A few days ago, we informed you about the lift of the NDA for Project CARS 2. As such, a lot of WMD2 members have been releasing gameplay videos, showcasing this new racing game from Slightly Mad Studios. However, it appears that the game is missing some graphics effects that were present in the first Project CARS game.
Most notably, the rear light reflections are nowhere to be found during rainy races. This effect was present in the first Project CARS game. Left image is from Project CARS 2 whereas the right image is from Project CARS.
Not only that, but it appears that the rain pools do not reflect even the cars in Project CARS 2 (again this feature was present in the first Project CARS). You can also notice the lack of car reflections in the official screenshots that were released for these two games (left is from Project CARS, right is from Project CARS 2).
Thankfully, the windscreen directional rain drops are still present, and the windscreen rain effects are almost as rough as those in the first Project CARS game.
It’s worth noting that the current build of Project CARS 2 is described as a WIP version which means that the aforementioned graphics effects may be added at a later date (and prior to the game’s release). And if that’s not the case, Slightly Mad Studios may add them via a post-release patch. After all, the first Project CARS saw some noticeable weather improvements via post-release patches.
Still, and since Project CARS 2 is reported to be running better than its predecessor, we found it interesting that it is lacking some graphics effects that were present in the previous title. We also wanted to bring this to everyone’s attention, something that will obviously ‘force‘ Slightly Mad Studios to further improve these effects.
Below you can find two videos, one from Project CARS 2 and the other from the first Project CARS.
John is the founder and Editor in Chief at DSOGaming. He is a PC gaming fan and highly supports the modding and indie communities. Before creating DSOGaming, John worked on numerous gaming websites. While he is a die-hard PC gamer, his gaming roots can be found on consoles. John loved – and still does – the 16-bit consoles, and considers SNES to be one of the best consoles. Still, the PC platform won him over consoles. That was mainly due to 3DFX and its iconic dedicated 3D accelerator graphics card, Voodoo 2. John has also written a higher degree thesis on the “The Evolution of PC graphics cards.”
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Do people play games anymore for the sake of having a good time? Nowadays everybody tends to criticize absolutely everything instead of giving their support for the work that’s already been done. The game is an obvious improvement over the first game. Who the hell observes rain drops or puddle reflections during race? Personally, I can’t wait for the game to come out regardless of their implementing those “missing effects”.
Some people want graphics to advance, not regress. PCs become stronger and stronger, so that’s natural.
What is improved over the first game?
The driving model has been improved, and cars don’t feel like they’re floating or on ice anymore. The overall sense of speed is better. Graphics and effects are more or less the same, and we got better performance this time around. However, this is what the first game was supposed to look like.
I’m waiting for Forza 7 or GTR3.
BTW, in FH3 those effects are Present and working well (in City+Night+Rain)
Forza is DX12 Game so it is working great on my ZEN 4GHz+Fury combo 1440p 4xMSAA with Mixed settings (Reflections & Textures on Ultra).
Why they ditched DX12/Vulcan in 2017?
Another words PCars2 have downgraded visuals instead of upgraded 🙁
No, they haven’t. Everything in this article is WRONG. Do your own research, it seems the author couldn’t be bothered. See my post above for the name of a video on YT clearly showing the brake lights reflecting in the rain and Google some images of the game, you’ll see the cars reflecting in the pools of water. I can’t link them here because they moderate posts with links, so they’ll probably just delete them as I’m point out how poor this article is. They HAVE upgraded the visuals.
Exactly as I see it… John is VERY trigger happy when it comes to posting articles that like to start controversy… Even if his info is 1. Wrong or 2. Incomplete… It’s too bad because I really like this site.
Wait for it, those features will be gamework ones, they just don’t want to spoil that before people bought the game. =D
You know, because gameworks.
Those features ARE in the game. Search for ‘Project Cars 2 One lap at Le Mans in Thunderstorm Conditions” on YT. You can clearly see the brake lights reflecting in the rain. There’s also plenty of screenshots out there showing the cars reflecting in the pooled water. Don’t know why they’re lying about this, but this who article is not true. If anything, there’s MORE effects in PC2 than 1, with more intense rain spray etc.
could you link any ? All videos I’ve seen have reflections missing. (Reflections of cars I mean)
since when were reflections from gameworks ?
We never know what could be enhanced by gameworks in the future.
Hey John… before you go pointing out these “issues” have you made sure that both versions were running at the same graphical settings? Is it not possible that the videos you’re referencing from pCars 2 are simply not running maxed out? If you know the answer, and the answer is Yes, then maybe you should add that to your article. The same goes for if you do not now what settings the game is being run at. To me, it would seem that whoever is uploading the videos, simply has the graphical setting turned down a notch to provide better frame-rates. Do we know the system specs of the system that the footage from pCars 2 was running on? Anyway, good journalism requires these questions be asked.
Good work here Jeff. Maybe the author of this article should have done his research…
I thought the same, but reflections are still missing in general. PCars 1 had reflections of cars on wet ground and puddles, reflections of cars on other cars etc.
That’s completely missing now, in every video I’ve seen (I’ve watched almost every one). So either all of them turned those options off or it’s missing. Hopefully the PC version has options for those features.
Who need the amateurish Project Cars when you have Forza Motorsport ?
lol…
Most of the people is not playing in Ultra settings on You Tube at the moment as there are minor performance issues. Almost no one is playing maxed out with rain effects for the sake of having a good frame rate.
In a simulator frame rate is everything because of the input lag (latency) at the steering-wheel which is more important than having some visual effects that for sure will not be missing at release.
The lowest available settings should still reflect light sources. We had this in the 90s. Stop making excuses for terrible downgrades.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/bc79fbc1179d479a61f0920e55a5de028fddeb04caa615bee888f8eb54211146.jpg
This screenshot looks like it’s from the first GRID.
Just when you thought it couldn’t be more of an unnecessary copy paste cash grab, they fail to copy paste crucial parts like reflections on wet streets. Car lights would be reflected in puddles in all car-related games I can think of for as long as I can think back. Pretty sure 90s games had that feature.
read the comments above. This article is garbage.
Poor damage control. Look at the top screenshot. You can see the trees reflected on the floor but not the cars or even their rear lamps. It’s rather obvious that this is a downgrade or simply error and has nothing to do with realism.