Assetto Corsa Rally’s Early Access period makes a significant step forward today, as the game’s V0.5 build goes live.
Developers Supernova Games Studios and Kunos Simulazioni have boosted the game’s stage count by two, thanks to the Acropolis Rally Greece-themed Loutraki and Elatia tests. But it’s the introduction of multiplayer that will be of more interest to fans, given the game’s lack of game modes.
However, there are no new cars in V0.5, which may come as a disappointment after the Subaru Impreza and Peugeot 306 Maxi goodness we received in V0.4. Instead, Supernova has introduced a series of physics and tyre changes designed to address handling issues reported by some players, which seems like a fair compromise.
New stages
Perhaps it was the rare heatwave Scotland experienced while I tested the new Greek stages, or perhaps it was the sublime job Supernova has done in bringing Loutraki and Elatia to life, but driving both new tests made me thirst for a large glass of water after each pass.
The dirt roads are rusty brown in colour; the rocks are scorched and unforigivng. The stages look like typical Rally Greece fare, then, so that’s an important box labelled ‘authentic’ ticked.
Loutraki and Elatia offer slightly different challenges, with the latter feeling a bit faster and more flowing than the former. There are a few tricky cambers to judge, but the road is much wider than the archetypal Greek test, so mistakes aren’t punished too heavily.
On the other hand, Loutraki is more indicative of the Acropolis event, featuring more hairpin bends, steep rocky cliffs and zero margin for error. Each stage is split into six stages, including shortened and reverse routes, for a total of 12. And just like the game’s previous Monte Carlo update, Supernova has done Greece justice, both in terms of visuals and atmosphere.
A lack of stages is perhaps considered the game’s biggest weakness, so an extra 22 Km of roads is most welcome, but does once again highlight the difficulty Supernova will have in creating enough detailed laserscanned stages to keep pace with player demand.
Also, for those who just watched the gruelling WRC Rally Acropolis Greece over the weekend, it may be disappointing not to see dynamic stage deformation in AC Rally, but as it is, the game looks both detailed and authentic.
Physics updates
Greece’s deep gravel is a great way to sample AC Rally’s new ‘bulldozing effects’, which are designed to increase the resistance of the track surface while your car slides across it. Many players had complained previously that cars slid too much when drifting on dirt, which Supernova has partially addressed in V0.5.
The effect is designed to increase with tyre slip and decrease with negative corner camber, dependent on the track surface conditions (if it’s chucking it down with rain, don’t expect the same amount of friction as you’d experience in the dry).
In my opinion, the changes are effective in increasing sideways friction, but arguably need to be upped slightly. Regardless, it’s an incremental improvement, and it’s most welcome.
The two new stages also feature a brand-new ‘ideal line’ feature. Confined to Loutraki and Elatia for the moment, this increases the width of the racing line exiting a turn more realistically. It’s difficult to perceive, but it makes sense, so it’ll be interesting to see how this works on one of the game’s incumbent stages.
More subtly, peak slip angle and load sensitivity formulas have also been revised for V0.5, and the result is a slightly more satisfying handling model overall. On asphalt, I felt the handling of the 306 Maxi Kit Car was much less skittish than before, but given I’ve changed hardware since then (Moza to Simagic), the results are far from conclusive.
It’s safe to say, however, that I enjoyed the feel of the cars across both gravel and asphalt more than I did in V0.4.
Multiplayer
Here we go: the headline feature of V0.5. Multiplayer has been added to AC Rally, but don’t expect a feature-rich system just yet.
For the moment, players can create their own multiplayer lobbies (for up to 16 players) or join those already curated by Supernova. They’re not password-protected at the moment, so bear in mind you may find yourself overwhelmed by some random alien drivers initially…
However, these are just single-stage affairs, where players can narrow down their vehicle choices by class or by individual cars (you can also allow the use of all cars). It’s a fairly straightforward process to get a lobby up and running, thankfully, and you can choose the weather and rules beforehand.
Once in, each player starts the stage at the same time, so they experience the same weather and surface conditions. Hopefully, this can be changed in a future update so that road position and dynamic weather can affect the final result, but this may only appeal to rally aficionados.
If you join a lobby after the stage has started, you can’t view the on-stage action, but you can see split times and the linear progress gauge to the top of the screen. Presumably, one day it will be possible to see each player’s perspective, though that may again be reserved for a future update (the game will be front and centre at the FIA Awards in Shanghai this December, after all).
Once players ready up, a countdown to the stage start will begin, and all players will head to the stage start. Another countdown begins, after which players will tackle the stage concurrently (remember to check whether you’ve selected the quick start stage option or not to avoid a jump start penalty!).
Invisible
The Traxion team experienced some technical issues, with John Munro becoming completely invisible in lobbies, whether he was using his personal account or the Traxion Steam account. Odd.
I also faced a swathe of performance-related problems, more on those below…
Also, I need to once again highlight that I can’t pick the Scottish Saltire as my driver flag, which seems bizarre given the presence of Colin McRae’s Subaru Impreza in-game. Likewise, the Welsh, English, Northern Irish and Irish flags are all missing, which is especially galling considering Cymru’s Elfyn Evans continues to lead the WRC standings.
It’s not all good news…
Although there are no new cars, I feel largely positive about AC Rally’s V0.5 update. Multiplayer is undoubtedly fun, but it feels more like a proof of concept than anything substantial at the moment. Crucially, however, it works and should help stress-test the game’s servers ahead of further feature additions.
The new stages look and feel incredibly realistic and are packed with detail, while the nuanced physics updates are a pleasing development. It’s not revolutionary, but I feel more satisfied with the game’s direction than I did with V0.4.
However, performance was again a major issue for me during my testing of V0.5. I frequently experienced frame drops during our multiplayer tests, which I initially attributed to Unreal Engine-related shader caching.
Unfortunately, even after repeated runs, the problem persisted, although performance improved while testing the game alone. Reducing graphics settings helped, before the game became completely unplayable for a spell.
Why this happened, I’ve yet to determine, but the game began working well again a day later, and frame drops still occurred while travelling through the more verdant areas of Greece. It must be noted that other members of the Traxion team did not face performance problems to a similar degree.
Considering I’ve rarely experienced such issues with other modern sims (Project Motor Racing excepted, but that was a very special case), it’s a concern (my PC specs: Motherboard – AMD MS-7B79; CPU – AMD Ryzen 7 3800X 8-Core Processor; GPU – NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070; RAM – 16309 Mb).
Still, V0.5 is another incremental step in the right direction in AC Rally’s off-roading development Odyssey.
Assetto Corsa Rally V0.5 changelog
NEW CONTENT:
- New Location: Rally Greece
- Features 2 brand-new, unique Special Stages with 12 total layout variants.
- Includes 22 km of high-fidelity, laser-scanned roads spanning 509 meters of elevation change.
- Added dedicated “Rally Weekend” presets tailored specifically for Greece.
- New Multiplayer Online Mode featuring both official and user-generated custom lobbies.
- Core Physics Overhaul: Deployed a major physics update for all vehicles and terrains, highlighted by the introduction of the gravel bulldozing effect.
- Assetto Corsa Rally Events:
- Added 2 new event groups featuring 24 fresh events to explore the new locations.
- Added 8 new snow-condition events for the Alsace and Wales regions.
- New official partners added to the drivers’ profile sections.
CARS:
- Cockpit Dynamics: Added realistic vibrations to interior cockpit elements for enhanced immersion.
- Bug Fixes: Resolved various vehicle-specific issues and bugs.
PHYSICS
- New Ideal Line Feature: Supports multiple corner widths to enhance realism. The line now dynamically widens through turns. This is currently active in Greece and will expand to other stages in future updates.
- Comprehensive Tire Model Improvements:
- Revised Peak Slip Angle Formula: Adjusted as a function of load to narrow the variation range. This increases the performance impact of the inner tire, ensuring it acts as a functional gripping tire rather than just a dragging scrub tire.
- Revised Load Sensitivity Formula: Enhanced stability under high loads. The formula now dynamically scales based on tire pressure and actual contact patch dimensions.
- Refactored Surface Recognition: Every tire now utilizes a dedicated parameter set for each surface type. Individual surfaces can also apply unique modifier overrides to these baseline sets.
- Revised Camber Properties: Both camber angle and camber thrust effects are now dynamically load-dependent.
- Revised Contact Patch Calculation: Increased sensitivity to camber angles. Excessive camber will now actively reduce longitudinal grip.
- Added Bulldozing Effects: Introduced longitudinal and lateral bulldozing physics on soft surfaces. Lateral bulldozing increases with tire slip and decreases with excessive camber. The overall effect scales with specific surface conditions.
- Experimental Stick-Slip Vibrations: Re-introduced high-grip surface vibrations.
- Experimental Dig-Dependent Vibrations: Re-introduced low-grip surface vibrations.
- Global Tuning Pass: Rebalanced all surface properties, car physics, and setup presets to align with the new physics architecture.
ONLINE:
- Launch of Phase One: The initial phase of the online multiplayer mode is now live, introducing several core features for players.
- Lobby Browsing and Creation: Players can browse the active lobby list, create personal custom lobbies, or join official ACR lobbies.
- Game Modes: Lobbies currently support single-stage events with a maximum capacity of 16 players.
- Vehicle and Weather Options: Hosts can restrict car selection to all cars, the same category, or the exact same car, and freely select the weather during lobby creation.
- Spectating and Management: Players can join ongoing lobbies mid-match to spectate and view live results, while lobby owners can modify track and weather parameters between races.
ACR Official Lobbies
- Community Spaces: Official Lobbies are persistent, developer-managed rooms created by Supernova that are always visible in the server browser.
- Dynamic Scaling: These official rooms utilize multiple active instances, ensuring there are always open slots for the community.
- Version 0.5 Rotation Schedule: The multiplayer launch features a rotating event calendar consisting of two weekly events and one weekend-exclusive event.
- Weekly Event Structure: Two standard ACR events will refresh every week, each backed by five or more active lobby instances.
- Weekend Event Structure: One premium ACR event will run strictly from Friday to Sunday each week, supported by five or more active lobby instances.
Week 1 Schedule
- Weekly Event 1: Rally 2 Greece Special Stages. Features a selection of 4 Greek tracks under clear weather conditions, restricted to Rally 2 category cars.
- Weekly Event 2: Mini Tarmac Festival. Features a selection of 8 tarmac tracks under clear weather conditions, restricted to the Mini Cooper S.
- Weekend Event: Impreza S3 Wales Light Rain. Features a selection of 4 Welsh tracks under wet and light rain conditions, restricted to the Subaru Impreza S3.
Week 2 Schedule
- Weekly Event 1: Alfa GTA Greece Stages. Features a selection of 4 Greek tracks under clear, sunny weather conditions, restricted to the Alfa Romeo GTA 1300 Junior.
- Weekly Event 2: Rally 2 Gravel Festival. Features a selection of 8 gravel tracks under clear weather conditions, restricted to Rally 2 category cars.
- Weekend Event: Lancia Delta Col de Turini Light Snow. Features the 2 full-length Col de Turini stages under mild snow conditions, restricted to the Lancia Delta Integrale Evo.
- Future Rotations: The official event schedule for the following weeks will be announced at a later date.
AUDIO:
- Impreza S3 engine/exhaust audio updated, with improved after fire triggering.
- Peugeot 306 engine remixed with more induction character.
- Helmet mic audio option added, with further cabin camera tweaks.
- Removed wheels and suspension from side speakers in 7.1.
- Added a small amount of smoothing to engine RPM. 306 was slightly glitchy previously.
- More general 3d spatialization and mix improvements.
GAMEPLAY AND UI:
- Camera Configuration Sync: Added a global option to apply your gameplay camera layout to all vehicles simultaneously or strictly to the currently active car.
- Field of View (FOV) Adjustments: Increased the default FOV setting for the Cockpit and Gauge cameras across all vehicles. Note: Please double-check and readjust your custom camera configurations following this update.
VFX, LIGHTING, AND ART DIRECTION:
- Enhanced Ideal Line Visuals: The ideal line now features realistic skid marks that flow naturally across the stage.
- Particle Systems: Introduced advanced particle mechanics for highly detailed, dusty gravel surfaces.
- Improved Particle Lighting: Refined the global lighting model to blend dust and debris particles more naturally with environmental light.
- Asymmetric Ideal Trajectory: Upgraded the line technology to support asymmetrical paths, allowing precise control over visual intensity and track placement. This feature is currently exclusive to the Greece stages.
ENVIRONMENTS:
- Improved streaming performance
- High-Resolution Crowds: Added new updated spectator models to the start and end zones of Munster.
- New Greek Content: Added the Elatia Special Stage, Loutraki Special Stage, and the Greece Service Park.
- Service Park Fixes: Resolved terrain flickering issues across multiple service parks.
- Tree Collision Fixes: Fixed missing collision data on several miscellaneous trees across various stages.
- Tree Duplication Fix: Removed overlapping duplicate trees, resulting in a minor performance boost.
- Floating Vegetation Fix: Adjusted placement data to eliminate floating grass, bushes, and trees across multiple levels.
- Improvements to the stages’ ideal line/trajectory: Every stage in Assetto Corsa Rally has been configured with an ideal line or trajectory, providing improved grip when driving on it than when off the line. However up until this point, this ideal line had been a fixed width, often leading to situations in corners where only one of the car’s two axles would be on the ideal line when sliding through a corner. Now, though, we have improved the system to allow for different widths. This allows corners to have a wider ideal trajectory and, in turn, widening the area of improved grip through corners. Not only that, but the visuals of this have also been improved where the skid marks and tram tracks follow the ideal line through the stage. This will be more noticeable on gravel and snow surfaces as the loose surfaces get swept, compacted and churned up, but tarmac will also feature darker areas, skid marks in tighter turns and in the braking zones where rubber is laid down by other cars. Whilst the physics account for the variance in width of the ideal line, the visuals currently remain at a more fixed width. So don’t worry if you’re dipping wheels on the inside or just off the outside of the visual line; you’re still likely going to be on that grippier part of the track. This new improved ideal line is only present currently on the new Greece stages; however this will be rolled out onto Wales, Alsace and Livigno where their ideal trajectories widths in the corners will be widened in future updates.
- Parked Car Variety: Expanded the model pool for ambient parked cars to increase visual diversity in the environment.
BUG FIXES:
- Vehicle Database Fix: Corrected inaccurate technical information in the Subaru Impreza S3 car profile menu.
- Interface Polish: Fixed minor text typos and layout inconsistencies across various UI screens.
- Object Reset Fix: Resolved a bug where dynamic, movable track objects would fail to reset to their starting positions after a stage restart.