Generic Are you worried about GT Sport and Project CARS 2?

I played the Beta of GTSport and i definitivley not buy it...have a good points but overall i didnt like it...! About the PC2 already is preordered , the fetures who bring like Onlime Filter by your Driving skills, Live Track 3.0, huge variety of circuits, race stream option...ect,ect gone a be really good for online ! But i love AC...and if Kunos brings all PC fetures to console version i dont gone a stop playing it...can enjoy both games without a problem! The problem is the dev. work in AC is too slow...one year pass from the release and we still not have the basic features who are basicly not so dificult to set in it like a button mapping,FOV and Seat Ajustments all is in PC... But with sure GTsport and PC2 gone a affect AC ..i hope at least Kunos not drop the support and still optimize the game...

 

Yep, that would be the legendary Banana. Think he's been working on another video. And he's one of the most dedicated and hardcore racers I mentioned in earlier post. One that has taken the game to the real world. Running in the Global Time Attack series. Even those guys, who have moved into real world racing, aren't touching AC.

Like you said, everyone understands that Kunos is small. But they chose to dive into this deep pool that is the consoles. So I don't really accept their size as a excuse for lack of features and content. It's not as if Kunos was drafted to make a console game against their wishes. They made the decision because they saw opportunity for big profits. Problem is, I think they spent zero time researching console racers and their wants and needs. They thought a bare bones port of PC game would be good enough.

 

Exactly, and the Guess Work Racing Civic is running great times. I'll be looking out for his next video. Really looking forward to seeing what he brings up next.
As Kunos has been bought out by Digital Bros they should've more funds and resources at their disposal in the future, but I think it's an illusion to think console version can be on par with PC due to lack of performance. PC is the way to go, I'm tired of console racing tbh...

 

Yea, his brand of sarcasm coupled with the mountain of material (bad T10 decisions) Goobawalt provides him makes for entertaining videos lol.

And I don't think producing a console version on par with the PC version should be goal. Reality is the PC operates in a whole different world than the consoles. Developers can get away with releasing core games with minimal features outside of physics because the modders will take care of what is missing. No such ability on consoles.

IMO, Kunos should use the PC game as their ever evolving physics sandbox. Then treat the console version separately rather than just porting the un modded basic game over. Settle on a standard physics model. One that is simulation, but also feels right on controller as that is what the vast majority of players will use. Then take those physics and wrap as much competition and "game" around them as possible. The leaderboard stuff should be easy to program. Not modeling physics, or scanning anything, just collecting data that is already being produced and then displaying it. Then look to build new and interesting game modes that compel players to compete. Things like sponsored tournaments and events.

 

Haha yeah I laughed so hard a couple of times xD I don't know how long it took him to make that video but I'd say he's a really talented editor.

Sounds good what you describe but the game is what it is now. Not long ago we were not even able to save a setup or to check tyre temps, so there may be some more improvements. A telemetry screen would be nice, or maybe the possibility to adjust brake pressure, or the ability to look left/right/behind to see what's happening around me etc. and there might be more things to mention. It's a shame all these basic features are missing...

 

Well you pretty much can drift anything, some not so well but no reason you cant drift to some degree any car that gives power to the rear axle.

 

Alright, to some degree you can "drift" everything, that's right, and I'd like to take back what I wrote there about drifting. Maybe my english is not enough to express 100% my thoughts. AC is very popular among drifters because its physics allow drifting very easily. You can manage a perfect drift just by mistake, and that's not normal imo. Happened to me a couple of times, last time a few days ago, when I lost the back end with the 911 GT3 Cup. I completely lost control of the car because the front tyres - as usual - wouldn't want to heat up. Somehow I ended up with a perfect drift (I'm not a drifter at all, never started practicing) and I absolutely don't know how that is possible. I mentioned it before, it felt a bit like an animation. A perfect drift without doing anything. That's a bit strange.

 

Sigh* Yeah, I think you're right on that one. But I still selfishly hope Kunos continues work on it so I can have a little treat sitting on my game shelf.

You know, Assetto Corsa is a lot like that kind-of-ugly girl that everyone eyes you for, but when the lights are off and you're alone, she's the best thing you've ever felt...
..Then she stays in the same position for 20 minutes, and promises she'll switch it up "Soon".

 

You probably just caught it correctly. Not that hard if you've got a lot of time driving. Got the telemetry by chance?

 

I have to agree and disagree with you here.

Like you, all my pCARS buddies tried out AC for a while, loved the actual driving part of the game, but hated the way online play was structured. The pinball contact physics was a bit of an issue, especially when coming from pCARS, where cars stick together. I found it a bit funny/ironic that the two games were such polar opposites in that regard But I digress.

The major issues have always been the same: hard to join friend's lobbies, can't kick bad racers (no "host"), and can't change cars/tracks between rounds. Solve these problems, and you've got a much more viable online racing community.

I think that the introduction of private lobbies stands a good chance of revitalizing AC. Some of my friends sold the game, but many hung on to it. Many of my sim racing friends aren't playing any sim racers at all. They've been playing other games to pass the time until GT Sport / pCARS 2 hits. I don't think I'll have any trouble getting some of them to break out AC when private lobbies become available.

If Digital Bros are smart, they'll drop the price of AC when private lobbies are released. The people who did sell the game aren't going to come back at a $50 price point. They'll just wait for a new title to be released. If AC were available at $30, I could see 90% of my sim racing buddies coming back to try private lobbies. The actual driving part of this game is just too damn good. The only thing missing was a solid online play structure.

 

we are in the same situation, 10-14 of us played it every night for 10 weeks online, all on wheels, all gone back to forza and pcars because of AC multiplayer. we all still own it though, and all dlc..
I think a good way to get people back after the update would be to offer a 1 week trial. Then the ones who chopped it in could retry it, I doubt the people who chopped it in would repurchase it after such a disappointment on release in multiplayer.

 

I've had access to the beta (GT Sport) for about a week and while the graphics are very good, the driving is, um, not... I mean, its not "bad", but it is not at all realistic. Brands Hatch GP and Nordschleife are the only courses I've encountered that are in AC/PCARS, and compared to the aforementioned games the tarmac is very smooth, and even where there are bumps on the Nurb, they don't seem to upset stability at all. Throttle control, brake pressure, tire temps, are essentially non-issues. One can brake very late into corners on Brands Hatch with ease. In fact, running an equivalent AMG GT3 at Brands Hatch on both Assetto and GTS, my lap time is almost 14 seconds faster on GTS. I'm far from the greatest when it comes to sim racing, but I've been playing long enough to be very familiar with Brands, so an identical layout in the same car should not yield such disparate lap times

Then there are the cars... While they look beautiful, their sounds are not great, and without the badge on the steering wheel in cockpit view one would be hard-pressed to differentiate between most vehicles in any given class. The only car I've unlocked thus far that has a unique character at all is a Gr. 3 Alfa 4c. However, I've only unlocked 9-10 cars so maybe I've just gotten really unlucky.

Btw, this is with all driving aids off, even TC on cars that would have it equipped it real life. This is the only was to get anything more than a straight arcade feel imo, and even then the driving feel is greatly inferior to PCARS, let alone AC.

Will it sell well & steal customers from Kunos? Probably. But if they experience what I have it won't take long for them to come back.

 

Thanks for the report. I recently watched a GTS gameplay vid of a Dodge Charger Hellcat around BH and the sound was incredibly poor plus the car's reaction looked unnatural...the way it started to gain/loose rotation around the vertical axis and under which inputs it would do so didn't make any sense. Like a "dot" with specific grip and power parameters running around the track with a car painted around it that kind of does random stuff with its 4 wheels.

It seems to me like PD is going down the E-Sports path without caring much about realism...which indeed isn't that important in E-Sports.

 

I found the claim "early beta testers say GTS is similar to AC physics" very funny. Largely because i dont believe that claim, secondly because you don't even need to play it or see videos to know that was never gonna be the case.

 

This is an area where I feel like AC really plays in the big leagues, as far as simulators are concerned.

One of my favorite things to do is to find an on-board recording of a Nordschleife lap, then try to replicate/beat that lap in AC, using the same car. When I'm done with my session, I load the videos side-by-side and play them back in sync. It is absolutely remarkable how much detail matches between the two. The first time I did it, my mind almost exploded. I sat there and watched the cars bounce at the same point. I watched the real life driver take similar lines, but I also watched the real life driver take (IMO) bad lines (too tight at Ex Muhle, for example) that I avoid because I know there's a dip or bad camber.

You don't need this level of accuracy to enjoy a racing game, but a desire for real life accuracy is a priority for some people. Even if that desire is completely arbitrary. I know it's a priority for me, and I know plenty of people who share that desire. So I feel pretty good that AC is always going to have a good following.

 

No one denies that AC does the physics very well. In the end, it is the very reason why you see so much angst and anger over the lack of lobbies and other basic racing game features. If all the people complaining about various missing stuff didn't love the physics then they wouldn't care much about no lobbies or leaderboards.

I also understand there are some who play these games solely for the joy of experiencing the physics and track realism and don't want much more than that. I still load up the game for the sheer fun of driving the cars. Enjoy taking SF15t around Mugello for a few laps. But that's where it ends for me. A few laps and then I start to get bored just driving around with no target or competition.

Why can't AC do both? Provide top notch physics and realism coupled with a robust online racing feature set? I'm no programming expert. But stuff like the lobbies are such basic core features of other games it can't be that difficult to do. At least when compared to modeling physics engines and "building" tracks and cars. Leaderboards should be even easier. As it is simply organizing and presenting data that is already being collected by the game. How you come to the decision to create a in game hotlap AND time trial mode with no leaderboards is beyond me. Hopefully the fact the modes are there means they are in the plans.

 

Same for me really, taking different cars and just driving the Nordschleife makes AC in a way worth the money, if it could actually save the lap times it would be a major improvement!

If AC had all the missing bits: basics like setting up/calibrating controllers, saving lap times, comparing lap times to other users, looking at other users ghosts, setting AI aggression (they made it too polite), private lobbies etc, for me it would then be a killer game.

As it stands though it is a bit like a technology demo.

 

Well, keep in mind a couple of things. My comments are intended to be taken in the context that custom lobbies (let's stop calling them private, because it's more than that) will be released in the very near future. Also, I agree with you regarding the damage that the feature shortcomings have done to AC's reputation.

With regard to missing features, if you're no expert, then maybe you don't have a good sense of what's required to make that stuff happen? I run a software development company for a living, and I can tell you first hand that the portion of software you actually see is only the tip of the iceberg.

Take leaderboards, for example. Let's dissect your (already admittedly non-expert) opinion: "it is simply organizing and presenting data that is already being collected by the game". It's true that the game tracks lap times, but a leaderboard has to collect all player lap data in a single location. For that, you need a centralized lap data system. That system needs to accept lap data from thousands of players around the world. But it can't just accept any data sent to it, can it? If that were the case, I could simply write my own software utility that submits phony lap data. So the system needs some sort of authentication and authorization mechanism. That can be provided by the gaming networks. So Kunos has to implement an XBL version, a PS4 version, and while we're at it, a Steam version, because this feature doesn't exist on the PC either. That system will need an API that can be queried by the interface in the console and PC versions of the game, and someone will have to write the interface code for both, because the console and PC versions use different interfaces. Oh, and the lap tracking system is going to need more than lap data, because the console and PC versions are often on different physics models, so we better keep platform and game version information in there, and the interfaces need to filter that data appropriately, so we're not comparing incompatible data. All of this software has to run on additional servers, but this software is quite a bit different than the game servers. So we're going to need a software stack with a database layer, an application layer, and a web server layer. We'll need staff who are familiar with those technologies, and they'll need to scale to accommodate the growth of the user community....

I could go on.

You've already admitted that you aren't an expert, so why not give Kunos the benefit of the doubt? They've said (repeatedly) that they have limited resources, so they had to prioritize. They put their effort into the core of the game, which is driving. The result is that they released a game with feature shortcomings. That's a decision about timing, because they could have simply waited. Frankly, I'd rather have a game with solid driving mechanics and stability now, and get patches with continuous improvements as time goes on.

I've been very vocal in my criticisms of the game, but I try not to cross a line. That line is drawn at accusations. It's one thing to have an opinion about the game, but it's an entirely different thing to start making statements that infer questions about Kunos credibility.

 

Don't know if I'm an expert but I have been involved in software development for a while now (30 years) and to be quite honest the missing bits are not rocket science.

 

This, in a nutshell is where I think all the ill feeling is stemming from.
As you say Bob, it's not rocket science, other developers have managed to include these features, and more in their multi platform Sim / simcade / arcade releases, yet Kunos find it a struggle ?
As has been said, the core physics is spot on, an absolute peach of a driving experience on consoles. Trouble is, a great physics model alone does not a great SIM make ! There are many glaring omissions in AC that have been included in titles since before online play was a reality, yet people will vehemently defend it just because it gets ONE thing right !