GTPlanet Community Spotlight: The Midnight Hour

– Ford GT40 Mk. I from Assetto Corsa’s Dream Pack 2, October 9th, 2015, courtesy of ECGadget.

This year has been defined by an unending torrent of news that made it apparent that 2015 was the year of the racing game; a niche no longer it would seem as the genre has been exposed to more people in the past several months than it ever has been. This is no doubt something to marvel at as the genre is steadily approaching the point where it’s easily accessible to any and everyone regardless of their skill level. While that may cause seasoned veterans to turn their noses up at the very thought of their prized franchises becoming easier in lieu of attracting a larger audience, the one thing everyone has to remember is that those options, what many of us would define as “hardcore” are still going to be there for those of us that can’t live without them, and for those of us that want to dabble about and experience the full picture.

That tangent aside, this year, and more specifically the past several weeks have been defined by racing games. Whether that be through new releases, additional content, or the long-awaited release of something near and dear, racing games are, dare I say, more prevalent now than they’ve been in a long while; perhaps ever have been. Again, and this bears being repeated, that is something to marvel at as not only will the market for this particular genre be seen as more profitable, the possibilities that are opened up as a result are nigh on endless.

The best news is you haven’t even seen everything there is to be offered. There’s more content and a few more games before year’s end. Color me excited.

Now, who’s ready for the Spotlight?

GTPlanet Picture of the Week

This week’s featured image bares a racing machine with a color scheme every Gran Turismo fan will instantly recognize, the image comes to us courtesy of JorgePinto and features the #75 Cunningham Racing 300ZX from the golden days of IMSA.

If you like what you’re seeing and have a suggestion for next week’s featured image, start a conversation with me, entitle it “GTPlanet Picture of the Week” and fill it to your heart’s content with suggestions and they’ll be featured in upcoming Community Spotlight articles. NOTE: You cannot elect your own work.

GTPlanet Gallery of the Week

This week’s featured gallery is 101_DM Photomode Journey and brought to you by none other than 101_DM. Opened this past Tuesday, the 6th of Ocotber in 2015, the gallery approaches GTPhotography with an attention to detail and a focus on Ferrari’s 458 Italia. Perhaps more impressive is this gallery is 101_DM’s first post!

You can find 101_DM’s gallery here in all of its splendor if you want to look through a gallery still in its beginnings but one that shows plenty of promise. The latest update being just this past Tuesday, October 6th.

– Who doesn’t like the 458 Italia? October 8th, 2015.

If you like what you’re seeing and have a suggestion for next week’s featured gallery, start a conversation with me, entitle it “GTPlanet Gallery of the Week” and fill it to your heart’s content with suggestions and they’ll be featured in upcoming Community Spotlight articles. NOTE: You cannot elect your own gallery.

GTPlanet Thread of the Week – The Help Desk

– Spirited battle at La Sarthe, October 9th, 2015, courtesy of kornGT.

While we’re all relishing in the fact that the Course Maker has finally come to Gran Turismo 6, it’s unique implementation in the game has undoubtedly left many of us with a lot of questions, and more than a week later those questions are still out in the wild. What better way to lay all of those questions, as well as any new ones, to the side than with a community help desk – your eyes aren’t deceiving you, there is now one comprehensive thread that answers those questions.

The thread, Community Help Desk: GT6 Course Maker, put together by our own photonrider, answers such questions like whether or not you’re able to create courses directly from your PS3, if the Track Path Editor app works on PC, or if you’re able to change the elevation of your created tracks.

All of that and more can be found in the thread here, so get a move on!

GTPlanet Member of the Week

The time to acknowledge a member of the GTPlanet community is upon us. A member who has stood out among the hundreds of thousands of members already here, both old and new alike for all that they’re worth and all they have contributed to the community.

While this week’s inductee has yet to provide the necessary insight in their world, the call has been answered and without further ado let’s give a warm welcome to the newest member to find vacancy in the ever-growing Member of the Week madhouse, kolio123!

You can read the interview in its entirety the second it becomes available tomorrow (watch for the alert!) in the official thread right here and remember, the feature is now on an alternating schedule so don’t panic when this particular feature is gone from the Spotlight next week.

GTPlanet Vehicles of the Week – Rally Heaven

Dream Pack 2 for Assetto Corsa Now Available

We’ve already been over the primary intentions behind Dream Pack 2 and Update 1.3 for the game, both of which are available as of this past Thursday for those of you that didn’t know, so we’re just going to jump straight into the full list of everything changed for the better.

– 64bit build
– Car physics is now calculated in separate threads
– Fixed KERS disabled in pitlane
– Added soft locks (use [SOFT_LOCK] ENABLED=1 in system/cfg/assetto_corsa.ini)
– Added support for DRS zones
– acServer is now stressing much less Go’ GC and should offer more stable performances
– Added FORCE_TGT to force low res timer in assetto_corsa.ini
– acServer is now using Go 1.5, faster GC
– Added server welcome message
– Fixed gear ratio appearing with a double “/” in setup screen
– Fixed acServer unable to read ini values with a “=” character (ex AUTH)
– Fixed driver name displayer not obeying to saved settings in MP
– Fixed acServer not creating “results” folder automatically
– New algorithms to calculate skid volumes and pitch, now working globally in the entire simulation
– Added grain and blister readings in the setup info screen
– Added downshift protection to gearboxes
– Lap count is now reported using 16bit unsigned integer to server plugins
– Now using triple buffer when vsync is on to reduce latency
– Exposure settings are now persistent
– Fixed audio clicks on surface events
– Tyre flat spots are now taking into account tyre softness
– Windscreens now receive shadows
– ksEditor: now it uses the same ingame engine.
– ksEditor: added project menagement
– ksEditor: added user personalizations
– ksEditor: added floating windows and layout system
– ksEditor: added Weather and PPfilter loader
– ksEditor: added recent files/project management
– ksEditor: added node filter in scene panel
– ksEditor: added Material by Texture in Materials panel
– ksEditor: added scene icons and side function buttons
– ksEditor: added texture detail on Material panel
– ksEditor: added Texture Review windows in Utilities
– ksEditor: fixed reload texture function
– ksEditor: now the default CultureInfo is en-US (number format, ect)
– ksEditor: added FOV, Near Plane Slider, Mouse sensitivity, camera angle and position under Viewport
– ksEditor: added Dashboard tab
– acServerManager: removed some upper limits on parameters
– acServerManager: preset name/description is more clear
– acServerManager: added welcome message
– acServerManager: added qualify limit
– acServerManager: added fixed setup management
– acServerManager: fixed upload on ftp. Now cfg folder is not deleted.
– Fixed driver textures on serveral cars
– Fixed circuit outline on track selection UI
– Camera Dev App now save F1 cameras’ exposure and pitch, F6 cameras’ exposure, fov and position and angle – Removed background from Performance Delta App
– Redesigned and faster code for logging
– Updated Tyres V5 for GT2 and GT3 cars, should give less understeer.
– Zonda R and Ferrari 599XX and Formula Abarth now have V5 tyres.
– Less lift off oversteer for Evora S on street tyres V5
– GT3 and GT2 cars updated aero stalling for front splitter and diffuser
– GT3 slight performance balancing
– Mclaren MP4 GT3 tyre corrections
– Fixed TC digital item showing 0 based index when multiple TC level are available
– Now showing Cold and Hot pressure readings in setup status
– Added “NA” for IMO temps reading when no set has been swapped out
– Added support for track dynamic objects
– It is now possible to join a server using admin passoword and be automatically granted admin rights
– Joining a server with admin password will override the session “closed” status
– Added “ban_id” admin command to ban a user and send straight to blacklist
– Remote cars in multiplayer now generate skidmarks
– Fixed EDL wrong calculation order

A correction also needs to be made in that Dream Pack is available for $9.99 but is currently on sale in the Steam store for $7.99 until October 15th.

GTPlanet Tune of the Week

– May 17th, 2015, courtesy of sparkytooth.

This week’s featured tune pairs rather well with this week’s Seasonal Events as you’ll be behind the wheel of BMW’s ultimate racing machine, the Z4 GT3. The performance may be limited to 93.4% thus resulting in 499 horses at 583PP, but you can easily turn up the heat to be competitive in the Seasonals and claim the victory that is rightfully yours.

Be sure to stop by Litchi’s tune page and give this one a go. Can you rise to the challenge?

The Last Lap

I know, I know, there weren’t any trucks this week and I’m working on a way to implement any and everything Euro Truck Simulator 2 into the Spotlight as smoothly as possible, but for the time being it looks like it’s just going to be updates and the likes thereof so just bear with it. Perhaps one of you should start an ETS2 photo gallery – just a thought.

This week’s Spotlight is on the shorter side of things this week even if it doesn’t look that way (I’m looking at you, Assetto Corsa 1.3 changelog), but it will be made up in full come next week. Continue to keep an eye peeled to the news in the coming days because there’s even more Project CARS goodies on the horizon, and who knows what else because I surely can’t keep up with it all without my poor head imploding.

Until next week, keep racing!

See more articles on GTPlanet Community Spotlight and GTPlanet Member of the Week.