PC1 Latest Build testing.

[Andy_J]

As you all know, Ian gave me a free pass to test the latest builds and that's what I have been doing for the last week. I will report here as and when I see fit to tell all about my findings.

But I will say that the latest build (296) is quite good. Now lets make some sense of my statement. I used a Lotus 98T in helmet cam using my antique MOMO red wheel and I can honestly report it is coming along much better than I anticipated. The actual feel and immersion is damn fine at this point. The handling is strange at first compared to say...RF2 and FVA, but it grows on you within minutes. At this point in time, this actual car feels good. I like it and I love the Milan circuit. The damage model has come on leaps and bounds.

I am doing some more testing all of next week using a G27 and I will also test some of the other cars that don't interest me as much (I am a F1 nut) and see how the feel in comparison to Shift 2, because that is what I was initially comparing PCars to.

I would like the replay function to have a directors mode though. Something that jumps from action to action and from car to car.

Aside from that, the replay's do crash my PC quite often but I understand that is being looked at.

Watch this space.

 

[LaFail]

I can't get good FFB no matter what I do, and there's no weight/weight transfer, well not much, so it's hard to drive off feel like you can in genuine sims.
Btw, I bought F1 2012, and it works "well" with my G27 but is a simmycade experience in the dry, however, it's much harder to drive in the wet and wet weather GFX are epic, so I recommend F1 2012 for G27 owners wanting to have fun.

I'm having a hard time believing pcars is going to be much diff to F1 2012, IOW, a simmycade game that may or may not appeal to sim fans.....but then again, the no1 criteria for me is that it must work well with my wheel, and atm, pcars isn't quite there.

1)There is a MASSIVE difference for me (DFGT) between F1 2012 and pCARS. From the horrible input lag, canned FFB effects, bad default settings for my wheel, F1 2012 is a crappy game to play with a wheel, nowhere near pCARS. You just need to find the right FFB tweaker for yours, as FFB is now stripped-to-the-less-than-essential for tyre testing purpose from devs and it hasn't been even remotely tweaked for final release yet. I have to admit it's hilarious to see ignorant people compare this to Shift 2.
2)The RUF has been created 2 weeks ago, so it has placeholder physics and a known bug with suspension. It will be fixed. It happens to almost every new car, so i don't understand why you complain about it ? Give a proper review when they'll say it's finished. Remember that cars released 1 year ago are still being tuned and that they change handling behaviour from build to build.

3)The release date is Q1 2014. Keep fantasies for yourself, or you might misinform genuine clients.

 

[David Ignjatovic]

You just need to find the right FFB tweaker for yours, a.

ah, the right one.....how silly of me and anyone else having issues for 12months now.
F1 2012 is a far superior driving experience to pcars atm, especially in the wet where F1 2012 surprises.

I'm certain that pcars will be in a drivable state upon release, but atm it's been uninstalled and will remain that way till one of RD's reliable members posts that it's hitting it's strides.

 

[LaFail]

Keep repeating that ad nauseam, maybe someone will believe you after all. It's good that you express your ignorance and low confidence in here, this way one can understand not to take your posts seriously.

 

[David Ignjatovic]

Keep repeating that ad nauseam, maybe someone will believe you after all. It's good that you express your ignorance and low confidence in here, this way one can understand not to take your posts seriously.

U do understand others agree with me Mr Investor???
Do you understand anything????

 

[Graham Byford]

David, maybe worth you reinstalling the Lotus 49 has had vintage tyres put on it and is a decent drive now. The FFB still isn't great but it's somewhat improved but still needs weight shift to be felt stronger and earlier to provide a better feel of the car and in case anyone asks FFB tweakers don't help with this.

 

[LaFail]

Blrghhgrhghghr AAAA!! INVESTOR OMG!11one1!!

Don't worry, me and my 25€ are doing fine, go to sleep you worthless troll.

David, maybe worth you reinstalling the Lotus 49 has had vintage tyres put on it and is a decent drive now. The FFB still isn't great but it's somewhat improved but still needs weight shift to be felt stronger and earlier to provide a better feel of the car and in case anyone asks FFB tweakers don't help with this.

I had to try a few but i found one that helps with weight transfer, nothing great, but decent overall for my wheel. FA, X4 and M3 GT feel particularly good.

Here it is, remember i have a DFGT, it won't probably work with other wheels. http://www.2shared.com/file/1pE_F4qh/FFB.html

 

[Graham Byford]

Like I say I've tried many tweakers but they don't overcome the lack of feel/weight transfer through the FFB, I think something deeper within the physics is causing it, the FFB has improved but is not there yet.

 

[LaFail]

I see, well it works for me. We'll see what happens when FFB gets some attention from the devs.

 

[TherealWalkman]

I hope they finally develop the feel for the weight on the front achsis. The car standing still produces the correct "stiff" feeling but as soon as the tyres rotate the steering wheel becomes too light. Therefore griplose can´t be felt (if it works yet, idk)

 

[Flawl3ssVctry]

Like I say I've tried many tweakers but they don't overcome the lack of feel/weight transfer through the FFB, I think something deeper within the physics is causing it, the FFB has improved but is not there yet.

Although helpful to the gamer, this is unrealistic.

Modern Power-Steering tech dampens out this stuff in real life. Be cognizant next time you're in your own car, your steering wheel doesn't feel all that different at all in any situations.

I think pCARS has an SoP (Seat-of-Pants) parameter (which i haven't much explored) that purportedly helps re-inject weight transfer and other non-steering-rack effects back into the consumer-grade FFB experience.

 

[Graham Byford]

What about cars without power steering?

Even in a car with power steering the wheel will generate opposite lock quite strongly when the back is moving around, so much so it will naturally pull the wheel on its own through your hands.

In pCARS this is felt too late and is not strong or progressive enough, I can have the back of the car out with full weight transfer and the wheel hardly pulls into the slide, eventually it starts to be felt but it comes too late. This makes feeling what the car is doing during a slide and generally difficult to feel. Also the FFB has a deadzone in the center so the FFB doesn't load up early enough, this is masked by a spring effect which can be deactivated, doing so will highlight the problem more.

 

[TherealWalkman]

+1

 

[Randy Chamberlin]

Figures I wanted to try this sim everyones been talking about and you cant get anymore

 

[RaceNut]

I bought-in early figuring that even if it didn't turn out as hoped, it would still be very interesting to watch the development and learn more about the whole process. While there is much more to be done in certain areas - it also has been more fun than I thought to test the weekly updates and make some small contributions to the process.

 

[Graham Byford]

Tried the latest team build over the weekend but still the same physics/FFB problems as identified further up this page so only played for a couple of hours in total. Will leave it for a few weeks and try again.

 

[David Ignjatovic]

Will leave it for a few weeks and try again.

I think they'll magically fix it just before release.
In the meantime we can continue to wonder how some people claim it's a sim/fully drivable.

 

[Peter]

It's drivable as long as you don't brake or drive on the limit.

 

[David Ignjatovic]

I think pCARS has an SoP (Seat-of-Pants) parameter (which i haven't much explored) that purportedly helps re-inject weight transfer and other non-steering-rack effects back into the consumer-grade FFB experience.

Weight transfer is lacking as this is probably going to be more like Shift3 than GSC 2012, as weight transfer is tricky to deal with, but when your target audience are moreso casual racers, it probably makes sense.

 

[David Ignjatovic]

It's drivable as long as you don't brake or drive on the limit.

That's one of the great things about real sims, you appreciate them even more as you build speed as they're so precise at/near the limit.
If pcars can be a fully functioning Shift2{Shift2 was crap for all sorts of reasons beyond dodgy physics}, then it's better than nothing, but will there ever be a 50 car sim with GSC/AC physics...?

 

[Graham Byford]

Weight transfer is lacking as this is probably going to be more like Shift3 than GSC 2012, as weight transfer is tricky to deal with, but when your target audience are moreso casual racers, it probably makes sense.

Yes I think that's one of the things that is lacking both in the physics and FFB also the general physics feel rather light as a consequence and the suspension/chassis isn't responsive enough. Thankfully these things have been highlighted on WMD by some although more often than not it's drowned out by the usual denialist crowd, hopefully it gets through to the devs though.