Well, many of those issues are issues for some, and non-issues or uninteresting issues for others. Also, it is some issues shared by other racing titles as well. Probably every sim titles has a target audience. Somebody like me gets hit by AC quite well, while others get missed more. Talking about taste in car choice. In AC, I prefer the street cars by far over the others. BMW M4 one of my favourites. Also, many people for some reason ignore the Lotus cars, maybe because the huge number made them so dominant in the car pool of the early days of AC. That is quite unjustified, several of the Lotus cars are big fun and very well done, and can perform surprisingly well. The sentiment on "your racing simulator" I share. The proper motto would have been "driving simulator" indeed, but that already was booked by somebody else (GT). A season module was said to be in the making, could be coming with end-of-this-month release. Considering their - so far - very cheap pricing, I will buy the DLC, even if the content is not of that dominant interest for me this time. Its about support, like I bought most content of RR as well even if it did not interest me that much. An improved AI is said to be ready for 1.8 - I put my expectations on hold there, I fear the design by which AC handles difficulty level and how that is linked to the quality of the AI behaviour on track (not the speed and laptimes, but the behavious quality: braking points, defending lines, overtaking) may prevent me from ever seeing the kind of AI I would like to see in AC. Speed is not my problem there, the last thing I need to get is more speed of the AI. That they linked the difficulty slider to the way the AI behaves, how early it brakes, slowing the AI down with decreasing difficulty by making it behave stupidly - that is my problem here. The clever way would have been to have the AI capped in top engine speed in both turns and on straights, while not reducing their skill to brake late into turns or defendi8gn their lines or overtaking the other. But hey - it seems we get that split of difficulty sliders as well - it was said 1.8 will introduce an aggressiveness slider. Let's see what that thing will do. Ideally, they indeed have their top speeds defined by the difficulty slider, and their way of braking into turns and fighting for the lines by the aggressiveness slider.
Don't worry, I'm certain you must not worry at least for the reason you gave. Those people doing the car modelling, both exterior and interior, are not the ones working on the game's package design, physics, sounds, features, etc. Graphics designers and object modellers usually are specialists - like those people doing other aspects of the sim. That you save staff in one department doe snot mean you make it available for working in a very different department. Same is true for RR - and one of their staff guys some weeks ago said something like that he wonders why people think RR would develop faster in features if they would stop releasing new cars or tracks. He indicated by that that content development (cars, tracks) and feature development of the sim have not much to do with each other, and need different specialists to deal with. Getting new cars means to keep staff busy that else would sit at their desk in idle mode, playing Pong. And hiring new staff for the sim elements and featuzre coding - the question is how many chefs can stir one and the same soup with their hands all in one and the same pot, without interfering with each other and ruining it.
Well the coders have to work on the car physics I assume? Maybe not. Good point on how the AI should work though. I never thought I'd say this, but I revisited Project CARS recently, and so far the experience with the AI has been really good there. Some bots in the pack tend to be over aggressive, but nothing that would be game breaking or making it frustrating like it was before.
As far as I know, the car physics get designed and put in by only Aristotelis Vesilakos, who is their physics magican-in-chief. That he has practical experience with driving race and sports cars (holds some racing license), does not hurt.They say he lovers BMW cars. Maybe that is why especially the BMWs in AC are so damn good. The AI is worked on by Stefano Castillo alone, AFAIK. At least that is the impression their streamings and postings give. Too many cooks spoil the broth.
Heh, that is an interesting hypothesis Their devs have said before AC was only supposed to be something like 5 tracks and 10-20 cars total. It was meant to give an impressive driving feeling and that was supposed to be the game. Much like NetKar Pro was before. Only after their tech demo released and people clamored onto their concept did they really choose to expand not only the amount of content, but add AI, add MP, and tons of other features. Their idea of AC at the beginning was vastly different than what it turned into. It was not at all planned to be anything like GT/Forza. Much like R3E was far less of a simulator in its early days than it is now. Concepts evolve over time. You expect a completely brand new feature added in the last update to be fully fleshed out and have numerous setup options to be able to change the effect? It's a first step in implementation that will change over time and perhaps be more complex not only from a physics standpoint, but also a setup/strategy standpoint... Much like other games dont simulate various other aspects of cars... Nothing new here. Well, they havent said what all the Porsche cars are going to be... But we already know the Porsche 962, 917/30, Carrera cup, cayman gt4, 991 GT3 R, and 919 '15/'16 are coming... among other race cars. So your point is rather moot. You should pen a criticism of all the various sims and see where you end up. Each game will have a laundry list of things you find wrong, incomplete, or not up to your expectations. That's why it is always best to take each game for what it offers. Since there are many games in the genre, any self respecting fan will have a collection and not just focus on 1 game 100% of the time. Since they all scratch a different itch, and if you step away from your preferred game for a while, it will feel that much better when returning after playing something you are less fond of, even if it offers different things you do enjoy. Cheers
Is it really too much to expect a "working" feature to be implemented ? A finished item in stead of having to wait for something that may (or may not) come in the future ? Rest assured, I have. But none of them comes even close to the length of AC's. Which is maybe why I feel the need to criticise AC's shortcomings more than the others.
Well, your list of "issues" won't be the same for everyone. Only few things you mentioned I consider a problem for me. Now imagine how hard it is for a dev to choose the next thing to work on, when everyone has different priorities. And regarding "Is it really too much to expect a "working" feature to be implemented ?", now you seem to have no clue, sorry.
Of course it isnt too much to ask for, but you have to come in with a proper understanding. A new feature just got added. Brake temps. Now, how would you ideally have them simulate it? How does air affect brake temps? How does brake pressure affect temps? How does the material of the brakes affect temps? How does brake temps affect tire temps being in such close proximity? Etc. There are literally tons of things you could take into consideration when adding a feature, which is true of any game that adds something new. This was a first step. It will be expanded upon in the future. The other option would have been to can this feature for another 3 yrs til it is fully fleshed out and perfected in testing. Same with tire models in every game. Why even have a tire model if you are going to constantly make changes to it? Rather extreme hyperbole, but the point is there. Why not list some of each games strengths then too? For instance AC simulates rather complex aero physics for the Pagani Huyra that no other game does, or could even hope to as they dont have the complex aero algorithms straight from Pagani. You could make a laundry list for any game and realize just why we all love these games. They truly do simulate a lot, and to get it all right for as many cars as these games has is no small task. Physics and AI may be the 2 most challenging things to get right in a sim. And one could hopelessly chase perfection tweaking endlessly. I agree with @Tom Shane too. What you may see as a problem, very well may not be a problem for others. So how can a dev prioritize your issue, if others feel the same way about their own? That's why devs have their own philosophy and work order. Anyone's list of issues or cons could feasibly have a counterpoint to the issue. Your complaint about Fanatec LED's not working? Well, that is a bummer, I agree. But... welcome to every G27 owners issue up until October 2015 or thereabouts when Kunos quietly added the feature to light up the G27 LEDs. And G27 ownership is far more massive than those who own the CSW V2.
True, not everybody seems to have set the same "standard". There are even people who find Gran Turismo "the best simulator".... But from my pov, my "issues" are as important as others. It was a question (see the question mark). Why don't you enlighten me ? Why not wait to implement until it is finished, rather than add something that does half the job. I was raised differently. Not saying that a feature has to be perfect from the beginning, fine tuning can be done afterwards, I wouldn't mind.
Brake temps: I do not expect them to be a perfect match to RL, a simplified version would do. I believe that a perfect simulation takes more than a PC or console game. But e.g. pCars had this complete feature from the start. Brake temps working and a duct to regulate. Not saying it is perfect, but it simulates and it works good enough for a 50€ game/sim. Agree completely on the tire model. AC has one and changes it constantly. But then they change it for a few cars and "the rest will follow". In the meantime you find yourself adapting to the different in-game models... I have, and it shows a reverse result compared to my "issues list", if you get my point, AC's is rather a shortlist. Now, AC does have its strong points (as I wrote before), proper triple screen support being the strongest of all and keeping me driving in AC. AI is rather good, a bit slow on most tracks, but I found a way to have fun racing against them. I'd agree too, but that goes both ways. Others' issues might not be of (high) importance for me, but I would not go ignoring or weaken them. Now this is a very sensitive point for me (and other CSW V2 owners). It has been mentioned several times on the KUNOS "support" forum and each time it has been tagged as a 'NON ISSUE'. That really ps me off. - Fanatec is mentioned in the credits, - Thomas Jackermeyer (FANATEC owner/lead guy) too and his name is even one of the AI drivers, - When asked about it, ENDOR (FANATEC) says it's KUNOS job to get them working (which is no doubt true, since the rev lights work in every other sim I own, without having to use third party software like FANALEDS), - FANALEDS managed to get the lights working, even several times, but each and every time KUNOS brings a new patch, the rev lights are gone again, - Before last patch they lighted up when in the pitlane, just to stop working when hitting the track. After the latest patch they never work. How can this be tagged as a NON ISSUE ? It is a non issue for anyone else who has another brand of steering wheel, so far I agree. Another one jumps to my mind, the look back view (in cockpit view): - In pCars it shows the rear view, without car parts (but I am OK with that, it's good enough, - In R3E it is a view through the back window, showing the rear aero, which is great - In AC it shows the rear view, but it looks like if you are driving a truck or a bus, the cars on your tail are MUCH lower, so I suppose the cam is on the roof. It has been mentioned on the AC forum and very fast marked as a NON ISSUE. I may have no clue, but would it be so difficult to change (lower) that cam ? Isn't there a more proper way to treat customers as to just shove every issue under the carpet ? Even stipulating that it is not so easy to do and that it might interfere with other things, that it could take some time to get it fixed, or whatever ? It could keep people satisfied and patient, while this way it only results in people getting worked up about it (and rest assured, I am one of many). Now I'm out of here, going to race a bit...
First time i will compete in a Assetto Corsa league and still have to learn a lot in Assetto. I will drive in the GTC league from Virtual Racing and as i can see at the moment there are many fast guys driving in this league! Here is my hotlap for the Preseason and i hope i will qualify for Grid one. Hope you guys enjoy
I can understand that if somebody invests that lot of money into Fanatec kit, and then a feature - though no decisive, game-breaking one, but a noticable one - does not get the support it needs from a software, that this somebody then feels pissed. I did not know that Fanatec LEDs do not get supported - and I was seriously considering to turn irresponsibly mad and get the Fanatec Porsche wheel myself. I would feel bad now if I would have done so - 1200 Euros, and then pedals - and the rev lights not working due to software failure? That would make me angry, too. Sometimes, the ways and choices of the good Lord Kunos are mysterious. The way the difficulty slider works. The AI. Tyres v7 and even more v10 imo are somewhat "overdone", for my taste. Still, I keep on driving. Cannot all be that bad then. Just like any other thing in life: not perfect. Next week we will see what has been cured and what not with 1.8. I think 1.8 is more important to me than the new DLC , classic track(s) and free car.
I can understand it too. And that's what I was talking about. For some it is an issue for others not. And you as a developer has do decide what is more important. Not easy. I'm not aware, what's wrong with difficulty slider?
First, I am no developer. I have no relation to Kunos. Maybe they even do not like me, since I once attacked them quite aggressively when for over half a year the AI had gotten stuck at an unusable level - could be, but I do not know. And the difficulty slider, I explained it two or three posts earlier. That the AI cars get limited only by making them behave stupid instead of having them behaving clever before turns or when defending a line - or depending on a second slider named "aggressiveness" - instead of capping their top speeds and engine performance in turns and on straights. Also, 1.7 has brought an incredibly speed boost especially in GT3 and sportscars races. Where before I used 88-92% AI setting and by that was able to keep up with the main field and make it into the top third of the competition if not making obvious errors, I know drive at 80% - at get left in the dust, with them after one lap on the Nordschleife already being 10, 15, 20 seconds away. My driving is the same, my laptimes are in the same range - but the AI got warp engines, boosting them by 15- seocnds and more on the Nordschleife while AI setting dramatically reduced. . And then, there is the occasional race when all of a sudden, they do a race and are even slower than before 1.7, and after half a lap on the Nordschleife I am rolled up the whole field while starting behind. A problem of inconsistency there is. Its quite frustrating. I have completely stopped since two days to race GT3 and sportscars. Again, my driving is the same as before, my laptimes are in the same range as before, but the AI got mostly incredibly faster while having AI slider lowered by 10 points and now being at the very minimum. I have several hundred laps on the Nord, and over 800 hours in AC. Started to catch my attention with one of the hotpatches after 1.7.
Of course, I know you are not a dev. It's just a turn of phrase we use in Czech, it doesn't address you. Anyway, poorly translated, my bad. According to the thread at official AC forum, the slider seems to work properly for everyone who replied. Are you sure some mod can't affect the AI behavior for you? For me the AI is slightly slower/faster from track to track, but nothing dramatic. In general, it is really race-able now.
It is not just the Fanatec LEDs that don't work. My SimDash Rev Lights, don't work either. And allthough they only cost 1/20th of a Fanatec Wheel, it is still a let down for me
Just received a very good tip on another forum: http://www.eksimracing.com/new-slimax-manager-pro/ Impressing software, which made my rev lights work. It is free (you can donate) as long as you use it only for a wheel. If you 'd like it to work for other extensions, you have to register. I tried it yesterday and it worked fine. I'm happy, no thanks to KUNOS... Btw: the program works for most sims and almost all wheels. You just switch profiles.
New console release trailer: LINK Nicely done. Honestly said, I do not think the console arcade racer community is properly prepared for what is about to come over them. They may be used to nice looks - but not to this kind of driving realism. Think AC will roll up the field from behind - or, if this ammount of "alieness" works against it, crash in a spectacular manner. More likely, and hopefiully, the first. And imagine al the many users with gamepads - brrrrr, shivering! :LOL