Assetto Corsa v1.6 & JDM Car Pack Released

[Paul Jeffrey]

Assetto Corsa has today updated to version 1.6 bringing a host of new features alongside pre-Alpha Virtual Reality support and the Japanese DLC Car Pack.

Backed by a sizable changelog perhaps the hot topic of today's new update is the surprise inclusion of the pre-alpha support for Virtual Reality headsets, a move inspired by the recent Kunos community questionnaire asking what features community members wish to see included in the title.

Other notable additions in the latest update includes the new addition of 4 wheel steering courtesy of the Nissan Skyline and Mazda RX7 as well as a work in progress All-Wheel-Drive transmission code.

As well as today's update, Assetto Corsa fans can now purchase the much anticipated Japanese Car Pack which features 7 new Japanese vehicles including the Mazda MX-5 Cup racing car and Nissan GT-R R34 Skyline V-Spec.

Japanese Car Pack full car list:

• Mazda MX-5 2015
• Mazda MX-5 CUP
• Mazda RX-7 Spirit R + tuned version
• Toyota Supra MK IV + time attack and drift version
• Toyota AE86 Trueno + tuned and drift version
• Nissan 370Z NISMO 2016
• Nissan GT-R R34 Skyline V-Spec

Changelog 1.6.0

• Oculus Rift SDK 1.3 (WIP Pre Alpha) – Fixed self shadowing on tyres
• Fixed wrong log output
• Dynamic controllers for turbo boost
• Added RPMS input to dynamic controllers – Implementation of Scalable Apps
• Fixed replay Interface
• Fixed setup info screen
• Fixed race non progression when player is not moving
• Improved MP collision system
• Improved AI fuel handling
• Fixed Hotlap Mode unlocking achievement through not valid laps – Fixed deltaT for renderAudio
• Bodywork and horn volumes uses engineVolume – Bodywork’s smoothvalue use a different alpha
• Added analogic placeholder for car modellers
  
• Added option to draw driver’s label on focused car (system\cfg\name_displayer.ini -> DRAW_FOCUSEDCAR)
• Fixed CameraCar bad nearplane when forcing camera mode change (see exiting from replay)
• Implementation of Chat App (system\cfg\chat_app.ini)
• SharedMemory: Moved AirTemp/RoadTemp from Static to Physics, old values in static are deprecated
• Timing use also the hour/minutes format
• Fixed GoToPits Cheat to start from the pits.
• Added 4 Wheel Steer systems (Nissan Skyline , Mazda RX7)
• acServerManager : storing Driver data also save the current model/skin, so through drag&drop the saved skin can be used on a new slot)
• Added flags indications for completed session in leaderboards
• F9 overlay leaderboard is now avoiding red colours for better differentiation of opponent proximity indicators
• Added new [ASSETTO_CORSA] SIMULATION_VALUE parameter. Increase the number to increase simulation value. Defaults to 0 for obvious reasons
• Engine performance is now dependent on air density/temperature
• New AWD transmission code, still WIP (Nissan Skyline & Alfa 155)
• Fixed pitstop window not appearing when AI retired some car
• Experimental heating corrections on semislick tyres for Lotus 2-11, Exige Scura, Exige 240 and S3, Lotus Elise SC, KTM X-Bow, Mazda MX5 ND, Toyota AE86 Tuned and Drift
• BOP for GT3 cars
• Improved Mercedes AMG GT3 data

Important Notes
How to Use the Oculus CV1 in Assetto Corsa:
Assetto Corsa includes the first pre-alpha support for Oculus for in-game sessions. Run Oculus Home, select “settings”, “general” and enable “Unknown sources”. Then, launch Assetto Corsa: using the launcher, in options/video/display select “Oculus WIP support” as rendering mode. Then, set your favourite driving session, click the start button and put on your Oculus. Once the session is loaded, you can use the mouse pointer to navigate the in-game menu and use and set the apps as you like.

Using Oculus with Microsoft Xbox-One Pad/Steering Wheel:
Regardless of the controller you use with Assetto Corsa, in this version you need a mouse/keyboard to control the GUI and access the ESC menu.

Sounds:
By default, Assetto Corsa does not yet feature sounds through the Oculus headset. To use it, you need to enable the Rift headset in your Windows settings. To do it, right click on the speaker icon (you can find the icon in the bottom-right of your Windows desktop) and set Rift headset as default playing device.

Driver position:
Press CTRL+SPACE to reset the driver position using the Oculus. Using other driving devices, you can reset the driver position pressing look left + look right commands at the same time.

Exposure:
You can reduce/increase the brightness pressing PgUp/PgDn.


The Japanese Car Pack DLC is available to purchase from the steam store now for £3.99. For a limited period of time gamers can save 40% off the retail price on the title and pick the game up for just £17.99.

Keep an eye out for some great new community created skins for these latest cars in our RaceDepartment Assetto Corsa Mods section.

RaceDepartment hold many great racing events using the Assetto Corsa software, check out our Assetto Corsa Racing Club for your chance to book a place on the grid at one of our many great racing nights.



Have you tried the new update and DLC pack yet? What is your car of choice from the new pack? Do you think the CV1 support has been successful? Let us know in the comments section below!

 

[David Dominguez]

Offline. Online racers are a minority.

 

[David Dominguez]

You know what happens - people download, play for a bit, then move on to the next shiny thing. If anything it reinforces my post as there are even tons more race cars available over what is included out of the box...

You have just described the average AC user, I'm afraid.

Forgive me, but I'm not convinced the offline player base is that radically different than the online player base in terms of general car selection, nor any other sim where the same "issues" occur.

Offline experience can be tuned, for example for less skilled people. They can try to race a F1 car and make the AI so bad that they can actually race something. Online they would probably get frustrated easily.

 

[Matt Orr]

Offline. Online racers are a minority.

As I edited my response while you were posting I'll post it here -

"Forgive me, but I'm not convinced the offline player base is that radically different than the online player base in terms of general car selection, nor any other sim where the same "issues" occur."

You can look up the player count in game on AC through Steam Charts and then add manually add up the player count in servers. I'm too lazy to do that right now, but I've done it in the past for AC a few times and it's generally 30-40% of the total player base is online in a server.

If you account for those idling in game doing nothing and those looking for servers but not in a server, it's not a huge discrepancy between the number of online and offline players.

Yes, offline racers will probably have a small tendency to pick something more difficult, but that doesn't mean they actually stick with it longer than 5 minutes.

You have just described the average AC user, I'm afraid.

No, I just described the average sim user, I'm afraid. The easiest cars to drive are always among the most popular, regardless of which game you are talking about.

rF1/2 has the Clio and Megane, iRacing has the GT3s, AMS has CPdM, AC has GT3s. People like easy.

Good discussion David.

 

[David Dominguez]

By the way, maybe in 45 minutes the online lobby changed drastically, but this is what I see at the moment... 38 people racing with an Audi TT Cup, 48 racing with the Ferrari F1 2006, 48 racing with the Formula Renault 3.5 ... (edit: there are actually more, but just looking at the most populated servers... there are also 15 guys racing in a Formula Abarth server, more Formula Renault and Ferrari F1 servers, etc).

 

[Radu Oros]

Some of those are booking servers, used for leagues. Using this website that shows live servers for AC, and clicking on the helmet icon on the far left, you can see if the booking server is actually populated or not. http://ac.proracing.club/

SimRacingSystem (that new public online racing system) also uses booking servers, but their servers have people racing every day, so is different than how a normal league booking servers operates.

 

[Deleted member 130869]

This is a rant, not directed at you Stereo but going off of your comment as a starting point...

Of course they have data, heck, just looking at the server browser right now at a peak time - 2:30 local, evening time in Europe on a Saturday - and the server browser is full of street car "track days", MX5 races and GT2/GT3 races.

People want to whine the game needs more race cars, but you have cars like the C9 (and coming "officialness" of the 787B) and the F1 GTR. Lotus 49, 25, Exos, Ferrari 312 also end up falling into this same issue... Right now online, I see about a total of 10 people using them. 6 cars, 10 people. 6 people were driving the Exos in 3 different servers.

You do have an argument as it is something that has been a cycle since rFactor 1. Back then we had the 1979 F1 mod and CTDP 2006. Eventually we got CARTfactor. But what was always the weapon of choice? Mégane, with the insane grip. Most online racers prefer the easier cars, or more attractive combos. But it is extremely repetitive to have only one car of a class to drive, so when you mix that aspect with the difficulty, you make the package even less attractive. I haven't driven in months outside of Redline GTP (yup, have to resort to driving a 11 year old mod of a 14 year old game), as in AC there were never options for the Sauber or Mazda - outdated tire and all - or the Lotus 98T. It was always lonely in the rooms, and some brave newcomers would often try but eventually give up in the shallow session due to difficulty driving within the limits.

Offer the consumer 3 Group C cars (the Jaguar XJR-9 and either a Nissan or a Toyota from 1989), a friend to go against the McLaren F1, or the 1967 Ferrari or Gurney Eagle to join the Lotus 49T, and there you offer choice. Not every car drives the same. They may begin from the same base but especially the cars from 20 years and more ago, have many singularities to their construction and driving behavior, to offer choice and an alternative of the same category that can drive quite differently.

Oh. Yeah, also offer tracks with more classic lines that adequately host certain cars of more braking and throttle exit finesse.

 

[David Dominguez]

Honestly, historic content will never work, at least if we speak about online.

 

[Matt Orr]

Honestly, historic content will never work, at least if we speak about online.

Will it? Historic F3s have been relatively popular in rFactor 2, GT Legends was that entirely, Historix, PnG are all moderately popular for where the base games are in their life. Not to mention GPL - admittedly a different time, however.

I think it's more about the right historic car when it comes to general participation, and I think you would agree. Admittedly, I don't think AC has one that is the right one.

(though a Ferrari friend for the GT40 would actually probably really, really work as those cars are easy enough to drive)

By the way, maybe in 45 minutes the online lobby changed drastically, but this is what I see at the moment... 38 people racing with an Audi TT Cup, 48 racing with the Ferrari F1 2006, 48 racing with the Formula Renault 3.5 ... (edit: there are actually more, but just looking at the most populated servers... there are also 15 guys racing in a Formula Abarth server, more Formula Renault and Ferrari F1 servers, etc).

We've sort of gone away from my original rant / where the discussion was regarding the "lack" of race cars being a lie out of the box, and in many ways you just made the argument even stronger when you add in mods.

I'd also point out that the TT Cup offers something "unique" with FWD touring cars, the F2006 a modern F1 car (a hole that will be plugged by the F138 coming officially - I bet those drivers leave that car when the Kunos car comes around!) and the FR3.5 with a high caliber spec open wheel series.

Really though, back to the original point I was making - what does the game need from a race car standpoint and where are the people racing them?

 

[David Dominguez]

I don't think historic content has been that popular in rF2, it was a bit popular when ISI launched their own servers for the first time and people basically raced whatever that was avaiable, but after a couple of weeks it was a ghost thown again.

GPL was a big hit mainly because it was the first attempt of realistic simulator, quite different to what the other racing games were doing. I bet it would have been equally popular if it contained other kind of content.

Iracing's historic content isn't very popular either, and I think the Lotus 49 and 79 are pretty iconic cars.

 

[Matt Orr]

I'm not in disagreement, but at the same time it's about getting the right historic car.

There is a pretty big difference in the difficulty of say the Lotus 49 and the GT40, despite similar power and being of the same vintage.

 

[Radu Oros]

@William Levesque don't be angry at me, not here again to preach you about Gyro thing Not using that option now, just default ffb.
But I'm also tagging you for another reason, after trying to find out why sometimes I don't get precision when turning in, or needing to steer the car in the corner more than apparently needed.

The G27, despite having 900º when disconnected, it has quite about 870º when is connected, because it has soft ends at each extremity which blocks the total rotation and makes it less than 900. And this screws a bit the steering ratio in AC. So if you have 900 in logitech and 900 in game, the scale is 1 (documents/cfg/controls.ini). So to correct this I need to change the scale for the steering ratio to 870/900= 0.9667.

ps. if you like to drive in cockpit view with virtual wheel visible, then instead of changing virtual degrees turn it off and instead adjust the scale to 870/1180= 0.7373 (and put the lock-steering degrees in AC to 1180). This makes the virtual wheel 1:1 on cars like F40, Miura, and so on. In Logitech profiler keep 900 don't lower it to 870, otherwise you're gonna get less than 870 as well.

 

[Visocane]

Go into Realtek or your installed Sound Manager in Windows, sound effects - equalizer - select the bass preset.
If you have a surround system with speakers and subwoofer you might have a rotary dial on your sub for more bass.

Hey thx for the answer. I know about that Equalizer. And i use the same settings with the 5.1 and the Headset. And i do change in Windows from Headphone's to 5.1 or otherwise. The Issue i have is just in Assetto. For example Raceroom is Perfect. If i listen Music it's Great. If i play Shooter i hear Step's. I just cant Figure out the Problem with Assetto. It's such a huge diffrence between Headset and 5.1 i cant help Myself.

But thx Anyway.

 

[Deleted member 130869]

Iracing's historic content isn't very popular either, and I think the Lotus 49 and 79 are pretty iconic cars.

From all I have read and heard from friends who were supremely excited for said content, especially when the 79 came out, they were highly disappointed and very put off by the faults with the car and steering issues. You need to analyze in broader perspective.

 

[Stereo]

Not enough race cars? No, there is actually a fair bit of them representing a pretty well filled out variety, people just aren't using them - while complaining there aren't enough...

I tend to agree, this one and "we need track rotation for servers", in practice what the game actually benefits from is the lowest common denominator - cars that more people are willing to play, on circuits they've run enough laps on to be competitive. Sure, a 70s F1 is cool, and there's someone who's going to love it, but there's also the majority of people who don't care at all.

iRacing is super successful (from a standpoint of '8 year old game that often has 2000+ players online and racing' or 'more aliens available to race against') and the majority of players (road-side) never go outside the MX5 and 1 track that it runs on per week. It's a car, it's faster if you're a better driver, that's enough to make a racing sim. It's not like real-world drivers get a better deal on those terms.

The career mode is another example, it's materially no different from career modes in games people praise (no fake money or fake fanbase tweeting about your wins, but you still have to earn your progression by winning enough, and it branches in a few spots to let you pick series you prefer) but people don't like it cause they have to play all the weird cars they're not really interested in and know nothing about.

 

[fortyfivekev]

I don't think simracers just race GT3/BTCC/Marcas because they are easy (although that does help attract new users). Those series have a mindshare with current day race fans of being exciting with close racing and people associate themselves with that image when simracing.

Historics (pre about 1980) just don't have that for me. As a Brit I appreciate the efforts of Moss, Clark, Hunt, etc. back in the day but even for an old guy like me it is a long time ago.

Putting out single cars from multicar formulae is pretty pointless and I would rather Kunos bought out packs of cars (for say BTCC, V8Supercars, DTM, etc.) similar to R3E but without the duff pricing model + some single car formulae like Clio Cup, F4, etc. It's not that hard to balance the cars, Kunos has their GT3 BOP and allowing leagues to ballast the quicker cars is not that hard to implement.

 

[poet]

The career mode is another example, it's materially no different from career modes in games people praise (no fake money or fake fanbase tweeting about your wins, but you still have to earn your progression by winning enough, and it branches in a few spots to let you pick series you prefer) but people don't like it cause they have to play all the weird cars they're not really interested in and know nothing about.

Disagree.
AC campaign is way too linear and has no personality at all whatsoever (yes tweets and things are gimmicks, but they help breathe life into). It's pure Grind with zero payoff. But like Kunos I've given up on the campaign and let it gather dust unused and unloved.

On the topic of Race v Road cars - is it just that AC is better suited to Road cars?
Seems to me that lots of the things that make Race cars so good in other sims is simply missing or poorly supported in AC.

 

[thewarmer]

Love the love the price.
The MX5 cup is fun racing , I am not the best online racer but I have had some fun with this car so far.
At first I least liked the 370 it felt lumbering , but I had some fun in the Ring yesterday online against a R34 .

Love the RX 7's first car I went for & that is why the 370 felt so bad at first .
Always like this gen of RX series not so hot on the current one.
along with the MX 5 this is one of my fave's in the pack.

The R34 is heavy for sure under-steers like a pig if you carry to much speed into a bend , but you can throw it around & it has vast amounts of grip you can get away with sliding around if you have the room that is.

Supra made the mistake of starting off with the time attack monster & was off the track every were.
But I have gotten to grips with the standard car now , yes those brakes really do work well .
still find the car front heavy maybe that is me , its one of those cars where you have to really manage the under-steer into over-steering on entry & excite , wheel spin is not hard even in the street version on stock tires . but the car is well balanced & you can play around with the throttle brake & clutch and get away with some insane power slides . its a classic pity Toyota do make it anymore.

AE86 or the Corolla GT as it was market in Europe .
I remember wanting one of these when I was about 18 years old & just getting into cars.
They had both version of the Corolla GT in our Local main Toyota dealer ship.
At the time my father owned a 85 ish Celica GT so when he took it in for servicing I always went along.

While he was busy dealing with his car I would be spend time sitting in all the sporty cars Mr2 . the Corolla GT. I was also in rally & the AE86 was used in the National championship in Group A format & also in Touring cars in the UK back then.
Its was the last rwd Corolla based car that Toyota made .

Like I said there were two models the AE 86 was RWD & the other version had a different body but was front wheel drive only . thing they used the same power plant across all three cars the 1.6ltr twin cam 16 valve found in the Mr2 also.
So yes seeing inside of one of these took me back all those old switches and dials and plastic console all very Toyota.

Yep its a box on wheels very much of it era for the time it was a fast car with 126 bhp & a nice revving engine.
the cars have proven to be very popular to this day commanding high re-sale prices if you can find one that is.
You still find them been rallied to this day

I find the car for it age very good to drive it will bite back its light has all the flaws that old cars have too much body roll old style brake & suspensions . but its fun for been that way like all old cars are.

Its also makes you feel old these days cars like this are classed has historic cars & their are few in Ac that I remember the first time around , it good to see them in sims still.

a very good pack I would give it min 8.9 /10
I am betting there will be a Jap pack two
to bring the likes of
Honda
Suzuki
Mitsubishi
Subaru

Same amounts of cars though Honda could fill one DLC alone .
If Hill climbing is come has most seen to think
Then that is were Suzuki would come in with it Pikes Peak cars.

I have my fingers crossed for Porsche arrival on AC and across all the major racing platforms now that EA's Licence is coming to an end.

I would like to think that is along with some other surprises is holding the Console release back.

Top DLC this time around all the cars are good never had that so far .

 

[thewarmer]

Disagree.
AC campaign is way too linear and has no personality at all whatsoever (yes tweets and things are gimmicks, but they help breathe life into). It's pure Grind with zero payoff. But like Kunos I've given up on the campaign and let it gather dust unused and unloved.

On the topic of Race v Road cars - is it just that AC is better suited to Road cars?
Seems to me that lots of the things that make Race cars so good in other sims is simply missing or poorly supported in AC.

Think its a big ask for AC now to turn into a racer based sim.

The patch work way its been constructed has set its development path.

Other do the race better be it R-factor 2 or Raceroom both set out to do that from day one as did I-racing.

Its no proven to be sales killer for AC at the end of the day.
I can imagine maybe one or two years development for AC 1

For major changes if any we have to wait for AC 2 now.

Is there a point in the developer wasting time & money trying to add features to a sim that were not meant to be there in the first place.

I think it better to keep gaining those Licences for now while improving some of the stock features , while in the back ground moving over to the pre development phase for AC2 .

 

[seamount]

well, talking about offline, it was beautiful whEn in rF1 we had many mods with different cars & physics ... like in the many F1 mods, almost one for each year and many of them "IPE". version.

but my question for Kunos is always the same: how can you hope people will use your game for offline racing when your AI is so awful; i read very often that rF1 has a bad AI, but it's wonderful if compared to AC, so, when will you improve your AI ??

 

[William Levesque]

@William Levesque don't be angry at me, not here again to preach you about Gyro thing Not using that option now, just default ffb.
But I'm also tagging you for another reason, after trying to find out why sometimes I don't get precision when turning in, or needing to steer the car in the corner more than apparently needed.

The G27, despite having 900º when disconnected, it has quite about 870º when is connected, because it has soft ends at each extremity which blocks the total rotation and makes it less than 900. And this screws a bit the steering ratio in AC. So if you have 900 in logitech and 900 in game, the scale is 1 (documents/cfg/controls.ini). So to correct this I need to change the scale for the steering ratio to 870/900= 0.9667.

ps. if you like to drive in cockpit view with virtual wheel visible, then instead of changing virtual degrees turn it off and instead adjust the scale to 870/1180= 0.7373 (and put the lock-steering degrees in AC to 1180). This makes the virtual wheel 1:1 on cars like F40, Miura, and so on. In Logitech profiler keep 900 don't lower it to 870, otherwise you're gonna get less than 870 as well.

I use 860 (just calibrate in-game at 860 instead of 900, no need to mess with files). Been doing that for like 3 years, back on iRacing