PC1 Project CARS: Release date, track list, career trailer revealed

[Howard]

Bandai Namco has announced the official release date for Project Cars on PC, PS4 and Xbox One, and has revealed the career mode trailer and full track list.

As you can see in this tweet from Bandai Namco UK, the publisher confirmed that the title will be available on May 8th on all platforms except for Wii U.

From the wording it looks like the publisher has set the release date in stone, and hopefully we won't see any more delays. There's only so many times you can delay a game before the audience loses interest.

SMS also revealed the trailer for Project CARS' career mode. The format reminds me of Grid, with you progressing from class to class by completing events in each category. Not the most interesting career mode if you ask me, we were hoping for something a bit different, a bit more 'next-gen'.

The team also revealed the full tracklist for the game, announcing that the game has 'gone gold'. Fictional circuits are shown in italics.

Circuits

• Nordschleife, Germany (4 Layouts)
• Nurburgring GP, Germany (4 Layouts)
• Zhuhai International Circuit (ZIC), China (1 Layout)
• Cadwell Park, UK (3 Layouts)
• Sakitto, Japan (4 Layouts)
• Spa Francorchamps, Belgium (1 Layout)
• Sonoma, USA (3 Layouts)
• Brno, Czech Republic (1 Layout)
• Willow Springs, USA (2 Layouts)
• Le Mans, France (2 Layouts)
• Laguna Seca, USA (1 Layout)
• Donington, UK (2 Layouts)
• Snetterton, UK (3 Layouts)
• Azure Circuit, France (1 Layout) (Unlicenced Monaco)
• Bathurst Mount Panorama, Australia (1 Layout)
• Oulton Park, UK (3 Layouts)
• Road America, USA (1 Layout)
• Wakins Glen, USA (2 Layouts)
• Brands Hatch, UK (2 Layouts)
• Dubai Autodrome, UAE (4 Layouts)
• Hockenheimring, Germany (3 Layouts)
• Imola, Italy (1 Layout)
• Monza, Italy (2 Layouts)
• Oschersleben, Germany (2 Layouts)
• Silverstone, UK (4 Layouts)
• Zolder, Belgium (1 Layout)

Karting Circuits

• Chesterfield, UK (1 Layout)
• Greenwood, Ireland (1 Layout)
• Summerton, UK (3 Layouts)
• Glencairn, UK (6 Layouts)
• Dubai Autodrome, UAE (1 Layout)

Point 2 Point

• Azure Coast, France (5 Layouts)
• California Highway, USA (5 Layouts)

 

[Philip Heck]

I was under the impression pCars was not mod-able/mod-friendly.

Yes I know hacking will happen... or will it?

Well, the Shift 2 tools do work on pCars... so.

Well it certainly wasn't delayed for livery licenses. I've never heard of Masculin Tires (Couldn't obtain rights to Michelin??). I wish I wasn't such a stickler for details because this game has them in beautiful track displays, only to ruin the experience for me by not using real Livery/Sponsors on the Cars. Has a real EA feel to it. Call me a Sell-Out but I'll stick to NASCAR probably.

Anybody that had/has access to the dev forums will tell you that those right holders are a real pain to deal with.
Example? It was no Problem for SMS to obtain the 2013 Mercedes DTM C-Class... however absolutely NO liveries with any sponsors on it (fictional or otherwise) was permitted by the DTM-Management... Or Audi didn't allow the use of any car colour than the ones from the official Audi colour palette for the A1 Quattro (iirc)...

 

[Phil Davies]

is there anyone else that couldn't care less about this game? for me I just see it as shift 3 will prob get it once it goes on sale in a couple of years time when its like £5

I did try not to care less, but my curiosity got the better of me,My right index finger took control of my mind & body & kept clicking until it was purchased.
Seriously its a great time for sim racers with the choice we have,AC is my favorite,but i am compelled to try them all in case i am wrong.Even though AC is my favorite i still rate the rest as very good sims & i enjoy them all.I hope i will enjoy PCars as much as the others.

 

[John Oliver]

Why do you bother reading about it then?

popped up on my facebook couldn't avoid it really

 

[Kyle Pearson]

Well it certainly wasn't delayed for livery licenses. I've never heard of Masculin Tires (Couldn't obtain rights to Michelin??).

Some of the cars came with licenses for the tires (as they were specifically created for the car, i.e some of the older cars and the bespoke tires on the Pagani's). Since today the tire manufacturers are for the racing series, that wasn't possible unless they got the series license.

A fun fact, once the new tire model was integrated into the platform, there were three main tire physics developers. With that, each "brand" in Project CARS literally has a different manufacturer since each of the tire physics developers had their own direction for the tires. There is a lot each shares but there are differences as well. However, each one was developed using data from the manufacturer which each name resembles.

 

[Mr Whippy]

On one hand this game looks really pretty, watching some of those California Highway videos makes me fall in love with this game...

...but that 60fps video really made the quality look worse. The game looked jerky and arcade like with patchy looking visuals on top.

We also get really nice quality stills (photomode), but then in-game again it can look a bit flaky.


It's increasingly hard to judge visuals in any game these days until you get it on your computer and run it.
I'm amazed that video was used to promote the game as it's looked lots better before imo. 60fps just seems to kill the appearance of stuff like this as all the details (good and bad) start to show up more I find.


Certainly a game I won't be going anywhere near until I have a demo to try out.

Dave

 

[Michael Watts]

Some of the cars came with licenses for the tires (as they were specifically created for the car, i.e some of the older cars and the bespoke tires on the Pagani's). Since today the tire manufacturers are for the racing series, that wasn't possible unless they got the series license.

That's the confusing part, that some cars have the right Sponsors and Branding on them and others have "Fake" branding. But it just annoys me to no end to see short-cuts taken. Reminds me of like when EA ran Triple digit numbers (111, and is a direct violation of the Rules of the Sanctioning Body) and "Fake" sponsors in NASCAR. Speaking of which the stock cars on this game are plastered with "Fake" sponsors and Branding (Chevy Monterey???) Most people would think that I'm petty, but its hard to take a game serious when they do stuff like this. I may only buy this game to race online. But this is not the Ultimate Racing Game by any means!

 

[Kyle Pearson]

That's the confusing part, that some cars have the right Sponsors and Branding on them and others have "Fake" branding. But it just annoys me to no end to see short-cuts taken. Reminds me of like when EA ran Triple digit numbers (111, and is a direct violation of the Rules of the Sanctioning Body) and "Fake" sponsors in NASCAR. Speaking of which the stock cars on this game are plastered with "Fake" sponsors and Branding (Chevy Monterey???) Most people would think that I'm petty, but its hard to take a game serious when they do stuff like this. I may only buy this game to race online. But this is not the Ultimate Racing Game by any means!

Well, as the saying goes about opinions...

The stock car in the sim isn't a licensed car. It's a SMS interpretation of a 90's stock car (so it's not a Chevy at all). There is no NASCAR license in Project CARS. They do have a license for the 2013 Ford Fusion NASCAR which will be a later addition. There hasn't been a mention if the license includes any liveries. For some cars it does which allows for real sponsor names to be used. At the end of the day, that's how the business works. It's not that they (SMS) refuse to use real brand names; the license isn't there for it. Real brands are used everywhere legally possible in the sim.

 

[Kyle Pearson]

On one hand this game looks really pretty, watching some of those California Highway videos makes me fall in love with this game...

...but that 60fps video really made the quality look worse. The game looked jerky and arcade like with patchy looking visuals on top.

Unfortunately, your experience with it will be dictated by your hardware. The better the hardware, the better the visual. I will say, I ran it for most of the development period on some really ancient hardware (Q6600, ATI 6790, etc). I was able to get it to run smoothly, but obviously I had to turn a few things down in the options to keep it smooth but it was doable for 3 years. The video embedded was done on my semi-recently built box. It's a replay, so it's not recorded during the live race as I run triple screens (which don't view well on YouTube).

You can see it's pretty smooth with the proper hardware. I won't say there are no bugs or glitches. At the end of the day, it's software and no software on Earth is bug free (I work in IT).

 

[Tim Lundy]

On one hand this game looks really pretty, watching some of those California Highway videos makes me fall in love with this game...

...but that 60fps video really made the quality look worse. The game looked jerky and arcade like with patchy looking visuals on top.

We also get really nice quality stills (photomode), but then in-game again it can look a bit flaky.


It's increasingly hard to judge visuals in any game these days until you get it on your computer and run it.


Certainly a game I won't be going anywhere near until I have a demo to try out.

Dave

There is no demo and no plans for a demo.

 

[millenbop]

SMS also revealed the trailer for Project CARS' career mode. The format reminds me of Grid, with you progressing from class to class by completing events in each category. Not the most interesting career mode if you ask me, we were hoping for something a bit different, a bit more 'next-gen'.

It's a simulator foremost so the career feels a bit tacked on IMHO. I find it a bit different to career modes in other games (haven't played GRID though) as you can choose where to have your career, there's no need to start at the bottom (karts), i.e. you can choose to start with GT if you like, or even F1 or prototypes.

 

[SnappyDEe]

I think there are a lot of people that feel like @John Oliver. Nothing wrong with that. I still feel that once they try it they will end up liking it more than they anticipated.

I also think that once SMS have that rush of income and the title gains some popularity and critical acclaim that the licensing opportunities will expand.

 

[Mr Whippy]

You can see it's pretty smooth with the proper hardware. I won't say there are no bugs or glitches. At the end of the day, it's software and no software on Earth is bug free (I work in IT).

It's more than car movements looks jerky than the fps or anything like that. It looks unnatural and fake where something like AC the cars really move like you expect real cars to move over bumps etc.
The higher fps just allows the bad details to shine through, but maybe on that system that is the best it can look... but part of me thinks it's just 'thin' details. Ie, wheel blur models on the LMP cars, the centres look flat textured, no detailing or normal maps in there on the hub. Just a bit bland. Maybe it'll change, but it just stood out to me.

There is no demo and no plans for a demo.

Bit of a shame. If it turns out good and people open it up for modding and add some more tracks (road courses mainly) then I'll certainly be taking a look I think!

Dave

 

[Kyle Pearson]

It's more than car movements looks jerky than the fps or anything like that. It looks unnatural and fake where something like AC the cars really move like you expect real cars to move over bumps etc.

The replay fidelity on AC and iRacing is much better than Project CARS (and as mentioned, my video is a replay). They did dial down the fidelity for size reasons (part of the compromise for supporting consoles). It makes the car movements not look as smooth as it does in real time. I will say, it's much better than it was a originally they had the fidelity dialed way back when they initially announced the title as it was targeted for PS3 and Xbox360. When they scrapped those and went to next gen, it allowed more headroom for certain aspects of the platform.

There are some areas where making a multi-platform title has to have some compromises. However, I will say the physics isn't one of them.

 

[Mr Whippy]

That does sound reassuring... but I often like to watch replays, so the fact they might look crappy is somewhat a down side.

If replays can look good in AC, they can look good in pCARS... so if they don't just because of consoles that is a downside for a good PC sim imo.


Another reason why a demo would be welcome. I'll probably just get a free full demo, cough, and if it drives ok then I'll buy the full game

 

[Michael Carver]

Mr Whippy, buying a sim soley based on the quality of it's replays is being short-sighted in my book.

 

[Kyle Pearson]

That does sound reassuring... but I often like to watch replays, so the fact they might look crappy is somewhat a down side.

If replays can look good in AC, they can look good in pCARS... so if they don't just because of consoles that is a downside for a good PC sim imo.

IMO, I think you'll be missing out on a lot of good things by only focusing on the negatives. Nothing is perfect. The goal is to find something that has positives in the right places, and I think they did a good job with regards to that idea.

 

[Birddogg66]

It`s probably more likely it`ll come as dreaded DLC somewhere down the line.

DLC is kind of a fine line thing if it is used to supplement the existing content and to help finance future content and development I see it as a good thing as long as that fine line is not crossed into a greedy money grab. SRW was a good example of stepping over the line with some single cars priced at $30. However my preference is a generous amount of content worked into a some type of themed expansion like a GT2 pack or Grass Roots Oval racing?

 

[Philip Heck]

DLC is kind of a fine line thing if it is used to supplement the existing content and to help finance future content and development I see it as a good thing as long as that fine line is not crossed into a greedy money grab. SRW was a good example of stepping over the line with some single cars priced at $30. However my preference is a generous amount of content worked into a some type of themed expansion like a GT2 pack or Grass Roots Oval racing?

You'll get very happy around christmas then

 

[Mr Whippy]

Mr Whippy, buying a sim soley based on the quality of it's replays is being short-sighted in my book.

I'd like to buy it on how it drives, but by definition I have to buy it to see how well it drives, and so how it drives is then irrelevant in the purchase decision... since it's already owned by then.

So all I *can* judge it on is what I see on the internet... and that pretty much comes down to replays, which look less impressive than other sims both past and present.


Imo, the lack of a demo is suggestive that it's probably not going to sell the concept to me to then move on and make a full purchase, which leaves me worried.

 

[Ryan Soucy]

I would consider this career mode as a proper career mode. Very unlike Grid, which is what I try to avoid. I haven't progressed far, but far enough to get offers from other series and it felt very rewarding.

As for not having proper branding, it does take away from the immersion, but does anyone know how hard it would be to get licensing for everything that is included in this game? Everyone is spoiled by the single-series games where licenses are all-inclusive to the series. Think about all the series/manufacturers/sponsors that SMS would need to acquire:
Formula 1
GP2 or FR 3.5
Formula 3, UK and Euroseries
FIA WEC (when was there last a decent licensed prototype game? Forza DLC?)
FIA GT3
FIA GT4
Ginetta Cup Series
Clio Cup Series
NASCAR
Formula Gulf (they got the cars, but series likely doesn't contract with all teams/sponsors)
Formula Ford/F (in US, UK and Europe)
All the various karting series

Then if they got these official series but didn't include all the official tracks, people would complain that they didn't accurately recreate their favorite series. You can't please everyone...