PC1 Sim Discussion Monday - PCARS 1

[Paul Jeffrey]

Monday morning blues? No worries, let's talk Project CARS 1!

Next up for the 'Sim Discussion Monday' feature of articles is the very first release from Slightly Mad Studios - Project CARS 1.

Now the intention of these articles is to talk about a particular sim with like minded individuals, discuss how to get the most from the game in terms of performance and satisfaction, share you wheel or game settings, discuss particular likes and dislikes and generally just chat about anything and everything related to the title.

I appreciate discussion about PCARS can often get a little... tasty, so I ask you to please don't get into a silly flame war or throw around trolling comments. We are (mostly) adults here, let us remember that before we type and keep up the generally good behaviour we display in the various comments sections throughout the site.

With Project CARS 2 on its way in a couple of weeks, this should be a nice opportunity to have a look back at the first game after the benefit of time and experience has helped shape our opinions.

Mondays boring? Nope, Mondays be like...

 

[cpt_gandy]

For me its the same as others, the damm ffb settings, they really hit that thing with the stupidly complex stick and no matter what i do i just cant feel the tire grip. Its not even close to what AC gives me.

Oh and the car skin selector, thats a pain in the.. well you know where

I have pCars 2 on pre order as i do like what i see.

 

[François Strat]

Since when Pcars is a sim ?? Didn't noticed that !!

 

[Damage Inc]

Arcade garbage.

Garbage comment

 

[Damage Inc]

You know what, it's because of the ott negative hyperbole that makes me sometimes truly hate and despise the sim "community". Actually It's NOT a community, at least not a coherent one.

 

[apex11]

By far the worst sim effort on PC, SMS a shoddy company with shoddy game so far and the single most arrogant boss of a game dev company, time will tell about PCARS2

He is, but for me i've been playing computer racing games since the Amiga days and Geoff Crammonds F1 all the way through PS1 dreamcast PS2 XBOX, 360 and ONE and now a PC and for me it was PCars that really truly got me well hooked to the point of investing in proper

You know what, it's because of the ott negative hyperbole that makes me sometimes truly hate and despise the sim "community". Actually It's NOT a community, at least not a coherent one.

It's not a community, its a microcosm of the world as a whole, tribal, divided and has loads of normal people just getting on with it but then a vocal bunch who make it all look so nasty and petty.
PCars really shone a light on this as you had literally for the very same game people fighting over it, for example if you went onto the xbox part of the official PCars forum to highlight a bug or an issue you were rounded on by PC guys telling you that "you should of got a PC...." Like that was the problem, the problem wasn't that SMS made a game FOR the xbox with bugs but that you didn't own a PC....
Normally your used to the "well X is better than Y" stuff, but PCars divided its own paying customers PS4 / XBOX / PC....
It was a nasty place to be at times and it carried into the AC forums as well with PC guys simply slagging off console players for purchasing the same game they were playing but on console.
Worst was the fact by slagging off the console versions they were actually slagging off Kunos! But they were too thick to realize that..

 

[AnklaX]

It's a disconnected mess. Why bother with it anymore. Let's see if things change with pCars 2. Then we can discuss.

 

[Michael Lowe]

I wanted to like project cars 1, but i just couldnt do it. The only real positive in the end is that i was an early adopter, paid 10 euros i think, i have received 4/5 payments back of around 7 euros following the games success. So, at least i got paid to do a bit of testing!

 

[dcully]

You know what, it's because of the ott negative hyperbole that makes me sometimes truly hate and despise the sim "community". Actually It's NOT a community, at least not a coherent one.

All because we know pcars sucks, awww thats cute,
close the door on your way out.

 

[Deleted member 99238]

The result of this discussion should be the question - Did you pre-order Project Cars 2?
I did not pre-order because I consider it Project Cars v.1.5 and it's too expensive for those who already have PC1.

 

[apex11]

It's a disconnected mess. Why bother with it anymore. Let's see if things change with pCars 2. Then we can discuss.

True but its less disconnected than RF2 for example yet that is deemed some holy grail of the sims. I own RF2 and its brilliant in many many ways, but like PCars not every car is good and some are simply broken and that's even before we look at some of the mods!

Console players expected a well rounded finished game and i don't think they should be or of been slagged off for expecting that.

 

[nezeiges]

Preordered PC1 but will definitly no preorder PC2. I will wait some reviews and then decide wether I buy it or not.

PC1 has some great graphics but the driving and FFB was just bad. Old games like RF1 and GTR2 drive a lot beter and even the FFB is great.

 

[Neils on Wheels]

All because we know pcars sucks, awww thats cute,
close the door on your way out.

I don't like pcars but I would say more because you are acting like a childish troll.

 

[dcully]

I don't like pcars but I would say more because you are acting like a childish troll.

Care to explain?

You dont agree with me? thats cool i have no problem with that.
You agree with the guy having a go at the community because they dont conform to his way of thinking and label me a childish troll in the process.
Now that seems childish to me.

 

[Shiimis]

I honestly do not understand why some people think that if a game is not good racing simulator, then it is an arcade racer as if arcade racing games have no standards and they are just to be treated as failed simulators. To create a good game requires a lot of skill regardless of genre.
That being said, pCARS positioned itself as serious sim and I personally do not think it achieved what it promised. Like many others I was not able to find good FFB settings for my TX, handling is weird and there are so many bugs that are still not fixed (for example check collision physics for BMW E30 Gr.A. Colliding with AI will result in your car literally flying). More of a subjective thing, but personally I find very few cars I like in their offering, track list is great, so are graphics. Sound is mediocre (still using old fmod and often reusing sound samples from NFS: Shift games: check BMW M3 GT4 in pCARS and BMW M3 GT2 in shift2).
Developer is also extremely arrogant and really does not care about longevity of their games (for example announcing pCARS2 right after they released pCARS1, also apparently doing everything to make modding as hard as possible (switching from text readable files to binary format and now for pCARS2 even encrypting model data, leaving modding community guessing if unencrypted 3d model files will be read by game).
All this amounts to an unpleasant experience and me not preordering pCARS2 (unlike the first game) and probably buying it only when it is really cheap.

 

[Deleted member 99238]

I honestly do not understand why some people think that if a game is not good racing simulator, then it is an arcade racer as if arcade racing games have no standards and they are just to be treated as failed simulators.

For me, the most arcade in the game are: replays (one single tv camera and its angles), camera control in the race is awful, few single-race modes and the possibility of their adjustment, the lack of a full showroom with the possibility of a deep visual immersion in cars with a description of their technical characteristics, the tracks look like toys. All this is primarily due to the orientation of the game on the console and it is unlikely that this situation will ever improve in this franchise.

 

[Shiimis]

Although the missing features you listed are valid points, I still do not get how can it be a basis for claim that just because pCARS is missing those features, it means that it is an arcade game. Again, arcade is defined purely negatively - by what it lacks / does badly. I'm not a fan of arcade racing games, but it seems to me that you can't create a simulator, then take away features, make handling worse and you magically get a good arcade racer. It seems to me that arcade and simulation racing games are meant for different audiences with different focus and features, good arcade games should be able to stand on their own and are not to be considered failed attempts at simulation. If you are at least remotely familiar with how arcade racing games are created then you would know that it is not the case that all those devs try to make perfect simulation, but when they realise they have failed to do so, just say: oh well, we have an arcade racer then, let's release it as one.

Edit: What i'm trying to say is that pCARS is neither a good racing simulator nor a good arcade game and it is not more arcade just because it fails at being a good simulator.

 

[Neils on Wheels]

Care to explain?

You dont agree with me? thats cool i have no problem with that.
You agree with the guy having a go at the community because they dont conform to his way of thinking and label me a childish troll in the process.
Now that seems childish to me.

Your general rhetoric. It's how you communicate. Its not about whether the game is bad or what point you make, its how you go about it.

And I didn't say i agreed with him 'having a go', i said it seems it could have been more clear (if people were expecting the DLC)what they were buying to avoid such a situation. And somebody said it was actually 'made clear'. That is not childish, it's offering another viewpoint.

Your comment & i would guess other comments around pcars are clearly there to antagonise & provoke rather than make a point or have a discussion.

One of the reasons people troll is because it is a status-enhancing activity & i think this is quite apt when looking at the sim community because for some individuals the status of being a hardcore sim racer (despite whether they are actually fast btw) makes them feel better & more important.
I personally think the analogy of cults is more accurate when describing the differing sim communities as they have there own set of unsubstantiated beliefs & dissonance when challenging them.

 

[Caton XII]

I just wanna write one thing about this mix arcade/simulation.

Sound design is completely a shame and It's not possible, when you are in love with the engine sounds, to simply appreciate this game.

 

[Fanapryde]

For me, the most arcade in the game are: replays (one single tv camera and its angles), camera control in the race is awful, few single-race modes and the possibility of their adjustment, the lack of a full showroom with the possibility of a deep visual immersion in cars with a description of their technical characteristics, the tracks look like toys. All this is primarily due to the orientation of the game on the console and it is unlikely that this situation will ever improve in this franchise.

Sorry, this made me laugh so hard that it took some time to reply.
So that is your criterium to call something arcade ?
Did you even read your post again ? Haha.....
"Tracks look like toys".... LMAO....

 

[dcully]

Your general rhetoric. It's how you communicate. Its not about whether the game is bad or what point you make, its how you go about it.

And I didn't say i agreed with him 'having a go', i said it seems it could have been more clear (if people were expecting the DLC)what they were buying to avoid such a situation. And somebody said it was actually 'made clear'. That is not childish, it's offering another viewpoint.

Your comment & i would guess other comments around pcars are clearly there to antagonise & provoke rather than make a point or have a discussion.

One of the reasons people troll is because it is a status-enhancing activity & i think this is quite apt when looking at the sim community because for some individuals the status of being a hardcore sim racer (despite whether they are actually fast btw) makes them feel better & more important.
I personally think the analogy of cults is more accurate when describing the differing sim communities as they have there own set of unsubstantiated beliefs & dissonance when challenging them.

Thanks for that absolutely hilarious post, you take life too seriously dude.
lol