Mesmerising trailers with stunning visuals and tremendous cinematography are a joy to watch – no question – but they are expected. Rather unexpected is a pre-release insight into the race settings menu, as Slightly Mad Studios gave it in its latest blog post for Project CARS 2.
The race settings screen
Above you can examine a screenshot of the race settings screen in Project CARS 2. In case you are wondering what the different options do, here are the explanations.
Date and duration
You will have the choice of two different duration types, laps-based or time-based. You can race a maximum of 999 laps (that is 7825.5 hours on the Nordschleife VLN layout, assuming a lap lasts 7:50) or 24 hours.
You can also select a date together with a start time. Why does this matter? Because Project CARS 2 will be able to replicate the real-world weather on that exact date, thanks to LiveTrack 3.0 and GPS. You will also have to consider the wind as a determining factor, especially for open-wheel cars.
Weather
If you cannot be bothered with real-world weather, then set the conditions yourself! Setting time progression and seasons should be pretty self-explanatory. However, if that does not tickle your fancy, you have four weather slots at your disposal, allowing to transition through the seasons as you please. By default, each slot will last an hour, but if you are not happy with that, you can change the Weather Progression to “’real time’ [or] ‘Sync to Race’, which will change the weather in accordance to the speed of the race that you have chosen.”
Also, the weather itself is more in-depth than ever before. For example, if the track is just drying after a rainy night, spots which are shadowed will take longer to try then other, forcing you to evaluate your tyre choices carefully.
Race start types
Apart from a traditional standing start, Project CARS 2 will also offer the possibility to kick off a race with a formation lap, where of course you will have the chance to get your tyres and brakes up to temperature. Especially with carbon-ceramic brakes this is a factor and of course tyre and brake temperatures are influenced by the weather as well.
Pit-stops
Mandatory pit-stops can be enabled or disabled too. Speaking of pit-stops, they are now fully animated in Project CARS 2 and even better, you are now able to make your way into the pits on your own, if you wish. Slightly Mad Studios used motion capturing technology to replicate virtual pit-stops accordingly to their real-world counterparts, depending on what car you drive.
AI and multi-class racing
The maximum number of AI cars is determined by the available grid spots on a given tracks and their driving ability by you. In the menus, you will have the choice of feeding the AI a number between “0 (easy to defeat)” and “120 (AI that has been optimized to crush your ego)”.
Multi-class racing has made its way into Project CARS 2 as well. AI can either race the same cars as you, cars of the same class as you or cars from a completely different class. Different classes will be timed individually, for the true multi-class experience.
Motorsports presets
If you do not care for customisability or just want to save some time you would rather spend on-track, then Project CARS 2 has you covered with its motorsports presets, adjusting settings accordingly to the real-world (These settings can still be changed, however).
The following presets will be available:
- Rallycross
- IndyCar
- GT
- Endurance
- Prototypes
- Open Wheeler
- Touring Car
- Trackday
- Road
Favourites
If you are a fan of customisability but still want to save some time, then you will be able to use four slots to save your favourite race settings!
