually end up requiring 80% of the effort... so that last little push probably isn't so little.

A massive amount of discussion has been done over here

https://www.beamng.com/threads/guys-come-to-talk-about-tires.58720/

and honestly, if you were to go talk about it over there, I bet it would pick right back up again... tires are basically one of our favorite subjects.

 

BeamNG is definitely up there on the list in terms of handling, but dedicated sim games definitely have it beat.

 

Agree, this game is really fun, and the crash physics are one of a kind, however games like iRacing and Assetto have high speed handling beat imo.

 

I would nominate iRacing as it is officially used by actual race car drivers in there off seasons, of course these guys probably have $6,000 wheel and peddle setups. The only slight issue I find with BeamNG is that the wheel contact on the road surface is made by individual nodes which cuts down on the realism at slower speeds, at higher speeds its a little more realistic because of how quickly the nodes hit the ground in succession. To illustrate its the equivalent of attaching small rubber balls on your real tires to touch the ground, the handling will be wonky.

Imagine if each spring is a rubber grip, Similar to BeamNG tires currently


Although I think the nodes are staggered adding to the grip realism, one solution may be a staggered 3 or 4 row node setup, but then performance starts to take a hit.