PC1 Project CARS: Patch 1.4 release notes

[Gary Thompson]

Stephen Viljoen of Slightly Mad Studios released the notes of the upcoming 1.4 patch that will resolve various issues with Project CARS on the PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One platforms.

Currently the developers have not yet given out a release date for this patch but it's expected as soon as they receive green light from various external parties.

General

• Pagani Monza Clubday invitational event - No longer causes the game to crash when using a specific livery on the Pagani Huayra.
• PC - Fixed an issue that would cause the game to crash while watching saved replays, when shared memory is enabled.
• PS4 - Anisotropic filtering has been increased to help reduce blurry textures.
• PS4 - Temporal anti-aliasing has been further optimized. This reduces the ghosting effect and additionaly gives the player full control via a slider to tweak the resulting image according to personal preference.

Performance improvements

• Xbox One - Various performance optimizations, adding up to an average of 5-6% performance improvement. This results in an overall smoother experience.
• PS4 - All shaders have been rebuilt using new shader compiler, giving a significant performance boost in some areas.
• PS4 - CPU performance gains due to new more aggressive code optimisations.

Physics & AI

• The AI loss of grip that results from tyre degradation as a result of wear is now more noticeable.
• The AI will now show much more realistic grip loss when running on slick tyres in the rain.
• First pass improvements on various tracks to enhance the AI performance and ability (Azure Circuit, Donington GP, Watkins Glen, Bathurst, Nordschliefe)

Pitting, tuning, setups

• Fixed an issue where certain street cars would pit for tyre change during rain when they already had the correct tyres fitted.
• Fixed an issue where custom vehicle setups were lost when progressing through sessions.
• Improved the system used to select the most appropriate tyres based on current and predicted weather conditions.
• Ensure that the AI always pit when they need to change tyres based on the weather conditions.
• The Default strategy will now correctly show the tyres that will be fitted on the player vehicle during a pit stop.
• The pit stop routine will no longer start during online races until the player closes the pit stop menu. This ensures that the player has enough time to select or configure an appropriate set of actions before the pit crew start working on the car.
• Tyre pressures will now be correctly set when the player changes to a new set of tyres.
• The currently-active Pit strategy will now remain in action when advancing through race sessions.

Online

• Fixed an issue where the player was sometimes given a large time penalty when exiting the pit lane.
• Fixed an issue where the remaining session time displayed an incorrect value in the Tuning screen.
• Fixed an issue that at times would prevent a player from entering a race, after joining a second online lobby.
• Fixed and issue where the Track Location popup would at times appear on some screens.
• PS4 – The lobby browser now displays random lobbies instead of always the oldest lobbies.
• PS4 – Fixed an issue where network features could not be used after resuming from rest mode.
• PC - The lobby browser now automatically extends the search distance for lobbies when not enough of them are found using the default filter. Lobbies that are hosted further away (and therefore have potentially worse latency to all peers) appear at the bottom of the browser, and are colour coded with yellow or orange icons do indicate the quality of the connection.
• PC - The session host now regularly sets the current timestamp into a session attribute, so that sessions with too old timestamps are not displayed in the browser. This prevents stale sessions with no active host from appearing in the session browser.
• PC - When joining a session, the client now attempts to request the member details multiple times before giving up. This helps to improve the success rate of joining online sessions.
• Xbox One – Fixed an issue where matchmaking was not filtering the race length correctly.

Controls – All platforms

• Fixed pedals and triggers that vibrates during replays.
• Fixed an issue that causes the wheel centring spring to be active during driving.
• Improved force feedback strength and tweaked the default force feedback parameters for all supported wheels based on community feedback.
• Further enhancements to the steering feeling – Improved blending between the tyre force spring and the steering lock spring.
• Improved behaviour of the wheel force springs while navigating the menu system.

Controls – PS4

• Fixed an issue where the player got stuck on the career screen when entering driver name using a wheel controller.
• Improved the support implementation of several older Fanatec wheels, such as the GT2, GT3, and CSR.
• Fixed the Fanatec CSS so that it works correctly in sequential mode.
• Fixed the Fanatec CSP pedals to save the calibration correctly if player calibrated only pedals.
• Fixed the Fanatec CSP ABS rumble.
• Fixed the Fanatec CSW handbrake.
• Game Pad - Tilt Control support implemented to allow controller tilt to be used to control the vehicles.

Vehicles

• Adjusted handbrake strength on vehicles which are equipped with handbrakes.
• Fixed an issue where the rain wipers’ state did not reset correctly when restarting a session.
• Fixed an issue where light glows from a vehicle behind the player would sometimes appear in front of the player.
• Fixed fuel pressure gauge calibration in several cars.
• Fixed an issue where a white border would at times appear around the brake light glow of certain cars.
• Ford Mk.IV – Improved the collision model to prevent vehicles wedging in under other vehicles.
• Formula Gulf, Gumper Apollo, Formula Rookie - Fixed and issue with the livery sets that caused the livery selection to display wrong liveries.
• Lykan Hypersport -Statistics updated to latest manufacturer specification.
• Lotus 72D - Improved handing characteristics, exposed bump stops to be adjustable in the vehicle setup, reduced cold sensitivities of the slick tyres, adjusted the AI speed, wear and rain tires to match the player’s experience.
• Karts - Reworked the Karts optimization to help address performance drops with a lot of Karts on track.
• McLaren 12C GT3 - Adjusted the vehicle pose to more closely match the real car.
• BMW M3 GT4 – Improved the accuracy of the levels at which the oil and water temperature warning lights will activate.
• Ford Escort RS1600 - Improved the collision and wheel contact model to prevent climbing over other cars in collisions.
• 250cc Superkart – Improved the default setup to address controller issues on higher speed tracks, and improved the AI handling.
• Lotus 49 – Improved the AI handling of the vehicle in corners and in close racing.
• Pagani Huayra - Reduced fuel consumption to around 3mpg in hard track use, and improved cooling to prevent engine overheating.

Tracks

• Bathurst – Removed cones in the pit lane that was causing cars to get stuck.
• Watkins Glen – Fixed a number of accuracy issues around the track.
• Lemans 24h – Improved the race line at a few corners to keep the LMP cars off the curbs as this was causing the cars to lean over on two wheels.
• Silverstone National – Vehicle grid placement reworked to more closely align with the painted start boxes.
• Hockenheim (various layouts) – Reworked the wet weather reflection mapping to address incorrect object reflections.
• Willow Springs – Fixed an issue where the vehicle could drive through the barriers when exiting the pits.

GUI

• Driver Network Profile - Visual tidy up to improve usability.
• Fixed an issue where very thin lines would not always appear.
• Added support for better info display on the Community Events page.
• Fixed the issue where HUD customization was not saved on exiting a session.
• Fixed an issue where the Potential Lap time display on the Lap Info board would be inconsistent with the sector times being displayed.
• Monitor/Spectate mode - Fixed an issue where the vehicle being viewed would automatically reset to the player’s vehicle on leaving the monitor screen.

 

[William Wester]

So many years of tuning, constructing, testing and what?... Patches! I don't understand this. Where were the community for all this years and delays?

So, how long does it take to create a bug free "multi-platform" game with the scope of Project CARS? 1,2,4,5? And how large a developer staff to hit that goal (1,2,4,5?)? I don't know about you, but I surely don't know. In the old days, the first you heard of a game was shortly before or at release. How long did it take to create those...1,2,4,5 years?

 

[Kyle Pearson]

The problem for me is PCARS had been in testing for years so I had high hopes that the worst of bugs would not make to release, but alas the testers were either too blind or blinded to pick up on fundamental issues.

A few misconceptions:

1. It wasn't in "testing" for years. It was in "development".
2. Just because something wasn't addressed, doesn't mean it wasn't found.

 

[vee10]

A few misconceptions:

1. It wasn't in "testing" for years. It was in "development".
2. Just because something wasn't addressed, doesn't mean it wasn't found.

That's the spirit chaps lets settle for mediocrity. Why should we strive for something better when we can just make do. I just don't work like that I am afraid, do the job properly or don't bother.

In other words don't release a broken product with out being able to address issues quickly and efficiently.

Again a analogy, if you bought a car and the gearbox did not work would you just sit there and think ah well, Ford or VW or whoever will get round to it eventually. Unless you are more apathetic than I thought you would want something doing about it asap. The same goes for PCARS as a consumer product it is not really fit for purpose and the longer it drags on the less inclined I will be to go back to it.

 

[Kyle Pearson]

That's the spirit chaps lets settle for mediocrity. Why should we strive for something better when we can just make do. I just don't work like that I am afraid, do the job properly or don't bother.

Unfortunately, software development doesn't work that way.. I wish it did. It would make my real job so much easier (I work in software development).

That's not to say you don't have valid points, but I just wouldn't assume the developers don't care. They do, and they have been putting in a lot of hours over the past few months (not only since release).

 

[Brandon Wright]

Is the above paragraph not a defence though Brandon. I agree the world is not going to end etc etc. But as has happened time and again with games, they release a fundamentally broken game then fix it afterwards, in this regard SMS are no different than any of the others.

The problem for me is PCARS had been in testing for years so I had high hopes that the worst of bugs would not make to release, but alas the testers were either too blind or blinded to pick up on fundamental issues.

If I bought a Kettle for instance and it did not boil water I would take it back and get a refund or swap it for a new one. PCARS career mode is broken and unplayable at the moment for me with no fix imminent after a month of release but yet I am stuck with it. How anyone can defend and then argue in favour of the developers is beyond me.

It's the apologists that allow this practice to continue and become acceptable.

Hopefully with Steams new refund policy this may start becoming a thing of the past.

Your points are valid but unfortunately this is the world we live in now, there's nothing we can do about it and bitching at each other on the internet isn't going to fix it. All we can do is wait for a patch and hope it improves, if we're still having this conversation in six months then I'll be the first to grab my torch and pitchfork. But I've long given up on games being bug free and complete at launch, that's a thing of the past. That's not to say it's acceptable, but many things in life aren't acceptable yet we still have to live with them.

The whole "pCARS has been in testing for years" argument is ignorant and short sighted. Lots of game are in development/testing for years and most of them are released with bugs or missing features (or so it seems). Look at DriveClub. Look at Gran Turismo. Look at GTA. Look at AC. It seems like people think that because the community was involved there should have been no bugs. I'd argue that having random gamers involved probably did as much harm as good because they're gamers, not game developers or code writers and you're never going to be able to get them to agree on anything. A committee is rarely the best way to achieve anything other than compromise And as we see on this and other forums, gamers seem to have little tact and be poor at providing constructive criticism, instead they just shout and yell and make accusations which is a bit non-constructive.

Your analogies are off the mark too, as they imply that the current state of pCARS is how it will remain forever and there will never be any fixes, and that's obviously not the case. Yeah, 2 months seems a little long, but is it that big of a deal? I'm not thrilled about the bugs or the wait for the patch, but it hasn't ruined my life or even had a negative effect on it. Example: when I ordered my PC I was thrilled that it arrived in just four days. To my dismay, the video card was not working and I had to send it back. It took a month to get it back, but I didn't go on the internet and start bitching to strangers about it, I just waited patiently and entertained myself with other things. It felt like ages to get it back, and it sucked, but now it's just a blip in the past and oddly enough my life wasn't ruined and somehow I've been able to enjoy hundreds of hours of gaming on it despite the nearly 5 week wait I had to endure at the beginning.

Like I said, I hate the new trend of "release broken, then patch to fix", but every game I've played for the last 5 or 6 years (and many more that I haven't played) has followed this trend so I've gotten over it. I'm disappointed with the state of pCARS just like most people, but luckily I have other hobbies and sims to entertain me which prevents the evil, broken pCARS from destroying my world and causing me great anger.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go enjoy some of the delicious beer I brewed while I was waiting for pCARS patches.

 

[Rikki88]

...

 

[Msportdan]

its not as if the game is unplayable, im just doing quick races learning the cars and tracks again.. I can wait.

 

[Kyle Pearson]

No other dev I can think of would put out patch notes before the damned patch, so you are really talking bullocks.

You've never seen this before? This used to happen quite a bit. I'll be honest, and say that with Steam, I'm rarely looking for updates since they "just happen" with my other games but I remember fondly seeing release notes before patches for EA, Codemasters, Ubisoft and other games over the years.

 

[sniper420]

Look, the patch taking ages isn't the end of the world, it's not going to ruin anyone's life.. That is so besides any point that anyone is trying to make here by voicing their frustrations.

The devs have done an awesome job on most of the game, but they released this well advertised career mode broken with no "quick" fix in sight. To me that's deceptive as f*ck. It's one thing to have a few patches rolling out over the first week or two to address any game breaking and unexpected bugs, it's quite another to release a game that is literally unplayable for anyone, like me, who bought it specifically for the career mode.

This isn't a bug which would have taken long for the dev team / testers to notice either, it took me about two hours of playing to experience this game breaking bug and I'm what anyone would consider a very casual gamer at best... So, to me, this indicates that they 100% knew that this bug existed before selling it to me. There was no **warning** at all.

I feel like I've been ripped off.

I could have spent $100 on another game / form of entertainment and purchased Pcars down the track when it was actually playable. Which I would have.

I'm not saying that the game isn't good. I like it heaps and I want to support the devs by spending my hard earned money on it. I'm sure it will be great, one day...

Like I said, I purchased this game for the well advertised career mode and ever since dropping $100 on this game (a lot of money for me!) I've been waiting with bated breath for it to be "fixed" so I can actually play it.

I like the analogy of buying literally ANYTHING else, a car, a computer, a toaster, it doesn't matter. If the manufacturer promises something and then it doesn't deliver or maybe they deceived you into purchasing their product on false information, then you take it back and you get a refund or you get it repaired/replaced. Two months is far too long for what should have been a day one patch.

Here in NZ we have the consumer guarantees act that ensures our rights as consumers are met.

I am unable to get a refund on this game. Which sucks because I would if I could.

To them they get another sale, money in the bank. To me, I get lied to and made to feel like a beta tester.

I'm doing the right thing (the only thing that I can do really!) as a consumer, by voicing my concerns and like I said, I have every right to "complain".

This isn't about the devs not working hard enough or the nature of software development, this is a fundemantal flaw that would have been picked up by ANYONE who played the career mode in the rain. They knew that this bug was there yet they sold it to me without mentioning it.

Bad form by any game dev, they've lost my faith in them, that's for damned sure.

 

[Kyle Pearson]

This isn't a bug which would have taken long for the dev team / testers to notice either, it took me about two hours of playing to experience this game breaking bug and I'm what anyone would consider a very casual gamer at best... So, to me, this indicates that they 100% knew that this bug existed before selling it to me.

Hate to break it to you, but every piece of marketable software ships with known bugs. Every piece... You should see the list Microsoft has for Windows.

There are rare areas of software development (which are typically not market products) where there is a zero bug tolerance (space exploration and most avionics software are two areas that come to mind) but those are small controlled pieces of software. Every where else, bugs.

The question is more how many and which bugs affect the larger population. I've worked in software development since 1993. I haven't seen it all, but I've seen a lot over those years.

People who don't work in software development (at least software development where the output is sold) will never understand it. Any piece of software you have every purchased, has known bugs to the developers, at the time you purchased it. People can slap this post with as many dislikes as they want (and I'm sure I know the ones who will), but this is how software development actually works. No development studio has the budget/time to fix everything. No publisher wants to pay any development studio for a zero-bug release (because time is money). Even after SMS addresses every bug that users can find, you can bet they have more the developers themselves have found but the consumers just don't notice.

I feel like I just told you Santa wasn't real, but that's how it works in the software industry. I'm not saying it's great, and I'm not saying it's right. I'm saying what it is...

 

[sniper420]

The career mode is BROKEN it's a bug that would have been noticed before released, at very least it should have been acknowledged then fixed quickly.

This isn't about software development, this is about marketing and releasing a game to the consumer with FULL KNOWLEDGE that it doesn't work.

Your points are valid but don't relate to the point I'm trying to make at all.

If you want to discuss this then how about addressing my actual grievance E.g. False advertising, and consumer rights...

You're coming across as an apologist for a shitty release, do you work for SMS or something?

Stick to the point, Kyle.

At no stage have I disputed that software releases are inherently buggy and without issue, I've been using computers and playing games my entire life. Which gives me great experience in knowing what is as isn't acceptable when a developer releases something.

Like I said, this career mode AI in the rain issue should have never been released, at very least patched Day One or in the first week or two. To wait for a patch for this long to fix a FUNDAMENTAL part of the game, the only part of the game that interested me, is unacceptable and should not be tolerated by consumers or gamers in general.

SMS aren't the first and won't be the last devs to do this, but it gives them no excuse whatsoever to rip me off $100 and make me wait for two months or more to use their product as it was intended.

 

[Kyle Pearson]

You're coming across as an apologist for a shitty release, do you work for SMS or something?

Nope. This is a real name which you can search on LinkedIn if you are that curious...

 

[sniper420]

Nope. This is a real name which you can search on LinkedIn if you are that curious...

Again, not really my point... More of a throwaway comment... But hey, avoid my actual concerns all you want...

 

[Kyle Pearson]

Again, not really my point... More of a throwaway comment... But hey, avoid my actual concerns all you want...

Your actual concerns? They are rants, not concerns. There is really nothing I can do to help with your rants. You are entitled to your opinion and you are entitled to rant if you want.

If you really want a refund, post a message on the official forum with your reasons for wanting a refund and see if you get a personal refund. There have been a few that Ian has personally done refunds for on the official forum. However, I will suggest that you find a different way to express your reasons when posting.

 

[ONT]

Not defending bugs, but lets put this in perspective........celebrate that You are not in to space SIM

The list is to long to post here http://forum.egosoft.com/viewtopic.php?t=347278

 

[sniper420]

Your actual concerns? They are rants, not concerns. There is really nothing I can do to help with your rants. You are entitled to your opinion and you are entitled to rant if you want.

If you really want a refund, post a message on the official forum with your reasons for wanting a refund and see if you get a personal refund. There have been a few that Ian has personally done refunds for on the official forum. However, I will suggest that you find a different way to express your reasons when posting.

Yet again, you comment without actually saying anything.

I want what was promised to me by a company. Fair enough right? I mean, they have my money... Why is that so difficult for you to understand Kyle?

Saying to me that my well reasoned concerns are "rants" shows just how much of a fanboy you are. For whatever reason, you are unable or unwilling to see the negative aspect of a two month (or more) wait for a patch just to play career mode. Something that they sold the game on.

To repeat myself: If you want to discuss this then how about addressing my actual grievance E.g. False advertising, and consumer rights...

 

[sniper420]

There is really nothing I can do to help with your rants. You are entitled to your opinion .

I never asked nor wanted your "help" ... And you're entitled to your opinion too, no matter how apologetic and defensive it comes across.

 

[Kyle Pearson]

Saying to me that my well reasoned concerns are "rants" shows just how much of a fanboy you are.

Typical.. When people run out of rational conversation, they resort to things like using "fanboy".

For whatever reason, you are unable or unwilling to see the negative aspect of a two month (or more) wait for a patch just to play career mode. Something that they sold the game on.

If you truly believe you have a case, take Ian and SMS to court for your $50 (or your regional equivalent). Having tantrums on a internet message forum isn't going to get you very far. However, if it helps you sleep at night, keep going.

I'd love to help calm your grievances, however as already established, I'm not SMS staff and have no control or insight into their development process. No one actively on this forum does. But, keep posting what makes its better in your eyes. I'll be over here playing what I have and waiting for the next patch as well as the upcoming free car (and soon to be released DLC).

 

[sniper420]

I'll be over here playing what I have and waiting for the next patch).

Yea, well... Good on you. I for one am unable to play the career mode, which is why I purchased the game. So I'll be impatiently waiting for the presumed fix for wet weather AI driving.

I hope this patch fixes this broken mess of a game. Honestly, I do. It's got HUGE potential, and that's why I spent my money on it. I believe i got caught up in the hype...

I called you out for being a fanboy because, for whatever reasons, you have been unable to accept any criticism whatsoever about PCARS, and looking through the other thread about bugs it seems you have a very strong stance on that. You are jumping to the defence of a game that is, without a shadow of a doubt, fundamentally broken upon release.

But two months or so after the release of the game to be able to enjoy the product that I've purchased is bloody annoying to say the least. Frankly, it's unacceptable and sets a very dangerous precedent for future releases, not just from SMS but for gaming in general.
Why should I accept a broken product as normal? If, for example they had told me before purchase that the career mode was unplayable (which it undisputably is!) then I would have been able to make an informed decision on whether to buy the game now, or wait until the game was actually FINISHED. There is a chance that I still would have purchased it, but without the disclosure of the very obvious game breaking bug has made me feel cheated.

They get a sale from me but I don't get my product and that's bullkaka. End Of.

 

[Kurupt CDN]

Files a grievance for false advertising over a video game....."I was promised working Ai in the rain"
I thought I had seen some pretty good first world issues but this is up at the top lol
It reminds me of the guy who filed a grievance to his local uk government claiming false advertising against Sector3 when dtm 13 was released saying the game was not authentic because it didn't have pit changes or weather upon release.
It's been nearly a yr and he still hasn't replied to my "how's the case going"
So does all this mean I can press cases on isi for not having contact sounds in a majority of the cars, kunos for claiming it's the ultimate racing simulation tho it doesn't have weather or reiza because the points system in season mode is broken?
You take video games far seriously!
FYI for your case.....the game was released on may 7th which is less than a month.....not 2+ months of not being able to play.
I truly hope you get your refund so I don't need to read anymore comments.
broken/unplayable to me is the game crashes won't start you or you can't run a race cause all the cars pile up in a corner etc. etc. Not the Ai's grip is not effected in the rain, that is a bug that has been stated will be fixed in the patch.
instead of wasting the resources of development teams with grievances you should consider being a beta tester as you seem pationate and knowledgeable towards gaming