PC2 Sim Discussion Monday - Project CARS 2

[Paul Jeffrey]

First day back in the office for many this morning, what better way to pass the time than have a good discussion about the new Project CARS game?

Now the dust is beginning to settle around the recent release of Project CARS 2, we thought it a good time to look deeper into the game, driven by our community, and share our findings and impressions from the heavily hyped new racing title from Slightly Mad Studios.

Do you have some useful tips for getting the most from the sim? Found a magic setting to really unlock the FFB? Got a trick up your sleeve that helps bring sharper graphics for little FPS trade off? Or do you simply want to share your most / least favourite car and track combinations?

So long as it remains on topic, respectful and mature, we want to know your thoughts!

Mondays be like...

 

[ronniej]

However, I realize the chances of that are low because unless there is profit in it, satisfying a few ol' "has been" road warriors wont be on the list

 

[RichardHessels]

After yesterday, a couple of laps on the Brands Hatch GP in a strong fog on the Renault Sport R.S. 01 GT3, I can say such a feeling of driving, I have not experienced in any game or simulator. Definitely I can recommend this game to buy. This is definitely a new level in the genre of racing games.

Cars don't race in strong fog. That's why you never experienced it in another simulator.

 

[mrbungle83]

I don't uderstand why people are so keen to call a game not-sim, just because it feels different than the other game they are currently playing and are used to it. Give it more time than two hours and then judge it. If you have tried it just to assure yourself your sim is the best, with no intent to actually play and enjoy it, then fair enough, have fun wih your game.

Anyway, when comparing PC2 (physics?) to Forza you are making a fool of yourself and one can't take you seriously anymore.

Pcars2 is as much a sim as any, it might not be as correct but then again it might be more so, are people still doing this its not hard enough thing? Try racing on the limit through changing conditions not falling into a rut and constantly pushing harder to look for where the grip is, this is something that most sims cant do at all so there is an argument to suggest this is the most Sim like. Im not a fanboy am just plesently suprised by how good it is, AC is still my favourite and will be because i believe it communicates feeling better than all the rest. But Pcars2 is now a close 2nd and if they sort the AI consistency they have played a blinder.

 

[Deleted member 99238]

Another thing I want to note after my nightly tests. Now when the car goes into a skid it in most cases it can be restored by working with the steering wheel and pedals. In PC1, in most cases, the skid was unmanageable and this always led to the departure from the track. Now the car provokes you to a more aggressive driving that gives incredible emotions.

 

[Deleted member 99238]

Cars don't race in strong fog. That's why you never experienced it in another simulator.

Thanks for the information, but I talked about the feelings I received in the race conditions that I set. Instead of a thousand words, just try. Races on bolides formula in the snow is also difficult to imagine in reality, but now this can already be tried.

 

[Michael Hornbuckle]

Pc2 as seen through the eyes of an AC fanboy: (Pre-TLDR: I'm not hating it)
I haven't touched online or used the AI; all thoughts in this wall of text are based on solo hotlapping:

My numero uno overall initial impression:
Grip. For. Days.

So much grip, especially rear end grip. Even in a thunderstorm while sliding around, there is still grip; you have to drive like a complete tool in order to spin a car in all but the rarest situations. There are definitely 'sim things' happening under the hood, but overall it feels like it permanently has the easy button pushed.

To get things started, I am using the RAW ffb with volume set to 60 with my T300. I push the wheel, it pushes back, so I guess the ffb works. The wheel goes limp while hydroplaning, which is good, and it also goes limp while 'drifting' (if you can call the sliding around you can get away with 'drifting') which isn't so good. Overall it feels a bit generic and 'meh' IMO, but it gets the job done. Might look into the Jack Spade stuff just to say I tried, but not really expecting anything mind blowing here. But even with my basic settings the ffb isn't horrible, or terrible, or unusable or anything drastic like that. It's kinda like a Jeep; utilitarian, no flash and bling, but gets the job done.
I have all three assists (abs, tcs, SC) turned completely off (more on that in a bit) and so far haven't touched anything in the setup pages other than manually swapping tires every now and then.

Physics:
You guys claiming this game to be some kind of 'new level' of realistic physics....C'mon......really??
There is far too much grip in almost every situation. And in most cases when the grip finally does give way, it does so in a way that there is no chance what so ever of getting it back. (which isn't always a bad thing, other than the ffb simply plays dead which leads to an even more lifeless feeling while waiting for the car to stop)

In AC I often find myself laughing a little bit because of a sweet save that I made or because I knew that I had gotten away with something that could have easily went the other way and spun me out.
In pc2 I often find myself laughing a little bit because of how much I am getting away with while knowing that if I drove any kinds of close to the same IRL it would result in a busted ass.
Also regarding physics:
What's up with being able to use paddles or H-pattern with any car? And using the clutch is completely and totally optional in all H pattern situations. (yes, autoclutch is turned off)
Having the car stall out and be a pain in the butt to re-fire is awesome! Huge props give for including this feature. Love being able to drive out the garage stall and down pit road; more props for SMS for including that.
ABS brakes don't seem to be needed IMO. You get the occasional lockup (and lifeless ffb that goes with it) but for the most part brakes work exceptionally well in pc2. (likely due to the whole super grip thing)

Graphics:
The benchmark. Even on high/medium settings using my (rapidly becoming ancient tech) 2500k/GTX 1060 the game looks amazing. Well, amazing when using night and/or rain. Bright and clear weather scenarios vary from looking really nice to looking simply 'meh'. But I don't see myself driving in those conditions too often, I have AC for that.
Daytona Road Course at night in the rain is epic to behold. I wish that the physics matched the visuals, but other than hydroplaning through puddles the grip levels/driving dynamics don't really change that much; at least not in the majority of cars that I have driven so far.

Let's wrap this up, didn't intent to reach prc levels of word count here.

When I fire up AC I end up fully immersed before I so much as leave pit road. I am no longer sitting in my sim-racing uniform in front of my tv with a toy wheel in my hand. I am in that car at that track and I drive exactly as I would in real life doing the same things that I have done/observed in my lifetime of experiences. Driving the cars the way I would in real life results in the car reacting/behaving the way that I would expect it to 99% of the time. The 'muh immersion' factor is set about as high as the 'simulation value'.

While driving pc2 the 'muh immersion' factor is much, much lower. I never just lose myself in the driving; I am always aware that I am playing a (quite fun) driving game. The physics allow you to feel like a driving God, but guess what, feeling like a driving God can be good fun.

 

[Michael Stead]

Wall o text

You have a sim racing uniform?



Pics or it didn't happen.

 

[Michael Hornbuckle]

Yeah, boxer/briefs....isn't that what we all race in? (and you really don't want pics, trust me)

 

[mrbungle83]

Michael, does this grip you talk of translate to amazing lap times? I find that im faster in assetto on most tracks.

I don't feel like a driving God in Pcars2 but it would be nice to see the lap times of a driving God.

 

[Rob Every]

Speak for yourself lad, trackie bottoms and thin socks!

No gloves or boots, sorry but people that do that malarkey make me laugh they really do. Almost as much as blokes out riding a pushbike wearing the same kit as Chris Froome.

 

[Jason Warburton]

Big question is....

Do I buy this now on PS4 or do I leave it and wait for GTSport.... I bought pc1 on launch and spent over a month screaming at invisible walls and pit stop bugs....

 

[Alfie57]

I love simulation games. Like Flight Simulator was the best simulator game for flying the game tried to be as realistic as it could be. I play all the racing sims except Iracing, not because I don't like it but because I don't can afford it. In simulation terms PCars 2 is a sim of the next gen. Live track, weather, graphics... this sim has it all. Now the other sims have to catch up. I am sure they will but that will cost time and I think Pcars 2 will be the leading game for the next couple of years.. For a normal price and Multiplayer options just as good as Iracing. I know there are many people who will disagree, but I respect their opinion if they respect mine...

 

[ronniej]

Pc2 as seen through the eyes of an AC fanboy: (Pre-TLDR: I'm not hating it)
I haven't touched online or used the AI; all thoughts in this wall of text are based on solo hotlapping:

My numero uno overall initial impression:
Grip. For. Days.

So much grip, especially rear end grip. Even in a thunderstorm while sliding around, there is still grip; you have to drive like a complete tool in order to spin a car in all but the rarest situations. There are definitely 'sim things' happening under the hood, but overall it feels like it permanently has the easy button pushed.

To get things started, I am using the RAW ffb with volume set to 60 with my T300. I push the wheel, it pushes back, so I guess the ffb works. The wheel goes limp while hydroplaning, which is good, and it also goes limp while 'drifting' (if you can call the sliding around you can get away with 'drifting') which isn't so good. Overall it feels a bit generic and 'meh' IMO, but it gets the job done. Might look into the Jack Spade stuff just to say I tried, but not really expecting anything mind blowing here. But even with my basic settings the ffb isn't horrible, or terrible, or unusable or anything drastic like that. It's kinda like a Jeep; utilitarian, no flash and bling, but gets the job done.
I have all three assists (abs, tcs, SC) turned completely off (more on that in a bit) and so far haven't touched anything in the setup pages other than manually swapping tires every now and then.

Physics:
You guys claiming this game to be some kind of 'new level' of realistic physics....C'mon......really??
There is far too much grip in almost every situation. And in most cases when the grip finally does give way, it does so in a way that there is no chance what so ever of getting it back. (which isn't always a bad thing, other than the ffb simply plays dead which leads to an even more lifeless feeling while waiting for the car to stop)

In AC I often find myself laughing a little bit because of a sweet save that I made or because I knew that I had gotten away with something that could have easily went the other way and spun me out.
In pc2 I often find myself laughing a little bit because of how much I am getting away with while knowing that if I drove any kinds of close to the same IRL it would result in a busted ass.
Also regarding physics:
What's up with being able to use paddles or H-pattern with any car? And using the clutch is completely and totally optional in all H pattern situations. (yes, autoclutch is turned off)
Having the car stall out and be a pain in the butt to re-fire is awesome! Huge props give for including this feature. Love being able to drive out the garage stall and down pit road; more props for SMS for including that.
ABS brakes don't seem to be needed IMO. You get the occasional lockup (and lifeless ffb that goes with it) but for the most part brakes work exceptionally well in pc2. (likely due to the whole super grip thing)

Graphics:
The benchmark. Even on high/medium settings using my (rapidly becoming ancient tech) 2500k/GTX 1060 the game looks amazing. Well, amazing when using night and/or rain. Bright and clear weather scenarios vary from looking really nice to looking simply 'meh'. But I don't see myself driving in those conditions too often, I have AC for that.
Daytona Road Course at night in the rain is epic to behold. I wish that the physics matched the visuals, but other than hydroplaning through puddles the grip levels/driving dynamics don't really change that much; at least not in the majority of cars that I have driven so far.

Let's wrap this up, didn't intent to reach prc levels of word count here.

When I fire up AC I end up fully immersed before I so much as leave pit road. I am no longer sitting in my sim-racing uniform in front of my tv with a toy wheel in my hand. I am in that car at that track and I drive exactly as I would in real life doing the same things that I have done/observed in my lifetime of experiences. Driving the cars the way I would in real life results in the car reacting/behaving the way that I would expect it to 99% of the time. The 'muh immersion' factor is set about as high as the 'simulation value'.

While driving pc2 the 'muh immersion' factor is much, much lower. I never just lose myself in the driving; I am always aware that I am playing a (quite fun) driving game. The physics allow you to feel like a driving God, but guess what, feeling like a driving God can be good fun.

Thank you for waking me up from my bad dream....I must of fallen asleep while reading some of these posts and next thing I remembered was Ian Bell was screaming "why did you refund!" over and over and all the while thinking I might have made a mistake......Then you slapped me in the face with this post and woke me up.Thx man.

 

[Michael Hornbuckle]

No idea what laptimes look like right now; I am driving with no apps open on screen.

Super grip comes from things like a 500+ hp street car bogging down in second gear, in the rain, rather than lighting up the tires. It comes from taking the Ford RS 1600 Escort and literally throwing it around Brands Hatch without ever using the brakes. Basically when you flick a car sideways there is not a consequence when it flicks back the other direction.
Driving the street Corvette Z06 on all terrain tires at Nords in a thunderstorm resulted in plenty of tiptoeing with the throttle; good fun but still a bit simplistic. Car starts sliding, get out the gas and car almost instantly regains full grip and is under control; or you can use the loud pedal with an abrupt steering yank and while the back end breaks loose in oversteer the front end pulls the car through it. It just doesn't feel natural IMO.

The aliens are always going to be a couple (or more seconds) faster than me in every racing game. Feeling like a driving God doesn't come from necessarily being fast, it comes from driving in completely unrealistic ways with no consequence.

IMO a wet track in pcars feels like a track at about 95% grip in AC.

Lap times (and their similarity to real life, or other sims) is the furthest thing from my mind right now; as long as they are in the ballpark (in whatever sim) it's good enough for me due to the many, many things that influence them in the real world that we are a long way from replicating on our pc's.

 

[vee10]

Pc2 as seen through the eyes of an AC fanboy: (Pre-TLDR: I'm not hating it)
I haven't touched online or used the AI; all thoughts in this wall of text are based on solo hotlapping:

My numero uno overall initial impression:
Grip. For. Days.

So much grip, especially rear end grip. Even in a thunderstorm while sliding around, there is still grip; you have to drive like a complete tool in order to spin a car in all but the rarest situations. There are definitely 'sim things' happening under the hood, but overall it feels like it permanently has the easy button pushed.

To get things started, I am using the RAW ffb with volume set to 60 with my T300. I push the wheel, it pushes back, so I guess the ffb works. The wheel goes limp while hydroplaning, which is good, and it also goes limp while 'drifting' (if you can call the sliding around you can get away with 'drifting') which isn't so good. Overall it feels a bit generic and 'meh' IMO, but it gets the job done. Might look into the Jack Spade stuff just to say I tried, but not really expecting anything mind blowing here. But even with my basic settings the ffb isn't horrible, or terrible, or unusable or anything drastic like that. It's kinda like a Jeep; utilitarian, no flash and bling, but gets the job done.
I have all three assists (abs, tcs, SC) turned completely off (more on that in a bit) and so far haven't touched anything in the setup pages other than manually swapping tires every now and then.

Physics:
You guys claiming this game to be some kind of 'new level' of realistic physics....C'mon......really??
There is far too much grip in almost every situation. And in most cases when the grip finally does give way, it does so in a way that there is no chance what so ever of getting it back. (which isn't always a bad thing, other than the ffb simply plays dead which leads to an even more lifeless feeling while waiting for the car to stop)

In AC I often find myself laughing a little bit because of a sweet save that I made or because I knew that I had gotten away with something that could have easily went the other way and spun me out.
In pc2 I often find myself laughing a little bit because of how much I am getting away with while knowing that if I drove any kinds of close to the same IRL it would result in a busted ass.
Also regarding physics:
What's up with being able to use paddles or H-pattern with any car? And using the clutch is completely and totally optional in all H pattern situations. (yes, autoclutch is turned off)
Having the car stall out and be a pain in the butt to re-fire is awesome! Huge props give for including this feature. Love being able to drive out the garage stall and down pit road; more props for SMS for including that.
ABS brakes don't seem to be needed IMO. You get the occasional lockup (and lifeless ffb that goes with it) but for the most part brakes work exceptionally well in pc2. (likely due to the whole super grip thing)

Graphics:
The benchmark. Even on high/medium settings using my (rapidly becoming ancient tech) 2500k/GTX 1060 the game looks amazing. Well, amazing when using night and/or rain. Bright and clear weather scenarios vary from looking really nice to looking simply 'meh'. But I don't see myself driving in those conditions too often, I have AC for that.
Daytona Road Course at night in the rain is epic to behold. I wish that the physics matched the visuals, but other than hydroplaning through puddles the grip levels/driving dynamics don't really change that much; at least not in the majority of cars that I have driven so far.

Let's wrap this up, didn't intent to reach prc levels of word count here.

When I fire up AC I end up fully immersed before I so much as leave pit road. I am no longer sitting in my sim-racing uniform in front of my tv with a toy wheel in my hand. I am in that car at that track and I drive exactly as I would in real life doing the same things that I have done/observed in my lifetime of experiences. Driving the cars the way I would in real life results in the car reacting/behaving the way that I would expect it to 99% of the time. The 'muh immersion' factor is set about as high as the 'simulation value'.

While driving pc2 the 'muh immersion' factor is much, much lower. I never just lose myself in the driving; I am always aware that I am playing a (quite fun) driving game. The physics allow you to feel like a driving God, but guess what, feeling like a driving God can be good fun.

Have you tried the road cars with OEM setup loaded? I feel I am more to drawn to these cars unusually for me as I don't normally bother with road cars but these feel epic. My mate has a 911 (997 series) and that around Oulton (our local circuit) feels great there maybe a tad too much grip but at the limit binning it is still very much on the cards. Using the jack spade alternative low custom ffb has transformed the steering in this game for me. Try a BAC Mono at Brands or Oulton with the OEM road car setup loaded that will put a smile on your face.

 

[vee10]

IMO a wet track in pcars feels like a track at about 95% grip in AC.

From the limited wet running I have done it did feel far too grippy tbh.

 

[Michael Hornbuckle]

All I have to do to put a smile on my face is load up the GT4 Mustang or Corvette GTE at Daytona Road at night while raining. Plenty of good fun to be had. (would be nice if they would add the cones in the fence before the chicane on the backstretch though)

Will pc2 replace AC as my go-to sim? No, not even close. Will I use it for car/track combo's in the rain at night? Hell yeah.
I will probably even use pc2 more than AC when I feel like jumping into a random MP session. (depending on the netcode and such, haven't tested any of that yet)

 

[Vitor M Sousa]

Speak for yourself lad, trackie bottoms and thin socks!

No gloves or boots, sorry but people that do that malarkey make me laugh they really do. Almost as much as blokes out riding a pushbike wearing the same kit as Chris Froome.

You know gloves can prevent blisters on the hands, which happen with long sessions and daily usage of a wheel.

As for boots I don't feel their need, but can imagine a stronger set of pedals would make them essential

 

[Ville-Samuli Mutanen]

From the limited wet running I have done it did feel far too grippy tbh.

The video posted few pages back (with one gravel trap visit) has around half a minute lap time difference to the legendary Leh Keen's rain dance. I'm pretty sure everybody knows which one is faster.

Not saying that's the full-thruth but might give some food for thoughts.

 

[Rob Every]

I was being sarcastic with the clothes wearing crowd. If you have a suede wheel, wearing gloves is good, to protect the material and I only use a G25 so long sessions are no issue, but I gather with bespoke wheels you can ramp up the FFB to be hard enough to have blisters. But really, if you can adjust it, why wouldn't you to prevent that?

Boots, never got that. Other than perhaps an aide to heel and toeing, which can be uncomfortable with certain pedals and only socks, I can't do it that easily on a G25 but it might be easier with boots, but spending 100 odd quid on boots for gaming would be excessive for me