PC1 Hour and a Half of Project CARS

[William Marsh]

To celebrate the release of Project CARS, I did a live stream of the game on my Twitch.tv Channel. For those who missed it, the video is now available on YouTube. In the video, I take a look at the Career mode, as well as do a couple single races to take a look at some of the features in Project CARS. The video is over an hour and a half, so I recommend a good bag of popcorn.

Watch the video here: http://www.racedepartment.com/media/videos/an-hour-and-a-half-of-project-cars.9175/

Notes:

• I will say that Project CARS, in my opinion does beat out Gran Turismo and Forza Motorsport. It’s a more engaging experience, more fleshed out for racing (full race weekends, detailed setups, etc). They even are above titles such as Assetto Corsa, WHEN IT COMES TO SIMULATING A RACE EXPERIENCE (NOT IN TERMS OF PHYSICS).
• AI needs work. That’s a fact. They are commonly over-aggressive and will act more like “Bumper Car Simulator: 2015″ than a true racing title. Hopefully that will be fixed soon.
• There isn’t true Multi-Class Racing yet: I tried two “Multi-Class” events, looking for a Le Mans style field. If I chose a Prototype, I would always be matched with other Prototypes (See 50:30 in the video). I don’t know about you, but it seems pretty imbalanced matching an Audi R18 against a Radical SR3…
  I also tried GT3 in a multi-class event, and I was matched up with Trans-Am, Group 5, Group 4, and GT4 (See the 1 hour mark in the video)
• Day to Night is AMAZING in this game. In my preview I had an issue with Le Mans not getting dark, but I’m happy to see it’s fixed. Le Mans at night in the rain… That makes PCARS a horror game xD. It’s a thrill to drive, and it gets the blood pumping.
• I still would not say the physics/ffb are of a sim level. They are solid “SimCade”, but not sim. I had some erratic moments in the physics as well, so they do need some work.

 

[Andy_J]

• I still would not say the physics/ffb are of a sim level. They are solid “SimCade”, but not sim. I had some erratic moments in the physics as well, so they do need some work.

Don't mention that word? Never mention that word. They will be all over you. You have been warned. This was going to be the sim of all sims.

So never ever mention "SIMCADE" when discussing Pcars.
I'm yet to buy it and test the latest build so I'll reserve comment for now. Good vid by the way.

 

[SnappyDEe]

Could someone please help me out:

What aspect, specifically, about a title's physics make it fall into either category? Sim or SIMCADE.
I hear it all the time but the only thing I hear mentioned are the relative difficulty of driving a car in one title versus the other.

 

[Connor Caple]

The only way you'll ever get a real 'Sim' is if you buy a $100,000 rig, built around a racing car, that simulates all the g-forces for you while the software is accurate to less than 1/1000th of a second in simulating the road forces to be applied.

Everything else is a game.

 

[Brandon Wright]

Could someone please help me out:

What aspect, specifically, about a title's physics make it fall into either category? Sim or SIMCADE.
I hear it all the time but the only thing I hear mentioned are the relative difficulty of driving a car in one title versus the other.

My "definition" of "simcade" has always been a game where your inputs don't accurately reflect real-world reactions, like any of the Need for Speed games and to a lesser extent most Codemaster games. Kinda like they only worried about making the car move and didn't try to mimic any real world car behaviors. From what I've read about the attention PCars has spent on every little detail of the suspension and tires and everything else, I wouldn't call it "simcade".

To others, they consider any racer that isn't incredibly difficult to drive/control a "simcade". But I don't buy into that theory because driving a car, even near the limits, isn't that difficult if you have some basic knowledge/skills. Sims like iRacing are overly difficult and some people think that must mean it's ultra-realistic and "simmy". If you talk to anyone who's driven a real GT3 car, most will say they're rather easy to drive, so "overly difficult" does not equal "ultra realistic sim". And conversely, "easy to drive" does not always mean "ultra crappy simcade".

But none of that really matters, if you enjoy driving in the game/sim/whatever then that's all that matters, regardless of what label people try to give it.

 

[Dave R]

The AI in this game is a disaster. You'd better hope you qualify ahead of all of em and get one heck of a start.

 

[yusupov]

thanks william, will watch at least some of it in a bit.

i wonder how you think purely the physics/handling of pCARS compares to GT & forza? as a pc-only gamer im always a bit envious of these but theyre dismissed by so many as not even really the same genre. meanwhile (we disagree here) i myself would put pCARS in the sim category. just wondering how close those are in your opinion (bc heck maybe i should just get a stupid xbox)

 

[Kostas Kaloudis]

Its definitely a sim its not simarcade and comparing the ffb to the other sims its above all in my opinion and ac its just a hotlap sim at the moment dont praise it so much its not only physics that makes a sim good

 

[William Marsh]

thanks william, will watch at least some of it in a bit.

i wonder how you think purely the physics/handling of pCARS compares to GT & forza? as a pc-only gamer im always a bit envious of these but theyre dismissed by so many as not even really the same genre. meanwhile (we disagree here) i myself would put pCARS in the sim category. just wondering how close those are in your opinion (bc heck maybe i should just get a stupid xbox)

I will say that Physics and handling of Project CARS are beyond Forza Motorsport and Gran Turismo. For Gran Turismo, I feel that the cars have a specific "deadness" to them, and the cars feel quite stiff.

Project CARS vehicles feel more dynamic, but there are some things I get nitpicky about. It's by no means perfect, but here's to hoping things improve as time passes. I'd say as a package, PCARS is the best available on Consoles.

Personally, I would say stick with PC instead of Xbox. You have more hardware compatibility, the ability to scale up, and not forced to play in 900p

 

[William Wester]

Don't mention that word? Never mention that word. They will be all over you. You have been warned. This was going to be the sim of all sims.

So never ever mention "SIMCADE" when discussing Pcars.
I'm yet to buy it and test the latest build so I'll reserve comment for now. Good vid by the way.

Same for rFactor 1/2, AC, GSCE, R3E, or ... mention them as SIMCADE in those forums, what do you think the response will be, a Project CARS forum is no different. Some like to pigeon hole games into neat little categories, this will not sit well with everyone. In the end it really doesn't matter if the game is fun to drive/race. Your opinion of pCARS is well known, and that's fine with me as I know what I like. And I like all of the above.

 

[Brian C Hayes]

Its definitely a sim its not simarcade and comparing the ffb to the other sims its above all in my opinion and ac its just a hotlap sim at the moment dont praise it so much its not only physics that makes a sim good

You sir are smoking Crack

 

[SternLX]

Its definitely a sim its not simarcade and comparing the ffb to the other sims its above all in my opinion and ac its just a hotlap sim at the moment dont praise it so much its not only physics that makes a sim good

Totally agree, once you get the FFB dialed in to your liking pCARS is every bit a Simulator as any other title that claims the same.
I think what people are having a hard time wrapping their heads around is the "way" pCARS goes about its suspension and tire physics. They're done separately and in real time. No look up tables like gMotor Physics. There is much more granularity which I love to death. Being as I AutoCross IRL I can say with certainty that the Mustang Boss302R1 in pCARS feels and performs so close to the real thing that it's spooky. Once I got the FFB on my TM TX with GTE rim dialed in that is.

 

[millenbop]

You guys complaining about AI, do you run it at 100%? Don't. It makes it overly aggressive and doesn't seem to care where your care is. Leave it at 90% or something and it's much better, i.e. not as aggressive.

 

[Dave R]

I've tried the AI from 80 up to 100 and they're aggressive no matter what you set them on. PC is a hotlapper for me till this gets fixed which is frustrating.

 

[Andy_J]

Your opinion of pCARS is well known, and that's fine with me as I know what I like.

I was replying to the OP that stated it was "simcade". And you don't know my opinion of Pcars yet because I have not given one on the final game. I might love it.
I like the latest builds so I'll probably like the full released game.
We all know that investors/fanboys will defend the game come what may, even if it was "simcade".

But I'll make my own mind up thanks.

Have a nice day.

 

[Ace King]

The AI in this game is a disaster. You'd better hope you qualify ahead of all of em and get one heck of a start.

My experiences with the AI in my races have been very competitive and have great awareness of their surroundings. I ran six GT races so far with not one AI crashing into me though i had some very minor contacts which is to be expected.

I read that the older open wheel had AI crash issues at Spa when their strength was turned up too high and perhaps some other car types have similar problems if their strength is raised too high. I read they are working on resolving some of those AI issues!

 

[William Wester]

Same here, there are times the AI can be erratic but for the most part I get some good AI races. Had a few online races last night and I can't say the AI was any more erratic, aggressive, or competitive than those races - especially the first couple of corners. It can be better and I'm sure will get tweaked over time.

 

[Dave R]

Agreed Minor contact is to be expected and honestly minor contact is enjoyable to me but what I've experienced goes well beyond that and it seems to happen in most every series I've tried regardless of AI setting strength. I hope they're working on the AI issues because that is truly my only issue with the game. I've had a blast with it short of that.

 

[dctoe]

The only way you'll ever get a real 'Sim' is if you buy a $100,000 rig, built around a racing car, that simulates all the g-forces for you while the software is accurate to less than 1/1000th of a second in simulating the road forces to be applied.

Everything else is a game.

Point well taken, and I agree that to a certain extent, we have to be mindful of our expectations of any game. No matter what it is referred to as. Enjoying what I have seen thus far.

 

[SnappyDEe]

When people complain about the AI it makes me wonder how aggressive that person is being as well. Are the AI dive-bombing you and attacking at every turn? Are they closing the door on you? Are they braking mid corner for no apparent reason? How are you driving in relation to them? This AI is very different and unpredictable at times.