Project Cars or Assetto Corsa

I considered these a long time ago and couldn't choose. AC is on sale now, but I hear the AI is braindead (something that Project Cars suffers from too) and doesn't have pitstops or marshalls, but PCars has better AI and full flags and has weather. I've seen videos and I can't pick between the two still. I would like something with good racing between the player and the AI and the full penalty system (flags etc) and a lot of cars. What about physics between the two. I don't have a wheel/pedals yet (recommendations) and I'm new to sims (just want a good racer). I'm coming from NFS Underground, Driveclub, the F1 games, Gran Turismo over 10 years ago, the kart racers and a little Forza Motorsport

EDIT: Please, I've been trying to decide all day, watching videos, reading things etc. Also I find Gran Turismo and Forza boring

 

I'm assuming your on PC? AC is only on PC right now. It's coming out in 2016 on consoles. Ask @Johnnypenso or go to the AC forum. He has both games,AC and PCars and he's a good guy.

 

I'm, on PC, but I have a PS4 too

 

Why not both?

I've had 100+ hours in both and it comes down to this; Project Cars is a better game while Assetto Corsa is a better simulator.

Project Cars is fun, weather effects are gorgeous and it has a great career mode. But I'm more of a sim guy so I'll take proper physics over pretty graphics any day

 

I think I'm more into good phyiscs and good AI, but not necessarily going all the way to being a sim, but a good way there. I may just end up buying both anyway since I can't pick between the two

 

If you can buy both ,Project Cars more for fun and like they say Assetto Corsa more as a better simulator .
Only hope that Assetto Corsa doesn't downgrade the game when it comes to console .

 

Both if you can. Note that I'm not saying Pcars is a bad sim, by any means. It's light years ahead of GT6 & Forza. Just a testament to how well AC is.

 

I have both games and like both games a lot, but it sounds like you'd probably be better off with Project Cars at this point. It is a bigger game, with a huge career and plenty to keep you busy for a long time. AC is not quite as polished at this point in terms of being a comprehensive finished game, although the driving experience itself is stellar and worth the price of admission alone. But if you are just going for one game at this point, I'd say Project Cars. Both games are sims and have the trademark sim elements of complex tire modeling and only real life tuning adjustments, and you're going to find that all the cars feel different to some degree, and some feel very different. You're in for a fun learning experience and if you have questions, and you will have lots, you'll get lots of answers on this forum.

 

If I had a PC I would definitely go for rfactor2. It looks dated but is probably the best sim out there. Do some research on it

 

Get both if you can. Especially since the latest updates (on both sides) they're both pretty stellar. AC lacks certain things that Project CARS simulates better (e.g. brake heat/fade, volumetric throttle, and some other things), but the same is true the other way around (I'm sure others can fill you in there). Both have a tire model that's miles beyond the competition (and yes, that includes iRacing and rFactor2), they're really next-gen in that regard. Can't go wrong in that regard, but I would suggest picking up both. AC is on sale on Steam until today BTW.

 

I got AC now, and will likely (read, probably later today) get PCars

 

I have both and have found very little reason to play AC. But others who have both say the same for pCARS.

For me AC, while it is "pretty", is little more than a Time Trial and Online game. There simply isn't enough depth to the Offline portion of the game to entice me to try to find much in the way of Online gameplay.
pCARS is also very "pretty", but offers the best Offline racing experience I've ever found in a sim/game.

Seems the general consensus is Online is better in AC and Offline is better in pC.

The comparisons for which Physics Model is best is extremely subjective, so don't give much weight to those opinions in either direction. They're both "sims"; a complete generational step up from Forza/Gran Turismo.

 

I refunded AC after only 40 minutes of play (only achieved 1 race). I was going to buy PCars, but thought what if it's broken or bad because I heard news of bugs and how it doesn't work well with a controller.

 

Can't speak for the controller. I've used a DFGT for both to this point.

The only bugs I can report are small ones. The bug which resets your Tunes, the bug which changes your tire pressures during pit stops. I've not had what I considered to be a major bug at all. But I know others have. Especially the invisible barriers. I have seen the AI hit invisible barriers, but it has never effected me directly, anyway.

I purchased AC when it was on sale for half price, more as an investment as anything. I'll keep hoping they develop Offline features to get me into the game. But, as soon as I get the T300 I have on order, I will get into @Johnnypenso's Time Attack if nothing else.

 

Support Kunos before the bell ends. Then get PCars when it's on sale.

 

I'd actually wait until both are on sale at this point. I mean, there's a 99% chance they will both be 50% or more within a months time.

 

LOL, this has to be some type of a record, 40 minutes! Really?
It seemed you had a hard time to decide which one to get but it took you no time to decide it was not for you.
Just curious, you don't have to reply to my question, but in a few words, what is it that did not meet your expectations?

 

I would have to be extremely annoyed to refund a game in 40 minutes, e.g. completely unplayable.

 

Combination of the following (in no particular order), to me it looked kinda ugly, there's a lack of race day atmosphere or atmosphere in general so it felt kind of sterile (like Race Room did (game's no longer on my hard drive) and also the trouble I had getting the race to start (the start engine light didn't seem to want to do anything half the time). Minor issues on their own, but to me the game felt kind of flat, but the driving was good so I'll give it that and blue flag AI was solid (passed me without trying to race me. Codemasters AI can fail to see the difference between racing for position and being lapped). I wasn't feeling it today. When it drops in price I'll probably pick it up again

EDIT: I think I'm looking more for the kind of racing which will get the adrenaline going (there are some racers which will do that, e.g. kart racers from back in the day when you get into it. There's a bit of a kick from visibly closing on the AI in one corner though. Also, I had to keep the play time within two hours or Steam wouldn't let me refund if I didn't like it. Plus I'd like to race karts (which unfortunately I hear are terrible in Pcars)

 

I've refunded a game in 20 minutes before. It was a "Sports Manager" type game and I quickly realized it was far, far more in depth and a lot less fun than I'd envisioned.
The Refund policy at Steam has to be one their top draws, imo.

 

I've got less than 10 minutes in Grid Autosport. Where is the refund button located?

 

help.steampowered.com

 

If AC is bland, which is one of the better looking games on PC then only Pcars can impress you.

 

To give AC only forty minutes is a complete nonsense! You need time to discover the great graphics mods, track mods, car mods etc,etc. In addition, you really do need to read up on the Graphics settings to get the best out of it. It sounds as though you don't want to put any effort into it, youth of today, hey! You may well prefer PCars, as to my mind it's less Sim like than AC.

 

I modded a game once. Then took the mods out because I didn't need them. Haven't modded since. I whacked everything on max in the settings, still looked kind of bland

 

Your reply says it all, if you had done some research you would know that mods such as the Natural Graphics Mod etc make a big difference. But like I said previously, if you're not prepared to put some work in then AC probably isn't for you. Maybe Driveclub or NFS is.

 

Driveclub's pretty fun. I don't wish to mod the game. Dev should have made the game look good to begin with.

EDIT: I don't want to mod the game. 99% of games I play, I don't ever mod. The remaining 1% is the game I did mod (and then undid) and another that needed its compatibility fixed because it was really. GTAV was the third, but I didn't want to finish the mod because I'd have to remove cars from the game to do it so I took it out

 

It's all about maxing out the potential of your PC. For AC, a 970 card and an I7 CPU should be considered, to get the best out of it. I also use SweetFX, particularly LumaSharpen

Edit.
A lot of people go on about Project Cars GFX but to my eye it looks cartoonish, with the mods available in AC you can make it look very,very good.

 

This. I personally use this mod:

http://www.racedepartment.com/downloads/natural-graphics-mod.4551/

I don't see anything wrong with modding a game, especially in AC where it is ridiculously easy to add cars/tracks. Some of the mods out there are on par with official Kunos released content (NSX, Miata, Ford Sierra Cosworth RS500).

 

Have only PC so not voting until AC is released on ps4 next year . Jokes aside, heard from ppl that AC is a better sim but would be helpful if someone who owns both can list some pros and cons in this thread.