PC1 Project Cars Gameplay comparable to Assetto Corsa?

[Youssef Karam]

To those who have tried Project CARS, are the physics similar, better or worse than Assetto Corsa's? Because I saw some in-game videos for Project CARS, the physics don't seem as real as in the trailer. Thanks!

 

[RaceNut]

It depends on the video. Some are made using game-pads and assists. Others are not so it's hard to judge by watching videos.

IMO, the physics are approaching those of AC but, until the game is finished, it's hard to say as there is so much work being done and things can change from day to day.

If you're really concerned about it, wait until you can read some reviews and get a broader public opinion post-release. I think many people may be pleasantly surprised with the driving physics. I know they will be impressed by many other aspects of the game and I think it will be a must-have title for use with VR.

 

[William Wester]

pCARS and AC each have a "different" feel but they each have their pluses and minues. AC, with less content, is more consistant but pCARS is getting more and more of their content up to a very good level every day.
I like both, both are fun to drive. I can't compare online as I haven't been racing multiplayer in either, but for offline I think pCARS is more exciting - more immersive. But both, and some others, are very good and welcome in my library. Some will prefer the feel of AC, some will perfer pCARS, many will like both. My $.02

 

[traind]

I agree with most of what was said in the first two responses to the OP. pCars isn't quite finished. I know we are getting close to release but it is still hard to say exactly how good each car will end up feeling until the end of development-- substantive tweaks are still being made. Either way, some will prefer one title over the other in physics and handling just as some prefer iRacing, GSC or RF2.

pCars has a truly great feature set across many criteria for sim racing and deserves a look by any serious virtual racing fan. But, at this moment at least, for handling feel I think AC is pretty hard to top.

 

[Grega Zorc]

AC has the physics down, but it lacks in every other area. So it depends what you prefer: driving around a circuit, admiring the car behavior or competing in realistic endurance championship.

 

[Graham Byford]

PCARS is full of features and contemt how well it will all work remains to be seen.

Physics and driving wise AC is more accurate, in particular the suspension/chassis response to weight transfer, inertia and mass comes through much more in the driving experience and overall behaviour. This is the biggest weakpoint with PCARS in my opinion, despite a complex tyre model, the tyres overpower the driving experience and the suspension/chassis doesn't respond how I'd expect.

For me the sims with the most accurate and convincing physics are Gmotor 2, LFS, RF2 and AC, these are the top tier sims. Pcars is above GT/Forza due to a better tyre model but lacks the physics/dynamics in other areas of the physics engine to be a top tier sim. If they can get the FFB working well out of the box, not give all cars a fudged pad friendly setup and get the AI working well and able to lap fast and consistent it will be a great game I'm sure.

 

[Sele1981]

Interesting. Ben Collins (the ex Stig), Nicolas Hamilton, Rene Rast. Just to name a few real life race drivers. Especially Ben Collins reviews (exclusive WMD content) about some cars in Pcars are pretty impressive.

And now some hobby sim fans (all over the net, not just here on this forum) come and say PCars physics is simcade

Who can we believe?

I had no hands on the game so I can´t judge the physics. But I hope they nail it. I´ve read so often that people think a sim is a sim when the car is handling like on ice. And I have read so often from real life racers that race cars are not that hard to drive like people think.

 

[Pedro Cunha]

PCARS is full of features and contemt how well it will all work remains to be seen.

Physics and driving wise AC is more accurate, in particular the suspension/chassis response to weight transfer, inertia and mass comes through much more in the driving experience and overall behaviour. This is the biggest weakpoint with PCARS in my opinion, despite a complex tyre model, the tyres overpower the driving experience and the suspension/chassis doesn't respond how I'd expect.

For me the sims with the most accurate and convincing physics are Gmotor 2, LFS, RF2 and AC, these are the top tier sims. Pcars is above GT/Forza due to a better tyre model but lacks the physics/dynamics in other areas of the physics engine to be a top tier sim. If they can get the FFB working well out of the box, not give all cars a fudged pad friendly setup and get the AI working well and able to lap fast and consistent it will be a great game I'm sure.

You missed Richard Burns Rally simulator. That's the best sim ever.

 

[F_B]

Interesting. Ben Collins (the ex Stig), Nicolas Hamilton, Rene Rast. Just to name a few real life race drivers. Especially Ben Collins reviews (exclusive WMD content) about some cars in Pcars are pretty impressive.

And now some hobby sim fans (all over the net, not just here on this forum) come and say PCars physics is simcade

Who can we believe?

I had no hands on the game so I can´t judge the physics. But I hope they nail it. I´ve read so often that people think a sim is a sim when the car is handling like on ice. And I have read so often from real life racers that race cars are not that hard to drive like people think.

Don’t you ever think about that they’re perhaps getting paid to say things like this?

 

[Pedro Cunha]

Interesting. Ben Collins (the ex Stig), Nicolas Hamilton, Rene Rast. Just to name a few real life race drivers. Especially Ben Collins reviews (exclusive WMD content) about some cars in Pcars are pretty impressive.

And now some hobby sim fans (all over the net, not just here on this forum) come and say PCars physics is simcade

Who can we believe?

I had no hands on the game so I can´t judge the physics. But I hope they nail it. I´ve read so often that people think a sim is a sim when the car is handling like on ice. And I have read so often from real life racers that race cars are not that hard to drive like people think.

please...those drivers get paid to help sell the game!
I have the game and i tell you this:
Yes, the game is a arcade and it will be forever. right now It's only good for worshiping the car models 3d work.

Assetto is promissing but needs to improve alot on graphics.
Assetto is very unrealistic at low speed physics right now.

 

[jimortality]

So release for Pcars is November 21 uk, at what point do the devs stop working on it until after release? Some of you say you hope they nail it for release but do they work right up till a week before or a month? maybe they've stopped working now? I've always wondered this with every game.

 

[Kjell Eilertsen]

Don’t you ever think about that they’re perhaps getting paid to say things like this?

Nicolas Hamilton was brought on the team to provide feedback because he does not only race IRL but has a history of simracing (and have been racing here on RD for a while too).
But Rene Rast was in no way, shape or form connected to WMD, SMS or the pCars devteam when he started releasing his vids on youtube, it was after the fact that these vids surfaced with him talking about how he liked pCars and found it realistic that SMS got in touch with him and asked him if he wanted to collaborate in some manner. I don't know the specifics, but I don't think he's being paid to do statements still, I just think he was invited to join them on some faires etc but dunno.

 

[RaceNut]

Rene Rast said something to the effect that most racing-sims have it all wrong when it comes to grip levels. Many other Pro race drivers have also said similar things only to be dismissed by the community surrounding the particular Sim.

The cinics always say that the Pro-drivers are paid to promote and should not be trusted to give unbiased feedback to the community or the developers. By that logic, anyone who is paid to do a job should not be trusted to give reasonable feedback about that job. Granted, that's an extremely negative point of view but, it's surprisingly common.

At any rate, it's great to be able to read Ben and Nic's feedback regarding the game and how it relates to their RL experience. I also think Ben does a great job with the coaching - good stuff.

If I understood correctly, AC will be or has already done something similar by working with a Pro Race Team.

In the end, play what you enjoy and enjoy what you play. We shouldn't give the skeptics and naysayers the satisfaction of denying us that.

 

[Kjell Eilertsen]

So release for Pcars is November 21 uk, at what point do the devs stop working on it until after release? Some of you say you hope they nail it for release but do they work right up till a week before or a month? maybe they've stopped working now? I've always wondered this with every game.

A few years back the game would pretty much have to be done by now for a release 21. november, it's what they call "going gold" which means the game needs to be ready to be put on a golden master disc which they use to start mass manufacturing physical copies that will be shipped to stores.
But for starters, every part of the process in regards to physical copies have been improved upon over the years so it's now faster than ever, but also the fact that the internet is so common today that it's not uncommon to release a physical copy that you will "have to" download and apply a patch on on day one. Add to that Steam, and you can work on the game up until 1 hour before release pretty much

 

[Chronus]

Yes, the game is a arcade and it will be forever. right now It's only good for worshiping the car models 3d work.

Assetto is promissing but needs to improve alot on graphics.
Assetto is very unrealistic at low speed physics right now.

I haven't tested it in a while, but last I checked (last year) pCARS is far from an arcade title. And this was before major development steps came to be. I doubt that the project has devolved from something promising (physics wise) to an arcade title.

The thing I find curious about your post, and somewhat useful, is the opinion you have on AC. To me, from videos (whatever they're worth) AC looks quite good (not on par with PCARS/GT6 quality), but some people share your opinion - perhaps cockpits are lacking, perhaps reflections still need work, something seems not yet good enough for some people.

But physics: one drops by forum sections dedicated to AC and it seems the Second Coming has happened, and yet so many (true) simracers I know stumble on problems with low speed physics, strange handling of some cars known to be very agile in real life, and also suspension physics issues. Your post too mentions the same old problem showing its ugly head again.

As far as I know/hear/read, CARS may not be perfect but (perhaps with the exception of dynamic load transfer) seems ahead of AC in the physics department. Which may be surprising to a lot of us.

 

[F_B]

Don’t get me wrong, I'm amazed at pcars and especially how it looks and most likely I will even buy it, because I just have to play every (semi) serious racing game out there. But there are some vids on youtube where either people say that physics are not 100% topnotch or where you just can see that the griplevel is insane. So…I’m just curious how it will be when it’s finally there.

And regarding the pros and their connection to pcars: I’m always skeptical when professional sport stars praise a game in which they’re involved in to the skies…

 

[Sele1981]

please...those drivers get paid to help sell the game!
I have the game and i tell you this:
Yes, the game is a arcade and it will be forever. right now It's only good for worshiping the car models 3d work.

Assetto is promissing but needs to improve alot on graphics.
Assetto is very unrealistic at low speed physics right now.

And you Sir are who? Hobby racer? Real driver? Ever driven an GT3? F1? F2? F3?

You are the first person I´ve ever seen who says Pcars is arcade. I´ve seen a lot of comments from "simcade" to "close to AC,iRacing" to "best sim ever". But never arcade! Congrats you are the first one. Maybe you never played an arcade game. Arcade physics are for me Burnout series, NFS Underground series and so on...

And the comments from Ben Collins are WMD exclusive. No one outside the forum can read it and it is under NDA. So nobody outside the WMD can read it. So I wonder how he advertises this game? He just helps to make the game better with his feedback. And on some cars his feedback was very negative and he said that these cars still need a lot of work.

 

[Rui Santos]

René Rast said something like this: "pCARS it's the most realistic sim out there"

...and you think he's not being paid to say this, lol...

 

[Chronus]

And regarding the pros and their connection to pcars: I’m always skeptical when professional sport stars praise a game in which they’re involved in to the skies…

And you do well in being sceptical. Most of those that criticize others for being sceptical about paid drivers complimenting a game have a double standard: they criticize drivers that speak well of iRacing and yet cry foul when others rightly point out that Ben Collins and N. Hamilton are paid "consultants" (PLUS: some people simply lack information and pretend otherwise).

I think enough of us iRacers have heard (yes, heard) well known professional racing drivers criticize iRacing for not "listening" to their feedback (even under contract) and for finding the flaws they give feedback on...and yet, as part of the PR exercise, they inevitably emphasize the positives about iR publicly while hiding the negatives. That is how things are: paid consultants will publicly state one thing, while their true feedback is often quite incisive about what they perceive as flaws.

That said:

at least within the WMD "office environment", Ben Collins (we can't disclose what he said, no doubt) has been quite open about what needs to corrected/perfected/implemented. His feedback is typical of professional pilots and has enormous value for the development team. He writes objectively and sharply. Anyone with the mildest exposure to motorsports backstages would immediately understand that.

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And you Sir are who? Hobby racer? Real driver? Ever driven an GT3? F1? F2? F3?

And...that is absolutely meaningless. You don't need to be pro racing driver to be able to effectively and honestly assess the physics of a racing sim (or game).

If you had actually met/work with "real drivers" or racing team engineers, you'd see it differently.

70-80% of the buyers will be arcade racers anyway who does not care about physics. I dont know if it is worth to pay a pro race driver to say this, only to convince some sim racers

That's a bit naive to think it is not.

You are neglecting to see the value of having a professional racing driver promote a "game" to console players. Casual gamers they may be, but they're still susceptible to marketing pressure. At the end of the day, between a title who has relies on fame/history (FM, GT) and a title that has actual racing drivers stating how good CARS is...even a casual gamer will fall for CARS easily.

 

[Sele1981]

René Rast said something like this: "pCARS it's the most realistic sim out there"

...and you think he's not being paid to say this, lol...

So you really think a professional race driver will do this for a bit cash? How much is SMS been able to pay him for saying this? half a million? 100K? And how many people outside of forums will ever see that tiny comment that he made on YouTube? Do you think that pays out for SMS?

70-80% of the buyers will be arcade racers anyway who does not care about physics. I dont know if it is worth to pay a pro race driver to say this, only to convince some sim racers.

Well lets see, I can´t wait to get this game. Because I was very close to even buy Grid Autosport because of the lack of a really good career mode in racing games. And I hope Pcarse will serve this.