PISTA Motorsport: 12 Questions Answered

REG Simulations were a surprise newcomer when they announced the development of PISTA Motorsport: The upcoming sim aims to put Argentine motorsport in the spotlight, focusing on the many national series - but who are REG Simulations, and what exactly are their plans with PISTA Motorsport? We have answers to these and more - a dozen, to be exact.

Image credit: REG Simulations

1. Who is on the REG Simulations team and when did they start?​

The driving force behind REG are three racing drivers from Argentina: Team leader Juan Cruz Gaglio, who has competed in Argentinian Formula 4 NG, is joined by Santiago Ruiz (who comes from karting) and Formula 3 Metropolitana pilot Maximo Evans Weiss. "We began by selling car mods and circuits for Assetto Corsa in 2020, although members of REG had been modding before that", Gaglio explains.


From the left in clockwise direction: Juan Cruz Gaglio, Maximo Evans Weiss, Santiago Ruiz.

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2. How and why did REG Simulations decide to develop their own simulation from scratch?​

Simply put: Modding did not fit what they wanted to achieve anymore. "It has always been our desire. We spent five years making small advancements to gradually approach a good simulation product from scratch", states Gaglio. "The main reason is the need to have our own platform to integrate all of our products, maximize their potential and minimize piracy as much as possible, which is a recurring issue with conventional modding in common platforms."

3. What engine is PISTA Motorsport going to be based on?​

The upcoming sim is going make use of Unity HDRP. According to Gaglio, this decision was made "because we found a good combination of performance, physics and graphical realism as well as its extensive adaptability and dynamic nature for working on our ideas."

According to SteamDB, the engine seems to be a popular choice for indie developers, with the most popular title (measured by followers) being PC Building Simulator. PISTA is not going to be the first racing title to use Unity HDRP, however: RaceLeague, which aims to be a realistic racer with a highly-capable track editor, is also based on the engine and currently in Early Access.

4. What challenges has the REG team encountered thus far?​

Being a newcomer to the sim racing scene presents its difficulties for REG Simulations. "The most important challenges we are facing are the AI and online features, which are areas we want to emphasize", says Gaglio, who believes "they are the core of a good gameplay experience in a racing game."


Image credit: REG Simulations

5. Is there a timeline for the remainder of 2023 and for 2024?​

While a closed beta is already available to a very limited circle of testers, sim racers could get their hands on PISTA Motorsport themselves by the end of the year. "The dates are estimations at the moment, but our plans are to have the first public version by late 2023 or early 2024, and progressively update and add new features throughout 2024", outlines Gaglio.

Progress on content is promising already, and more is in development, "but our main priority at the moment is focusing on programming the game and its functionalities", as Gaglio says. "Once we that solid base developed, it becomes much easier to integrate new content."

6. What small but immersion-boosting features can we expect from PISTA Motorsport?​

Even in the early stages of development, REG Simulations paid special attention to the shifting animation already, wanting it to be as natural as possible - and the developer team is even further along with another interesting feature. "One of the standout features is the wet track and dynamic puddles, which we have already implemented", says Gaglio. "We are so proud to have them as they do not exist in most elite global simulators with much larger budgets than ours."

Other non-essential but immersion-boosting features REG is going to focus on are objects like windshield wipers that are attached to the car and are affected by speed and inertia, as well as dirt sticking to a car when taking a trip to the grass or gravel.

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