Imola – Formula B – wet weather testing
I love racing in the rain, and given the level of detail that has been achieved with the Sim - I’ve been more than excited about making PCARS ultra-real when it comes to driving in the rain.
Our first foray into rain was incredible because straight away so much of it was bang on. There’s been a lot of development since and I’m hoping to highlight the good stuff, and make a few helpful suggestions. Before I get into that:
GRAPHICS AND FFB – are stunning. The feedback over kerbs is truly excellent, and the visuals of the rain and wet circuit are mega. We could enhance the streaming away of the rain as it leaves the visor but that’s a very minor point in an otherwise superb rendition
FOUR SHADES OF RAIN (sorry we can’t have 50) “LIGHT RAIN” “RAIN” “STORM” “THUNDERSTORM”
There are four levels of wet driving on the Sim with decreasing fundamental grip levels as the rain intensifies. I understand the logic at work, but I don’t 100% agree with it and I will try to explain why before I dive into the feel of each level.
When it first rains, the water sits on the road surface and is usually locked out of the porous asphalt by a thin layer of rubber than insulates the underlying surface – this makes the track feel very greasy and the car slides around. Braking is less affected than cornering, and although lap times will USUALLY get slower as the rain worsens, I have experienced situations where the grip actually improves when it rains more…
MY POINT: the sim focuses too much on worsening the level of LOW SPEED TRACTION as the level of rain increases. It shouldn’t get anything like as bad as it does.
IN MORE DETAIL
“LIGHT RAIN”
TERMINOLOGY: This might seem like a minor point, but LIGHT RAIN to me means that you might stay out on slicks and see how bad it gets. We are talking about a few specs of rain on the visor – I realise it might be very difficult to cross the conditions over onto slicks like this but… I’m just saying. The graphics for light rain currently tell me it’s actually pissing it down.
Handling & grip on “light rain” is too easy and there’s too much grip all round for the graphics and for wet tyres, it’s like driving in the dry. Given my point above – if I was driving on slicks with the occasional flutter of rain then I would be happy to accept this setting as the grip level, but not for “rain” on a wet track per se.
“Rain” & “Storm”
This "Rain" level is much better. Grip-wise – I think something in between “Rain” and “Storm” is where we want to be in terms of traction. RAIN still feels a hint too easy in overall traction, whilst storm is very slippery when you first touch the throttle and it’s too easy to lose control, but when you get to medium speed cornering it’s really exciting to drive.
“Rain” is my favourite setting because the car is super driveable and you can have a lot of fun sliding out of corners. It could just do with a bit of fine tuning, and thereafter I believe the grip level should be closely matched all the way through “Storm” and “thunderstorm”.
BRAKING GRIP – in general I think the braking grip is a bit high – certainly on “light rain” and “rain” – it’s about right on “storm” where you can still control the lock ups quite well – “thunderstorm” goes a bit too far on braking and it’s way over the top in terms of traction, it’s far too slippery on initial throttle application and feels like ice.
SO WHAT DIFFERENTIATES RAIN CONDITIONS IF IT’S NOT REDUCED GRIP..??
ANSWER: puddles.
If we assume that “Rain” is about right for grip level (minus a little traction and some braking grip) then the “Storm” and “Thunderstorm” environments should display increasing levels of AQUAPLANE.
Currently the sim is very good at giving very reduced low-speed traction, whilst allowing some sliding in medium speed corners with increased stability and then it gives you the benefit of downforce as the speed increases. BUT – you can drive flat out in the straights as if there’s no puddles.
When rain first came to PCARS there were puddles that created wheelspin and we really need these to return. Standing water is what really dictates the lap times and separates the men from the boys. There’s nothing like hitting standing water at 160mph, keeping your foot in and reaping the rewards over your rivals if you don't spin in the process. Please can we have the puddles back and use these to truly replicate bad weather? I think people will love it.
The puddles appear in the straight and pools tend to form on the inside of banked turns, with rivers running across particular sections, so this is a visual exercise in spotting them. And there’s plenty of fun to be had under braking too when you lock up on a big puddle and skip sideways…
KERBS & GREEN FELT AREAS
Currently the painted lines and green run off areas offer their usual dry grip level. These areas should be much more slippery when wet when you accelerate over them – I would say that the low speed grip level in “thunderstorm” correctly depicts the grip on these areas. The worst thing about the green felt is that even when you have downforce on your side and you run over it in 4th gear, you can still spin the wheels when it’s wet and have a proper tank slapper, and all the drama in your underpants that you might expect when you go from being in control to zero grip.
SUMMARY
We are in great shape – I think we should bring the grip levels closer across the different stages of rain and use standing water to differentiate the conditions and dictate lap time.
I feel that the base grip level should be somewhere between “Rain” and “Storm” so that we keep the energy and control of sliding but without the lack of control in “storm” during low speed traction, and not as much braking grip as in “rain”; with only subtle decreases in traction and braking across the stages of rain.
I hope this is helpful and look forward to hearing what you think.
Oh in case you’ve noticed how quiet I’ve been about my trip to Bathurst.. that’s because my team-mate had a massive accident during practise and we never got to race it.. So think of me when you enter your first online competition where ‘damage’ counts and you get taken out at the first corner, at least you didn’t have to travel all the way to Australia for the privilege!!
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