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Assetto corsa review: The racing sim that reached the masses

brownninja97

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Assetto corsa is a car enthusiasts wet dream to put it frank, it was a game which at one point wasn't even aiming to be massive. Kunos woke up one time in 2009 and thought that lets make a final game, it will just have a Fiat 500 and a couple of tracks. Back in the day Assetto corsa seems like it would be a sad ending for Kunos, NetKarpro which was their previous title went ok but didnt have many fans, the money they had wasn't close enough to call it a game worthy budget.

Luck was on their side, the sim community saw potential and many copies were brought for a game which merely had a single track and a single car. Assetto corsa is a result of the sheer force, the blood, the sweat and tears of a bunch of lads in Italy. Kunos had to go from near destruction to AAA status in months, racers around the world followed its development religiously and license after license appeared. Hypercars the likes of the Laferrari or the Mclaren P1 hell even the Lamboghini huracan supertrofeo which isnt even out yet are going to make an appearance. It has brought many new standards into the racing scene causing the previously dominant rivals to rethink their strategies. Here is the catch, Assetto corsa came to steam so what does that mean?

 

 

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UI: 

Here is an area which can go both ways, some prefer having all sorts of information thrown at them at once while others wish for a more serene and simple layout, the UI works in a way that whatever you click will expand, it could be a bit more streamlined in some ways for example there are two start buttons but you can control a lot via this UI, pick you car, pick which upgrades you wish to have for that car(this is indicated by steps, it normally means stripping out interior for better weight and stiffening the suspension to improve your speed around a corner). Afterthat pick a track, at the moment the number of tracks isn't very large but we will get onto that later. You can also choice the temperature of the track, you can choice how new or old that track is and the conditions for how long it takes for the rubber to burn in to the point of you obtaining maximum grip. 

 

Within the racing there is another system which is just extremely useful, the app system, there are around 30 apps by default which allow you to see different parts of your car and shows different data, you move all this extra ui by dragging, there is no fancy blocking, the ui can be shaped how you want it, mods can take that even further. 

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The cars:

Here is where things get serious, the roster isn't large but the detail will blow your mind and the choices will make you question how much differences were possible. Did you like the 60s well have a laugh in the Lotus 49.On the other hand the 70s innovations interest you well there is a Ferrari 312T and its a monster but a good kind of monster, its like if you had a 40Kg, its crazy but you still love it. Perhaps the 80s are more to your taste, well the Lotus 95T has that on lockdown you may think its fast but then you realise, wait a second my turbo is locked to 60%, this is madness, turn that thing up to 100% its like that first game you play after upgrading from intel hd 2000 to a gtx titan you dont understand how this is possible, well it is and your gonna have to deal with it or crash like i did. I did mention ferrari right, well how about the F40 or its rival, but wait EA owns Porsche, no not porsche, the true rival is the yellowbird, yes 211 mph in the 90s, its a match made in heaven, until you try to turn, you may want a safety crew on stand by. Other then that there is the slice of paradise which is GT3 cars and the DTM roster is starting to fill up as the GT2 slots. The dlc coming Q1 2015 will be adding a few more areas into the mix such as the VLN series and a le man legend such as the Mercedes Sauber C9 and the Mclaren F1 GTR(shorttail of course). Future confirmed content also looks great with the 2014 WEC LMP1 cars entering the ring the likes of Audi R18 E-tron and the Toyota TS040. Did a mention that there are drift based cars within the game as well and if you are a fan of drifting in any game then wow you sir are in for a treat, unless you use a keyboard, then cry, a lot. Another note is that so far ive only talked about vanilla content, mods change this, a lot. Every part of these cars that are modifiable in the reality can be modded within the pits, dont like your high suspension, lower them, wanna change the psi of your tyres or change the brake bias be my guest, the sheer level of detail is actually worrying due to how amazing it is just to shave off those extra few microseconds.

 

 

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The tracks: Assetto corsa is in an odd position where there are very good pros but there are cons with their tracks. See Assetto corsa loves realism so they thought lets start laser scanning tracks and well its ended very well, tracks have been mirrored within nanometers of their real varients with the exception of monza 1966 because time travel is not something kunos can currently afford. The tracks are without a doubt the most detailed recreations ever, with the only rival being Iracing which has questionable quality for a few of their tracks. Assetto corsa branches around and has a few big names within its ranks such as Imola, Monza, Spa Francorchamps, Silverstone and green hell aka Nords. There is also a drag strip and the track which Kunos works at known as Vallelunga, other future tracks such as Brands hatch and Zandvoort will come in due time. A single hill point to point hillclimb is present within the game sadly its not the best hillclimb track. The problem that Assetto corsa faces is that laserscanning tracks is very expensive and time consuming not to mention the man hours required so it to work. 

 

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Mods: Assetto corsa has made one of the most lever decisions they could have made, they added mod support and they even put in an sdk to help little Jimmy understand how to add a car into the game. Beautiful cars such as the above Mazda 787B have been added, other cars like the Shelby Cobra started as mods and impressed the dev team so much that they brought it into the game. You can also change the skin of all the cars present within the game, oh your thought i only meant the exterior, no you can change that interior, dont like biege seats, get neon yellow because you can, all you need is a simple photo editing program such as photoshop or gimp, cs2 is free so dont use gimp NEVER USE GIMP alas that is a story for another day. The matter of the fact is that modding was brought into the game around a year ago and over 100 cars were brought into the game, over 200 tracks, over 50 point to point hillcimbs, do you like initial d, go race on mount akagi, do you like mario, go race(or crash) on the rainbow road. But as for skins, get this, over 1,500 of them are avaiable and thats just a single forum. Last year was amazing in the level of content which enters the game, this year many groups have entered the gauntlet bringing rally legends, group b & c cars and my favorite the DRM cars are going to make an appearance all in Assetto corsa's beautiful engine. Furthermore AC will be added steam workshop support some time in spring to help even further with the modding community with a single click installation. 

 

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AI: The larger they are, the harder they fall Assetto corsa has a problem a large one, its that the AI doesnt know you exist. They drive ok, at the highest difficulty they put up a challenge on most tracks but sadly they tend to ram you, a lot. This causes spin outs and a few tears to be shed. That being said the devs have said the AI will notice you and accidentally will be a lot less frequent unless you drive a Peugeot. I cant say that this next level for the AI will be any good, its too early to say anything, together with a flag system the upcoming 1.1 patch will be adding a lot to the game and good or bad I'll definitely be testing out what it brings to the table.

 

Physics: This isn't an arcade game, its not a simcade game, its a simulator so keyboards will be hard, controllers will be hard, wheels are needed and the cheapest wheel with proper force feedback is the Logitech Driving Force GT clocking in at £100. I suggest if you have a friend with this game or a wheel that you give it a go. Being a sim it means that every car is different, even in a similiar class such as GT3, you will not drive an MP4 the same way as a SLS AMG unless you want to score a DNF.

 

Force feedback: Assetto corsa has come a massive way, feedback in wheels is very accurate and ive never had a issue with losing control because of bad feedback. There are a lot of options which allow you to determine how you wish to set that feedback whether you like it strong and hard and wet and sloppy there are nobs that you can fiddle with to best pleasure your style of driving. 

 

Conclusion: If you love cars and driving is something that you wish you could do faster then Assetto corsa is great, its not always a pick up and play game, being a simulator there is a lot of practice required in order to firstly understand a track but then being able to master it, then changing car and realising that the track has to be treated differently to cater for that cars needs and its level of grip, oversteer and understeer. I can go on for days, Assetto corsa is the third sim that ive got into, Race 07 and Gt legends were great, GTR 2 had its charms as well however that decade had ended and those legends have come to an end, this is the true next generation of sims and right now Assetto corsa stands strong as one of the leaders of the next generation of racing sims.

cpu: intel i5 4670k @ 4.5ghz Ram: G skill ares 2x4gb 2166mhz cl10 Gpu: GTX 680 liquid cooled cpu cooler: Raijintek ereboss Mobo: gigabyte z87x ud5h psu: cm gx650 bronze Case: Zalman Z9 plus


Listen if you care.

Cpu: intel i7 4770k @ 4.2ghz Ram: G skill  ripjaws 2x4gb Gpu: nvidia gtx 970 cpu cooler: akasa venom voodoo Mobo: G1.Sniper Z6 Psu: XFX proseries 650w Case: Zalman H1

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I love assesto corsa even when playing with a controller, it's difficult but that's what makes it satisfying when you nail a corner. Every car feels different unlike many racing games I've played in the past. However I've got to say the racing line is terrible. 

CPU: Intel 3570 GPUs: Nvidia GTX 660Ti Case: Fractal design Define R4  Storage: 1TB WD Caviar Black & 240GB Hyper X 3k SSD Sound: Custom One Pros Keyboard: Ducky Shine 4 Mouse: Logitech G500

 

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I want it now.

Someone told Luke and Linus at CES 2017 to "Unban the legend known as Jerakl" and that's about all I've got going for me. (It didn't work)

 

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I want it now.

its like £20 on G2a not too expensive.

cpu: intel i5 4670k @ 4.5ghz Ram: G skill ares 2x4gb 2166mhz cl10 Gpu: GTX 680 liquid cooled cpu cooler: Raijintek ereboss Mobo: gigabyte z87x ud5h psu: cm gx650 bronze Case: Zalman Z9 plus


Listen if you care.

Cpu: intel i7 4770k @ 4.2ghz Ram: G skill  ripjaws 2x4gb Gpu: nvidia gtx 970 cpu cooler: akasa venom voodoo Mobo: G1.Sniper Z6 Psu: XFX proseries 650w Case: Zalman H1

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I love assesto corsa even when playing with a controller, it's difficult but that's what makes it satisfying when you nail a corner. Every car feels different unlike many racing games I've played in the past. However I've got to say the racing line is terrible. 

The racing was made for the challenges or special events as they are called now, very early on brakes were shockingly bad oddly kunos never changed the lines, i recommend you get rid of them if they bother you, i just have them as a general pointer , 3d party tracks tend to nail the braking zones. I will say that hitting a corner dead on is very satisfying especially without any assists

cpu: intel i5 4670k @ 4.5ghz Ram: G skill ares 2x4gb 2166mhz cl10 Gpu: GTX 680 liquid cooled cpu cooler: Raijintek ereboss Mobo: gigabyte z87x ud5h psu: cm gx650 bronze Case: Zalman Z9 plus


Listen if you care.

Cpu: intel i7 4770k @ 4.2ghz Ram: G skill  ripjaws 2x4gb Gpu: nvidia gtx 970 cpu cooler: akasa venom voodoo Mobo: G1.Sniper Z6 Psu: XFX proseries 650w Case: Zalman H1

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its like £20 on G2a not too expensive.

That's like 40$ CAD >_>

Someone told Luke and Linus at CES 2017 to "Unban the legend known as Jerakl" and that's about all I've got going for me. (It didn't work)

 

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That's like 40$ CAD >_>

that sounds like a lot now, wait for the summer i guess, definately knocked down to 30cad or 20cad if it gets featured.

cpu: intel i5 4670k @ 4.5ghz Ram: G skill ares 2x4gb 2166mhz cl10 Gpu: GTX 680 liquid cooled cpu cooler: Raijintek ereboss Mobo: gigabyte z87x ud5h psu: cm gx650 bronze Case: Zalman Z9 plus


Listen if you care.

Cpu: intel i7 4770k @ 4.2ghz Ram: G skill  ripjaws 2x4gb Gpu: nvidia gtx 970 cpu cooler: akasa venom voodoo Mobo: G1.Sniper Z6 Psu: XFX proseries 650w Case: Zalman H1

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that sounds like a lot now, wait for the summer i guess, definately knocked down to 30cad or 20cad if it gets featured.

For the record, 1 GBP is like 1.8 CAD. I can't see it going down to 10 GBP.

Someone told Luke and Linus at CES 2017 to "Unban the legend known as Jerakl" and that's about all I've got going for me. (It didn't work)

 

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The racing was made for the challenges or special events as they are called now, very early on brakes were shockingly bad oddly kunos never changed the lines, i recommend you get rid of them if they bother you, i just have them as a general pointer , 3d party tracks tend to nail the braking zones. I will say that hitting a corner dead on is very satisfying especially without any assists

I was seriously considering getting the g27, I think it was like £140 in January. I'll definitely pick it up if it goes on sale again for that price. 

CPU: Intel 3570 GPUs: Nvidia GTX 660Ti Case: Fractal design Define R4  Storage: 1TB WD Caviar Black & 240GB Hyper X 3k SSD Sound: Custom One Pros Keyboard: Ducky Shine 4 Mouse: Logitech G500

 

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For the record, 1 GBP is like 1.8 CAD. I can't see it going down to 10 GBP.

It was like £15 when I picked it up in the sales

CPU: Intel 3570 GPUs: Nvidia GTX 660Ti Case: Fractal design Define R4  Storage: 1TB WD Caviar Black & 240GB Hyper X 3k SSD Sound: Custom One Pros Keyboard: Ducky Shine 4 Mouse: Logitech G500

 

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Just a friendly reminder; this game IS NOT FORGIVING. 

 

You aren't doing SHIT with a KBM or controller. Buy yourself at least a Logitech G27 if you actually want to have fun with this game, otherwise don't both at all. 

 

Even semi-sims deserve proper racing wheels. 

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Just a friendly reminder; this game IS NOT FORGIVING. 

 

You aren't doing SHIT with a KBM or controller. Buy yourself at least a Logitech G27 if you actually want to have fun with this game, otherwise don't both at all. 

 

Even semi-sims deserve proper racing wheels. 

Although I'm probably not doing it justice, I have enjoyed playing it with a controller. KBM is beyond horrible though.

15" MBP TB

AMD 5800X | Gigabyte Aorus Master | EVGA 2060 KO Ultra | Define 7 || Blade Server: Intel 3570k | GD65 | Corsair C70 | 13TB

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Just a friendly reminder; this game IS NOT FORGIVING. 

 

You aren't doing SHIT with a KBM or controller. Buy yourself at least a Logitech G27 if you actually want to have fun with this game, otherwise don't both at all. 

 

Even semi-sims deserve proper racing wheels. 

its not meant to be forgiving, its meant to be a platform which you slowly enhance yourself, then you slowly realise it love you until that one lap where you relax a little and you shit the bed and crash with a missing wheel and door.

cpu: intel i5 4670k @ 4.5ghz Ram: G skill ares 2x4gb 2166mhz cl10 Gpu: GTX 680 liquid cooled cpu cooler: Raijintek ereboss Mobo: gigabyte z87x ud5h psu: cm gx650 bronze Case: Zalman Z9 plus


Listen if you care.

Cpu: intel i7 4770k @ 4.2ghz Ram: G skill  ripjaws 2x4gb Gpu: nvidia gtx 970 cpu cooler: akasa venom voodoo Mobo: G1.Sniper Z6 Psu: XFX proseries 650w Case: Zalman H1

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i should have bought this instead of stupid farcry 4 >.< DAMNIT ME Y U MAKE BAD GAME CHOICES lol

Please quote me or tag me if your trying to talk to me , I might see it through all my other notifications ^_^

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the current list of dead cards is as follows 2 evga gtx 980ti acx 2.0 , 1 evga gtx 980 acx 2.0 1600mhz core 2100mhz ram golden chip card ... failed hardcore , 1 290x that caught fire , 1 hd 7950 .

may you all rest in peaces in the giant pc in the sky

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i should have bought this instead of stupid farcry 4 >.< DAMNIT ME Y U MAKE BAD GAME CHOICES lol

one of the problems with pcs is living with the retarded games that we have brought, i got trackmania earlier this year, seems like a great buy, played it for 5 minutes uninstalled it never to be seen again

cpu: intel i5 4670k @ 4.5ghz Ram: G skill ares 2x4gb 2166mhz cl10 Gpu: GTX 680 liquid cooled cpu cooler: Raijintek ereboss Mobo: gigabyte z87x ud5h psu: cm gx650 bronze Case: Zalman Z9 plus


Listen if you care.

Cpu: intel i7 4770k @ 4.2ghz Ram: G skill  ripjaws 2x4gb Gpu: nvidia gtx 970 cpu cooler: akasa venom voodoo Mobo: G1.Sniper Z6 Psu: XFX proseries 650w Case: Zalman H1

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