Assetto corsa's problems (imo)

I think we can all agree Assetto is a great sim, but at the same time, we can all agree that it is feature-less compared to other sims. I'm a big fan of Assetto Corsa since the first day I drove the 12c road car on Imola but having played it for a while now and co-running a league in AC, the problems have become bigger.
Assetto's main problem, for me, is the lack of immersion. Not being able to jump the start, to get a penalty for speeding in the pits, the "fading" after the session has finished, lightning-fast pitstops (which make the strategy useless) where the refueling and tyre-changes happen in the same time (which is against the rules in GT racing), not being able to stall the car (or turn the engine off for that matter)...(I can't remember anything else, someone post if they find something irritating about AC regarding immersion)

On top of this, I find the booking mode quite frustrating and complicated to use. Since I co-run a GT3 league, we need a certain car number for a certain driver so the league is somewhat realistic but we can't do that without implementing the booking mode. I'd like for Kunos to implement a system where a driver can choose the livery for his car before entering an online session, or at least make it an option for some servers.

This article (http://pretendracecars.net/2015/10/08/what-in-the-world-is-happening-with-assetto-corsas-1-3-update/) got me thinking, if Assetto is so buggy and feature-less, why do I keep playing it? To be honest, my interest for Assetto Corsa is slowly fading. At the moment, this is just a mediocre game with one of the best (maybe even the best outright) car physics. The problem is that having good physics is just not good enough for a sim to be succesful in these times. Some other games have a much rounded and completed package (I won't mention them) and Assetto is a long way from that but it can get there. I don't mean that it should be prettier, or that it should have rain or day/night cycle or more cars and tracks. I just want some immersion, to make it feel less virtual, if you will, and to make organising a serious league a bit easier.

Now to answer the question why I keep playing it (it's fairly simple): I believe Kunos can do it. Yeah, they're a small company but they've delivered every time since the birth of Assetto Corsa. I believe they can change the game and that they can find a way to implement those small details that make a sim what it really is. I'm just fearing they might focus on different things and that those changes might come a bit too late, if ever.

Please consider this changes, I'd really much like to stay with Assetto Corsa

 

they can't make and code everything we want, even if they can, they have priorities, they are releasing the game for consoles next year as well. So be patience or use another sim/game, or make your own.
i'm in the "being patience" side. they are aware of every feature that's missing, etc, they're not new to simulators nor games, and i bet they've played every freaking game that exists.

Even if they fail on the console version (hopefully not) they will learn from that, because i also think there are "features" that are "essential" to a simracing game, but it's what we get and we just have to deal with it

 

why do i play assetto corsa. its fun. just that simple. prc have in a way sort of implanted that self doubt mechanism to some fans of game to question out logic of why we play it.

I trust the devs will do what they can, they are dedicated albeit a bit hilarious with their methods of communicating with their community.

The way i see it is that im going to ignore NKpro, im going to count this is kunos's first game and lets be honest, how many companies have made a flawless game on their first attempt, it has been done but its rare. Anyways kunos are doing well in sales, we have got a lot of content in return, they are working on it constantly.

 

I'm certain I know the other game/sim your referencing and agree with you. The physics in AC is far superior though as you've stated, which makes it the better "driving" choice. However, regarding full immersion it would be nice if it was better rounded to compliment it's core achievement around physics. Looks aren't everything but let's face it... you'd much rather have the full "package" instead of "part of the deal" on either side. Given human nature, and all... we tend to go for what is most aesthetically pleasing rather than substance. I agree completely that KUNOS is capable of pulling it off. However, to the point of the "console release" IMO they would be better served releasing a complete game (potentially gaining more sales and support as a result), staging it for a positive 2nd release, vs having the same experience play out that has occurred on PC. That would be a disservice to the title itself and cut it short of it's full potential. I would like to see AC reach its full potential and not have it be one of those "could have been titles". Not here to bash just sharing my personal point of view. I toggle between a few sims only because AC isn't there yet... remaining optimistic.

Good discussion guys!

 

While one person's interest decreases, in others increases. You can't please everybody. For taste colors. Sorry my English ends here.

 

Assetto Corsa is a continual work in progress. Enjoy it along the way and support Kunos so it continues to evolve. I've enjoyed watching it grow since Early Access and look forward to what the future has in store.

 

If AC had the features of LFS, i dont think id actually be able to play for a week after fapping the skin off my hands.

-Downloadable skins (shared by the client not handed out by the server)
-in server car changes
-in server track rotation
-on the fly next pitstop adjustments
-ability to change all options on track (a simple controller map change and i need to exit to the menu???)

Skins might not be high priority but i think it played a big part in LFS success especially as it creates the opportunity for "teams" which was a massive reason LFS did so well

The other things I mention should be absolute high priority. If a 3 man team from 10 years ago could do it.....

 

Uh oh, critical of AC...here comes the ban-hammer.

The constant updates and changes are messing with pretty much everyone i suppose. Me and a friend play occasionally online, and after every update it's back to the drawing board with settings, FFb, etc..(if the game wants to start). This get's annoying after a while and it chip's away at the solidness of the whole game.

About immersion, well...what can i say that hasn't been mentioned before...it's a work in progress (even though steam says it's not).

I still like this game so much so that it is still in my steam library, and i play it frequently!
Once i get it dialed in on a certain car/track it's the best thing i ever experienced on a computer.

If people are critical it's most likely because they want they're favorite game to be the best it can be, we want all the feature's we "think" we deserve, not yesterday, but the day before that. I can see how this could be interpreted as being overly entitled, or demanding, or whatever..but i'm convinced this is a 100% normal and human!

Please Kunos, don't be mad at us for loving this game so much that we can't stop talking (complaining) about it!

 

Really? Maybe if you re-install the whole game like some do but I really havent seen the need for that. I havent had to change a thing except subtle driving techniques which is all part of it... its like a RL team installing new upgrades you have to adjust to and thats fun in my book

We dont have to worry about that side of things for quite some time now according to the devs, which i have translated to them concentrating on fearures now... which i hope start with what i have mentioned

 

As someone who plays all the sims for what they are I don't usually involve myself in these threads since I personally find them pointless... but these threads seem to be the flavor of the month so here's my two rupees for you to consider. PRC is a fun website, I go there to witness some vapid people do some serious willy waving, which I find quite entertaining to read and pass the time while I'm having lunch at work and that's about the extent of it's relevance. Just take what's put on that site with a bag of salt, half the issues pointed out in that thread you linked to are not even applicable for a long time now. I'm sure you are a grown adult who can make conscious decisions for yourself and not fall for sensationalism... so I'd say not to be taken in so easily by what other people say is good or bad and just enjoy what you find to be fun. There are hundreds of threads like this exact one pointing out the same issues over and over and over and over and... you get what I'm going for here... so it's not like they don't know what the people want i.e. they know what to work on and maybe the features you asked for are in the pipeline.

What you should be asking for here is transparency from the devs about what features are in the works, and even that is a double edged sword for Kunos because on one side there will be people whining about why there are implementing 'x' feature and not 'y' feature, others whining about why it takes so long to develop said feature (the "now now now" crowd) while it's in development and some others whining about the feature after it comes out saying how they could have done it much better in an alternate universe.

What I'm saying is in the end you get what you get. I know that you don't have any ill intention with your thread but there are just so many of these that it is just white noise at this point. Even I want AC to have many additional features that are not implemented currently but luckily for me and you, we live in a magical time where there are multiple sims each with their own specialized feature set, so I go play those instead when I crave for something other than what AC has to offer. There will never be a sim that is going to cater to every single person because sim racing community is the devilish combo of a niche group with many strong subsets in itself. People who love endurance racing would want one set of features, people who love formula racing would want a different set of features, people who love street cars would want something else and all these are supposed to be satisfied by a team of developers (Kunos/ISI/Reiza/S3/whoever it may be) that cannot even compete with mobile games when it comes to their revenue. Sure if we live in a ideal world all these devs would morph into a monster company and we would have a sim that looks like AC, is as technical as rF2, has the quirky feel of SCE with the immersion of R3E and the 'plug and play' multiplayer of iRacing, sadly that is not the case so you have to use each of them for what they are... for now. Who knows what future has in store for us, maybe AC will one day turn into the sim that you want or maybe it won't. I'm pretty certain that the management at Kunos is not slow in the head as to ignore the suggestions from players. Just take a break from AC, enjoy other sims and come back in a month or two and get a feel for how AC has either improved or cacked itself. It's not like someone has you at gunpoint and forcing you to play AC now is it.

And with that huge wall of text, I leave you with these wise words. Don't let other people decide what you can enjoy.

 

I like the sentiment of that meme but the wonka delivery is way off!

 

@Enforcer-J It's complete nonsense and only applicable on the interwebz anyway. More along wonka's sentiment of "You can't live forever, Charlie", in theme with have your own meaning of fun and don't let others ruin it for you.

 

I'd rather play ac than race in mclaren Honda with Alonso, tell them how to start right he he

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It's a bit easier to break down when you realize simulation developers and game developers are very diffrent.

What AC suffers from most is structured gameplay/experience. Compounded by the absence of a few key features to make your own structure.

AC simulates cars fantasticly! But doesn't yet simulate racing... And to be fair, it's a common short fall of every game that dabbles in the "sim" territory, including the Forza and GT's.

Racing games today are like flight simulators that simply left out all the communications, skimped on terrain, and didn't support landing and take off procedures. Sure, the plain might be a great sim, but the experiance of flying is more than simply flying.

More gamer logic needs to be applied to "racing games", Pcars tried this and as such they "Career" is about the most redeeming feature, one I wish was in AC and further carried over the same structure to online... But it stops there, Pcars is s hot mess of poor leadership and botched execussion. But I digress.

Games need features that support content, not more content to compensate for lack of features. This is being done by most driving games as if they are all watching each other and reacting to symptoms, totally missing the true ailment.

I love AC and respect its stubbornness to adhere to reality. And on the eve of a console release year, they need to focus on these missing items, the console player expects them, and the product could easily take the crown undisputed, redefining what a "racing sim" should be going into the future... Otherwise 505 are completely missing the real opportunity here.

God speed devs! I think you can do it, but you need only 1-2 more team members that are game designers, you've got car sim in spades, let's see some racing sim next.

 

I'd love to see more "features" as would a lot of AC fans. I think the bottom line is, that Stefano is swamped with work. I don't believe they replaced the other coder which left Kunos a while back, which leaves Stefano doing it all. Therefore, I guess the chances of seeing the features you want in AC go a bit like this; try to convince Stefano it's something the sim needs, or hope Kunos hire more help on the coding side.

 

Time for a Squirrel...

 

I love AC, and will play nothing else. I'm rusted on. But I do wish that KS would take a break from physics changes and new content, and polish the game experience. I'm an online-only player... I would like to see on-track start lights (no more arcade), jump starts, manual pit limiter, drive through penalties for jumps/speeding, ability to set a pit strategy (set fuel strategy - at the moment you can't even know how many litres you're putting in), time progression in MP, dynamic cloud changes affecting track temps - things of that ilk.

 

And don't forget the Squirrels! We need MORE SQUIRRELS!!

 

Pit wall signs, stalling engine, jump start, manual pit limiter, realistic pitstops, warm-up lap, safety car (virtual safety car), realistic penalties (stop and go, time deduction, grid penalty, disqualification etc...) are few of those things that for realism buffs would bring totally new level of immersion and gameplay experience.
I have never understood why these realism increasing features can't be in a sim as a selectable feature, like assists and graphics options (blur, lens glare etc..) are. Not everybody likes those assists nor graphics options, hence they are made to be optional for decades now.

 

It probably isn't time for a foul mouthed squirrel, Horus.