Community Question | Damage In Sim Racing - More? Less? Enough?

[Verde_msk]

I like r3e suspension damage model - take kerb at high speed and you mostly ruin your car

 

[joeymac]

@Paul Jeffrey I only do sim-racing to get as much immersion as I can (afford), and I want as much realism as possible.

I agree with the posts above which refer to racing quality and hot-lapping. Mechanical damage is very important for immersion, because driving decent length races without much mechanical sympathy is not realistic. Simple random parts failure is good too and although it adds an element of (bad) luck, that exists in real-life racing too.

Without a decent level of damage (visible or otherwise) then many drivers take risks that they would never do in real-life which takes away from the simulation value and the quality of the races. I would also argue for better observation-of and punishment-for poor driving standards.

There is always room for outright fun races (racing lawn-mower's etc. should be mandatory once a week), and hot-lapping competitions (for those so inclined), but for immersion and realism, damage is a must.

 

[Dohny]

I think if all sims had damage models like beamng, it would create a lot more clean races, because every contact would have consequences like irl

 

[turbo86]

MORE! MOAAAR!

 

[Turk]

It would certainly take some of the sting out of making a terrible mistake, at least you'd have a cool crash to watch.

From the point of view of racing, it doesn't really matter, but I'd like to have more of it.

 

[Eckhart von Glan]

no brainer really, since it's called sim. I had my weekly race in the iRacing Skip Barber destroyed because an errant wheel a chap had lost some yards back smashed into the front of my Skip Barber car causing a speed loss of about 10 secs a lap. Furiously I calculated how long a magic wand repair would cost me as opposed to how long the race would still last. Did the right thing and pitted, saved about 20 secs in the process and finished 12 secs ahaead of the next chap in the end. That is the sort of realism I would always consider enjoyable.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/1ry3rqicsrbjr4i/wheel.png?dl=0

 

[R00b_Driver]

Damage, yes, more of it, yes.
I'd also like gravel that actually stops the car, bogs it down and prevents it from getting out.

 

[Far2Messy]

I think things like damage is essential to any simulator. But for sim racing, damage is essential because it helps you to drive better. lets you feel whats wrong and just make you feel like you are racing which is what we all want. I would say the two main areas that should be better is body damage like BEAMNG and tyre wear or damage. tyres need to be more real, see the wheels blister in open vehicles and pop from too much curb smashing. I feel cars are always about the sound and looks in sims and not enough on the feel through tyres. Little details make bigger impacts.

 

[Andy-R]

For me damage as real as possible but I'd generally pass on random mechanical failures.

 

[TTM75]

I hope that there will be more damage on sims and also more damage based on player actions. More realistic damage also make player drive more cautious and do less silly overtake moves etc, because there is bigger risk to spoil your and other driver race.

 

[Balazs Flossmann]

I think more important the physic and tyre modelling, driving conditions simulation etc.
Damage optical modelling is the 99999999. place in queue for me.

 

[jamescarruthers]

The big thing here is that most of the time you can't have damage because brands won't allow it. I think that's what really changed between now and GP4 etc

 

[ShredatorFIN]

Yeah it would be good. Not only because, lack of deformation means the contacts are bouncy, when nothing is absorbing that collision force. Lot of T1 incidents end up looking like a pinball machine multiball

But I think CPUs will be stressed a lot, with complex driving simulation and then on top the damage stuff. Maybe matter of dev resources too, for small devs (pretty much all sim devs)

Wreckfest has excellent (visual) damage model, I wish the handling was more simulator-like. It's kind of simcade already, but if the FFB and physics were on Automobilista level, it would be all I ever drive. Everything has just more weighty feel, when rough door to door driving actually bends some metal, instead of bouncing outwards. The mechanical penalties in Wreckfest are toned down, tough

I know BeamNG has even better damage model, but Wreckfest has more game/racing around the bones

iRacing, well good for them. Shows that it's possible for a sim too. Wish their handling was better, and damage model on wallet is an industry leader too...

 

[Case_]

While I would certainly like for the people that want it an option to get damage as realistic as possible, and visual damage to go with it, I would also expect that running full damage would more than likely kill simracing. Because for every person demanding hyperrealistic damage, there's likely ten others who would simply get frustrated and quit. Races with high damage usually have a very high attrition ratio. Keep it up long enough and people won't even bother.

 

[Ryan Soucy]

After watching so much eSports this spring, it can only be more realistic is better. Most of iRacing's oval stuff is pretty good. I don't think rFactor 2 covered itself in glory in this respect. Once things go wrong in that game, it looks broken and unnatural, and that shakes my confidence in their "physics". To be fair I haven't seen good wheel to wheel collisions in any game since Grand Prix 2, but F1 2018's wrecks look pretty good (when I'm causing them and not in them...).

 

[FinFan]

It's a fine line. Make it too realistic and many people will loose interest fast which would than reflect on sales figures and developement of new games.
But I agree, If you hit a wall at 200 it should be game over. I'd like for more technical failures or problems you'd discover during the race that you have to deal with. I played GTR2 mostly and all I can remember from years of racing are three brake failures, two apearing in the same race. Not once did I blew an engine other than in a crash. I know there is an option to scale the damage but I never got it to work in a way I felt was realistic.

 

[throughalens83]

I disagree. Simracing is a game. More often than not I had races wasted because some reckless or nasty fellow pushed my car against a wall. And the guy continued with minimal damage. I stopped ACC when this started to happen all the time in CPs. Damage = no fun

The ironic thing is that if damage were realistic, probably that guy would have not continued his race. So, probably, with more realistic damage, he would think twice before send someone agaist a wall.

More damage = more fun

 

[Michal Burisin]

It would be great to have settings for damage simulation level. In most real, there should be just one car for practice / quali / race or perhaps spare car if the race regulations allow it. I think people would be driving totally differently in quali as well... But this mode would be suitable probably just for some high end leagues, but it would be great to have this option to see how it affects everyone racing / behavior. Probably no more reckless 4 wide racing in the wet with zero visibility.

Also 'return to garage' via menu should be possible to turn off - more customization options, the better, at least for me

 

[Case_]

So, probably, with more realistic damage, he would think twice before send someone agaist a wall.

If only people worked that way. Things would be so much simpler (and, dare I say, better).

 

[Jason Mullin]

Personally will not be happy until my rear springs arent rebounding fast enough to keep tires planted firmly In fast corners, causing simulated wheel hop knocking my camber out of adjustment as the rear comes around putting me in the wall and I perish in a massive fireball.

Right, off to play Forza now.