This is a bit of a weird one, isn't it? Project CARS 3, the third instalment in what has been one of the PlayStation 4's most hardcore racing simulators, has confirmed that it will not feature pitstops, tyre wear, or even fuel usage. That is despite developer Slightly Mad Studios stating the driving title is still a racing sim which will keep the features and mechanics longtime fans have grown to love.
This piece of news comes out of Project CARS 3's first developer blog. Nick Pope, the Principal Vehicle Handling Designer, says: "So, for example, by removing tyre wear and fuel usage, we could in turn remove pitstops, which resulted in much closer and more consistent racing. Thus, the whole process of getting to the part that matters most—the actual racing and driving of these amazing cars and their upgrades—became a far easier and more streamlined affair." What makes this quote stranger is the fact that the game's director of production, Pete Morrish, told Eurogamer that features and systems weren't being taken away from veteran players in order to help newcomers.
"It's not about a huge sweeping change to the overall game, it's more about keeping what was there for the people who loved it and helping more people along the way make those steps into sim racing."
So, what is actually going on here? The developer has gone on record stating that it is trying to make the third iteration more accessible, which is great, but it also wants to cater to the hardcore racing crowd. However, getting rid of pitstops, tyre wear, and fuel usage completely flies in the face of that effort. We'll find out whether this makes for a good game or not on 28th August 2020. What do you make of this? Rev your engines in the comments below.
[source projectcarsgame.com]
Comments 15
This is obviously a simulation of an arcade racer. Sorta like Cinderella's stepsisters going to the ball. Trash in a dress is still trash. Personally I did not like either PC or PC2, so unless it gets stellar reviews, I'll pass
So if the next F1 game has no tyre wear, fuel usage or pitstops is that still a simulator?
PC2 was so bad that I'm not giving a dime to SMS again... It wasn't even a simulator in the first place, there's no feeling in the front wheels, no bumps, il almost feels better with a controller. It's a shame because the game has great content.
Go for Assetto Corsa if you want a simulator.
All the vehicles will be foot powered, Flinstones style.
Yabba dabba do!
Why don’t they just keep the pitstops, tyre wear and fuel usage for the higher difficulty settings? Surely it’s better to have the option to turn them off rather than remove them entirely?
The sim racing forums were a rather hate-filled place over the weekend.
Personally I quite enjoy, and actually prefer, running races without pit stops, tyre wear, and fuel, but it should definitely be a choice.
Still buying it day one, although I'd never admit that in a sim racing forum.
@carlos82 I think F1 will have Pit-stops - but only because its compulsory in the rules...
I don't know what to make of this. There are other factors that can still make this a 'Sim' game without these aspects and whilst they are part of racing a Real car, are they beneficial to the overall package?
I think it would have made more sense to have these as 'options' - things you can turn on or off. I would still hope that the dynamic weather and track conditions are part of the game but that in turn should also come into play with Tyres and Pit stops as Tyre wear affects the way the car handles in different weather and if you are on slicks and it starts raining, you would need to come into the pits to swap to wet weather tyres.
Part of me thinks though that some of that would be handled by your team, those monitoring all the times and data they have so the 'driver' can concentrate on just driving.
The other issue of course is Sales. Its all well and good being the most 'accurate' Racing Sim in the world but if that doesn't appeal to enough people - especially with games like GT, Forza and all the other Racing games on the market, then it runs the risk of being too expensive to make or disappearing altogether...
What the heck? Project Cars 1 was crowdfunded and I was an original backer - those exact same things were always on the highest wanted list in the forums. What made the previous 2 games great was the plethora of options. If you didn't like "realistic racing" you could dial back the physics, get some rubber banding in there for close races and omit pitstops.
Removing all those sim-features alltogether will have Project Cars 3 vanish in the swamp of "soso-racing games" - just as it was becoming a third option for console players to Gran Turismo and Forza.
Guess that quick dollar needs to be made. Fan backlash ensured.
@ankehuber Each and everyone should have their choice of how to play their racing game - but that means that choice needs to be there in the first place. Playing racing games with a more "casual" approach and ruleset is totally fine. But there's plenty racing games without pitstops and tyrewear to choose from, but only a handful of "simlikes". I love the franchise so for me it's a definite disappointment and a loss!
@BAMozzy They confirmed over the weekend that pit-stops have been removed from all parts of the title, and if it starts/stops raining your car will automatically change to the correct tyres while you are still driving!!!!
"@[SMS] Nathan Bell so does that means no changeable weather during a race?
@inthebagbudUK (Big G - CC) You can set the weather exactly as you could in PC2. Difference is you don't need to pit to change tyres when the weather changes. The on-track experience changes in regards to how the car handles on-track based on the current weather. In short - the game knows what the weather is, and what the optimal tyres are. But still reacts as it would if you'd spent 2 mins in the pits changing them."
https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/threads/project-cars-3-general-discussion-thread-out-august-28th-2020-on-xb1-ps4-pc.383864/page-26#post-13152330
@Scaff_GTP So its basically cutting out the animation of coming into the pits and sitting there whilst your team changes the tyres and waiting for the green light to go again. In other words, keeping you on track racing so you don't have that 'interruption'.
Still think it should be optional but I guess it keeps the 'costs' down a bit - having to do those animations...
I am not a racing fan but I know how passionate these are. I don't see why you wouldn't make these configurable. A full sim for people that want it and a mode where you can add it if not.
Give this title a wide birth. It will be full of bugs. And lets be honest, the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing which is pretty fundamental if your driving a car sim
@undercoveragent AVGN?
Why they dumb down the game that way? And how they are planning to compete with GT or the other games....
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