Xtreme Gaming Network

Simulation Racing Leagues => Assetto Corsa => Australian Assetto Corsa League, Tuesday nights => Topic started by: Wally on January 12, 2022, 07:36:06 PM

Title: Fun Run: Norma M20 FC
Post by: Wally on January 12, 2022, 07:36:06 PM

Let's try a candidate car for the next season - see what you think of the Norma M20 FC.

Ideal pressures are 35, front and back.

Car 1 download (FC Gen 2) (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1PhdFyHGgSjJ80CUsWHhu71KmEnMBwA0s/view?usp=sharing)

Car 2 download (FC260) (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1PeKI-EYlbo5nnPmjVTI1URYPpy2UW8eU/view?usp=sharing)

Track: Brands Hatch

"Since 2011, the NORMA M20 FC has been the incontestable star of the CN category, both on the racetrack and in hill climbs. With more than 70 national and international titles (including a double title at the FIA European Hill Climb Championship in 2014 and 2015 with Italian driversection, Simone Faggioli), the M20 FC 2016 is the latest member of the M20 family, and the product of Norma’s outstanding expertise, always benefitting from the particular attention of its Design Office. The M20 FC offers its drivers, from amateurs to the most experienced, an unparalleled driving experience and a level of performance envied by competitors all over. It also provides Norma’s teams with a reliable, easy to operate car for both the racetracks and hill climbs."

(https://imgur.com/APj9u8X.jpg)

Title: Re: Fun Run: Norma M20 FC
Post by: Seanus on January 13, 2022, 12:30:18 PM

Hypercritical or hypocritical as the case may be, this car fails in more ways than one.


High poly but low detail model with only one LOD.


Downforce is 3 to 4 times too low.


Front wing & diffuser height sensitivity is broken.


Got to love cars that disagree with their own description:


'Honda 2.0 L Atmospheric 260 HP, max. 8.200 rpm' versus 286 rear wheel horsepower and 8500 rpm.


'...with 3rd front & rear adjustable parts.' versus none.


A lot of copypasta from the Kunos Praga which may or may not be a bad thing although many of the above errors are present in that car as well!




 :P :P :P

Title: Re: Fun Run: Norma M20 FC
Post by: Wally on January 13, 2022, 03:20:15 PM

Yes, but is it fun to race? ;)

Title: Re: Fun Run: Norma M20 FC
Post by: Bacchulum on January 13, 2022, 04:28:43 PM

High poly's and 1 LOD may cause performance issues for some with a decent field.
Hopefully enough show up to test this.

Title: Re: Fun Run: Norma M20 FC
Post by: Wally on January 13, 2022, 05:20:25 PM

Quote from: Bacchulum on January 13, 2022, 04:28:43 PM

High poly's and 1 LOD may cause performance issues for some with a decent field.
Hopefully enough show up to test this.

You could try a big AI grid and see how your PC copes. So many mods I look at only have 1 LOD, unfortunately.

Title: Re: Fun Run: Norma M20 FC
Post by: Seanus on January 13, 2022, 06:30:10 PM

Even if it drives well, which so far it seems to, or indeed race well, of which we are yet to see, it is not enjoyable to drive.


The high poly low detail is right in my face as the cockpit is the low detail part.


And if I'm driving a model Norma M20FC then I expect it, as far as possible, to behave and perform as such.


Such as this one:
(http://xgn.com.au/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=3362.0;attach=2473;image)
This is where the hypocrisy comes in as this monster ain't complete either.

Title: Re: Fun Run: Norma M20 FC
Post by: Seanus on January 13, 2022, 06:52:18 PM

FYI Gen2 and Gen3 are the same bar headlight covers and a small height discrepancy with the wings.

Title: Re: Fun Run: Norma M20 FC
Post by: Seanus on January 13, 2022, 07:15:50 PM

'Cannot join the server: no free slot available'


Tried restarting it and reinstalled the cars at my end.


Anyone else?

Title: Re: Fun Run: Norma M20 FC
Post by: Seanus on January 13, 2022, 07:26:30 PM

Suspect uppercase letters but not had time to test.

Title: Re: Fun Run: Norma M20 FC
Post by: Wally on January 13, 2022, 09:57:04 PM

Quote from: Seanus on January 13, 2022, 07:26:30 PM

Suspect uppercase letters but not had time to test.

Fixed - yes, I had to make the car names all lowercase in the server & entry ini.

I got rid of the gen3 as it seems to be the same as the gen2.

Title: Re: Fun Run: Norma M20 FC
Post by: Wally on January 14, 2022, 05:07:28 PM

I found another Norma, which looks & feels fairly similar, maybe sounds better, and has LODs. I've added this to the server too, to compare the two.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1PeKI-EYlbo5nnPmjVTI1URYPpy2UW8eU/view?usp=sharing

Title: Re: Fun Run: Norma M20 FC
Post by: Seanus on January 14, 2022, 10:57:15 PM

 :)  Much better.


Models are different but may share some ancestry, judging by a few similarities.


A properly done derivation on the Praga but still suffers that car's lack of downforce. Setup seems to work as intended.


Not quite real LODs as there are only two, at least the top level has half the polys of the other example.


Better selection of skins.  And an extra one (http://www.toms-sim-side.de/downloads/skin_conrad_norma_77.zip) I just found.


(for me and perhaps only for me the auto shifting ain't optimised)


Still not quite good enough though, but having said that none of the Kunos original is really good enough either!!

Title: Re: Fun Run: Norma M20 FC
Post by: Mael on January 14, 2022, 11:06:25 PM

Both cars are fun but prefer the M20 FC260. Mainly because the engine feels more unique. Should be a real challenge to keep it within its powerband  :)

(But looking at the laptimes I am missing something)

Title: Re: Fun Run: Norma M20 FC
Post by: Bacchulum on January 15, 2022, 01:54:10 PM

FC260 over Gen 2.

Title: Re: Fun Run: Norma M20 FC
Post by: Wally on January 16, 2022, 02:11:11 PM

Quote from: Bacchulum on January 15, 2022, 01:54:10 PM

FC260 over Gen 2.

I agree. It feels a bit nicer to drive. I'll get rid of the gen 2.

Title: Re: Fun Run: Norma M20 FC
Post by: Bacchulum on January 16, 2022, 03:06:56 PM

I just don't trust a mod that doesn't export tyre data to Sidekick or camber data to Camber Extravaganza. :-X

Title: Re: Fun Run: Norma M20 FC
Post by: Seanus on January 16, 2022, 06:37:36 PM

Any car with a lookup table for camber gain doesn't work in camber extravaganza.


Don't Panic, not many have, I think I only have one myself.

Title: Re: Fun Run: Norma M20 FC
Post by: Wally on January 19, 2022, 09:11:03 AM

This car was a blast to race. It's grippy and yet can move around a bit, especially as the soft tyres start to wear. We had very close lap times (top 3 were within 0.1 secs in one race). It's the type of car where you can have very close racing, but if you have an incident and drop off the pack, it can be hard to catch up.

Here's a snippet of me, Freezer and Mael duking it out in front of the rest. There was quite a bit of racing like this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlWfAZFMtOM

It would have been better if more people had shown up.

Title: Re: Fun Run: Norma M20 FC
Post by: Mael on January 19, 2022, 05:56:17 PM

That was a quality tank-slapper from Freezer  ;D

I was expecting laptimes to be close but did not expect it to be so close! A 0.1s mistake in qualification counted a disaster. Overtaking proof to be extremely difficult with so little difference in performance between drivers,