TL;DR? That’s okay, I read almost all of it and I’ll share what I consider to be the highlights of the latest iRacing development update.
iRacing strategic staff updates will lead to an improved graphics engine.
Graphical and rendering technologies will be undergoing updates, and, to that end, iRacing will be significantly enhancing their graphics team later this year. The company is bringing in several top-tier principal-level rendering programmers who, in collaboration with their existing team, will drive the evolution of iRacing’s graphics technology to unprecedented heights on this platform. These developers boast an impressive track record of over two decades, having led graphics and rendering teams for renowned engines like id Tech, Unity, Unreal, Decima, and Glacier.
It’s essential to understand that a graphics engine upgrade is a substantial, long-term undertaking, and the fruits of their labor will require some time to fully ripen. Nevertheless, it will be worth the wait.
When will it rain on iRacing?
And now, for another significant update that many have been eagerly following: the status of iRacing’s advanced new weather system, internally referred to as Tempest. While they aren’t quite ready to guarantee its release in December, they are now confident enough to announce that the launch of this exceptionally intricate system is imminent. This signifies that a rainfall is on the horizon, and anticipation is building among enthusiasts.
It’s needed a lot of work for a long time: the iRacing protest system.
iRacing is committed to maintaining a safe and clean environment for racing. They have invested considerable resources into developing rules and systems to help incentivize good racecraft, respectful racers, and an environment focused on fair play. They have also built a department whose job is to coach, correct, and take regulatory action when things go wrong. In the December build, iRacing will equip this team with a more expansive toolset to do their jobs. This includes
- Coaching
- Post-Results Race Disqualification. A member or team may be disqualified from a Race or event after Results have been posted. Their Championship Points for the Race or event will become 0, and they will drop to a last-place finish.
- Restrictions to various parts of iRacing.com and/or the iRacing simulation.
- The ability to participate in Race and Qualifying Sessions for a specific Official iRacing Series.
- The ability to participate in Race and Qualifying Sessions for ALL Official iRacing Series.
- The ability to participate in Hosted Sessions.
- The ability to participate in any and ALL multiplayer Sessions of any kind.
- The ability to Spectate Sessions.
- The ability to use in-simulation voice chat and/or text chat.
New race tracks are around the next corner.
- Slinger Speedway – The world’s fastest quarter-mile oval
- Mugello Circuit
- Okayama Circuit will be re-released with modern artwork at no additional charge.
- Millbridge Speedway is in development but release date is currently unknown.
New race cars have been scanned and will be coming to iRacing.
- SRX Cars (dirt and asphalt)
- An array of Street Stock car bodies
- Micro Sprint is in development for the kiddos.
Refreshing the Oval
The oval refresh benefits from a dedicated team of developers diligently working on it each day, and they are making notable progress. These efforts will persist for an extended period as the team iterates through numerous systems. That being said, the team is committed to not waiting until they reach a state of completion before introducing these enhancements to the service.
With the December build, asphalt ovals have received updates aimed at delivering an improved dynamic racing experience. Grip levels on the track surfaces will now respond more swiftly to temperature changes, influenced by factors like weather conditions, time of day, and the energy exerted by the cars onto the track. This means drivers should be ready to fine-tune their setups to adapt to the evolving track conditions, searching for grip as various racing lanes heat up and cool down throughout a race session.