PC3 Project CARS 3 to Change Focus?

[Paul Jeffrey]

Slightly Mad Studios Head Ian Bell recently revealed PCARS 3 is in development, and now hints have been dropped that the direction of the title might change for the next release.

The Project CARS series of games have, up until this point, been heavily focussed on a wide selection or road and race cars from a wide variety of different disciplines of motorsport - giving players the opportunity to drive such varied machines as top tier open wheel cars, to stockcar, touring cars, GTs, historic and road going performance machines.

Although the scope of the previous two versions of the game are indeed admirable, some could argue that potentially Slightly Mad Studios looked to become a jack of all trades with their game content, and as a result became the master of none.

This appears to have been noted by the decision makers back at SMS, as Ian Bell once again took to the internet to drop a few hints about the next release - suggesting that maybe Slightly Mad Studios would look to return to their roots somewhat, and produce an experience more akin to the earlier Need for Speed Shift release of 2009.

“I’ll let you know that pCARS3 will be more ‘focused’… More ‘fun’…" said Bell over on the GT Plant forums. "We went to insane lengths with variation in pCARS2 and with that comes infinite balancing issues. We’ve learned a lesson here and although we have no intention of reducing content, we know what we need to fix, where we made design decisions that were, let’s call it, ‘sub-optimal’…​

“pCARS3 will be more of a spiritual successor to Shift, but with all of the sim goodness everyone appreciates… The key focus though is on fun and not biting off more than we can properly chew and digest.”
​

Ian Bell does refer to the desire to retain the "sim goodness" of PCARS 1 & 2, however the shift (ha ha) towards an experience more closely aligned to the Need for Speed series does suggest that the new title could take itself a little less seriously than has been the case in the past, and leads one to wonder if a more arcade slant is to be applied to the title than has been the case in the past.

With PCARS 1 & 2 failing to match the quality of other sim racing titles the likes of rFactor 2, Assetto Corsa, RaceRoom and AMS, and with new games from Reiza Studios and the Early Access Assetto Corsa Competizione from Kunos in the works, a move towards a more fun and light hearted experience is probably not a bad idea for PCARS and the new title - quite how the end result will pan out remains to be seen.

One thing is for sure, however SMS pitch the new title, it will be very interesting to hear and read what is said on the build up to release of what is surely going to be another very interesting piece of software from the prolific game studio.

Check out the Project CARS 3 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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[CreamyCornCob]

on the topic of no sim being real - why are even today F1 teams using simulators whos graphics and physics are if anything not better than Assetto Corsa.

@AlexBfromG
For gods sake, if you're even remotely implying that AC is the same as an F1 sim rig, you may need therapy and a whole lot more. You honestly think the physics are the same or not better in AC compared to a simulator?!
THIS is why they use simulators and drivers not sitting in their house with AC.
And please dont tell me, Ferrari may have went to Steam and spent $10 bones for AC and its running inside the rig

Ferrari F1 rig

 

[Metla]

Ferrari F1 rig

My God, Its beautiful....

 

[randomcallsign]

So, when it was getting good, with the lack of a proper online matchmaking (ahm ahm, get SRS) as the only big focus to fix, it's when they pull out of the format.

wat

 

[theravenousbeast]

No, you're misstating things aren't you? He has always said iRacing is the most realistic.

Not in terms of the tyre model. In fact that's the same tyre model that has had a couple dozen revisions by now (we swear its actually realistic this time guys ). They know its ****ed, the community knows its ****ed. Everyone just accepts it because of the unique online structure it offers.

 

[Celestiale]

@AlexBfromG
For gods sake, if you're even remotely implying that AC is the same as an F1 sim rig, you may need therapy and a whole lot more. You honestly think the physics are the same or not better in AC compared to a simulator?!
THIS is why they use simulators and drivers not sitting in their house with AC.
And please dont tell me, Ferrari may have went to Steam and spent $10 bones for AC and its running inside the rig

Ferrari F1 rig

I think this "needing therapy" is way over the top. I think it's rather you, confusing hardware with software. This is a nice motion rig, but sims like AC can also be used with motion rigs.
AC has made a turnover of around 50 million bucks until today. They could and probably have spent the majority of that for development. Now Ferrari and the other F1 teams have a big budget, but it's not unlimited.
In 2016 their R&D costs have been 380 million € (total costs 500m€). I don't think they even spend 10% of that costs for simulator software, that would be madness. That leaves us with less then 38m€ per year. Still a bit more then the 50 from AC over 5 years, but I don't think they can afford to spend much more. The software might be a bit better and closer to reality, but they are surely not leaps and bounds ahead. When we get to the smaller teams, their budget is 3 times less, so they even have less to spend for their simulators.


As for the rest of this thread - it just shows that most people nowadays have serious reading comprehension problems. There was no mention what so ever, that the next iteration of Pcars will be more "casual, arcade" or however you wanna call it. When you see people making up stuff like that out of nothing, you really don't wonder anymore, how people like the blond old man can become powerful politicians

 

[CreamyCornCob]

I think this "needing therapy" is way over the top. I think it's rather you, confusing hardware with software.

As a former driver of many open wheel and closed cars you may know of, I'm not confused.

This is a nice motion rig, but sims like AC can also be used with motion rigs.

I'm well aware. Theres more than one you can buy for $50,000 (+-) with AC used.

AC has made a turnover of around 50 million bucks until today.

I deleted the rest of your quote. If you think AC has made $50,000,000... speechless.

As for the rest of this thread - it just shows that most people nowadays have serious reading comprehension problems. There was no mention what so ever, that the next iteration of Pcars will be more "casual, arcade" or however you wanna call it. When you see people making up stuff like that out of nothing, you really don't wonder anymore, how people like the blond old man can become powerful politicians

Maybe you perhaps missed the part, there is no wondering - And THEN you drag the President of the United States in to this? : "pCARS3 will be more of a spiritual successor to Shift, but with all of the sim goodness everyone appreciates… The key focus though is on fun and not biting off more than we can properly chew and digest.”

 

[CreamyCornCob]

And in no way to being argumentative, the person I was replying to said theres no, if hardly any difference in physics to an F1 simulator to AC. Im not talking about hardware, I'm saying they have their own propitiatory software and hardware for hardware and physics.

Its not even in the same universe. Kimi, PT and many others, in their home, do AC/AMS/RR etc. But thats for hanging in your house.

 

[Damage Inc]

Thanks for the novel.
Ian Bell started it with his hatred of his customers. I realize he thinks he's Kojak, but in actuality is just a salesman.

Ian just hates whining dickhead customers.

Well he found every sim unrealistic

Because they are, primarily because the MAIN way a real driver feels things is via g forces acting on their body, no commercial sim can emulate that. Most real drivers have a problem adapting to losing that feeling. FFB is a fudge, a fake way to convey forces and feeling we do NOT feel through the wheel in reality, but is the only way a sim can do it.

 

[XRRoy]

Well PC1 was awesome until build 512 there abouts the physics felt really nice, felt like a simulator,
after that and console dev went down hill so fast and never recovered again,
now the name of this particular franchise "Project Cars" probably damaged forever,
its just all a marketing stunt to make people believe they have changed tactics,
instead of making a 3rd game and a 4th,
why not fix the 100,s of issues and bugs from 1 and 2 ?

Long in short: SMS is like Elon Musk in sim-racing division, you guys just watch, believe me.

Project CARS was bad enough before v512, it's just got worse after that paticular patch. I was hoping P2 does it better but, duh? Even Gran Turismo Sport is trying to please its own crowd in a certain way - even if it drove off most of its loyal fans - yet SMS just doesn't care.
Drove the F1 GTR a bit, and the clutch felt even worse than R3E before its last patch - point is, Sector3 is doing a great job fixing all the flaws, tweaking the physics, adding new features that the community is longing for - e.g. that "look towards apex" function is finally here - while SMS doesn't give a single f#$k about it - so much for the WMD principle, heh.
After all the ambitious trailers, annoucements and showcases, oh, even a large group of alpha/beta testers who fancy it a lot, the game - includes its successor - still failed to stand its own ground.
Well actually most of the AAA games are doing so with their own successors nowadays...

 

[DaVeX↯]

Just a kind reminder...
You guys remember this is just a game? No one force you to buy it? If you enjoy it you shouldn't care about others opinion and play it?
This thread looks like a fight between car sellers trying to explain why their product or their market strategy is the best...seriously who cares?
The news says Ian Bell wants to focus on something specific, a campaign mode like Shift...no need to battle for this, it is his game he would develop it as he wish without giving a "shiFt" of our battles here... so, on our side, we can only buy it or not once it is finished, nothing less nothing more...

 

[apex11]

In this day and age, fair play to them for earning an income or a living from this. The criticism may be steered in the wrong perspective. With all of the money going their way, I wonder how many and how much those streamers donate to modders. Often times they are already provided with 1st-party DLC for free, it would be good to see them support the community that carries them.

Well this is the next problem. If they take payments for reviews of mods/games/wheels etc we are dealing with people who have traded off the "DIY, impartial, not corporate whores and shills, man of the people", to basically the same old same old.....
People taking money to promote a product whether said product is crap or not....

Not saying this is Jimmy BTW, i do quite like the guy, i get he has had mental health issues and maybe judging by his vids he is still a bit manic so maybe he needs to be careful of himself.
But both he and Gamermuscle are playing to the very base level of gamer, childish and crude and stupid content, no real worth, GM used to have worth and some insightful vids but its a race to the bottom for them both now.

Now Chris Hayes............. IMO, that is how it is done..... or emptybox....

 

[CC]

Just a kind reminder...
You guys remember this is just a game? No one force you to buy it? If you enjoy it you shouldn't care about others opinion and play it?
This thread looks like a fight between car sellers trying to explain why their product or their market strategy is the best...seriously who cares?
The news says Ian Bell wants to focus on something specific, a campaign mode like Shift...no need to battle for this, it is his game he would develop it as he wish without giving a "shiFt" of our battles here... so, on our side, we can only buy it or not once it is finished, nothing less nothing more...

What you mean just a game ?
Everyone invested money into Pcars, without the support of the community it built the game simply would not exist, I believe after they hit 3,000,000 euros or dollars I can not remember exactly,
they was forced to stop taking any more funds because of some laws,
maybe they could have hit 10million the support was tremendous,

either way the support and the money was there from day 1 because they promised everyone something that in the end they never even delivered to us,
left the game full of bugs and issues and not the game everyone was lead to believe it would be,
then made a Pcars 2 and left that just as bad it handles like crap,

now there making a 3rd title from this series to do what exactly ? they never delivered nothing from the past 2 games,
maybe you are new and do not understand what exactly happened from the beginning which is fine,
but its far from what you believe or saying that is for sure.

 

[DaVeX↯]

What you mean just a game ?
Everyone invested money into Pcars, without the support of the community it built the game simply would not exist, I believe after they hit 3,000,000 euros or dollars I can not remember exactly,
they was forced to stop taking any more funds because of some laws,
maybe they could have hit 10million the support was tremendous,

either way the support and the money was there from day 1 because they promised everyone something that in the end they never even delivered to us,
left the game full of bugs and issues and not the game everyone was lead to believe it would be,
then made a Pcars 2 and left that just as bad it handles like crap,

now there making a 3rd title from this series to do what exactly ? they never delivered nothing from the past 2 games,
maybe you are new and do not understand what exactly happened from the beginning which is fine,
but its far from what you believe or saying that is for sure.

Hum....no...my point is different...I know the story behind PC series and I know Ian Bell and his actions...
What upset me is how a PC thread can suddenly become a war between RD members. I understand everyone has an opinion about PC but at the end of the day this is just a game and no need to be so harsh each other discussing of it...
Also no one forced to pledge SMS so if part of players is upset of the results (game full of bugs, etc etc) should blame their own choice or SMS for not delivering what promised...but also they should avoid to attack people happy of the game as it is and viceversa of course...

 

[CC]

Hum....no...my point is different...I know the story behind PC series and I know Ian Bell and his actions...
What upset me is how a PC thread can suddenly become a war between RD members. I understand everyone has an opinion about PC but at the end of the day this is just a game and no need to be so harsh each other discussing of it...
Also no one forced to pledge SMS so if part of players is upset of the results (game full of bugs, etc etc) should blame their own choice or SMS for not delivering what promised...but also they should avoid to attack people happy of the game as it is and viceversa of course...

There is never no wars, just a lot of people from the community with different opinions,
I think its good to express them freely

 

[Damage Inc]

There is never no wars, just a lot of people from the community with different opinions,
I think its good to express them freely

Opinions are fine, expressing them is fine. Just don't use terms like "us" and "everyone" with your opinions though as your opinions do NOT represent "everyone".

a LOT of people were happy with what SMS delivered, not flawless but no where near as bad as some of the hyperbole spouted by a lot of people.

 

[whip]

they making their own console?

rofl, guess they lost everyones trust with a game so they move onto losing everyones trust with hardware too

 

[Mircea Rad]

And his unconditionnal love for iracing makes all his content unreliable. Even the die hard fans admit iracing flaws.

You couldn't be more wrong, he actually called iRacing's tire model a disaster. That's a direct quote.

Nicki is a very eccentric guy in everything he does, his YouTube channel is not meant to be a consumer's advise. You watch for the show he puts in every time and that's it. It's like expecting Jeremy Clarkson to do consumer advise car reviews in Top Gear. He chose iRacing because it offers the best package for what he needs but also does content now and then on other sims, like the AC GT1 mod, for example.



In a different topic, I see a lot of comparisons between professional simulators and our game simulators, but nobody mentioned a very huge clear distinction. Our game simulators try to simulate real world things like day/night, changing conditions, grip, rain, wind, etc. but a pro simulator is used for mainly 2 things:
1. driver training/development and probably evaluation
2. engineers to be able to create various FIXED sets of conditions in which to replicate car behavior and gather telemetry data in order to make comparisons and help them understand in which direction to push with development of new parts. This is basically trying to replicate testing days but actually removing all the unwanted parameters that skew the data. They need the data to be for direct comparisons, not skewed by environmental factors.

Nobody in professional simulator cares about live day/night transition, marbles on track, "live" track surface, cloud coverage changing track temperature and other things we love in our game simulators. What they do care about is making sure the data is correct and reliable (very critical).

 

[Celestiale]

As a former driver of many open wheel and closed cars you may know of, I'm not confused.


I'm well aware. Theres more than one you can buy for $50,000 (+-) with AC used.


I deleted the rest of your quote. If you think AC has made $50,000,000... speechless.



Maybe you perhaps missed the part, there is no wondering - And THEN you drag the President of the United States in to this? : "pCARS3 will be more of a spiritual successor to Shift, but with all of the sim goodness everyone appreciates… The key focus though is on fun and not biting off more than we can properly chew and digest.”

You do not only have rude language, at the same time you have no idea which makes the whole behavior just ridiculous.

Your former open wheel driving unfortunately doesn't make you more intelligent or in any way knowledgeable regarding simulators.

Assetto Corsa has already sold 1,4 million copies two years ago (https://www.trend-online.com/ansa/digital-bros-acquister-il-100di-kunos-simulazioni-262279/), so an average price of 38 bucks would have been already enough to reach 50 million. Almost all people I know own all DLCs, so 38 bucks on average seem pretty much on the low side, many people spend 100€ or more.

And your text comprehension also lacks apparently - "but with all of the sim goodness everyone appreciates". There it is black on white that it will stay a Sim. The other parts regarding Shift successor clearly mean the gameplay overall, car choices, career etc (more streamlined, less scattered), but not the physics part. He explicitly mentioned that.

 

[mr Sw1tchblade]

Because they are...

And that's why if anyone around saying simulators (for home use) are about physics not graphics i want to say shut ur mouth. Its a video game.

 

[Celestiale]

Nobody in professional simulator cares about live day/night transition, marbles on track, "live" track surface, cloud coverage changing track temperature and other things we love in our game simulators.

Tend to disagree. Changing temperatures, marbles and live track all play there part in tire temp. To simulate where the car might fail (e.g. weather condition X/Y or aerodynamic conditions Z) is definitely an important part. There have been several occasions where cars have been "caught" behaving very bad in certain conditions, I guess the teams try to cover as much of them as possible beforehand.