Hi all

[thegreger]

I'm a few posts in, but realized that I haven't introduced myself, so here we go.

I live in Sweden, used to do karting, and am still doing trackdays regularly with my 1990 1.6 NA Miata. I bought a Logitech G27 ages ago, but I've never had good computers for gaming, and since I got rid of my PS3 I haven't been able to play much racing games.

Back when VR support for AC was a new thing, it struck me how immersive it must be when combined with a good steering wheel, but back then I would have had to spend way too much money on the setup for it to be worth it. These days it's a different matter, so I finally got around to purchase a headset and build a medium-spec gaming computer. I also have a spare racing seat laying around, so as soon as I've cleared some space for it I will build myself a rig.

My local track is Knutstorp, which is available as a port for AC, and I've adjusted the in-game Miata to have similar engine, transmission, weight, suspension settings and tyres as my trackday-prepped car. According to telemetry, I'm now very close to the real thing in terms of cornering speeds! I'm still approx. 1 s slower than in real life, probably due to a lack of precision and lack of feedback.

Other than practicing on my local track, I'm a big sucker for large open world maps (or at least public road based, even if they're closed off), where I can just cruise and relax. Aspertsham is a favourite of mine, and also High Force.

My ultimate goal is to model the roads around a small town in Italy where I frequently go for vacation, it could be a good way to clear my mind after work some days, and the Italian countryside is sadly underrepresented in AC tracks. I've started experimenting with the world mesh for this project, and so far I'm happy with the results.

I've also started a few smaller projects. I've mapped out the layout of my local autocross track, and I have another small secret project that I hope to be able to release for some sort of beta testing this weekend! Is there a subforum where you can ask for people to test your track? So far, there's a 50/50 chance whether it will work or not, but if it does work it will be awesome!

Here is a video of me making a mess of the autocross track (no vegetation yet) and here is the same track irl. I will make a proper comparison video with the same car eventually, but I want to make the track a little bit prettier first. And yeah, I know that I'm completely ignoring the rule for the number of pobjects, but only the cones that you're likely to hit are moveable, the rest are static. I think that I have something like 40 moveable objects with a minimal pyramid mesh for each, and it runs quite well even on my laptop.

Anyhow, looking forward to soon being able to release my first public beta! If my idea works, that is.

 

[luchian]

Hi there, welcome .

Nice to hear that you have some experience with real-life racing. It's always interesting to hear comparisions between RL and sim.

Is there a subforum where you can ask for people to test your track?

https://assettocorsamods.net/forums/tracks.9/ here you can open a thread about your track and ask for help/opinions.

 

[thegreger]

Thanks @luchian!

After spending lots of hours comparing in-game telemetry to the real thing, my two cents about comparing AC with real life is that the physics are realistic, but the driver's perception might not be.

For example, I was struggling with a particular corner on my home track. A slightly banked 170-degree corner at the bottom of a steep hill (yes, it's as fun as it sounds ). No matter what I did in AC, my car would spin out of control there. When I revisited the telemetry, I realized that I was trying to brake ten meters later in the game than in real life! In a slow corner such as this, ten meters is a huge difference. As soon as I've started braking correctly, the car started behaving the way I would expect it to do.

When the car is on the very limit IRL, you can feel the way the rubber alternates between slippin and gripping, like if you're pushing an eraser against a table. Without this feedback, and with a decreased sense of speed, I'm making so much more dumb mistakes. If I drive ten laps without traffic IRL on Knutstorp, I will consistently set times around 1:15-1:16 with essentially 0% chance of losing control of my car. If I drive ten laps in AC I will be able to set a 1:16 time once, but the other nine laps will be 1:20 times since I've had to slow down to regain control of the car after making a mistake. I expect that this will be easier when I get more used to working with what feedback the game gives me.

I think that this is also why there is some overlap between good sim racers and irl racers, but the overlap isn't complete. You can learn to react perfectly to what your eyes and hands tell you, but if you don't also learn to work with what you feel through the seat and pedals you will be at a massive disadvantage to the rest of the field irl. Similarly, you can be a good driver irl, but you might never learn to be quick without having the g-forces and vibrations of the car to guide you as you're pushing it to the limit.

As soon as I have the time, I will also try to get into rFactor 2 properly, for a comparison. I see very little room for improvement of the physics in AC, though, when it comes to the Miata!