Assetto Corsa

Soldato
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I mean, same goes for iRacing - You can only really have a no fault system, you just hope by moving up you can get away from those idiots.

However I think the problem with PCARS2 was that out of all the online lobbies most didn't put the right restrictions on and idiots get in.
 
Soldato
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AC1 has no rain physics of course (outside of rain=lower friction coefficient), ACC's rain not only looks like rain but has modelling of water film like surface, dynamic drying line, marbles interacting with water off the racing line, puddles/aquaplaning, rubber heat+water interaction etc etc :)

Kunos on rain modelling in ACC:
Still, there’s more. ACC now simulates variable dynamic weather and so we have…
Rain.
Rain in ACC is not simulated by simply lowering the grip. We simulate mathematically an actual water film depth. Tyres go over it and depending on tread design, load, speed and more, they manage to drain the water out and have a contact with the ground… or not. If the tyre can’t drain enough water, then it starts losing contact, up to complete aquaplaning, which means total loss of grip, zero, null, nada. So in ACC the feeling you get from a wet circuit is a good grip but a constant feeling of “something is about to happen”. You might do a turn in a specific way and feel there’s more than enough grip, you might even think “hey that was easy after all, arcade™!”, only to push a tiny bit more the lap after, or have the rain fall harder 3 laps later and go completely aquaplaning sliding out of the corner. The wetness also lowers drastically the heat generated by the surface layer of the tyre, so temperature of the tyres will go down inevitably.

Slicks can go into aquaplaning very VERY easy. I strongly suggest that you watch the first laps of the Hungaroring race1 of the Blancpain GT Series to understand how cars on slick struggle on damp conditions, but also how the BMW M6 that had wet tyres could work his way from 11th position to 2nd and struggle right afterwards when the dry line started to form. You can also see him searching for wet spots to cool down the wet tyres. Here's the video. Race starts in 33:00

Also in ACC wet tyres will overheat dramatically in dry conditions and you can cool them down going outside the dry line, searching for wet spots. Beware that in such conditions it’s easy to place one side of a car in the wet spot or puddle, resulting in high rolling resistance force from the water depth (and sudden aquaplaning) that can easily destabilze your car.
I will also mention the obvious…there is no way you can stay on the track under heavy rain on slick tyres. We’re not talking being slow or having difficulties to control the car… we’re talking complete and utter loss of control and sliding around on “ice”. Fear not though, for people that want to experience the graphical majesty of rain conditions but in a less hardcore grip situation, we have a nice option slider that will lower the amount of physics water… just for fun.
Staying on the dynamic track subject, here’s how a track surface changes through different conditions.
  • A green track will get gradually rubbered. marbles can appear at the side of the rubbered line
  • If rain starts then (depending on the force) it will wet the track and the rubbered line will start to be very slippery. You might be forced to avoid it or explore alternative lines.
  • If rain keeps on pouring heavy enough, it will clean the rubbered line and you might be able to turn back to a more traditional racing line. When this happens? I don’t know, try, experiment and find out!
  • If rain keeps on going, puddles and “rivers” might start forming. Those also might force you to try different lines again. Puddles and rivers are placed in specific realistic places on the circuits, derived from actual drivers feedback and their onboard videos.
  • If rain is lighter or stops and many cars are lapping, a dry line might form or simply a “less wet” line. You will obviously have more grip over the dry line but wet tyres will overheat.
  • Finally puddles will be the last to dry out, so watch out even if the track is slightly damp and slick tyres are faster, puddles can still catch you out.
Obviously this is a generic description of how the whole system works: in reality and when the whole thing will be finalized, your experience might vary a lot and can become more unpredictable. The whole idea behind it, is to have deal with unpredictable conditions that will force you to adapt.


Special guest…
Marbles.
Did you know that real drivers will go over the marbles to collect them on their slick tyres so that they gain a kind of “tread” which lowers a tiny bit the risk of aquaplaning? Of course you’ll have to deal with less grip and vibrations, but nothing is worse than aquaplaning and it might help you until you go in for your pitstop… or the rain might go away and you’re ******… ops!

Then we have tyre damage
Still, kudos to the makers of the rain mod for AC!
 
Soldato
Joined
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London
I don't think anyone would be expecting advanced wet track physics to go with it :) Saying that, I wouldn't be surprised if there were track specific mods having a relatively rough go at varying levels of slip at different points around the circuit, or something along those lines.

Anyway:


Personally, I don't even care for racing in the rain. I just think it looks cool :D

ED: There is a wet version of Goodwood. Not tried it.
 
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Soldato
Joined
22 Jul 2012
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London
Little update on the rain stuff:

The latest build of the shaders mod (dynamic lights and realistic mirrors etc) has fully working wipers for all Kunos cars. Join the discord here to download it: https://discord.gg/P7JTynN

Basic instructions to get it all looking sweet after you've installed that in CM (drag, drop and activate in the content>mods tab):

- Install GBW suite for some cool weather (includes day/night. Just choose the time of day/night in the usual way) and look in the instructions PDF for a link to the Assetto Wet mod, which installs wet versions of many Kunos tracks.
- Optional: Install the BLM lights mod, which now has an extra toggle to enhance wet track textures. It looks fantastic, day or night! Check the updates tab for images.
Don't worry, it's far less complicated than the screenshots make it seem. It has a simple app to toggle things on/off. The really complicated looking stuff is for developers and will only show if you choose it in CM.
- Download this app to set the level of rain on the windshield and control wiper speed.
I think the BLM lights guy is going to add these features to the next build. EDIT: It's now included in BLM Lights 1.7.

There are other additions you can make for things like working track lights at night etc, but let's keep it simple for now. The instructions tab in the discord channel explains those anyway :)

For more comprehensive instructions, check this post

Once again, this stuff really isn't as complicated as it may seem.
Oh, and I'd love to have made some videos for you, but Mirillis Action has suddenly stopped recording AC, and prefers to record the CM window instead...

brands_hatch_wet_on.png
 
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Associate
Joined
15 Apr 2009
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1,213
I am contemplating VR and would most likely be racing AC 80% of the time but also Pcars2, rfactor 2, AC Competizione (when sorted properly), DCS (just getting into this), Ets2 and would dabble with other games and apps too, including films. Really unsure what to go with. Keep settling on a headset then changing my mind! I have PSVR with PS4 Pro and also got this working on PC. I'm most worried about minimising blurriness but also getting decent framerates within limitations of my graphics card/hardware (see signature). Pimax I guess is the only headset where framerate is a concern but waiting for 5k+ is tempting if my hardware can run it well enough - apparently it is hard to go back to lower FOV once wide FOV has been experienced.

Not much of a shortlist but keep going between the following:

Rift with one sensor (often recommended for sim racing)
Odyssey (better resolution, slightly wider FOV compared to Rift? Inside out tracking. More fiddling to get individual games working optimally? Out of box game compatibility not as good as rift?)
Pimax 5k+ (best resolution, best Fov, have to wait, might be fair bit more expensive than other options particularly with additional vive lighthouse, software / eco system not as good as rift? )

Appreciate any snippets of advice, experience and wisdom to help me be a bit more confident in my final decision!!!
 
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