GSCE is so vast you need to take off work a couple weeks to have fun playing it all and taking it in! The main issue I’m having now is trying to wipe the smile off my face from playing it. Really it’s been awhile since I played a sim game from day one release that I spent more time smiling and mumbling (Oh Cool!)
Ok let’s get started. I spent a many hours playing GSCE
looking around and testing all the cars/karts and various tracks. First things
first though. I got my Fanatec Clubsport wheel setup, Track IR head tracking
going and adjusted my Sim Xperence Sim Vibe software a little to get a base
setup going for my rSeat Evo rig. You guys really need Sim Vibe and some
transducers to really make this game come alive.
GSC brings you 11 different cars with their own individual engine sounds and physics to keep the immersion up. If you like Formula Cars then you will absolutely love this sim as their is a huge variety of Formula cars in 7 different varieties...
Cars & Karts
GSC brings you 11 different cars with their own individual engine sounds and physics to keep the immersion up. If you like Formula Cars then you will absolutely love this sim as their is a huge variety of Formula cars in 7 different varieties...
- Formula Reiza
- Formula Extreme
- Formula V12
- Formula Classic
- Copersucar Fittipaldi FD04
- Formula 3 F309
- Formula Vee
- Camaro
- Karts
- Mini Coopers
- Opala Stock Cars
- JL-G09
- MR18
Tracks
Do you like a variety of tracks? Well look no further. GSC has a huge selection of tracks (20 locations to be exact) all the major race tracks in Brazil and includes 2 karting tracks and Interlagos in it's full configuration. I would like to see some updates to this menu system like adding photo's of the tracks along with the layout that is given. Being these are Brazilian tracks not everybody will be familiar with what's what and a actual track picture gives you an idea of the elevations in the track.- Interlagos
- Velopsark
- Santa Cruz
- Salvador
- Interlagos Historica 1976 / 1980
- Jacarepagua
- Granja Viama (Kart Tracks)
- Londrina
- Casavel
- Brasilla
- Goiania
- Caruaru
- Taruma
- Guapore
- Interlagos ( Kart Tracks)
- Curitiba
- Ribeirao Preto
- Campo Granda
- Cordoba
- Buenos Aires
What's this Sim Racer About?
Straight from Game Stock Car 2013Features
- Simulates the 2013 season of Stock Car- Includes additional categories: Opal Stock Cars, Mini Challenge,
Camaro, Reiza Formula, Formula 3, Formula Classic Formula Retro,
Copersucar-Fittipaldi, Karts 125cc direct and shifter
Total immersion
The GSC2013 unites the very best in graphics, audio and gameplay, ensuring a fully immersive experience.Technical sophistication
The player can hit your car adjusting wings, tires, transmission, suspension and brakes in order to achieve better performance, following the same principles of reality.Run online and offline
Combining highly competitive artificial intelligence with an active online community, GSC2013 is impressive and fierce handles at any time.Maximum realism
Developed with the support of teams and drivers and verified by telemetry data, the GSC2013 is more than a game - it is a simulation tool for professional drivers.Customizable
The GSC2013 offers several difficulty levels and steering aids, allowing the novice player acclimatize with the challenge of driving a race car.On with the Review!
Needs Improvement
Lets get the bad out the way first. I need more cars! Reiza you offer such fantastic game play and value I simple want more cars to race with. You spent allot of time on expanding Formula race cars so lets have some DLC with some new cars. Think Corvette C7, Mustang, Nismo's GTR etc..
Another concern is the menu system. It defiantly looks dated and could use a refresh along with some new graphics to make it pop with actual track pics not just track layouts. Also could use bigger images of the cars that are currently scrolling around at the bottom left of your screen once you are into the car selection section. Would like to see the cool cars more of a emphases in the menu.
Force Feedback (FFB) Although GSC simulates beautifully what's going on I would defiantly like to have increased strength thru my wheel. Maybe turn everything up by 10 or at least make it an option.
Replay System needs addressing. I would like to be able to select all my replays and click delete instead on picking them one at a time. Note for those reading. A work around is to go to your directory your steam is installed on and delete them from there. See my example link for reference (C:\Steam\SteamApps\common\Stock Car Extreme\ReplayFridge\REPLAYS)
I admit these are minor complaints, but with improvements would add to the overall experience.
Replay System needs addressing. I would like to be able to select all my replays and click delete instead on picking them one at a time. Note for those reading. A work around is to go to your directory your steam is installed on and delete them from there. See my example link for reference (C:\Steam\SteamApps\common\Stock Car Extreme\ReplayFridge\REPLAYS)
Setup
Super easy as it’s with Steam. I will note that my Anti-Virus
did keep the game from loading up so I had to turn it off. Oddly though I
didn’t have any issues with Reiza Formula Truck 2013. Setting up the wheel and
pedals are straight forward. It even has a selection to define your wheel
rotation which does save to your profile, so no need to dive into the Config
file thru explorer to set your rotation like you do in Reiza Formula Truck
2013. Note that you can turn up the FF setting to 4 (Full) within the explorer
config file which seemed to help some. If you are running a 900° wheel I suggest setting you’re
in game wheel to 30% in Configuration 1 before going out on track.
Graphics
If you’re running a newer machine with a decent video card
say ATI Radeon R9-290X or comparable you can crank everything to the max without
any frame rate issues or screen tearing. The game doesn’t seem GPU demanding at
all. The graphics do look good, but don’t expect Assetto Corsa or Project Cars
in car details and lighting effects.
Speaking of lighting you can change the time of day which adds some very nice experiences with night driving. I love setting the time of a race around 7:00 game time when the sun is going down then finishing the race under the lights at 9:30 game time. It appears 1hr game time is equal to around 5 min real time.
So with such high frame rates GSCE keeps your concentration on racing instead of screen tears for frame rate studder. This makes for a fantastic experience that really keeps you immersed into the racing.
GSCE is pretty much on par with their Physics. Think Rfactor, but with less FFB thru the wheel. I'm not normally a good drifter in sims, but I can Drift a Mini Cooper quite a ways thru turns with ease and control! It's such a rewarding feeling to have the car step out and then control it easily during a race. Sure it slows you down, but WOW is it fun!
Get into a Formula car and maneuver it thru the pits and you feel heavy steering from the start and then when applying some throttle the wheel gets light. When your out on track and carving up a curve you will feel heaving steering thru your wheel (a push back feel) up into the point your tires loose traction which then you will feel the slip. This feedback really helps to keep the car on the track and learn the limits of the vehicle.
Take the Camaro for a spin and immediately feel the heft of the car thru your wheel. The car feels like a tank compared to jumping from a Formula race car as it should. The sim is really good at replicating the different feeling of vehicles while managing to give you enough feedback to control them at high speeds.
Speaking of lighting you can change the time of day which adds some very nice experiences with night driving. I love setting the time of a race around 7:00 game time when the sun is going down then finishing the race under the lights at 9:30 game time. It appears 1hr game time is equal to around 5 min real time.
Framerates
Lets talk Framerates. Wow does this haul the mail! The framerates I receive in the game or outstanding! If I go into my AMD Video Card setting and up it to 8x Supersampling I will get 60+ FPS while getting max resolution, but lower it down to just 4X Supersampling I get 100+ FPS with no apparent hit in graphics validity. Correction... keep in mind the more cars your racing on track will slow FPS down. When I ran a full race where the track was tight and we all bunched up with night racing and headlights on I did drop to 35 fps, but then went back up to 60-100 after the cars spread out some. You can eliminate this with just loading up the default settings the game comes with which still looks pretty dang good.So with such high frame rates GSCE keeps your concentration on racing instead of screen tears for frame rate studder. This makes for a fantastic experience that really keeps you immersed into the racing.
Physics & Force Feed Back (FFB)
GSCE is pretty much on par with their Physics. Think Rfactor, but with less FFB thru the wheel. I'm not normally a good drifter in sims, but I can Drift a Mini Cooper quite a ways thru turns with ease and control! It's such a rewarding feeling to have the car step out and then control it easily during a race. Sure it slows you down, but WOW is it fun!
Get into a Formula car and maneuver it thru the pits and you feel heavy steering from the start and then when applying some throttle the wheel gets light. When your out on track and carving up a curve you will feel heaving steering thru your wheel (a push back feel) up into the point your tires loose traction which then you will feel the slip. This feedback really helps to keep the car on the track and learn the limits of the vehicle.
Take the Camaro for a spin and immediately feel the heft of the car thru your wheel. The car feels like a tank compared to jumping from a Formula race car as it should. The sim is really good at replicating the different feeling of vehicles while managing to give you enough feedback to control them at high speeds.
Game Play
On to the good stuff. This sim racer isn't new to the market, but is new to Steam which should bring this exciting sim to the eyes of many more customers. If your looking for a game that you manly want to play offline then GSC has to be so far the ABSOLUTE BEST at in game racing I have played. The AI doesn't try to constantly crash you like others. It fact I found them trying to avoid me. One instance I pitched the car side ways down the track then I see cars behind me scrambling to get around me and not run into me. That is great stuff! Now it's not perfect. I will have the occasional turn in on me scenario from time to time. I have had AI crash into me when I messed up, but that's mainly due to them not having enough time to get around me. Remember you are usually traveling 100+ MPH allot of the time and physics will not allow others to move around you on a dime. As far as online goes.. well your mileage will vary.
What I find really exciting is the clock settings of your races. Start a race late evening and find yourself finishing at night and turning on the headlights if your car has them. So you might find some tracks are not very lite up at night making it hard to race Formula cars on some tracks. You want to simulate a 24 hour race? No Problem!
It takes allot to make a successful simulation racing game. When you combine all the factors involved, The Physics, Beautiful Graphics, Smart AI, FFB, Extremely High Framerates, Track Section, Car sounds, Formula cars, Karts, Stock Cars and sprinkle in a couple normal track cars like the Mini Cooper and Camaro you get a sim racing game that is hard to put down and brings you back over and over. You will spends hours trying to master each car getting a custom setup for each track or just running as it comes. It want matter because out of the box you don't have to really fool with the car setup to be fast. There is enough car feedback to teach you how to go fast around the track, plus you can just adjust the AI to match your own abilities.
Conclusion
I'm constantly blown away on the value you get for your dollar with PC Racing compared to Console Racing and Reiza Game Stock Car Extreme is no different. Get the game if you don't already have it. Reiza has done a fantastic job on this sim racer that will bring me coming back to play and making videos over and over. Game Stock Car Extreme has Great Value and Real Lasting Appeal!
Hope you enjoyed the review. Leave me some comments if you have any and check out some in game footage below and well as my over the shoulder cam!
Thanks!
Get it on Steam now for $29.99 Yes that's it!
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