racers - are you an automan?????

[YOUWIN]

Thought I'd bring this up to get some opinions, advice and general discussion on the benefits from those of you that use manual gears in racers. I've heard it mentioned several times about the advantages of using manual gears over auto ones in games such as MOTO GP and PRG for example.

What with the nearby release of MC2, MM3, and more importantly for me, the distant PGR2 being fully racable online, I'm wondering if its time I made the effort + switched to manual gears - up until now I've always chose the easy option and gone with auto, but from what I've heard there defiantly seems to be an advantage in using manual.

I'm curious, those of you that are into racers - which do you use? - also what, and how worthwhile the advantages of manual gears are.

I stuck PGR back on the other day and gave it a try using the manual gears, and for the life of me I couldn't figure out the instances that using manual would make a difference - infact my lap times were a couple of seconds faster using auto over manual (which I guess would improve with a bit more practice) - its seems obvious that I'm not switching gears/gearing correctly, at the correct times/places in a lap.

So whats the secret, where's the advantage, and who uses what?

[Hodge]

With motpgp it`s more a question of getting used to the braking if your using manual as the button setup on the pad doesn`t allow for an easy front and back braking. I still go with auto on motogp as i simply can`t find a braking setup i like. Also another note is i find motogp 2 automatic slightly worse than 1 as when you brake heavy into a corner now you find it doesn`t change down into the correct gear and you find yourself having to dab the accelarate slightly into the corner to get it to change down properly. With Gotham it has no benefits what so ever with manual as the automatic gears are very good and manual offer no speed advantage. Also the game is more about dabbing your handbrake to get around the corners and manual would just hamper you. One game i do use manual with is GT3 and do find it offers a speed advantage as you can take the corner in the gear you desire, where you find with auto it can change up when you don`t want it to. So it`s basically it`s a hit and miss situation depending how well automatic gears have been implementent.

[gtskater]

Got to agree with Hodge about GT3, I almost always use manual now. Auto became boring after a while really, wasn't concentrating on the race, just kinda driving on 'autopilot'.

My lap times are faster now, maybe cos I'm really concentrating on racing, or maybe because it just is better. If i use auto and an equally skilled friend uses manual, I'll get beaten almost everytime because of the loss of control. Both use manual transmission and the game is more enjoyable, the racing tighter and the feel of a win more satisfying.

[Fuddle]

i try to use manual on all racers now.
with GT3, when i switched to manual my times got a lot faster than i could do with automatic.
manual with GT3 is also quite easy because of the dual shock pad, you can easily use 2 analogue sticks with plenty of shoulder buttons available for gears.
i did try with moto GP2, but theres just too many buttons you need to use (unless you dont want front/rear brakes), but i'm not too sure if getting rid of the brake control and using manual would be very advantageous.
maybe i just need to get better, because i'm still rubbish at it.

[Super Stu]

You'll probably see your laptimes dive and think wtf when you switch to manual. The thing is, even if you aren't as sharp on deciding what gear to use (i suspect those having driven for a while will hold an advantage here), you still have more intelligence as when to change up, or hold it in a particular gear in high rev to keep the power up. There's nothing worse sitting there yelling "change down ffs". It's a shame you don't get the sensory perception through the sense of touch, as you do in an actual car. Drive it for long enough and you just 'know' what the engine is doing, no need to glance at what gear you're in, what the rev counter is reading etc. To be fair, the gt3 wheel has a stab at this.

I suspect this to be the final frontier between game and actual driving, though.

[womblingfree]

The only racing game I ever found manual gears to be preferable was GT3. The handling is so well implemented that it is easy to know just when to change and gives you far more control over your vehicle.

[Ish]

I'll use manual gears if I'm in an arcade on a decent cabinet or if I'm using a steering wheel/pedal combo setup at home that implements gears well - my preference being to have the gears on padals behind the wheel.

Otherwise I don't bother - it just feels too clumsy.

[kuru]

heh, I don't drive so I always use auto. I seem to remember trying manual on the original GT once, but I was pants at it so I gave up.

damned short attention span.

[wod]

i use auto gears, just never tried manual . i've always chose auto on games like gt3

[pohleonguk]

IVe used auto on mm2 and GT3. Ive only used manual on Initial D. Sometimes ive done it on daytona.

[Tobal]

Apart from the GT series i found manual gears to be useful was Daytona series (needed for powersides) and Ridge Racer series and F335-C, i tried manual gears in PGR i got my hands full dealing with the Handbrake making manual gears a distraction.

[mid]

The weird thing its that I shudder with fear at the prospect of having an auto rental car when on holiday, while in games I never ever choose the manual option.

If it makes GT3 interesting again, though, I might try it. Apart from anything, I don't think its possible to get a gold on the first license's straight line accellerate and brake test without them.

[Chief H]

After this thread I decided to try GT3 on manual and I must admit, it does inject some new interest into a game I thought I'd grown tired of. (By the way, I got a gold in that test with auto. Maybe tyhe other tests'll be easier now i'm in manual) I tend to go auto in most games unless manual has a clear advantage (daytona, initial d, etc). I've been in auto for rrv but i think i may have to switch to manual in order to tame the angel car (forgotten it's name) since it grips whern you shift - v annoying if you're in auto and don't expect a shift in a corner.

[YOUWIN]

ah im glad im not the only one then, gonna get MC2 on xbox this week, the more i read about it the better it sounds, can't wait to actually race online, manual or auto

[ZeroRisk]

Personally it's Manual all the way for me.

I can't stand auto. It takes away some of the realism of the game.

Moto GP 2 I use manual gears and front rear brakes no problem.

Setup is as follows,

Controller S

Rear Brake -> Left trigger
Front Brake -> Right trigger
Accelerator -> A Button
Gear Up -> Black button
Gear Down -> White Button

This is the best configuration for pure speed and braking. Although I must say that the new RC211V has such good engine braking that you only have to downshift a few gears to keep the revs up whilst slowing down enough to powerslide the corner.

Every other racer I have used manual. It's always faster. Plus, you can choose what gear you're in for a corner. Sometimes the game will choose 3rd and you see the other racers flying past you. If you selected 2nd you'd be ahead. It's that simple.