Project Cars

[TCrouch]

Sucks (for now) that the XB1 control issues are so bad. On PS4, I sat and played through a very Poker Night-esque session last night with some friends from OS. Amazing how simple it is to have a racer with full practice/qual/race sessions online, the ability to mix in AI and human drivers as needed, and a good handling model.

Absolutely everything I could have wanted from an online racer. Unfortunate that the chosen platform's version here is such a mess.

[fanatic]

Still on the fence with this one - I've generally been a casual racing fan, but as my gaming time has diminished, I seem to be in this zone where racing a few laps on my PS4 is my go-to activity when I decide to boot up the console. Not sure what it is, but a lot of other game genres seem to frustrate me now or just don't seem worth the effort.

Hence, Driveclub (please hold laughter) has been the only game in my rotation lately. Since release, they've actually updated it quite extensively with incredible weather effects, replay mode, extra courses, etc....The tour mode is still terrible IMO, so I've been enjoying simple time trials where I can gush over the graphics and just focus on the driving, which I think is pretty decent overall.

My only real hesitation with Project Cars is that it won't be easy to just boot up and enjoy. I like a challenge driving-wise, but don't want to be lost trying to find the perfect settings so that it plays right or have to adjust car settings before each race. Perhaps I should learn about tire settings, etc...online and really dive into the sport, but I'd like to also have the option to jump in and enjoy a few races for 20-30 minutes at the end of my night.

I guess those controller settings on the PS4 are easy to find/enter, but is there a lot of other stuff I'll need to fiddle with? Thanks!

[tjung0831]

I purchased the PS4 version this morning and I'm looking forward to playing it later today.

[TCrouch]

I haven't touched a setup option in PCars yet, fanatic.

I do pretty well in online races, and with the ability to dial back AI in 10% increments on console, you can absolutely just sit down and race quick races on random tracks and cars. There isn't any barrier to content. Everything is unlocked from the start. When you're talking about the PS4 version, I'd have little problem recommending it if you're a gamer who wants to sit down and just run a few races here or there.

Driveclub is one I never played because of the awful reviews and horrible execution of their "PS Plus free version", but I've heard it got better as time passed. I can't imagine much on PS4 holds a candle to Project Cars, though.

[fanatic]

I haven't touched a setup option in PCars yet, fanatic.

I do pretty well in online races, and with the ability to dial back AI in 10% increments on console, you can absolutely just sit down and race quick races on random tracks and cars. There isn't any barrier to content. Everything is unlocked from the start. When you're talking about the PS4 version, I'd have little problem recommending it if you're a gamer who wants to sit down and just run a few races here or there.

Driveclub is one I never played because of the awful reviews and horrible execution of their "PS Plus free version", but I've heard it got better as time passed. I can't imagine much on PS4 holds a candle to Project Cars, though.

Hey thanks...

Good to know that it's pretty accessible for the most part. If I do pick it up, I'll certainly enjoy what seems to be a great selection of tracks and the helmet cam - looks ridiculously good from the videos I've seen.

Driveclub is great if you're a sucker for graphics and exotic locations. Between the Norway, Japan, Scotland, Canada, etc...tracks, you're in for a visual treat, especially with the weather. Trees and rivers all have a great sense of movement, cherry blossoms fall onto the track in Japan, etc...it just never ends. Even in the replay mode that they've added - the camera angles used to follow the car are executed with a lot of thought and artistic flair. Don't think I've saved this many replays before!

[Inuyasha]

If you like full arcade you'll love driveclub. It's plain fun. It's the ps4s horizon but horizon is better. Rumor has it it'll be free on ps plus but theres always a deal for it around $20.

-- gamestop is still selling it new for $20 in store.

[tjung0831]

So far so good on the PS4. No control problems for me at this point. 3 day weekend for me so I'll be playing all night

[tjung0831]

Really loving the career mode on Project Cars. The only other racing game that I have really played the last several years has been Codemasters F1 series and I never cared for their career mode. TOCA is probably my all time favorite racing series so I'll have to see how this measures up but so far, it's very good and the game is just downright beautiful and so smooth on PS4.
Have been pretty much sticking with the Formula 1000's and the Formula C series. I tried the B series but I'm not ready for that much power just yet. The game is very challenging for me but I'm not frustrated....I'm responsible for my mistakes like 95% of the time in a race. Personally I see no need for a wheel....the controller works just fine for me. I'm more than happy with the control I get from it, especially after reading all the negative comments regarding the Xbone control.

[TCrouch]

For what it's worth, I had zero problems racing with the TX wheel on XB1 tonight. Control was precise and easy to manage. I set it up similarly to my settings on PS4 and PC for the T300RS.

[DChaps]

For what it's worth, I had zero problems racing with the TX wheel on XB1 tonight. Control was precise and easy to manage. I set it up similarly to my settings on PS4 and PC for the T300RS.

Terry, would you mind sharing your settings and how you calibrated your wheel? Thanks!

Yeah, that seems to be part of the issue. Some people are reporting no problems at all, and no differences between the feel on the PC or on the XB1. However, there are at least 10+ threads of people (like me), who no matter what settings they tried, re-calibration, firmware updates, etc. were not only not feeling the FFB, but just not feeling precise control at all. Project Cars, like iRacing, can have global FFB and steering settings, as well as individual settings per car/per track. Awesome to allow that level of customization, but extremely frustrating when it seems that it requires that level of tweaking to get something functional. I have spent most of my time with Project Cars just trying to dial in some level of control, weight, and force feedback and reading through countless threads and trying different things. There is even a PC Community User who has an Excel spreadsheet for the PC version with two sets of FFB settings to try per car. Pretty cool, but very time consuming, and unfortunately for me did not seem to help at all.

Jack Spade's PC Tweaker files - Universal FFB Settings for XB1/PS4 Spreadsheet
http://forum.projectcarsgame.com/showth ... preadsheet

Even just going through the Wheel/Force Feedback calibration is a confusing mess that no one can agree upon and the SMS Dev/Tech Support has been silent so far on the definitive answer. See thread below.

Hardly any FFB with Thrustmaster TX ? - Read This !
http://forum.projectcarsgame.com/showth ... Read-This-

Then, last night at about 3:00am I did finally find a decent working solution for me that resulted in a couple hours of really fun racing and time trials. It's still not the level of feel I get in Forza 5 or even Horizon 2 for that matter, but good enough to stop tweaking and start enjoying the game.

There is definitely a great racing sim in there somewhere, even on the Xbox One. It just should not be this frustrating to find it. Hopefully they get it patched up soon.

The fix that worked for me personally was this:

1) Make absolutely sure that you have Firmware version 48.B9 (will need to connect to PC/Laptop and follow the detailed instructions in the link below)
http://ts.thrustmaster.com/eng/index.ph ... 366&cid=15

2) Reset all global steering and custom setups back to default (easier said than done, more about that later):

3) Then set the following:
Tire Scale: 120
Deadzone Removal Range to .60
Deadzone Removal Falloff to .06 (match this slider to the one above)
Wheel Deadzone back to 0

Thrustmaster TX - Default FFB is Non-Existent Compared to PC/PS4. (Check Post #1)
http://forum.projectcarsgame.com/showth ... ck-Post-1)

After doing this, it was definitely a more consistent and enjoyable experience, but still missing something. I went back to Forza 5 and Indy Oval after playing Project Cars in this much better configuration, but there was still no comparison. In Forza 5, I can tell through the wheel when I am losing grip and I can respond and catch based on that feel. Likewise, the throttle and brake sensitivity and control was much better in Forza 5 than in Project Cars. It still feels very on/off to me with the throttle and brake. I am sure it is just a matter of getting a patch, and then tweaking the literally 20+ some odd settings that you can dial in per car/track, but like Paul mentioned earlier, I play on consoles for pick up and play. Forza 5 gives me a very damn good simulation and steering/ffb feel with almost no tweaking necessary. If I want to spend hours tweaking FFB setups, I will go back to iracing. What I don't get is why SMS can't a least have the correct starting point built into the game, or recommend a starting point.

This brings up the bigger issue of how steering and FFB settings and feel are ultimately a personal preference. In all the threads about wheel setup and ffb configs, you get a vast range of what people expect, and what is "Realistic" and what is good vs. crap. Some of those threads were filled with people talking about how bad the FFB is in Forza 5, and I think it is some of the best ever simulated console or PC, so you just never know. I really just want to get to racing, and at least last night I finally found a feel that was good enough to move forward for now.

I also found in the process of trying different setups another annoying issue. The custom setup and save process is very unintuitive on the Xbox One. Don't remember it being like this on the PC, but I don't know that I ever really tried it. Basically what I found is the following:

1) You cannot name setups, add notes, or see date/time stamps or anything that would help you remember the custom setup you created.
2) You can only have one custom setup, per car, per track. If you want to change a setup for a car at a track, it overrides your existing setup.
3) You cannot share setups or download other's setups.
4) Once a custom setup is made, it appears that it will automatically load when you race online. or do a time trial, single race, etc.
5) If #4 is true (no official confirmation, but that seems to be what it does), why even have the "Load Setup" option in some of the other screens. Once a custom setup is saved for a car/track, it is already loaded and I can't figure out how you could load another one.
6) No easy way to get back to the default setup after you have saved a custom setup (at least not that I have been able to figure out).

I am hoping that it is just my lack of patience and incompetence that I have not been able to figure out the setup process, so I am hoping I am proved wrong. But as an example, I tried to do custom FFB settings for the Shifter Karts following the spreadsheet guide. A seemingly cool feature was that I could save the setup to "Karts" which seemed to apply this new setup to all tracks for all shifter karts in one fell swoop. Cool, but when I then determined that these changes were complete crap, I just wanted to delete them entirely and go back to default. It seemed like my only choice was make a "new" setup for all tracks and all karts, and override the existing setups. Wierd and unintuitive, at least to my simple brain. Likewise, while not clear at all, apparently if you have a custom setup saved for a car/track combo, it will load it by default in the time trial mode and online. Anyway, it was all very confusing to me.

================= Links to Possibly Helpful Info below ================
================***** Your Mileage May Vary ********===============
Thrustmaster TX - Default FFB is Non-Existent Compared to PC/PS4. (Check Post #1)
http://forum.projectcarsgame.com/showth ... ck-Post-1)

Force Feedback Setup for Xbox One Racing Wheels
http://forum.projectcarsgame.com/showth ... ing-Wheels

Hardly any FFB with Thrustmaster TX ? - Read This !
http://forum.projectcarsgame.com/showth ... Read-This-

Universal FFB Settings for XB1/PS4 Spreadsheet
http://forum.projectcarsgame.com/showth ... preadsheet

My ideas and views on making the best of the TX wheel and enjoy the game TODAY
http://forum.projectcarsgame.com/showth ... game-TODAY

TX Wheel - Degrees of Rotation - Problem
http://forum.projectcarsgame.com/showth ... on-Problem

Thrustmaster TX - Left Paddle Issues
http://forum.projectcarsgame.com/showth ... dle-Issues

A plea to the developers
http://forum.projectcarsgame.com/showth ... developers

Project CARS:XBOX ONE UPDATED Thrustmaster TX Wheel and Force Feedback Settings (Stella Stig)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=joDSaUXxZFk

Project CARS: Force Feedback Explained - How to set it up - May 10, 2015 (Stella Stig)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPBUFvVQNnE

Project CARS XBox One Settings & Gameplay w/ Thrustmaster TX (Inside Sim Racing)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nb2Xy8ykiac

Thrustmaster tx wheel
http://forum.projectcarsgame.com/showth ... r-tx-wheel
===========================================

Edit: This Just in from Ed Mas (SMS Developer)

An update on this:

"In terms of the TX & XB1 we're aware of the problems and are well under way with fixing them. Most issues will be resolved in the next update(1.3) and we are working closely with our hardware partners to resolve all known issues. Some issues will require coordination from Thrustmaster and Madcatz with firmware fixes to be linked in."

I believe the patch that is currently in verification with Microsoft is 1.2, so this will be a patch after that. Wow, they really seemed to have screwed the pooch with Xbox One owners.

[Jimmydeicide]

Terry, are you driving at 900 ? and for all types of cars, just curious.

[DChaps]

Terry, are you driving at 900 ? and for all types of cars, just curious.

Somewhere in one of those threads I linked to above it states that the game sets the degrees of rotation automatically per car based on what the real car is. I guess you have to change it per car/per track as well, but I have not played around with it yet, because I can't find the setting.

[pk500]

The boss gave us Friday of Memorial Day Weekend off, so I spent about 75 minutes this morning trying various controller settings for the Xbox One version of Project Cars to try and fix this game's myriad control problems before the patch.

Guess what? All of the tweaks SUCK.

This game's control scheme is broken for the XB1. I'm hoping the patch will fix it. If not, Project Cars will be remembered as perhaps my biggest disappointment in console gaming since I returned to the hobby a couple of years ago.

[10spro]

The boss gave us Friday of Memorial Day Weekend off, so I spent about 75 minutes this morning trying various controller settings for the Xbox One version of Project Cars to try and fix this game's myriad control problems before the patch.

Guess what? All of the tweaks SUCK.

This game's control scheme is broken for the XB1. I'm hoping the patch will fix it. If not, Project Cars will be remembered as perhaps my biggest disappointment in console gaming since I returned to the hobby a couple of years ago.

Definitely the most disappointing game for Xbox this year at least. I thought the patch would be here by now...

[DChaps]

The boss gave us Friday of Memorial Day Weekend off, so I spent about 75 minutes this morning trying various controller settings for the Xbox One version of Project Cars to try and fix this game's myriad control problems before the patch.

Guess what? All of the tweaks SUCK.

This game's control scheme is broken for the XB1. I'm hoping the patch will fix it. If not, Project Cars will be remembered as perhaps my biggest disappointment in console gaming since I returned to the hobby a couple of years ago.

Ha, then go run your laps for this months Forza Challenge!

Yeah, the Xbox version seems to have really been messed up. t's way beyond just the controller issues, which are definitely both there for the wheels as well. There is so much conflicting information in the forums that it is hard to determine whether it is even fixable.

Semi-famous YouTube Race Sim Guru Stella Stig has a funny Rant on the Xbox One version of Project Cars to contradict his original positive review.

I still believe there is a good game in there somewhere, but whether it can be patched in time is the issue. I am really looking forward to what Turn 10 shows at E3 regarding Forza 6.

[DChaps]

Originally Posted by Ian Bell

It will be a little longer guys.

Namco are going to test for 2-3 days before passing to Microsoft who will then also test.

While we wait for the various external parties to complete their processes and release patch 1.3, here is a more detailed breakdown of the issues addressed in this patch.

Project CARS – Xbox One Patch 1.3 - Fixed Issues

Gamepad Controllers:
* Added ABS brake rumble to Xbox One triggers, so that the triggers will rumble on losing traction when braking. The amount of trigger rumble is controlled together with Force Feedback strength via the Force Feedback slider.
* Improved the efficiency of the controller rumble effect, to help make the steering more responsive on the Xbox One.
* Fixed an issue where moving the sticks from one extreme to the other would sometimes result in the steering getting stuck.
* Reworked the Xbox One analogue sticks range and axis dead zones, providing much improved steering control.

Wheel Controllers:
* Fanatec wheels – Fixed the issue with steering jolts that some users experience.

Online:
* Fixed an occasional crash when advancing from Qualifying to Race.
* Fixed an occasional crash when returning from a race to the Race Central.

Time Trial:
* Set Time Trials starting time to 11am to match the PC platform. This ensures consistent track temperatures across all platforms, as track temperatures affect lap times.

Ghosts:
* Enabled saving of community event ghosts. These ghosts are automatically stored online, and you can then download ghosts of other players’ laps for these events.

Tracks:
* Sakitto and Summerton variations - Corrected track info regarding number of turns and track length.
* Sakitto Sprint - Fixed a crash that would at times occur when using time acceleration.
* Cadwell variations - Fixed draw distance issues on various objects.
* Oschersleben variations - Fixed odd lights around track and colour issues with the horizon.
* Zolder - Fixed an issue where the player car would sometimes start in a closed garage.

AI:
* Fixed an issue where AI vehicles were sometimes sent to the pits due to low fuel on races where refueling is not allowed.

Pitstops:
* Pitstop strategy will now use the actual bar value for tyre pressures.
* Fixed an issue where the Pit engineer would repeatedly inform the player that a pit crew member has lost a wheel nut during pit stops.
* Fixed an issue where the Pit Engineer would call the player to stop for fuel when fuel consumption was disabled in options.

Replays:
* Improved the smoothness of the sun, moon, stars, and shadow motion when rewinding replays of a race that had a high time acceleration.

Driver Network Profile:
* Fixed an issue where at times the miles driven on a particular track or with a particular car would be logged under the wrong car or track. This improves the accuracy of the player’s Affinity ratings.

[Inuyasha]

The boss gave us Friday of Memorial Day Weekend off, so I spent about 75 minutes this morning trying various controller settings for the Xbox One version of Project Cars to try and fix this game's myriad control problems before the patch.

Guess what? All of the tweaks SUCK.

This game's control scheme is broken for the XB1. I'm hoping the patch will fix it. If not, Project Cars will be remembered as perhaps my biggest disappointment in console gaming since I returned to the hobby a couple of years ago.

sorry to hear about this PK. I know you had your heart set on this game. I just read on another site there are updates ready to fix the XBO version soon.

added - DCHAPS to the rescue!

[tjung0831]

I'm loving the hell out Project Cars.

[XXXIV]

I'm loving the hell out Project Cars.

There is one more good reason to own a ps4.

[Aristo]

I'm loving the hell out Project Cars.

There is one more good reason to own a ps4.

Yep!

Or, not owning one has saved me $60 plus DLC while I wait for Forza 6 and post qualifying laps in the Forza 5 season we have here.

But honestly, I really wanted to buy the game. Sucks that they killed the XB1 version. I'd say that this is why the sales numbers matter. Apparently, they decided they could afford to toss out the potential sales to XB1 owners.

[sportdan30]

I myself am going to wait for Forza 6. Project Cars seems just a bit too sim oriented for my tastes.

[Dave]

It is easy to get lost messing with the controls. Anyone have good PS4 settings? I can't find something that allows me to do a better job of catching oversteer without being too twitchy.

[GB_Simo]

XB1 patch is out. I no longer own the XB1 version so can't comment but initial feedback seems to be that it's made the game playable with a pad. Fingers crossed, fellas.

[pk500]

XB1 patch is out. I no longer own the XB1 version so can't comment but initial feedback seems to be that it's made the game playable with a pad. Fingers crossed, fellas.

OOOH. Will download tonight. Thanks for the head's up!

[pk500]

As if I could wait until tonight. Yes, one of the advantages of working at home.

Project Cars for the XB1 has progressed from shovelware to sublime with one patch. MASSIVE improvement. Steering is much more predictable and stable. Framerate seems better, though not rock-steady.

The biggest problem now with the game is me. This is a brutally unforgiving game -- the closest thing to a PC sim I've played on a console. I can't drive this game like Forza 5. I must respect proper braking points and use gentle throttle input on corner exit with all assists off.

I want to drive without assists. But I may surrender at some point and use traction control and ABS with some cars, much like I did with the last two Codemasters' F1 titles on the XB1.

We'll see. But this patch is a BIG improvement.