Assetto Corsa V1.9 Sound Preview Video

Paul Jeffrey · Oct 11, 2016

Kunos Simulazioni's Sound Designer and Official Technical Support officer Luca Sodano has shared a pretty epic new video, showcasing the work in progress sound update to Assetto Corsa, due to form part of the next major patch for the title.

Coming in at just over five minutes in length, Sodano shows off the impressive improvements made with the Fmod tool across a number of cars. The video (seen below) takes in a on-board and replay cam footage of the Lamborghini Huracan GT3 around the legendary Nurburgring Nordschleife circuit.

Assetto Corsa (beta) - Fmod 1.08.12 internal testing (WIP) - AI cars Video

The video, shot as an audio level peak test during internal testing for the new build, features 23 AI cars and achieves a 15 % Fmod usage average percentage, peaking at a maximum of 24%.

Audio in Assetto Corsa has come in for criticism from some corners of the community, with some players even going so far as to create their own Fmod sound packs to download. One such pack, made by well know community member Fonsecker, covers no less than 35 cars across three releases, creating a must have package for many Assetto Corsa players (download here). However the team over at Kunos have been working hard to address some of the know weaker areas of the audio experience in recent builds, and the new preview once again shows some impressive progress. Still not quite on the level of acknowledged industry leaders RaceRoom Racing Experience, the new preview does offer up a considerable improvement over the current offerings from the studio.

Release date for the latest build of Assetto Corsa has not yet been confirmed by the studio, however stay tuned to RaceDepartment for all the news as it happens...

The Assetto Corsa sub forum at RaceDepartment is the best source of mods for the sim. Check out our substantial archive, take part in the Modding Discussion forum, join the discussion and consume the latest news. If that isn't enough, head over to the Racing Clubs and Leagues section to find yourself some epic online racing!

Looking forward to the sound update? How do you think AC compares to its rivals in the sound department? Let us know in the comments section below!

Michael Hornbuckle · Oct 12, 2016

RC45 said:
As long as this sound update doesn't break modded cars.

Luca already said it would.

RC45 · Oct 12, 2016

Michael Hornbuckle said:
Luca already said it would.

Then I am done with AC. Why break the game just for a mediocre sound improvement?

What kind of flusterchuck are they creating that has no consistency for the mod community.

I am about 100 hours into a C5 Corvette mod... using lots of access to real data, cars, experience and custom made and purchased 3D models as well as multiple engine type recordings (LS6, LS7 modes, roots blower, centrifugal blower, stock pipes, long tube headers, Borla exhaust, Billy Boats, Corsa. But if Kunos is going to keep breaking the core game why bother?

Although to be honest, as I have been working with real chassis data I have noticed that the AC physics engine is very very very far from being a real representation of real world physics using real world chassis data.

I have had to alter the chassis layout of the C5 Corvette just to match the bizarre behaviour of the AC physics engine. Then when I make well documented changes to the setup the AC car does not behave the way real cars do.

Terra21 · Oct 12, 2016

Any improvements that make AC progress forward are more than welcome. And car modders will no doubt get their sounds working again after the update drops. @Michael Hornbuckle do you have any Info on what other improvements will come with 1.9?

Cheesenium · Oct 12, 2016

Sounds the same to me. Not sure it is worth breaking all the mods for small improvements.

Alex Townsend · Oct 12, 2016

I'm just happy that the Devs are continually updating the title and working on making it better for us all.
Can't people here ever just be thankful?

Chris · Oct 12, 2016

Sounds good

Monstro · Oct 12, 2016

Sounds great for me, really surprised that some people do not see the difference.
by the way i am really not a fan of what Fonsecker do (do no hit me

), so i am very happy to see these sounds improvement.

i really think it's a good step.

Slyfrequency · Oct 12, 2016

I'm a sucker for sound, they hit the nail on the head with this, great move forward in the sounds department

Ben Lee · Oct 12, 2016

RC45 said:
As long as this sound update doesn't break modded cars.

I think it will I'm afraid.

It does sound better, there is better separation between the cars. Right now if you do a replay and there is more than a few cars going past it sounds like a swarm of insects with all the sounds playing over the top of each other, so in that respect it's better.

A few small details I would like to see included;

- Speaker PA background noise
- more pops and bangs from cars when downshifting / upshifting
- air whooshing / tyre road noise when a car is passing close by (especially road cars which is 90% road noise)
- better sound isolation for in car sounds (this might already be in this update)

TzZyO · Oct 12, 2016

@RC45
I think that instead of arguing with Michael here, you'd best be simply switching to rF2. It really lacks on mods in general so far, let alone road going cars. Your work will be much appreciated and I'm sure you'll find the result much more satisfying. If you find modding for rF2 too big a challenge, alternatively you could make the mod for Automobilista instead.

Back on topic: I quite like the fly-by sounds as well, but they somehow seem to be detached from what is happening on screen. Almost like a real life recording synced to visuals of an AC replay. It sounds serious enough, but it doesn't look that way. The internal sounds are not impressive, but should they really be? When you sit inside such a car with your helmet on, I suppose there's not much to hear in real life either.

seanvdburg · Oct 12, 2016

RC45 said:
As long as this sound update doesn't break modded cars.

Seriously, how much effort does it cost to recompile your project with the latest FMOD studio. You have 3 weeks of time before the update gets released. I can't see the need for all your drama really.
Good luck with learning the rF2 modding pipeline.

John Oliver · Oct 12, 2016

still has that annoying crackle to it

Mitja Bonca · Oct 12, 2016

RC45 said:
When you have to butcher real world chassis data to get the expected behaviour of in game cars, then there are far more important fundamentals that need fixing before 3rd part add on sound functionality.

Really? Is the AC engine really so far off the real world, what`s concerning chassis and it`s physics? Would you mind to corroborate this a bit with some evidence? But I believe you in a way without evidence, because it`s evident how they treat with us who have something against to say - they just do not let anyone to speak against. Why? Do they think are the only one who are right? Strange, really.
Nonetheless, AC feels fine and somehow right - but according to your words, maybe its all so massed up, that it feels right. Which does not mean IS right.

Mike Kadlcak · Oct 12, 2016

@RC45 stop whining!... Luca said they gonna pre-release an updated sdk for the modders...way before public release. If you ask me AC is treating you modder guys pretty well.
They had to overhaul the fmod code which was broken. So you want to stop the development???

Golanv · Oct 12, 2016

Fantastic!
When good gets better, it's a whole lot more impressive than when something 'ok' turns in to good.
Kunos just keeps failing in disappointing me.

Mitja Bonca · Oct 12, 2016

Golanv said:
Fantastic!
When good gets better, it's a whole lot more impressive than when something 'ok' turns in to good.
Kunos just keeps failing in disappointing me.

Can you explain what are u talkin about?

Visocane · Oct 12, 2016

Mod Edit: Learn to communicate like an actual human being and you'll have a much better time here.

Andy_J · Oct 12, 2016

Visocane said:
Mod Edit: Learn to communicate like an actual human being and you'll have a much better time here.

Jesus H...............you are a happy fella aren't ya?

Wash your mouth out with some carbolic soap.

Chris · Oct 12, 2016

Visocane said:
Mod Edit: Learn to communicate like an actual human being and you'll have a much better time here.

Ah, I see you must've actually enjoyed your last stay in Simberia.
Well, since you enjoyed it so much, here, have a doubled sentence. See you in a month.

Amplified · Oct 12, 2016

This is an easy 5 minute fix update that should have been setup right from the start.

It is just a changed parameter settings that is corrected to a more real life distance attenuation value that correlates to the right size of the 'base sound location' in meters. Hence why now all of a sudden there is more 'stereo' and you can hear there cars around you and hear it move left to right in the replay cam.

Because of this adjustment the base sound is not 15 meters wide or so. This filled your whole stereo field when a car was near you making it 'mono' while in reality it was just setup to big. Also some sounds not being stereo has to do with them wrongly setting up the 5.1 settings narrowing the stereo field down to something like 30 degrees.

The oncoming sound difference is an adjustment in the Doppler scale and adding a frequency falloff that comes in sooner in the distance.

All in all this is easy to do and applicable to every car, and should not have taken this long to figure out and process.