Sim Racing - Thrustmaster TMX Pro - Forza - American Truck Simulator

Sim Racing - Thrustmaster TMX Pro - Forza - American Truck Simulator

Can you be too old for toys? I don't think so. I don't think men will ever stop playing with toys. Of course the type of toys you play with may change over time, but men will always have a little bit kid inside of them.

Ever since I was a kid, I was fascinated by cars. Yes most boys are, but some more than others. Naturally, my favorite games are car games. As we grow older, we don't have time to play video games like we used to when we were kids, however I somehow make time to play Forza still. Forza became popular real fast not only because of the detail and playability of the game, but the Driving Guideline helps you learn the tracks and routes for maximum times and speed. Once the Forza Horizon series came out, and you were now driving in a open world platform, Forza changed the way driving games were played.

So what comes next? That is correct. A steering wheel setup! After careful consideration and a lot of research, I decided to go with the Thrustmaster TMX Pro. There were cheaper options ( And of course, ones that cost a LOT more ), but it came down to 2. The Thrustmaster TMX Pro, or the Logitech G920. For the price of the TMX Pro, I probably could have purchased the Logitech + the shifter too, but the Thrustmaster wheel and pedals had so much better reviews. At the end of the day, the wheel is what makes the experience differ from each other.

Setup was a breeze. There really is no wrong way to set this up. The pedals connect to the wheel. The wheel has a power plug, and a USB cable that will connect to either your Xbox One or PC, and voila. The Xbox One will recognize your wheel setup automatically. When connected to PC, you have to download and install the latest drivers. The shifter comes with 2 cables. I noticed when connected to the Xbox One, you use one cable to connect the shifter directly to the steering wheel. When connecting the setup to a PC, you use the other cable and connect the shifter directly to your PC via USB.

Although you can purchase a shifter separately ($150), the Thrustmaster TMX Pro's steering wheel has paddle shifters that rivals most real cars' that I have driven. This may be a personal preference, but the the paddle shifters are NOT stationary. They move with the wheel. Some people prefer this, however some people prefer stationary paddle shifters so that during hard driving, or even drifting you know where your shift up and shift down is always. Aside from the paddle shifters and your standard A-B-X-Y buttons, there is a D-pad and 4 more buttons that you can assign to your liking. Of course I assign them differently depending on which game I am playing.

 

So how does this setup perform? I can honestly say that I have 0 complaints about this setup. The Force Feedback, which is adjustable, did not need any adjusting at all. You can feel the bumps on the road, and the change from asphalt to dirt to grass as if you are really there. The pedals, which are also adjustable, are very responsive and accurate. I remember when I had my Playstation 3, I had a Logitech setup and it was really hard to play anything because the pedals would move all over the place. With this Thrustmaster setup, that has not been an issue at all. Even when playing Dirt 4 which requires a lot of stomping on your pedals, especially because I assign the clutch pedal as my E-brake when playing this game, I had no problems at all.

I normally like to play my car games on my 55 inch Samsung TV, however I may try a triple monitor setup soon. I played a few games with the 3 monitors I have, however it wasn't the best because they were 3 different monitors and they weren't border less monitors like they should be for a proper triple monitor rig. Also an upgrade from my Nvidia Geforce GTX 1050ti may be in order for triple monitor gaming.

When I'm not racing on Forza 7, or drifting and flying through the air on Forza Horizon 4, I pick up loads and deliver them on American Truck Simulator. ATS lets you experience a big rig and the daily tasks of running a trucking business. You can even hire drivers buy different types of trucks for different runs. So how do you shift a 18 speed monster when your shifter has only 7 gears? You have to assign one of your buttons to switch gear groups. For instance when you start off 1st gear to 6th gear is as it should be. Once you switch your gear group to the next, you will be shifting from 7th to 12th gear, and then 13th to 18th gear. It can be a little tricky at first, but it's not as hard as you think as you don't shift through every single gear. Without a load, you can even start in 5th gear. Sometimes with a FULL load, you may have to shift through every low gear, especially at an up hill, however you can still skip some of the higher gears. ATS is one of the reasons I want a triple monitor setup. In this game you have to actually look left and right for parking and turns etc. With a triple monitor setup, or even a ultra wide monitor, you can minimize the amount of panning you have to do.

So to conclude my post, I will tell you this. Sim racing is definitely fun, but not for everybody. For starters aside from a console like Xbox One or a good gaming PC, the Thrustmaster TMX Pro (Wheel and Pedal, $250-$300) and the Thrustmaster TH8A Shifter ($150-$180) is not cheap. Luckily for me, I have a designated area in the house for this. If you are short on space, you might have to buy a retractable rig ($250 and higher).

Also this may be personal preference for everyone and can differ from one person to another. American Truck Simulator, it is almost a must to have a steering wheel setup to play this game. I tried playing with a control pad or a keyboard, and it just was not playable without a steering wheel setup. Forza 7 or Apex, of course is slightly better with a wheel setup, but is just as good with a control pad or a keyboard. The one that shocked me was Forza Horizon 4. Forza Horizon 4 I actually do not prefer the wheel a lot of times. Especially on drift missions and other tasks that need to be completed, the control pad or even keyboard is better to go on. Of course when free roaming Forza Horizon 4, the steering wheel setup is good, but even then the cars lose control very easily. Especially with Forza Horizon 4 being more of a arcade style game, than a Sim, I think it should be less sensitive.