project cars Community Assisted Race Simulator (CARS) WAS in Development

[Ryzza5]

If you get a chance try out the new Anti-Aliasing modes D4xx or D2xx as they result in better quality and possibly better FPS as well.

[Ryzza5]

How many people on this forum can say they've talked to the [ex] Stig? :D

 

 

Version 420

 

Imola – my default track

 

Formula B – default Tyre

 

From my feel the default tyre is the best in the range (For the Formula B) by far. It has a reasonable level of grip and as an all round package feels pretty good.

 

Braking – interesting it has the same issue under braking as with the other tyres – the fronts won’t lock until right at the end of braking. Recommend more sense of dive and more braking ‘power’ so we can really feel the car digging under braking

 

Turn in – the initial turn in is crisp with the default tyre and the driver has the discretion to point it where he pleases. This is the right direction! The other compounds lost this.

 

Also – after the turn in the car has a little tolerance if you overdo it, which is good. It wobbles a little, then settles down and the oversteer is controllable as long as you respond. More on this below

 

Mid corner (usually medium speed) – this remains my bug-bear. At Tamburello chicane after you make the sharp left, then turn right and get hard on the gas the traction at medium speed is put to the test through the right and sometimes into the left.

 

I find that when oversteer comes there are no warning signs and when it breaks loose, it’s a showstopper – IE you spin big time.

 

Solutions? This sim has a healthy amount of resistance at the front end already – a natural dose of understeer so I do not recommend adding more, or losing turn in. What we need is some more compliance somehow so that the rear breaks away more gradually. I don’t know how else to put it!

 

If we had the compliance and the braking issue sorted I believe the Formula B would be nigh on perfect.

 

I find the car really driveable out of low speed corners on the power. If anything I think we could almost make more of the bumps when you exit across the kerbs, the sensation in car could be more aggressive so that it rings your bell a little more when you transgress. It already unsettles the car a tad which is great.

 

(On a more general point I think the Sim is still unduly harsh for running wide)

 

Formula A

 

Very interesting

 

In the race the car starts off very loose as if its on cold tyres, which is very realistic and I’m assuming is intentional!

 

General: The Formula A has definitely changed recently and generally has less traction. The sense of power this gives you is excellent. The overall feel is v good and you’re driving by the seat of your pants – it’s realistic.

 

Turn in – it’s bang on. The car darts towards the apex and you can take as much of it as you like (but the computer denies you a lap time which is a bit frustrating when you’re giving the kerbs the bashing they deserve)

 

Mid corner – a bit saucy but manageable. I would still love a little more compliance if possible. It does punish you if you go in a bit too fast, as it should, but my gut feeling is that rear grip is just a fraction too low in the mid corner.

 

THAT SAID – the driveability is really superb. You can have a slide and deal with it. Yes it will cost lap time but the car does not enter an unrecoverable spin so thumbs up big time.

 

Exit / traction. My gut feeling is again that traction is a fraction low. At times it was a bit like driving on a wet circuit with a high downforce car. I absolutely praise the drivability – there’s just a sensation of softness at the rear, a sense of roll in the tyre because there’s not quite enough grip. IE – I suspect we need some softness to improve drivability, but might need a tad more grip for it to feel like a Formula One car on a dry track.

 

Conclusion – this car is really, really close! Love it.

 

Caterham r500

 

Graphics

 

Driving position is better again, although can’t quite see the front wheels which would be ideal if possible

 

Audio – engine sounds fantastic, very realistic!

 

Braking – much better in that the oversteer under braking is much reduced but still there to some extent. Still would like more feedback under braking and to feel some more bite, and a bit more grip

 

General Handling – it feels a bit lazy. The front swings around a little too much and the steering feels a bit sloppy and very light. The real Caterham feels very planted usually and there’s none of the roll oversteer that we seem to have at the moment in the Sim.

 

Normally you can enter the corner a bit too fast, pick up some understeer and then correct it with some sharp power. We currently have the reverse – it rolls on the way in, then assuming you survive picks up understeer.

 

Traction – quite low but admittedly the car is driveable – less manic spins and lots of firefighting from the lack of grip

 

Conclusion – good progress, it’s going in the right direction!

 

 

98T

 

The 98T seems to have changed for the worse.

 

Braking – same problem as the Formula B now in that you can only lock a front wheel at the end of the braking. There’s less urgency and feedback from the steering

 

Turn in – is excellent – you can place the car where you want it

 

Mid corner – its not bad but it now feels similar to the Formula B on default tyre. Previously the 98T had this very pliable feel to it and you could hussle the apex and if the rear broke free you could roll with it.

 

Exit / traction. Traction is quite strange – it has less traction and after you leave a slow corner and change gear it slides again. There seems to be a surge of power, a bit like the Formula B on the A compound tyre

 

Additional – might have this wrong but the gear changes seem shorter..? The power band seems much higher up the rev band. And the engine has lost some of its growl but I hope I’m not imagining those things.

 

Conclusion – not the right direction. I loved this car before and now it feels quite mysterious. Has a new tyre gone onto the 98T?

 

 

 

@Ben Collins

 

I've been reading your book and have picked up a few racing tips along the way, but I was curious if pCARS has been delivering the same experience for you. One notable example is early on in the book where you found that the weight of the wheel and it's cornering ability changed dramatically when driving in someone's slipstream - I think this was in the LeMans prototype. Not to mention all the aerodynamics nuances in "Ass Car" racing as well. :)

 

Hopefully with your help the driving physics will be sorted with enough time for you to get into more races against other drivers to test a few of these things.

 

 

 

Hope you managed to stay awake reading that! LOL - yes this game is delivering big time. Its an awesome tool for me as well in terms of keeping sharp. I just need them to map the Nurburgring (please) because i've just been asked to set a lap record there and have only ever driven the place in an Avis rental..

 

 

 

Maybe I'm misunderstanding but Nürburgring is in the game already called: Eifelwald ( GP ). ;)

 

 

 

Mein gott - you've just made my week. This is awesome. Spent far too long on familiar territory

[Ryzza5]

Some vehicle dev news:

Next up, a few of the surefire things we want to do. Most of these are obvious, but I'm posting them up anyway. :) I'm listing these as I do a deeper review of each one, so don't panic about things which aren't included in a list right now. We'll get to the stuff that needs debating soon.

 

Controls

1. Brake bias key mapping
   
2. Pit speed limiter key mapping
   
3. Ignition and starter key mapping
   
4. Adjustable anti-roll bars from cockpit. Needs per-car flag to allow this.
   
5. Realistic driver aid adjustment on the fly. New TC system prerequisite
   

 

We've started taking a look at #1-4 now, so they could make it into a build in the near(ish) future barring any unforeseen issues.

 

Core vehicle physics

1. New traction control system. We've got a design ready for a more flexible system that can be adjusted in car and has somewhat better behavior at low speeds. Just waiting for when we can schedule someone to do the work.
   
2. 'Volumetric' throttle system. Calculate torque output using an approximated manifold pressure. Side effects include air restrictor effects, possible better metrics for sound system to use, fun engine response changes with the atmosphere among other things. Design being finalized right now.
   
3. Active aerodynamics.
   
4. Improved gearbox system. Design is in early stages. I'll post it up here so we can discuss details before locking it down.
   
5. Three-differential setup so we can properly do front/center/rear diffs for AWD cars.
   

 

More to come.

 

CAD data has also arrived from Mitsubishi UK so we may see those vehicles in the near future.

[Ryzza5]

We are currently responding to the 2nd vehicle/DLC proposal posted by SMS. If you'd like to review the planned (incomplete) car/DLC list and give your feedback the place to do so is here: WMD Forum

 

(PS - it shows some new licenses that they want to pursue, no confirmation of them being in the game).

[Dan G]

Mmm gotta have a go in a Ginetta.

[iLLGT3]

Gah. I can't view all the forum content because my account isn't the level to do so. I really wish I wouldn't have passed up the opportunity to purchase the game awhile back.

[Ryzza5]

What level is your account? :confused:

[iLLGT3]

Not sure. All I can do is view the front page of the forums.. Most things are hidden and when I click on my name in the top right, I don't 'have access to that page.'

[Ozzmcom]

Not sure. All I can do is view the front page of the forums.. Most things are hidden and when I click on my name in the top right, I don't 'have access to that page.'

 

have you purchased any membership pack at all?

[iLLGT3]

have you purchased any membership pack at all?

 

I really wish I wouldn't have passed up the opportunity to purchase the game awhile back.

 

I didn't, no. :(

[Ryzza5]

Let's talk prototypes. As you've seen in the latest car list, there are two new SMS Prototypes listed. The reasoning behind this is that we want a couple of modern-looking LMP designs, but most of the current crop of real cars just aren't distinguishable enough to warrant chasing after the licenses IMO. I'm one of the biggest sports car nerds out there, and even I find myself misidentifying a Lola for an HPD for an Oreca for a Zytek these days. We've got an amazingly talented group of artists, and I think we can design and build a couple of prototypes that look very convincing in less time than it would take to do real cars that few would recognize. On top of this, it gives us complete freedom over design, balancing of performance, engine types, and so on.

 

This is where you guys come in. We'd like to do a design contest to come up with the general look of these new prototypes. What we'd be looking for are typical concept sketches. Enough to get a general idea of the main design features of the car, but not necessarily detailed 'blueprint' style drawings. Each design should follow the basic philosophy of a modern LMP closely enough that we can create something that looks like it would actually race on track. You all would have freedom to draw up anything from the fairly mundane Oreca FLM09 to the comparatively extreme Audi R15 styling.

 

We'd vote on the best two - say one open-top, one coupe - and then hand it over to the SMS vehicle team to work on the 'production' model using the concept as a guide. Some changes would probably need to be made, as is typical in the real world, to make sure the design actually works as a car, but we'll do our best to keep the spirit of the design intact. Once the chassis model is in place, we will look at plugging in two or three engine variants for each. We'll have a pretty substantial set of base models to choose from, and will have the freedom to do say one NA, one turbo, one diesel for each...or whatever combination strikes our fancy. Options could even be split so there are a couple at LMP1 power levels and one at LMP2. Again, complete freedom. :)

 

Additionally, the Asano LM11 redesign gives us a third car to work on. Most of the underlying chassis work is done and is fine to use for the most part. What we'd primarily want to change is the front and rear bodywork (the stuff that detaches in game) to give the car a brand new look. We could include this in the competition as a special category where most of the middle section of the current car stays the same.

 

What say you all. Is this something enough people would be interested in to make it a viable contest? Say a tentative deadline of June 22, 1500 CEST? Discuss.

 

Click to view thread

 

Any artists want to draw some sketches and if they're not a WMD member I can submit it for you?

[Ryzza5]

Ford Mustang Boss 302R1 is expected to be available as a low quality first pass in this Friday's build

Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X FQ400 isn't too far away either

[Ryzza5]

Some finance news from Ian: WMD Forum.

[Ryzza5]

2nd SMS draft for the car list

 

WMD Forum

 

Some numbers on the latest:

 

57 cars in core release

13 core cars with license pending or in discussion

19 licensed core cars not yet in production

38 DLC cars, likely split between 4 packs

5 cars currently in production that would move to DLC. 2 of those are karts and 4 are Pre-Alpha

 

 

I like this list a lot better than the last one

[Destroyer-GT]

Karts as DLC? I thought they would be like the start of your carreer.

[Ryzza5]

Starting with karts in career is optional, and the single-gear kart is not DLC, which so far is the most popular of the karts anyway. The others are specialist imo.

[Ryzza5]

Surprise announcement of the inclusion of Spa Historic in pCARS, included in Build 438 (TM+) as an 'Easter Egg' (i.e. hidden).

 

Some of Andy G's screenshots (probably not in order):

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To select the track, open the track selection screen, and click around the bottom left corner in search of an invisible button. Slightly Mad and slightly evil :p

 

If I remember correctly, we now have historic versions of Spa, Monza, and Hockenheimring. If I had to make a bet I'd say these tracks (and any other as yet unknown historic tracks) would be fairly low priority on the polishing list and would be a part of the proposed Historic cars DLC. That's just my personal guess though, not based on any WMD forum posts.

[Dan G]

Looks nice :) Would be a good idea to rake in some extra money, I'd certainly buy it.

[superhyper]

Historic NotSpa is indeed nice! :drool:

 

 

I made this livery for the livery contest, the voting should start in a few days and once it does, I would appreciate it a lot if you could spare a vote for me :)

[Ryzza5]

I have 8 votes to spare, if I cbb logging in to each of my accounts

[superhyper]

Wow, I think I'm happy with even one unless you really like my livery :lol:

[Ryzza5]

Post a link to the poll here in case they don't do the yellow banner over there. I'm going to bed now.

[superhyper]

It's not up yet, I'll post it as soon as it opens :)

[grooks10]

Being that I'm a lowly Xbox player, I can't freaking wait for this game; it's actually killing me! But that's beside the point. When the game is released, will we be able to make custom designs on the cars, or will we only be able to use the designs already implemented into the game? I sure would love to make the whole field of 1967 F1 cars on that Lotus 49! :drool:

[Ryzza5]

Given that the community are making these liveries in Photoshop/GIMP, etc I doubt they'll find their way into the Xbox version unless hand-chosen by SMS during the development process. Probably will still be able to make and share custom skins for PC (but atm you can only have one custom skin per car at a time, but someone made an app to make switching easier)

 

 

 

Another trailer to add to your jealousy :p

 

Project C.A.R.S. - Taming the Wild Wind on Vimeo