Quickstart Guide

v0.2

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Welcome!

You are about to strap yourself in to experience the most exhilarating, authentic and

immersive multi-platform racing simulation available. Before you jump in and start attacking

those apexes, be sure to read this quickstart guide that will help you to set up the game so

that you get the most out of it.

This guide will cover the basics of the game and its extensive configuration options. When

needing more in-depth information, be sure to read the digital manual online at

http://www.projectcarsgame.com/digital-manual.html, or access it from within the game

(Options & Help menu).

If you still have questions about the game, be sure to visit the Project CARS public forum

http://forum.projectcarsgame.com where its staff members and other Project CARS

community members will be glad to answer your questions.

http://www.projectcarsgame.com/digital-manual.htmlhttp://forum.projectcarsgame.com/

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1. Starting the game Project CARS is a very demanding game because of its cutting-edge physics and graphics engines. Make sure your system is in good shape, e.g. by having sufficient HDD space and closing as many non-vital background applications as possible. Be aware that some programs that use an OSD (On-Screen Display) may conflict with the graphics engine of the game. Make sure that controllers are connected and working properly. Some controllers (e.g. Fanatec pedals) are best pushed through their full range before starting the game, to avoid calibration issues in-game.

2. Profile and graphics configuration The game uses a profile file to store all data about the game (e.g. career progress, controller configuration, car set-ups). On PC, this file is located in your Steam installation folder: ...\Steam\userdata\\234630\local\project cars\profiles\default.sav. You can back up this file as a safeguard against possible loss or corruption of the file. The graphics settings of the game are saved in a file called graphicsconfigdx11.xml (or graphicsconfig.xml if running DX9). It is located in My Documents/Project CARS.

3. Game Configuration At first start of the game, when the the introduction screens and video have been shown, you are asked to choose a profile that best suits your level of simulated driving expertise. These levels determine the preset driving assists and guides that will be switched on to help you steer your car around the track. These driving assists can be switched on or off later in the Gameplay settings menu. From the main screen, go to the Options & Help menu to configure the game.

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In the Options & Help menu, you can access several sub-menus to configure Gameplay, Controls, Visuals, Camera and Audio options to suit your hardware and personal taste.

Most settings will speak for themselves. Some options are highlighted here because they are vital for a good game experience. Controls Here, you choose your controller preset, assign the various functions to your controller hardware and calibrate your input device(s).

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When using a steering wheel and pedals, make sure that you first assign the steering and pedal axes (Edit Assignments tab) before calibrating them. For some pedals (e.g. Fanatec ClubSport Pedals) it is important to first have pushed down the pedals completely to self-calibrate them first, before calibrating them in the game. This will prevent possible calibration and functioning issues. Assigning controller axes and buttons is done by selecting the desired function and then pressing the controller button or axis to assign it.

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When calibrating the wheel, follow the instructions on-screen carefully: first turn the wheel over its full range to one side and back to center, click Next, then turn the wheel 90 degrees, keep it there and press Next, then Finish. In the Configuration tab, you can alter the deadzones of the steering wheel and the pedals, as well as their sensitivities (50 = linear). When using a controller, you can select one of the three controller presets in the Configuration tab. Each preset has its own characteristics, and you’ll have to try yourself which preset matches your controller response preference. You can tweak the controller response by changing the Speed Sensitivity (controller response changes depending on vehicle speed), Controller Filtering Sensitivity (amount of controller input filtering) and Damper Saturation (Force Feedback dampening strength). When enabling the Advanced options, you can tweak the controller response even further to suit your style and preference.

Visuals The game’s visuals can be modified in great detail to find the right combination of performance and graphics detail for every system and personal preference. Most options in the Visual FX and Performance tabs speak for themselves.

Certain parameters like Reflections, Environment Map and Shadows can have a significant impact on performance if set too high for a particular hardware configuration. With everything turned up to the maximum value, the game will tax even the most powerful systems currently available. Be sure to turn down settings that will have a significant impact on performance but only a minor impact on visual quality, to ensure smooth graphical performance when racing. Setting Reflections and Environment Map to their highest settings will only really be useful for taking pictures!

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On the Hardware tab, a few advanced options are available that normally don’t need tweaking. The Shared Memory option, however, is vital when using 3rd-party telemetry logging or visualization applications or motion rigs (PC-only). When using such applications, this needs to be turned on.

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6. Starting sessions

When you have set up the game to use your hardware optimally, it’s time to hit the track. The game offers Free Practice, Time Trial, Quick Race Weekend and Career modes. Free Practice Pick a car, a track, date, time of day and weather setting(s) and start doing laps quick and easy. Lap times set in Free Practice mode will not be recorder on the leaderboards. Most cars will start on cold tyres, so take it easy on the first few laps. Time Trial In time trial you can pick your car, track and optionally a ghost from the leaderboard to follow and beat. Date, time and weather are fixed to have a level playing field for everyone, as lap times will be recorded on the leaderboards. Quick Race Weekend

Here you can set up your complete race weekend against AI drivers, including practice and

qualification sessions.

Career

When starting a career, make sure you fill in all fields, including a nickname (without spaces

in it). Choose your starting point and a team, and get your racing career off the line.

In all events except career, you will be able to choose track and car, you can configure the race

settings and you can set date, time and weather to your preferred settings.

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When you enter the Change Vehicle section, you can select the car from the game’s full car list, and

you can enter the garage to change the car’s set up and modify its Force Feedback characteristics.

Click on the right part of the screen with all car brand logos to go to the garage.

In the main garage you can choose to create or edit the car’s set-up. Once in the set-up screen, you

can switch between the different tabs using the arrows in the top bar.

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When going to the Force Feedback tab in the upper navigation bar, you can modify the Force

Feedback characteristics for the car that you selected. Note that all Force Feedback settings (both the

car-specific settings and the global Force Feedback settings in the Controls section) are explained in

the Force Feedback Guide.

http://forum.projectcarsgame.com/showthread.php?29907-Force-Feedback-Guide-for-Project-CARS

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7. Multiplayer

Browsing and creating multiplayer sessions

The in-game multiplayer lobby offers you to search and create open and private lobbies. Create a

race event with the car/track combination, date, weather, time progression and rules that you want.

You can even complete the grid with AI drivers if it is not completely filled with human drivers.

Using the dedicated server tool to host your own multiplayer server

This is still WIP (Work In Progress), when the dedicated is released it will be announced on the

Project CARS forum.