C.A.R.S. - New PC community funded game available

[Cluck]

I've mentioned it before, but the new proper sim from the guys behind Shift and Shift 2 (and also, way back when, Richard Burns Rally ) is open for people to 'invest' in. If you pay some money now, then you'll get monthly, weekly, bi-weekly or daily builds of the game as it's developed. Pay enough and your name will appear as one of the drivers in the final build .

www.wmdportal.com

I've downloaded the current build and will be putting it through it's paces tonight. I'll update with my first impressions .

Oh and I need to check the terms to see whether screenshots or videos are allowed to be posted. If I can, then I'll bung some in here .


EDIT : I should add that this is all in the very early stages of development. The final product is not expected for 12-18 months, but if you get on board with it then you can help shape the end product. You shouldn't see the money as an investment to get a return BUT if they sell the equivalent of a million copies then you can expect a €110 return from the €25 'investment'. The end product is going to be a 'free to play' model where you pay for the tracks you want, the cars you want, pre-made liveries/decals etc.

[fullmetalgasket]

Let me know what it's like
Amd what the prices are aswell given that I can't seem to find them without registering

[Cluck]

Let me know what it's like
Amd what the prices are aswell given that I can't seem to find them without registering

€10 is the minimum price, which will give you monthly builds. I've paid €25 for weekly builds and the ability to comment on faults and suggest improvments etc.

Latest build has just installed .

First impressions are tricky as the cars are new and I haven't driven the 2 included tracks for a long time (they are VERY closely related to Imola and Watkins Glen), but the steering is a lot more direct than Shift 2 ever managed. Sound is sublime. Runs as smooth as silk. The handling is interesting - it feels right, but the graphics and sound lag a fraction behind, so it's odd for somebody watching. However, in game it feels quite natural. It's good fun but, as expected from the first build of an 18-month project, it's very limited right now. 5 cars and 2 tracks, no AI, no car modifications available. It's just a taster to get a feel for what's in store .

FMG, it might be worth €10 if you're not going to miss it .

EDIT : Ha, the original GTR/GTR2 music is in there . It's been reworked by the original creator .

EDIT : Odd field of view setting (for my tastes) but gives you an idea of the audio and graphics even at this pre-alpha stage.



(not my video, by the way, this was from the forum mod 'Redi' on nogripracing.com)


EDIT : More exciting news. They've got the licensing to laser scan (down to 2mm accuracy ) Cadwell Park, Oulton Park, Snetterton and Brands Hatch (Indy and GP circuits). Can't wait to see Cadwell Park .

[Ross B]

Cluck, any news?

I'm looking at paying my ~£22 to become a team member and give it a go. What are the system requirements for it?

Don't want to pay up only to find it only looks nice with a Pentium 7 and a bazillion Gb GPU

[Monkey]

Cluck, any news?

I'm looking at paying my ~£22 to become a team member and give it a go. What are the system requirements for it?

Don't want to pay up only to find it only looks nice with a Pentium 7 and a bazillion Gb GPU

^^^This

Looks like i have found the PC game to have on my setup alongside GPL

[Cluck]

They're releasing a new build today between 3 and 4pm. That's slated to include a new 'test' track, AI drivers, track cameras and replays amongst a bunch of bug fixes.

The pricing model hasn't been finalised, so it might be released as a boxed product or it might be 'free to play' with paid content. They are committed to giving every team member (those who pay €25 now) a free copy on release .

There's a karting track coming soon along with karts. They're working on 4 more cars already (one officially licensed by the look of it, the others not yet).

It's a shame that you can't read much without paying some cash, but you really will be talking directly to the devs throughout the whole project and get to influence and shape, in some small way, exactly how the game ends up.

The weekly builds will be coming out on Mondays from now on, so there should be a new build in just a few days time again .

All I can say is, if you can spare €25 then get on board .


For Minimum System Requirements, this is straight from their site :-

Quad Core 2.4ghz or better
9800gt 512MB
2GB Ram (3-4GB recommended)


HOWEVER, this is an 18-month project and they are planning on utilising all of the power of PCs available in 18 months time. You'll still be able to play it on less, but the full beauty will need the full spec. I'm getting a smooth 60fps on a Core i5-2500 with a Radeon 6970 even at this very early, highly unoptimised stage.

EDIT : I would put some videos up but I haven't got a full copy of FRAPS so it only grabs 30 seconds which isn't really a lot . There are plenty of vids on Youtube out already though (search for SMS C.A.R.S. or WMD C.A.R.S.), but bear in mind that this is still all pre-alpha at the mo.

[speedfreek]

How much can you potentially make from the game - as it advertises that you could make money off the back of your investment?

Is it a %age of quarterly sales or something like that?

[Cluck]

How much can you potentially make from the game - as it advertises that you could make money off the back of your investment?

Is it a %age of quarterly sales or something like that?

It all depends on how they sell it and how many copies it sells. The main thing that has to made clear though is that you should NOT see it as an investment . If you fancy getting involved in a game's development and have €25 spare then get in on it. If you make money at the end, excellent, but don't be disheartened if you don't. Like all things, don't spend any more on it than you can afford to lose .

As a guide, though, if you sign up with €25 then you will 'earn' €110 in 'fees' if the game sells 1m copies across all platforms (yes, it will be coming to consoles, but the PC is very much the primary focus and the lead platform). If they only sell 250,000 copies, then you will 'earn' roughly €27 in 'fees'.

But I cannot stress this enough, do not view it as a money making idea. If that's your only goal, then don't bother . If you are interested in helping shape a decent racing sim (from a team that includes devs from GTR and Richard Burns Rally to name but two well renowned sims) then get on board. You get to test out all the new stuff as it is released and report back exactly what feels right and wrong.

[Cluck]

A few small updates on this, as there have been 2 build updates since my last post.

There are 4 new cars well on their way to completion, two of which should be out next week. There's also a new track looking very close to release.

So it looks like next Monday's build will include an Ariel Atom clone and a kart, along with a karting track . Not guaranteed by any means, but both cars have been shown in game, as has the track.

There have been a few changes to the force feedback for G25/G27 owners and it's made a huge difference. It feels a lot more 'alive' than before.

But the biggest draw for me is seeing every step of development. Every little change they are making to the cars and the tracks are there to see for those who have joined.

I'll do another update once next Monday's build is out and I've had a chance to sit down and drive it for a couple of hours .

[Cluck]

Quick update.

They have now officially licensed the following cars :-

GUMPERT Apollo Sport
Ariel Atom (has been unofficially in the dev version so far as 'Nuke')
Ariel Atom Mugen
Ariel Atom V8
Palmer Jaguar JP-LM


They've also released a work-in-progress 'Bathurst-like' track. It's extremely close to the real thing, but they haven't got the rights to call it the official name at the moment. They released it on Friday and there have already been 2 major updates to it, following advice from the community (including people who live near the 'track' and drive the road regularly ).

The Caterham-clone and Gumpert models are looking nothing short of stunning. The attention to detail is amazing and it's fantastic getting to see the amount of work involved in putting all the various parts of the cars together. Just one member of the car 'assembly' team has spent 74 hours already just to get 95% of his part of the model done. In total, it looks like nearly 150 hours have been spent just to get the modelling to the stage it's at.


The handling has been tweaked significantly in the most recent build release and is still getting tweaked. The graphics are also getting overhauled regularly (there are some utterly breathtaking still shots of the Audi Le Mans-like car - taken directly from driving it in game) giving extra performance and more natural colour/lighting.

One community member went to the Willow Springs race track last week and took over 300 reference photos to help the dev team. There are real TV camera people getting on board to help with the replay camera positions and overall replay quality. I'm trying to help by getting a customer of mine (a racing driver who has raced for Aston Martin at Le Mans ) involved to give some more expert advice (although they do have Ben Collins, ex-Stig, on board already). It's this stuff that excites me the most, seeing real input from the community to help make the game better .

Honestly, if you've got €10 to spare and you have any interest in seeing the entire process of a game's development, then get in on it .

[mks]

I shall take a proper look at this tonight when i get home from work..

I do like proper realistic driving sims, really enjoyed iracing tho dont really have the spare time for it at the moment.

[Bug2K4]

Just signed up
It will be interesting to watch the developement.

[Cluck]

Just signed up
It will be interesting to watch the developement.

What level have you signed up at? If you go in at Junior then you'll get a monthly update of the game, whereas 'Team Member' gets a weekly build (released every Friday afternoon).

It's been an interesting week. There have been small animations showing off the suspension workings of a number of the cars along with nighttime racing screenshots (very early work in progress, so not available in game yet).

To give you a flavour of what happens in a week now, these are the build notes since last Friday's release :-

Build 91 (11/11/11, Team Member+)

Paint UV mapping finished, LODX meshes finished, collision meshes added for GUMPERT apollo S
Temp. LODA/CPIT meshes added, lots of bug fixes for GUMPERT apollo S
GUMPERT apollo S (alpha 1) added to the game
New physics for the Ariel Atom
Ariel Atom LODA wip check in
Both Racer cars: CPIT suspension models added
Belgium Forest track added (Spa, woohoo )
California Raceway track added (I'm guessing Laguna Seca but the devs are being more than a little devious in their replies at the mo)
First pass at a new UI checked in
Resolution increase to 1080p across UI, TILE interface on Login, MainMenu, QuickSolo, Loading screens

Build 90 (10/11/11, Senior Manager)
All Racer cars:
New physics
All suspension models skinned
Suspension skeleton and animations updated for both cars
New placeholder record screens on loading screen

Build 89 (09/11/11, Senior Manager)
Completely new physics and AI changes for the Asano X4
Up-resed textures on Connecticut Hill

Build 88 (08/11/11, Manager+)
App-side fix for broken 'HIGH' AA mode
Reverted previous change to go back to GetSmoothedUnfilteredSteering for non-wheel controllers
New Kart physics for better drivabilty. Many tweaks to the tyres and chassis
Ariel Atom 300: Torque curve rebuilt to match dyno chart
Fix for GUI video options list scrolling through in the wrong order bug
New physics based on removing the "Use Tyre Stiffness=" parameter form the CDF. Apparently put there to soften the increased tyre stiffness through the game pads. (Formula B, and Asano LM11 TDX)
Updated emap factor to fit wheels shader
New Bathurst export fixing cars flying off the track

Build 87 (07/11/11, Senior Manager)
General bug fixing
Enable G27 RPM lights on PC

[Bug2K4]

I went for the weekly updates, just downloading 0086 now.

[Cluck]

I went for the weekly updates, just downloading 0086 now.

2 things :-

1. You'll be downloading the whole thing again tomorrow when Build 91 is released, so unless you're desperate to try it tonight, I'd wait until tomorrow .
2. Make sure you download via the Torrent link on the downloads page. It's much faster than the direct download .

[Cluck]

Anybody taking part in the hotlap competition?

I'm currently sitting at 19th out of over 1000 entrants. I'm still 2s off the fastest time, but only 1.5s off 2nd place and I know I can go at least 0.5s faster with the default setup if I just hook the lap up right. If I get that 0.5s then I'll be in the top 10 .

The Caterham is now in the game (hence the hotlap compo) and there have been various additions, tweaks and updates to other cars and tracks. It's all starting to look very good.

There's going to be a break over XMAS but the new year will herald a track VERY similar to Silverstone and hopefully the vanquishing of input lag (although I don't really notice it myself ).

EDIT : Forgot to mention, they're also starting work on a F1 type car (called Formula A at the mo).

[Bug2K4]

Not really had much time to follow developments. I did have a quick look at the current demo, but not having a steering wheel made it pretty much impossible to drive. I'll have to see what wheels are around after christmas.

[Cluck]

Not really had much time to follow developments. I did have a quick look at the current demo, but not having a steering wheel made it pretty much impossible to drive. I'll have to see what wheels are around after christmas.

There are guys in the top 100 who are using XBOX controllers . A wheel is a hell of a lot better though, yeah .

[Bug2K4]

I had a play with my old Saitek P3000 wireless pad which is pretty much the same as the xbox controllers and just didn't seem to feel right, even varying the dead zone and sensitivity didn't seem to help much.
I'm sure a wheel will have better control, I don't have the patients to put in the time on a gamepad these days!

[fullmetalgasket]

Anybody taking part in the hotlap competition?

What do you win?
I have time on my hands at the mo