With the game still in early access, Kunos Simulazioni has already rolled out ranked multiplayer, and before full release, Luca believes it could do with some licence structuring.
I have been looking at Assetto Corsa EVO whilst it is still in early access with its Daily Racing over on acevo.gg and a part of me sees that it could do perhaps with some structuring. Plenty of titles employ such a system, iRacing having perhaps the most notable and substantial, but others like Le Mans Ultimate, rFactor 2 and RaceRoom also do.
With the Daily Racing options available for AC EVO, it does have a lot of potential. Currently, there is a selection of different series to choose from on rotation. Some feature the road-going cars, some with the racing cars and even a dedicated series running exclusively at the Nordschleife with a rotation of different cars.
So after giving it some consideration, I will be dreaming up a system that could change AC EVO's ranked daily races to something progression-based for when the game enters its full release.
AC EVO Ranked Daily Races: A Linear Path
Looking on the Assetto Corsa EVO website, the cars are divided into road and racing cars. Therefore, it might be perhaps worth considering having two sorts of licences to run separately, much like how iRacing now has the Sports Car licence for GT and prototype cars and the Formula licence for open wheelers. With that being said, does that perhaps run the risk of the 'Road Car' licence being neglected in favour of the 'Racing' licence?
Leaving that debate aside for now, what are the best starting cars in AC EVO? Looking at the Road Car side, the clear choices would have to be the array of hot hatchbacks, which includes the likes of the Abarth 695 Biposto, Hyundai i30N, Mini John Cooper S Mk VI, Peugeot 205 T16, Renault 5 GT Turbo and the two Volkswagen Golf GTI (Mk1 and Mk8). There are a lot to choose from, so perhaps we can have them on rotation akin to what LMU does.
The next step up after achieving a higher safety rating in the Road Car licence would logically be some rear wheel drive cars, and there are a few perfect candidates in the form of the Toyota GR86, Alpine A110 S, Honda S2000 and a 1994 Mazda MX-5. Still relatively low powered and will lead very nicely into the next stage, whether that be continuing into road or diverting into racing cars.
To stick with road cars, the Lotus Exige V6 Cup would be the perfect fit as would the Porsche Cayman GT4 RS but if you wanted to pivot into racing cars, the options would be just like what it is on iRacing for rookies, the Mazda MX-5 ND Cup, BMW M2 CS Racing and (soon on iRacing) the Caterham Academy car. But whilst not on AC EVO, I believe there is a perfect option for an introduction into open wheel cars.
With the game being developed in Italy, there is a series of cars that I mentioned in our piece talking about what cars we would want to see in the game. The Formula Predator is a car that produces 200 horsepower and weighs only 360 kilograms, so there would be no shortage of options across all kinds of racing cars. Then follows the next set of options for both road and racing cars.
On the road car side, the likes of the Porsche 992 GT3 RS, Ferrari 296 GTB and Lamborghini Huracán STO could all be raced in a series called the Supercar Challenge, whilst the racing cars at that same level would be GT4 cars like the Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport. If they have a single-seater option, then they could go for something a bit of a step up from the Formula Predator. I would personally opt for the Tatuus MSV-GB3-025 that races in GB3, though more realistically, it would be the T-326, which races in Formula Regional.
The next step up would involve the road-going hypercars like the Ferrari Daytona SP3 and other cars like it when they are added down the line like the McLaren P1, Porsche 918, LaFerrari etc. whilst the racing car alternatives would be GT3 cars like the BMW M4 and the most recent additions of the Ford Mustang and Ferrari 296 with the Lotus T125 from the original Assetto Corsa being a good option for open wheelers.
From this point, there would be no more options for road cars beyond the hypercars and instead the next few steps up are solely for racing cars. Predictably, the next step after GT3 and the Lotus T125 would be prototypes and F1 cars, so that would include the likes of the Ferrari 499P (assuming it will be added) and then the F1 cars like the F2004, SF-25 and any more they intend to add.
Progression by Safety Rating
Of course, like most online racing ranking systems, each of these series would be accessible at different levels of safety rating. How that would be achieved in AC EVO would be up to Kunos of course, but once you have a particular value of SR, that opens up more races to you.
To initially get into online ranked multiplayer, players must complete the planned academy gamemode to earn their initial licence which begins at 1.00 safety rating. That grants players access to the hot hatches, then the rear wheel drive cars from 2.00 and finally from 3.00 onwards, the licences deviate so you can go between road cars or the two forms of racing car.
The Exige/Cayman, MX-5/M2/Caterham and Formula Predator occupy that first step on the diversion and it keeps going up by 1.00, with the 992 GT3 RS/296 GTB/Huracán STO, GT4 racecars and the GB3 or Formula Regional car accessible from 4.00. Then of course, the road-going hypercars, GT3 cars and Lotus T125 from 5.00.
The current system is sufficient during early access, but a centralised and ranked system will be better for the full release. Image: acevo.gg
With all of that in mind, it is perhaps easy to tie the remaining pieces together. Might be better fleshed out with more work or some alternative ideas from the community, but ultimately, I believe this would make AC EVO's ranked online multiplayer work very well. Of course, the current system would work quite nicely for unranked races.
If anybody else reckons they can improve on this system, feel free to contribute your concept, as I will not rule out that I may have missed something.
What type of racing do you believe should be in the ranked online multiplayer for Assetto Corsa EVO? Let us know in the comments below, and join the discussion in our AC EVO forum!