Hi All,
thought to make a post aimed at people starting out in ACC sharing my lessons as a beginner after a few tens of hours spent in game and my first semi-competitive multiplayer races.
I'm writing this in the desire of helping someone who is just starting out.
Obviously your mileage will vary based on skills, and obviously rigorously my humble opinion.
Sorry for the long post, this is just for people starting out. Don't bother if you're not a beginner, there will be no value for you here.
1) Understand that ACC is a simulation, not a "game": if your objective is just to turn on a game, ride and and be competitive, this is not for you. This said, if you put in the effort, it will eventually be much more fun than any racing "game" you have ever tried.
2) It requires effort, meaning hours in game and possibly some "studying" (youtube videos, etc): in my case, as i have a demanding job and a family, it has meant that after 6 months i can basically race only in 2 circuits, as those are the ones i had the time to properly learn to afford to race at least at a "basic" level (meaning that if i don't f**ck up i will have fun and not ruin someone else's race -like i did yesterday).
3) Don't bother with multiplayer (public or private) until you are absolutely proficient and reasonably fast on any given track. Just forget about it, as there is an enormous chance you will be ruining someone else's fun and not have fun yourself in the first place.
4) Don't bother with setups: just go with safe setup and ride. Setups do make a difference, but it's possibly the last thing you will need to change to improve your lap times. I am still faster with "safe" setups vs. "aggressive" setups. Which means that my technique is still very weak.
5) Choose the easiest track to practice in the beginning, which is Monza, choose a car, and then stick with it. Just stick with it. There are no faster or slower cars, not at the level you will probably be for a very long time (this obviously depends on how much you play per week or month).
6) The one thing you need to understand is that at the beginning this is not about going at your limit every single lap. Only Pro drivers can do that, and you are not. This is about being able to deliver lap after lap at a consistent pace, without crashing. If you approach every lap thinking to ride the limit, you will crash. You will not end the race. Never. And in the process, you will probably destroy someone else's race (which does not matter when racing with AI, it does matter when racing with humans).
7) The first thing that can make you enormously faster without even realizing it is understanding that what matters the most is the EXIT speed after a turn. If you brake 10 meters later you will gain a few cents of a second on the lap, if you exit 10km/h faster you might gain a second on that lap. And you won't even realize it, you will have the impression of going at your usual pace. So, focus on braking early at the beginning, doing a proper turn and maximizing your exit speed. Braking at the very last possible spot is like setups, it does matter, but you have many more important things to focus on first.
8) The second thing is line choice: watch some videos as nailing the perfect line can mean seconds vs. when you begin. I believe the perfect training ground to understand and practice this is the Eau Rouge at Spa. Virtually Any driver in ACC (with any car) will do it flat out with no problems. It took me possibly tens of tries before i could do my first clean flat out, and the difference between doing it or not is simply being able to drive the car in the exact line it's supposed to be driven in. And it means a second or more on the lap time.
9) Your progression on any given circuit should look like this: practice alone first until you can deliver consistent laps. Then start racing AI on that circuit, and put AI level slightly above you. Again, understand that the objective is not to win the race, but to end it, ideally after you had some nice clean battles. The right difficulty level should make you end race somewhere in the middle of the pack in my opinion. Finally, try multiplayer, with your only objective being to cleanly finish the race and not crashing into anyone.
10) Passing somebody (AI or real) means that you must be 90% sure that you can pass them without risking an incident. You can pass them when you are clearly and CLEANLY faster at the passing spot. It might mean that you will have to wait many turns or laps before committing to a pass. I think virtually everybody in the beginning will naturally do what is called "dive bombing". Look for this on Youtube, and understand that you don't want to do that. You really don't.
11) Reduce as much as possible all riding sounds (i.e. engine), max out tyre sounds. There are several tutorials on this. This will give you a clear indication on when your tyres are at their limit, which is where they are supposed to be when turning.
12) All the fancy gear will have the least impact on your performance. A good driver riding a 100$ wheel / pedals setup will still be several seconds faster then me even if i buy a 10k setup. This said, expensive gear (wheels and pedals being the most important thing) will be much more fun to ride (and like setups, yes it will make you faster).
13) Crew Chief software can help a lot. Look for it.
14) Once you feel you are ready for multiplayer, don't go into public lobbies. On this site and others they organise daily races for all levels, and you will have a much better chance of not finding in game somebody dive bombing into you while riding drunk.
15) If you want your friends to try out the game, go into settings and turn off rating to "multiplayer only". Don't forget to turn it back on when they finish.
16) Unfortunately, it is normal to be several, several seconds slower than the "hotlaps" or records that you see on Youtube. And no, it's not because they have a better set-up. Again, this is a simulation, and just like in real life, riding at the limit means that if you ride a certain turn at 90% throttle you will be as fast as you possibly can be, if you ride the same turn with the same setup with the same line at 90.3% throttle you will crash. This is why top F1 drivers earn millions. This is not what you should be aiming for at the beginning, and probably for a very long time.
thought to make a post aimed at people starting out in ACC sharing my lessons as a beginner after a few tens of hours spent in game and my first semi-competitive multiplayer races.
I'm writing this in the desire of helping someone who is just starting out.
Obviously your mileage will vary based on skills, and obviously rigorously my humble opinion.
Sorry for the long post, this is just for people starting out. Don't bother if you're not a beginner, there will be no value for you here.
1) Understand that ACC is a simulation, not a "game": if your objective is just to turn on a game, ride and and be competitive, this is not for you. This said, if you put in the effort, it will eventually be much more fun than any racing "game" you have ever tried.
2) It requires effort, meaning hours in game and possibly some "studying" (youtube videos, etc): in my case, as i have a demanding job and a family, it has meant that after 6 months i can basically race only in 2 circuits, as those are the ones i had the time to properly learn to afford to race at least at a "basic" level (meaning that if i don't f**ck up i will have fun and not ruin someone else's race -like i did yesterday).
3) Don't bother with multiplayer (public or private) until you are absolutely proficient and reasonably fast on any given track. Just forget about it, as there is an enormous chance you will be ruining someone else's fun and not have fun yourself in the first place.
4) Don't bother with setups: just go with safe setup and ride. Setups do make a difference, but it's possibly the last thing you will need to change to improve your lap times. I am still faster with "safe" setups vs. "aggressive" setups. Which means that my technique is still very weak.
5) Choose the easiest track to practice in the beginning, which is Monza, choose a car, and then stick with it. Just stick with it. There are no faster or slower cars, not at the level you will probably be for a very long time (this obviously depends on how much you play per week or month).
6) The one thing you need to understand is that at the beginning this is not about going at your limit every single lap. Only Pro drivers can do that, and you are not. This is about being able to deliver lap after lap at a consistent pace, without crashing. If you approach every lap thinking to ride the limit, you will crash. You will not end the race. Never. And in the process, you will probably destroy someone else's race (which does not matter when racing with AI, it does matter when racing with humans).
7) The first thing that can make you enormously faster without even realizing it is understanding that what matters the most is the EXIT speed after a turn. If you brake 10 meters later you will gain a few cents of a second on the lap, if you exit 10km/h faster you might gain a second on that lap. And you won't even realize it, you will have the impression of going at your usual pace. So, focus on braking early at the beginning, doing a proper turn and maximizing your exit speed. Braking at the very last possible spot is like setups, it does matter, but you have many more important things to focus on first.
8) The second thing is line choice: watch some videos as nailing the perfect line can mean seconds vs. when you begin. I believe the perfect training ground to understand and practice this is the Eau Rouge at Spa. Virtually Any driver in ACC (with any car) will do it flat out with no problems. It took me possibly tens of tries before i could do my first clean flat out, and the difference between doing it or not is simply being able to drive the car in the exact line it's supposed to be driven in. And it means a second or more on the lap time.
9) Your progression on any given circuit should look like this: practice alone first until you can deliver consistent laps. Then start racing AI on that circuit, and put AI level slightly above you. Again, understand that the objective is not to win the race, but to end it, ideally after you had some nice clean battles. The right difficulty level should make you end race somewhere in the middle of the pack in my opinion. Finally, try multiplayer, with your only objective being to cleanly finish the race and not crashing into anyone.
10) Passing somebody (AI or real) means that you must be 90% sure that you can pass them without risking an incident. You can pass them when you are clearly and CLEANLY faster at the passing spot. It might mean that you will have to wait many turns or laps before committing to a pass. I think virtually everybody in the beginning will naturally do what is called "dive bombing". Look for this on Youtube, and understand that you don't want to do that. You really don't.
11) Reduce as much as possible all riding sounds (i.e. engine), max out tyre sounds. There are several tutorials on this. This will give you a clear indication on when your tyres are at their limit, which is where they are supposed to be when turning.
12) All the fancy gear will have the least impact on your performance. A good driver riding a 100$ wheel / pedals setup will still be several seconds faster then me even if i buy a 10k setup. This said, expensive gear (wheels and pedals being the most important thing) will be much more fun to ride (and like setups, yes it will make you faster).
13) Crew Chief software can help a lot. Look for it.
14) Once you feel you are ready for multiplayer, don't go into public lobbies. On this site and others they organise daily races for all levels, and you will have a much better chance of not finding in game somebody dive bombing into you while riding drunk.
15) If you want your friends to try out the game, go into settings and turn off rating to "multiplayer only". Don't forget to turn it back on when they finish.
16) Unfortunately, it is normal to be several, several seconds slower than the "hotlaps" or records that you see on Youtube. And no, it's not because they have a better set-up. Again, this is a simulation, and just like in real life, riding at the limit means that if you ride a certain turn at 90% throttle you will be as fast as you possibly can be, if you ride the same turn with the same setup with the same line at 90.3% throttle you will crash. This is why top F1 drivers earn millions. This is not what you should be aiming for at the beginning, and probably for a very long time.
