Is it worth buying a PS4 for Project Cars?

The fun equation is relative. Some people find escapism racing fun (arcade/extreme NFS style). Some find a touch of reality, but still easy to pick up fun (Codemasters GRID style). Some find the challenge of mastering physics as close to real life as possible fun (hardcore sim style). For me it's not a question of picking. I find driving in real life the most fun and no game will ever compare to that. So for me the closer the game is to emulating the feeling of driving in real life, that's the most fun Though of course I can still enjoy the odd arcade racers from time to time.

I also agree that simulation =/= difficult. At least up to a point. Driving at low speeds is easy, as you know almost everyone can get a license IRL. Driving at moderately high speeds is also easy. Just be smooth, use the racing line, don't do any sudden weight transfers. Any average Joe if they practice hard enough will be able to get within a few seconds of top drivers' times. But to be the best and actually win races in international competitions, the difficulty ramps up exponentially. That last 10%, feeling the on the edge of control, that's the difficult part of racing.

Last generation sims have a tendency to be harder than real life. Partly because their physics system is simplified, and partly because FFB wasn't so good back then. Sims this generation are easier to drive when you're cruising, but when you're pushing it's still difficult to beat the top guys. PCARS and AC are really close, but PCARS is just a tad more forgiving to me. GT6 is a weird one, because the physics are easier, but FFB is also worse so it's more difficult to "place" the car on the limit. Hopefully GTS will improve things so it's at least closer to PCARS/AC.

 

There are truths to handling dynamics/attributes that are objectively verifiable even without any hands-on experience. Like @LeGeNd-1 said, the truth about the average racecar (according to professionals) is that they are plenty easy to drive up to 8 or even 9/10ths, but they require a lot more skill in the last couple tenths. In WMD, my understanding is that Ben Collins and the other pro consultants made a case for this (criticizing other simulators for making racecars and high-performance roadcars wilder than reality), but perhaps SMS didn't pull off the second part, resulting in a lack of "bite" at the absolute limit.

@Animera -- Physics always matter, because they are almost 100% of the gameplay from the start to finish of a race. I play all kinds of racing games too, and in my experience, what makes the racing in a racing game fun is consistent, predictable, and intuitive physics. Arcade-style racing games must achieve this through design and fine-tuning, but real physics naturally possess those qualities.

I think realistic physics are fun and innately lend a lot of depth to gameplay. I enjoy drifting, and realistic physics make for intuitive and satisfying drifting. Realistic physics can also be very dynamic and stimulating in other "fun" contexts like open world street racing or fender-to-fender banger racing. My dream racing game isn't one that takes itself super seriously, but a game with top-notch realistic physics set in a vast open world with the best driving roads you could imagine.

 

Agreed about the intuitive part. I mean our bodies and senses have been finely tuned through millions of years of evolution to real world physics, so if a game implements it right it should be the easiest and quickest to adapt to. My friends are always boggled when I say sims are easier than arcade racers for me to pick up, but to me it's just the most natural and makes sense. Whereas with arcade racers sometimes you have to learn the tricks and idiosyncracies of each game to be fast. With sim you just manage friction circle and weight transfer, and it universally works.

The difficult part with sims I think is 1) Most people don't understand the forces involved when driving fast. 2) Lack of g-forces and fear of crashing led to people entering turns way too fast. With VR and motion rigs in the future it should bridge the gap to reality even closer.