A quick try with the new Gumpert is fun, but I'm wondering if it's overdone on performance -- engine power in particular. That's not really a complaint.

What happens after I get completely accustomed to the graphics quality in CARS? Does it ruin rF2 even before it's out?
Probably not, but it might raise some future expectations.

I'm not a big fan of some of the newer CARS UI - menu/submenu presentation - but we'll see how that develops.

The Grupert doesn't have it's own physics yet so it's using the LM11 Prototype physics as a placeholder. That's why it's ridiculously fast and sticks to the road like glue

I hated the new UI at first but once i got used to it I liked it more and more. It needs quite a bit of refinement but it could work well if done properly.

I hadn't seen the Mega-Gump Warning. I'll have to stop trying that one for now, or I'll be disappointed later, but it does look nice.

I'd really like to see the selected car as the background graphic, rather than just the LMP (not that it doesn't look nice).

On the UI, I think I'd prefer separate pages or windows, rather than everything in one expanding menu.
Setup, for example, I'd prefer as a window or page, with some kind of graphic tied to it, rather than just a text list. We'll see. At least there is a setup menu now.

A little bit down the path, but I can think of a number of ways to present setup changes that would add to a racing sim/game. A 3-D graphic of the car, or the specific system/parts being worked on, e.g., a view of the suspension, for suspension settings. Highlight the parts that are being altered, showing a quick range of settings, e.g., an angle depiction for camber, or toe, etc. An in-the-garage mechanic's look at the car, de-mystifying car setup options. Sounds nice to me, but I'd expect it would be too involved.

New physics for the Grumpert in today's build. Seems stable at first but once you get the car on the limit it squirms all over the place and makes your eyes water. Great fun and defo my favourite car so far. It also has the most awesome suspension noise as you hear the shocks working.

Also a new time trial mode with top time for each combo looged online. In time this should evolve into a proper leaderboard.

I just got the world record for the Grumpert at Conneticut GP with a 1:37:08 - Not sure how long it'll last though

latest build 106 is a step backwards for me in lag department

106 not great for me either. Got a whole heap of controller/FF related issues that make it largely undeliverable without me spending ages setting up the wheel for each specific car. This is a bit of a shame as build 101 was almost prefect for me in both respects.

Also a couple of other 'features' i'm not crazy about that have sneaked in lately...

Extremely aggressive track cutting detection with disallowed laps and annoying associated message that gets flashed right in the centre of the screen causing me to go off track again and perpetuate the cycle. grrrr.

Split times displayed right in the centre of your screen and sometimes left there permanently is very distracting. Also g-force movement of the HUD and over the top crash-shake feels very gimmicky and a little too shift-like for my taste. Hopefully we'll eventually get an option to tune this stuff.

On the positive side, the handling of a couple of the cars is coming along nicely. When i've had a build with properly working controller/FF i've been pretty impressed with the feel of the cars to the point where it makes other sims feel quite basic in comparison. Sadly controller and FF issues often are not likely to be fully resolved until Feb which is the expected date for the new input code.

HI everyone,

C.A.R.S. looks great...and I'm very close to taking the plunge, but what about multiplayer? Is there any yet? and if not any word on when and how it will be done?

thanks,
Chappie

No multiplayer yet. It's a huge amount of work and the team are keen to nail down the base mechanics of the game first. There should be public and private servers along with a dedi server app. This is a shot in the dark but i'd be suprised if we see any form of MP before Q2 2012.

It's still pre-alpha and pretty raw in places so if you're looking for a fully optoimized, feature rich product then i'd stay clear for another 6 months or so.

They do have workable AI and an online leaderboard which help to keep things interesting but for me the real thrill is being able to play the new builds from week to week and see what's improved, broken etc. If you're the sort of guy that like messing around with this kind of thing and can put up with bugs/half finished tracks/changing physics/iffy controls then it's worth the price to get an insight into the games development. A couple of the cars are handling pretty good now. Not to mention the fact that it looks flippin amazing.

Thanks for the info. Darren,

One more question for you. Which cars handle the best? I'm coming off a racing sim hiatus of at least a year, but the last sim I drove was iRacing, loved it but didn't have the time. I'm most interested in the classic formulas.....are they done well? Videos look great! How are they to drive?

Thanks
Chappie.

Well if you're looking for an uber-hardcore sim this is probably not it. In an attempt to break the harder=more realistic mentality, most of the cars have a little more grip than you might be used to from iRacing or other sims. Partly based on feedback of many real racers who often comment that sim cars have too little grip compared to real life counterparts and partly down to the conservative default setups - if you start tweaking things you can make it as undriveable as you like

This doesn't mean it's easy though, once you start pushing the limits you can feel the tyres letting go and you really have to wrestle hard to hang on. I really like how this works because you can get used to the car quickly, but becoming fast takes real skill and effort. For all it's other pre-production flaws i actually think the tyre and suspension model is extremely good. I know something is right when i load it up for a quick couple of laps and i'm still there 2hrs later trying to find that extra tenth.

There's more cars than i list here but the noteworthy ones are as follows:

The best by far (for me anyway) is the Areal Atom. This thing just begs to be thrashed and loves going sideways. Very controllable. Reminds me of some of the cars in GTL

The Audi LeMans Prototype has the most 'mature' physics as this is the first one that Ben Collins has contributed to. (he'll be looking at the others in time). He's said that this car is now the closest he's felt to a proper LM simulator.

The Caterham is the latest addition and has a lot of character. Quite a handful but oddly addictive - currently needs a perfect controller setup to avoid massive tank slap.

The DTM is pretty nice. Bags of grip up to a point and then it just lets go. Can feel a bit disconnected sometimes. It's OK but doesn't quite give me the buzz of the atom or caterham.

The 68,77 and 86 F1's are all well done. The 68 slides nicely and really makes you smile when you get it right. This feels the most natural of the 3. The 77 scares me silly, good for a couple of laps just to be grateful you weren't a 70's racing driver. The 86 feels OK but for some reason i just didn't connect with it. Needs a bit more work i think.

The kart is borked.

Generally each class has at least one car that handles well so there will be something to your liking. The controller/ff is also working a lot better for me in the latest build (111). Bear in mind that as it isn't destined for release for another 12 months, it pushes current gen hardware to the limit. It looks awesome but you'll need a decent rig.

Also rF2 is very close on the horizon, if you are looking for something less life consuming than IR we'll be having a ton of races here at SimHQ - or you can pick up rF1 and join us in the meantime