While rather serious at its core, sim racing has a place for some light-heartedness. So, in time for Easter, we assembled a few racing game Easter Eggs you might appreciate - we certainly did.
If you had not figured them out already, flip a car (or pause when going over a jump and use the photo mode) and you will see a hashtag specific to each.
For example, the 'Das 559’ which reminds us of the Porsche 959 has #endurance on its underside – this model was known for winning for the Paris-Dakar rally and its class at the 24 Hour of Le Mans (961) in the same year (1986) and with the same driver, René Metge.
Meanwhile, ‘The Fujin’ is perhaps reminiscent of the first WRC-spec Subaru Impreza, and one of its drivers in period was Colin McRae. The inimitable Scot was known for the expression ‘if in doubt, flat out’, so underneath hear is #flatout.
The classic Alpine, aka ‘La Montaine’? #baguette. These are just another way of expressing creator Dune Casu’s unadulterated passion for motorsport. So, go ahead and roll some cars in Art of Rally and spot the clues...
Perhaps more secretive, and ‘out there’, are the Loch Ness monster and a cow-catching UFO.
Yes, you did read that correctly. The fictional Scottish monster has been a mainstay of the gaming series, first appearing on the original PlayStation at the Trial Mountain venue. This remains the case in Gran Turismo 7.
It clearly is not the ‘actual’ Nessie, as the venue is in the USA, but a derivation is active beneath the murky waters of an off-track lake. Sit still ahead of the downhill left-hander before the end of the lap for around 15 minutes, and you will see the long-necked monster emerge from the water, splash around a bit, and then mysteriously disappear.
It is a similar trick to spot the UFO. Atop the Mount Panorama, Bathurst, venue, sit still just after Reid Park and after around 10 minutes, an unidentified flying object will rise beyond Sulman Park. It will then abduct a cow, before flying off into the distance.
We have often said that Gran Turismo 7 is out of this world...
The QR code is hidden behind the car's button box - so the free camera tool in replay mode is the easiest way to find it. Simply enter a replay, hit F7 and navigate your way around the button box. You will be greeted by a sticker with a bunch of numbers and two lines of text, namely "Cosworth" and "Made in England".
Scanning the QR code will not send you to some dodgy website. It does work, however - a note reading "is this even high res enough to scan?" will pop up. It would appear that it has answered its own question already.
For Senna, the legendary three-time World Champion, a statue was built on the other side of Tamburello, the site of his fatal crash. Located on the run up to the Villeneuve chicane, it cannot be spotted when driving there normally, being obscured by two lines of catchfencing and some trees. It is modeled in ACC, though, including tribute banners and flags fans have posted on the fence.
There is more, however. At the site of the Villeneuve chicane, the Gilles Villeneuve monument lies right behind the barrier, so you would not normally see it either. Yet, Kunos Simulazioni have taken the time to include the memorial to the Canadian who was immensely popular in Italy due to his heroics for Ferrari before his fatal accident at Zolder in 1982.
Finally, a Ratzenberger tribute is also present at ACC's rendition of Imola. The grandstand overlooking the Tosa hairpin where is Simtek came to rest after his fatal crash bears his name, and Kunos included the respective banners. Similarly to Senna, tribute posters and an Austrian flag can be found on a fence near the grandstand.
There are more examples like this, however, and they might not be immediately noticeable. For instance, did you know that there are train tracks right on the outside of The Kink at Road America? The route runs runs through Plymouth to the South and Kiel to the North - and it is actually active in AMS2. If you pay attention during a race (or just wait long enough), a freight train will rumble by the track, competing with the race cars for loudest machine in the area momentarily (figuratively, as it is completely silent in the game).
A similar detail can be found at Spa-Francorchamps 1970. At a time when the track was exclusively laid out on Belgian country roads, it passed by multiple villages and small towns, as well as meadows and fields. The latter were the focus of particular attention for Reiza.
On said meadows, there are countless cows enjoying their day while actually grazing. You would not notice this when speeding past at 250+ kph, but once you stop to take in the view, you can actually see that the cows are animated.
Finding them is not just a matter of a keen eye or luck, however. In fact, you have to deliberately go out of your way to get to the entrance. Turns out that Reiza has modeled much more than needed of the airport.
To get to the tunnel entrance, you take the first hairpin and slight right as you normally would. But instead of turning for the first chicane, try and spot a gap in the concrete barrier on the outside of the track, so to your left. Head through after running through the grass ahead, and you will find an asphalt path running in parallel to the runway. Follow it until you reach a point where the land juts out to the left and a crane and an ambulance are parked.
From there, keep following the winding asphalt path until it ends. It has a dirt path to the left, which you want to turn onto to run towards a bigger, red crane. Turn onto the dock right next to it, go down the ramp and turn left - voilà! You can now enter the tunnel system.
It is mostly one long tunnel - great to conduct top speed tests - which is remarkably modeled to have pipes run through it, as well has having lights all over. The tunnel has two exits, one leading to the inside of a warehouse, the other to a lighthouse as seen in the header image (the Cleveland East Breakwater Lighthouse, to be exact - it actually exists). They can make for pretty cool photo locations, too!
Of course, this list is by no means exhaustive. There are more Easter Eggs out there, such as Dale Earnhardt Jr. and iRacing Executive Vice President Steve Myers being somewhere among the spectators at every single track of the simulator. Good luck trying to find them all!
What are your favorite racing game Easter Eggs? Let us know on Twitter @OverTake_gg or on the comments below!
Happy Easter to all our community members!
art of rally
Hashtags Under Cars
Funselektor’s beloved top-down tribute to rallying’s zenith is filled with quirks, perhaps none more so than the slogans printed underneath each vehicle. The cars are not licenced within art of rally, stylised facsimiles of what may have been real-world gravel monsters.If you had not figured them out already, flip a car (or pause when going over a jump and use the photo mode) and you will see a hashtag specific to each.
For example, the 'Das 559’ which reminds us of the Porsche 959 has #endurance on its underside – this model was known for winning for the Paris-Dakar rally and its class at the 24 Hour of Le Mans (961) in the same year (1986) and with the same driver, René Metge.
Meanwhile, ‘The Fujin’ is perhaps reminiscent of the first WRC-spec Subaru Impreza, and one of its drivers in period was Colin McRae. The inimitable Scot was known for the expression ‘if in doubt, flat out’, so underneath hear is #flatout.
The classic Alpine, aka ‘La Montaine’? #baguette. These are just another way of expressing creator Dune Casu’s unadulterated passion for motorsport. So, go ahead and roll some cars in Art of Rally and spot the clues...
Gran Turismo 7
UFO Abduction & Nessie Sigthing
Polyphony Digital’s long-running series is home to many hidden ‘easter eggs’, and the current live-service platform, Gran Turismo 7, is no exception. From a monkey hiding in some trees, to the smoke emanating from barbeques at the Nürburgring Nordschleife, the small details matter.Perhaps more secretive, and ‘out there’, are the Loch Ness monster and a cow-catching UFO.
Yes, you did read that correctly. The fictional Scottish monster has been a mainstay of the gaming series, first appearing on the original PlayStation at the Trial Mountain venue. This remains the case in Gran Turismo 7.
It clearly is not the ‘actual’ Nessie, as the venue is in the USA, but a derivation is active beneath the murky waters of an off-track lake. Sit still ahead of the downhill left-hander before the end of the lap for around 15 minutes, and you will see the long-necked monster emerge from the water, splash around a bit, and then mysteriously disappear.
It is a similar trick to spot the UFO. Atop the Mount Panorama, Bathurst, venue, sit still just after Reid Park and after around 10 minutes, an unidentified flying object will rise beyond Sulman Park. It will then abduct a cow, before flying off into the distance.
We have often said that Gran Turismo 7 is out of this world...
Assetto Corsa Competizione
Hidden Cockpit QR Code
The things you can discover when looking where you would normally never look. In Assetto Corsa Competizione, you would never find the hidden QR code in the cockpit of the Ferrari 296 GT3 when racing normally. Maybe when using VR, you could accidentally stumble upon it, but even then, it is not very likely.The QR code is hidden behind the car's button box - so the free camera tool in replay mode is the easiest way to find it. Simply enter a replay, hit F7 and navigate your way around the button box. You will be greeted by a sticker with a bunch of numbers and two lines of text, namely "Cosworth" and "Made in England".
Scanning the QR code will not send you to some dodgy website. It does work, however - a note reading "is this even high res enough to scan?" will pop up. It would appear that it has answered its own question already.
Imola Monuments
Not so much of an Easter Egg in the traditional sense, but rather a nice detail as a tribute to three racing drivers. Most racing fans will know the story about Formula One's tragic 1994 San Marino Grand Prix at Imola, where Roland Ratzenberger and Ayrton Senna lost their lives in accidents on consecutive days.For Senna, the legendary three-time World Champion, a statue was built on the other side of Tamburello, the site of his fatal crash. Located on the run up to the Villeneuve chicane, it cannot be spotted when driving there normally, being obscured by two lines of catchfencing and some trees. It is modeled in ACC, though, including tribute banners and flags fans have posted on the fence.
There is more, however. At the site of the Villeneuve chicane, the Gilles Villeneuve monument lies right behind the barrier, so you would not normally see it either. Yet, Kunos Simulazioni have taken the time to include the memorial to the Canadian who was immensely popular in Italy due to his heroics for Ferrari before his fatal accident at Zolder in 1982.
Finally, a Ratzenberger tribute is also present at ACC's rendition of Imola. The grandstand overlooking the Tosa hairpin where is Simtek came to rest after his fatal crash bears his name, and Kunos included the respective banners. Similarly to Senna, tribute posters and an Austrian flag can be found on a fence near the grandstand.
Automobilista 2
Animated Scenery
The biggest strength of Automobilista 2 is arguably its immersion factor, particularly for vintage tracks. If you have raced at the 1971 version of the Nüburgring, you will likely have noticed the smoke from the campfires along the Nordschleife - and the fires even light up spectator areas at night. A nice detail that adds a lot of atmosphere to the track.There are more examples like this, however, and they might not be immediately noticeable. For instance, did you know that there are train tracks right on the outside of The Kink at Road America? The route runs runs through Plymouth to the South and Kiel to the North - and it is actually active in AMS2. If you pay attention during a race (or just wait long enough), a freight train will rumble by the track, competing with the race cars for loudest machine in the area momentarily (figuratively, as it is completely silent in the game).
A similar detail can be found at Spa-Francorchamps 1970. At a time when the track was exclusively laid out on Belgian country roads, it passed by multiple villages and small towns, as well as meadows and fields. The latter were the focus of particular attention for Reiza.
On said meadows, there are countless cows enjoying their day while actually grazing. You would not notice this when speeding past at 250+ kph, but once you stop to take in the view, you can actually see that the cows are animated.
Cleveland's Secret Tunnels
As you can see, exploring can lead to interesting results in Automobilista 2. Perhaps the most intricate Easter Egg to find, though, is located at Cleveland's Burke Lakefront Airport circuit, which comes as part of the Racin' USA Pt. 2 DLC - there are enormous tunnels underneath the airport that you can actually access.Finding them is not just a matter of a keen eye or luck, however. In fact, you have to deliberately go out of your way to get to the entrance. Turns out that Reiza has modeled much more than needed of the airport.
To get to the tunnel entrance, you take the first hairpin and slight right as you normally would. But instead of turning for the first chicane, try and spot a gap in the concrete barrier on the outside of the track, so to your left. Head through after running through the grass ahead, and you will find an asphalt path running in parallel to the runway. Follow it until you reach a point where the land juts out to the left and a crane and an ambulance are parked.
From there, keep following the winding asphalt path until it ends. It has a dirt path to the left, which you want to turn onto to run towards a bigger, red crane. Turn onto the dock right next to it, go down the ramp and turn left - voilà! You can now enter the tunnel system.
It is mostly one long tunnel - great to conduct top speed tests - which is remarkably modeled to have pipes run through it, as well has having lights all over. The tunnel has two exits, one leading to the inside of a warehouse, the other to a lighthouse as seen in the header image (the Cleveland East Breakwater Lighthouse, to be exact - it actually exists). They can make for pretty cool photo locations, too!
Of course, this list is by no means exhaustive. There are more Easter Eggs out there, such as Dale Earnhardt Jr. and iRacing Executive Vice President Steve Myers being somewhere among the spectators at every single track of the simulator. Good luck trying to find them all!
What are your favorite racing game Easter Eggs? Let us know on Twitter @OverTake_gg or on the comments below!
Happy Easter to all our community members!
