VRC – Tip of the Month
VRC is a simulation of radio controlled on-road nitro racing cars, scales 1:8 and 1:10. As with every simulation, to reach absolute realism isn’t possible but we are proud to say that we have come pretty darned close with VRC! One known psychological effect of this trying to make something as close to reality as possible is that users seem more and more focussed on finding the differences. That it why a lot of sims simply give up on trying to move closer to reality, in fact some do the opposite. Big companies who are involved in robots are deliberately staying away from trying to make their robots look human and make them look like robots or cartoon figures. Even Nintendo has gone this way with Mario Kart.
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The VRC development team however hasn’t given up on this idea. More than for most other simulation games the conditions for the VRC sim are almost perfect: we let you control the game with your own transmitter, from a view which is identical to what you have from the rostrum, view picture-perfect tracks and using cars that use physics that control almost every small physical detail of the car, engine and tires to make the car behave exactly as how an r/c car should feel. And still it is different.
Looking at a screen isn’t the same as looking at a real track, the screen view is somewhat restricted of course. This is probably the biggest hurdle one needs to take before he can enjoy the benefits of VRC: getting used to the screen view. Some can adapt to it very quickly, multiple world champion Marc Reinhart only needed a few minutes to familiarize himself with the screen before doing a 5 minute qualifier on the TRF indoor track in Lausanne within 1 second of his TQ time the previous year! Most users take longer though. Play with the dynamic zoom settings to find the best view at all places of the track. Then learn to drive the track, don’t expect to be breaking the lap record the first laps, allow yourself 10 to 15 minutes to get comfortable with the track. Last start focussing on how the car feels on the track. There are 2 things to this, car setup and exponential setting on the steering. The exponential can be set either in the game itself, or when you are using the USB adaptor with your own transmitter probably also in the transmitter settings. The basic setups that we provide are pretty average and should work for the average user. If you want to make the car more responsive, try changing the tires, springs, anti roll bars or any of the other setup options VRC has to offer. So don’t judge VRC after your first encounter but spend some 20 to 30 minutes on it and we are convinced that you will be amazed by the level of realism VRC has to offer: simply the closest thing to the real thing…
For more information about VRC go to the game website here.
