iRacing’s Tony Gardner spoke up on the topic of the iRacing Dirt release again today. Here’s a quote:
Tube Twister is going to be in week 13. We frankly had it added when we saw the posts but the old story was used erroneously instead of the new story which had it included. Updating to the new story.
Now for dirt. We do have some week 13 series built but….we have not decided yet officially if we are going to include dirt in the update next week or not which is why we are pretty quiet about it. If we knew for sure that it was not in the update we would tell you. If we knew it was going to be in the update, we would tell you. As it is now, it is pretty dam fun! However there are still a couple little things we want to add and a couple things we would like to see a bit better. We have been testing and improving it for for months so I don’t want people to think we are about to put out something that is not tested and up to our standards but we are still tweaking. Just normal software/game development but either way we are close. Maybe we should wait until April 1st!
FYI, there should be a little video coming out today announcing another piece of dirt content that is done and you will see a bit of dirt racing. The testers are having some fun!
My friend Chip predicted that iRacing would release dirt on April Fools day at least a month ago. It’s beginning to look more and more like he was right. If not during Week 13, then April 1 will do if that’s what it takes to get it right.
Now we can all sit on the edge of our seats waiting for that video announcing the new piece of dirt content. 😀
And here it is, along with the announcement that Volusia Speedway will be coming out along with the dirt release!
Here are a couple of interesting posts from the iRacing Dirt forum. A member asks a question about the cushion:
I know this is a sim and I know they push to have it as realistic as possible and I also know that some things are also left out for reasons of program things of this nature into a game. That being said my question is, If no one is up on the cushion from the start of a race will it be covered in little dirt pebbles so that if some one just tries to jump straight up there in the middle of a race, they should run into problems with traction(or worse get sent into the wall)or will the drivers have to gradually clean that off to get to the top of the cushion?
And the grooves, can more cars running the same Line move a groove up or down a track? And does the track condition have a start to finish point from the beginning of practice to end of race? or does it reset for each practice/qualifying/race?
I’ve seen and heard about drivers “cleaning it off” throughout the race to be able to run up there with no problems and when they do get it clean enough they can really start hammering some lap times late in a race to make that final push. I’ve also experienced the results of getting into the trash at the top of a track where the groove/cushion wasn’t clean enough or even there for the car to stick… and well that was the end of that night ha.
I’m just curious to see how accurate they was able to get it! Still stocked regardless.
Tyler D. Hudson had this to say:
The track is very dynamic. Something you will not see in any other sim, especially a dirt sim. It is all still a work in progress, so keep that in mind. It isn’t finished so these are just things I’ve noticed when I test it and I know they’re continuously working to improve it to be as realistic as possible.
The groove does move. The track changes. If 20 cars ran only around the bottom from a fresh track (meaning just watered and packed in) then only the bottom groove or the line everyone was running will dry out. The loose dirt accumulates above this line, so eventually when the track gets slick in the spot everyone was running, it benefits you to move around. Most of the practices I have been running start with a fresh track and after thousands of laps combined from all the competitors, the track has become dry and there’s no loose dirt anywhere but up against the wall. This loose dirt or “cushion” is very dynamic, and it gradually moves up the track as cars move up the track.
Likewise, the track is constantly changing, and as dirt moves around the depth of the track is constantly changing as the dirt moves around, even with ruts developing causing certain spots to be very bumpy.
Every few days we see more content coming out for iRacing Dirt. The trucks were actually mentioned by Tony Gardner in December, along with the Legends Cars. Both will be released with the first iRacing Dirt build. I’ve quoted Tony’s full statement below if you want to read it. The meat is the content he mentions.
Tracks:
Eldora Speedway
Williams Grove Speedway
USA International Speedway
More tracks in the works.
Cars:
305, 358, and 410 Dirt Super Late Models
Wingless Dirt 410 Sprint Car
305, 360, and 410 Winged Spring Cars
Dirt Trucks
Dirt Legends
Dirt Street Stock
I’m really getting anxious to see some more dirt tracks scanned and in the pipe.
iRacing Dirt Trucks at Eldora – Click Image Twice for Full 4k Version
The latest announcement is that the dirt cushion has now been implemented and is being used by the alpha testing group. The cushion moves up the track over the course of a race. Here’s the latest image of the Dirt Late Model at Williams Grove Speedway.
iRacing Late Model on the Cushion at Williams Grove – Another 4k Image
Here’s what Tony Gardner had to say in December.
Dirt:
As you probably are aware we are very excited about “dirt” and have heard the same from so many of you. Major pieces of it have been finished for months. There are so many details, facets and challenges to this new form of racing for us graphically and physically. We had many new development challenges to tackle and many new and unique features to develop. I think you will be very impressed with all the work and detail put into this when you get a chance to see it and drive it. However, a few smaller things are still lingering and we want to nail this down to our satisfaction. The small things can make a big difference. We would not expect to release it by year end either with the year winding down and holidays etc. The good news is we feel we are close and are still optimistic to release before the March build. We would do a “mid-season” release if the feature/Dirt was ready. As far as content we have Eldora, Williams Grove and a dirt version of USA Speedway about done and more tracks in the works already. We have 305, 358 and 410 versions of a Dirt Super Late Model. We have a wingless dirt 410 sprint car. We have a winged Sprint Car including 305, 360 and 410 versions. We are putting the cars through our CFD “wind tunnel” to get better aero data, especially for the Winged Sprint car. We also will have dirt versions of our NASCAR truck and a dirt version of the legends car out of the gate. Much more coming and already in the works including global rally cross. Thanks for your patience. It is heart-breaking not to release some of it for year-end with all the work we have put in and being so close but it is the right thing to do.
Time-Attack:
This new hot-lapping competition/feature we think is going to be a great fun and will be something that almost everyone from rookies/time constrained people to veteran sim-racers will really enjoy. We are also close on this new feature and also would release at a point in time, not necessarily needing to wait until a season end build. We will be doing a video about it soon to give you a better idea of it.
In case any of you missed it, Tyler D. Hudson, a guy some of you may have raced against, and a former iRacing World Champion, has take a job at iRacing. He’s still in training now I believe, but he has the perks, and one of those perks is the opportunity to try out iRacing Dirt. He blogged about it:
Just this week I accepted a job at iRacing working in the customer service department working with Nim, Susan, Angela and the rest of the team including helping Shannon as well with the WC series. I am very excited about it and chomping at the bit to get going. I look forward to doing my best to help iRacers for many years to come. I don’t officially start for a couple weeks. I will be flying up to Bedford to start my training on the various systems they use and start my training. The only bummer is I will not be allowed to race in the NASCAR Peak World Championship Series but I’ll still be racing everything else when I can so that will be fun!
I also already started to get some employee perks. The guys let me try out the dirt content last night and after sending Steve a wall of text about it he thought it would be a good idea to post it in the forums! I’m also told Dirt is going to all alpha testers this week.
First, let me start by saying most of my real world racing experience is on dirt tracks, from karts, mini stock and street stocks to late models. Not an extraordinary amount, but more than any other form of racing. So I can honestly say that climbing into iRacing’s version of a dirt late model took me by a huge surprise. From the start I had the sensation I was back in my race car; not from the adrenaline rush as much as the fact that the driving sensation and feedback were like no other car I’ve ever driven in the sim.
There is so much to say about the many different cars iRacing is developing, but I’ll make this as short as possible. These guys have nailed it. Sure, there are some minor issues as with anything in development, but they blew this one out of the park. Maybe it’s because we dirt fans/racers have been left out for so long, we haven’t had anything worth playing since the PS2 game World of Outlaw Sprint Cars or Dirt to Daytona, but believe me, this is the real deal.
The track changes…. A LOT, visually and grip wise. That is a huge part of what makes dirt racing what it is, so you’ll be happy to hear that. You legitimately have to search for moisture in the track for grip. After 10 laps around the bottom at Eldora, the grip had fallen off by half a second and – visually – you could SEE the track change color from wet to dry dirt.
I followed the moisture every lap until I was up by the wall. Then I went back to the bottom and was 3 tenths slower than up top where it was still a little damp. Eventually, I had gotten all the initial moisture out of the track from the bottom to the top, and virtually from the inside wall to the outside wall ran almost identical lap times. This will be great for searching for grip and racing.
Oh, but that’s not all. I backed out, set the track state to 100% and went back out. THERE’S A CUSHION!! I couldn’t really see the cushion, as I understand that’s still in development, but boy you sure can feel it! And the grip it provides will make dirt racing on iRacing genuine, authentic and as real as it gets.
I’ve seen a lot of forum posts by people worried by some of the pictures that the late model won’t “get up on the bars.” Well let me tell you, it took some messing around in the garage, but it does. I haven’t found a way to make the car as far up on the bars as I’d like, but maybe that’s another item in development — or for a crew chief way better than me!
I was able to twist the rear end and float the left front – everything you see in pictures of real race cars. I’m telling you guys, I am amazed at what iRacing has done. I am thrilled to be a part of it, to help develop it and I can’ wait to see how much further we can push the envelope in motor sports simulations. This is groundbreaking stuff: No other game on the market has even scratched the surface at what these guys have already done with dirt – and it’s getting better every day.
As I understand it there is still quite a bit of work to do but all the hype will be worth it. I can’t wait to turn laps with other cars on the track. Oh, and did I even mention the Ford Fiesta?!?!? No? Well we’ll save that for another day. =)”
-Tyler D Hudson
That iRacing Dirt is starting to sound better every day!
The release date is clearly getting much closer. iRacing Dirt has been in alpha testing since January 18 and, in addition to Tyler Hudson, Rico Abreu, Kevin Swindell, and Cling Bowyer are now testing it.
Here is a small update on the progress of the iRacing Dirt project. It’s taking longer than they said it would, but we all knew it would. From iRacing Executive VP and Executive Producer Steve Myers:
Hi All,
I know that we have been a bit quiet on updates on the dirt project so here I am to offer you some good news!
As of last night Dave K has put in one of the last big items that we needed at least a first pass at before we start officially testing dirt. This project was having the physics actually moving the dirt on the track. We still have a ton of things to tweak and potentially implement now that all of the systems are talking to each other but now we actually can do that!
I am making no promises on when dirt will be released but we have cleared some major hurdles and it looks like we will officially put dirt into alpha testing next week!
Have a nice weekend.
Steve
Steve followed up with a few words about the unwinged 410 Sprint Car:
I should add that anyone that drives a 410 unwinged dirt sprint car in real life needs their head examined. I crashed 5 out of 5 times before turn 1 trying to turn a lap yesterday before my surgically repaired shoulder called it quits. All of the sprint cars are mental but that one is just insane….
Steve
Myers went on to say that he doesn’t think that there will be an official 410 unwinged series, and that the car may bey reserved for league and hosted racing. “It’s fun as hell to drive but I would be terrified trying to race people in it with SR on!”
So I don’t think there will ever be an official unwinged 410 series, but it might pop up in week 13. 😀 Maybe we can give it a try in the OSR League.
We frankly had it added when we saw the posts but the old story was used erroneously instead of the new story which had it included. Updating to the new story.
we are about to put out something that is not tested and up to our standards but we are still tweaking. Just normal software/game development but either way we are close. Maybe we should wait until April 1st!
=)