Widescreen Gaming Forum

Le Mans sucks. Being almost forced to compete in a boring 24-minute race makes it even more annoying. It has nothing to do with the rest of the game's fast-paced action. I skip it most of the time :evil:

Keyboard rulez. Just like Dirt, the game may seem "impossible" to pad or wheel users, but it's not. Not always ideal alright, but I love these games and never felt the need for anything else than my good ol' keys.

Ive been slightly enjoying the Le Mans races I actually almost got third in my class (out of 6?) last time I tried it. but ended up spinning out in the dirt with a few minutes left and ended up last in my class.

I've exclusivly been using my 360 wheel with both DiRT and GRID, defiantly not impossible. It feels excellent with a wheel I couldent play it with anything else.

I'm a keyboard player, but I found GRID touchy with it I like the challenger though. The Le Manns is the only way to earn big money, I'm stuck at 50th in team rankings and I've almost done all the races, once they are done... is there anything else to compete for? Or am I missing something? How do you get to the top of the money earning list if all the other teams are makeing 40M+ and I'm only getting 5-8M on a good season??!??!

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I still visit occasionally.

I love the Le Mans races. I'll play a whole seasons just for the Le Mans race chance at the end.

I had to turn the music off, though... whole damned race is lacking music, then it suddenly kicks in in the last 'three hours' of the race, and *bang*... concentration shot to buggery.

I would always manage to wipe out in the last hour or so of the Le Mans race... until I figured out that turning off the 'tension' music stopped me from misjudging a couple of the turns.

...

maherie... I've got no idea how some of those teams make so much money. As for keyboarding on this game... impossible for me. I picked up a 360 controller for Windows (actually for DMC4) and it makes this game boatloads easier.

I still attack some races like it was Need for Speed: Most Wanted or Burnout Paradise, though. :(

I've exclusivly been using my 360 wheel with both DiRT and GRID, defiantly not impossible. It feels excellent with a wheel I couldent play it with anything else.

I meant, "playing with a keyboard may seem impossible to wheel or pad users". Not "it's impossible with a wheel", of course.

interesting, I thought it easier with the keyboard. Maybe I should give my controller another go.

Well I have beat the game two or three times on up to Serious difficulty with KB, though admittedly used a trainer to get through the drift, so didn't beat the style aspect of it, just the racing. That includes all the race Head to Heads though.

On KB it just takes time to get used to light key touches, for gas and steering. It has the opposite effect for brakes though. There you have to hold them down at length for the dang cars to decelerate adequately, except of course with open wheel cars.

I am very familiar with the advanced controls for car tuning. What I don't like is it's a universal adjustment for ALL cars. Open wheel cars handle much differently than other cars, so need different tuning. They can spin out very easily just accelerating out of a turn.

Believe me, I used to hate Le Mans, but when I got used to racing it in the Saleen, I'd ace it every time. It is kinda long and boring and the AI have super night vision, but once you get the chicanes ingrained in your memory, it becomes easier. The toughest part for me is the S turns just before the Ferris wheel. The AI will often catch up there. When I say "ace" it I mean win my class, I usually don't try to beat a higher class car, though beat two of them in one race just by blocking a lot on the straights, then losing them in the chicanes.

The main problem I'm having right now is getting over the tendency of the latest NFS titles (Pro Street & Undercover) being just the opposite in KB control scheme. You hold the A & D keys down to make an arced turn. You obviously can't do that in GRID. It takes a very light touch and tapping is necessary. You even have to tap the accelerator whilst doing so to avoid spinning out if you really want to turn well without losing lots of speed.

In fact I find even with all driver assists on, you need to have a good balance of tapping brake, steer and gas to make good turns. The longer the race the more likely you'll screw one of them up. It's easy to see why they put flashbacks in the game. You need a fairly good reserve amount of do-overs when getting used to the controls. Supposedly requiring only one once you get used to them. That's not necessarily the case with KB though I find. I've heard wheels can be hard to get used to though.

I was tempted to get the 360 wheel set btw, it's the only affordable one that doesn't seem to have crap pedals. I just can't get past the idea of dumping lots of batteries into it due to the wireless design, or buying lots of accessories to make it a plug in set.

I was tempted to get the 360 wheel set btw, it's the only affordable one that doesn't seem to have crap pedals. I just can't get past the idea of dumping lots of batteries into it due to the wireless design, or buying lots of accessories to make it a plug in set.

It comes with a power plug if you so please. Batteries have not come near my wheel. You do have to pick up the wireless adapter for it though $15-20 which lets you use wireless 360 Accessories on the PC. The only changes that I would make to it would be, Making the actual Wheel bigger, It feels like a small japanese import racing wheel. I would like a 1960's american muscle-esk wheel. I would like the peddles to be wireless as well (they connect with what seems to be a landline phone wire) And I would prefer the pedals to be of slightly higher quality, namely metal, while theres nothing wrong with the current ones im not sure 5-10 years down the road they will last.

Hmmm, I thought I had this sorted out from having researched it before, now I guess I have to labor through it again.

I thought the only way you could run it is wireless, or a proactive recharging of what is essentially a wireless set. so of course you'd need the wireless gaming receiver for using it on PC. There's also of course the Play n Charge kit, which turns it into a half ass plug in unit that recharges the batteries while you play.

From my understanding, even if you don't use the force feedback, which I wouldn't, the wheel still needs power for the transmitter to send the signal to the receiver. That means batteries or the Play n Charge kit, the latter of which I'm not sure if you can use by itself, or have to have batteries.

I understand that they made it wireless because most gamepad using console players sit a ways away from the TV, but IMHO since they went to the extent of trying to appease PC gamers with a wireless gaming receiver, they SHOULD have gone the extra mile and just offered a plug in adapter for the wheel, as an alternative to the Play n Charge kit used by those whom play wirelessly. It's stupid to play plugged in via something that charges the batteries if you never actually use it as a wireless device.

Bottom line, if they had a plug in adapter vs battery charger, I'd be tempted to get it. I don't know though, maybe you can actually use the charger as a mere adapter. None of the salesmen I've spoke to that sell them can tell me for sure. Do you HAVE to have batteries installed to power the wheel via the Play n Charge kit? All this hinges on the Play n Charge kit.

It's bad enough you have to get 3 items just to use it on PC without constant battery changing, let alone trusting a little wall plug in charger when MS is known for crap PSUs on their 360. That would leave me having to remember to unplug it after each racing session just to not worry about it becoming toast.

The play and charge kit ONLY charges the batterys, Sadly you can not power the wheel at all with it alone.

It does come with a Wall Power adapter if you choose to not use batteries, Thats the only way that you can get force feedback (as the batteries are not powerful enough or what ever)

You HAVE to have the Wireless Dongle, remember this is a wheel made exclusively for the 360. We are lucky they launched the Dongle at all.

I have heard nothing bad about the PSU on the 360, but unless you have a dedicated racing setup (which if you did you would probably be jumping right up to the G25) your probably going to have to unplug it all the time anyway.

Heres direct links to everything that you need to use the Wheel on the PC.

The Wheel (obviously)
The Wireless Adapter Dongle
Batteries (Completely Optional)

OK, thanks Da Fox, I'd actually forgotten I read about that before. Here's a pic I found of it in fact. Exactly how long is that power adapter cord though?


I've seen the wheel for about $85 and the receiver is commonly around $15, making it the same price I could get the Driving Force GT for. The DF GT is made for PS3, so a couple of the buttons don't work on PC, but it is actually compatible with more games.

It's a tough call because the 360 one seems to have a bit better pedals, but the DF GT a bit better mounting system. When you add the fact that the DF GT probably has more games and a better wheel though, it seems to edge it out.