I did some “career” mode races on the wet tracks last night....at first glance, they look pretty darn good, can’t take that away from PD.
But for me, that’s all it is...good at a first glance. Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate the detail of the water effects on the windshield, the reflections off of puddles...I see all that, it’s good....but for me, that’s not why I’m interested in wet weather.
Having done a couple races in the wet, the first thing that jumped out at me is the water is COMPLETELY static. As in, puddles are completely static, and there are no rivers of water flowing across the track, and the puddles seem to be in random places - eg, there’s no buildup of water along the Turn 6 inside curb like in real life. Furthermore, driving through puddles has no effect on anything. No water is displaced by tires going through it, and there are no “dry lines” left by tires as a car drives through a puddle. Completely static.
On top of that, I’m really failing to feel a significant handling difference in the wet conditions. I’ve only driven road cars in the wet, maybe it’s more exaggerated with racecars, but I really didn’t feel much loss of grip. It was slightly easier to get oversteer on corner exit, and exit curbs felt a little slippery, but I really didn’t feel a loss of lateral grip mid corner, and braking distances feel pretty much the same.
I didn’t really experiment too much with using “wet lines” through the corners...but I didn’t at all notice any significant loss of grip on the racing line, either due to polished aggregate and/or rubber build-up.
With all that in mind, if I compare GT’s wet weather to pCARS2 wet weather, for me, pCARS2 is still miles ahead. Not just for the number of weather related options, and that it changes over time...but the way you actually interact with the wet track. Cars splash water around, rivers of water flow, puddles change size, the spray gets thick enough to make seeing an issue...if you’re at speed and hit a puddle or river, the car will hydroplane causing you to lose control. You have to adjust your line accordingly to avoid this deep water, and you can feel differences in grip on and off the racing line. I just did a quick race in the wet at Watkins Glen the other day - going through the buss stop, both myself and the AI kept dropping wheels into the grass on the left side. After a few laps of this, the puddles at the exit of the buss stop actually start to turn a murky brown as dirt and mud get washed onto the track...exactly like what happens in real life at the exit of Watkins Glen’s buss stop when it rains there.
So despite GT having the superior graphics, and certainly the superior wet weather graphics, I find pCARS wet weather multiple times more immersive. It’s legit scary driving some cars in the wet in that game. To me, the wet weather in GT is just a shiny bobble that will lose its novelty pretty quickly. Should make for some decent photos though.
It’s super common for racecars to drive with their wipers off in the rain. Usually, if it starts raining mid race, drivers will avoid turning the wipers on until after making a pit stop where they can have a tear-off remover, or the windshield washed. Racetracks are dirty places, full of soft rubber, oil, and grease. That crap ends up all over the windshield, and if you turn on the wipers while there’s oil and grime all over the windshield, they smear the oil and grime all over the windshield, essentially blinding the driver.
Are there really 3 rain conditions? I totally missed the early time of day.
A bit disappointed again that they modelled the digidash for Levin instead of analogue. Guess we'll have to wait for them to add the kouki AE86 for that.
