DTM Experience Initial Thoughts

[Nox]

Hi all,

So, I installed DTM Experience and got going, doing a little time (not long) at Hockenheim. I'm not one of those people that just is a fanboy, or bitches and moans about stuff. But this time, I want to share my (DTM) experience. Here's my initial thoughts on it.

Pros:
Graphics look nice
The sounds are quite good
It runs smooth on my computer (GTX 680, if I remember right)

Cons:
NO PIT STOPS - I mean, nada, nothing. No tyre changes, no repairs, no pit strategy. If you drive into the pit lane the game just drives you right through like a drive through penalty. SimBin, this is unacceptable. I heard the rumours this might be the case but I thought that would be like releasing a Call of Duty game without guns. Of all the things you haven't got, like multiplayer, releasing a motor sports game without pitstops is nothing short of shameful.

Too much stuff on screen - There's position boards, fastest laps, and all sorts of race 'info' flickering around the place all the time it's very easy to get distracted by one and make a mistake. It's like racing from inside a slot machine.

Harsh cut rules - Playing on Get Real (I want no traction, brake help, etc) you so much as just get deep into a corner and run wide off track, even when it COSTS you time, you get a cut-track warning. A few of these and it's a drive through. I agree that cutting the track should be punished, but not if I just make a mistake and miss the corner, lose time, positions, etc.

There's more stuff I am disappointed about, but I am going to cut it here so that it doesn't end up being a rant thread. This is NOT a DTM Experience at all. I was fine to get this game even without multiplayer, but I expected a game, complete, with a full, you guessed it, 'DTM Experience'. How can that be without pitstops?

They've released a game that is very disappointing, especially considering the high price point (I had money for one game this season, and regret my choice). I'll put some more hours into it so I'm not going to be unfair and not give it fair chance, see how it pans out, but I kind of feel ripped off. 40 euros is already high for a game. It feels like nothing more than an alpha version of DTM Experience 2014. My initial recommendation: Save your cash.

If 2014 version doesn't have pit stops or multi player, it's the last time I spend a cent on new SimBin stuff. They haven't even bothered replying to stuff on here, or to the contact form I filled out on their website days ago. It's almost as if they know it's crap and they're avoiding customers.

 

[William Wester]

Same here, I actually wasn't too impressed with the first demo but the second was much better, it helped that I had my new graphics card (GTX780 OC) and could now run triple screen.
DTM type of racing (GT actually) is my favorite and the sounds of this sim are "fantastic"; never under estimate the contribution of sound to enhance the immerse experience of a racing sim! This is actually the primary reason I can't get into the G.Turismo series. The presentation and cloud integration (DTM series and game news, videos, photos, ...) is also very well done. Now if SimBin could figure out how to inject the smell of racing into their sims they would rule
The price per content is relatively high but to me its worth it, helps that the 2014 version was included (and the RD freebees), and the leaderboard competitions add a lot to the replay value. I have always like the SimBin sims so I'm willing to support their new releases.

 

[Blkout]

I'm enjoying DTM Experience and RaceRoom Racing Exprience also. I bought DTME yesterday and some content for R3E. Really need a career mode and multiplayer in R3E though.

 

[Tony Gentile]

I really like it
Tried out the free to play and love it
But will wait till the release of DTM 2104
multiplayer and hopefully pretty much put money on it pit stops
Well bugger it we bought DTM 2013 this week
As we found out that DTM 2013 will be getting the multiplayer DLC
and the 2014 content too.
We have been enjoying it a lot
Cool sim if you like close racing, the tracks and car graphics are sweet

 

[Billy Pilgrim]

I had my first day of pc sim racing yesterday (after console experience only), playing DTM and GSC. I'm loving it. Too much! I was in front of my screens for nearly 12 hours. lol. Had blurry vision at the end of it. Aren't you supposed to take regular breaks?

Anyway, I like both the above sims. Loads!

DTM has a great sensation of speed. In fact, I'm using the hood view which highlights the impression of speed for me. I tried the cockpit view but found there was too much cockpit - nearly all of my screen(s) were taken up by the interior of the car (and I can't find a way of altering that like you can in GSc by moving the seat fore/aft tec.). The game looks good.

I've got an sli setup though and this game's not optimised yet. Pity. Let's hope that comes soon.

I haven't played DTM loads yet (I spent a lot of yesterday setting things up right for both GSC and DTM - which took ages as it's all new to me), but I am not entirely convinced by the handling. I'm playing on 'Get Real' and it just seems a bit easy. Seems like traction control, ABS etc. are always on.

But, then again, maybe I haven't spent enough time with this yet. And, admittedly, I haven't been really driving at the edge of grip much.

Lots of people on this thread, though, seem to say they really like the physics.

Any thoughts on the handling?

 

[Majuh]

DTM has a great sensation of speed. In fact, I'm using the hood view which highlights the impression of speed for me. I tried the cockpit view but found there was too much cockpit - nearly all of my screen(s) were taken up by the interior of the car (and I can't find a way of altering that like you can in GSc by moving the seat fore/aft tec.). The game looks good.

You can move your seat, these functions are just not binded in the default steering profile. Just bind them to some keys on your keyboard and you can improve your seat position.

 

[Blkout]

I had my first day of pc sim racing yesterday (after console experience only), playing DTM and GSC. I'm loving it. Too much! I was in front of my screens for nearly 12 hours. lol. Had blurry vision at the end of it. Aren't you supposed to take regular breaks?

Anyway, I like both the above sims. Loads!

DTM has a great sensation of speed. In fact, I'm using the hood view which highlights the impression of speed for me. I tried the cockpit view but found there was too much cockpit - nearly all of my screen(s) were taken up by the interior of the car (and I can't find a way of altering that like you can in GSc by moving the seat fore/aft tec.). The game looks good.

I've got an sli setup though and this game's not optimised yet. Pity. Let's hope that comes soon.

I haven't played DTM loads yet (I spent a lot of yesterday setting things up right for both GSC and DTM - which took ages as it's all new to me), but I am not entirely convinced by the handling. I'm playing on 'Get Real' and it just seems a bit easy. Seems like traction control, ABS etc. are always on.

But, then again, maybe I haven't spent enough time with this yet. And, admittedly, I haven't been really driving at the edge of grip much.

Lots of people on this thread, though, seem to say they really like the physics.

Any thoughts on the handling?

Billy, I'll admit some cars are not terribly difficult to handle in DTME. The real challenge in DTME is passing and not making a mistake and blowing the race. The AI can be aggressive at times too and will push you and bump you off the track occasionally.

If you jump back to R3E, when you start getting up to the prototype cars, the really high horsepower lightweight cars, they will slip and slide a good bit on Get Real. If you think the cars are easy to handle, jump into Competition mode and see how you compare against the others on the leaderboards. I think you'll be surprised how much slower you are than quickest guys. I also enjoy Apex Hunter as well, the rookie levels are pretty easy to achieve and I've got most of the advanced levels achieved, but the expert level are much tougher.

 

[William Wester]

...
...
I haven't played DTM loads yet (I spent a lot of yesterday setting things up right for both GSC and DTM - which took ages as it's all new to me), but I am not entirely convinced by the handling. I'm playing on 'Get Real' and it just seems a bit easy. Seems like traction control, ABS etc. are always on.

But, then again, maybe I haven't spent enough time with this yet. And, admittedly, I haven't been really driving at the edge of grip much.

Lots of people on this thread, though, seem to say they really like the physics.

Any thoughts on the handling?

I don't know if I was imagining it, but it seemed the handling was slightly more challenging when racing a Leaderboard ghost. I was hot lapping the Corvette on Mid Ohio (Get Real) then decided to pick one of the top leaderboard times for reference. The Corvette seemed more sensitive to brake lockup on entry and loose on exit. It could have been me as I may have been pushing harder to keep up with the ghost but it seemed immediately noticeable.

Either way, I am enjoying the handling. I like being able to run hard without hours of practice. With that said, what's running hard to me is not necessarily to the next. If you do think it is too easy pick a top leaderboard time for competition - it's all relative! Now if you can run with the leaders without any tuning or little seat time then it may be too easy - for you, not me

 

[Blkout]

I don't know if I was imagining it, but it seemed the handling was slightly more challenging when racing a Leaderboard ghost. I was hot lapping the Corvette on Mid Ohio (Get Real) then decided to pick one of the top leaderboard times for reference. The Corvette seemed more sensitive to brake lockup on entry and loose on exit. It could have been me as I may have been pushing harder to keep up with the ghost but it seemed immediately noticeable.

Either way, I am enjoying the handling. I like being able to run hard without hours of practice. With that said, what's running hard to me is not necessarily to the next. If you do think it is too easy pick a top leaderboard time for competition - it's all relative! Now if you can run with the leaders without any tuning or little seat time then it may be too easy - for you, not me

I believe its the challenge of trying to go faster than the next person on the leaderboard pushes you to the limit.

 

[Billy Pilgrim]

Billy, I'll admit some cars are not terribly difficult to handle in DTME. The real challenge in DTME is passing and not making a mistake and blowing the race. The AI can be aggressive at times too and will push you and bump you off the track occasionally.

If you jump back to R3E, when you start getting up to the prototype cars, the really high horsepower lightweight cars, they will slip and slide a good bit on Get Real. If you think the cars are easy to handle, jump into Competition mode and see how you compare against the others on the leaderboards. I think you'll be surprised how much slower you are than quickest guys. I also enjoy Apex Hunter as well, the rookie levels are pretty easy to achieve and I've got most of the advanced levels achieved, but the expert level are much tougher.

Yeah, you're right about the challenge there is in passing and the aggressive ai. I rather enjoy that.

I said, above, that Get Real seems easy. I didn't mean that I am super fast. Not at all. My lap times are nothing special at all. I was referring to the handling model being relatively easy. In fact, I'd hesitate to go and compare my times as I might find it demotivating.

I tend to enjoy challenging handling. Unfortunately, that means I crash out a lot.

 

[Billy Pilgrim]

....
If you do think it is too easy pick a top leaderboard time for competition - it's all relative! Now if you can run with the leaders without any tuning or little seat time then it may be too easy - for you, not me

As I mentioned above, my lap times are nothing special.

I'm enjoying this game. Raced on Zandvoort last night for the first time. That's a great, and fast, track!

 

[William Wester]

I guess what I was getting at is if I race at my pace (within my abilities) it doesn't seem overly difficult but as soon as I try to match the times of the top leaderboard racers it becomes difficult.

Another example, I finally had some time to try APEX Hunt in R3E, which I'm liking a lot, and at first I was hitting all of the targets without much problem with decent lap times but noticed I was only achieving the first two levels (forget what there're called - Rookie, Expert ?) based on time. I started pushing to hit the targets but in the time required for the next level - now it had become difficult! Brakes seamed inadequate, plowing on entry, loose on exit. What seemed like a good handling car became somewhat crap without tuning. What I do like with R3E/DTM is tweaking the car setup does react as one would expect.

To me difficultly is relative (to a point) - relative to what the goals are. I understand my opinion is only my opinion but adding just for discussion. As stated previously, I do prefer a handling model that provides a good experience (I'm a racer!) without hours/weeks/months invested but still requires skill and commitment to be a top leaderboard racer.
NetKar, as an example, to me was WAY overly difficult to a point of being more of a game. I say a game as gaming skills become more important than understanding or having some IRL racing experience - at least initially. Before I get flamed by the netKar crowd, I said initially, as once seat time and setup knowledge is applied I am sure the beauty of that sim could be realized.

 

[Blkout]

Apex Hunt is great. Rookie is the lowest level, then Advanced, then Expert, then Master. Expert and Master achievements take a lot of practice. Competition mode is just fun to see live updates on the leaderboard without leaving your race session. And of course you can win real world money and virtual credits if you're good enough.

 

[James Cook]

I picked up DTM Experience a few days ago and my first impressions are very good. I enjoyed both demos when they were released but held back from buying the game because of the lack of multiplayer, the lack of pitstops and those horrendous brake markers. The game shouldn't have gone to market like that but now we know these things are being addressed I thought it was time to make a purchase. DTM Experience is expensive but as a big DTM fan I could just about justify the price.

The cars feel good, very much like the light weight, high downforce machines they are. The graphics are very good and run flawlessly on my 780 SC. Audio is exceptional, the best in any racing game I think. I've been to a few DTM races and it's spot on.

My first issue with the game is the way it feels when using my wheel. Driving in a straight line is difficult. It feels too sensitive around the centre position so I find myself meandering side-to-side down the straights, Shift 2 style. Also the force feedback lacks feel and communication compared to rFactor2, which is the benchmark in this area.

Secondly, head movement needs a setting so it can be turned down or switched off completely. It's too much for me and I find it distracting at times.

Over all though, I'm pleased I bought the game.

 

[Nox]

My first issue with the game is the way it feels when using my wheel. Driving in a straight line is difficult. It feels too sensitive around the centre position so I find myself meandering side-to-side down the straights,

I also have this exact issue

 

[Peter]

I also have this exact issue

It's a strange issue, because I don't have that with any R3E car.

 

[Bram Hengeveld]

Are you guys sure to drive in the Get Real mode?

 

[Nox]

Are you guys sure to drive in the Get Real mode?

I am, yes

 

[Blkout]

My first issue with the game is the way it feels when using my wheel. Driving in a straight line is difficult. It feels too sensitive around the centre position so I find myself meandering side-to-side down the straights, Shift 2 style. Also the force feedback lacks feel and communication compared to rFactor2, which is the benchmark in this area.

I also have this exact issue.

Which wheel, control panel FFB settings and in game FFB settings are you using?

 

[Eckhart von Glan]

this problem has been around ever since the first release of the race room online game (the precursor of RRE) three years or so back, also with the wheel i used then (thrustmaster) i could never take the raceroom formula one car down the straight in hockenheim properly. issue was never solved and might have come back now. what wheels are you guys using?

 

[Nox]

this problem has been around ever since the first release of the race room online game (the precursor of RRE) three years or so back, also with the wheel i used then (thrustmaster) i could never take the raceroom formula one car down the straight in hockenheim properly. issue was never solved and might have come back now. what wheels are you guys using?

Thrustmaster RGT Pro

I don't remember the in-game settings off hand, but they are pretty standard (and I played around with them while trying to troubleshoot this issue) - I only have this problem in DTM, and none of the other racers I have.