PC1 Latest Build testing.

Andy_J · Sep 8, 2012

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.

Rob · Oct 3, 2014

Grega Zorc said:
I'm talking about realistic/immersive race and championship simulation. A collection of cars and tracks is not enough, no matter how well they handle. Just look at the request lists for Kunos. Or a ton of features built into Pcars, required to make racing (as in FIA GT or WEC, not Best Motoring battles) realistic.

In fact, you can have just "decent" physics and still have a great racing game. And on the console, I'd say games like TOCA, GRID, GRID Autosport, F1, and of course Race Pro fall into that category. Especially F1. That game ticks all the boxes (well, at least attempts to, even if things like tuning are an afterthought...but what racer actually tunes his car?) of what racing should "feel" like...some hardcore SIM games could learn from that, I'm sure. That's why I have such high hopes for pCARS. Key decision: not allowing people to endlessly swap parts and upgrade the cars. Just race them for effing sake.

Chronus · Oct 3, 2014

Robert Waddell said:
In fact, you can have just "decent" physics and still have a great racing game.g people to endlessly swap parts and upgrade the cars. Just race them for effing sake.

Grega Zorc said:
I'm talking about realistic/immersive race and championship simulation. A collection of cars and tracks is not enough, no matter how well they handle.

Both Robert and Grega are talking about "gaming", in this case "racing games". Robert talks about "great racing game", Grega mixes realistic with immersion (another "gaming" perspective). Legit, yes, but not what some of us are talking about or want.

David said it aptly: "Physics and properly synchronized FFB are the ONLY things that make a sim realistic", and I agree, perhaps with the proviso in my case that I do not regard FFB as vital to providing the proper cues about the vehicle dynamics.

Most (serious) simracers I know understand the differences (between racing games and racing sims") and derive immersion from experiencing physics at the level of rF, NKP, FVA, Race07, GTR2 - even iRacing in spite of its issues with the NNTM.

On the console side of things, Race Pro was a step in the right direction. With GT, right from the beginning, Kaz's own orientation has been towards a real sim, but the sheer number of cars and the gaming aspect of it overrides his ultimate goal.

[

Robert Waddel said:
of what racing should "feel" like...some hardcore SIM games could learn from that, I'm sure

We're going around in circles. Some want realism, good physics, good math, good models, good data...and end up mixing it in with intangible, subjective things that vary enormously from person to person, from developer to developer.

Ok, then. Immersion and feel for some; physical accuracy (within the limits imposed by software and hardware) for others.

I am fine with it.

---

Sorry about the deviation from the main subject of the thread, Andy.

Do keep your testing reports coming, sir.

Kjell Eilertsen · Oct 4, 2014

Mircea Rad said:
So, for the people up for some testing that don't visit the WMD forums (yes @Andy Jackson, that's you ) give it a try with Jack Spade 0.41 tweaker FFB files. They are very well done and bring the FFB pretty close if not better to the best I ever tried. Just go to post #899 in this thread "Custom FFB Tweaking Files - Post Yours Here" and you can download it. The files are car specific, so be sure to use the correct one.

Thank you very much for sharing this! I tested Jacks files on a few cars tonight and boy what a difference it does make! I wouldn't say any of them where perfect, but they really showed that the games FFB is capable of something completely different to the stock feeling. In the BMW 1M I suddenly felt weight transfer so clearly, made controlling the car much much easier.
The already awesome combo of the GT40 on Nordschelife with a H-shifter became sublime with his tweak.
I suspect pCars will be one to buy and play come release, very promising!

traind · Oct 4, 2014

Mircea Rad said:
So, for the people up for some testing that don't visit the WMD forums (yes @Andy Jackson, that's you ) give it a try with Jack Spade 0.41 tweaker FFB files. They are very well done and bring the FFB pretty close if not better to the best I ever tried. Just go to post #899 in this thread "Custom FFB Tweaking Files - Post Yours Here" and you can download it. The files are car specific, so be sure to use the correct one.

Wow!!

I had read a tiny bit about the tweaker files but figured they would be more hassle than they were worth. Your post convinced me to try them.... and they were actually simple to install. So do they make a difference? Yes, an amazing difference with my G25. I am actually pretty stunned at just how much better the FFB is. And also stunned at how dumb I was not to install these a long time ago.

The detail is significantly better and yet the force feels somehow stronger at the same time. I can feel the back end better and the curbs feel like I am actually driving over something significant. I tried the Oreca, the FA and the Audi R8 GT3... all were much improved over default settings.

If you have pCars and haven't tried this yet you really ought to... the FFB really feels like a whole different, and much improved, game!

Andy_J · Oct 4, 2014

traind said:
Wow!!
If you have pCars and haven't tried this yet you really ought to... the FFB really feels like a whole different, and much improved, game!

Hopefully SMS will incorporate these fixes/tweak files into the builds. I look forward to trying a build with real FFB.

Mircea Rad · Oct 4, 2014

Glad I helped you guys, that was my intention

I read this week (or was it last week?) one SMS dev saying they will start working on the FFB fine-tuning and of course they will use these parameters from the community and improve them, where possible.

Martin Larsen · Oct 4, 2014

Will project cars have safety car, formation laps and all that? Since I will possible use Project cars mainly to f1 since I dont see the point in buy f1 2014(or 2013.5)

Rob · Oct 5, 2014

Martin Larsen said:
Will project cars have safety car, formation laps and all that? Since I will possible use Project cars mainly to f1 since I dont see the point in buy f1 2014(or 2013.5)

That's what I was thinking. Any testers who can answer these:

1.) Is the F1 car supplied in pCARS better in terms of physics and FFB than the cars in any of the Codemasters games?

2.) Can you change to pre-painted liveries? If so, how many? If not, can you design/paint your own?

3.) Can fuel and tire wear be altered? And if so how? Are there different slick (non-wet0 tire compounds? Different wet compounds?

Thanks.

Kjell Eilertsen · Oct 5, 2014

Robert Waddell said:
That's what I was thinking. Any testers who can answer these:

1.) Is the F1 car supplied in pCARS better in terms of physics and FFB than the cars in any of the Codemasters games?

2.) Can you change to pre-painted liveries? If so, how many? If not, can you design/paint your own?

3.) Can fuel and tire wear be altered? And if so how? Are there different slick (non-wet0 tire compounds? Different wet compounds?

Thanks.

1) Yes, but then again which game isn't?
2) Yes there's premade liveries, no you can't make your own (to my knowledge at least).
3) Yes you can change it, how? It's in the options but dunno which options there are as I just leave them at "Real". There will be different tire compounds, which ones I don't know atm.

Laurent Boutinaud · Oct 5, 2014

Where can I possibly try this ? I missed early access but can't find anyway to test last build...

Kjell Eilertsen · Oct 5, 2014

Laurent Boutinaud said:
Where can I possibly try this ? I missed early access but can't find anyway to test last build...

To stay legal, you will have to wait until the game is released, which is expected to happen in November.

Laurent Boutinaud · Oct 5, 2014

Kjell Eilertsen said:
To stay legal, you will have to wait until the game is released, which is expected to happen in November.

I guess it means there are other ways. Didn't find anyway. Guess I will wait for November then

Sele1981 · Oct 5, 2014

Kjell Eilertsen said:
To stay legal, you will have to wait until the game is released, which is expected to happen in November.

There are no illegal ways anyway, I searched a lot

So 6 weeks to go :/

Andy_J · Oct 5, 2014

Sele1981 said:
There are no illegal ways anyway, I searched a lot

That's a good thing, don't you agree?

Laurent Boutinaud · Oct 5, 2014

Not such a good thing. I like trying before buying. And anyway it will be all over the internet 1 week after its out, if not cracked even before.

Andy_J · Oct 5, 2014

Laurent Boutinaud said:
Not such a good thing. I like trying before buying. And anyway it will be all over the internet 1 week after its out, if not cracked even before.

You think it's ok to use stolen cracked software? Even just for "trying" it as you say?

Sele1981 · Oct 5, 2014

Andy Jackson said:
That's a good thing, don't you agree?

I agree but still I would love to try the game now instead of that horrible waiting time

Ok 6 weeks are not that long anymore but 3-4 months before I was searching wildly for torrents because I was freaking out to get the game.

traind · Oct 5, 2014

Just did three laps on the Nordschleife with the Lotus 49. With the FFB tweaker files loaded (as I praised above).

I couldn't help but think of Stewart and Clark et al who really drove these powerful, unsafe fuel laden missiles through the forest like this. The pCars ring looks magnificent, the 49 bringing out the view that much more. The FFB fighting me the whole lap... but in an immersive way. As if the road and the power to the rears with no downforce kept conspiring to put me in the guardrail. But being able to control it and keep it on the tarmac... most of the time.

I am not sure if the FFB is every single thing it should be... but on this run it felt like it was that and more. Immersed is the best way I can describe it-- constantly minding the throttle and the forces on the wheel.

I am also not sure the physics are exactly right... after all pCars, AC and iRacing all have the 49 and all do it slightly differently from a handling perspective. I personally find pCars splits the difference between iRacing and AC on handling. But no matter which one is more accurate... the pCars version on this track today was highly entertaining. The handling and FFB egging me on to push harder yet reminding me of the danger at the very same time.

Very fun. The 'new' ffb via tweaker files is a delight and a 49 at the ring... a great combination in this title.

Prayers for Bianchi.

Grega Zorc · Oct 5, 2014

It's great to hear that such tweaks are possible, so that anyone can improve their FFB if they feel like it, not just complain on forums and youtube how poor the FFB is...

Andy_J · Oct 6, 2014

Grega Zorc said:
It's great to hear that such tweaks are possible, so that anyone can improve their FFB if they feel like it, not just complain on forums and youtube how poor the FFB is...

Yes it's very nice. But hopefully SMS will release a build with the best FFB they can muster already in it?

But for now I will test the build with the FFB they release with it.