If it had not been for the mods, (and proper triple screen support), I would have totally left AC. My 2cts: Original track choice is pretty poor and there are too much road cars in AC. There are some really great car mods (easily matching "AC standards"), lots of outstanding liveries and several tracks that easily match or even beat the quality of original AC tracks. Also a lot of mod apps that should be implemented in the game from the start. Without all this, AC has rather poor content, and don't get me talking about the "career"... Even Gran Turismo series scored better.
I guess we are coming from the same angle. Nothing on the list in AC interests me, pretty much. If I want to enjoy a nice road car, I do it IRL. I had no reason to invest in it. Maybe, beside GT3, but then do they have real liveries or fantasy ones? The very first thing I am planning to do is download/buy some mods and see if I can get a feeling of series racing, but I don't get much hope from all of the above (you give some hope Fanapryde) anyway, will be interesting! And, thank you S3S for tolerating this crap on your forum. I am very grateful for product like R3E.
It took some time, but by now I have tried all available car and track mods. I would rate them from very poor to excellent. I only kept the excellent mods (and one or two that are just good enough to keep because I like them for what they may become). Not that much into classics, let alone open wheel classics, but there is e.g. a very nice Lancia Fulvia, well made, good physics, good sound. I like to cruise it or even race it against identical opponents. Modders provide lots of real (and fictional) liveries, sometimes really up-to-date (the liveries for the new Mercedes AMG GT3 from 24hr Spa race are already available). I must admit that AC has some good cars too. I race the little Abarth (for which I have some 24 liveries installed) a lot and it is fun to race against a pack of 24 of these small hornets on certain tracks (Road Atlanta is great for this), all differently dressed. Lots of real liveries for the new Ferrari 488 GT3 (from the latest Red Pack) available too. Caterham (mod) is fun also, as is the Mazda MX5 cup that is - for me- the only interesting car from the Japanese Pack. The Red pack included the Red Bull Ring (laser scanned), but tbh, the Red Bull Ring mod I had installed is better, and looks better too. It has even waving flags (while at the AC forum people told me it was not possible to have moving objects outside the track because of the engine AC runs on !?). I set exactly (give or take a few thousands) the same lap times with several cars on both tracks. Trying out cars and tracks is time consuming, so I decided to do it while racing: max cars (depending on amount of pits), AI set to 100% and starting last for a 10 lap race. Good fun mostly. AI is not that fast, but gives a good fight sometimes. They are aware of you, they sometimes try to avoid contact, on other occasions they deliberately push or nudge you, protect their line etc... On straights they are usually a tad faster than me, but they lose out in corners. They do fight back and try (sometimes they succeed) to take back their position. There are some really nice paid mods too, the rest is free, or you can donate if you want. Downside: every change AC makes, or every new patch you have to reinstall several mods, because they don't work any more, cars without engine sound, tracks don't load... But still, if you want good racing, stick to R3E (and for the most immersive experience I still drive pCars)
Has anyone else had the issue with the A/C not looking as good as it did in release the versions.(1.0 and 1.1) It looked so crisp when I first got it, and now it looks as washed out than Rfactor. I just would like to know if I am the only one or others have noticed too.
Too bright? Wrong PPF? Sounds like some graphics setting issue to me. The quality of the graphics has not changed, but will change soon (better, smoother reflections, performance gains). Such specific question best ask in their tech support forum. That is where the experts are.
No worries. The series/season simulation in Raceroom trumps AC, hands down, its one of the things where Raceroom rules. AC seems to get a season module, however, I hope it is no preset season, but an editor like we have in Raceroom. The race presentation however most likely will stay like it is: a bit sterile. AC is about the driving in the first, that is where it shines. But if DTM or WTCC seasons are your flavour, then for heaven's sake enjoy Raceroom! I did two seasons - a DTM and an ADAC season - myself and know how nicely series are done in RR. ----- Interesting to see how different AI cars behave in both sims, I do not mean their competitiveness - or lack of -, but the mere act of finding the line and keeping on it in turns. In Raceroom, you can best check that in replays, and then hood camera or something like that. You see the car not doing one smooth turning movement, but doing a series of mild, almost unnoticable straight-turn-straight-turn "zigzaggings", like smoothing out a circle by increasing the number of ever shorter straight lines by which to form it. In AC, the AI takes the turns smooth and in a gentle, steady movement. I do not know whether this is due to differences in the AI, or differences in the physics. AC uses the full physics set on all AI cars, like for player's car. Usually race sims give AI cars simplified physics sets, to save the CPU. In race, you usually do not notice the difference as long as the "shorter" physics do not break the laws of physics so obviously that even while racing it catches player's attention. I would expect that this method of AC consumes a lot of CPU resources on AI physics, which might be one of the reason why AC is more CPU hungry than Raceroom. Complexity of the physics calculations may be another reasons. If the difference visible during race however is so small that I do not notice it when racing, and only see a difference in replay, and a mild difference it is in this case, then I would question the design - full physics for every AI car - a bit, because then it sounds like investing too much CPU for too small Bang-in-return. Investing more CPU cycles than needed as minimum should always result in a visible gain of whateveritis, else it sounds a bit like "wasted". On the other hand Stefano recently "boasted" with screenshot data showing he achieved a 25% performance gain by code optimizations, so who am I to talk about optimizations here... LOL
2 machines both with maxed out settings, and looks dated like rfactor. I doubt it's a setting thing since everything is set to highest. Most probably did not own the game prior to release like I did, so most are not gonna recall the difference. It was a night and day change. 1.0 to 1.1 was the difference between crisp and flat. I was just curious what others observations were. God forbid I ask that question there again, it did not end well.
I am with AC since release of the tech demo in spring 2013, and I have no real idea what you talk of, sorry. I even have plenty of screenshots from early access 0.1 on, and can compare the present to the past in pictures. What you describe, is unknown to me. However, you can try this: set the so-called colour correction to 110-120%, and start a race on a Kunos default track at 0900-1000 hours, or around 1600 hours, then see what it does, test with Natural graphics PPF mod maybe, thats what I am using. That slider often gets overlooked. I am just not sure that it's effects are really related to the symptoms you desribe. But try it, you have nothing to loose, and it is easily done and tested.
If you want crisper graphics, disable FXAA, but be ready for some aliasing even with MSAA 4x. If you want less washed out look, increase color saturation. If you want to go to an extreme, you can disable post-processing altogether. By no means I would call AC's graphics "dated like rFactor", I'm kinda happy with it, but I too prefer more clear and crisp visuals, more like in iRacing or R3E.
Tom is right, maximum settings does not automatically translate into "best looks". I should add to my own tip above that I have most video card settings, or all, in a medium range of settings only, or slightly below medium. Again, try that colour correction as well. It also cures the washed out pink braking lights. Drive not over the mid-day when the sun is high and ultrabright and blue-ish. Make sure you have the right PPF enabled.
I find it very puzzling how engines using most flexible versions of DX end up looking less natural than DX9 based R3E. Too much post processing effects just for the sake of it, and not all can be turned off for example in pCars. Speaking subjectively, aside from lack of day/night transition and real weather, R3E is my favorite in looks department, (especially with SGSSAA that eliminates shadow flicker). Really nice job, S3S.
Release date: 26 august DLC Triple Pack Content: Ferrari 488 GTB Praga R1 Proto Ferrari FXX K and Update 1.8 with bonus car Audi A1 S1 Quattro
I wish they stopped with the street cars already. They did such an awesome job with the Maserati 250F and now we are going to get more boring supercars.
Some street cars don't Kunos idea, but car manufacturer. For ex. Levante, its wishes of Maserati, not Kunos
We will get new (historic) tracks, too. However, cars and tracks are not this interesting for me this time. 1.7 gave me issues with the AI in some car classes, especially GT3, sportcars, with inconsistent performance from race to race, and a generally insane speed level at times. I hope they iron these problems out in 1.8. There were times in the past two weeks when I really was extremely frustrated.
This may be the first DLC that I won't buy. I think I've driven three o four street cars in AC, and just to test. What a dream would it be if the whole content in AC were race cars (like R3E).
The Praga may be worth buying the DLC, but I don't care for the rest. The Red Pack had only the Ferrari 488 as a need to have for me (the Red Bull Ring mod I had installed is better than Kunos version) and the Japanese Pack has an outstanding Mazda MX5, but all the rest just sits there, unused. When I look at it this way, the DLC is pretty pricey for me. My wife drives a Audi A1, she may be happy with this free S1. Depending the DLC price, I'm buying (for the Praga only) or not. Wish we could test the cars like in R3E, because the Praga could as well be a lemon.... And yes, agree with @Gerbuho, I would like to see more race cars. Don't want AC to turn into Gran Turismo.
I think that is actually what Assetto Corsa was supposed to be from the beginning, seeing how they never focused on the racing aspect and neglected a lot of crucial features for months (AI, flag rules, pit stops etc.). Anyway, if we are talking Gran Turismo, I wish they at least made a descent career.
Maybe you are right, but why did Kunos use the phrase "your racing simulator" ? Maybe because PD had "your driving simulator" ? The line tricked me more or less into buying AC, but it is in no way a racing simulator. "Career" is really bad, let us just say non existent. AI is not that bad, but way too slow on most tracks. I do have (some) fun in AC, mostly hotlapping track mods with the few decent racing cars (I'm not really into open wheelers). I do race against AI (set to 100%), 12 to 24 cars on track, 10 laps and starting last. Full damage on and working my way to the front, which takes (depending on used car and track) between 2 and 4 laps to manage that, from then on trying to be faster every lap. So AI is rather slow, but on some occasions they seem to be faster and more aggressive, as in (literally) pushing you off track, even if you fully respect their position and/or racing line. There is no way to defend or return the favor Worst was a race on Road Atlanta (love that track) with McLaren 12C's. I needed several restarts because AI wrecked my car each and every time before the end of the second lap. But what bothers me most is that AC lacks A LOT of features, has A LOT of issues and Kunos simply does not care. Just a few that ennoy me each time (and are well known because people have been asking about at the AC "support" forum: - rev lights on Fanatec wheels don't work, not even wit Fanaleds. Kunos knows, but it is marked as a "non issue" - position in race gets only adjusted after completing a lap (non issue or designed that way) - at the start line engaging first gear is only possible after the third or fourth red light shows, or even only afer they all go out (depending on the used car) - "not an issue"... - the position bar is at the bottom of the screen and can't be moved, which is a pita for me since it blocks most of the view on my car's instrument panel (cockpit view): "as designed" - no possibility to change between bar/psi for tire pressure. The API seems to send the pressure in BAR (since my RS Dash reads it that way) but when adjusting I have to use a calculator: "no issue" - tire pressure does not work properly: in several cars it is impossible to get (or keep) heat in the tires, whatever pressure used. Lower pressure translates in lower speeds and more grip, but tires still cool down to unrealistic temperatures: "as designed" - cars from the Red Pack now show oil/water temperatures, but they don't interfere with the engine condition, so they are useless... - brake temps on the RP cars seem to work, but there is no brake duct to adjust !? My list of issues is much longer, being aware that it is of little or no use in this topic, I still needed to ventilate somewhere, since Kunos does not care anyway.
Agreed. My only hope is that once they release the console version, they will get back on track with working on the game. What worries me is the whole Porsche deal - 3 DLCs coming, mostly probably street cars again, since that is what appeals to the casual car fans is a lot of development effort, that could probably be better spent developing core aspects of the game. But hey, I think it should be obvious by this point, that were are not the target audience - the game is clearly aimed toward the everyday Joe who just watched Top Gear and wants to try out those fancy looking cars and feel like Chris Harris.