Set Up Managed Simulators

Use this guide when a venue wants Pista to manage simulator content, settings, game discovery, and machine status.

Pista Agent is multi-game and never asks for a game path in the web app. Its v1 Windows Setup nevertheless requires standard registered Content Manager with a valid selected AC or AC PRO root and exact 17-digit SteamID64 before pairing. The agent then discovers all supported installations locally and reports safe installation metadata without uploading local paths.

Before You Start

The venue exists in Pista.
Each physical simulator has a venue-facing label, such as Station 1 or Front Left.
Each Windows machine has a licensed AC or AC PRO installation selected in Content Manager. Other supported games can be installed later.
You can sign in with permission to manage venue simulators.

Set Up Each Simulator

Prepare the Windows machine and install AC or AC PRO through the venue's licensed source.
Install Content Manager for the simulator's Windows account, select that simulator's Steam ID, point CM at the intended AC or AC PRO root, and keep its default storage and Windows integration. Setup requires this even when the station will primarily run another game.
Open the venue dashboard in Pista.
Create or confirm the simulator that represents the physical machine.
Download and run Pista Setup on the Windows machine.
Enter the pairing code from the simulator page.
For Assetto Corsa, confirm the machine page shows the SteamID64 selected in Content Manager. If it does not, run the current Pista Setup and choose REPAIR.
Confirm the locally discovered game. Install and update runtime mods through their licensed tools; Pista does not assign a runtime baseline.
For each Assetto Corsa simulator type, set up one simulator in CM the way it should run. Verify its current triple_screen.ini and camera_onboard.ini geometry/FOV companions too; an absent companion will be absent after assignment.
In Pista, capture it from that simulator under Stations › Game settings and tick the simulators that should use it.
Let Pista sync the venue content library.
Monitor each simulator from the simulator dashboard.

What the Venue Provides

The venue must provide:

Windows administrator access.
A licensed supported-game installation.
Steam or another authorized install source. Steam discovery currently covers Assetto Corsa, Assetto Corsa Competizione, DiRT Rally 2.0, and Assetto Corsa Rally.
Content Manager in its default storage with a valid selected AC root and exact station SteamID64 on every Windows station. Portable/custom CM storage is unsupported in v1.
Paid component rights for the approved CSP Preview and Pure LCS artifacts required by every Pista-managed Assetto Corsa simulator.
Network access to Pista services and artifact downloads.

What Pista Manages

Pista manages the operating layer around the simulator:

Venue content selection and content sync.
Local game discovery and required station-identity reporting.
Immutable named station-settings presets captured from the venue's configured source simulator and applied to matching simulators.
Pairing, material service reports, sync status, and actionable failures.
Level remote access, monitoring, updates, and machine restarts.

Keep These Separate

Pista separates simulator state into three parts:

Content is venue-global. Cars, tracks, layouts, liveries, and skins selected for the venue can sync to paired simulators.
Games and third-party runtime mods are manual venue operations. Pista discovers supported game roots but does not catalog or certify CSP, Pure, Real Penalty, or other runtime-mod versions.
Display settings are captured from what a simulator runs. A Pista capture applies its exact video.ini, system graphics.ini, and oculus.ini contents plus optional triple_screen.ini and camera_onboard.ini companions. It has no driver or session overlays and is not restored when the game exits.

The original files from each simulator stay only in that simulator's Pista Agent data directory for an explicit uninstall restore. They are not captured into the shared game setting. A Display setting also carries the CSP module settings. See Manage Station Settings.

Confirm It Worked

Each simulator is ready when the simulator dashboard shows the machine as paired, the agent has reported recently, venue content is ready, and any assigned settings preset is applied.

Next Steps

Prepare each machine with Prepare a Windows Simulator Machine.
Pair the machine with Pair a Simulator Machine.
Recover machine issues with Troubleshoot a Simulator.