DriveClub by Evolution Studios [PS4]

[Graham]

OK I'm enjoying the multiplayer *much* more than the singleplayer. Despite the incredibly flaky server connection and awful start grid bug.

(Even if they are often total arseholes) Having opponents that actually react to you and make mistakes is so refreshing
The hopper system they have is very smart. At first I wasn't a fan as it seemed very restrictive, but it works very well. Good mix of variety and reducing down time between races.
I hope they add a bit more to the MP. It could do with some additional stats and features (best lap, ghost races, race-to-race score tracking, etc). And the corner penalties really suck in MP. The game can punish small mistakes very harshly, but you can still run full speed into another car/hairpin and often come out OK.
I like that they don't really punish you for a bad race; there doesn't appear to be a ranking system. I find that quite refreshing. Although a 'driver style' rating would be nice - might encourage people to drive clean.

Having someone ram you off the road, to then catch them up again and force them into an error on the final corner is rather satisfying. SCREW YOU xXxSWAGGERxXx you suck

 

[scf]

lol

 

[Arwin]

OK I'm enjoying the multiplayer *much* more than the singleplayer. Despite the incredibly flaky server connection and awful start grid bug.

(Even if they are often total arseholes) Having opponents that actually react to you and make mistakes is so refreshing
The hopper system they have is very smart. At first I wasn't a fan as it seemed very restrictive, but it works very well. Good mix of variety and reducing down time between races.

Having someone ram you off the road, to then catch them up again and force them into an error on the final corner is rather satisfying. SCREW YOU xXxSWAGGERxXx you suck

But I do actually think they did a nice job with the mistakes in single player as well. I've seen other cars make a believable crash, break too late while overtaking, etc.

 

[London Geezer]

Agreed. This game is actually a lot of FUN.
Very addictive and when I (rarely) do things perfectly right, so rewarding! And when something wrong happens, it makes me go crazy.
Very nice feeling to have while playing a game.

 

[RenegadeRocks]

Yup, same feelings The game simply ROCKS ! No idea why it got low reviews. and online was working for me last night so a lot of challenges popped up during my time trial making me lose focus !
Quite a lot of them were bugged, like "average speed: 1563KMPH", WTF !

The satisfaction of beting your own time by a second or getting the gold in time trials after looping the track 20 times is priceless in this game ! Feels more rewarding that GT6, somehow ! And love the sound and the graphics :there is no way I can play music during races, the sounds are sublime. THe way rubber flips/jumps over small concrete: it feels so real !

Great Job, Evo ! THey could have spruced up the whole presentation though, to catch the casual crowd. The core racing fantastic !

 

[London Geezer]

Also, some have mentioned it already, but at times this game is almost too fast! The sense of speed is crazy, I'm pretty sure it has to do with the narrowest parts of the tracks, cause at times it feels almost too fast. For a 30fps game, it was great to see that.
And I haven't even touched the multiplayer yet! I mean I did try but it didn't work, I'll try again at some point.

 

[RenegadeRocks]

Yup, like I said before too, hurtling towards a corner at 200 kmph feels scary. Sense of speed is fantastic and makes the races feel a lot more aggressive.

 

[Deleted member 11852]

What's the deal with steering wheels for PS4 and Xbox One?

Eurogamer have an article on oldgen wheel support on both nextgen consoles.

As I speculated back in this post, it's as much to do with drivers (or lack of) as well as security.

This perplexed me but it took very little googling to bottom this out.

Let's start with the basics as to why you can't just plug your device in and have it work automatically. Although there is a standard USB profile for HID (Human Interface Devices) hardware like keyboards, mice and joysticks, support for more complicated devices like haptic feedback racing wheels is fairly rudimentary which is why Logitech and Thrustmaster provide device drivers for their wheels. I.e. you can't just plug them into a Windows computer or Mac and have them just work. The computer/console can see something is connected but without a driver it can't use that device.

Now Thrustmaster are Sony licensed which I am certain means that they have provided Sony a device driver that is included as part of the PlayStation 4 OS. Plug in any Thrustmaster device supported by that driver and it'll work with any game that supports wheels.

However it seems that Logitech began shutting down their console accessories division in January last year so it is unlikely they developed a driver for PlayStation 4 for it to be licensed and included in the console's OS.

I believe the reference to the security chip is because the PlayStation 4 will not even acknowledge any USB device that isn't presenting itself as a basic keyboard, mouse or mass storage device. Anything else, like a racing wheel, is completely ignored. I believe it likely that to prevent USB injection exploits Sony have implemented a TrustZone profile that ignores most USB devices unless they handshake with licensed TrustZone security key.

So folks raging at Sony, it's not their job to write system device drivers for Logitech devices - that's Logitech's job. You paid them for their device, it's their job to support it and you as a customer.

However I gather that most Logitech wheels are based on Immersion technology so perhaps some degree of support could be achieved if Immersion step up - arguably this would be more logical move because that becomes a selling point of Immersion's technology; use our tech and it's already supported on PlayStation 4 - and why not Xbox One as well?

 

[Nesh]

I am a little annoyed by this. I have two of the most expensive controlers and none work with PS4.
Hitbox and a G25
Actually I am pissed

 

[Deleted member 11852]

Logitech exiting the console space early last year was definitely unexpected.

 

[London Geezer]

It can't be that hard to map the movement ranges and button functions to the platform, right? The game already supports analog controls via the motion sensors of the DS4 - pretty damn well too, I might add. Am I over-reaching?

 

[Arwin]

No it's the mandatory security chip

 

[London Geezer]

No it's the mandatory security chip

Boo! 'Elf and sayftey!

 

[Deleted member 11852]

No it's the mandatory security chip

I don't think it's wholly the chip because some old wheels released for PS3 work. I speculated on why there may be some flexibility above but it's clear that even DF couldn't get solid answers from devs.

And there was some "spirited discussion" on whose fault it is a few pages back!

 

[Arwin]

I don't think it's wholly the chip because some old wheels released for PS3 work. I speculated on why there may be some flexibility above but it's clear that even DF couldn't get solid answers from devs.

And there was some "spirited discussion" on whose fault it is a few pages back!

I think they just settled on a specific chip that Thrustmaster happened to be using. Sony tends to partner with such a third party early, and then work out SDK stuff with them too. I only hope that they'll support Mad Catz and Fanatec in the future as well.

It's a shame the security chip is even necessary though.

 

[Deleted member 11852]

I think they just settled on a specific chip that Thrustmaster happened to be using.

It's possible but I'd be surprised if Sony weren't using a new form of security in PS4 (over PS3). The cynic in me thinks it's more about licensing hardware than security as well. No doubt it'll all come out in time.

There are probably so few people working on PS4 games with wheel support that it's just too risky for devs in the know to even hint at what is going on without it obviously being traced back to them.

 

[Arwin]

It's possible but I'd be surprised if Sony weren't using a new form of security in PS4 (over PS3). The cynic in me thinks it's more about licensing hardware than security as well. No doubt it'll all come out in time.

There are probably so few people working on PS4 games with wheel support that it's just too risky for devs in the know to even hint at what is going on without it obviously being traced back to them.

Maybe, but do remember that the PS4 was almost exclusively seriously hacked thanks to a USB vulnerability.

 

[Nesh]

You mean the PS3

 

[Deleted member 11852]

Maybe, but do remember that the PS4 was almost exclusively seriously hacked thanks to a USB vulnerability.

PS3. Yes, so more reason to believe Sony have changed whatever "security chip" they require USB controllers to have. I still believe PS4 has TrustZone security and requires some USB devices to have chip which appeases their TrustZone implementation in some way.

Again, more for licensing than really security reasons. TrustZone, when implemented well in whatever usage case is required, is extremely robust.

 

[Graham]

Holy bajebus the Ariel Atom is just insane. I mean. I knew it was fast, but not 'rocket ship with the downforce of a paper airplane' crazy. It utterly destroys every other car (in its class) out of a corner, but good luck getting it round the corner in the first place

Tried it out tonight in multiplayer. The results were rather clenching.

http://realtime.lighting/dump/dc4.mp4

The race was something of a clusterf**k to be honest but boy was it fun.
The first lap or two are a mess. Watch the rearview mirror and map at 5:25 for the biggest asshole moveof all time by the aston martin