Lets talk about the horrible graphics of this game

[FuriousDemon]

Ok lets forget those other games since they look just fine on my tv from my distance and lets look at pcars 2 which uses the same game engine.
Pcars 2 is not a looker but is not as bad as 3

I seriously think that it’s some kind of a bug or a new method of doing AA or adjusted resolution they tried that didn’t work out and they didn’t fix before release. There is no reason for pCARS 3 to look worse than 2.

 

[ynot]

I play it on a standard PS4. Not as good looking as GT Sport but the more you play it the better it starts to look because you get used to it. Same as an ugly girlfriend. Also if your playing custom or lobby races keep the weather and time off. Seems to look better mid day clear skies. I'm just enjoying the game.

 

[Animera]

If you're on PC ...

 

[djm99]

The main thing I find (Xbox One X) are inconsistencies between circuits. Some look fantastic, Road America stood out to me after years of playing the Forza version for example.

Screen tearing is pretty rough at night, in Multiplayer and on street circuits. The lack of anti-aliasing is pretty noticeable in places too. According to Digital Foundry the game runs with a dynamic resolution, even in Prioritise Framerate mode, but never drops to 1080p.

Forza Horizon 4's framerate mode locks the game to 1080p but also helps guarantee 60fps. That's something I'd like to see, as generally everything else about the game I am enjoying

It has screen tearing? Noooo!!! I thought screen tearing was a thing of the past?

 

[byoung]

I can get by with the real tracks and their graphics for the most part but the horrible Azure Coast and California Highway look like a PS2 game. They are terrible tracks too for the most part with the silly jumps and so on.

 

[micmansour]

Daytona seems to bring out the worst in the game (PS4 PRO, 4K 65" Sony Bravia HDR TV).

To be fair, PC2 had/has it's bad moments too

 

[ynot]

Really hoping they care enough to fix this game

 

[SportCoaster]

It's not just the graphics that suffer, but the controls feel like they have a delay when it comes to steering. Everything else works perfectly, but it just feels like it takes a quarter second for my Car to actually turn.

 

[beyond72]

While this is only useful for custom races, I find the game can look it's best at Dawn (or sometimes sunset) with the colors /lighting helping mask some of the problems, esp in chase cam. It varies from track to track, sometimes Dawn will be darker/lighter and also the other conditions Spring - Winter or clear or cloudy effect things too. But Dawn is a good starting point for most tracks.

 

[PJTierney]

the horrible Azure Coast and California Highway look like a PS2 game.

Which PS2 game in particular, or is this hyperbole?

 

[byoung]

Which PS2 game in particular, or is this hyperbole?

I guess Burnout 2 was the one that came to mind. I really like Project Cars 3, its a fun game and I dont mind the graphics except on those 2 tracks and to me they look terrible there.

 

[ynot]

It's not just the graphics that suffer, but the controls feel like they have a delay when it comes to steering. Everything else works perfectly, but it just feels like it takes a quarter second for my Car to actually turn.

There is some adjustments you can make in the settings for dead zone and some other stuff. I have not tried messing with them yet. Maybe take the steering dead zone out and see how it is then.

 

[Cyclonus]

I don’t think the graphics look that bad on my one x. Course I think it depends on time of day too...some of the rain races just look meh. But I remember the rain races in pcars 1 and 2 not looking that great either

 

[SportCoaster]

There is some adjustments you can make in the settings for dead zone and some other stuff. I have not tried messing with them yet. Maybe take the steering dead zone out and see how it is then.

I don't think there are Deadzone Settings for the Controller, unless I'm missing something?

 

[ynot]

I don't think there are Deadzone Settings for the Controller, unless I'm missing something?

I think the adjustments in the wheel section will apply to the controller too. Any any event it does not hurt to try them.

 

[breyzipp]

The main thing I find (Xbox One X) are inconsistencies between circuits. Some look fantastic, Road America stood out to me after years of playing the Forza version for example.

I agree, I was on Road America as well for a race and the graphics and lighting looked fine. But then when I was for a race in Shanghai it looked like a complete disaster. Honestly, I don’t think I have any racing game on my Xbox that looks as bad as that, not even plan old Assetto Corsa...

Side note about Forza: Please do compare it with FM6 since FM7 was a graphical step down from FM6 as well, esecially on Road America. Blame that 4K 60FPS marketing BS for it.

 

[Zeitoss]

Same here (on One X).

Same tracks under certain light conditions, and under certain seasons, are good (example Oulton Park or Caldwelll in daytime conditions), while others are really terrible how everything is off or poorly implemented (Shanghai or in general night/rain condition).

However, it is also worth noting that some polygonal models are never good in all conditions.
The protection tires at the sides of the tracks are octagonal, and also the distinctive (and supposedly) round back lights of many Ferrari models are octagonal as well.

Out of all big racing games I played this gen for all platforms, I don't recall this extreme simplification in the graphics.

And is a big pity, because the game remains good to play, but it looks like they decided to release it without the necessary care.

 

[Wolfe]

Out of all big racing games I played this gen for all platforms, I don't recall this extreme simplification in the graphics.

And is a big pity, because the game remains good to play, but it looks like they decided to release it without the necessary care.

Graphically, it certainly strikes me like an afterthought port of a PC game. I have quite low standards for graphics by comparison to popular sentiment here, and even I think the game looks sloppy.

Mainly I wish I could turn off the damned motion blur and dial back the post-processing to how I had it in PCARS2. Somewhat-rough visuals aren't so bad without the overcooked flourishes giving it a "lipstick on a pig" effect that reminds me of dressed-up shoddy titles from no-name developers.

I don't care about aliasing or octagonal tire-wall tires or taillights so long as the image is clean and cohesive...and runs at a reasonably stable framerate. As it stands, PCARS3 offers none of the above.

 

[ynot]

Graphically, it certainly strikes me like an afterthought port of a PC game. I have quite low standards for graphics by comparison to popular sentiment here, and even I think the game looks sloppy.

Mainly I wish I could turn off the damned motion blur and dial back the post-processing to how I had it in PCARS2. Somewhat-rough visuals aren't so bad without the overcooked flourishes giving it a "lipstick on a pig" effect that reminds me of dressed-up shoddy titles from no-name developers.

I don't care about aliasing or octagonal tire-wall tires or taillights so long as the image is clean and cohesive...and runs at a reasonably stable framerate. As it stands, PCARS3 offers none of the above.

You can turn off camera shake and hud shake but I don't know about the blur. I use roof can most if the time and the shake is still too much for me but the blur seems to be OK. Makes me a little motion sick sometimes. Bumper view I notice the motion blur.

 

[Corsa]

I picked it up, 15 hours into it now. It looks really good supersampled on PC.

Diving into the file settings, I see what’s going on here for console players and will update this post with a picture of your default (locked) graphic settings when I get home this evening.
Everything for console is set to low/medium low. 1’s and zeros down the line, PC settings averaging medium/high 2’s and 3’s.
With everything on high/ultra I’m seeing performance around 100fps @2560x1080, nvidia CP sharpening set to 100/ Ignore film grain 75 cleans the image tremendously. Of course for console they have to limit values for desired framerate, but texture filter 1? Wow.

Console

PC

Edit: Afterburner is showing GPU usage 85-99% (very normal) running at 64c, CPU usage 40-45% running at 50c with settings on Ultra. The game is well optimized running this cool.

This sim/game whatever it is, is extremely addicting and I quite like it.

 

[ynot]

I have camera and hud shake off on PS4. Still get some bouncing. Anyway to calm that down? Different camera view seems to help some but I use roof or hood view depending on the car. I don't see any other settings. Just wondered if I am missing something. Some races still get me a little motion sick. Seems worse using a controller vs my T300rs.

 

[Corsa]

I have camera and hud shake off on PS4. Still get some bouncing. Anyway to calm that down? Different camera view seems to help some but I use roof or hood view depending on the car. I don't see any other settings. Just wondered if I am missing something. Some races still get me a little motion sick. Seems worse using a controller vs my T300rs.

I noticed this too a bit. I don’t see any world movement options, also all the code I usually tweak in the game files are encrypted.

 

[Sam714]

Im looking forward to playing PC2 on the new Xbox Series X. The extra power should mean screen tearing, judder and AI performance on bigger grids (remember PC2 has 30+ car grids compared to PC3 lol) should all be be better. Plus PC2 has better graphics than 3 anyway. I think it will feel like a new game on the new Xbox

 

[PJTierney]

I picked it up, 15 hours into it now. It looks really good supersampled on PC.

Are there any decent mods or filters available out there that may work with this game?

Wouldn’t expect anything as impressive as SOL for Assetto Corsa but I do wonder.

 

[Corsa]

Are there any decent mods or filters available out there that may work with this game?

Wouldn’t expect anything as impressive as SOL for Assetto Corsa but I do wonder.

All the files are encrypted. Years ago guys did it using python it was a massive pain.
Nowadays most use hex editor with AES decryption tools.
I would just use Reshade and Nvidia CP to sharpen for now, until someone puts in the effort.
Reading through Discord I don’t know, there doesn’t seem to be much motivation.

 

[ynot]

Are there any decent mods or filters available out there that may work with this game?

Wouldn’t expect anything as impressive as SOL for Assetto Corsa but I do wonder.

I thought you worked for them.

 

[Corsa]

I thought you worked for them.

Haha No.
I'm just an average sim racer like you, but I am currently 3rd in my rFactor 2 league! I've never been fast in any Project cars game, they are good fun but the cars act strange near the limit.

 

[zeptrans]

Sometimes, and it's maybe not the case here, you need to change your TV setting (to video game mod).

But this PC3... graphics, physics, career...

 

[PJTierney]

I thought you worked for them.

I work for Codemasters, not SMS. I have no direct involvement in the development/publishing of the game, so essentially to all of you I'm just another player

I play Project CARS 3 (Xbox) in my spare time because I enjoy the game, and am curious about the PC side of things since I have a Steam copy too

 

[IfAndOr]

So... I haven't got a room filling 4k TV but I do have a 32" fast refresh rate 1080p HD monitor. Does anyone with a PS4 Pro run with a similar set up because I was wondering what the graphics would look like? I'd imagine that maybe there should be an improvement with both frame rates and general visuals at the lower resolution. PC2 has always looked good to my eyes on this screen*. Extra pixels aren't everything.

Also the Pro's supersampling option might knock the frame rate slightly but could possibly help reduce the "jaggles" on HD screens.


*DiRT Rally 2.0 also looks good on it @PJTierney. Yes I bought that instead of PC3.