pk500 wrote:I found some controller settings last night that have vaulted AC's driving model into the sublime category. The driving in this game is SO good, and the racing AI seems to be better as I understand it more.
But everything else ... man, if it only could match or even approach the driving model.
It's a game meant for the PC - plenty of mods including cars and tracks from all over the world. My beloved Tsukuba Circuit is firmly planted in my tracks folder along with the very entertaining Barbagallo out of Australia.
My only complaint with AC (on the PC) is the somewhat inconsistent AI difficulty. I'm always having to shift the AI slider based on the track and car. Unfortunately for console owners, as I understand it, you only have a few preset difficulty settings, whereas I've got a continuous slider
pk500 wrote:I found some controller settings last night that have vaulted AC's driving model into the sublime category. The driving in this game is SO good, and the racing AI seems to be better as I understand it more.
But everything else ... man, if it only could match or even approach the driving model.
It's a game meant for the PC - plenty of mods including cars and tracks from all over the world. My beloved Tsukuba Circuit is firmly planted in my tracks folder along with the very entertaining Barbagallo out of Australia.
My only complaint with AC (on the PC) is the somewhat inconsistent AI difficulty. I'm always having to shift the AI slider based on the track and car. Unfortunately for console owners, as I understand it, you only have a few preset difficulty settings, whereas I've got a continuous slider
Whoa, I wasn't aware you could add cars and tracks to AC. And here I kept buying their DLC. Do you have a link?
F308GTB wrote:
It's a game meant for the PC - plenty of mods including cars and tracks from all over the world. My beloved Tsukuba Circuit is firmly planted in my tracks folder along with the very entertaining Barbagallo out of Australia.
My only complaint with AC (on the PC) is the somewhat inconsistent AI difficulty. I'm always having to shift the AI slider based on the track and car. Unfortunately for console owners, as I understand it, you only have a few preset difficulty settings, whereas I've got a continuous slider
Whoa, I wasn't aware you could add cars and tracks to AC. And here I kept buying their DLC. Do you have a link?
Some of the tracks I've downloaded included Aosta, Barbagallo, Donington, Suzuka, Thruxton, Grobnik, Paul Ricard, Tsukuba, Virginia Intl, ... Tracks go in your assettocorsa/content/tracks directory
For cars, I've got so many now I don't remember which are part of AC and DLC and which aren't. Many of the really good car mods have been adopted by KS and put in the game formally. All told, I have 163 folders in my assettocorsa/content/cars directory, though some are clearly variants (e.g., ferrari 458, 458 GT3, 458 S3)
I can't remember where I got it, but somewhere along the line I even picked up a Blancpain GT3 career mod.
There is a patch coming soon for the Xbox One version of AC. The patch has been out on PS4 already and seems to be promising so there is continued hope for the Xbox One version.
PS4 Pro (1.09) vs Xbox One S (1.03) direct comparison
I just ran some identical laps side by side o the PS4 Pro (v1.09) and Xbox One S (v1.03) to see how much of a difference the latest patch makes. I know there are good reasons for the delay on Xbox and as a result this is the situation we have right now, two different versions of the console game.
The difference is night and day. I really wasn't expecting to see much of a change but the on screen visible differences in gameplay are huge.
Running the same laps side by side, in this case the McLaren P1 'ring lap Special Event, on each console the Xbox One version remains a stuttering mess. The issues vary from lap to lap although as before they are generally in the slower corners. The stutters are most visible when the kerbs seem to freeze and then move again. If the P1 starts to slide the problems become worse often meaning even the slightest slide is unrecoverable, slide......stutter....correction....crash anyway is often the result. There are also may other what the heck happened then moments when the on screen image doesn't match the steering input. This makes consistent simulation lapping as good as impossible. This remains a significant problem when the AI & multiplayer aspects of the game are so limited and as a result hot lapping is the main viable attraction.
By contrast the PS4 Pro latest version is smooth and consistent throughout the lap, minor slides are natural and easily recovered (just as they are on the pc). I haven't seen any visible stutter or slowdown in the frame rate yet. The PS4 version flows naturally and is a overall a good experience.
Looking at the positives the 5.6gb patch has made a significant difference on the PS4 and that is a good thing. I just hope we are going to see the same level of improvement on the Xbox One when the patch is finally released.
Xbox One Update v 1.09 News Fri - 12/2/2016
Hi everyone!
Firstly, we want to thank our community for their patience and understanding with regards to the Xbox One Update v 1.09 patch. Of course, we're disappointed that the patch couldn't be released in November, along with the Porsche Pack Vol. 1 DLC, but the team have been working flat out to resolve the issues and resubmit as soon as possible!
Today, we're pleased to announce that v 1.09 has gone into submission and providing all goes well, we'll be releasing next week.
We'll keep you guys in the loop with the latest. In the meantime, have an awesome weekend.
Good news. I hope for improvement. The driving model is sublime, even with a properly tuned controller. Would be fantastic if the rest of the game caught up.
"You know why I love boxers? I love them because they face fear. And they face it alone." - Nick Charles
"First on the throttle, last on the brakes." - @MotoGP Twitter signature
Patch 1.09 for Assetto Corsa was released Monday for Xbox One. Big improvements across the board, especially with tire grip and force feedback. The offline racing AI seems better, too.
The best driving model of any console circuit racing game just improved. Only DIRT Rally is in its class for consoles, especially with a controller.
Very pleased.
"You know why I love boxers? I love them because they face fear. And they face it alone." - Nick Charles
"First on the throttle, last on the brakes." - @MotoGP Twitter signature
DChaps wrote:Steam has some great deals on racing sims during their Winter sale which goes on until Jan 2, 2017 at 1pm EST
DiRT Rally - $23.99 (60% off)
Automobilista - $15.99 (60% off)
rFactor 2 - $15.99 (50% off)
Project CARS - $9.89 (67% off)
Project Cars Game of the Year Edition (All DLC) - $21.56 (74% off) Assetto Corsa - $17.99 (40% off)
Assetto Corsa Porsche Season Pass (3 Packs) - $15.09 (28% off)
RaceRoom Racing Experience - All DLC 50% Off
F1 2016 - $35.99 (40% off)
WRC 6 FIA World Rally Championship - $22.49 (50% off)
Sébastien Loeb Rally EVO - $12.49 (75% off) Euro Truck Simulator 2 - $4.99 (75% off)
American Truck Simulator - $13.99 (30% off)
Already have most of these. Can't say enough about Automobilista - nice physics and AI, seldom seen tracks, graphics improving all the time. RRE is another great one. It has come a long way in the last couple of years. I need to give a serious think to WRC6 and/or Loeb. It's hard to beat Dirt Rally.
BTW, the old Simbin titles are also on sale at steam.
I've never been a fan of RRE even though I purchased one DLC. I don't like the fact that it's a server based game which requires an internet connection at all times. If they ever pull the plug on their servers, there goes all your stuff you bought.
Thanks to Don who alerted me to Automobilista which I got for free because of previous purchases from Reiza. The season pass is tempting but still waiting on a bigger discount.
Do any of you guys have any first hand experience with Asseto Corsa on PS4? I'm curious if it's worth the buy. I've read that it may have some tech issues such as screen tearing and framerate problems... and that kind of stuff makes me a bit crazy.
I picked up Asseto Corsa for the PS4 yesterday. I was hesitant as I had concerns over techincal goblins but so far i'm very pleased in that regard. However, I took the BMW Z4 GT3 to Silverstone GP and something seems really off about the gear ratios. (i'm using automatic transmission) In the slow sections of the track the car seems to default to 4th or 5th gear when in Pcars and GT6 (yes. actually turned on the ps3) they run those sections of track in lower gears. In AC there's no urgency for the car to get through those sections of track.
I took a look at the gear ratio's in PCars for the same car and when I went back to AC their gear ratios are based on a MPH figure, where PCars was a numeric value (10.37, 7.15 etc) . I'm no sim racing expert but something seems really off. Either AC doesn't encourage Automatic transmission, there's a bug, the gear ratios are way off or I simply don't know what i'm doing.
I've tried with assists on and assists off thinking it's somehow connected. Doesn't appear to be so.
I know at least a couple of you guys have AC on console. I'm curious if you guys are seeing something similar.
I'm not ruling out that maybe it's an AC thing that I need to get used to. Maybe, as i've heard so many good things about the driving model, it's more accurate than say PCars. I don't know. Any insight would be appreciated.
Playing with gear ratios -- man, you are all in on racing!
I hardly ever tweak setups. I'm VERY interested in race car engineering and vehicle dynamics. But I would rather spend my limited free time driving instead of tuning. So I can't help you much on gear ratios. Hopefully Terry or Adam will chime in.
But here are some general observations about the respective driving models of PCars and AC.
PCars is much more of a "feel game" to me. The driving model isn't forgiving, but I think it allows cars to slide a bit more and rotate from geometrically flawed lines in corners. That said, it is very unforgiving with power application. You must be smooth on the throttle out of corners.
AC is much more of a "momentum game." It demands more precise braking and lines than PCars. I think there's less "feel" through the controller and seat of the pants than in PCars.
I appreciate both driving models. I don't have any race driving experience on a road course, only an oval. So I can't comment on which is correct. iRacing is considered to be the most accurate driving sim for PCs, and I played it for two years. I feel pieces of the iRacing driving model in both PCars and AC, so again I'm unsure which game's driving model is more correct.
Enjoy it all, man!
"You know why I love boxers? I love them because they face fear. And they face it alone." - Nick Charles
"First on the throttle, last on the brakes." - @MotoGP Twitter signature
Paul. That's funny!! No. I don't want to tweak anything if I don't have to. That stuff is pretty much a language I don't understand. It just seems so broken to me that I needed to do a little digging and then come here and get some feedback. I don't think I should be going through those slow sections in 5th gear wondering where the power and torque is while watching a toddler on a big wheel pass me on the outside
I love Pcars. I think you described the difference really well. To me AC cars "FEEL" less responsive and heavier in general. With PCarsbeing free this month for XBOX I'll grab it on that as well. Maybe we can finally get some Pcars DSP nights going.
pk500 wrote:Fifa:
Playing with gear ratios -- man, you are all in on racing!
I hardly ever tweak setups. I'm VERY interested in race car engineering and vehicle dynamics. But I would rather spend my limited free time driving instead of tuning. So I can't help you much on gear ratios. Hopefully Terry or Adam will chime in.
But here are some general observations about the respective driving models of PCars and AC.
PCars is much more of a "feel game" to me. The driving model isn't forgiving, but I think it allows cars to slide a bit more and rotate from geometrically flawed lines in corners. That said, it is very unforgiving with power application. You must be smooth on the throttle out of corners.
AC is much more of a "momentum game." It demands more precise braking and lines than PCars. I think there's less "feel" through the controller and seat of the pants than in PCars.
I appreciate both driving models. I don't have any race driving experience on a road course, only an oval. So I can't comment on which is correct. iRacing is considered to be the most accurate driving sim for PCs, and I played it for two years. I feel pieces of the iRacing driving model in both PCars and AC, so again I'm unsure which game's driving model is more correct.
Glad my analysis made some sense. In summary, PCars is more "twitchy" while AC is more "pointy."
DIRT Rally, on the other hand, is more diabolical. But it's still my favorite because it's so damn satisfying in the rare times when I get into a groove.
I recommend F1 2016 as a stop on your racing games journey. Perhaps the best mix of realism and accessibility among current-gen console racing games. A really fun, comprehensive package.
"You know why I love boxers? I love them because they face fear. And they face it alone." - Nick Charles
"First on the throttle, last on the brakes." - @MotoGP Twitter signature
I have F1 2016 on the PS4 and really enjoy it. Running an online season with a friend is mass amounts of fun. That being said, I struggle with the game technically, it seems so far behind Pcars in that regards. It has too much screen tearing for my liking. It's not a game killer by any means but i'm one of those people who would prefer less buildings, scenery and unnecessary eye candy in the background and better graphical performance. Take a track like Austria.. it's technically a better experience.. most of that is track and trees. Darn near felt like a different game compared to tracks like Monaco, Austrailia etc.
Maybe some day us console users will be able to change detail level to create the experience that works best.
As for Assetto.. I'm looking forward to getting familiar with the driving model but gosh.. as you indicated above, where's the rest of the game? The menu is horrible, options that appear in most every other racing game are not present. No explanations of settings ..Like.. What is Steering Gamma? I've never even heard of Steering Gamma. I'll have to go research that now
Fifa, the good news is there's no need to do anything with the gear ratios on the Z4. I've just turned a few laps on XB1 and while the ratios are arguably slightly too long, they're alright.
The bad news, and the issue you're currently experiencing, is that the automatic gearbox is rubbish.
I've only tried it with the Z4 so don't know if this holds true for other cars, but the rev parameters for the automatic downshift are set too low. The car won't shift down until you're at 4000 revs. It tops out at 8500-ish so when you're up in a high gear, getting down to the magic 4000 requires a huge amount of braking. An example: with the default gearing, 4000 in 6th gear is 84mph. You'll be seeing about 155mph at the end of Hangar Straight. Before the game will even consider changing you down a gear for Stowe, it requires you to scrub off almost half off the speed you're carrying. To get into 4th, which is the gear you should be in (though you could even use 3rd if you wanted), you'll need to brake some more.
The only way I can find to overcome it is to manually override it yourself, but if you're going to do that, you might as well just use the manual box to start with. I could see this kind of auto box being useful as a learning tool, in as far as it lets folk concentrate on their lines without any great danger of them getting into any torque-related messes, but I'm pretty sure that isn't what Kunos were intending.
PK, what are the controller settings you're running, mate? I'm finding the steering and front-end feel to be a bit vague with the defaults and wondered if some tweaks might help.
In a world full of over the top youtube personalities I find this guy refreshing. He's still actively doing GT6 videos as well as Forza Horizon 3. I really dig his approach.
Rally Evolved was mega. Come to that, there wasn't a duff game in Evolution's entire WRC series. I believe that the best in the series - 3, 4 and Rally Evolved - didn't see a release in North America, which is not an insurmountable problem these days but would mean you'd be coming at them with little idea of what you missed out on. Not that it's necessarily a bad thing to play an older game with fresh eyes, free of the nostalgic tint I might unwittingly colour my thoughts with.
If anyone fancies finding out, I'd suggest trying those 3 in the order they were released. Each has its merits - Evolved has more modes, 3 and 4 have more stages to see - but the earlier games will serve as a nice little warm-up for Evolved. I wouldn't be surprised in the slightest if that one stood up exactly as well as the article suggests.
Dirt track racing is coming to iRacing - maybe next week!
What started out a year ago as what appeared to be an April Fools joke is finally about to happen, possibly next week. Dirt track racing is coming to iRacing! This is why I bought my Oculus Rift! I've loved dirt track racing since I was a little kid seeing greats like AJ Foyt, Mario Andretti, Al Unser, and Gary Bettenhausen (among others) racing in dirt around the Indiana State Fairgrounds.
Way back in December of 2000 (wow, I am old and damn times' a b*tch), my first review for Sports Reviewers was a great little budget title, Dirt Track Racing: Sprint Cars
While there were a couple of updates to that game, it's hard to believe that in 16+ years since there has not really been a decent dirt oval track racing sim. Well, that is about to change! Next week is Week 13 (off week) for iRacing and they may be releasing Dirt racing next week, maybe not, but it should be soon according to Tony Gardner (iRacing Staff) post today:
Tony Gardner: March 2, 2017
Now for dirt. We do have some week 13 series built but....we have not decided yet officially if we are going to include dirt in the update next week or not which is why we are pretty quiet about it. If we knew for sure that it was not in the update we would tell you. If we knew it was going to be in the update, we would tell you. As it is now, it is pretty dam fun! However there are still a couple little things we want to add and a couple things we would like to see a bit better. We have been testing and improving it for for months so I don't want people to think we are about to put out something that is not tested and up to our standards but we are still tweaking. Just normal software/game development but either way we are close. Maybe we should wait until April 1st!
FYI, there should be a little video coming out today announcing another piece of dirt content that is done and you will see a bit of dirt racing. The testers are having some fun!
Well the little video is announcement of Volusia Speedway Park dirt track coming to iRacing. Below is a post from Tyler Hudson, iRacing 2013 NASCAR Peak World Championship Series Champion, who is now an iRacing employee, but has also been testing dirt track racing.
Just this week I accepted a job at iRacing working in the customer service department working with Nim, Susan, Angela and the rest of the team including helping Shannon as well with the WC series. I am very excited about it and chomping at the bit to get going. I look forward to doing my best to help iRacers for many years to come. I don’t officially start for a couple weeks. I will be flying up to Bedford to start my training on the various systems they use and start my training. The only bummer is I will not be allowed to race in the NASCAR Peak World Championship Series but I’ll still be racing everything else when I can so that will be fun!
I also already started to get some employee perks. The guys let me try out the dirt content last night and after sending Steve a wall of text about it he thought it would be a good idea to post it in the forums! I’m also told Dirt is going to all alpha testers this week.
First, let me start by saying most of my real world racing experience is on dirt tracks, from karts, mini stock and street stocks to late models. Not an extraordinary amount, but more than any other form of racing. So I can honestly say that climbing into iRacing’s version of a dirt late model took me by a huge surprise. From the start I had the sensation I was back in my race car; not from the adrenaline rush as much as the fact that the driving sensation and feedback were like no other car I’ve ever driven in the sim.
There is so much to say about the many different cars iRacing is developing, but I’ll make this as short as possible. These guys have nailed it. Sure, there are some minor issues as with anything in development, but they blew this one out of the park. Maybe it’s because we dirt fans/racers have been left out for so long, we haven’t had anything worth playing since the PS2 game World of Outlaw Sprint Cars or Dirt to Daytona, but believe me, this is the real deal.
The track changes…. A LOT, visually and grip wise. That is a huge part of what makes dirt racing what it is, so you’ll be happy to hear that. You legitimately have to search for moisture in the track for grip. After 10 laps around the bottom at Eldora, the grip had fallen off by half a second and – visually – you could SEE the track change color from wet to dry dirt.
I followed the moisture every lap until I was up by the wall. Then I went back to the bottom and was 3 tenths slower than up top where it was still a little damp. Eventually, I had gotten all the initial moisture out of the track from the bottom to the top, and virtually from the inside wall to the outside wall ran almost identical lap times. This will be great for searching for grip and racing.
Oh, but that’s not all. I backed out, set the track state to 100% and went back out. THERE’S A CUSHION!! I couldn’t really see the cushion, as I understand that’s still in development, but boy you sure can feel it! And the grip it provides will make dirt racing on iRacing genuine, authentic and as real as it gets.
I’ve seen a lot of forum posts by people worried by some of the pictures that the late model won’t “get up on the bars.” Well let me tell you, it took some messing around in the garage, but it does. I haven’t found a way to make the car as far up on the bars as I’d like, but maybe that’s another item in development — or for a crew chief way better than me!
I was able to twist the rear end and float the left front – everything you see in pictures of real race cars. I’m telling you guys, I am amazed at what iRacing has done. I am thrilled to be a part of it, to help develop it and I can’ wait to see how much further we can push the envelope in motor sports simulations. This is ground breaking stuff: No other game on the market has even scratched the surface at what these guys have already done with dirt – and it’s getting better every day.
As I understand it there is still quite a bit of work to do but all the hype will be worth it. I can’t wait to turn laps with other cars on the track. Oh, and did I even mention the Ford Fiesta?!?!? No? Well we’ll save that for another day. =).......
More info from Tyler.....
The track is very dynamic. Something you will not see in any other sim, especially a dirt sim. It is all still a work in progress, so keep that in mind. It isn't finished so these are just things I've noticed when I test it and I know they're continuously working to improve it to be as realistic as possible.
The groove does move. The track changes. If 20 cars ran only around the bottom from a fresh track (meaning just watered and packed in) then only the bottom groove or the line everyone was running will dry out. The loose dirt accumulates above this line, so eventually when the track gets slick in the spot everyone was running, it benefits you to move around. Most of the practices I have been running start with a fresh track and after thousands of laps combined from all the competitors, the track has become dry and there's no loose dirt anywhere but up against the wall. This loose dirt or "cushion" is very dynamic, and it gradually moves up the track as cars move up the track.
Likewise, the track is constantly changing, and as dirt moves around the depth of the track is constantly changing as the dirt moves around, even with ruts developing causing certain spots to be very bumpy.
Comments to the article imply an AMS conversion is coming later this year. Will certainly wait for that. AMS is the best thing going right now IMO. Uses the RF1 engine but looks great graphically.
