“Assetto Corsa Needs More Tracks” (does it?)

[Davide Nativo]

Looking into one of the most debated arguments about the Italian sim.

One of the usual complaints regarding Assetto Corsa was that it does not feature many tracks. Criticism usually revolved around the quite heavily presence of Italian circuits, even minor ones, but almost no tracks from the Asian or American continent. European selection is also limited to a handful of renowned locations.

Personally, I see the reasons behind the discontent, as the total number of tracks is of about 15, 16 whether you consider or not Trento Bondone and the historical ones. Adding to that figure are some fantasy venues like Black Cat County or places like the Drag Strip or the Drift pad, which are limited to very specific use. At the same time though, I stand with those who value quality over quantity, and having a decent collection of laser-scanned tracks is preferable to me than having more but with lower grade consistency.

I am also convinced that this issue is mostly limited to the console players. Why I say that is pretty obvious, I believe: Modding. Xbox One and PlayStation 4 users have no possibilities to extend the AC track roster in any way. PC players instead have a fine selection of circuits available at their disposal, and 90% of these are gratis to download for anyone.

Quality is also very high, with many of these recreations being very faithful to the original, result of many hours of work spent on every fine little detail and sometimes started with even LiDAR data at hand. I think that no one can really argue that at the moment of writing of this article, we have many beautiful tracks free for AC, expanding further the possibilities of the sim.

It really is a matter of being able to make the most of the resources available, searching in the download section, looking for what could suit your needs and enjoy it while thanking the author for his/her work. A suggestion I dare give also is - take your time. Unfortunately, we as simracers have become rather spoiled. When we had just a half dozen cars to be run on a handful of tracks in just a couple of sims, almost nobody used to complain that there wasn’t enough to have fun with. Now that we have a half dozen different sims, each featuring quite a selection of different vehicles and circuits, we always pretend more.

I believe the problem lies within the fact that we do not commit to a car or a track for more than a few hours, after which we feel bored and in need of a change. That is not constructive, and makes us unable to fully appreciate what we are given. Practicing, doing some time attacks, developing consistency, should take days. All that should then converge into racing the AI, looking for or hosting multiplayer competitions on that specific venue. Jumping from place to place, vehicle to vehicle, does not help. I maybe take this a stretch further, but isn’t this kind of behaviour also making us unhappy most of the times in our real lives? Commitment is the answer. As I said in another article of mine, having many choices means that you actually have to make a choice.

Allow me to tell that once again I think that simracing can teach us to be a better person, if we use it as a proper tool of personal growth. If used improperly, it can favour bad habits that we already exhibit in our daily lives, and maybe worsen them. If put to proper use, it can become a way to weed out those bad ways and help us find a better balance.

Therefore, look back now at the circuits you have in AC, both official and 3rd party ones, thinking what would happen if you’d decide to spend even just a week on each, perhaps with different cars and in different conditions but always on the same location. With the clear intention of knowing it by heart and learn it in every detail, appreciating all that went behind it, whoever built it. Now tell me you still believe there are not enough tracks for you to have fun with, if you do.

Oh boy do we like mods! If you do too then we have you covered with our fantastic Assetto Corsa modding archive. From downloads to a place for mod discussion, we have it all for you to enjoy, check it out today! If you don't fancy trying out some of the awesome community created tracks and cars then drop in on our Assetto Corsa sub forum to chat about the game with your fellow fans. Interaction and threads make forums fun, so start one today!

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[Riblo]

i totally agree on the article
we dont need a lot of tracks if we have the good ones
me i am never tired of driving at spa or monza or laguna seca

 

[Kurupt CDN]

I appreciate the hard work of the modding community, but over the yrs i've decided I value official content over mods and have no issue paying top $$$ for laser scanned tracks.

What drew me to AC was the laser scanned tracks and the accuracy.....but got tired within a few months of the lack of tracks.

Back to the op thread title....

The answer goes two ways...
Yes their are endless amounts of free content for the title, but if your like me who only uses official content to avoid the hassels of mismatches and online issues, than yes the game lacks tracks and it would be nice to have more variety.

Main reason i am not purchasing ACC until I hear more about how the dlc will work and what it will be, as it stands it will more than likely be another game on my hdd that I rarely play due to the lack of interesting content.

 

[magzire86]

Anyone know what new tracks are coming from the top modders?

 

[BP]

I'm all for new tracks in AC (although Laguna Seca was my favorite for awhile...that's a Kunos-made track, right?), but I totally agree with devoting time to learning all the eccentricities of a favourite track, whether it's a day or several days.

When AC first got the laser-scanned Nords, it's all I played for at least a week (1 - 2 hour sessions per day)...and that was just trying to get everything perfect up to about the first carousel! Same with AMS: Formula Classic on Jacarepagua Historic...spent weeks on that combo alone. It's really satisfying when you look back at how much slower you were on the first days when you thought you "mastered" it. Speaking of which:

I'm not quite sure what mastering a track is, but we sure do have a lot of tracks for AC, as well as a lot of cars, but we'll always want more.

I've asked myself this for awhile: What is everyone's opinion of "Mastering a track"? What is your gauge, your barometer for mastery? Online racing can be a mixed bag of skills, even in ranked systems: some days on iRacing I'd be in the top 3 fastest in qualifying, others I'd be 3 - 5 seconds behind half the pack...and that's with nearly everyone being at the same license class. For consistency, I personally gauge myself against the AI in practice or race sessions (AI tends to drive slower in qualifying in some games)...being able to consistently beat the AI in a 15 mins or more race or consistently best their practice lap times on at least 105% in rFactor2/AMS is usually my goal (or 98% in AC although I haven't raced the AI as often there).

Going higher than those settings, the question I then end up pondering is: am I not able to keep up with the AI due to setup, or am I still lacking "mastery" of said track/car/both? The even bigger question is: how is AI difficulty actually ramped up (or down)? Are they always setup perfectly and then the "talent" of the AI is just scaled back? Anyways...I digress, carry on.

 

[Jason Mullin]

Mastering a track to me is easier than mastering a car as tracks are stationary, forgiving, cars are alive, some trying to murder me.
I can always find a few tenths pushing out brake points or hitting perfect apexes, but inevitably there is a wall waiting for us at some point.
My wall arrives much faster with the car than it does the track, so for me it's about mastering the object in motion, err trying too.

 

[tlsmikey]

If we're debating the original configuration of the game, i'd say "yes" its a bit short on tracks. Personally, I would have traded a few of those cars (mostly street cars) in exchange for some more tracks as long as the quality was the same. I know the tracks take a lot of time, but I can find 5-7 cars that I could do without in exchange for a track or two.

 

[John B. Ellis]

While it is entertaining and incredible to be able to sample such a staggering variety of cars and track locations thanks to a combination of official and modded content, learning how to produce fast, consistent laptimes--whether real or simulated--requires both regular practice and accurate feedback. The initial learning process is significantly accelerated by keeping the car and track choices limited to 1 each; a home track and first drive, if you will. My "home track" has been mantasisg's LIDAR-based Goodwood Motor Circuit, pretty much since it was released; I just love that track!

Once a driver really understands that circuit--and really 'gets it' (i.e., how to take the car to the limit and stay there), learning times at subsequent tracks, or adapting to different cars, are significantly shortened. Eventually, an experienced driver can show up at new locations and get up to speed within a handful of laps, especially in a familiar car.

One caveat, circa 1990.... Just remember, Gerhard: You can practice all summer long, and Ayrton will still be quicker when he returns from his Brazilian family vacation in flip flops.

 

[Tberg]

I only use top quality mod tracks from Lilski !

Then you're missing out on quite a few. There's at least 10 high quality tracks available nowadays.

 

[GT VIRUS]

The unfortunate reality is that cars sell racing games, not tracks. AC and most dev's put more effort into car's as they the focus of all the marketing, track's are just a background to the cars.

 

[gamer19]

Well, Competizione for sure does.

On a more (or is it) serious note....

That's me. Both of them. The first one is the early me, the one who always want more and more, greedy eyes, drool and everything, classic AC fan I guess... and the second one is later (and smarter?) me who has to think about disk space (yep, that too) and, even more, to the fact that I really don't have the time to drive at least 84% of them. Or on them, in case of tracks.
And I've said that already somewhere...
The quality, sadly, really oscillating and being a quite a perfectionist, at some point I really hate to look back and see cars and tracks that quality varies from 1 to 10.

Don't get me wrong I love mods but sometimes I love to jump into Project Cars 2 cause I KNOW that everything there is at top level quality, cause all was build by payed professionals. Ok, some ironic prone members could say now that that's not the case cause quality of cars, tracks and even physics in PC2 vary even there although all was build by those payed professionals.
And I have to agree to some extent here but that's not the point.
Sometimes all isn't enough.

Regards, Jekyll.

 

[Koen Verlinde]

Anyone know what new tracks are coming from the top modders?

Always keep an eye on ACTrack-Reboot.

 

[Alex Townsend]

I can only imagine the frustration for console owners, (used to be one but saw the light about 10 years ago), but at the same time, with less tracks comes greater track knowledge on default content which in turn could increase racing ability on that default content.
Yes, having loads of tracks on AC was great but what's the point if online they only race a handful of the same tracks day in day out?
You practice on great mod tracks only to race at the same non-mod tracks online. Which is a shame.
I do love the mod tracks in AC though. A lot of them are of a very high standard.

I think with ACC having less default tracks due to it being based on an official series could, hopefully, mean that players online will have practiced and raced on less content, thus, perhaps, encouraging better, closer racing.
(I can dream at least...)

 

[callumjtc]

I think the overabundance of Italian tracks is down to the fact that Kunos are budget limited due to being a small company, therefore travelling alot to carry out the laser scanning is unfeasible for their budget.

 

[Andy-R]

I don't really like the vanilla track options much at all in AC, they are very... vanilla! While they aren't my absolute favourite circuits I think Magione and Vallelunga are at least something refreshing and different. It is good they added some of the shorter layouts of the major European tracks, that adds a bit more choice.

Overall I am very happy with the circuit choices in AC because modding. Which I think answers the question about quality/quantity for me. I think I would trade a bit of quality to have a few more circuits or less well known/driven or now nonexistent tracks.

I was like a kid in a candy store when I first started exploring the circuits in GSC/AMS so I guess I'm a fan of finding a few previously unknown circuits in a game.

I don't think it takes that long to get to know a track well, maybe 20 laps for an average length track. We put previously unknown circuits on our server before and within 2 or 3 sprint races we were all more or less up to speed.

 

[Matt Y]

AC has plenty of tracks, you can download more from websites such as this one.

The most pressing issue regarding AC is the damage model. Even the hardest impact leaves you with only a few scratches.

 

[Gelly916]

I play AC because of the sheer amount of content thanks to the modding community. I simply never get bored! The base game is definitely lacking in the content department, especially when it comes to tracks. If I was playing on console, I would not be pleased with AC, and would most likely be playing Pcars2.

I raced Tsukuba today on an SRS server and I had a blast. Haven't raced that track since Forza 4. I don't think any racing title other than AC has that circuit. The mod may not be perfect, but I still had so much fun racing there for the first time in 6-8 years.

AC is in my mind the most complete sim because of the modding community. If I were Kunos, I would probably ditch the console port all together and solely focus on the PC version.

 

[Fat-Alfie]

I play AC because of the modding capability, no other reason. It is the perfect platform for me to express my creativity, to bring to life tracks that I have never heard of and would otherwise never get to experience.

Also I think the comment in the OP about commitment is very true. The great thing about track making is that you are forced to learn that one track, to learn every bump in the road, every blind crest, every corner you can (or can't) cut, over a period of 6 or 12 months. I know Thomson Road, Bilster Berg and Feldbergring far better than I will ever know Imola or Monza or Brands Hatch, because I care about them, they are mine.

If someone told me I could only ever use the Nordschleife and my own tracks it wouldn't bother me in the slightest.

 

[F_B]

If some talented and kind modder would do Potrero de los Funes (not the shitty version which is available here) the chapter "track modding" can be closed imo.

On a more serious note: the modding in AC has surpassed all my expectations since I started playing it in 2013. There are many many outstanding cars & tracks available, if you know which modders you can trust. They raised this sim to a whole new level.

 

[E304LIFE]

@leon_90 I applaud the moral overtones in your article, but while most sim racers are a stand up bunch, unfortunately, the human experiment has failed and we are doomed. The Joker was right I'm afraid. (see his argument in "The Dark Night")

We have been blessed with an embarrassment of riches for AC thanks to Kunos Simulazioni and the modding community. The gift keeps on giving fortunately. Have we become spoiled? Probably. Damn you Stefano.

*Thanks for another great article btw.

 

[E304LIFE]

Commitment for days would bore the hell out of me. I usually spend 3-4 hours with a car on a track, but days? No.

Depends on the person I would say. I've spent 3-4 days (off and on) on a track before an organized online race. Which is why I can't commit to leagues etc. Don't have the time.