Project CARS Online Multiplayer Features (Update: Response from Ian Bell)

[McKiernan]

Wow really? That's not good. A lot of people I know were really looking forward to online driver swaps for team based league races. iRacing, even rFactor 1 had driver swaps. This needs to be added ASAP!!!!

I agree it would be a great feature, hopefully it will be introduced sometime, but doesn't sound like it's coming soon.

 

[LVracerGT]

Has anyone put it up as a requested feature in the official pCARS forums? I'm at work and haven't created an account there yet to post. Maybe @VBR could do it if there isn't one already. This is something that definitely needs to be added. I'm actually blown away it wasn't there from the start.

 

[pokemonfan58]

You have noobs who love to ram people off the track and when you add the feature to kick people, you're also going to have noobs who's going to kick you because they think you suck for no reason at all. I'm sorry but IMO they shouldn't add the feature to kick players. Although if ramming is a big problem, then they should add the ability to turn off collisions. At least thats good enough.

 

[David Talle]

You have noobs who love to ram people off the track and when you add the feature to kick people, you're also going to have noobs who's going to kick you because they think you suck for no reason at all. I'm sorry but IMO they shouldn't add the feature to kick players. Although if ramming is a big problem, then they should add the ability to turn off collisions. At least thats good enough.

I'll be more than happy being kicked from an awful dirty lobby

And I think deactivating collision is going too far from the sim aspect. But I think the same of lobbies with fuel/ tyre wear deactivated. That's just my opinion.
If there were actual penalties and DQ for ramming instead of unjustified warnings for cutting the track when exiting the pits (bug) !

 

[FLX1981]

Wow really? That's not good. A lot of people I know were really looking forward to online driver swaps for team based league races. iRacing, even rFactor 1 had driver swaps. This needs to be added ASAP!!!!

You do realize this feature isnt exactly trivial to add, right? And that pcars is not a PC only game unlike the other two you listed (neither of which had that feature at launch or 4 weeks after)? Look, I didnt say it is never coming. If they can implement it somewhere down the line, they will. But dont expect it in the next patch or three. Ok?

And yes, it has been suggested several times during development. No need to make a huge fuzz about it.

 

[LVracerGT]

You do realize this feature isnt exactly trivial to add, right? And that pcars is not a PC only game unlike the other two you listed (neither of which had that feature at launch or 4 weeks after)? Look, I didnt say it is never coming. If they can implement it somewhere down the line, they will. But dont expect it in the next patch or three. Ok?

And yes, it has been suggested several times during development. No need to make a huge fuzz about it.

With how long the feature has been around in the sim racing world, and the statements WMD made about how their online has been up and running for 2 years, I expected it to be there at release.

I'm very excited to experience pCARS but not having Logitech wheel support yet I have not purchased the title and have kept myself in the dark about a lot of fine details so that I can get as much enjoyment and surprise out of the title as I can when I do get it. No need to jump all over me and make a huge fuzz about my post. (see what I did there?)

I also have to say I'm pretty surprised at how many bugs and glitches there were/are at release. GT5/6 (Especially 6) taught me to hold onto my money on release. I also have to say I'm glad WMD is being so communicative and open with the community posting update logs and assuring everyone the issues are being addressed as quickly as possible.

 

[TT92]

You do realize this feature isnt exactly trivial to add, right? And that pcars is not a PC only game unlike the other two you listed (neither of which had that feature at launch or 4 weeks after)? Look, I didnt say it is never coming. If they can implement it somewhere down the line, they will. But dont expect it in the next patch or three. Ok?

And yes, it has been suggested several times during development. No need to make a huge fuzz about it.

Where it would be nice is with the looooooong endurance races. For PS4 it is a trophy to do a 24hr race in real time. **IF** you could share the drive (as per real life) it would be a nice and for all drivers to get the trophy.

At the moment it is impossible to do. There is no save (or suspend) game and the amount of crashes I have had in endurance races there is no way I would attempt it. So far I have wasted about 4 hours of my life repeating endurance races where they have crashed :-( A 2 hour race is my limit I will attempt :-(

 

[TT92]

PCars Online Multiplayer Features

This is specific to the online multiplayer sections and what need to be added to improve the racing community online side of this racing sim.
For me the most important features missing are:

- Host can kick players - It's so frustrating when you got noobs just crashing and trying to ram you off the road, need the ability to kick players and not vote, just doesn't work.

- Lapped cars become ghosts, again some players just trying to ruin your race.

- Chat system so players can actually communicate during the lobby time without a mic.

- Lobby names - being able to name your room is important for people who want different things (Clean, Drift, Fun, Drag, GT3 clean or kick, etc). Also: Instead of the lobby displaying Open Wheel, they should add what class of open wheel is it e.g. Formula A/B/C/Rookie as you don't know what class it is until you join the room.

- More flexibility for the host changing the rules or class of car without making another lobby.

- Wheel or controller only rooms

- Lag improvement.

- Stronger penalties to stop corner cutting and exceeding track limits.

- Free practice available while waiting in the lobby for the race to start.

- Adjustable count down timer so the host can adjust the length of time when the event finishes after the winner has crossed the line.

- Online player rating improved so the host can filter players prone to crashing or cheating.

- Ability to skip a race while staying in the lobby in case you need a break etc only Ready players go onto the track while Not Ready stay in lobby.

- Starting Grid Position options - For example, last race positions, reverse grid, slowest to fastest, Random etc

- Country flag represented somewhere with your race ID.

- Online time trial lobby option - Set time limit, no collisions, fixed conditions and times post to leaderboards.

- Collisions options - on/off in online lobbies.

- Track map displayed while in lobby.

- Abort the race start option

- More servers when looking for an online race. This applies to PC as there will often be only 4 or 5 lobbies showing on some servers and changing servers through steam is far from ideal.

- Garage access while in the lobby.

- Ability to exit a race and return to the lobby rather than returning to the main menu.

- TV screen in lobby's so you can watch the track while waiting

- Tournaments/ Championships - Ability to create a set of races for your lobby with point allocations.

- Mandatory pitstop option

- Tuning - Option to allow or disallow tuning in online lobby's.

- Lobby Options/Settings - Abilty to save room settings.

- Saved liveries you choose for your car stays the same online and does not revert to 'Random'.

- Race numbers - Abiltity to choose a driver number for your use online which is displayed on your car and in lobby next to your Online ID


If anyone has any other suggestions lets write them down here and hope SMS reads this and listens to us fans.

This is really a great list now :-) Can someone please post this on the official forum (or get someone from SMS to read it here).

On a side issue, it is really great to see some community collaboration on something like this. Now we just need to all collectively cross our fingers and hope ;-)

Cheers

 

[FLX1981]

Where it would be nice is with the looooooong endurance races. For PS4 it is a trophy to do a 24hr race in real time. **IF** you could share the drive (as per real life) it would be a nice and for all drivers to get the trophy.

At the moment it is impossible to do. There is no save (or suspend) game and the amount of crashes I have had in endurance races there is no way I would attempt it. So far I have wasted about 4 hours of my life repeating endurance races where they have crashed :-( A 2 hour race is my limit I will attempt :-(

I agree, saving races is a must and I wont attempt the endurance races before that feature is added, neither. There is PS4 suspend mode of course, but it is way too unstable (and not available on the other platforms, of course).

 

[Markeeez18]

This is really a great list now :-) Can someone please post this on the official forum (or get someone from SMS to read it here).

I already did man however it does need updating as it was a rather short list when we started

Also I do believe a lot of SMS do come here to read our forum because it's listed on the official PCARS website, GTP is under the official forum, and I read one SMS employe refer to GTP forum on one of the threads earlier also.

 

[VBR]

If all these features are missing, I really don't want to venture online, even though most of what I did in GT games was race & host online lobbies.

Also, I don't want to have to pay for PS Plus to experience the lack of online features in Project CARS.

Here's hoping for some serious updates in the future.


👍

 

[Spatt]

This! all of this!!

Just read through the OP and i'm so glad its not just me.

I'm so hacked off that i cant type a short msg after a race just to say "good race" or what ever. I know you'll get idiots talking a load of rubbish but that's where the "vote to kick" button will come in handy right !?

I also think its so frustrating not knowing what driver aids are being used in a lobby before you join. I personaly use the TC OFF, ASM OFF, ABS ON in my options and want to join lobby's that do the same.

 

[VBR]

@Markeeez18 - Ian Bell is on the case! Project CARS thread here, I quoted your OP there in post 14 & added; "PSN Blocked List - Whoever is on a players PSN blocked list is automatically blocked from all online lobbies they host." You can read Ian's response in post 14.


👍

 

[Markeeez18]

@Markeeez18 - Ian Bell is on the case! Project CARS thread here, I quoted your OP there in post 14 & added; "PSN Blocked List - Whoever is on a players PSN blocked list is automatically blocked from all online lobbies they host." You can read Ian's response in post 14.


👍

I just noticed mate, thanks for posting it, I did make a thread for it but got no attention but your post did!
he liked it swell. Amazing news and hopefully we get some of them features!

 

[VBR]

I just noticed mate, thanks for posting it, I did make a thread for it but got no attention but your post did!
he liked it swell. Amazing news and hopefully we get some of them features!

It was actually the thread that got Ian's attention, so I thought I'd take advantage of it & copy & paste your suggestions in there. Didn't know you had a thread on the Project CARS forum as well.

I'm so hacked off that i cant type a short msg after a race just to say "good race" or what ever. I know you'll get idiots talking a load of rubbish but that's where the "vote to kick" button will come in handy right !?

In the lobbies that I used to run on GT5 & GT6, I'd say to everyone; "keep the language as clean as the racing, or kick!" & I'd also text them a copy of the lobby rules. Never had any significant problems with idiots, only had to kick 1 player in all the time I raced on GT6.

When you've got the tools to deals with the idiots, they tend to stay away.

 

[Pillo-san]

Where is the option to change how we want to sort the lobbies, like by the amount of players, and ping and such? And how about a better lobby refresher?

 

[henderse]

It would be good if Project Cars hosted a few games automatically 24/7. Several popular tracks and settings which are not hosted by players, but are always available for players to join. I personally have a difficult time either finding a populated race of the specific type I have the time to compete in, or creating a room and getting enough players to join to have a good run before I have to get back to the real world. The real world sucks by the way, the graphics are all wrong and the cars are too slow and crappy.

 

[Maddens Raiders]

B u m p... ^^

I stopped playing for a while to see if they have updated the mp but nothing significant of change to date. The added perspectives to replays are fantastic and provide one the ability to now see from another driver's perspective but why no rearview available when viewing via cockpit from another driver? Big omission.

Why no driver list displayed during the race?

No option to display driver's names during replay?

Why is the engine annoyingly, fully revved when monitoring one's car in garage during warmup?

Why is the (GT3) Aston so goshdarn overpowering down the Mulsanne? What gives? I mean it's nearly seven seconds differential after five laps and that's with fierce, competitive racing from challengers? Yes it makes it more challenging but it's wholly unacceptable. Please talk me down, I want to be wrong here.

Why are so many cars stuck at the grid the entire time during a replay when you were tangling with them the entire race? I don't know..this title is fun as all get out and certainly worth the wait before Sport arrives, but there are some glaring bugs and gaps for sure and that's just a small list of problems I've found. I hope SMS gets on these post haste so we can all get the most out of this great effort.

 

[Spitfire77]

So what on this list has been done so far?

Forced Default Setups - It is working - not in the ideal way (some issues with pit stops)

Anything else?

Last I tried we still can't name rooms (on console) - this is annoying and should have been added already

Host kick (they keep saying it is coming but I don't think it was in patch 5.0) - also annoying

no text chat - would be nice but we can use voice chat.

Crashing cars become ghosts - Did this get implemented? I have seen cars ghost online I think.

Online filtering - player rating - online reputation - as far as I can tell this is not working - annoying

Race numbers - not working - for me not a big deal but for the leagues this I can see as important.

 

[CountinFrames]

I disagree with adding tuning restrictions. Its not like the game allows you to add a powerful turbo or strip a few hundred pounds of weight off the car. IMO the result of restricted tuning would basically be to give an advantage to those who can not tune while penalizing those who are used to having their car setup a certain way.

I can kind of see it for spec racing but even then I do not totally agree with it unless at least some things are allowed to be tuned, anti roll bars, brake bias and brake pressure should always be allowed as should any real assists that may be present on the car.

No. Real assists need to be able to be turned off. And tuning. For those that prefer challenge. It's not an even race if someone is using aids vs someone who is not. Don't like it. Don't join.
Those that do go hardcore should have the option to race like minded people without aids. I don't want them in my lobby with computer aided driving. No way.

The ability to mute people beyond the lobby. Like in practice, qualifying, etc.

Plug a headset in, but don't wear it?
Works for me.
Guess it wouldn't work if you were headset only, but

Afaik. You can't calibrate wheels from within a lobby. No access to settings. So if host changes from a road car to a formula car. It's time to leave if you like calibrating your setup.
Which most people insist on.
I'd like to see calibration options added so when things change, you can adjust without leaving.

 

[HBR-Roadhog]

No. Real assists need to be able to be turned off. And tuning. For those that prefer challenge. It's not an even race if someone is using aids vs someone who is not. Don't like it. Don't join.
Those that do go hardcore should have the option to race like minded people without aids. I don't want them in my lobby with computer aided driving. No way.

How is it not a race if one person is using ABS and the other isn't? Sounds like you are saying that you can't beat people who use the driving aids when you are not using them? I just think it is silly to force people to drive without the option of real assists that come on the cars. Combine that with the notion of not allowing tuning and it is pretty lame. I mean how hard is it in real life to change the tire pressure vs turning off ABS? Or add a gated shifter to a car that had a sequential gearbox vs adjusting the angle of the wing?

My thoughts on the matter are that if someone wants to use TCS,ABS, STM let them, especially if the car has those options in real life, same for auto trans, even the driving line doesn't bother me at all if someone wants to use it. If it makes them more competitive then that is fine.

 

[Elitekilla29]

So what on this list has been done so far?

Forced Default Setups - It is working - not in the ideal way (some issues with pit stops)

Anything else?

Last I tried we still can't name rooms (on console) - this is annoying and should have been added already

Host kick (they keep saying it is coming but I don't think it was in patch 5.0) - also annoying

no text chat - would be nice but we can use voice chat.

Crashing cars become ghosts - Did this get implemented? I have seen cars ghost online I think.

Online filtering - player rating - online reputation - as far as I can tell this is not working - annoying

Race numbers - not working - for me not a big deal but for the leagues this I can see as important.

Well they said that they are trying to get the host kick option in for patch 6.0 Not sure about everything else. And people do ghost when they sit on track or go backwards. That been in the game for a few months now. I hope they can add chat box to 6.0 as well.

 

[JohnScoonsBeard]

Afaik. You can't calibrate wheels from within a lobby. No access to settings. So if host changes from a road car to a formula car. It's time to leave if you like calibrating your setup.
Which most people insist on.
I'd like to see calibration options added so when things change, you can adjust without leaving.

I think you can. In the lobby between races before the host presses start press the options button (on PS4). The options icon is shown in the top right corner.

 

[twitcher]

Great OP, I agree with pretty much everything on the list. It's nice to see some of the items being ticket off as well. Even if it's a little slow, it's nice to see results and changes.


One thing I have a major issue with in the game is the course cutting penalties. I usually play on public lobbies, so I like the penalties to prevent cheating. However, some of the penalties are extremely annoying. The worst is when you get run off the road by someone else, and get run straight into a penalty area. They run you off the road, you take a penalty, they cruise into the sunset. Off the top, the Esses at Sakito are really bad for this. Even the tiniest contact and you can get an oversteer situation which runs you over the inner curbs. At this point, you're trying to save the car from crashing, not trying to cut across the grass for an advantage. All it does is stretch out the field which leads to boring racing. In short, the penalties are good, but some are excessive and unnessessary.

The other time the penalties are terrible is when there is a crash on the road and you need to take evasive action. Right now when someone spins in front of you, you have two options. Plow into them, or take a penalty. You are forced to pay for someone else's mistake.

I don't want collisions to be turned off 100%, because I don't want people just driving through one another...that's a time trial. However, I would suggest that the "ghost" mechanics need to be improved. When people spin, or even if they are moving at a much slower speed, they need to become ghost so other players don't have to take penalties while taking evasive action.

Like everything else, it needs to be an option. Let people have full collisions and be as real as they want in private rooms, but give is the option to help smooth things out in public lobbies.




In many ways, this list makes me kind of sad, with how glaringly obvious many of the features we're talking about are. To me, it's another classic case of the developer being out of touch with their main audience. The design decisions made indicate that no one at SMS spends any real amount of time in public lobbies. And honestly why would they? If they're at the point where they're so involved with online racing that they're programming a game, they probably don't need to surf public lobbies to find people to race with. It's the classic case of "do you actually play the game you developed"? And by "play", I mean sit at home gaming for a few hours, not fire up the dev rig at the office to run a few laps and make sure things are working.

 

[CountinFrames]

How is it not a race if one person is using ABS and the other isn't? Sounds like you are saying that you can't beat people who use the driving aids when you are not using them? I just think it is silly to force people to drive without the option of real assists that come on the cars. Combine that with the notion of not allowing tuning and it is pretty lame. I mean how hard is it in real life to change the tire pressure vs turning off ABS? Or add a gated shifter to a car that had a sequential gearbox vs adjusting the angle of the wing?

My thoughts on the matter are that if someone wants to use TCS,ABS, STM let them, especially if the car has those options in real life, same for auto trans, even the driving line doesn't bother me at all if someone wants to use it. If it makes them more competitive then that is fine.

I don't care if people use them. I don't like when people say there's no place for a lobby without aids.
Because there most definitely is.
And driving with or without aids is very different.
One way the computer does many things the driver would normally have to do instead. Things that are pretty tricky and challenging.
This is essentially two games. A simulator if you turn aids off. Or a sim-Cade if you turn them on.
My younger son used to play GT with me, no assists. but he hates this game if I don't turn on the aids for him.
It's just so much harder to drive without them.
Except for slow cars obviously.
And yes I would lose to anyone using aids in cars that break traction if they use a computer to modulate their brakes, accelerator, or both to cure under steer when using SC.
It's well documented computer aids make humans faster. That's why they are banned in F1.

 

[FuriousDemon]

twitcher, it's not really that. They ran out of time/money. All these features that people ask about have been mentioned during the development by the community (maybe not all, but 80%). It's just first they had to get the basics working. All those "nice" features were lower priority.

 

[Maddens Raiders]

Well they said that they are trying to get the host kick option in for patch 6.0 Not sure about everything else. And people do ghost when they sit on track or go backwards. That been in the game for a few months now. I hope they can add chat box to 6.0 as well.

No. Idiot drivers and their cars can still sit on the track, come alive and wreck other cars while racing. It happens all the time and makes racing in public lobbies one of the most laborious things out there, not to mention, you can't even spectate a race in your own lobby - it forces you to race no matter what and one can't properly admin if desired. Also, why the hell can't you name your room? It's 2015 - why / how was this overlooked ¬ ¬ ?????

My laments will never be addressed, but I'm just wondering how this title got the scores that it did with the overwhelming amount of omissions and glaring oversights in a "next - gen" title. Hell GT4 & GT5 had most of the features clamored for in this thread. Me am disappoint.

The crazy thing? I keep playing this broken mess b/c GT6 hurts my eyes too much now and GT Sport isn't available yet.... smh. Stuck in broken/patched limbo...

 

[killerjimbag]

No. Idiot drivers and their cars can still sit on the track, come alive and wreck other cars while racing. It happens all the time and makes racing in public lobbies one of the most laborious things out there, not to mention, you can't even spectate a race in your own lobby - it forces you to race no matter what and one can't properly admin if desired. Also, why the hell can't you name your room? It's 2015 - why / how was this overlooked ¬ ¬ ?????

My laments will never be addressed, but I'm just wondering how this title got the scores that it did with the overwhelming amount of omissions and glaring oversights in a "next - gen" title. Hell GT4 & GT5 had most of the features clamored for in this thread. Me am disappoint.

The crazy thing? I keep playing this broken mess b/c GT6 hurts my eyes too much now and GT Sport isn't available yet.... smh. Stuck in broken/patched limbo...

Do you have the new patch yet?

 

[Maddens Raiders]

Do you have the new patch yet?

Yes just got it last night killer. I raced with some people last night (in the God awful public lobbies) and as usual there were 'tards sitting in the middle of the track, or clumps of swerving, inebriated like little losers, trying to ruin the next 5 or 6 laps for everyone else (because they weren't ghosted) and yes the ghost option to "allow" was turned on prior to setting the lobby. So, what did I see you ask at this funfair?

• No ghosting by the people aforementioned, because they're not going the wrong way. I don't understand this. Why ghost them if they're only pointed the wrong way? GT ghosts people for driving the wrong way, or going to slow, or not going at all??? PC's can't do this because.... of what?
• Raced for 6 laps at Sarthe with 6 other people for 30 minutes or so. It was a great race with many lead changes and great back and forths. So...how many vehicles were in this awesome replay when I went to watch it? Only me. 🤬!
  
• Engine still revs uncontrollably while sitting in the paddock - wtf?
• Still no look behind feature in any replay - this is just bizarre.
• No way to spectate.
• No way to name room.
• Why isn't there a toggle to see the "entire" map in the upper corners whilst racing, as opposed to just seeing the immediate area one's car occupies on the map at any given time?
• No way to see driver's list or vehicle list whilst racing.
• Is text chat available w/i the lobby on PS4? I'm not sure - stopped looking if it's there, but if not - then yeah why in the hell isn't that available?
• The Michelin Tower is still dark and unlively, and well basically just another lifeless marquis just like it was on the PS3. Maybe it's there as a reminder that maybe next-gen we can turn this on for you...

...not going to waste time naming other niggling problems and omissions. They won't be fixed - time to get ready for money grab 2.0, I mean Project Cars 2.0.

 

[Bjorn Lucas]

Yes just got it last night killer. I raced with some people last night (in the God awful public lobbies) and as usual there were 'tards sitting in the middle of the track, or clumps of swerving, inebriated like little losers, trying to ruin the next 5 or 6 laps for everyone else (because they weren't ghosted) and yes the ghost option to "allow" was turned on prior to setting the lobby. So, what did I see you ask at this funfair?

• No ghosting by the people aforementioned, because they're not going the wrong way. I don't understand this. Why ghost them if they're only pointed the wrong way? GT ghosts people for driving the wrong way, or going to slow, or not going at all??? PC's can't do this because.... of what?
• Raced for 6 laps at Sarthe with 6 other people for 30 minutes or so. It was a great race with many lead changes and great back and forths. So...how many vehicles were in this awesome replay when I went to watch it? Only me. 🤬!
  
• Engine still revs uncontrollably while sitting in the paddock - wtf?
• Still no look behind feature in any replay - this is just bizarre.
• No way to spectate.
• No way to name room.
• Why isn't there a toggle to see the "entire" map in the upper corners whilst racing, as opposed to just seeing the immediate area one's car occupies on the map at any given time?
• No way to see driver's list or vehicle list whilst racing.
• Is text chat available w/i the lobby on PS4? I'm not sure - stopped looking if it's there, but if not - then yeah why in the hell isn't that available?
• The Michelin Tower is still dark and unlively, and well basically just another lifeless marquis just like it was on the PS3. Maybe it's there as a reminder that maybe next-gen we can turn this on for you...

...not going to waste time naming other niggling problems and omissions. They won't be fixed - time to get ready for money grab 2.0, I mean Project Cars 2.0.

come play with us (Crap Group) if you want a clean lobby,... lots of guys from the uk, holland an america and some other countries 2
we never have public lobbies because of the morons over there....

https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/thre...e-17-nov-9pm-gmt.327783/page-81#post-11095975

(because of the ammount of new players lately, some guys have private chat lobbies)

and please keep it clean