PC1 Project CARS Announced as New Oculus Rift Launch Title

[Paul Jeffrey]

Continuing a recent string of announcements around cross-platform racing game Project CARS, the team over at Slightly Mad Studios have revealed the title is to become an Oculus Rift key launch day title when Oculus Rift launches at the end of March.

Project CARS will be available in the Oculus store from March 28th and comes complete with all 'On Demand' DLC content alongside further, as yet unannounced VR related improvements aiming at improving the user experience with the Oculus Rift headset.

Furthermore SMS have revealed that Oculus Store purchases of the game will be upgraded to the new Game of The Year Edition upon launch of that title, adding several content items to the already packed list of cars and tracks in game.

Project CARS Oculus Rift Trailer

Slighly Mad Studios Creative Director for PCARS, Andy Tudor, had the following to say about Project CARS and the move to VR technology:

“Project CARS has always been regarded as one of the most beautiful racing games out there already but we’re always looking for new gameplay experiences too. Once you’ve peered closer at the fine detail we put into the cockpit of a supercar like the Pagani Huayra BC, hastily glanced left at a IndyCar trying to overtake, looked towards the apex whilst trying to nail a perfect lap, or even looked out of the back window whilst trying to reverse you’ll never be able to go back. Without a shadow of a doubt, virtual reality makes you a better racer and we fully expect many of our fans and Esports pros that already own sim racing setups will eagerly be adopting the Rift as the way to take their game to the next level.”​

The "standard" version of the game does work with VR technology and no further details around what VR specific improvements will be included in the Oculus version of the title as of yet. However, if you're a fan of the game, be sure to keep an eye out right here at RaceDepartment for all the latest news.

Are you an Oculus Rift user? How do you think PCARS will fair using VR tech? Will the new announcement encourage you to purchase either Rift or the game? Let us know in the comments section below!

 

[Dennis]

ut it obviously shows the main benefit of being able to look around properly in 3d.

I did record a race in the Rift some time ago and was suprised how rarely I actually looked to the side. So I makes sense to fake this, but the camera in the trailer is overdoing it definitely.

 

[Tim Lundy]

I did record a race in the Rift some time ago and was suprised how rarely I actually looked to the side. So I makes sense to fake this, but the camera in the trailer is overdoing it definitely.

I'm curious as to how the transition from 2D to OR went for you. Was it easy? Did you feel comfortable and on pace in the first evening? Were there any stumbling blocks? Did you have to adjust anything in your view or your driving technique? Were you just as fast, faster, slower?

 

[Dennis]

Did you feel comfortable and on pace in the first evening?

I tried the Rift in multiple sims in this order: rF2, R3E, AC, iR and pCars. Incidentally that is also how I would rate the quality of the implementation (worst to best). E.g. the inofficial rF2 mod caused major motion sickness, because the head tracking was slightly off.

It's important to set up the IPD correctly, which is a test that is quite annoying to do but will prevent any eye strain later on.

If your IPD is setup correctly and you get the required minimum FPS even when turning your head and the sim supports low persistence, it feels completely natural. This is why pcars blew me away after they switched to SDK8 (despite having tried many other sims before), because it was the first time where everything clicked. It felt like sitting in a real race car

This however also meant that my pace was really slow at first, because I was too afraid to crash or break the car (and I also didn't want to ruin the feeling of driving an actual GT3 for the first time xD).

After some time you get used to it though (also depends on how much you are willing to force yourself to think that what you are driving is a game vs. reality). Overall you will probably not be faster, but you will be much more consistent (always hitting the apex and better car control with less practice). E.g. at Eau Rouge you can really tell how the suspension is slightly moving and how much headroom you have left before loosing traction.

If the implementation is good then you don't have to change seat position or FOV. Instead you just sit naturally and than hit a button on your wheel to recenter head tracking. This will give you the same seat position like in real life.

The biggest difference in driving style probably is that you have to rely on your real mirrors, so you have to actually turn your head or look up at the center mirror. This means that you cannot constantly glimpse at your mirrors mid corner like on a monitor.

 

[ThugUK]

Just bought this through the Oculus Store and having come from Assetto Corsa I LOVE IT.
I did like AC but haven't played it since I went to W10 last Nov as I found that when you start playing in VR you just CANT go back to monitors (I did try, believe me).

 

[Logan Griffall]

Just a warning, if you buy the oculus store version, you can't play with anyone but other people who bought it through the oculus store. If you buy the steam version you can play with anyone who isn't on the oculus specific version, and the steam version works with the rift.

http://forum.projectcarsgame.com/sh...1-Discussion&p=1260029&viewfull=1#post1260029

 

[ThugUK]

Yeah, I have heard that.
It could be due to 2 things, firstly due to some oversight that will need addressing to get it to work, or secondly so that everyone playing it has an equal field playing it with VR only.
Hopefully the former or the servers could be very quiet.

 

[Flying Kefran]

I have pre-ordered an HTC Vive. I liked the fact that it was steam embedded and would avoid the multi-player incompatibility with non-VR gamers.

So far it is unclear if Project Cars is going to work with it. SMS has not given a clear answer but I hope it will be ok even if it takes afew weeks.

Regarding the Rift, having to launch games from the Oculus market place and being unable to play with Steam users is really killing the fun for me.
I think that there is a trick to make the rift work with the steam version of pCars at the moment... but it is absolutely not guaranteed that it will survive future updates or that it will be replicable with other games.

 

[BioForce]

I have pre-ordered an HTC Vive. I liked the fact that it was steam embedded and would avoid the multi-player incompatibility with non-VR gamers.

So far it is unclear if Project Cars is going to work with it. SMS has not given a clear answer but I hope it will be ok even if it takes afew weeks.

Regarding the Rift, having to launch games from the Oculus market place and being unable to play with Steam users is really killing the fun for me.
I think that there is a trick to make the rift work with the steam version of pCars at the moment... but it is absolutely not guaranteed that it will survive future updates or that it will be replicable with other games.

The 10.1 Update lets you play the steam version with the new SDK 1.3 . You just have to enable "allow other apps" in the oculus store settings. The game runs buttersmooth with the DK2
Only the advanced shadows are still disabled.