C.A.R.S. - Community Assisted Racing Sim

[IDdubber]

Read up on the project over at NoGripRacing. I have nothing to do with this, but have been following it, saw nothing was on here and figured others might be interested.

What is C.A.R.S.?
C.A.R.S. = Community Assisted Race Sim. The game will be funded by and developed in close cooperation with the (sim) racing / gaming community. People can invest an amount of money up-front, entitling them to receiving profit and taking part in testing of weekly game builds. Depending on the magnitude of his/her investment, an investor has a bigger or smaller voice in what content will get into the game. The game starts as a base game with a few cars and tracks, and will be expanded from there depending on what the community decides.
The game will be free-to-play, with paid extra content (microtransactions).

How can I invest?
Everything will be explained soon on the website www.wmdportal.com

What platform will it be developed on?
The game will be developed on PC, DX11, and back-ported to DX9 and consoles.

Will it be a hardcore sim or arcade?
In the end that will be decided by the community/investors, but the initial aim will be a full/hardcore sim with aids and adjustments to cater for the casual player as well.

Will the game have surround sound?
The game will use a 3D Sound system is using fmod so 5.1 and 7.1 are supported.

What will the graphics engine look like?
The graphics are DX11 including FXAA, depth of field, screen space ambient occlusion, motion-blur and shadows will be improved in DX11 initially, with appropriate back-ports to DX9 and consoles. The engine will use deferred rendering like in Shift 2.

Are those screenshots really in-game graphics?
Yes they are, they show the actual game rendering engine at work with the car in the pit/garage.

What cars will be in the game?
The game will provide a base car from each of the main types (single seater, endurance, historic etc, asphalt racing only) so the investors can feedback on input, handling FFB etc. After that, additional content will be decided on by the investors.
As for the car brands that will be featured, this will also be depending on licensing (=money).

What tracks will be in the game?
TBA

Will there be a demo?
The base game will be free-to-play, so no demo is required. Additional content (cars, tracks) will be paid content.

What will be in the first build, what graphics/wheels/sound systems/etc. will it support?
It's a surprise. And it's a first build, so things will be missing or not working properly. That's where the community/investor testing and input comes in.

Some shots...

[CJ318]

with this and Automation, I'll be a happy boy.

[venom600]

Those are some seriously amazing looking static renders, but the hardware necessary to get something that good looking running around a track at 60fps has got to be ludicrously expensive if it even exists yet. That's not accounting for decent looking track environments or racing with other cars.

[Avus]

I will file this as "vaporware"...

[Cousin Eddie]

If this comes to life it could be awesome.

[IDdubber]

Forgot I had started a thread about this game, so here's an update:

http://www.wmdportal.com/


http://youtu.be/4NSjfaSw4_M


weekly builds being released for a little while now. Game is taking shape and for ~$13 (the lowest buy-in amount) you really can't beat it.

[A.Wilder]

this looks awesome

[Elbows]

So, cliffs notes? How sim is sim?

ie. How are the guys here liking it/handling it?

[A.Wilder]

So, cliffs notes? How sim is sim?

ie. How are the guys here liking it/handling it?

i haven't had time to DL and try it yet. I'm only home on the weekends right now. I'll try it out next week.

[A.Wilder]

wow, if i didn't know these were video game screen shots i would assume they were real:















Real RB F1:






Real Lotus 49:

[Cousin Eddie]

This might be the final push for me to build a good computer tower.

[A.Wilder]

This might be the final push for me to build a good computer tower.

same here, mine will run DX11, but not at any acceptable frame rates. I'm going to need new everything!

[IDdubber]

It plays awesome, even for a pre-alpha build. The cars are all different in feel, they don't float, there's no sea-sawing.

It isn't even optimized yet, so it's scary how much better this thing is going to get. My current rig runs a full race with maxed out opponents and everything on ultra at 60fps. It just looks awesome.

I'll post some screens when I get home of what it looks like ran on a decent rig, not a high-end studio setup.

[A.Wilder]

post your PC specs too!

[IDdubber]

here's the main specs on my setup. Doing car work at a buddies house, when I get home I'll put up some pics and maybe a video.

i5 750 w/dp55 mobo
Nvidia 560Ti (1gb version, the 2gb wasn't worth it, imo)
Corsair 8GB DDR3

I ran an Nvidia 8800GT for YEARS (5-6 years) and it still was a good card when I replaced it. The 560ti (a few driver hiccups here and there, aside) plows through every game I've thrown at it.

[theuean]

Oh... my.... WOW.

Just had one of those moments where a trailer nails it. Goosebumps all over my body!!!

From 55sec to 1:34, the music rising to panic, anthemic, seeing the detail on the axles and flame from the exhaust, the music fading out as the chorus wails and the sound of that engine making a hard shift up the straight. Seriously, that looks like the best racing game ever.

I WANT IT SO BAD

Turn the volume way the hell up: http://youtu.be/4NSjfaSw4_M?hd=1&t=55s

[IDdubber]

For whatever reason having a hard time getting sound on my video capture. It was working before, might just be a driver issue...maybe a codec. Anyway, here's some screens ran on the setup I listed above.

All of these are real time, in-game screen caps (not from a replay or video cap). I didn't do anything to them but upload 'em and resize them down so they weren't massive. I turned on the FPS (top right corner) and just ran through the views and HUD's...nothing much. This is with all settings maxed out in DX11-mode and a 11 car field.

[Cousin Eddie]

One thin that really stood out in that trailer was the revs of the car changing as it went over the choppy bumps. I can't think of another game that does that properly.

[Elbows]

So here's a question --- is the game set up to be dumb'ed-down graphically? Or do you NEED to a max'ed out machine to even run it properly?

I'm very interested, but really only if they have a lot of retro cars. Modern race cars don't do much for me. Now some 60's, 70's, 80's I can get down with. I see the Lotus which is great, but how many cars will be available --- or is that all community driven? (ie. won't happen).

[IDdubber]

It can be scalled back. And go through the wmd and nogripracing sites. There's a list of the finished cars, cars in the works, and nogrip has a strong community of modders. If something gets enough requests it usually gets done...whether it be a track, car, or tweak. A lot of the modders just do stuff they like....regardless of interest, so there's always something coming out.

In the wmd forums it was stated that they planned to ship with 50+ different cars....with more as dlc.

[Jesse]

In so I can check this out at home.. am I going to have to drag my gaming PC out to my projector to play this with my wheel/cockpit??

[A.Wilder]

In so I can check this out at home.. am I going to have to drag my gaming PC out to my projector to play this with my wheel/cockpit??

You could get really long cables monoprice.com

[IDdubber]

They just added a bunch of road courses (Azure, Pacific Coast High Way) and added some new vehicles (Jaguar JP-LM, a couple others)

Uploading a video now to youtube to show Azure w/said Jag, and here's a screen from a quick run through last night on my setup (specs above). Will grab more here shortly.




I have some time to run through the new stuff so maybe I'll do a 2nd video later on.

You have to be logged in for viewing the forum stuff - so if you all don't feel like doing that, here is the list of build changes. Ya know, in case anyone is interested in just how the game is progressing and at what rate. This is all stuff from the 16th thru 23rd of March:

Build 179 (23/3/12, Team Member+)
Updated UI with news ticker added
Test flag wavers added to Bologna
Improved ocean shader
Added metallic effects to Racer cars
New exports of California Highway and Azure Coast
New exports of Ariel Atoms
Added Sakitto track

Build 178 (22/3/12, Senior Manager)
Add GUI/profile options to set race date
JPM Audio updates. Experimental settings to combat possible physics/audio disconnect
Quick Solo screen has now had a lick of paint to fit the extra options in
Connecticut Hill Textures updates for new materials
JPM New liveries, livery names
Reset car only allowed below 10mph
Moon cycle textures added; moon dome added
Environment audio for country road tracks added
Derby GP updated to support 64 car grid
Wisconsin Raceway updated to support 38 car grids
Added the extra environment sounds needed by the California Highway track
add tunnel verbs - further tweaks required
WIP Moon Movement. Code written to generate following information for the moon based on date
Track rotation offset is now setup, this means the tracks now orientate correctly to world space. i.e the sun should rise and fall exactly like google maps
Fix for car reset not working in practice mode on tracks with no pits yet
New GUMPERT export
New Leonus F86 export
Azure Coast added

Build 177 (21/3/12, Senior Manager)
Palmer: new cockpit display
Gumpert Apollo: WIP suspension animations and some minor bug fixing
New AIW. New raceline, 64 car grid and pits. Wisconsin Raceway
Tweaks to the brake power and heating. Trying to get the warm up about right Asano X4
Palmer: Merged in fixed tyres + UV mapped cockpit display
Asano LM11: fixed tread scrolling on all tyres
Leonus F77: fixed LODX tyre tread scrolling direction
Change to convolve shader to prevent bright sun from wiping out the whole thing - prevents odd flicker when sun comes in front of a wall etc
Fixed 1 errant cut track that was halfway across, causing some warnings at Besos
Fixed ugly popups of the trees in distance for the florence tracks
Prepared metallic effects for Palmer liveries
Palmer JPLM: cockpit exposure level set at 0.3
New Asano LM11 export
New Leonus F77 export
New Connecticut Hill exports
California Highway added

Build 176 (20/3/12, Manager+)
Removing static envMap location from the weather wtc files and moving it to be part of the track trd
Fixed cut tracks in first corner of Milan GP. Set grid sizes to 60 For both GP and short
New liveries for the Palmer
Fixed cut tracks where pulled onto track by recent corridor (left side only ) edits at Badenring
Palmer: New fonts + font fixes for CPIT display

Build 175 (19/3/12, Team Member +)
Implemented basic interpolation of physics actors to smooth out their visual movement
Fixed extreme case in computation of actor interpolation factor
Adjusted several places in code to use common instance of identity transform instead of creating a temporary new one
Disabled delayed switch off of actor modify bit.
DX11 multi-threaded deferred context rendering is now available with the command-line switch -dx11MT
Load/Save removed from F1 menu
Formula B 360 steering added
Formula B using paddle shifting
Cloud speeds reverted to 0.02
ToD bug fixing
Formula A: fixed custom liveries
Asano LM11: tweaked interior lighting
Gumpert: Fixed CPIT shift lights setup
Racer SR3/SR8 360 steering
Palmer: Added custom livery support
Overcast cockpit exposure upped a touch

Build 174 (16/3/12, Team Member +)

MUST START A NEW PROFILE WITH THIS BUILD

Shadowcontrol (DX11) multithreading fix
Bug fixes for missing forces and software effect mixer issues
Change default date to 22nd June
Fixed spawning on the grid from a practice/qualify session when no pit lane exists
App Support camera fix for crash when closing down the track camera manager
Readded rumble strip effect for gamepads and missing marble vibe
Added cockpit exposure interpolation factor to environment manager, to allow balancing between fully in-cockpit and fully external exposure settings
Debug menu functions added to allow in game control of cockpit exposure interpolation factor
Added in setup for Weather Descriptions
Fix for crash on exit, when exiting from in-game to desktop
Enable weather option
We now animate between weather conditions
Increased default gain for Logitech wheels
New setups for hazey and overcast. clear setup dusk tweaked
Added cam filesfor Jin Ding
Additional track logos/maps and login screen reverted back to the black diagonal background
Formula A: suspension animations
Formula A: Removed extra custom liveries
Racer: started CPIT optimization (10k polys cut), setup changes for display illumination
Cloud shadows slower
New Anhalt exports
New Badenring exports
New Besos exports
New Derby exports
New Florence exports
New Jin Din export
New Milan exports


edit:

here's the video. I use MSI's beta release 'cus it's free and also captures sound. The choppiness is from the program, not the actual game. This clip is 4+gb with compressed video and audio. I did another one with nothing compressed and it was 20gb for a 2min clip. Might've looked/sounded better, but it would've taken me ages to upload and all that jazz.

http://youtu.be/ekt9ENDnssY

[Elbows]

So, is this worth getting if I have an older rig --- or just pass on it till I upgrade?

[IDdubber]

it's only 10quid (~$13) for the lowest buy-in level. That gets you one build a month...which is what I started off at. Even if you get it now and upgrade your rig later, you can run your current setup on the lowest settings if necessary (and scale up 'til you run into lag) from there.

To me, that's a no-brainer.

[A.Wilder]

dang, i thought the azure coast would be Monaco

[hrama803]

Oh... my.... WOW.

Just had one of those moments where a trailer nails it. Goosebumps all over my body!!!

From 55sec to 1:34, the music rising to panic, anthemic, seeing the detail on the axles and flame from the exhaust, the music fading out as the chorus wails and the sound of that engine making a hard shift up the straight. Seriously, that looks like the best racing game ever.

I WANT IT SO BAD

Turn the volume way the hell up: http://youtu.be/4NSjfaSw4_M?hd=1&t=55s

I had 3000 watts shaking my desk as i watched and drooled.

[Elbows]

Just watched the trailer - the sounds are amazing, the theme was a nice touch (Two Steps From Hell: Freedom Fighters - btw, same one used in the Star Trek trailer a couple years back).

I'm tempted, but at full-sim, and a "meh" comp I think I may have to pass..

[theuean]

One thin that really stood out in that trailer was the revs of the car changing as it went over the choppy bumps. I can't think of another game that does that properly.

GTR2, rFactor... most sims do this.

[A.Wilder]

can someone copy and paste the list of cars? I can't seem to find it on their forums

[Elbows]

Well, after conferring with my one buddy who does racing games with me, I decided to invest in it - plunked down $60.00.

This gives me access to the weekly builds, and a copy of the game when it comes out.

A. Wilder --- off the top of my head, the cars are:

-Several different Atoms
-Several different Caterhams
-Several different Radicals
-Audi R18 (in disguise name)
-A 60's, 70's, and 80's F1 car (also in disguise names)
-An A4 DTM Touring car
-A Jaguar LMP-2 style small prototype

Not really many cars at all in the build right now, and all light-weight pure race cars. Not much in the way of any normal, or less-than-super cars.

I can run the game "okay" without DX11. It just looks like a slightly-above average racing game. The tracks are also all disguised, and in various state of build, though I didn't get to look at all of them yet. I have doubts I could run 64 cars with my aging computer (3.0G duo, 4GB ram, GTX 460). But, I figure by the time this is out and really running, I'll have my new rig built --- and as long as I can play it with a buddy for now, I'm fine.

Without reading a million posts on the forum, I have a few things worth mentioning on the current build.

1) The sounds are truly horrible. I really hope they're place-setters, and will be replaced by proper audio.

2) The cars do have a little bit of that "floating above the road" feel, that scares me...very Codemasters-ish. It's not awful, but it does occasionally feel like you're not really in the car, on the track.

3) The lighting is freakin' awesome. I put it to 8:00 in the evening on Spa, hazy cloud cover, and drove a 70's Formula 1 in the dwindling light. Pretty cool. I like that you can adjust the speed of the active time --- meaning you could run a "mini" 2-4 hour LeMans or other 12/24 hour event, and simply speed up the rotation of the sun to fit.

4) Comes out of the box ready for an Xbox controller - it self detected, and was set up to run the instant I started the game. This was nice, because without a wheel, the Xbox controller is the next best thing. It even functioned flawlessly in all of the menus. It also has a comprehensive mapping system, as well as full adjustments for all of the inputs (deadzones, sensitivities, etc.). Meaning the same for any wheel I'd imagine. Complete control over every input device is really nice.

5) I'd really like to try the game in a slightly less super-fast car. I couldn't even handle an Ariel Atom on the Pacific Coast Highway track...just kept spinning out every single corner. I hope a few more "sane" cars are provided with the release.

6) I noticed that a lot of the tracks, even the real race tracks are available in reverse? Or at least that's what the file names said. That's a nice touch. The track selection is fantastic so far...and I'm hoping for more. LeMans, Bathurst, Spa....if those don't get a race fan's heart going....f_ck you.

7) The point-to-point tracks look like great fun. About 20km each, meaning roughly an 7-9 minute Nurburgring style challenge --- also available in reverse. I did get stuck in the map though when I went careening off on the PCH.

All in all, I have hope. Though I need a better rig to really run it with DX11 etc.

[A.Wilder]

Thanks for the car list! They plan on leaving the game open the modding community, right?

I'd love to see some Porsche, BMW, prototypes, and vintage cars in the future.

[Elbows]

I'd imagine so - the game is nowhere near done, most of the tracks are just that - tracks, with few off-track items finished or placed. The cars all have fake names and liveries (something I hope is fixed with some licensing).

They do have some more stuff in the works on the site, but I have to imagine there will be plenty of cars available for the game --- and then likely tons of DLC style material - again, possibly community developed.

[IDdubber]

They aren't even close to being finished with the game. Sounds are prelim, car lists and track lists aren't even fully licensed...hence some re-naming in the pre-alpha stages.

These are the same guys behind Shift 1/2 which both have extensive mod lists (tracks and cars). Nogripracing and other sites (nfscars.net I think) are good sources.

[Elbows]

Some pics I snapped --- while many of the tracks are incomplete, there can still be some good views.



Caterham at Glencairn (a tiny cart track?)



Lotus at Eau Rouge at Spa.



Audi DTM spitting fire in the evening along the Pacific Coast Highway



Gumpert Apollo emerging from a tunnel on the PCH.



Radical tearing through town in the early morning on the Azure Coast.



Just because everyone was waiting to see this in the video. Yes you can get plenty of air.



It can get really damn dark. This is an Atom at Bathurst - not that you could tell.

I think there is a lot of potential here. It will definitely inspire me to get a good rig, and if the final game is as I hope it will be, even a wheel/seat combo.