Open Letter to Kunos Simulazioni and the Community

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RaceDepartment

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Dear Kunos Simulazioni,

There is no doubt that what you have managed to achieve over the lifetime of Assetto Corsa, from its early access period to it's current state (v1.1), has been incredibly impressive, especially considering the relative size of your development team (approximately 15 people, we believe). From the humble beginnings of a single track, and a couple of sports cars, Assetto Corsa has become one of the highest selling racing games on steam, and deservedly so, thanks to intelligent investment, ultra-high quality (and popular) content, unparalleled driving physics, and a vast expanse of modding capability. Assetto Corsa easily has the most potential to be something truly great out of all the current simulators on the market today.

However, despite all of these fantastic things, there is still one aspect of Assetto Corsa (that we here at RaceDepartment are especially passionate about) that is detracting from the rest of the game in a significant way: Multiplayer functionality, usability and netcode solidity. In its present state, we feel that the quality of the multiplayer experience is still vastly inadequate in comparison to not only the the rest of Assetto Corsa's competition, but inferior even to that of games seen in the early-mid 2000's. From a users perspective, the way Assetto Corsa handles latency differences and especially collisions, is not exactly what you would call a pretty sight, and this must be addressed if Assetto Corsa is to be taken seriously by online racing communities such as this one.

Having a well-oiled multiplayer machine, so to speak, is essential to the long term sustainability of a simulator to not only remain relevant to the consumer, but to have them coming back for more (iRacing, rFactor 2 and Game Stock Car Extreme are all excellent examples of this, and all of them, incidentally, are your direct competitors in the sim market). Unfortunately at the present moment, we don't feel that Assetto Corsa's multiplayer currently offers the stability and function required to keep the clients coming back for more. As a result, we've seen a distinct trend in our RaceDepartment club races where we have a vast influx of drivers soon after a significant update, and then a significant drop off in participation within a period of a week or so, as the drivers quickly realise that the other competing racing sims still offer more features and enjoyment during multiplayer races.

Properly functioning multiplayer races with fully supported features including sector splits, live timing, broadcast/spectator mode, stable netcode for high ping users, reverse grid features, multiple races, far more numerous number of grid slots (what GT series races with only 24 cars?), pitstop improvements and many many more features are all necessary for a complete and sustainable sim that will not only be profitable for you in the long run, but will also maximize the users enjoyment and will vastly increase the life span of the sim.

If you look at it from a 'man and machine versus the track' perspective, then few other racing sims out there can compete with what Assetto Corsa offers in terms of physics, sound and track immersion, providing what is probably the best hot-lapping and practice simulator available to the consumer ever created. However, looking at it as a 'multiplayer racing sim', then you quickly realise just how far Assetto Corsa seems to be lagging behind the competition.

We completely understand that such things take time to develop, and we are more than willing to be patient and wait for improvements for the multiplayer side of things to progress, however, Assetto Corsa has been in development now for more than enough time to warrant an acceptable standard of multiplayer functionality and stability. Given the huge level of success that Assetto Corsa has experienced, we believe that budgetary constraints might not represent such a big hurdle anymore for the studio, especially in terms of netcode investment.

Whilst it cannot be stressed enough just how amazing the quality of the content (cars and tracks) has been, we here at RaceDepartment feel very strongly that you, Kunos Simulazioni, must shift your attention from implementing new cars and tracks to improving the functionality of the game. If it is not addressed soon, then you'll run a real risk of seeing a significant and rapid decline in the population of the Assetto Corsa user-base.

As the largest SimRacing community in the world, we sincerely hope that the issues highlighted above will be focused on more heavily in future, as we believe that Assetto Corsa has the potential to be one of the top class racing simulators on the market.

In closing, we would like to leave you with one final thought, and that's that; whilst it's a surreal and genuinely spine-tingling experience to be able to drive highly accurate replications of legendary race tracks and cars, what is the point of all of this incredible content, if the limitations of the game's functionality and usability are preventing us from realising its full potential?

Hopefully in the not too distant future, Assetto Corsa will prove to be the amazing racing simulator that we, and everyone else, know it has the potential to be.

Kind Regards,
RaceDepartment.

Cari Kunos Simulazioni,
Non c'è dubbio che quello che siete riusciti a realizzare con Assetto Corsa, dalla sua fase early access alla sua versione corrente (1.1), sia stato incredibilmente notevole, specialmente considerando le dimensioni del team di sviluppo (circa 15 persone, crediamo).
Dai suoi umili inizi con un singolo tracciato e qualche auto sportiva, Assetto Corsa è diventato uno dei racing game più venduti su Steam, meritatamente, per via degli investimenti intelligenti, contenuti di qualità altissima (e popolari), fisica di guida impareggiabile ed un vasto supporto al modding.

Assetto Corsa ha indubbiamente il maggior potenziale per diventare qualcosa di davvero grandioso tra tutti i simulatori al momento sul mercato.

Ma, nonostante tutte queste fantastiche qualità, c'è ancora un aspetto di Assetto Corsa (a cui noi di RaceDepartment siamo particolarmente appassionati) che detrae dal resto del gioco in maniera significativa: la funzionalità, usabilità e stabilità del netcode in Multiplayer.
Crediamo che la qualità dell'esperienza multiplayer, nel suo stato attuale, sia ancora in gran parte inadeguata se confrontata non solo con i suoi rivali, ma anche con simulatori dei primi anni 2000.

Dal punto di vista dell'utente, il modo in cui Assetto Corsa gestisce le differenze di latenza e specialmente le collisioni non è esattamente ideale, e questo deve essere migliorato se il titolo vuole essere preso sul serio dalle comunità di racing online come la nostra.
Avere un sistema multiplayer ben oliato, per così dire, è essenziale alla sostenibilità a lungo termine di un simulatore - non solo per rimanere rilevante per il consumatore, ma anche per fare in modo che questo ritorni (iRacing, rFactor 2 e Game Stock Car Extreme sono tutti ottimi esempi, e che tra l'altro sono tutti vostri diretti competitori nel mercato dei simulatori).

Sfortunatamente al momento non ci sembra che il multiplayer di Assetto Corsa offra la stabilità e le funzionalità richieste per fare in modo che i clienti ritornino.

Come diretto risultato, abbiamo notato una marcata tendenza nelle corse del nostro RaceDepartment club in cui abbiamo un grande influsso di giocatori immediatamente dopo un aggiornamento importante, per poi vedere una significativa diminuzione nel giro di una settimana circa, man mano che i piloti si rendono conto che gli altri competitori nel mercato dei racing sim offrono più funzionalità per le corse in multiplayer.

Corse in multiplayer propriamente funzionanti con caratteristiche come split per i settori, cronometraggio in tempo reale, modalità spettatore\di trasmissione, netcode stabile per gli utenti con un ping alto, modalità a griglia invertita, corse multiple, un numero molto maggiore di posti sulla griglia (quale corsa GT ha solo 24 auto?), miglioramenti ai pitstop ed altre ancora sono necessarie per un simulatore completo e sostenibile che non solo sarà redditizio per voi, ma massimizzerà anche il divertimento degli utenti e aumenterà sostanzialmente l'arco di vita del vostro titolo.

Guardandolo dalla prospettiva di “uomo e macchina contro il tracciato”, pochi altri simulatori sul mercato possono competere con quello che offre Assetto Corsa in termini di fisica, sonoro ed immersione su pista, creando quella che è probabilmente il miglior simulatore di hot-lapping e pratica mai creato e venduto al consumatore.
Tuttavia, guardandolo come un “simulatore di corse in multiplayer”, ci si rende conto che Assetto Corsa è piuttosto indietro rispetto ai suoi rivali.

Noi capiamo completamente che cose del genere richiedono tempo per essere sviluppate, e siamo più che volenterosi di essere pazienti ed aspettare dei miglioramenti al multiplayer, ma Assetto Corsa è ormai in fase di sviluppo da abbastanza tempo per garantire uno standard accettabile di funzionalità e stabilità nelle modalità online.
Visto l'enorme successo che Assetto Corsa ha avuto, crediamo che i limiti di budget forse non siano più un grande ostacolo per lo studio, particolarmente in termini di investimento sul netcode.

Sebbene la qualità dei contenuti (sia auto che tracciati) sia davvero incredibile, noi di RaceDepartment crediamo fortemente che voi, Kunos Simulazioni, dobbiate spostare la vostra attenzione dall'implementare nuovi contenuti al migliorare la funzionalità del gioco. Se questi problemi non saranno risolti a breve, allora correrete il rischio di vedere un declino rapido e significativo del bacino d'utenza di Assetto Corsa.
Come la più grande community di SimRacing nel mondo, noi crediamo sinceramente che i problemi di cui abbiamo scritto sopra riceveranno più attenzione in futuro, perché crediamo che Assetto Corsa abbia il potenziale per diventare IL simulatore di corse sul mercato.

In chiusura, vorremmo lasciarvi con un ultimo pensiero: mentre essere in grado di guidare repliche incredibilmente accurate di auto e tracciati leggendari è un'esperienza surreale e davvero eccitante, a cosa servono tutti questi contenuti eccezionali se le limitazioni della funzionalità ed usabilità del gioco ci impediscono di realizzare tutto il loro potenziale?

Speriamo che in un futuro non troppo lontano Assetto Corsa dimostrerà di essere l'incredibile simulatore di corse che noi, così come chiunque altro, sappiamo che può diventare.

Cordiali saluti,
RaceDepartment.
 
There are many offline players that keep those games alive too, including many mod makers who don't play online.
The idea that it's just MP that keeps the games alive is a fallacy imo.
 
The idea that it's just MP that keeps the games alive is a fallacy imo.

That may or may not be true, and frankly who knows. However surely a solid, well coded multiplayer should be standard in any race sim these days, and that is all the letter is asking for.

I totally agree that single player needs more work (as we all know the AI behaviour needs further improvement for starters), but that shouldn't stop Kunos getting to grips with the netcode for MP either.

I would love to get to the point where we have a piece of software with the offline and online capabilities of Race 07 etc. but with the brilliant 2015 physics, cars and tracks that we already have in AC.

I know Kunos are a small development team, but surely this is not too great a thing to ask for (in time).

Let's keep our fingers crossed! :)
 
I agree with this 100 million times yes. In fact, I was thinking this same thing while playing today. I realized... All I do is run practice mode, because essentially - that's all there is to do in AC! I believe the game is still in early access. With a fare share of cars still incomplete (mainly dashboard functionality) and no multiplayer, I'm drifting farther away from AC. I'm sick of running practice mode and racing against predictable AI. I long for the day that multiplayer is a core, easily accessible feature in AC.
 
I agree with this 100 million times yes. In fact, I was thinking this same thing while playing today. I realized... All I do is run practice mode, because essentially - that's all there is to do in AC! I believe the game is still in early access. With a fare share of cars still incomplete (mainly dashboard functionality) and no multiplayer, I'm drifting farther away from AC. I'm sick of running practice mode and racing against predictable AI. I long for the day that multiplayer is a core, easily accessible feature in AC.

I totally agree.

Only times I haven't just run practice mode is right after a new build is released. I get on track with a full field of AI, to see if it works this time around. When I then conclude the AI is still too lacking/broken to provide an entertaining race, I go back to practice because, well, what else can I do.

This is a pattern that has been going on for far too long now. I have completely lost my hype for AC, let me tell you that much. I'm not saying that Kunos can't fix AC's issues, I'm sure they can. But I hardly feel anything for that sim anymore.

Let's see what the future brings...
 
Hi, I plan to subscribe to the premium section in order to join a fun AC league; I have found this post by coincidence and enjoyed the reading.
I don't want to start a new keyboards war but I was wondering what is the RD admins' opinion 1 year later about AC?
I have been playing AC for 2 years, and over the last year I have noticed these improvements:
-netcode decently improved
-collision model quite massively improved
-fps more friendly
-pitstop in MP, although limited
-penalties, not the best but in order
-incoming false start
-dynamic track & weather, or sort of

Except for long endurance races, do you think that AC has reached now a decent stage to allow for serious race leagues?

P.S: is there a place on the forum for general Race Leagues discussion, out of one game in particular (I own now AC and Automobilista and don't plan to go back to Iracing and RF2, not interested in R3E)?
 
Hi, I plan to subscribe to the premium section in order to join a fun AC league; I have found this post by coincidence and enjoyed the reading.
I don't want to start a new keyboards war but I was wondering what is the RD admins' opinion 1 year later about AC?
I have been playing AC for 2 years, and over the last year I have noticed these improvements:
-netcode decently improved
-collision model quite massively improved
-fps more friendly
-pitstop in MP, although limited
-penalties, not the best but in order
-incoming false start
-dynamic track & weather, or sort of

Except for long endurance races, do you think that AC has reached now a decent stage to allow for serious race leagues?

P.S: is there a place on the forum for general Race Leagues discussion, out of one game in particular (I own now AC and Automobilista and don't plan to go back to Iracing and RF2, not interested in R3E)?
Well, depending on the league layout, you can definitely do it in AC, though I think that sprint race formats are the only way to go atm because the pitstops are still a bit dodgy.

Netcode is vastly improved for sure, but the penalty system of default AC still leaves a few things to be desired. Also, a flag system would be nice.
 
Well, depending on the league layout, you can definitely do it in AC, though I think that sprint race formats are the only way to go atm because the pitstops are still a bit dodgy.

Netcode is vastly improved for sure, but the penalty system of default AC still leaves a few things to be desired. Also, a flag system would be nice.
Thank you for your feedback,
in the AC League section, I can see all the offer but I don't see any open thread where one can ask suggestion about which league to choose (based on combo/timing/level etc..), does anyone know if such a thread exists?
 
Well, we're only running on AC league currently, which is the MX5 cup. :) http://www.racedepartment.com/forums/rd-mx5-cup.413/
You mean all the other events in the league section aka Club are occasional races but no championship? Still today? Are there many leagues in other games or do we generally talk about 3/4 leagues per game and the rest is clubs events?
I was more looking for some kind of championship rather than occasional races tbh.
I am not too much into MX5 but rather into some 'exotic' combos.
 
You mean all the other events in the league section aka Club are occasional races but no championship? Still today? Are there many leagues in other games or do we generally talk about 3/4 leagues per game and the rest is clubs events?
I was more looking for some kind of championship rather than occasional races tbh.
I am not too much into MX5 but rather into some 'exotic' combos.
Yes, club racing is our main focus.
League racing takes a bit more effort to run and we don't have the man power to run more than one league in AC at a time but our leagues also need to meet a certain standard that other websites won't necessarily meet ;)
 
Thanks guys, but when I check the AC races in the calendar section I usually don't see many players registered, 10/15 max.
Am I missing something, or maybe an optimum time slot for full grids?
Because I already have 10/15 players in the SRS system in AC, with decent level, so the real change for me would be rather a championship' kinda competition.
 
Thanks guys, but when I check the AC races in the calendar section I usually don't see many players registered, 10/15 max.
Am I missing something, or maybe an optimum time slot for full grids?
Because I already have 10/15 players in the SRS system in AC, with decent level, so the real change for me would be rather a championship' kinda competition.
Well, club racing is a much more social experience than SRS because we also share setups, talk driving and generally just goof off. If you want higher signups, one step would be to just give it a shot. At RD, you can signup for one month of Freemium and see how you like it. Just pick an event you like and sign up for a slot :)
 
That may or may not be true, and frankly who knows.
Kunos know, they have statistics going all the way back to NetKar pro, most people don't go online.

I totally agree that single player needs more work (as we all know the AI behaviour needs further improvement for starters), but that shouldn't stop Kunos getting to grips with the netcode for MP either.
It doesn't, anyone who was around in the early access days should be fully aware f the fact they've improved MP. It's just it's one of many things they're working on. You may want multiplayer concerns addressed ASAP, I might want a more involved single player campaign ASAP, Kunos can't make both of us happy at the same time and I think that's fair enough. I'd say concentrate on multiplayer because I think MP keeps a game alive and relevant. But Kunos are probably focused on console customers, making single player more of a priority. Once the console version gets released PC concerns will take back control.

I know Kunos are a small development team, but surely this is not too great a thing to ask for (in time).
As long as you're patient it's not to much to ask and in fact Kunos are working on everything you want.
 
Quite frankly...this post still represents my one dislike of RD tbh. It didn't really change anything, league racing still is the best rout in AC (or taking the time to carefully pick a public server)...about what I always expected it to be.
 
Quite frankly...this post still represents my one dislike of RD tbh. It didn't really change anything, league racing still is the best rout in AC (or taking the time to carefully pick a public server)...about what I always expected it to be.
I read the 1st 2-3 pages the OP and the comments by the community yesterday ,
I do not personally believe I read anything bad from it and I never really had any issues with the servers , my issues always came from peoples bad driving , like people driving in the wrong direction to cause crashes ect ,
I always played on xbox for over 10 years online so to be honest I simply do not like searching through all the servers and settings I find it a bit of a hassle so dont bother and just play single player :D
 
I read the 1st 2-3 pages the OP and the comments by the community yesterday ,
I do not personally believe I read anything bad from it and I never really had any issues with the servers , my issues always came from peoples bad driving , like people driving in the wrong direction to cause crashes ect ,
I always played on xbox for over 10 years online so to be honest I simply do not like searching through all the servers and settings I find it a bit of a hassle so dont bother and just play single player :D
I'm the same way tbh. For YEARS, I played NFS shift and Shift 2 Unleashed online (never been a console guy), and tried the servers...ended up racing with only one solid friend, still a friend btw, CarRoth...never liked what would happen in those servers. Assetto Corsa really opened me up to what MP racing could be, and in all honesty attracts decent drivers...until one begins to hone one's race-craft to a degree where it eclipses most of these people too, and then you're left wanting even more.

Which MP often doesn't provide unless it is heavily restricted and penalized as in iRacing.
 
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