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!

 

[Colin Knowles]

Can we not talk about PSVR
925,000 of us now or 2% of vanilla PlayStation users

 

[Cote Dazur]

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.

I understand, from your limited experience point of view, why it might appear to you that way, let me reassure you from my last 9 month experience, hundreds of hour driving exclusively in VR and numerous exchange with a lot of VR fellow enthousiasts that VR without motion simulator is a very good idea. So good that most of us consider it a game changer and have totally gave up on any SIM driving activity if it is not when using VR. That good!

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.

Because when in VR your driving in a 3 dimensional world, sense of speed, which is always compromised with monitor(s), will be revealed to you like never before. No need for fake camera shake anymore to try to compensate for a limited display technology.

Once more your comment demonstrate your lack of VR experience. By all mean, wait for alternatives, but please stop commenting on VR, as your conclusions, based on nothing but erroneous assumption, are not helping anything and anyone.

 

[Jim Layee]

I don't use triples or VR so would the world stop wasting MY time developing such things until i decide to go get either of them then I'll be happy if they only work on the one I decide to buy.
Seriously guys, what about me ?? Yes ME ??

Back to reality; companies develop whatever they like and the market decides whether it was a worthwhile expenditure or not. Forum poster's well/ill informed ramblings make zero influence on this process. Therefore if someone doesn't agree with your opinion then suck it up and move on. It's called growing up, some of you should try it sometime

 

[TzZyO]

I understand, from your limited experience point of view, why it might appear to you that way, let me reassure you from my last 9 month experience, hundreds of hour driving exclusively in VR and numerous exchange with a lot of VR fellow enthousiasts that VR without motion simulator is a very good idea. So good that most of us consider it a game changer and have totally gave up on any SIM driving activity if it is not when using VR. That good!

My limited experience with VR failed to impress me (even though I was expecting it to), so I will take your opinion into consideration, but that's about it. There is enough people easily impressed with anything remotely new for me to be taking seriously each and every single one of them. And I saw enough people here who was as unimpressed with a more thorough VR experience as I was with my limited one, even opting to selling the sets out for good.

There is a phenomenon where people desperately wanting for something in particular are willing to delude themselves into believing that something vaguely resembling the object of their desires is the object itself, especially if they are being told so. Dirt Rally is one example of that. The current crop of VR helmets is another.

Because when in VR your driving in a 3 dimensional world, sense of speed, which is always compromised with monitor(s), will be revealed to you like never before. No need for fake camera shake anymore to try to compensate for a limited display technology.

That's quite obvious that VR can enhance the perception of speed per se. Still, without any suspension and g-forces induced head motion it must be a pretty bland experience. It can feel bland even in reality on a good road with a softer suspension, let alone while in VR.

Once more your comment demonstrate your lack of VR experience. By all mean, wait for alternatives, but please stop commenting on VR, as your conclusions, based on nothing but erroneous assumption, are not helping anything and anyone.

Please stop giving me commands on what to do, based on your own erroneous opinion. You might be helping to sell more of these things at the time being, but in the end, after people will realize that this "VR" is not really what they wanted, this whole situation might become increasingly damaging to the idea itself. Do you want another decades long gap as it was after VFX1?

 

[MarcG]

Yeah VR is a bland experience....LOL #FacePalm

Again, for the umpteenth time we get it...you dont like VR, but yet again you're continually talking about it trying to put it down and digging yourself a massive hole along the way with the tripe you post. You're coming across more and more of a troll intent on spouting rubbish than genuine conversation.

Accept it, some of us DO like VR, end of story.

 

[F_B]

@TzZyO

I don't understand where you want to hint at with your "sense of speed, g-forces, bumbs" etc. That was a part which I didn't get also in your previous posts. Tbh nearly no one of us can feel/experience those forces on a single screen/triple screen (well yes sense of speed because of a wider FOV on triples) either, unless you have a buttkicker or a motion rig but I dare to say those numbers are even lower than those who own a HMD. Thus we have to deal with fake forces as look to apex, feeling bumbs through your ffb wheel, settings for pitch, yaw, camera shake etc. when racing. Now, with the HMD I'm happy to switch some of those little helpers off because I can for example look myself to the apex of tight corners. Also I don't need automatic helmet leaning anymore while driving through faster corners. Such things as road noise, bumps I exclusively get through my wheel and that is something that has not changed to the experience I had before with my single screen. The big advantage I have now with the HMD is imo: free look, the feeling of really sitting in the car (hence massive immersion), correct FOV thus good sense of speed (no more racing with a correct calculated FOV on a single screen which feels as looking through a tiny hole), a much much better sense of what's happening around my car (especially important on the infamous lap 1 turn 1 ).

And I happily can go without the lower resolution because all above mentioned made sim racing even better for me. Of course I look forward for a CV2 with perhaps 4k but until then I have no issues racing with the current gen. These HMDs are made for sim racing or any other cockpit based sims/games.

 

[TzZyO]

Yeah VR is a bland experience....LOL #FacePalm

Again, for the umpteenth time we get it...you dont like VR, but yet again you're continually talking about it trying to put it down and digging yourself a massive hole along the way with the tripe you post. You're coming across more and more of a troll intent on spouting rubbish than genuine conversation.

Accept it, some of us DO like VR, end of story.

That was a pitiful attempt at clinging to straws, I'll give you that. Why should I care that some of the people here are content with the current state of VR? Good for you, I guess?
I don't appreciate, however, the attempt to talk people into buying stuff they might regret buying. I just want the potential customers to be fully aware of the drawbacks of the current technology, which is more of a prototype at the moment.

Such things as road noise, bumps I exclusively get through my wheel and that is something that has not changed to the experience I had before with my single screen.

Getting all that info through the wheel doesn't add a lot to the sense of speed. And you can't really feel the lateral and longitudinal accelerations through the wheel either. Simulated head movement can help with providing that kind of feedback, but you can't have that on while wearing the HMD, or you risk needing a plastic bag after a bit of driving around.

The big advantage I have now with the HMD is imo: free look, the feeling of really sitting in the car (hence massive immersion), correct FOV thus good sense of speed (no more racing with a correct calculated FOV on a single screen which feels as looking through a tiny hole), a much much better sense of what's happening around my car (especially important on the infamous lap 1 turn 1 ).

Well, I wasn't arguing that even the current gen provides a lot of visual information on your immediate surroundings. And besides, the correct FOV is indeed important. I'm not even sure how it's possible to calculate one for, say, a single screen. For a cyclops the formula would be fine, but we have binocular vision with a certain stereoscopic base, which need to be taken into account.

And I happily can go without the lower resolution because all above mentioned made sim racing even better for me. Of course I look forward for a CV2 with perhaps 4k but until then I have no issues racing with the current gen. These HMDs are made for sim racing or any other cockpit based sims/games.

Well, you are ok with that and you got your money's worth. That's great. The problem is, that doesn't mean that the current crop of VR sets will work for a significant percentage of people. It still has a long way to go. Therefore, it's not a good thing to support the hype. People need to face the fact that they might not like the current state of VR, might get disappointed with their purchase... and if they will actually do, guess whom they will be blaming?