The Current State of Project Cars

[Daunt]

So instead of contiuing on in the AC thread, I opened a new one to take a look at Project Cars. I decided to go and try this thing, for obvious reasons. I'm not sure how good a reviewer I'd be, I'm sure there are better out there. But this was me having fun for the first time in the game:

[video=youtube;6HFhoEch8mk]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HFhoEch8mk&feature=youtu.be[/video]

 

[little P]

That looks and sounds great. How would you say the handling is compared to AC and iR? I read somewhere a long while ago that it's leaning towards an arcadey kind of handling like the "pseudo sim" Grid etc.

It looked like it wa spretty easy to put the power down there in the rain and braking seemed uneventful ( could be due to your amazing driving skills of course ).

Can you buy into this as early access?

 

[Noodleguitar]

That rain and the water on the track looks pretty realistic. It looks like the AI has some regular issues. Some of those cars look like they hit a roadside IED or something.

 

[Daunt]

That looks and sounds great. How would you say the handling is compared to AC and iR? I read somewhere a long while ago that it's leaning towards an arcadey kind of handling like the "pseudo sim" Grid etc.

It looked like it wa spretty easy to put the power down there in the rain and braking seemed uneventful ( could be due to your amazing driving skills of course ).

Can you buy into this as early access?

I would say it is more towards something akin to GRID. It definitely isn't like iRacing and I cannot speak for AC. It felt pretty realistic but I know it wasn't. I did put in a hour or so of practice in the wet conditions so I didn't look like an idiot. But it was very easy to lose it when applying to much gas or brake. You can see how well slamming on the brakes works in the final part of the video.

Early access through steam I think is no longer available. From Steam:

"Unfortunatly it's not possible to join Project CARS at the moment, the membership may reopen in the near future but until then there is no other way to do so."

That rain and the water on the track looks pretty realistic. It looks like the AI has some regular issues. Some of those cars look like they hit a roadside IED or something.

That was my biggest issue I found with the current state of the game. The AI, while not terrible at driving... when it makes a mistake, baaaad things happen. You see in turn 1 off the start cars EXPLODE because for whatever dumb reason they all cut the corner. And in-game physics with curbs seem to be far off, so the cars go flying. They also seem to lose wheels very easily, not sure how... probably something to do with curbs though.

Replays were very very limited. As you can see I could only use the rear view. Despite everything though, it was very fun and am looking forward to release.

 

[Shilka]

That's actually looking (and sounding) very nice. Love how the damage model makes parts fly off, love good damage models in games like these. Really like the rain stuff too, with the impaired vision and all. Some stuff seemed a bit off though, like the rain still only forming static drops on the front windscreen at high speed and driving in someone's spray doesn't cause the amount of water hitting the windscreen to increase (sorry, I'm a details guy). I'm convinced that having a good and true to life damage model influences people driving style in a positive way...

 

[Daunt]

That's actually looking (and sounding) very nice. Love how the damage model makes parts fly off, love good damage models in games like these. Really like the rain stuff too, with the impaired vision and all. Some stuff seemed a bit off though, like the rain still only forming static drops on the front windscreen at high speed and driving in someone's spray doesn't cause the amount of water hitting the windscreen to increase (sorry, I'm a details guy). I'm convinced that having a good and true to life damage model influences people driving style in a positive way...

No I agree 100%. I was saying that even graphically it was still a bit buggy... the particle effects are a bit diminished and there doesn't seem to be any slider for it. I think in rain like that it would be much worse as far as how hard it would be to see. And the particles go through the car, dash, windshield. But again the game isn't finished yet. The windscreen also doesn't seem very convincing but then again, I think that might be for performance issues. Maybe something with my settings... or they haven't done it yet.

 

[Daunt]

So this is an online video I found that was posted only a couple months ago. Should give a better idea of the current state of the bugs found. Very humourous.

[video=youtube;nZsIOlUNAZg]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZsIOlUNAZg[/video]

At least the RUF has a nice interior though!

 

[Wapwap]

I love the amount of details like the weather and car parts flying off. They did a good job on the sounds as well.

You said it felt a little bit like GRID. What kind of race game are they aiming at you reckon?

 

[Daunt]

I love the amount of details like the weather and car parts flying off. They did a good job on the sounds as well.

You said it felt a little bit like GRID. What kind of race game are they aiming at you reckon?

Well I know when they release they plan to hit all the systems (XBONE, PS4, PC) so I am sure they're trying to appeal to all reaches of racing. The steering and handling isn't as realistic as one could hope, and considering all the cars in the game already at this point, it isn't surprising that they don't get the love and detail that iRacing spends on the cars. I couldn't even tell much of a difference between two cars I raced, even though they were very different cars (front-engined Mercedes vs mid-engined Audi). Granted I'm still feeling the game out and I did race one in the rain... I plan next to race the McLaren and compare it to iRacing's Macca.... one I know very well.

 

[Daunt]

Here's another video I just uploaded, this time with the Mercedes GT3. Ken said it sounded like a beast so I had to try it.

Keep in mind of course it is still a work in progress... the AI really shows how terrible it is. Their racing lines are way off, I'm able to almost floor it through the esses leading to the straight at the Glen. The AI takes a weird line off turn 1 and is constantly braking through the esses. The race turns a bit into a demolition derby, unintentionally. By the third or fourth lap over half the cars are knocked out or damaged so bad they can't run at even a decent pace, and it gets worse. I also believe that somehow, the AI has a crazy braking advantage because I was braking at their brake points and could not for the life of me slow down fast enough to make the turn. So I was constantly getting dive bombed and rear ended because I had to slow down sooner.

[video=youtube;f4JrWk7A7e0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4JrWk7A7e0&feature=youtu.be[/video]

 

[Kenadian]

I may have missed it Kyle but does this have Coop? If so and if a few of you are going to pick it up I may be swayed easily to get into it as well.

 

[Daunt]

I may have missed it Kyle but does this have Coop? If so and if a few of you are going to pick it up I may be swayed easily to get into it as well.

Online Multiplayer? Yes it does. Or do you mean like a multiplayer career mode of sorts? That I'm not sure of. I did post a video (not my own) of how buggy online multiplayer currently is on this thread. It is the race at Laguna Seca.

But what do you mean exactly about co-op?

The career mode itself sounds very intriguing... from their site:

Unlike other games that may force you to start in low tiers with slow vehicles, players in Project CARS are free to choose from any of the available championships or series on offer.
If you want to jump straight into powerful Le Mans Prototypes then you can! Similarly, if European GT cars are your thing, then go ahead!

Once you've chosen your career starting point, you'll be presented with a contract to sign with your first team and then you'll be ready for the start of the season ahead!

There are also really cool achievement-based careers / career modes like:

ZERO TO HERO

Like many young prodigies that have appeared throughout motorsport history, this Historic Goal challenges you to rise from Karting to the very pinnacle of motorsports in a short number of years.

TRIPLE CROWN

There are some that define themselves by proving their mastery in multiple race disciplines. This Historic Goal challenges you to do so also by winning three titles across different motorsports.

I'm drooling at the ability to go from karting to professional top tier racing.

 

[Kenadian]

By Coop I meant racing in essentially a closed server with your friends opposed to Multiplayer which is online with randoms.

 

[Daunt]

By Coop I meant racing in essentially a closed server with your friends opposed to Multiplayer which is online with randoms.

I'm 90% sure you can host your own server and therefor tweak the server as you wish; cars, track, private / public, etc. I know nothing of the multiplayer side though, so I may be wrong. I am not familiar with AC but I imagine it is a similar system to that. How does AC work in that regard?

 

[Kenadian]

Honestly I haven't tried the online component yet in AC so I have no idea, I'll have to check?

In fact I haven't spent that much time in the game because I'm not a big fan of how the car handling works. It feels as if you're pivoting on a pole that is impaled through the center of your car.

Between AC and iRacing I think vehicle physics (in general) are much better than in AC.

 

[Daunt]

Between AC and iRacing I think vehicle physics (in general) are much better than in AC.

You won't be overly impressed by how the vehicles drive in PCARS, either. Not to say it isn't fun and beautiful to look at though... I will get back to you on multiplayer info... I opened up a thread about it on their forums asking how they plan to do it.

And by forums I mean their official reddit... they don't seem to have an official forum... haha.

 

[Kenadian]

lol nice.

 

[little P]

You can host your own servers for Assetto Corsa Not done it myself I just join others but they run really well. No lag or anything that I've seen or experienced.

 

[Kenadian]

You can host your own servers for Assetto Corsa Not done it myself I just join others but they run really well. No lag or anything that I've seen or experienced.

Maybe we should have a race sometime?

 

[little P]

Definitely! I'll be up for it this weekend if we can get a few of us together that would be awesome