Kunos End of Year Message Hints at Future Plans

[Paul Jeffrey]

Marco Massarutto of Kunos Simulazioni has released the now traditional end of year message to fans of Assetto Corsa, with some interesting insights revealed...

Launched across the various Assetto Corsa social media channels earlier this afternoon, Massarutto pays homage to the work undertaken to get Assetto Corsa to the stage it finds itself today, whilst dropping the most significant hints yet that a new project could well be under way in the not too distant future... read on for the full New Year message post from Kunos:

Since we started the Assetto Corsa project, each year we have experienced something remarkable: in 2011 we unveiled the new IP, in 2012 we presented the game at Gamescom and announced the Ferrari licence, granted to an independent production for the first time ever. In 2013 the game was released in Early Access, in 2014 we launched version 1.0, in 2015 we introduced the Lamborghini licence and released the first version of the Nürburgring Nordschleife based entirely on laserscan data. In 2016, we released the simulation to consoles thanks to the partnership with 505Games, and announced the Porsche Programme, which brought the very best selection of Porsche cars in a genuine simulation after 13 years. In 2017, we celebrated the 70th anniversary of Ferrari with a dedicated pack that is one of the most successful DLC packages ever released for Assetto Corsa. More importantly, throughout the years our entire team has worked hard to improve every single aspect of the simulation: adding new features and improving physics, performance and the underlying tyre model as well as single- and multiplayer features, with the aim to provide our fans with a driving simulation that can keep high standards in vehicle modelling, sound effects, handling and gaming features. This long-term support has been possible thanks to our loyal user base and all those sim racers and gamers who have purchased our product and given us suggestions and positive criticism day after day with the aim to improve the game. The free Bonus Pack #3 recently released is dedicated to all of them.

Another remarkable event in 2017 was when Kunos Simulazioni became part of Digital Bros, a decision that as founders of the studio, Stefano Casillo and I, made with the objective to consolidate the team, guarantee more stability, strength and resources for the present and future of the company.

Yes, the future: what can you expect now? As I have said, Assetto Corsa has kept Kunos Simulazioni busy for almost seven years, and we have continued to update the game for three years following its 1.0 release. Assetto Corsa is not just a “game"; it is based on a technology designed and developed in-house, which is not a secondary detail, given that this is the technology that will determine and define the quality, gameplay and potential of the games to be based on it down the line. This is why we dedicated years to improve an engine that had originally been conceived in 2011, and this is why during 2017 we also dedicated time and resources to R&D activities that will define what we are going to be busy with in the years to come.

In 2011, Assetto Corsa was conceived to be a moddable platform featuring - possibly - 20 cars, 5 tracks and the basic functionalities typical of a driving simulation. Today, it offers 177 cars in 20 classes and genres, 19 tracks in 35 configurations, an offline career, custom championships, a solid multiplayer experience and much more, not to mention the ongoing support for modding, which has seen improvements through the years and resulted in an incredible collection of third-party content created by a dedicated community. And sometime we still can't believe that Assetto Corsa has gone so far.

But it is not just the software that has changed and evolved throughout these years, but also the company itself. What was once a group of four guys trying to wage war on the most established names in the business is now a bigger team. Finding the "right people" to insert into such a peculiar working environment such as Kunos Simulazioni is not an easy task, and it's something that has kept us busy during 2017 as well. I am glad to say that the results are encouraging and the future looks bright thanks to the new talents we were able to add to our team and that will join the ranks alongside the founders me and Stefano, the guys of the "old guard" who joined us since the beginning and all the other people you've learned to know during this adventure.

All of the above thanks also to our new "Benevolent Overlords" in Digital Bros, allowing us to think and dream bigger than we could only a few months ago.

Talking about the Team, in 2017 we welcomed four new programmers specialized respectively in graphics and gfx, UI and animations, mechanic and physics, online racing environment and ranking, with the aim to improve in those areas that can make your experience with Assetto Corsa games better and better.

There is always a margin for improvement: even after a lot of hard work to reduce this margin throughout a long development period, 2017 was a highly important year to us to define the new basis in the technology we will use in future. Even today, the community keeps asking for something new, and that is great as it means that you continue to keep us involved in fuelling your hobby, passion and training tools. To meet your expectations, and to support the features that our current technology cannot manage, some – actually a lot of – work will be required. So, it's time to move forward.

When it arrived, there had been nothing like Assetto Corsa before. We are working hard to replicate this feeling with what there is to come in the future. - Marco Massarutto, Assetto Corsa's Brand & Product Manager

Want to know more about how Kunos go about making cars for Assetto Corsa? Well worth a watch:

Assetto Corsa, available now for PC, Xbox One and PlayStation 4.

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.

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What do you make of the end of year message from Marco? Looking forward to the future of Assetto Corsa / Kunos? Let us know in the comments section below!

 

[Ricoow]

What I am hoping is actual eSports support by providing an extensive 2nd screen application with all kinds of camera options. No more scrolling, no more random or fixed interval messages on screen, but at directors choice Click of a button. Custom Race Control messages etc.
I know its a very big feature with only a very small user group probably, but one can dream right?

Also driver swaps.

 

[whip]

I think its just sad that all what people want from a new game is moar features instead of improved physics and FFB. If I want more game I would play PC2. I went from PC1 to AC because of the way better physics and FFB. My personal question would be what will Kunos be able to achieve with that new engine? What will they improve? How much more simulation will it become? Will they finally get rid of the pendulum effect in FFB, will they introduce a better transition from static friction to gliding friction? Will they create an engine that uses all what my Wheelbase 2.5 can do with 1000hz? Thats whats important for me. Not night and rain or any gimmicks. I want an improvement what already made me a fan - The simulation. I hope they don´t go the opposite direction into PC2 territory.

why do we want that stuff? its simple, first and formost this is still a computer game, the game part is massively missing from assetto corsa

 

[RMR1]

why do we want that stuff? its simple, first and formost this is still a computer game, the game part is massively missing from assetto corsa

Thank god it is!

 

[BLITZ_EXTRA]

Awesome and correctly spelt title.
i hope for more racing series, hopefully full grids, also day/night, weather and stuff, also crisply clean and clear graphics instead of this blurry mess

turno off fxaa and the blurry mess will go haha looks fine for me

 

[Epistolarius]

Tip: If the image is too blurry/colours look off and you have post-processing enabled then check the post-processing preset you're using in ...\Steam\steamapps\common\assettocorsa\system\cfg\ppfilters, search for the line with [CHROMATIC_ABERRATION] and set ENABLED=0. I found chromatic aberration to be blurrier than FXAA itself, with FXAA at least offering the anti-aliasing benefit while chromatic aberration is merely an artistic tool for simulating a camera lens distortion.

 

[Tberg]

Kunos, thanks for the ride so far! Never changed so many pairs of underwear during my sim-career, I hope the future of AC means I have to buy new stock!

Cheers!

 

[whip]

Thank god it is!

you are happy to hot lap only?

most ppl aren't

 

[Tberg]

you are happy to hot lap only?

most ppl aren't

I suppose you only drive against AI? If you're new to simracing, you should aim for mp racing, regardless of sim.
My experience with AC (2000hours):
0% AI racing, never even started the career
30% hotlapping
70% mp
So, in my little bubble, you're missing 70% of the fun

 

[Edivad82]

the sound engine completelly garbage!

I don't know. Some sounds are very good, others a little less (obvious personal tastes) but in general are very good. More and more improvable? Of course.
Fonsecker Sound Pack Mod give to AC a great quality regarding sound.
Anyway: every improvements are always welcome!

 

[PhilS13]

I think its just sad that all what people want from a new game is moar features instead of improved physics and FFB. If I want more game I would play PC2. I went from PC1 to AC because of the way better physics and FFB. My personal question would be what will Kunos be able to achieve with that new engine? What will they improve? How much more simulation will it become? Will they finally get rid of the pendulum effect in FFB, will they introduce a better transition from static friction to gliding friction? Will they create an engine that uses all what my Wheelbase 2.5 can do with 1000hz? Thats whats important for me. Not night and rain or any gimmicks. I want an improvement what already made me a fan - The simulation. I hope they don´t go the opposite direction into PC2 territory.

Let's say all these people how want more game do as you say and go PC2 instead of asking more game of AC.

Then AC is dead...

Maybe it's sad that people are more into shiny things than physics but that's just how people in general are. I think it's great that they ask for more game but in a decent physics title instead of simply not giving a damn about physics at all.

 

[Rui Santos]

Let's say all these people how want more game do as you say and go PC2 instead of asking more game of AC.

Then AC is dead...

Maybe it's sad that people are more into shiny things than physics but that's just how people in general are. I think it's great that they ask for more game but in a decent physics title instead of simply not giving a damn about physics at all.

I understand Kunos wanted more profit so they made AC available for console, after that it's expectable that you find comments of people don't giving a f*** for the physics and interesting part of realistic racing... anyway i hope Kunos will stay on the right path...

 

[whip]

I understand Kunos wanted more profit so they made AC available for console, after that it's expectable that you find comments of people don't giving a f*** for the physics and interesting part of realistic racing... anyway i hope Kunos will stay on the right path...

ahh, i see we found a member of the AC sim racing elitist club

p.s. AC physics aren't perfect, cars don't slide as much in real life as they do in AC, sorry if this triggers you

back to the topic AC needs a game side that is competent to go along side its driving physics, whether that be organized online like iracing or a competent custom championship and ai like raceroom has, preferably both would be best

 

[RMR1]

cars don't slide as much in real life as they do in AC

You must be new to simracing...
Years ago the mob stated AC had too much grip, IceRacing for the win.

 

[CobraCat]

ahh, i see we found a member of the AC sim racing elitist club

p.s. AC physics aren't perfect, cars don't slide as much in real life as they do in AC, sorry if this triggers you

back to the topic AC needs a game side that is competent to go along side its driving physics, whether that be organized online like iracing or a competent custom championship and ai like raceroom has, preferably both would be best

Even at reduced grip levels, such as 96% I find street cars such as the Carrera S and 911R quite planted, obviously when driving these cars on the track, tire pressures should be adjusted accordingly.

 

[Turk]

why do we want that stuff? its simple, first and formost this is still a computer game, the game part is massively missing from assetto corsa

I have no problem adding more game to AC, but as others have pointed out, that's not why we bought into AC. We bought a simulator, not a game. As long as I can always pick a car, pick a track, and just drive the car and play online against other good racers I'll be happy enough. I genuinely have very little interest in "gaming" I don't want a program that makes me feel like a celebrity hotshot with fancy cut scenes and pretend off track distractions. All I want to do is drive an accurate simulator.

I'll admit, if you're not in the mood to race, beat personal bests or drift you're kind of out of luck with AC, if AC wants to pull in more casual gamers there probably does need to be some non-race related driving tasks. I think they could achieve a lot of that by including a more public road type tracks to take better advantage of the road cars.

But over all I want a more complete sim before I want more game. I'm not opposed to more game, I just wouldn't like to see it prioritised over simulation.

 

[Michael Hornbuckle]

Hopefully all the guys at Kunos stay far, far away from this wishlist.

 

[Will Mazeo]

Every non professional sim is a game. Deal with it and grow up. Move on.

 

[Mr Deap]

@Turk I personally want giggle animation. It lack of aphrodisiac flexy object, like wings.

If someone look for realism, there's always imagery magic.

 

[Leonardo Ratafiá]

we gotta realize that now @kunos and his team have a different starting point as when AC started, from Netkar Pro and FVA.
Assetto Corsa gives them much better support when talking and negotiating with car manufactures and even it's known that some of them got in contact with KS to appear on the game/sim.
So it's a great starting point, we all hope they continue with this journey, they love it, they are passionate about it and he have been doing this for almost 20 years (iirc at least Stefano said that).
They either continue doing car related simulation software or they get fed up and quit playing car games.

 

[Full_Ninja]

Thanks for making spend a lot of money.
And I'm not talking about the game but all of the hardware stuff I bought because of it... wheels, DIY motion rig, VR...

I know what you mean. Assetto is why I built a rig. To bad Kunos can't get a small percentage of that money from the hardware manufacturers. If I could just check a box at checkout stating purchase reason Assetto Corsa. Then they could send that percentage to Kunos jk.