Just an FYI for those who want/need an arcade racing fix, the AccuForce Pro V2 Wheel currently works in Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown and CarX Street on Steam.
TDUSC:
TDUSC is fairly expensive and currently plagued by a LOT of bugs. It requires a very good graphics card as well as an SSD and a multi-core, multi-threaded cpu in order to maintain a decent framerate. For reference, I am running a highly overclocked i9-9900k cpu with Nvidia 4070 (non super and non TI) and with shadows off I am [update as of 9/19/24] seeing 55-61 FPS at 5120x1440. I could lower the settings for more FPS but I find 47-55 FPS to be reasonably playable.
When you start the game, your wheel is detected as a generic Xbox controller. Bind your steering axis to what the game sees as the xbox controller and then use the left shift key on your keyboard to open up the advanced menu. At that point, you can remove the deadzone(s) from the steering axis.
In the meantime, the physics are a little better than the older NFS titles (aka Porsche Unleashed). [Update as of 9/19/24] When you have your wheel fully dialed in and the in game settings optimized, you do get much richer physics (basically "Simcade" but far better than Crew Motorfest). I personally find that braking is the weakspot in TDUSC. Moreover, I have to be really conservative on braking, but otherwise I really do enjoy the handling. The pleasant surprise to me involves the simcade handling in dirt/gravel races.
I understand that TDUSC outputs Dirt Rally 2.0 telemetry but I don't think anyone but Simhub uses it yet. Hoping SimCommander utilizes it soon.
In the meantime, I have plenty tips available for those of you adventurous enough to try it. Figuring out how to activate the wheel in game after hitting ESC, or even after viewing the map, can be tricky. Figure at least a half hour to get comfortable with the controls and UI before you will really be able to do any racing.
Oh: TDUSC is billed as an MMO style racing game. This is wishful thinking in my book as it is almost impossible to find anyone online to join your races unless they are on discord with you... Moreover, at least initially, treat it as a single player game with the possibility for multiplayer racing later on.
Devs are working on improving wheel support and frame rates as well as 300 odd fixes in the first patch. The first patch has been announced but no date has been set for it yet.
[Addendum: At level 20, you CAN finally adjust Aero, ARBs, Springs, bump, rebound, transmission gear ratios, differentials, etc. So, don't just buy the better parts. After installing those parts, get in and tweak them to get the most out of them.]
CarX Street
As an alternative to TDUSC, which is currently quite buggy, consider CarX Street. This also works with old NFS style handling, perhaps a little better. CarX Street is about $20 on Steam and, in my opinion, well worth it.
This title offers great grip style racing as well as drift racing... To get the most out of CarX Street, though, you will NEED to learn how to tune your suspension and drivetrain. Most of the tuning is at least somewhat grounded in reality except for the use of extreme camber on some builds.
Initially, the game required a lot of grinding to build cars. The first patch removed much of the grind.
I enjoy CarX Street's car choices. It has both modern and classic Muscle cars and JDM style cars. Building the muscle cars into high speed cornering monsters is without a doubt my favorite part of the game.
One caveat: When I last checked, some of the leaderboards (which can reward really nice cars) were jammed with cheaters. Devs are currently working to stop this. Hopefully, they'll get banned...
Bonus: Forza Motorsport It is much better now that we have a decent in-car radar (akin to the radar in ACC and AMS2, etc.) and the penalty system has been somewhat overhauled. The AI, although improving, is still a bit frustrating to race against. So, expect to get punted every now and again.
I enjoy the handling in Forza Motorsport more than I ever thought I would. Thanks to SimCommander and the use of more points in the tire model, the handling is far better than it was in FH4 and FH5. It is also damn nice with motion. FM, FH4 and FH5 are currently on sale.
