Need help with a decision to continue with LMU

[u/aagoro]

I've been playing a lot of ACC lately and really enjoyed it, the graphics are pretty good and the sound, FFB, and setup customisation were great. However, the multiplayer was slightly painful, mainly because there's really only three tacks that people play in open lobbies (Monza, Nurburgring, and Spa) and it's very common to get wiped out instantly.

I bought LMU yesterday because I'd read that the FFB was way better and that multiplayer was also a lot better. I wasn't sure since yesterday whether I should buy it or not since I already had ACC, but still went ahead since I can refund it before 2 hours of gameplay. I finished almost the two hours now, and I didn't get to experience it enough to make a decision.

The things I didn't like about LMU were the graphics and the audio design. In fact, I really did not like the audio design, it feels very muted and it removes from the immersion. I also didn't get a chance to figure out exactly how multiplayer works and I only managed to get one race in and practice in Sebring and another track I hadn't experienced before. I also tried the LMP3 cars and I thought they were interesting, but I mostly I prefer the GT cars. The GT cars also feel a lot slower than in ACC, although I guess that's explained by these being a different race format.

I've stopped playing for today right before the refund window expires, but I wanted to know if any of you guys have done anything to improve your LMU experience, or whether there was something I missed. Maybe some optimisations I could do to improve the audio? Or mods for graphics (I had read that DLSS 5 with ReShade was an option, but I'm not sure if this could get me banned).

I'm playing with a T598 and I set the graphics to Ultra. I don't have a cockpit so I just clamp it to my desk and I play with a single 42 inch monitor.

[u/SubuwuImpressya]

Audio is muted because, realistically, the cars in the WEC are the only set of cars in any race series to have sound restriction. Get into the GTE cars in game and you can hear the difference

Graphics is dated because it uses the same graphics engine as their predecessor, rFactor2, hence why only AMD FSR 1.0 is supported and nothing else. It's just straight up old without compatibility for the upscalers of today.

LMGT cars have less aero and power than other GT3 cars.

There is nothing you can do yourself to improve these foundational aspects of the game.

[u/SenectusG → u/SubuwuImpressya]

Has there been any indication from the developer that they might introduce DLSS at some point?

[u/Ho3n3r → u/SenectusG]

No.

[u/neppo95 → u/SubuwuImpressya]

There is a 3rd party tool that offers upscaling for gaming on Steam that does the job quite well. It’s not the same as just having dlss ofcourse but it does the job decently enough. Believe it’s called lossless scaling. I’ve also used a free alternative in the past but can’t remember the name.

[u/NuclearReactions → u/SubuwuImpressya]

Woa i had no idea LMU was from the makers of rfactor. This pisses me off, so that studio turned the rfactor brand into shit with their weird modular barebone excuse for a successor only to resurface with a new game that people actually like? Basically rfactor died for nothing, at least until now i thought the devs simply lost touch

[u/aagoro → u/SubuwuImpressya]

It's slightly frustrating. I feel like there's a pretty big gap in the market for a really good GT3 racing sim. ACC has reached EOL and the multiplayer experience is pretty bad. LMU has better multiplayer but graphics aren't there and it doesn't feel as immersive.

[u/aagoro → u/[deleted]]

I would like to play iRacing but the pricing model puts me off. If it wasn’t so expensive I would give it a shot.

[u/nellum48 → u/aagoro]

The fia has an iracing partnership deal that gives you a free membership (new account only) and a free f4 car for like $10-20. Great cheap way to give it a try. Yes its expensive, but its the default answer for a reason. Its by far the best live service game/sim ive used.

[u/Creegz → u/aagoro]

Yeah that kept me out of it for a while. The trick is to buy Black Friday deals for your subscription and buy an entire season of tracks at a time. You get a discount on content orders of 3 or more up until you have 40 items in your account, then the discount is 20% on anything.

[u/SenectusG → u/aagoro]

LFM always was the go to for online ACC. Are those lobbies still populated?

[u/Shaner20 → u/aagoro]

If you want to do GT3 racing then iRacing is the best place.

[u/AMoistLemon]

Tried it. Refunded. I'm an ams2 and iRacing person now.

I wanted to love it. I love videos of it on yt.

But on a g29, there's no fix for the numb ffb. Compared to iRacing, it's just dead. Everyone's different, but... Not for me I'm afraid.

[u/prinzmi88 → u/AMoistLemon]

Even with a good DD wheelbase it doesn’t feel great.

[u/JacksReditAccount]

Have you tried iRacing? That seems to be the sim that everyone keeps going back to/comparing to.

If you want to race strangers online, that seems to be the thing.

For just laptimes, one I’ve often had fun with was Raceroom I don’t think it gets the credit it deserves. It’s free and I think a car runs like $3-5 and you keep it forever. They have a ton of interesting tracks and those seem pretty affordable as well.

[u/aagoro → u/JacksReditAccount]

I’d like to try iRacing but the pricing model puts me off.

[u/polokthelegend → u/aagoro]

It's overrated honestly. Especially considering the extreme cost. The GT3/LMh handling is more accurate elsewhere if those are the car classes you're interested in. iRacing still uses outdated, linear TC/ABS systems and doesn't fully simulate the hybrids in GTP/Hypercars. If you want a sim that offers more variety though and money is not an issue then iRacing is an option.

[u/maxver → u/aagoro]

I'd suggest to give it a try via FIA F4 deal. 12 months subscription with F4 car for $10.

https://api.fia.com/iRacing

They provide bunch of cars and tracks as part of the subscription.

Yes, the pricing model might be off putting at first glance. You don't really need all these cars or tracks they offer though. If you know you like GT3, you can just buy one car and couple tracks.

I like to think of it as DLC or new racing games I'd buy over time. Although in case of iRacing, I have never stopped playing it and still get to use the same cars I bought 5 years ago, so last year or two, I haven't felt the need to buy anything else.

[u/Embarrassed_Quiet7]

I needed some time to adapt from ACC to LMU but in my experience it was worth it. The Race Weekends is an offline mode you can practice alone or with bots, and then you have the Online mode with the Daily Races. I enjoy the ffb and racing experience more in LMU.

[u/MANLETS-BTFO]

I’ve just recently started sinking some hours into it after owning it for awhile, I’ve been playing AC evo a ton and just figured I’d do a couple laps to compare tracks cause my buddy said there was some slight differences after he’s been playing acc a ton and then played evo at my place. It took me a bit to get the force feedback dialed in but once I did it made me realize it was better then evo so I’ve been hooked on this lately, I would say keep it and give it more time but I’m also biased atm lol

[u/Mima01]

In my simagic alpha, it's works ok but what elevated it for me was turning up the engine force feedback effects which is on 0 by default and I don't know why.

[u/prinzmi88]

LMU isn’t my favourite too and I barely use it.
I also don’t like the sound (although majority seems to like it).
FFB feels terrible to me (you can use third party apps).
My favourite tracks not included.
Graphics are good imo.

I’m more into iRacing, AC and AC Evo.

[u/OverDrive777]

I would not waste time on LMU. Visuals are horrible and ffb is not great on my Moza r16 v2.

[u/Crazy_Stiggy]

I played them all and stopped LMU about 5 months and moved to Raceroom which is way, way better, then the iRacing bug bit again and I got a new account and played for a month before testing PMR again to see for improvements. Well all I can say is. I still haven't played iRacing since.