Free Content, Future Development and Stefano Casillo Interview (Part 2)

[Paul Jeffrey]

We spoke at length with Stefano Casillo of Kunos Simulazioni about Assetto Corsa, some new free content incoming and all things racing...

The Sim Racing Expo was a wonderful opportunity for sim racers, developers, hardware manufacturers and the media to get together to celebrate the wonderful hobby we call sim racing. Thanks to the great access and atmosphere of the event we had the opportunity to chat with one of the key figures behind Assetto Corsa, Stefano Casillo, and he was more than happy to give us an insight into the behind the scenes workings at Kunos, plus revealing some exciting new free content coming to Assetto Corsa in the near future.

You can check out the interview below:

Originally planned as part of a standard paid DLC, Kunos scheduled the highly anticipated laser scanned version of Laguna Seca to release alongside a pack of new performance road cars for the simulation. Unfortunately due to unforeseen circumstances the launch of Laguna hit one or two delays against the original schedule, slipping to much further in the calendar year that was the intention when the announcement was first hinted at several months ago.

In something of a generous gesture from Kunos, the popular Italian developers have decided to release both circuit and accompanying cars to the base game for free, bringing with it a very popular drivers circuit and six new cars to the title.

The confirmed free bonus pack DLC will contain:

• Laguna Seca Circuit
• Alfa Rome Giulia QV
• Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale
• Lamborghini Sesto Elemento
• Lamborghini Huracan Performante
• Maserati Quattroporte
• Pagani Huayra BC

No exact release date has been confirmed by Kunos, however it is expected that players will be in receipt of the new content before the end of 2017.

If you missed it earlier, don't forget to check out our previous interview with Stefano where we talk about the new update and Ferrari Celebration DLC.

Assetto Corsa is available for Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC now.

Assetto Corsa and online racing = Love! Check out our brilliant Assetto Corsa League and Club racing forum for great racing events suitable for all skills and experiences. We host regular events using popular content and guarantee a great time for all. Additionally we have a very active sub forum for the game where players can catch up on the latest news and engage with fellow community members here at RD. You can download mods from our modding archive, discuss W.I.P projects in our Modding Discussion Forum and try out a selection of car setups for a wide range of vehicles. Come on, get yourself involved in the action today!

Happy to see more free content coming to Assetto Corsa? Which car most grabs your attention from the list above? Let us know in the comments section below!

 

[CC]

Have you seen any footage in motion?

So how exactly would you stage the scene ,
if the game is in motion and running , or you are in development testing inside unreal engine in which case they probably most likely was , using unreal engine cameras and effects ,
what difference do you expect to see , because from using the engine I see none ?

 

[Radu Oros]

All unreal engine games tend to look the same.

 

[maranello78]

Great news but i think we need rainy races, especially for community leagues, changing percent or chance of rain, we have great clouds textures in assetto, now with rain could be perfect and an acceleration from Pcars saga, i hope one day we drive under rain, with different options on server manager

 

[protonv5]

So, just as a note: We've asked for some of the features Stefano mentions here, and always received responses from forum 'contributors' like: 'No.' 'They already said they weren't going to add these features, so why ask?' 'Why do people always whine about features, the answer is no.'

You guys know who you are. So, here we have a response from the Kunos guys themselves saying, "The features will come. We know we have to add them. We know the competition is stiff and we must compete."

So there you have it. So why all the 'NO' responses on the forums?

Sooooo, stop doing that. Thanks.

 

[StefanoCasillo]

So, just as a note: We've asked for some of the features Stefano mentions here, and always received responses from forum 'contributors' like:

I know already I am going to regret replying to a troll but... please enlighten me.. what answer did I give that is any different from what you've received on the forums?

 

[XRRoy]

• Alfa Romeo Giulia QV

• Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale

Hold on, I need to change my pants.

 

[CC]

I know already I am going to regret replying to a troll but... please enlighten me.. what answer did I give that is any different from what you've received on the forums?

I believe what hes referring to is that whenever there is mention of possible things people want , weather , night ect ect features , most active contributors on the forums always replay "NO" there adding nothing ,
when in fact these people its just all speculation and heresay , per se

 

[Carlitox]

The support Kunos is giving is astonishing when you compare it to other titles, and not even necessarily racing titles (ME:Andromeda is a non racing example, it's already confirmed that after they patched the weird expressions, game will no longer be updated). And how they work with DLCs, aside from the online racing thing, is an example to follow to the whole gaming community. While PCars2 has day one DLCs and splits its content to have the user pay for parts of the game that should've made it to the base game, Kunos is adding quality historic cars and more importantly, cars that were released after the game was initially made, thus keeping it fresh. And the price is quite fair for what you get.
Maybe I'm not as picky as other users, but in my very personal opinion, AC is an example to follow, not only as a racing game, but as a software in general. So my sincerest thanks and congratulations to everybody involved. Happy to be a regular AC player.

 

[Berniyh]

M6 GT3 is also the car i´m waiting for. I hope it is still coming 2017.

Marco said to a few people at Simracing Expo that the M6 GT3 is cancelled, so don't wait.

And really, don't call it Assetto Corsa 2. So boring. Here my ideas for the new name:

• Assetto Corsa Evoluzione (ACE)
• Assetto Superveloce

Come on. Don't claim it's your idea if it wasn't.
Don't want to be possessive here, but I don't want others to be either.
(And for the record I really love it if they'd call it ACE, because IMO it's a cool name.)

Frostbite is owned by EA, so no.
Unreal4...maybe.
I wouldn't be surprised if AC2 ended up running on Unity, it has come a long way and the physics are pretty good.

I really don't think it matters if Unity (or another engine) has good physics or not, because they'd very likely want to keep much of their code or port it to the new engine.
With engines like Unity, Unreal or CryEngine, you get the source code of the engine as well and most likely they'd modify it either to include their physics code or to make their code available as a plugin or similar.

It would be really cool though if Stefano could share his experience there (be it in a post or a stream).
Even though it might bore the hell out of some people because it might not reveal anything of AC2.

Edit: surely the next project will target both PC and consoles at release, so most likely that plays a role in the findings as well.

 

[RasmusP]

I don't get it either...
Stefano states in the interview "these things will have to be there for whatever we are going to do next."
So even IF he said anywhere that it won't happen for AC, then he didn't say anything different now, did he?

BTW big kudos to Kunos again! I sadly couldn't make it this year to the simexpo. Would've liked to see the interview in person!

 

[Brandon Wright]

So how exactly would you stage the scene ,
if the game is in motion and running , or you are in development testing inside unreal engine in which case they probably most likely was , using unreal engine cameras and effects ,
what difference do you expect to see , because from using the engine I see none ?

It's pretty well known that they just dropped R3E cars into the UE4 environment to take some still photos for promotion shots.

 

[protonv5]

I know already I am going to regret replying to a troll but... please enlighten me.. what answer did I give that is any different from what you've received on the forums?

Relax You, my friend have not given such replies. I am referring to 'contributors', or fanboys on these forums, or whatever they are called. And I feel the need to bring this up. Because if we don't, perhaps the desire for these things will not be known by you and your colleagues at Kunos.

So, my comment was not directed at you but the naysayers. Anyway, I'm quite excited that Kunos is considering improving AC to add perhaps rain, day/night etc. So, we appreciate you guys sharing that info. Definitely gives us something to look forward to. And also, much thanks for the upcoming free car pack. Good stuff. All the best

 

[StefanoCasillo]

Relax You, my friend have not given such replies. I am referring to 'contributors', or fanboys on these forums, or whatever they are called.

again.. how the answers from the "naysayers" are any different from the ones I gave in the interview?

 

[delpinsky]

What about the M6 GT3? I'm still waiting hahaha

edit: http://www.racedepartment.com/threads/confirmed-bmw-m6-gt3-coming-to-assetto-corsa-in-2017.124529/

"Confirmed: BMW M6 GT3 Coming to Assetto Corsa in 2017"

...technically we're still in 2017 have faith!

 

[CC]

It's pretty well known that they just dropped R3E cars into the UE4 environment to take some still photos for promotion shots.

And as I stated in that post , placing cars and tracks inside the environment to running the actual game , what difference does this make ? because last time i placed my stuff inside to test it with the SDK from in the environment to creating the files the pictures I took was exact

 

[ronniej]

Any thoughts on AC merchandise sir? (Caps,jackets,shirts,cups,etc.) Sry, just found the answer on the AC forums

 

[protonv5]

again.. how the answers from the "naysayers" are any different from the ones I gave in the interview?

On many occasions I would happen to mention my hopes/wishes for this feature or that feature to eventually be a part of AC. In response to pretty much all of my posts, someone (a naysayer) on this forum would quickly reply with: 'Kunos already said they're not adding rain so why whine about it" or another response I get is simply: 'NO" or even still I get a response like: "Dude, be happy with what you have. Why come on here and complain?"

So, simply put, my post is to those guys. Those naysayers. Why say this will not be added, or that will not be added, meanwhile Kunos just said they will add it?

I am not saying Kunos said anything other than what Stefano said in the video. The naysayers however continually say this feature or that feature will not come so don't ask.

So I've asked them here to please not do that.

 

[CC]

On many occasions I would happen to mention my hopes/wishes for this feature or that feature to eventually be a part of AC. In response to pretty much all of my posts, someone (a naysayer) on this forum would quickly reply with: 'Kunos already said they're not adding rain so why whine about it" or another response I get is simply: 'NO" or even still I get a response like: "Dude, be happy with what you have. Why come on here and complain?"

So, simply put, my post is to those guys. Those naysayers. Why say this will not be added, or that will not be added, meanwhile Kunos just said they will add it?

I am not saying Kunos said anything other than what Stefano said in the video. The naysayers however continually say this feature or that feature will not come so don't ask.

So I've asked them here to please not do that.

Its Stefano your talking to

 

[StefanoCasillo]

I am not saying Kunos said anything other than what Stefano said in the video. The naysayers however continually say this feature or that feature will not come so don't ask.

so you've watched the vid.. you've read the article.. and you've concluded that rain is coming to assetto corsa, the naysayers were wrong and you were right?

that's worse than I thought

 

[RasmusP]

so you've watched the vid.. you've read the article.. and you've concluded that rain is coming to assetto corsa, the naysayers were wrong and you were right?

that's worse than I thought

I don't think that's what he meant but thanks for the laugh