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Project Cars - after all these years the game finally shines in VR - but requires a very fast gpu

RuneSR2
Grand Champion

In trailers the game looks awesome:

 

 

- but in VR, jaggies due to lack of antialiasing ruin the experience, especially with current lcd hmds. What can be done is to increase super sampling - or SteamVR res - depending on the version of the game you've got. 

For the first time in several years, I just tried Project Cars and finally was very impressed. There aren't many settings, but enabling all lens flares etc the sunlight was amazing.

I could get solid 90 fps using Index res 200% (=2,848 x 3,168 pixels per eye or 18 mill pixels per frame combined). Res 250% was too much, got a few reprojections.

 

(Btw, maxing out Project Cars 2 was a different story - even res 175% was too much, and jaggies started appearing. Will need a RTX 4090 just to get that game looking great in 90 fps with the Index, lol.)

Project Cars 1 is much less demanding than the sequel, and I had a really great time in Project Cars 1 - felt much like F1 22, but performance was much better and there was no blurry image quality.

Is this really worse than F1 22? I took all shots below using Index res 200%:

 

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Numbers, dials etc. are easy to read

 

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Opponents cars have nice poly levels and there're real-time reflections in the car paint

 

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You can zoom out - you cannot do that in F1 22 or DiRT 1-2

 

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View distance is great

 

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Don't forget your sunglasses! 😎

 

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The mirror is real-time updated - and the game does not feel dated

 

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Love the sun flare - and no worries about God rays in this game, lol

 

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More sun

 

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Nice light

 

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Many different tracks and cars are available

 

Not sure why these racing games/sims are so incredibly demanding - but you really need that RTX 3080 or better just for Project Cars. I've read many reviews where users are sad about the F1 22 VR performance - even using a RTX 3090. Does not make much sense - but indicates incredibly poor optimization.

Not saying Project Cars is better optimized - but being from the year 2015, Project Cars has lower system requirements than F1 22, while still offering great racing and gameplay.

 

For those sad about the F1 22 performance - my best advice is to look back and try Project Cars instead - you may be surprised how good that game looks and performs these days!

 

 

The game is on sale for just 5 bucks or so - but only for 2 hours from now 😉

 

https://store.steampowered.com/app/234630/Project_CARS/

Oculus Rift CV1, Valve Index & PSVR2, Asus Strix OC RTX™ 3090, i9-10900K (5.3Ghz), 32GB 3200MHz, 16TB SSD
"Ask not what VR can do for you, but what you can do for VR"

4 REPLIES 4

RuneSR2
Grand Champion

Btw, I tested the game with the Rift CV1 and ss 2.5 was too much for 90 fps, confirming my results with the Index. But ss 2.0 works perfectly - also using highest settings which include adding crowds to the tracks (crowds are disabled by default). Interestingly, all jaggies were gone with the CV1, which was great - but SDE was prominent. Even using Index res 200% jaggies are easy to see, but I adapted quickly and did not notice them much. With a RTX 3090, you should be able to use a res of about 18 mill pixels per frame in solid 90 fps - but remember that the game uses native Oculus drivers or native SteamVR drivers, if your hmd is from HP, Pimax, Varjo etc. your performance may be much lower. 

 

Fun thing, also tried Project Cars 2, which also supports native Oculus drivers - and the game worked flawlessly using Ultra settings (including 3D grass) using CV1 ss 2.0, but this time res 200% was too much for the Index - had to lower to res 150 - 175% for 90 fps, and then the Index became very blurry and there were many jaggies (crawling pixelated lines). 

Here I got the choice - getting the optimal CV1 experience at the expense of SDE, or getting blurry pixelated image quality with the Index (in 90 fps). I will not accept 45 fps in racing games - it totally kills immersion. 

The conclusion was easy - I chose the CV1. I'd rather be using ultra settings in perfectly smooth 90 fps than be fighting blurriness and jaggies using a lcd hmd. I really got no joy from the game using Index, but did with the CV1. In short, if you don't like a game - did you use the optimal hmd? 😉

Oculus Rift CV1, Valve Index & PSVR2, Asus Strix OC RTX™ 3090, i9-10900K (5.3Ghz), 32GB 3200MHz, 16TB SSD
"Ask not what VR can do for you, but what you can do for VR"

iMight404
Retired Support

Haven't had the luxury of properly playing a racing sim with a setup and all, but this makes me want one 😲

Take your destiny into your own hands. Sand cannot keep a shape by itself, but add water and it becomes malleable. Fate can be such, if you add the right element.

I'm just using my good ol' wireless Xbox controller - works surprisingly great for this game. 

 

Immersion does depend on the car - to some degree - this kind of steering wheel really feels like holding my Xbox controller, lol:

 

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- but getting an old fashioned round steering wheel is of course different. Still I really have no issue with the XBox controller in this sim/racing game. 

 

If I get a full sim setup, my wife will probably divorce me 😬 😅

Oculus Rift CV1, Valve Index & PSVR2, Asus Strix OC RTX™ 3090, i9-10900K (5.3Ghz), 32GB 3200MHz, 16TB SSD
"Ask not what VR can do for you, but what you can do for VR"

'll definitely try it with a controller! I know my brother had a racing sim setup but I think he sold it a few months ago. I thought it was interesting when I tried it but the wheel did have a tendency to jerk side to side on its own as a result of haptic feedback. I dunno what it is but they don't really strike me as being realistic in that regard. Still cool for the experience thought

Take your destiny into your own hands. Sand cannot keep a shape by itself, but add water and it becomes malleable. Fate can be such, if you add the right element.