Paul Jeffrey
Premium
In light of the brand new build of Assetto Corsa Competizione, Kunos have released a very useful overview of some of the new features...
With the new release comes a raft of feature improvements and additions to the title, not least of which is a rather impressive sounding implementation of dynamic weather options, and the many varied improvements and enhancements to the new and rapidly developing rating system and online multiplayer goodies. So much has changed since the last build that Kunos have published a very useful insight into what many of the new features mean, and how one can use them to the maximum effect within the new build of the game.
The blog posting from @Minolin can be read in full below:
In case you scanned the patch notes of this 0.7 update, you will have noticed that a lot was going in very short on since 0.6.5. As usual, let's have some more detailed explanations about Rating changes, Multiplayer and the brand new Leaderboard event for the SRO eSports series.
SRO eSports Round#1 Leaderboard event
First, this 0.7 version contains the leaderboard event you can compete on to gain a slot in the "Silver" category for the upcoming Monza event. It will become visible as the first Special Event once we open it (which may require an ACC restart), everything else you need to know is found here: https://sro-esport.com
Please, if you plan to seriously compete, make sure to read up the rules.
Aside from that, I'll be happy to first be devastated in this leaderboard, and then meet as many of you as possible on site
SRO eSports Round#1 Leaderboard event
First, this 0.7 version contains the leaderboard event you can compete on to gain a slot in the "Silver" category for the upcoming Monza event. It will become visible as the first Special Event once we open it (which may require an ACC restart), everything else you need to know is found here: https://sro-esport.com
Please, if you plan to seriously compete, make sure to read up the rules.
Aside from that, I'll be happy to first be devastated in this leaderboard, and then meet as many of you as possible on site
Penalties!
The 7th release of Assetto Corsa Competizione introduces a penalty system for every available game mode, including single-car and multi-car sessions, as well as online multiplayer.
The timing-related penalty system in Hotlap, Hotstint and Superpole game modes remains largely unchanged. In Hotlap and Superpole game modes and Qualifying sessions, abusing track limits instantly invalidates laps, regardless of whether the player has gained time or not.
In Hotstint, gaining time by leaving the track and even abusing track limits without a significant gain is penalized by instant time penalty, as well as the reduction of the remaining time available. Both the penalty and the time reduction depends on the severity of cutting. When the cumulative time penalty reaches 255 seconds, the player is disqualified from the session and is forced to restart.
The new release introduces new forms of penalties: Warning (W), Removal of Fastest (LR) Laptime, Drive-Through (DT), Stop&Go (SG) ranging from 10 to 30 seconds, Post-Race time penalty (PR) and instant Disqualification (DQ). Penalties are accumulated with repeated or additional transgressions, and may progress from Warnings to SG30 or even DQ if the player keeps infringing rules before serving his initial penalty.
There are now also basic behaviours expected from players in all sessions. Driving in the wrong direction, reversing over unreasonable distances and speeding in the pitlane will all be penalized in every type of sessions.
Just like in real life, severe transgressions, such as driving the wrong way or unnecessary reversing will result in DQ straight away. In non-race sessions, the penalty of pitlane speeding depends on the severity of the speeding, and may result in the removal of the fastest personal laptime or even DQ from the given session.
In a race session, the severity of the penalty is defined by the length of speeding (how long the player is over the speed limit) and/or the amount of speeding. The penalties range from DT to DQ. Similarly to real life, a very slight and unpredictable threshold is permitted upon pit entry and exit.
Regarding track abuse and gaining time, new penalties are introduced in Race sessions as well. Gaining by abusing track limits is now penalized in steps. Large gains will instantly result in DT, SG10-30 or even DQ, while smaller cuts will first receive Warnings (1, 2 and 3) before progressing into a servable penalty, such as DT or SG.
The timing-related penalty system in Hotlap, Hotstint and Superpole game modes remains largely unchanged. In Hotlap and Superpole game modes and Qualifying sessions, abusing track limits instantly invalidates laps, regardless of whether the player has gained time or not.
In Hotstint, gaining time by leaving the track and even abusing track limits without a significant gain is penalized by instant time penalty, as well as the reduction of the remaining time available. Both the penalty and the time reduction depends on the severity of cutting. When the cumulative time penalty reaches 255 seconds, the player is disqualified from the session and is forced to restart.
The new release introduces new forms of penalties: Warning (W), Removal of Fastest (LR) Laptime, Drive-Through (DT), Stop&Go (SG) ranging from 10 to 30 seconds, Post-Race time penalty (PR) and instant Disqualification (DQ). Penalties are accumulated with repeated or additional transgressions, and may progress from Warnings to SG30 or even DQ if the player keeps infringing rules before serving his initial penalty.
There are now also basic behaviours expected from players in all sessions. Driving in the wrong direction, reversing over unreasonable distances and speeding in the pitlane will all be penalized in every type of sessions.
Just like in real life, severe transgressions, such as driving the wrong way or unnecessary reversing will result in DQ straight away. In non-race sessions, the penalty of pitlane speeding depends on the severity of the speeding, and may result in the removal of the fastest personal laptime or even DQ from the given session.
In a race session, the severity of the penalty is defined by the length of speeding (how long the player is over the speed limit) and/or the amount of speeding. The penalties range from DT to DQ. Similarly to real life, a very slight and unpredictable threshold is permitted upon pit entry and exit.
Regarding track abuse and gaining time, new penalties are introduced in Race sessions as well. Gaining by abusing track limits is now penalized in steps. Large gains will instantly result in DT, SG10-30 or even DQ, while smaller cuts will first receive Warnings (1, 2 and 3) before progressing into a servable penalty, such as DT or SG.
Failing to serve a penalty within 3 laps will result in a DQ, while receiving penalties in the final lap will add a sizeable Post-Race penalty to the total race time, thus applying on the final race results. Serving SG penalties inside the Mandatory Pit Window will not count towards completing the mandatory pitstop. The player may choose to select whether he wishes to serve a penalty or rather prefers a standard pitstop to be conducted in the next pitstop, using the new HUD MFD interface. This way, the player may choose to complete the mandatory pitstop first and then serve the penalty, if the remaining laps to serve the penalty allow that. Failing to complete the mandatory pit stop will result in DQ at the end of the race session.
Multi-Functional-Display (MFD)
As mentioned earlier, the new release features a new HUD widget, which allows the player to cycle various timing pages, an interface dedicated to accessing all change-on-the-fly car electronics and the pitstop strategy interface, using the default navigation inputs: D-Pad, keyboard, mouse or keys mapped in the controllers.
Multi-Functional-Display (MFD)
As mentioned earlier, the new release features a new HUD widget, which allows the player to cycle various timing pages, an interface dedicated to accessing all change-on-the-fly car electronics and the pitstop strategy interface, using the default navigation inputs: D-Pad, keyboard, mouse or keys mapped in the controllers.
Real Time Track position
The first page, which is also shown as default in every multi-car session, is the Real Time Track position page. The name is quite self-explanatory, it shows drivers on the track real-time, indicating total gap from the player car updated in real-time and marking lapped cars for easy recognition.
Standings
The second page is the existing Standings display, which shows cars in their leaderboard order, refreshing on split times.
Electronics
The Electronics page allows the player to change all car electronics features on-the-fly, including brake bias, TC, ABS, engine map, lights, wiper, dash pages, ignition and starter. This allows players with limited amount of buttons to access all features of the car without having to bind every one of them on their steering wheel or button box.
Pit Strategy
The Pit Strategy page allows the player to manage the strategy of the upcoming pitstop and opting for serving penalties. Options are available to change tyres and manage tyre pressures, add fuel and appoint the next driver. The default selection is always the safest, which means the serve penalty option is selected automatically after receiving one.
Dynamic weather
You will also - finally - find the options for a comprehensive, dynamic weather simulation both in Singleplayer and Multiplayer. For server admins, I will update my post with some precise points, but there are a few things to know for everyone:
In the Singleplayer Weather & Track Conditions, you can now enable DYNAMIC WEATHER and play around with some values:
The first page, which is also shown as default in every multi-car session, is the Real Time Track position page. The name is quite self-explanatory, it shows drivers on the track real-time, indicating total gap from the player car updated in real-time and marking lapped cars for easy recognition.
Standings
The second page is the existing Standings display, which shows cars in their leaderboard order, refreshing on split times.
Electronics
The Electronics page allows the player to change all car electronics features on-the-fly, including brake bias, TC, ABS, engine map, lights, wiper, dash pages, ignition and starter. This allows players with limited amount of buttons to access all features of the car without having to bind every one of them on their steering wheel or button box.
Pit Strategy
The Pit Strategy page allows the player to manage the strategy of the upcoming pitstop and opting for serving penalties. Options are available to change tyres and manage tyre pressures, add fuel and appoint the next driver. The default selection is always the safest, which means the serve penalty option is selected automatically after receiving one.
Dynamic weather
You will also - finally - find the options for a comprehensive, dynamic weather simulation both in Singleplayer and Multiplayer. For server admins, I will update my post with some precise points, but there are a few things to know for everyone:
In the Singleplayer Weather & Track Conditions, you can now enable DYNAMIC WEATHER and play around with some values:
While most of them are quite self-explanatory, a few additional notes:
- You can use the presets to define the starting condition, and just tell how much variance there should be
- Custom let's you customize the starting conditions even further
- The chance of rain is linked to the cloud cover, so if you want to run more or less dry with a chance for surprises, use a fairly high CLOUD COVER starting condition
The VARIABILITY determines how often and how fast the weather can change. Personally, I consider *very* low values (1-20%) realistics, but of course real weather is incredibly boring given a 10 minute race session. In case you want a good chance to see weather changing even during shortest sessions, you want to increase VARIABILITY to higher levels. The (probably better) alternative is to use more realistic variations, but increase the TIME MULTIPLER. It will give you a faster weather progression, while the corresponding track conditions will still be updated in realtime. However also here, you may face sensational but not-so-realistic scenarios for extreme values.
To give you a figure of what the VARIABILITY means, this is a simulation of 10 different race days with a fairly low value of around 35%:
- You can use the presets to define the starting condition, and just tell how much variance there should be
- Custom let's you customize the starting conditions even further
- The chance of rain is linked to the cloud cover, so if you want to run more or less dry with a chance for surprises, use a fairly high CLOUD COVER starting condition
The VARIABILITY determines how often and how fast the weather can change. Personally, I consider *very* low values (1-20%) realistics, but of course real weather is incredibly boring given a 10 minute race session. In case you want a good chance to see weather changing even during shortest sessions, you want to increase VARIABILITY to higher levels. The (probably better) alternative is to use more realistic variations, but increase the TIME MULTIPLER. It will give you a faster weather progression, while the corresponding track conditions will still be updated in realtime. However also here, you may face sensational but not-so-realistic scenarios for extreme values.
To give you a figure of what the VARIABILITY means, this is a simulation of 10 different race days with a fairly low value of around 35%:
You see some days are more dry than others, and only one day has a few hours of strong rain up to thunderstorm conditions. Most days would add a bit of light rain for a few hours, nothing more. It is already beyond what is realistics, but still not as sensational as you maybe want it to have.
Another 10 race days with a value of roughly 60%:
Another 10 race days with a value of roughly 60%:
You see the drastical difference - your chances to see rain starting, vanishing and changing intensity is drastically increased. Still, please consider that if you only do a 10 minute race, you will occupy a *very* thin timeframe on this 24h chart.
Also keep in mind that high variations will *massively* affect the gameplay. It's not only about the visuals, if you see a track drying up or not. Time of day, sun angle, clouds will make the temperatures move around. Temperatures affect the track temperature, therefore the tyre temperatures and pressure - but also air density, drag, engine power. Cloud, sun, temperatures also determine how a track is behaving when getting wet or drying up. In a way it's insane, and using high variations will result in dramatic changes of your driving.
In Multiplayer, the configuration methods are similar, but slightly simplified. The reason is that users have to have a chance to know what to expect when looking at servers in the list. So you will still see the current weather indication, and a new bar that simply indicates the VARIATION this server runs:
Also keep in mind that high variations will *massively* affect the gameplay. It's not only about the visuals, if you see a track drying up or not. Time of day, sun angle, clouds will make the temperatures move around. Temperatures affect the track temperature, therefore the tyre temperatures and pressure - but also air density, drag, engine power. Cloud, sun, temperatures also determine how a track is behaving when getting wet or drying up. In a way it's insane, and using high variations will result in dramatic changes of your driving.
In Multiplayer, the configuration methods are similar, but slightly simplified. The reason is that users have to have a chance to know what to expect when looking at servers in the list. So you will still see the current weather indication, and a new bar that simply indicates the VARIATION this server runs:
What is very important in Multiplayer is the additional race weekend simulation, wrapping everything together: The sessions are set to a race day (like Friday, Saturday, Sunday) and a hour of this day. When a session goes from P -> Q, you will find the server simulating the traffic of the other programs during the weekend (think of GT4s and Formula Renaults driving around), while we do apply the dynamic weather and let the track react on all of this.
So expect green tracks that slowly build up, get a bit slower during the night, and reach a peak of being quite fast towards sunday - except when it rains, and the rain washes the track green again. Which will happen very often on too high variations, so I strongly recommend to try all of this on more reasonable values, and maybe have a bit of patience.
Ratings: Driver category
In the driver profile page, you will now find your driver category being correctly updated (and your car categoriy in Multiplayer being set correspondingly). We also invented two new levels of BEGINNER and ROOKIE below BRONZE to reflect progress early on.
Note: Due to the massive changes, the TOTAL rating may be off again and will require more adjustment over time.
Ratings: Concistency (CN) drastically changed
You will most probably find your CN value going down a lot, dependent on how you are driving. We improved the CC algorithm and applied it to CN as well, which will now express consistency much better, but also is a bit harder to score (possibly too hard now). The CN chart in your driver profile will now be much more informative.
Note: I'm gratful for specific feedback and screenshots of those CN charts.
Ratings: CC + CN stability
Now, both Ratings work a little bit less sophisticated, but with the advantage of being easier to understand.
Once you set a good CC lap (let's say an extraordinary 93 CC), your total CC rating will automatically go there. If you then keep doing 85 CC laps, the total CC rating will sloooooowly fall down until your next 85 CC lap is the better one. So in a way your achievements fade out with the time, and you need to re-confirm your performance.
The same concept applies to CN, though the decay is a lot slower here, as you may need many laps to confirm your performance again.
Ratings: SA + RC reset
With 0.6 we could make sure the new multiplayer system is very stable and fun to drive, which sadly did not only attract good and clean drivers. We tried to push very hard to get to the next level as soon as possible, and worked a lot on the Safety Rating (SA). Actually it wasn't even in the plans to offer SA as a server requirement with this release, but the progress was very promising.
Also please make sure to use the new rating charts for SA+RC to understand what the rating does, as usual I'll happily watch at screenshots.
Still, a reset of SA (and RC) was required to get rid of the old data, so everyone will start out with 0 SA once he connects to 0.7. Your old TR, CN, CC ratings will remain restored (although CN is recalculated and will go down).
Ratings/Multiplayer: SA + RC on pw protected servers
Following a very good community suggestion, the gain (and losses) of any SA/RC related ratings will be heavily reduced on pw protected servers. I will try to elaborate the "why" later.
Multiplayer: Damage + Dirt
You will now find both damage and dirt in Multiplayer (just like Singleplayer); Please report any issues on other cars (not your own car) you can find that are different to Singleplayer.
Multiplayer: Kick + Ban
Sadly, sadly we also introduced the two main tools to give server admins some control over their realm.
/kick will temporarily remove a driver for the duration of a race weekend (so no instant-rejoin possible), while /ban will additionally prevent the player to join this server until it's restarted - which may be days, weeks, months.
Multiplayer: Rating requirements!
Finally, we can run servers with certain rating requirements, and hopefully create both a cleaner racing enviroment, but also an incentive to change the approach and get engaged with racing rules.
So expect green tracks that slowly build up, get a bit slower during the night, and reach a peak of being quite fast towards sunday - except when it rains, and the rain washes the track green again. Which will happen very often on too high variations, so I strongly recommend to try all of this on more reasonable values, and maybe have a bit of patience.
Ratings: Driver category
In the driver profile page, you will now find your driver category being correctly updated (and your car categoriy in Multiplayer being set correspondingly). We also invented two new levels of BEGINNER and ROOKIE below BRONZE to reflect progress early on.
Note: Due to the massive changes, the TOTAL rating may be off again and will require more adjustment over time.
Ratings: Concistency (CN) drastically changed
You will most probably find your CN value going down a lot, dependent on how you are driving. We improved the CC algorithm and applied it to CN as well, which will now express consistency much better, but also is a bit harder to score (possibly too hard now). The CN chart in your driver profile will now be much more informative.
Note: I'm gratful for specific feedback and screenshots of those CN charts.
Ratings: CC + CN stability
Now, both Ratings work a little bit less sophisticated, but with the advantage of being easier to understand.
Once you set a good CC lap (let's say an extraordinary 93 CC), your total CC rating will automatically go there. If you then keep doing 85 CC laps, the total CC rating will sloooooowly fall down until your next 85 CC lap is the better one. So in a way your achievements fade out with the time, and you need to re-confirm your performance.
The same concept applies to CN, though the decay is a lot slower here, as you may need many laps to confirm your performance again.
Ratings: SA + RC reset
With 0.6 we could make sure the new multiplayer system is very stable and fun to drive, which sadly did not only attract good and clean drivers. We tried to push very hard to get to the next level as soon as possible, and worked a lot on the Safety Rating (SA). Actually it wasn't even in the plans to offer SA as a server requirement with this release, but the progress was very promising.
Also please make sure to use the new rating charts for SA+RC to understand what the rating does, as usual I'll happily watch at screenshots.
Still, a reset of SA (and RC) was required to get rid of the old data, so everyone will start out with 0 SA once he connects to 0.7. Your old TR, CN, CC ratings will remain restored (although CN is recalculated and will go down).
Ratings/Multiplayer: SA + RC on pw protected servers
Following a very good community suggestion, the gain (and losses) of any SA/RC related ratings will be heavily reduced on pw protected servers. I will try to elaborate the "why" later.
Multiplayer: Damage + Dirt
You will now find both damage and dirt in Multiplayer (just like Singleplayer); Please report any issues on other cars (not your own car) you can find that are different to Singleplayer.
Multiplayer: Kick + Ban
Sadly, sadly we also introduced the two main tools to give server admins some control over their realm.
/kick will temporarily remove a driver for the duration of a race weekend (so no instant-rejoin possible), while /ban will additionally prevent the player to join this server until it's restarted - which may be days, weeks, months.
Multiplayer: Rating requirements!
Finally, we can run servers with certain rating requirements, and hopefully create both a cleaner racing enviroment, but also an incentive to change the approach and get engaged with racing rules.
#1 Track medals
Servers may take advantage of the Track Competence (TR) rating, and expect at least a minor (or bigger) proof that any driver on this server has done a few laps on this track. I strongly recommend to set up 2 or 3 track medals (and join correspondingly). 2 are easy to beat; 3 may be a bit tougher, but isn't asked too much and also may already have serious impact on the driving quality on that server.
Let me turn it around: what can you expect from somebody who never bothered to do 4 clean laps in a row?
#2 SA rating (experimental)
It was not planned to already hand out the SA restriction, but the progress is very good (not final though), and server admins can freely decide to try it or not.
With an empty profile, you would see this:
and earn the corresponding error message when trying to join that server.
My recommendation would be to wait a while, as everyone starts out with 0 SA and the buildup is quite slow. Then try to use surprisingly low numbers, e.g. 25, slowly raising with the mass of drivers - otherwise you will lose your server traffic immediately. The trust gain in this system is going to be the major factor, and although I do not know at which SA level "good & clean" driving will begin, I can't imagine that bad drivers get above 30 or 40 ever.
But the MOST IMPORTANT factor here will be the users: If you do not like being "wrecked" and "rammed", use servers with high requirements. The ones without will always have traffic, but you are more than enough to fully populate clean servers.
Assetto Corsa Competizione is available from the Steam Early Access programme now. The current build is at release version 7.Let me turn it around: what can you expect from somebody who never bothered to do 4 clean laps in a row?
#2 SA rating (experimental)
It was not planned to already hand out the SA restriction, but the progress is very good (not final though), and server admins can freely decide to try it or not.
With an empty profile, you would see this:
and earn the corresponding error message when trying to join that server.
My recommendation would be to wait a while, as everyone starts out with 0 SA and the buildup is quite slow. Then try to use surprisingly low numbers, e.g. 25, slowly raising with the mass of drivers - otherwise you will lose your server traffic immediately. The trust gain in this system is going to be the major factor, and although I do not know at which SA level "good & clean" driving will begin, I can't imagine that bad drivers get above 30 or 40 ever.
But the MOST IMPORTANT factor here will be the users: If you do not like being "wrecked" and "rammed", use servers with high requirements. The ones without will always have traffic, but you are more than enough to fully populate clean servers.
For more Assetto Corsa Competizione news and discussion, head over to the ACC Sub Forum here at RaceDepartment. If you enjoy online racing yourself, you might enjoy our ACC League and Club Racing forum, a place to take in clean, fair and competitive online racing in this sim.
SRO E-Sport GT Series – Check out the latest news HERE.
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SRO E-Sport GT Series – Check out the latest news HERE.
Like what we do at RaceDepartment? Follow us on Social Media!
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