Ian Bell's Straight4 Studios Launches Website, Showcases Key Staff

straight4.jpg
It seems like Straight4 Studios is going all in. Now they have released a website with a blog. Furthermore, they promised a monthly newsletter! What's more interesting, however, is the information that has already been published on the blog.

The first blog post on Straight4's website features two different interviews with key members of the development team for the upcoming title GTR Revival.

Before we dive into the post, the key takeaway is that it seems like the original team is really back together. Henrik Roos, one of the key people of SimBin back in the day, is the first person featured in this post.

The Key Personnel Introduced​

As mentioned before, Henrik Roos is introduced as the Straight4 handling consultant.

If you don't know Henrik Roos, he has been a racing driver, especially known for early 2000s FIA GT racing.

His role at Straight4 includes translating how the cars feel IRL to the simulation of GTR Revival.

Furthermore, Straight4's Physics Director AJ Weber gets introduced. He "has gone on to work on many bestselling AAA-sim racers over the years". According to mobygames.com, he has been working on the first two Project Cars games in the physics department as well as Fast & Furious: Crossroads.

Physics Philosophies​

What follows is an intricate introduction into the philosophy behind the direction the physics department is supposed to go.

The post goes into detail on how realism is supposed to be portrayed in GTR Revival. Furthermore, tyre models and the fact that the physics engine is built from the ground up get featured.

You can read the full blog post here on Straight4's official website.

What do you think of this approach? Is Straight4 getting you interested in the ongoing development of GTR Revival? Let us know in the comments down below!
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Julian Strasser
Julian Strasser
Motorsports and Maker-stuff enthusiast. Part time jack-of-all-trades. Owner of tracc.eu, a sim racing-related service provider and its racing community.

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Comments

Shannon Flynn
GAIAjohan said:
Btw, who remembers Race Pro on X360, with that Lizard engine. It looked pretty neat, especially for a sim at the time. has that ever appeared on PC?
Click to expand...
That was actually the first racing game that made me go "wow"

It's because of that game I joined RD. We had a Race Pro racing club with like 5 members. Good times :)
Once I discovered it was loosely based on Race07 (said some random person) I gradually made the switch to PC and enjoyed the hell out of some Mr Bell games.
 
Travis
If it all comes together, the project should be immensely fun To play and a sight to behold. Best of luck to Ian Bell and his team to make lightening strike again.

if not, plenty of other sims to play.
 
azaralamouri
gamma123152 said:
for the physics department. They should have cooperated with
Click to expand...
I am a VR user and not a fan of pC2 physics as well, but I'll tell you something:



Reiza's dedication alone can't build a physics engine. Bell's money can.

Actually second thought,
iRacing's money without dedication is why they're still harvesting money from the same engine from 2008.

I don't know, all I know is that talk alone is not enough,

we only have 2 people who know how to make a physics-engines for the whole sim racing hobbyists, the rest 10k are either selling more and more livery-mods or selling (an expensive) DIY LED dash to re-see what's on your screen.
 
azaralamouri
Ian Bell said:
Thanks for the replies everyone. I'll do my best to refrain from hyperbole going forward, I've learned my lesson. GT Revival will be the most moddable, authentic sim ever created. Hold on to your hats and prepare to be blown away. xx
Click to expand...


I also thought about writing a very, very, very long rant, but I will write the first (or second) comment about the sim itself, instead of becoming a god and judging Ian Bell (metaphor).

It is going to be long, remember you aren't forced to purchase it, I mean read it.

I wish the sim is gonna be unconventional and bold.
I hope it will dare to add new, untested features, regardless the fact that 99% of people hate to be out of their comfort-zone.
I hope it will be 1st, 2nd, 3rd and last about realism when it comes to driving feel.
I don't care if it missed the check-list that people think is the final list for every sim, like pit-stops and rubberizing tracks. And I honestly will be very happy if GTR Revival doesn't include setups all together, because, as of today, it is only a way to favor those who spent money for setups or spent 10k hours trying to exploit unrealistic disadvantages in every game. Setups make sims impossible for casuals, no matter if it's a pro race driver or a normal person. Sim racers are starting to realize that they are niche. Some even started to express that a wheel doesn't mean we simulated everything about driving a car, and that an analogue game controller doesn't decrease realism from 100% to 0% as sim racers think.

Guys, we need to understand and accept the following fact, What we haven't known/ discovered yet is much more than what we already know-and-have today.
To explain this, first some history, In the 70's, 90's we made the first sims, and later in the 2000's we also made better sims, you can either use a mobile phone/ a Chrome browser to play a sim that features main concepts, like over steer, damage, lights and car-weight, or you can use a 1k $ GPU to get the same but with more depth. In these times, no one is daring to add anything new, because the community will be crucifying him.

Random examples about SOME new ideas beyond the horizon (that devs can try make come true):
-An AI commentator talking about my driving, oh, they're working at it already? kudos to anyone who dared to start implementing this.
There are billions of ideas un-thought of, I wrote many in AMS2 wish-list, but sadly none of them were possible due to engine limitations. but still, the sky is the limit,
-maybe hardware; like smell, or like heat, added to motion or haptic rigs,
-maybe software;
-like a choice for the league organizer to make everyone see everyone else's setups to make it fair and equal, kind of like folk races in Scandinavian countries,
-maybe an option to mix your real wheel and hands inside your virtual reality car,
- or maybe giving you a tool/ mode to learn and improve your driving by visibly showing you the underlying physics, in a training mode off course, like making the grip or the slip-stream visible, a thermal IR camera to imagine this idea. They attacked me in the replies, but pC2 already shows you the suspension heights in real time so u know you bottomed out, and Porsche has led lights on the dashboard to show you wheels locking or spinning so you know that you spun due to your driving and not due to an old iRacing's physics engine.
-tell any idea you have to the devs in a wish-list forum or something, before they make an engine that can't adapt to it. It doesn't need to be a novel idea, maybe suggesting devs who know how to implement photo-grametery or a new audio-capturing technology that will make the sim excel in the sound department. It's a win-win, and it doesn't cost you anything (but 5 minutes) even if they didn't listen.


Again, and in a few words, I cheer to everyone who tries to add something new to our stagnant hobby, especially in the physics-realism-simulation aspects. No matter the initial reluctance/ refusal by the community who are used to being good at the games they are used to.
 
John B. Ellis
Premium
azaralamouri said:
I also thought about writing a very, very, very long rant, but I will write the first (or second) comment about the sim itself, instead of becoming a god and judging Ian Bell (metaphor).

It is going to be long, remember you aren't forced to purchase it, I mean read it.

I wish the sim is gonna be unconventional and bold.
I hope it will dare to add new, untested features, regardless the fact that 99% of people hate to be out of their comfort-zone.
I hope it will be 1st, 2nd, 3rd and last about realism when it comes to driving feel.
I don't care if it missed the check-list that people think is the final list for every sim, like pit-stops and rubberizing tracks. And I honestly will be very happy if GTR Revival doesn't include setups all together, because, as of today, it is only a way to favor those who spent money for setups or spent 10k hours trying to exploit unrealistic disadvantages in every game. Setups make sims impossible for casuals, no matter if it's a pro race driver or a normal person. Sim racers are starting to realize that they are niche. Some even started to express that a wheel doesn't mean we simulated everything about driving a car, and that an analogue game controller doesn't decrease realism from 100% to 0% as sim racers think.

Guys, we need to understand and accept the following fact, What we haven't known/ discovered yet is much more than what we already know-and-have today.
To explain this, first some history, In the 70's, 90's we made the first sims, and later in the 2000's we also made better sims, you can either use a mobile phone/ a Chrome browser to play a sim that features main concepts, like over steer, damage, lights and car-weight, or you can use a 1k $ GPU to get the same but with more depth. In these times, no one is daring to add anything new, because the community will be crucifying him.

Random examples about SOME new ideas beyond the horizon (that devs can try make come true):
-An AI commentator talking about my driving, oh, they're working at it already? kudos to anyone who dared to start implementing this.
There are billions of ideas un-thought of, I wrote many in AMS2 wish-list, but sadly none of them were possible due to engine limitations. but still, the sky is the limit,
-maybe hardware; like smell, or like heat, added to motion or haptic rigs,
-maybe software;
-like a choice for the league organizer to make everyone see everyone else's setups to make it fair and equal, kind of like folk races in Scandinavian countries,
-maybe an option to mix your real wheel and hands inside your virtual reality car,
- or maybe giving you a tool/ mode to learn and improve your driving by visibly showing you the underlying physics, in a training mode off course, like making the grip or the slip-stream visible, a thermal IR camera to imagine this idea. They attacked me in the replies, but pC2 already shows you the suspension heights in real time so u know you bottomed out, and Porsche has led lights on the dashboard to show you wheels locking or spinning so you know that you spun due to your driving and not due to an old iRacing's physics engine.
-tell any idea you have to the devs in a wish-list forum or something, before they make an engine that can't adapt to it. It doesn't need to be a novel idea, maybe suggesting devs who know how to implement photo-grametery or a new audio-capturing technology that will make the sim excel in the sound department. It's a win-win, and it doesn't cost you anything (but 5 minutes) even if they didn't listen.


Again, and in a few words, I cheer to everyone who tries to add something new to our stagnant hobby, especially in the physics-realism-simulation aspects. No matter the initial reluctance/ refusal by the community who are used to being good at the games they are used to.
Click to expand...
Among other things, there are two competing philosophies at work here: 1) hosting races featuring shared, communal, open setups accessible to all racers at the event (i.e., the proverbial I’ll take my teammate’s setup and beat him with it) and 2) hosting events that permit individualized, personalized car setups that may—or may not—provide a competitive advantage. Seems like we already have that choice in fixed- vs. open-setup race settings. I suppose forcing competitors to share their setups with the entire grid may symbolize something fairer, but it seems oddly incongruous with the spirit of higher-level competition. There are benefits and drawbacks to either approach—but neither is a fundamental flaw of simracing that requires urgent rectification. That being said, race organizers ought to have the option, along with those already available, to provide a custom fixed setup to share among competitors. Also, I suppose if a group of like-minded racers want to share all their setups with one another at the Bernie Sanders Trophy at Anderstorp, that’s fine, too.
 
Last edited:
blot
I've got no problem with Ian Bell, I backed Pcars2 and got more than my money back, The studio over stretched themselves creating so much content so ffb etc was i think overlooked and hard work for us simmers, Reiza have now proved that the Madness engine is good if fine tuned, Popracers FFB files makes Pcars2 so much better IMO. Pcars2 has so much content, I still play it today.
 
Last edited:
Boby Kim
Omg...a Black day for the Universe. Ian Bell confuses physics with graphics...horrible
 
Shovas
Richard Wilks said:
Click to expand...

The second half of this video is AI generated audio commentary that is quite impressive

I would be interested to know how much of it was scripted for this video demonstration vs how much how been built out already as a functioning prototype

Bonus points for hockey analogies nobody but Canadians will get
 
Last edited:
Pete Conway
I wonder if there'll be an allowance for different technological levels, like Drum brakes and Disc brakes, in the early GTR/GTL products there wasn't an allowance for modders to play with, and as this 'according to Ian Bell' will be the most moddable sim, will things like this be considered.
 
B
Premium
Shovas said:
The second half of this video is AI generated audio commentary that is quite impressive

I would be interested to know how much of it was scripted for this video demonstration vs how much how been built out already as a functioning prototype

Bonus points for hockey analogies nobody but Canadians will get
Click to expand...
That is a useless feature while driving... that type of tech makes more sense if applied to a Race Engineer tool instead.
 
Pete Conway
boxer said:
That is a useless feature while driving... that type of tech makes more sense if applied to a Race Engineer tool instead.
Click to expand...
I tend to agree with you there, I can't imagine that the race commentary would really be heard by the driver of a race car, it's kinda' clever, yeah, but a bit too much of a vanity feature, it might appeal to some folks wanting a 'game' but I think it's the wrong direction for a "hardcore" sim.
To be honest I'd prefer (in game/in sim) options limit the amount of high tech info in my races, as 99% is Historic's for me, and that's what I'd be buying this for/
 
Metla
Premium
Shovas said:
The second half of this video is AI generated audio commentary that is quite impressive

I would be interested to know how much of it was scripted for this video demonstration vs how much how been built out already as a functioning prototype

Bonus points for hockey analogies nobody but Canadians will get
Click to expand...
Pretty sure its a demonstration of concept only, So it was 100 percent scripted.

Personally I'd also make it 100 percent silent.
 

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