The Big Assetto Corsa Competizione Interview (Part 2)

[Paul Jeffrey]

Catch part two of our exclusive Assetto Corsa Competizione interview with Marco Massarutto and Ste'fano Casillo of Kunos Simulazioni...

Causing a mass panic of excitement from the sim racing community following the announcement back on February 21st, it is probably fair to say plenty of people are excited for the upcoming Assetto Corsa Competizione racing simulation, and with a potential Early Access release coming to Steam this summer, we answered the community call and sat down with two of the men behind the simulation - Marco Massarutto and Stefano Casillo, founding members of Italian development studio Kunos Simulazioni.

If you are interested in learning more of about the official racing simulation of the Blancpain GT Series, check out part 2 of our exclusive interview at the head of this article.

If you missed it earlier, part one can be viewed HERE. Oh and please consider doing us a favour by subscribing to our YouTube channel if you enjoyed this coverage and are looking forward to more of the same in the years ahead...


Assetto Corsa Competizione should be available on Steam Early Access Summer 2018.

Check out the Assetto Corsa Competizione here at RaceDepartment for the latest news and discussions regarding this exciting upcoming sim. We intend to host some quality League and Club Racing events as well as hosting some great community created mods (we hope!). Join in the discussion today.

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Enjoy the interview? Looking forward to ACC? Learn anything new? Leave a comment below (and subscribe to our YouTube page too!)

 

[ShredatorFIN]

This is easy to solve tho, just do not let the game go bellow a temperature the tires would not work or a race would not go on, unless you are adding red flags.
So real world conditions is something like The Day After Tomorrow movie? No problem, game wont go bellow xºC and x amount of rain. No excuse for lack of real time weather, IMO.

But, what is the gained upside? It's not real, nor realistic, as temperatures like that might not occur during Blancpain season. At least not as often.

Why not just do it like this. For example, Barcelona circuit.

Use this: https://www.wunderground.com/histor...statename=&reqdb.zip=&reqdb.magic=&reqdb.wmo=

Randomize, based on those values. How common something is, during given month. Calculate probabilities, based on that months/locations real weather records. And don't allow choosing winter months. But only months on a given circuit, where actual GT3 race could be held in.

Imo it's not a lazy solution. More work will be making those realistic weather charts for each month, each circuit, that are used for the randomizing. Than just grabbing it from web, like Content Manager.

It could be included I guess, but I prefer there to be also a system that randomizes a more realistic weather, than slapping current IRL weather on the track would be.

 

[Will Mazeo]

That could work as well, but as long as people are doing races outside winter the real time should be allowed (with the "protection" I posted). Scripted is still scripted, having it live is a lot of fun.

 

[NtsParadize]

But, what is the gained upside? It's not real, nor realistic, as temperatures like that might not occur during Blancpain season. At least not as often.

Why not just do it like this. For example, Barcelona circuit.

Use this: https://www.wunderground.com/histor...statename=&reqdb.zip=&reqdb.magic=&reqdb.wmo=

Randomize, based on those values. How common something is, during given month. Calculate probabilities, based on that months/locations real weather records. And don't allow choosing winter months. But only months on a given circuit, where actual GT3 race could be held in.

Ok, but only between December and March. Between March and November: live weather.

 

[ShredatorFIN]

Ok, but only between December and March. Between March and November: live weather.

Well, tbh it could have several options

- Real weather taken from web (not going under some temp, snow/icy is rain)
- Randomized weather based on realistic probability charts, like I suggested
- Static weather of choosing (if someone wants to for example hotlap in dry)
- Real weather that occurred during race weekend in actual Blancpain 2018. But this can be added only after the season is done of course

 

[NtsParadize]

Well, tbh it could have several options

- Real weather taken from web (not going under some temp, snow/icy is rain)
- Randomized weather based on realistic probability charts, like I suggested
- Static weather of choosing (if someone wants to for example hotlap in dry)
- Real weather that occurred during race weekend in actual Blancpain 2018. But this can be added only after the season is done of course

But we want LIVE weather. Not real.

 

[ShredatorFIN]

But we want LIVE weather. Not real.

= Real weather taken from web? Live weather, that's what I meant.

But I don't want to be tied into this. With only other option being some moronic randomization = pCars 2.

I don't understand the fuss about this illogical feature being so important to some... but I would be okay with it being in the game, if I can also select more realistic option that is not taken from IRL current moment weather data (that will only make sense 3/4 of the year).

 

[motoliser]

there's no point crying about modding ! and yes, in a way it's actually good that it won't offer it, so that modders can get bit of a break
as long as it's back in AC2, which imo would be a mistake if it wasn't , then i'm good with that

mods are by far the biggest reason why I have so many hours in AC , and why I enjoy it a lot. If AC didn't support it, I would still have bought it, but maybe not every DLC though .. and wouldn't have played more then 40-50 hours imo, ... but? Kunos would still get the money, so it won't really matter to them

as many people have said, for closed series game , especially one that offers career mode ( which hopefully will be done well ) there's definitely less of a need for mods,
sure they would be great but it's not a deal breaker

I would love to be able to do mods for F1 from codemasters, to enjoy my stuff in nicely done career mode, but it's not a deal breaker to not enjoy the game

now on the other hand, something like rFactor or AC1, where lot of the content is from all over the place ( old road and race cars, modern road and race cars, old and modern open-wheelers) , no proper career mode, .. well without mods, these games have really not that much to offer - at least to people like me
major advantage of mods is LONGEVITY of the game, it extends it by far! ( look at GTR2 or GTlegends for example) , BUT longevity doesn't bring more money, so it's not really priority for game devs

one of my favorite type of racing is either touring cars or GT4 cars, and AC has like 2 or 3 cars in each of these groups, which isn't really enough for variety

now, if they released a GT4 or TCR specific game, then I wouldn't need any mods what so ever !! so yeah, ... as much as I would love modding to be available, I don't think it's necessary

if not including it will give them more time to focus on getting most out of the UE4, so that they can apply it to AC2 with full mods support, then I'm behind this idea and can't wait

I don't think modders need any break!!!
The true modder loves what he does! They basically work for free!!!
Like I mentioned before I believe ACC is going to split AC community.
Kunos slow pace of development and small team will use all resources on ACC and therefore AC will suffer drastically.
Many people will be dragged by the new ACC graphics engine and will get bored after a few days due to lack of content but they won't be attracted to AC anymore after being given a Demo of AC2.
The good thing is that if this happens I think we all agree that AC2 will have to be released soon after.

 

[delpinsky]

GT Asia, Intercontinental GT Challenge and British GT for the tracks, GT4 for another category, Ultracar for some fun diversity. I hope they will be successful so we can get some extra content. But let's be real, it would take a lot of time and resources to make the new tracks and cars. One can dream though

Blancpain GT Series:
Zolder, Monza, Brands Hatch, Silverstone, Circuit Paul Ricard 1000kms, Misano, Total 24 Hours of Spa, Hungaroring, Nürburgring, Barcelona

Intercontinental GT Challenge:
Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour, Total 24 Hours of Spa, Suzuka 10 Hours, Mazda Raceway California 8 Hours

GT4 European Series:
Misano, Brands Hatch, Red Bull Ring, Slovakia Ring, Zandvoort, Nürburgring

Ultracar GTONE Sports Club:
Spa-Francorchamps, Paul Ricard Circuit

Blancpain GT Series Asia:
Sepang International Circuit, Chang International Circuit, Suzuka International Circuit, Fuji Speedway, Shanghai International Circuit, Ningbo International Speedpark

*in RED the new tracks outside the Blancpain GT Series.

The tracks is what takes the hardest time. But as Kunos has the complete access due to the SRO License, we could expect faster delivering this time.
If there's a chance to have these Series in the DLCs, I think we all gonna be very very happy
If not, OK. It's not the end of the world... but something tells me the sales are going to be huge with ACC, so.....

 

[cubadoo1]

12 hours of bathurst OMG X 1 MILLION

 

[Peter Kerényi]

Blancpain GT Series:
Zolder, Monza, Brands Hatch, Silverstone, Circuit Paul Ricard 1000kms, Misano, Total 24 Hours of Spa, Hungaroring, Nürburgring, Barcelona

Intercontinental GT Challenge:
Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour, Total 24 Hours of Spa, Suzuka 10 Hours, Mazda Raceway California 8 Hours

GT4 European Series:
Misano, Brands Hatch, Red Bull Ring, Slovakia Ring, Zandvoort, Nürburgring

Ultracar GTONE Sports Club:
Spa-Francorchamps, Paul Ricard Circuit

Blancpain GT Series Asia:
Sepang International Circuit, Chang International Circuit, Suzuka International Circuit, Fuji Speedway, Shanghai International Circuit, Ningbo International Speedpark

*in RED the new tracks outside the Blancpain GT Series.

The tracks is what takes the hardest time. But as Kunos has the complete access due to the SRO License, we could expect faster delivering this time.
If there's a chance to have these Series in the DLCs, I think we all gonna be very very happy
If not, OK. It's not the end of the world... but something tells me the sales are going to be huge with ACC, so.....

Wait a minute, GT4 goes to Slovakiaring this year? The track is literally 20 minutes away from where I live. Hopefully I won't be away when they race EDIT: Just checked I won't be home then :/
Yes, it's the tracks. If SRO agrees and helps them get the licenses, they wouldn't miss Suzuka. Oh god imagine all these tracks laser-scanned. It would be incredible.

 

[mantasisg]

The true modder loves what he does! They basically work for free!!!

Like communism come true lol

Screw you, capitalists !!! We have modders, they can do it all for nothing ! Literally for nothing

Few mods ok, it is nice when someone gives an item or a few for free for community. Especially when a truly good quality It is nice.

BUT WHEN COMMUNITY THINKS THAT MODDERS ARE WORKING FOR THEM - that ain't right. Thats not a sign of healthy community.

Modding is great. But no appreciation - no modding. And it all just happens, naturally, when there are enough of content.

People will be able to rest from that "exhausting" task of "looking for AC mod gems everyday" for some time, I think And it is not bad. Though I hope not forever. It will be like going back to watch TV instead of youtube for some time, freedom of choice will not be so frustrating anymore, and possibly many people will end up driving decently modelled and adjusted official cars, instead of idiotic rips from idiotic facebook reposters, and pseudo-modders.

 

[davewilliams000]

Blancpain GT Series:
Zolder, Monza, Brands Hatch, Silverstone, Circuit Paul Ricard 1000kms, Misano, Total 24 Hours of Spa, Hungaroring, Nürburgring, Barcelona

Intercontinental GT Challenge:
Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour, Total 24 Hours of Spa, Suzuka 10 Hours, Mazda Raceway California 8 Hours

GT4 European Series:
Misano, Brands Hatch, Red Bull Ring, Slovakia Ring, Zandvoort, Nürburgring

Ultracar GTONE Sports Club:
Spa-Francorchamps, Paul Ricard Circuit

Blancpain GT Series Asia:
Sepang International Circuit, Chang International Circuit, Suzuka International Circuit, Fuji Speedway, Shanghai International Circuit, Ningbo International Speedpark

*in RED the new tracks outside the Blancpain GT Series.

The tracks is what takes the hardest time. But as Kunos has the complete access due to the SRO License, we could expect faster delivering this time.
If there's a chance to have these Series in the DLCs, I think we all gonna be very very happy
If not, OK. It's not the end of the world... but something tells me the sales are going to be huge with ACC, so.....

Yeah Intercontinental GT Challenge would be amazing in its own right as DLC, as we'd get suzuka and Bathurst laser scanned, and they already have the other 2 tracks and spa24 hr is already in the blancpain series. Guessing gt4 would be the easiest as they only need to scan Slovakia ring, and possibly zandvoort if they want to scan it (the one in AC is not scanned in case you weren't aware)

 

[tr1v1um]

I haven't had time to watch the 2 interviews and probably won't since I barely have 45 min to race in a day let alone watch 2 videos

I never really got into AC as much as I would have like to, but I look forward to Kunos next project.....every thing looks good on paper but so has every other games pre launch hype ads
If there's one thing i've learnt in the past 8 yrs of sim racing is to wait till the game has launched, as every sims launch in the past few yrs has really been less than impressive.

Few questions....
What's AC physic rate running at that lets them run at the same rate as the human and still have great overall performance?
I know rf2/pc2 & ams all run at 600hz and when I asked why the ai don't run at the same rate.......the basic answer was the common pc wouldn't be able to stand the load and would result in other features having to be removed.

Is it running at 600hz and that's why they limited the field to 30?

Will ACC have dynamic live track or similar to what AC uses?

How far into development are they to wanna open up early access this summer and what's the planned release date/quarter?

Cheers

rF2 physics rate is at 2400hz, and with the current hardware and technology there is no way to run AI with player physics. I don't understand that obsession with Kunos and their player-like physics for AI at all. AI in AC was pretty much terrible and even more unrealsitic and other sims using different concepts are doing a much better job at handling AI with simplified physics. And the AI is actually a very important core aspect for such a game as ACC with it's career option, so I am rather sceptical how it will play out. To get it good, it has to be a big step from AC atleast in dry conditions. Now add the varying conditions and they might run into trouble pretty fast as other developers are showing. But who knows, maybe they will find a golden way

 

[Will Mazeo]

rF2 physics rate is at 2400hz, and with the current hardware and technology there is no way to run AI with player physics. I don't understand that obsession with Kunos and their player-like physics for AI at all. AI in AC was pretty much terrible and even more unrealsitic and other sims using different concepts are doing a much better job at handling AI with simplified physics. And the AI is actually a very important core aspect for such a game as ACC with it's career option, so I am rather sceptical how it will play out. To get it good, it has to be a big step from AC atleast in dry conditions. Now add the varying conditions and they might run into trouble pretty fast as other developers are showing. But who knows, maybe they will find a golden way

the tire model runs at 2400hz, the rest physic, ffb, etc 400hz like all other sims run at

 

[delpinsky]

zandvoort if they want to scan it (the one in AC is not scanned in case you weren't aware)

Oh, well I missed it... from Reddit:
The developers have now responded on the official forums about the track. They're saying that this track is an experiment to see if people want non laserscanned tracks in addition to laser scanned ones. Zandvoort was made by a modder with GPS data and then upgraded to AC standards by the Kunos developers.

What can I say: we definitely need a Laserscanned Zandvoort then
I like the track in AC, it's one of my favourite. Too bad they didn't tell everybody when they were about to release it. Anyway it was free content, so it's ok.

 

[Will Mazeo]

Oh, well I missed it... from Reddit:
The developers have now responded on the official forums about the track. They're saying that this track is an experiment to see if people want non laserscanned tracks in addition to laser scanned ones. Zandvoort was made by a modder with GPS data and then upgraded to AC standards by the Kunos developers.

What can I say: we definitely need a Laserscanned Zandvoort then
I like the track in AC, it's one of my favourite. Too bad they didn't tell everybody when they were about to release it. Anyway it was free content, so it's ok.

You dont tell: "omg amazing track, love it"
You tell "omg this is crap, give me laser scan or I travel to italy to kill you"
simracing community

 

[Epistolarius]

It's something similar at what we had in netKar Pro and its "hardcore mode" that was initially implemented and then out in the last releases....

I still remember a F1800 Race in Brno (I think it was for the RSR Championship). During the first qualification session I crashed my car on the last corner before having a valid time. I came back to the box (you was not allowed to press esc, but my car was still driveable). My car was repaired just a couple of minutes before the end of the second and final session so that I was forced to start in last position without time.
In the following races I used always a different and realistic startegy: try immediately to make a good, but "conservative", lap to be at least in a middle grid position and only then push on (or over ) the limit to attack the pole....
It was really immersive for an hardcore simmer like me, but I have also to say that very few servers and championships were run with "hardcore mode" enabled...

If you want my opinion I think quite difficult we see an "hardcore mode" in ACC (I would say 0,01%), but at least we know that Stefano had already studied and implemented something similar and in my opinion the result was very immersive and well balanced between realism and simulation. So, if they should decide to implement it, it will be for sure well done!

I'd love to see something like that in a Kunos game again (as an option), at least longer term and as dev time permits. It'd be interesting (to me at least) and one more thing to stand out from the crowd of racing games.

 

[Patrik Marek]

I don't think modders need any break!!!
The true modder loves what he does! They basically work for free!!!
Like I mentioned before I believe ACC is going to split AC community.
Kunos slow pace of development and small team will use all resources on ACC and therefore AC will suffer drastically.
Many people will be dragged by the new ACC graphics engine and will get bored after a few days due to lack of content but they won't be attracted to AC anymore after being given a Demo of AC2.
The good thing is that if this happens I think we all agree that AC2 will have to be released soon after.

i guess I'm not real modder then, it gets tiring going to sleep each day 2-3am

 

[Patrik Marek]

and about laser scans, well just because they will " have o" create certain track. It doesn't automatically mean it will be late scanned, yes they prefer law scans, but if it gets too expensive, like Suzuka would, I doubt it will be scanned

 

[Michael Hornbuckle]

LOL
The license is the expensive part, not the physical scan.