Assetto Corsa Competizione, The Official Blancpain GT Series Game Announced!

[Paul Jeffrey]

Top GT3 licence, UE4 graphics, day to night cycle, dynamic weather, advanced physics with a focus on realism.. is Assetto Corsa Competizione the sim we've all been waiting for?

When Kunos Simulazioni hinted at a big announcement a few days ago, many thought it would simply be a case of confirming another licence for the already well developed Assetto Corsa software, or at the very most a potential AC2 first announcement. Not so, the team over in Italy have been hard at work behind the scenes developing a very exciting new piece of software, and what is more the new Assetto Corsa Competizione title will focus on a single racing category, the incredible Blancpain Endurance GT3 series.. a welcome hark back to the days when racing simulation developers focussed all their attention to detail on a specific racing series, something that Kunos are keen to replication with this newly announced IP.

Set to feature a pretty significant shift away from the basis of the Assetto Corsa title we all know and love, Kunos have confirmed that AC Competizione will feature what are described as "photo realistic" graphics thanks to the use of the incredibly powerful Unreal Engine 4 graphics engine, allowing Kunos to move away from the single light source solution of Assetto Corsa and finally bring both time of day and weather effects to their racing game - a must when you consider the Spa 24 Hour is a key event in the real life Blancpain championship.

As well as the obvious visual benefits brought from a move to Unreal 4 (see screenshots attached to this article), another key talking point from the simulation announcement comes by way of confirmation that Kunos are looking to build a sizable offline career mode around the new game, with driving school tutorials making a welcome return to a popular modern day simulation.

Alongside what promises to be a substantial offline element, the initial press release indicates that Kunos are also aiming to make considerable changes to the way Assetto Corsa veterans experience online play, with an eye on the emerging eSport marketplace the Italian developers are promising a well rounded ranking and matchmaking online system, potentially encouraging a much more evenly balanced online experience and less of those famous public lobby first corner crashes...

Although only initially announced this afternoon, it looks like development is well on the way with this exceptionally exciting new title. Projected for a summer Steam EA release, I'll leave you with the new trailer to get the juices flowing for now...

Assetto Corsa Competizione should be available on Steam Early Access Summer 2018.

Check out the Assetto Corsa Sub Forum here at RaceDepartment for the latest news and discussions regarding the sim. We host quality League and Club Racing events, have a selection of fantastic mods to download and some of the best community conversation. Join in the discussion today.

Like what you see here at RaceDepartment? Don't forget to like, subscribe and follow us on social media!

RaceDepartment YouTube
RaceDepartment Twitter
RaceDepartment Facebook
RaceDepartment Twitch
RaceDepartment Instagram

Excited? Looking forward to the new title? Let us know below!

 

[DowntownSIX]

Holy sh*t.

 

[69Harder]

Wow ! What a surprise !!!
Looks fantastic !
Kunos = Insta-Buy of course

Hope my old stuff can handle it ???

Motherboard - ASUS Z97-DELUXE
CPU - Intel Core i7-4790K
SSD - Samsung SSD 840 EVO
RAM - Corsair Vengeance Pro DDR3 1600MHz 16GB
GPU - MSI GeForce GTX 980 Gaming 4GB PhysX
CPU Cooler - Noctua NH-U14S
PSU - Corsair HS 750

 

[Paul Jeffrey]

 

[Zombie Boy]

Apologies if this was talked about already.

Searched around for Unreal Engine 4 racing games and it seems system requirements are not that heavy.


Monster Energy Supercross 2018 using unreal engine 4.

From youtube review that game has 24 bikes in single player and has night/rain/dirt/mud etc.

Monster Energy Supercross - The Official Videogame Minimum System Requirements

    OS: Windows 7 64-bit
    CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K 3.3 GHz or AMD FX-6350 4.0 GHz
    RAM: 4GB System Memory
    GPU RAM: 2GB Video Memory
    GPU: Nvidia GeForce GTX 760 2GB or AMD Radeon HD 7950 2GB
    DX: DirectX 11
    HDD: 15GB Available Hard Drive Space

Monster Energy Supercross - The Official Videogame Recommended System Requirements

    OS: Windows 7 64-bit
    CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5 GHz or AMD FX-8350 4.0 GHz
    RAM: 8 GB System Memory
    GPU RAM: 2 GB Video Memory
    GPU: Nvidia GeForce GTX 960 or AMD Radeon R9 380 2GB
    DX: DirectX 11
    HDD: 15GB Available Hard Drive Space

Given that there are games like Real Racing 3 (a UE4 game) that run perfectly smoothly on your phone, I'm feeling optimistic about the specs needed to run ACC.

 

[ronniej]

New Nvidia series should hit the market before this title and Nvidia is claiming that cards will be sold at normal prices again. I am personally waiting for that instead of buying an gtx 1080 ti now for 1000 €. Current cards with current prices will turn into very bad deals, it's just a matter of time.

Sure hope so.

 

[dud]

I don't think you can base HW requirements on other games just because they have the Unreal4 engine.

Having said that, I am optimistic. Many of the new tricks such as extra light sources don't take a lot of resources (as long as you don't want to do full reflections of the scenery). Kunos has always done well in scalability, such as providing LOD for most things.

At the same time, the Unreal engine probably has some optimizations that Kunos never did to their own engine.

 

[Patrik Marek]

My 2 cents? They would need renewed licenses for the AC2 probably, and to give away all your 'treasure' at once is a terrible marketing decision. Probably Blancpain also got involved to make this a marketing for their series so don't expect new licenses to be announced until late this year, maybe next year.
And the new engine is a reason on its own.

Licenses are usually small price to pay ( of course not for things like ferrari and lambo) compared to paying for the development of the actual game asset ( modeling , textures , sound + physics ) , so it's still super cheap to include other cars in your new game ,

 

[aka2k]

Rain and night... *tears of joy*

And what's up with that shirt w/o a bow tie? It cries for one!

 

[Torcano]

Good one Paul, you touched on the one thing that people seem to forget that SRO also runs the GT4 European series and much more. If Kunos adds a full GT4 grid some time down the line then it is just gonna be heaven for all I'm concerned. The latest roster of GT4 cars is just so diverse, tons of manufacturer variety in a class of cars that are actually fun to drive. God I cannot wait for the early access.

 

[Carlitox]

When I saw Eau Rouge like that... I was... I just... I need to change my pants, bear with me.



Okay. Phew. Can I arrange my salary be put through to Kunos' most convenient bank account?

 

[Wedge]

I'm sold. Will pick this as soon as it's available even for pre-purchase, something I never, never do. I've been supporting Kunos since AC Early Access v8 I guess, so it'll be a pleasure to keep supporting them, pretty sure they'll deliver another amazing sim racing experience. Not only that, but I'm also super excited with this announcement.

 

[Neils on Wheels]

Yeah i'm no one of those who play only GT3 but certainly really looking forward to this title.

 

[Miwwa]

Excited for this as well as GTR3. Assetto a little more but anyways hope the nail it. I wanna see a race live before I die . So who in Belgium and wants to give me a play to stay for a night or two? Im a poor American and can only afford the $1500 plane ticket and necessities.

 

[Zuffenhausen Weiss]

Wow an rFactor 2 fanboy sh!tting on a Assetto corsa announcement, no one is interested in rFactor 2, and lets be honest it does not have the best physics, checkout the RD have your say when over 85% of the reader thought that the physics in that game was the worst, no one is buying that lie any more that it has the best physics, its a long gone myth, there is a reason why games that use that game engine is the least most played racing games on steam.

Before you accuse of me being a fanboy; I, in fact, don't play as often as I wished (AMS, in fact, have more playtime than both rF2 and AC put together though I don't think it's all that perfect) because it's lack of car packs that is why I don't play it regularly and I'm not a single seater fan enough to - AC had all the potential to be great but what's the point of downloading skins or mods when you can't use them online, AI racing terrible and from driving, it feels like it's hardly realistic at all. Also there's some incident I've encountered such as spinning off and hitting a wall at even 30mph, it's laughably unrealistic like you can drive as if nothing happened. Also, because I don't have time to engage in any racing or the setups, the online trackdays (which I have time for) is full of d-heads, that's why it's so popular with these types.

 

[Harry Tulloch]

Give me a good version of bathurst and ill be happy

I hope they add stuff from Intercontinental GT Challenge so we can get bathurst, spa, suzuka & laguna seca

The more tracks the better I say

 

[digital1nk]

Wow an rFactor 2 fanboy sh!tting on a Assetto corsa announcement, no one is interested in rFactor 2, and lets be honest it does not have the best physics, checkout the RD have your say when over 85% of the reader thought that the physics in that game was the worst, no one is buying that lie any more that it has the best physics, its a long gone myth, there is a reason why games that use that game engine is the least most played racing games on steam.
Before you accuse of me being a fanboy; I, in fact, don't play as often as I wished (AMS, in fact, have more playtime than both rF2 and AC put together though I don't think it's all that perfect) because it's lack of car packs that is why I don't play it regularly and I'm not a single seater fan enough to - AC had all the potential to be great but what's the point of downloading skins or mods when you can't use them online, AI racing terrible and from driving, it feels like it's hardly realistic at all. Also there's some incident I've encountered such as spinning off and hitting a wall at even 30mph, it's laughably unrealistic like you can drive as if nothing happened. Also, because I don't have time to engage in any racing or the setups, the online trackdays (which I have time for) is full of d-heads, that's why it's so popular with these types.

Have you played BeamNG? its a pretty good crash simulator.

 

[dud]

Any hints yet on whether both LMP and GT3 style cars will be included?

And/or whether it will be multiple years worth of cars?

 

[melanieuk]

Nice Shirt as usual, have you been watching those old Japanese martial arts movies, because your lip sync is terrible, it started to go off sync.

For those asking about system spec, as far as steam is concerned, the Early access page does say, Windows 8 minimum.

 

[Nick Gregory]

Wow an rFactor 2 fanboy sh!tting on a Assetto corsa announcement, no one is interested in rFactor 2, and lets be honest it does not have the best physics, checkout the RD have your say when over 85% of the reader thought that the physics in that game was the worst, no one is buying that lie any more that it has the best physics, its a long gone myth, there is a reason why games that use that game engine is the least most played racing games on steam.

The resident rF2 hater is out in full-force.

 

[Case_]

When I read 'Unreal engine', I instantly popped a question in my mind - minimum game specs for 60 fps?

Any reasonable gaming rig should at least in theory be able to do it. For some reason, people tend to think Unreal Engine means you need a lot of power, but that's really not how it works. It can actually even require less power to run a game well on modern engine using a modern hardware than it does with an old engine most of the sims currently use. And the performance of the game depends on a lot more than just on the engine also - so you can have a game that looks great and performs well, but also a game that doesn't look too good and runs like crap, both using exactly the same engine, but obviously different assets, physics and stuff like that.

So we really need to wait and see what the performance of ACC will actually be like once it's all done and optimized.