With every new update to Assetto Corsa Competizione comes a host of new changes, that range from physics adjustments to UI changes. Some of the changes within the game may not be immediately obvious, as many are not visible and are little adjustments to the background code.
To help everyone understand what changes are made to Assetto Corsa Competizione, Kunos releases something known as a changelog. This will detail every change that is made from visual to background tweaks. These can seem to be something that is only for developers, but every player can learn about the changes made to the game and how they can improve their gameplay experience. Also, reviewing a changelog can help you get the jump on any physics changes and potentially give a jump over your competition on the track.
With this in mind, we have put together a guide to help you understand what each of the categories describes and what you should focus your attention on.
Changelog
Naming conventions
All changelogs follow a predefined naming convention to ensure that it is easily understood which is from the latest release and to what level the game has been changed. The naming structure is relatively simple and an example can be seen below.
Changelog_1.7.0 - Major Update- 10.02.2021
The first statement, “Changelog”, indicates this is the list of information detailing all changes to the game.
The number pre-fixture, “1.7.0”, indicates the version number the game is on. The first number indicates the major version the game exists on, the second is the number of major updates that have occurred to this release and the last number highlights the number of small changes such as hotfixes the version has undergone.
The next statement, “Major Update”, indicates the level to which the game has been updated. There are three general terms used, this can vary in special circumstances: Major Update, Update, and Hotfix. Both the terms that indicate update are typically large changes that include new content, major physics changes or large overhauls to a particular system. The term “Hotfix” is usually reserved for bug fixes or issues that need to be changed but can’t wait for the next update.
The final part of the title indicates the date and is used to ensure you are reading the latest changelog.
Contents
Each changelog will have slight variations as no update is the same, and they vary in complexity. However, a general breakdown of each category can be understood to point you to the information you wish to read. Some of these categories are
- General gives an overview of the new content or some overall changes to the game’s operating features.
- Gameplay covers the changes that will be seen while playing ACC, such as race types, in-game alerts or adjustments to car features such as pit limiters.
- UI/HUD focuses on the changes to the visual interface you interact with throughout the game menus or the information graphics used while driving e.g. tyre temperature graphic.
- Physics indicates changes to the physics engine which controls the behaviour of the cars or tyres on the track. These can be the most important changes within an update to the gameplay experience.
- Graphics describes any visual changes to the cars, tracks or overall game look.
- Audio highlights the changes to audio blends and car sounds, including background noises or general audio corrections.
- Controls focus on the adjustment to the way you interact with the game through either a wheel, control, mouse or any other supported peripherals.
- Multiplayer solely indicates changes to the online aspect of the game such as server adjustments or netcode.
- Replay shows adjustments within the in-game replay function, which can be particularly important for content creators.
- VR is for specific gameplay or visual adjustments to virtual reality or addition of supported headsets.
- Rating underlines adjustments made to the in-game ranking system such as an alteration to the way score is gained or lost to better reflect player skill.
That is the complete set of categories, however one thing to note, not all categories will be included in every changelog, each will only reflect the respective changes the developer has made to the game. Also, it is worth understanding that all these areas may not be relevant to yourself so focusing on gameplay and physics may be best for most users.
If you are looking for previous changelogs, a handy ACC Wiki has all changelogs with the respective information related to that update. For current updates, it is best to check within Steam, if you’re on PC, as this will provide you with the most accurate and up to date information.
Now that you understand all the changes to the game you may think you need a little help getting to grips with the cars on track. This is where Coach Dave Academy can help by setting up your favourite cars, up to date with all changes made to the game. If you’re looking for a personal touch, why not try out some of the world-class race-winning coaches available to give you the extra help you need to become the next sim racing superstar.
