Assetto Corsa Competizione: Cool Stuff About Marbles...

[Paul Jeffrey]

Just in case you didn't already know, I recently found a very illuminating social media post from Aris of Kunos Simulazioni, referring to the behaviour of marbles in ACC...

For those of us that don't know (and forgive me if you do), marbles are the little discarded bits of rubber that inevitably relieve themselves from the tyres of racing cars following prolonged lapping of a racing circuit. Often found on the edges of the racing line, these little pieces of rubber build up during track action and over time form something of a visible carpet of darker tyre shreds that can add a very noticeable effect on the driving dynamics of cars that find themselves straying away from the traditional racing line.

The original Assetto Corsa didn't simulate the visual or physical effect of marble build up on the circuit, and often I find it strange that the topic isn't really spoken about much from the sim racing community of any modern racing title. However, in the quest for further realism with the new Assetto Corsa Competizione racing sim, Kunos sound like they have really gone to town with this feature.. not only adding the visual aspect of marble build up, but simulating its effects in both wet and dry conditions.

When speaking via the comments section on social media, Assetto Corsa Competizione physics guru @Aristotelis gave some really, really cool insight into how this works in ACC...

The quote from Aris:

Ah we're pretty proud and enthusiastic about marbles. Not only if you pass over them they accumulate on your tyres and make the lose a bit of grip on the dry and vibrate.

But if it starts raining and you go over them and you accumulate, they will add a bit of tread on your tyres that might help you with aquaplaning in the initial raining conditions until it either dries up or you go in for tyre change. Obviously we're talking small influences, but every little helps.
So if it starts rain and you're on slicks, go the outside line and pickup marbles!

We wouldn't be able to simulate such a thing if it wasn't from the help of Blancpain drivers that so much supported us and gave us amazing feedback...

...It doesn't improve grip, but it gives the tyres a "tread" so the water (simulated as an actual film of water with depth) has some way to drain through and improves the aquaplaning risk.
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Again my apologies if you already knew all about this, but I for one certainly didn't, and I don't mind admitting - this is one incredibly cool feature, and one of the many reasons I firmly believe Assetto Corsa Competizione is set to be a very, very good racing simulation.

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.

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[BrunoBæ]

This sounds rather impressing.
And eventhough I have to admit I havent tried ACC in rain then a few of the pro reviewers have commented that ACC´s simulating of rain is way more advanced than the whole competition.

EDIT: My "rain" I ofcourse mean rain/wet grip.

 

[CC]

Sounds very nice,
but in fact it is actually something requested and discussed quite lot, I think currently the situation calmed somewhat simply due to the fact that people probably lost hope and gave up even asking,

if its visual and physical then its a very positive outcome for the ACC title.

 

[raiod]

They are raising the bar of racing sims to a new standard. Kudos to Kunos

 

[muzikant]

Nice to read.. but I am waiting on the Porsche and the AMG GT3

 

[MarkR]

Superb attention to detail and I hope the in-game sound accompanies the on-track grip effect. The sound of the marbles and other discarded debris pinging up into the arches is one of the unmistakable sounds of the track. On hot days the marbles sound like gravel as they whip up from the tyre and ripple through the inside of the arch. On a wet day, the sound can be a real heavy thud as they tend to stick up in the arches as well as on the tyre.

There is also the visual effect, on a hot day the marbles look like rubber worms across the surface of the tyre - that would be great to see too though not at all essential of course.

 

[aka2k]

I remember NFS Shift 2 having the effect and it was surprisingly nice. Now I don't remember if PCars has it...

 

[Alex Townsend]

This is just awesome. Love the attention to detail from these guys at Kunos. ACC could end up being the best sim to date if they carry on like this, imho of course.

 

[moonlooker]

Some people donot know "livetrack 3.0" ? Pcars2 failed miserably.
AC has Track grip level, you can try it 92% begin and 100% end, you will see darker tyre.

 

[RKip455]

Well, I didn't know this was even a feature and I try to read all I can find on ACC... thanks for posting

 

[Deleted member 113561]

They are raising the bar of racing sims to a new standard. Kudos to Kunos

Project CARS 2 already had it, they are basically catching up.

 

[Alex Townsend]

Project CARS 2 already had it, they are basically catching up.

How are they catching up?
It's EA with features being added all the time.

 

[moonlooker]

How are they catching up?
It's EA with features being added all the time.

Project CARS 2 LiveTrack3.0 is the most advanced at present. Ks just did the same thing.
Do you remember when day and night alternation and weather change became popular?
Pcars has really made a difference, the players' perceptions changed.

 

[Alex Townsend]

Project CARS 2 LiveTrack3.0 is the most advanced at present. Ks just did the same thing.
Do you remember when day and night alternation and weather change became popular?
Pcars has really made a difference, the players' perceptions changed.

Ahem, rF2

 

[Jordan Dion]

Project CARS 2 LiveTrack3.0 is the most advanced at present. Ks just did the same thing.
Do you remember when day and night alternation and weather change became popular?
Pcars has really made a difference, the players' perceptions changed.

Im sorry but pc2 is a semi simulator...
Physics and FFB are far from Kunos model...
I must say graphics are greats... But that all..

 

[moonlooker]

Im sorry but pc2 is a semi simulator...
Physics and FFB are far from Kunos model...
I must say graphics are greats... But that all..

yes, it has all kinds of faults. But it's a simulation game. Simulated reality, just not good, because it's too hard.
SMS is over, I hope KS will do better.

 

[Deleted member 113561]

How are they catching up?
It's EA with features being added all the time.

Look at Assetto Corsa > Assetto Corsa Competitizone.They are catching up to the best available, that includes: Day/Night, Rain, Livetrack 3.0, etc. So it is catching up, they do not surpass it, except RTX!

Im sorry but pc2 is a semi simulator...
Physics and FFB are far from Kunos model...
I must say graphics are greats... But that all..

Just totally wrong, Project CARS 2 has by far the most advanced physics model, get your facts straight and less fanboyism.
Best FFB has rF2, AC was at release terrible and AC & ACC do not get close to rF2. PC2 can feel great, but is inconsistent.
Project CARS 2 is the game that simulates MOST, that is a fact. How realistic it is, is another question and very disputed among the whole simracing community.

 

[Alex Townsend]

Look at Assetto Corsa > Assetto Corsa Competitizone.They are catching up to the best available, that includes: Day/Night, Rain, Livetrack 3.0, etc. So it is catching up, they do not surpass it, except RTX!

It's not catching up when it's EA. They haven't finished the title yet... this is simply adding features. Imho the title already far exceeds PCars.
So PCars was catching up with rF2 as well then, taking your viewpoint on the subject of game development?

 

[Deleted member 113561]

It's not catching up when it's EA. They haven't finished the title yet... this is simply adding features. Imho the title already far exceeds PCars.
So PCars was catching up with rF2 as well then, taking your viewpoint on the subject of game development?

You are a true fanboy. From a tech point you have no idea how things work or who is top atm. ACC will NOT add fundamental new tech at this point, they will release soon, the fundaments are done and it is NOT exceeding Project CARS 2! PC2 did overtake rF2 in terms of physics, not catch up.

 

[Logan812]

PC2 did overtake rF2 in terms of physics, not catch up.

That's flat-out wrong. While I do agree that rF2, in general, exceeds AC with its physics handling as well as features, PC2 is *heavily* car-dependant. Some cars in PC2 are great while others make absolutely no sense regardless of the setup (not to mention that PC2 freaks out whenever the tires are pushed over the limit.) What good are all those "features" if PC2 rarely does any of them well? Plus, that's not even getting into racing against the AI...

Also, if you're suggesting that PC2's weather, physics, and even visuals are better than ACC at this point then you need to take a long look in the mirror the next time you call someone a "true fanboy."

I'll admit that PC2 has a great UI despite lacking a custom championship feature or custom grids, and the car & track list is phenomenal.