Sim racing

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Sim (simulated) racing is the collective term for computer software that attempts to accurately simulate auto racing, complete with real-world variables such as fuel usage, damage, tire wear and grip, and suspension settings.^[1] To be competitive in sim racing, a driver must understand all aspects of car handling that make real-world racing so difficult,^[2] such as threshold braking, how to maintain control of a car as the tires lose traction, and how properly to enter and exit a turn without sacrificing speed. It is this level of difficulty that distinguishes sim racing from "arcade" driving games where real-world variables are taken out of the equation and the principal objective is to create a sense of speed as opposed to a sense of realism.^[3]

In general, sim racing applications, such as rFactor, Grand Prix Legends and iRacing are less popular than arcade-style games, mainly because much more skill and practice is required to master them. However, sims such as Gran Turismo,^[4][5] NASCAR Racing 2003 Season and Richard Burns Rally have achieved worldwide fame. Also, because of the demands on the computer system, race sims require faster computers to run effectively, as well as a somewhat costly steering wheel and pedals for the throttle and brakes. Most arcade-style driving games can be played with a simple joystick controller or even a mouse and keyboard.

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 real-world competition use simulations for practice or for entertainment.^[6] With continued development of the physics engine software that forms the basis of these sims, as well as improved hardware (providing tactile feedback), the experience is becoming more realistic.

History

Early arcade years

Prior to the division between arcade-style racing and sim racing, the earliest attempts at providing driving simulation experiences were arcade racing video games, dating back to Pole Position,^[7] a 1982 arcade game developed by Namco, which the game's publisher Atari publicized for its "unbelievable driving realism" in providing a Formula 1 experience behind a racing wheel at the time. It featured other AI cars to race against, crashes caused by collisions with other vehicles and roadside signs, and introduced a qualifying lap concept where the player needs to complete a time trial before they can compete in Grand Prix races.^[8] It also pioneered the third-person rear-view perspective used in most racing games since then, with the track's vanishing point swaying side to side as the player approaches corners, accurately simulating forward movement into the distance.^[9]

Pole Position II was released in 1983 and featured several improvements like giving the player the choice of different race courses.^[10] TX-1, developed by Tatsumi in 1983,^[11] was licensed to Namco,^[12] who in turn licensed it to Atari in America,^[12] thus the game is considered a successor to Pole Position II.^[12] TX-1, however, placed a greater emphasis on realism, with details such as forcing players to brake or downshift the gear during corners to avoid the risk of losing control, and let go of the accelerator when going into a skid in order to regain control of the steering. It also used force feedback technology, which caused the steering wheel to vibrate, and the game also featured a unique three-screen arcade display for a more three-dimensional perspective of the track. It also introduced nonlinear gameplay by allowing players to choose which path to drive through after each checkpoint, eventually leading to one of eight possible final destinations.^[12]

In 1985, Sega's Hang-On, a popular Grand Prix style rear-view motorbike racer,^[13] was considered the first full-body-experience video game,^[14] and was regarded as the first motorbike simulator for its realism at the time, in both the handling of the player's motorbike and the AI of the computer-controlled motorcyclists.^[13] It used force feedback technology and was also one of the first arcade games to use 16-bit graphics and Sega's "Super Scaler" technology that allowed pseudo-3D sprite-scaling at high frame rates.^[15]

The following year, Konami released WEC Le Mans, an early car driving simulator based on the 24 Hours of Le Mans. It attempted to realistically simulate car driving, with the car jumping up and down, turning back and forth, and spinning up to 180 degrees, with an emphasis on acceleration, braking, and gear shifting, along with the need for counter-steering to avoid spin-outs. It also featured a day-night cycle, accurately simulated courses approved by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest, and force feedback to simulate road vibration in the form of a vibrating steering wheel that reacts to the driver's acceleration and off-road bumps.^[16]

The first racing game with simulation pretensions on a home system is believed to have been Chequered Flag, released by Psion on the 8-bit ZX Spectrum in 1983. REVS, followed in 1986. REVS was a Formula 3 sim that delivered a semi-realistic driving experience by Geoff Crammond that ran on the Commodore 64 and BBC. REVS had a big fan base in England, but not so much in the United States.^[17] This was then superseded by the widely popular Hard Drivin' which was an arcade and home computing staple released in 1989, and one of the most widely played simulators up to that point.

Emergence of sim racing genre

Sim racing is generally acknowledged to have really taken off in 1989 with the introduction of Papyrus Design Group's Indianapolis 500: The Simulation, designed by David Kaemmer and Omar Khudari on 16-bit computer hardware. The game is often generally regarded as the personal computer's first true auto racing simulation. Unlike most other racing games at the time, Indianapolis 500 attempted to simulate realistic physics and telemetry, such as its portrayal of the relationship between the four contact patches and the pavement, as well as the loss of grip when making a high-speed turn, forcing the player to adopt a proper racing line and believable throttle-to-brake interaction. It also featured a garage facility to allow players to enact modifications to their vehicle, including adjustments to the tires, shocks and wings.^[17] With Indy 500, players could race the full 500 miles (800 km), where even a blowout after 450 miles (720 km) would take the player out of the competition. The simulation sold over 200,000 copies. It was around this time that sim racing began distinguishing itself from arcade-style racing.

Consoles saw the release of Human Entertainment's Fastest 1 for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis in 1991. It was considered the most realistic Formula 1 racing simulation up until that time.^[18]

The next major milestone was the 1992 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. This is the first sim in which drafting/slip streaming was possible.

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. IndyCar Racing sold around 300,000 copies.

The first variant of Papyrus' NASCAR series was launched in 1994. In SVGA (640×480) it pushed the PCs of the time to the limit. Suddenly a resolution of 320×200 seemed a poor option and NASCAR was the race sim of choice for anyone with a capable PC, particularly in North America. It was the first sim where cars no longer looked like boxes. It keyed in on sophisticated physics modeling. NASCAR 1 sold over one million units. Moreover, the first real online racing started with NASCAR 1 using the "Hawaii" dial-in servers and it was not uncommon for these early sim racers to have $300 to $1500 phone bills. Online racing had seen its first true realization, and to many, this was the dawn of "real" sim racing.^[19]

1995 saw the release of IndyCar Racing II, updating the first version with the new NASCAR graphics engine. A year later, 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 because it was customizable; this 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 went live in November 1997 with the backing of NASCAR and the online sim racing community grew.

In 1997, Gran Turismo was released for the PlayStation. It was considered one of the most realistic racing simulations in its time, featuring a wealth of meticulous tuning options and an open-ended career mode where players had to undertake driving tests to acquire driving licenses, earn their way into races and choose their own career path.^[4] It popularized the racing simulation genre on home consoles,^[4][5] becoming the basis for all modern racing simulations on video game consoles.^[5]

Graphic accelerators era

Graphics accelerator cards brought a new level of realism to the graphics and physics of sim racing games. These new graphics processing units provided texture mapping, antialiasing, particle effects (i.e. fog, rain and snow), HDR and the capability to perform polygonal calculations faster, while taking the load off of the main processor. F1 Racing Simulation by Ubisoft, was among the first to utilize the new technology in 1997.

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, lacking proper network-multiplayer-support and using only an evolution of the GP2 graphic-engine. Still, its similarity allowed easy track conversions back and forth.

Another milestone in sim racing came in 1998 with the release of Grand Prix Legends (GPL) from Papyrus, based on 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.

Despite its age, GPL has remained a top class sim even in 2008 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 1966 and 1969 variants are now available with many improvements over the original.

Wired magazine wrote an in-depth article about racing sims called Hard Drive in their February 1997 issue. TORCS was created in 1997, as an open source car racing simulator.

Sega AM2's 1999 arcade game Ferrari F355 Challenge, later ported to the Dreamcast in 2000, was considered the most accurate simulation of the Ferrari F355 possible up until that time; its focus on realism was considered unusual for an arcade game at the time.^[20]

Since GPL, Image Space Incorporated has produced Sports Car GT in 1999 and the F1 series starting in 2000, all published by Electronic Arts. 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 several games, including GTR – FIA GT Racing Game, GT Legends, GTR 2, RACE – The Official WTCC Game, RACE 07, STCC – The Game, GTR Evolution and Race On.^[21]

Recent developments

David Kaemmer, co-founder of the now-defunct Papyrus,^[22] has released iRacing, a new multiplayer-oriented simulation run on a subscription model. Rally fans have a hardcore racing simulator with Richard Burns Rally.

A small, 3-man team is developing Live for Speed, which has just announced the third, and final phase of a 3-phase development cycle. Phase 2 brought in many updates, including the first real cars (The BMW Sauber F1 car being included in those), however for Phase 3 the first real-world circuit has been announced - The Rockingham Motor Speedway.^[23] The circuit will be laser-scanned for absolute accuracy. Also coming soon is another real-world car - the new VW Scirocco; for which several physics changes have had to be made to ensure a fully accurate simulation.^[24]

In August 2005, ISI released rFactor, a highly modifiable sim based on their gMotor2 physics engine. Notable for its initial download-only distribution model, rFactor originally released with fictional cars and tracks. ISI's encouragement of the enthusiast mod community has led to an unprecedented number of add-ons, including 800-horsepower-stock cars. Subsequent releases of rFactor featured Formula One cars and recreations of real track layouts under fictitious names.

SimBin Studios released GTR 2 (itself a sequel to GTR – FIA GT Racing Game) in September 2006, a sports car racing simulator developed with input from the actual racing teams which took part in the FIA GT 2003 / 2004 seasons (FIA GT Championship). It has received widespread acclaim and has been noted for its high levels of technical and driving realism with regards to sports car racing.

Kunos Simulazioni has released netKar Pro, a new version of netKar which attempts to bring together highly accurate physics and sound modeling as well as DirectX 9 graphics. Development tools for modifying NKP have been announced.

More recently, Eugene Cojocar of Exotypos released X Motor Racing.^[25]

In 2010, Kunos Simulazioni started developing Assetto Corsa, a sim built on the experience from netKar Pro and Ferrari Virtual Academy, but on an entirely new engine, with an emphasis on customization and extensive modification possibilities. It was released on Windows through the Steam's Early Access program in November 2013, and full release came out in December 2014. The game was launched for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in August 2016.

In 2013, Sector3 Studios (former SimBin) released RaceRoom, a free-to-play simulator for Microsoft Windows.

In 2015, Slightly Mad Studios launched Project CARS for on Windows, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. CARS stands for Community Assisted Racing Simulator, as funding for the game was raised by the community and the developers themselves.

Online communities

In recent years as international interest has grown, so has the online community and underground racing circuit. These communities act as a focal point for users around the world to engage with one another co-ordinate racing schedules, exchange modded cars, tracks, discuss hardware configurations and facilitate other communications.

Racing simulator developers

See also

• Racing game
• List of driving/racing style video games
• Vehicle simulation game

References