first night initial impressions:
only got an hour before and after dinner, but here are some things i noticed.
-Its all new. defintatly not AC 2.0. everything is different, menus, layouts, huds, just everything.
-the only thing i could find the same is when you overcook or slide a tire, for the next lap those tires are complete ice. impossible to drive on and make you spin again. hated that about AC. so far thats the only thing i recognize that transfered over.
-first thing i noticed is how hard it was. it took me nearly the entire first hour to make a clean lap (its monitoring you live on screen, for safety rating and track awards) granted i havent run this track since forza. so i was also relearning parts of it.
-car to car hits seem too aggresive. make you spin most of the time.
-i dont feel as one with the car as i do with iRacing. but its on par with all the other sims. AC, PC, RR, etc.
-that being said it is very visceral. with the car/head movement, noises, etc. you really feel like your in the car and things are "alive"
-Marbles are a big thing. you can see them, you can hear them, and when you get into them you feel them, you loose steering and can spin.
-on that note, being on the racing line seems to be a major factor. more than iRacing. one corner in particular i spun many times when i got in too deep in the marbles on the outside.
-triple monitors seemed to be supported, and i tried it, but only allows a max of 70 FOV, which is useless on my wrap around setup. more on this later.
-i noticed this weird "predator vision" (the movie) in my rear view mirror, and a little bit ahead on shadows and things. thats the only way i know how to discribe it.
-graphics seemed harsh and pixelated edges at times. alot of the times.
-distant track surfaces looked odd at times. especially pavement changes.
-noticed some artifacts on the (electronic/Motec)dash at times. when the hands would cross it, or the dash graphic had to change, like gear numbers etc.
-i was running all graphics on epic with my 8gb card
-the hand/glove graphics are insanely good. they stood out as looking crazy real, like it was my real hand/gloves. also the hand actually make the adjustments on the wheel when you adjust TC, brake balance etc.
-disclaimer: now will all these graphics issues being said, i was running in windowed mode on my center TV since the triple screens arent really supported well with only 70 FOV. so all of these issues COULD be from that. ie trying to squeeze down a 1920x1080 to like 1900x1000ish. i need to set it back to full screen to test this threory. also i havent played with any of the graphic settings at all. a simple (AA?)change could fix it all.
-the race load music sounds just like The Grand Tour
-lots of great sound effects, such as anti lag system, Co2 shifters, things hitting underside of chassis etc.
-had nearly every race an issue with the AI, they would back up and traffic jam to a stop on track. seemed to always happen in a area with yellow flags. they would all be just stoped in lines. they didnt know what to do.
-you have a crew cheif on the radio, telling you about yellows, lap times, mid race, last lap etc.
-it appears you might be able to use buttons twice. there seemed to be a secondary setting for all wheel buttons you could set up for a long press. so you could have 1 button do 2 things. with a short press or a long/hold press. i didnt play with this but that what it appeared to be. you could even set up how long it had to be pressed.
-tried a night race as my last one. you have two levels of headlights. "low" beams, and high beams with interior blue leds lighting up the cabin. on high only.
-also wipers have 3 speeds
-night races are well done. graphics are really good/realistic.
-had my best finish in the night race.
over all i would say hold off on the buying the beta. 0.1.0. is going to be too boring i think once i get everything figured out. with only 1 car/track, no MP etc. id say hold off for now.