Project Cars (from a GSC point of view)

[Nobkins]

Hi Everyone,

I recently got into sim racing again after a 20 year (yes I last played on Microprose GP) absence.

Just spotted that Project Cars is on steam at 40% off this weekend. I have only played Game Stock Car and have really enjoyed it. Races have been great even on public servers.

What are peoples views on Project Cars. I am particularly after views from those who mostly play GSC as I love the game and don't want to waste my money on Project Cars even at 40% off if it is no fun to play.

What is the on-line community like. Would I be better off waiting for an Assetto Corsa sale if I was only to buy either Project Cars or Assetto Corsa.

Thanks for the advice.

Jim

 

[Darren O'Brien]

I don't understand how it can take 3 hrs to set up your wheel

I run a Standard G25 w/Standard Shifter and Custom Pedals with a load cell. I set the Wheel to 900deg in game and have never had issue of any kind. the feel on some cars are different to others, but nothing like the issues some here have faced.

I for 1 love pCARS, by far the Best out there. my opinion.

 

[tpw]

I hadn't played a racing game since Geoff Crammond's F1 years ago on the Amiga, and Project cars was the title that got me into modern sim racing. I was blown away by the unrivalled visuals and presentation, and still am. For a couple of months it was all I played, as I got to grips with the subtleties and complexities of driving fast virtual cars on detailed virtual tracks. As my interest in the genre increased I drove Assetto Corsa, RBR, Dirt Rally, rFactor2 and GSC. All are impressive titles with their strengths and weaknesses, and I appreciate them all. The thing is, months down the track it's GSC I play the majority of the time. I quickly came to realise that for me there was a far more complete, bug free and enjoyable game lurking under GSC's unassuming presentation/audiovisuals. It may not be the best at any one sim racing aspect, but it's the best overall package for me - an inexpensive and fun offline racing experience with quirky cars and tracks, great physics, detailed FFB, challenging but enjoyable AI, modability, and support from an engaged developer and non-obnoxious community.

From time to time I drop back into pCARS to gasp at its beauty, and after an hour of wrestling with career mode and pitstop/tuning bugs, poorly documented FFB parameters, unfair and frustrating AI and annoying immersion breaking design decisions I turn it off again. pCARS is a beautiful and ambitious game that is probably 3-4 major patches away from the greatness I really wish it would have.

 

[Martin Larsen]

If you like bugs get Project Cars...I love the career mode in endurance series in the Audi R8, but now I cant even complete 1 race. I race 1hour races but everytime I pit my race ends. Either they dont change my tires when I choose YEEES, or they put on medium when I choose soft. Or in worst case I push requast pit, they confirm and say box this lap, then I drive into the pit and it stands on the screen ''the pit is occupied'' so when the AI take over the car they pannic and crash my car in the pit...

I guess they will fix those issues and if you get it on 40% sale IF they do fix those yes then it will be worth it. But its not right now...

 

[Nick Hill]

As others have said, Steam's refund policy makes this a pretty low-risk proposition. Try it and return it within 2 weeks & 2 hours of gameplay if you don't like it.

As a general rule, I would say having a love of GSC would be a relatively weak predictor for potential PCARS love. Yes, there are plenty who really love both, but the 2 platforms are really pretty different in terms of what they try to accomplish.

As far as driving feel goes, for me it's GSC and it's not even close. That's not to say PCARS doesn't have it's redeeming qualities (though I will say, as someone who considers himself a real sucker for a good career mode, PCARS career mode really just did not trip my trigger for whatever reason), but it's just that when all is said & done, it's the excitement of the driving itself that is going to suck me into a sim and keep me coming back.

 

[Cristian Haba]

Stick with GSCE, wait for AC patch1.3 and search results and opinions (we've waited before and have been let down). The only sim I havent tried is rF2.

The quality of ONLINE/MultiPlayer play in GSCE is far superior to both AC and Pcars. I don't ever race offline against AI, simracing to me has always been about Online play, if you do fancy AI racing I have no input there.

That being said I've stuck to AC even though I've invested in the future of Reiza, you tend to stick with what you're most comfortable with. For me, AC has a great feel to it and it translates via FFB, sounds etc. what a race car is doing on track very well (read best so far).

Eventually I'll fire up the GSC beta and 1.38 just time does not allow me. I've invested in this purely on the word of others, and on how Reiza manage their community. If they'd make a successor to NFS PU I'd invest as well <any takers?>. Enjoy your experience, remember to have fun regardless and maybe learn a thing or two.

 

[bsmooth]

I bought PCars when it was still in testing and it was good before they started adding everything, all the bells and whistles. Still the AI made the stupidest moves.Lets put it this way I bought it and its not on my PC any longer, so it was a complete waste of money.
I tried most racing sims and they go way back to Atari and Amiga. My favorite before was always GPL, despite the higher learning curve.
But only having GSC for a few weeks, I can state outright its one of the top 5 racing sims, and it definately has the best AI of any sim I've used, although I haven't tried AC yet.

 

[xnorb]

although I haven't tried AC yet.

I can't imagine anybody putting AC's AI over GSCE's...

 

[St3fan]

I've had 36 hours on PCars, finished 2 Kart career seasons, but haven't played it for a VERY long time. FYI I have 173 hours on AC and 26 hours on GSC (I only started to love this game just recently). PCar's immersion is decent, the weather looks cool, but after the very first "Wow" effect fades, I could hardly find a reason to play the game any more (apart from a very good Leguna Seca track, if I have this track made to similar standards in AC I would probably uninstall the game right away).

I think about PCars in this way: if I want to enjoy driving or have pub online race, I would launch AC; if I want to race with AI, I would launch GSC. There isn't too much attraction for me in PCars now, especially it still doesn't support triple screen properly, along with a number of other annoyances occurring here and there occasionally.

The p2p matching online feature looks like a good idea, but sometimes the online lobbies' car/track combos are a little bit too random for me. I think when it comes to racing, maybe it's still a good idea to have dedicated servers running the same car/track combo for a certain amount of time (say, a week) so people can practice more for the combo.

On another note, I'm still waiting some equivalence of GT or Forza on PC.