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

[Masscot]

@IanBell (or The_American)

Played GTR2 again recently and was reminded how useful it was to see a fly-past of the entire grid before the race started. It also added to the pre-race atmosphere. OK, it was a little low and a little slow in GTR2 but are there any plans for something similar in pCARS2? It could be a fast-ish swooping flyover by the (criminally under-used) TV chopper, with suitable broadcast-style post-production effects. In pCARS I often found myself starting races without a 'sense' of the whole grid in front of me.

Another thing that GTR2 reminded me about was formation laps, and the option for rolling starts. Any plans on these fronts for pCARS 2?

 

[ojgt]

@IanBell

Is there going to be a reverse grid option when doing multiple online races? On Project cars we used to always do two races and it would be great to be able to do the second one with grid reverted from the results of the first one. Winner starting from last position etc.

 

[nobfung]

@IanBell

Will we have more customisable in online championships/online room?(Like reverse grid, add car weight, formation lap, ...etc)

 

[jake2013guy]

What does the IndyCar license mean for the game? Does it mean it's easier to get modern/classic cars including the IRL and ChampCar models? I know it doesn't mean all circuits but does it mean all car models and liveries?

*cough Dale Coyne fan cough*

After having a look at the track list, it says it's the "Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach" does this mean only the IndyCar layout or is the Formula E layout included too?

Also, do we have the shortened version of the "Azure Circuit?"

 

[AMR Matthijs]

After having a look at the track list, it says it's the "Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach" does this mean only the IndyCar layout or is the Formula E layout included too?

I would guess it will be the same three layouts that Turn10 included in Forza which is also named "Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach:

- Grand Prix Circuit
- East Route (the Formula E layout)
- West Route

@IanBell does the Project Cars Indycar license have consequences for other games including Indycars?

 

[MroczMR]

@IanBell Will touring cars get more attention in PCars 2? It was sad in PCars 1 that most modern TC had only one car per class.

 

[jake2013guy]

I would guess it will be the same three layouts that Turn10 included in Forza which is also named "Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach:

- Grand Prix Circuit
- East Route (the Formula E layout)
- West Route

@IanBell does the Project Cars Indycar license have consequences for other games including Indycars?

In fairness, the Formula E layout has a chicane at the start however that's a good sign.

 

[GAVRA1991]

@IanBell will it be increased the number of spots in online lobbies? Will it be possible customize the qualify in Q1,Q2 for example?
Will there be new open wheel cars apart FA, FB,FC and F4?
And at the moment street tracks are only 3 (Bathurst, Monaco and Long Beach) are you thinking to add other street circuits less famous? Thx in advance for your reply.

 

[LogiForce]

No, sand traps working like real world is exceedingly boring in the real world (your favourite river beached!) and even more so in a game.

Also as a different side of the coin, Ian, it also removes the fear for sand traps as they can't trap you. Fear is part of the reason why you build up tension when you're on the starting grid... "Let's not mess up like a fool and end up in a gravel trap".

So removing the trap from the gravel will remove fear, which will severly reduce concentration and tension build up. It's a design choicebut there is definitely somehing to be said for both choices.

 

[LGee19]

Also as a different side of the coin, Ian, it also removes the fear for sand traps as they can't trap you. Fear is part of the reason why you build up tension when you're on the starting grid... "Let's not mess up like a fool and end up in a gravel trap".

So removing the trap from the gravel will remove fear, which will severly reduce concentration and tension build up. It's a design choicebut there is definitely somehing to be said for both choices.

I have to agree with this @IanBell. Sand traps that do their job would make the game better in my opinion. More people concentrating on not out braking themselves because they know it will be all over.

 

[Ian Bell]

That's a shame, would it be possible for there to be an option for the player to switch them on? Although I'm probably the minority here, so I understand if it'll never happen.
One thing I hated in the original was the lack of a preview of lobbies, there was nothing worse than needing to enter each lobby to see what weather, assists, laps, etc the host has set. Will there now be a proper way to get that info at a glance?
Thank you for all the information you have shared so far. It makes the wait feel just that bit longer!

No. A 'game over' event for being nudged off, offline or online doesn't make for good gameplay. This has been dialled out of every single racing game I know of after customer testing.

 

[LGee19]

No. A 'game over' event for being nudged off, offline or online doesn't make for good gameplay. This has been dialled out of every single racing game I know of after customer testing.

Good point!

 

[Ian Bell]

I should add that the above would be a 5 second effort from us technically. But history and testing has shown that applying an adequately annoying bogging down and slow exit from a gravel trap is infinitely preferable to the player.

 

[thuGG]

I should add that the above would be a 5 second effort from us technically. But history and testing has shown that applying an adequately annoying bogging down and slow exit from a gravel trap is infinitely preferable to the player.

Then make a switch or some config file option. You will make hardcore simmers audience happy

 

[GOTMAXPOWER]

Then make a switch or some config file option. You will make hardcore simmers audience happy

From memory TOCA Race Driver 3 had something similar, when set to realistic you would still be able to get the car back out but it would be a lot slower.

 

[GAVRA1991]

Excuse me again i was looking that Formula E has many streets tracks it should be great if you add some of them like Beijing Olympic Green Circuit, Putrajaya Street Circuit, Punta del Este Street Circuit, Battersea Park Street Circuit, Biscayne Bay Street Circuit, Paris Street Circuit, Berlin Street Circuit, Brooklyn Street Circuit, Hong Kong Central Habourfront Circuit, Circuit International Automobile Moulay El Hassan

 

[Ameer67]

Excuse me again i was looking that Formula E has many streets tracks it should be great if you add some of them like Beijing Olympic Green Circuit, Putrajaya Street Circuit, Punta del Este Street Circuit, Battersea Park Street Circuit, Biscayne Bay Street Circuit, Paris Street Circuit, Berlin Street Circuit, Brooklyn Street Circuit, Hong Kong Central Habourfront Circuit, Circuit International Automobile Moulay El Hassan

https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/threads/project-cars-series-wishlist-thread.353631/#post-11708105

 

[GAVRA1991]

https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/threads/project-cars-series-wishlist-thread.353631/#post-11708105

Thx

 

[RacerDude08]

4. Yes, most of this was in pC1 already

5. We have invisible zones and you get warnings/penalties if you drive into them so drive clean

6. Yeah good multichannel now, you can hear which tire is locking up for example, we got that separated out nicely now.

7. Always want to keep VR a barf-free experience.

As a NASCAR fan yourself I'm sure you know that when they race on road courses they often run off course and use up the apron. On PCARS 1 this was always a penalty. Has this been adjusted any?

 

[F1Racer68]

I should add that the above would be a 5 second effort from us technically. But history and testing has shown that applying an adequately annoying bogging down and slow exit from a gravel trap is infinitely preferable to the player.

I would agree with that, so long as it does appropriately bog you down and cost you (the way it did in GTR2). I have found more recent games have greatly reduced the negative impact to the point where it no longer becomes a concern and leads to idiotic and unrealistic driving behaviour.

Just to add to this as well. the LiveTrack 3.0 would, I assume, also result in the gravel from these gravel traps being dumped on to the racing surface. Which will then result in more cars potentially going off or puncturing a tire.

 

[jake2013guy]

No. A 'game over' event for being nudged off, offline or online doesn't make for good gameplay. This has been dialled out of every single racing game I know of after customer testing.

Yeah. I'm all for realism but some things need to stay in real life and this is one of them.

 

[LogiForce]

Yeah. I'm all for realism but some things need to stay in real life and this is one of them.

Goes to show that serious sims (all of them) aren't that serious, they do draw gaming lines so to speak. I guess this is one of the areas where professional simulators of race teams differ from our consumer pleasures.

 

[breyzipp]

Hi Ian... I remember reading in the first news items when pCars 2 was announced that "banned race cars" were going to be in the game. To me this meant cars like the 1970 Chaparral 2J, 1978 Brabham BT46B and the 6 wheeled Tyrrell P34 were all possible entries. Can you shed any light on the inclusion of any of these amazing vehicles? Will the game still be adding cars of that description? Thanks Ian... And I love pCars and can't wait for pCars2!

Ooh how I'd LOVE to see that Tyrrell make into a racing sim/game but to do it properly with those 6 wheels I'd think the technical complexity involved would just be way too much work and not fit into the current 4-wheel car models. If it would be a half-arsed attempt like for example 3-wheelers in Forza then IMO don't even bother.

 

[breyzipp]

Most are carried forward and reworked yes. 45 cars with the detail we put into them is a lot I can tell you. They are all there for a reason also, I think we made some great choices on grouping which makes for some excellent racing.

Ian let me wholeheartedly tell you that I am so grateful that you guys understand that a good game doesn't need 500+ generic cars but instead we want a LOT of tracks and 100+ quality cars. With over 60+ locations you guys nailed it, I'm so happy more developer resources have been dedicated to adding more tracks instead of more cars. That 60+ location part of your marketing strategy is one of the major things that sells the game for me.

For XBox racing games/sims I can quickly summarize how many different locations the competition has since I have all that info in a niftly spreadsheet. Here it goes :

Assetto Corsa: 13 locations (DLC ongoing)
Forza 5: 17 locations (post DLC)
F1 2016: 21 locations (post DLC)
Forza 6: 28 locations (post DLC)
Project CARS : 35 locations (post DLC) (*)
Project CARS 2 : 60+ locations (pre-DLC)

You guys got it spot on and for sure are heading in the right direction!

(*) disclaimer: Spa & Greenwood are 1 location!

 

[Satco1066]

Ian let me wholeheartedly tell you that I am so grateful that you guys understand that a good game doesn't need 500+ generic cars but instead we want a LOT of tracks and 100+ quality cars. With over 60+ locations you guys nailed it, I'm so happy more developer resources have been dedicated to adding more tracks instead of more cars. That 60+ location part of your marketing strategy is one of the major things that sells the game for me.

For XBox racing games/sims I can quickly summarize how many different locations the competition has since I have all that info in a niftly spreadsheet. Here it goes :

Assetto Corsa: 13 locations (DLC ongoing)
Forza 5: 17 locations (post DLC)
F1 2016: 21 locations (post DLC)
Forza 6: 28 locations (post DLC)
Project CARS : 35 locations (post DLC) (*)
Project CARS 2 : 60+ locations (pre-DLC)

You guys got it spot on and for sure are heading in the right direction!

(*) disclaimer: Spa & Greenwood are 1 location!

jep, thats what we want. We have 4 to 5 favorite cars and want to push it forward on as much tracks as possible

 

[crowhop]

Can the grid for an Online Championship be filled with AI? If so, do the AI bots keep their name and "personality" type throughout the season? Basically, is this feature accessible for as few as 2 people?

jep, thats what we want. We have 4 to 5 favorite cars and want to push it forward on as much tracks as possible

As to this point, I would much rather race 1 car on 100 tracks than 100 cars one 1 track. I am thankful there is a game with a sim experience that in some way follows this ethos.

 

[Elitekilla29]

@IanBell or @The_American I am a huge NASCAR fan and I'm just wondering if you guys can give some details about it. Is it returning? If so will Chevy and Toyota be in the game this time? How's the racing when it comes to Daytona and can you bump draft?

 

[crowhop]

@IanBell or @The_American I am a huge NASCAR fan and I'm just wondering if you guys can give some details about it. Is it returning? If so will Chevy and Toyota be in the game this time? How's the racing when it comes to Daytona and can you bump draft?

Doubt we'll get an answer anytime soon, but I, too, am curious. One of my favorite cars to chuck around is the Caper. I am hopeful for its return along with the modern ones.

Seems with Ford and Chevrolet both on board, getting access to even the 80s-90s T-Bird/Monte Carlo/Lumina wouldn't take that much arm wringing. It all probably comes down to the time/effort/energy vs revenue equation. But it seems @The_American would be acutely interested in these models given that his "persona" cut his teeth on 80's GM makes.

 

[RacerDude08]

Doubt we'll get an answer anytime soon, but I, too, am curious. One of my favorite cars to chuck around is the Caper. I am hopeful for its return along with the modern ones.

Seems with Ford and Chevrolet both on board, getting access to even the 80s-90s T-Bird/Monte Carlo/Lumina wouldn't take that much arm wringing. It all probably comes down to the time/effort/energy vs revenue equation. But it seems @The_American would be acutely interested in these models given that his "persona" cut his teeth on 80's GM makes.

The Stockcar/Oval stuff is what made me buy PCARS 1 on day one. I was reallllyyyyyyy let down with things did not pan out. Its already been confirmed from leaks and what not that they are in. We havent had a decent nascar game in over 10 years so yeah we need someone to step up to the plate and SMS is the right people to do it.

 

[crowhop]

The Stockcar/Oval stuff is what made me buy PCARS 1 on day one. I was reallllyyyyyyy let down with things did not pan out. Its already been confirmed from leaks and what not that they are in. We haven't had a decent NASCAR game in over 10 years so yeah we need someone to step up to the plate and SMS is the right people to do it.

I was eager to race the Caper's on Ovals myself. Was a little bummed when we didn't get Indianapolis.

I do not doubt their competence to make a quality NASCAR title, if they wanted. But asking a company based in the UK to focus on making the best American niche motorsport game ever is a bit of a reach. The game you're really looking for is iRacing. I wouldn't expect much more than the NASCAR-type experience you get in GT5-6 from pC2, if we even get that. NASCAR licensing can be tricky/expensive. And with the IndyCar content, it could be that it was a "one or the other" type deal.

If we get a high-quality (but perhaps limited) Oval Racing experience via IndyCar instead of NASCAR, I'd be ok with that. I would miss that Caper car though.

Either way, I doubt we'll get it, but I would love hearing from @IanBell or @The_American on this.