ACE | The update to version 0.8 of Assetto Corsa EVO has been released, offering additional content and multiplayer mods

With version 0.8, Assetto Corsa EVO moves one step closer to the planned release of the final version 1.0.

Today’s Early Access update includes the Kyalami circuit as well as three new vehicles: the KTM X-Bow GT2, the KTM X-Bow GT4, and the Volkswagen Golf R Mk8.

Another particularly significant improvement is a much-highlighted enhancement to virtual reality performance. It was found that the “Foveated Rendering” option provides a smoother VR racing experience.

However, this is not the only performance-related optimization: “improved VRAM reporting” as well as “supersampling and enhanced windshield rendering” have also been added. Although these adjustments may seem highly technical, developer Kunos Simulazioni states that in practice they result in noticeable performance improvements on screen.

The June update marked the beginning of the development of vehicle modifications (mods). The current update builds on this foundation: vehicles created by the community can now be used in multiplayer, and there is also the option to create custom liveries within the external mod SDK.

Assetto Corsa EVO (ACE) v0.8 Changelog

Content

• KTM X-Bow GT2
• KTM X-Bow GT4
• Volkswagen Golf 8 R
• Kyalami

General

• external livery creation support
• fix for crash when player is changing car setup while the session changes or restarts
• added protection for controls listening while the session changes or restarts
• fixed a crash when starting the game from a mapped network drive
• fixed empty showroom showing briefly after launch before the splash screens
• added numberplate selector in the paintshop for relevant cars

Multiplayer

• possible crash fix when joining an MP server
• server/MP chat: feedback after using admin commands
• fix for a startup crash
• fix for crash when failing to connect a server
• fixed a crash when session switching while player is still loading the previous session
• updated Ferrari SP3 gearbox sounds
• MP: entrylist to allow defining starting order
• MP: server launcher support for modded car content
• MP: reject modified cars or incorrect mod version with sha check
• fix for players being able to call the pause menu in MP while driving
• fixed car receiving damage when spawning on shared box in MP
• fixed freeze and crash when the player is spamming input during session join

Gameplay

• fixed hotstint game mode bugs with timing and results
• fixed hotstint lap counter
• fixed fuel still influencing pitstop time even if refuel amount exceeded tank capacity
• fixed popup headlights not being synced with the gameplay logic

Physics/Handling

• removed rev limiter choking
• telemetry laps enabled in Datsun default setup
• DCT – added min filter throttle cut
• Ferrari Daytona SP3 – restored launch control
• rebaked dynamic track maps using revised logic

Renderer

• add projection correction
• introduced supersampling
• dynamic resizable texture pool and mesh streaming pool with real-time budget (this is used to keep vram within the available vram budget)
• mesh streamer new logic
• particles vram optimization
• instanced skeleton optimization
• enhanced vram reporting
• add new vram usage category to keep track of the resources of the cars that are not streamed
• clouds vram optimization
• material aggregate heap vram optimization
• readback passes vram optimization
• esm vram optimization
• buddy allocator peak stats
• enhanced windshield rendering
• update wipers refraction effect
• added windshield raindrop splash effect
• improved f+ tiled culling algorithm
• hiz occlusion now uses reprojected view – this should mitigate flickering of trees and other objects that were cull-glitching
• fix for early culling in mirrors when ultra setting is selected
• fix tree popping in cockpit view on certain camera conditions
• fix 9070xt and rx7600 recurring crashes

VR

• hidden mask optimization
• single pass stereo vr rendering
• foveated rendering
• pixel density slider (50% up to 150%)
• custom vr resolve for msaa (reduced aliasing with spatial resolve with depth reprojection – do not use velocity or flags buffers)
• world scale option
• spectator window off by default and add an option to turn it on
• prefer fps over latency option (similar to turbo mode of the openxr toolkit)
• dedicated video settings file from vr – split video settings: vr uses vr.videosettings while the rest of the game uses video.videosettings
• optimized vr pass by skipping passes if upscalers are not used
• renderer draws straight into the OpenXR swapchain image (avoid copy opt)
• added VR settings in the UI – the other non-VR settings are yet to be added
• more aggressive foveating presets
• eye tracked foveated rendering
• fixed a few IQ problem
• VR sunglasses option

Graphics

• race cars with plain liveries and material setup for external liveries
• remapped cloud levels and aligned the graphics to the new physics ranges
• aligned tarmac wet shader to new physics ranges

Audio

• added timestamp comparison to collision event filter (fixes bottoming sound)

UI

• fixed freecam widget not showing data when having the scene selector active in the showroom
• numberplates – number type now includes cap to max digits
• localization updates