Project CARS 3 Developer Blog Explains New Tire Physics, Confirms Pit Stops Are History

[fernandito]

I still think that the removal of pitstops and other sim stuff related to tyres and car behaviour has a lot to do with the performance issues very well known on consoles of pc2, and all those bugs also related to pits and the rest that never got ironed out.

That is why it baffles me they didn't make a proper pc3 for the next gen consoles, improving on pc2 legacy taking the advantage of the huge power that they are supposed to have, let alone when knowing that GT probably won't improve its physics once more even on the next gen, but as always just the graphics and the photorealistic stuff Yamauchi is so fond of.

 

[Scaff]

I doubt the vocal opinion we hear now is enough to kill the game, the internet discussion boards just don't represent the majority of the players that buys and play the game. Grid 2 removed cockpit view and gets a ton of backlash for it on the internet but it still sold well and often treated as one of the better Grid games lately. Every NFS release has many people talk about how bad the game is in every aspect but it still sold well.

What I think SMS did is just what Grid 2 did at that time, they have their own set of data that shows what the players enjoy playing the most and decided to build the whole game based on those data. Now they are probably betting on the pCARS name is well known enough to drag casual folks that don't follow every bit of news into the game.

Which is rather ironic as When Codies defended cockpit removal by saying only 5% of players used it, Ian Bell countered with ‘we are the 5%’.

I also think it’s potentialy misleading to look at sales of series such as need for speed as a base line. They have an established brand that they haven’t done a hard left in, which is why they continue to sell well. They know the audience and stick to what it wants as a core.

 

[T0MMY3688]

I also think it’s potentialy misleading to look at sales of series such as need for speed as a base line. They have an established brand that they haven’t done a hard left in, which is why they continue to sell well. They know the audience and stick to what it wants as a core.

NFS is one franchise that happily change the direction whenever they think is right, the sudden swap to Underground theme back then was surprising then going back to classic in 2010 with B2D and attempts to do track racing with SMS. The brand name helps NFS a lot but I don't really think NFS care as much for its audience at this point, it is way too segregated to even cater to NFS franchise as a whole. I do felt like SMS are changing styles and theme in similar way of what NFS did and I guess they are betting that slapping pCARS 3 name on it with a casual theme will help sell the game.

 

[Pearl Jam]

Unpopular opinion but I’m loving this new direction the game is taking. I work 12 hour shifts so the last thing I want to do is spend another 12 hours setting the car up before racing, I just want to hop in with the minimal of fuss, just like Driveclub used to be (still PS4 greatest racer) like the guy said, if you don’t like it then don’t buy it, quite simple really..

 

[Benny44]

Its just my opinion based on a lot of the comments that PCARS3 is unfortunately not what 95% of the followers of the PCARS series expected, (given the comments about the information we have at hand to date.
That leaves the other 5% doting over another fantastic product by SMS, which is all well and good, and SMS will now be counting on picking up a whole bunch of new followers given the new direction it is taking with PCARS3.

I am doing my best to keep an open mind on it......but I have certainly lost a lot of faith in it being a historic success, with promises of it being "everything everyone could ever hope for" in a sim, being made by SMS.

Anyway lets just see what the next information is in the next marketing release, as I am sure it will either add further fuel to fire or calm a lot of the mob hysteria down.....lol

This is a mature attitude to have. Just see what it is before rushing in to say grand, sweeping statements like 'SMS has killed the franchise'. There is a lot of hate, but let's see what happens when it comes out. I am willing to bet even some of those who say stuff like this may still buy it.

I still think that the removal of pitstops and other sim stuff related to tyres and car behaviour has a lot to do with the performance issues very well known on consoles of pc2, and all those bugs also related to pits and the rest that never got ironed out.

That is why it baffles me they didn't make a proper pc3 for the next gen consoles, improving on pc2 legacy taking the advantage of the huge power that they are supposed to have, let alone when knowing that GT probably won't improve its physics once more even on the next gen, but as always just the graphics and the photorealistic stuff Yamauchi is so fond of.

Interesting. I had a suspicion that maybe it was just processing power, but this could be as well. I've never really experienced bugs (I had the game day 1) but I know a lot did.

@Pearl Jam - 100% agree. I work fairly long hours as well, outside in a physical job. I want to spend time racing, but in reality I only race about 3 or 4 hours per week some weeks. I usually just want to have fun. But that doesn't mean I want my cars to feel like an arcade game

 

[Scaff]

NFS is one franchise that happily change the direction whenever they think is right, the sudden swap to Underground theme back then was surprising then going back to classic in 2010 with B2D and attempts to do track racing with SMS. The brand name helps NFS a lot but I don't really think NFS care as much for its audience at this point, it is way too segregated to even cater to NFS franchise as a whole. I do felt like SMS are changing styles and theme in similar way of what NFS did and I guess they are betting that slapping pCARS 3 name on it with a casual theme will help sell the game.

The core for the majority of the NFS titles has always been the exact same, toad cars racing on the street.

The few occasions they have moved away from that it’s been signposted from the outset in all marketing and has also resulted in lower sales for those titles.

SMS is missing the clear marketing and ignoring the risk of lower sales.

 

[IfAndOr]

In many ways this is a strange thread. It's people discussing what a game they haven't got doesn't have.

toad cars racing on the street.

T.C.R. I'm already looking forward to that.

Spoiler: T.C.R.

Have you also noticed how quiet IB has been during all this pandemonium?

Probably because he's now, I think, a director on the board of Codemasters. He has to reign himself in a bit more than we've been used to.

 

[Morgoth_666]

Unpopular opinion but I’m loving this new direction the game is taking. I work 12 hour shifts so the last thing I want to do is spend another 12 hours setting the car up before racing, I just want to hop in with the minimal of fuss, just like Driveclub used to be (still PS4 greatest racer) like the guy said, if you don’t like it then don’t buy it, quite simple really..

What makes you do that now? It certainly isn't necessary. There's a few cars that don't drive well(and removing/simplifying setup options won't magically change that), but the vast majority are perfectly raceable right out of the box, or with a simple tire pressure/brake bias change. How much setup you do is down to how much setup you want to do.

 

[Scaff]

Unpopular opinion but I’m loving this new direction the game is taking. I work 12 hour shifts so the last thing I want to do is spend another 12 hours setting the car up before racing, I just want to hop in with the minimal of fuss, just like Driveclub used to be (still PS4 greatest racer) like the guy said, if you don’t like it then don’t buy it, quite simple really..

I've literally never needed to spend 12 hours setting up a car in PC2.

The vast majority I get in and drive, with road cars I drop the pressures by around 4psi a corner, which is exactly what you would do taking a car to a track day.

 

[Pearl Jam]

The 12 hours was obviously tongue in cheek...

 

[Mr Grumpy]

The 12 hours was obviously tongue in cheek...

Yeh it's really 11


Joking btw

 

[FrankieStail]

I’m not feeling too bad about sms new direction now, only because kunos didn’t sell out to chase the money of so called mass appeal and the physics in acc is more than making up for less than perfect visuals.

I’ll live in hope that project cars returns to their roots in chasing sim realism and even splits the franchise in two as codemasters have done with dirt, keep each side of the customer base happy without letting down either.

 

[evldave333]

There's a few cars that don't drive well(and removing/simplifying setup options won't magically change that), but the vast majority are perfectly raceable right out of the box, or with a simple tire pressure/brake bias change. How much setup you do is down to how much setup you want to do.

Yeah changing tyre pressure and brake bias is like chewing glass for folks who have no interest in it though.

 

[Blob_91]

I don't want to sound to pedantic but if it's too much to ask to adapt a brake balance or the tyre pressure then inevitably you're going to find cars you don't like to drive in any game that even attempts a little simulation. A car can be driven within a wide variety of those settings depending on personal preference.

As much as I agree that some cars were difficult to drive out of the box in PC2 even if they massively improve that in PC3 there will always remain cars that don't suit you out of the box. Unless they of course simulate so little that every car feels almost the same, as for me cars do in GT Sport

 

[Flerbizky]

Yeah changing tyre pressure and brake bias is like chewing glass for folks who have no interest in it though.

But should you then be playing something the developer claim is "All the sim you could ever want" and not NFS or something similar?

[Edit:] I've come to the conclusion that I don't care what SMS is doing with PC3. It will not be for me because it's no longer a sim with the direction they have chosen. And since that is blatantly obvious, if they just stopped calling it such, I think people would stop being so annoyed at them.

 

[Benny44]

But should you then be playing something the developer claim is "All the sim you could ever want" and not NFS or something similar?

[Edit:] I've come to the conclusion that I don't care what SMS is doing with PC3. It will not be for me because it's no longer a sim with the direction they have chosen. And since that is blatantly obvious, if they just stopped calling it such, I think people would stop being so annoyed at them.

So if you buy a car, you go out and change the brake bias and tire pressure first thing? I imagine you'd probably go out and adjust the suspension too.

Quit being an elitist and let people enjoy a game that maybe, just maybe, might feel like you're driving a car in real life.

 

[Zeitoss]

So if you buy a car, you go out and change the brake bias and tire pressure first thing? I imagine you'd probably go out and adjust the suspension too.

Quit being an elitist and let people enjoy a game that maybe, just maybe, might feel like you're driving a car in real life.

If you want to be completely fair with your logic, when you buy a car, you start driving it without paying too much attention to the setup (without paying any attention at all, actually).

But also, when the weather changes, tarmac conditions change accordingly, and you have to adapt your driving style as well, being just a bit more careful in certain conditions.

Because weather change, but tires remain the same, correct?

That's not going to happen in PC3.

 

[Benny44]

If you want to be completely fair with your logic, when you buy a car, you start driving it without paying too much attention to the setup (without paying any attention at all, actually).

But also, when the weather changes, tarmac conditions change accordingly, and you have to adapt your driving style as well, being just a bit more careful in certain conditions.

Because weather change, but tires remain the same, correct?

That's not going to happen in PC3.

It just made me irritated that someone suggested you need to play with your setup if you are a 'real' sim racer. And that if you don't you should go play NFS. That's pretty much the definition of an elitist.

 

[greenlightning]

So if you buy a car, you go out and change the brake bias and tire pressure first thing? I imagine you'd probably go out and adjust the suspension too.

Quit being an elitist and let people enjoy a game that maybe, just maybe, might feel like you're driving a car in real life.

99 or so percent of people do not purchase a car for racing or even track days. We want to simulate racing, not crusing on tracks. I would agree however it would be nice to have quick set-ups or maybe even ability to make a quick tunning menu taylored to what you like or typically adjust. Also ability to apply one set-up to any car in the same class etc. Perhaps more default set-ups to choose from.

I've literally never needed to spend 12 hours setting up a car in PC2.

The vast majority I get in and drive, with road cars I drop the pressures by around 4psi a corner, which is exactly what you would do taking a car to a track day.

I believe there probably is a big misconception that a lot of non sim players have that you have to spend hours tunning cars etc. For casual racing and A.I. difficult setting based on your skill level stock settings are fine.

Unfortunately project cars has been unessarily difficult in a lot of ways with setting up wheel settings, force feed back, FOV, and other camera settings related to camera motion.
You would think that with as much beta testing that PC1 must of went through that there could be easier methods built into the game.
Perhaps built in Force Feed back settings to choose from based on wheel types to establish your baseline. Along with built in FOV finder based on TV size and distance from TV to establish your base line. Easier on PC since you can down files from other players. I believe most sims are similar where there is not a lot of built in help to make it more manageable. Another thing that has drove me crazy in the past was button assignments. There are some minimum things that must be assigned.
If you forget to assign one then you have to perform trial and error on at least the PS4 it would not tell you which action item was not assigned. Little but important things like this I find unacceptable from programming and release perspective. *With that said the good outways the bad and that is why PC2 is currently my number one car game*

 

[Zeitoss]

It just made me irritated that someone suggested you need to play with your setup if you are a 'real' sim racer. And that if you don't you should go play NFS. That's pretty much the definition of an elitist.

I am with you on that, as myself I am not a big fan of setup.
I mean, I like to spend some time on it, but I honestly admit that I often struggle with setup and to see the actual effects of the most complicated areas of setup, while driving.

So, I am totally with you that a good sim should not be necessarily complicated in the setup area, but from my point of view should try to recreate the actual driving conditions in their integrity.

 

[Flerbizky]

So if you buy a car, you go out and change the brake bias and tire pressure first thing? I imagine you'd probably go out and adjust the suspension too.

That is the oddest analogy since we are indeed talking about a simulation.

Quit being an elitist and let people enjoy a game that maybe, just maybe, might feel like you're driving a car in real life.

NEVER!....

I already made my opinion on lesser* racing games very clear. If people just want to sit down, grab a coke and a controller and do some driving - why should that be a problem for me?. That can be just as enjoyable as wrestling with a setup for half a day to find the last .2 second. Each to their own and all that - do whatever pleases YOU. As said in my previous comment, if only SMS would stop calling it "All the sim you could ever want" and had come clean from the start, I for one, would be a lot less annoyed with them. (Pretty sure a lot of other players that feel alienated would too).

* This is obviously sarcasm in case you missed it - I do not think they're lesser in any way, shape or form - they're just not sims.

 

[Scaff]

So if you buy a car, you go out and change the brake bias and tire pressure first thing? I imagine you'd probably go out and adjust the suspension too.

Quit being an elitist and let people enjoy a game that maybe, just maybe, might feel like you're driving a car in real life.

Brake bias no, but tyre pressures yes, do you not check yours on a regular basis?

Now if you attend a track day (a much closer analogy) the driver briefing will strongly suggest that you drop pressures by around 4 psi a corner (and quite a bit more that we don’t have to worry about in sims).

However PC2 had a race engineer that did a reasonable job of adjusting set-ups for you and between two and three baseline setups to use.

As such setup wasn’t something that need take any time at all in PC2 if you didn’t want to dive into it.

 

[evldave333]

But should you then be playing something the developer claim is "All the sim you could ever want" and not NFS or something similar?

[Edit:] I've come to the conclusion that I don't care what SMS is doing with PC3. It will not be for me because it's no longer a sim with the direction they have chosen. And since that is blatantly obvious, if they just stopped calling it such, I think people would stop being so annoyed at them.

I like all driving games I have most of them this generation (apart from nascar and the runner series). I expect to be able to play a game with a pad straight out of the box with a reasonable default car/control setting. Thankfully this new entry seems more user friendly from the blurb, but I know to take this with a grain of salt. I love the go play NFS comment pretty much sums up the worse side of sim racers. Thankfully Im not biased to a driving game style, I simply like driving, not tinkering in menu's yawn.

 

[Scaff]

I simply like driving, not tinkering in menu's yawn.

And so you become what you complain about!

I would rather a title appeal to all sides and all sides stop with the territorial pissings, as the new F1 2020 appears to have managed.

 

[IfAndOr]

if only SMS would stop calling it "All the sim you could ever want"

Where in the official marketing does it actually say this? I've watched the trailer and visited the website and I've not seen mention of this often quoted line. So to stop calling it that they'd have to start calling it that in the first place.

 

[evldave333]

And so you become what you complain about!

Irony master

 

[Matt Stephens]

Where in the official marketing does it actually say this? I've watched the trailer and visited the website and I've not seen mention of this often quoted line. So to stop calling it that they'd have to start calling it that in the first place.

 

[Flerbizky]

Where in the official marketing does it actually say this? I've watched the trailer and visited the website and I've not seen mention of this often quoted line. So to stop calling it that they'd have to start calling it that in the first place.

Not marketing - straight from Mr. Bell's mouth / keyboard..

Aaaaand Tree'd by @Matt Stephens - thank you - saved me finding the Tweet \o/

 

[IfAndOr]

Ah, right. Thanks @Matt Stephens.

So it's just this one casual remark on a social media platform from I.B. - who should be known to most for (understandably) bigging up his products - that with the blog reveal has caused a lot of contention. By a large margin it's hardly a case of "stop calling it..." is it? No wonder he's kept a lower profile!

It's a bit like Kaz saying some feature is coming to GT "soon". He seems to have stopped saying that.

If it was official marketing on the website or box you might have more to complain about. But even then it would be down to what is defined as "Sim". (Let's not go over that again )


Anyway enjoy the rest of your Sunday. 👍

 

[Scaff]

Irony master

Not really given that I’ve repeatedly voiced only my own view, not told anyone else that the view they hold is invalid or that they should be playing another title.

But go you....