Is Assetto Corsa too easy?

[JesperGB]

When looking at the technology preview i am in bit of a doubt of the realism in Assetto Corsa. I have been driving some cars on track, and in fast cars you have to wait for the car to point straight ahead before pushing the throttle. In the tech demo i can press the throttle to the floor real early - and the car won't spin out at all. It's actually quite difficult to really loose the car.

But then again i never tried the lotus elise in real life, so maybe it has better grip than the car i tried in real life (opel speedster turbo - 0-100 km/t in 4 secs). When driving the opel speedster then i had to be VERY careful in the corners - and that's what i don't see in Assetto.

What do you think?

NB! i am aware of that the final version can be totally different.

 

[JesperGB]

Check out this video:

This is almost impossible to happen in the tech preview...

 

[JesperGB]

Also look at this:

 

[Radek Zukowski]

What engine Opel speedster had? Turbo or not?
Also, watch this: http://www.topgear.com/uk/videos/elise-mentality

And also this:

 

[Radek Zukowski]

Check out this video:

This is almost impossible to happen in the tech preview...

Thats very much possible, especially after the second long straight when braking and turning to this fast right hander. Almost always the back steps out.

 

[Travis]

Aris from Kunos has driven many of the Lotus cars featured in AC so it's not as if he doesn't know what they are like to drive. Given the nature of nKP and FVA, I doubt AC will be anything other than as realistic as Kunos can make a simulation be.

One problem with posting videos - although they are great at making a point where words fail - is that we don't know the condition of the car and its tyres, the condition of the track surface and its temp level and the skill level of the driver.

 

[William Levesque]

The Elise we have in the Tech Demo is a more recent one, they are more tame than the older ones. It also has the track package, so sticky tyres and very efficient suspension for track duty, without adding more power. Being mid-engined, I doubt it would be tricky to put the power down.

 

[GamerMuscle]

Maybe the Ac lotus is more stable than the real one in some ways but its hard to know due to the track in the TD being 100% flat and also not being a very fast track.

On the faster sweeping corners the car seems less stable and if you are really raging the car it gets more unstable, it seems to be the case in the videos above that the lotus is more unstable at higher speeds.

I have been in a lotus with someone that could not drive at all going at 90+ mph on small windy strange camber dirty roads in the uk , It cannot be that unstable given that the guy driving had 0 ability In fact I'm sure I would be dead if the car was not very easy and reluctant to spin given that I doubt the guy driving had any "feel" at all. I would have been fu**ed if any counter steer situation arose.

In general I think you might find allot of people complaining that AC is "to easy" compared to other simulators because allot of people have a preconception of how cars handle or that cars are ridiculously hard to drive from;

1) How random and weirdly cars handle on the limit in current sims and
2) The image real world driving has in the media
3) How bad many real world drivers are

In reality if you have reasonable feel for how a car handles and the car is not broken / there is not oil on the road cars are remarkably stable and recoverable evan twitchy and quite narrow handaling cars like the radical can be driven like an idiot and you can get away with it , so long as you have basic feel and fast enough reactions to correct the car with the steering.

 

[JesperGB]

Some interesting points you got there.

It is the Turbo-version i've driven and the track was very hilly. And looking at the topgear video i can see that Jeremy also has troubles in handling the car. The interesting thing will be if there'll be some cars that will be more unpredictable in Assetto Corsa - for example the old M3-BMW - it should (i guess) be more unpredictable compared to the more modern cars.

 

[GamerMuscle]

Some interesting points you got there.

It is the Turbo-version i've driven and the track was very hilly. And looking at the topgear video i can see that Jeremy also has troubles in handling the car. The interesting thing will be if there'll be some cars that will be more unpredictable in Assetto Corsa - for example the old M3-BMW - it should (i guess) be more unpredictable compared to the more modern cars.

In your first post you said

"I have been driving some cars on track, and in fast cars you have to wait for the car to point straight ahead before pushing the throttle."

In reality even with race cars you can apply and often do apply the throttle with the car in various angles and balance the car with steering and additional throttle inputs / variations.

You can clearly see in the video above (radical video) where the guy is over driving the car that he is well on the throttle whilst at an angle and whilst also on the dirt but he is still able to use the steering to stop the car from spinning around.

Its actually a massive short coming of many simulators in that the cars don't drive properly on the limit / don't handle right when on the power or at angles.

This is what NKP is famous for getting right along with other games like Game stock car where a skilled driver can use balance and car angle to be more creative in how they approach a track and achieve a good lap time.

You also say " old M3-BMW - it should (i guess) be more unpredictable compared to the more modern cars."

To the contrary I think older cars are often more predictable in there profile its just that they are heaver and have less grip so tend to slide around more and are less responsive. So you have to have a good knowledge of what sort of arc they would get into on a given corner and adjust brake distance / slide expectations.

Though obviously it will vary from car to car and also be dependent to how you are driving each car and the given track and circumstance you put a car into.

All cars I think have the potential to be erratic or unpredictable in given situations , I guess modern cars are probably easer to correct though when that situation does arise conversely you are probably more likely to put yourself in that situation with a modern car as you are generally forced to drive older cars in a smoother way to get the most from them.

Above is more of a generalisation though I have no idea what the old M3 is like compared to the new one maybe it is more unpredictable , also some people will maybe gravitate to liking or finding x car easer and more predictable for them than Y car.

 

[Stereo]

I guess it should go without saying but did you disable driver assists? I don't have trouble spinning the Lotus going into the long straight if I hit the throttle too soon

 

[JesperGB]

Yes all assists are off - also auto blip.

I tried a modified mercedes with 200 hp, slicks and weight about 1000 kg. It behaved much easier than the Opel Speedster. The Speedster had a wild snappy acceleration and with the turbo an extra kick. So in the corners i had to do a lot of countersteer and saved it - but in one corner i lost it on the exit - and i wasn't that aggressive actually.

 

[Alexandre Guzu]

In the topgear video above @1:03 you can clearly see the lotus has massive understeer, just like in AC.

link @ 1:03

 

[Lee Ross]

When looking at the technology preview i am in bit of a doubt of the realism in Assetto Corsa. I have been driving some cars on track, and in fast cars you have to wait for the car to point straight ahead before pushing the throttle. In the tech demo i can press the throttle to the floor real early - and the car won't spin out at all. It's actually quite difficult to really loose the car.

But then again i never tried the lotus elise in real life, so maybe it has better grip than the car i tried in real life (opel speedster turbo - 0-100 km/t in 4 secs). When driving the opel speedster then i had to be VERY careful in the corners - and that's what i don't see in Assetto.

What do you think?

NB! i am aware of that the final version can be totally different.

I think you should hold that thought and wait until you try some other Aris creations. The F40 will make men out of boys, it demands real concentration to get the best from it, controlling that turbo boost on corner exit will test the best sim racers out there trust me. But it is extremely rewarding when you really practise with it and you can drive it in AC exactly the way Harris did in the recent video.

You need to keep it in the range at all times and then she just dances around the track, but, at any point, if you just get a bit too greedy, she will punish. It is an amazing sim car

 

[betterstranger]

The Elise we have in the Tech Demo is a more recent one, they are more tame than the older ones. It also has the track package, so sticky tyres and very efficient suspension for track duty, without adding more power. Being mid-engined, I doubt it would be tricky to put the power down.

AND it has Limited Slip Diff. And that makes some difference too.

To be honest I really don't like those threads 'it's too easy, too easy'. Check Top Gear season 1 episode 7 - Clarkson tests Elise 111s (same as TP's one) and he can't even slide the car as it grips so much.
If you'll search the forum there was even direct link to this review...

And as far as I know Speedster bases on older Elise than the one available in AC...

 

[DennS]

I think you should hold that thought and wait until you try some other Aris creations. The F40 will make men out of boys, it demands real concentration to get the best from it, controlling that turbo boost on corner exit will test the best sim racers out there trust me. But it is extremely rewarding when you really practise with it and you can drive it in AC exactly the way Harris did in the recent video.

You need to keep it in the range at all times and then she just dances around the track, but, at any point, if you just get a bit too greedy, she will punish. It is an amazing sim car

sounds like you drove it already
And after I failed with the F40 I am gonna move on to the 98T

To be honest I really don't like those threads 'it's too easy, too easy'. Check Top Gear season 1 episode 7 - Clarkson tests Elise 111s (same as TP's one) and he can't even slide the car as it grips so much.
If you'll search the forum there was even direct link to this review...

And as far as I know Speedster bases on older Elise than the one available in AC...

Well it was only a matter of time until this comes up which isn't necessary bad. AC will have an overall easier feeling than every other sim what we had so far... When I think back at driving the Z3 GT3 at Gamescon last year, despite never driven it before I never hat the feeling I would loose it. I am not the best or fastest simracer, far from it but I know my way around a circuit so it is refreshing to see that you can drive a car without fearing of loosing it every 2s... But as soon as you start to push it gets tricky (sadly the Lotus from the TD isn't the best example here because how the car handles)

 

[GamerMuscle]

AC will have an overall easier feeling than every other sim what we had so far...

The crucial thing is that the basic nature of the cars in basic operation should be easy to handle , but the objective or racing at the limit and getting top leap times should be hard and nigh imposable to do that "perfect" lap.

Just becuse a car sticks to a road and dosent drive like a shopping trolley on the limit does not some how make an entire game easy.

If real cars drove like the majority of simcars I doubt motor sport would be as addictive and popular as it is.

 

[DennS]

The crucial thing is that the basic nature of the cars in basic operation should be easy to handle , but the objective or racing at the limit and getting top leap times should be hard and nigh imposable to do that "perfect" lap.

Just becuse a car sticks to a road and dosent drive like a shopping trolley on the limit does not some how make an entire game easy.

If real cars drove like the majority of simcars I doubt motor sport would be as addictive and popular as it is.

couldn't agree more...!

 

[Marian Zelenka]

Oh boy, this debate like over every sim out there.

The problem is the car they chose for TP. If only they included two very different car, we would be wiser. I like how it handles, but don't like the FFB on my GT3RS wheel. I guess it's time for me to buy another steering wheel.

 

[Aris Teidis]

Oh boy, this debate like over every sim out there.

The problem is the car they chose for TP. If only they included two very different car, we would be wiser. I like how it handles, but don't like the FFB on my GT3RS wheel. I guess it's time for me to buy another steering wheel.

On CSW feels awful too!