Kunos Simulazioni Looking at Assetto Corsa HTC Vive Support

[Paul Jeffrey]

Marco Massarutto, Licencing Manager of Kunos Simulazioni has confirmed via his personal Facebook page that HTC Vive VR support is being assessed for Assetto Corsa.

With Assetto Corsa already proving to be one of the stand out VR compatible games, not to mention probably the finest sim racing game with VR support at present, it now looks like the studio are looking to make a move towards developing some serious Vive compatibility for the title. Of course Assetto Corsa already works with a Vive headset, via the Revive injector, but with increasing numbers of sales (reportedly 1/2 million in comparison to the 1/4 million for Oculus), it appears that Kunos are assessing the possibility of looking at potential ways to bring in native support for this headset.

"We have arranged a dedicated room for VR in our new studio (including a motion simulator to reduce the sickness), and this week finally we have completed the setup for Vive, that definetely isn't "plug&play" like the Oculus (both in terms of hardware and software setup), but once installed, the HTC Vive has shown a very interesting potential. So, now at least we can evaluate properly the change to support it in Assetto Corsa, with some dedicated R&D. It's early to confirm if we'll support it, but we'll try" said Massarutto.​

Assetto Corsa in VR video:

It is understood that Kunos now have access to a new space within their studio dedicated to virtual reality, so players might have some further developments with regards to VR and Assetto Corsa in the next few months. At present Assetto Corsa does provide a good VR experience with the Oculus Rift unit but many areas of the VR support in game still need further development. Hopefully the new 'VR space' will help in advancing development for this area of the sim over the coming year.


Assetto Corsa is a racing simulation available for Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and Windows PC. Additional DLC can be downloaded across all platforms adding a variety of additional cars and tracks.

The Assetto Corsa sub forum is a great place to get involved with your fellow community members and discuss the game. Here at RaceDepartment we have a wonderful Racing Club that hosts regular races and league events, plus you can add a wealth of additional content via our modding downloads archive and catch up on the latest news with regards to the sim.

Do you own a HTC Vive and play Assetto Corsa? What does the headset feel like in AC in it's current form? Looking forward to the possibility of future native support? Let us know in the comments section below!

 

[Cote Dazur]

Thanks to Marco's slip of the tongue we now know what the biggest drawback of the current VR technology is apart from the insufficient resolution that still manages to bog down even quite potent rigs (or all of them?)

In order to properly experience VR, one needs a motion simulator or a kind of an inner ear implant, because human brain doesn't take the discrepancy lightly. Talk about proper immersion...

Syncing the HMD to the motion simulator, however, is a pretty complicated task. You'd have to filter out any parasitic movement induced by the shifting gravity vector simulation, like rotations to the side or linear jolts, while still retaining the positional information resulting from both the user's own movement and the movement of the system. And if the motion platform in question isn't equipped with precision 6DOF sensors to measure its own position and orientation in space, one would have to recalibrate it every time, especially between the "driver swaps".

 

[TzZyO]

After you've grown up, you'll probably learn how to speak. For now conveying your own opinion with pictures is ok, I guess.

 

[MarcG]

In my opinion their focus needs to be on building more tracks that's all. But of course i am not allowed to disagree with anything right? I must agree that VR is the best thing to focus on right now?

Well I don't, I don't give much about VR at this stage with the technology still being in it's infancy. I am interested in racing cool circuits, having awesome league tools, driver swaps and many more things I can enjoy right now in 2017. Ill probably enjoy VR in 5 to 10 years when it's finished and of a great quality. Until then Ill happily enjoy a conventional good sim with enough quality content with a basic PC, a single monitor and a steeringwheel with pedals.

So they're not allowed to work on separate things and have to work on items you wish to have? That's a bit self-entitled don't you think? After all it's their product so they can work on what the hell they want to work on, besides the guys who make the tracks don't write the VR code. Just because you don't want a feature doesn't mean others don't, you can't have Kunos design the game around your liking so deal with the fact that they (and other Devs) will shift focus from one area to another and do what they deem fit.

Thanks to Marco's slip of the tongue we now know what the biggest drawback of the current VR technology is apart from the insufficient resolution that still manages to bog down even quite potent rigs (or all of them?)

In order to properly experience VR, one needs a motion simulator or a kind of an inner ear implant, because human brain doesn't take the discrepancy lightly. Talk about proper immersion...

Syncing the HMD to the motion simulator, however, is a pretty complicated task. You'd have to filter out any parasitic movement induced by the shifting gravity vector simulation, like rotations to the side or linear jolts, while still retaining the positional information resulting from both the user's own movement and the movement of the system. And if the motion platform in question isn't equipped with precision 6DOF sensors to measure its own position and orientation in space, one would have to recalibrate it every time, especially between the "driver swaps".

For someone who doesn't like to talk about VR you talk a lot about VR!

 

[TzZyO]

For someone who doesn't like to talk about VR you talk a lot about VR!

Some people might benefit from minding their own business, just saying.

 

[Bram Hengeveld]

So they're not allowed to work on separate things and have to work on items you wish to have?!

Where did I say that? I posted my opinion that I rather see more tracks and league features for the majority of their users than VR for a tiny group. It's called an opinion. Nothing more, nothing less.

Kunos must do exactly as they please. I can post my opinion when I (don't) agree. And my harmless opinion shouldn't hurt you or anybody else one bit.

 

[MarcG]

Where did I say that? I posted my opinion that I rather see more tracks and league features for the majority of their users than VR for a tiny group. It's called an opinion. Nothing more, nothing less.

Kunos must do exactly as they please. I can post my opinion when I (don't) agree. And my harmless opinion shouldn't hurt you or anybody else one bit.

It's the way you came across in your post sounded like you're upset at Kunos for wasting time on VR and not making tracks Opinions are of course fine but it helps if you come across more polite than seemingly outraged

 

[MarcG]

Some people might benefit from minding their own business, just saying.

Ditto

 

[TzZyO]

Ditto

I don't stalk people.

 

[MarcG]

I don't stalk people.

It's called having a memory, you said:
"I genuinely felt like getting myself a set once they are good enough, but hearing all the "VR this, VR that" has really made me sick of VR already. "
http://www.racedepartment.com/threa...development-update.131969/page-5#post-2402520

and yet you're the one constantly bringing it up


have a nice day

 

[TzZyO]

It's called having a memory, you said:
"I genuinely felt like getting myself a set once they are good enough, but hearing all the "VR this, VR that" has really made me sick of VR already. "
http://www.racedepartment.com/threa...development-update.131969/page-5#post-2402520

and yet you're the one constantly bringing it up


have a nice day

You are not really helping your case...
Also, if you have enough spare time to dig up whatever I was saying where, maybe it's best to spend it on what really is important? Like, discussing the motion sickness issue. Or is it exactly because you have nothing to say, you, guys, decided to have a go directly at me instead? Well, you can do that, of course, but that's immature, not to mention I can hardly be a topic of discussion, not at all interested in that anyway.

Well, thanks. You have a nice day too. Just let's pay more attention to what people have to say rather than to who said what. I, for one, can't bother myself with remembering such details. People are irrelevant, unlike the ideas they come up with (at least here, on the Internet).

 

[MarcG]

I don't suffer from motion sickness in VR therefore I can't comment fully on that issue

 

[F_B]

Had motion sickness the first day of VR, now it’s no problem unless I went to the pub the day before.
I read from some guys on the Iracing forums who suffered from motion sickness, too, but the majority of HMD users seem to have no problems at all. Lucky me, I guess.

 

[MarcG]

What I can add is that it will affect some and not others, the same way some people get sea sick and others don't, or flight sick etc. If it affects you long term then that is a real shame but maybe in the future as VR HMDs progress it might become easier to deal with, who knows.

 

[Cote Dazur]

Like, discussing the motion sickness issue.

First, from your own admission you do not have nor use VR, so why would you be the one talking about VR sickness?
Second, VR sickness is not a big issue anymore because we have very stable FPS either because the GPU are better or using ASW which only requires half the FPS.
Third, we get it, you don't have VR, you don't want VR, you have no experience with VR, so why don't you go find a thread were you actually have some informed information to share, since sharing information seems to be so important to you.

 

[Lino Carreira]

I know people that get sick with triple screen support, should we start asking developers to stop doing it ? theres also people that get sick with 3D should we go back to 2D ?



Btw i dont get sick with the HTC Vive

 

[TzZyO]

First, from your own admission you do not have nor use VR, so why would you be the one talking about VR sickness?

Well, I tried the DK2 and I didn't have the sickness. On the other hand, I experienced no sudden visual feed jolts, so who knows...
As why I should be the one talking about it, why doctors should be the ones talking about disorders if they generally don't have the experience, right?
It's just that I seem to be the only one concerned with why there are so many cases leading to believe that about every 2nd VR user is affected.

Second, VR sickness is not a big issue anymore because we have very stable FPS either because the GPU are better or using ASW which only requires half the FPS.

What about bumps then? Do you have to turn the head movement off? Actually, I have no idea how that should work in VR without a motion simulator. Neither having the simulated head movement on, nor turning it off seems to make much sense.

Third, we get it, you don't have VR, you don't want VR, you have no experience with VR, so why don't you go find a thread were you actually have some informed information to share, since sharing information seems to be so important to you.

First, I have some experience with VR and I want VR. Not the current gen "VR", but a proper one with all the issues fixed. Second, don't you tell me what I should do or not unless you want a confrontation. As I already said, tracking other people on the forum could be considered stalking, but I guess you don't have anything better to do?

Anyway, I want to figure out the reason behind the VR-induced motion sickness, also I want to know if it could present a long term exposition health hazard, not to mention how to combat it in the first place. And those Marco's words led me to thinking I might just get the idea of where the sickness stems from. If somebody disagrees with my interpretation, instead of posting "funny pictures", it would be of more use to provide their own. Interpretation, that is.

 

[TzZyO]

I know people that get sick with triple screen support, should we start asking developers to stop doing it ? theres also people that get sick with 3D should we go back to 2D ?



Btw i dont get sick with the HTC Vive

And triples provide a better visual immersion. So, as we can see, the better the field of view is covered, the more of an issue the discrepancy between the visuals and the lack of associated g-forces becomes. We need to insist on more research to be done on the problem. Otherwise, we might face consequences. For example, the vestibular system might get affected.

 

[Lino Carreira]

And triples provide a better visual immersion then what ?? VR ? ...if you said that VR still lack resolution i would completely agree with you, saying that it has less visual immerson, im sorry but you havent tried one properly.

 

[F_B]

The reason behind motion-sickness in VR can be explained as follows: your body/brain expects another movement or generally a movement which it sees in VR. When those things do not come together you might experience motion-sickness. Happened to me the first hours I tried my HMD. Crashing the Caterham on Nords resulted in spinning and that did not let my stomach say "Yeeeeeah go on!" However that changed the more I tried it again and again (not the crashing of course). It also helped that I turned off all head movements, yaws, look to apex etc because these are all settings which you do automatically in VR. At this point I experience no motion-sickness at all in Iracing, AC, Raceroom or PCars.

About feeling bumps: I don't really get that. You do feel the bumps through your ffb wheel, I guess? A buttkicker would help here of course. Nevertheless it wasn't different on single screen before, I felt the bumps and the road noise through my wheel. I was never a fan of exaggerated camera shake in sims to simulate the bumps anyway.

 

[TzZyO]

And triples provide a better visual immersion then what ?? VR ? ...if you said that VR still lack resolution i would completely agree with you, saying that it has less visual immerson, im sorry but you havent tried one properly.

Seriously... Have you people never seen a single screen setup? I meant that a triple screen setup provides more immersion than a typical single screen. Why these threads are always "triples vs. VR", as if nobody uses single screens anymore.

The reason behind motion-sickness in VR can be explained as follows: your body/brain expects another movement or generally a movement which it sees in VR. When those things do not come together you might experience motion-sickness.

That's exactly what I was talking about. And because of that and of what Marco said, it appears to me that simracing with a VR set -- but without a motion simulator -- is not a very good idea.

Happened to me the first hours I tried my HMD. Crashing the Caterham on Nords resulted in spinning and that did not let my stomach say "Yeeeeeah go on!" However that changed the more I tried it again and again (not the crashing of course). It also helped that I turned off all head movements, yaws, look to apex etc because these are all settings which you do automatically in VR. At this point I experience no motion-sickness at all in Iracing, AC, Raceroom or PCars.

About feeling bumps: I don't really get that. You do feel the bumps through your ffb wheel, I guess? A buttkicker would help here of course. Nevertheless it wasn't different on single screen before, I felt the bumps and the road noise through my wheel. I was never a fan of exaggerated camera shake in sims to simulate the bumps anyway.

FFB is one thing, but to properly assess the speed, I'd say the head movement due to bumps help a lot. Otherwise, it would be like driving on a mirror. If I have to turn all that off to deal with VR, I'd rather wait for alternative solutions.