Racing videogames can offer some of the most intensely immersive virtual reality (VR) experiences, putting players in the driving seat of some of their favourite cars. One of the biggest names in the genre is Slight Mad Studios’ Project CARS, which supports Oculus Rift and HTC Vive, and recently VRFocus‘ roving reporter Nina got to demo the latest version, Project CARS 2.
Slight Mad Studios and Bandai Namco held an event in London, UK, recently to showcase the new iteration of the title, fully setting up racing rigs with steering wheels, pedals and pneumatic seats. Rather than just demo Project CARS 2 on a standard TV, the companies setup the VR version using Oculus Rift’s.
In the preview video Nina runs through some of the latest editions to the franchise like the expanded roster of over 170 cars and 60+ tracks, new weather conditions and what the videogame is like to play in a fully immersive, decked out setup.
Currently Project CARS 2 has been confirmed for Oculus Rift and HTC Vive, there’s no word yet on a PlayStation VR version. The title is scheduled to launch in late 2017 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC.
Checkout Nina’s preview of Project CARS 2 below, and for further updates on the videogame keep reading VRFocus.
The Digital Trends cars team test-drove Project CARS 2 under the best conditions possible to see just how close racing simulators can get to the real thing.
Congratulations one and all on surviving another week and making it to the weekend. Of course Saturday means our weekly look at all manner of things sport and virtual reality (VR) related returns, and this weekend there are a number of sport-linked VR items including a sport we very rarely talk about – horse racing. So let’s start with that as things are, potentially, time sensitive for you.
The UK’s Most Famous Horse Race Heads To VR
In just two and a half hours from the time of posting will come The Grand National, being held (as always) at Aintree racecourse in the Merseyside area of Liverpool. A (at the time of writing at least) field of forty runners are scheduled to brave the thirty fences over the course of two laps to join the likes of Red Rum, Hedgehunter, Miinnehoma and last year’s victor Rule The World as winners of one of the world’s most famous steeplechase races. 360-degree footage from the day, captured from multiple cameras around the course will be stitched together by broadcaster ITV and made available YouTube channel and Facebook page tomorrow Sunday 9th April, the day after.
“One of the aims of ITV Racing’s on-air coverage is to give viewers ‘the best seat in the house’, and this exciting VR highlights package will immerse consumers in the unique live event atmosphere The Randox Health Grand National creates.” Explained Ed Ross, ITV’s Head of Marketing and Media. “We’re delighted to be working with VR City and Goodstuff once again to bring this experience to Racing fans.”
It’s not the first time that VR is being added to a British horse racing event however, as Laura Moorcraft, Business Director at Goodstuff explained: “The popularity of the VR highlights package for Cheltenham Races demonstrates how brilliant VR is as a way of giving viewers an entirely new perspective on their favourite sport.”
Project CARS 2 Gets Rallycross, And A Driver Reveal
If you’ve never seen Rallycross you’re missing out. A staple of the UK’s sports coverage in the 1970’s to the late 80’s (because Grandstand was brilliant that way), for those who have never seen it Rallycross has cars race around a track which is a combination of surfaces and also splits partway into two different routes each of which must be taken at some point. It’s quick, exciting, and relatively inexpensive. Making it attractive to both amateurs and professionals alike. It’s also seen something of a resurgence in recent years from both sides of the racing divide.
Rallycross is also being included in Project CARS 2, which had a special preview event this week in Los Angeles based around the sport and VR is very much a part of the package. As a matter of fact VRFocus is hoping to get hands-on with it very soon.
However Honda turned up to the event to make a very important announcement as well: the reveal of their 2017 Honda Global Rallycross driver line-up. The trio of Sebastian Eriksson, Oliver Eriksson and Mitchell DeJong will be driving 2017 Honda Civic Coupes in the event next season – and you can be just like them in Project CARS 2.
“Coming off Honda’s maiden campaign in Global Rallycross in 2016, we are ramping up for the 2017 season with a great blend of skill and experience, in addition to talented newcomers,” said Susie Rossick, Assistant Vice President of Honda Automobile Marketing. “The Honda Red Bull OMSE Civic team is excited to be back on the track and is committed to increasing its time on the podium.”
An Augmented Fundraiser
Tha mount of funding that goes into College and University sport in America is, to many on the outside looking in, mind boggling. We’ve already discussed how various education establishments are looking to VR or have already added it to their training regimes – particularly in American Football – but what about raising funds in the first place? It takes a lot of money to run these various athletic endeavours and West Virginia University has looked not to VR but to augmented reality (AR) in order to accrue what it needs.
As reported by SportTechie.com, the university added AR elements to its recent Mountaineer Athletic Club Membership Handbook, shown below.
Ryan Schulman, West Virginia’s Associate Director of Annual Giving, explained the move. “Long-term it was a pilot and a test for our membership to see if it made sense. The opportunities are endless for it. For us it was a neat opportunity to get our student athletes out in front. For the majority of our fans the only time they’re seeing our student athletes is when they’re playing in a game. They’re not seeing them in a humanised role, as student, so that was really our goal more than anything else.”
And that’s all for another week.VRFocus will be back of course next Saturday at the usual time with another round-up of all the week’s sporting action involving VR. Be sure to check back throughout the weekend for more AR and VR news.
Slightly Mad Studios has begun the promotional campaign for Project CARS 2, revealing a new trailer and some new details. Now due ‘late 2017’, the game has confirmed VR support for PC, while PSVR support is in development but not yet promised.
The Project Cars 2 media blowout has begun, with an official ‘announce’ trailer, new screenshots and footage following the recent leaked trailer. Some of the clips remain, but the shots of Ferrari and Porsche models have disappeared—probably saved for a future ‘reveal’, as the inclusion of these legendary manufacturers is a huge deal for the title. Instead, we get a good look at some exciting new models, such as the Aston Martin Vulcan and Honda/Acura NSX road and race versions, along with some stunning footage of Fuji Speedway, a track that many Gran Turismo fans will be familiar with.
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The official website has been updated, restating some of the known features about the game, and clarifying a few other details. Virtual reality is, as expected, once again supported on PC, primarily for the Rift and Vive. In fact the developer states, “VR, 12K, 21:9, and triple-screen support built-in,” which will go down very well with enthusiasts; calling out all of these display options immediately ticks boxes that were missing in the first title.
By targeting console and PC racers, the original Project CARS had the incredibly difficult task of meeting the needs of a very wide audience; it worked for some, but never really hit the mark for many enthusiasts, and it struggled to appeal to the casual player with its confusing UI and menu presentation. With the sequel, Slightly Mad Studios have pushed hard in both directions, claiming to have ‘raised the bar’ on simulation, while improving the experience for the beginner too.
Speaking to Gamereactor, game director Stephen Viljoen describes how the free-form career mode of the first game was lost on many players, as they simply didn’t realise that you could start with any racing discipline, and that the progression through a season was unclear. Now that the sequel includes even more motorsport types, such as Rallycross and IndyCar, it has been essential to present the career paths and various options in a more logical manner, so we can expect to see major improvements to the UI.
In an ongoing Q&A on the GTPlanet forums, CEO Ian Bell has been answering some of the more specific concerns, such as the state of gamepad support, which was considered to be less intuitive than Forza and Gran Turismo.
“We’ve massively reworked our pad input filters to try to pre-empt what the user wants to happen, in coordination with what actually happens in game. It’s been rewritten from scratch and we’ve been influenced a lot by what our competitors do here… I think it’s a very affirming experience for pad users now”.
And addressing a PC-specific concern regarding the poor performance of the first game on AMD graphics cards, both in VR and otherwise, in comparison to Nvidia equipment, “we’re massively better on AMD cards now. Particularly on dual+ setups.”
PlayStation Access’summary video of the major features skilfully avoids the elephant in the room, PlayStation VR support. Project Cars on PS4 was once due to receive VR treatment, but it never happened, so the team is being more cautious about what they say this time. In an interview with Red Bull, creative director Andy Tudor reveals that they are actively trying.
“With PSVR we can’t confirm that it’s definitely coming, but our team are hard at work on it. The reason I can’t confirm that it’s definitely going to come out is because there’s a lot of work required to get the game running to our standards. Because of the two screens that you need, because of the frame rate that you need to keep up in order for the whole experience to be comfortable, and because of all the stuff we’re throwing into the game”.
With ‘over 170’ licensed cars and ‘the largest track roster of any console racing game’, Project Cars 2 will no doubt be an impressive collection of content, but more importantly, it appears to be addressing many of the criticisms of the first game. Simply by having more time to iterate on their existing technology such as the advanced tyre model and dynamic track system, the sequel is surely set to be a more mature, polished product.
Today Bandai Namco Entertainment America Inc. and Slightly Mad Studios announced their publishing partnership for Project CARS 2. Along with it was the confirmation that the PC version would feature VR support for Oculus Rift and HTC Vive.
Set to feature an expanded roster of over 170 cars and 60+ tracks, fan-requested Online Championships game mode, and additional racing disciplines including ice, dirt, snow, and mud racing, Project CARS 2 aims to be bigger and better than its predecessor.
“Project CARS 2’s authentic presentation of motorsports racing isn’t just cutting edge, it surpasses the cutting edge,” says Eric Hartness, Vice President of Marketing at Bandai Namco Entertainment America Inc. “No other driving game or racing title can approach Project CARS2’s level of visual fidelity, real-world physics, and intelligent driver A.I. These features combined with dynamic weather and track effects, refined controls, and an authentic love of competitive eSports guarantees players will be able to live-out their racing aspirations on multiple gaming platforms.”
“We’re thrilled to pull off the covers on our publishing partnership with Bandai Namco Entertainment and finally share more details on our latest build with Project CARS 2.” said Stephen Viljoen, Game Director for Project CARS 2. “Our collective goal at Slightly Mad Studios is to create a simulation racing experience that rivals that of real-life. Realism and authenticity are central to our development mantra for Project CARS 2, hence we’re making sure we employ the best professional drivers, game developers, artists, and sound engineers to realize our vision for a game that takes players on the ultimate driver journey.”
Project CARS 2 will launch in late 2017 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC. As yet PlayStation VR support hasn’t been confirmed.
For any further VR updates on Project CARS 2, keep reading VRFocus.
How do you improve upon something that the developers themselves already set out to establish as “the ultimate driver journey” when it released in 2015? That’s what Project CARS from Slightly Mad Studios was supposed to be, an ultimate driving game that delivered on all fronts. For the most part, you could argue it delivered, although some lingering bugs are still unsolved, it doesn’t feature any snow, and misses some of the core components that genre fans have grown to love in the nearly two years since its release.
Now with Project CARS 2, the direct sequel to the original hyper-realistic racing simulator, Slightly Mad Studios (and publisher Bandai Namco) wants to set the bar even higher. After going hands-on with the game at a private press only preview event, I can confirm that expectations are high and goals are lofty. If everything falls into place, Project CARS 2 could very well end up being the best and most immersive VR racing simulator ever made.
Since the original game already had such a strong foundation, the studio has spent its time iterating, improving, and expanding on the core engine itself. In some ways, Project CARS 2 feels like the game that the original wanted to be. It’s a victory lap for a franchise that’s just starting to hit its stride.
At the press event, I had the pleasure of checking out Project CARS 2 running on a super-powered PC, hooked up to an Oculus Rift CV1, in a legitimate racing setup completed with seat belt-adorned chair and authentic racing wheel plus pedal apparatus. At first, it seemed like I was about to jack into The Matrix, if Neo had learned professional driving instead of Kung Fu.
“A lot of the issues people have with VR are automatically resolved with a racing game,” said Stephen Viljoen, Game Director at Slightly Mad Studios during an onsite interview. “The question of how do you move around is moot because you’re in a car, you just drive.”
Heeding his advice, once the light turned green I slammed my foot down and just drove. Somewhere between my peeling out and my crashing into the wall at the end of the first turn made me realize I wasn’t ready for the spotlight. I’ve never been much of a racing sim person, but I’ve always appreciated the attention to detail. Project CARS 2 feels like the Tekken of the racing world — intricate and complicated — whereas Driveclub VR feels more like Mortal Kombat: approachable, but packs plenty of depth when you dig into it.
In the case of the original Project CARS, VR was seemingly a bit of an afterthought. The team was always passionate about the technology, but since it wasn’t commercially available to the public when the game released in 2015, it had to be incorporated after the fact. It worked great and some drivers even used it for training, but it was clear the VR integration wasn’t part of the original game’s initial design process. That’s not the case with Project CARS 2 — it will be there at launch and was always conceived as part of the final product.
“When you’re in VR, there is already a natural interface with the inside of the car itself and it feels very natural and realistic,” explained Viljoen. “If you’re wearing a VR headset, it already feels like you’re wearing a racing helmet. When you play the game and you see the steering wheel, and you feel it in real life, it provides a powerful connection.”
That connection was on display as I regained control of my car, spun the wheel in my hand, and got back on the track. Fumbling and skidding around corners, I made my way across the finish line and completed the first lap far behind my opponents. That’s when it started to rain.
“Over the course of a race, things happen that change the conditions of the track,” said Viljoen. “As you drive, you’re burning rubber on the track that will be left behind as tiny specks of debris. You’re creating dry marks through the rain, dividing the puddles, and dispersing the snow. Every lap there will be more grip onto the track because of the rubber and tires. If you get off the track and pull gravel from the dirt into the road, that’s going to affect your grip. In the first game, the surface conditions of the track were static for the course of the race, but now the actual track surface is affected. If you’re not leading the pack and you’re behind another car, its hot tires will cut through the snow and rain to form a drying line. If you stay on that drying line while driving, your grip will be better.”
The dynamic weather and time systems are carried over as well, allowing you to customize how quickly time passes and weather changes within an individual race. Puddles appeared on the road realistically and in different spots than the would for other tracks. Instead of the game registering the track as simply “wet” my tires interacted with individual pieces of gravel and water as if it were really there. The technological leap forward is immediately noticeable.
By the time lap three started, the raining stopped and my driving skills seemed much better.
“The physics of the cars have improved a lot, from the mechanical underpinnings all the way down to the tire models,” said Viljoen. “In Project CARS 1, one of the areas that we took a lot of criticism is that it felt fine until you got to the edge and things started sliding, it was difficult to catch. That wasn’t very authentic. In real life, if you’ve ever been in a street car, bringing a car back to control isn’t that difficult to do.”
All of that felt great while I was playing, but if you’re like me and have spent any length of time inside a VR headset while racing in the original Project CARS, you’ll have noticed the mirrors. For lack of a better term, they suck. They’re flat and they don’t appear to have the depth recognition that an actual mirror does. They just don’t feel realistic at all.
“Previously, they operated more like screens,” admitted Viljoen. “But in Project CARS 2, they have depth with proper parallax and there’s full proper positional audio in VR. You can hear where a car is located behind or around you. If you look in the mirror and don’t see it, you can lean and move your head and see how the mirror reflects differently like in real life. It sounds like a little thing, but it makes a huge difference.”
Project CARS 2 has ambitious dreams that all seem to be falling into place based on what we’ve seen. It felt great to play, the sights and sounds are better than ever, and the amount of content feels up to par with the presentation quality. At release, over 170 licensed cars will be featured, including a massive track roster, up to 4K or even 12K triple monitor support on PC, VR headset support, and all-new vehicle types and motorsport classes such as Rallycross and IndyCar.
Since VR through the Rift and Vive is confirmed, what about other platforms? Since Project CARS 2 is also coming to Xbox One and PlayStation 4 when it releases, I had to ask about PlayStation VR (PSVR) support.
“We can’t commit 100% to PSVR yet because there is still a lot of optimization left to do and all of the new things we’ve added,” said Viljoen. “For VR, we need to achieve an additional level of performance. We don’t want to compromise like other racing games have and lose any of our authenticity on PSVR. If we can get there, we will release it. We’ll eventually get it there one way or another, but we can’t promise it will be there at launch. The plan is to deliver the entire game.”
Project CARS 2 is due out in late 2017 for PC (with Rift and Vive support), PS4, and Xbox One; PSVR support is not guaranteed, but is planned. Check the official website for more details.
New footage from upcoming racing simulator Project CARS 2 for PC, PS4 and Xbox One has surfaced on YouTube. Slightly Mad Studios’ new game is expected to launch later this year with support for virtual reality like its predecessor, and hopes to address the criticisms of the 2015 original.
We’ve known about Project CARS 2 since its controversial early announcement in June 2015, just a few weeks after the launch of the first game, which arrived in a state of inconsistent quality. Visually stunning, with an interesting career mode and plenty of content, it hoped to bridge the gap between PC and console racing sims. It received mainly positive reviews, but drew criticism from enthusiasts due to its bugs and questionable physics.
Although Slightly Mad Studios improved the game over the following months with several major patches, it never really reached its full potential as a sim, but eventual support for the Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, and OSVR headsets was very welcome, and well-implemented.
If you have suitably high-end hardware to match its demanding engine, it remains one of the most visually-impressive VR titles available.
Project CARS 2 is expected to enhance VR support on PC, but a potential PSVR mode for the PS4 version has not been confirmed at this stage. The original game was once due to support the headset, but the chances of it happening diminished over time.
Once again, Slightly Mad Studios had used their crowdfunding platform to assist the development of the sequel, meaning that leaks are inevitable, despite the more secretive development process this time around. A ‘trailer’ (above) recently surfaced on YouTube, which revealed a chunk of new, in-game footage. This turned out to be a placeholder intro for the game used for internal presentations, and does not represent the final quality of the game, according to the developers, evidenced by the variable framerate and placehold user of music from Pirates of the Caribbean.
However, it does include some interesting looks at new cars, such as the Ferrari 288 GTO, Lamborghini Huracán Super Trofeo, Porsche 935/80, and Jaguar XJ220S (manufacturers that were absent from the first game), along with footage of new tracks like Long Beach, the rallycross track in Hell, Norway and a Canadian ice track. It also demonstrates some of the upgraded technology, with a significantly-improved dynamic time of day and weather system. With all of this footage coming from out-of-date builds, the final product should look even more spectacular.
Slightly Mad Studios CEO Ian Bell recently hinted at a September 2017 release date, and while it could slip like the first game, it sounds like they’re readying a marketing push very soon, with the real trailer due early this month. Bell has boldly stated that the title, which is still in development, has already ‘raised the bar for simulation’, with new rendering, physics, force feedback, drivetrain, differential and tyre modelling systems. Fingers crossed it can deliver, and continues with support for multiple VR headsets.
The original Project CARS from Slightly Mad Studios was a crowdfunded project that aimed to provide hardcore racing fans an authentic and comprehensive racing experience. It executed on multiple levels, eventually providing over 100 unique tracks and 125 cars across multiple racing disciplines and platforms over the course of its release.
Eventually, virtual reality capability for the Rift, Vive, and OSVR was unveiled last year and it quickly became one of the definitive immersive racing experiences. Via unknown means, the trailer for Slightly Mad Studio’s forthcoming sequel, Project CARS 2, has leaked and it looks like they’re taking the incredible attention to detail of the original game to the next level.
The trailer was spotted by TrustedReviews and is the only video on the RaceDriver YouTube channel thus far. In the trailer itself, the cars and tracks are as beautiful as ever. We’re treated early to a snow covered track with piles of white powder that truly look like they can be scattered if you veer too far off the track and we wouldn’t be surprised if that were the case in the final game.
The focus in this trailer is on the more dynamic changes these tracks can undergo as we’re shown shots of the weather and time of day changing rapidly and how the racing venues reflect that. We even witness what appears to be water pooling up on the sides of the tracks as rain continued to pour down.
Slightly Mad Studios is really looking to solidify their Project CARS racing franchise as a premier experience across platforms. With a planned track roster of over 200, 8 racing disciplines including rallycross, eSports functionality mixed into their online matchmaking, and the visual fidelity shown in this trailer, it doesn’t look like they will have too much of a problem. It remains to be seen if the game will launch with VR capability, but it is very likely considering the previous game’s compatibility with HTC Vive and Oculus Rift. Maybe even the PS VR will be included this time around?
Project CARS 2 is currently planned to be released on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
Project CARS 2 Gets Rallycross, And A Driver Reveal
However Honda turned up to the event to make a very important announcement as well: the reveal of their 2017 Honda Global Rallycross driver line-up. The trio of Sebastian Eriksson, Oliver Eriksson and Mitchell DeJong will be driving 2017 Honda Civic Coupes in the event next season – and you can be just like them in Project CARS 2.
