Your views: In car or bonnet cam?

[eathis]

I realise that on certain sim forums this could get flamed, but as Assetto Corsa gives the option to race from different view points I'm quite interested to know others thoughts about this.

I spent quite a few hours over the weekend trying out AC, fiddled around with different FOVs and seat positions of the in car viewpoint, and set a few lap times, having great fun doing so... However, last night I was driving the Ferrari around the Vallelunga circuit and tried out the bonnet cam. After one lap I knocked a whole second off my previous best lap time.

So I loaded up the other tracks, same car, and again was about a second quicker in all of them. Tried out the KTM - a second quicker. And the Lotus Exige - again pretty much a second quicker. I wasn't any quicker with this view in the Tatuus or Lotus 49 though.

Has anyone else found they drive the tin tops faster from the bonnet cam? Anyone else tried the bonnet cam?! Perhaps most importantly when multiplayer comes online, are people going to have a problem with others using a view other than the in car one?

 

[hazy]

As a to the extant cockpit cam user I have no issues with racing against another advantage giving cam user because for 1, he / she is not having as much fun as I am and 2, there will surely be other cockpiters in the race that I'm going to compete with. But as far as the technical point of this goes, I hate my self for not being able to use other cams in most of the cars simply because of the accurate interior modeling. I can only enjoy the game when my view is close to 1:1 POV. I need the virtual wheel / hand as close as it's possible to mimic my actual wheel / hand as far as the size is and therefor I can not race the E30 (and many other cars) simply because settings this the way I like, I get this kind of view

which for me is unacceptable,that is not what I imagine the view would be.
So this makes me wonder, would it kill them or us / you to optimize the interior view ?
Because don't even try to tell me ( ) that this isn't more immersive

then this

I know this would require different models but that is not the case because it's typical for every game to have 1 exterior and 1 interior model.

 

[InsaneOzzie]

I disagree with most of the comments here, go sit in a real car and take note of what you can see in your peripheral vision while looking forward, you see the full steering wheel, the dash, the console even the glove box, 180 degree FOV. In a racing situation you are wearing a helmet so your FOV is 160 degrees, so no matter what is debated here anything less is not a genuine view simulating reality, the same as driving from bonnet or bumper cam, you don't drive a car from the bonnet or bumper in reality, so why would you do it in game???

 

[Kristóf Kerekes]

Because I do not have the money, environtment or current technical items to simulate a nearly 100% accurate cockpit view. Therefore, if I can't go as realistic as it's possible then I'll aim to outpace others which, in my case is using bonnet view. That's what I'm used to from LFS and that's how I got to the to top of the ladders there. Being top notch gives me just as much fun as a cockpit would be, without spending the ammount of money I don't have.

 

[InsaneOzzie]

Because I do not have the money, environtment or current technical items to simulate a nearly 100% accurate cockpit view. Therefore, if I can't go as realistic as it's possible then I'll aim to outpace others which, in my case is using bonnet view. That's what I'm used to from LFS and that's how I got to the to top of the ladders there. Being top notch gives me just as much fun as a cockpit would be, without spending the ammount of money I don't have.

So what your saying is, because you cant afford triple screens you cant replicate a realistic view, that's not the case, I have a single 32" LCD TV which I have set up to be as close as the game will allow me to get to a realistic FOV, you will never get 100% realism from a game, end of story.

It's disappointing that so many alleged Sim-racers want their games to be as realistic as possible, and complain bitterly at the devs if it's not to a realistically high standard, yet these same individuals cant/wont/refuse to drive from the only realistic view that replicates/simulates real life racing, the cockpit. Go figure.

The mind Boggles

 

[Kristóf Kerekes]

I'm not the one complaining about the simulation though. I have a 22" monitor and as a programmer I can't afford to have my wheel cover half of the screen to have the little bit more immersion I could get. As long as cockpit view isn't enforced like in iRacing, I'm not gonna use it exclusievly, because my hardware doesn't allow me to simulate anything near my experience nor am I faster in a cockpit view. I'm just used to bonnet.

 

[Qazdar Karim]

For online, i hope there will be a possibility to make everyone use the same cam (ofc with the possibility to set FOV in certain interval)!

 

[Connor Caple]

I've raced real cars on real tracks, cockpit view is not realistic. It restricts my vision of what's going on around me much more than a real car does. I can drive in cockpit view, with a headtracker, and it's bearable, but it is not 'realistic' as I can't get the quick glances and peripheral vision which I use in RL.

I normally drive bonnet cam in online racers for the wider field of view. I can't drive at all if you give me the 'behind the car cam' no idea how anyone copes with that - it's like having a remote control car.

 

[InsaneOzzie]

This debate has been going on since the birth of racing games and will continue for as long as Racesims are available. One thing is certain, you will NEVER see a 100% realistic FOV in a Sim, nothing can replace reality.
But why not try to embrace the FOV in game as best you can to replace reality, thousands of Sim racers world wide run in cockpit view and are very very fast.
For me the cockpit is the only true view, regardless of the FOV or being the fastest, if I raced in any other view I'm not SIMULATING RACING am I, and if I raced in Bonnet/Bumper cam I would be cheating myself of the realistic experience I wanted to achieve when I started Simracing, in the end it's "each to their own" I guess, but think about it, are you really a true SIMRACER if you DON'T race from the cockpit, ask a real race driver if he races from the bonnet/bumper, it's a stupid question isn't it, and in all reality you wouldn't even ask it, I rest my case.

Cheers

 

[Barry Mitchell]

I use bonnet cam allot - I have 2 setups in my room here. I have a 42" PC monitor which is great far racing games especially Assetto Corsa but i mostly use bonnet cam with it as it just feels better. When I use my 3 screen set up, I use incar view as it feels more real and as i can see the sides of the car etc its easier. I have 3 x 24" monitors side my side.

 

[Barry Mitchell]

ill take a couple of photos of them when I have my wheel etc in place. should be playing shortly..

 

[Kevin Ascher]

Because I do not have the money, environtment or current technical items to simulate a nearly 100% accurate cockpit view. Therefore, if I can't go as realistic as it's possible then I'll aim to outpace others which, in my case is using bonnet view. That's what I'm used to from LFS and that's how I got to the to top of the ladders there. Being top notch gives me just as much fun as a cockpit would be, without spending the ammount of money I don't have.

That's one questionable spirit

 

[Barry Mitchell]

here is the photo...

I have a wheel stand thing that I took appart as it was crap and so i hinge screwed it between my wall and the underside of my desk. All i do is swing it back and forth to get my wheel and stuff in place. As you can also see from this photo, I do not use my h shifter with my g27 wheel. dont like it. The wee table thing to the right is dead handy for holding beer and my mouse. Friday nights are good in my man cave.

 

[Juris]

I know most haven't really thought about this aspect of Kunos allowing us (unlike iRacing) to have a bonnet or 3rd person view. My best mates wife was over a while ago to go shopping with me. Before we headed off I let her loose on AC with the triples. Shes an F1 nut but not a gamer or a simmer. She was amazed but it was a bit overwhelming to her.

She tried cockpit and was about to walk away from it when I switched to bonnet and 3rd person. Now shes addicted and we have a new convert looking at getting her 1st wheel.

One of the big problems we all know we have in simming is it scares people off. The intensity, the cost, the space requirements. Simply the difference drives (sorry) some away. At least with the option to back off the ultra-realism maybe we can lure more players in. Start them in 3rd person, move them to bonnet, then plonk them into cockpit as they progress. Just my 2c. Cheers,

 

[Dazmaniac]

On the flip side with this bonnet vs cockpit view thing.

Seeing how many racers seemingly prefer driving from the bonnet cam instead of using the cockpit view, it seems odd that GRID 2 was slated by all and sundry for not including a cockpit driving position, yet it seems the bonnet cam is the position of choice amongst a lot of drivers, so it seems Codies were right to take the option they did with GRID 2.

 

[Simon Roberts]

I truly can;t believe that people actually drive from the bonnet view when then cockpits are so beautiful.

 

[Tim Meuris]

Yup, cockpit it is for me too
in shooters I hate 3person as well (not that bonnet cam is 3d person)
I always go into first person and in racing games that's cockipt view

 

[Mark Quigley]

I treat the 3 monitors as windscreen and side window, I do not really want to see very much of the interior of the car as I have real arms, wheel, seat, gearstick and soon a dash. I hope to have my monitors placed on or in the dash just after the clocks so the virtual view should start there and not the back of the headrest.
The seat adjustment in most sims does not accommodate this. I think we should be able to adjust where the view point is in game to anywhere in the cockpit, from headrest to windscreen, from the floor to roof.

 

[Simon Roberts]

I treat the 3 monitors as windscreen and side window, I do not really want to see very much of the interior of the car as I have real arms, wheel, seat, gearstick and soon a dash. I hope to have my monitors placed on or in the dash just after the clocks so the virtual view should start there and not the back of the headrest.
The seat adjustment in most sims does not accommodate this. I think we should be able to adjust where the view point is in game to anywhere in the cockpit, from headrest to windscreen, from the floor to roof.
I

This is pretty much what i do too, I actually really like how we can move the camera about in the sim.

 

[Mark Quigley]

It's just strange to me that I move my seat in real life to reach the pedals and wheel, to get comfy.
I do this also when simracing, I adjust the seat to get comfy but then I have to adjust another seat, a virtual one for a better view.
Makes no sense.