AC or rF2?

[Justin Swan]

Rfactor2 or AC? Not necessarily on looks but which is going to be the better multiplayer? with the best RD club races etc etc? Keep thinking of buying rF2 but don't want to get it then AC becomes the "main" event.

 

[Cote Dazur]

Just tried rF2 again, the Formula Renault this time and must admit that besides the track graphics, it is feels very good. rF2 is a sim to keep an eye on. I'm not going to buy it just yet but who knows.
I'm enjoying AC too much for the moment.

If I had to choose right now, I'd probably go with AC. Partially because I don't know enough about rF2.

This is what every one should do, enjoy the best any SIM available today has to offer, since none is the best at everything and spend more time with the one that fits what we want the most.
If you already have spent a fair amount of money acquiring a PC that can run the latest game generation, the cost of the game itself is almost irrelevant, the currency that is most often in short supply, in order to enjoy them all, is time.

 

[Keith_G]

Well I must agree that owning and playing both of these sims is worth the relatively small amount of money it cost! This thread was started over two years ago and since that time both sims have advanced a great deal.
I have played both and enjoy both but they are different experiences for me so it comes down to the car and track as to which I enjoy the most. But I must say that I was playing AC more just because it was easier to use it on Steam. I have owned RF2 for several years but updating the packages on a regular basis took more time than I was willing to give (As @Cote Dazur so nicely put it, Time to Play is the thing most in short supply!)
I changed my RF2 to Steam and have really been enjoying playing it again! The feel for certain cars and tracks is so good!, and that is what makes me play one game or another just like sometimes I feel like steak for dinner and other times pasta. After getting things set up on steam I loaded up the wonderful Sebring Mod by VirtuaLM, and took a spin in the the great SimTek mod, Ferrari Challenge 2011 (Italia 458) and remembered why I love this game so much. The game feels right, is great to drive, and has some very "unique experiences". I also love racing the Brabham at Spa 1966 because it is a great track, great car and incredible AI and again a unique experience. (Just wait till you think you have it dialed in and it starts to rain!!)

Same is true of AC with certain cars and tracks. AC and RF2 have different feel, different strengths and I find them both challenging to drive at the limit, but RF2 seems to have much better AI and a more complete racing experience if you like such things as pit strategy, weather, multiple drivers etc. AC certainly has better graphics and is easier to approach with a more modern interface. To me it mostly comes down to the driving and I find certain things I like in each.
I think you would really be shorting yourself not to have both games if you can possibly afford it. I can't tell you which is more "real" with the physics , but I can say that I enjoy them both for different reasons. I expect that you will too if you love sim racing, why else would you be at RD?

 

[kikie]

What I do know about AC is how the cars behave is pretty good. I'm absolutely not an expert but having 10 years of real life basic, defensive and some offensive car control and having driven on the Zolder track from time to time, I do know that AC is definitely on the right track (no pun intended ).

I also own pCars and eventhough this is a very good game is not on the same level as AC and rF2.
What strikes me as realistic in AC is and this is only one example of many, is that when you approche a corner too fast and you're using ABS, in AC you have to slowly release the brakes before the corner and during turn in, in order to make the corner. If you don't you will obviously overshoot the corner but also unsettle the car probably get oversteer in the proces. If you're releasing the brakes slowly, you will make the corner (not ideally) and have to control the car (forgot to mention, correcting slightly oversteering and the car getting unsettled) in the proces. You can feel the weight transfer of road cars with ABS in the situation I just described. I have no idea how it feels in rF2 because I only tried the demo and there are no road cars in the demo. But in pCars, you don't have to control the car, you can go pretty hard into a corner and the cars will probably not unsettle.

Also locking up the front wheels in AC feels so real that it is scary.

If I had the money, I would firstly help people whom need a life saving operation and stuff like that, obviously but also invest money in Kunos.

The difference in characteristics of each car in AC is so obvious that I always have to drive a few laps to adapt to each car. In the rF2 demo, the difference between the Corvette and the Formula Renault is not that big than the difference between the cars in AC.
What I also feel in AC is, since the tire model 5, is that you automatically starts to lap faster, feel the grip of the cars increasing after a few laps.
Too bad AC is not yet a true sim in every word. I mean a "simulation" of real life in every aspect. Maybe it will be. I hope so.

As I said before, AC is more difficult to get faster lap times than rF2 demo.

The only thing I'm not that keen on in AC is the AI. Sorry Kunos but that is my opinion. I have this feeling that pCars and Kunos or vice versa spy on each other when it comes to AI. The AI in both games react, drive and do the same things and keep the same line, swerve all over the track on the first lap, make sudden moves without being aware of other cars (me!) etc.... . When the AI hits me, I'm always going off track, when I hit the AI, the AI stays on track and I'm going off track again. It seems that the AI is driving with all driving aids on, that they are glued to the track and weigh 3 ton, while my car weighs 100kg.

Having used rF2 demo for just two evenings, I can tell that the AI in rF2 is much, much better!

I think I'm going to shut up and enjoy AC.

 

[paracletus]

The only ones who can say with authority which game is the most realistic are those who have driven the actual cars. "He who knows most speaks the least" < it is very true.
I enjoy all three games ac rf & gsc, not interested in all this speculation about which is best. All 3 of them have something great about them, and areas where they could be better. These racing games are improving continuously.

 

[Deleted member 197115]

The only ones who can say with authority which game is the most realistic are those who have driven the actual cars. "He who knows most speaks the least" < it is very true.
I enjoy all three games ac rf & gsc, not interested in all this speculation about which is best. All 3 of them have something great about them, and areas where they could be better. These racing games are improving continuously.

http://ravsim.com/2015/10/23/my-sim-is-bigger-than-your-sim/

 

[Edward Mowinckel]

http://ravsim.com/2015/10/23/my-sim-is-bigger-than-your-sim/

Well, isn't that a nice read? I've been ostracized from sim racing communities myself for saying I support the developers as people because they make the games I like, and if we don't have an investment in their future we don't have games to play. I was called a shill for encouraging sim racers to think of developers as individuals, rather than some faceless company. Why would anyone stick around an environment like that? It's difficult to willingly throw yourself into those discussions in hopes that someone hiding behind anonymity will stop spewing vitriol. Fortunately the discussion here is a bit more civil.

I wish I knew more about FFB and physics modeling to say "I prefer this because", but it comes down to I prefer AC because it's more mod friendly, though when I'm driving on the limit and in a groove, both are a ton of fun.

 

[Ben Lee]

Ive raced karts competitively in the past and ive done track days and race track "experience" days in sports cars etc, but ive never actually driven a full blooded race car.

Its true what they say, you can never replicate that feeling of your bum detecting when a slide is occurring. Assetto Corsa for me comes quite close to what I have felt on the race track, but even AC has its small faults and isn't perfect. It is however "the best I have tried yet".

 

[Terry Rock]

Rfactor2 or AC? Not necessarily on looks but which is going to be the better multiplayer? with the best RD club races etc etc? Keep thinking of buying rF2 but don't want to get it then AC becomes the "main" event.

Here's my take on multiplayer so far and I own both....
Assetto Corsa is definitely the easier of the two to get on track with.
That holds true especially if you have a slower connection.
Though it can sometimes be a 'wreck-fest' at the start of races... (depending on the maturity level of the crowd running) you at least get to the track easily.
You also know immediately if you have the content or not required to join a session.
The debacle surrounding RF2 vmod system means that when you should be out there running on track, you're sitting around waiting for modded content to download.
It's annoying and I don't know if anyone has a solution to fix that aspect, since it appears not to be getting addressed.
That part of multiplayer has actually gotten worst with every new mod released.
Some vmods contain so many tracks and cars despite mostly using only one of each per session, that by the time you get them all, the racing is over and guys have moved on.
You'll need to download everything before being able to join such sessions.
Unless you have a blazing fast connection, it's impossible.
The driving portion of RF2 sim/software itself is great...though for me what few servers I've been able to access have mostly been empty.
So to sum it up.... unless you have a fast connection (to allow a lot of content you don't currently have installed) or plan on joining a league, AC is the better of the two for multiplayer.
If you have a fast connection...buy both.

 

[RMR1]

I'm on the verge of getting rf2 demo, and encountered ONE problem. Time.
I drove nearly 1200 hours in AC and got catched by its sheer driving feeling. I'm into sim racing since I played Geoff Crammond's Revs on a C64.
Jokes aside, I enjoyed GPL with a non FFB Microsoft Wheel. I changed for GTR to a DFP. And so on.
I'm now on a full set of Thrustmaster, and enjoy AC like it's the only one out there!

And now my question, does rf2 give me a step up, does it deserve my limited time?
From what I've read, it might not fulfill my requirements.

 

[Richard Dastardly]

rF2 is probably a sidestep at the moment ( other than the AI, I agree that seems a step up currently ).

I have both, I find myself in AC a lot more though, it just currently has a better overall atmosphere. A little while back rF2 was winning the driving feel contest by some considerable distance, but AC has made huge leaps forwards there.

 

[Rami]

I'm on the verge of getting rf2 demo, and encountered ONE problem. Time.
I drove nearly 1200 hours in AC and got catched by its sheer driving feeling. I'm into sim racing since I played Geoff Crammond's Revs on a C64.
Jokes aside, I enjoyed GPL with a non FFB Microsoft Wheel. I changed for GTR to a DFP. And so on.
I'm now on a full set of Thrustmaster, and enjoy AC like it's the only one out there!

And now my question, does rf2 give me a step up, does it deserve my limited time?
From what I've read, it might not fulfill my requirements.

I have them both too. Have to say I like depth in rf2 what comes from brake temps etc. Ffb works great and cars feel good.... but I never thought I'd say or let something like graphics influence my verdict, but still it happened (after AC)
Cockpit view in rf really just kills the mood for me. It was bearable(ish) from hood view though...
Just my thoughts, don't come after me...

 

[Conrad Miller]

When I drive the same cars between rF2 and AC I don't feel average physics in one and real in the other. I feel real in both. Even if both sims will continue to evolve in their simulation, both are equivalent. I just don't find anything that would suggest otherwise, especially when comparing the same cars (and same specs). There are more differences in the tire model than physics engine, and in fact that can happen for the several sims that exist. But even those differences in tire models will end up with an equivalent result when driving.

You really don't feel the difference? You're missing out a lot, mate! Might as well go play Need for Speed....

 

[Radu Oros]

You really don't feel the difference? You're missing out a lot, mate! Might as well go play Need for Speed....

There's some difference in the center of ffb, feels more damped in that zone for rf2, is like the gyro force when you enable it in assetto_corsa.ini

"Might as well go play Need for Speed...." Are you saying that the difference between ac and rf2 is like the difference between a sim and need for speed? If I understood you right, what you said seems very ludicrous.
Then there's also difference between tire model, but the driving is equivalent in terms of experience. Especially when you put two of the same cars with the same specs. For example the C6R and C7R. The shelby cobra is a bit different, rf2 has more potent specs, so will be a bit more intimidating but at the same time cool since it reaches about 300kmh while AC version tops at around 255.

Another example, when I tried out the formula renault 3.5 in AC (when it got released, during the v4 tyres in AC version 1.2), the experience was really similar between ac and rf2. Tested the car at Silverstone and had to use the same driving "tricks" in the same zones, and even if in rf2 the track grip isn't the same along all width.

inb4 funny rating incoming from a profile follower.

 

[Deleted member 197115]

You really don't feel the difference? You're missing out a lot, mate! Might as well go play Need for Speed....

It could be deficiencies of Demo content but I can fully back up RMR1 observations, except either due to long developed habit or something else but I've found rFactor2 missing some critical cues like brakes locking shudder and some other little ones. But that could be as well just "too much time with AC".
Tried iracing, rfactor2, r3e in the last couple of days. Well, can't say anything super negative about either one, they all have their merits.
But for me AC is still the best as total package deal. If I had all time in the world I'd play all of them, regularly, but with limited time I can dedicate to simming per day, AC gives me everything I want and in the right flavor.
If AI gets more attention it would be a killer, and there is very positive trend in this direction, except start of the races esp on mod tracks.

 

[Niki Đaković]

The AC has went backwards a lot since 1.3 patch tire model 5 update. I've enjoyed the game a lot in early access and you had to be smooth to be rewarded. But, what it came down to now is that every drift feels as if it's scripted. There isnt 3 or 5 or 10 possible outcomes of the slide. There isnt a small slide or a spin slide. There's just always poop ur pants big slide and ur a hero saved it, every time same way. Actually the best way to drive would be to turn down your wheel rotation to 270degree of karting and chuck the car in with oposite slide into every corner. The suspension isnt doing anything anyway. Any setup gives the same result.

rf2 has a lot more dynamic to it's suspension and tires.

 

[Radu Oros]

The AC has went backwards a lot since 1.3 patch tire model 5 update. I've enjoyed the game a lot in early access and you had to be smooth to be rewarded. But, what it came down to now is that every drift feels as if it's scripted. There isnt 3 or 5 or 10 possible outcomes of the slide. There isnt a small slide or a spin slide. There's just always poop ur pants big slide and ur a hero saved it, every time same way. Actually the best way to drive would be to turn down your wheel rotation to 270degree of karting and chuck the car in with oposite slide into every corner. The suspension isnt doing anything anyway. Any setup gives the same result.

rf2 has a lot more dynamic to it's suspension and tires.

Some people in 2014 said AC has too much grip, and they need more temperatures, more (dynamic) parameters, that the tire model is too simple. Yet for others it was very good driving/racing experience. Now in between tyre model v5 and v6, and still updating; Niki, are you saying the driving is less realistic? But I think you are confusing the initial thrust of the throttle/car engine in rf2 with the tire model. Paying a bit more in depth attention to the driving in rf2, you'll see is quite grippy and uni-dimensional. Meaning is easy to flick the steering wheel and the car, and when you slide the car, is also easy/accessible. It feels damped. Only when you get to a certain point it becomes too hard to recover the car.
Trying just the cars from the demo (c6r and fr 3.5), is pretty uniform the driving and the tyres, talking more when you're using the rubbered layers on the track.
Nowadays in AC, optimum grip track is harder than months ago/a year ago. Is easier to minimally slide the car, maybe because of tyre temperatures. Meaning is harder to drive on the limit of the tyres in the first laps. Lap times also improve after a few couple laps, so you won't put a record straight away.

 

[Niki Đaković]

Lap times also improve after a few couple laps, so you won't put a record straight away.

We use tire blankets in this league. So your fastest lap is always lap 2.

Nowadays in AC, optimum grip track is harder than months ago/a year ago. Is easier to minimally slide the car, maybe because of tyre temperatures. .

I guess you must have noticed, that is correct.

Other then that AC always felt vastly different between grip and no grip. My entire desk shakes from some of the counters I have to do to fix the car, because there isn't that easy transition in FFB to compensate. And that is still there and now it's even worse. I've never had that with LFS and well in rf2 as well. It's rly simple way of telling me that something is wrong with the forces. If I have to do something against the pulling force in the wheel that it shakes my entire desk, how good can that be. Not very much.
I don't know, it takes some time to get to these things I guess. AC is very well packed to impress on first sight and certainlly that stays with you a while, because naturally since it's developing you have your hopes and aspirations for it.

 

[Deleted member 197115]

If I have to do something against the pulling force in the wheel that it shakes my entire desk, how good can that be. Not very much.

Are you using DD wheel? Usually adjusting in game output with something like FFBClip delivers very smooth yet detailed FFB outcome, of course if you are clipping all over the place, it's one sorry experience.

 

[Niki Đaković]

Are you using DD wheel? Usually adjusting in game output with something like FFBClip delivers very smooth yet detailed FFB outcome, of course if you are clipping all over the place, it's one sorry experience.

G27. Don't get me wrong. It's not the force in the wheel that are strong enough to shake the desk. It's the way often times I have to countersteer into the force, instead of countersteering with the wheel pulling in towards there already as god intended it. Best way scenario is, the wheel just gets loose before the counter steer. Very rearely does it actually pull away throught the slide.

 

[Radu Oros]

@Niki Đaković try a couple laps with 458 S3 upgrade at Imola, SM tyres, and can be in optimum 26 medium clear day. Also with TC 0/4.

Recently (Today ) I tried the very first version of AC, and I liked it. Driving felt well, ffb too. But then I came back to 1.3.7 and suddenly felt more challenging. I tried same cars and track between both versions, felt more communication in ffb in current version. Driving is more challenging on corners-apex, and corner exit. In the first game version, that I tried today, although being good, tyres and car dynamics are nowadays more challenging (Yes that word again ) and more shapey to the driving given to the car. The braking before, you could stop way deeper into the corner. And now I can notice and see the difference between sounds and graphics between now and then. With now being considerably better and more immersive. The lotus49, what a machine nowadays! Even on the previous tyre model.