Recommend a replacement for TOCA 3 for PC

The Game Room
1

I have irregular get-togethers with friends to play computer games, one of which is TOCA 3. But thanks to the Starforce copy protection TOCA doesn’t work on Windows 7, and its internet function has become a bit flakey of late - I guess Gamespy are devoting less bandwidth to it. So we need a replacement.

Requirements:

Works on Windows 7 x64 with a modest graphics card
Multiplayer over LAN or WAN.
Makes use of a wheel and pedals - no keyboard, thanks.
Fun!
Lots of tracks.
Lots of vehicles. In particular, we want F1, trucks, and touring cars.
True sense of speed (Live For Speed fails here).
Cheap.
No gimmicks.
Moderately realistic: we’re not hardcore but we do expect cars to take damage, corner correctly, oversteer and understeer.

2

Why not go with the game’s sequel: Race Driver: Grid.

3

Because we’re into racing, not drifting.

4

Race On, the Race07/GTR Evolution compilation pack.

5

GRID’s a pretty conventional racing game.

6

I enjoyed TOCA Race Driver, although I haven’t played it a huge amount (and very little in multiplayer). It has all the requirements you mention, and certainly isn’t a “drifting” type game. In fact, that makes me wonder if we are talking about the same game, it may have been named differently in the US compared with the UK, where I am.

7

TRD 3 isn’t a drifting game. But GRID most certainly is - or rather, it was when we tried it.

8

Ah, I’m sorry - seems it was my misunderstanding. When you said TOCA 3, I assumed you meant a version that came out in the early 2000s, based on the fact that I knew the original TOCA Touring Cars came out in about 1996, and TOCA 2 in about 1998. But now I realise you meant TOCA 3 in the reincarnation of the series. Just demonstrates why I should stay out of gaming threads :).

9

I have GRID. There is drifting in it but, like RNATB and Dead Cat say, there’s more to it than that.

10

I’m not sure but I think you can completely skip the drift competitions by avoiding Tokyo.

11

I’m really only interested in racing. I primarily play network races against friends. Are there tracks which have to be unlocked? Or is everything available from the start?

12

Dirt 2 is on sale for $6 for another day or 2 at D2D. It focuses on rally so it won’t replace Toca entirely, but it’s made by the same people and is pretty awesome.

13

I think most, if not all, things are available from the start for multi. The one setting up a multi session logs in, picks the area (Europe/Japan/US/Global), event, location (some events only have one available location), route (i.e.: track; some events only have one available route), etc. Drift racing should be indicated either in the event or the route, sometimes both; if neither say anything about drifting then that particular event should be fine for you.