After some rumors and leaks about a successor to the G27, Logitech has revealed it's been developing not just one, but two new steering wheels. Why two? The G29 is for PS4 and PS3, and the G920 is for the Xbox One, while both do work with the PC. I don't know if there's any actual reason for this separation. The names can get confusing too.

The design is very similiar to the G27, but each version has the console controller's buttons on them. The G29 also has a 24-point selection dial and +/- buttons for whatever you may use them for. You could usr the +/- for adjusting brake bias on the fly, which is cool. I can't imagine a game where the selection dial could prove useful, but if there is, that's a neat feature too.

The wheel turns 900°, it has dual-motor force feedback and helical gearing with anti-backlash, as well as paddle shifters. I'm pretty sure the G27 had all of those too. Three pedals is also nothing out of the ordinary. What about the six-speed H-shifter with eight buttons and directional keys? It has lost all of its buttons and it's sold separately. The G290 has fewer buttons than the G27 and the G29 has more.

The Logitech G Driving Shifter works with both wheels and costs $60 while the wheels are $400. There's absolutely no reason for me to buy either of those, as I don't own any consoles and the G27 is pretty much just as good as either of the new ones. Also, in total it costs a bit more than a Thrustmaster T500RS, which is supposed to be better than the G27 ($300). The T500RS doesn't come with a gear shifter though, and if you do buy one, it's $140. But it does have adjustable resistance for shifting, which could add a lot to the driving experience. The Logitech shifters don't have any resistance when shifting.


All in all, it looks like a money grabbing attempt. Maybe the G27 and G25 wheels will get cheaper at least.



http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/201 ... ew-xbox-one-contender-too

I suppose I thought they stopped developing after failing to raise the necessary amount on Kickstarter. Luckily that was not the case.

There's a free tech demo on their web page. I'll update here once I've tried it.

http://www.groundbranch.com/Store/



Alright, I've tried it. The tech demo has two maps; a firing range and a killhouse. Both feature stationary and moving targets, with red and blue colors. You can walk, run, sprint (can't aim while sprinting, can aim while running but you'll end up shooting all over the place), crouch, stand upright, and lean left and right. You can engage/disengage the weapon with the press of the middle mouse button, and by scrolling the wheel hold the weapon down or up while disengaged and aim while engaged. Fire modes can be selected if the weapon has more than one. By holding down the tab key you can look around freely. You can have separate sensitivity settings for general looking, looking through non-zooming optics and looking through zooming optics.


Right now there are only a handful of weapons; an M4, an AK47, an MP5-N, an MK12SPR and a M1911 sidearm. There are categories for shotguns and light machine guns but they are empty. You can customise the weapons to use various kinds of optics, different sized magazines, different types of bullets, suppressors, bipods, flashlights etc. The great thing about this is that you can place the attachments wherever the rails allow it. You can also sometimes attach a smaller sight on top of a bigger one.

Gameplay feels pretty good, even if I only got to run around small maps firing at targets. Unreal Engine 4 looks and sounds good. There will be a proper demo and the game will be in some type of an early access at some point. I'll definitely have to start following this game again.

Oh no! It looks like I was overtaken while I was Scandinavian flicking my way through rally tracks. Congratulations, Viper! The Mercedes was a very difficult car to drive.

As for the wheel, Wobbly seems to be the only one without a steering wheel now... You're missing out on a much more immersive experience.

Alright, I bought it and have played for 1,5 hours. I didn't even know rally racing was this much fun! There are 17 cars from different time periods, from 60s Mini Coopers to Subaru Imprezas, BMW E30s and modern day Mini Countrymans. There's a career mode already in the game. I started my team, bought the old FWD Mini and hired an engineer to fix my car between events. After four events I was fifth in the overall standings against the AI. I got an upgrade for the engine, making it a bit more powerful.

The graphics and the sounds are great. The vehicles can break in many different ways. In one race I had a tire puncture, in another a wheel fell completely off! I guess I haven't crashed hard enough yet, but it's possible to damage the engine, the radiator, the exhaust, the gearbox, the driveshaft, the suspension, the brakes, the wheels and the body.

Right now there are three different locations with a lot of different courses in each; the dusty Greece, the muddy and wet Wales, and the snowy Monte Carlo in Monaco. It can rain or snow and the race may take place in the morning, midday, afternoon or at night. Break your headlights and it's hard to see!

You cannot use the mouse anywhere in the game, which is very strange considering Dirt Rally is a PC-only game. When the racing wheel is connected, all of the button prompts refer to the wheel's buttons. The problem is, the G27 hasn't labeled any of its buttons. With sheer luck I've found out where buttons 5 and 17 are. I guess I'll have to label all the buttons with a pencil. (they are shown in the Logitech Gaming Profiler software) You can still use the keyboard but aside from enter and esc keys, I don't know what does what.

You can use the G27 to its full extent: H-shifter and clutch work in the game out of the box. You just have to load the G27 preset and pick the correct transmission type in the options. I set the handbrake button on the farthest red button on the gear shifter. In rallying you use it quite often, so it sticks out how unrealistic it is to hold a button to use the handbrake. It can also be difficult to find, and switching gears while holding the button down is hard. The force feedback effects are decent.

I'm not sure if there's online play yet, but you can compare leaderboard times with your friends.


Overall, I've enjoyed the game a lot and would recommend to anyone looking for a pure rally experience.

I remember the steering degree lock working in Race 07 and maybe in Live for Speed. Tell me if you find out if it's possible to make it work in AC. It's so much better when I can't accidentally turn the wheel too much.

Yeah, that's the risk of Early Access titles. You never know how often will the devs update the game or even when is it released. Assetto Corsa was perfect in this regard and Wreckfest's development has been very quiet for months (a year?). I'm very tempted to buy Dirt Rally right now but no one can say if Codemasters are going to regularily update it or not. But it would be a real rally game with real tracks and real cars...

Project CARS looks absolutely stunning, but I'll wait for reviews both from official reviewers and from ordinary players. All that night racing in the rain and the career mode sounds really good. If it really is good, I'll try to wait for a sale before buying.

This is what I've gathered from various forums: many people say Dirt Rally more realistic than the previous Dirt games, but it's not a real simulator either. Some say that the FFB effects are bad and the cars have too much grip. It does look and sound great. But do remember it's on Early Access and it's been there only for a day. Things are bound to change during the Early Access period.

Out of the blue, Codemasters has put a game called Dirt Rally on Steam Early Access. According to Eurogamer, Dirt isn't an arcade title anymore. And it won't have any of the non-rally stuff in it. 17 cars, 36 courses (more will follow), authentic handling, rain, night, a co-driver and many other features. It's -10% off for the "launch" week at 27 €. I'll follow the Steam forums for the next few days to see if it's good to drive with a G27 and quite probably will purchase it sooner or later.



http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/201 ... odemasters-first-real-sim

http://store.steampowered.com/app/310560/

http://steamcommunity.com/games/31056 ... detail/139952470927999111

It didn't limit the rotation at all when I tried it. Do you need to run the game through the Logitech Profiler in order for the settings to actually work?

I can't say much about those advanced settings you're using, Viper. I've left them at pretty much default. More filter means smoother force feedback, I think.

When I was talking about information cmoing through the wheel, I meant the force feedback effects telling you about the road surface. You know, bumps, losing traction and that sort of things. If the FFB effects are set too high, some of this information is lost and driving doesn't feel 100% right.

Maybe I should try just the "allow game to adjust settings" option. Does it limit the steering wheel's rotation so eg. a BMW road car has a 900° turning angle and a formula car has about 180°? I mean does it physically stop the wheel from turning too much?