Slightly Mad Studios Confirms New Project CARS Title is In Development

rex1825
This just confirms it that pCARS 1/2 were in fact SHIFT 3/4...
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No it doesn't.

ferhound
The Shift series was ass.
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Not for me it wasn't, I loved both of them. I'll whisper it quietly, but I also really had a lot of fun with Codies' first GRID game too. And the TOCA and Colin McRae rally games before that.

I know that is going to set some folks up for a "well, see, he likes arcade games, of course he likes Project CARS", so it's worth noting that I've also done a 24-hour Le Mans race in iRacing. I even quite liked the way rFactor2 'felt' (shame about the interface and shocking performance in VR when I tried it) but it came too late, I was about ready to hang up my sim-racing boots at that point so never spent a lot of time with it.
 
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Sorry but many on here have the wrong impression on what pCARS 2 is... Today.

Perhaps, the game stunk up the joint when it first came out but ever since I started playing this game, my time playing other racing games went straight down. Why? Because, hands down pCARS 2 is by far the most complete Sim Racing game I've ever played.

In my opinion, this is an overreaction and all they really need to do is keep the course but basically polish everything up and refine the game.

If this game functioned like today when it first came out and, if GTS did'nt come out 6 months right after, we'd be singing a different tune about this game.

Just refine the game and give us the ability to title the lobbies.
 
That sounds awesome!! Will it also feature customization like works body kits like the old games had? This news is exciting to me because I'm a sucker for carRPG games, and collecting and tuning cars in general!

Oh, and does SMS intend to ease down on the physics as well? I will admit I didn't play pCARS 2 much due to it being too "hardcore". Will it at least become 'fair' in pCARS 3?
 
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I'm interested in the fun argument, as it's something I often think about when it comes to sim racing.
I never understood why no one really has ever made a simulation while still having a lot of fun game modes on it. If Pcars 3 could include the physics and the FFB of Pcars 2 ( with some tweaks here and there ), polish some aspects of the game, and add fun game modes or a fun career, it could be very fun.
I just hope we don't go away from the sim handling, and we don't see a downgrade in what Pcars 2 has set.

Dirt 3 for example is one of the game I prefered for this, where many others hated the gymkhana bit of it, I absolutely loved it, it was so fun, and the multiplayer was awesome too ( I think it had a game mode called infected, where you had to run away from the players infected ). I would like to see things like these back, maybe with a bit more serious tone though.

I think we can pull more fun from sim games, whereas all the other titles pulls the fun from the racing, the ffb and the physics, Pcars 3 could change the rules and appeals to much more ( while not forgetting from where it comes, it should still keep the sim aspects of it and keep the regular races ).

It's just my opinion, as I also love the serious tone of AC and PC2, I just think it could much more fun that what it is currently.
 
"Spiritual successor to Shift" to me means a heavier focus on immersion. I remember one of the defining features of the game was the cockpit view and its look-to-apex feature. It also added a lot of camera shaking and motion blur to add to the sense of speed. If this is what Ian means, I'd like to see how SMS plans to bring that fun factor via immersion.
 
I just want great racing and battles against AI, a lot of tracks to race at and setups that don't require hours of fiddling before being happy to drive any particular car.

pCARS2 handled better out of the box than the first game, so keep that up.

I find if I can't have a good race against AI in any given racing game I lose interest pretty quickly. Thankfully both pCARS games have kept my interest since they launched. I'll be picking up the next one when it comes out as well.
 
Cluck
It's not a crime to make a game fun.
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I never meant that,but pc2 was fun too, if not more

In all honesty there's no need to exuse anything, let alone at this early stage. If pc3 is going to be that then so be it. It is the right of a company to seek any audience they want. Even I can understand that to be the ultimate reason from their point of view. In the end they are people with mouths to feed at home too, just like anyone else of us. But to say pc2 failed because it was too hardcore oriented..., no
 
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I tried Shift, & have to say that I didn't find it fun at all. So, I guess I won't like P CARS 3 either.
 
VBR
I tried Shift, & have to say that I didn't find it fun at all. So, I guess I won't like P CARS 3 either.
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I didn't like Shift, but liked liked PC1 though. That's why I'm also worried about pc3, although I guess they will be using more of the physics of pc2 instead than those found in shift and pc1 regardless how much they will get dumbed down in order for them to feel that "fun"
 
PizzaSubCombo
Physics of pCars 2 + Better pad controls + Driver XP/Career/Buying&Selling&Customization of NFS Shift 2.

Not a bad recipe.
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I'd be so happy with this, especially the single-player progression aspect. I hardly ever played the career mode in Project CARS 2, but a traditional levelling system rewarding the player with better upgrades and vehicles is crucial to the enjoyment of any racing game I play.

With that said, I'm not suggesting having all cars and tracks in free mode should be scrapped, but I'd like something to work towards in career.
 
I enjoyed Shift 2 Unleashed in spite of itself. The wonky handling was its one crippling flaw. I don't know why anyone presumes a game more like S2U will handle like S2U, though...PCARS2 is clearly more fun to drive than S2U or PCARS1, and improving the fun factor doesn't imply moving backwards on that.

I like this news because it sounds like @IanBell is acknowledging what I think PCARS2 generally needs -- to take the simulation foundation of PCARS2 and become more of a game that can capitalize on that simulation. 👍

I would like to see a more flexible system for race finishes. The "1st place or nothing" model for racing games is kinda boring. You should get credit for placing 3rd after starting in 19th, or a decent finish against very fast AI, or overcoming a mechanical problem to pull off a respectable result. The game should reward challenging yourself with a sub-optimal choice of car or battling in the middle of the pack, instead of having to choose the best car in its class or adjust the AI so you're faster than the 1-3 guys at the front in order for the race/championship to really count for anything.

In real life, not every driver can be a winner every time. The career mode in PCARS2 basically expects that from the player for you to achieve anything (which amounts to little more than checking gold trophies off of a list). I would enjoy a career mode that rewards you for making races more interesting, like Enthusia Life in Enthusia Professional Racing.
 
Fun doesn't have to mean experience points for hitting apexes and close calls. Fun from Shift could be the customisation aspect and a personal feel of avatar interaction.

I loved Shift 1. Upgrading my car's interior, wheels and livery. The street circuit races were awesome. Mixing those things in with PC2, would be an epic combination for PC3.
 
IanBell
....I'll let you know that pCARS3 will be more 'focused'... More 'fun'... We went to insane lengths with variation in pCARS2 and with that comes infinite balancing issues. We've learned a lesson here and although we have no intention of reducing content, we know what we need to fix, where we made design decisions that were, let's call it, 'sub-optimal'... pCARS3 will be more of a spiritual successor to Shift, but with all of the sim goodness everyone appreciates... The key focus though is on fun and not biting off more than we can properly chew and digest.

Have a wonderful holiday season everyone. xx
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Yeah. I'm sure I'll be buying Pcars 3 or whatever named but one thing you could do without is storm and those Godforsaken ridiculous puddles or lakes.....Unless they are more manageable and not like driving on butter or tsunami.
 
davidt33
Yeah. I'm sure I'll be buying Pcars 3 or whatever named but one thing you could do without is storm and those Godforsaken ridiculous puddles or lakes.....Unless they are more manageable and not like driving on butter or tsunami.
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Yes - I like the visual effect of the storm, but not the flooded track and ponds / lakes on the circuit so a Lightning Storm option with light rain or dry would be nice - sometimes I see electrical storms in real life which are quite spectacular, but mostly or fully dry.

The puddles on track do seem to be overdone on some circuits.
 
The best model of fun based racing game is that of the grid series, which is:

-A very immersive and dynamic 3rd person camera (motion blur, camera movement on acceleration/braking, etc...)
-Very controller friendly
-Very strong AI that can keep up even with the fastest (not talking about aliens)
-A career that is interactive (your own car with its own customization) and not too linear, but still a main beginning and end, and with some spices (that Sarthe event from Grid 1, with the music that played at the end, that was so intense)
-An online that works, with dirty driving penalties, and with many modes (shuffle racing from GT5.., elimination, etc..)
-Good physics that is very good with controller, but logically even better with a wheel
-A grind to get cars for career and online, but maybe all available for an arcade mode
 
Shift 1 was ass, while Shift 2 is what that game should've been from the start. Both have some glaring flaws that I'm not too fond about. I haven't played enough hours of the pCars games to really judge how good they are but I would hope that they've learned a thing or too since then.
 
FT-1
I'd be so happy with this, especially the single-player progression aspect. I hardly ever played the career mode in Project CARS 2, but a traditional levelling system rewarding the player with better upgrades and vehicles is crucial to the enjoyment of any racing game I play.

With that said, I'm not suggesting having all cars and tracks in free mode should be scrapped, but I'd like something to work towards in career.
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Same here! This is something I hope pCARS 3 will feature for career mode, since it's going to be Shift's spiritual successor. :)
 
Not sure how to take the post today. To me it sounds like pcars3 doesn't know what it wants to be - well none of us do. I like iR, pcars2, AC, rf2, etc bc they are highly detailed sims that involve setup and practice. I like FH, TD, PGR as they are hands down arcade racers and they do not hide it. To me this sounds like FM game with better physics. And FM biggest problem - besides the crash derbies online - is the game has no identity. Is SMS going for the FM market? $$$$$$$

We will see how it plays out but for the love of god add driver swaps and custom championship.

*Everyone is out in force today, happy new year.
 
BeetesJuice
And FM biggest problem - besides the crash derbies online - is the game has no identity. .
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I disagree with you there - Since Gran Turismo has moved its focus towards eSports and competitive online racing, I'd argue Forza Motorsport 7 is the only game of its kind in the market right now, more so on the platforms it is sold on. I would say Forza's identity is built on being an accessible racing and car collecting simulator.

If you were to put games like Assetto Corsa, rFactor 2, RaceRoom Experience and GTR 3 together, I'd find it harder coming up with a unique identity for each of them than I would for Forza.
 

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