Open letter from Devs

[Antonio Crinò]

Can someone post it here please?

 

[Tomas Torasen]

The physics and ffb is really good. Kunos is known for this position om earlier titles. But compared to netkar it doesn't compare physics wise IMHO. This is not hard to understand why when you look how much time went into refining those few cars compared to the many cars in AC.
I would personally give up a lot of cars in AC, like all the lotuses to have the formula ford from netkar. The Lotus 49 is like something similar, old bad downforce and high power. They don't sompare physics quality wise though even by a stretch.

Maybe the many cars is a combination of licensing and trying to do something more modern which really didn't work since many cars isn't used by most. And at the same time where they should have invested time and effort is in the online user interface whereas AC isn't much better than old netkar where even then it was the bottle neck of the title.

 

[Rivvern]

@Daniel Holst Black flag exists I believe. I got black flagged after not slowing down as told after going to far off track in a corner. I got put in pits not being able to drive out on track again during that race.

Yes i remember now! But you dont get black flag for ramming people of the road. :/

 

[Tomas Torasen]

That's probably because it's incredibly hard to implement. You need algorithms similar to AI that can judge who is to blame, since computer based mind reading of intent is not possible.
In titles where they implemented such systems people started to exploit it braking in front of people causing them to blackflag as a strategy.
Instead we actually have real person moderators that can kick people online.

 

[Blotto]

I think it will only get worse when the consoles are released. I know PC gamers are entitled but adding a greater/another market of people = wont be good.

Hopefully this was a preemptive strike so that things will go much smoother at the launch 2016 and that there would be a helpful base already set.

 

[Marco Waechter]

AC needs more leagues, or a similar online system (not really the rating and rating related carrer stuff) like in IR. Where you can pick up a practice or race session at any daytime and almost any car+track combo*. This was my opinion from beginning on, already pre online mode was there (I've seen 'this' coming). Then some of the 'chaos' wouldn't be there, forums would be more about interesting themes and not that much of day to day or whatever talk.

*But there are "too many" cars in AC, so this could get a bit more difficult (because even more sessions would be needed). And empty servers probably.


I can't believe the amount of leagues was and still is about zero percent in AC.

 

[Unohoo]

"There are thousands of people out there that still do not know that you should lower the pressure of the road tyres and even more on the semislick tyres to make the road car behave better on the circuits. They do not know they should use as much camber as possible at the front of the road cars... it is limited anyway, so everylittle helps."

I am one of those people .......................... but heh! There are default setups for each AC car matched to each AC track which could provide these tweaks. I mean ...... provide a competitive default setup in the first place!
I do NOT have a clue in the AC garage. I try, I really do. In the end I am left with several setups which are organised by fastest lap. Then a physics update arrives and I am back to square one.
Easiest thing for me to do is grab a setup from RD. I just want to be competitive and not be lapped.
BTW .... AC is the only game I play

And.......... every setup is the default setup (with a few tweaks)

 

[Borbor]

"The fastest racers will still be the fastest after sharing their setups" .. yeah may be but I not sure if fastest racer like Greger Huttu or Ben Cornett who hold tons of WR in AC do willing to share their setup ??

I personally dont believe they willing to share .. or probably will modify a bit here & there if they do share cause they want to keep a little bit to themselve so they have the advantage when competing.

By the way dont get me wrong; I totally understand & have nothing against this .. you cant expect Mercedes share their setup tips to other Formula One teams to help the other teams beat their own (Lewis Hamilton & Nico Rosberg) drivers

in LFS s2, you could download the hotlap setups when you visit the ranking pages.
when I was doing fox on south city in those days, even guys who were w/i a tenth or two of my time when I try their setups I couldn't even come close to doing the times I do with my own setup.

So assuming the aliens are willing to share the setup, how many people out there can actually take advantage? Every input affects the outcome of the setup; and unless you have telemetry, overlap the traces and then basically mimic the timing of all the inputs, the car isn't going to behave well enough for you to replicate those unworldly laptimes.

 

[LazyBug]

in LFS s2, you could download the hotlap setups when you visit the ranking pages.
when I was doing fox on south city in those days, even guys who were w/i a tenth or two of my time when I try their setups I couldn't even come close to doing the times I do with my own setup.

So assuming the aliens are willing to share the setup, how many people out there can actually take advantage? Every input affects the outcome of the setup; and unless you have telemetry, overlap the traces and then basically mimic the timing of all the inputs, the car isn't going to behave well enough for you to replicate those unworldly laptimes.

Yeah guess you right .. i nvr really gain faster lap time from trying other people's setups .. usually either about the same or even slower ..

Not sure why but usually its the change of the way i brake / turn / accelerate / downshift that gain me faster lap time.

 

[Jempy]

AC needs more leagues, .....
...........

I can't believe the amount of leagues was and still is about zero percent in AC.

I already know 4 or 5 french speaking leagues having AC at their program, as RD also has.
Ours is since the very beginning of the AC Multiplayer ..... organizing events each week ... and still now: friday 1st week, sunday 2d week, etc .... and AC is the only platform we're now following.

We already organized 2 championships, 1 endurance with 2 different car classes and 1 sprint Series.
Difficult it was as we had to manage everything with modder's apps and a personal database for championship results.

If there are still just a few leagues busy with AC .... and many other ones still waiting before organizing more, the reason is that there's one big problem: lack of base features ... and mostly all of them finding their origin in a wrong penalty system chosen at the start.

We are just trusting our drivers ... ( with a bit of controls of course ) applying the requested apps on our servers .... and all of them were perfectly correct, fair-play and gentlemen.
For the moment ... trust in our drivers is all we have.

Server settings became much more developed recently .... but needed rules are still absent.

We're all happy with what we have, we have pleasure driving AC ... else with these actual conditions all our drivers should have left us.

NB: very difficult for most good drivers to share their setups and driving tips .... that's unhappily a fact: they drive fast but surely prefer remaining without too much concurrence ??

Giving takes time ... and many don't seem to have time .... to share.

 

[fortyfivekev]

For MP I think AC could take some lessons from iRacing. I raced the Skippy on iRacing for a few seasons and before each race one of the fast guys would post a YT video of a quick lap and a brief circuit guide and some set-up guidance (fairly easy for a simple car like the Skippy) . If you are running an AC league then maybe do something like this and encourage participants to share set-ups and other tips.

There is also iSpeed which collects and uploads realtime iRacing telemetry to a db and allows you to compare your line, speed, gear, etc. with much quicker drivers. If you have these types of tools and know that you have a fast set-up then you start thinking much more about your driving and how to improve.

 

[xnorb]

Well, iRacing is miles ahead of every other sim in regards of multiplayer.
But that's what iRacing was built for and it has a completely different
business model and infrastructure behind it.

You need to have those features already outlined before you even write
the first line of code. Adding on top of something that's already there is
often complicated and at times impossible (and complicated could also
stand for "will never happen" if it's too much work)

 

[Marco Waechter]

I already know 4 or 5 french speaking leagues having AC at their program, as RD also has.

Maybe, somewhere in the invisible depths of the internet.. . You know.. . Where do you find those ? Maybe I would find some, when scanning the internet a whole day. But there's no time to do so. You understand the point ?
There is nothing real "official" like in IR. And no official 'bowl' from AC's side where all racers can get together at first place.
(Maybe RD almost is, yes. Would agree.)

 

[fortyfivekev]

Sure, it's taken iRacing 10 years to get where it is now but it doesn't mean that someone else couldn't do something similar although it wouldn't be easy I agree.

I would think that someone that has sim racers logging-in and a big community (like RD maybe) could create an app for AC that counted up cut tracks or collisions (if the AC API reports that?) vs. number of laps raced and have a central database. Leagues could make use of the app mandatory to race. Stopping people gaming that though would be the problem which I suppose is why iRacing requires real names be used.

 

[Andreas Knöpke]

In regards to the open letter:

I could go on for ages and explain my point in detail but the short version to Aris' comments about us not spending enough time with spotting all the amazing details Kunos has put into all the cars and the game itself, is also (but of course not only) related to the fact that there is a lack of league features currently.

Granted, Stefano in his latest live stream admitted that he understands the need to focus on gameplay features and thus wants to go into this direction now going forward. But to address Aris' comments - as correct and valid as his points are - it is also true that without proper leagues there is a much smaller incentive for many people to actually dive deep into the cars' details if you know what I mean.

So my point is, with more features designed for league racing or general mutliplayer improvements I would expect even more user activity and that's what makes people realize / discover things.

If all you can do is race against the AI here and there, do some hotlaps I doubt that the majority of players will be keen to get the last bit out of the cars but if one has proper competition in leagues (totally independent from their own skill level!) then I think we will ultimately discover more of the aspects Aris mentioned.

So I am positive that with a few tweaks here and there over the next few months Aris' concerns will vanish.

 

[BenC]

"The fastest racers will still be the fastest after sharing their setups" .. yeah may be but I not sure if fastest racer like Greger Huttu or Ben Cornett who hold tons of WR in AC do willing to share their setup ??

I personally dont believe they willing to share .. or probably will modify a bit here & there if they do share cause they want to keep a little bit to themselve so they have the advantage when competing.

By the way dont get me wrong; I totally understand & have nothing against this .. you cant expect Mercedes share their setup tips to other Formula One teams to help the other teams beat their own (Lewis Hamilton & Nico Rosberg) drivers

This is my entire setups folder, unedited.

https://mega.nz/#!ot5DGJwR!tRDPyTfc1pvI-dwghXRXLm0hvDNlnbCuH14HwMCQjG0

Have fun.

 

[Ole Marius Myrvold]

"The fastest racers will still be the fastest after sharing their setups" .. yeah may be but I not sure if fastest racer like Greger Huttu or Ben Cornett who hold tons of WR in AC do willing to share their setup ??

I remember back to the GPL days (now I feel old). I had both RE and GH setups which I tried (Greger Huttu & Roland Ehnström). I found the RE setups to fit me best, then RE2 and GH.

So at least they used to share them

 

[LazyBug]

This is my entire setups folder, unedited.

https://mega.nz/#!ot5DGJwR!tRDPyTfc1pvI-dwghXRXLm0hvDNlnbCuH14HwMCQjG0

Have fun.

I know my problem is my tool & my driving, not the setup so I dont need it actually, i just dont believe top aliens will share it but at least my previous comment come up some positive reaction

 

[LazyBug]

By the way instead of setup i actually more interested & prefer if fastest drivers share their recorded cockpit video so i can learn how they take all those corner .. which line & which point they brake & where they start to turn & how much brake they apply & all stuffs like that ..

Then i will adjust my setup to allow myself to do exactly like them .. thats more fun .. at least to me.

 

[BenC]

By the way instead of setup i actually more interested & prefer if fastest drivers share their recorded cockpit video so i can learn how they take all those corner .. which line & which point they brake & where they start to turn & how much brake they apply & all stuffs like that ..

Then i will adjust my setup to allow myself to do exactly like them .. thats more fun .. at least to me.

Most people would have just said 'thanks'. But ok;

Every replay I've bothered saving.

https://mega.nz/#!B1BAna5C!r96n-DzdxDXYLu0VOeRnSPZEjq-YJYHV3MAx2OMLZVg

 

[LazyBug]

Most people would have just said 'thanks'. But ok;

Every replay I've bothered saving.

https://mega.nz/#!ot5DGJwR!tRDPyTfc1pvI-dwghXRXLm0hvDNlnbCuH14HwMCQjG0

Am sorry if i make you feel like i forcing you to share but am not. Like i say previously i understand if fastest racer like you dont feel like sharing.

Anyway not sure if i should download it cause i dont know what else i can do other than saying "Thanks" and give your post a "Like"