Q&A with Slightly Mad Studios: Ian Bell [Read OP]

[TexasTyme214]

Can you ride curbs now in GT cars? In pCars 1 a lot of the GT cars want to over rotate if you use inside curbing or they try to take off to space on some curbs that weren't sausage curbs.

Are there systems in place to punish people who like to use extra track on entry and exit. Systems such as punctures or less grip on greencrete and Astro turf.

Second paragraph I saw a video where a guy got over a second added to his total time for running wide on the last turn of Monza. I'm going to go with a yes on that one.

 

[jake2013guy]

Second paragraph I saw a video where a guy got over a second added to his total time for running wide on the last turn of Monza. I'm going to go with a yes on that one.

This aspect was stated by @The_American a while back. You could probably search that up in this thread.

 

[ozwheels]

Gt cars don't handle kerbs too well in real life as they are such a stiff and low riding car, same as formula one cars, the smallest kerb in GT cars can make the kerb look bigger than it actually is.

GT cars have some of the softest suspensions and highest ride heights in all of racing. Watch any GT race and you will see them abuse curbs.

 

[Jason Wilko]

GT cars have some of the softest suspensions and highest ride heights in all of racing. Watch any GT race and you will see them abuse curbs.

I hope we are talking about GT3 cars? They are very stiff to normal road cars.. Australian gt (gt3 series in Australia) race on Australian and New Zealand tracks as a support catergory to V8 Supercars, the tracks are bumpy and most have aggressive kerbs, this video here at Adelaide is one of the most bumpy track on the calendar, watch this and listen to the commentators (who of which one has driven a GT3 car)
I doubt it's only Australian gt3 cars that are stiff..

 

[05XR8]

I hope we are talking about GT3 cars? They are very stiff to normal road cars.. Australian gt (gt3 series in Australia) race on Australian and New Zealand tracks as a support catergory to V8 Supercars, the tracks are bumpy and most have aggressive kerbs, this video here at Adelaide is one of the most bumpy track on the calendar, watch this and listen to the commentators (who of which one has driven a GT3 car)
I doubt it's only Australian gt3 cars that are stiff..

I was just going to compare V8s and GT3s at Adelaide.

 

[Jason Wilko]

I was just going to compare V8s and GT3s at Adelaide.

Hahah yeah always a good one to compare when talking about how stiff gt3 cars are! Long video here but if you go to 2 min 10 second, you'll see the Audi go wide onto a kerb and the whole car gets picked up (due to the low ride height GT3 cars run) by the way they would've even raised the ride height and softened the suspension to try to counteract the bumps and kerbs but still are quite stiff compared to most race cars.

 

[ozwheels]

I hope we are talking about GT3 cars? They are very stiff to normal road cars.. Australian gt (gt3 series in Australia) race on Australian and New Zealand tracks as a support catergory to V8 Supercars, the tracks are bumpy and most have aggressive kerbs, this video here at Adelaide is one of the most bumpy track on the calendar, watch this and listen to the commentators (who of which one has driven a GT3 car)
I doubt it's only Australian gt3 cars that are stiff..

Yes we are talking about GT3 and other cars like them. Obviously they are stiffer than road cars. You could buy any off the shelf aftermarket spring you want for a road car and it still wouldn't be anywhere stiff enough for a race car of the same model. We are talking about race cars not road cars. GT3 cars have spring frequencies of 4Hz at the highest and usually lower than that. That is a much lower figure than you would see on a aero dependant race car, which also use most curbs. They also have fairly high ride heights, as far as race cars go, compared to higher tier open wheel and prototype cars. If you want to take the GT class to the extreme you can look at DTM and Super GT where they have lower ride heights and stiffer suspension, almost getting into the prototype realm. They too ride curbs a lot. How stiff your springs are is also not as important as you might think when it comes to curbs. Ride height and bump rubber, to a lesser extent, is much more of a factor. When you run out of suspension travel and bottom out, you have big problems. In your video the Ferrari clearly bottoms out in the rear as it straddles the hump in the curbing. That curb is also MASSIVE compared to every other curb in existence. So big that the front splitters are hitting it, as you can see with the P1 Audi. The whole bumper and fender deform as the shock travels through them from the splitter hitting the curb. My knowledge of V8 Supercars is a little limited but I have seen them on that track on TV once and they bicycle their way over that curb. This is only possible through higher ride heights and softer suspension so that the car can roll that much without losing contact with the road immediately. The insane amount of camber they run is also a result of the roll angles they produce. I'm not trying to prove you wrong just explaining my point about racecars using curbs. Which is why I asked how it is in pCars 2 since in pCars 1 some cars react very violently to using curbs where as other cars in the same class can soak up everything.

Edit:

Hahah yeah always a good one to compare when talking about how stiff gt3 cars are! Long video here but if you go to 2 min 10 second, you'll see the Audi go wide onto a kerb and the whole car gets picked up (due to the low ride height GT3 cars run) by the way they would've even raised the ride height and softened the suspension to try to counteract the bumps and kerbs but still are quite stiff compared to most race cars.

The curbs your showing should obviously be avoided by anything. There was enough space under the front of that Audi when it was on the curb facing sideways that you could crawl under the car. It didn't bounce off the curb it bottomed out and turned into a skateboard.

 

[Jason Wilko]

Yes we are talking about GT3 and other cars like them. Obviously they are stiffer than road cars. You could buy any off the shelf aftermarket spring you want for a road car and it still wouldn't be anywhere stiff enough for a race car of the same model. We are talking about race cars not road cars. GT3 cars have spring frequencies of 4Hz at the highest and usually lower than that. That is a much lower figure than you would see on a aero dependant race car, which also use most curbs. They also have fairly high ride heights, as far as race cars go, compared to higher tier open wheel and prototype cars. If you want to take the GT class to the extreme you can look at DTM and Super GT where they have lower ride heights and stiffer suspension, almost getting into the prototype realm. They too ride curbs a lot. How stiff your springs are is also not as important as you might think when it comes to curbs. Ride height and bump rubber, to a lesser extent, is much more of a factor. When you run out of suspension travel and bottom out, you have big problems. In your video the Ferrari clearly bottoms out in the rear as it straddles the hump in the curbing. That curb is also MASSIVE compared to every other curb in existence. So big that the front splitters are hitting it, as you can see with the P1 Audi. The whole bumper and fender deform as the shock travels through them from the splitter hitting the curb. My knowledge of V8 Supercars is a little limited but I have seen them on that track on TV once and they bicycle their way over that curb. This is only possible through higher ride heights and softer suspension so that the car can roll that much without losing contact with the road immediately. The insane amount of camber they run is also a result of the roll angles they produce. I'm not trying to prove you wrong just explaining my point about racecars using curbs. Which is why I asked how it is in pCars 2 since in pCars 1 some cars react very violently to using curbs where as other cars in the same class can soak up everything.

Edit:

The curbs your showing should obviously be avoided by anything. There was enough space under the front of that Audi when it was on the curb facing sideways that you could crawl under the car. It didn't bounce off the curb it bottomed out and turned into a skateboard.View attachment 648150

I agree with you on the use of kerbs in pcars 1 don't get me confused there, all I was saying is gt3 cars don't use as much of the kerbs and get away with it like other cars in pcars.

Also V8 Supercars are a category I know a lot.. I've even driven a V8 race car around sandown (Melbourne track used in one of the 3 big races for the V8 supercars endurance series) but that kerb you said "should obviously be avoided by everything" are part of the racing line in most of the categories that race there (Beisdes the GT3 cars) the Supercars fly over all of the kerbs even that one where the Audi bottoms out and spins, watch this video and at the 0.33 second part is where he drives over that kerb no worries at all, due to the higher ride heights, softer suspension and better bump absorbion, therefore the categories I watch that's are supporting the V8 Supercars, the gt3 cars are the stiffest and lowest riding cars.

 

[ozwheels]

I agree with you on the use of kerbs in pcars 1 don't get me confused there, all I was saying is gt3 cars don't use as much of the kerbs and get away with it like other cars in pcars.

Also V8 Supercars are a category I know a lot.. I've even driven a V8 race car around sandown (Melbourne track used in one of the 3 big races for the V8 supercars endurance series) but that kerb you said "should obviously be avoided by everything" are part of the racing line in most of the categories that race there (Beisdes the GT3 cars) the Supercars fly over all of the kerbs even that one where the Audi bottoms out and spins, watch this video and at the 0.33 second part is where he drives over that kerb no worries at all, due to the higher ride heights, softer suspension and better bump absorbion, therefore the categories I watch that's are supporting the V8 Supercars, the gt3 cars are the stiffest and lowest riding cars.

You've driven a V8 Supercar? Are you someone I should know in real life?

V8 Supercars do have higher ride heights as I stated and may have softer suspensions than GT3 cars. V8 Supercars are also unique in the world of top-tier motorsports with their car design. I assume that's because of the nature of the tracks they race on.

 

[Jason Wilko]

You've driven a V8 Supercar? Are you someone I should know in real life?

V8 Supercars do have higher ride heights as I stated and may have softer suspensions than GT3 cars. V8 Supercars are also unique in the world of top-tier motorsports with their car design. I assume that's because of the nature of the tracks they race on.

In Australia there are many old V8 Supercars/ done up road cars circling around hahah I did hotlaps on a drive day in it not an actually race!

 

[ozwheels]

In Australia there are many old V8 Supercars/ done up road cars circling around hahah I did hotlaps on a drive day in it not an actually race!

Still a cool experience. 👍

 

[05XR8]

In PC1, even driving the Escort around Imola and Road America, there are problems using those curbs.
PC2 is going to be a completely different experience.

 

[David Brooks]

I think pcars1 had problems with consistency. Some massive curbs seemed manageable but other seemingly innocuous curbs would throw you.

 

[nrosko]

In PC1, even driving the Escort around Imola and Road America, there are problems using those curbs.
PC2 is going to be a completely different experience.

Agree about the curbs in the first game, one reason why imo the suspension model was not right. How can you be sure they improved this?are a WMD member?

 

[05XR8]

Agree about the curbs in the first game, one reason why imo the suspension model was not right. How can you be sure they improved this?are a WMD member?

I'm not a WMD member, but I trust the McLaren test driver that says cars in the game, handle as they do in real life. There's talk of the new physics model at the start of this thread.
Also with Live Track 3.0. That's a major detail in the game. No doubt it's going to apply to all surfaces of the track. And I have no doubt a vehicles response on curbs will be accurate in PC2.

 

[Dicra]

I'm not a WMD member, but I trust the McLaren test driver that says cars in the game, handle as they do in real life.

That's called PR.
Doesn't mean it can't be true, and I sincerely hope it is, but if someone says that a car handles spot on in a promotional piece, I think anyone would be well advised to take it with a grain of salt.

 

[Ian Bell]

That's called PR.
Doesn't mean it can't be true, and I sincerely hope it is, but if someone says that a car handles spot on in a promotional piece, I think anyone would be well advised to take it with a grain of salt.

It's absolutely not 'PR' in the sense you mean it. We have hours of footage from the first test of him telling us how wrong the handling was. This improved for some cars for the second test and finally we nailed the 720s for the final test.

He's not paid a penny by us and the video is totally 'organic' and honest. It depicts the events as they happened.

 

[bleeder]

It's absolutely not 'PR' in the sense you mean it. We have hours of footage from the first test of him telling us how wrong the handling was. This improved for some cars for the second test and finally we nailed the 720s for the final test.

He's not paid a penny by us and the video is totally 'organic' and honest. It depicts the events as they happened.

Where does the first handling model come from? Do they give you some numbers and you input them into the game and hope it's ok? Or do you go for a kinda generic handling model? Must be hard to even start getting authenticity correct. The more test drivers on board the better, which is what it sounds like you've gone for.

 

[Zakspeed_TV]

AC is the benchmark physics wise on console now, i really hope pCARS2 comes close or betters it.


EDIT: @ozwheels no Assetto yet mate?

 

[bleeder]

AC is the benchmark physics wise on console now, i really hope pCARS2 comes close or betters it.


EDIT: @ozwheels no Assetto yet mate?

Me too, but even so, I don't play AC much at all these days as the track count and AI races keeps me far more entertained in pCARS, regardless of a 'lesser' physics model.

Going by what @mister dog has been saying recently pCARS2 should be shaping up nicely all round.

 

[nrosko]

It's absolutely not 'PR' in the sense you mean it. We have hours of footage from the first test of him telling us how wrong the handling was. This improved for some cars for the second test and finally we nailed the 720s for the final test.

He's not paid a penny by us and the video is totally 'organic' and honest. It depicts the events as they happened.

Are there any more videos like this, heard a rumour there was a series of them?

 

[nrosko]

Me too, but even so, I don't play AC much at all these days as the track count and AI races keeps me far more entertained in pCARS, regardless of a 'lesser' physics model.

Going by what @mister dog has been saying recently pCARS2 should be shaping up nicely all round.

Ah but mister dog is being paid to say nice things remember

 

[Ian Bell]

Where does the first handling model come from? Do they give you some numbers and you input them into the game and hope it's ok? Or do you go for a kinda generic handling model? Must be hard to even start getting authenticity correct. The more test drivers on board the better, which is what it sounds like you've gone for.

We did our very best based on the figures from McLaren and it was spot on, everywhere but the tyre. The issue was that our contact patch under load wasn't shaping itself properly. We discovered this live with the Pirelli engineer at the start of the third test. We fixed it live and Chris loved it. We've since extrapolated the knowledge to the other tyres in the game.

 

[GAVRA1991]

hi Ian, when you announce the release date of Project Cars 2? And there's a possibility to have a DLC with 3/4 Australian Circuits? Thx

 

[amazed]

The release date will be announced when it's ready.....

 

[mister dog]

Ah but mister dog is being paid to say nice things remember

 

[jake2013guy]

We did our very best based on the figures from McLaren and it was spot on, everywhere but the tyre. The issue was that our contact patch under load wasn't shaping itself properly. We discovered this live with the Pirelli engineer at the start of the third test. We fixed it live and Chris loved it. We've since extrapolated the knowledge to the other tyres in the game.

I love stories like this. It really shows how committed you are to making a fantastic game and the resources available to use.

 

[ozwheels]

AC is the benchmark physics wise on console now, i really hope pCARS2 comes close or betters it.


EDIT: @ozwheels no Assetto yet mate?

The legend himself has graced us with his presence.

Nope still on pCars. Skaanky convinced me to join a league with him.

 

[diesel97]

I apologize if I came off as rude. I figured at least thanking him for his efforts showed I wasn't being rude. I was thinking about editing it and adding "With all due respect" but I thought what I wrote would get that across. My bad.

So lemme try that again. With all due respect, I don't want his answer. I want one from the devs

FYI if you are asking a specific question at a specific person it is much more effective if you use @"insert name" and then you will not have this miscommunication.

 

[diesel97]

Unlikely seeing that's who their partnership is with.

Does Pirelli even have a truck tire? cough cough Ford Raptor

Sorry double post