It's been a long time since the last update. The Lotus 98T has almost twice as much power as the most powerful car right now, the Pagani Zonda R. 1300 bhp compared to 700. This should be fun. If you can keep it on the road, that is. The top speed is probably over 400 km/h. I wonder if we even can test it anywhere, is there enough space on any track? The drag circuit has about 3 km of straight track, but is it enough?
I'll do it. In Race 07, it was a great track for trying out the top speed of a vehicle: just turn around at the beginning and go as fast as you dare. I reached about 400 km/h in a Koenigsegg before crashing into a wall. It got a bit unstable at the end.
The only mod track I've tried so far is the Top Gear test track. After editing a file with Notepad (the modder had forgotten a quotation mark and a comma at the end of the first line of code, making it unplayable: ", was missing) I went off. Unfortunately I have the navigation skills of Captain Slow and the map is completely misaligned, so I was driving in the wrong places. I did go across the tires, but I also drove in the middle of the woods... Until they fix the map's position, I can't play it.
The Assetto Corsa discussions are getting filled with various topics. Should we have separate discussions for general AC stuff, challenge of the week, mods and tuning? The game has proven to be a big hit within the clan, so there's a lot to talk about.
Finally I have driven the Lotus 98T. Unfortunately, I was disappointed. It didn't go nearly as fast as I thought, and the acceleration wasn't that good either. The Pagani Zonda R beat it in every way. Then I stumbled upon something interesting: with certain cars, you can select the maximum amount of turbo pressure with the number keys on the keyboard. It works with the 98T and at least with the BMW 1M. At default the Lotus had the turbo set at 60%. Of course
I went right away for 100% and holy crap, it got fast. However, the highest speed I could achieve with the default gear ratios was about 300 km/h, just like with the Zonda. The acceleration times were just about the same. There was just one major problem: using the turbo to its full extent meant I was damaging the engine, especially when going near the top speed. I couldn't finish a single lap with that setup. So you have to choose between going fast and finishing the race. Adjusting maximum turbo pressure is done in-race, so it is possible to use 100% on slow corners and 70% on straights. I prefer the Zonda to this. It's always fast and doesn't break apart. Expecting an F1 car from the 80s to beat a modern-day supercar was too much to ask, it seems. I'll have to look for new exciting cars elsewhere. And I don't necessarily have to wait for the update with the LaFerrari or Mercedes-Benz SLS...
I haven't spent much time driving the McLarens. The MP4-12C should be good, although Jeremy Clarkson complained about it being too boring compared to the exciting Ferrari 458. The GT3 version was missing a speedometer, and the RPM gauge was close to useless. The street version definitely needs more testing.
After 52 hours of playing Assetto Corsa I found out about an option called "lock view to horizon". It locks the view so you're always looking at the track, which is supposed to be handy in corners. I turned it off to see what kind of a difference does it make. It makes a big difference. You feel more connected to the car and you can feel the suspension as well as the angle of the car better. Once again, the game turned more immersive.
I don't know if it had anything to do with the view settings, but I just beat my Ferrari F40 on Mugello time. Still not enough for gold, but a really good time nonetheless. It's the best time any Spartan has on the leaderboard.
The Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG has been added, as well as the Sprint variant of the Nurburgring circuit!
Changelog Early Access 0.22
- In-game apps must now be enabled in the game's launcher under Options > General - Added new car Mercedes SLS - Added new track Nurburgring Sprint - Tyre model modifications, more direct and "alive" FFB on all cars. We advice less FF "effects" - AI modifications for Mercedes SLS AMG & McLaren MP4 12C street - fixed drag race - all cars with H pattern manual gearbox, when used with paddles, can now enable autocut-off autoblip assist properly. The timings are slower than what you can achieve with an H shifter hardware. - Fixed multiplayer leaderboard logic - Fixeg bugs in multiplayer GUI - Overlay leaderboard implemented (Press F9 to cycle between 4 different modes) - Fixed horn & lights in multiplayer - Graphics & CPU Performance improvements - Multiplayer Blacklist system improved - Intro video at first launch, possible to disable it from options - Replay Size reduced - Replay frame interpolation improved - Time Attack : fixed crash when trying to load open tracks & lap estimation formula improved - Setup Force Feedback setting page improved - ksEditor : notify when skinned mesh is imported with a wrong scale - ksEditor : fixed IN/OUT camera normalized start-end position not rendering on spline during camera editing - Fixed small random flashes during gameplay - Added dedicated leaderboard APP - Updated TAB key ingame leaderboard with a new look and functions - Skidmarks start shape fixed and rendering is now faster - Python apps can be enabled / disabled from the launcher - Fixed bug "return to pits and lap counting in some special cases" - Added Python camera control - Fixed tyres jittering at low speeds - Fixed missing wheels when AI car brake its engine and goes to pits - Physics related rules : now cars must respect their defined set of rules in order to run on the track - Track cameras now place the car in the middle of the screen - Post Process App selector : fixed loading of default ppEffects.ini - AI improvements - Improved Drag AI - Skidmarks are now disabled when setting World Detail to minimum - Dynamic track randomness now less pronounced
