jon denton qui a pu tester assetto corsa lors des 6h de rome a vallelunga s'est vu poser quelques questions par "Rock,Paper Shotgun" :
c'est anglais donc soit une ame charitable nous fait une traduction soit je m'y colle mais ca risque pas etre parfait...
RPS: Simbin, ISI, and Kunos all appear to be in the process of developing fairly similar sims. What’s special about Assetto Corsa?
Jon: Kunos’ previous creation, netKar Pro, was a rough diamond. The base vehicle physics remain rated as the benchmark in the genre. Sadly, the online play was initially so bad the sim was neglected by the community at large. AC promises vastly improved MP, even stronger physics (the tyre modelling is particularly sophisticated) together with laser scanned circuit accuracy and a new DX11 graphics engine. Unprecedented access to manufacturer data (the devs have secured vehicle licences from the likes of Lotus, BMW, and Pagani) is reflected in the accuracy of the driving experience.
RPS: Of the cars you drove in Vallelunga, which coaxed the broadest grin?
Jon: Without doubt it was the BMW E30 M3 Evo DTM. The car is so finely balanced and satisfying to drive that grins are inevitable. There are a few much faster GT and F1 derived cars, but they start to come under the category of ‘hard work’. The BMW E30 DTM car straddles the gap of ‘not too slow, not too fast’ and should create some great door-handle-rubbing racing.
RPS: In
your latest article
you describe AC cars as feeling “rather easy to drive initially, as they arguably should be”. Do you think most serious race sims exaggerate handling difficulties?
Jon: I don’t think current sims on the market have deliberately exaggerated handling behaviour, I think it’s more that the tyre models in use couldn’t always keep up with what was going on. If you’re pushing a tyre, load increases grip to a point where the tyre is overloaded, and then grip drops off. In older sims this loss of grip is often too severe or sudden; sometimes there’s a sheer cliff between ‘tons of grip’ and ‘zero grip’.
This all comes down to tyre model equations that are exceedingly boring and fascinate me and about seven other people in the world. What Kunos are doing is looking into the dynamics of the tyre in more depth, and working with reams of data and test drivers to try to create a simulated tyre that is more manageable when it steps over the limit. This results in a more realistic driving experience – a car that’s easy to drive, but hard to master. Some loss of grip is going to happen if you push, and this will mean a potentially slower lap time, but not necessarily a car in a wall.
RPS: Not owning a force feedback wheel, I find myself relying heavily on audio feedback in race sims. Are AC cars talkative?
Jon: There was little transmission or braking sound when I tested (audio is something Kunos are working very hard on at present) but the tyres were satisfyingly chirpy. Ultimately, I would say an FFB wheel will always be the best way to enjoy any racing game, and when it comes to AC, the force feedback implementation is very subtle and beautifully communicative which adds a huge amount to the immersion.
RPS: Kunos don’t have much experience of crafting race sim AI. Are you confident they can deliver in this area?
Jon: I drove against an early version at GamesCom 2012, and it was initially very aggressive, but there remains a lot of fine tuning to be done, so we’ll have to see how it turns out. AI drivers will utilize the same physics engine as the player. The idea is this approach will lead to more immersive and realistic AI.
RPS: The developers of serious flight sims are constantly pushing the realism envelope while consistently failing to explore new SP campaign ideas. Do you think it’s fair to accuse the makers of high-fidelity race sims of similar timidity?
Jon: The bid for greater realism does seem to have left behind gameplay concerns in many niche simulator markets. Many a hardcore race simmer is happy with a bunch of cars and tracks and their own imagination, as a flight simmer may be happy with a bunch of planes and somewhere to fly them. I think this can leave a more casual sim-driver a little unfulfilled. The ‘campaigns’ of racing games have often been built around real-life motorsport series, thus presenting each round in sequence, racing the same AI guys, over a championship season. In older sims like Grand Prix Legends this structure can generate pleasing narratives and foster levels of immersion often absent today.
Since the push towards online play, many game genres seem to have neglected the offline player, and I don’t think racing sims are an exception. Sims like AC, rFactor 2, pCARS or iRacing offer a disparate set of cars to drive on potentially unrelated tracks. It’s great for the online player to have this variety, but it can lead to a drop in atmosphere and purpose when racing offline. If you’re in a simple, single race against nameless AI on a track and car combination that would never happen in real life, what is there to draw you in? I am not sure if I know the solution, but a single player campaign works on a player’s own terms, and appeals to many players who don’t want to have to fit in with schedules of online races. Plus more immersion through a sustained season, can give a player more purpose, and in race sims a player often needs a reason to bother with finishing fourth or fifth in a race.
RPS: Are there are any other WIP race sims or mods you’re particularly excited about at present?
Jon: I’ve been enjoying the Factor 2 beta, which is coming along very nicely indeed. ISI are doing some very good things with environmental simulation that has been missing in a lot of the current crop of sims, and adds welcome variety to races. Development of SMS’s Project CARS is progressing well too; after some interesting and very pretty alpha builds the sim is starting to feel more satisfying to drive.
With Simbin’s Raceroom in beta now, and the ongoing upgrades and development of the iRacing service, I think racing sim fans have got a lot to be excited about in 2013.
RPS: Thank you for your time.