PC2 Project CARS 2 Update 4 Released!

[Paul Jeffrey]

Slightly Mad Studios have released a massive new update for Project CARS 2 on PC, with console to follow in the very near future.

So big is the new update changelog I've had to span it over 2 posts to ensure I don't break the 2500 world limit for a post! So with a premium on the number of words I've got left, I'll just skip right along to the change log below:

PC

• Solved link to Facebook page when user selects the Facebook option on the Extras tab whilst Microsoft Edge is set as default browser on PC.
  
• Corrected multiple options in Photo Mode not being reflected when playing in VR.
  
• Solved VR flicker.
  
• Dedicated Server: corrected session duration automatically changing to 140 minutes when the player sets the time to more than 140 minutes.
  
• Dedicated Server: improved client and server code that uses older net API, allowing for more reliable connections.
  
• Changed the default drawing distance when playing in VR to minimize intermittent texture flickering.
  
• Improvements to droplets on camera in both VR and non-VR.
  
• Corrected an issue in VR where driving lines would disappear if camera view was changed during race.
  
• Solved an issue where Dedicated Server lobby weather conditions would always display as ‘clear’.
  
• Corrected an issue where Dedicated Server lobby vehicle images weren’t updated correctly during multiclass selection.
  
• Corrected an issue in post-race results where the mouse would not switch between the Driver List and footer menu.
  
• Improved an Online Lobby issue where players were able to select a vehicle before info was fully set.
  
• Refined incorrect message 'Multiple inputs were detected. No action was assigned' when player presses Esc key and message 'Please assign a new configuration' is displayed.
  
• Polished the missing background for ‘return to position’ messages in VR.
  
• Stability improvement for when a user would join an in-progress session.
  
• Corrected AI behaving erratically leading to a crash to desktop.
  
• Corrected an issue in VR handling two screen systems to ensure that they are both treated separately, allowing either to be the default.
  
• Resolved a save fail if ‘my documents’ folder is set to a network location.

User Interface

• Corrected an inconsistency between info on the Track Select screen and the Loading screen.
  
• Refined the Online Browser filter not closing properly.
  
• Fixed the Password Protected Lobby icon that was missing on the Lobby Details screen.
  
• Improvements to Career Dashboard Standings UI.
  
• Corrected some display unit values not changing when switching between metric and imperial units.
  
• Stability improvement where the game would become unresponsive when attempting to save a setup with no description.
  
• Solved incorrect message when entering an invalid password.
  
• Solved Career nationality not defaulting to console / Steam user's location.
  
• Improved Session and Race settings not updating in Online Championship rounds if the user applies a Motorsport Preset, thereby adding a round to the schedule.
  
• Corrected options under Realism Settings in Online Lobbies not displaying correctly and being inaccessible to Host after accessing the Realism Settings from the Online Lobby.
  
• Added name of tyres on the car within the pre-race menu.
  
• Improved language translations throughout the game.
  
• Added message for when ‘ghosts’ and times are not uploaded due to invalid car-and-track combinations.
  
• Resolved 'Pedal Type' and 'Calibrate Wheel' disappearing if the user clicks on the scroll bar of the Control Scheme from the Pause screen.
  
• Fixed 'Rules & Regulations' and 'Esports' settings being altered if user selected 'Reset to Default' in the 'Realism Settings'.
  
• Solved car classes disappearing in Vehicle Select screen of Online Lobbies when changing vehicles in multiclass lobbies.
  
• Resolved changes of Helmet Camera settings not saving properly via the Pause Menu Options.
  
• Corrected setup descriptions not fully appearing if too long.
  
• Removed green screen appearing for a second when skipping the Career path intro movie.
  
• Removed a copy of the 'Won Group A Pan-America Championship' accolade.
  
• Fix for an issue where the pit strategies full message would not appear when trying to save a pit strategy with no available slots.
  
• Fixed the 'Edit Driver' screen overlapping the Showroom when in Vehicle Select of Online Championships.
  
• Added a notification for the lobby admin/host when a player rejects Director or Broadcaster roles.
  
• Polished a mismatch of results on Sessions Result screen and Retire screen.
  
• Adjusted location of important penalty messages on the HUD, and enabled them even when the HUD is Off.
  
• Corrected long team names not appearing correctly in Online Championships.
  
• Fix for correctly displaying the finishing status of players and AI that do not finish the race or retire early.
  
• Resolved opponent cars flicking if they retire from an Online Championship on the Pre-Race screen.
  
• Corrected an issue where user was unable to see which setup was being selected in Tuning Setups with HDR Enabled.
  
• Refined Online Championships showing previously-assigned team names in new sessions .
  
• Improved progress bars in Pedal Calibration to more accurately represent pedal input.
  
• Corrected overlapping text issue in Pit Strategy.
  
• Corrected image for Fanatec Porsche GT3 RS wheel in Controller Settings.
  
• Resolved lobby details not showing all classes in multiclass Dedicated Server lobbies.
  
• Added help text for Menu Spring Strength.
  
• Removed Damper Saturation option.
  
• Corrected an issue where changing track would not remove invalid weather.
  
• Improved an issue where the game would only allow for 250 laps when the player set more than 250 laps in Race Settings.
  
• Resolved debug text appearing in S1, S2, and S3 columns of the In-Progress screen when the player selects 'Retire and Spectate'.
  
• Refined the pit stop time being estimated incorrectly when setting 'Change Tyres' to 'Recommended' on certain cars.
  
• Fixed Manufacturer Events showing incorrect progress for unlocked manufacturers when creating a new career.
  
• Fixed the number of pit stops not being displayed correctly in Post-Race Results screen.
  
• Resolved the Player not being able to determine their grid position when using the IndyCar Motorsport Preset.
  
• Fixed conversion when displaying rev limit in tuning setups.
  
• Corrected the 'Restart Session' button being highlighted by default instead of 'Continue' on Session Results screens.
  
• Corrected pit stop progress information not showing in the pit stop cinematic cameras when entering the pits in the telemetry HUD.
  
• Changed Rear View Mirror to disable dynamic scaling.
  
• Enabled Enhanced Mirror when 'Enhanced Visuals' option is selected.
  
• Resolved incorrect ordering after altering the Standings in Online Championships.
  
• Added active Motorsport Presets to View Info and Edit screens in Online Championships.
  
• Resolved changes not being reflected when re-editing a Created Event.
  
• Corrected an issue where the game would incorrectly round up player's time on HUD and Results screen.
  
• Fixed an issue where player would sustain damage in the pit lane, but it would not appear on the HUD damage element.
  
• Corrected an issue where no data would be displayed when loading a default setup after previously overwriting it.
  
• Resolved 4th position missing in Standings Panel when on the grid during countdown sequence.
  
• Resolved 'Create New Pit Strategy' option remaining enabled when all pit strategy slots were filled.
  
• Fix for Team tab being disabled on Round Results screen of Online Championship.
  
• Corrected Status/Session info in Replays not correctly updating when switching drivers.
  
• Fixed Director and Broadcaster screens not showing all participants data in Online Championships.
  
• Fixed the Circuit of the Americas National circuit appearing when Daytona International Speedway Tri-Oval was selected in Online Championships.
  
• Added a central cockpit camera to cars and the options screen.
  
• Stability improvement when a player selected the 'Compare Driver Network Profile' option from Team Roster of Online Championships, after adding a Director or Broadcaster.
  
• Corrected an issue where Online Lobbies were not sorted in lobby browser when a player altered the sort order of a certain column more than twice.
  
• Resolved the player not being able to access Driver Network Profile on Livery Select screen of Invitational Events.
  
• Removed the 'Edit' option in Online Championships Lobby for options that cannot be edited.
  
• Improved the bars in the Competitive Racing License history chart to make them visible at lower values.
  
• Refined an issue where Rounds in Online Championships Schedule were selectable after they had been completed.
  
• Adjusted overlapping Online Championship names when text is extremely long.
  
• Improved lighting to some objects in car thumbnails.
  
• Polished the Current Session information being displayed on the Pre-Session screen in Online Championships.
  
• Corrected Tuning setups saving issues.
  
• Resolved an issue in Online Championships where class-wide results would fail to display under certain circumstances.
  
• Improved the menu flow in Online Championships to prevent accidental return to Main Menu when pressing the back button during countdown on lobby screen.
  
• Added lobby filtering for Competitive Racing License.
  
• Adjusted an issue where, in Russian, the capital K and Y letters were showing as lower case in the driver profile.
  
• Corrected an issue where the track UI wasn’t updating for the client if the host selected a new track in the Online Lobby.
  
• Corrected an issue where an incorrect detailed view of a car would be shown in Vehicle Select.
  
• Solved an issue where multiple DLC invitation pop-ups were triggered after creating a new career.
  
• Corrected an issue where the player is unable to change the number of laps within a lobby screen.

Cars

• Audi R8 LMS, and R8 LMS 24H: improved LOD popping issue at the rear of the cars.
  
• Mazda Radbull: fixed backfires not being visible from the cockpit.
  
• Honda 2&4: corrected glass HUD blurring with road behind the glass.
  
• Improved steering animations for Honda 2&4 and Radical SR3 when using a gamepad.

Tracks

• Bannochbrae: fixed collision issues in the pit lane / pit area with larger sized cars.
  
• Catalunya Club: corrected cinematic cameras remaining active when restarting a concluded session.
  
• Catalunya Rallycross: removed Joker Lap exploit.
  
• Donington Park: adjusted pit crew positions.
  
• Dubai Autodrome Club: corrected incorrect track length.
  
• Hell Rallycross: improved tree walls and outer terrain LOD distance.
  
• Indianapolis: changed the position of pit exit-line objects, and resolved an issue where the car could avoid the pit-out trigger.
  
• Knockhill: reduced garage depth to fix the AI hitting the kerb and marshal-box exiting pit garages.
  
• Lydden Hill: fixed a hole in collision mesh that caused players to lose control when hitting a dip in the road.
  
• Monza Oval: turned off oval flag. This disables the oval setup being applied, as track direction is opposite to the other ovals in the game.
  
• Spa Francorchamps: polished the pits to stop rain and snow falling in garages.
  
• Texas Motor Speedway: resolved player receiving insufficient progress notification while leaving the pits.
  
• Resolved issue where, after race is restarted, advertisement boards failed to disappear and remained on-track after being knocked about.
  
• Updated pit crew animations for tracks with left-hand-sided pit stop fueling.

Handling

• Added a new Opposite Lock Assist for gamepads and keyboards. This is designed to help the player control oversteer and slides, and can be toggled On or Off in the Gameplay screen in Options.
  
• Fixed incorrect altitude of many tracks for better balance of performance between turbo and naturally-aspirated cars.
  
• BMW 1M: Improved FFB scale.
  
• Dallara IR-15 Oval: increased FFB multiplier and fixed the FFB feeling very light, default gamepad setup changed to a differential which removes the left pull due to tyre stagger, revised tyre rubber for ovals when cold, and lowered rolling resistance of oval tyres.
  
• Ferrari 333SP: small balance of performance changes to fit with other
• LMP900 cars. Fixed final drive ratios and improved AI gear usage.
  
• Ford Escorts: raised and moved back chase camera position to help with high FOV settings.
  
• Ford Falcon V8SC: shifted aero drag balance rearward, fixed rear wing yaw effect, re-balanced adhesive and ‘rip grip’ for slick tyre compounds.
  
• Ford Fusion Stockcar: new Road Course tyre that now has a stiffer carcass and wider adhesive peak. Adjusted the AI tyres to match.
  
• Ford Mustang RTR Formula Drift: improvement to cars’ handling based on Vaughn Gitten Jr.'s feedback.
  
• Ford Sierra Group A: moved the launch RPM higher to help the AI on race starts.
  
• Formula A: reduced fuel tank capacity to a more reasonable level.
  
• Formula C and Formula R: revised tyres, engine braking, and damper setup for better stability and easier driveability. Revised Stable setups.
• Adjusted FFB for changes to tyres. Fixed rain tyre being faster than the slick.
  
• Formula Cars: decreased sensitivity to aero and suspension damage.
  
• Ginetta G40: Tuned for better control after large impacts and jump landings. Rebalanced side aero forces and tyre carcass bump-rebound damping.
  
• Lamborghini Huracan GT3: slight drag decrease to hit known top speeds with low rear wing.
  
• Lamborghini Sesto Elemento: increased FFB strength (previously too low).
  
• Ligier Judd LMP2 and RWD P20: better engine cooling adjustments after HP changes.
  
• LMP2 cars: gave approx’ 50hp power increase to get them closer to real-world lap times, and adjusted radiator sizes to suit.
  
• Lotus 38 and Lotus 56: increased speed on ovals.
  
• Mercedes AMG GT3 and SLS GT3: default wings changed for AI cars to obtain better speed balance at low downforce tracks.
  
• Nissan GTR GT3: small increase in power to 525hp.
  
• OMSE RX Lites: increased FFB multiplier and shifted aero drag toward the centre.
  
• Porsche 911 GT3 R: revised suspension geometry and setup from new reference material. Re-calculated chassis moments of inertia.
  
• Toyota GT-One 1999: small balance of performance changes to fit correctly with LMP900 cars.
  
• IndyCar & Ford Fusion: increased AI tyre wear to better match player on ovals, making pitting and strategy similar.
  
• Improved AI tyres for Ford MKIV, Lotus 40, Ferrari 365 GTB Competizione, and Mercedes-Benz 300 SL AMG
  
• Group C and IMSA GTP: increased engine rotational inertia, new tyre carcass, and re-balance of adhesive vs ‘rip grip’. Bump Stop lengths also reviewed, as was lift:drag ratio on all cars. Fuel consumptions also addressed.
  
• Group C cars: adjusted FFB for latest changes to tyres. Fixed rain tyre being faster than the slick.
  
• GT3 Soft Slicks: tweaks to temperature operating window to broaden their range, mainly fixing their poor performance in cold conditions.
  
• Small HP balance adjustments to Bentley, Cadillac ATS, and Ferrari GT3 cars.
  
• Added 5 litres to fuel capacity to Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3, Porsche 911 GT3, and BMW Z4 GT3. This ensures they can do a 90-minute race/fuel-run with the rest of the GT3 cars.
  
• GTE Class: improved the rolling resistance of AI tyres to better match player speeds.
  
• Fine-tuned fuel estimates for LMP1, GT3, GT4, and turbo cars.
  
• Rallycross: improved adhesive vs ‘rip grip’ to help stability of slides on RX tyres.
  
• Altered side- and push-drafting.
  
• Reduced drag penalty associated with aero damage, and also adjusted thresholds for AI to pit.
  
• Corrected differing amounts of fuel between players in Fixed Setup races.
  Shifted the aero drag centre towards the rear on a number of cars, fixing rear wing yaw effect.
  
• Adjustments made to reduce in-air negative tilt of some vehicles.
  
• Reduced the speed of slick tyres in the rain.
  
• Increased rain tyre heating for player cars.
  
• Reduced heating on touring car rain tyres.
  
• Reduced base wear on slick-based rain tyres.
  Fixed issue that de-calibrated wear on some tyres

 

[YoMopho]

I started a thread in the SMS forum regarding this, it comes from the engine sample. Are you using VR by any chance?

Yes. It seems when in high revs in gears from 3-5. Tried a few cars and getting it. Also, I can't show anymore online games anymore.

 

[Copef1]

HaHa oh come on where have i ever said this is any other opinion other than my own? Another great straw man there. You say 'you got it' but i never said that i disliked the FFB i said it's broken in many cars.
Regarding SMS i really have no idea, maybe they will stick around for years but as i've said before ITT the lack of communication & fact that patches are taking many months & IMO they are not resolving major issues means i will not wait around.
You are the one suggesting im being negatively biased towards them in comparison to other sims & every post i have made in reply to you is explaining why that isn't the case. So i am not forcing my opinion on others i am clarifying my opinion as you have questioned it.

You said, and I quote: "By far the worse FFB if you take into account all the cars." Am I suppose to infer from that that you like the ffb? You've come to the point where you are just splitting hairs. Anyone who has read your posts in this thread can see that you are negatively biased. You said, and I quote: "I just don't think the game will meet my own expectations the quality just isn't there for me. Maybe If patches where regular, if we had some communication of their plans I might stick around but that ain't gonna happen." Quality compared to what? You say straw man, but I am directly comparing them to their competition. You say your not going to stick around. All I am saying is no one who enjoys Pcars2 is going to miss you.

 

[Slowdive]

Did you stick around for Raceroom? Because it had horrible physics, ffb, and ai at launch, and took years to improve. What modern sim didn't have a bunch of problems at launch, or even a year after launch?

Your not going to stick around? Well I think I can speak for those of us who enjoy Pcars2 when I say "bye bye".

He won't stick around, but he will be sure to post in the next PC2 patch thread to let you know again that he isn't sticking around. Seriously, these threads are hilarious with all the whining AC fanbois. It seems so bizarre to me as I like all the major sims out there for different reasons. It makes zero sense to want to bash one or the other so hard, especially when no one asked them and no one cares.

 

[Copef1]

He won't stick around, but he will be sure to post in the next PC2 patch thread to let you know again that he isn't sticking around. Seriously, these threads are hilarious with all the whining AC fanbois. It seems so bizarre to me as I like all the major sims out there for different reasons. It makes zero sense to want to bash one or the other so hard, especially when no one asked them and no one cares.

I agree. I started sim racing in the 90's. I still have the cd/dvd rom for Papy's indycar series, Nascar series, and GPL. I want SMS, ISI, Sector 3, Reiza, Kunos, iRacing, and anyone else to keep pushing the genre forward. I remember when Ian Bell was with simbin, and they made the GTR mod for EA's F1 series. Back then, that was about the coolest mod ever made. Its amazing to me where we are at now. I've owned almost every racing sim ever made for PC. Some I have liked more than others, and some I have played more than others. One thing I have tried not to do is run around the net trying to tell others that their sim of choice sucks. The way I see it, the more developers we have the more chance we have of something really good coming in the future.

 

[Slowdive]

The way I see it, the more developers we have the more chance we have of something really good coming in the future.

Exactly that.

PC2 has the potential to be THE racing sim of the current generation. Maybe that's why they are scared, because they have so much invested in other sims. I don't know, because no one is taking away their other sims. But it seems that with every new patch their crying gets louder.

I've also taken your journey playing various racing games, starting with Pole Position at the arcade when I was a kid, with stops along the way at titles like Indycar Racing, etc.. These pieces of software are part of an evolution and every step along the way is a necessary part of the process.

PC2 is far from perfect. No one is saying that it is. Hell, I'm frustrated that I can't setup my CSW 2.5 properly when I have the pedals attached through the RS232 cable. But whatever, how long did it take for AC to get to the point it is now? Years. And PC2 has been out months.

 

[Msportdan]

Im frustrated cos it could be one the best sim and its nearly there on many levels. It pretty much has it all but let down by few yet annoying issues. It's fun and alongside raceroom for me.

 

[melanieuk]

Ian,why you are in disguises?

I would like to think, Ian would agree with me when I say, Dady Cairo, please keep off the funny cigarettes, they might make you paranoid.

 

[Andy_J]

Im frustrated cos it could be one the best sim and its nearly there on many levels. It pretty much has it all but let down by few yet annoying issues. It's fun and alongside raceroom for me.

Here come the about turn. As usual.

 

[Kurupt CDN]

Ive put in a good amount of hrs since the release of patch 4....all single player mode so far and these are things ive noticed.

Graphics
AA greatly improved no more jaggies on the fences and white track lines.
No more shadow flickering in the trees and objects
Tire smoke bug fixed
No more white outlines around interior parts or the rear of opponents cars.
Overall visual and performance on a semi 4k monitor and aging system is excellent!
3440 x1440p i5 3570k sli 970 very crisp and clean.....before was a flickering mess.
All settings high, med msaa
Practice mode 120+ fps
20 ai race clear 80-100fps
20 ai race rain 70-80fps

Sounds
I am using Bose comfort quite noise cancelling headphones with windows dolby atmos surround in game stock settings.
Its no Raceroom when replicating the vehical sounds but its not bad. The spatial surround sound awareness is really well done, I can tell where and when a vehicle is approaching.
Engine sounds seem more balanced as opposed to the overpowering noise it was before.
Could be placebo but there seems to be a bit more punch in the bass since the patch as my Buttkicker gamer 2 seems far more active than pre patch.

FFB
(subjective) I had no issues with the pre patch ffb and really enjoyed it patch 4 has improved it even more for me. To me it seems like the tire carcasse has been stiffened a bit?

Thrustmaster TX Gte rim
TM profile 75/100/100/100/100
Ingame
Immersive
100/50/50/50
0 dampening
Gts, touring cars and RX
Wheel feels nice and sturdy when stationary, car feels planted and actually feels like 4 tires are in contact with the surface
Road detail is excellent I can feel the suspension articulating over the undelations of the road.
Good tire detail, the intial bite under braking is excellent the only other sim that does this well is AC.
Understeer sensation feels natural and not so much like a light switch on/off. The build up before traction lose is well detailed and allows you the chance to correct before full traction is lost.
Great sense of suspension movement and load.

Tire compounds
Softs can be used and are effective on track temps up to 30c approx.
Wets are not as fast as softs in certain conditions other than wet.

AI
Ai strength 90
From what ive seen they are improved from the few tracks Ive raced on. I cant comment on the balancing of strength over all the tracks.
I can say I havent seen a first corner pile up in any races nor have I been punted off track by an ai.
They seem very aware of the users location, very racey and not affraid to pass.
Several times the ai has attempted a pass or gone 2 wide with no incidents at Daytona road course in T1 and the bus stop which is pretty intense
Ill have to test the RX lites tonite to see if they have been adjusted in career mode as they were terribly slow at 120 strength.

VR
I am newbie to vr, a friend gave me an old DK2 kit to test out the vr experience.
Ive got it running in Pc2, raceroom and somewhat in AC....no steering input if anyone can help me out please pm or reply to the link below.
http://www.racedepartment.com/threads/wheel-issue-in-vr.147117/#post-2684536

Using only stock settings out of the box I have to say the vr experience in pc2 is by far the easiest to set up and feels just natural and right once your in the car.
Both AC and Raceroom made me feel like a fat slob trying to cram myself into a micro machine lol . I know I can adjust some settings to make the interior view larger but haven't gotten that far yet.
PC2...click play under steam vr and done...I can navigate the menus through my wheel, in car the world feels properly proportionate and runs fairly well for an old system.

Minor awh, but I really like how I can launch the game from steam in either vr or 4k monitor without launching oculus home or steam vr and its saves my settings for each without changing anything........simple
Ill definitely be upgrading my system when the next gen vrs are released. VR and racing were made for one another!

Multiplayer
I havent done any mp races yet so I cant comment on any mp issues/fixes. But I did pop in the mp lobby to see how the traffic was at 3am MT and to my surprise there was over 60 running lobbies with people in them and not all GT3 races at spa or monza!!!!
Usually at that time theres less than 10 lobbies.
Checking steam charts the numbers have increased each day since the release of patch 4, hopefully that's a good sign that things are heading in the right direction.

Misc. Things

Thrustmaster wheel doesn't rotate or hard lock to the left or right when in the menus causing options to change.
Tunes seem to be saving and loading properly.
On screen tire pressures now display metric and imperial....bar/psi
AI during formation laps dont ram into one another and are well spaced apart until they exit the last corner than line up properly for the race start.
They also do tire warm up maneuvers during the formation lap which I dont recall them doing before?
I havent been punted into the wall by the ai at the start of a standing start race.

Tuning setups
I hear alot people bitching about the loose stock setup being undriveable.....switch to stable, save.....problem solved....why is that a big deal for some?
But the stable setup understeers.....watch Yorkie065 youtube channel he has excellent tips for all aspects of the game....especially his base setup video...few clicks to the stable setup and the car drives great for a base setup.
Remove or eliminate the majority of bump stop on the gt cars, lower rear toe in to .02
Lower or eliminate traction control and lower preload to 180%
After that its minor tweaks for each track.
Ex. Wing, brake ducts, fuel, and final gear ratio.

Due to this game being so large its gonna take a while to test more aspects and search out bugs but overall a good and much needed patch.
Things seem to be going in the right direction tho theres still a few things I hope they can address in the next patch that has really bothered me.
Proper mp implementation of RallyX races...practice, heats and point tracking.
Better object rendering on certain tracks as theres still objects popping up infront of you.
Better vehicle sounds.

Cheers

 

[Andy_J]

As for the sound. Try a test day at a track of your choice with the Nissan GTR GT3 car. The sound is excellent. You can almost feel the traction control kicking in and you can certainly hear the rasp of it. Brilliant sounding car.
Yes the Ferrari's could do with a little attention to the sound in my opinion.

 

[Msportdan]

Here come the about turn. As usual.

here it comes.. wink wink

oh no just did the 5th race in the Formula C world champ @Sugo (95% ai). 6 laps - storm rains on the 2nd lap, AI do not pit once for wets, and just stumble around for 5 laps! I pit for wets and end up last. Then i go from last too first in a matter of 2/3 laps

p.s i noticed the jaggies fix too. thought was going mad with gfx settings lol

END OF PLAY:
END OF PLAY:
I'm, just a little deflated with this sim. This sim is just confusing really, the ffb is odd at times, the AI are really unbalanced even qualy to race speed. Im sure they also rubber band aswell, as they are just awful on first lap (Incuding slow ai starts allowing you to get 5-6 places easily!) then all of a sudden on your tail for the rest of the race with super downforce the player cant achieve.. They don't pit in wet weather for wets (so career is a no go). The physics of the AI (noticeable on their super grip) are in another ballpark to the player, and they are forgiving at most. Also not to forget the bipolar penalty system! You can still get away with the penalty by slowing for the next corner>!



i do get why people like it, it has it all and is quiet accessible, and fun with "make you feel like a top racing driver" handling and atmosphere. But for me Sorry guys Ive sorta had enough with the project cars franchise! (ive never yelled at a sim like i do this game!). Ive been trying to like it but always come away disappointed, although there is moments of greatness.

 

[tpw]

Ive put in a good amount of hrs since the release of patch 4....all single player mode so far and these are things ive noticed.

Thanks so much for the detailed report @Kurupt CDN , which makes a nice change from some of the posts I've been entertained by recently, the worst of which equate to "Various aspects of this title aren't to my personal taste, therefore it's irredeemable simcade crap, the devs should be ashamed and so should anyone else who enjoys it ". Or the delusional emotionally/financially invested supporter posts "That issue you're reporting is actually a feature. Actually it's because you don't setup/drive properly. Actually it is a bug or omission but stop being so ungrateful". I get the point that people are entitled to vent over the shortcomings in products they've paid for, and perhaps have their opinions influence devs, but I'm not sure that some of the blinkered logical fallacies and ranting I've encountered regarding PC2 is good for much other than comedy.

Given the dogs breakfast that was PC1, against all expectations PC2 has become one of my go to sims. I happen to really enjoy the core physics and FFB, the overall competence of the AI, the weather, time and track progression, the attention to detail in the huge roster of cars and track environments, all served up with incredible immersive graphical presentation and smooth fast loading performance.

I fully expected with a title this ambitious that there would be inconsistencies in the way the various cars/tracks/subsystems worked together, and at release this was overwhelmingly the case. I'm pretty sure the game was released several months too early (publisher pressure?), and was disheartened when the first couple of patches were released with very little apparent change to these issues, and with circumspect patchnotes to rub salt in. However with patch 3 and 4 I feel the devs have made enormous progress towards getting all the ambitious parts of the game working together consistently.

Are they there yet? No. Most of the cars feel pretty good, some are sublime (Ford GTE anyone?), some feel like they weigh 50kg (KTM Xbow, Renault RS1). Many car/track/weather combos are just fantastic for challenging and rewarding SP racing , others (usually wet) enable the AI to streak ahead with impossible levels of grip and control, others allow you to leave them standing. To me at least, it seems the number of combos in the first category has increased dramatically with the last couple of patches. Blanket statements decrying FFB, AI balance etc are meaningless if you don't report the vehicle, track, difficulty and weather combo.

Every single sim I use was released feature incomplete and infested with bugs and design flaws. This is not a straw man argument to deflect the shortcomings of PC2, it's the nature of highly technical products released by small dev teams with limited budgets into a niche market of highly critical enthusiasts. Bit by bit each of those incomplete titles has added content and features, squashed bugs, introduced others, and tried (and often failed) to improve performance, consistency and stability. And months and years after release later none of them are even remotely feature complete and bug free, and they're all still asking for my financial support. Some titles hide behind perpetual official beta status, but the fact is that pretty much all driving software (in fact all software full stop) is technically beta now. If you like the way a particular beta sim presents aspects of the driving/racing experience to you, and can overlook it's shortcomings, fantastic! If not, there are plenty of others.

 

[Austin Ogonoski]

Interesting to see comments like "the physics are arcade/simcade", full stop. Can you at least articulate what's "too simple" about how the cars drive? It's a message board, you've got time to type it out.

For example, I feel like the rear tires across all cars have too much forward bite. Even in stuff like the IR-12 or Vintage Trans Am cars, there isn't much throttle control needed - if any. However, the sidewall behavior is realistic, so if you lean on the sidewalls at all (especially late in a stint), you will suffer the consequences. What I'm doing as a driver to adapt to this is accelerating away from the apex in a perfect forward trajectory without relying on the sidewalls, so I can take advantage of the rear bite that almost acts like traction control, making a lot of the "wild" cars in pCars 2 quite tame.

This could make some cars feel much easier to drive than their real world counterparts, but for some cars this behavior is pretty accurate and isn't worth getting upset over (GT3, when you're running with TC anyways). At this point the criticism turns into snobbery; I hope the same people writing off pCars 2 for too much rear grip are also writing off AC for not having pit road speeding penalties, and R3E for not allowing you to adjust tire pressures. Or S397 actually coming out and saying their tire calculations were wrong. Otherwise you just look hypocritical.

Corner entry & coast zones are perfect though. The same bad habits I have in a real car come out when I'm playing pCars 2 which makes it a decent training tool and I actually enjoy spending time on the game because of this.

I saw some comments saying the game makes you feel like a driving god... well yeah, race cars tend to do that because they're sort of built to handle well at high speeds. Even in the 60's they weren't all that challenging (hell, people raced drunk/stoned/hung over all the time), there was just a massive probability that you'd die in a wreck considering safety was some hay bales and a garden fence.

 

[RMR1]

Otherwise you just look hypocritical.

Talking about hypocrites...

 

[RMR1]

Can someone tell if the demo is updated too?

 

[YoMopho]

I love both Assetto Corsa and PC2. I feel PC2 has the organization and the true sense of motorsport there. However, I feel Assetto Corsa runs better and smoother in VR, physics seem to be a bit more realistic from stock configs, and a general better experience. But, at the same time, I feel PC2 has the potential to really surpass AC if it could get everything working together. The amount of tracks, the cars, and the true motorsport rules make it awesome. I really just wish it ran as smooth in VR, and this god damn clipping/chirping sound wasn't on after this latest patch.,

 

[Matt Beers]

Looking forward to patch 4 on PS4. Was enjoying game regardless but sounds improved.

 

[Neils on Wheels]

You said, and I quote: "By far the worse FFB if you take into account all the cars." Am I suppose to infer from that that you like the ffb? You've come to the point where you are just splitting hairs. Anyone who has read your posts in this thread can see that you are negatively biased. You said, and I quote: "I just don't think the game will meet my own expectations the quality just isn't there for me. Maybe If patches where regular, if we had some communication of their plans I might stick around but that ain't gonna happen." Quality compared to what? You say straw man, but I am directly comparing them to their competition. You say your not going to stick around. All I am saying is no one who enjoys Pcars2 is going to miss you.

Maybe you could of just read all of my comments & that one would have made more sense?
Quality compared to the rest of what's out there in regards to FFB, spend 80% of my time fiddling with FFB from car to car for content i have paid for is not something i have experienced in any of the sims i have played. I don't know how many times i have to repeat that. But don't worry i will not be discussing further. You will just insist that i'm biased no matter what i say. And why throw the silly slight in at the end? Like you need to diss me because i citisized your favorite sim, seriously get over it.

 

[Hiro Abe]

Funny how we've gotten spoiled by these sims. It's amusing, the bickering. As a previous post mentioned, it is quite amazing what is available to us these days. Current sims and the sophistication of the hardware available... these are truly fun times!

Admittedly, I had kind of given up on PC2. Not because I thought it was awful but something about the handling of the cars I prefer to drive - GT3s - seemed off. I'm not experienced enough to articulate "off" but with the limited time I have per week to drive, I found I was satisfied with R3E (after their major update), AMS and a smattering of AC for my offline racing. After hearing about this major patch I thought I would give it a try. I haven't had any major time with it but seems to me there have been some nice improvements and that the whole driving experience seems... well... more refined. Digging the AI as well. I had no real issue with ffb before the patch but that seemed to fall in the "more refined" category as well.

Looks like I will be doing some more racing in PC2 in the near future. One thing I always loved about it was the graphics. I ran a night race at COTA and it just looked awesome.

Fun times indeed!

 

[Kyle Pearson]

here it comes.. wink wink

oh no just did the 5th race in the Formula C world champ @Sugo (95% ai). 6 laps - storm rains on the 2nd lap, AI do not pit once for wets, and just stumble around for 5 laps! I pit for wets and end up last. Then i go from last too first in a matter of 2/3 laps

Good thread talking about the AI and decision making for weather:

http://forum.projectcarsgame.com/showthread.php?60834-Still-Bug-with-Rain-Tires-using-weather-slots!!!