ACC | Stefano Casillo Leaves Kunos Simulazioni

[Paul Jeffrey]

One of the key men responsible for Ferrari Virtual Academy, NetKar Pro, Assetto Corsa and Assetto Corsa Competizione has left Kunos Simulazioni - goodbye and good luck Stefano Casillo!

Universally regarded as one of the most impressive coding talents in the sim racing landscape, in his role of founder and lead programmer at Kunos Simulazioni, Stefano Casillo (that's Ste'fano, not Stefano! - I remembered!!) has been at the forefront of sim racing development for almost two decades.

Working on some of the most highly regarded racing simulations of a generation, from the likes of NetKar Pro, Ferrari Virtual Academy, the original Assetto Corsa and now Assetto Corsa Competizione, Casillo has proven time and again his ability to bring together a sublime racing experience for sim racers the world over.

Of course, many talented men and women have worked together at Kunos over the years, and that work will undoubtedly continue in the years to come with or without Stefano, so don't worry about the future folks - I'm sure it is in safe hands!

Taking to his personal Facebook account this morning, Casillo has confirmed he is no longer a part of the Italian Kunos Simulazioni development team, having taken the opportunity to move on to pastures new as founder of the new Jaxx Vane Studio. I'm sure I speak for all at RaceDepartment in wishing Stefano the best of luck with his new ventures, and wholeheartedly thanking him for the things he has achieved in the (virtual) sport we all love!

The Facebook announcement post in full:

Today is a different morning for me.​

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For the first time since 2005 I woke up and I did not sit at my PC thinking about Kunos Simulazioni software development.​

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Yes, this might come as a shock, but as of today I am not directly involved with Kunos Simulazioni software development anymore.​

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Of course this is not like I had imagined my first day as "full solo indie" back in September when I decided it was time to move on from Kunos Simulazioni, it was a different time back then, before the Corona Virus shook our lives... so, at the end, this post doesn't happen in a mood as festive as I hoped for.​

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Because of this, and out of respect for all the guys there trying to deal with one of the hardest times humans had to go through since the end of WW2 I will keep this as brief and informative as possible.​

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My relationship with the guys in Kunos and Digital Bros is and always was amazing, there is no friction and no bad feeling coming from my decision, that follows over time the one me and Marco took in 2017 when we moved the ownership of our company under Digital Bros umbrella.​

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Enough time was given in order to make the transition as smooth and painless as possible, and thanks to the amazing talents in there I am sure the company will continue to be a shining light in the world of simracing because of the amazing talents in the team.​

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At a certain point I started to feel like I had nothing more to give to the SimRacing genre and it was time for me to go look for new inspirations.​

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My deepest thanks to all the guys who made Kunos Simulazioni possible, these have been the most exciting 15 years of my life and you guys made it special day after day. Marco, Simone, Gianluca, Aris, Luca, Manu, Alvio, Davide, Gergo, Alessandro, Kevin, Valeria, Fernando, Fabio, Itho, Giovanni, Fabrizio, Cristian, Pietro, Kirill, Timothy, Manuela. Plus all the guys in Digital Bros especially Rami, Raffi and Andrew who gave us the amazing chance to work on Assetto Corsa Competizione with an amount of resources we could have never dreamed of and made us feel as part of the family since day one. Love you guys, keep on rocking!​

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As for me, I am as excited and impatient as I can be, sitting at my PC with a blank empty screen, ready to see what comes next; many ideas and fantasies running through my head as I try to remind myself I am now back in the world of real Indie development and whatever I'll do next will have to be scaled to match this new reality.​

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My plan is to make this journey available to all of you willing to follow through the usual platforms, starting with my Youtube channel and eventually expanding to other platforms such as Twitch with frequent streams and update videos. It's going to be an open window into a world of passion, frustration, dreams, shattered dreams, hopes, disappointments, study, research, failures, re-writes, revelations,roadblocks, broken keyboards but hopefully also lots lots lots of fun.. see you out there.​

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Stefano Casillo​

Lead Programmer and Founder​

Jaxx Vane Studio​

Original Source: Stefano Casillo Facebook

 

[dud]

I kind of like what you said although I didn't quite understand it, lol. But you sound to discuss exactly the subject that makes sim racing /driving interesting for me. May I ask you to kindly rephrase what you said in simpler words for a dummy like me?

I was saying that:

• to afford multiple physics programmers for different aspects of physics you need a big budget
• big budget means investment money, which comes from companies that go after mass market instead of enthusiasts
• even though there is enough money in play you cannot convince the guys-with-ties guarding the investor's money to spend money on things that are only relevant to enthusiasts

In open source things are different because it is volunteer driven and because code sharing is going on. For example, that open source tire model we discuss this is a library that would be re-used by all or almost all competing open source racing games. That changes the dynamics. A little bit of that is going on in the flightsim market where the open source flightsim Flightgear doesn't have its own flight model, although you have 3 flight models. They integrate open source code that implements flight models, and 3 of them. Of course open source gets very tricky once you move from coding to art and content.

 

[Butzemann]

His next game? Only rumours of course but these seem plausible to me:

Option 1: Lord of the Cats: The Ban Hammer of Eternity

A physics/text adventure crossover. Apparently, it's going to be a true hero’s journey about a lord* and his trusty cat setting out to find the Ban Hammer of Eternity. As there are well over 10,000 triple screen-wide pages of text discussing the exact physics of the Ban Hammer, a big argument with someone who used to wield one versus the purely theoretical calculations, I skipped to the end. Sorry for the spoilers here but I have to tell you it concludes with the lord and his cat on an island where he wields the ban hammer with impunity to make sure only those who agree with him and his devoted followers are ever heard from again. The game ends with this on-screen text: "They all lived 'appily eva afta as everyone agreed with me, even a popular Meta review site which gave it 100%** and best 'puter game eva award.***"

* Origin and authenticity of the title unverifiable.
** Based on only 4 reviews by local journalists who were given a free all-expenses trip to the island.
*** Excludes the rather rubbish half-finished console cash grab edition.

Option 2: The bestest ever simulation racing game with the mostest simulationy value ever. Releasing in Early Access exactly one day after the non-compete agreement expires. Surprisingly some of his old team might also join soon after too. No career mode, no console versions eva. Almost 'everyone' will rejoice that the racing game genre is saved from extinction (assuming in the meantime all other racing game studios also decide to quit.....). Almost 'everyone' else saw this one coming a mile away, shrugged and carried on.

Option 3. An umbrella eSports racing platform - far fetched I know, it'll never catch on.

Option 4: A surprise.

As the apple rarely falls far from the tree my crystal ball tells me it’ll be option 2. You heard it here first. It won’t be a popular decision everywhere and I can tell you the people over on Cat Game Department are already claiming it’ll be the end of the cat game genre, if he goes that way, despite the existence of the very positive reviewed I got a cat maid (no link, NSFW, careful if you search for it!) and other alternatives.

[For those of a sensitive nature this post is a satire about a high profile, often controversial and divisive figure in the racing game sphere - no, no, no not Ian Bell, please do try to keep up]

Naaa, I am afraid but I think you are on the wrong track. Your options have a touch of history repeating, respectively the reinvention of the wheel.

Options 1: Heavily undefined, to much esoteric
Option 2: Already there, its called ACC
Option 3: Already covered by others
Option 4: Not really.

I think that he is looking for a real challenge ... that is, what could have been AC Moto. Since GP Bikes is nice for the ascetic follower of advanced two wheel vehicle dynamics with the perspective to be never finished, Milestones MotoGP only covers ... yes, MotoGP since ages in a simplified way (says the ascetic), Bike Sim Experience could be the masters choice to step in. The youngsters behind BSE could benefit from the trouper in many ways. Stay tuned.

Cheers

 

[RyokoMaruyama]

bye bye

 

[safi hellie]

Thank you very much for bringing AC and ACC and good luck for the future, Stefano.

Is the correct answer.
Spot on.

 

[TheRealCeeBee]

I hope this was posted yesterday ! Being a April fools joke ! or he heads to Reiza !

i was just thinking this, imagine the goodness he can bring to the world with the madness engine..

 

[E304LIFE]

Legend. Good luck man. AC still the GOAT.

This. I couldn't wait for another episode of "Look what the cat hacked in" when AC was in development. Can't wait to see what Stefano comes up with next. Why do i feel like the Beatles just broke up?...

 

[E304LIFE]

Good on Stefano, for recognising that he was no longer being intellectually challenged and doing something about it. I wish him all the best in whatever he pursues, regardless of the genre.

As far as Kunos suffering because Stefano isn't there, I don't think so, Stefano's knowledge would of rubbed off on many of the coders, there will be another who takes it to the next level. I don't believe for a second that the Kunos quality or physics in ACC will suffer in their next phase of DLC. Only time will tell I guess.

Aris and crew are more than capable, I have no doubt.

 

[E304LIFE]

The year 2020 is starting to scare me...

 

[safi hellie]

This. I couldn't wait for another episode of "Look what the cat hacked in" when AC was in development. Can't wait to see what Stefano comes up with next. Why do i feel like the Beatles just broke up?...

They did...years ago....

 

[safi hellie]

The year 2020 is starting to scare me...

Yes 2020 will always be remembered as the year that Stefano left Kunos......

Oh and that virus thing...

 

[whitestar]

@Andrew_WOT, do you have the link to the interview with Marco you referred to? Can't seem to find it.

 

[Deleted member 197115]

@Andrew_WOT, do you have the link to the interview with Marco you referred to? Can't seem to find it.

Goodbye UE4?

Please :thumbsup:

www.racedepartment.com

 

[Rodger Davies]

Wow, genuinely thought this was an April Fool I missed until about page 2 of the thread.

Thanks for how much you’ve pushed the genre forward Stefano, AC did so much for sim racing and, personally, ACC is on another level and a legacy to be proud of.

 

[Bobby Pennington]

Stefano, from the first time I drove netKar Pro, I realized the hole that been left by Geoff Crammond had been filled. Not only filled, but an entire new pasture was created and all of us that grazed on the land you created can never thank you enough. You completely changed Sim Racing for me and I'm sure many others. That you move on after the release of ACC means you're going out on top. Here's to the best for your future and your future endeavors. We will all be watching I'm sure.

Cheers

 

[racingdud3]

Epic work Stefano, you can seat, relax and enjoy proudly the life cuz you and the Kunos men have done a great job and provide tons and tons of simracing fun globally.

Best sims out there, at least the most compleate ones in global aspect and the more populated.

So Good luck with your next steps that for sure will be energizing ones!

 

[Please Stop This]

Stefano making his new game, already 23 vids up:

 

[Dr. Death]

Stefano making his new game, already 23 vids up:

I wonder if this time there will be a day-night time natively. Also he's got a good taste in waifus.

 

[Patrik Marek]

I wonder if this time there will be a day-night time natively. Also he's got a good taste in waifus.

heh, going from one niche market into way more niche one ?

 

[Deleted member 197115]

From the video

 

[ZeldaACFan17]

So he's making a boat game?