PITWALLOSdocs

Spectator rig setup

A spectator rigis a fourth PC at your venue that automatically joins every group race and broadcasts it to the venue TV. It doesn't race, doesn't need a wheel or pedals, and doesn't need an operator during the session — once you approve it, it's hands-off.

This is optional. Venues without a spectator PC see no change; the feature is invisible until you approve a rig as Spectator.

What you need

  • A spare Windows PC — modest specs are fine (integrated graphics will struggle, but any dedicated GPU from the last five years works).
  • An HDMI cable from the PC to your venue TV.
  • Steam + Assetto Corsa + Content Manager + Custom Shaders Patch installed the same way you set up your driver rigs — see Assetto Corsa config.
  • Network access to the same LAN as the dedicated server (the spectator PC joins via the local IP just like the driver rigs).

Step 1 — Install the rig agent

The spectator PC runs the standard rig agent — no separate build. Follow Installing the agent to register the PC with your venue. When it appears on the Sim Control page as a pending rig, come back here before approving it.

Step 2 — Install the broadcast apps

The auto-spectator relies on Streaming? Sweet!!, a free Assetto Corsa app pack maintained by Esotic on overtake.gg. Four Python apps ship in it, and we need all four:

  • AutoCam — cycles cameras during the race.
  • BCast — race-director HUD.
  • AutoStart — activates broadcast mode on session load (Ctrl+T).
  • ACTV — TV-style overlays (Ctrl+D).
  1. Download the latest Streaming? Sweet!! zip from overtake.gg. You'll need a free overtake.gg account to download.
  2. Extract the archive so that four folders — AutoCam, BCast, AutoStart, ACTV — land under <Steam>\steamapps\common\assettocorsa\apps\python\. If your archive has an extra top-level folder, drill into it first.
  3. Open Content Manager → Settings → Assetto Corsa → Apps. Enable all four apps.
  4. Launch AC once manually and quit. This lets AC finish setting up the Python environment for each app; if you see red banners about a missing Python module, follow the app's in-zip README (usually a one-time lua-common or shared-library copy).

Step 3 — Approve the rig as Spectator

Back in /admin/sim-control, the pending-rig card now has a Driver / Spectator picker. Choose Spectator. The agent runs a health check for the four folders above; if any are missing, the Approve button stays disabled with an inline banner listing what to fix. Re-run the check after installing.

Once the health check is green, click Approve. The rig moves into a new Spectator broadcast section under the driver grid.

Step 4 — Try it

Launch any group race the usual way. About 10–15 seconds after the drivers land in the pits, the spectator rig will join on the extra SPECTATOR_MODE=1 slot and Streaming? Sweet!! will kick in automatically — AutoCam picks a camera, ACTV overlays timing, and the TV is live.

Want to disable it temporarily? /admin/settings → Spectator broadcast on group racestoggle. Off means the slot isn't added and the spectator PC stays idle even if it's online.

Troubleshooting

TV is black after the spectator rig joins

AC has probably landed on the spectator car but hasn't activated AutoStart. Wait 30–60 seconds — the agent retries the Ctrl+Tkeystroke a few times. If it still doesn't come up, tab to AC and press Ctrl+T manually once; that unblocks the Python app and subsequent races work fine.

Camera cuts to the wrong car / weird angle

Phase 1 ships a generic AutoCam preset covering common Kunos and popular modded GT3 cars. Cars outside that list fall back to AC's default onboard/chase. A per-track camera editor is on the Phase 2 roadmap; until then you can hand-edit apps\python\AutoCam\carCameras.ini on the spectator PC (agent will overwrite it on the next spectator join, but a carCameras.ini.local variant survives).

Approve stays disabled — "Broadcast apps not detected"

The agent didn't find one or more of the four folders under apps\python\. The banner names the missing ones. Re-extract the zip, confirm the folder names match exactly, and hit Re-check.

Spectator rig lands on a car and starts driving it

This means the extra SPECTATOR_MODE=1slot wasn't added to the entry list. Almost always one of: the venue toggle is off, the rig isn't approved as Spectator, or the rig's heartbeat is stale. Check /admin/sim-control — the Spectator broadcast card shows the state.

Licence note

Streaming? Sweet!! is free community software distributed by Esotic on overtake.gg. You install it on your own venue PC as a normal end-user; PitwallOS does not redistribute it and has no affiliation with its author.