iRacing: New Damage Model Video (Preview)

[Paul Jeffrey]

iRacing have released a fresh video showing the current state of the work-in-progress damage model for the simulation.

Seemingly making great strides with the way the iRacing simulation represents damage when out on track, this latest preview video gives fans a very impressive demonstration of just how far things are progressing within the title - although we still don't yet know exactly when this new gameplay feature will be arriving to the popular racing simulation.

In the latest video, we once again see various cars in action out on the circuit, however be sure to check out a sneaky look at the yet to be released Audi TCR machine - a very welcome new piece of content set to arrive within the iRacing store in the reasonably near future...

Stay up to date with the latest news, check out the iRacing sub forum here at RaceDepartment!

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[RCHeliguy]

Technically true, but I've never found this to be a compelling argument. It's still very pricey for what is ultimately a game.

It would be like someone saying "$60 for Hearts of Iron PLUS all that DLC?!? That's steep!" and someone jumping in and countering with "do you have any IDEA what WW2 cost in real life?!? HoI is a bargain!"

But it's not WW2, it's a game!

It is a game, and some of us get pretty passionate about these games.

I don't think anyone here is trying to force anyone else to join iRacing and if it isn't a good match for you, don't do it.

I would never recommend that someone spend thousands of dollars on a sim rig, and yet some of us have gone a bit hog wild with our rigs.

It's not a right or wrong thing.

 

[Deleted member 113561]

Join a league and there will be drivers there to race against whenever the league holds their races. And even for the least popular cars in official racing you can always find some races that go official each week. I race the Silver Crown 2-3 times every week and it's one of the lowest participation cars on the service.

And what is so special about it? You can do that in other sims aswell!

I'm not gonna search for it.

You can provide no proof, nobody should take you serious.

Even if he is a professional driver.

Not totally not, he won the Porsche Cup Car aswell. What do you need? God's consent? This is ridiculous.

 

[delpinsky]

Love this damage model! Looks awesome

@kunos what do you think? AC2?

 

[RCHeliguy]

You can provide no proof, nobody should take you serious.

I don't know, but there are nearly 100 testimonials by professional race car drivers.
https://www.iracing.com/testimonials/

Here are a few.

iRacing is by far the best racing simulation out there. It’s shocking how finely detailed the tracks are; the visual cues and references points are right on the money. And anything you can adjust on a real car you can adjust on the iRacing version and the effects are the same.

Ryan Hunter-Reay
2014 Indianapolis 500 Champion
2012 IndyCar Champion


iRacing is as real world as you can get. The graphics and the handling are by far the best I have seen out of any simulation program. And when I'm not home, I can bet my son, Sebastian, is on it racing someone from somewhere around the world.

Juan Pablo Montoya
IndyCar Series & 2013 Rolex 24 Champion
NASCAR Sprint Cup, Formula One

iRacing is the most modern racing simulation ever created. Every inch of every track is modeled perfectly. I've used iRacing to learn new courses such as Virginia International Raceway, or to keep the rust off at tracks such as Infineon Raceway. For the hardcore sim racer, this is your dream simulation. For the real-world racer, this is your 'at-home' test vehicle. www.dalejr.com

Dale Earnhardt, Jr.
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Driver
2-Time NASCAR Nationwide Series Champion (1998, 1999)


Any time you log onto iRacing.com, there is a good chance you will be racing against some of the best professional race car drivers in the real world. Trust me, there is no sim site more realistic, with the quality of online racing and, more importantly, the ease of use than iRacing.

Ron Capps
2016 NHRA Funny Car Champion

I have learned some of the Indy tracks through iRacing and it is great to see that the game just keeps improving. The physics are great! Me and my son Eduardo are having so much fun going through the license phases together.

Rubens Barrichello
Formula One & IndyCar Driver

I am very impressed with the realism of the iRacing simulation. Like many of the other IndyCar drivers, I use iRacing to get to know tracks before I even get out on the actual track. Plus it's a lot of fun!

Takuma Sato
2017 Indy 500 Champion
IndyCar / Formula 1

 

[RCHeliguy]

Just in case you want more details about their new tire model.
https://www.iracing.com/physics-modeling-ntm-v7-info-plus/

What is important is that they are continuing to put effort into improving things.

They mention that they are close to modeling flat spots after you lock up the wheels. It appears that they are taking a solid scientific and continuous development approach to things.

 

[bgil66]

Oh man I hope the spectators are safe
Looking forward to AI

 

[Mark Brunner]

@RCHeliguy No offense but paid testimonials don't count for much to me. I would hope they continue to improve their product when it is a continual subscription model.

Really excited for this damage model, this plus AI might get me playing iRacing more often when i'm home.

 

[cupra_abf]

Very fair points! I don't feel criticized/attacked in the slightest.

So, you are absolutely correct in your assumption - my track experience is strictly on road tires. Perhaps this is warping my impressions of what a car "should" feel like...entirely possible!

I am lapping in an open wheeler next month - it'll still be on road tires, but has downforce, extremely low CoG, etc so I will be interested to see if any of my opinions change after that. I try hard to keep an open mind when it comes to sims but you do form opinions that are sometimes harder to shake than they were to form (if that makes sense). I also still periodically revisit sims that I'm not a huge fan of (like rF2, iRacing, PC2) just to see what they are up to, see if my opinions have changed, etc. Even though I do tend to sink the lion's share of my lapping into just a court faves (AC and R3E), for me it's a big part of the fun to compare/contrast and try to understand what a given sim is/isn't doing that I either like or don't like. I think it makes you a better driver because you really have to hone in on both what you need as a driver and what the sim is offering.

I got nothing to add, I agree with what you say! Or favorite sims differ, but I still have a similar approach and opinion. I'm just glad we have that many to choose from, and I want them all to do well.

Enjoy your experience! I've tracked quite a few cars, but haven't gotten to drive an open wheeler yet.

You can provide no proof, nobody should take you serious.

Not totally not, he won the Porsche Cup Car aswell. What do you need? God's consent? This is ridiculous.

I just don't feel like spending my time searching forum posts and stuff like that. Honestly, if you haven't seen any driver talk positive about iR, I feel like you've been reading about it with a bias already. It really isn't that rare.

Also, ITS AN OPINION. Nothing about this is facts, so no, he could have won the triple crown and it still wouldn't be proof. We're talking about subjective impressions here, you can't actually proof them. One single driver saying so doesn't change a thing, especially when others don't say the same. You're putting way too much weight into a single drivers opinion.

Just out of curiosity, which sim do you believe does it best? And based on what?

 

[RCHeliguy]

@RCHeliguy No offense but paid testimonials don't count for much to me. I would hope they continue to improve their product when it is a continual subscription model.

Really excited for this damage model, this plus AI might get me playing iRacing more often when i'm home.

I understand your thoughts on this and I agree to a certain point. However if all the professionals who like iRacing are quoted and asked for permission to be added to the testimonials page, that would mean only the guys who are saying bad things can be believed.

Just saying that a number of these guys are pretty well off and I doubt iRacing is offering them large sums of money for their paragraphs. So my thought is that nearly 100 professional racers actually like iRacing.

Or you can assume that a bunch of the world's best drivers are just a bunch of shills.

 

[Deleted member 113561]

I just don't feel like spending my time searching forum posts and stuff like that. Honestly, if you haven't seen any driver talk positive about iR, I feel like you've been reading about it with a bias already. It really isn't that rare.

Also, ITS AN OPINION. Nothing about this is facts, so no, he could have won the triple crown and it still wouldn't be proof. We're talking about subjective impressions here, you can't actually proof them. One single driver saying so doesn't change a thing, especially when others don't say the same. You're putting way too much weight into a single drivers opinion.

It was not about general iRacing, it was specifically about their tire model.

There is a consensus in sim racing that iRacing tire model is the worst of all current sims. You couldn't provide evidence / real drivers opinions against it, that leaves me with only 1 very likely conclusion:
You seem to be an iRacing fanboy, somebody else would have provided the evidence asked for, you are REFUSING to. You can't back up your claims, you are no better than a liar.

 

[Nick Hill]

If I saw Takuma Sato join the race, I'd leave in the interest of protecting my safety rating!!!

 

[147852369]

There is a consensus in sim racing that iRacing tire model is the worst of all current sims.

Is there?

 

[Riblo]

I understand your thoughts on this and I agree to a certain point. However if all the professionals who like iRacing are quoted and asked for permission to be added to the testimonials page, that would mean only the guys who are saying bad things can be believed.
Just saying that a number of these guys are pretty well off and I doubt iRacing is offering them large sums of money for their paragraphs. So my thought is that nearly 100 professional racers actually like iRacing.

Or you can assume that a bunch of the world's best drivers are just a bunch of shills.

Lando Norris Who Is on iRacing spent good words for F1 2019 too and we all know that is a arcade game
So NO paid testimonials don't count
For the same reason ACC should be revered cause the champion of Blancpain itself Mirko Bortolotti is testimonial of the game but instead there is a bashing about ACC for sometimes stupid reasons (even from people i don't they own the game or they unistalled It and judge new updates without trying them)
iRacing is praised cause the team behind It did a good marketing and it Is not a surprise if you consider that this game follows the same naming that Apple uses (iPhone iPad and so on)
Both firms have good products but advertised and priced as they were the best and most innovative ones in universe while it's not
iRacing is a good game but it's not the Holy Grail, all the rest is marketing

 

[cupra_abf]

It was not about general iRacing, it was specifically about their tire model.

There is a consensus in sim racing that iRacing tire model is the worst of all current sims. You couldn't provide evidence / real drivers opinions against it, that leaves me with only 1 very likely conclusion:
You seem to be an iRacing fanboy, somebody else would have provided the evidence asked for, you are REFUSING to. You can't back up your claims, you are no better than a liar.

Actually, I do not believe there is a 'general consensus'. Maybe provide evidence to back that up, or what you're saying isn't any better than slander... (Just for the record, one dude saying so would not be evidence for a 'general consesus')

Also, jumping to calling me a fanboy...nice. You are such a nice person. Maybe, just maybe, I didn't care enough to look for any evidence, since you're the only one arguing with me and I really don't care about convincing you - I know it ain't gonna happen.

Have a good day!

 

[snyperal]

@neuer31 I think in the Nicki Thiim video you're referring to iRacing came off really well. He made a lot of positive points about it. He critiqued the tyre model, but as was posted earlier the new version is in the works and being gentle tweaked, I think that's a positive.

The damage model certainly looks like an improvement over the current squishy mess, and once again it'll lay down the gauntlet for other sims to think about.

 

[RCHeliguy]

What this discussion shows is what you would expect with any market. When a company gets something very right that makes them a success, they are held to a higher standard and attacked.

iRacing is the 800 lb gorilla in the online racing community specifically because they have a solid business model that allows regular competition that they have been evolving and growing over the past decade. This is not all the result of their marketing engine. The reason people stick with iRacing is the competition they provide. They have critical mass which gives them sustainability and consistency.

My take is that they get so much right that it really frustrates people when there is something they that leaves room for improvement.

As a result of iRacing's success, people want to see a competitor step up to the plate to challenge them and be less expensive. Some people were hoping ACC would be that competitor with a real online racing system, but they don't have a system that appears to work well and they don't have critical mass and rather than building on AC which people liked, they created something all new that doesn't seem to perform as well. I'm not saying that they didn't make other improvements to the game, just that there has been disappointment with their online racing capabilities.

I've read many complaints from people about how PC1 was still buggy when it was discontinued and PC2 was just starting to get good when they started talking about PC Revolution. People feel abandoned and want them to continue developing what is already out there.

In both cases the base of players is fragmented. People don't want what they have to be left to rot and to then have to buy a brand new version that they know will be buggy and take a while to get worked out only to get drop kicked to the curb when the manufacturer feels the need to come out with something all new so they can generate revenue.

Each product cycle is being driven by a different business model. Most racing software titles have to come out with something new and shiny on a frequent basis to stay in business and every time they do, they leave some of their players behind, or make them evaluate whether they want to try something different. People end up with a copy of AC and rfactor2 or r3e or PC2 etc..

iRacing gets a lot of things very right, but they aren't perfect. Because they are the big dog some people expect them to be perfect or to be the best at everything.

The critical thing iRacing does have is a very solid core with constant evolution. They will not ever be the best at everything, but they will provide solid competition and continue to improve things and not leave you stranded. That is why they will continue to grow while other sims feel the need to completely reinvent themselves every few years with something 200% better than the last version

 

[Ryan Robbins]

I love iRacing and I am impressed by many things about the service. I feel the service is priced fairly but the cars and tracks are overpriced IMHO.
I have recently been trying Simracingsystem and it gives me a bit of the iRacing feel of flexibility to join a race when I am able. Amazingly, it is free. Actually haven't touched iRacing since. But that may change...I have paid for 6 months at iracing.

 

[F_B]

Yep, Iracing is far from perfect, however it is the only sim at the market with a structured mp and rating system in such detail. If you don’t have the time to participate in a league this is the best you can get.

Personally I’d wish for more historic content (90s CART, more Camel GTP/GTO cars, 90s F1 car etc). Also their development speed is not that fast, however after all they deliver. Probably that’s why it takes so long with the AI.

 

[Deleted member 113561]

Maybe, just maybe, I didn't care enough to look for any evidence, since you're the only one arguing with me and I really don't care about convincing you

Yet you post in a public discussion, with hundreds of views. Sure, keep the excuses coming fanboy.
I call em as I see em.

He critiqued the tyre model, but as was posted earlier the new version is in the works and being gentle tweaked, I think that's a positive.

He really tried to look at it from an objective point of view, despite him driving regularly on iRacing, it makes the video so much more believable.
We will see what the new tire model brings, maybe a miracle is going to happen, idk

 

[Gevatter]

Based on what exactly? It has flaws like every tyre model but the driving feels realistic.

It "feels" fine alright, but it handles weird and has among other things an issue where the tyres gain way too much grip the colder the track gets.

Best instance was Jimmy Broadbent's Spa 24h livestream this year, where he dove the BMW Z4 at night, second to last lap before a pitstop. It had used up tires and was a fuel saving lap with lifting and coasting into corners, with traffic and he did a 2:15:xx laptime. AFAIK the fastest race lap in the real Spa 24h this year was a 2:18:xx in Superpole.

And it's a real shame too, because simulation wise almost everything besides the tire model is very very well done in iRacing, from dirt buildup to marbles to cloud shadows and so on.