Thinking of making the switch to AC

[Steve Worrell]

Hi there.
I have had a 10 year hiatus from sim racing but recently jumped back in. I went with Rfactor2 as I was a massive fan of rf1. I have had quite a bit of fun with rf2 so far but I have made the observation that there seems to be a lot more going on with AC right now. Am I right?

Basically things that are important to me are:
Offline racing/decent AI
wide selection of tracks and cars
career mode - or log analyser like in rf2
Ability to skin cars

Thanks,
Vern

 

[Michael Hornbuckle]

AI are generally 'meh' (they have a hard time with passing each other when using multiclass and sometimes will slow way down on track because of a car entering or leaving the pits)
There is a wide selection of cars (especially if you buy all the DLC's) but tracks are extremely limited. There are dozens of mod tracks available that range in quality from AAA to F.
There is a career mode but it is basically just randomly thrown together races and challenges.
Game is fully modable so of course cars are skinnable.

Assetto Corsa, although it has AI and a pretty active MP, is first and foremost a driving simulator (too bad another game already has that tagline).

 

[Matteo Pagin]

I agree with Michael, IMO Assetto's stronger points are physics, FFB and graphics, at least compared to the others sims in the market. It is my sim of choice, but I can't really say that either the AI or the career mode are that great.
Only points you mentioned which for sure Assetto has are the wide variety of cars and the possibility to skin the cars.

 

[garyjpaterson]

Third that opinion. For me, the driving is the most important factor, and AC fits that bill quite nicely for me. That and the selection of mods are great, making the already good car selection better (and the OK track selection much better).

Career, AI aren't that highly regarded, which for me is not a problem but may not suit you.

 

[Steve Worrell]

OK thanks for the feedback. Looks like it isn't the sim for me. I might get it at some point to do some hot laps but I really like racing to win. I have never really got on with racing online but maybe I need to explore that too.

 

[Michael Hornbuckle]

There are plenty of videos available that show both the good and bad sides of the AI. If realistic physics with great FFB isn't your main priority then you are likely better off waiting until it is available on a Steam sale.

 

[Turk]

I find the AI is pretty good one on one against the player. AI against AI is where things fall down a bit.

 

[Michael Hornbuckle]

Fresh off the presses:

 

[ouvert]

- AI: nope
- Selection of tracks and cars: very good variety and selection of cars. Very small selection of tracks .. unless you settle with mods
- Career: series of events, not really career, not really championship ..
- Car skinning: you can select from few skins or download plenty more. You can easily using template make more by your self. Unless it is server with booking option you can`t use them or select what skin you wanna drive in MP

AC is one of sims worth trying/having though .. biggest selling point would be laserscanned tracks (low in numbers but high in quiality) and road cars that are not that common in PC racing sims .. game is still in developement so it could get only better

with your priorities you`ll be best with AMS, pCars or better waiting for pCars2 .. or perhaps R3E .. in either case you sacrifice either career (AMS has only championships), AI (pCars AI is kind of bad but usable in a way), or car skining (R3E has selection of skins but cant use your own .. also career is championships) ...

 

[Radu Oros]

AC just had a big update now, with a free track and car. Coupled with lots of improvements. See this news:http://www.racedepartment.com/threads/assetto-corsa-updated-audi-highlands-released.131816/
The AI has gotten better so I don't agree with the comment above about the AI.

 

[UMC 22]

If your main priority is racing offline in a structured career against the AI, then AC maybe isn't the sim for you. It essentially doesn't have a career mode at all, as the mode labelled as such isn't a proper career. The AI may not be the worst seen in a racing sim, but it's a very long way from being the best... or even good. I personally think that offline, AC is good for hotlapping only, and just pure driving pleasure as the physics are very good. Online is where the real fun is with this sim, so I would definitely say you should look into trying it for that, perhaps when it comes up on a sale.

Project Cars has been mentioned above. I bought it recently myself. It definitely falls into the "simcade" category in my opinion, but does have a proper career mode which is kinda fun when you only have time for offline racing.

 

[Radu Oros]

If your main priority is racing offline in a structured career against the AI, then AC maybe isn't the sim for you. It essentially doesn't have a career mode at all, as the mode labelled as such isn't a proper career. The AI may not be the worst seen in a racing sim, but it's a very long way from being the best... or even good. I personally think that offline, AC is good for hotlapping only, and just pure driving pleasure as the physics are very good. Online is where the real fun is with this sim, so I would definitely say you should look into trying it for that, perhaps when it comes up on a sale.

Project Cars has been mentioned above. I bought it recently myself. It definitely falls into the "simcade" category in my opinion, but does have a proper career mode which is kinda fun when you only have time for offline racing.

Isn't pcars1 offline career mode just race weekend races like in AC? If you want a more enticing career mode you'd have to look for Gran Turismo games on ps2, ps3. Or at least the Forza series career on xbox and F1 2016 (pc and console) career seems to be good as well.

What type of career mode you'd expect in a racing simulator? There's Custom Championships in AC against the AI drivers, so if you want something more than quick races, this new feature is good for single player.

 

[Steve Worrell]

Isn't pcars1 offline career mode just race weekend races like in AC? If you want a more enticing career mode you'd have to look for Gran Turismo games on ps2, ps3. Or at least the Forza series career on xbox and F1 2016 (pc and console) career seems to be good as well.

What type of career mode you'd expect in a racing simulator? There's Custom Championships in AC against the AI drivers, so if you want something more than quick races, this new feature is good for single player.

I think what I really meant was custom championships rather than career. I like the log analyser championships with rf2 but it is a bit of a faf.

 

[ouvert]

The AI has gotten better so I don't agree with the comment above about the AI.

gotten better in 1.12 patch ? haven`t tested that one yet .. but in version before AI was not particulary good .. I mean they usualy won`t ruin your race but won`t provide good experience either

 

[UMC 22]

Isn't pcars1 offline career mode just race weekend races like in AC?

A racing driver's career is all about race weekends, so any sim having a career mode will have them. The difference between what I consider to be a proper "career mode" and just a "championship mode" is structure and advancement. AC has championship mode, in which you make your championship, you run through it, and that's it. Game over. pCars has career mode, where you take on the persona of a racing driver, start at the bottom racing karts, and slowly work your way up through the sport to higher level cars like GTs.

I think what I really meant was custom championships rather than career.

In that case, perhaps AC is worth checking out then. The championship mode was added fairly recently, and lets you set up a championship just the way you want it. Again the AI isn't the best, but it isn't the best in most of the alternatives either, including pCars. AMS has decent AI, but making your own custom championships is a real chore involving file editing so perhaps not the best option.

 

[Radu Oros]

I think what I really meant was custom championships rather than career. I like the log analyser championships with rf2 but it is a bit of a faf.

The custom championships in AC look like this (after I set up my championship). You can organize it how you want, with both official and mod content if you want (I only use the content in game+dlcs). See images in the spoiler tag.
You can also edit the number of laps per track (2 to 100), the initial grip, and weather per track (is static dry weather).

Spoiler

 

[Leonardo Chaves]

AI is fairly safe(as long as you also drive safe) but not the greatest wheel to wheel challenge, very hesitant and unaware that they must go defensive, sometimes great speed differential at certain parts of a given track.
Plenty of cars, not so many tracks, but plenty of good mods.
Career mode itself is lousy, but apparently what you want is offline championship and that works like it should.
Skins... more than you can download.

 

[William Wester]

Hi there.
I have had a 10 year hiatus from sim racing but recently jumped back in. I went with Rfactor2 as I was a massive fan of rf1. I have had quite a bit of fun with rf2 so far but I have made the observation that there seems to be a lot more going on with AC right now. Am I right?

Basically things that are important to me are:
Offline racing/decent AI
wide selection of tracks and cars
career mode - or log analyser like in rf2
Ability to skin cars

Thanks,
Vern

Most everything on your list, except for skinning cars, can be had with R3E. Very good AI (my favorites are R3E, rF2, and AMS), a lot of race cars (complete series) and tracks, online competitions, and create your own championships. A handful of cars and tracks are free so it wouldn't cost you anything to give it a try. Also, all cars can be tested prior to purchase.
AC is good in some areas as some have already mentioned, and is worth the money, but just doesn't fit your short list very well.

 

[guidofoc]

Hi there.
I have had a 10 year hiatus from sim racing but recently jumped back in. I went with Rfactor2 as I was a massive fan of rf1. I have had quite a bit of fun with rf2 so far but I have made the observation that there seems to be a lot more going on with AC right now. Am I right?

Basically things that are important to me are:
Offline racing/decent AI
wide selection of tracks and cars
career mode - or log analyser like in rf2
Ability to skin cars

Thanks,
Vern

I've been on a 10 year hiatus, too (last thing I had played was GPL) and... times have changed. Online racing is the thing now.

Offline racing: to me, racing against AI just doesn't fit the bill any more, no matter how good they are. Sure, good for training but why, when you can have real people to race against? In Assetto Corsa you can do casual multiplayer with a safety rating system (Minorating) on a few very good servers, or join a good league, or you can try simracingsystem.com. All for free.
Wide selection of tracks and cars: well if you add "for free" then Assetto Corsa is hard to beat. There's literally tons of content, great mod tracks and some nice mod cars.
Career mode: well this is not the strength of AC which is more of an "open platform". In any case there's custom championships and a career mode if you want it. I still prefer a league in multiplayer. As for stats, check an example of race stats here.
Ability to skin cars. Well, there's thousands of skins for AC so I guess it's possible..

With that said, if you're keen on single player then surely other games may fit the bill. Still, I would try AC anyways, not sure why a competent simracer would want to miss trashing a RUF Yellowbird or an F40 on the Nordschleife..

 

[Turk]

pCars has career mode, where you take on the persona of a racing driver, start at the bottom racing karts, and slowly work your way up through the sport to higher level cars like GTs.

So it holds your hand and tells you you're a good boy when you win.

Yeah, AC doesn't come with all the flash non game stuff. But the upshot of that is you don't have to sit through a load of flash non game related stuff when you just want to race.