C.A.R.S Pre-alpha released to Team members

Took a chanse and went for a team ownership (€25) and got the pre-alpha kit.
Have tinkered with it and it's starting to look decent now, for a pre-alpha that is.
Some really nice cars ,and and the graphics are beautiful.

Initally I had some steeringlag, but I'm dialling in the settings slowly but surely.

Here is a vid..not mine though.
Lenonus= Lotus...seems to be a way out of licens issues, until they have made agreements
Asano=Audi
Conneticut Hills GP= Watkins Glenn

When I first heard about this a few months ago I was quite interested and purchased an initial share in the project. Already SMS have released the first pre-alpha to members. I haven't had time to test it out yet but initial reaction form the members is overwhelmingly positive. Many are already calling it 'iracing with Shift graphics' and the potential to be the greatest sim ever. Probably a little early to be jumping to those kinds of conclusions but it's encouraging to have another sim in development.

Slightly Mad Studios have always had the potential to do something truly great once they escaped the shackles placed on them by EA. The project already has some direct involvement with respected members of the sim community so i'm very hopeful for the future. I'll report back with more info when i've had time to give the build a run.

For anyone who wants to get involved and have a say in the potential direction of the project there's lots of info over at VirtualR

http://www.virtualr.net/category/c-a-r-s/

Pretty impressed with it. Only gripe is some steering lag I can't sort out. I managed to get Shift2 totally lag free, but I don't recall how I did it. I know, for instance, I cannot have vsync enabled (which is a drag), and renderahead has to be zero, but maybe I'm forgetting something else.

Anyways, the graphics are amazing and the car list is just *CHOICE*, and I can't emphasize the "choice" part enough.

I am going to buy the 25 pound one tomorrow.

I'm considering it myself....just waiting to hear from SMS if the Toolpacks are upgradable, such as if I by a Team Member one can I upgrade to a Senior Team Member one later on and it not cost me the full price.

Are these team member status' a one time payment, or a subscription type?

Currently, a one-time purchase Pumbaa.

They're upgradeable. I bought the 10 euro "Junior Team Member" one and just looked and I can now buy the "Team Member" one for 15 euros. Which I probably will.

This is fascinating as much for their funding model as the sim itself. Also, without a doubt, when it is released as a final, this will be the most thoroughly beta tested sim of all time.

Thanks, Aero....that's what I was wondering right there...

I'm usually skeptical on this sort of thing, but this does seem interesting.
Apart from what's been said on settings and some steering lag, can anyone share some driving/physics-game engine impressions?
Euro conversion check: $13.64 for the Junior Team Member, and $34.11 for the Team Member.

All I know is what I've read..... cars are 3 different Lotus models (not sure which, but the Type 49 was their first screen), 2 different Audi's (ILMS and DTM) and two open-wheelers, one a 4 cylinder and one a F1-type 8 cylinder.

The comments I've seen on the physics, while not that many, so far seem to be in the right direction. I think they're adding basic AI to this Friday's build, too. If nothing else, being a Team Member sounds like it will count towards the final version...probably a discounted rate for it anyway. If it's actually pretty good, I'd even look at a Senior Team Member membership down the road.

Anyone with Shift knowledge might be able to add some impressions as to what we an expect overall, since that's their latest released title/series I think.

There's some videos at VirtualR's site now with in-game action that wasn't there with the initial announcement.

C.A.R.S Videos and Info

Also, has a beginning list of recommended specs, too

I would be very interesting in signing up but has there been any word on DRM for the final version? Will this always tie into a centrally managed license system?

Well i couldn't resist having a little peep before i went to bed last night. Big Mistake! I finally managed to tear myself away at 4am and am suffering greatly today...

Anyway, here's my thoughts so far..

It's necessary to point out that is is a pre-alpha build and as such it's pretty ragged round the edges. People have reported input lag (although i didn't have any) and graphic glitches (a few minor glitches in DX11 for me). There's all sorts of stuff which isn't implemented/doesn't work/looks funny so you have to look past all this stuff. With over a year of development left things will change a lot but SMS need to be applauded for giving access to such early code. Brave stuff indeed.

Right, onto the important bit....

Graphics
Quite simply the finest looking driving game i've ever seen. It's absolutely stunning, anyone wondering what Shift 3 might have looked like then this is your answer. I'm sure you've all seen the screenshots and yes it looks that good. Of particular interest is the lighting system which is mind blowing. I've never considered myself a graphics whore when it come to racing games but when things look this good you can't help but be drawn into an extra level of immersion which makes the driving experience that bit more visceral. It does come at a price though but if you could run Shift 2 then you should be OK here.

Sound
Those who know a little of SMS's history will no doubt go warm and fuzzy at the inclusion of Stephen Baysted's GTR2 anthem as the title track and it serves as a nice reminder that the company hasn't forgotten it's roots during the EA wilderness years. Apart from this there's not really much else happening until you hit the track. Once in the game, engine sounds are amazingly meaty and incredibly detailed. They growl, pop, rasp and sing louder than a dragon with his balls on fire. Almost to the point where i found myself thinking it was too much at times. You're left in no doubt that you're driving a race car! Once again it's hard not to be impressed by how much this adds to the driving excitement. Skids, sequels and scrubbing are all present and those who have played the shift series will know the kind of audio visual assault to expect but it sometimes feels a little much for a 'serious' sim.

Controls
Some users have reported problems with input lag, over saturation etc. I didn't notice any of that. My equipment consists of four separate controllers (wheel, pedals, shifter, button box). In many sims this can be a nightmare to configure but C.A.R.S accurately detected all of them right away. I only had to map a couple of keys and i was ready to go. This really surprised me as I had no end of controller problems in Shift 1&2. Other people have reported strange behaviour in the FF department but it was nothing short of spectacular for me - in fact i'd go out on a limb and say it's even better than iRacing in that respect. I could feel every bump, force and even individual tyres losing traction. I had no input lag and felt connected to the track at all times. The wheel somehow just felt 'right' from the get go. Saturation, deadzone, linearity, worldmovement etc can all be tweaked so there's no shortage of settings to get things feeling how you like. Seat position and FOV can be adjusted in game which is a welcome touch. Cameras consist of the usual hood, cockpit and swingman. Replays are not properly implemented although you do get a slightly ropey playback of any major impact.

UI
Currently it's pretty simple in an rfactor kind of way and i hope it stays like that. Load the game, 2 clicks and you're on track in 10 secs. There's a wealth of options and almost everything is tweakable from the main menu. The simplistic clean nature makes it feel like a piece of software that wants to be taken seriously. Great stuff. I know this is one area where the devs want to make some changes but i really hope they don't complicate things with over the top shift like presentation.

Physics
I find myself in a real dilemma here. As it stands at the moment this is no 'hardcore' sim but that doesn't mean it isn't great. My first thought when i hit the track was 'All these cars have too much grip' and you really can chuck them around. It's definitely a world apart from the shift games though and things are tightened up a LOT. However those people expecting the cars to bite you like they do in some rf mods will be disappointed. As i did more laps and pushed the envelope some interesting things started to happen. The handling is very progressive so as you get faster you can feel the car starting to get away from you and there are lots of warning signs that something bad is about to happen, this makes it possible to catch minor slides and make corrections that would otherwise catch you out. Overstep the mark however and you WILL end up facing backwards or in the wall. Driving the Lotus 68 with this kind of behaviour reminded of GPL on more than one occasion which can only be a good thing. Damage modelling is implemented but not terribly intricate at the moment.

The more laps i did the more i started to really like how this works. It gives you the scope to hustle the car but becomes a real challenge to keep on the edge. I still hold with my initial judgement that the grip levels are too high but it's a very interesting (and addictive) dynamic that kept me playing well into the small hours. In fact despite the cars feeling quite 'safe' I ended up in the wall more times than i care to remember. I didn't encounter any unexpected behaviour - suspension, tyres, aero etc. all feel good although not outstanding. Overall i kept thinking the handling felt reminiscent of Race07 (with a bit more grip and a slightly 'woolier' feel). One other thing i noticed was that corner entry sometimes felt a bit vague but it was 3am. I'm guessing those people used to console/semi-sim racers will think the handling is a real step up. The hardcore simmers will probably remain undecided but still enjoy the experience.

Of course there are no setup options yet so it's possible that a lot of this is down to conservative defaults but it definitely feels like there is scope for another difficulty level above the 'pro' option.

Overall
Despite a few gripes i can't deny that i'm having a heap of fun with this, graphically it's untouchable. Sonically it's undeniably impressive but possibly sometimes for the wrong reasons. There's definitely some real potential in the physics department but it needs refinement. I'd say it currently feels like SMS have put things where they always wanted them for the Shift series. In no way is it an arcade racer but it sits right on the fence. Which side it falls is entirely in the hands of the community and which direction they decide to push. I'm just hoping that the simmers shout louder than the console crowd as there is undeniable potential here. Will it turn into an IR/rF2 killer? or just Shift 3 by another name? It has the potential to do either but regardless of the outcome, the project is completely open to modders and what this alpha build illustrates more than anything is that C.A.R.S is an unquestionably powerful platform that drags racing firmly into the next generation.

Evidently there's a long, long way to go but it's a captivating project and definitely worth an investment to get your hands on the regular builds. C.A.R.S has a real spark under the hood and if you can live with the bugs then even the content contained in the pre-alpha is worth the entry fee IMO.

And any project that has the Stig on the dev team gets my vote! (and no, i'm not kidding!)

Does it have multiplayer yet? I read the press release thing at VirtualR and it didn't say anything about multiplayer.

Nope, currently it doesn't have anything apart from a few cars and a couple of tracks that you can drive in free practice.

The first build does require you to sign into your account before can do anything but there's a lot of people asking for a strong offline component so quite how this system will develop is anyone's guess. My suspicion is that some kind of central licensing system will be unavoidable given what they are trying to achieve.

Yeah I guess running on Microtransactions will require such a thing as a centralized management. Which again means this thing will only last as long as SMS can provide the backend infrastructure. I really don't want another RoF type system.

Just got it. It created two shortcuts on my desktop: cars and cars dx11. The latter does not work for me as I have some graphics errors (guess need to update drivers) but even with lower specs grahics are great. Car details superb. Sounds are juicy, really good.

But unfortunately I have steering lag. Not as bad as with Shift 1 (never tried Shift 2) but it's still annoying. When you drive at 90% you don't notice it, but every time you loose car and try to correct it quickly, things go swinging left and right at different timing you input steering... Easiest to notice when you want to correct throttle oversteer and feel you get things worse with every wheel movement.

I stopped the car and applied rapid steer changes in open wheeler. You can easily notice the lag between your steering wheel input and reactions of front wheel movements. It's not as bad as with Shift 1 but some of it's DNA is still there. Shame as otherwise this product has great potential.

I think this lag is inprinted in Shift engine to make it appropriate for non-analogue console controllers. With on/off input devices is useful as it 'smoothens' the input timing. I really hope SMS focuses on sim market customers with steering wheels.

Sorry to hear that Piotr Steering lag and DX11 not working properly seem to be the two most common problem so far. There's quite a bit of discussion over at the WMD forum. Let's hope both these thing will be ironed out soon.

I hope so. As far as I remember SMS where involved in GTR/GTR2 so they should know how to get it in proper way. After I noticed that in this product I went straight back to GTR2, GTR Evo and rFactor. All there you have crisp correlation of your steering wheel input and front wheels reacting. No lag. Like you should have it with mechanical connection. Here in C.A.R.S. is steer-by-wire feel with inprinted lag.

All other things are there: immersion, force feedback, graphics and already exciting vehicles choice to drive.

RF2 can soon feel sorry for being so lazy with launch, as this one can be real competition for thin wallets of sim racers.

I managed to get the steering lag to the point of being unnoticeable.

You need to disable vsync and make sure you're getting a really good framerate (the higher the better, beyond just smooth looking). So far as I'm concerned, though, this is not an acceptable solution. It needs work. No matter how good a sim's physics may be, input lag makes the experience worthless.

Clearly nobody is really happy with the input/FFB due to all the threads with myriads of different configurations to make it work right. I suspect that people are really trying to find control settings that make the car drivable despite the lag, even if they don't necessarily recognize it as such. Once I had the lag minimized, I went back to the default G27 profile, and with a couple tweaks to get the overall level of force I like, this was actually better than all the combinations of profiler and in game settings I tried.

This should be their absolute highest priority, though I suspect it probably isn't so easy a problem to solve.

What I'm wondering - and I can't read it from their website - is if they are planning to have proper race weekends for proper car groups. I.e. the ability to run practice, qualifying, race against realistically similar cars. Right now they are talking about a "uber-career-mode" where you go from Carts to Formula1 and everything in between - but some people will want to jump right into the class they want to drive, set a weekend or championship there and get going.

Only quick race and career isn't covering the bases.

I wonder, can anyone tell me if the head of SMS is the same Ian Bell that was co-author of Elite?

Sadly not Having a career that went from space trading to motor racing would have been cool!


I'm sure this will happen. They'd be lynched otherwise.

Well, they never implemented Single Race Weekend or championship into the Shift titles. No clue how much of that EA caused.

Also, they should do away with the unlocking (make it optional at installation). I want Race Weekends and championships (a simple series of race weekends) against named opponents. Not the unlocking-work-your-way-up stuff.

I think you should really differentiate what they want to do with CARS from a paid job for EA called NFS Shift... I think they really want to achieve the Car/race simmer's dream with this simulator... yes, CARS use an evolution of the Shift graphic engine but the goals and the motivation are completely opposite from to be leashed by a powerful producer... the idea is brilliant actually: why not to do a dream car simulation with the open help of the sim racer community mixing two world in one? With CARS, SMS is beginning to give serious nightmares to ISI, SIMBIM and Iracing... all much more secretive and closed in their process to produce a good simulator.

Thanks for the previews all - I took the plunge. It looks and sounds great. I'm getting some input lag (G27), but I'll work on it.

I do notice what Darren said about the physics. Even if grip levels may be a bit high, I really don't miss the "Auto-Spin" included with some rF mods.
We'll see where this goes, but my first impression of C.A.R.S. has me wanting more.

I got my Team Member Toolkit as well....gonna wait until the Friday release with AI is posted before installing, was getting like 86k for a download speed, so I figured I'd wait for the latest version.

Seen a screen of that 70's Lotus...damn, that thing looks good! Hope they offer a skinning feature.

I have to admit that i can't put this down at the moment. The more i play it, the more it's obvious there's some heavy duty physics at work here. When you read on the forum that they are even simulating things like gear and throttle linkages you can't help but be impressed. After running C.A.R.S for a couple of days I went back to rFactor last night and i hate to say that it felt basic in comparison. I just hope that rF2 has got the firepower to compete because the competition is looking hot.

Ian Bell has already commented that the high downforce levels are due to the default setup which is maxed out. Today's build should introduce some basic AI with the ability to do a single class race, another couple of tracks, graphic fixes, basic replay function and removal of all the legacy gamepad code which the devs are hoping could help with the lag.


That 77 Lotus is my favourite car in the sim, it'll rattle your teeth and suck out your eyeballs

Here's a plan of the upcoming test track - hopefully in today's build.

Darren, do you know if the weekly builds are complete installs or updates to the existing build?

For some reason, my download speed absolutely sucks to their server and I didn't want to D/L the 71 build if the next one's gonna be a complete replacement.

Today's build will be a complete install. However they are hoping to include an update client to make things incremental from now on.

ETA is 3-4pm UK time.

What do we do with new builds? We delete previous installations and install new build? Or is it an update file?

For this one it's uninstall/reinstall. Subsequent builds should be upgradable using an in-game client i think.

build 0.73 is up. dl'ing now

I still have a bit of a delay with the new version. Not a real issue on the "Audi's" but the open wheel cars really are tough to drive.

I didn't really have the problem in the first place but the new version has tightened things even further for me. For many people it's FPS related. Try turning some settings down to see if it helps. You can drop textures to medium and shadows and reflections to low with barely any difference in visual quality. AA seems to have a big hit and disabling vsync helps too.

Same with me....in the '86 turbo, it's almost undriveable for me. There's so much input lag that I'm having to anticipate where to turn in almost a full second before I actually have to. I've tried lowering details and it's made no difference at all.

Looks good, though....I can always fire it up and look at the pretty scenery...

It's strange, steering seems to be okay, gas seems to have a bit of a delay, gear shifts have a delay, brakes has a bit of a delay, but some buttons on the wheel have no delay. I have my top right button on the G27 as select hud(or whatever it is) and it has no delay, but the bottom left button is look behind, and it has a .5 second lag on it. The only games I have ever had input lag in are NFS:Shift and F1 2010.

Practically the same as Coutie here. The steering seems better now, but there's a gear shift delay. Throttle seems fine. Brakes, I didn't notice a delay, but I'll check it later.

The odd thing was that it didn't immediately recognize the G27 properly. It listed G7 with separate pedals, but showed gamepad mappings. Cycling around it came back to normal, but it wasn't pre-mapped. Clutch is unassigned, and I can't change it. I'll mess with it some more when I get a chance.

Is there a way to get rid of (or lessen) the fore/aft viewpoint movement when you hit brakes/throttle? I suppose I could get used to it, but I'd rather tighten the belts and do some neck exercises.
_______________

I can't resist... Take a look at the screenshots in the first post at this link, by redi:
http://www.nogripracing.com/forum/showthread.php?t=265731

I've seen it elsewhere, but what exactly is "World Movement" in the settings? Can I alter global rotation, or perhaps time as we know it?

The whole steering lag thing seems to be a tricky one to fix. Some people have no problem whatsoever, others had it completely fixed with 0.73 and it still remains for many. I had massive lag issues with Shift2 but CARS seems fine for me. I'm sure they will nail it down eventually. Very frustrating in the meantime though.

The devs word on the gear change delay is that they are accurately modelling the gear linkage which means the cars do have this delay in real life. Many people have said this feels a bit weired so there's some discussion as to if it will remeain. I suspect those people with steering lag might also be getting the same thing with shifting too.


With the new build I found it worked better by setting up a custom profile. If you look in the program folder there's also an alternate .exe that uses different FF code. It game me a good peformance boost but the FF felt slightly odd - some other people seem to like it though. I beleive that the clutch isn't mappable yet. While on track you can also press F1 to bring up the developer menu. This gives you access all sorts of technical stuff.



Yeah, i'm not keen on that kind of thing either. Hopefully we'll get the opton to change it in the future.

To get rid of the head movement, turn World Movement down. I think it's bugged though, sometimes the view is slanted.

There's a nice explanation of the world movement function from Andy here (3rd post down)

http://forum.wmdportal.com/showthread.php?294-World-movement-slider-bug&highlight=movement

Another bug I have is if I turn the wheel like 30 degrees the car just changes directions so fast, it makes it really hard to drive.

I've just noticed I still have steering lag. Driving fast, I move the wheel to the left 45 degrees or so quickly, but the car only reacts when I get to 45 degrees. The wheel in the cockpit seems to line up with what I am really doing, but the car is still behind maybe .2 or .3 of a second.

Too early to really comment on game quality, but it's nice to see development energy being invested in a real simulation instead of getting EAs Shift 2012, 2013...

I'm sure it's not but - Speed sensitive steering?

I've turned that off. Maybe it was just in my head, I tried the test track and it seemed okay. Or maybe it was lag because I noticed it in a race with a bunch of AI.

Still have issues with DX11 with new build, despite refreshing my drivers for my NVidia GeForce 480X.

Lag is still there even with lowered gfx settings. BTW how do you check your framerate there? It's not big and but evident with stationery car. The front wheels are reacting with tiny delay. What worries me, after reading WDM forum, is fact that none of the developers experience any lag or admits it. How will they cure the illness they don't seem to see? Maybe I will record the video and send them :-) They are many posters who say they don't have any lag, which puzzles me. My guess is that they simply have brains that let them with live with it and adjust their reactions.

The lag is so small for me I can enjoy driving off the limit, but when I need to do ultra quick reaction** with steering things go wrong

** the reaction like Lewis did in last corner of his Korea pole lap

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hut-YFi45zc&feature=related

It seems that when you need to do something fast, it takes too long, and then you have to correct that, and that takes too long, and so on and so on until you hit the wall.

Exactly what I experience

Similar here: This latest build seems like an improvement, but the steering input lag isn't gone completely.

Testing the in-game Video settings, using Fraps to check framerate, lowering Reflection Quality from High to Medium gave me a +8-10 FPS boost. The majority of the other in-game Video settings only gave 1-2 FPS differences.

One odd result: Raising Anti-Aliasing from (my default) Normal to High gave a +5-10 FPS boost, but it had some strange visual effects - odd textures - and it showed as "_ON_" in the settings, rather than High, when going back to look at the settings. Something weird going on there. I'll leave it at Normal for now.

I guess this illustrates what's so fascinating about the WMD concept. On the one hand, we get access to bleeding edge development but at the expense of seeing all the bugs first hand. It also gives a refreshing insight into just how difficult it is to be a software developer. The great news is that SMS now have the words largest and most demanding group of beta testers. The steering lag problem is a prime example of how community feedback will cause them to eliminate a potential show stopping bug that the devs themselves admitted they hadn't experienced on their machines.

Took the plunge too. It's amazing, no other word. The attention to graphical detail is stunning :-)

I'm trying to find out what cars are offered? Will there be regular seasons such as Indycar and F1? Will it be online and offline single player?

The initial design document states Karting, Touring Cars, GT1/2/3, Formula Ford, Formula Atlantic, Indy Lite, IndyCar, NASCAR,Drift, Rally, Formula Ford, Formula One, and Prototype. None of this is confirmed yet. and the exact cars will probably be dependant upon licensing etc.

These will be designed into some kind of single player career structure for those who like that kind of thing. The career mode will be optional (and customizable) so no level grinding for those who don't want it. Obviously they will also be usable in multiplayer via an online portal or dedicated server option. The main release will probably include base content from all of the classes with more cars/track purchasable via one time micro transactions.

Once again it's important to state that NONE of this exists yet and will probably change several times before release - it's just a projected roadmap from the first brief of the design document.

Sounds like they want to give iRacing some competition or at least pull some of their road racing fans away. I know iRacing's biggest pull are the NASCAR sim fans.

The SMS guys are working late! 0.74 just sneaked out while no one was looking. Graphics bug fixes, track enhancements, performance tweaks, sound tweaks, basic replays and some more work on handling, FF and lag.

I have no more steering lag in the new version!

0.74 downloaded!

At first I thought lag is almost gone. Formula B at Imola felt great and I was able to push it hard this time.

Then I took other cars to Watkins and I felt lag again. Especially with Lotus68. When it starts wags its tail end it's just impossible to catch. Every correction makes it worse. I went to tail camera and started visious steering moves at low speed. And it's visible that after several moves of steering wheel left and right the lag builds up to amount that car is turning opposite direction where my steering input goes. And in car steering is also lagged in opposite directions.

Don't know... maybe I sm just lost here. Maybe such a car will never accept such a quick steering moves in real life as no human power is strong enough to counter mechanical restistant of steering mechanics and tyres mass innertia. Maybe that's why physics engine is not prepared for that?

Few more things. FF feels stronger for me in this version. It just kicks with gear changes for example.

Two questions:

(1) Anyone knows idiot proof guide to F1 developers menu? Especially FF section. Would like to play with it a bit
(2) What Windows settings do you guys use for G27?

I really like potential this FF represents. After my misery with FF in F12011 I just love it.

FFB, graphics and sounds are 3 things that give me fantastic immersion when driving these cars.

lol, no. Stuff in there seems only for people with IQ of a whole nation. I usually just fiddle with numbers until the game crashes



Not in front of my gaming PC at the moment but i didn't change any windows/logitech setup. I dropped the ingame FF to 50, deadzones, speed sensitive FOV, and speed sensitivity to 0. World movement on 100 (=no car movement)

Feels decent to me. I could probably make it better by tweaking the windows settings but i'm not fiddling with them until the FF/controller code is finalized.

On the subject of developer menu, some of the guys have been working on new lighting profiles. Check out these screenies (ingame shots, DX9)

Build 78 (24/10/11, Team Member+)
Toned down heat haze
Added a few more options to visuals menu
Added gamepad filtering option
Added cloudy weather selection to race menu
Fix for DX9 windscreen corruption bug
Fix for groundcover crash
Updated Glencairn track
Updated Racer car
Improved lighting settings for most tracks
Fixes to car setup menu (still lots of bugs)
Change audio balance to bring out more wind noise
Version number added to UI
Various UI fixes and improvements
Updated kart
Fixed direction of driver head lean in corners
Enabled fuel consumption and tyre wear
Added free camera (Ctrl-F then the mouse and WASD, SHIFT keys)

The release notes above say "Updated kart" and "Updated Glencairn track". To me the new build adds those two items. I wonder if it's an update to those from an in-between build, somewhere between 75 and 77, that members didn't see? It also adds access to a Setups menu, and additional settings under the Visuals menu.

KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS:
Ctrl-I: AI control of player car.
Ctrl-T: switch to trackside cameras.
[ ]: decrease/increase FOV.
F1: display developer menu.
Ctrl-P: cycle to next post processing filter.
Ctrl-Shift-P: switch post processing filters off.
Ctrl-F: free camera.

For some reason, I'm not seeing a link to the 78 build.

Download link:
http://forum.wmdportal.com/downloads.php

Thanks, Papa....I was always finding it on the Forum page and didn't see it there this time.

downloading now

I can see that new build is some 300mb bigger install than the one before

EDIT: steer lag still there, I am starting too loose hope in SMS again :-(

I pickedthis up a couple of days ago.. beautiful looking racer and currently seems pitched somewhere between Shift and rFactor in terms of feel to me.. not quite a sim and not quite a game. However as it is so early in it's development life i am interested in seeing which way it goes.

I am having some issues with my Fanatec setup though which i am having trouble pinning down.. the cars feel pretty unresponsive and i am also getting a lot of "see-saw" in my wheel which adding deadzone doesnt sort out. Does anyone have some base settings for the Fanatec wheels that they would care to share?

iRacing week 13 effectively means no racing for me, so I picked up the 10euro build for interest.
Wow...just Wow!
Cheers
Keith

Have you tried the alternate CARS_FFB.EXE?

It's located in the program directory and uses a different FF method. Fanatec users have reported much better results with this. The team are currently rewriting the whole of the steering/FF code which should completely eliminate any lag/ff issues some people are having.

oo.. no i hadn't darren.. I'll take a look at that when i get home from my shift tonight. Considering the early stages of the build i am quite impressed with what i have seen.

That's good news as I can't run C.A.R.S with the current input lag that I have and I've tried every setting in the book, including the alternate FFB.exe

Just a quick heads up for those who haven't grabbed a build lately. Alpha 0.86 was released yesterday and contains the first pass of the new input and FF code. Most people have commented this has removed most if not all of any remaining input lag. Any that does remain seems to be entirely FPS related and this is also being looking at.

Good performance enhancements and lots of other tweaks and features some of you might not have seen such as car setups, tyre and fuel consumption, early tyre deformation code, more detailed damage meshes, go-karts, the Arial Atom and a very, very early version of Bathurst.

The physics for some of the cars is also starting to get nailed down now. However there are still a couple (like the Atom) which is broken at the moment.

Most feel much better and very connected to the road. Once i dial out the gforce, speed sensitive POV and motion blur, i now have a racing experience which is smooth accurate and starting to really deliver on a 'sim' level.

As always some stuff works well, other stuff is still horribly broken but this is a nice build and worthy of an 'upgrade' if you are running older code.

Any word on gfx improvements for ATI based cards especially with AA?

I own Shift2 and don't get very good performance with that engine with AA on, and from the comments on C.A.R.S. so far I heard it is the same situation for ATI cards, so I have been sitting on the fence waiting to see if they improve that.

Despite being alpha status and massively unoptimized, CARS still runs twice as well as Shift 2 did on my 5970. AA doesn't seem to have a massive impact but it looks stunning without it so i haven't tested a huge amount. One thing i will say is that you need to use the in game settings for AA and AF (lots of options). If you force them using catalyst then there's a big performance hit.

Crossfire works but not very well.

Ah thanks for confirming Darren, good to hear, I may take a try at it as soon as I have some time here soon, much appreciated.

Build .91 Out today. Lots of goodies as usual but biggest news for me is that the place-holder physics for some of the cars is starting to get replaced. Significant handling improvements for many vehicles, you can really start to feel the car sliding and make corrections to catch it. Some of these cars are really starting to make me smile. The Atom is a hoot and the F1 86 Turbo is now officially on the list of sim cars that scare the crap out or me

The Grumpert also makes an appearance along with drivable mesh for Spa and Willow Springs

NOTE: 0.91 was accidentally shipped with experimental FF so it feels pretty bad. Here's a patched .exe to set it back to the proper code.

http://forum.wmdportal.com/showthread.ph...23562#post23562

Atom is good fun now.

I know I sound paranoic but a bit of lag is still there. I did back to back comparison with GSC's Formula Reiza car and Formula B. GSC still has the upper hand for me in how crisp the steering feels and overall physics works.

In simple words in GSC F1 Reiza, every time you overdrive the car and loose it you immediately know what you did wrong. In CARS I am still puzzled but what happened between my steer input and vehicle reaction.

Yup, the lag thing is still WIP. For many it is now gone completely, for some it still remains and seems to be dependant on the CPU. This is the number one issue in the community at the moment so it will certainly be fixed. The team are rewriting the whole of the input/FF code so it'll take time to implement fully.

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

I have rFactor...maybe I'll install it again...

hmmmmm...

Hi chaps,
I have just d/l and tried build 129.. seems a lot more driveable for me on my fanatec than previous builds.. I can finally compete and enjoy a full race.. lovely stuff.

One thing though, as a team member do we get any discount on the final release of the game at all or are we essentially paying for the privilege of being in the Beta at a much earlier stage than is normal? Either way, the latest build is great.

Team Members get a free copy of the game on release

in the words of Mr Burns.. eeeexcellent!

build 135 brings MASSIVE improvement in physics and with a superb new FFB! Try it!

Thats funny, as positive as i was about build 129 i feel as negative about 135... I have lost all ability to be consistent with my wheel and the car now feels more like it is gliding slightly above the track rather than having 4 wheels on the road.

All teh enviromental effects are fine (banging bumpers, kerbs etc) but the actual driving FFB seems non existant to me.. weird.. I wish i could find a consistent set of values for the in game and on wheel FFb options for my Fanatec to keep me happy!

You have a problem, because I can feel every force when I drive... did you remove all the ffb files as they mentioned before to install the new update? The FFB in B135 is really fantastic.

Yeah, i did all as instructed.. however, on reading the forums one of the devs has confirmed that there is a known issue with the FFB on Fanatec wheels so i'm pinning my hope on that being the issue and them being able to resolve it during the dev process.


Good news, this has been posted earlier today from a moderator at the p.Cars forums.. Remco Van Dijk (what a name!)



Hopefully this will be available in one of the next builds.

Guys, further to my post above there has just been an extra build released for team members.. rather than waif for Friday they have released it today due to the FFB improvements and there also looks like significant changes to the actual game itself .. 32 car single player for one.

A good Dutch name!? You must see stranger names in Wales, right?

lol.. yeah.. i guess your right

so I gave in and thought I would see what this is all about!

graphics look good...but what is the differenence between all the different shortcuts? I have about 4 of them

One is DX 11, and the other is DX 9 I guess. The DX 11 one doesn't work for me, everything is green or black. Also, is multiplayer coming soon? It's kind of boring playing alone.

If anyone else uses a G27, does the wheel have zero force feedback when it's centred? Plus 10 degrees each side. That's really messing me up, goes from tons of resistance to none at all, makes the controls feel floaty.

Coutie, I've noticed the same thing....I figured it was either the deadzone of FFB that Logitech built into the G27 or that I didn't have my wheel properly set up for CARS.

Me too. Seems somehow related to the FF strength and lock. I got rid of it by turning the strength beyond 80.

I put it at 100 and I still have it.

Sorry Alex, dunno what else to suggest.

The controller code is the thing that's letting CARS down at the moment. Ironically the best FF i ever had was with the first few builds. Then everyone complained about lag and each time they made improvements to fix the lag the FF got worse!

I've had it feeling decent a few times recently but then it just seems to go screwy for no reason. There's a lot of work going on in that department at the moment so they're continually breaking/fixing with almost every build just now. I'm sure they'll get it sorted eventually but it's pretty frustrating because when everything works it's a heck of a lot of fun.

This is the issue that i am having with Cars at the moment... getting old but i guess it is pre alpha.

For those of you that have Team Member access, yesterdays build (149) is a doozy for me

Simply jumped in, calibrated my controller, hit the track and everything felt great. Not perfect but a much, much improved 'out of the box' controller feel. FF is detailed and predictable, all the cars feel really good now. Still has the lack of sense of speed from cockpit though.

Those of you struggling with controller probs should give it a try (make sure you delete your profile). At least for me and my G27 this is the best build to date.

I agree, Darren.....best wheel "feel" I've had of any version. I still have to tweak the wheel settings...sensitivity and speed sensitive...but, it feels really good. I noticed they took the Steering Lock setting out...at least on the Formula A's...didn't try any of the other cars.

Damn, that thing is gorgeous and I don't have everything cranked up either....if we ever get MP, we'll all end up wrecking just to watch the races.

This build is a step in the right direction but with a fanatec it still isn't great. The wheel lock works now which is a godsend however i get very little actual force feedback other than rumble off kerbs. The wheel is a little heavier so it feels less "floaty" but i still get strange variations in the weight and response to the wheel.

However, it is definitely getting better build by build. The Caterham is great however and when the FFB is working properly with the fanatec then... boy o boy it will be great.

Steve, I think changed for adjustable "Steering Ratio". At least for me it served same purpose, changing between quick and lazy wheel response.

As with Darren, this build 'clicks' for me as far as steering and ffb is concerned (G27)

I don't know whether they had that before but I noticed DRS and KERS buttons on Formula A steering wheel, although did not find the way to map that functions, probably don't exist yet.


As far as speed immersion is concerned, I found that moving FOV to something between 90 and 100 does the job for me. After that I move my seat forward to get the right proportions of cockpit and steering wheel on my screen.

Great product developing out of this I must say. The only think lagging for me is quality of the sound. Some cars are great, some are clearly rushed in release.

In tracks department we have now very early version of Leman. Both 24H and Bugatti. So finally a right place to stretch the legs of that Audi P1 diesel :-)

This sucks with the steering lock taken out. I play with 300 degrees and it feels really bad with 900. I hope it's only temporary.

If you do a bit of reading in the change log and build discussion forums, you'll see that calibration is now a one off thing, and you adjust steering lock on a per car basis, in the setup - by changing the Steering Ratio slider.

This is much better IMO because it means you don't need to change it back every time you swap car. Set it up to your preference for the particular car and that's it.

With regards to the FFB deadzone on the G27, it's something they are working on right now. Currently the G25/7 are the most focussed wheels because they seem to be the most popular. Of course other wheels are being worked on continuously but try to appreciate the dev teams work load. They need to get things right for the biggest audience, as fast as possible. Right now means Logitech support, and other wheels will get better support after the most popular gear is at a sturdy point.

I think a lot of people are mistaking pCARS to be a pick up and play game, when in its Pre-Alpha state, it really isn't. People should read the changelog and the developer posts that follow shortly after release, so they know what has happened and why.

Let's also pay attention to the fact that it is PRE-Alpha. Not Beta, not even Alpha. This is VERY early days, and people seem to be bandwagoning on the hate bus very quickly already because it doesn't feel like the finished and patched sims they're used to!

I'm not directing this at anyone here by the way, just making general comments based on the overall responses I'm seeing.

New Fanatec drivers released.. v116 LINKY ., Maybe this will improve pCars.

Support for custom skins added. Seems to work pretty good

Nice. I didnt notice this in the change log.

There's a new sub forum in the Vehicles section with a lot of discussion about it, some interesting designs coming out already!

Just became a full member... Well I know what I'll be doing tonight

First Impressions are pretty good... Graphically it's breathtaking in many ways... Controls are a bit iffy, but not too far off what I need, and with a bit of further tuning it could be better...

New lighting engine looks good, only I think the sky is too dark.

Version 164's out, with the new lighting system.

It does look very good, but expect a massive FPS hit if you don't lower your settings. I've always ran at whatever it's had them set at on the install and always averaged 42-45 FPS at Bologna in a Formula A the past couple of installs, no matter where I was on the track. Now, it's at 26-29....same exact settings as always have been installed.

No massive super PC here...AMD 3.4 quad BE, AT 5870, 8Gig of RAM...but enough to make most things look purty and still stay fast.

They did say in the forums that there's NO optimization at all on this lighting system, so I imagine it will get better.

Ironically my FPS actually improved with 164 lol

Lighting looking good for a first pass but obviously still lots of tweaking needed. It will look stunning once the track lighting is in effect and clouds etc are reinstated. The new Belgian Forest export is amazing, especially at dawn.

Definitely an 'experimental' release though. It has a few annoying bugs but it's great to see things taking shape.

BTW. Just is case you missed it there's a 'dirty' performance fix. Haven't tried it yet though.

http://forum.wmdportal.com/showthread.ph...ull=1#post88707

How much is project CARS geared towards realistic physics in terms of car handling? Is it trying to be a simulator like GTR2 or more like Shift series that was targeting more for mass appeal and consoles.

I'll take my answer off-the-air :P.

Chris

That depends on your take on 'realistic physics'. Most real world drivers agree the sims cars are much harder to drive that their real world counterparts. C.A.R.S are making it their goal to use the feedback from Ben Collins to create handling that is as close to the real world cars as possible. In most cases that means the cars are a little easier to control than us hardcore simmers are used to. One interesting case in point was when they introduced the Formula A car and many people complained that is was on rails. Ben said that he thought it should have even more grip to be close to a real F1! However C.A.R.S is anything but easy, especially when you push the limit and the 'feeling' of driving a race car is pretty good.

To answer your question, i guess the handling is currently somewhere between the two but there are still changes being made on a daily basis. Whether this is a good thing or not depends on your perspective. Personally i think if they can iron out a few continuing controller issues it will give them an interesting position in the marketplace. For 'casual' racing I'm enjoying it a lot.

I've been thinking about trying RFactor 2. Thought, looks pretty good, but too bad it can't look like Shift2. Then I see this. Wow! No reason not to have both, I suppose.
At the moment, though, both sound pretty buggy. I realize, of course, that RFcator 2 is a beta, and this is only an alpha build.
Are they gearing C.A.R.S. more towards off line, or is this going to be an on line game like the RFactor series? Seems to be a lot going on in the racing sim genre. At the moment, Shift 2 is my only racing game, but I want to get into this. Might finally be time to take a break from flight sims.

It will include a hefty multiplayer component but it's not likely to make an appearance until the main features are finalized. I suspect we're a good few months from that yet.

As you are aware, both CARS and rF2 are in a very unfinished state. By all means pick them up as a glimpse at what's round the corner. Both are amazing in their own way but i'm not sure they would be the best entry point for someone looking to get into sim-racing.

Have a look at rFactor1, GTR Evo, GTR2 and iRacing. All offer different experiences and will provide tons of enjoyment while the next generations of sims take shape. Here at SimHQ we support rF1 and iRacing with rF2 currently under testing. New sims will be considered on their own merits as they appear. In fact with the rF1 Skoda Series about to kick off there's probably never been a better time to jump on board

In short -
rFactor1= cheap, massive content, hugely popular online but creaking at the seams a little.
GTREvo- Slightly better graphics, still a decent amount of content but less online presence these days. Good offline and great for honing your skills.
GTR2 - possibly the best offline recreation of a single race series (FIA-GT) ever, great AI. Still plenty of addons but not as popular these days. Along with GTREvo, the best choice for offline sim racing.
iRacing, - Takes itself seriously, massive online presence with structured online 'career' progression and more stats than you know what to do with. Limited content but all very high quality. Micro transactions can make it expensive.

Here's a good discussion thread about the merits of various sims and what might suit you best.

http://simhq.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/3493385/1.html

Also a shameless plug for mine and Jens article about what to expect during 2012

http://simhq.com/_motorsports5/motorsports_163a.html

If you need any more help or advise, just ask! there's plenty of us here, all with completely different opinions to confuse the heck out of you!

Watching the screenshots and reading your impressions make me very much want to buy this. Sorry if I missed it, but do we already have information regarding the business model, micropayments for cars, tracks, online, a monthly fee for multiplayer?

The final product will be a one off purchase probably in the region of 45 euros. Currently there are no plans for micro-payments, monthly subs or any of that stuff. I'd be surprised if we didn't see some DLC at some point though.

If you want to get on the action early then you can make a prepayment for access to the development builds. The amount you invest dictates the level of access and also counts towards the final purchase price. If you decided to get in early then please remember this is alpha code and still has lots of unfinished content and bugs.

More details can be found on the website

http://www.wmdportal.com/projects/cars/

It really depends on what team member level you buy... for $55 AU I got the Full member and get a copy of the game once it's released... Anything lower then that I guess you'll be either paying the difference or paying for it out right... But you can upgrade you member status along the way...

Nice build today. Lot's of improvements in most areas. Also the first pass of Rouen, Hockenheim, Donnington and Road America!

Donington!!! Yehaw! Looking forward to going home and checking this one out tonight.

Donington!!! Yehaw! Looking forward to going home and checking this one out tonight.

**Bah** I was excited, but i wasn't double post excited.

Donington is gonna be a blast! Been putting in some laps there getting ready for round 2 of SSTCC once Brands is done this weekend.

I'm ecstatic about the confirmation of a laser scanned Brands Hatch though, 25 minutes from my house and my dad used to race there, I've spent more than a couple of hours at that track!

As Darren said, some great additions to the tracks over the past few days. The past few daily builds have made some great improvements to the frame rate drop some people experienced with the implementation of the new lighting engine.

There are some server issues at the moment meaning accessing the game and forums are a little patchy at the moment, so be aware of that!

Wow Rouen? Is it any good?

That was one of my favorite GPL and then rFactor1 track (VLN verson)

ooooo Rouen and improved FPS me liking the sounds of that... Maybe I can bump my settings back up again

For a first pass it's pretty decent. Has a bug that invalidates your laptime everytime you go over the cobbled hairpin, but apart from that it's great.

Mind you, i've only done about 2 laps - can't tear myself away from Road America which is one of my favourite tracks ever Thank you SMS!

I've done several long races and had so many 'wow' moments. From the lengthening shadows and the way the sun twinkles through the trees then blinds you in the corners, through to the the marbles and build up of bugs on the paintwork. The headlight effects are staggeringly beautiful. I've got the AI so they are very believable - still some occasional first corner carnage but if you can get through that i've had the best offline experience since GTR2. Still needs a little more physics work on some cars but the DTM is pretty close to where it needs to be.

Impressive stuff.

Just ran a few laps myself of the new tracks...

Pretty damned nice looking once you get out on track... getting out on track on the classic Hockenheim and Donington GP seem to be a bit of a luck of the draw thing as I'd either end up free falling into a time warp or being thrown around like I've found some kind of launch pad just outside of my garage... turning the damage off made a difference...

Road America on the other hand is beautiful at night, but during the races I seem to start from the pits, but it's still a lot of fun...

And I've got the same problem as you at Rouen DB...

This project is really coming along now. The handling/ffb is starting to feel great, the tracks are coming thick and fast and the graphics are pretty spectacular in places.

Just wondering... is there a license issue or something with all the tracks so far? I noticed tracks are in like The Glen and Road America, but there not called by the track names, and in game theres no sign or anything saying what they are... how hard is it to get a license for these things anyway.

It is a licensing thing. Some licenses are paid up and in the game, Bathurst from memory.. I also think there are some paid up that are going to be laser scanned.. Brands Hatch i think.

At the moment the money for development is probably being used on programming rather than licensing.. As long as the game gets completed I reckon the last thing they will do is complete the licensing deals. I don't think it's too complex a matter, just a matter of making the best available use of current coinage.

Just a bit of a heads up for those who are interested in pCARS but haven't purchased a toolpack yet.

Sometime over the next few weeks SMS will be taking a big investor on board meaning they will no longer require additional community funding to complete the project. Existing members will still continue to get all their benefits but it's likely future applications will be closed.

Details are still a bit vague at the moment but if you want to be sure of getting in on the alpha/beta testing then it would be prudent to get in there quickly.

If it's EA, I'm burning my virtual copy, lol.

I believe they've already said it wouldn't be EA.

Thanks for the prod Darren and Magnum - I bought a cheapskate membership, but looking forward to checking it out.

Hope to buy a membership when I get home later tonight.

Darren, any word if existing members will be able to still upgrade their membership after the new investor(s) come onboard?

Edit - looked at the WMD forum, seen that even upgrades are recommended within the next couple of weeks.

after the contract is sign, no new members nor can you upgrade as this is because the amount of investment has been reached. But all the current perks for your membership will be honoured

Darren, are you "Cluck" on the CARS forum perchance?

I wonder if this means the alpha/beta will close? If a big company is buying them I guess they would have their own QA people.

Good point, Coutie...I imagine there will be a huge uproar if that was to happen.

No, i'm registered under my real name


Currently the word is that there will be no changes to the development process whatsoever. In fact as far as i can tell this was one of the conditions of the new investment. So apart from closing the membership process it should be business as usual.

hopefully...

Quick question, I am at work and cant access the CARS portal to check on this, If i go with the 50 euro membership does that cover the release as well or will I still need to buy when the game is released?

Yes it does.

Full member (50 euros):

Receive a free copy of the released game
Get an opponent named after you
Access to exclusive car(s)

Can CREATE NEW project-specific forum threads
Can READ meeting minutes
Can play WEEKLY builds

Edit: Ninja Darren!

Thansk guys! Am I correct to assume only the 50 euro version gets the game included?


Pretty damn cool to get an opponent named after you! I could get beat by myself LOL

yeah 50 euro version gets a copy of the game after, the other amounts just get a discounted game

Cool
thanks JD

Ok, I completely blame Magnum for this. I've just played 6 hours straight of build 175.

It's going to take a plastic surgeon to get this grin off my face - it's really fun so far. The graphics are awesome (great performance), the tracks are nice (well, I only know Monza well enough to obsess with that, so I guess I mean 'track'), the feel of the car is good and the AI is, um, 'boisterous'. A lot of those clowns race like I would with a few beers inside me, so races are never uneventful. The early lotus's are a riot, and going at full tilt around curva grande makes me both cackle and sweat.

Wow.

I dont have the cash right now (just renewed my iRacing sub for the year) or I would be in as well. Looks pCARS is coming along nicely and will be a huge hit with the racing sim community.

What a great year for racing sims: iRacing, Project Cars, AC, and rFactor2. At the moment we can't say the same for flight sims except for ROF and maybe DCS.

If pCARs' netcode is stable...people will be all over it.

The only downside I see, currently, is the inability to mod. That's what has given rFactor it's longevity. Without modding, rFactor wouldn't be on 75%, and probably more, of the HD's it is right now. GPL wouldn't have the standing it does if we'd all have had to driven those butt ugly default cars...man, they were hideous.

pCARS currently has a very diverse car lineup, which will enhance it's length of playing time, for sure and we don't know what's in the proverbial pipe and what could arise from this new-found backing...that could give them more funding to license new models yet seen. I do think they are being very smart to have such a diverse lineup.

If they add DLC's or modding ability, something to "freshen" things up periodically....it'll be around for a long, long time.

I couldn't stand it anymore. They got my 60 bucks, tonight. Been driving it, and frankly, I don't know how this can be an alhpa build of a game. Don't know much about it, but I thought the alpha stage of a game was real rough around the edges. This is really terrific.
It accepted my old Gamestop wheel and pedals with no trouble, and I'm loving this.

I really hope they release some nascars and oval tracks

I've been tempted by CARS a fair bit .. however i'm not sure how well i'd be able to run it ... i've got a

Intel Core 2 Duo E8600 3.33Ghz
winxp
4 gig ram
Nvidia 9800 GT

so its a pretty old system now, will i be able to run cars resonably or just not bother?

Your payment will be shown on your cc bill under "PayPal *SLIGHTLYMAD".

Really subtle guys.

So you meet the minimum specs, and have a slightly better graphics card. That sounds like, translated, playable with reduced graphic splendour.

Gotta say I'm loving these long point to point tracks... Reminds me of the first Need for Speed...

And has anyone else noticed you can now join events?

I was able to take some of my birthday money and buy into pCars last night. My initial thoughts were, yes the graphics are outstanding, but I'm not really getting into the racing end of it plus the fact it took me for ever to get my DFGT wheel to work.

Well, today I had the entire day to mess around with it and I am hooked on the early Formula 1 cars. If they can come up with an F1 season/career using these cars it would be awesome!

Also, setting up the AI just the way you want them with all the different options is a cool feature.

I can understand why this is in alpha stage because the damage model is non existant and it is still very limited game play wise. Yes parts fly off your car, but there is little to no effect - unlike iRacing. There is still a ways to go with the sim for example no pits (some cases the pits are blocked off), I didn't see options to adjust fuel.

All I can say is that I can't wait to see the product when it is ready to be released.

We need a Project Cars forum

I saw the event stuff, next one is F68's around Rouen. Is it a time trial?

I took that old car around that track for an hour - boy, that's a scary track/car combo. Not lifting off going down that hill gave me a cold sweat, and my time was still a good 10 seconds off of pace. I find that I have to either stick with a car (something less powerful) and really get to know it, otherwise it's a real hard sim.

Love the way you see the leaves flutter on the track now too.

F68's and Rouen track combo is pure goodness. I spent the last half of my afternoon just trying to improve my time.

Yep, although now I've been sucked into the vortex of examining tyre and brake temperatures. I didn't realize the HUD was so good (there's a bunch of keys in the 'controls / pencil' reassignment section). Oh dear, I'm doing set-ups. I can't wait till the replay shows the telemetry..

Yeah I finally got tired of messing with the poor Fanatec FFB even in G25 emulation mode and pulled my G27 out of storage and wow really loving the F1 '68 car, feels great the way you can drift it about.

Really enjoying this title.

I'm spending too much time watching my replays in this sim - absolutely gorgeous!

Yeah the events are time trails from what I've seen... Loving the Rouen 68 combination great fun... Pity I'm around 6-7 seconds slower than the fast guys... It must be in set up...

It's taken a fair few years but for me this is sort of a spiritual successor of Grand Prix Legends. That was a sim where laps was as much fun as racing and pCARS is showing the same kind of feel.

I dunno, there's rF2 which also has this feel to it... It'll be interesting to who really comes out on top out of these 2 titles...

If pCARS doesn't have online racing to a full extent planned, then rF2 will be the winner in my books...

change that to "not a chance", me thinks they've been very optimiztic about their min specs, even with all sliders left and all the fancy stuff turned off (both in the sim and driver control stuff) its a slide show

Ouch!

Are you going to get a refund, or is there an upgrade planned?

Meatsheild that sucks, but make sure you make a note of it on their forums of your specs, your framerate and what build you're running... It's still in development and the FPS for me at least changes from build to build, depending on what they've added to it...

JAMF depending on what team member level you have depends on when you get your updates... I get mine weekly...

Upgrade, not update... as in GPU upgrade.

Oh damn.

I swore to myself I wouldn't get involved in either of the big three until they clearly declare their goals, DRM and what's gonna be in the final.

But I see the vid of Rouen in the Lotus for pCars, and there's the rf2 vid at historical Spa, and I really really feel the urge to get either of them. Assetto Corsa will also have the Lotus and historical track layouts.

So clearly for years there was nothing, and now there's three games giving us historic Formula 1. Oh my.

I guess based on pure "out of the box" content pCARS might likely win. Such a diverse range of race cars and tracks - but then, will they pull trough and allow for full race weekends, qualifying, 20+ Lap races with pitstops et all?

Man I hope so. I'm so wanting a Grand Prix Legends experience with pCARS.

i take that back, after a fair bit of computer tweaking, reinstalling drivers + games, its working with everyone on medium settings expect the post proccess stuff which is off. Have to admit, i likely!

Has anyone read anything on the expected scope of this game/sim?

I mean they have a ton of different race categories now - from what I've seen (certainly not conclusive):

Historic F1
1980 F1
Current F1
DTM
LeMans Prototypes
Carts

But it seems to me right now each of these categories has one car in it. Will they be able to fill them all in, add proper race weekend and championship structure? That's the stuff that will make or break it longterm for me... I've not seen what they envision.

It is planned that there will be a full 'series' within each category along with an offline career structure. Quite what this will consist of is uncertain, but there will almost certainly be the ability to set up custom race weekends.

20+ lap races along with 64 car grids are already available and with the latest builds you can set your starting position on the grid. Pit stops, pit to car radio, animated marshals and other race 'features' are under development.

Anyone notice that there's a console version in development, already being tried on the Xbox 720?

This instantly gives me a slight pause for my enthusiasm for pCARS. Every past title of any genre I've ever tried/seen/read about that's on both PC's and consoles always seems to be a bit lacking, at least for the PC user. Usually, the overall title has to be "dumbed down" technically a bit so the console can actually run it when compared to most sim racer's gaming rigs and then it's "dumbed down" a bit more in realism/physics so the console crowd will actually buy it...CM's F1 series being a fine example of this.

I'm sure this is a business decision, given the number of console gamers worldwide is probably much higher than PC gamers, and from a purely fiscal view you really can't fault them for cross-platforming. I just hope that us PC-only users don't suffer a loss from something that has looked verey promising up until now, with the title having to be downtuned a bit.

It's purely a personal opinion for me, but I'd rather finish mid-pack in a realistic racing title than I would blitz the competition in a multi-platform title like CM's F1 2011. Sure, I harbor visions of being the greatest F1 driver in the world, but locking up the title in that dog of a 2011 Williams with 2 races to go doesn't give me the same satisfaction that being somewhat competitive in a higher fidelity title does.

I sure hope pCARS is the exception instead of the rule.

Steve I think the key part of that is '720'...

This could well mean that this December will be a boom time for the next gen consoles being released, or Microsoft is trying to get a early gauge of what they need to think of for the next generation specs, and if they need to boost them...

But the thing that sets it apart from the CM F1 games is the fact that it's being tested on a console before that console is due for release... Unlike the CM games which were made on what is basically 5-6 year old PC specs...

So while this is a smart business move, it won't be as bad as past multiplatform games. I do hold some trepidation as well, but I do know it won't be as bad as those CM F1 games either...

Guys, while indeed CARS will be multiplatform, the xbox 720 screens were an April hoax.

And while I generally agree that multiplatform titles are almost always a compromise as current consoles lack processing power and most console users tend to use gamepads and no wheels, even the early builds we are playing at the moment feel and play very very well. Looking at the latest tracks and the cpmplex car setups currently in place, this will go beyond every console game I am aware of - including the great Forza 4 - and has a fair chance to rival rFactor2 and GTR2.

Well, glad to hear that it was a SMS prank...

+1

But I could swear there was something non-prankish said about a Wi 1080 version also - months ago?

I would actually surprised if this title does not eventually go multi platform (on next gen consoles). How could they recoup the investment from PC Players only?

Cars is announced for PC, xbox 360 and PS3. Other next-generation consoles are possible, incluiding Wii U and the speculated consoles from MS and Sony.


I kinda like this desciption of the game SMS give themselves:

"When we say "sim racing", we always think about something that cannot be enjoyed by "traditional" players, or as (opposite) something that can be enjoyed by the mass cannot be a simulator ... that's the eternal dilemma: simulation vs arcade. We should change this mentality, we're here to prove that realistic physics and awesome graphic can live together to give some great fun to the hardcore simmer AND to anyone else. This is supposed to be a AAA game for PC and consoles, we're not going to sell it only to a "niche"."


link: http://forum.wmdportal.com/showthread.php?4480-Full-Member-vs-Team-Member-tool-packs/page3

http://www.virtualr.net/project-cars-build-192-available

build 192 released... but for me, not liking many of the cars... personally I prefer and waiting for street cars.

Thanks for the heads-up, I'm not trying any more builds until they release the updated Fanatec driver, the current Fanatec FFB sucks IMHO and it only feels decent for me with the workaround of installing the Logitech driver and running the Fanatec wheel in PS3 mode as a G25.

I know it's only beta so I'm trying to avoid getting annoyed with it, so for me it's best not to try any more builds until I see that the release notes include the new Fanatec driver, personally I think getting the FFB working decent is more important than all the graphics enhancements done each build to avoid another Shift2 FFB feel, but they said they are working with Fanatec now so hopefully it will be good soon.

kludger... i posted this in my screenshot thread... not sure if you've tried any late versions...

"BTW FANATEC owners, not sure if new in this release, I skipped a couple, but more Fanatec options, and now you can tune the wheel to exactly 900 degrees, then it will match the car (like iRacing) and alot better now, not perfect, still very stiff... but much better now."

Thanks Magnum, I think I had tried that same build as you, but I will check just in case.

I had posted on their WDC forums and the recommendation had been to use PS3/G25 mode for the Fanatec until the new driver update, but I will doublecheck just in case.

As Magnum states, the fanatec ffb has improved alot. It's still quite stiff but it's very much drivable.
I must say I enjoy the scenery driving the coastline roads.
I'm impressed with the speed they improve the whole game.
Fixing issues,releasing new content,cars,tracks...really amazing.

New version... Patch able

http://www.wmdportal.com/

Racing the '90 stock car at Road America is brilliant fun, and I'm not even a Nascar fan!

Stock car was the first car in the game to see me going faster than 300hm/h. On California highway. Still had 230+ when I hit the wall.

Recent announcements have confirmed future releases of three Mitsubishi Lancers, the Evo VI Tommi Mäkinen Edition, the Evo IX FQ 360 and the Evo X FQ 400.

This morning 3 Pagani cars were also announced, the Zonda R, Zonda Cinque and Huayra!

Exciting times!

New FORD cars comming



Official annoncement

RS Cossie and the BTCC Focus - Drool. Just need some more BTCC cars to challenge them now! Team eBay BMW's and I'll be in heaven!

YES!!!!!!! There's going to be some V8 Supercar fun to be had... This is brilliant news!

I was holding off on getting this because I already have too many games on the go, but Mustangs, Sierra and Capri oh my.

Well they've added the Pagini Zonda R.... WOOOOOOHOOOOOO

Too bad I can't play this patch as it's a slideshow from the 80s at best... Hopefully next weeks patch is better...

There's been a bit of complaint with the latest consumer nVidia driver if you're running that? They've suggested the previous one or the developer beta.

What settings/hardware do you run?

Hot Damn! A few days ago, Magnum posted a photo of the Mustang GT500. I answered, saying, "Only way I'm ever getting a chanceto drive that is if Project Cars does a version of it." Looking forward to it.

Well that latest update could well be it...

AMD FX6100 x6 CPU
8 GB 1333Mhz RAM
Nvidia Geforce GTX 560 GPU

on Windows 7

Monaco is shaping up nicely under the name of Azure Circuit!

10 Classic Lotus cars have been officially announced. Classic F1 fans, assemble!
Linky

Ah, the 78 JPS. Had one as a tiny slot car.

Fantastic!!!

New Team build 234 available. A good one too!

- It's a patch not a build (353MB)
- Formula 'Rookie' new car
- Azure Circuit (Monaco)
- 'Ghost lap' thing (not sure about that as yet)

Gave it a good run earlier today... Man that Zonda is fun...

Big one today everybody, the very first pass of the Nordschleife has just been added for all users!

It's only the initial pass of the loft at the moment (A floating ribbon with some grass/bushes/barriers. None of the corners/angles/rises and falls are final.) But its on the way and you can get a laptime in now!

This game is starting to turn into my Sim if choice now that they are well the way to ironing out the issues with Fanatec wheels.

I love the look of the Sim and the physics and ffb engines are really starting to come together.

I know it may be seen as heresy on this forum but if I am honest I think I prefer it at this stage of development to rf2..

LOL I saw a clip on YouTube.. it's like racing in the sky!

What's fantastic is that you really get to see the vast expanse of the track and also the crazy elevation changes. I'd love to see other tracks like this!

Monaco is kind of similar to this at the moment too, just the loft and a few of the buildings in place! Really interesting to see how much altitude variation there is in the tracks.

Good to hear they are finally working on the Fanatec FFB, all the builds I've tried in the past had terribly disappointing Fanatec FFB IMHO so I quit downloading it, sounds like I will download the latest one to check out the Fanatec FFB and Nordschleife, thanks for the heads up.

That is one thing for me where rF2 has easily been better than PCARS so far FFB and physics, but I am still really hopefull for both titles to get better and better in their weak areas.

Bollocks... I spent the last couple of nights trying to find out why my graphics had suddenly gone corrupt, thought it was drivers or an installation problem. I'm an ass but then again, such is the quality in some areas of the game I often forget it's still pre-alpha.

For those of you needing that last bit of temptation; Yet another amazing announcement as BMW join in the fun. We'll be seeing these incredible cars in the coming months of development.

2012 1M Coupe,
1978 320 Turbo Group 5,
2012 BTCC 3 series,
1999 V12 LMR,
1981 BMW M1 Procar,
1991 BMW M3 Group A Touring Car,
1940 328 Touring Coupe,
2008 F1.08 (Sauber Formula One),
2012 Z4 GT3,
2012 BMW M3 E92 GT.

Linky!

Now excuse me while I go wash my underwear

Stop it, Ragtop! That's enough. Don't you know there's a Steam Summer Sale on now? THINK OF THE CHILDREN!

Love the potiental... but someone wake me when they real street/muscle or Grand Am type cars.

thx

It's an English development team, and we like corners in England

That's because it isn't very big - little known fact: You can only get up to 190MPH in an M3 and then you have to start braking in Ludlow

That BMW announcement was good news - the funny thing was I couldn't tell if they were photos or in-game shots lol

Haha!

Funny story - One of the test pilots of the SR-71 Blackbird was up at Duxford Aviation Museum (they have one in the American Aircraft Hangar there) doing a talk at one of the American Air days, and he was talking about a display it flew on the South Coast. Apparently one of the crew made a small error in the navigation calculations and they managed to 'miss' England and hard to turn around over the French coast!

You'll probably be interested in this one when it gets started, Magnum.

2013 GT500

Not been a date set as to when it will be started, but once it does...development seems to go pretty quick with most cars.

Yep, definitely.

Thats actually the car I want, right now... color and all.

Some nice beamers there... the lineup in this title is increasingly juicy.

wow! nice collection of BMWs!

Didn't see mention of it, but Build 261's out now. It's a patch on 249/254, so use the Launcher to update.

For the first time, I took the Lotus 49 out at Rouen...I usually run at Imola in the FA's...and all I can say is wow! Set the time of the day to 10AM, made it lightly cloudy going to clearing and ran some laps. Graphically, it is impressive as hell in either DX mode! The tree shadows on the road really make you have to concentrate and really give it a different visual feel than any other racing sim I've tried.

I still don't get the tire feedback I'd like to and that might be due to my settings, but that Cosworth Lotus is a ball, and can be a challenge, to drive. If you haven't tried that combination and ran GPL back in the day, give it a try and have a smile put on your face. While the Lotus 49 doesn't have the same characteristics as the GPL one did, it's still a lot of fun and what a view.

I dunno why but I don't have access, and I usually get the weekly build on a friday...

Pumbaa, you have to use the Launcher now.

I used to just download the torrents and install them, but it screwed up royally this last time I had to start using the Launcher to get the correct version. There's instructions on the Download page on "How To" do it correctly now.

Thanks Steve, I'll look into it and hopefully have it running while watching the F1 qualy...

I finally downloaded this last weekend and purchased the Junior membership, or whatever it was called, and no matter how I set things up I can't get more than 10 FPS. My computer runs iRacing with everything maxed except shadows and I easily stay above 40 FPS. With all the graphic settings on low or below you'd think it would work ok. And with those settings it looks worse than SimRaceway. (which lasted about an hour before getting uninstalled!)

Lowell, what kind of system specs are you running? I'm running what you be considered a mid-level system I guess and can get close to 40FPS on any of the mostly finished tracks.

I somehow missed the DirectX 11 option. Much better at startup. Will play with it this week and see if I can dial it in.

Even on DX9, it should look pretty damn good for you. I don't really see much difference between FPS in DX9 or 11 either, just a couple of frames is all.

on my Laptop(wich has Xfire) I have the same FPS running DX9 as DX11, but in DX11 it's choppy like hell(but got no problem with my PC), so I play with Dx9

I get 2-4FPS more with DX9 than DX11 and that's overall, anywhere around the track. I use the same track/same car to check with each update the differences. I've really been impressed with their ability to keep the DX11 version so close to the DX9 one, FPS wise. There's some distinct differences, especially lighting wise, for me between the 2 versions graphically but the DX9 version still looks better than any other DX9 title I've got.

Getting ready to go to a Crossfire setup myself, so I'm hoping I don't see the micro-stutters with Alternate Frame Rendering that some have seen with pCARS and other titles.

Other than in game is there any other way to configure the video settings for the DX11 version of the game? DX9 works fine for me, but in DX11 I get the upper left quarter of the screen like this...

Patch 266/267 is out...just launch the Launcher (which will update to V5 as well) to get it if you're installation is at least Build 249 (base) or Patch 261.

Great little announcement today, 3 new cars on the way courtesy of Ginetta

G40 Junior - 101BHP 1.8L Zetec 4Cyl
G50 - 300BHP 3.5L V6
G55 GT3 - 540BHP 4.5L V8

Going to make for some excellent racing!

Awesome....big fan of the Ginettas

Finally, nordschleife is starting to come together nicely
Really looking good. I put some laps with the Zonda R with the latest build this evening.
Great feeling! It's been a while since I drove it.



Some months ago, I found what was wrong with the fanatec steering.
Once I set the spring (Spr)to off (default is 100) the steering suddenly came to life.

To be honest that is one video that doesn't quite kill me. The sounds are literally like cloned out of Shift1 and the visuals are similar.

Nordschleife is looking great though, especially without all those fake signs and ridiculous circus tents from the Shift games...

Still waiting and hoping for them to get the wheel FFB better, but the track is definitely looking great as it develops...