Thinking of making the switch to AC

[Steve Worrell]

Hi there.
I have had a 10 year hiatus from sim racing but recently jumped back in. I went with Rfactor2 as I was a massive fan of rf1. I have had quite a bit of fun with rf2 so far but I have made the observation that there seems to be a lot more going on with AC right now. Am I right?

Basically things that are important to me are:
Offline racing/decent AI
wide selection of tracks and cars
career mode - or log analyser like in rf2
Ability to skin cars

Thanks,
Vern

 

[Stereo]

Yeah, last time I played it the AC career mode works out exactly like that - you start out at the low level (in AC's case, "track days" with the Lotus 2-11 and BMW 1M + E30 - either racing solo for fast enough lap times, or in single races) and then get into actual championships using the Formula Abarth & GT3/2 cars. I don't think it does the full race weekend thing with PQRs until fairly late cause tbh that's not what people want to do with the entry level cars, they want to prove they can drive and move on.

 

[Turk]

I don't think it does the full race weekend thing with PQRs until fairly late cause tbh that's not what people want to do with the entry level cars, they want to prove they can drive and move on.

I think it would be better for people to do the full weekend from the start. While they take longer I think it's easier to have a good result. Those short races can just be frustrating.

 

[Kristian Maynes]

Played with AI on Spa GT cars and on 90% difficulty. The problem i saw with AI on 90 is that they always give way especially on corners side by side by slowing down. Haven't tried 100 though.

 

[Brandon Wright]

AI...sometimes will slow way down on track because of a car entering or leaving the pits)

I've seen a couple people mention this may have been improved/fixed with yesterday's update? Haven't had a chance to test myself.

One thing I've learned about the AI is that using Content Manager where you can set a range for the AI strength (meaning you can have AI on the grid that can range from, say, 85% to 95% strength) really injects some life into the offline racing and makes them behave a bit more realistically. You'll see 92% cars battling with and trying to overtake 86% cars, and you'll have some cars that are easy for you to catch up to and overtake and some that require all your skillz to catch them. It also seems to somewhat prevent the Trulli Train effect because if a slightly stronger AI is behind a slightly weaker AI he'll just go ahead and overtake instead of being happy to ride along behind.

 

[UMC 22]

So it holds your hand and tells you you're a good boy when you win.

No, that's not what I said or meant, but I see you just aren't interested in career modes in sims so I won't bore you with another explanation.

 

[Michael Hornbuckle]

Just tested a full field of 74 RSR 3.0's at Brands Hatch Indy and they are no longer slowing down when passing another AI that is entering or leaving the pits. They also had no issues passing me if I spun out and parked on the track. I will test some more scenarios out but it seems odd that a huge improvement such as this didn't warrant a single line in the changelog.

 

[Brandon Wright]

Just tested a full field of 74 RSR 3.0's at Brands Hatch Indy and they are no longer slowing down when passing another AI that is entering or leaving the pits. They also had no issues passing me if I spun out and parked on the track. I will test some more scenarios out but it seems odd that a huge improvement such as this didn't warrant a single line in the changelog.

That's great news. Now if they can just convince LMP1 cars to overtake GT cars we'll be in business!

 

[Michael Hornbuckle]

AI are still a bit timid when it comes to aggressiveness, but in single class racing they aren't that bad:

 

[Brandon Wright]

AI are still a bit timid when it comes to aggressiveness, but in single class racing they aren't that bad:

What leaderboard app is that? Looks nice and clean.

 

[Radu Oros]

AI are still a bit timid when it comes to aggressiveness, but in single class racing they aren't that bad:

On the inside and sometimes on the outside they are aggressive enough in racing for the place, in your video from 1:12 until min. 2.

 

[Michael Hornbuckle]

What leaderboard app is that? Looks nice and clean.

Vanilla Kunos 'Real time' app.

 

[Brandon Wright]

Vanilla Kunos 'Real time' app.

Ah, ok, don't think I've ever seen that one. I'm used to the giant one that takes up half the screen width.

 

[Celestiale]

Hi there.
I have had a 10 year hiatus from sim racing but recently jumped back in. I went with Rfactor2 as I was a massive fan of rf1. I have had quite a bit of fun with rf2 so far but I have made the observation that there seems to be a lot more going on with AC right now. Am I right?

Basically things that are important to me are:
Offline racing/decent AI
wide selection of tracks and cars
career mode - or log analyser like in rf2
Ability to skin cars

Thanks,
Vern

AI in Assetto Corsa is by far the worst i have ever seen in a Sim..so when AI racing is your only thing, i'd stay far away from it..
however i am mostly an offline driver myself due to limited time to train, and AC is by far the Sim i spend the most time in - i usually don't have the time to do a full race weekend (training, qualifying, race), so i just hop into AC for an hour or so, take a track, and test a few fitting cars of similar style. Currently i am testing and comparing performance of old race cars like the Lotus 25 or the Porsche 718 Spyder on the Thomsen Road GP Circuit (Mod), and have a ton of fun with it.
In the current build AC is easily the Sim where just driving around feels by far the best, not neccessarily because of the FFB, but mainly just how convincing (and different) the cars behave.
If hotlapping/car testing is only slightly your thing, if only for a change from racing, AC is definitely worth the money.
Selection of tracks, including a lot of very good Mods couldn't be any wider..
Same for cars, there is really everything from 1950s F1 cars to modern robot-cars like the Ferrari FXXK, and everyday sedans like the BMW M4 in between.

If you are into offline racing, i'd recommend Raceroom Racing experience. They have easily the best AI from the current Sims, fully licensed racing series including their own ruleset and every track from most of the series included. It's my to-go Sim, when i have the time for a race weekend. You can also fully customize own championships, including tracks, cars and ruleset. You can't skin cars however, to my knowledge.

 

[Deleted member 130869]

If this was 2012-2014 I'd recommend Game Stock Car 2012/2013 of the current games for what you're looking at. You already burned your money on rf2 but fortunately there will be development on single player, but there's nothing major - and current - that's worth at the moment for their asking prices.

 

[Salajutsu]

The strong points of AC is physic, FFB, and maybe graphics, depending on how much tweaking you want to put into it via modding and shading tweaks.
The AI is...well many say bad. They are not bad. Gran Turismo AI is bad. AC's AI is decent. They are capable, especially in GT cars, of running super fast laps. However, once the field is congested, including yourself, it becomes iffy. I wouldn't say "bad" even saying that. Just not quite great. Raceable for sure, and sometimes too fast in some situations, but certainly raceable.

The modding scene is where AC really shines. There's everything under the sun in varying qualities.
The championship mode is pretty cool, however, forget completely about the "career". It's pointless and not useable for the most part.

For pure AI/offline racing, it would be better to look into AMS, or R3E, but that's not to say AC doesn't have something amazing to offer, because it does. It's worth having in the library nonetheless.

Seriously, I don't think the AI are THAT bad as some say. They aren't up to par with some other sims, and if that's a be all end all necessity, then other sims will do the job a little better....but they are certainly raceable, especially with most racecars. It's more of a "proper combination" thing in AC, to get the best out of AI.

 

[Enagee]

AI in Assetto Corsa is by far the worst i have ever seen in a Sim..so when AI racing is your only thing, i'd stay far away from it. .

Not the best but very raceable in various scenarios .....

 

[Celestiale]

Not the best but very raceable in various scenarios .....

If you like movable cones to drive around, and move 3m away anytime you make an aggresive move, then yes.
If you like AI that behaves like humans, including making mistakes, go off track, defend properly, and dive in your inside line when you don't defend properly..then a big no.
All other current sims have way better AI, be it R3E, Project Cars, rF2, AMS...
Even the so notorious simcade Forza Motorsport has way better AI

 

[Deleted member 130869]

This is not the game to satisfy the OP desires. There's no spinning around that.

 

[Cote Dazur]

@VernWozza assuming it is your face in your avatar and from your comment "returning after 10 years", your are most probably in a financial position that makes the cost of software in our hobby really affordable, when you calculate how much time you will spend for the money involved, cost of software could be seen as dirt cheap.
With that in mind, why limit yourself? Try Assetto and find out for yourself.
Some say they prefer R3E AI over AC AI, good for them, I don't. Which AI will you like better?
AC online is very active, maybe the street fight servers are what you have been looking for.
Truth is, no SIM is the be all of SIM at this point, AC is definitely one of the few that have earned the must have status.
The only limiting factor I see is time, so still a choices need to be made, but depriving yourself of Assetto Corsa, does not sound to me like a balanced SIM diet.

 

[Helmut Skrdla]

I came to AC directly from RF2, and I'm also a 100% offline player, so my take on things:

Offline racing/decent AI
RF2's AI is a bit better, but AC has improved a lot since 1.4 and in my opinion you get a fair fight with them. They aren't as nice to customize as in RF2, where you can set agressiveness, skill etc. per driver.
The main thing I miss about racing is the ability to set up different times for the sessions, different qualifying rules, and a working DRS detection system. Safety Car, Blue Flags would be nice but I can live without them. Overall RF2 is much more customizable.

wide selection of tracks and cars
Definitly AC wins here, in my opinion. RF2 is stuck with very few "big name" tracks or cars. In AC, including some of the better mods, you really have a great choice of different types of racing. Obviously endurance isn't really supported (bad weather or night not present).

career mode - or log analyser like in rf2
Something like the basic log analyser function came with 1.11, so you can set up your race weekends and score points. Not quite as detailed, the log analyser had more statistics to review, but the core functionality is there and much nicer integrated into the main game, like many other things that are just nicer integrated compared with RF2.

Ability to skin cars
Works.

For me, RF2 lost me when after years they still weren't able to present some proper multi-manufacturer racing or big name tracks and then they started focusing on Ovals. AC focuses on the most famous European circuits, has some nice legencary cars from all the decades since 1950 and overall is much more polished (GUI, Replay functionality, camera options...). So to me, RF2 died a silent dead, and I haven't seen anything from the new owners yet that will turn the wheel around quickly. If all I cared about was "no name race anything" simulation then RF2 would win. But if I want to race some really legendary cars in great visuals on well done circuits then AC wins.