FIA European Truck Racing Championship
- Thread starter Paul Jeffrey
- Start date
Comparing a game where you have to abide with traffic rules and bring cargo home safely with "rubbin' is racin'" game...
Anyone played this yet? I'm gonna need a lot of sim racers' impressions before I pull the trigger on this one
would love to get it myself, but if it doesn't feel good-ish, probably not
I guess It could be the second game I would return on steam , in worst case
EDIT: what? no steam? ... no steam no buy
I guess It could be the second game I would return on steam , in worst case
EDIT: what? no steam? ... no steam no buy
Paul Jeffrey
Premium
I'll have my review up within an hour.. hold tight mate - wrote it a couple of weeks ago so just need to check and amend..
BRB
Andreas Knöpke
Let's drive side by side!
#crap
Here are my updated initial impressions, (I posted this on a specific FIA TRC thread so if I'm breaking any rules by repeating, sorry)
First impressions, the good stuff:
+++ Size and weight. Immediately and in real contrast to the usual car racing games the size and weight of these trucks is transmitted superbly, they feel big, slow to react and momentum is key. This is much better than the Mercedes Truck in Forza 7 which feels like an on stilts version of the Forza cars. These trucks handle differently to anything I've tried before. I tried the Automobilista (superb game) trucks back to back with these and the AMS trucks drive much more like turbocharged cars, the difference with these slow and often unwieldy trucks can't be overstated.
+++ Water-cooled brakes, managing the brake temperatures with water cooling is a real challenge. If the brakes get too hot the trucks spin easily. Having only a limited amount of water for the race adds to the strategy. I've never seen this before in a game and it is enjoyable. Again none of this is included with the AMS trucks or anything I've seen before. The FIA TRC Career mode also introduces the use of water cooling well through both some licence challenges and hotlapping - ACC could learn a lot from this approach to career mode.
+++ Narrow power band, these trucks give a new meaning to narrow power band, only 2 gears 7H and 8H really seem to matter after the rolling start and keeping the turbo spinning is essential. I've also noticed the turbo gets damaged.
+++ Handling. The driving in the game is intuitive from the outset. I had to make minimal changes (slightly increase the FFB and ad a little more centre weight with the damper) to the wheel settings. Massive understeer is relayed well if turning in too quickly. Feeling the trucks push wide onto the rumble strips seems right to me. When the turbo spins up the torque overtakes rear grip and the truck starts to oversteer, it's well communicated and intuitive to counter. getting the brakes red hot, usually forgetting to use the water spray, has been the cause of the only strange handling effects I've seen so far.
+++ The game worked from the first load up with no issues. It looks good in 4k to me and holds a steady 50+ FPS with everything maxed out (FPS counter is top right in the video). Race replays also play well at 60fps. There is also an in-game option to display performance during the game.
+++ The AI drivers are decent, on the Hard setting, they race well and leave enough room for the player. The AI trucks make mistakes, recover, get caught out of the powerband and equally fight back hard if they get the chance. In career mode so far, if anything the professional setting is a little too easy.
+++ Rules and penalties are well implemented and working. Track limits, penalty bollards, speeding penalties all work as described - which is again great for a game on launch day. Equally impressive is the way the game allows door to door truck racing without caution but hitting another truck at speed results in a contact penalty - it isn't perfect but it's better than many games have.
+ The atmosphere of truck racing with the pace truck etc seems to have been pretty well captured.
+ Official team licences and tracks really add a lot to the game.
+ It has leaderboards and records laptimes (a real shame serious sims like ACC don't have this imo essential feature). It's worth noting I have been able to get within 2 seconds of the 'real FIA TRC' laptimes on tracks I know well and I'd consider myself a bang average sim racer.
The less good stuff:
- - No track feel. The tracks look good but other than kerbs there is no real track surface feel to speak of.
- Sound is average throughout.
- Tuning options look pretty basic but then I don't know how much tuning is allowed in the real series.
- Contact between trucks feels a bit lightweight and the sounds are quite muted.
- All the rules and penalties can be switched off, good for accessibility of the game but not so much for realism. It looks like that is also true for leaderboard lap times so that might not be such a great choice.
- It looks like a fairly thin game without much content at full price. I picked it up for a good pre-order price and I'd say it's more a £30 game than a full-price £40-50 (consoles!) game.
Career Mode:
Career Mode works well, it introduces all of the main aspects of the game through Gran Turismo style licence tests including cornering, braking, hotlapping, brake cooling and drive through penalties. For my money, it's a good opening and sets up the career mode well. Once the career is underway there are meaningful contracts, full weekend events, repairs to be paid for and a positive sense of progression. The only downside being I can easily beast the 'professional' difficulty setting.
So far so good:
I'm far more impressed than I expected to be. There is enough that is unique and different to make this game worth playing. The fact everything seems to be working at launch is a bonus.
Add to that I've finally discovered what happened to Nancy from Chase HQ and I'm pleased with what I've seen so far.
First impressions, the good stuff:
+++ Size and weight. Immediately and in real contrast to the usual car racing games the size and weight of these trucks is transmitted superbly, they feel big, slow to react and momentum is key. This is much better than the Mercedes Truck in Forza 7 which feels like an on stilts version of the Forza cars. These trucks handle differently to anything I've tried before. I tried the Automobilista (superb game) trucks back to back with these and the AMS trucks drive much more like turbocharged cars, the difference with these slow and often unwieldy trucks can't be overstated.
+++ Water-cooled brakes, managing the brake temperatures with water cooling is a real challenge. If the brakes get too hot the trucks spin easily. Having only a limited amount of water for the race adds to the strategy. I've never seen this before in a game and it is enjoyable. Again none of this is included with the AMS trucks or anything I've seen before. The FIA TRC Career mode also introduces the use of water cooling well through both some licence challenges and hotlapping - ACC could learn a lot from this approach to career mode.
+++ Narrow power band, these trucks give a new meaning to narrow power band, only 2 gears 7H and 8H really seem to matter after the rolling start and keeping the turbo spinning is essential. I've also noticed the turbo gets damaged.
+++ Handling. The driving in the game is intuitive from the outset. I had to make minimal changes (slightly increase the FFB and ad a little more centre weight with the damper) to the wheel settings. Massive understeer is relayed well if turning in too quickly. Feeling the trucks push wide onto the rumble strips seems right to me. When the turbo spins up the torque overtakes rear grip and the truck starts to oversteer, it's well communicated and intuitive to counter. getting the brakes red hot, usually forgetting to use the water spray, has been the cause of the only strange handling effects I've seen so far.
+++ The game worked from the first load up with no issues. It looks good in 4k to me and holds a steady 50+ FPS with everything maxed out (FPS counter is top right in the video). Race replays also play well at 60fps. There is also an in-game option to display performance during the game.
+++ The AI drivers are decent, on the Hard setting, they race well and leave enough room for the player. The AI trucks make mistakes, recover, get caught out of the powerband and equally fight back hard if they get the chance. In career mode so far, if anything the professional setting is a little too easy.
+++ Rules and penalties are well implemented and working. Track limits, penalty bollards, speeding penalties all work as described - which is again great for a game on launch day. Equally impressive is the way the game allows door to door truck racing without caution but hitting another truck at speed results in a contact penalty - it isn't perfect but it's better than many games have.
+ The atmosphere of truck racing with the pace truck etc seems to have been pretty well captured.
+ Official team licences and tracks really add a lot to the game.
+ It has leaderboards and records laptimes (a real shame serious sims like ACC don't have this imo essential feature). It's worth noting I have been able to get within 2 seconds of the 'real FIA TRC' laptimes on tracks I know well and I'd consider myself a bang average sim racer.
The less good stuff:
- - No track feel. The tracks look good but other than kerbs there is no real track surface feel to speak of.
- Sound is average throughout.
- Tuning options look pretty basic but then I don't know how much tuning is allowed in the real series.
- Contact between trucks feels a bit lightweight and the sounds are quite muted.
- All the rules and penalties can be switched off, good for accessibility of the game but not so much for realism. It looks like that is also true for leaderboard lap times so that might not be such a great choice.
- It looks like a fairly thin game without much content at full price. I picked it up for a good pre-order price and I'd say it's more a £30 game than a full-price £40-50 (consoles!) game.
Career Mode:
Career Mode works well, it introduces all of the main aspects of the game through Gran Turismo style licence tests including cornering, braking, hotlapping, brake cooling and drive through penalties. For my money, it's a good opening and sets up the career mode well. Once the career is underway there are meaningful contracts, full weekend events, repairs to be paid for and a positive sense of progression. The only downside being I can easily beast the 'professional' difficulty setting.
So far so good:
I'm far more impressed than I expected to be. There is enough that is unique and different to make this game worth playing. The fact everything seems to be working at launch is a bonus.
Add to that I've finally discovered what happened to Nancy from Chase HQ and I'm pleased with what I've seen so far.
Paul Jeffrey
Premium
We take a look at the new FIA European Truck Racing Championship video game from N-Racing.
Having secured an official license to replicate the highest level of international truck racing on both console and PC devices, the lesser know N-Racing development team have put together one of the most curious, and potentially most awesome, racing games of this year.
Replicating the exceptional FIA European Truck Racing Championship category, including some fantastic circuits in the form of such venues as Le Mans (Bugatti Circuit) and Zolder as just two examples, the choice of series is perhaps not what one would have expected off the bat, but could well be a wise choice in a marketplace where developers struggle to find a unique selling point to left them ahead of the crowd.
FIA ETRC: Unedited gameplay video HERE
Graphics
From a graphical point of view the new game immediately impresses, with sharp, clear and detailed graphics throughout the on-and-off track shenanigans within the game. The title has evidently been developed with user friendly playability in mind, N-Racing seemingly keen maintain an uncluttered and uncomplicated experience for the player, offering useful explanations of the various game menu choices and detailed voice coaching throughout the various stages of the track activity within the game.
Whilst no doubt welcome for players new to racing games, some of this simplicity can become a bit of a barrier for the more experienced racer, with N-Racing having made some design decisions that take away the adjustability and control from the player, in favour of pre-set choices. An example of this would have to be the ‘Quick Race’ menu option, where after selecting truck and track, the player is instantly sent into a racing situation without the opportunity to run practice or qualification sessions.
These sort of quick jump into the action options are nothing unusual for racing games, however without the ability to set a single race type scenario with a full weekend structure, it just feels like the shift from quick race to full on championship mode is missing that vital link that helps the driver engage in the off line portion of the title.
Game Modes
Speaking of game modes, FIA ETRC comes with Quick Race, Online, Career and Championships, as well as online event challenges that due to the early access nature of the build I’ve been playing, I haven’t had the opportunity to yet full scope out this portion of the game.
Career mode sees you introduced to a number of driving license test activities designed to asses your ability to handle a modern racing truck. Set in small scenario portions that covers the basics of control, these tests are again mostly focused on the rookie racing game player and can feel a little laborious for more experienced drivers - especially when it is mandatory to complete all license tests in order to progress into the career mode proper. The grind nature of these tests are not helped by the fact one needs to exit and reload the next “test” after each separate assessment has been completed, leaving me to feel the opening strands of the career mode are a little awkward and poorly thought out, which upon further playing of the game becomes something of a common theme in many aspects of the title.
I’ll admit my enthusiasm for these career mode tests very quickly fell away, to the point where I abandoned further participation after just four tests. As it is mandatory to complete these before progressing into career mode proper, I suspect it will be a while before I find motivation to plough through and see what that side of the title has to offer they player. Which is a bit of a worry, as I suspect many people who pick this game up on release will feel the same way...
Driving
On to the driving model itself, this is where FIA ETRC really differentiates itself from other driving games in the marketplace today. Racing trucks are very different beasts to the traditional fare of GT, touring and formula cars - heavier, slower and less responsive than their distant cousins, which takes a while to get used to in this game but adds a very interesting and different dynamic to the gameplay experience.
One of the big things simulated in ETRC is the need to cool your brakes during the race. With water tanks installed on the truck, the player will have to keep track of brake temperature during heavy deceleration and release water onto their brakes to keep the temperature at the optimum level, avoiding getting the pads too hot and causing less efficient slowing if the trucks, or if left unattended for long periods potential damage to the brakes. With only a limited amount of water for the race distance, the player will have to be careful not to run out of cooling before the end of the event, which adds an nice (and realistic) element of strategy into he race experience.
As for the driving model itself, this is something that I’ve found to be just about adequate, but by no means are these trucks anywhere close to the physics and feedback experienced in something like the Formula Truck content of Automobilista.
FFB is functional at best, inconsistent and slightly confusing at worst. You don’t really have much in the way of feedback from the FFB wheel to tell you what your truck is doing, just what feels like basic resistance and heavy vibration when either going over trackside curbs or contacting with other trucks and trackside objects.
The trucks themselves feel somewhat prone to rear traction loss in unexpected places, however the slide dynamics are such that it is rarely too late in which to recover a sideways moment. With momentum so important to lap time in these trucks, sliding can have very negative outcome on your overall performance, and should be avoided at all costs.
It may be worth noting I've done my driving in this game using a SimSteering V2 direct drive wheel, so the experience of a user using one of the officially supported racing wheels may differ.
Audio
Diesel powered racing trucks most certainly don’t give off an emotive sound like that of a mid 90’s V12 Grand Prix car or something American and GT specification at Le Mans, but they certainly have something of a sound of their own that stands out for the crowd - especially when they power a massive 5 ton + racing truck! Here, N-Racing have done a very solid job of replicating the audio experience from the series, simulating the sound of these beastly engines and the associated activities such as dispelling water cooling and the various bumps, grinds and creams that come with racing trucks to a high level.
Trackside audio is also well produced and the menu music is bang on point (subject to your personal preference of course), adding to the general feel of the title. Tempering the good with the bad, air brake pressure release type noises are used to represent back button presses in the game UI, which get annoying after a while, making you wonder how this sort of unnecessary oversight hasn’t been identified during the development and QA phase of the game. However, that’s a very small and insignificant observation, and doesn’t distract in any way from the core gameplay value.
Summary
Overall the new FIA ETRC game edges firmly on the more arcade spectrum than thoroughbred simulation, but has many aspects of a more realistic type of title. The game feels like it suffers from something of an identity crisis, not really going whole hog into the arcade experience, nor hitching its coat on the peg of realism. The genre of racing games is a well travelled one full of very competent titles, so it will be difficult to see this game really break free for those in which it competes for attention.
The game certainly has potential and I’d like to see what lessons learnt can mean for any potential follow up release, but sadly at the moment, FIA ETRC is neither realistic nor fun, leaving it squarely in the no man's land of close, but absolutely no cigar.
The FIA ETRC game is available for Xbox One, PS4 and PC now.
Check out the FIA ETRC sub forum here at RaceDepartment for all the latest news and discussion about the game.
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PicoBp
#26 | HSRC - Banzaaaiii Touring Car Crew
I'd be ashamed to give licence to such crap. Hungary Speedway??? Not even the official tracks are there?
It drives decently, but the visuals and UI are horrible, content doesn't even cover the official series, the whole thing looks and feels like a repurposed 2000's budget title.
I was so hyped for this, and would have been happy with a nice arcade title even, but what this ended up to be is worse than many indie titles.
It drives decently, but the visuals and UI are horrible, content doesn't even cover the official series, the whole thing looks and feels like a repurposed 2000's budget title.
I was so hyped for this, and would have been happy with a nice arcade title even, but what this ended up to be is worse than many indie titles.
You the man PJ!I'll have my review up within an hour.. hold tight mate - wrote it a couple of weeks ago so just need to check and amend..
BRB
It's better than I expected. The FFB can be tweaked with many strength and effect sliders. The physics are not bad. You can feel what the truck is doing and push it to the limit. Counter steering feels intuitive.
The only things I don't like, are the missing fov slider and the ugly graphics.
The only things I don't like, are the missing fov slider and the ugly graphics.
Last edited:
Craig Dunkley
Premium
Will shortly buy and try
Thank you for a full and informative review.
Hungary Speedway is the only fictional track (they could not license Hungaroring, apparently) The rest of the championship tracks are: Misano, Nürburgring, Slovakia Ring, Most, Zolder, Le Mans and Jarama. There are also 6 other real tracks: Laguna Seca, COTA, Canadian Tire, Fuji, Buenos Aires (Autódromo Oscar y Juan Gálvez) and Winton.
M D Gourley
Premium
...so I think I will just wait for Automobilista 2.
I have to agree with much of what you've said Paul. Though, perhaps you're being a bit kind to the visuals
I think the key take-away for me from the couple of hours I spent with it this afternoon is that it's fun. Take off the 'simulation goggles' and enjoy it for what it is, a fun driving game involving massive effin trucks!
I think the key take-away for me from the couple of hours I spent with it this afternoon is that it's fun. Take off the 'simulation goggles' and enjoy it for what it is, a fun driving game involving massive effin trucks!
Having played the game today I think your review is a little too critical, that's fine, we each have our view and I appreciate the effort you go to for the community but I'll disagree with a few points:
The comparison with the trucks in AMS is an interesting point. The trucks in AMS drive and are geared very much like turbocharged sports cars (6 gears, gearing like cars, rapid gear changes, brake like cars) compared to the languid and narrow 2K rev band, effectively 2 gear 7H and 8H of the FIA racing trucks. No one would think - other than driving height - that they are driving the same type of vehicle switching between the two games. Unfortunately, the games don't have the same tracks so a direct comparison isn't easily possible. Personally, I don't feel as much difference between the physics, FIA TRC trucks certainly understeer and pushes a little wider but that feels right in the context of the game, once adapted to going faster is easy enough - these trucks won't be bullied.
FFB works just fine on my more mainstream TX458 wheel, it's as intuitive as anything else available. What's more impressive is that it works out of the box when so many games we play need hours of wheel fettling to get a decent setup. As a result, I think sliding works well and can be used pretty effectively in some corners.
Licences. Sorry but I fundamentally disagree regarding the race licences. There are only 15 licence challenges and most take less than 30 seconds. For experienced sim racers yes they are easy. But...the main point is they introduce the core mechanics of the game - the weight transfer of trucks, the need to carry momentum, the water cooling of the brakes, the difficulty these vehicles have in chicanes and how to take a drive-through penalty. There are also leaderboards for the challenges, last time I checked I still had the WR for a few of them - that adds an extra dimension of fun.
Personally, I prefer this graduated approach to the way a game works than the failure to explain anything of ACC. The first race in ACC requiring driver swaps was a total surprise to me, not a single thing was explained. For everything Kunos do so well they let themselves down with the failure to explain the game. It's also worth mentioning this game has working leaderboards at launch where 'serious' sims like ACC seem unable to do so.
The career mode is actually pretty well put together. Again, Kunos could learn a lot from it compared to the shambles they created in ACC (wonderful as the driving experience is). I know from the review you didn't get to try the career and that's a shame because of rewards, repairs and influence system work well, as a single-player experience, it hangs together well.
Maybe it was an earlier version of the game but all the parameters of both quick race and custom championship can be set by the player. Nothing different here to many of the other games as far as I can see, and this is on day one. I remember it taking AC months after launch to add custom championships - years if you include the console versions.
You quite rightly say the graphics are decent, they are, I'd like those who are seeing something different to explain what they are seeing? In 4k there really isn't much to separate this game from the rest.
As this is the internet where things are so easily misconstrued I feel compelled to say once again I respect your view and I am just offering some different perspectives on a number of points.
Overall I think you made this sound like the Forza of Truck Racing and I think it's actually a bit better than that, it has a unique character not even the AMS trucks get close to and I think that is something worth praising in the current market of all too similar simulators.
The comparison with the trucks in AMS is an interesting point. The trucks in AMS drive and are geared very much like turbocharged sports cars (6 gears, gearing like cars, rapid gear changes, brake like cars) compared to the languid and narrow 2K rev band, effectively 2 gear 7H and 8H of the FIA racing trucks. No one would think - other than driving height - that they are driving the same type of vehicle switching between the two games. Unfortunately, the games don't have the same tracks so a direct comparison isn't easily possible. Personally, I don't feel as much difference between the physics, FIA TRC trucks certainly understeer and pushes a little wider but that feels right in the context of the game, once adapted to going faster is easy enough - these trucks won't be bullied.
FFB works just fine on my more mainstream TX458 wheel, it's as intuitive as anything else available. What's more impressive is that it works out of the box when so many games we play need hours of wheel fettling to get a decent setup. As a result, I think sliding works well and can be used pretty effectively in some corners.
Licences. Sorry but I fundamentally disagree regarding the race licences. There are only 15 licence challenges and most take less than 30 seconds. For experienced sim racers yes they are easy. But...the main point is they introduce the core mechanics of the game - the weight transfer of trucks, the need to carry momentum, the water cooling of the brakes, the difficulty these vehicles have in chicanes and how to take a drive-through penalty. There are also leaderboards for the challenges, last time I checked I still had the WR for a few of them - that adds an extra dimension of fun.
Personally, I prefer this graduated approach to the way a game works than the failure to explain anything of ACC. The first race in ACC requiring driver swaps was a total surprise to me, not a single thing was explained. For everything Kunos do so well they let themselves down with the failure to explain the game. It's also worth mentioning this game has working leaderboards at launch where 'serious' sims like ACC seem unable to do so.
The career mode is actually pretty well put together. Again, Kunos could learn a lot from it compared to the shambles they created in ACC (wonderful as the driving experience is). I know from the review you didn't get to try the career and that's a shame because of rewards, repairs and influence system work well, as a single-player experience, it hangs together well.
Maybe it was an earlier version of the game but all the parameters of both quick race and custom championship can be set by the player. Nothing different here to many of the other games as far as I can see, and this is on day one. I remember it taking AC months after launch to add custom championships - years if you include the console versions.
You quite rightly say the graphics are decent, they are, I'd like those who are seeing something different to explain what they are seeing? In 4k there really isn't much to separate this game from the rest.
As this is the internet where things are so easily misconstrued I feel compelled to say once again I respect your view and I am just offering some different perspectives on a number of points.
Overall I think you made this sound like the Forza of Truck Racing and I think it's actually a bit better than that, it has a unique character not even the AMS trucks get close to and I think that is something worth praising in the current market of all too similar simulators.
Paul Jeffrey
Premium
Hey Mark,
Congratulations! You sir, are the first person who manages to disagree with me, but in a sensible, compelling and respectful way! I read your post and completely respect what you wrote, without leaving myself wondering why I bother doing this thing (like I do with most folk who respond to these things!!!).
Awesome!
The above post should be a template for how to use the internet and forum. Top marks (no pun intended!).
#holycrap
(this is out?)
edit:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/940580/FIA_European_Truck_Racing_Championship/
(this is out?
)edit:
Say what ?
https://store.steampowered.com/app/940580/FIA_European_Truck_Racing_Championship/
Last edited:
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