RaceRoom Racing Experience January Update Released

Paul Jeffrey · Jan 31, 2018

Sector3 Studios have today deployed a new update to RaceRoom Racing Experience, adding plenty of nice fixes and improvements to the in game AI.

Although we've had one or two hotfix updates already in the new calendar year, today marks the first major build release for RaceRoom Racing Experience in 2018, and the developers appear to have been hard at work over the festive season brining yet more improvements to the multiplayer experience and the all important game AI - rapidly developing into one of the finer examples of artificial intelligence in the sim racing marketplace.

Of course the most prominent news from the latest update will be the release of the Road America circuit (more details HERE), however one shouldn't be too quick to overlook the importance of some of the features in the change log below. Despite the intentions of Sector3 to take a more active approach to online competitions in the years ahead, the Swedish developers are doing a very impressive job of building what is turning out to be a rather impressive AI experience, improving considerably over previous editions back in early 2017 and before, making RaceRoom a very strong contender for one of the most robust single player experiences in sim racing today..

January 2018 Change Log:

Multiplayer - Garage assignment should now result in a lot less spawning inside several other cars.
Multiplayer - Fixed for a second time the gear selection that resets on starting grid after everyone is ready (aka “the Franconen bug”)
Multiplayer - Fixed a case where a close finish between two players with latency (ping) higher than the gap between their cars would result in one of them not registering the race finish and allowed one more lap.
AI - Further improved spatial awareness
AI - AI cars now embark varying amount of fuel in practice and qualify sessions.
AI - Improved their pitstop strategy decisions (starting fuel, number of stops)
AI - AI drivers now have a random performance factor to avoid having always the same AI’s winning most championships.
AI - Nordschleife Tourist AI cars finishing a lap now longer remain idle in the parking area.
Thrustmaster - Updated API version / Added support for leds and automated the fetching of the wheel range
Removed the Pitstop cancel button if the player is in the pitlane to prevent mistakes.
Pit menu navigation - “Menu Up” and “Menu Down” commands no longer wrap vertically
Further improved performance when changing values on the car setup screen.

Sound, Physics & AI:

Porsche 911 GT3 R - External sounds improvements
Porsche Cayman GT4 CS - Reduced lift off oversteer (engine braking)
GTR3 Car class - BOP adjustments. Leaderboards were cleared.
WTCC 16/17 - More stability in the rear, reduced braking power. Also reduced the domination of Citroen by AI.
Audi TT cup - AI has been slowed down
Ford GT1 - Gearbox is now properly marked as sequential
Saleen S7R - Gearbox is now properly marked as sequential
Formula RaceRoom 2 - Now has a maximum steerlock
Zandvoort - AI strength adjusted

Art:

Chevrolet Daytona Prototype - Fixed a very bright cockpit when looking at a certain LOD level of the car
Porsche 991 GT3 Cup - Fixed missing labels / texture on the steering wheel

For more from the new Road America release, don't forget to check out our reveal article and exclusive gameplay footage HERE.

RaceRoom Racing Experience is available exclusively to PC on a free to play platform with additional content available at a further cost.

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Have you tried the new update yet? What are your impressions of the latest AI revisions? Let us know in the comments section below!

apex11 · Feb 1, 2018

Yet again they asked actual WTCC drivers to rag around in the sim and they fed back to the devs that the game did not offer enough stability at the rear..... we are finally getting close to sims actually making race cars act like in real life.... we will all see that race cars slipping all over the place like its on ice with plastic wheels is not sim....

Daring to make racing cars grip can then arm the nut jobs with claims of "arcade" or "dumming down"

Dady Cairo · Feb 1, 2018

Emerson Meyer said:
Realistic mechanical damage is overrated...

And RAIN too...
DC

sjb266 · Feb 1, 2018

Yeah.. nah.. AI is as bad as it ever was... Still unplayable for me.. It's a shame.. Leaderboard is still fun though!

Deleted member 387850 · Feb 1, 2018

Paul Jeffrey said:
Removed the Pitstop cancel button if the player is in the pitlane to prevent mistakes.

Forget all the other tweaks, this one is by far my favourite! It will be a sweet relief for anyone who has ever had the pain of accidentally hitting Cancel instead of Confirm whilst in the pitlane mid-race

Robert Stanley · Feb 1, 2018

Paul Jeffrey said:
January 2018 Change Log:

Removed the Pitstop cancel button if the player is in the pitlane to prevent mistakes.

Pit menu navigation - “Menu Up” and “Menu Down” commands no longer wrap vertically.

Msr. Broadbent will like that

...another great update, well done S3.

Yetch · Feb 1, 2018

T04STY said:
Does anyone know what did change on which cars?

https://forum.sector3studios.com/in...e-road-america-has-been-released.10237/page-2

Leynad777 · Feb 1, 2018

Paul Jeffrey said:
GTR3 Car class - BOP adjustments

I was driving the Porsche GT3 (not Cup) on Road America online and even with a medium-low aero i had no chance against some other cars, probably driving with lowest aero-settings. A Bentley was overtaking me like i was in a lower class. S3S really should fix their aero because it's ridiculous that the really fast drivers are using aero at 1 or 2 almost all the time and even on high-downforce tracks like Zandvoort. This is just not how GT3-cars work.

Neils on Wheels · Feb 1, 2018

RufGTI said:
I like the changes that come with this update but nethertheless in general I'm not satified with how the sim developed through the last 2-3 years. Of course we've got enough new cars and tracks (in my opinion) but there has been a huge lack of new ideas. Of course changing a game that is in development for years isn't easy but Assetto Corsa or even rF2 have shown what's possible in such a long time. Where's the offline multiclass racing, where's the iRacing-like mode announced over a year ago with nothing to be revealed yet, what about GTR3/UE4? I really like the SimBin/Sector 3 guys with the Race series being my first sim but R3E with it's infinitely long Beta status is never going to be my favourite.

You will not see multi class Ai with the current Ai as they can't handle slower cars.

Metalogic · Feb 1, 2018

Yetch said:
https://forum.sector3studios.com/in...e-road-america-has-been-released.10237/page-2

"Here are some notes below on what changed:

Audi R8 LMS - Add power
Audi R8 LMS Ultra - Add power
Bentley Continental - Small downforce increase front
BMW M6 - Improved low end power, and reduced downforce
BMW Z4 - Add power
Chevrolet Camaro - Reduce weight
Corvette C6 Z06.R - Increase drag, small decrease downforce, reduce power
Corvette C7 GT3-R - reduce power
Ford GT - Less rear, more front downforce
McLaren 650S - Add power
McLaren MP4-12C - Add power
Mercedes SLS - Reduce power
Nissan GTR - Reduce power
P4-5 - Add power
Porsche GT3R - Reduced power
RUF RT12R - Reduced power"

Not sure why they thought the Porsche needed nerfing

Deleted member 205301 · Feb 1, 2018

....Is it me or, after several years, they still didn't fixed the clutch issue ?! ...but maybe noboby's using clutch (and talks about realism, ahah....)
...Great to see those improvements btw
@++

Peter Kerényi · Feb 1, 2018

FYI there is new longer layout for Lausitzring.

T04STY · Feb 1, 2018

Leynad777 said:
I was driving the Porsche GT3 (not Cup) on Road America online and even with a medium-low aero i had no chance against some other cars, probably driving with lowest aero-settings. A Bentley was overtaking me like i was in a lower class. S3S really should fix their aero because it's ridiculous that the really fast drivers are using aero at 1 or 2 almost all the time and even on high-downforce tracks like Zandvoort. This is just not how GT3-cars work.

You can pretty much always run a 1 rear wing on that car. Give it a try!

Pepper606 · Feb 1, 2018

sjb266 said:
Yeah.. nah.. AI is as bad as it ever was... Still unplayable for me.. It's a shame.. Leaderboard is still fun though!

I'm sorry, I just had to respond to this as I've found this to be inaccurate.
I've spent this morning testing the AI.
5 minutes ago I completed a last race: 30 BMW 325s on Nurburgring and I had expected to find the worst results there with 30 slow cars going into a hairpin with me in position 15.
I saw cars avoiding me, no kneejerking etc, but just not hitting me.
There is evidence of spatial awareness for sure.

I am pleased with the mornings results and can recommend the off line/single player AI races

Emerson Meyer · Feb 1, 2018

It seems irony is overrated too...

Its funny to read that every aspect of simulation missing in RR is just considered "overrated".

Real weather... laser scanned tracks... real damage... missing/missing/missing

Let me see... DirectX 10/11/12... overrated too?

Andy_J · Feb 1, 2018

Emerson Meyer said:
It seems irony is overrated too...

Its funny to read that every aspect of simulation missing in RR is just considered "overrated".

Real weather... laser scanned tracks... real damage... missing/missing/missing

Let me see... DirectX 10/11/12... overrated too?

And the point of you posting this here is what exactly?

psynusoid · Feb 1, 2018

Andy Jackson said:
And the point of you posting this here is what exactly?

You saved me from saying sunny is real weather just not where I live, Nords is laser scanned and wrekfest has a damage system for banger racing!

UMC 22 · Feb 1, 2018

Emerson Meyer said:
Let me see... DirectX 10/11/12... overrated too?

Actually yes. People get so hung up on engines and numbers these days that they so often fail to see and appreciate what is right in front of them. If they spent half as much time enjoying what the game has instead of what complaining about what it doesn't have, they'd probably be a great deal happier.

Deleted member 205301 · Feb 1, 2018

Emerson Meyer said:
Let me see... DirectX 10/11/12... overrated too?

for sure VR is

...but generaly speaking, "the sim" (I mean, any sorts of sims, no matter wich one) is something overrated, until a new one comes...(remember how we found GTR "realistic", and GTR2/RFactor "the real thing" ...do I have to speak about the "GrandPrix serie" ?)
@++

Emerson Meyer · Feb 1, 2018

You guys should play GTR2 instead.

Waaaay better

Fanapryde · Feb 1, 2018

Brice.S. said:
....Is it me or, after several years, they still didn't fixed the clutch issue ?! ...but maybe noboby's using clutch (and talks about realism, ahah....)
...Great to see those improvements btw
@++

Could you elaborate ? What clutch issue ? Do you enable H-pattern shifting in the UI ?
Works as expected for me.
If you forget to change the setting, you're in for an unpleasant surprise though...