iRacing | Hotfix Time!

[Paul Jeffrey]

iRacing have released a new hotfix for their latest big 2020 Season 2 build deployed recently to the simulation.

In traditional iRacing style, the hotfix comes quickly on the heals of the recent major build update for the simulation, and contains a nice mix of both retrospective amendments following the last build, and some new goodies and changes for players to enjoy.

You can check out the full hotfix update notes below, available to download now.


iRacing Hotfix Update Notes

Rendering

• Reduced sparkling effects from lights at night.

Broadcast Mode

• Fixed an issue where headlights could have a ghostly bloom appearance in broadcast mode.
• Fixed an issue with shadows at night while in broadcast mode.
• Fixed an issue where low-resolution particles and post-processing effects were freeing and recreating render targets every frame when split-screen broadcast mode is enabled. This may have been impacting performance speed.

Cars

HPD ARX-01c

• Baseline setup has been updated.

NASCAR Cup Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

• Aerodynamics while in traffic has been adjusted.

NASCAR Cup Ford Mustang

• Aerodynamics while in traffic has been adjusted.

NASCAR Cup Toyota Camry

• Aerodynamics while in traffic has been adjusted.

Tracks

Lånkebanen (Hell RX)

• Improved normal (bump) map for gravel area edges.

iRacing is available exclusively on PC.

Got questions about the sim? No worries, pop down to the iRacing sub forum here at RaceDepartment and ask our community!

 

[randMracer]

Look I've been a huge critic of iRenting for years but what happened today on FS1 was amazing. All of us veteran sim racers have been waiting and knowing it would happen eventually. But I wasn't expecting the real and virtual to blend so smoothly. iRacing was the key component for this to happen. History was made today and hats off to FS1 and iRacing for pulling it off.

 

[dave kirk]

It's ludicrously expensive but iRacing keeps the model they have because they think that it will ward off the people who crash into others on purpose

Are people really naive that they think that is the reason, It's because the sim market is so small they are rinsing us for as much money as they possibly can.

 

[RCHeliguy]

Very cool!

Pro drivers are competing with gamers after F1 and NASCAR canceled races

What else are Max Verstappen, Lando Norris, and other top drivers going to do?

www.theverge.com

 

[F_B]

Another unfortunate thing is that variety of cars is poor to guy like me, but I guess thats the story of smracing... only stuff that holds advertisment irl at the present. Not even GT40... Americans.

That's the biggest problem I have with Iracing right now: their content is missing some interesting cars in my opinion: although I don't really like GT cars they need actual GT3 cars as that is their most popular series. However they still use cars which aren't used anymore, you might say they are historic content right now. Furthermore they need LMP3 or LMP2 cars. They just added GT4 and TCR which is good (although I don't like these classes as well), as that was a popular demand throughout the last years.

But what about more historic content? I don't understand why the hell they haven't got a 90s CART in their sim yet? I mean....they're the creators of Indycar Racing, these cars are their DNA. Also looking at the average age of an Iracing member I bet a large part of their audience grew up with Indycar & Nascar Racing so it would make sense to offer a car of that era. It's the golden age of motorsport imo.

Also add more cars to IMSA GTP/GTO, make that series bigger. Add a 962 or Jaguar XJR-16 for GTP, add a Mustang GTO and 300ZX GTO for the slower class and thus fill this series with life. Right now it's just one prototype and one GTO, where is the fun in that? Where is the variety?

However I doubt that this will ever happen. Most of the customer base want modern cars so I'm probably too old fashioned to have fun with their car roster.

 

[BrunoBæ]

Also add more cars to IMSA GTP/GTO, make that series bigger. Add a 962 or Jaguar XJR-16 for GTP, add a Mustang GTO and 300ZX GTO for the slower class and thus fill this series with life. Right now it's just one prototype and one GTO, where is the fun in that? Where is the variety?

Yeah when I was a member I never did understand why they created the mandatory ghost town with the Nissan 300ZX GTP and the slow Audi GTO.
Beside the L79 the Nissan was my favorite but even when the races became official (6+ cars) the Audis was a painInTheAss(IMO).
One or two more GTP cars would have helped.

 

[Phantom Lord]

Also add more cars to IMSA GTP/GTO, make that series bigger. Add a 962 or Jaguar XJR-16 for GTP, add a Mustang GTO and 300ZX GTO for the slower class and thus fill this series with life. Right now it's just one prototype and one GTO, where is the fun in that? Where is the variety?

This! Even if the series is pretty dead in terms of online PvP racing, I'd happily race cars against the AI. The iRacing AI is pretty good already.

I'd personally love to see some more GT1 and GT2 cars, plus LMPs contemporary to the HPD. Could be the ARX-02, Audi R15+, Porsche RS Spyder etc.

 

[Deleted member 205301]

Thank you, that sounds like R3E then. So all I need in Iracing is one GT3 and I can race against all the gt3's driven by AI.

..patience is a virtue^^
For now, GT3 is not available for AI (AI is now for Mazda mx5, PorscheCup, SkipBarber, F3, TCR, GT4 and NascarCup)
@++

 

[F_B]

Yeah when I was a member I never did understand why they created the mandatory ghost town with the Nissan 300ZX GTP and the slow Audi GTO.
Beside the L79 the Nissan was my favorite but even when the races became official (6+ cars) the Audis was a painInTheAss(IMO).
One or two more GTP cars would have helped.

I have nothing against multiclass but just throwing in two cars to represent a iconical multiclass series is not enough. Especially if you consider that the Audi is very special and not for everyone with the 4wd. However I'm looking forward when the Nissan is available for AI races as I love that car.

 

[Marlonracer]

Good on ya I racing
Lets keep life normal
Just made a 1 year sub

 

[BrunoBæ]

If all they are doing is raking in huge, greedy profit, why do you think there are not more competitors offering the same service after 10 years of iRacing?

If you did know anything about how private (non governmental) monopols are created then it could either be because they have an exclusive right on a certain product or (what is the case here) they are smart enough to create a certain service before anybody else - and then because the market niche is too small to make it profitable for several competitors they rule the market as long as enough customers does prefer their service.

CatsAreTheWorstDogs: The use of the word "greedy" about profit is pretty misplaced. Because as the pretty realistic Gordon Gekko exclaimed in the movie Wall Street then "Greed, for lack of a better word, is good.
At least when we are talking about the businezz department.

 

[2112]

It's ludicrously expensive but iRacing keeps the model they have because they think that it will ward off the people who crash into others on purpose

Joking right? It does not stop the idiot drivers from crashing into each other due to ignorance which is just as bad.

 

[2112]

The world is broken and iracing’s bussiness model is close to an end for the crisis ahead.Their greedy model won’t last the virus in my opinion, sorry.

Joking, right? The virus will kill many small race teams but as we saw over the past two weeks sim racing is becoming the go-to for many fans and racers.

This may be what sim-racing needed to become mainstream.

 

[2112]

I did make this suggestion on the forums:
"Wouldn't it be good to have a series dedicated to drivers who have say a average incident per race of less then 4.0 for example.
Don't car what car or what tracks but at least you could compete safe in the knowledge that you could concentrate on racing rather than worrying about crash avoidance.

If a drivers incident per race went above the set figure, he would then not be able to compete until it dropped again, which would encourage him to go into other races and try not to crash."

Wouldn't increase revenue so probably wouldnt be considered.

I average 4 points just for track limits. Four incident points in a race, especially one that is 24 laps or more, is difficult for those like me who like to use the kerbs.

My problem is races that go like this:

CTS-V at Nords. At race start the driver two cars in front of me stalls his car. The driver behind him waits, as do I. The driver behind me, though, hits me because he is ignorant of the stopped car (me) in front of him. +4 points. AS I am going through Hatzenbach a couple of cars collide in front of me. I slow and am hit from behind. +4 (8 total). I enter Flugplatz and note that cars are slowing due to a crash. I manage to tip-toe through and just as I emerge from the carnage unscathed a driver behind, without any semblance of a clue, plows into me. +4 (12 total now). I get back to pits and repair. I go back and am leading a car out of Kallenhard and through the complex into Wehrseifen. The driver decides he cannot wait and pits me into the wall. +4 (16 points in two laps, one of which I ran, damaged, faster than most). I cannot control my car that well at that point and have an off which I get on the grass but not touch the wall or spin. +1 (17 points, disqualified).

There are many of us who have been racing sims for years. We may not be the fastest but due to our late start in iRacing we are forced to race against those who do not know how to race. We could just do the safe thing and beetlebaum around the track for a few weeks, but we are racers so we race.

If you raced against me you would not have to fear me putting you into a wall, but to be honest I find that many who have much higher iRatings and safety ratings than I do have a cork-sniffer's attitude about us and either insist we allow them to pass (instead of racing us and working to get by us safely) and get impatient and childish when we do not accede to their "superiority". They then end up making stupid passes in areas that they would not try passing if racing against others of their level. Those passes invariably end up in one or both of us getting incident points.

 

[Nick Hill]

First and foremost, I think this was great publicity for iRacing in particular and sim racing in general. I genuinely expect a big spike in interest in our hobby, and that's a Good Thing. We get a lot of grief as a community for taking "video games" too seriously and maybe sometimes we do, but I still get so many "lol like mario kart" type jokes from even serious race fans, I'm not sure sim racing is really appreciated/respected like it should be. Hopefully all this publicity induces some people to take a closer look.

On a related note, I watched the NASCAR highlights. I couldn't help but take note that the in-studio driver (who was very funny, by the way!) made mention of the cars in the sim being harder to drive than in real life. He said something to the effect that the cars in real life really want to go straight and will work with you to straighten back out when you're getting into a slide (implying that this is *not* the case in the sim). I think this is more fuel for the "hard != realistic" fire. I suspect there are a lot of people in our community who have never been on a racetrack running around telling us that such-and-such sim is "simcade" because it is "too grippy". I saw this accusation leveled at AMS2 just the other day (not the "simcade" bit, but it was certainly being suggested that it was "too grippy").

Fair warning: the next person I see making an accusation of a sim having too much grip is going to get a response from me asking for them to provide a video of themselves driving an 80's F1 car (or whatever) showing us how much grip it *should* have!

 

[Kurupt CDN]

First and foremost, I think this was great publicity for iRacing in particular and sim racing in general. I genuinely expect a big spike in interest in our hobby, and that's a Good Thing. We get a lot of grief as a community for taking "video games" too seriously and maybe sometimes we do, but I still get so many "lol like mario kart" type jokes from even serious race fans, I'm not sure sim racing is really appreciated/respected like it should be. Hopefully all this publicity induces some people to take a closer look.

On a related note, I watched the NASCAR highlights. I couldn't help but take note that the in-studio driver (who was very funny, by the way!) made mention of the cars in the sim being harder to drive than in real life. He said something to the effect that the cars in real life really want to go straight and will work with you to straighten back out when you're getting into a slide (implying that this is *not* the case in the sim). I think this is more fuel for the "hard != realistic" fire. I suspect there are a lot of people in our community who have never been on a racetrack running around telling us that such-and-such sim is "simcade" because it is "too grippy". I saw this accusation leveled at AMS2 just the other day (not the "simcade" bit, but it was certainly being suggested that it was "too grippy").

Fair warning: the next person I see making an accusation of a sim having too much grip is going to get a response from me asking for them to provide a video of themselves driving an 80's F1 car (or whatever) showing us how much grip it *should* have!

Totally agree, from what it's worth just comparing any sim on the market right now to my little karting and off road driving experience....no pro or alien by any means.
None of the sims compare or give you the feedback of real life.
They do there best to simulate and some have good effects that remind you of RL driving, but they are what they.....games.

When ever people pipe up about physics, car handling, how spot on car x is or sim is over another....I merely take it with a grain of salt.

I remember when RD's Paul was reporting from the 24hr race last yr and got the chance to drive the nords.
Someone on the forms asked how they compared to the current sims?
In short his response was none of them compare.

Play what you enjoy and support the devs you feel should supported.

 

[mantasisg]

That's the biggest problem I have with Iracing right now: their content is missing some interesting cars in my opinion: although I don't really like GT cars they need actual GT3 cars as that is their most popular series. However they still use cars which aren't used anymore, you might say they are historic content right now. Furthermore they need LMP3 or LMP2 cars. They just added GT4 and TCR which is good (although I don't like these classes as well), as that was a popular demand throughout the last years.

But what about more historic content? I don't understand why the hell they haven't got a 90s CART in their sim yet? I mean....they're the creators of Indycar Racing, these cars are their DNA. Also looking at the average age of an Iracing member I bet a large part of their audience grew up with Indycar & Nascar Racing so it would make sense to offer a car of that era. It's the golden age of motorsport imo.

Also add more cars to IMSA GTP/GTO, make that series bigger. Add a 962 or Jaguar XJR-16 for GTP, add a Mustang GTO and 300ZX GTO for the slower class and thus fill this series with life. Right now it's just one prototype and one GTO, where is the fun in that? Where is the variety?

However I doubt that this will ever happen. Most of the customer base want modern cars so I'm probably too old fashioned to have fun with their car roster.

My bet is that most simracers are hype driven by racing that they have recently saw on TV or IRL event. I think way too few simracers are actually car enthusiasts, or has any sympathy towards mechanics, and older cars are more mechanical. Things will only get worse as people will be less and less interested in cars, at the end CAR racing will be replaced completely by MARBLES racing rolling down the MARBLES downhill track... And you'll see it here at racedepartment, because it is racedepartment, not carsdepartment, so they mustn't stick to cars lol

 

[BrunoBæ]

Fair warning: the next person I see making an accusation of a sim having too much grip is going to get a response from me asking for them to provide a video of themselves driving an 80's F1 car (or whatever) showing us how much grip it *should* have!

Hehe no I fully agree with you
I can remember Nigel Mansell a few years ago on an electronic gadgets fair did test a racing game/sim out against some simracing nerds. Afterwards he said in an interview that if the cars had been so difficult to drive in RL when he was on top in F1(1980- 1995) both he and his colleagues would have been killed.

CatsAreTheWorstDogs: Most of the much younger sim racing nerds crashed out trying to follow him.
So even as retired he could still turn a wheel.

 

[F_B]

That's one great misconception among some simracers: the harder it is to drive the more realistic it is.

 

[dud]

How do I race against the AI in iracing?

The UI hates me and tells me nuffink!

 

[Kurupt CDN]

How do I race against the AI in iracing?

The UI hates me and tells me nuffink!

Launch the UI beta on the left side it will say race ai