Yeah, it’s probably one of those things that as the saying goes, if it must be explained, would not be understood.
IMO, the target audience is a group of boomers like yours truly, whom for when we were younger, admired the 911, especially the Carrera and Targas of the 70’s and 80’s. We didn’t have the financial wherewithal to buy one new, but now having more disposable income, thinking of buying a used one from that era. The problem is, just like, say a 50s and 60s Gibson Les Paul, non-playing collectors and speculators have driven up the prices to the point that they are again no longer affordable by someone whom would enjoy it as a playable instrument.
The Singer is a different animal in that they take that concept and rebuild it as a resto-mod with attention to every detail. In fact their company motto is “Everything is important.” They take the car and fix or upgrade every component to the create the ultimate artistic and engineering expression of the original design. But obviously, with starting prices in the high $400s, are not appealing to the average consumer.
For the Assetto Corsa vs. Project Cars 2 debate, I think it firmly depends on what you’re looking for.
Assetto Corsa does have (slightly, in my opinion) better physics, though Project Cars isn’t too far behind. Assetto Corsa does have a huge amount of mods available, but like FSX/X-Plane, not all of them are great. Plenty of “meh’s” out there with the “greats” sprinkled in.
On the downside, Assetto Corsa doesn’t have any sort of weather or day/night simulation. You’re always in the daytime, though you can adjust the grippiness of the track (you can adjust day/night with mods, but it’s quite involved). Project Cars has an awesome weather and day/night system. It even models water pooling in the low points of the track, so watch out aquaplaning over those puddles! It also has great career options too (Assetto Corsa is very bare bones in that department).
So if you’re purely interested in the physics and nothing else, Assetto Corsa. If you can accept a slight step down in physics but a much better atmospheric experience, Project Cars 2 is your pick. That said…
At the moment you can pick up the ultimate editions of both (all DLC included) for a grand total of $23.06 (US) at Fanatical. What are you waiting for?
That’s a good point Roo about the weather and the physics being close. TBH, I haven’t driven PC2 in a while and the day/night feature would be important if you like endurance racing, which I certainly do.
I happen to catch this sim round up the last night, which I think is pretty good, except for the part where he calls DiRT Rally 2 physics model simcade. He’s probably referring to the asphalt model, because I think that everywhere else it’s pretty spot on.
I totally agree with what @chipwich and @Roo have to say about AC and PC2.
In my case, just last week I was wondering if there was a realistic driving simulation where I could drive really nice cars that I couldn’t afford around like in the old “Test Drive” franchise. Remember that? Lo and behold, @chipwich mentioned the Singer Porsche/L.A. Canyons combo! Problem solved!
I’m getting used to using a clutch pedal (with H shifter) again! My first few RL cars had manual transmissions but I’ve been driving automatics for years. I drive semi trucks for a living and the first thing you have to get used to is NOT using the clutch pedal. At first they teach you to DOUBLE CLUTCH for each shift but NO THANKS LOL! That would be insanely hard on your left leg. I even got pretty good at no clutch manual car shifting but I was just practicing … not recommended … the RPM is too high.
Bottom line, you could teach your kids how to drive stick with this Porsche/L.A. Canyons Assetto Corsa combo! It’s bang on realistic! The only downside is your kid might want a Porsche once he/she gets their license.
EDIT: Oh cool, this YouTube 4K thing kinda worked … here’s me tooling around full manual Pro Racer mode … just takin’ 'er easy. …
I was on the fence with AC and have been for years. Do I need another racing game I can’t play with anymore else? But you had to post that link.
I have PC2, but haven’t driven it in a while. I like the cars they have, particularly the 50’s cars and the option of endurance races.
The downside is that I enjoy racing a real person. The AI isn’t good enough and there’s only so much enjoyment to be had from victory again against Mr CPU.
This is what I’ve enjoyed so much about the DR2 rally’s. Chasing down times means something. Getting close to a time, or managing to drive a clean sector to hold out and gain seconds back…
Amen. Knowing it’s a real human you’re racing is great. It’s a real time you’re chasing, and you’re not left wondering if the AI’s time is actually realistic or not.
The only AI I’ve really enjoyed racing against are the ones from Grand Prix Legends. That sim is kind of like Falcon 4.0 of the driving world. Released in 1998, it’s still being updated and modded to this day. The base game recreates the entire 1967 F1 season, and with mods you can race any season from 1965-1969, plus 1955 and a few sports cars and Can-Am seasons. Graphics aren’t up to modern standards and the track meshes aren’t super high resolution, but the physics are awesome.
I remember running a full 11 race championship in both the Eagle and Lotus. In my Eagle season, I was 1 point behind of Graham Hill going into the final round at Mexico. Ran into the back of Hill in the middle of the first lap. Bent my steering and retired at the end of the second lap. Hill retired a few laps later, so I probably could have finished in the points and won the championship, but just missed.
Next season in the Lotus I was 1 point ahead of Jim Clark going into the final race. Started on pole with Clark beside me. He was slightly ahead of me going into the first turn, which is a long, decreasing radius corner which switches back on itself (almost like T1 at Shanghai). Managed to just hang on around the outside and slip past Clark, then took off from there and won the race and championship.
My beef with GPL was there was no way to ease into it. Even F4 had scalable options, GPL had zip. Only the 3rd party AI adjustment tool which came out years later that let you slow the AI down.
None of it helped learn how to drive those cars, though, let alone win a race. There were like 2 tracks I could make top 10 in the Lotus and that was it.
I have PC2 and AC but I spend a lot more time in PC2. AC I only drive for the cars and tracks PC2 doesn’t have. It is missing so much, including the ability to put AI in MP races to fill out the field, that I don’t ever spend long with it. PC2 is much more rounded.
Of course, if I want to experience an actual racing season, I go to CM’s F1 series since 2010.
Carriers have been raining boxes on my doorstep the past few weeks, and Lady Chipwich is beginning to show a bit of resentment with each doorbell ring. Building an aluminum profile monitor stand today.
It’s madness. Need to block YouTube at the firewall.
What an incredible deal! Thanks for the heads up @DanTDBV. I already have the standard AC and PC2 but I’m still going for it because getting ALL the DLC for both titles at that price is incredible!
BTW … same deals at Fanatical. I’ll be buying from there because I already have an account. ($30 bucks Canadian for both).
