The summer has proven to be fruitful for Assetto Corsa rallying, with the release of CSP v0.2.4 bringing not only SurfacesFX but also the new Rally Stage mode and CSP Copilot app into the public version. As to give the new CSP some proper testing, Superstage has released the much-anticipated Prunières-Embrun stage:

While JCRR continues to toil on the alpine Joux Verte stage:

Some great efforts are underway in the realm of rally car sound modding: check the latest releases from Dxply and ACP modz

For those working with RaceTrackBuilder, work is in progress to make using lidar data more accessible. The first result is a tool for creating a track file with precise elevation data, more will be added in the next few weeks.

Some observations on the latest CSP release:

  • The replay camera now defaults to in-car view (actually, sticks to the view used while driving). To prevent this: go to Settings > Custom Shaders Patch > General Patch Settings > find and disable “Keep camera on replay activation”
  • A few stages suddenly experience invisible bumps, for instance Muracciole at 4.3km into the stage – but this doesn’t happen with all car mods. For Muracciole this has been fixed in the latest track mod update (1.1).

Rally Stage mode

  • If the game crashes while loading in Rally Stage mode: first start the game in Hotlap or Practice mode, enable the new Rally Copilot app from the app drawer, then restart in Rally Stage mode.
  • In Rally Stage mode the car must be stopped in a zone 2-3m before the startline and the handbrake pulled to initiate countdown. An indicator hovering above the startline indicates when you’re within the starting zone.
  • The timer starts from the “Go”, not when crossing the startline! Timing in rally mode is calculated in the Rally Stage LUA code, independent from the classic Assetto Corsa timing (which is triggered by crossing the starting line). So all current timing apps will show results differing slighty from the CSP Rally Stage timing.
  • Stage & split times are saved in a database in Documents\Assetto Corsa\savedData\rally-stages . Full delta timing is not included.
  • When “Rally Stage” mode is selected in CM, automatically a new track filter “something rally” is applied. This filter will show only tracks where “rally” is one of the tags in ui_track.json (in the track\ui folder). Edit this file if your favourite rally tracks are missing, to avoid having to switch filters each time. A script to automatically fix all your tracks is available here.
  • The programmable car reset key in RallyTiming app doesn’t work in this mode at this time, but there’s an (optional) automatic car reset function.

CSP Rally Copilot

  • This is a LUA app included in the new CSP, activate by selecting the app from the app drawer. When it’s active the notes will be called automatically; no starting/stopping the calls like with the old codriver.
  • Pacenotes are automatically created from the AI line. This means there’s no recce like in the old Codriver app, but this also means Copilot cannot be used on tracks without an AI line.
  • App settings can be accessed by hovering the mouse over the screen until you find the app window; click the cog icon.
  • Pacenotes can be shown visually using an icon at the side of the screen HUD (hints) but also above the road on the spot where the note would be called (3D hints)
  • To edit pacenotes: in app settings select “create new from generated”. You’ll get a very nice 3D interface, navigate around using the same controls as in photo mode.
  • Edited pacenotes files can be found in …\Documents\Assetto Corsa\cfg\extension\state\lua\app\RallyCopilot, but they can also be exchanged online directly.
  • If you don’t get any voice:
    • try opening the app in practice mode, close the game, launch again in rally mode
    • try toggling ‘distortion off/on’ in settings
  • Here’s a number of voice packs and a small script to convert old codriver voice files into the new format. The new codriver calls are lot easier to create as just 46 samples are needed, compared to hundreds in the old system… but still a few samples required in the new system are not present in the old.
  • In general the new copilot is more user-friendly and accessible than the old app, but doesn’t allow the same level of detail