The Situation
Today I’m announcing a new project. While I have been driving automatic cars for years but I have never driven a manual. One of my new housemates has moved in and brought his G920 Logitech steering wheel. A year ago I bought an Oculus Quest, and have been itching to try a driving game on a wheel ever since.
The Impetus
All of my housemates drive manual cars, and I don’t have a car myself. It would be really useful if I could learn how to drive one, but I don’t want to damage anyone else’s car because I have no idea what I’m doing.
The Solution
Obviously instead of having one of my friends help me learn to drive a manual, the only logical solution is to strap on my VR headset and teach myself to drive a manual in City Car Driving. I’ve just finished setting it up and after some trial and error we have got the car moving. Technically driving in VR is fairly challenging, because there are so many pieces that have to work together, and because it is really hot right now, and my computer is experiencing thermal throttling.
The Actual Plan
I’m going to try and play this game for 10 hours to get the hang of driving a manual. Then I am going to go for a drive with one of my friends and see if the skills have transferred from the virtual world into the real one. Most of this driving is probably going to be in City Car Driving because it has good reviews for its realism, but I’ll try some other more racing focused games as well.
What I Think Is Going to Happen
I think that this project will be a moderate success, I think I will get used to habitually using a clutch pedal and changing gears, but the setup won’t be close enough to a real car for me to drive a manual properly on the first try. I think I will probably still stall the car a lot, and do poor gear changes, I believe that I will however improve a lot more quickly than if I had never practiced in VR at all.
