PC1 Project CARS Patch 9 Released on PC - Console to Follow

[Paul Jeffrey]

Slightly Mad Studios smash hit racing game Project Cars has just received its 9th patch via the Steam network for owners of the PC version of the game.

With a release across console due next week, players of the game have found an extensive list of improvements and fixes for the WMD-powered title including a much needed improvement to the previously uninspiring sounds of the Ford V8 Supercar recently added to the game.

Road America AI has also received some attention and single player racers should be treated to a more challenging battle after the update.

For those who prefer their racing against fellow humans, feel free to hop on over to the PCARS Racing Club and check out one of the many club race events held every week.

The PC patch is available to download on Steam now.

Vehicles

• Aston Martin GTE – adjusted the AI suspension damper rates down to better handle curbs
• BMW 2002 SW – Adjusted default setup for better drivability. Adjusted optimum temperatures and heating to move the optimum running temp closer to 180F. Adjusted cockpit camera position.
• BMW 1M SW – Changed transmission to sequential, paddle shift to match the 3D modelBMW 2002 Turbo – Speed adjustments for player and AI for better match in the Vintage racing class.
• Formula Renault 3.5 – Raised collision mesh and adjusted default setup for better curb behaviour. Adjusted various other setup items to make player drivability better. Upped tire temperature build-up to get the tires more in the optimum range to use more of the intended grip with the default tire pressures and setup.
• Ford Escort, Mercedes 300SEL – Balanced the speeds better against the new BMW Stance Works car for the same class. Slight improvements in available grip through moving them into better optimum heat/grip range. AI speeds changed to match.
• McLaren F1 GTR – Fixed an issue where parts of the car would clip through other parts when damaged.

Tracks

• Road America – New race line and corridor tweaking. The main goal was to keep the AI off the curbs so heavily, as with the massive alligator teeth here cause the stiffer car fits and lifting off the throttle.
• Silverstone Classic – Fixed an issue that caused the game to dramatically slow down and at times crash during pitting in a multiplayer race.

Tires

• Reworked some vintage tires to get a better average temperatures increase, resolve severe flat spotting, localized overheating and too-easy punctures which were being reported.

Audio

• Ford Falcon – Reworked the vehicle sounds to a closer match of the real car.

UDP

• UDP – fix for PC joypad and steering wheel buttons not registering.

How does the new patch feel to you? Liking the new Falcon sounds? Let us know in the comments section below!

 

[mister dog]

With the multitude of FFB options, and only a handful of people that realize what all the sliders do, i guess the experience will feel different to all of us unless you leave settings at default (which feels decent but not very optimized). So there's that which complicates things a lot on top of the AI being fast but wild and erratic.

If this game would still be a WIP half a year later like originally stated i'd have good hopes as the potential is there, but clearly SMS already abandoned it which in turn made me abandon it too for other games like AC or GSCE that, although limited in what they bring content wise, at least feel a lot more polished!

I'm on WMD now for PCARS 2 so all we can do is push the devs and hope for the best. They will be receiving a lot more skepticism from the community this time round that's for sure so if we hear: ''it will be coming in a future update" it won't go down well anymore.

 

[natedogg1867]

I'm on WMD now for PCARS 2 so all we can do is push the devs and hope for the best.

Or... Realize how Pcars (1) was released and how it turned out and understand that SMS fleeced people out of their money to help pre-fund this travesty.

SMS has shown they dont deserve anyone's money as the marketing around Pcars was saying it would be the sim to end all sims. Along with the rabid fanboys that bought into this theory and aggressively defended it at every opportunity. Which, turned out to be quite far from reality.

I can see why people were so keen to give SMS money for this first installment. SMS turned it into an investment for those that backed while funding the game and making high claims. Except, now the 2nd game wont have the same investment model...

SMS has shown that they dont deserve any more donations to fund the 2nd game in their franchise model. It would do us all well to wait and see what they release, with their "experience" from the first to see if they truly take 'simulation' to heart and improve just about everything regarding that.

If they would have been honest up front about the product they were peddling, and how they saw the game as it was being developed... The tune of this message would be different. However, since the game is quite different from their marketing hype, and how they literally ban criticism of the game... they cant be trusted to make a sequel that is any different.

 

[mister dog]

At the time the gates were opened for WMD2, i still had good hopes 1 would be further developed and enhanced because that's what they literally said at the time. Knowing what i know now i probably wouldn't have bothered and i guess there's a lot more folk in the same situation, as the truth about 1 being abandoned only came out in the last months...

I got in on the cheapest subscription which cost me 50 pounds, and in return i'll still have a view on how it's developed, and maybe influence the way that's done too so it's not a total loss.

It will sure be interesting to see how the game will be received this time round when the inevitable hype machine starts again somewhere next year, I'll be sure to pop in and give you guys all the scoops you're desperately longing for

 

[Kevin Knorpp]

This is true, for me it's also true if rF2, AC, and R3E so to a certain extent I blame my own driving style, that said Project Cars AI stand out as extra mental but all sims AI will do pit maneuvers against me at times.

Huh?

 

[Kevin Knorpp]

Why people would invest in a sim created by people with no experience developing a sim or any part of a sim is beyond me. Wanting to make sim is not enough. Some can do it. Some can't. That's what makes the good stuff special.

And the idea of development by consensus is laughable. It is exactly the opposite that is true.

Think goodness ISI doesn't listen most of the time because most of the time people are wrong. Does ISI make astoundingly bad decisions? Absolutely. Do any of these bad decisions kill the core of the game? Nope.

AC, on the other hand, did make critically bad decisions that irreversibly handicapped that game. Still, consensus-based couldn't have fixed that because it would have ruined the physics.

Above all, however, the corrupting influence of money and the inevitable lies spread by thousands of investors makes me wonder how anyone could believe anything anyone said about this game.

The European regulators who almost shut this thing down should have required any purchasers of the game to acknowledge a statement about how this game was financed so people would know the possibility that anything good they heard about it could have been a lie.

 

[Alexander Knoll]

Cooooool. I envy you.

why? it's only a thing of your ffb settings...
try the jack spade files, i thing they feel verry good...

 

[Travis]

There are a few specific forum posts concerning ffb on the pcars help forum. Having spent quite a few hours reading and testing, I ditched the Spade tweaker files and used the baseline FFB thread as a guide.

That particular thread has a Google spreadsheet with suggested settings for many wherls and uses iRacing's wheel check software.

Whilst not perfect, I have quality FFB that isn't dull and heavy or light and uncommunicative.

As for on going patches, SMS released an underdeveloped game and thetefore shouldn't be commended for supporting a title that still has issues and continues to sell DLC for.

Croteam still release patches for Serious Sam 3 - a game that they released in 2011! That's long term support to me. ISI do a good job with rF2 as well.

It'll be interesting to see how pcars 2 pans out.

 

[Stefan Mizzi]

why? it's only a thing of your ffb settings...
try the jack spade files, i thing they feel verry good...

Thanks, Jack Spade's files made a huge difference

 

[Hsmmer]

This is true, for me it's also true if rF2, AC, and R3E so to a certain extent I blame my own driving style, that said Project Cars AI stand out as extra mental but all sims AI will do pit maneuvers against me at times.

Sorry that is just plain rubbish

RF2 ai is 2 times better then AC

For years you people tell me rF2 was the beta and AC and pCars " are finished but evolving "


Yet they still both drive like turds on rails and have ai you would not take home to mother.

 

[Jezza819]

I have a Fanatec V2 and I found some basic settings posted by Grimey Dog on PCars forum that feel very good to me. The only problem is with some open wheelers and some classic cars that either produce massive steering wheel shake at high speed or when braking. I found out that lowering the steering gain down to .50 solves that but it makes the steering feel soft. I have to raise either tire force or FFB to get it feeling like a race car again.

 

[St3fan]

I have to say again that I'm disappointed at SMS.
On release day I found that SuperKart at Road America had pretty bad AI. They could hardly drive without crashing me or themselves at 100% AI.

After reading the 9.0 patch has fixed the Road America issue, I fire up PCars again to see if anything has changed. The result is very disappointing. The AI still cuts the corner heavily and gets the car upset. They are all over the place.

Here is a video I just made to show the experience. I've tried quite a few times and the issues are quite easy to reproduce:

 

[Ace King]

Making a universal AI fast path (aiw) behave equally great with all car mods is not possible due to a car's different braking points, grip and speed. This explains why some car mods will produce a better AI on certain tracks than some other type car mods.

As a remedy i made track packs for specific car mods in rF1 which used fine-tuned AI fast paths (aiw) so the AI were capable to race their best/fastest/stable laps. Also, i fine-tuned the car mod's AI physics to compliment the track packs. Using these type of methods for a commercial product such as Pcars would be far too time consuming and expensive.

In rF2 the AI are vastly improved do to the AI learning approaches and multible AI fast lines made specifically for some car mods experiencing troubles at certain tracks.

A great feature of rF1 and rF2 is you have the full control to improve the AI fast paths (aiw) when a particular track arrives that doesn't produce the best AI possible with your car and track combination!

 

[Kimmo Kokkonen]

Stanceworks BMW 2002 is amazing dream car 0-60 under 4 secs...very good mod and so much power, Renault 3.5 formula was quite arcade and too easy to drive and it's as fast as F1 (not sure but feels that). MX-5 drifting car, nothing to say about this kind of ****, totally horrible car.
This new track is nice, so easy to drive fast...M1 BMW also ok.

 

[Brian C Hayes]

You know what I have not been a big fan of Project Cars since literally day one of the full release ... but I recently tweaked the FFB using the Jack Spades files and installed the CrewChief App and you know what ... its a lot of fun ... been running the Ruf CTR3 SMSR at Spa and you know what ... I quite like it .... did I just say that