PC2 Ferrari 488 Challenge Heads List Project Cars 2 Update Notes

[Paul Jeffrey]

Project CARS 2 has been updated on PC, now includes the new Ferrari 488 Challenge race car and selected liveries.

Deployed to PC today with console versions expected to launch "imminently", the fifth patch for Project CARS 2 is here and comes with a nice selection of fixes and improvements to the racing title, headlined by the brand new Ferrari 488 Challenge car that comes to the simulation at no additional cost.

Alongside the headline grabbing new Ferrari, other highlights from patch 5 include two new layouts to the Leipzig circuit, various AI improvements under multiple weather conditions and an annoying issue that causes drivers to be stuck on track during various official sessions.

Update 5 Change Notes:

• Addition of the Ferrari 488 Challenge car, and liveries from the 2017 Ferrari Challenge series. This is the latest Ferrari to feature in Maranello’s single-marque championship, and the most powerful car in the series’ 25-year history.  
  
• Addition of two new layouts to the Porsche Leipzig on-road circuit.
  
• Corrected a small number of turbo and suspension issues on various cars.
  
• Resolved an issue where some drivers would appear stuck on track during qualification or race session.
  
• Resolved an issue where the end of race results would display incorrectly.
  
• Resolved multiple ghost loading issues in time trial.
  
• Polished the Online Reputation calculations, including tweaks for when players retire due to excess damage.
  
• Corrected an occasional issue of players being taken to the wrong lobby if the host set up a new lobby whilst the old one was populated.
  
• Mechanical failures no longer include aerodynamic damage.
  
• Various improvements to the AI at a number of tracks and conditions.
  
• Solved an issue in career when, under certain circumstances, the standings would not display correctly.
  
• Multiple other miscellaneous fixes and optimisations.

Project CARS 2 is available now on Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC.

Check out the Project CARS 2 sub forum here at RaceDepartment for more news, discussion and features on this sequel release to the hugely popular Project CARS franchise of games.

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Like the new update? Enjoying the new 488 Challenge? Let us know in the comments section below!

 

[sjb266]

According to Steam Charts, average players

1. AC about 1700
2. PCars2 about 1100

3. Rfactor2 about 400
.
.
4 Raceroom about 300

Got your answer?

Yes.. about 1100 people

Thanks Emerson!

 

[Pepper606]

1099 now.
Damn update!
I was on the shortest Leipzig track going up the beautiful hill in the new Ferrari and I KNOW I am on a phenomenal lap. I only have to get round the 2nd bend.
Only....
SNAP!!! I broke my Fanatec wheel rim!!!!
I was gripping and pulling a bit I guess
I am hoping I can bond the parts back together, not sure about my heart ..
I LOVE that wheel

 

[wombat999]

wasted my time trying this. Could of been driving rf2 new update etc.
this to me is still a forza alternative semi realistic console racer.
nevermind. Never again

rf2!

 

[dreamer al]

I am always happy with anything FREE!!!......YAY!!!

 

[aka2k]

Something I hate about Pcars 2: terrible anti-aliasing. Other than that, I really like this game.

 

[ChaosZeroJK]

According to Steam Charts, average players

1. AC about 1700
2. PCars2 about 1100

3. Rfactor2 about 400
.
.
4 Raceroom about 300

Got your answer?

That just does more harm than good in proving your point, whatever it might be.

A game that came out in 2012 is still having more players than a game that came out in 2017 and 2 games that have had no marketing campaigns of any relevance outside the niche groups still manage to attract 1/3 of the playerbase.

pC2 tanked hard and can't retain even their own playerbase from pC1.

 

[Erik Frisen]

That just does more harm than good in proving your point, whatever it might be.

A game that came out in 2012 is still having more players than a game that came out in 2017 and 2 games that have had no marketing campaigns of any relevance outside the niche groups still manage to attract 1/3 of the playerbase.

pC2 tanked hard and can't retain even their own playerbase from pC1.

Guess what, sometimes people don't argue about what is the best sim but rather just have simple question about them with simple answers like this one. Someone asked if people are still playing this game, and this nice fellow answered his question with some numbers. You're welcome

 

[Andrew Harper]

Guess what, sometimes people don't argue about what is the best sim but rather just have simple question about them with simple answers like this one. Someone asked if people are still playing this game, and this nice fellow answered his question with some numbers. You're welcome

1. The one other thing that occurs to me is that in recent history, AC is probably the most modded sim at the moment. So the amount of content is huge (some great, some not so great of course) whereas with PC2 you are limited to what you get with the base package. If you were taking figures of users using stock content the figure would probably be much closer.
2. Out of all of them AC probably has the largest league following. Which would have a bearing on player figures. After that maybe RF2.

I'm a member on a few racing forums and one of them runs about half a dozen PC2 leagues. All of them have a good number of people taking part so the audience is there for sure.

I've been using PC2 offline for about a month, really enjoying it. No the AI is not perfect but the visuals, day/night transitions, weather and so on are nice to have in a race sim. My only major gripe is I suppose the sound could be much better for some cars.

The free Ferrari is a nice touch though. Looking forward to trying it at the weekend.

 

[Damage Inc]

bellend's out in force again I see. Bejaysus play another record lads it's a damning indictment on your collective intelligence (which I think is on par with a dung beetle...and yes I did say collective). You don't like the game or the devs big whoop MANY people enjoying the game and seeing as AC is held in very high esteem (by me as well) to get close to that games player figures on PC is decent enough. Hell I'm still playing PCARS trying to get the last non online achievement and having a blast, after that I'm getting stuck into PC2 (IOM permitting).

 

[2stains]

No way! I cant believe that SMS actually gave us something free

Its SMS were talking about not Sector 3, lol
SMS have been giving stuff with every patch for pC1.

 

[Peter Kerényi]

Something I hate about Pcars 2: terrible anti-aliasing. Other than that, I really like this game.

This, a hundred times. This is why I can't get into the game. The first setting that looks reasonable on 1080p is High SS. But it kills frames so much. AC, R3E, AMS run smooth and without jaggies at 8xAA with full grids. Because of the AA PC2 can't beat them even graphically in the same conditions. (On a GTX 1060 6GB BTW.)

If anybody has any tips, tweaks, etc. I am all ears (or eyes in this case).

 

[David Wright]

A game that came out in 2012 is still having more players than a game that came out in 2017

AC did not come out in 2012, early access came out in November 2013, with final release version in Dec 2014.

Still having more players? This implies that older games shouldn't have more users than newer ones. This depends on your business model. If you follow the traditional model and release your game with all its planned features and support it for 6 months or a year then this is usually true.

However, if you develop your platform adding new features and content regularly over a period of years you can grow your player base, as that other "old" game iRacing which came out in 2008 proves. Although development of AC has now stopped, it followed a similar strategy to iRacing by adding new features and content. As a result Steamcharts figures show that ACs highest average player numbers over a month actually peaked in January this year. Its age is very much on its side. If you compare a six month old PC2 with a 6 month old AC, PC2 has a larger active userbase. Will PC2 follow in ACs footsteps and significantly grow its active userbase over 4 1/2 years? I seriously doubt it since new content is only planned for 12 months.

pC2 tanked hard and can't retain even their own playerbase from pC1.

PC2 did not sell as well as PC1. However, Steamcharts shows that the active playerbase is very similar to PC1 six months from release.

 

[melanieuk]

is anyone still playing this game?

Yes it's the second most played racing sim on steam, whilst ALL ISI motor engine powered games struggle to get 400 players on a daily basis, they are not popular at all.

 

[Msportdan]

400 players know a good sim title when they see one.

 

[Leynad777]

A game that came out in 2012 is still having more players than a game that came out in 2017 and 2 games that have had no marketing campaigns of any relevance outside the niche groups still manage to attract 1/3 of the playerbase.

pC2 tanked hard and can't retain even their own playerbase from pC1.

Over 6k play Farming Simulator 17. Maybe you should switch to that, because must be better...

 

[Deleted member 113561]

Something I hate about Pcars 2: terrible anti-aliasing. Other than that, I really like this game.

Experiment with the settings, also driver side.
Best results I always got is in combination with Super Sampling (Medium), but it eats a lot of resources ...

Because of the AA PC2 can't beat them even graphically in the same conditions.

Buy some new glasses ...

 

[gamer19]

Something I hate about Pcars 2: terrible anti-aliasing. Other than that, I really like this game.

This, a hundred times. This is why I can't get into the game. The first setting that looks reasonable on 1080p is High SS. But it kills frames so much. AC, R3E, AMS run smooth and without jaggies at 8xAA with full grids. Because of the AA PC2 can't beat them even graphically in the same conditions. (On a GTX 1060 6GB BTW.)
If anybody has any tips, tweaks, etc. I am all ears (or eyes in this case).

I agree about this. AA in PC2 isn't the really the best one.
I use SweetFX for it (and in this game I use it strictly for AA cause in all honesty PC2 looks amazing all by itself), it does take away a few frames but hey... which AA option doesn't ? And I think it's really worth it. The version of SweetFx which I use is some older I believe and I use second option of AA (can't tell exact name now, I'm not at home) but it does blur the sharp edges ...nicely. SweetFx is easy to turn off/on so I sometimes turn it off during the race start.

Regarding all this "this game plays this much people on steam and the other one - that much"...
I can say for me it's just pointless talk cause I play mostly offline and why whould I care for those numbers. And tbh although I love AC and I appreciate it's physics, FFB, mods and in general cars behaviour... I rearely start it now since I have PC2. It just feels ...more complete somehow, more fun, just turn it up, relax and enjoy your ride... While look truly amazing.

And, when we already talk about modding stuff... sometimes, don't get me wrong I love it, but many of us can't control themselves and we download them all but many of them are not that good, almost all not even close to vanilla game content, and you end up with one game full of all kind of rubish - which, what is the worst, you don't play at all. So I often wonder what's the point... gathering them like some neurotic hamster on Red Bull and cocaine - if you won't really play them on ?

Sometimes one can appreciate still such a huge number of cars and tracks combined with SMS policy agains allowing modding cause you can be sure that everything you have in your game is the very same quality and you don't have to think twice "should I try this car (or track), was it any good?" don't know will you agree with me but in all honesty... that's not the point.
I feel that way.
And I'm a bit like Monk you know...
Like 'em neat and tidy.

 

[ChaosZeroJK]

Over 6k play Farming Simulator 17. Maybe you should switch to that, because must be better...

Perhaps because an arcade game with "simulator" in the title actually does something right compared to all "real" simulators combined.

I mean, it's not a broken mess that requires 6+ months to fix everytime, for starters.
Full modding support even on consoles (even on PS4 where it's very hard because Sony is very strict about mods).
It doesn't break mods with every tiny patch.
Developers don't harass their own communities/customers.
Communities that help each other instead of debating whether game X is better than Y or Z, which leads to pathetic pissing contests between few regulars here and elsewhere.
Price tag actually quite fair compared to what the game (+dlcs) offers.
It's a relaxing game to play every now and then for when you're out of internet connection.

I already have my fix of fake-real "simulator", which is Mechanic Simulator 2015. 2018 is unoptimized trash, 2015 is actually better. But thank you for your concern. It's going to be useful for when I'll run out of toilet paper next time I'm taking care of business.

 

[Damage Inc]

Bah you young'uns moaning about "jaggies"....try playing Doom on a 386sx 16 mhz.....now THAT's jaggies!! Steps so big Mario could play on 'em.

(I actually agree, AA does seem worse)

But in a nutshell I can say what I prefer about PC1+2. They make me feel like a race car driver, the little details immerse me so much more than the other sims. The others (while being excellent sims) just make me feel like I'm playing a sim game. They have no atmosphere and are pretty much sterile in comparison (my opinions only). But I still love the others for what they do well.

 

[Emery]

Yes it's the second most played racing sim on steam, whilst ALL ISI motor engine powered games struggle to get 400 players on a daily basis, they are not popular at all.

pCARS 2 is third most popular after F1 2017.