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"..all cars, teams, drivers, liveries and circuits of the seasons we will recreate".
Does that mean that ACC won't cover only the 2018 series? Or just a simple mistake?
By the way, Brands Hatch looks really nice at night.
Kunos Reveals Assetto Corsa Competizione: Official Blancpain GT Game Coming This Summer
- Thread starter er185es
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Does that mean that ACC won't cover only the 2018 series? Or just a simple mistake?
By the way, Brands Hatch looks really nice at night.
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- Johnnypenso
From that interview, translated by Google
:That the license Blancpain GT was a perfect outlet for the potential of Assetto Corsa we had already guessed a year ago, privately announcing the Licensing Manager of Kunos Simulations to get information on the new project of the team based in Vallelunga ("Assetto Corsa Blancpain plays good, no? "). Marco Massarutto, as a consummate dissimulator as he always was, had not hesitated to pass us false and biased information that gave the new game first as a shopping cart simulator, then Reliant Robin, until the bombshell of the purchase of the official Wacky license Races from Hanna & Barbera. Today Marco is here with us to make amends for his mendacity, but above all to answer a series of questions about what we can really expect from Assetto Corsa Competition in the coming months.
All the trees look 3D to me:
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emil frey jaguar confirmed, that should be the car count up to 12, if I'm not mistaken.
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All the trees look 3D to me:
They might look like 3D but i highly doubt all of them are, because having only 3D trees would be really taxing on the GPU, not to mention consoles GPUs. What i expect is some trickery that is already used in GT Sport and even used better in PCars 2 where they have 3D trunks but the foliage consists of several 2D layers which rotate in your direction. In PCars 2 the trees to me look stunning. I mistook them for fully 3D trees first.
"..all cars, teams, drivers, liveries and circuits of the seasons we will recreate".
Does that mean that ACC won't cover only the 2018 series? Or just a simple mistake?
By the way, Brands Hatch looks really nice at night.
I had to zoom the picture to make sure it was not a real photograph. Amazing effects. Just wow.
y
I agree with the jist of your post, but wanted to let others who may be reading this post know that ACC will not be a console title. Just PC through Steam.
I don't recall reading from them that they will NEVER launch the title on consoles. Just that right now they are focusing on releasing on Steam, and seems they will need to work their asses to make it on time.
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I think you're right. Tiny number, just like for tracks.
- 28,470
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- Johnnypenso
Stunning but it makes me think I might have to double up on my GTX1080's to get this to run on triples at 60 fps"..all cars, teams, drivers, liveries and circuits of the seasons we will recreate".
Does that mean that ACC won't cover only the 2018 series? Or just a simple mistake?
By the way, Brands Hatch looks really nice at night.
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Whitestar
Premium
- 2,079
- Norway
- Whitestar127
All we have to go on is Marco's statement which says this: "Alberi, vegetazione e pubblico saranno animati e in 3D" --> "Trees, vegetation and public will be animated and in 3D" (per Google Translate). Maybe the visible trees in front will be all 3D and the ones you can't really see will be some "trickery". Who knows.
As for "seasons": the e in "stagione" (season) will be pronounced very similarly to the i in "stagioni" (seasons), so this could very well be a transcription error.
IIRC all they have said so far is that it will be the 2018 season, so I think we should just settle with that, for now at least.
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- BrandonW77
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- Johnnypenso
These guys are great for the sim racing genre. Can't imagine where we'd be without them at this point. Their candor is refreshing!!
EDIT:Just heard my question from the RD Forum
Maybe it's because I'm Canadian and grew up surrounded by a dozen different languages and cultures but it bugs me when a media "professional" doesn't even make a minimal effort to learn the proper pronunciation of something as basic as someone's name or their product name. Stefano Cassillio? Competishionay? Especially annoying when you're interviewing someone who has learned your own language as a second language!
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Daniel Ricardo. Not sure what bugs me more: the fact journos don't miss Pronounce his name, but actually call him by a different name. Or the fact he has given up on correcting people ( though I do kinda get it as I got tired of having to explain my name to people constantly and just use my middle name, and they still struggle with Marco lol)These guys are great for the sim racing genre. Can't imagine where we'd be without them at this point. Their candor is refreshing!!
EDIT:Just heard my question from the RD Forum
Maybe it's because I'm Canadian and grew up surrounded by a dozen different languages and cultures but it bugs me when a media "professional" doesn't even make a minimal effort to learn the proper pronunciation of something as basic as someone's name or their product name. Stefano Cassillio? Competishionay? Especially annoying when you're interviewing someone who has learned your own language as a second language!
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I wonder if the damage is going to go up a notch in ACC:
Corsa
Premium
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Part 1 at 42:00 answered my question of the rules being replicated to Blancpain actual 2018 book.
Good also to here "everything" meaning all teams, all cars being included.
My question now is Marco said "Yes, 2018 season then we'll be moving on to 2019 season"
I'm smelling DLC for next years series.
- 12,018
- Indianapolis
- BrandonW77
How much does Blancpain change from one season to the next though? If there aren't any new cars or tracks for the 2019 season then all they'd need to update is team rosters and liveries for 2019. I know a lot of series run pretty much the same schedule every year, no idea how Blancpain does it.
Corsa
Premium
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Mainly team changes.
Lexus is now running full time this year, there's also a new Bentley team.
The big ones AF Corsa, Audi, Grasser always stay the same except some drivers.
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- TRAPPIST-1g
- ProjectWHaT
It's very dense with information!
For those who can't watch the video, here's all the major points paraphrased:
Was Unreal 4 the first engine choice?
They tried Unity back in the beginning of Assetto Corsa. They were deciding between using their current engine or starting from scratch with a new one. They tried Unreal 4 first, and it worked right away.
Has Unreal 4 been alright to work with until now?
"Our quality of life went a bit down." AC was faster to compile compared to Unreal 4. The end result is worth the time they put into it. The graphic team loves it, doesn't require the programming team.
During AC, when did you guys start to focus on a new title?
A part of the team moved to the new game, but we couldn't talk about it. If you read between the lines of the change logs, you would notice something changed (no new features, only cars and tracks). Their beta testers would ask what they're working on but they couldn't reveal anything. AC2 work began around second half of 2016.
Would it have been possible to partner up with Blancpain without 505 Games or Digital Bros?
They had an idea to partner with Blancpain before 505 Games. They proposed the idea to 505 Games. They could have funded it themselves had there weren't any interested investors.
Has the Kunos team increased in size to accompany the new game and engine?
Kunos is much smaller than their competitors. They hired 4 new programmers. 1 senior programmer for graphics and post-processing, 1 mechanical engineer for physics, one dedicated programmer for UI animations, and the guy from Minorating. If they didn't have 505 Games, then they would have only hired 2 guys. Thanks to the resources from 505 games they can have bigger ambitions.
What attracted you guys to Blancpain?
From fan suggestions, GT racing was always near the top, right below night racing and weather. WEC lost some interest because Porsche and Audi left. Blancpain is growing a lot. It is the most complete racing series. It features: sprint, endurance, night, wet conditions, different levels of drivers, driver swaps, etc. things the AC fans wanted. "Blancpain was the natural consideration."
Have they (I think they mean Blancpain) put any pressure on you to change the focus of the game, simplify it, make it appeal for a wider audience or do you still have reasonable rein to make it what you want?
They saw genuine enthusiasm from SRO. They loved the original prototype of the game. They really wanted their own official game like F1. They knew about AC's reputation and they wanted a good representation of their series. SRO never asked them to change the DNA of the game. Even if they did, they probably would have decided not to work with them. Doesn't make any sense for them to compete with bigger companies. If the physics sucks, it's their fault and no one else's.
Why is it called Assetto Corsa Competizione?
"Assetto Corsa isn't just a product, it is a brand. It is a synonym of authenticity, realism, accuracy."
What does it mean when you said ACC is just the tip of the ice berg?
It is a completely new product. It is not just to feature Blancpain, but to create a fully immersive experience. It is their first step in their long term strategy. "A bit early to think about it"
Is it more a partnership with Blancpain or a standard license agreement?
At the beginning it was a license agreement, but as they showed SRO the progress they were making, it quickly became a genuine partnership. They took the challenge because they like to be challenged. F1 is completely unrealistic, not only because of cost, but because of licensing and rules, brand, etc. You have to create a game for the masses to keep it sustainable.
Is ACC basically AC2 or is it a prequel to AC2?
Too early to tell. They need to take baby steps before they make any decisions. They don't even know if there'll be a AC2. At the moment for them, "the world ends with ACC. That's our target". After that target, then they'll think about the future. They won't close any doors. They're trying to make the game engine general, not specifically only for GT3.
Unreal 4 is a long term investment, not a one time thing for ACC, assuming it works out?
They're in for the long term. It's great, they're happy with it. They're not big enough to work on 2 projects at the same time. Already really crazy.
Will there be more details since ACC is so focused?
Yes, because there's a smaller amount of cars that are similar. In AC, it was difficult, because when they changed a small thing, Aris had to update all the cars. One time, they changed the tire model while Aris was on vacation, so when he came back he had to update all the cars. It's very difficult to change things in a game that's already out, because people are used to the current version. People would get mad. They are more free to experiment now. Their new physics guy is doing amazing work for tire flex, aerodynamics. We have tire flex!! They've always had it, but now it's better and visible in the graphics. Aris is now free to experiment, such as brake temperature influencing tire temperature. They're currently in the fun part of the project, where it's okay to break everything. It's almost time for the part where you can't break everything. If someone finds something interesting, if it breaks everything, they'll try to implement it.
Will the FFB code be completely rewritten for ACC or will it incorporate elements in the new game engine?
The FFB is a thin layer on the top of the physics, it's not doing much. At the moment it has not changed at all since it was brought over with the old physics engine. When they say physics, it includes "both physics and artificial intelligence". Physics and AI are brought over from AC and everything else is rewritten.
Is a console release possible in the future? Linux? Vulkan support? Windows 7?
They're not closing any doors when it comes to consoles. They hope everything they do will become compatible with consoles. They had to completely redo the AC UI for console since it used the mouse originally. "Continue to build for console and see how things are going" A third party engine has a lot of the work done for you, it has a lot of features. Therefore it also limits you if you don't like how it's performing. "If we can offer a good game for console, why not? We will be super happy. If we can't, there's nothing we can do." Unreal engine is working on Vulkan support. They'll upgrade to the next version of Unreal 4. They'll commit to it and will have better Vulkan support. DirectX11, DirectX12, Vulkan support. That is not in their control. It's complicated. Linux, probably not. No one in Kunos uses Linux. Not easy, complicated. Linux support would not make sense, commercially. To put the game on Steam they had to list the minimum requirement. When they did that, they thought if Microsoft is dropping Windows 7 support, why should we support it? There should be no problems on Windows 7 though. They won't break it for Windows 7.
People say Unreal 4 works better with Nvidia graphics cards than AMD. Have you experienced this? Have you put extra work for AMD?
They don't think it's the case. It shouldn't perform worse on AMD than Nvidia. It would depend more on drivers. It's not a problem. They can't support one card batter than the other. There's nothing in the code that can determine what card you have. They have both cards in their studio.
Real world drivers use AC for practice. Has Blancpain been able to bring more drivers to help develop the game?
SRO wanted the drivers involved in the game first. They'll meet with the teams at Paul Ricard soon. They already have some good partnerships thanks to the Vallelunga race track. The cooperation with the teams will only be more effective than in the past. "Numbers never lie". They work with the data from the team engineers. Driver feedback is subjective. They invite drivers to drive the same car in the real world. Faster drivers say the car is well balanced, ok, and good enough. The slow drivers always found something wrong with the car.
Small story:
A Formula One Academy driver visited Vallelunga before his test. He never been there before. He drove for several laps on the simulator. At one of the turns, he lost control and and hit the wall. He said the car doesn't feel real. They thank him for the advice. The next day, he drove the real car on the track. He crashed the car at the same place, at the same wall, in the same way.
They'll attend some Blancpain events this year. After Misano, they'll work directly with the team and drivers. They'll test the game and take advice. They also have a very famous race car driver that they get very important feedback from. They can't reveal who, not a testimonial. They know drivers who use AC so it'll be interesting to see what differences they can find between AC and ACC. The problem with driver feedback is that the code is based on numbers and the feedback is over there. It's very difficult. Understeer, oversteer can be fixed with a setup change. Talking with engineers is important because they work mentally similarly to what they're doing in the code.
Having the Blancpain license, has it made it easier to access information from the teams? Richer set of data for ACC than AC?
In terms of CAD data and car data that they receive from manufacturers, they already have a good amount of information. What changed is that now they have better access to teams. They're not scared to share their data. Through SRO, the teams know they are not unknown people trying to sell their data, but they're trying to accurately represent their cars, their drivers, their teams, their liveries. It has changed how they approach us.
Do you expect to implement the full cars, teams, drivers, rule packages, etc. in the Blancpain series?
They'll reproduce the whole 2018 seasons and then they'll work on the 2019 season. They have everything from 2018. All the rules, all the aspects. All the characteristics of he Blancpain series. "You can also join the championship or race as a sprint driver or endurance driver and so on."
Will it have a proper offline race weekend (proper number of practice sessions, qually, race, Thursday practice session, Friday practice session, etc.)?
Yes. All the practice sessions also the right time of day for the qualifying session, at night for example.
They tried Unity back in the beginning of Assetto Corsa. They were deciding between using their current engine or starting from scratch with a new one. They tried Unreal 4 first, and it worked right away.
Has Unreal 4 been alright to work with until now?
"Our quality of life went a bit down." AC was faster to compile compared to Unreal 4. The end result is worth the time they put into it. The graphic team loves it, doesn't require the programming team.
During AC, when did you guys start to focus on a new title?
A part of the team moved to the new game, but we couldn't talk about it. If you read between the lines of the change logs, you would notice something changed (no new features, only cars and tracks). Their beta testers would ask what they're working on but they couldn't reveal anything. AC2 work began around second half of 2016.
Would it have been possible to partner up with Blancpain without 505 Games or Digital Bros?
They had an idea to partner with Blancpain before 505 Games. They proposed the idea to 505 Games. They could have funded it themselves had there weren't any interested investors.
Has the Kunos team increased in size to accompany the new game and engine?
Kunos is much smaller than their competitors. They hired 4 new programmers. 1 senior programmer for graphics and post-processing, 1 mechanical engineer for physics, one dedicated programmer for UI animations, and the guy from Minorating. If they didn't have 505 Games, then they would have only hired 2 guys. Thanks to the resources from 505 games they can have bigger ambitions.
What attracted you guys to Blancpain?
From fan suggestions, GT racing was always near the top, right below night racing and weather. WEC lost some interest because Porsche and Audi left. Blancpain is growing a lot. It is the most complete racing series. It features: sprint, endurance, night, wet conditions, different levels of drivers, driver swaps, etc. things the AC fans wanted. "Blancpain was the natural consideration."
Have they (I think they mean Blancpain) put any pressure on you to change the focus of the game, simplify it, make it appeal for a wider audience or do you still have reasonable rein to make it what you want?
They saw genuine enthusiasm from SRO. They loved the original prototype of the game. They really wanted their own official game like F1. They knew about AC's reputation and they wanted a good representation of their series. SRO never asked them to change the DNA of the game. Even if they did, they probably would have decided not to work with them. Doesn't make any sense for them to compete with bigger companies. If the physics sucks, it's their fault and no one else's.
Why is it called Assetto Corsa Competizione?
"Assetto Corsa isn't just a product, it is a brand. It is a synonym of authenticity, realism, accuracy."
What does it mean when you said ACC is just the tip of the ice berg?
It is a completely new product. It is not just to feature Blancpain, but to create a fully immersive experience. It is their first step in their long term strategy. "A bit early to think about it"
Is it more a partnership with Blancpain or a standard license agreement?
At the beginning it was a license agreement, but as they showed SRO the progress they were making, it quickly became a genuine partnership. They took the challenge because they like to be challenged. F1 is completely unrealistic, not only because of cost, but because of licensing and rules, brand, etc. You have to create a game for the masses to keep it sustainable.
Is ACC basically AC2 or is it a prequel to AC2?
Too early to tell. They need to take baby steps before they make any decisions. They don't even know if there'll be a AC2. At the moment for them, "the world ends with ACC. That's our target". After that target, then they'll think about the future. They won't close any doors. They're trying to make the game engine general, not specifically only for GT3.
Unreal 4 is a long term investment, not a one time thing for ACC, assuming it works out?
They're in for the long term. It's great, they're happy with it. They're not big enough to work on 2 projects at the same time. Already really crazy.
Will there be more details since ACC is so focused?
Yes, because there's a smaller amount of cars that are similar. In AC, it was difficult, because when they changed a small thing, Aris had to update all the cars. One time, they changed the tire model while Aris was on vacation, so when he came back he had to update all the cars. It's very difficult to change things in a game that's already out, because people are used to the current version. People would get mad. They are more free to experiment now. Their new physics guy is doing amazing work for tire flex, aerodynamics. We have tire flex!! They've always had it, but now it's better and visible in the graphics. Aris is now free to experiment, such as brake temperature influencing tire temperature. They're currently in the fun part of the project, where it's okay to break everything. It's almost time for the part where you can't break everything. If someone finds something interesting, if it breaks everything, they'll try to implement it.
Will the FFB code be completely rewritten for ACC or will it incorporate elements in the new game engine?
The FFB is a thin layer on the top of the physics, it's not doing much. At the moment it has not changed at all since it was brought over with the old physics engine. When they say physics, it includes "both physics and artificial intelligence". Physics and AI are brought over from AC and everything else is rewritten.
Is a console release possible in the future? Linux? Vulkan support? Windows 7?
They're not closing any doors when it comes to consoles. They hope everything they do will become compatible with consoles. They had to completely redo the AC UI for console since it used the mouse originally. "Continue to build for console and see how things are going" A third party engine has a lot of the work done for you, it has a lot of features. Therefore it also limits you if you don't like how it's performing. "If we can offer a good game for console, why not? We will be super happy. If we can't, there's nothing we can do." Unreal engine is working on Vulkan support. They'll upgrade to the next version of Unreal 4. They'll commit to it and will have better Vulkan support. DirectX11, DirectX12, Vulkan support. That is not in their control. It's complicated. Linux, probably not. No one in Kunos uses Linux. Not easy, complicated. Linux support would not make sense, commercially. To put the game on Steam they had to list the minimum requirement. When they did that, they thought if Microsoft is dropping Windows 7 support, why should we support it? There should be no problems on Windows 7 though. They won't break it for Windows 7.
People say Unreal 4 works better with Nvidia graphics cards than AMD. Have you experienced this? Have you put extra work for AMD?
They don't think it's the case. It shouldn't perform worse on AMD than Nvidia. It would depend more on drivers. It's not a problem. They can't support one card batter than the other. There's nothing in the code that can determine what card you have. They have both cards in their studio.
Real world drivers use AC for practice. Has Blancpain been able to bring more drivers to help develop the game?
SRO wanted the drivers involved in the game first. They'll meet with the teams at Paul Ricard soon. They already have some good partnerships thanks to the Vallelunga race track. The cooperation with the teams will only be more effective than in the past. "Numbers never lie". They work with the data from the team engineers. Driver feedback is subjective. They invite drivers to drive the same car in the real world. Faster drivers say the car is well balanced, ok, and good enough. The slow drivers always found something wrong with the car.
Small story:
A Formula One Academy driver visited Vallelunga before his test. He never been there before. He drove for several laps on the simulator. At one of the turns, he lost control and and hit the wall. He said the car doesn't feel real. They thank him for the advice. The next day, he drove the real car on the track. He crashed the car at the same place, at the same wall, in the same way.
They'll attend some Blancpain events this year. After Misano, they'll work directly with the team and drivers. They'll test the game and take advice. They also have a very famous race car driver that they get very important feedback from. They can't reveal who, not a testimonial. They know drivers who use AC so it'll be interesting to see what differences they can find between AC and ACC. The problem with driver feedback is that the code is based on numbers and the feedback is over there. It's very difficult. Understeer, oversteer can be fixed with a setup change. Talking with engineers is important because they work mentally similarly to what they're doing in the code.
Having the Blancpain license, has it made it easier to access information from the teams? Richer set of data for ACC than AC?
In terms of CAD data and car data that they receive from manufacturers, they already have a good amount of information. What changed is that now they have better access to teams. They're not scared to share their data. Through SRO, the teams know they are not unknown people trying to sell their data, but they're trying to accurately represent their cars, their drivers, their teams, their liveries. It has changed how they approach us.
Do you expect to implement the full cars, teams, drivers, rule packages, etc. in the Blancpain series?
They'll reproduce the whole 2018 seasons and then they'll work on the 2019 season. They have everything from 2018. All the rules, all the aspects. All the characteristics of he Blancpain series. "You can also join the championship or race as a sprint driver or endurance driver and so on."
Will it have a proper offline race weekend (proper number of practice sessions, qually, race, Thursday practice session, Friday practice session, etc.)?
Yes. All the practice sessions also the right time of day for the qualifying session, at night for example.
Wow that took way longer than expected
DavidMonoy97
(Banned)
- 371
- United States
Since mods won't return, are they planning a drift expansion pack?
- 28,470
- Windsor, Ontario, Canada
- Johnnypenso
Modding isn't officially supported doesn't mean they won't return. As long as they aren't actively prevented I'm sure they'll find a way. Not sure why they'd include a drifting expansion pack in a GT3 themed sim but one can always dream.
- 12,018
- Indianapolis
- BrandonW77
GT3 only, they've said this multiple times.
- 1,240
- Jounieh
- Georgeagea
The problem is not with cars classe; my biggest worries is tracks.
Take F1 for example; a great game/series with only 1 single type of cars. And it doesn't even come close to what Kunos offers in AC regarding F1 cars. So I just can't imagine the amount of details ACC will have in that regard.
But 10 tracks?!?! Only 10?!?! and no green hell?!? That's bad! F1 games have around 18.
I guess they should add more tracks, even if they aren't race-able in eSports or official championships, but make them race-able in online casual lobbies and single player etc...
Take F1 for example; a great game/series with only 1 single type of cars. And it doesn't even come close to what Kunos offers in AC regarding F1 cars. So I just can't imagine the amount of details ACC will have in that regard.
But 10 tracks?!?! Only 10?!?! and no green hell?!? That's bad! F1 games have around 18.
I guess they should add more tracks, even if they aren't race-able in eSports or official championships, but make them race-able in online casual lobbies and single player etc...
- 4,915
- Bulgaria
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- Johnnypenso
It does seem like a big risk on the part of Kunos when you look at it that way, especially if the Nurb isn't included. It's kind of been a must have in all sims for quite some time. I wonder if they'll add tracks outside of the Blancpain series over time. It is a game afterall. During the recent livestream one of my questions from the RD Forum was asked. I wondered whether this was a usual licensee/licensor relationship or more of a partnership. My reason for asking that question was because of this very concern. If it's more of a partnership then you have to satisfy all parties and that might mean Blancpain putting the kibosh on non-Blancpain content. The answer to the question was that it started out as a traditional licensee relationship and morphed into a partnership of sorts.
I'll still get it and if the racing is good, well organized and busy it could end up being my go to online racing sim. If the racing is not good it'll probably get shelved in favour of something with more variety. I've been racing in the Sim Racing System in Assetto Corsa for a couple of days and like what I see so far. I imagine it's going to be even better than that and that's good enough for me so I'm optimistic.
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