C.A.R.S has gone live

[Troy Dalton]

New build (144) released for Junior members. I won't get to test it until tomorrow, but from the change logs it looks like they've come a long way in the past month. Major changes to FFB, tire model improvements, and the addition of Formula A (ie not yet licensed F1) in addition to a mountain of smaller changes and refinements.

Between pCARS, rF2, and AC the future of simracing is looking really good :-)

Let us know if they've improved the FPS. I couldn't even drive it at the lowest of settings.

[wheeler]

I had my first experience with CARS tonight, and I liked what I saw. It still has a lot of rough edges, especially the force feedback/steering response is a little strange. The car variation is nice - I especially enjoyed the Racer RS cars. Concerning FPS etc. it runs smoothly on my hardware, but I can't compare to previous releases.

[Rob Berry]

Yes I agree David. Its going to be great to have all these new releases. Trouble will be getting time to run them all.
Loading up release 144 today, and can't wait to walk into the garage. Lots of new goodies.

[Almsfan]

Just wanted to update with this picture. Livery editing is now available. Awesome work by a Pcars user. Just showing off the eye candy this program can offer.

6925926125_e2b1cf4e72_b.jpg

[davidan]

Wow, that looks sweet!

[corsa]

Screenshots of the new lighting model (posted on VirtualR today) look great! Unfortunately, PCars only runs about 45 fps with medium-ish settings on my machine (compared to rF2 at 80-90 fps with almost everything cranked up) -- but it still looks good on those settings. The only thing that looks bad on my machine are the shadows (especially tree shadows), they are a mess, no matter what setting I use I can't get them to look as nice as I see in the screenshots.

The shadows in Jeff's screenshot look great.

[David Kessler]

Yeah, I'm really looking forward to Friday's update. There are also some big changes in the physics since the last "Junior" build. Handling is much more responsive and FFB is dramatically improved. There are still some tire load sensitivity issues with the current build, but those should be sorted out by Friday.

Still has a way to go, but I think they're getting pretty close on the core. Hopefully they can soon turn their attention to multi-player. I've been having so much fun following the development that I upped my membership so I could get the weekly builds

[wheeler]

The new CARS junior build has been released. And what an improvement! I just had to adjust ffb strength from 50 to 90% and it then felt very good! It still have minor issues, but this is a huge step - no jump - forward.

I can't tell you anything aboved graphics performance since I have never had any issues.

[David Kessler]

Graphics performance on this release is noticeably worse than the previous Junior release because SMS hasn't had time to optimize the new lighting code. If your frame rates were marginal before, you probably won't like this release - but don't panic, it's just a temporary regression Also, for those who don't follow the pCARS forums, the Formula A and F68 are the most "up to date" in terms of physics. FFB (at least on the G27) is radically improved from the last Junior build. Not quite up to netKar Pro or rF2 quality, but definitely closing the gap.

[wheeler]

CARS 189 is available - But with an unpleasant surprise for junior members: The point-to-point tracks are locked. And according to CARS forum they will probably remian locked for juniors. So if you want access to them you have to invest another 15 Euro. Otherwise, the new build is nice.