PC1 I just can't settle with pcars? Is it just me?

[Ichthus]

For some reason I just can't get into it.

I've all the addon packs. I've spent so much time tweaking the settings...and it just seems to be missing something. It never looks as good as the promo videos even though I've a good rig. The FFB never seems to give me a great feel. The shadows are all over the place and some tracks look very good and some look poor.

I don't think I'll ever be buying any more addons.

Am I the only one that's getting to the point of uninstalling and moving on? It's just 'not doing it for me'....could be me not necessarily the game.

I also get the feeling I'm playing a game and not a sim sometimes....

 

[Hor-hay]

It's just taking up hard drive space for me at the moment. I keep thinking maybe I'll go back and finish my career but I never do. When I do go back to try the latest free car or something it just feels kind of meh.

 

[Sele1981]

Some things are great like the FFB. But some things are pretty bad like the physics. It is a sim when you drive straight or brake. But as soon as the car tries to under/oversteer there are some invisible steering assists active. It would have been a great sim when they would not have decided to bring it on the consoles. At least thats what I´ve read many times. The physics were great as it was in development but then went simcade Forza physics. Sad sad, it had so much potential.

What bugs me the most are the white jaggy lines. I can´t eliminate them no matter what AA setting I use. Not with DS4x, not with 8x AA in the AMD driver, nothing helps. The white lines on the track jump all over the track. No other game has this.

 

[CCL71]

I honestly want to enjoy PCARS more but the numb steering puts a damper on it for me. I read how people experience great FFB and I would love to know how since everything I've tried hasn't worked. I have the tweaker files installed and that helps when going over bumps and curbs but I have no idea how much grip I have. It feels overly damped when I turn the wheel.. In any regard, I like a lot of things about it but with the damped steering, PCARS is an occasional arcade game for me.

@Sele1981 I don't know if it's the same thing, but I had some white lines also. I ended up turning down the sharpness setting on my tv to 0. That greatly improved not only PCARS but all of my games. Just a thought.

 

[Dan Allen]

Yup, I agree with everything here. Uninstalled it. Im no expert on FFB or physics, but there's something going on with pCARS and it aint nice. Like the OP, I will not buy any more DLC, nor will I buy pCARS 2.

 

[F_B]

I've played PCars several hours (ca 125 hours), but after all I have to say that I don’t enjoy the FFB as much as in Assetto Corsa, AMS, RRE for example. Though I installed Jack Spade’s tweaker files it’s still not as enjoyable as the other titles. What I don’t get is their decision to establish thousands of FFB options. It’s insane.

 

[xnorb]

I don't like that control is so often taken from me (in pits, there's also no formation lap, right?)
Tried the career mode (as that's the really big thing of pCars) didn't like it at all being put in kart races with absolutely no experience with the kart or the tracks. No clue who came up with that idea.

Then it started screwing with my windows background (always removes the wallpaper for no reason) and well, then Reiza decided to switch to overdrive and since then i had no reason to start pCars again ... i have only 4 hours logged in and haven't even installed it right now.
Guess i'll just install it again and see what they have done in the meantime.
Hope they have at least a solid default FFB setting for the G27 by now.
I want a "authentic" base FFB setup, don't want to "design" my own FFB, that's not the point of a sim, i want what real world data and the physics engine decides to be the feedback.

 

[Sele1981]

They have done nothing Not even the promised tripple screen support.

But on the FFB side, they improved it shortly after release. I used the jack spade files at the release but now I am quite happy with the standard Pcars FFB without doing any adjustments.

Sadly we´ll get antother simcade racer here that is only focused on making money. It started as a real sim (as it was in development) but ended in the Gran Turismo / Forza range. So no Pcars 2 for me, thanks... But they´ll make a lot of money without me, so they don´t give a ish about sim racers anyway anymore... But they forgot that the sim racers actually made Pcars possible...

 

[Rodent]

I'd say uninstall and move on, if it fails to engage you at the moment then it probably never will.

I quite like it since I enjoy it's content a fair bit and the clubraces are a hoot.

Give R3E and AC a try? Both have seen some amazing development the past 12 months.

 

[Sele1981]

Yeah I am actually very happy with AC and iRacing. AMS has the killer physics but the visuals are a bit of a problem.

 

[Adam#81]

I honestly want to enjoy PCARS more but the numb steering puts a damper on it for me. I read how people experience great FFB and I would love to know how since everything I've tried hasn't worked. I have the tweaker files installed and that helps when going over bumps and curbs but I have no idea how much grip I have. It feels overly damped when I turn the wheel.. In any regard, I like a lot of things about it but with the damped steering, PCARS is an occasional arcade game for me.

@Sele1981 I don't know if it's the same thing, but I had some white lines also. I ended up turning down the sharpness setting on my tv to 0. That greatly improved not only PCARS but all of my games. Just a thought.

Sounds like you are clipping your FFB. What wheel do you have?

I get the feeling that most people who can't seem to enjoy PCars have not setup their FFB properly. It can seem like a PhD is required but after some time you begin to get what it is all the sliders are doing.

@xnorb well too bad, that is your feeling about what the FFB should be. Their fault is not that they didn't give you the option to tweak it as you see fit. Their fault is that they didn't provide people with good default profiles for the major wheels. Otherwise the control you have over the the FFB is unprecedented in my opinion.

Guys seriously, if you don't want to go to the official forum and look for FFB settings, just tell me your wheel make and I ll try and provide them for you.

 

[Andy_J]

I'm pretty sure users should not have to meddle and visit forums just to get some basic FFB working.

 

[Adam#81]

I agree with you, no question here, but that's how it is for this title. You need to get involved to get anywhere. If you are not prepared to do that, you will not enjoy this game. The one bad thing about PCars is that nothing is as straightforward as one would assume it should be.

It just makes me a little sad when people give up so easily on some things, because I know that the FFB has great potential.

 

[Dan Allen]

I agree with you, no question here, but that's how it is for this title. You need to get involved to get anywhere. If you are not prepared to do that, you will not enjoy this game. The one bad thing about PCars is that nothing is as straightforward as one would assume it should be.

It just makes me a little sad when people give up so easily on some things, because I know that the FFB has great potential.

People are going to give up if they feel they need to go and do a degree at university just to programme basic FFB. There's an old acronym:

K.I.S.S.

Keep It Simple, Stupid

 

[Cote Dazur]

I get the feeling that most people who can't seem to enjoy PCars have not setup their FFB properly.

I have the feeling that if there was a way for SMS to have a set up that allow to enjoy PCars for more than an entertaining racing game and fell like a SIM they would provide a FFB set up to prove it instead of hiding the issues behind a wall of settings.
There is room for a game like PCars and it can be fun, all is needed is to take it for what it is, but not too seriously.

 

[xnorb]

It just makes me a little sad when people give up so easily on some things, because I know that the FFB has great potential.

Well, a racing sim is about how it drives and how it feels.
SMS faield to deliver a solid default FFB for the major wheels on the market and this is something i still can't wrap my mind around. Thousands of people test the game for years and nobody realizes that there's no good FFB available?

And i'm absolutely with you: It's great that you have so many FFB options (although they aren't needed as shown by the other competitors in the sim market and feel like a replacement for "real" FFB) but having a solid base setup is a must.

 

[Rodent]

I had a much harder time dialing in R3E then I did Project Cars FFB so I'll probably be useless advice to anyone who doesn't enjoy it.

I will however question how someone can be into Simracing and not tinkering with settings from software to hardware. For me it's very much a part of the hobby. But that's more of a general tangent and only marginally related to Project Cars.

 

[xnorb]

If you're using a Logitech wheel, shut down the Profiler before launching R3E.
Changes worlds for me.

 

[CCL71]

@Adam#81 Thanks for the suggestion. This isn't clipping that i'm feeling, it's a constant, thick, over-damped feeling that numbs the experience. There is no difference between grip and no grip from the the front tires. Take the sweeper at Road America for instance...it's a steady state turn but to get through it, you need to feel when the car is pushing out. In PCARs, I can't. Or take the tight hairpins and Le Mans, I can see the car pushing out but there is nothing coming through the wheel that says, I've lost grip. The only time, my wheel goes light is if I lock up the fronts while turning. At which point, I'll feel a slight decrease in FFB that lets me know I've locked my tires.

To your point about getting involved, I've been on the forums and have tried many suggestions to no avail. I've had the game since introduction and have spent more time trying to find a a good FFB setting than I have in any other game. I'm using the tweaker files now and have come to the conclusion that this is the best it will get. As someone posted earlier, if it takes too much work to enjoy a game, users will just move on to something else; I have friends who have done just that. I enjoy the sites and sounds enough to keep coming back to it though.

I'm using a T300rs. My overall gain setting is 85% and everything else is at 100% with the exception of Damper, which is at 0. Auto-Center is set to In-Game. I know what clipping feels like as I learned the hard way with my old Fanatec Forza CSR wheel. :-( I'm well below clipping in Iracing and my other sims.

The tweaker file that I'm using is the 65% SoP Lateral. I've tried others and they do have different feels but none of them communicate understeer very well.

Like I've said before, I"m not bashing PCARS, I enjoy other aspects of it so I focus on those things. But I can't call it a complete package as long as the FFB feels this way.

 

[Adam#81]

Well, as it turns out, I also drive with a T300 although it is a the Intregral version with the 599XX rim, which is a little larger and probably heavier. If you don't mind, try my settings and if you still aren't liking the result i can't help any further, i m no guru in FFB either.

Windows Control Panel: Strength 75%, Constant 100%, rest at 0. 900rotation and let the game handle the autocentring.

In-game:
TireForce 75
PWM: -0.02 PWMS: 0.01 WPS: 0.03 (i haven't tested this much, i left it at default)
DeadzoneRemovalRange: 0.16, DRFalloff: 0.016 (clicking arrows changes values but is not displayed)
Linkages at defaults (0, 1.00, 1.00)
Relatives Adjust Gain: 1.35, Bleed: 0.10, Clamp: 0.85 up to 2.00 whatever (i ll explain after the settings)
SoftClipping: 0.00 for both
The spring whatever their names are, I dont bother, they are for very low speed forces (like under 10mph)
Steering Gain: 1.00 or a little more like 1.02-1.05 (makes a big difference even at such low increments.

The way I set up my FFB is that I don't get any clipping, even with Relative Adjusts at 0.00 and SoftClips at 0.00 (which cutoff clipping). So RAClamp wont be doing much (if anything) at more than 1.00, since my forces don't exceed the 1.00 value. I have a higher DeadzoneRRange than usually because the 599XX rim is a little heavier and wider than the T300RS default rim and so it offers more resistance for both those reasons.

Another thing to note is that you are using the the 66% Lateral tweek files. This means that from the total force that you will be receiving at your hands, 34% is from thefront tires and 66% is from the rear. So your complain is valid but it is made worse by your choice of Files. Just to make sure this is the case, try "Folder2: Fy+SoPLateral Mix", this might be the cause for it. I m using Folder 2 as well, but 1 is fine too, I haven't tried Folder 3 for a while now since I am happy with no2.

If that all still makes you unhappy, I can't help more Just give them some time to adjust and of course if you need them stronger, raise the TF slightly, or if you need more rumble from the FFB raise RAGain to 1.50 or more. Hope it works for you.