What are Kunos next track plans?

I still prefer dedicated race tracks over glorified back streets.

 

define historic.
70ies and 80ies cars people definitely drive.

however, Le Mans would be my last choice.
Historic Nordschleife on the other hand

 

I really hope there will be more tracks after Seca. Not historic, but scanned modern circuits. And if not, then even MORE reason to add some best mod tracks as official content.

Because why not, if there won't be anything better either. AC is nearing completion in many ways, except small track selection. There is Zandvoort, there is even Black Cat County and Highlands as official tracks. Why some non-scanned mod tracks would matter anymore to laserscanning fanatics? Don't get me wrong I heavily prefer LS tracks too, but if we can't get any more of them....

The "purity of concept", AC with only LS tracks... is gone for good. So what does it matter, add

- VIR, Thruxton, Paul Ricard, NJMP Lightning, Shanghai Tianma (No different from Zandvoort, similar quality)
- Bridgehampton, Riverside, Thomson Grand Prix. Historic tracks that can't be scanned anyway
- Tajo hillclimb, Luccaring, Asperthsam. No different from Highlands etc.
- Zmeinka drift track. No different (except looks better) from current Drift layout which isn't scanned either afaik

Not that I would get any new content, but consoleros would and lots and LOTS of people who are allergic to mods, would. They are already happily driving Zandvoort, BCC and Highlands. UI just needs to tell which are LS tracks and which not, so it's clear to everyone. IMO lot better solution, than having just Laguna Seca and that's it, no more tracks ever again. Even the most hardheaded laserscanning fanatics should realize that...

 

Licence costs are preventing us having more tracks. The dev's have said this several times. They also don't generate money the way cars do unfortunately.

 

I doubt that that really is the point.
Also, the scan actually saves time, since you can start with a point cloud for the track.
If you'd provide such data to a modder, he could speed up the development of the track much faster as well.

From what Marco said, scanning isn't the issue in this cases, but rather that they need to acquire the licence for each track (which in some cases can be problematic, e.g. for Riverside, since it doesn't even exist anymore) and also because they need to check all models, textures or other stuff that was used for the track and replace those that can't be used in a commercial product or do not stand up to the quality requirements.

But I agree that it would be great to have each one of them featured as an official track, be it laser-scanned or not.
(Well ok, I don't like Paul Ricard because it's by far the most ugly track on earth, visually. It's not the mod's fault though, the real track uses those awful color combinations as well.)

 

hm, that could be changed. If you look at the prices of tracks in R3E, I think 3-5€ per track could work, depending on the size and licence cost.
(R3E having a roughly similar-sized user base, I'd say.)

 

Paul Ricard is a good quality track, although the full length version is (IMO) a bit awkward. I personally feel that the WTCC version of the track is the best option for racing. On a side note, the wiki page seems to be suggesting that this track will host the FIA Formula One French Grand Prix from 2018....

 

It's not about the layout. I just have a really hard time driving there due to the visual appearance.
Which is why I discarded it at some point.

 

Oh, I completely understand what you mean, Berniyh. Those alternating red and blue stripes scattered all over the place don't exactly do the track any favours where aesthetic beauty is concerned

 

Yeah licenses aren't free of course. But wondering where this info comes from, that tracks don't generate money? They've been bundled with cars every time and if packs like R2R and JP sell just as well, it doesn't IMO alone show that people don't want tracks and wouldn't buy a DLC just/mainly because of track in it. From what I've seen in Racedepartment, Facebook, Twitter, people everywhere say that AC needs more tracks, not more cars. Which is kind of true, while I appreciate the incoming Ferrari pack.

Tracks might be most expensive/time consuming thing to do, and not create profit as much as cars, but doesn't change the fact that AC still has way too few tracks, compared to extensive (and growing) car roster. And still will, after Seca.

And yeah Paul Ricard is ugly in real life But anyway, even if they could add some of those I mentioned. Or even one, imo VIR is the single most versatile and interesting mod track out there, with all of it's layouts, elevation changes and length. Or whatever is easiest/cheapest to license

 

I wish Kunos would try selling a track on its own at a sensible price like £5 or £10. If it has a few layouts like the 4 versions of RIR it would be well worth it. It works for iR even though people have to pay subscription on top. They should try it as an experiment and see how it sells. I guess it might fall into the same problem (for me) as with cars with new or older versions of Monza, Nurb, Silv, Suzuka, Spa and any other track that is super well known and in every game but it could be a money maker. iR manage to do it and slip some interesting tracks into the mix.

 

I could live with absence of aesthetic beauty, but if the whole appearance lacks contrast, it does also make it hard to follow the track layout.
To me it felt a bit like some random huge airport runway where somebody just bolted on a couple of ugly curbs and in addition put a few cones here and there.

BTW, it's scheduled for next year's French GP in F1. Maybe they'll complain as well, it'll be changed?
We all know that F1 drivers like to complain about everything.

 

At least it is a race track, and not yet another boring street circuit with narrow alleyways and concrete walls

 

I find Ricard to be very entertaining to drive. Decreasing radius turns, strong cambers, that little right kink/drop after turn 1 is fun. But yeah, it's harsh on the eyes.

 

I basically like every track and car. But some combos just doesn't work.

Would really love to have an online race in paul Ricard mod, and I hope author would update it to remind community about it. It is not yet 1.0 AFAIK

 

Think for official tracks the focus should be more on larger more famous track like Suzuka/Laguna/Sarthe/Bathurst etc. I hate to say it but these are the tracks people expect in a sim as everyone knows them and are more then happy to pay for them. Smaller tracks are generally picked up in the mod community, Thruxton, Tsukuba, Barbagallo, etc... These tracks are much more unknown and most people that want these either live around there and maybe do track days on them or seen it in something niche such as jap vids in case of Tsukuba.

Would also think that small local tracks would have far less if any licensing issues so easier to deal with. While the famous tracks would be far more costly and you would need a studio behind you for the budget needed

 

Yes I enjoy driving it, the AC mod is very good and I'm now a convert. I agree it looks horrible though, although we're more used to tracks with large concrete run offs now so maybe the audience reaction won't be as extreme. Apparently the teams like it as it's close to 2 decent airports and the Marseilles coastline so decent accommodation and scram abounds.

 

I hated the concept of Paul Ricard, but must admit it became one of my favourite tracks in R3E

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk

 

The main reason why these tracks are being suggested is because they were already made and are of very high quality (especially in the case of e.g. VIR, Thomson or RIR).
So we tend to assume that it takes less effort to bring them to the sim officially, which however does not have to be the case as Zandvoort showed.
If we assume that no work has to be done (which is obviously unrealistic), then it would "only" require the licence and a compensation for the creator of the track.
That could still be quite some amount, but it could pay off.
(Of course it also requires the will of the modder to sell his creation to Kunos as well.)

If those track weren't done already, I think there wouldn't be too many people suggesting them.
Actually it would correlate to the popularity of the track. (Ok, that's kind of obvious. )

Edit: I think the easiest way would be in case of a fanatasy track like Toscana. Because there wouldn't be a licence.

I think 1-2 track packs, e.g. like the "Euro Track Pack" and "American Track Pack" that R3E has would be more realistic.
Could be 4-6 tracks for 20-25€.

 

I think there's some market for track only dlc like it is the case with Automobilita currently.
We have almost all racing classes by now: LMP1, GT1, GT2, GT3, GTE, GT4, historic LM, that Can-Am Porsche, hypercars, hypercars-track, dozens of supersport cars, japanese ones and not to forget all those F1 cars beginning from the 50s. Maybe GTP some day incoming? It's probably the most complete car selection or rather, best quality car selection by now.