Simracing is an ever-evolving hobby. Developers add new features to their titles on a frequent basis. As such, simracers can dream about potential additions to their favourite sims. Assetto Corsa Competizione is one sim clearly lacking features that would really improve the game.
Image Credit: Kunos Simulazioni
When it comes to Assetto Corsa Competizione, the simracing community’s verdict is a tale of two halves. On the one hand, it is a fantastic game for online racing focusing in great detail on GT cars, some of the most popular categories in motorsport. But, on the other hand, it aims to be the next great endurance GT racing game, taking the baton from GTR2. In this endeavour, it doesn’t meet the mark.
The main reason ACC doesn’t live up to the hype it once had is its many missing features. Playing the title offline is about as involving as watching the Daytona 500 was this weekend. With so few features placing the driver in the position of a real-world GT driver, one might as well be watching the racing instead. Looking back through the history books of simracing, I’ve compiled a list of amazing features that would improve Assetto Corsa Competizione tenfold.
Gran Turismo B-Spec and AI Control
The main aspect of motorsport Assetto Corsa Competizione promises to simulate is endurance racing, especially in GT classes. Day-night transition, evolving weather, varying track surface and grip. Several features in the game point towards a great endurance racing experience, but one curcial aspect is missing from the offline experience.
As it stands, players have to run an entire race by themselves. This cancels out all the development team’s hard work, as players are actively turned off from the idea of long-form races. Furthermore, a major aspect of GTWC is the fact teams change drivers halfway through even a hour-long race.
A simple fix for this would be to allow the AI to control your car for a stint. Back in the day, GTR2 allowed players to change drivers in the pits giving the AI the wheel. This could also be an engaging experience similar to the Gran Turismo B-Spec mode. The player could tell the AI how to drive the car, whether it should push hard and abuse the tyres or rather drive safely to save fuel.
Not only would this better simulate a driver’s experience in an endurance event. It would also allow the player a bit of time away from their screen when trying to simulate a 24 Hours of Spa.
Proper Single Player Career or Progression
Assetto Corsa Competizione does feature a Career Mode. However, it’s far from in-depth as the player goes from spending an hour-or-so lapping a Huracan Super Trofeo car round Monza to owning their own team racing in GTWC Europe 2018.
Since its initial launch, the game has grown a lot in terms of content. It has gained tracks from around the world, as well as cars from various classes and enough liveries to simulate four years worth of SRO championships. Setting up a progressive career shouldn’t be too hard, especially if Kunos followed the templates left by older titles.
In its standard form, Richard Burns Rally features a driving school in which the player learns everything there is to know about the game. This is similar to the Lamborghini test in ACC. But in RBR, this tutorial mode opens up various options for the career.
It would be great to see a player chose which single-make car they want to use for the test, and then race that car for a season. After this point, I’d like to see a Project Cars-inspired career mode, as the player rises through the ranks from GT4 to GT3 on the road to becoming a Platinum ranked factory driver.
Assetto Corsa Competizione needs a Safety Car Feature
A major part of motorsport which is severely unrepresented in simracing is the presence of Safety Cars. In today’s market, only the F1 games feature race interruptions, while iRacing implements the idea on oval races only. If ACC really wants to simulate the real-life GT World Challenge championship, it needs to add this feature.
Back in the day, GTR2 did its best to add Safety Cars by determining an impact force threshold. If a crash generated more than a certain amount of G-force, the safety car would leave the pits. This is certainly something countless sims could implement, even if it can be turned on or off.
Today, we also have Full Course Yellow or Slow Zone regulations which compare to Virtual Safety Cars of Formula 1. These could be easier to simulate in ACC as the devs wouldn’t need to code an AI line for the safety car itself. Either way, race stoppages are an important part of GT racing and they exist in other simulators, so Kunos doesn’t have any excuses.
What other features do you think are missing from Assetto Corsa Competizione? Tell us on Twitter at @OverTake_gg or in the comments down below!
