Codemasters to acquire Slightly Mad Studios

[Mr Grumpy]

Just because it works well for you doesn't mean it's the same for everyone else. The fact controller support is something SMS themselves say they are working on for PC3 should tell you everything you need to know.

Everything about game 1 onto the next can help from a little improvement, it's evolution. Doesn't mean it's out & out broken like some people say.

Now the puddles & the AI's lack of interaction with them is a different kettle of fish, controller or wheel, whether it's based on real physics or not, needs more attention than controller support.

In my opinion of course

 

[Northstar]

Doesn't mean it's out & out broken like most people say.

So you're using the exact controller setting the game shipped with?

In my opinion of course

Yes, yes it is, the question is why do you have such a hard time with people having the opposite opinion? If "most people" say something isn't correct, there is a better than decent chance it's probably not correct.

 

[Mr Grumpy]

The game shipped with some devs personal settings who thought it was best, just because it was the default setup when shipped doesn't make it the true default settings to match controller input, which is what it should've been shipped with & what I use apart from speed sensitivity.

True default controller settings should be like this which gives the player true 1:1 control over their inputs without false implications.

0 dead zones & 50 sensitivity for 1:1 analog stick/trigger control.
0 damper
0 speed sensitivity

This is how I have my settings, so if I crash/lock my brakes/spin my rear wheels or mess up in anyway on track I've only got myself to blame because I have full 1:1 control. Speed sensitivity is the only thing I adjust between 50 & 75 depending on what car I use.

Regarding people's options on the matter, I'm fine with that side of it, everyone's entitled to one. I'm attacking the fact that just because your/their personal settings haven't worked for you/them then it's the games fault, when really you've only got yourself to blame for accepting some devs personal settings as true default or screwing up your own.

 

[slthree]

Oh good! Maybe now we can get a halfway decent PCars... 👍

Why would you wish for a “halfway decent” game? That’s odd for someone to have such a low standard. You do know that SMS doesn’t make NASCAR Heat, right?

PC2 is an EXCELLENT game and incredibly deep for a console racer. It’s widely regarded as sim by real race car drivers. So, If they produce what you wish for, they would, in fact, be regressing.

But, thank you for not contributing Whatsoever to this subject.

 

[killerjimbag]

The game shipped with some devs personal settings who thought it was best, just because it was the default setup when shipped doesn't make it the true default settings to match controller input, which is what it should've been shipped with & what I use apart from speed sensitivity.

True default controller settings should be like this which gives the player true 1:1 control over their inputs without false implications.

0 dead zones & 50 sensitivity for 1:1 analog stick/trigger control.
0 damper
0 speed sensitivity

This is how I have my settings, so if I crash/lock my brakes/spin my rear wheels or mess up in anyway on track I've only got myself to blame because I have full 1:1 control. Speed sensitivity is the only thing I adjust between 50 & 75 depending on what car I use.

Regarding people's options on the matter, I'm fine with that side of it, everyone's entitled to one. I'm attacking the fact that just because your/their personal settings haven't worked for you/them then it's the games fault, when really you've only got yourself to blame for accepting some devs personal settings as true default or screwing up your own.

To be serious,if you don't have a wheel,stop whining about controller settings. Go buy a wheel or deal with what they give you. Or figure it out or use Google. I'm tired of hearing I don't have the space or can't afford it. Go buy a game that is perfect for controllers. Or figure it out.

 

[RedRockValley]

To be serious,if you don't have a wheel,stop whining about controller settings. Go buy a wheel or deal with what they give you. Or figure it out or use Google. I'm tired of hearing I don't have the space or can't afford it. Go buy a game that is perfect for controllers. Or figure it out.

Or they could optimise it for controllers too. That's a good option that don't alienate everyone

 

[Northstar]

To be serious,if you don't have a wheel,stop whining about controller settings. Go buy a wheel or deal with what they give you. Or figure it out or use Google. I'm tired of hearing I don't have the space or can't afford it. Go buy a game that is perfect for controllers. Or figure it out.

I hope you realize those plebeians that use controllers are the reason us wheel users have most of the games that we do.

 

[Silver Arrows]

I hope you realize those plebeians that use controllers are the reason us wheel users have most of the games that we do.

And not only that, but people might not have the space/money to justify blowing 300 dollars or so on a wheel and pedals. But yes, apparently it's 'whining' to have optimized pad controls for people, something that has been a present problem in most of SMS' modern games going back to the first NFS SHIFT.

Typical gate keeping of sim racing, though. Never fails to crop up.

 

[Mr Grumpy]

To be serious,if you don't have a wheel,stop whining about controller settings. Go buy a wheel or deal with what they give you. Or figure it out or use Google. I'm tired of hearing I don't have the space or can't afford it. Go buy a game that is perfect for controllers. Or figure it out.

I'm not the one moaning about bad controller settings, I'm happy with it.

I also own & use a TX when I can be bothered to set it up, but when I want a quick blast I use the controller.

Also I'm not against the optimization of controller settings or any other settings gfx/ffb etc for that matter, I just don't think it's that bad.

 

[Wolfe]

My worries about this have already been covered by others in this thread. Not exciting news, though not necessarily bad news.

And not only that, but people might not have the space/money to justify blowing 300 dollars or so on a wheel and pedals. But yes, apparently it's 'whining' to have optimized pad controls for people, something that has been a present problem in most of SMS' modern games going back to the first NFS SHIFT.

Typical gate keeping of sim racing, though. Never fails to crop up.

It's not only space or money -- it's convenient, simple, comfortable, can offer a more consistent experience from game to game (no pitfalls of FFB), and is also consistent with playing other genres of games, maybe rotating between them in a session. Sensible reasons to play a sim with a controller if you like, I think, even if you have a wheel around.

 

[MrCrynox]

To be serious,if you don't have a wheel,stop whining about controller settings. Go buy a wheel or deal with what they give you. Or figure it out or use Google. I'm tired of hearing I don't have the space or can't afford it. Go buy a game that is perfect for controllers. Or figure it out.

All games should work perfectly on the default, ie a controller, wheel/pedals are extra.

And some of us have the money & space for a wheel but are happier using the controller that came with the console.

 

[Northstar]

The game shipped with some devs personal settings who thought it was best, just because it was the default setup when shipped doesn't make it the true default settings to match controller input, which is what it should've been shipped with & what I use apart from speed sensitivity.

True default controller settings should be like this which gives the player true 1:1 control over their inputs without false implications.

I didn't see this earlier, it helps if you either tag or quote the person you are responding to.

And the "true default" settings are the ones the game resets to when you press the button to reset everything to default. In the case of PC2 that default wasn't very good, you even seem to think so yourself.

Regarding people's options on the matter, I'm fine with that side of it, everyone's entitled to one. I'm attacking the fact that just because your/their personal settings haven't worked for you/them then it's the games fault, when really you've only got yourself to blame for accepting some devs personal settings as true default or screwing up your own.

If you have to spend more than a minute or two in the controller setup screen it is indeed the games fault. Sure you can get the game to handle just fine with a controller, but the fact the game doesn't ship even close to that is very much a negative mark on the game.

Maybe you should stop trying to live up to your username and try seeing things from the perspective of other people.

 

[05XR8]

Something Codemasters hasn't done in a long time unless they did it in one of the Grid games I didn't buy.

They have touring cars in GRID, GRID Autosport and this newest GRID game. However, not to the quality of the ToCA games.

For me, on console, SMS took over that role. Again, not to the quality of ToCA, but pretty damn good with only 4 basic(newish) touring car models(this is excluding the awesome Group A cars). I believe iRacing have the FIA WTCR/Oscaro licence. Hopefully, with CM's history, BTCC could come back and with these two creative studios as one, it would be the most epic TC game yet. On the flip, I'm not putting off any TCR series either(TCR UK, TCR Europe, TCR everywhere). I'll have one or all of those in a TC game, thank you very much.

 

[Mr Grumpy]

I didn't see this earlier, it helps if you either tag or quote the person you are responding to.

And the "true default" settings are the ones the game resets to when you press the button to reset everything to default. In the case of PC2 that default wasn't very good, you even seem to think so yourself.



If you have to spend more than a minute or two in the controller setup screen it is indeed the games fault. Sure you can get the game to handle just fine with a controller, but the fact the game doesn't ship even close to that is very much a negative mark on the game.

Maybe you should stop trying to live up to your username and try seeing things from the perspective of other people.

I'm far from grumpy my dear fellow & I do see it from other people's perspectives.

Like you pointed out, I even said the in the above comment that it shouldn't of shipped with them settings & I agree with you, but come on do you really feel that hard done by because you have to spend a minute of your time adjusting it.

Do you not fine tune a guitar, a sound system or your tv when you buy it new?

Maybe it's me, I love a setting.
I just think the bad controller support comments are a bit harsh, now if we couldn't adjust them then I'd probably agree with you 100%.

 

[Northstar]

I just think the bad controller support comments are a bit harsh,

I agree to an extent, but telling people that they shouldn't complain at all is unproductive and only hurts products in the long run. In this case Ian has accepted that what he brought to the table with PC2 wasn't good enough and has vowed to make significant changes with PC3.

 

[ScottPuss20]

Better than Mad Code

No, even better: Mad Masters

 

[TVR27]

They have touring cars in GRID, GRID Autosport and this newest GRID game. However, not to the quality of the ToCA games.

For me, on console, SMS took over that role. Again, not to the quality of ToCA, but pretty damn good with only 4 basic(newish) touring car models(this is excluding the awesome Group A cars). I believe iRacing have the FIA WTCR/Oscaro licence. Hopefully, with CM's history, BTCC could come back and with these two creative studios as one, it would be the most epic TC game yet. On the flip, I'm not putting off any TCR series either(TCR UK, TCR Europe, TCR everywhere). I'll have one or all of those in a TC game, thank you very much.

I would like the BTCC to have it's own game and would like it to be a blend of Toca 2 and 3 and with fun of the first game I don't know if Codemasters still have the people who made those games maybe they left before Grid was made.

 

[killerjimbag]

Or they could optimise it for controllers too. That's a good option that don't alienate everyone

There a numerous controller settings on this site as well as Google and YouTube. A quick search would find what your looking for. Let's assume that any Studio pays a person to sit there with a controller making adjustments until it's perfect is assinine. It may be perfect for him/her but not you/me. Do you think my wheel just plugs in and everything is perfect for me? I search around and make changes to its settings also. I don't complain that said studio did a terrible job with its wheel settings. PCars 1 was a perfect example of wheel frustration.

 

[Northstar]

Let's assume that any Studio pays a person to sit there with a controller making adjustments until it's perfect is assinine.

I've played all kinds of racing games, PC2 is the only one that required wholesale changes to the controller settings just to make the game enjoyable. In some cases, like Forza, Gran Turismo and Codemasters games I don't even have to touch the controller settings. Those games also rarely get complaints about their controller support, so no, it's not asinine, it's called being a AAA developer.

 

[Dobermann92]

I've played all kinds of racing games, PC2 is the only one that required wholesale changes to the controller settings just to make the game enjoyable. In some cases, like Forza, Gran Turismo and Codemasters games I don't even have to touch the controller settings. Those games also rarely get complaints about their controller support, so no, it's not asinine, it's called being a AAA developer.

Being super clumsy I had to adjust the controller settings in every car game except for Race07, which is good by default. It can vary from person to person.

 

[Northstar]

It can vary from person to person.

Of course, but it's pretty telling that you rarely hear people complain about Codies, T10/Playground or PD not having good controller support while it's a fairly common complaint about SMS to the point even they acknowledge it's an issue.

 

[WheelmanSteve]

My take on the M&A: Could be good. I go back to the original GTR mode, GTR, and GTR2. Those were magic... Loved PC1, haven't tried the others, but enjoyed GRID AS on PS3. GTS is very good but really lacking in offline events (Full season GR series events, etc.), and needs better (stricter?) officiating. I'm more likely to try PCars next release on the next console than another PD title.
My take on the controller debate: Competitor car twitching around the track like a cockroach on a hot griddle=controller. Competitor car looks like it is being driven by a driver=wheel.
My take on sim vs. arcade: Don't confuse "difficult" with "accurate".

 

[killerjimbag]

I've played all kinds of racing games, PC2 is the only one that required wholesale changes to the controller settings just to make the game enjoyable. In some cases, like Forza, Gran Turismo and Codemasters games I don't even have to touch the controller settings. Those games also rarely get complaints about their controller support, so no, it's not asinine, it's called being a AAA developer.

No iits called figure it out yourself. Don't forget the part that as wheel users we also have to switch up a little more sliders and buttons also. Maybe I should complain about not having keyboard buttons assigned to my liking to. Bad developer.

 

[VXR]

No iits called figure it out yourself. Don't forget the part that as wheel users we also have to switch up a little more sliders and buttons also. Maybe I should complain about not having keyboard buttons assigned to my liking to. Bad developer.

A wheel is a purchase above and beyond the standard control option and as a more analogue device, has more permutations for user feel and set-up. The controller should be set up to show the game in its best light by default. To do otherwise shows a lack of either care, or knowledge.

 

[Northstar]

No iits called figure it out yourself.

I work HVAC for a living, a part of that job is making sure everything is set up properly for the customer. "Figure it out yourself" is something that under no circumstances should come out of someones mouth when dealing with a customer, nor should it be a requirement in order for them to actually use the thing they just spent money on .

 

[cjr3559]

I’ve always been under the impression that SMS was prioritizing Project Cars for wheel users. Same with Kunos.

 

[Jtheripper]

Please no messy feel in my CM games lol. My god, i don't know but some of you seem to be playing different games than me, because dr2 for me on ps4 with a g29 is soooo good, feels natural consistent and believable. Pcars2 on the other end, wow, i mean some cars feel really pretty good but so many feel weird and not natural believable, and many are ridiculous even.
However more complex or hardcore it might be to some, it's a mess in feel, sound, and look especially the tracks, on std ps4.
I don't mean that i favor shallow games like gts with little feel but lots of polish, as i can't stand GTSport much.
But to me a game like dr2 has lots of feel, maybe it's not so deep a sim, i dont know, but it sure feels alot more believable natural for me.
Same for a game like wrc8 which adds alot of supposed depth but seems a bit of a mess and half baked somewhat.
Even the ffb in pc2, you feel alot of detail, but do you really feel all that in real life? I don't know, but it doesn't feel natural often.
In dr2, it feels like a real car to me, and it's plenty challenging.

 

[The Cake]

The FFB is trying to hide it. To feel pure physics, the best way is to turn off the FFB (For a time when you want to test pure physics). Then it becomes clear that the car does not have a weight transfer.
I easily switch between iR, Rf2, AC, ACC. Their physics and ffb are different, but in general they do everything right, and about the same.
When I run Dirt rally, or F1 - immediately feels false. I can 't drive like that. Tried to get over it, and get used to it. Got used...
After that, it becomes difficult to drive in simulators. Because Codemasters prevails the wrong skills - it makes you not feel the car.

thank u

 

[killerjimbag]

I work HVAC for a living, a part of that job is making sure everything is set up properly for the customer. "Figure it out yourself" is something that under no circumstances should come out of someones mouth when dealing with a customer, nor should it be a requirement in order for them to actually use the thing they just spent money on .

Right,I deliver steel for a living. What the customer wants isn't always what they need. So what is your point. The customer isn't always correct. Do you sell them a bigger unit than they need. No two people will think a setting is perfect. Giving them what they want isn't necessarily what they need.

 

[Silver Arrows]

There a numerous controller settings on this site as well as Google and YouTube. A quick search would find what your looking for.

Imagine, if you will, somebody who isn't as up to date on sim racers as we are, being on this forum. Imagine having a game, like PCARS 2, that doesn't have good handling out of the box for controller users, which in 100% of circumstances based around that context, they're going to be using to play the game. They realize that the game handles like soap bars on ice, and they don't know how to set it up. They go into the menu, and they're thrown all these bars and fiddly things. Sure, they could look up settings on Youtube or Google, and the descriptions added into the game help a bit, but still, the fact that you're putting the onus on the player to deal with the frankly **** controller settings, something that a good chunk of players who aren't die hard sim racers are using, is a bit insulting. Especially when this has been a problem for SMS since NFS Shift at the earliest. At what point is enough, enough? You're alienating a good chunk of your player base, especially those that join after launch, by basically giving them hostile pad control, and telling them tough luck in order to fix it at a deeper level then settings put on by themselves.

Do you think my wheel just plugs in and everything is perfect for me? I search around and make changes to its settings also.

There is a world of difference between setting up an analogue, $300 luxury item to your own specifications in terms of handling and control, and setting up something that every games console in existence comes with. The fact that you can't see this is painful.

No iits called figure it out yourself.

Once again - other developers have managed to retain their sim racing credibility by offering pad control that doesn't actively make it worse for a major sub sect of those playing it. So...why the hostility towards people suggesting SMS do the same, especially when it has been a major problem for most of the history that the dev has been a major part of the genre?

It is a simple process to fix. SMS has had it mentioned to them enough times that they are looking at it for PCARS Revolution (But then again, they said the same things about PCARS 2, and I and other didn't see much improvement in that regard, so forgive me for not believing it again) So why are you being hostile towards those that are rightfully pointing it out?