Project CARS 2 Force clutch use? (1 Viewer)

[Laserbeak43]

Hi,
There seems to be no difference between auto-clutch on or off... aside from stalling. Is there any other reason to keep auto-clutch off? I'd love to be forced to use a clutch, if the car required it. It has its advantages, but I don't bother if I don't need to, unfortunately.

 

[Ashnoom]

Auto-clutch makes you slower in sequential pedal shifters

 

[Cluck]

There's a lengthy thread on the public pcars forum about this and although everything is modelled correctly, a design decision was taken to auto-engage a gear if you forget to use the clutch - it will still be slower than if you'd used the clutch pedal and engaged it properly but you can drive without the clutch if you really want to. The problem is simply that you have such a wide base of players, from gamepads to 2-pedals to 3-pedals and with a huge range of skills within. Throw in to the mix people who can't use the clutch pedal at all (through disability for example) and you have too wide a variety to simply say "if you miss a gear, you're going to have to re-engage it yourself". Personally, I use the clutch on h-shifter cars, I always have done and if I miss a gear I will re-engage it myself.

Would it be nice if we all had force-feedback gear shifters, ones that simply won't engage unless you use a clutch? Yes. Would it be nice if there was an option to disable the auto-engage "for more perceived realism"? Yes, options are always good. But we have neither of those things so you can either:

Ignore the clutch pedal entirely and drive in a way that is unnatural
or
Use the clutch anyway and don't worry that it will auto-engage eventually

I'll try and find the replies from the SMS folk on this topic.

EDIT:

Following on from Nathan... regarding the clutch not working: The discussion is really about the gearbox and not the clutch. The clutch is a simple coupling that connects the engine crankshaft to gearbox input shaft. When it is used to disconnect those two shafts, it allows the gearbox synchronizers to work on the input shaft and engage the next selected gear. While our driveline model has signals to indicate 'The synchronizers are still doing their thing' or 'Hey, you are grinding the gears like a madman', we also have to consider devices ranging from gamepads with no/automatic clutch (and auto shifting itself), through basic steering wheels with fast shifting paddles and no clutch, to higher-end rigs with all the right hardware.

The choice we made was to have the gearbox act with a strong synchronizing effect such that, even with poor clutch use causing a missed gearshift, the time penalty afterwards before forcing into the selected gear is not huge. The aim for this was to not give a significant advantage either way. The time we use before forcing the next gear in H-pattern boxes is 0.5s, so completely disregarding the clutch or shifting carelessly and missing every shift will mean at least 0.5s with no power to the wheels. Smart, fast use of the clutch (or a brief throttle lift in racing gearboxes) should be quick enough to match that, and those who want to shift authentically, like me, can do that, with what we have now.

 

[Tom]

In a nutshell, its not forced to help with compatibility. You can also assign a button to toggle auto clutch in game, if you so desire.

 

[Invincible]

Would it be nice if we all had force-feedback gear shifters, ones that simply won't engage unless you use a clutch?

Which begs the question: WHY aren't those a thing yet? A mechanical block along with a really painful gear-grinding-noise would be so much more immersive.

 

[Laserbeak43]

Auto-clutch makes you slower in sequential pedal shifters

There's a lengthy thread on the public pcars forum about this and although everything is modelled correctly, a design decision was taken to auto-engage a gear if you forget to use the clutch - it will still be slower than if you'd used the clutch pedal and engaged it properly but you can drive without the clutch if you really want to. The problem is simply that you have such a wide base of players, from gamepads to 2-pedals to 3-pedals and with a huge range of skills within. Throw in to the mix people who can't use the clutch pedal at all (through disability for example) and you have too wide a variety to simply say "if you miss a gear, you're going to have to re-engage it yourself". Personally, I use the clutch on h-shifter cars, I always have done and if I miss a gear I will re-engage it myself.

In a nutshell, its not forced to help with compatibility. You can also assign a button to toggle auto clutch in game, if you so desire.

Had no Idea! I'm glad I asked! I guess I'll be practicing with the clutch more often. Time to learn to heel-toe! It's kind of hard to feel the pedals at all when you're wearing shoes though. I have a pair of racing shoes that I use on my V3s because they shave the skin off of your feet after a while...

Which begs the question: WHY aren't those a thing yet? A mechanical block along with a really painful gear-grinding-noise would be so much more immersive.

With all of the other noises coming from my rig, I think grinding gears would cause my neighbors to think my house is some other dimension! They'd probably run away from the walls when they'd heard it! (finally)

EDIT:
I can really feel the difference in RallyX! But heel-toe feels really complicated when entering corners. Like 9/10 times I feel like I'm doing it just because. Telling myself, "trust me, you're supposed to". All of this movement might make me nice on the dancefloor one day...

 

[Invincible]

All of this movement might make me nice on the dancefloor one day...

Yeah, it'll enable you to hit both of your wife's feet at once with only your right foot.

 

[Laserbeak43]

Edit:
What gear ratio is would that be in the graph @2:00? I'm guessing, you have to be aware of things like this?