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Post by Dale Rossi on Sept 6, 2020 13:18:21 GMT
First off, Turn 10 should sue them for everything.lol The upgrades were immediately intuitive because they are *exactly* what Forza has done from the start. Weight reduction, air intake, cam, engine, etc. The first course in the desert mountains seemed nearly like a copy of one on Forza. I want to say Mojave, but it's been a long time.
FOV is adjustable, so at least there is that. That's something that ACC seems to have no interest in addressing and is a deal breaker for anyone driving with a cockpit/wheel.
However, there doesn't seem to be a way to adjust your seat, at all. So with helmet or cockpit, you're stuck with the seat that is really far back. With that, it seems they're removed the virtual mirror, but you're sitting so far back that the mirrors are somewhat useful. Still, that's an incredible oversight or intentional omission.
Button box is mappable, but there doesn't seem to be much need for it now. I looked and looked and couldn't find anywhere to map brake bias so you could adjust it on the fly. That and all the seat adjustment options are what I mainly use the box for in PCars 2.
The driving is a lot of fun, but even on the Pro setting, it is dumbed down. Assists give you the option of turning ABS and TCS ON or OFF, there is no Authentic assists setting. There are levels of TCS and ABS, I think. The ommission of Authentic assists, as well as brake bias on the fly, not to mention tire wear, damage, pits, etc just shows how dumbed down it is. After a few coldbeers last night, there was no problem keeping the car on the road and beating challenges. That wouldn't happen on PC2.
The whole buy your car and build it up to race corny make believe tracks at the start of career isn't great. In itself, it's fun but it's not a sim racer. Reminds me of Metro Street Racer and Forza.
When Ian says it has "all the sim goodness," he's full of s***. But, at least you can adjust the FOV and has a decent frame rate. Combine this and ACC and you would either have two fraternal twins..one would be a pretty decent simcade and the other would be the worst game of all time.
One more important thing, it does have private lobbies and you do not have to pay extra for them. What a novel idea. lol
I'm so fed up with ACC that this and PCars 2 is the only option, for me. Otherwise, it's PC and I really don't want to to back to PC if I can help it. Spent many years on PC and in comparison, it's better but a *massive* headache.
The physics would be on par with F1 19, so take that for what it's worth. It's accessible and will bring good racing. No damage, tire wear etc is obviously a massive disappointment. Just seems this is like everything else now days, dumbed down for ADD. Looking at the stats for the C8R compared to the C7R, the C7R has a slightly better handling rating. That makes me question everything about the ratings, but it is what it is.
Lastly, you can completely customize your "rims." I know that's something everyone was begging for so I wanted to make sure everyone knew that Yes, the option is there. lmao :U
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Post by XRF HammerPH on Sept 6, 2020 16:15:01 GMT
Good write up Sean. Still no closer to deciding whether i'm going to bother with it though lol.
The lack of seat adjustment has been mentioned in the forums but whether it's addressed is another matter.
I think having come to terms with the no tyre, wear, fuel usage and pit stops I think the biggest issue for me has been the zero damage that to me just makes for lazy racing as you know you can take chances and race over aggressively without fear of picking up damage. I can only assume that this crosses over to online racing as well so will be interested to hear how you find that side of it Sean.
The ability of the AI also seems to polarise opinion and had caused me additional concern. Based on your comments i'm guessing they are too easy even at the hardest level?
Some people are raving about the tyre modelling and saying it is better then pCars 2 despite the lack of tyre wear. What's your thoughts on that side if it? Can you feel it if you over drive into a corner, does the tyre lose grip and need time to recover or does it just feel the same regardless?
Have yout tried out any differing conditions yet? It's not as deep as pCars2 from what i've read and you only get to set the starting and ending weather and no intervening periods. Is that correct.
Also on that side of thing's how do the 'magic' tyres feel? How are they in the dry, do they feel like any if the compounds we have in pCars2 and when the wet weather comes is there any transitional period where you can feel the grip changing and then they suddenly grip as though you've changed them like we would in a pit stop??
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Post by Dale Rossi on Sept 6, 2020 17:26:08 GMT
Good questions. There doesn't appear to be any gauges for tire heat, but they do get slick if you over cook them. I spun off the track at Mugello and they were noticeably slick for at least a full sector.
Overall the tires do feel good. I need to do a longer race to get better info, but even in quick 5 lap races, they do vary. AWD cars are fun to slide around and catching a slide seems more intuitive and maybe even a bit more realistic, at least in a road car.
Threshold braking, at least in GT cars, feels like you're on slicks in an open wheel. If you go over the threshold, they lock up quickly. You can be more aggressive with the brakes, but the window of error seems smaller.
AI..somewhat similar to PCars 2, the cars up front are much faster than the cars in back. On the hardest difficulty, the top 3 cars are pretty fast and the #1 car seems very fast. But, I've only started mid pack or from the very back.
That's just Mugello and Indy GP, so far. I expect them to vary like PC2 did. For example in PC2, 120/100 AI would blow almost anyone off of certain tracks. On other tracks, they aren't fast. None of us would have a problem beating LMP1 maxed AI at Daytona Road Course in PC2. So, it's difficult to tell just how different the AI is.
There can be some contact (not sure about open wheel, yet) and you're fine, generally rubbing is racing. I'll do a race later and smash a bunch of cars and see what happens.lol It would affect your Safety, though online. I drive with all the extra crap off the screen, so I don't know exactly what happens, but it does slow you down.
Track limits/slow downs are much much better IMO. That'll something that will make racing much more on an even field.
Weather slots, there are only 2. But, I haven't done any long races to see how transitions are...clear daytime to showers at night I'd assume would have some decent transition.
You know how much I've been looking forward to ACC, but with all things considered, PC3 is overall the better game. The braking, at least with load cell, is 1000% better in PC3. Physics, ACC is better, but about the same as AC to PC2. FFB actually feels very good.
PC3 needs some updates, but it's at least playable and raceable right out of the box. Several patches in, I'd set ACC on fire if I didn't download it.
PC3 isn't PC2, but it IS a lot of fun to race. The sound isn't great, but what else is new in this series.
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Post by Dale Rossi on Sept 6, 2020 18:17:05 GMT
One other thing it doesn't seem to have is a way to race against your own ghosts, outside of the few currents Rivals tracks. Maybe it is there, but I can't find it. That's one of the big things I liked in PC2 and Dirt Rally 2.0, being able to race your ghosts with different cars.
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Post by XRF HammerPH on Sept 6, 2020 19:47:52 GMT
Interesting.. no tyre HUD as such that's a shame but once that patch in UDP support that should come through rsDash, etc. PC has UDP support out of the box but not either console which sucks seeing as console is where most sales will be.
Didn't realise that about the ghosts either, I'll ask around and see if there is an option for that.
That's good to hear about the tyres as it corroborates what the devs said would be the case. Full tyre wear would be better but at least this gives some basis for proper driving and not being able to over drive without some form of punishment.
I think you'll find that there is no damage other than cosmetic regardless of the level of impact. Have you come across the red screen that happens on impact yet? I don't like that, yearnings met if the story if thing you get when being killed in shoot 'em ups lol
I like how track limits are being dealt with and agree with you that it's better to have that automatic slow down than rely on a driver to do it himself. Should force drivers to be more respectful of the limits hopefully. Have you seen any AI going over the limits and do they very penalised too?
Did you need to make FFB adjustments or were they good out of the box. Also, are the settings the same as pCars2? I understand there are no longer any flavours to chose from though, is that correct?
Thanks for the feedback anyway, I knew you would give very honest and informed information which is exactly what I needed. I've read plenty of other reviews but having one from someone you know and respect makes it much more relevant. I think from what you've said that it will be worth picking up and won't risk being a waste of money.
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Post by Dale Rossi on Sept 6, 2020 21:41:19 GMT
You're welcome. Correct, no "Flavors" of FFB. But really, it feels very good out of the box. I've done nothing but turn the gain down. Exact same wheel settings as PC2, just calibrate your wheel and pedals and you're good.
Found something cool, it gives you a slow down for Blocking. That was hugely needed! Every raving game should have that, so that and the track limits both are really good. I haven't noticed about the AI and limits.
Did a dry to wet rain race and it's pretty good. A lot of confidence in the rain followed by me spinning off 3/4 of the way through the lap.lol
The damage thing isn't great, but it's not all bad. You can touch without taking a ton of damage, so that's good for GT. Not sure what happens in open wheel when tires touch. It does allow for aggressive racing without it being pure smash up derby.
It has its quirks, but I can deal with it because at least they are honest about what it is, a fun racing game. I'm 100% confident that if you enjoy F1 the game, you'll like this just as well. They are both very simcade, but reward knowing how to actuallu drive and race.
The graphics on the X don't seem as good as PC2 on the highest setting. But I figure maybe that is a trade off so there isn't so much lag etc. It still looks decent and the frame rate is AAA level.
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Post by outsider819 on Sept 7, 2020 2:27:38 GMT
A fair and balanced opinion. I still remain on the fence a bit. I will probably wait for some updates and maybe a sale, or at least more of my online pretend racing friends to get it, more because I have enough on my plate right now than anything else.
With regards to the AI- People often complain about having a couple of faster ones, a few slower ones, and a few packs in the middle. To which I say, have they ever been to an actual motor race? Because that's precisely how 99% of them go! They don't all hang together, not even in the notoriously tight world of MotoGP! It would be nice if they could get them more consistent from track to track and car to car, though, but many developers that have more than a single class or two seem to struggle with this now.
I have read that some of the physics seem a little off, as an example someone pointed out that in some old muscle cars, specifically the '66 Mustang, the initial push that should be there, and was there in PC2 and almost every game featuring semi-realistic driving since I can remember, seems to be gone, instead going straight to oversteer, have you noticed anything like this? Wouldn't be a complete deal breaker if true but would be an annoyance if it was.
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Post by Dale Rossi on Sept 13, 2020 14:22:12 GMT
A fair and balanced opinion. I still remain on the fence a bit. I will probably wait for some updates and maybe a sale, or at least more of my online pretend racing friends to get it, more because I have enough on my plate right now than anything else. With regards to the AI- People often complain about having a couple of faster ones, a few slower ones, and a few packs in the middle. To which I say, have they ever been to an actual motor race? Because that's precisely how 99% of them go! They don't all hang together, not even in the notoriously tight world of MotoGP! It would be nice if they could get them more consistent from track to track and car to car, though, but many developers that have more than a single class or two seem to struggle with this now. I have read that some of the physics seem a little off, as an example someone pointed out that in some old muscle cars, specifically the '66 Mustang, the initial push that should be there, and was there in PC2 and almost every game featuring semi-realistic driving since I can remember, seems to be gone, instead going straight to oversteer, have you noticed anything like this? Wouldn't be a complete deal breaker if true but would be an annoyance if it was. Exactly right on the spread field. lol The AI is better in some ways and worse in some ways, but it's serviceable. Regarding push in the 66 Mustang, I haven't driven that car...do you mean severe understeer? My career car is an evo and it does behave like an AWD car. I had one of the schedule online races last night, F355 Challenge at Willow Springs. It was 15 laps and was an absolute blast. If their goal was to create exciting racing as a simcade, they nailed it. It's a fun game, but Turn 10 should sue their azzes off.lol It's like a more realistic Forza, as far as physics goes, with a wheel. The upgrade system is identical. I have a love/hate with it. But at least people can drive exactly what they want as long as it is balanced and not a Class race. If ACC had its act together, that is where I'd be, but it's a disaster. Now the McLaren G Challenge is over for me, not sure what I'm doing. We have several people interested in resuming the grid choice series, so we will see. |
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Post by Dale Rossi on Sept 15, 2020 23:35:21 GMT
After playing this a bit more, it isn't a replacement for PC2, but it is a great supplement. The prequalifying races are always rotating and they do seem to match you up well with similar drivers. The cars and tracks change daily and there are 6 in rotation during the day. That is really convenient for some good racing, usually 15 lap races. So that's not bad at all.
The daily/weekly/monthly Rivals are also fun. It's a good game to get some decent racing in and test yourself against others. It has its flaws, but for what it is, it is fun. PC2 is better, just different, and PC3 is better in a few ways. For endurance racing, PC2 all the way.
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