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Project Cars 2 |OT| Buggy Racing At The Four Seasons

danowat

Banned
I like it. I just like Assetto Corsa more, I think.
In terms of scope, PCars2 is impressive, but it's poorly executed, maybe it's better on PC, but there are way too many things that should have been fixed before release, and way too many bad things brought over from pc1.

Maybe if they focused that scope down a little more, rather than trying to do everything, it might have been a better release.

I am also amazed hardly any of the console bugs came up in the reviews.

But yeah, AC, in terms of core driving, is a long way ahead.
 
My personal beef with SMS and pCARS is with the car handling and to some point with the FFB.
I actually have a list of physics flaws with car/track combo that I encountered in pCARS1, so I can try if pCARS2 will be different in my first 2 hours to help me decide if I want to call for a refund.
I'm curious.
I'm sure you are ;)

Ok, so here is my list with tested result (not done in the first 2 hours though, because with this FFB and better feeling tire model, I was sure to not steam-refund it):




Ginetta G55 GT4 @Brands Hatch Turn 6: hitting curb-bump at speed => roll lift-off, driving on 2 wheels
---> no sign of this anymore, suspension works as it should


Mercedes AMG GT3 @Road America Turn 1 & 2: braking hard and steering => immediate spinning (no matter what brake balance)
---> still the case, inner front wheel lock-up leads to extreme oversteer instead of understeer


Ford Escort @Zolder Turn 7(Gilles Villeneuve): braking and steering => extreeeme understeer that unwinds once letting off the brake (no matter what brake balance) leading to direct extreme oversteer
---> still a tiiny little bit of understeer under braking sensible, but way better now


Audi R8 V10 @Nordschleife Fuchsröhre: Bottoming out leads to spinning out
---> completely solved [gotta say the standard brake balance is twitchy unrealistic for a road legal car, but normally ABS and ESP solve that so who knows]


McLaren MP4-12C GT3 @Nordschleife: suspension hitting bump stop constantly from Turn 3 to 6 - not solvable even with extreme bump stop height, harder springs and damper adjustment
---> this car is no longer in the game, the McLaren 650S GT3 however doesn't hit the bump stop, the standard setup is too hard to be efficient here though; probably solvable with a Nordschleife adjusted setup


McLaren P1 @Nordschleife: Flugplatz jump => car lands on 4 wheels => no tilting backwards mid-air due to aero inbalance /angle of attack
---> solved. Tilts suuuuper backwards now from that jump. Kinda "wow" for how different that is now.


Lotus 49 @California Highway Stage 1:Over the big crest jump, the car tilts forwards, not backwards.
---> still present, seems at least as extreme as before, if not more. This old chassis had aero lift (or "negative downforce") and a rearward center of gravity.


Lotus 49 (and most cars): Engine inertia too low, revving a decoupled engine is too fast.
---> Seems mostly better now. At least in most cars I didn't feel a sim-disconnect from this.


Zakspeed Capri: Turbo spool-up time way too low (very noticable in neutral gear). Turbo lag very underdone under engine load as well.
--->still the case. [also: the tachometer seems last-gen low res compared to other cars]


Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya GP: Curbs in the last chicane (right before final corner) are too low
---> still too low, but not entirely sure if it's slightly improved now.


California Highway Stage 1: Stair-step like sharp bump at Gas-station (after 2/3 of Stage1); probably geometry tile-fitting bug
---> still there, but the new tire model can cope with it way better now.
 

TJP

Member
I am also amazed hardly any of the console bugs came up in the reviews.

But yeah, AC, in terms of core driving, is a long way ahead.
I am not surprised at all. So many games are released without decent QA testing; who knows what was said to reviewers if they encountered or reported issues/bugs etc. Probably the old chestnut "that'll be sorted with a day one patch".

SMS have form with buggy releases; pCARS 2 is the 4th release with a multitude of issues. I do hope SMS sort these issues out ASAP as there is a good game waiting to be unlocked.
 

op_ivy

Fallen Xbot (cannot continue gaining levels in this class)
Aha! You have to select 'snow' in the winter seasons setting to get snow on the ground, not just selecting 'snow' as weather. That was driving me mad.

What do you get in spring or fall? Please tell me falling snow that melts instantly on the roads. That would be cool
 

danowat

Banned
I am not surprised at all. So many games are released without decent QA testing; who knows what was said to reviewers if they encountered or reported issues/bugs etc. Probably the old chestnut "that'll be sorted with a day one patch".

SMS have form with buggy releases; pCARS 2 is the 4th release with a multitude of issues. I do hope SMS sort these issues out ASAP as there is a good game waiting to be unlocked.
Yeah, they do have form.

Shame on me for thinking it might be different this time.
 

kamspy

Member
Sunday morning coffee, sativa and PCars2 is divine.

The Cayman has clicked completely for me. Who needs traction control when you've got a Cayman with a manual gearbox? I'm catching grip whenever I need it now with a well timed shift. Feels great. Did the whole 1hr practice at Laguna and just enjoyed it. Focused on a couple corners at a time and just causally cruised the rest of the lap. Really comfy.

Game delivers for me.
 
Anyone recommend a good midpriced ($200-$400) wheel mainly for this game on the PC? I don't currently plan on getting a PS4 or XBox One so compatability with those doesn't matter. I have Oculus Rift so to get full immersion I think it's time for a wheel! I also have Assetto Corsa, F1 2016 and Dirt Rally in my Steam library.
 
pcars2avx_2017_09_24_wdj6q.png

pcars2avx_2017_09_24_tajqq.png
 
Anyone recommend a good midpriced ($200-$400) wheel mainly for this game on the PC? I don't currently plan on getting a PS4 or XBox One so compatability with those doesn't matter. I have Oculus Rift so to get full immersion I think it's time for a wheel! I also have Assetto Corsa, F1 2016 and Dirt Rally in my Steam library.
This piece may help: https://www.roadtovr.com/virtual-re...el-best-recommendations-oculus-rift-htc-vive/

I need to update it again due to some recent changes to the hardware lineups from TM and Fanatec, but it is still relevant. TL;DR - for your budget you're probably looking at either a G29 or T300. Both are good quality wheels. They have pros and cons, which I detail in the article.
 

Gestault

Member
Xbox version is practically unplayable with G920.
Check this videos:

https://youtu.be/CTivqZblL9w
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-p7g2TXwW52Y3lValNlUEduQWs/view
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yO1hQmzqkKM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MC2dOFq8IXQ

When parked at the boxes, the wheel turns automatically all the way to the left or right and stays there, full FFB power holding it there.

Any car has a jerking left or right on straight, even at low speeds, even setting the FFB to zero.

Not enough Xbox One visuals look like a X360 port, G920 implementation is beyond a disaster. Really bummed, was super excited for this game, now feeling I wasted my $60.

Folks are discussing it on official forums:
http://forum.projectcarsgame.com/showthread.php?51460-FFB-problems-all-over-again!

A moderator said on the forums that "It will be fixed, WMD had no chance to test the game on console" testing on consoles was outsourced to a 3rd party. Apparently the game was not ready to be released on consoles.

I have no words... :(

I've had ongoing frustrations with the G920 (overall) as long as I've had it. Combine that with minimal game-testing from devs, and it's a formula for a bad time. I understand it's a small team, but I don't like feeling like I'm not able to buy a SMS product in its first months on the market and have a polished experience. I've ended up re-buying PC1 on all three platforms as patching progressed on each, to mixed restults. Currently, I love it on PC with an older Driving Force GT, but I've been hearing mixed feedback to even the (otherwise solid) PC experience with my wheel for PC2.

I'm sure some of that is weirdos with hyperbolic, arbitrarily emotional reactions to anything slightly different from what they're imagining is happening (the wheel scene is filled with these guys), but I've heard some reasonable sounding "meh" reactions to FFB in PC1 vs PC2.
 
This piece may help: https://www.roadtovr.com/virtual-re...el-best-recommendations-oculus-rift-htc-vive/

I need to update it again due to some recent changes to the hardware lineups from TM and Fanatec, but it is still relevant. TL;DR - for your budget you're probably looking at either a G29 or T300. Both are good quality wheels. They have pros and cons, which I detail in the article.

Thanks a lot. The Logitech G29 is currently on sale so maybe that is my best bet.
 

cooldawn

Member
Count me in as another one who found a sweet-spot with pad controls only for it to change with a different car.

Used that YouTube guys setting and tweaked it. I ended up tweaking it a bit more. Able to cruise around in my Bentley and M6. Pop in to a 488...nope. R8...nope.

Regardless of that, presentation on the whole isn't a step up from the original. Menu's are slow to respond. Online lobbies are bugged (disconnects/hangs).

I did manage to get to a E1472 grade last night, though. Which was nice...considering the ropey settings and all.
 

Duallusion

Member
Considering the comments... bullet dodged. Will buy when it's at least around 50% off and patched up like I did the original.
 

Leeroy605

Member
Anyone else getting the bug where you get stuck on the menus and can press anything or go back?

You can mouse over stuff and it reacts but you can't change anything or leave the menu. Have to close the game and restart.

This game has completely wasted what limited time I had to play it this weekend. I've had numerous crashes, force feedback and wheel stop working halfway through races and this bloody menu bug happening nearly every time.

Edit: Now it keeps muting the audio in my rift (all other VR games work fine, just checked) and had the wheel bug again. Done with this for now.
 

Fox Mulder

Member
Considering the comments... bullet dodged. Will buy when it's at least around 50% off and patched up like I did the original.

I'm likely done with SMS after reading this thread.

I was willing to give this a chance, especially with how ambitious it is and the shining reviews, but negative impressions hit immediately. No demo is a huge turnoff and I had issues with both nfs shifts, test drive ferrari, and pc1. Maybe Project Cars just will never be great on consoles. I'm not into PC gaming and awesome sim racing setups. If it doesn't work on controller then I'll pass and avoid the frustration.
 

Klocker

Member
Good God the handling on some of these cars with a controller is horrible, Xbox by the way

the NSX GT3 holy crap it just drifts left and right willy-nilly like it has a mind of its own.

it's kind of ridiculous it must be a bug wouldn't doubt there are several cars that are acting this way. I even tried restarting the game and it is still there fighting the car the whole time.

then other cars handle like a dream so this is a jekyll-and-hyde game right now. it's a shame because I'm starting to settle in on the graphics, (weather and lighting is tops) the feel, the challenge and then something like this comes up

Ok 6 page thread on official forums with xbxx users seeing same wobb,img experience down the straights with certain cara... so obviously a bug.

would be nice if xbox could at least get day 1 patch even
 

coiler

Member
I was testing PC2 yesterday at my local game store(PS4). By only a short time as much as I was ready to buy the game I end up leaving it. Glitchy shadows/puddles and super low res water spray textures didn't help the unfinished game feeling.
 

danowat

Banned
So this is a repeat of Project Cars 1? Or worse?
I dunno,probably worse because a lot of things are just repeats off old problems.

I am starting to wonder if this wonderful new pad handling system is 'the emperor's new clothes', sure in some instances, it is better, but it other its still as bad is pcars 1,the cynic in me says that some cars just haven't been tuned properly.
I do know that the console versions are missing the stable and loose setups from the PC version.
 
So this is a repeat of Project Cars 1? Or worse?

No it´s not, this game is absolutely miles better.

It´s just common for us to focus on the little bugs and the things that are wrong, but this is a solid 9/10.

If people liked the handling in AC, then this game is a lot like it.

I am talking about a lot of small things, but i really, really like this one.

It has the potential to be the best racing game of the last 10 years, just need some tweaks.
 

Bollocks

Member
Wtf at that last Formula Rookie Asia race in career mode.
Snow track, the AI which I intentionally set to low and beat +7 seconds now leaves me in the dust, even with my best lap I'm behind 10 seconds o_O
I feather the gas as best as I can, if I push any harder I spin out. I doubt there's much I can do with a controller, just take that L and move on ._.
 

KdotIX

Member
I'm likely done with SMS after reading this thread.

I was willing to give this a chance, especially with how ambitious it is and the shining reviews, but negative impressions hit immediately. No demo is a huge turnoff and I had issues with both nfs shifts, test drive ferrari, and pc1. Maybe Project Cars just will never be great on consoles. I'm not into PC gaming and awesome sim racing setups. If it doesn't work on controller then I'll pass and avoid the frustration.

That's a shame to hear that XB1 versions are quite buggy. Honestly though, the game shines with pad handling on certain cars. I just came out of an online session on the Nurburgring (combined) with a Honda car (couldn't remember the model - similar type of car to the BAC Mono) and it felt really nice to drive around with a controller. Could feel every nuance of the car's grip and weight shift. Ended up getting a time of 8:25 too.
 

terrible

Banned
I just leave the car rolling on a straight at >5mph. Not an issue for me. All sims have low-speed problems and usually what they do is make the wheel artificially heavy below a very low threshold.

My biggest annoyance are the shifter issues. And probably they are not a priority (or I definitely could see SMS say "for competitiveness sake, you can't shift faster than flappy pedal users, even in IRL H-pattern cars". What I really want to drive are the cool older cars, Group 5, Group 6, all pre-90s F1. All completely broken with a shifter. If I force myself to shift slower than I would even a normal 90s road car, then I'm exploding with anger on the inside. It's like splitting my personal "want to drive" - car list in half at the moment.

It wasn't shaking with every car for me last night when I was playing so it might just be specific to certain cars I guess.

Have they acknowledged the shifter issues anywhere yet? It must just be a bug, they'd get a lot of shit from people if it was intentional.
 
Crazy talk time.

As of right now im still sussing out my wheel settings so take this with a grain of salt.

I kinda preffer how PC1 handled with a wheel in the end over PC2 right now.

This might change when I figure things out, but its kinda crazy that I feel this way.
 

cooldawn

Member
I drove around the Nordschleife but I couldn't do more than half a lap. It's still horrid. It feels too wide, too smooth...completely lifeless.

Gran Turismo and Assetto Corsa are miles ahead of that.
 
Crazy talk time.

As of right now im still sussing out my wheel settings so take this with a grain of salt.

I kinda preffer how PC1 handled with a wheel in the end over PC2 right now.

This might change when I figure things out, but its kinda crazy that I feel this way.

That's ridiculous. Just like you, I had this "omg, this feels crazy different from Forza and GT and fucking amazing! Like actually driving a car!"-moment with Asseto Corsa's FFB. And I think pCARS2 feels even better than Assetto Corsa (no, I wouldn't trade in AC for pCARS2, definitely not, but SMS's tire model except for some cars under braking and the FFB is truly great)! It's feels "fun" and I can basically do whatever I want with a car - the game is pretty forgiving and with this FFB it tells me exactly what's going on.

Try my settings:
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=249648183&postcount=2458

...and configure two buttons on your wheel to in- and decrease the "FFB Volume" while driving so the car feels right for you.



Edit:
I drove around the Nordschleife but I couldn't do more than half a lap. It's still horrid. It feels too wide, too smooth...completely lifeless.
Would you mind taking a screenshot in AC of the Nordschleife and another one in pCARS2 and also post the FOV settings. pCARS uses horizontal FOV values, while Assetto uses vertical - if you have Assetto's FOV set to 50, that translates to~79 in Project CARS.
 
I don't know if the PS4 Pro is immune to some of the worst bugs being reported here or what but I've been lucky enough to not run into anything serious. Even tried running some of the cars mentioned in this thread so far and had no problems with driving them with the pad, but maybe I'm not pushing them as hard.

The only gripes I have at the moment:

* The game didn't like my custom driver's last name and replaces it in all text with ********, and I can't find a way to change it.
* Can't save manual changes to the HUD, like disabling the track map and some other panels. Hitting the save button does nothing.
* Can't find a way to reduce the qualifying and practice time increments in the career. A tooltip says its possible, but the only options I see are those to turn them off or on.
* No audio from the race engineer/spotter when using headphones.

Speaking of AI times in the snow, I'm pretty sure that Ian Bell said that was being taken care of in the next patch. Not a great answer considering the game shouldn't have shipped without SMS/WMD taking their time to test it, but its something.
 
That's ridiculous. Just like you, I had this "omg, this feels crazy different from Forza and GT and fucking amazing! Like actually driving a car!"-moment with Asseto Corsa's FFB. And I think pCARS2 feels even better than Assetto Corsa (no, I wouldn't trade in AC for pCARS2, definitely not, but SMS's tire model except for some cars under braking and the FFB is truly great)! It's feels "fun" and I can basically do whatever I want with a car - the game is pretty forgiveable and with this FFB it tells me exactly what's going on.

Try my settings:
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=249648183&postcount=2458

...and configure two buttons on your wheel to in- and decrease the "FFB Volume" while driving so the car feels right for you.
Ill try, but im having a real issue getting it dialed in. I cant drive consistently at all, and for whatever reason 2 months ago I hit some magic sweet spot in PC1 through blind luck where I got it all sorted.
 
Speaking of AI times in the snow, I'm pretty sure that Ian Bell said that was being taken care of in the next patch. Not a great answer considering the game shouldn't have shipped without SMS/WMD taking their time to test it, but its something.

I expect they were rushing it into the shops ahead of GT Sport and Forza Motorsport 7. I wouldn't be surprised if you see plenty of XB1 copies of PC2 in the pre-owned section next week as Forza is released.
 
Ill try, but im having a real issue getting it dialed in. I cant drive consistently at all, and for whatever reason 2 months ago I hit some magic sweet spot in PC1 through blind luck where I got it all sorted.
I think my two most fun combinations with the FFB today were with the untuned BMW 2002 at Cadwell and with the Caterham 620R at Lydden Hill (the not-rallycross variant). Maybe try that for now, so it's definitely not with a certain car. You don't have the TX anymore, right? Maybe it's that? Also AnythingBut mentioned that the FFB feels different on console.

[my worst was with the Diablo GTR btw. That car's FFB has almost no center then a super high ramp like it had the caster from a go kart badly soft-clip compressed into the low Nm wheel range]
 
I think my two most fun combinations with the FFB today were with the untuned BMW 2002 at Cadwell and with the Caterham 620R at Lydden Hill (the not-rallycross variant). Maybe try that for now, so it's definitely not with a certain car. You don't have the TX anymore, right? Maybe it's that? Also AnythingBut mentioned that the FFB feels different on console.

[my worst was with the Diablo GTR btw. That car's FFB has almost no center then a super high ramp like it had the caster from a go kart badly soft-clip compressed into the low Nm wheel range]

Yeah I have the Fanatec CSL and its MUCH stonger. So when something is off its really off when it comes to settings.
 

xrnzaaas

Gold Member
I managed to borrow a copy from a friend and holy fuck it's a bugfest. Racing in the rain seems utterly broken at least in the invitational events where the game doesn't allow me to change tires and the AI drivers blast away. The AI is inconsistent in dry races as well, sometimes they're super fast like in the Ginetta affinity race sometimes super slow. I had a qualification session in Knockhill running in what appeared to be 30fps meanwhile it was okay in the race. There are tons of small bugs and even returning ones like the game not remembering HUD settings. :/
 

terrible

Banned
My favourite bug is when the AI pulls off ridiculous qualifying times if you skip to the end of qualifying. One example: I was in first and six tenths of a second up on the person in 2nd after 18 of the 20 minutes I had set for qualifying and I decided I would just skip that last two minutes since I was happy with my time. What happens? I end up qualifying in last because the entire field managed to pull off quicker times than me in the 2 minutes I skipped lol. It wasn't even close either, I was multiple seconds behind first place. Pretty sure this used to happen to me in pCARS 1 sometimes too.

edit:

The AI inconsistencies in different weather is fun too. On Spa with the M1 Procar I can drive circles around the AI on a specific difficulty setting if it's set to a dry to rain transition but at the same difficulty in perfect conditions they wipe the floor with me.
 
I wonder how SMS will even filter through the bug reports, the forums are full of false alarms like "I'm much faster than real life"->turns out he was on the wrong track layout, "sometimes the downshift button doesn't work"->the car had downshift protection. And they all get an extra thread.
Some smaller bugs probably won't even be mentioned because everybody concentrates on reporting the bigger things.

Maybe we should make a google doc spreadsheet where gaffers can enter bugs that are non-subjective - with columns for on what system, and what kind (car visual, car physics, menus, ai, setups/pitstops, hardware). A separate wishlist spreadsheet with minor improvements might be good too.

@terrible: that qualifying bug is reported and got the "known issue" status, that will be corrected soon. pCARS1 had this too btw, just not that pronounced
 

Bobnob

Member
My favourite bug is when the AI pulls off ridiculous qualifying times if you skip to the end of qualifying. One example: I was in first and six tenths of a second up on the person in 2nd after 18 of the 20 minutes I had set for qualifying and I decided I would just skip that last two minutes since I was happy with my time. What happens? I end up qualifying in last because the entire field managed to pull off quicker times than me in the 2 minutes I skipped lol. It wasn't even close either, I was multiple seconds behind first place. Pretty sure this used to happen to me in pCARS 1 sometimes too.
Yes, i had this happen today.

After my wheel was feeling great yesterday in F50gt n Indycar it kind of feels shit today, same settings and mitsubishi was near undrivable because the wheel was juddering left n right.
 

xrnzaaas

Gold Member
My favourite bug is when the AI pulls off ridiculous qualifying times if you skip to the end of qualifying. One example: I was in first and six tenths of a second up on the person in 2nd after 18 of the 20 minutes I had set for qualifying and I decided I would just skip that last two minutes since I was happy with my time. What happens? I end up qualifying in last because the entire field managed to pull off quicker times than me in the 2 minutes I skipped lol. It wasn't even close either, I was multiple seconds behind first place. Pretty sure this used to happen to me in pCARS 1 sometimes too.

edit:

The AI inconsistencies in different weather is fun too. On Spa with the M1 Procar I can drive circles around the AI on a specific difficulty setting if it's set to a dry to rain transition but at the same difficulty in perfect conditions they wipe the floor with me.

This happens every single time. It's like the game intentionally punishes you for skipping the rest of the session. Also I don't understand why couldn't they make a fast forward button for singleplayer.
 

riverfr0zen

Neo Member
I don't know if the PS4 Pro is immune to some of the worst bugs being reported here or what but I've been lucky enough to not run into anything serious.

Yeah, I haven't come up with anything too troublesome on the Pro either (and I'm a decent way into three different careers).

I think my biggest complaint is the non-game UI doesn't do a good job of conveying what is currently 'highlighted' by the cursor. I think that pale blue highlight for selected item (is that cornflower blue?!) doesn't stand out at all, and I find myself constantly unsure of what is selected (or sometimes even selecting the wrong thing because it didn't look highlighted).
 

op_ivy

Fallen Xbot (cannot continue gaining levels in this class)
Man the feels when it's fall and you get an early snow storm, but it just doesn't stick. But then you're reminded winter is still a ways off when the snow transitions to rain.

This game!
 

Type_Raver

Member
Originally posted in the other thread, but looking for answers if they're out there...


I did time trials over the weekend, turned damage to visible only however the car still had real damage applied.
I also tried disabling damage totally, but it made no difference.

Is this a feature of time trial, or is this a new/known bug to be ironed out?

Its quite frustrating because your always looking for the limit but it leads to many restarts and you just cant get into rhythm.
 
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