Hey all, I know how much everyone hates lists of mods so...
Here's Volume 8 of the Assetto Corsa Multiple Track Mod Review Project or
HEY RUSTY, PLEASE ADD ME (GUTBOMB) TO THE BAD MODS LIST.
Volume 1 - A is
here.
Volume 2 - B is
here.
Volume 3 - C and D is
here.
Volume 4 - E, F, and G is
here.
Volume 5 - H and I is
here.
Volume 6 - J and K is
here.
Volume 7 - L and M is
here.
N
Nazareth Speedway
Testing Car: IndyCar 1995 Penske Oval
Folder Name: nazareth
Author: @iks
Download: https://mega.nz/file/qCoihA6T#4wPrBwRxm7h0GwcXq-TpqlCVGdPKLDrUbzkzOSR9j9c
Well this is a conversion and it definitely shows. Weird textures, a little overexposed but nothing too bad. Unfortunately not a lot of care was taken in the conversion so the hotlap start is actually in the middle of the grass in the infield, several textures are set to light up for no reason, and the road mesh is very bumpy in an unrealistic way. Overall, not great. I do understand that it's a work in progress though so hopefully more can be done with it in the future.
Folder Name: aa_Nazareth
Author: @damone13x
Download: https://mega.nz/file/lnIUHKiS#3EzRKS-KpKIbwtB-5tZltnrPUhyUPruO7VF1XCrhQe0
This one is so much better. Many more trackside details, everything looks correct, the timing objects are in the right place, and the AI knows how to drive on it. Great fun. Get this version.
New Jersey Motorsports Park
Testing Car: BMW 2002 Turbo (AC Cars Reworked)
Folder Name: njmp_lightning
Author: LilSki
Download: https://www.racedepartment.com/downloads/new-jersey-motorsports-park-lightning.14212/
This place looks fantastic. It's a barebones local track in New Jersey so there's not a lot of scenery, but the grass, trackside details, pit buildings... everything looks like tons of attention to detail was paid, and it's made by one of the most legendary track builders for AC so it makes sense that it would look as good as it does. Absolutely flawless. Get this version.
Folder Name: nj
Author: Gilles75
Download: Pay Mod
https://celletson.wixsite.com/acclassics/modern-tracks
One of the biggest scams I have ever seen in the world of AC modding. So someone converted Lilski's masterpiece to rFactor 2, and Gilles converted that conversion back to AC, changed the trees and the grass texture, and sold it as his own work. Nope.
New Plymouth
Testing Car: Ford Focus RS Mk2 Time Attack
Folder Name: new_plymouth_tt
Author: Neil Shaw
Download: https://www.racedepartment.com/downloads/new-plymouth-r-t-b-beta.13463/
There aren't enough safeguards on this track to keep you from flinging your car off the track. Some barriers, catch fencing, or just the way the berms on the side of the road are structured, if you go off the road you go flying and can't get back on to the track. Sure, drive slower or drive better. It's just not fun. It's also pretty ugly with very blurry ground textures. I love the attempt that was made here, it's just not particularly useful.
Folder Name: new_plymouth
Author: Neil Shaw
Download: https://www.racedepartment.com/downloads/new-plymouth-r-t-b-revised-w-i-p.21200/
This is an interesting case because this is a different version of this track, but it's done by the same guy. He went back to the drawing board and started over and this one is much better. It still has some flaws like the 3d grass is way ugly and the hotlap start has you embedded in a fence so it doesn't work, but other than those its... fine. It's not a masterpiece, but it's fun. Get this one. I hope he revisits this and makes some improvements.
Nogaro
Testing Car: Subaru Impreza WRX Bugeye Wagon
Folder Name: nogaro
Author: Terra21
Download: https://www.mediafire.com/file/km73hfsj6vv47az/nogaro.rar/file
This is a mixed bag. Good about of detail everywhere, but some textures that are supposed to be transparent that aren't. Overall not terrible but not great.
Folder Name: zw_nogaro
Author: Zwiss
Download: http://www.mediafire.com/file/wzkojytpkyleeqw/zw_nogaro_v2.5_by_ZWISS.rar/file
This is a stellar improvement to Terra21's version. It has much nicer grass, everything looks more realistic, and especially the asphalt looks much nicer. All of the areas where attention wasn't paid to detail in Terra21's version have been overhauled and this is definitely the one to get.
Modern Nordschleife
Testing Car: Audi R18 e-tron quattro 2014
Folder Name: ks_nordschleife
Author: Kunos
Download: Dream Pack 1 DLC
Lots of detail here, as expected. It not onlt looks great but it also has added atmosphere being able to hear the crowds and the euro-techno they are playing. A fantastic rendition of this track. There are also a few layouts included, and many layouts that the community has added. None of the others are as good as this one and it's so cheap nowadays, just get this one.
Folder Name: nord_snoopy_1.1
Author: snoopy?
Download: https://www.racedepartment.com/downloads/nürburgring-nordschleife.2270/
Looking at this track for what it is, it's pretty good. It is from 2014 and it came before the kunos DLC version and while it's not as high quality as the Kunos version, it's not supposed to be. It's an rFactor conversion. It's flaws include being overly bright, almost neon green in spots, a couple textures where the transparency is not set (like bridge railings) and obviously accuracy since it's not laser scanned. But for what it is, it's pretty good. The Kunos version exists and is usually dirt cheap, so there's no real reason to grab this anymore, but for that time before the Kunos version was available this would have been "good enough".
Folder Name: Nordschleife
Author: Tmanning47
Download: https://www.racedepartment.com/downloads/nordschleife-tourist.2233/
This one is not really worth bothering with. Trees are placed haphazardly, some are floating in mid-air, some are a bizarre shape that I've never seen in nature. Most of them are also too dark. There are massive holes in the terrain that you can see the sky through, and the road mesh is undrivably bumpy in any car with a stiff suspension.
Historic Nordschleife
Testing Car: RSS Formula 79
Folder Name: 67nord
Author: Gilles75
Download: Pay mod -
https://celletson.wixsite.com/acclassics/retro-tracks
First the good stuff about this track. It is functional. The walls are actually walls. Now the not so good stuff: the green stuff is too green, the road texture is too small and noticably repeats way too often. Signs are stretched to weird aspect ratios. The road surface is bumpy in a low poly road mesh kind of way. the 3d grass is upsidedown (???) and it's just not very good.
Folder Name: nordschleife_faux_vintage
Author: Legion
Download:
I don't know much about the origin of this track, I do know that it's fantastic though. It's a lot of fun, and looks beautiful. It's got some inaccuracies because it's the modern layout with a vintage backdrop (barriers removed, old style curbs and buildings) but that's why it's Faux vintage. There are a couple weird things, like some trees that are see-through and a tent that floats in the air. Despite that this place is still beautiful and it's really cool.
Folder Name: nurburgring1967
Author: WilliamTRiker
Download: https://www.racedepartment.com/downloads/nurburgring-1967.28207/
This is awesome. It has a ton of trackside details, takes place in the fall instead of the summer, is fairly accurate to the layout (I mean, it's not laser scanned or anything, but the layout is correct) and it just looks beautiful. The road surface is bumpy to an appropriate level, and it just feels dangerous. There are several track layouts as well. This one is very similar to Rainmaker's but I give this one the edge simply because of the extra layouts. You can't go wrong with either of them though.
Folder Name: nordschleife1965
Author: Rainmaker
Download: https://www.mediafire.com/file/3yzvmm2f1xfhkl9/N%C3%BCrburgring_1965_v1.0_by_Rainmaker.7z/file
This track and WilliamTRiker's version have a lot in common. They appear to be converted from the same source, this one with a summer atmosphere and different sponsors. Either way you go they are both great 60's Nordschliefe tracks.
Folder Name: 75_nordschleife
Author: Tiago Lima
Download: https://www.racedepartment.com/downloads/nordschleife-75.2828/
This one looks like it also comes from the same source that the Rainmaker and WilliamTRiker versions come from, but this time with a 70s flavor. Unfortunately this one has a lot less attention to detail and the color correction is way off. The track surface is also super low-poly so it's bumpy in all the wrong ways. I wish there was a decent 70's Nordschliefe, unfortunately this one isn't it.
Addendum
Albert Park
Testing Car: RSS Formula Hybrid 2019
Folder Name: albertpark
Author: tomj
Download: https://www.racedepartment.com/downloads/melbourne-grand-prix-circuit.2498/
This one is bright and video-gamey. A lot of the trackside objects are pretty low-poly but that's not to say it looks bad, it's just not super detailed.
Folder Name: albert-park
Author: ACU
Download: https://sharemods.com/katb25vylxp9/albert-park.7z.html
I Believe this is a conversion from one of the Codemasters F1 games and it's pretty high quality. The version I downloaded has DRS zones included and blasting the 2019 Formula Hybrid around this track is awesome.
NEW!!!
Folder Name: melbourne_2018
Author: patrikpat
Download: https://mega.nz/file/pAJWAQQb#fAYZjvdYv__sFqFudU08jtehMAKwXtEy3cL8ljO29NU
Ok, so this one is complicated. There was a 2018 version of this released by patrikpat and when it was initially released all of the grass was transparent if you were using the recommended version of Custom Shaders Patch. They released a fix (which should apply automatically with content manager if you have config auto downloads turned on, if you don't, go to the custom shaders patch settings section and download the track config), but unfortunately this fix didn't work for me.
NEW!!!
Folder Name: melbourne_2019
Author: @slider666
Download: https://sharemods.com/286z4nv7yqt8/melbourne_2019_v1.5.7z.html
This is an overhaul of patrikpat's 2018 version and has grassfx added. It looks great and fixes all of the issues from the patrikpat version. This is the one to get.
Algarve
Testing Car: Lada Riva 1.5E Catalyst
Folder Name: algarve_international_circuit
Author: Tiago Lima
Download: https://www.racedepartment.com/downloads/algarve-international-circuit.2874/
There are no glaring flaws with this version, but it definitely looks older and slightly less detailed than the Reboot version, but that's not to say it's not good, it is really good. It feels slightly bumpier and only a little bit less refined.
Folder Name: algarve
Author: AC Track Reboot
Download: https://sharemods.com/fjev0y8jas6m/algarve.7z.html
This version looks more detailed and it seems to have been smoothened a little bit, but not too much. There are still bumps in the road and that's a good thing. Lighting and detail are just a little bit better than Tiago Lima's version. It's definitely good.
NEW!!!
Folder Name: zw_algarve
Author: @Zwiss
Download: http://www.mediafire.com/file/7o030anzo18n0ax/zw_algarve_v2.0_by_ZWISS.rar/file
A ton of little tiny changes to the reboot version add up to a much greater experience. This track performs a lot better, especially in VR now that everything has been optimized. Some of the trackside details have been remodeled to be more realistic, colors have been tweaked to match real life, and the skidmark groove doesn't look like it's floating above the track anymore. An excellent version of this track and my new favorite version of Algarve.
Gothenberg
Testing Car: Volvo 242 Turbo
Folder Name: gothenburg
Author: Gilles75
Download: Pay Mod -
https://celletson.wixsite.com/acclassics/modern-tracks
I can't actually find much bad to say about this track. It's still a bad idea to give Gilles money for his scummy tactics of stealing other people's work, but at least this isn't his usual steaming pile. One flaw is that off-track areas are not marked as invalid, so you can cut major parts of the track with no penalty.
Folder Name: nrms_gothenburg
Author: @norms
Download: https://www.mediafire.com/file/6goc8r7febot76x/gothenburg.7z/file#
Then
@norms comes along and drops this fantastic version which blows the other one out of the water. The asphalt texture, the better lighting in general, the color correction, the new swedish sponsor boards, everything is better. Definitely get this version.
Mid Ohio
Testing Car: Ford Mustang Boss 302R
Folder Name: mid_ohio
Author: Terra21
Download: https://www.mediafire.com/file/fl83fbq85unv3ye/mid_ohio.rar/file
This place looks fantastic! The grass, the textures, the trackside surroundings, the visual detail of the road surface, the trees, everything looks great. I've heard complaints that it's too bumpy but it seems fine to me. I don't know what this was originally converted from but Terra21 did an excellent job. For me, this is the one to get. I understand that some people hate the bumpy surface though.
Folder Name: nagp_mid_ohio
Author: NAGP
Download: https://sharemods.com/7tpw1zte35gn/nagp_mid_ohio.7z.html
So this is the Terra21 version with the road smoothed out a bit and a lot of details removed. I've never driven there but I've seen videos and it seems like a pretty bumpy place to me, so I'm not entirely certain why they smoothed it out. Also the lack of trackside details and the removal of the rubber on the road really makes this one look less good. For those that hate the bumpy surface of the Terra21 version I suppose this one is fine, but the loss of detail really keeps this one from being my choice.
Folder Name: midohio
Author: ACCC/Virtua-LM
Download: https://www.mediafire.com/file/hn11kk1dhdco0hs/midohio_accc.7z/file
This one is an older conversion and it shows. Textures are overexposed and not color corrected and it's overall lower in detail, it's not bad, it's just not as good as the Terra21 version
NEW!!!
Folder Name: zw_mid_ohio
Author: @Zwiss
Download: http://www.mediafire.com/file/ayi9vr85jz6gko2/zw_midohio_v2.0_by_ZWISS.rar/file
This is another excellent overhaul by
@Zwiss. This takes the NAGP smoothed version and puts all the details back from the other one, and then some. Performance is improved, lighting is improved, the grass looks perfect. Definitely grab this one, it's the new king of Mid Ohio.
