Assetto Corsa: Console Previews Released

[Chris]

Kunos Simulazioni, in conjunction with 505 Games have announced they are working together to bring the highly popular Italian racing simulator to the much larger PlayStation 4 and Xbox One market by the end of the first quarter of 2016. Up until today they have revealed very little detail about the progress of the project.

A series of screenshots and video previews have been released showcasing the game and some of the new and exciting content headed our way, including the Corvette C7 Stingray, the LaFerrari FXX-K and even the newly announced Ferrari 488GTB.

Known for providing one of the purest driving experiences in all of SimRacing, providing a vastly superior physics and force feedback package than any of it's soon-to-be console rivals (pCARS, Forza and Gran Turismo), Kunos' co-founder Marco Massarutto has gone to great lengths to reassure fans that neither the PC nor console versions of the game will be diluted and 'dumbed down' to suit the more casual audience that inevitably comes with the console market, and from the early game play footage it looks as though Kunos have remained true to their word.

Additionally, the user interface of Assetto Corsa has been receiving an overhaul in time for the console release to make it more aesthetically pleasing and more user-friendly. Whilst it looks as if it can be a little clunky to scroll through the entire car list, the overall improvement is much needed.

Pre-order your PlayStation 4 copy here
Pre-order your Xbox One copy here

As the video trailer above states, the console version of Assetto Corsa will be released on the 22nd of April 2016. So make sure to stick and stay with RaceDepartment.com for all the news and previews concerning Assetto Corsa's upcoming console release and any and all other sim racing and motorsport news!

 

[Bram Hengeveld]

Seriously, why don't you and your buddy DewCrew88 Chris get a new hobby that you actually enjoy? We get it by now: sim racing has never been this awful.

 

[Tim Lundy]

The more people that suck up and exhibit a minor form of Stockholm Syndrome, the more it hurts sim racing. Developers actively monitor the competition, as well as the reaction from the customers, and if one game sets a precedent, others will follow.

Ultimate Team was an odd-ball feature in a FIFA game from 2007 (I think it was the UEFA Champions League title). Now it's in every EA Sports game, and consistently makes the news for little kids racking up $9000 in credit card bills.

Grid introduced the rewind mechanic. Now it's everywhere from Forza to NASCAR.

iRacing took the concept of paying for each piece of content to new heights. A handful of years later, we've got SimRaceway, R3E, and even MX vs. ATV Alive with the same awful pricing model.

The Forza series really nailed the in-game livery editor functionality. Suddenly it's in Need for Speed and NASCAR 15.

rFactor 2 has dynamic track surfaces? It appears in iRacing a few years later.

A laser scanned Nordschleife shows up in Assetto Corsa? iRacing and R3E follow suit.

Objectively, there are some things Assetto Corsa does extremely poorly, things that fanboys desperately push under the rug or downplay. If Kunos can get away with poor AI or simply omit things like night racing or wet weather driving, don't be upset if Reiza also writes it off as well in 2017.

The GT series has no dynamic tracks, no livery editor, a dearth of good DLC (in GT6 anyway), very little laser scanning and it's the best selling driving sim in history. Now what? You want every game to be the same it looks to me while I , and many others I believe, want every game to be different. No one game will ever appeal to everyone, each dev focuses on their strengths and/or makes choices to streamline their efforts and make the best game they are capable of making. It's not a question of "getting away" with anything as that kind of attitude implies that they are deliberately leaving things out of a game in order to somehow rip off customers. That's such a negative and myopic viewpoint and it shows you have very little knowledge of how games are developed, limited budgets, design choices and compromises and pretty much anything else related to running a business.

Here's a revelation for you. Sim racers aren't homogeneus. Most of us like and appreciate the differences between games and like that the market is so big and offers so many choices and that all those choices are quite different from each other. Do we want all our favourite features to be in every game? Of course we do. But I don't buy a new truck expecting to be able to outdrag my buddies new Camaro and I don't buy a blender and stick toast in it hoping it comes out warm and brown. Appreciate and celebrate what is good and unique in every game, and positively encourage developers to add features and content we really want. When you constantly whine and complain about what you don't have people stop listening to you but I'm sure you're familiar with that already.

 

[Brownninja97]

Seriously, why don't you get a new hobby that you actually enjoy? We get it by now: sim racing has never been this awful.

well you are staff, if you dont like his tone then you have the power to do something about it.

Objectively, there are some things Assetto Corsa does extremely poorly, things that fanboys desperately push under the rug or downplay. If Kunos can get away with poor AI or simply omit things like night racing or wet weather driving, don't be upset if Reiza also writes it off as well in 2017.

AI is already bad in many games, it is also largely down to luck and how your physics engine is made, well taking in mind ive only done AI for flying games and platformers thus far. Ive said it many times, its the hardest thing to do. I dont think its a "under the rug" situation, the devs know, they have their ways, its more of a "we know its a problem now stfu about it". Lets put it in another way, if i had a friend which played on ps4 and told him every day or week that PC is better and list off the reasons we would likely punch me or get angry and say something stupid. Same situation here, fans know the problems, devs know there are problems, both parties wished they were not problems but being reminded whether its here or on a blog. Repetition gets annoying and you once asked me why you arent a trusted source, its because of repetition, people find it annoying.

 

[Bram Hengeveld]

well you are staff, if you dont like his tone then you have the power to do something about it.

Do you mean we should ban people because they have an opinion that we don't share? No thanks.

As long as people keep within the simple site rules they can have their own opinion. Doesn't mean I agree with it of course.

 

[Brownninja97]

back on topic has anyone played AC with a controller because that is a big thing to consider

 

[Matheus Machado]

back on topic has anyone played AC with a controller because that is a big thing to consider

I know a guy who played with a controller for years and is now adapting to his wheel. I've also tried it myself and it works well.

Approved IMO.

 

[Eugene Abramoff]

I wonder how soon they will release the new content, in congestion with 1.5 update on PC, it says the updates schedules will be different, but I can imagine at least for the first ever console release they would want to test everything on PC first, so my speculation is that we should get all this beauty rather soon; so that in case there are bugs they will be well researched by community and further polished out.

 

[Bernd Graf]

I have a feeling all that stuff plus "Dusty", "Old", other surface types and temperatures have only the effect of crudely modifying the base tires friction coefficient anyway.

Actually, the new code is quite good. I've been talking to a modder who understands tyre physics far better than I do, and he said the new code is very good, close to rFactor 2 good in some areas. Plus, the track grip settings, while there still is no idea line, are even better. The file that controls them can be modded, and I recently included a file with one of my mods that allows for rain track grip levels, a file I programmed after reading extensively on the kind of grip levels with standing water, micro and macro surface roughness, etc. The code may seem a trifle simple at times, but don't be fooled.

 

[TzZyO]

Actually, the new code is quite good. I've been talking to a modder who understands tyre physics far better than I do, and he said the new code is very good, close to rFactor 2 good in some areas. Plus, the track grip settings, while there still is no idea line, are even better. The file that controls them can be modded, and I recently included a file with one of my mods that allows for rain track grip levels, a file I programmed after reading extensively on the kind of grip levels with standing water, micro and macro surface roughness, etc. The code may seem a trifle simple at times, but don't be fooled.

Then chances are all that doesn't transfer well onto the wheel. If it really would handle close enough to rFactor 2, I would only fire up the ISI sim for night or rain driving. But I can hardly tell what my front wheels are doing in AC.
Don't get me wrong, it's a good sim. Yet it's still lacking in regards to the actual driving experience. Can be fun most of the time, but not really satisfying. Maybe thanks to the FFB not being all that helpful. It's more like I have to remember the correct initial conditions for every turn instead of just cornering by feel.

 

[Grand Tourist]

back on topic has anyone played AC with a controller because that is a big thing to consider

I have always used a 360 controller for AC. It works fine but I need to reconfig the settings because of the new tyre model I guess. The hardest issue is the massive camber some cars have in game, especially mid-engined short wheel-based cars like the Lotus Elise, Exige and Alfa 4C are the hardest to control with a 360pad. Minor twitches can result in a spin and this seemed more intense with the new tyre model to me. Now I got the hang of modding all car data I simply go to the suspension file and manipulate the camber, rod and packer range to optimize car handling with a controller.
I used to have wheel back in the days of GT but for convenience reasons I don't use one now. A wheel is 100 times better for racing, that's for sure. I lose several secs each lap to opponents with the same car because it's so hard to keep a steady line and drive consistent with a 360pad....but for single lapping and simply testing data modding it's sufficient.

 

[Bernd Graf]

Then chances are all that doesn't transfer well onto the wheel. If it really would handle close enough to rFactor 2, I would only fire up the ISI sim for night or rain driving. But I can hardly tell what my front wheels are doing in AC.
Don't get me wrong, it's a good sim. Yet it's still lacking in regards to the actual driving experience. Can be fun most of the time, but not really satisfying. Maybe thanks to the FFB not being all that helpful. It's more like I have to remember the correct initial conditions for every turn instead of just cornering by feel.

What wheel are you using m8? Because though the physics are still in development (rFactor has been out for so much longer anyway, not really a fair comparison), the cars drive intuitively in AC...Driving experience? Either you have a motion rig...or you are feeling nuances in your wheel the rest of us aren't.

TBH, rFactor2 FFB is dead and dull to me. No questioning the math behind the sim, but this is why AC is so popular: Ferrari license, very skilled FFB tuning.

 

[Chris Kennedy]

The file that controls them can be modded, and I recently included a file with one of my mods that allows for rain track grip levels, a file I programmed after reading extensively on the kind of grip levels with standing water, micro and macro surface roughness, etc. The code may seem a trifle simple at times, but don't be fooled.

you really misuse the word programing a lot bro, changing a number from one value to another isn't programming such statements may confuse people into thinking you have a proper wet track simulation which is obviously not possible when the whole track has a single grip level. no offence intended of course

also amazing how yet another ac thread is on its way to being an ac vs simx thread

so far i think the console port has been handled well, and it looks like its running great. if they polish up the career/special events, and have some solid mp (the biggest challenge) then i think itll do nicely and achieve the sales they are looking for.

 

[Bernd Graf]

you really misuse the word programing a lot bro, changing a number from one value to another isn't programming such statements may confuse people into thinking you have a proper wet track simulation which is obviously not possible when the whole track has a single grip level. no offence intended of course

also amazing how yet another ac thread is on its way to being an ac vs simx thread

so far i think the console port has been handled well, and it looks like its running great. if they polish up the career/special events, and have some solid mp (the biggest challenge) then i think itll do nicely and achieve the sales they are looking for.

Ok well, I'm still getting a handle on some English words...

Though I don't think I used it without cause, I mean after the several weeks I spent reading about tyre behavior and loss of grip in rain, I may not have plugged in a huge amount of numbers but I sure read a lot before I did punch them in.

Well...I don't know why people start comparing game XYZ with AC...don't know if that happens on other forums, but OMG it bothers me. I just tried the latest rFactor 2 build, haven't been able to for some time...honestly, all things considered with room left for differences in game engine, AC around the same track with a similar GT2 car is surprisingly similar...not that Kunos intended it that way, I think it proves good physics is good physics. Each game has drawbacks, many of which cancel each other out...further reducing the need for comparisons IMO.

 

[Michael Watts]

I'm so glad they didn't give into the "Casual" racer for the console release. The "Casual" Gamer has been the death of all good sims since the advent of the Console.I'm ready for a Real Sim that has the beauty and performance of the PC version without having to buy and spend more money on a CPU.

Anyone on PC know whether you can customize Liveries, or if they're pre-selected. Also what classes are available for possible League Racing, ie. GTE, LMP, WTCC,??

 

[Eduard Mallorquí]

Looks like consoles version will get a nice, modern and refreshing in-game UI with nice apps and fonts. While PC users who supported the game even in early access and buying all the DLCs will stay with the current ugly apps and arial 12 fonts taking "advantage" of the mouse for their pit stops.

I guess it's time to say PC version is far from their priorities, unlike they claimed, consoles is their new and only target. Enjoy.

 

[David Dominguez]

I'm so glad they didn't give into the "Casual" racer for the console release. The "Casual" Gamer has been the death of all good sims since the advent of the Console.I'm ready for a Real Sim that has the beauty and performance of the PC version without having to buy and spend more money on a CPU.

They already took some casual racer game decisions even before PC version was launched, such as not being possible to jump start, car speed lowering itself in pitlane, etc.

 

[Chris]

Looks like consoles version will get a nice, modern and refreshing in-game UI with nice apps and fonts. While PC users who supported the game even in early access and buying all the DLCs will stay with the current ugly apps and arial 12 fonts taking "advantage" of the mouse for their pit stops.

I guess it's time to say PC version is far from their priorities, unlike they claimed, consoles is their new and only target. Enjoy.

I remember stefano saying in one of his streams a while ago that the PC version will get the new UI that the console is getting.

 

[David Dominguez]

No, he has confirmed in the forum many times that we won't get that UI. I even asked himself in the forum today if we will at least get the in-game UI/apps design (not the launcher ui) and he said no again.

 

[Antonio Crinò]

I remember stefano saying in one of his streams a while ago that the PC version will get the new UI that the console is getting.

I have some doubt about it... In regard of an update on the career mode on the PC version Casillo said this:

http://www.assettocorsa.net/forum/index.php?threads/from-the-facebook.22763/page-350

So apparently they don't need anymore PC users. It's time to steal the consolle users money lol

 

[Chris]

No, he has confirmed in the forum many times that we won't get that UI. I even asked himself in the forum today if we will at least get the in-game UI/apps design (not the launcher ui) and he said no again.

Ahh, okay. I swear he said that we would in one of the final couple of streams.
Oh well.