Exclusive Live Stream: Answering Assetto Corsa EVO Questions With Marco Massarutto

Article Discussion

A month before the Early Access release of Assetto Corsa EVO, we have the chance to exclusively interview Kunos Simulazioni founder Marco Massarutto in a live stream - and to ask him some of your questions!

Image: Kunos Simulazioni

The sim racing world is full of buzz for Assetto Corsa EVO. Its Early Access release is still a month away, but the recent announcement of AC EVO featuring an open world set in the Eifel surrounding the Nürburgring has kicked the excitement and discussion into overdrive.

From the announcement, many questions arose already, and we want to look for answers for our community. On Tuesday, December 17 at 16:00 UTC, we will sit down with Marco Massarutto live on our YouTube channel as well as our Twitch channel to find out more about the upcoming sim. For that, we have a number of questions from our comment sections already on our list, but we knew there would be more.

This is where you, our community, comes in: We asked for the questions that were burning on your minds the most to try and get as many of them as possible answered by Marco.


We already had the opportunity to chat with the Kunos Co-Founder and Managing Director earlier this year - you can catch up on what Marco told us last time we sat down at SimRacing Expo 2024 via the video embedded above.

Speaking of video: We will have some exclusive Assetto Corsa EVO footage to show you soon that has never been publicly seen before - so we recommend keeping an eye on our website and YouTube as well as social media channels!

How excited are you about Assetto Corsa EVO following everything that is known so far? Let us know in the comments below!
  • Like
  • Love
Reactions: ShredatorFIN, fatal, RiseAndDespair and 10 others
About author
Yannik Haustein
Yannik Haustein
Lifelong motorsport enthusiast and sim racing aficionado, walking racing history encyclopedia.

Sim racing editor, streamer and one half of the SimRacing Buddies podcast (warning, German!).

Heel & Toe Gang 4 life :D

More in Assetto Corsa Evo

Comments

G-Slev
Premium
TRASGU said:
I don't understand how it is crazy, you guys sound like a typical HOA Karen with her NIMBY attitude. Marco said that is a game mode that you can completely avoid if you don't like it, avoiding it has no consequences at all, and also that if you rather to live the same old school simracing experience as ever before you still can have the exact same game experience as in AC1.

The sim characteristics of the game are not dumbed down in any way, in fact is quite the opposite: improved AI, improved physics, improved aerodynamics, improved tire model, improved weather, telemetry support, laser scanned everything, improved online rated servers. If anything this game is going to be better than AC1 at every metric possible, and better than ACC physics wise.

What is crazy is that some people seem to want to abandon this game probably because they believe that this game has a lot of potential to become a lot more popular. And they don't want to be associated with non hardcore simracers. Even if they are never going to be on the same piece of tarmac for too long, as the rated servers are going to segregate ratkids and trolls from serious simracers.

This attitude stinks at the old thing of fans liking a music band while the band is small and playing on little locals, and then as soon as they sign for a music label and become mainstream, suddenly the same people that supported them in the beginnings starts to reject the band and say that they are no longer the same and they are sellouts.

What if the same ratkids and trolls that plague gran turismo, forza horizon and need for speed come here in big amounts?. The rating system is going to keep them far away from the traditional tracks in where the hardcore simracers are going to be. And competitive hardcore simracers are going to be in even more unaccessible servers like the ones of the private servers and online leagues. And the hated game mode is going to be just one option on the game menu that whoever don't like it don't need to click on it at all.

I still fail to see what is the problem if it isn't elitism and gatekeeping.
Click to expand...
Top tip 1. It's not been released yet. No one knows what it will be like.

Top tip 2. My opinion, which I am entitled to express, is that a racing simulator that is being advertised as some sort of free roam nonsense is a joke.

You don't seem to understand the concept of expressing one's opinion, and criticising me for holding an opinion that that this will not be very good does your argument no favours. Actually, it just makes you look rather foolish.
 
Peter Conway
Premium
G-Slev said:
Top tip 1. It's not been released yet. No one knows what it will be like.

Top tip 2. My opinion, which I am entitled to express, is that a racing simulator that is being advertised as some sort of free roam nonsense is a joke.

You don't seem to understand the concept of expressing one's opinion, and criticising me for holding an opinion that that this will not be very good does your argument no favours. Actually, it just makes you look rather foolish.
Click to expand...
Top tip 3. ACC wasn't really a No2 version of AC, it was different by a long chalk, so much so that it could have been called 'Kunos On-line Race Sim' (Kors) yet as Kunos kept much of the original AC they just added a 'C' for Competizione, so it could identify as a different one, but not a 'MkII' as it were.
So the use of AC in the ACE title should only tell you that it's in the same family not that it's neccarilly the same, and the term Evo means that it's grown to be different.
"Evolution is the change in the heritable characteristics of biological* populations over successive generations"

Top tip 4. just because there's a church in your town doesn't mean you have to go there or even be religious.

Top tip 5. I believe in the stream Marco referred to it as "more, a driving simulator"

*OK it's not 'bio' as such, but sometimes we have to choose our own bounderies and interpretations
 
Peter Kerényi
xDriver69x said:
I would be shocked if any truly viable technical data ever came from a brand regarding a licensing deal. They give permissions, and barely that. a tiny small small amount of likely easily gathered data at best might be given, but highly highly unlikely. They might say you can dyno a test vehicle or laser scan one, if they even bother providing access to one, but they are not partnerships in any way more than legalese. It was a nightmare shitshow back in the day and I it appears it has gotten more subversive.
If anything, the typical thing is they let a production gather data to be presented to them which they review and say whether it is acceptable or pray they don't alter the deal further.
Click to expand...
This is funny, as this is the exact opposite to what Marco said in the stream. After ACC & the whole pandemic-simracing effect, the manufacturers started to care more for the sim representation of their cars, giving more data etc. Not just mostly the CAD for exterior & visuals like before.

Manufacturers also realize that sims especially like AC/ACE are an advertisement platform for them. And understandably showing smoking and wrecked cars is not good advertisement. Just remember what kind of photorealistic images can be captured on a tuned up AC, of course they don't want such images in unflattering scenarios.

I'd rather have real cars, with better and better data, than unlicensed cars that can be damaged to a state where I'd hit "Esc" and press "Restart" or "Return to Pit".

Fortunately sims are pretty diverse, and you have BeamNG if destructiblity is your thing.
 
G-Slev
Premium
Peter Conway said:
Top tip 3. ACC wasn't really a No2 version of AC, it was different by a long chalk, so much so that it could have been called 'Kunos On-line Race Sim' (Kors) yet as Kunos kept much of the original AC they just added a 'C' for Competizione, so it could identify as a different one, but not a 'MkII' as it were.
So the use of AC in the ACE title should only tell you that it's in the same family not that it's neccarilly the same, and the term Evo means that it's grown to be different.
"Evolution is the change in the heritable characteristics of biological* populations over successive generations"

Top tip 4. just because there's a church in your town doesn't mean you have to go there or even be religious.

Top tip 5. I believe in the stream Marco referred to it as "more, a driving simulator"

*OK it's not 'bio' as such, but sometimes we have to choose our own bounderies and interpretations
Click to expand...
I am sorry, you have lost me completely, probably because you are on glue. Hurrah, though.
 
N
G-Slev said:
Top tip 1. It's not been released yet. No one knows what it will be like.
Click to expand...
Eeh, we got a ton of information from the stream, you did not watch it? Obviously as you failed to grasp "it will be the same as AC1 when it comes to racing".

And being entitled to one's opinion is a myth, you are entitled to your educated opinion, not spread BS when you are clueless.

But I suppose it's better you put your money where your mouth is and not buy or drive AC EVO ever as it's shait. Agreed?
 
Richard Wilks
This game is not even out yet, and the army of apologists and shills are already out in full force...

So what if some people dont like what they are hearing? That's their perrogative. And about spreading "misinformation", both sides are doing it, so just take a breath.
 
N
xDriver69x said:
I would be shocked if any truly viable technical data ever came from a brand regarding a licensing deal. They give permissions, and barely that. a tiny small small amount of likely easily gathered data at best might be given, but highly highly unlikely. They might say you can dyno a test vehicle or laser scan one, if they even bother providing access to one, but they are not partnerships in any way more than legalese. It was a nightmare shitshow back in the day and I it appears it has gotten more subversive.
If anything, the typical thing is they let a production gather data to be presented to them which they review and say whether it is acceptable or pray they don't alter the deal further.
Click to expand...

I'm old/under no illusion ref data/restrictions. I want real brands, and not Vision GT made up non-existent shite Motorsport. If I race GT3, I want to be in a pack of real GT3. Manufacturer restrictions that come with this I'll cope with. When they supply cars to Kunos, that isn't ever a bad thing for development. EVO won't meet all our needs 100%. I'd have voted for Rally, yet see why it's absent. Same for free roam, yet I'm interested to give it a try. Their approach is well thought out. 1:1 maps help me try it. It'll be a distraction from time to time. Car upgrades I could take or leave. For many, it adds appeal, much like drifting for some.

I look at a big picture. What isn't there at full release is on a Kunos "to-do" list. Kunos has committed to a long shelf life, so it'll stay healthy/expanded. This was a complaint for many before. We'll see more dlc packs offered, pleasing more people. I'd rather see all of these things, than have damage modelled with ultra realism. Dynamic weather, AI W.I.P, physics and the MAP systems looks incredible. They're addressing SP, which many wanted. Still the easiest day one purchase decision tbh.
 
DB_1973
Premium
A curious question. When they sell DLC packs, after you buy the packs, will you have the cars/tracks in your inventory, or still need to purchase them with in-game currency?
 
Peter Kerényi
DB_1973 said:
A curious question. When they sell DLC packs, after you buy the packs, will you have the cars/tracks in your inventory, or still need to purchase them with in-game currency?
Click to expand...
If I understand correctly we can play like in AC - whichever car we want included in the game - but that will be considered "renting". The "purchased" cars, on the other hand, will be customizable, from the factory options to available modifications.
 
Last edited:
DB_1973
Premium
Peter Kerényi said:
If I understand correctly we can play like in AC - whichever car we want included in the game - but that will be considered "renting". The "purchased" cars, on the other hand, will be customizable, from the factory options to available modifications.
Click to expand...
So we will have to use in-game currency to rent or buy the cars that we pay for in a DLC. I guess we need to know if the regular AC play, is with in-game currency or not. Still haven't seen if there will be a custom championship similar to what content manager provides. That is what I use more than any thing else. Free roam is fun, but used very sparsely for me. I only free roam when I get burned out on racing. If the career mode has the 2-3 lap races like GT... I'll leave that for someone else. I normally set up series with 75mile races.
 
Peter Kerényi
DB_1973 said:
So we will have to use in-game currency to rent or buy the cars that we pay for in a DLC. I guess we need to know if the regular AC play, is with in-game currency or not. Still haven't seen if there will be a custom championship similar to what content manager provides. That is what I use more than any thing else. Free roam is fun, but used very sparsely for me. I only free roam when I get burned out on racing. If the career mode has the 2-3 lap races like GT... I'll leave that for someone else. I normally set up series with 75mile races.
Click to expand...
I doubt they would limit "renting" by currency, at the end of the day you can ignore all the open world stuff, so any "career" progression as well and use the sim as you would use AC... by their words so far.

Championships, career races, we will see, no info so far. I hope they will be customizable though.
Michael Krone said:
Im hating the sound of this renting vs. buying.

I guess no matter the outcome of ACE, I will remain grateful for AC.
Click to expand...
Renting vs. buying gives a context and a more realistic footing. What do we do in AC? Are we a super billionare with 500+ cars with all color options for each? Or do we have a selection of cars to choose from that come as is, and we cannot modify them, so pretty much the same as "renting". Yes, this contextualization is "new" for sims (although the original rFactor had some credit system that was kind of ignored, at least by me), one needs to get used to it, but nothing changes, you just get more options.
 
Last edited:
N
Richard Wilks said:
This game is not even out yet, and the army of apologists and shills are already out in full force...

So what if some people dont like what they are hearing? That's their perrogative. And about spreading "misinformation", both sides are doing it, so just take a breath.
Click to expand...
Both sides? I don't get what there is to apologize on behalf of Kunos for example. To categorize or describe EVO as Gran turismo or forza horizon is wrong based on the info from Kunos, the latest being the stream in the beginning of this news.

It just seems for example the person to whom I replied just wants some attention by indicating he's not interested based on one part of the game that is somehow excluding everything else that the game includes, for example the part that is "Assetto Corsa improved". It's understandable that he chooses not to play it when released based on something real or annoying. I don't want to play it either if it doesn't have self hosted or free multiplayer servers, or similar possibilities for streams as ac or acc. But the reason not to play it isn't some optional feature of the game I'm not going to use.

Why would or should anyone be interested in his opinion, why is he even writing it other that attention whoring?
 
Richard Wilks
Nrde said:
Both sides? I don't get what there is to apologize on behalf of Kunos for example. To categorize or describe EVO as Gran turismo or forza horizon is wrong based on the info from Kunos, the latest being the stream in the beginning of this news.

It just seems for example the person to whom I replied just wants some attention by indicating he's not interested based on one part of the game that is somehow excluding everything else that the game includes, for example the part that is "Assetto Corsa improved". It's understandable that he chooses not to play it when released based on something real or annoying. I don't want to play it either if it doesn't have self hosted or free multiplayer servers, or similar possibilities for streams as ac or acc. But the reason not to play it isn't some optional feature of the game I'm not going to use.

Why would or should anyone be interested in his opinion, why is he even writing it other that attention whoring?
Click to expand...
Well if he is atention whoring, you fell right through it, didnt you?... if he is not playing it because the color of the sky is the wrong shade of blue, that's his problem.
 
N
DB_1973 said:
A curious question. When they sell DLC packs, after you buy the packs, will you have the cars/tracks in your inventory, or still need to purchase them with in-game currency?
Click to expand...

Marco said anyone can ignore free roam and play EVO just like Assetto Corsa. My guess is then, once we buy the DLC car/track packs, we can access them immediately.

My other guess is, dedicated none-road racing cars can't be taken free-roam. Then lastly, if we buy a Ferrari F40 road car, and you plan to use for free-roam and want to earn XP etc with it, you'll need to also buy it in the game once you've bought the dlc. A good question, you needed that to be read out for Marco's interview!!

:D
 
Last edited:
xDriver69x
Premium
Nigel Mansell said:
Marco said anyone can ignore free roam and play EVO just like Assetto Corsa. My guess is then, once we buy the DLC car/track packs, we can access them immediately.

My other guess is, dedicated none-road racing cars can't be taken free-roam. Then lastly, if we buy a Ferrari F40 road car, and you plan to use for free-roam and want to earn XP etc with it, you'll need to also buy it in the game once you've bought the dlc. A good question, you needed that to be read out for Marco's interview!!

:D
Click to expand...
How un realistic to not be able to take a track car and get it stuck in public roads with a nearly non existent turning circle:

 

Latest News

Article information

Author
Yannik Haustein
Article read time
2 min read
Views
12,318
Comments
159
Last update
Join the discussion

Share this article

Back
Top