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...

 

[Thombike]

I don't think AC is better than PC1 or 2, for its simply with owning all sims including PC1 i cant quite see the point in getting PC2 until its in a steam sale... is that ok with you?
Plenty of kids can go full throttle in real cars as i showed you...... driving was designed by humans for humans and its really very simple, being fast at it or faster than someone else or better race craft is really what racing is about, but even than that can get muddied by the fact someone is simply faster because they have a faster car or a better set of tyres or better chasis etc etc...

Like I said. You know this kid? Parents? This is his 1st time? Or you think, my son drive already daily with full power car and I said only for Fun - he can't drive with My car? What's word You don understand? Oh wiat...Maybe this...We dont try in public areas, beacouse this is stupid, and we can't try on racetrack, beacouse officialy is too young and have no driving licence. At last - he is not a profesional contender. And...You dont understand this base - he can do this in every "simulator" on his PC but not in real life. You think he can? Do You have a son. If yes and if he is 9-10-13 years old give him your car and say "Son...pedal to the metal, like in game"...Do You can do this and say to me after, what's happend? Or do you try to understand what I mean "he can not drive for now real car as he do in game"...Or its to hard for You?

I was lucky to be invited to a test day and got to drive a FWD racing car basically a touring car

Wooowww..What a experience. And You tell me what My son can or not? I drive (not regular) amateur rally, I did a special "VIP Driver licence", I also drivin N group Rally cars like Subaru Impreza and Mitsubishi Lancer and more and more and more...FWD, 4WD generally. And some special event from car makers...soo...something about 100 different car have bin dirbvin in My life...short and longer...mostly on the edge, and You think, you know better...Congrats...I go to sleep

 

[apex11]

delete

 

[apex11]

Like I said. You know this kid? Parents? This is his 1st time? Or you think, my son drive already daily with full power car and I said only for Fun - he can't drive with My car? What's word You don understand? Oh wiat...Maybe this...We dont try in public areas, beacouse this is stupid, and we can't try on racetrack, beacouse officialy is too young and have no driving licence. At last - he is not a profesional contender. And...You dont understand this base - he can do this in every "simulator" on his PC but not in real life. You think he can? Do You have a son. If yes and if he is 9-10-13 years old give him your car and say "Son...pedal to the metal, like in game"...Do You can do this and say to me after, what's happend? Or do you try to understand what I mean "he can not drive for now real car as he do in game"...Or its to hard for You?
Wooowww..What a experience. And You tell me what My son can or not? I drive (not regular) amateur rally, I did a special "VIP Driver licence", I also drivin N group Rally cars like Subaru Impreza and Mitsubishi Lancer and more and more and more...FWD, 4WD generally. And some special event from car makers...soo...something about 100 different car have bin dirbvin in My life...short and longer...mostly on the edge, and You think, you know better...Congrats...I go to sleep

It does not suprise me that a 13 year old can drive on a sim no.... Because driving isn't that difficult.

 

[dreamer al]

I bought Project Cars a year or so ago. Recently read some very good reviews on Project Cars 2 - on how it was an improvement on the previous version.
I purchased Project Cars 2 today. Overall not bad. Graphics are great. Selection of vehicles and tracks are a huge improvement.
However, I use a X Box One Controller. Steering is average (with tweaks) but the vibration controller doesn't appear to work properly. There does not seem to be any increase in feeling if setting is on 25% or if raised to 100%. There is also no feedback when going over kerbs or sliding in gravel.
I know this game is best played on Wheel and pedals. However, I also play Assetto Corsa and Race Room Experience. Both games have very good X Box Controller vibration feedback.Is it a deal breaker? No. But it is a disappointment.

 

[Thombike]

It does not suprise me that a 13 year old can drive on a sim no.... Because driving isn't that difficult.

Ok, make a movie and show me - You can drive better as I can. Mostly people like You only think, they are good. Than they landet on ma passenger seat and...Yeah..."Please, STOOOOPPP!!! Or slow down!"... But, maybe I'm wrong. Show Me, but please don kill yourself mean time.

 

[Andy_J]

For gawd's sake, this is a pointless and childish discussion now.

 

[rw3]

I'll just say that in the passenger seat is a lot more scary than in the driver seat (for me anyway). I scared the **** out of my mate who races regularly in real life when I took him out in a Caterham on a track day. True it was partly because I put my pedal to the metal having never been at the track before, and partly because I was a bit sideways around the hairpins, but still. And if I'm in the passenger seat I don't like it when people go fast. I trust me, I don't trust other people. I'm sure I'm not alone on that one.

 

[apex11]

Ok, make a movie and show me - You can drive better as I can. Mostly people like You only think, they are good. Than they landet on ma passenger seat and...Yeah..."Please, STOOOOPPP!!! Or slow down!"... But, maybe I'm wrong. Show Me, but please don kill yourself mean time.

Jesus Christ.....

 

[ermo]

We plan to keep polishing AI for at least next 6 months with dedicated staff. Each patch we ship will have AI work in it.

source

Just FYI to those who doubt that SMS mean business when it comes to tweaking and patching the AI.

EDIT: Post collating interesting AI-related replies

 

[Andy_J]

The big patch is out, which makes this the second time the quality of the AI have been addressed. How do you and the community feel about it at this point? Which of us wins the bet?
For myself, I don't believe condition 2 has been met. The post-patch videos I've seen show the AI continue to cut corners, particularly the first lap while lines of AI are not bothering to merge.

@ermo Have you paid up yet?

 

[Emery]

@ermo Have you paid up yet?

Yes, ermo has paid and I'll be posting a picture of my pint.

 

[François Strat]

Maybe I'm old and I dont have (jet) pC2 or FM7 but try help me to understand, how AC can be better with...every time good weather, sunlight, no changes at all during the race time. Yeah only track grip is bit different in time but its still almost nothing...in 2017 when our PC's can handle with that all. And tell me something more - have you play pC2? or it's just your opinion based on nothing?

I'm only talking about physical engin... Graphics and weather are less important than physics for an extrem sim fan !
PC2 for exemple, good graphics and special effects ... But poor physics !!
Everything is a question of priority...

 

[jimortality]

AC is poor

 

[rw3]

Weather is a part of racing. And graphics create atmosphere. Done right, both of those elements create the feeling of being there, and weather adds challenges that real-world drivers face but which we sim-racers apparently consider ourselves incapable of tackling. As I've said previously, general tyre physics are good enough to do a decent job on most sims, but where most lack is the race day experience. One cannot write them off as "it's only weather" or "it's only graphics". To do so is reductive and leads sim racing down the same niche towards genre death that flight sims were headed for for a good few years.

 

[Skidmeister]

I'm only talking about physical engin...

My copy only came with simulated engine, no physical one, otherwise I would say the car physics on Pcar2 are terrific. Handles quite well, great FFB and plenty of adjustments also. You must really have something mis-adjusted terribly to not like this sim.

 

[rw3]

Nothing wrong with not liking it, we can all like or dislike what we choose, after all liking something is experiential, subjective, a product of the emotions a particular thing creates in us. If it doesn’t draw the same emotional response from him as it does for you, it doesn’t make one right and the other wrong, it just means that you had different experiences.

 

[Skidmeister]

To hear that the physics are bad goes beyond being subjective and intentionally states that they are way off to reality. I agree that liking something is subjective, but to give poor physics as the reason then becomes something tangible for debate. Personally I think the physics are great and believe that many of the odd behaviors people think they experience is just simply a disconnect between hardware and software, or even a early bug in some cases. I can't speak for the console version as I only game on the PC. If I completely misadjusted the settings on my Accuforce, then it would "appear" that the sim was not doing what I though it should (AKA "bad physics"), but in actuality it would just be a simple miscommunication between hardware and software. If it was the physics, then most everyone would be having a bad experience, and I find that is not the case at all.
Personally I could care less who likes it, and if they can't get it tweaked to their liking they should move on. But then I see a few guys posting in here that "Sim A" or "sim b" drives great but this one is miles off. To that I have to laugh, because I have driven those sims as well and don't find any to handle monumentally different when you compare apples to apples. I have driven AC, RF2, Iracing, R3E, F1 2017, and IHO I like Pcasr2 handling the best all of them. But I got all of them to handle to my liking at least as far as FFB goes. Physics that's another story, I have seen both good and bad in all these sims.

 

[Rob Every]

I am rather loath to disagree but sorry I do.
I felt at home straightaway with RF, AC and even RF2.
And never felt anything like the same instant feel with PCARS in the version I tried. All I had to change on the first few was bindings and a few other minor points.
My caveat to that was that I tried the console version and it felt great and quite immersive, issues yes, but not bad. But that was not on initial purchase, this was after a few months of the owner fiddling with the settings, which he said were overly complex and fiddly.
And all that did was confirm my belief of the original direction the game was going on was proved. Nothing wrong with that.

 

[Skidmeister]

I am rather loath to disagree but sorry I do.
I felt at home straightaway with RF, AC and even RF2.
And never felt anything like the same instant feel with PCARS in the version I tried. All I had to change on the first few was bindings and a few other minor points.
My caveat to that was that I tried the console version and it felt great and quite immersive, issues yes, but not bad. But that was not on initial purchase, this was after a few months of the owner fiddling with the settings, which he said were overly complex and fiddly.
And all that did was confirm my belief of the original direction the game was going on was proved. Nothing wrong with that.

I am one of those tinkerers that likes to adjust things to my liking. This process can be time consuming but so greatly adds to the immersion, I feel it is well worth the effort. Sure it takes some time, and I almost never feel these sims are perfect "straightaway" right out of the box. Ac and RF2 both took some tweaking for me. But given a bit of time and playing with the adjustments provided I feel you can achieve what you want.
If your friend was able to adjust things to your liking why can't you then? If you give up before you try , you will never accomplish anything. I prefer to test the settings myself, taking it on as part of the challenge of a new sim. What he may think is "complex and fiddly" you may find to be intuitive after the initial learning curve, if you take the time to do the work yourself. Don't let someone else season your steak and then think this cow tastes funny. Don't be reluctant to disagree that's part of the fun, instead be unwilling to give up easily.

 

[Celeb]

I have to agree that I had to fiddle around a bit to have FFb to my liking and it tooka time getting used to it because it is a bit different than AC. I don't see much difference in physics, though. I would say that both Ac and Pcars2 offer a good FFB, but the features in Pcars2 just make the game so much better for me. In my opinion, Weather, Rolling starts and day/night cycle are important features. Especially since the livetrack system with wet tracks is really good and the temperature differences in day/night do have effect on gameplay.