Assetto Corsa Hits €100 Million in Sales: Exclusive Interview with Kunos' Marco Massarutto

This is the discussion thread for a recent post on GTPlanet:

This article was published by Jordan Greer (@Jordan) on February 9th, 2021 in the Assetto Corsa Series category.

 

With the latest successes I really hope that they can bring the next title to console natively not with the detour of a different developer.

 

Brilliant.

 

Impressive. Especially considering that it feels like Sim Racing in general and ACC specifically ore only taking off right about now.

Bright future ahead for them and for us.

 

Jordan, aging well!

Good interview. The Kunos team is a wonderful asset to our beloved hobby.

 

...and this is what my oldest Daughter got me this past Christmas.

 

Just wondering how many unit sales that 55 million euro translates into, as in, how many people play assetto corsa competizione?

 

Have to admit it really is a good franchise in true. I got into AC sometime in 2020 on PS4 console I believe when a lobby group I'm in decided to make a change from Project Cars to AC...at least for a while. It proved good and we stuck with it. Then when ACC came out we migrated to ACC which has been going very well. My only pet peeve for the console version (forgive for repeating) is why up to now they can't introduce FOV adjustment for it especially considering when it was already an option in the previous version. But it's like they just don't care.

 

That's awesome to hear!

 

IMO they are the best racing games on Console.

Just wish they keep development in house, and fix bugs.

The trophy /achivement bugs existing in ACC so long time after release is really not acceptable.

And for me its even a thing that could make me not want to buy further games from them.

 

I agree with the first part, but I don't know why you wouldn't buy an awesome game even if it didn't have trophies. For me it's just about the experience of the game, not the trophies.

 

Honestly well deserved AC on consoles may not be the best but its damn good on a steering wheel.

Im really enjoying both AC and ACC on the PS4 pro with my t300 steering wheel.

I hope the future is bright for AC2.

 

I wonder if they think d3t have done a good job porting ACC to consoles? It also sounds like they don't have any immediate interest in next gen machines. It would be nice if they ask for ACC to be patched for next gen, that way they could see what the limitations are, or not.

Their next game is sure to be released on PC a good while before consoles, and I really hope they do the port themselves, but again, I wouldn't be surprised if they outsource porting from now on.


I understand it's easier but I hope for the future they take a more hands on approach to console gaming.

 

I drive in VR only and can't use ACC. So I hope when AC 2 comes along it will be VR friendly.

Also try and keep the physics good for DD wheels too. Now Kunos get to work and make
another £100,000,000.

 

Question, I do not yet own a DD wheel but have been considering that upgrade path.

But my question is if a game provides good to excellent data for use as FFB information for standard belt drive and non DD wheels if the physics is lacking for a DD wheel would that not be more on the wheels software not using and processing that data provided by the game rather than an issue with the actual games physics concerning a dd wheel?
Just does not make sense that the data would be good for one wheel but sucks for another and be the provided datas fault and not the wheels fault in the way they may process and use the data.

Again now if you are talking about presets for certain wheels I can understand wanting the plug-n-play with no tweaking aspect but that is more a convenience factor for the owner a product that is not yet as widely used across an already niche market to a degree and I can see where the game manufacturers may not be willing to invest the time, effort and resources for something only a very small percentage of their players will actually utilize, even moreso as every brand of wheelbase probably needs to be tweaked differently depending on how the software is set up to react to the inputted FFB data stream.

Great interview, look forward to what Kunos has coming down the pipeline.
It does sound as if their online aspect very well may be seeing improvements and expansion going forward as well which will do a lot to grow the franchise even further.

Edit...... One thing as I think about my question I will have to add as I have transitioned basically away from console gaming to PC gaming I do tend to think more along the lines of the capabilities of making software tweaks and adjustments out of the game itself and through the PC end of the software.
I do realize that many of these adjustments are not available on console so perhaps this is where the original statement stems from.

 

The best racing game on console. I hope their next game to be better in all the areas, improve the track list, and more of all!

 

He said in the interview that D3T is in front of consoles port and he thinks "that it's a good optimised work" and that they are still working hard...

I really can't agree with "good optimised work" on consoles and postlaunch development from D3T Ldt studio at all, sorry.

Other UE4 engine games are running with less or non framepace at 30fps on consoles and has the 2 modes (graphics/performance) in-game instead of having to set the proper console in 4k or 1080p/supersampling mode in case of PS4 pro...in Xbox one X, there's directly no way to chose as it is on other games.
There's still input lag.

Then,bad implentation of wheels as T500, broken since launch, no Autodor system as on PC version that set automatically steering lock

And they broke/bugged rain phisycs on windshield since 1.05 patch together with dynamic blackering/rubbering of track surface texture , which is now only visible and available on Imola DLC track offline.

Replay and highlights savings is still broken since launch

Online settings in private servers that don't work as setting stability control as prohibited.

And list can go on

And that aren't CPU/GPU issues,for those that says that the game is demanding on CPU/GPU...game crashes I can understand that can be due to CPU/GPU, but game in PS5 crash a lot, and has a real capable CPU and GPU on which Epic has run already an Unreal engine 5 demo.

Support and comuncation also lacks hard in comparative with the Kunos simulazione Devs that are 25 and did a real great job, which has btw optimise for a lot of hardware combinations.

D3T is already known for bad portings,bad postlaunch support and bad optimization in games suffering input lags.

Bravo for kunos, that do what they do with 25 guys, bravo when with AC original the did the porting and postlaunch support also for consoles which I understand that it was really stressful for the team...and seeing the communication of Devs and all on the official forums with PC version is just great...

But next time they have to find a better studio to port their game.. because 505/D3T let a lot of desire.

Bravo for @Jordan wich did a great interview which has shown some interesting information about kunos and their plans.

Also, again bravo to Kunos for all what such little studio achieved since netkar pro and those 5 initial guys aside of the bad decision-making of ACC console version porting team.

 

The console version has its shortcomings, but it's hands down the best driving experience available on console.

 

And what does running a real engine 5 demo have to do with a game that is running on the real engine 4?
Very possible the new engine could be a lot more efficient on some processes which makes it run better. If the new engine was not better than the old version why would it be introduced at all?

 

Yup, physics wise and driving experience is great, that the core work from Kunos that is intact in the game...

It has true potential, but the port studio and postlaunch support and comuncation let a lot of desire.

Hopefully they improve and fix all online issues, as prohibiting driving aids not working properly on . Json configs and so on,cause career mode and championship mode are messed up,the Competizione server rating doesn't work since launch either...

I'm enjoying much more original AC since i started to play it again.. and wow.. VoF settings, and smooth playing with crisper image and real good distance detail.

Still hope that Kunos simulazione Devs now after patch and British GT go over to help those D3T Ldt Devs out

Well, shows that consoles are UE friendly, on launch of PS4 Epic runed also a demo on UE4.

Shows that D3T didn't really optimised well the game on consoles, and on PS5, capable to run it even better is where it most crashes

Other games using UE on consoles are better optimised ,not crashing.

 

Great interview! Really enjoyable to watch.

 

Great interview, you nailed it!

 

Yes, sure. I don't complain about physics in ACC.
That's the core work of Kunos simulazione themselves which D3T can't touch.

But of the bad optimation of ue and bad implentations/ issues and bugs in ACC console version due the port team I complain as it's obvious and also of their lack of communication and support that can easily been seen in ACC 505games Discord support channel Scaff ,and I do reporting trough the form,as also directly to Mike, the only guy that try to help a bit the console Community, but he's a customer support guy..not a Dev.

 

Actually that may just be more that shows the new UE5 is a more efficient engine and runs better on the current hardware than UE4.

Actually I think the reason you see fewer ports from PC games to console as compared to Console to PC ports is that it is much harder to take a game that to get the best results requires more hp and move that to a lower hp console while still making it look similar and retain features from it brother that had more computing power at its disposal on the PC platform.

Where the console to PC port it is the opposite and has more power to work with many PC ported games are actually better than when it was on console.

Since ACC was a ps4 port then the studio really has no obligation to improve a game released in May 2019 to perform better on a newly released PS5 console. Think about it that game is only a few months from being two years old.
Regardless of what you want to think it is a PS4 game that can only be played on the PS5 because of backwards compatibility.

But the thing is I really think this is the reason you see fewer games ported from PC to console than you see ported from console to PC.
Much easier to do a port when you are going from one system to another that actually has more power to work with which allows the studio to actually improve the product.

But on the flip side when going from PC to console and less available power the studio is then faced with how can we cut back the power requirements we have been using but still keep the product where it looks and works decent with less power available to use now. Answer they have to cut things out and reduce details.

I would say I would be more hoping that KUNOS actually came out with either a new game or an actual port designed strictly for the PS5 than expecting major dollars being invested by the studio into reworking an almost two year old port made for a last generation console.

But using the UE to convert that information to the screen and the headset would still have an effect on the console power required to convert those processes.
Still does not change the possibility that the newer UE5 is not more efficient and easier for the system to run than the older UE4.
From that standpoint whether Kunos uses a hybrid and their own physics engine for some processes is irrelevant as to what the efficiency between the UE4 and UE5 and the amount of computing power to run the sames processes between the two engines.

 

I never played AC on pc beacuse I always had a console. If they think about their future on console, many things needs to be changed. AC was not bad, but ACC is one of the worst racing games on console. Of course is just my opinion, but graphic is terrible, career mode is real boring, and we had to wait months to use a wheels beacuse wer not supported. Kunos must understand that players pay the game and want to play, in 2021 a racing game cannot be without steering wheels, the games and game developpers exist because the customers pay and buy the games, they have to think about that, customers are the priority in the videogames world.

 

I can agree with that as on PC to run the settings I wanted to run is the reason I built my new PC tower. On the highest settings with a 6700k and a 1070 GPU just struggled a bit.
I have wanted to try VR but as long as ACC is like it is I will give that a pass.

 

I enjoy both games. What I find to be the real revelation, on console(with DS4), are the braking physics. ACC feels realistic with it's braking and downshifting. Helps to set up corners and the cars are stable compared to AC.

If PS5 versions are coming, can't wait to see the next evo-revolution.