Sim racing
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Sim (simulated) racing is the collective term for computer racing games which attempt to accurately simulate race driving, as opposed to "arcade" driving games such as the Need for Speed series. In general, sim racing titles such as EA Sports' F1 Challenge '99-'02 and Papyrus' NASCAR Racing 2003 Season are less popular than arcade style games, mainly because much more skill and practice is required to master them. For simracers, however, the payoff comes from the thrill of feeling like one is actually schussing a Formula 1 car through the streets of Monaco or hurling a NASCAR stock car around the high banks of Daytona.
With the development of online racing capability, the ability to drive against human opponents as opposed to computer AI is the closest many will come to driving real cars on a real track. Even those who race in a very real sense use simulations for practice or for entertainment. With continued development of physics simulation software and improved hardware providing tactile feedback the game gets ever closer to reality and the thrill of racing against people from all over the world.
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[edit] History
[edit] Early years
The very first racing game with simulation pretensions was probably REVS, released in 1986. REVS was a Formula 3 sim by Geoff Crammond that ran on the 8-bit commodore 64 and BBC. But sim racing is generally acknowledged to have really taken off in 1990 with the introduction of Papyrus' Indy 500 on 16-bit hardware. With Indy 500 you could race the full 500 miles, where even a blowout after 450 miles would take the player out of the competition!
The next major milestone was the release of Formula One Grand Prix (AKA World Circuit in some markets) by MicroProse, also developed by Geoff Crammond. This moved the genre along significantly. Multiplayer was made possible by allowing different drivers to take turns, and racers could also hook up their machines for racing via a null modem cable. This only allowed two drivers to race. Leagues emerged where drivers would submit records of their single player races to compare with other drivers.
Papyrus followed up Indy 500 with IndyCar Racing in 1993 and F1GP was surpassed in all areas. Papyrus later released more tracks and a final expansion included the Indy 500 track plus a paintkit. Now drivers could easily customize their cars.
The first variant of Papyrus' NASCAR series was launched in 1994. In glorious SVGA (640x480) it pushed the PCs of the time to the limit. Suddenly a resolution of 320x200 seemed a poor option and NASCAR was the race sim of choice for anyone with a capable PC, particularly in North America. Moreover, the first real online racing started with NASCAR 1 using the "Hawaii" dial-in servers. Online racing had seen its first true realization, and to many, this was the dawn of "real" sim racing.
1995 saw the release of Indycar II, updating the first version with the new NASCAR graphics engine. In the same year, Microprose released the successor to F1GP, Grand Prix 2, to much anticipation. GP2 became successful not just because of its detailed and thorough simulation of the 1994 Formula 1 season, but also due to the customizability that was achievable by way of the online community. Players could change everything about the game: drivers, teams, graphics, physics, car shapes, and eventually even the racetracks. Offline leagues reached their peak with GP2 in 1998.
In 1996, NASCAR 2 was released, further improving the original, and the number of sim racers exploded. The TEN multiplayer hosting service was introduced and the online sim racing community grew.
[edit] Graphic accelerators era
Graphics accelerator cards brought a new level of realism to the graphics and physics of sim racing games. F1RS from Ubisoft was among the first to utlilise the new technology in 1997. These provided texture mapping, antialiasing, particle effects (i.e. fog, rain and snow), and the capability to perform polygonal calculations faster, while taking the load off of the main processor.
Another milestone in sim racing came in 1998 with the release of Grand Prix Legends from Papyrus, based on the 1967 F1 season. It was hailed as outstanding in all areas but especially the physics and online multiplayer capability. For many their first real experience with online racing was GPL or the later variants of NASCAR that used the GPL engine. The release of a third party add-on for GPL -- VROC (Virtual Racers Online Connection) -- allowed racers to join together online and race in leagues.
GPL did stretch the hardware of the time -- NASCAR 3 did not use the new engine, as 40+ fields would not have been a possibility. Fans had to wait for NASCAR 4 and the subsequent releases of NASCAR 2002 and 2003 for a GPL-based racer.
After years of development, Microprose released Grand Prix 3, which used a more modern graphics engine and featured the same customizable structure of GP2. GP3 was ultimately seen as a bit of a disappointment though, for much of the original GP2 that had long been outclassed was still apparent. Still, its similarity allowed easy track conversions back and forth.
Despite its age, GPL has remained a top class sim even in 2005 thanks to a strong community, who collectively have updated the graphics to utilize the current CPU and graphics capabilities and have created loads of add-on tracks of a high quality. Modding teams have managed to create new physics sets, and a 1965 variant is now available with many improvements over the original. GPL online leagues still race today.
Since GPL, ISI has produced Sports Car GT in 1999 and the F1 series starting in 2000, all under the EA publisher. Unlike the Papyrus sims, the physics are easily modified, and a large community has developed, dedicated to modifying the ISI sims. One such modding team, Simbin, have created their own company and have released a full sim -- "GTR" -- based on the FIA GT series.
[edit] Third generation and future
Rally fans have a hardcore racing simulator with Richard Burns Rally.
GT/Endurance fans similarly enjoy GTR, as well as the more recently released GT Legends and GTR 2.
A small team is developing Live for Speed, which is in phase 2 of a 3-phase development cycle. The recent patch U has brought major enhancements to its physics engine, as well as added a Formula 1 car with the help of the BMW Sauber team.
ISI have a new engine and have released rFactor, which is another highly modifiable sim.
Stefano Casillo has released netKar Pro, a new version of netKar which attempts to bring together highly accurate physics and sound modelling as well as DirectX 9 graphics. Development tools for modifying NKP have been announced.
David Kaemmer, co-founder of the now-defunct Papyrus, has announced plans to release a new multiplayer-oriented simulation through his new company iRacing.com.
Eero Piitulainen, lead physics programmer for Richard Burns Rally, is currently developing a new multi-class online racing simulator called Driver's Republic.
In november 2006, a sim racing event got sanctioned by the FIA. [1] [2]
[edit] Hardware
Sim racers are well catered for on the PC with a range of steering wheel, shifter and pedal combinations, some with force feedback, some very highly engineered (and pricey), to provide real life feel to pedals and steering wheels. Several full-sized race frames are now available allowing the sim racer an experience closer to sitting in a race car rather than a computer chair. In development are some fairly incredible hydraulic units that provide the real life feel of racing a car.
Enthustiastic and handy sim racers have built some amazing cockpits combined with projectors or multiple screens to further increase the realism of these simulations.
The increased availability of broadband has improved the general connectability of sim racing fans and online racing is of a generally very high quality with few of the issues created by a poor connection.
[edit] Community
Many sim racing leagues exist and are a great way to get to experience close wheel to wheel racing online. A number of online forums provide the community with a place to discuss sims. The community exposes the player to others with similar interests.
The oldest and longest running simulator racing website is The Pits. Started in 1995 when an entrepreneur editor from the UK wanted a place to host his modification for the Indycar Racing II sim, it has continued to serve the community with a multitude of firsts in the simulator racing world, as well as downloads and helpful information.
[edit] Venues
It was around the turn of the millenium that the technology was reaching a maturity that enticed pioneers to establish dedicated race venues. Sim Racing Ltd in the UK developed the concept of dedicated race venues for drivers and sim drivers alike. Their first offering came in the form of a range of Drivers Challenge activities. Sim Racing Ltd are now growing their range of offerings across the UK and beyond. Hyperstim are also opening a number of Race Centres around the world. Recently a new centre has started in Holland. This centre contains 20 dedicated simulators connected via local area network, using rFactor and GTR as main software simulators. See also: Simworld These activities are still relatively low key today but they hold great potential for many more people to enjoy motor sports as a participant activity.
[edit] Summary
Sim racing is an excellent way to meet people from around the world. A driver can come from anywhere and be successful. The language of most leagues is inevitably English, but drivers can easily meet people from many different cultures and backgrounds. Ultimately, everyone comes together out of their love for racing, competition, community and excitement. Sim racing is perhaps the greatest way for motor racing to really reach out to everyday people without the extremely high costs traditionally associated with the sport. It has outstanding potential for further growth and popularity.
