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...

 

[Michael Hornbuckle]

Are you on SMS payroll by any chance @Damage Inc
Nevermind, you wouldn't be allowed to say due to NDA's....you are the last person that should be using fanboy as a derogatory term in this thread though.
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First experience with online was a complete joke.
Only 33 servers found (total)
Jumped in a GT3 at Brands Hatch with only a minute or so left in Q so just figured I would start in the back for the race. Didn't change anything in the setup (don't know how yet) so figured I would just deal with whatever the game gave me as default.
Motor overheated and blew up on lap 3. WTF????

 

[Damage Inc]

Are you on SMS payroll by any chance @Damage Inc
Nevermind, you wouldn't be allowed to say due to NDA's....you are the last person that should be using fanboy as a derogatory term in this thread though.
---------------------------------------
First experience with online was a complete joke.
Only 33 servers found (total)
Jumped in a GT3 at Brands Hatch with only a minute or so left in Q so just figured I would start in the back for the race. Didn't change anything in the setup (don't know how yet) so figured I would just deal with whatever the game gave me as default.
Motor overheated and blew up on lap 3. WTF????

Nope, was WMD for PC1 but didn't with PC2 as I wanted to play the first one and testing the 2nd would have buggered that all up.....ironically in the end I spent most of 2015 playing Elite: Dangerous! LOL

Actually I was happy with the positives in your thread, I spelt it "fanboi" to imply some tounge in cheekness, but seems you took it the wrong way.

Bottom line is it's clear you have nailed your flag to a certain mast and that's fair enough, so once again if you can find positives that a good thing.


Edit hang on....you said in your own post you're a fanboy and I also included the winky smiley.....come on dude!!

 

[AadHofman]

Has anyone mentioned poor quality tracks? Silverstone and Watkins Glen are like old, inaccurate rFactor mods with prettier graphics. Monza and Spa are not much better either. There are tons of reference material out there nowadays, and you don't need laserscanning for very good accuracy (as Raceroom have shown). Disappointing.

 

[Michael Hornbuckle]

23 online servers total right now, and the majority of them have 3 or less people....not good......

 

[ermo]

First experience with online was a complete joke.
Only 33 servers found (total)
Jumped in a GT3 at Brands Hatch with only a minute or so left in Q so just figured I would start in the back for the race. Didn't change anything in the setup (don't know how yet) so figured I would just deal with whatever the game gave me as default.
Motor overheated and blew up on lap 3. WTF????[/USER]

May I ask which car you used? If there's a bug in the default radiator setting for that car, it needs to be fixed ASAP.

Also, do you remember if you had any front end damage?

I recently reported another overheating issue which turned out to be a subtle bug, hence why I'm asking.

Cheers

 

[Michael Hornbuckle]

It was the Ferrari 488 GT3. I got pin balled all over the place the first lap so damage would make sense.

 

[ermo]

It was the Ferrari 488 GT3. I got pin balled all over the place the first lap so damage would make sense.

I've seen talk about the radiators possibly being too sensitive to front end damage internally.

I don't suppose you remember the numerical damage to your car at the front?

 

[Michael Hornbuckle]

I had no idea there is a numerical damage indicator, or that it exists....

 

[Deleted member 99238]

I also ran into the problem of overheating the engine on an Audi R8 LMS GT3 but I had the damage disabled. The engine temperature gradually grew and I could not cool it and in the end it was damaged.

 

[Deleted member 99238]

Also noticed one more bug during replays. If you blocked the wheels and went smoke, sometimes the smoke does not end and continues to drag along with the car.

 

[MarkR]

Enjoying some VR gaming this morning in both Project CARS 2 and Assetto Corsa. I thought I'd see just how close the experience is, here is a short 2-minute video of the results. Both games provide a fantastic VR experience as close to being there as I've ever known.

I'm astounded just how close these games look, feel and play. SMS said they were aiming for AC style FFB and for me on the TX458 wheel they have absolutely nailed it. The way the cars react, the feel and feedback through the wheel are as good as identical. There is nothing of note to separate them in terms of gameplay and recreation of the feel of driving on a track. I used as close as the same car settings as I was able to find.

For me, Project CARS has much sharper graphics inside the headset. It is much easier to pick braking points and track references and it all looks that bit more real. As pcars2 is the newer software I'm not overly surprised. The experience is 30% better than AC which was already one of the best games in VR. The detail in the pcars 2 car is stunning, the transparent windscreen sunstrip, the clarity of the motec display and the superb interior rearview camera, all little things but they add so much to the immersion.

Laptimes, I see a little discussion has begun on lap time realsim between the games. My times here are nothing particularly special, 1:32.5-7 (matching the slower of the real world Huracan GT3 qualifying times in the Michelin GT3 Le Mans Cup series which I'm happy with as an just enthusiastic track day participant, not a racing driver!).

In Project CARS 2 the current fastest time trial leaderboard time is a 1:31.7, for AC the fastest RSR Livetiming times are in the low 1:28.3 region - almost 2 seconds a lap faster than the real world qualification and fastest race lap times. Personally though I can't get anywhere near those lap times and as a result, the 2 games in my hands produce almost identical times. It looks likely that AC has more grip.

Now if Project CARS 2 could deliver AI as good as the current Assetto Corsa AI it really would complete an unexpectedly improved game. Currently, AC is still king for close, human-like AI racing. pcars2 is the new king of racing game VR though, it really is something special.

 

[Deleted member 99238]

Has anyone mentioned poor quality tracks? Silverstone and Watkins Glen are like old, inaccurate rFactor mods with prettier graphics. Monza and Spa are not much better either. There are tons of reference material out there nowadays, and you don't need laserscanning for very good accuracy (as Raceroom have shown). Disappointing.

I agree completely. Accuracy and reliability of tracks of one and weak places SMS. The fact is that the Kunos and the Sector3 Studios have established a high level of authenticity of tracks, and against their background many SMS routes look very weak. I've always disliked the Nurburgring from SMS with its fantasy mountains in the background, but so far nothing has been done with it.

 

[Leynad777]

Are you on SMS payroll by any chance @Damage Inc

Asked by a guy with over 12k post on the AC-forum alway defending the title even against the most obvious flaws. I bet 99% of your AC-time in Steam is running the launcher as a wallpaper...

 

[Michael Hornbuckle]

You would bet wrong, but I'm sure you are used to that.

 

[Michael Hornbuckle]

The MASSIVE lag/stutter that happens whenever people join a server is almost bad enough to be a showstopper.
As pretty as this game is, and as fun as it is to drive, I'm having huge buyers remorse right now. Pretty much everything about the MP side of the game is flawed in one way or another.

 

[F_B]

Would be interesting to see when the first patch arrives and what it can solve.

 

[Skidmeister]

The MASSIVE lag/stutter that happens whenever people join a server is almost bad enough to be a showstopper.
As pretty as this game is, and as fun as it is to drive, I'm having huge buyers remorse right now. Pretty much everything about the MP side of the game is flawed in one way or another.

I liked AC a lot when it came out and even got several friends to buy it. But when I went to setup a dedicated server to race them on and had to spend inordinate amounts of time typing in all sorts of things that should have just been pull downs from a menu, I thought to my self, was this written for DOS? That pretty much ended my run with it even though I did like it a lot. AC started with very little content, but I see a lot has been added since. Never raced it online because I did not want to spend hours figuring out how to use the dedicated server, and no intention of simply racing AI so I switched to R3E at that point. In no way am I bitter about AC because of that, I just moved on and now I have moved on to Pcars2.

 

[Michael Hornbuckle]

And your point is..............?

 

[[DNA] Rico Nosberg]

Played 34 hours now, i am at the low score of yellow E1200 something, only because the newb idiots ram me off every single race. In GT3 you expect this alittle, but this is to much, i cant even join U and F servers anymore.
In indy car on an oval they just ram into your back so you fly off the track!
That system is bugged, if i get rammed from behind i still loose points on the licence.
Thats not my fault (Why do i loose points) but the idiots behind me, pushing you off so they can make the corner.
They need to change that asap or i wont be able to drive in normal U&F lobby's.
If i could i would refund only for that. The game is awsome i like it better than raceroom or AC AC gives me 35 to 60 fps, while pcars gives me 70 110 with high settings.

 

[DesKane]

Overall PCars 2 not bad, but at least better than PCars1, which hopefully in time will get better with patches. Run a couple of online races and everyone seemed to run clean and fair, and with the changing weather in VR is great fun. Of course I still prefer my beloved RF2 & R3E with a touch of AMS-AC-iRacing, looking forward to the up-rated dynamic weather in RF2 coming soon. (big thumbs up).

I am Running a Big MiGE OSW DD Wheel, and yes do find a good number of the cars just don't seem to turn in when you would expect them to, so wanted to share some of my settings from 'in-game' and my MMOS FFB which for me on my setup did improve things. Anyone out there running anything similar? what are you running? please let me know, and do these settings work for you or make your experience worse !?

I am sure a lot more fiddling to be done by a long way.

Cheers and Enjoy

Steering Deadzone - 0
Steering Sensitivity - 80
Throttle Deadzone - 0
Throttle Sensitivity - 50
Brake Deadzone - 0
Brake Sensitivity - 50
Clutch Deadzone - 0
Clutch Sensitivity - 50
Speed Sensitivity - 0
Damper Saturation - 50
Controller Damping - 50
Controller Vibration - 80
Minimum Shift Time - 0