Let me start by saying I love this sim, and I’m happy with my purchase. I strongly agree with every positive thing that has been said about the quality of this sim. However, there is something that is killing it for me, and hopefully Kunos can find the time to correct this.
I use eyefinity with 3 very large TVs, and have built my cockpit so that my racing wheel is really close to where it would be in a real car. My center TV is lowered so that it sits behind my racing wheel, so that the virtual dash of the car I’m driving, and all the virtual gauges therein, are directly behind my wheel, where they would be in a real car. I use a real aftermarket 350mm car steering wheel adapted to fit my T500. Usually this setup requires me to tweak the sim software to move my point of view around so that my real wheel sits where the virtual wheel on the simulated dash would be. With Assetto Corsa, after I entered my screen width and distances, they matched up perfectly already. This was a great relief, as if the simulator was made for my setup. No complaints there.
Now to the meat of the problem. Assetto Corsa has a setting in the options menu to “lock view to horizon.” This is an awesome setting for a flat track, but is really flawed on a track with elevation changes.
With the setting on, while driving, the view outside the cockpit remains stable, but the cockpit and car shakes and moves based on outside factors. The car undulates over road imperfections, and jolts when you hit a curb. It also shifts slightly to show g-forces. This is very immersive, and works wonders to show the player what is happening on track under the car. It is also more realistic than the alternative, because in real life, the human brain has a system to allow the eyes to stay focused on a point in front of them, regardless of the undulating and jolting of the vehicle. So, even when you hit several small bumps, your eyes will stay focused on their subject. The only problem in Assetto Corsa is that when you go up or down hill, the view shifts for a prolonged period of time, staying focused on the horizon for the entire length of the elevation change until the car is on level ground again. This effect glaringly contradicts with my real wheel, and looks horrible. It really kills the immersion. See pics below.
The other option is to uncheck “lock view to horizon,” which locks the player’s view to the car. Now the car stays stable the entire time, and the world around the car undulates and jolts when bumps are hit. This is only realistic when simulating a camera rigidly attached to something in the car. The problem that this presents is that because there is no real motion to accompany what you are seeing on screen, your eyes can’t stay focused on an object on the screen. In my opinion, this instability will actually cost me time. I can hit my breaking and turn in points better when the view outside the cockpit stays stable, as it would in real life.
Here are some pictures to illustrate the problem. In each of these pics, I've highlighted my real wheel in white, and the on-screen virtual wheel in red to show the difference. On a flat and level track like Magione, my real wheel would sit right atop the virtual wheel, totally obscuring it. But when on an uphill or downhill section, the wheels are greatly offset for the entire duration of the elevation change, until the car is on level terrain again. I can't stress enough how much this kills the immersion. There are 4 pics, 2 in the Fiat, 2 in the KTM, respectively, and one each uphill, and one downhill.
So, just to reiterate, in "lock view to horizon" mode, the head wobble and jolts and bumps that move the car are great, but the prolonged up and down view shift when going up or downhill are an immersion killer. So, I humbly ask for Kunos to correct the “fix view to horizon” feature so that it will show bumps, jolts, undulations, and g-forces with the car the same way it does now, but so that it will not significantly shift the viewpoint up and down for prolonged periods of time when driving uphill or downhill. And if you could allow the option to remove the virtual steering wheel altogether, that would be nice as well.
I’m very curious to see if there is anyone else who wants this change, or if most of you could care less about this, so please leave a reply.
Please forgive me for the demanding nature of this thread title. I did it to get maximum attention for my problem. Now, allow me to praise the sim. It’s AWESOME. It was worth the wait, and exceeded my expectations, despite being hyped up all crazy. It feels fantastic, and I can’t wait to compete with other racers with it. I only worry that Kunos is missing out on needed revenue by charging so little for it. I want Kunos to succeed and be financially stable enough to create MUCH MOAR CONTENT down the road. But hey, Kunos, give us an American car and track pack!
Thank you for the great sim Kunos.
I use eyefinity with 3 very large TVs, and have built my cockpit so that my racing wheel is really close to where it would be in a real car. My center TV is lowered so that it sits behind my racing wheel, so that the virtual dash of the car I’m driving, and all the virtual gauges therein, are directly behind my wheel, where they would be in a real car. I use a real aftermarket 350mm car steering wheel adapted to fit my T500. Usually this setup requires me to tweak the sim software to move my point of view around so that my real wheel sits where the virtual wheel on the simulated dash would be. With Assetto Corsa, after I entered my screen width and distances, they matched up perfectly already. This was a great relief, as if the simulator was made for my setup. No complaints there.
Now to the meat of the problem. Assetto Corsa has a setting in the options menu to “lock view to horizon.” This is an awesome setting for a flat track, but is really flawed on a track with elevation changes.
With the setting on, while driving, the view outside the cockpit remains stable, but the cockpit and car shakes and moves based on outside factors. The car undulates over road imperfections, and jolts when you hit a curb. It also shifts slightly to show g-forces. This is very immersive, and works wonders to show the player what is happening on track under the car. It is also more realistic than the alternative, because in real life, the human brain has a system to allow the eyes to stay focused on a point in front of them, regardless of the undulating and jolting of the vehicle. So, even when you hit several small bumps, your eyes will stay focused on their subject. The only problem in Assetto Corsa is that when you go up or down hill, the view shifts for a prolonged period of time, staying focused on the horizon for the entire length of the elevation change until the car is on level ground again. This effect glaringly contradicts with my real wheel, and looks horrible. It really kills the immersion. See pics below.
The other option is to uncheck “lock view to horizon,” which locks the player’s view to the car. Now the car stays stable the entire time, and the world around the car undulates and jolts when bumps are hit. This is only realistic when simulating a camera rigidly attached to something in the car. The problem that this presents is that because there is no real motion to accompany what you are seeing on screen, your eyes can’t stay focused on an object on the screen. In my opinion, this instability will actually cost me time. I can hit my breaking and turn in points better when the view outside the cockpit stays stable, as it would in real life.
Here are some pictures to illustrate the problem. In each of these pics, I've highlighted my real wheel in white, and the on-screen virtual wheel in red to show the difference. On a flat and level track like Magione, my real wheel would sit right atop the virtual wheel, totally obscuring it. But when on an uphill or downhill section, the wheels are greatly offset for the entire duration of the elevation change, until the car is on level terrain again. I can't stress enough how much this kills the immersion. There are 4 pics, 2 in the Fiat, 2 in the KTM, respectively, and one each uphill, and one downhill.
So, just to reiterate, in "lock view to horizon" mode, the head wobble and jolts and bumps that move the car are great, but the prolonged up and down view shift when going up or downhill are an immersion killer. So, I humbly ask for Kunos to correct the “fix view to horizon” feature so that it will show bumps, jolts, undulations, and g-forces with the car the same way it does now, but so that it will not significantly shift the viewpoint up and down for prolonged periods of time when driving uphill or downhill. And if you could allow the option to remove the virtual steering wheel altogether, that would be nice as well.
I’m very curious to see if there is anyone else who wants this change, or if most of you could care less about this, so please leave a reply.
Please forgive me for the demanding nature of this thread title. I did it to get maximum attention for my problem. Now, allow me to praise the sim. It’s AWESOME. It was worth the wait, and exceeded my expectations, despite being hyped up all crazy. It feels fantastic, and I can’t wait to compete with other racers with it. I only worry that Kunos is missing out on needed revenue by charging so little for it. I want Kunos to succeed and be financially stable enough to create MUCH MOAR CONTENT down the road. But hey, Kunos, give us an American car and track pack!
Thank you for the great sim Kunos.
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