The best rally sim on this planet

[Form]

For those of you who are not lucky enough to drive full scale 1:1 supercars and/or pimped rides from day-to-day (and even then), I thought this rally sim might interest you:

Richard Burns Rally
The best ******* rally sim on this planet.
rockout

See me driving on a stage ("Mineshaft" in Australia) to get a feel for the game:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ac86OZTW_hM

And then Richard Burns Rally running on a 16000$+ Force Dynamics hydraulic system (Holy...!):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17Cmel8rvjU

A small review:
The physics in this game are incredibly realistic. Using a force feedback wheel for your computer or console, it feels just like the real thing. The tracks are very diversified, ranging from Australia, Finland (winter rally), England, Japan, France, U.S. and more. The game has a full physics engine which considers surface traction (tire temps, thread pattern, deformation, etc.), roll center, camber, caster, etc. (which are all ajustable) and many other factors to make for a very realistic experience. The game even includes a 30-lesson (approx.) rally course with Richard Burns' (RIP) guidance which explains and makes you pass tests for techniques such as left-foot braking and others, plus it explains many things like oversteer and understeer, etc. (which most of us should already know but still it makes for a nice reminder).

The game has about 30 to 40 tracks that range from 3 to 10 minutes each, in each of the countries mentioned earlier.

The game dates from 2003 so it should run perfect on most of your computers if they're not too old (I guess if you purchased your computer between 2000 and today it would run alright) and the graphics are suprisingly realistic. Personnally I use a Logitech MOMO Racing Force Feedback wheel which works very well and has a lot of force feedback punch (it's not nearly the same without it!).

From racesimcentral.com:
"In your opinion, which is the best game of rally simulation?"
>> "The choice is quite simple, as the only rally sim that has been made to date is Richard Burns Rally."
>> "Richard Burns Rally, without a doubt."
>> "RBR, the only rally sim..."
>> "Hands down, RBR everytime"
>> "RBR without any doubt"
>> "There can be only one... Richard Burns Rally"
>> "5 out of 5 voices in my head declare Richard Burns Rally the clear winner."
>> "Has anybody mentioned Richard Burns Rally?"
>> "RBR for me"
>> "RBR."
>> "RBR, hands down."
>> "Richard Burns Rally hands down has to be the best rally simulation, nothing else even comes close."
>> "The one with that Burns bloke in it"
>> "RBR is the best feeling all rounder for me for certain"
>> "Richard Burns Rally."
>> "richard burns rally on pc. beats the pants of colin mcrae."
>> "I put my money on RBR"
>> "If you love rally-ing and motosport generraly there is no other choice but Richard Burns Rally it's the next best thing besides really driving those cars in real life.. !!"
>> ...

You see the picture...

Anyway, I love this "game" so much that I wanted to tell you all. Actually I'm addicted to it. I don't feel like playing any other more popular racing game series like Need For Speed or Colin McRae Rally because they feel so "wrong" compared to how you would expect a real car to react. Anyway, RBR's one worth investing in if you're interested in racing sims, and if you've never played one that's the one to look for!

I hope you can have as much fun as I have with this. I'm off to race a couple of stages again, see ya!

Peace,

Form

 

[BIGDAN89]

where can you download this game or get it from ?

 

[Form]

You can purchase it for not much money at all (5$ to 10$ from eBay or about 20$-30$ in some video game stores).

 

[MikeK1981]

That looks bada$$! How come I have never heard of this game? I'm into video games AND rally racing! At first I thought this was a new game until I read the rest of the thread. My PC is pretty awesome except for the graphics processor which is mediocre. I wonder if I could run this game? Thanks for sharing I might go try to find it somewhere!

 

[Form]

That looks bada$$! How come I have never heard of this game? I'm into video games AND rally racing! At first I thought this was a new game until I read the rest of the thread. My PC is pretty awesome except for the graphics processor which is mediocre. I wonder if I could run this game? Thanks for sharing I might go try to find it somewhere!

You've never heard of it because it's not a popular game (at least with the general EA/Ubisoft-addicted gaming crowd!). The Colin McRae series are popular because they are accessible by having more "arcade" physic rather than realism. Actually I learned of the game because it came with my graphics card, I wouldn't have if it was not for this card. So I'm lucky, this is the best racing game I've played!

I bet it will run pretty good, the game is very well made graphics-wise. It's not graphics-card hungry like most recent games.

Anyway you should get it and take the time to practice a bit. You'll see it's not easy at first!

 

[Shaun]

it certainly looks awsome, maybe i will have to check it out.. but i'll have to grab another logi-tech steering wheel "or whatever" as using the keys sucks!! lol

 

[Form]

it certainly looks awsome, maybe i will have to check it out.. but i'll have to grab another logi-tech steering wheel "or whatever" as using the keys sucks!! lol

Yes it does suck (using the keyboard)! Actually is is pretty much impossible to have good times using the keyboard as you have no fine control over the wheels. IMO you have to drive it with a wheel, too, because of the force feedback.

The feedback in this game is incredible, on the steering you can feel every hole in the ground, traction changes such as when you have two wheels on grass an the others on gravel. The steering wheel even vibrates realistically say when you have a damaged wheel making zig-zags (timed with the rotation of the wheel), you can have slack in the steering after a colision, etc. All that feedback directly changes how you drive because you wheel what's happening with the car rather than only see in on the screen. For example you can feel the steering "loosen" when you give too much gaz and lose traction, etc. It's hard to describe really, but it's incredibly well-made.