There are flight simulators. Incredibly accurate in almost every way, could be used to train pilots and so on. (at least that’s what I hear.)
There are driving/racing games.
But I want a driving simulator. I want to pretend to drive F1, NASCAR, etc, with realistic physics and everything. I want to drive Ferrarris, go back all the way to Model Ts, and also I want to learn through (simulated) experience exactly where the limits of my Mazda Protege are. Motorcycles would be cool, too. Doesn’t anyone share my desire? Does this product exist?
Ooh–Papyrus seems to do good things. But are there any that simulate real-world conditions + streets, not just boring tracks? And more than race cars–real cars? Maybe all the way to 18-wheelers…and tanks…the possibilities are endless. Once you have the game and the physics engine done, it should be easy to add all the normal to extreme varieties or cars.
“Driver” and “Driver 2” for the original Playstation come kinda close…they have a “take a ride” mode that lets you just putter around the various cities used in the game, without worrying about an objective. It’s kinda limited, but fun, in it’s own way.
Oddly enough, the author of my favorite flight simulator cobbled together a prototype car—simulator, pretty much along the lines you proposed in your OP.
Sadly, “X-Auto” was cancelled…he gave his “official” reasons, but a lot of people groused that it was probably because he didn’t have the skill to finish it. :dubious:
The Transport Research Laboratory in Crowthorne, UK has a driving simulator which has been used on a number of research projects. The simulator does not move, but the shell of the car is real and surrounded by a surround screen controlled by a computer system.
Projects in the past have included the affect on driving due to cannabis smoking (which meant that TRL had to get permission from the Government to allow people to smoke a spliff before using the simulator - employees were not allowed to volunteer - damn!), developing monitors to alert drivers that they are falling asleep etc.
The roads are populated by other vehicles and pedestrians - you might be able to find it at Trl
A little off topic, just wanted to mention that the latest incarnation of some popular flight sims (Flight Sim 2004/X-Plane) are indeed used to train novice pilots. I use FS2004 at home and the level of detail is staggering. Not only does it look absolutely amazing, but the real catch is the simulation of instrumentation, weather, and air traffic control. It doesn’t get much more real than this short of a full-on military sim that moves.
GT3 for Playstation 2 is very very realistic. It’s racing but it has a wide variety of cars from stock to racing and a wide variety of courses. The catch is that the game controller isn’t much like auto controls. A good steering wheel controller costs almost as much as the Playstation 2.
Midnight Club II.