Assetto Corsa: Console Previews Released

[Chris]

Kunos Simulazioni, in conjunction with 505 Games have announced they are working together to bring the highly popular Italian racing simulator to the much larger PlayStation 4 and Xbox One market by the end of the first quarter of 2016. Up until today they have revealed very little detail about the progress of the project.

A series of screenshots and video previews have been released showcasing the game and some of the new and exciting content headed our way, including the Corvette C7 Stingray, the LaFerrari FXX-K and even the newly announced Ferrari 488GTB.

Known for providing one of the purest driving experiences in all of SimRacing, providing a vastly superior physics and force feedback package than any of it's soon-to-be console rivals (pCARS, Forza and Gran Turismo), Kunos' co-founder Marco Massarutto has gone to great lengths to reassure fans that neither the PC nor console versions of the game will be diluted and 'dumbed down' to suit the more casual audience that inevitably comes with the console market, and from the early game play footage it looks as though Kunos have remained true to their word.

Additionally, the user interface of Assetto Corsa has been receiving an overhaul in time for the console release to make it more aesthetically pleasing and more user-friendly. Whilst it looks as if it can be a little clunky to scroll through the entire car list, the overall improvement is much needed.

Pre-order your PlayStation 4 copy here
Pre-order your Xbox One copy here

As the video trailer above states, the console version of Assetto Corsa will be released on the 22nd of April 2016. So make sure to stick and stay with RaceDepartment.com for all the news and previews concerning Assetto Corsa's upcoming console release and any and all other sim racing and motorsport news!

 

[Tr3voRR]

Man this could potentially do very well especially on PS4 with those guys not getting a racing game in a while. Considering how much kunos have done with 300k sales on steam, that many more on consoles could drum up some serious cash meaning more content, more staff, more features and less grey hair. I think it would make more of the sim devs think about it as well, im sure ISI and Reiza are looking on with interest.

Regardless i hope the game does well.

Really 300k ? that's pretty good, I believe they deseave 1mil with PC alone.

 

[Michael Hornbuckle]

LOL at everybody predicting whether or not AC will be a raging success or dismal failure on console; Only Kunos and the 505 guys know what the target number of copies to sell is. If they sell more than that number, it is a success; less and it is a failure. And either way it will be 505 either raking in the profit or eating the loss; Kunos has already been paid and we the consumers have already benefited from it.

 

[TzZyO]

Can you feel blistering in your wheel? Can you feel any advanced tyre behavior? Can any of us detect the kinds of physical things in a car that pro drivers can?

I have a feeling all that stuff plus "Dusty", "Old", other surface types and temperatures have only the effect of crudely modifying the base tires friction coefficient anyway.

 

[Chris Kennedy]

They're going to release it with the same career that the PC version has now?

That will make for some interesting reviews.

congrats, youre the first person ive seen who hasnt just assumed it will be the same as what we have now, it seems very likely that they will revamp it, otherwise as you say the reviews would be interesting. i hope they do as id like to play it on the pc but at the moment its still as disappointing as when it was first added to the game for me (doesnt feel well thought out, not much care to the selection of opponent cars, having to adjust difficulty often between different classes)

do a decent job with career and have something neat for MP (surely its going to need lobbies/friend invites etc to be a remotely good UX) and I think it will do nicely for kunos.

 

[poet]

@Chris Kennedy

I read some time ago that they were planning a career upgrade for the console release.
The comments above mine seem to imply that they are going to release without that upgrade.

Aside from the fact that I'm sick, like probably most gamers are of "We'll add that later!", I think that's a really poor decision on their behalf.
Modding and leagues (made possible through yet more mods) have kept it alive on PC for a large part, that's not available on console, so a solid Singleplayer experience (far better than we have now) is an absolute must.

 

[Rob]

i hate to say it but assetto corsa will tank on consoles,its just not controller friendly.
no custom championships,no rain,no night,no leaderboards.no real multi player.
yep i see only bad things for it.

There is much wisdom in what you say, I'm afraid. As a console player, I agree and disagree with you. First, we don't have to look far to see the "raging inferno" that happens when making controller play difficult. Putting aside your opinion and my opinion on Project Cars,we can learn a lot from these console pioneers. They took the jump first after all. Many of us console SIM racers (yes, we exist....and can even get close now with new hardware and data streaming) applauded the exquisite difficulty that SMS patched in with 6.0. Then came the "I hate you and will kill your children" forum love letters from console guys. Not all, but a common theme developed -- casual user, console user, no wheel, hotlap king, and usually in a GT3 car.

But we all saw what a very advanced (SETA) Tire Model can do. And, um, wow. So today, patch 8.0 drops that reverts back to 6.0 after SMS "caved" to the whiners before Christmas with patch 7.0. I applaud them for holding their line on tires. And the physics is literally 1000% better than any other racer on the console.

What sunk SMS (and really, with their development and money, they are never really "sunk" now...something Kunos can look forward to) was their inattention to detail (bugs) and their disastrous multi-player experience. To be fair, at least on the Xbox One, I'm not sure Microsoft did not cause much of this, but if Turn 10 can get multi-player perfect (picture a room full of record executives actually creating "Dark Side of the Moon" ), then anyone can. These two things will rocket Assetto to the top of the charts in no time if they can outsmart Microsoft and be bug free. From what I hear, we will have no "physics controversy" in Assetto land. (Prays to baby Jesus).

@Peter Hooper is right. There are many console users (here mostly, but elsewhere too) that will relish the difficulty, talk down the idiots, and look forward to that day where realism and on-line full grids mix like teenagers in love.

@Bram - XBO users can go to 16 except in (you guessed it) Turn 10's Forza 6. I believe the grids are either 22 or 24 in that game for on line play. My question is this -- is cross-platform play even a reality now? Will it be in the future? Is it something that is possible within the Win10 O/S but just needs to be programmed by the devs? Because the XBO has been upgraded and will essentially run on Win10 for it's type. If this does happen, it will be epic. The biggest "next step" out there, especially for us console guys.

 

[Kostadin Kostadinov]

picture a room full of record executives actually creating "Dark Side of the Moon"

That's why I voted for a bloody winner !

 

[Brownninja97]

LOL at everybody predicting whether or not AC will be a raging success or dismal failure on console; Only Kunos and the 505 guys know what the target number of copies to sell is. If they sell more than that number, it is a success; less and it is a failure. And either way it will be 505 either raking in the profit or eating the loss; Kunos has already been paid and we the consumers have already benefited from it.

kunos still get a cut, dev cut is generally around 5-40%(commonly) even after a loan from the producers. I expect around 50-100k on consoles unless reviews are very good or very bad. IGN and gamespot are gonna make a massive difference. PS4 players are really wanting a racing game as its been a while since they have got one. If reviews go well it will sell big

 

[Grand Tourist]

Remember a few things:

IT'S JUST A GAME
Kunos is still a small team. They have lives, families, and thank God AC doesn't take up their whole lives.
As a small team, every day is a triage: work on the most important issues. Believe me when I say that Stefano and the rest understand some of the issues you raise, BE PATIENT. I've been a part of the forum site almost since it's inception, and way before 0.1 update! There once was a time when there was no visible damage, no engine failure, no graining on the tyres, no rolling resistance algorithm, etc. ad infinitum...but over the years these features have arrived. Hell, I remember messaging Luca about no disc glow like another favorite game of mine...I waited TWO YEARS, but I was patient. And lo and behold, with 1.3, DISC GLOW! Patience is an admirable virtue.

I for one am patient till the end...maybe it's because I'm a hardcore modder and I understand what's involved and what's at stake...till more AC features, I am 100% happy hotlapping, because I trust Kunos and they've yet to disappoint me.

I agree. AC is a game for patient sim racers and even more for hard core modders. The possibilities are endless if one can find the knowledge and patience to experiment with all that valuable data. Being a fanatic veteran enthusiast of the genres biggest game and developper called Gran Turismo by Polyphony, it has always been my wet sim racing dream to develop my own driving classes and modify all car data and design own liveries and even develop own tracks. I am now thanks to AC and Kunos and to this community capable of designing my own liveries and since recently thanks to a little program called quickbms capable of modding car data which enables me to create my own competition classes for personal use only of course. I will also try to get knowledge of track developping. Anyway, my personal interest aside, the pc platform provides the best and deepest experience of this game if only one finds the knowledge and takes his time to het to know the full potential of it. I used to be impatient and impulsive too, now I am intriged and in over my head to learn all of the games data. I can tune cars freely, I can design liveries, I can alter weather settings, I can change GUI and textures, ....and so on. Take your time and become well educated in modding. Thank you Kunos and thanks community

 

[Gray Fox]

Are you missing many things? I enjoyed netKar with far fewer things you have Assetto Corsa, now missing little things to be very good.

To me what I really miss is the speed limiter box is not logical that you can get to 200km / h per box and gradually reduce your speed, you need a system that punishes this. A button is needed to limit the speed of the car.
It would also be very welcome to make a false start and realistic penalties for such cases.

Another thing I like is that metieran more categories, V8 Supercars, BTCC, WTCC, DTM, Karts, Rally, Nascar ... And stop introduce GT3 repeated, repeated street cars ..

Rain, night ... would be a great complement, but do not think is necessary.

 

[Steve Bird]

This is what Stefano said on AC official forum:
:

I hope this is a success, but I couldn't stand racing with gamers on joypads (Much like a lot do on PCARS), however, it would be good with the wheel owners. Some of the joypadders, and I did say some, act like mobile chicanes who always punt you off unintentionally due to the constant weaving.

 

[Michael Hornbuckle]

Some of the joypadders, and I did say some, act like mobile chicanes who always punt you off unintentionally due to the constant weaving.

And no wheel owners ever do that, right?

 

[Steve Bird]

And no wheel owners ever do that, right?

I didn't mean it to become a bitching session. However, a lot of joypad racers are having to adjust their steering by small left and right inputs to stay straight. I didn't say that they were doing it on purpose did I? I also said that "Some", not all, of the people do this.

As for wheel players, I agree that there are a lot of dicks out there who are out to spoil people's fun. However, it's my opinion that it's a pain in the ass with some joypadders jinking left and right constantly throughout a race making it near impossible to pass without a collision.

There's nothing I would like more than to play alongside my console owning friends but I have reservations on the quality of races due to my own feelings on the matter. However, I'm sure there are plenty of console gamers out there that own wheels or have their joypads set up to prevent the weaving.

Like I said this is just my opinion as I thought I was allowed to do that here, unlike VirtualR.

 

[Bram Hengeveld]

I expect around 50-100k on consoles unless reviews are very good or very bad.

Way way over that. Even RACE Pro sold more than that. That game had an epic first week of sales on the Xbox 360 and because of all the bugs (thanks again for the awesome non-Quality Assurance Atari!) that were discovered after release the sales fell of the cliff in week 2. Still I think it sold over 150K copies. In general an epic game that was launched too soon, with too many bugs.

Could be a possible scenario for AC as well if they haven't fixed the MP bugs / design choices that are still on the PC side of things. First week will be the deciding factor.

But thankfully in their new year's speech they said that Artificial Intelligence is the holy grail of any racing game, so who cares about multiplayer eh [/Sheldon]

 

[Brownninja97]

Way way over that. Even RACE Pro sold more than that. That game had an epic first week of sales on the Xbox 360 and because of all the bugs (thanks again for the awesome non-Quality Assurance Atari!) that were discovered after release the sales fell of the cliff in week 2. Still I think it sold over 150K copies. In general an epic game that was launched too soon, with too many bugs.

Could be a possible scenario for AC as well if they haven't fixed the MP bugs / design choices that are still on the PC side of things. First week will be the deciding factor.

But thankfully in their new year's speech they said that Artificial Intelligence is the holy grail of any racing game, so who cares about multiplayer eh

well i hope they enjoy the extra funding. 505 are clever for seeing the opportunity, consoles are lacking, they see a rather saucy racing game getting nods by big news guys like IGN, Jalopnik and Top Gear. I just want to drive that Praga car they announced, just seems so nice, i like seeing unique cars and i like that they seemed to recognise how games inspire fans, penny racers made me want a 911(dont ask), granturismo made me want a skyline, assetto corsa made me want a everything. Am i being selfish by saying i want them to sell more so they have more money to spend on licenses. They will get that reliant robin like one day.

 

[DewCrew88]

Best of luck to them....

At least their forums are now cleared of a lot of the issues the community has with the game, so the curious will get a good accurate picture of how things actually are with AC.

More like the forums were cleared of differing opinions so everyone can continue in the Stockholm syndrome mentality.

LOL at everybody predicting whether or not AC will be a raging success or dismal failure on console; Only Kunos and the 505 guys know what the target number of copies to sell is. If they sell more than that number, it is a success; less and it is a failure. And either way it will be 505 either raking in the profit or eating the loss; Kunos has already been paid and we the consumers have already benefited from it.

You told me Stefano and co doesn't really care what happens, kunos is already from paid 505 and the number doesn't matter. It's about funding AC2.

Way way over that. Even RACE Pro sold more than that. That game had an epic first week of sales on the Xbox 360 and because of all the bugs (thanks again for the awesome non-Quality Assurance Atari!) that were discovered after release the sales fell of the cliff in week 2. Still I think it sold over 150K copies. In general an epic game that was launched too soon, with too many bugs.

Could be a possible scenario for AC as well if they haven't fixed the MP bugs / design choices that are still on the PC side of things. First week will be the deciding factor.

But thankfully in their new year's speech they said that Artificial Intelligence is the holy grail of any racing game, so who cares about multiplayer eh [/Sheldon]

Agree, but remember Race Pro worked as advertised

Edit should say has features standard for s modern game

 

[Austin Ogonoski]

Customers debating sales figures... Why do y'all even care? Man when my buddy gets the runs from Taco Bell at work, I don't knock on the stall door and be all "bro, look on the bright side, the Chicken Quesadilla sold more in 2015 than McDonalds poutine!"

 

[Brownninja97]

Customers debating sales figures... Why do y'all even care? Man when my buddy gets the runs from Taco Bell at work, I don't knock on the stall door and be all "bro, look on the bright side, the Chicken Quesadilla sold more in 2015 than McDonalds poutine!"

its all about getting more interest in sim racing, for example its like how battlefield players craved something more realistic and so they played project reality, arma or americas army(not the best metaphor but you get the point). With more interest comes more devs. Regardless of whether you like Assetto corsa or not money makes businesses flourish. For example it could mean codemasters throw out a dirt rally sort of sim for touring cars. I seriously want this genre to be more popular so there are more options, so that there is more competitors which drives innovation. Yes popularity causes problems but with more sim racers it means more sales, all the sims benefit. you can bet ISI and Reiza are interested, iRacing guys dont care because they get enough as it is.

 

[Chris]

More like the forums were cleared of differing opinions so everyone can continue in the Stockholm syndrome mentality.
You told me Stefano and co doesn't really care what happens, kunos is already from paid 505 and the number doesn't matter. It's about funding AC2.
Agree, but remember Race Pro worked as advertised
Edit should say has features standard for s modern game

For someone who claims to be so relieved to be rid of AC since Sept. 2015 and is now happily playing other "feature complete" games, you certainly seem to do a lot of commenting here on AC-related things.

I mean, I'm not a huge fan of R3E, but you don't see me going onto the R3E section and provoking people.

Just live and let live.

 

[Austin Ogonoski]

For someone who claims to be so relieved to be rid of AC since Sept. 2015 and is now happily playing other "feature complete" games, you certainly seem to do a lot of commenting here on AC-related things.

I mean, I'm not a huge fan of R3E, but you don't see me going onto the R3E section and provoking people.

Just live and let live.

The more people that suck up and exhibit a minor form of Stockholm Syndrome, the more it hurts sim racing. Developers actively monitor the competition, as well as the reaction from the customers, and if one game sets a precedent, others will follow.

Ultimate Team was an odd-ball feature in a FIFA game from 2007 (I think it was the UEFA Champions League title). Now it's in every EA Sports game, and consistently makes the news for little kids racking up $9000 in credit card bills.

Grid introduced the rewind mechanic. Now it's everywhere from Forza to NASCAR.

iRacing took the concept of paying for each piece of content to new heights. A handful of years later, we've got SimRaceway, R3E, and even MX vs. ATV Alive with the same awful pricing model.

The Forza series really nailed the in-game livery editor functionality. Suddenly it's in Need for Speed and NASCAR 15.

rFactor 2 has dynamic track surfaces? It appears in iRacing a few years later.

A laser scanned Nordschleife shows up in Assetto Corsa? iRacing and R3E follow suit.

Objectively, there are some things Assetto Corsa does extremely poorly, things that fanboys desperately push under the rug or downplay. If Kunos can get away with poor AI or simply omit things like night racing or wet weather driving, don't be upset if Reiza also writes it off as well in 2017.