PC2 Lots of New Project CARS 2 Preview Images and Info

[Paul Jeffrey]

Slightly Mad Studios have released a number of new previews for the upcoming Project CARS 2 as well as a first look at dedicated servers...

Released as part of a recent batch of update images, Slightly Mad Studios have confirmed the GT4 specification KTM X-BOW will be making it's series debut in the new game, presumably alongside the original open top X-BOW that formed part of the first game release car roster.

Other vehicles included in the gallery images include the mighty Le Mans specification Jaguar XJR, the equally impressive historic version of the Nissan Skyline Silhouette Formula, Skyline R34 and of course as no racing game is complete nowadays without a massive GT3 field, so enter the Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3.

Dedicated Servers

Additional to the car and track previews recently revealed by Slightly Mad Studios, the development team have also given fans a sneak peak at some of the early proposed functionality behind the game in respect to how dedicated servers will work in Project CARS 2.

Unfortunately it appears that player rankings and the collection of rating points will remain when drivers race on dedicated servers, with no opportunity for server admins to assign penalties and warnings during a race. SMS have taken the decision to leave out this feature within dedicated servers, however they remain confident that the automated system employed by Project CARS 2 will prove to be efficient in a league environment, stating that the software has been tested and balanced for 18 months. Perfect for online open multiplayer lobbies, it remains to be seen how this feature will be received by league admins who typically like to control the penalisation element of an event manually by driver appeals and live stewarding decisions.

The released images from the dedicated servers do however show a very nice looking and compact piece of software with some nice and useable looking features that will surely come as a blessing to those of us who wish to create our own racing events. As can be seen from the attached screenshots, it appears that multiclass racing with selectable opponents will be possible, as will the ability to create and save your own rules packages, player ratings lockouts, number of sessions and all the usual driving aids and event realism settings. This looks to be a considerable improvement over the previous game and again shows SMS' intention to improve the online hosting and broadcasting experience within the new title.

We know Project CARS 2 will be shipping with over 170 cars at initial launch and already we have an idea about some of the cars expected to feature within the game. If you want to keep an eye out on what's been confirmed or leaked so far, check out the Project CARS 2: The Cars Revealed So Far thread (regularly updated) to stay abreast with the latest reveals.

Project CARS 2 will be available for Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC towards the end of 2017.

Check out the Project CARS Series forum here at RaceDepartment for all the latest news and discussions regarding Project CARS on both PC, Xbox One and PlayStation 4. Browse our modding database, engage with the community or join in one of our many League and Club Racing events. Its all here at RaceDepartment.

Looking forward to some additional GT4 machinery in PCARS 2? Which car revealed so far are you most looking forward to trying for yourself? Let us know in the comments section below!

 

[Akra]

It's all very pretty and beautiful but that was never really an issue with pCARS 1 either. I played the X1 version and it was absolutely gorgeous. The sounds were fantastic too, as was the driving (for a console game - don't know what the PC version was like). It was just a brilliant experience. Racing GT4 cars in my career in biblical level rain was one of the best sim racing experiences I've ever had, and it'll stick with me for a long time. I *adored* the feeling pCARS gave me. And do you know what the best bit was? An offline, career mode with AI. I played the sh*t out of that, and for the most part it was very well done and laid out. I don't want to race online all the time and the career mode was perfect for me.

And it was brilliant right up till the point where you suffered another game breaking bug or silly design decision which ruined the entire game. It was a brilliant foundation for a game, with absolutely zero polish or quality control. Want to use an Audi R18 e-tron quattro in an LMP1 series? Nope! You can't. Want to race the LMP1 series for longer than 20 minutes per race? Nope! Want to save a setup? Nah. Want to watch a replay? Well, only if you don't mind being DQ'd for doing so. Want to race the LMP2 series? That's fine, but you'll have to race them at the full length ring and have the cars bounce about and be completely uncontrollable.

So so close to the best racing game I've played in years. Fell down at the final hurdle by not bothering to deal with bugs, and making stupid career design decisions which ruined the simulation/realism aspect of it.

----

As for modding...well, I can live without it if I'm honest. Some mods are top quality, but I'd rather the developers spend more time on polishing their own product than building in modding tools. We have plenty of moddable games, and there's obviously a market for that. But in pCARS case I'd happily have no mods and have a quality polished product this time.

 

[samcar304]

It's all very pretty and beautiful but that was never really an issue with pCARS 1 either. I played the X1 version and it was absolutely gorgeous. The sounds were fantastic too, as was the driving (for a console game - don't know what the PC version was like). It was just a brilliant experience. Racing GT4 cars in my career in biblical level rain was one of the best sim racing experiences I've ever had, and it'll stick with me for a long time. I *adored* the feeling pCARS gave me. And do you know what the best bit was? An offline, career mode with AI. I played the sh*t out of that, and for the most part it was very well done and laid out. I don't want to race online all the time and the career mode was perfect for me.

And it was brilliant right up till the point where you suffered another game breaking bug or silly design decision which ruined the entire game. It was a brilliant foundation for a game, with absolutely zero polish or quality control. Want to use an Audi R18 e-tron quattro in an LMP1 series? Nope! You can't. Want to race the LMP1 series for longer than 20 minutes per race? Nope! Want to save a setup? Nah. Want to watch a replay? Well, only if you don't mind being DQ'd for doing so. Want to race the LMP2 series? That's fine, but you'll have to race them at the full length ring and have the cars bounce about and be completely uncontrollable.

So so close to the best racing game I've played in years. Fell down at the final hurdle by not bothering to deal with bugs, and making stupid career design decisions which ruined the simulation/realism aspect of it.

----

As for modding...well, I can live with it if I'm honest. Some mods are top quality, but I'd rather the developers spend more time on polishing their own product than building in modding tools. We have plenty of moddable games, and there's obviously a market for that. But in pCARS case I'd happily have no mods and have a quality polished product this time.

Spot on! My experience is very similar. I am a huge WEC Fan. So my goal was to be an endurance driver in the career. But the Multiclass endurance championship raced at Bathurst :/. Which is not ideal for high down force le mans prototypes. It's all looking good so far for an actual WEC calendar. We have Silverstone, Spa, Le Man's, Fuji, COSTA and Nurburgring GP. We are only missing Shanghai, Mexico and Bahrain. I doubt we will get them tracks but it's looking strong already.

One of my favourite experiences in PCARS was a GT3 race at Bathurst in torrential rain battling with one AI for almost 30 mins. Trading 1st and 2nd almost every lap. I eventually prevailed but I felt I earned it. Awesome experience!

 

[Deleted member 113561]

There won't be any custom championship on day 1 because they think that theirs (the one in Project CARS2) is better. Although, because many people have been asking for it, they might put that in a free update.

Aha and you know that because? It hurts in your stomach?

I would wait with your assumption ... there is a lot they didn't show us sofar ...

...
Want to use an Audi R18 e-tron quattro in an LMP1 series? Nope! You can't
....

I know you can't from the beginning but as you progress into a higher series of that categorie you chose (ie. Tier 1), you still can't?

 

[Akra]

I know you can't from the beginning but as you progress into a higher series of that categorie you chose (ie. Tier 1), you still can't?

You cannot use the DLC cars in the multi-class series. So the endurance championship that has LMP1, LMP2 and GT cars, you can't use the DLC cars. You can only use the LMP1 DLC in the stand alone LMP1 championship, but in that you're only allowed to do 20 minute races. So we get the worlds greatest endurance racing LMP1s, and are restricted to single class 20 minute sprint races with them.

 

[Fanapryde]

You cannot use the DLC cars in the multi-class series. So the endurance championship that has LMP1, LMP2 and GT cars, you can't use the DLC cars. You can only use the LMP1 DLC in the stand alone LMP1 championship, but in that you're only allowed to do 20 minute races. So we get the worlds greatest endurance racing LMP1s, and are restricted to single class 20 minute sprint races with them.

Are you sure you are not missing something ?
Only last week I finished a 6hr race / multi class with the (DLC iirc) Audi R18 e-tron Quattro on Le Mans.
Just go to Quick Race Weekend / choose car - duration - class (Multi-same-identical) and you get to race even 24 hrs if you choose to do so....

 

[Akra]

Are you sure you are not missing something ?
Only last week I finished a 6hr race / multi class with the (DLC iirc) Audi R18 e-tron Quattro on Le Mans.
Just go to Quick Race Weekend / choose car - duration - class (Multi-same-identical) and you get to race even 24 hrs if you choose to do so....

Not in career you can't. DLC that only half works in career mode. I'm not interested in single races or being wrecked by a racist 12 year old online. I want a career game and pCARS promised that but only delivered half of it because of bugs, odd decisions and poorly implemented DLC.

 

[wicken]

Aha and you know that because? It hurts in your stomach?

I would wait with your assumption ... there is a lot they didn't show us sofar ...

I know that because it came straight from their boss.
https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/thre...cess-of-updating.353715/page-27#post-11740202
https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/thre...cess-of-updating.353715/page-28#post-11740911
https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/thre...cess-of-updating.353715/page-28#post-11740928
https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/thre...cess-of-updating.353715/page-28#post-11740942

 

[Fanapryde]

Not in career you can't. DLC that only half works in career mode. I'm not interested in single races or being wrecked by a racist 12 year old online. I want a career game and pCARS promised that but only delivered half of it because of bugs, odd decisions and poorly implemented DLC.

I did not say you could. But you mentioned you were restricted to single class 20 minute sprint races. And that is not true.
If career does not let me do the races I want, I just set them up in QRW. Works fine for me.
About bugs: don't know if you are on PC or console, but while I had some bugs in the beginning on PS4, I had NONE on the PC version (combined about 1800 hrs...) just saying... (I don't race MP).

 

[Akra]

I did not say you could. But you mentioned you were restricted to single class 20 minute sprint races. And that is not true.

I don't want to sound like an arse, but if you're going to argue technicalities and what I said, I'll quote myself

You can only use the LMP1 DLC in the stand alone LMP1 championship, but in that you're only allowed to do 20 minute races. So we get the worlds greatest endurance racing LMP1s, and are restricted to single class 20 minute sprint races with them.

Given I talked about championships, it's pretty clear I'm talking about the career mode. And in the career mode, you cannot use any DLC in the multi-class championship. You CAN use the DLC in single class championships, but the single class LMP1 championship is restricted to 20 minute races - the slider simply does not allow you to select longer events. So what I said is perfectly true and valid, thank you very much.

So to repeat my point - all this amazing DLC. Can't use it realistically in the career mode.

About bugs: don't know if you are on PC or console, but while I had some bugs in the beginning on PS4, I had NONE on the PC version (combined about 1800 hrs...) just saying... (I don't race MP).

There's nothing worse than people saying they've had no bugs, like it somehow invalidates every bug report ever. I've never had Windows 7 crash, doesn't mean it doesn't happen though. So to answer your point -

As I stated, I play the Xbox One version. It had some pretty serious bugs on launch (such as the joypad not even working for the first few days), but the massive obvious game breaking bugs were patched relatively quickly. But the following bugs still exist on the Xbox One:

- You cannot save setups for all tracks. Sometimes it works, but if you do it too often then eventually it stops saving all setups and you have to manually input it each time. Only possible fix is delete your save game profile and start again.

- You cannot watch replays in any race that includes pit stops. If you do, it forgets you've made your pit stop and DQ's you for not making the mandatory stop.

- The games frame rate drops over certain kerbs, and speeds up when you come off of them. Doesn't sound bad...until you're fired at a corner at 3x the actual game speed as it tries to keep up with where you should be.

- AI time acceleration doesn't work. Using it often produces completely random results, sometimes 30 seconds a lap faster than what they can do during normal time.

- Fuel estimation doesn't always apply the multiplier. This feature was added in a patch, but around half the time you load a session, the multiplier doesn't apply and the fuel estimate reads 1 lap = 1 litre.

- Headlights don't show up in mirrors. That makes night racing and multi class fun. You can't see the AI Car behind until it's less than 2-3m behind you and it loads the highest level LOD model and the headlights magically appear. By that point it's too late.

Features the game includes that we simply cannot use due to bugs
Setup Saving
Replays during races
Accelerated time

Features seriously affected by bugs
LMP1 DLC is crippled
Night Racing is even harder than it should be
Pit Stops
General Xbox 1 performance
Fuel Estimates (sometimes)

This is by far the worst bit of the pCARS community. It's a fantastic game, loads of fun, gives us things a lot of other games don't, but good lord if you suggest it's buggy people act like you defaced a statue of christ. Sorry, but it is - it's EXTREMELY buggy. The X1 version is a disaster. It's an incredible game and when it works it's given me some of the best sim racing memories I've had for years. But it became too much bother to deal with - it isn't fun when you have to race and keep in the back of your mind that if you do certain things, it'll break your entire career at times.

 

[Fanapryde]

There's nothing worse than people saying they've had no bugs, like it somehow invalidates every bug report ever.

Really ? See later.

As I stated, I play the Xbox One version.

Missed that, sorry. If I hadn't, I wouldn't even have responded, clearly the X-box version suffered the most.

Coming back to your first remark:

I don't deny the existence of bugs in pCars. Maybe you overlooked that I wrote I did have bugs when I started playing pCars on PS4. Most of them were patched afterwards, but when I switched to PC, there were still some present (on PS4), none of them game breaking though, at least not for the way I play.

As I stated, and I confirm: on PC I had/have NO bugs.
But I also never said there weren't any, so, just to clarify:

- I don't race MP in pCars.
- I use a steering wheel.
- All car setups I have done are still there.
- I very seldom watch replays (and never DURING a race).
- Never even noticed frame rate drop, unless with a lot of cars on track in rainy conditions and even then FPS is mostly over 55 (on triple screens and a GTX 980 TI), most settings high or ultra.
- I rarely use time acceleration and the times I did was in qualifying, just to find out AI did some magically fast laps - true...
- Since I always race full length races I don't use fuel or tire wear multiplier, so I have no clue if there is a bug in there or not.
- you are right about the headlights: they don't show up as they should. On the other hand it does not bother me, since the headlights light up your cockpit (cockpit view obviously) like if it is bright daylight, and thus never surprise me at night.
What does bother me is that the headlights on some cars lack a high beam function to have a realistic effect.
So the sudden appearance of a car when it is "less than 2 - 3 m behind" does not stick when you are using cockpit view (on PC no different than on PS4, maybe it works different on X-box).

 

[Philipp Koch]

Nissan Skyline Silhouette Formula OMG!?!?!?!?! *Remembering Gran Turismo 2* loved that car

 

[Deleted member 113561]

Not in career you can't. DLC that only half works in career mode. I'm not interested in single races or being wrecked by a racist 12 year old online. I want a career game and pCARS promised that but only delivered half of it because of bugs, odd decisions and poorly implemented DLC.

Gonna ask a friend of mine if he can make a request so they implement it

 

[Deleted member 113561]

I know that because it came straight from their boss.
https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/thre...cess-of-updating.353715/page-27#post-11740202
https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/thre...cess-of-updating.353715/page-28#post-11740911
https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/thre...cess-of-updating.353715/page-28#post-11740928
https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/thre...cess-of-updating.353715/page-28#post-11740942

And in the first quote it says, they think about allowing to fill up with AI - hopefully it would remember them for next race - so technically, if they do that, offline championships are possible