History VideoGame / ProjectCARS

''Project CARS'' ('''C'''ommunity '''A'''ssisted '''R'''acing '''S'''imulator) is a simulation RacingGame developed by Slightly Mad Studios and published by Creator/BandaiNamcoEntertainment in May 2015 on PC, {{UsefulNotes/Steam}}, UsefulNotes/XboxOne, UsefulNotes/PlayStation4 (and once planned for UsefulNotes/WiiU before technical limitations halted it). It is considered the SpiritualSuccessor to the ''VideoGame/NeedForSpeedShift'' sub-series of the ''VideoGame/NeedForSpeed'' video game franchise (consisting of ''Shift'' and ''Shift 2: Unleashed''), as they had worked on those two titles for Creator/ElectronicArts, mainly borrowing and refining mechanics from the previous two games along with introducing their own. The game also changes the pace in how races are conducted as now there are practice and qualifying sessions in which drivers set the fastest times around the track to get the pole position in the actual races along with a career mode in which the player partakes in races set on the calendar.

* MarathonLevel: The first and second games makes races incredibly long to even start with long practice and qualification sessions depending on what you set it to. An average Career race at 100% time progression can take half-an-hour just for practice (then again that extra time can really help set up your car and pit strategy), a quarter hour for qualification and the main race being anywhere between ten and fifteen laps. Then you get to some of the specific endurance events such as the 3-Hour [=McLaren=] F1 Challenge that, even at 16% time progression or below, will still take half-an-hour. Then there's Endurance races that take up to ''twelve hours'' and then finally the UsefulNotes/TwentyFourHoursOfLeMans that takes this trope UpToEleven that puts you in a race for, well, twenty four hours.

''Project CARS'' ('''C'''ommunity '''A'''ssisted '''R'''acing '''S'''imulator) is a simulation RacingGame developed by Slightly Mad Studios and published by Creator/BandaiNamcoEntertainment in May 2015 on PC, {{UsefulNotes/Steam}}, UsefulNotes/XboxOne, UsefulNotes/PlayStation4 (and once planned for UsefulNotes/WiiU before technical limitations halted it). Considered the SpiritualSuccessor to ''VideoGame/NeedForSpeed: [[VideoGame/NeedForSpeedShift Shift]]'' and ''Shift 2: Unleashed'' as they had worked on those two titles for Creator/ElectronicArts, mainly borrowing and refining mechanics from the previous two games along with introducing their own. The game also changes the pace in how races are conducted as now there are practice and qualifying sessions in which drivers set the fastest times around the track to get the pole position in the actual races along with a career mode in which the player partakes in races set on the calendar.

* CoolCar: A more diverse variety of them compared to ''Shift 2'' which includes go-karts, road cars, touring cars, UsefulNotes/FormulaOne racers, [[UsefulNotes/TwentyFourHoursOfLeMans Le Mans]] prototypes, Grand Touring 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1, etc.

''Project CARS'' ('''C'''ommunity '''A'''ssisted '''R'''acing '''S'''imulator'') is a simulation RacingGame developed by Slightly Mad Studios and published by Creator/BandaiNamcoEntertainment in May 2015 on PC, {{UsefulNotes/Steam}}, UsefulNotes/XboxOne, UsefulNotes/PlayStation4 (and once planned for UsefulNotes/WiiU before technical limitations halted it). Considered the SpiritualSuccessor to ''VideoGame/NeedForSpeed: Shift'' and ''Shift 2: Unleashed'' as they had worked on those two titles for Creator/ElectronicArts, mainly borrowing and refining mechanics from the previous two games along with introducing their own. The game also changes the pace in how races are conducted as now there are practice and qualifying sessions in which drivers set the fastest times around the track to get the pole position in the actual races along with a career mode in which the player partakes in races set on the calendar.

The game is well-known to be crowdfunded through a specially made platform called World of Mass Development, or WMD, which is quite similar to Kickstarter, where people can pledge various amounts of money for developing the game, and play each beta build that was progressively released; the more money is pledged, the more benefits one gets in the game. ''Project CARS'' started development in 2011, right after the release of ''Shift 2: Unleashed'', with over a hundred builds made available for the pledgers, and was subsequently released in May 2015 ([[ScheduleSlip though it was originally meant to be released on 2014]]). A second installment, ''Project CARS 2'', was released on September 22, 2017 on [=PS4=], Xbox One, and PC. It includes all content seen on the predecessor, but also adds new tracks, new cars, a more in-depth time of day and weather system, improved driving models, and a more solid esports platform. It also introduces a new discipline, rallycross, with corresponding tracks and vehicles. A third game was officially announced on June 4, 2020 and is due a release on August 28 of the same year, weeks after the same studio published ''VideoGame/FastAndFuriousCrossroads''; changes from the second game include a car customization and upgrade system similar to the two ''Shift'' games, a revamped career mode and more accessible handling for gamepad users.

''Project CARS'' ('''''C'''ommunity '''A'''ssisted '''R'''acing '''S'''imulator'') is a simulation RacingGame developed by Slightly Mad Studios and published by Creator/BandaiNamcoEntertainment in May 2015 on PC, {{UsefulNotes/Steam}}, UsefulNotes/XboxOne, UsefulNotes/PlayStation4 (and once planned for UsefulNotes/WiiU before technical limitations halted it). Considered the SpiritualSuccessor to ''VideoGame/NeedForSpeed: Shift'' and ''Shift 2: Unleashed'' as they had worked on those two titles for Creator/ElectronicArts, mainly borrowing and refining mechanics from the previous two games along with introducing their own. The game also changes the pace in how races are conducted as now there are practice and qualifying sessions in which drivers set the fastest times around the track to get the pole position in the actual races along with a career mode in which the player partakes in races set on the calendar.

* CreatorProvincialism: Much like ''VideoGame/GranTurismo'' focuses on Japanese cars and tracks, ''VideoGame/{{Forza}}'' focuses on American cars and ''Assetto Corsa'' on Italian cars ({{Game Mod}}s aside), there's a good focus on British circuits and cars in ''Project CARS''.

* CreatorProvincialism: Much like ''VideoGame/GranTurismo'' focuses on Japanese cars and tracks, ''VideoGame/{{Forza}}'' focuses on American cars and ''Assetto Corsa'' on Italian cars, there's a good focus on British circuits and cars in ''Project CARS''.

* GameOfTheYearEdition: The game received one May 2016 containing all DownloadableContent alongside a bonus DLC containing the Pagani Huayra BC and the Pagani Zonda Revolucion. Said DLC was also available for the owners of the base game.

** The Toyota Supra [=MkIV=] Racing in the Legends Pack DLC for ''Project CARS 3'' features an itasha livery with a character who bears a similar resemblance to Music/HatsuneMiku, likely as a ShoutOut to the Goodsmile Racing team running in Super GT.
* MarathonLevel: The game makes races incredibly long to even start with long practice and qualification sessions depending on what you set it to. An average Career race at 100% time progression can take half-an-hour just for practice (then again that extra time can really help set up your car and pit strategy), a quarter hour for qualification and the main race being anywhere between ten and fifteen laps. Then you get to some of the specific endurance events such as the 3-Hour [=McLaren=] F1 Challenge that, even at 16% time progression or below, will still take half-an-hour. Then there's Endurance races that take up to ''twelve hours'' and then finally the UsefulNotes/TwentyFourHoursOfLeMans that takes this trope UpToEleven that puts you in a race for, well, twenty four hours.

* NintendoHard: The go-karts, particularly if you are using a controller or keyboard. To understand, in real life, they have the acceleration of a corvette, the turning radius of a shopping cart, and the braking on an indy car. With a steering ration of 4:1-8:1 (that is 4 degrees of steering wheel turn to turn the wheels 1 degree) they are easy to cut the tires and cut in too fast. In real life the lack of power-steering makes up for this. Which obviously you don't have. There is a reason karts are popular for training wannabe racers in real life. If you can be successful with a shifter-kart, you can race almost anything. The Stockcars could also said to be hard on the rougher courses without TCS/ABS, thanks to their solid rear axle.
* NitroBoost: Not using real nitrous compared to ''Shift'' but some cars such as the Formula A or [=McLaren=] P1 have what is known as a KERS ([[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinetic_energy_recovery_system Kinetic-Energy-Recovery-System]]) that charges while braking (typically to a battery) and can be used to boost acceleration with limits being dependent on the vehicle used. The Formula A allows the KERS to be used for nine seconds per lap, the Formula B uses the charge all in one go per lap, the Le Mans prototypes and [=McLaren=] P1 use it automatically without input, etc.

** The V12 Formula X car in the sequel has a KERS with a much larger battery bank and there is no imposed limit to how much can be used.

* RemovableSteeringWheel: A curious graphical option allows you to (visually) remove the wheel and driver hands in the first-person perspective, this is presumably for players using a steering wheel peripheral so they don't get "double-vision" from seeing the real-life wheel and the in-game wheel. Another neat feature is that if said wheel contains displays on it then it will still show up, just stationary.
* SpiritualSuccessor: As mentioned throughout the page, ''Project CARS'' is a more simulation-oriented successor to the two ''Shift'' titles, as Slightly Mad worked on them before diving headfirst into this series. ''Project CARS 3'' is a much more obvious successor to ''Shift'' with its emphasis on car customization, but it also takes a lot from ''VideoGame/{{Driveclub}}'' - namely in the handling model, soundtrack of choice, and career mode and multiplayer structure. This is justified, as various members of the now-defunct Evolution Studios have lent a hand in the game's development.

* {{Tuckerization}}/CreatorCameo: Various AI racers are named after SMS staff, deliberately crashing into one will net you an achievement in the first game. (It counts as a crash if it invalidates your lap time)

The game is well-known to be crowdfunded through a specially made platform called World of Mass Development, or WMD, which is quite similar to Kickstarter, where people can pledge various amounts of money for developing the game, and play each beta build that was progressively released; the more money is pledged, the more benefits one gets in the game. ''Project CARS'' started development in 2011, right after the release of ''Shift 2: Unleashed'', with over a hundred builds made available for the pledgers, and was subsequently released in May 2015 ([[ScheduleSlip though it was originally meant to be released on 2014]]). A second installment, ''Project CARS 2'', was released on September 22, 2017 on [=PS4=], Xbox One, and PC. It includes all content seen on the predecessor, but also adds new tracks, new cars, a more in-depth time of day and weather system, improved driving models, and a more solid esports platform. It also introduces a new discipline, rallycross, with corresponding tracks and vehicles. A third game was officially announced on June 4, 2020 and is due a release on August 28 of the same year; changes from the second game include a car customization and upgrade system similar to the two ''Shift'' games, a revamped career mode and more accessible handling for gamepad users.