REG Simulations' love letter to racing in Argentina has hit Early Access - so Yannik took a deep dive into PISTA Motorsport to gather impressions on the upcoming sim.
PISTA Motorsport is here - in Early Acess, that is, but this still allows anyone to play if they choose to spend the €14.79 the sim currently costs. Almost four months after our initial impressions of the then-closed beta version, I had to check out the sim by @REG Simulations again, of course.
Check out the video above to see how I felt about PISTA - alternatively, you can also watch the full live stream I did on the OverTake Twitch channel on August 29 to get the full picture. For those who prefer reading, continue below the embedded stream!
PISTA Motorsport Early Access - The Good
Sounds
If there is one area that PISTA Motorsport really excels, it has to be the car sounds. The Procar 4000 cars' interior sounds in particular are extremely satisfying, with a screaming engine (including bug catcher on the hood!) in front of you making plenty of noise. At the same time, the mechanical sounds when shifting gears are nice and pronounced.Content
Undoubtedly PISTA's unique selling point, the Argentina-based content that is already in the sim is most likely all-new territory for most sim racers outside of South America. Not only does the sim come with four locations featuring seven layouts already, it also packs four different racing series that amount to eight different cars.Not only are they fun to drive, they are also vastly different. The Turismo Pista Clase 1 and 3 cars are small FWD vehicles and behave nothing like the more powerful Procar 4000 models - and the Formula 3 Metropolitana single-seater is a different story altogether, being light and relying on its wings for downforce more.
As a result, different driving techniques are required to reign in the different cars - as it should be.
Physics
While far from perfect, the driving physics show a very promising base. As mentioned in the content paragraph, the cars have different characteristics that you would expect based on their engine layout, car type, power and weight.The FWD cars, for instance, do not like braking or even lifting off the throttle in anything but a straight line. But once they start sliding, it is perfectly possible to regain control by steering into the slide and flooring the throttle to straighten them out again.
On the other hand, the Crespi XXV F3 Metropolitana car was much more tricky in this regard. Overdo it into a fast turn, and the car might overpower the downforce generated by its little wings - and once the downforce is gone, you will go around in most cases.
Meanwhile, the physics in the wet are a bit forgiving in general, but puddles are already well implemented. Run through one that is a bit too deep and you will feel the car aquaplane slightly, so they are to be enjoyed with care.
Reflections
We will get to the graphics in general later, but an absolute positive I noticed were the reflections on shiny surfaces. Metal parts such as the Procar bug catchers and even puddles on a wet track accurately reflect the surroundings based on where you are. Instead of pre-built reflections that kind of look like the surroundings, they actually mirror everything - which is great to see.Small Details
Although PISTA is not finished yet, it already has small details that are just nice to see. Of course, the trackside marshals still look a bit boxy, but they are moving and waving flags, for instance. And I was happy to meet laptop dude (as I dubbed him on stream) in my pit garage, sweating over telemtry data.Other small details include drones zipping across the track over the car or cars and trucks driving down motorways that are located outside of the tracks.
Then, there is the Track Walk feature, which lets players explore the tracks on foot. You can also walk up certain stairs and watch the track from the grandstands. Useful? Probably not. But still a cool idea that is neat to have!
Things To Improve
Graphics
PISTA Motorsport runs on Unity HDRP and sports rather tame system requirements, which is good to have it accessible on as many systems as possible. However, the overall graphics could use more polish - then again, the sim is in Early Access, so this might still happen.Some textures look a bit low-res, the lighting can feel pretty flat in most cases, and some of the tracks look a bit lifeless as a result. That is with one big exception: Set the session time to evening - 6:30 pm worked well - and the lighting is immediately elevated by the sunset, particularly if there is water on the track. In those circumstances, PISTA can look pretty even at this early stage - which hints at a lot of potential for its visuals.
Force Feedback
The FFB in PISTA is generally serviceable and lets you keep control over the car well. However, aside from the Procar 4000, it felt like there was a lack of road detail in the feedback. Nothing game-breaking, of course, but the small imperfections and bumps of a track could be more pronounced.I would also like to see a per-car FFB strength slider, as the FFB settings that worked well with the FWD cars almost tore my thumb off when spinning out in the F3 car once.
On another note, some more feedback when locking the brakes (as none of the cars have ABS) would be great. I usually only noticed this because the RPM would drop in an unusal way under braking, so more FFB and sound cues for this would be good to have in the future.
VR Recenter
One of the most commendable things about PISTA is that it supports VR out of the box, even in Early Access. I had no problem at all setting it up with OpenComposite and OpenXR either, probably the only sim where those two just worked immediately - a very good start.Despite this, I did not turn a lap in VR yet. And that is because I could not recenter my view in VR. The main menu was to my right and slighly below me, and so was the in-game perspective, meaning I started on the roof of the car and looking to the right. Unfortunately, there is no option to bind a recenter VR button yet, which would have solved this issue - I am looking forward to trying VR in PISTA again once that is implemented!
Control Calibration
All devices I wanted to use in PISTA Motorsport were detected without a problem, which is a good first step. However, those devices with an axis are a bit clunky to calibrate, which made it difficult to get a proper feel for the brake. The deadzone and sensitivity sliders work in an unusual way in the calibration menu, so there is more fiddling involved than there should be - but judging from the comments on our article on the Early Access release, that is something the developers are aware of.PISTA Motorsport Early Access - Worth A Try?
What does all of this amount to in the end, then? Is PISTA already worth a try at this point? Personally, I'd say so. For the rather low price and with more game modes and content already announced to be coming for free in the next few months, it is a good way to expand your knowledge about cars and tracks in Argentina.There is potential in the sim for sure, and although it is rough around the edges in several areas, we have to keep in mind that it is still early in development. And as developer REG Simulations is open to feedback, it could help improve the sim as well.
In the end, it depends on how you weigh the pros and cons of the Early Access version. It might be good to try for some, while others might hold off due to some of its shortcomings - as always, it is important to try and form your own opinion before jumping in.
Have you tried PISTA Motorsport in Early Access already? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below or join the discussion in our forums!
