With plenty of sim racers, there are bound to be plenty of origin stories as well. Here are some of our favorite ones from the OverTake community!
"In polite society, we call our obsessions hobbies."
– Stephen King
There is something quite unique about this hobby, the sort of "gravitational pull" it exerts on you once you're within its orbit. It quickly reels you in with all the different aspects you can explore and tinker with. Before you know it, you're deep in the interwebs commenting on a forum, looking for upgrades, downloading mods, and shopping for yet more hardware. In a good way: Sim racing is sort of the Hotel California of hobbies where you can check in…but you can never leave.
But before all this madness could happen, you fell down that rabbit hole at one point in time, a distinct moment when it suddenly had appeal and you just knew "this is for me" How we got into this hobby in the first place is a unique personal story. Of course being a fan of real-life motorsports is an obvious entry point for many, but often there's more nuance to it than that.
Here at OverTake, in our never-ending quest to create an exciting and dynamic atmosphere for everything simracing related, for our last community giveaway we asked you, our premium members, to share your stories on how you got into sim racing. Well, we were blown away by all the interesting, funny and downright moving stories you shared, it just shows how much origin stories leave a lasting impression.
There are so many stories but let's start with one of our esteemed and humble members, a heavy hitter in the sim world, @Marcel Offermans. Now not just a simracer but also a seasoned developer with his very own sim title, The Last Garage, Marcel shared his racing origin story recalling a somewhat simpler time when video games, or particularly racing games, were part of family ties, and inversely tied up the family entertainment system.
The comments continued to pour in giving us a great span of quirky and sometimes hilarious and even moving origin stories.
A great example of falling down the rabbit hole at alarming rate and grabbing everything as you go by. Totally relatable.
RBR (Richard Burns Rally) and rFactor mods, starting off serious! Two legendary sims like that put you right away into another category all together. Skip learning the classics, straight to the free jazz.
First thing to teach your offspring, nothing should go to waste, well played
That moment when you stop playing a game and start sim racing, ahhhhh!
Sim racing never gets old! Age is truly a number in this genre, there is such a wide range of ages - we defy all conventions!
Run before you can walk - the joy of driving is visceral!
When life gives you LeMons, jump in your rig and go race Le Mans. There’s a reason us sim racers insist on the simulation part of racing: it lets you feel all of the real sensations, except maybe the risk of real danger. Well unless we count risking your thumbs on a strong direct drive wheel.
We're totally counting that.
A reminder that sim racing is so much more than a hobby. It’s a state of mind - and of mindfulness - powerful enough to help you navigate tough terrain and steady your real life steering.
Once you get to the point of building a PC just for sim racing, that's a definite sign. And the sign says “No U-turns beyond this point!”
We are honored, and that is truly nice to hear. The OverTake team salutes you.
If you ever need to argue the point, that’s proof right there that upgrading your gear is truly a necessity and not all about chasing the newest or latest.
Hear ye hear ye, spread the joy! I think we can all agree sim racing has grown into a vibrant, diverse community we couldn’t have dreamed of just a decade ago.
We thank you for sharing your origin stories: it reinforces what this community is all about!
There are so many inspiring stories to read through. I highly recommend chilling out and reading the comments, maybe you find yourself in there
We'll conclude with the wise words of one Josiah Cookerson:
How did you get it started in sim racing? Let us know in the comments if you haven't already done so - we're excited to learn about all of your stories!
"In polite society, we call our obsessions hobbies."
– Stephen King
There is something quite unique about this hobby, the sort of "gravitational pull" it exerts on you once you're within its orbit. It quickly reels you in with all the different aspects you can explore and tinker with. Before you know it, you're deep in the interwebs commenting on a forum, looking for upgrades, downloading mods, and shopping for yet more hardware. In a good way: Sim racing is sort of the Hotel California of hobbies where you can check in…but you can never leave.
But before all this madness could happen, you fell down that rabbit hole at one point in time, a distinct moment when it suddenly had appeal and you just knew "this is for me" How we got into this hobby in the first place is a unique personal story. Of course being a fan of real-life motorsports is an obvious entry point for many, but often there's more nuance to it than that.
Here at OverTake, in our never-ending quest to create an exciting and dynamic atmosphere for everything simracing related, for our last community giveaway we asked you, our premium members, to share your stories on how you got into sim racing. Well, we were blown away by all the interesting, funny and downright moving stories you shared, it just shows how much origin stories leave a lasting impression.
The Olden Days
Nostalgia for those of us that started out long before simracing was even a term, plays a big part in the first impressions: the Commmodore 64 and the Amiga were part of an underlying theme in some of the stories. The stark contrast to the sci-fi feel of simracing today is truly mind blowing, when you think back to how it all started. Dial up 14.4bps. Uphill both ways!There are so many stories but let's start with one of our esteemed and humble members, a heavy hitter in the sim world, @Marcel Offermans. Now not just a simracer but also a seasoned developer with his very own sim title, The Last Garage, Marcel shared his racing origin story recalling a somewhat simpler time when video games, or particularly racing games, were part of family ties, and inversely tied up the family entertainment system.
The comments continued to pour in giving us a great span of quirky and sometimes hilarious and even moving origin stories.
A great example of falling down the rabbit hole at alarming rate and grabbing everything as you go by. Totally relatable.
RBR (Richard Burns Rally) and rFactor mods, starting off serious! Two legendary sims like that put you right away into another category all together. Skip learning the classics, straight to the free jazz.
First thing to teach your offspring, nothing should go to waste, well played
That moment when you stop playing a game and start sim racing, ahhhhh!
Sim racing never gets old! Age is truly a number in this genre, there is such a wide range of ages - we defy all conventions!
Run before you can walk - the joy of driving is visceral!
When life gives you LeMons, jump in your rig and go race Le Mans. There’s a reason us sim racers insist on the simulation part of racing: it lets you feel all of the real sensations, except maybe the risk of real danger. Well unless we count risking your thumbs on a strong direct drive wheel.
We're totally counting that.
A reminder that sim racing is so much more than a hobby. It’s a state of mind - and of mindfulness - powerful enough to help you navigate tough terrain and steady your real life steering.
Once you get to the point of building a PC just for sim racing, that's a definite sign. And the sign says “No U-turns beyond this point!”
We are honored, and that is truly nice to hear. The OverTake team salutes you.
If you ever need to argue the point, that’s proof right there that upgrading your gear is truly a necessity and not all about chasing the newest or latest.
Hear ye hear ye, spread the joy! I think we can all agree sim racing has grown into a vibrant, diverse community we couldn’t have dreamed of just a decade ago.
Never Stop Sharing Your Experiences
One thing that makes this genre have such amazing staying power is the ability to accommodate so many different life perspectives. Because at the end of the day, regardless of age, ability, budget… we all got hooked on the unique *experience* of sim racing.We thank you for sharing your origin stories: it reinforces what this community is all about!
There are so many inspiring stories to read through. I highly recommend chilling out and reading the comments, maybe you find yourself in there
We'll conclude with the wise words of one Josiah Cookerson:
Me simple man. Me love car. Fast car too expensive. Cope w/ Sim Racing. 10/10 very satisfied
How did you get it started in sim racing? Let us know in the comments if you haven't already done so - we're excited to learn about all of your stories!
