Tom O'Gorman's blog
rFactor at Dave'n Buster's
12:09 AM on Oct 21, 2007

I was at a Dave'n Buster's over the weekend in Cleveland (for those who don't know what it is, it's a place where you go to eat dinner and they have a huge game room where you buy "credits" to play games on machines) and I stumbled across a game that was set up in a NASCAR model. It was a life-size model of a NASCAR on a hydraulic thing to make it move, with a projector that showed the game on a screen mounted where the hood would have been. I was watching someone drive it, and I noticed the game looked familiar. And then I realized, it was rFactor! They had taken rFactor and converted it to run race after race on Toban, Mills, Orchard Lake Road Course, and others in those rFactor stock cars that come with the game. So, naturally, I had to drive it. Sadly, the way they had it set up, the computers were retarded and the sequential shifter was set up wrong (push up= shift up and vice versa) so it was pretty bad. But I was surprised to stumble across a game where I was driving on Toban in a familiar car in a fimilar game.




Posted by David Fridley at 12:09 AM on Oct 22, 2007
Comment #1

Thats pretty funny, I'm guessing they've put those in a bunch of places. Certainly a cheap way to make a game. Actually though, I do have the shifter in that orientation. Without the g-forces on the body, it doesn't provide any benefit either way. And I just liked that in the opposite position I seemed to be less likely that I will downshift one two many times, or at least thats the excuse I give to do it. It probably makes a bad habit though.

Posted by Jimmy Jones at 02:44 PM on Oct 22, 2007
Comment #2

I actually played on one of these at D&B's down in san jose a few months ago. You could tell the setup had been used and abused, the steering wheel was about to fall off and the shifter felt like it might fall through the floorboard.

It was still pretty cool to sit inside the car and have that huge screen though.

Posted by William Mize at 03:06 PM on Oct 22, 2007
Comment #3

"the sequential shifter was set up wrong (push up= shift up and vice versa)"

Oh well I guess that means I have mine setup wrong then. Oh well makes sense to me push up to shift up and down to shift down. Why would you want to push up to shift down or push down to shift up? I have never seen or used a sequential shifter before.

Posted by Kevin Savoie at 03:20 PM on Oct 22, 2007
Comment #4

I've never used a sequential shifter but every race car that does run it pull to up shift and push to down shift due to the g-force. Under braking it would be difficult to pull your hand quickly to make multiple down shifts.

Posted by William Mize at 04:43 PM on Oct 22, 2007
Comment #5

Oh ok. I guess that makes sense. Never driven a racecar so I wouldn't know.

Posted by Tom O'Gorman at 04:53 PM on Oct 22, 2007
Comment #6

Yeah, the sequential is oriented to the way you are moving and the g-forces around you. So, under acceleration, you are being pulled back and you pull back on the lever, and under braking you are being pushed forward and you push on the lever. I had it wrong for the first 2-3 months I had my wheel and then I watched some in-car video with a sequential and found out I was wrong.

Posted by Brian Fairley at 02:08 PM on Oct 23, 2007
Comment #7

every race car ive seen, whether rally, touring car, sports car etc has always been set up where the down shift is activated by pushing lever forward and up shifts pulling lever back

Posted by Brian Fairley at 02:08 PM on Oct 23, 2007
Comment #8

every race car ive seen, whether rally, touring car, sports car etc has always been set up where the down shift is activated by pushing lever forward and up shifts pulling lever back


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