Why do we need a 900° steering wheel in games that can't even turn over 90°?
Greetings CTzens, This topic is about games (racing games) but I have years with the same question, specially from the console-based racers (Gran turismo and forza motorsport).
Since simulation/racing games are a “cheaper” option/fix when it comes to enjoy track racing/drifting / rallying, etc without needing to get out of your house, lately, thanks to the advance in hardware performance and its price reduction ( for consoles and pc) we could enjoy in our couch, games with very realistic graphics, cockpit views, changing weather conditions, ear-gasming engine sounds, etc…
But when it comes to the physics department, usually the hardcore community stays solid in the PC. I can recall iRacing, Rfactor, Assetto Corsa, Live For Speed, etc, just to name a few.
Personally, i love every single detail, in graphics and physics (tyre deformation, puncture, etc), but since console racers (GT & FM) have cockpit views, i couldnt ignore the fact that no matter what you do (using a gamepad or steering wheel, changing the game settings, etc) the steering wheels (in-game) never pass over 90 degrees of turning radius. WHY?
Let’s talk a little bit about this here:
The steering wheel of real cars, (production cars) can pass over 90 degrees naturally…
Racing cars; F1, V8 supercars, rally cars, drift cars, etc. could have a variable steering wheel rotation (depending of the track)
Production cars may have different steering ratios (lock to lock) if we compare for example… Ferrari 458 italia with a Toyota Prius . But console games like gran turismo and forza keep the (in-game cockpit view) steering wheel rotation at 90 degrees. Why? I can say is the same for iRacing but iracing doesnt use “stock” cars, in iRacing all the cars are modified so i cant say anything here.
If you ask me, I can say, for GT and Forza, that they have somewhat a steering assist, at least i could notice in both games, the amount of turning degrees is affected by the speed (if you go faster, the steering wheel turns less, if you compared it with a lower speed turn), In Live For Speed (LFS) you can see the in-game steering wheel turning way over 90 degrees, up to 720, (It doesnt matter how fast you are going, you can turn the steering at many degrees you want), and the game allows you to use 900 degrees steering wheels like the logitech g27 for example.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvmVUZxjAVQ
So whats the point to have a 900 degree steering wheel in games that doesnt let you turn your steering wheel over 90 degrees in-game???
This content was originally posted by a Car Throttle user on our Community platform and was not commissioned or created by the CT editorial team.
Comments
this is how it should be done, note how the real steering wheel matches perfectly with the in-game steering wheel
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvmVUZxjAVQ
I didnt read the full post , but i think 90° is just a visual thing. You can see on slaps videos when he drufts in fh2 he moves wheel but the wheel in game is on 90°
well my friend, when I spun out in real life, steering at 90° wasnt a visual thing at all…. I am pretty sure the 90° are not just “visual”. My bet is, the cars steering ratio, lock to lock, are not even realistic. I mean when you turn the wheel at max, the front wheels wont be turning the amount they should.
If you know how bad is this when it comes to drive properly, specially when countersteering in real life, this crap is pretty dangerous, if you overcorrect the counter-steering you can easily end crashing the front of the car, if you correct late, you easily could end spinning out or crashing the rear end.
You mentioned that iRacing has only 90º. If you disable te visual driver arms you can see the wheel to match your wheel,
i remember watching the telemetry, the telemetry shows a steering wheel and while turning, it never goes beyond 90 degrees, im not talking for talk, everything i said upthere is from my personal experience.
here is my video, just for the record.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5EPKrtxd24
In gt6 The wheel in the cockpit locks to 90degrees in all cars, but the wheels on the outside continue turning if you check whilst you continue turning the wheel just a in car visual thing don’t think the game can keep up relaying the full 900 :)
I stand by your statement.
Yes 900°
Because most of the consoles games and non simulators pc games are designed for Xbox/PS controllers or keyboards, LFS is a simulator so it haves like 720° steering
A stupid reason that I need 900° is that I love turning it to lock and then release it to feel the wheel sliding. For racing use I can use around 3/4 circles in tight hairpins.