THE PROJECT CARS

Project CARS (Community Assisted Racing Simulator) is a racing simulation video game in development by Slightly Mad Studios. It is scheduled to be released for Microsoft Windows, Wii U, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 during 2014. Project Cars is being considered for a PlayStation 4 and Xbox One release sometime after the initial release on current generation systems if Slightly Mad Studios gets additional funding from the community.
Funding for the game is raised by the community and the developers themselves, without the financial aid of a traditional publisher. Through the purchase of Tool Packs players can contribute to development in roles including content creation, QA, and marketing media.Members gain special perks, depending on their purchased tool pack. While not an investment opportunity, members will receive 70% of game sales profits generated within the first 2 years after launch as compensation for their efforts, to be paid quarterly.

Gameplay

Physics

While the game is being built for the "hardcore" simulator enthusiast, the game will also target fans of Gran Turismo and Forza Motorsport through the use of driver aids and input filtering methods. Despite using the same Madness engine used in the Need for Speed Shift titles, there are no traces of 'floaty' handling or 'input lag', which were a common source of frustration in the simulation community. More processing power available in modern computers allows a new dynamic tire model named "SETA" to be used in Project CARS, instead of using a steady-state model based on lookup tables as used in previous generation simulations.
In addition to community feedback, Slightly Mad Studios have acquired the services of Ben Collins, racing driver and Top Gear's former "Stig", and Nicolas Hamilton, Clio Cup racing driver and younger brother to Formula 1 star Lewis Hamilton, in order to better develop a realistic simulation.

Content

Despite the incomplete nature of this title, there are already over 60 licensed cars and over 35 race tracks (not including circuit layouts) confirmed to be included. For licensing reasons, tracks are currently codenamed using their geographic location. In addition to real world racing circuits and fictional kart circuits, there are some fictional point-to-point roads inspired by real locations such as Côte d'Azur, California Pacific Coast, and there are plans for the Stelvio Pass.

Andy Tudor, creative director, elaborates: "Although we don’t play the numbers game, Gran Turismo has 27 locations in the game currently, we have 35 all with full day/night cycles and dynamic weather, plus a dedicated Test Track where players can test their vehicle’s performance on hill climbs, slaloms, banked oval sections, and drag straights. In terms of customization, all cars can have their own unique livery and the WMD community are making some beautiful ones currently!"

Rally

The community agreed it's better to remove rally racing at the current time, in order for it to receive appropriate attention. The team intends to create a rally simulation that will rival Richard Burns Rally, which despite its age, is still very popular amongst sim racing rally fans. After taking a vote, Ian Bell (head of studio), decided the development team would consider designing rally racing as DLC or as a standalone product (or both) 3 months before Project CARS ships.

Virtual Reality

On the 26th of August 2012 support for the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset was announced on the official forums. The announcement stated that at least one Oculus Rift Development Kit has been ordered. Members of the project are able to follow a link referenced in the forum post to read more details.
TrackIR will also be supported.