RaceRoom | Porsche, BMW, Ningbo International & New Features!

[Paul Jeffrey]

A large new update for RaceRoom Racing Experience has been deployed - and it contains plenty of new content and feature improvements - including amongst others a first iteration of daylight progression within the system.

Surprise! The new December build update of RaceRoom Racing Experience contains more than a few new feature enhancements for the title when it dropped earlier today - with new time of day effects, a fresh look for car setup screens, various physics and AI changes and plenty more besides!

Of course the new build release is exciting stuff in its own right, however today also marks the release of some interesting new pieces of content, namely the already previewed Porsche Pack DLC #3, a nice new GT4 car from BMW, the BMW M1 Group 4 machine, the WTCR hosting Ningbo International Speedpark circuit and a free Nürburgring Grand Prix Fast Chicane layout update for owners of the circuit!

Update details:

Download size = 4.5 GB
Client version = 0.9.0.911
Client BuildID = 4480845
Dedicated server version = 56.0.1058
Dedicated server BuildID = 4480917

New content:

• GTR4 car class - Added BMW M4 GT4
• GTR4 car class - Added Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport
• GTR3 car class - Added Porsche 911 GT3 R (2019)
• Group 4 car class - Added BMW M1 Group 4
• Added a new car class - Porsche Motorsport GT2 Supersportscar, with the Porsche GT2 RS Clubsport
• Tracks - Added Ningbo International Speedpark with 5 layouts
• Tracks - Added new layout: Nürburgring Grand Prix Fast Chicane, free for all owners of the track.

Features:

• Added a first iteration of daylight progression, from morning to evening. A multiplier is available to set progression from x0 (static sun), up to x25.
• Sun position is now astronomically accurate for each of our tracks as per a typical summer solstice day.
• Dedicated server - Added possibility to set a "Message of the Day" that all players will be presented with upon joining. The message can be dismissed by pressing the brake, or leaving the pitlane. The message can be formatted using very basic html tags.
• Damage overhaul - The old settings separating Visual and Mechanical damage have been merged into just one Damage setting which can have the following values:
  - Off (cars will not take any damage)
  - Limited (this is equivalent to having both mechanical and visual damage enabled before today's update)
  - Full (Suspension can get damaged, and tyres can have flat spots after lock-ups)
• Damage model - New deformations and systems for detachables parts, cracks in windshields, etc.
• Damage model - Tyres can now get punctured from collisions or from driving off track, and the probabilities of getting a puncture increase with the wear.
• Car Setup Menu - One of our goals is to modernize the user interface and the first menu that we decided to tackle is the car setup. It is reflecting the future look and feel of the RaceRoom interface as we head into 2020.
  It is divided in three areas, the left will display some telemetry data from your last laps, the center has all the possible changes sorted into tabs, and the right side is dedicated to display helper texts and the steering settings.
• Force Feedback - Added Pneumatic Trail to the physics engine, which results in self-centering forces on corner exits.
• Force Feedback - Added Stationary Friction effects
• Global AI behavioral improvements, with car specific tweaks using a self-learning algorithm.
• Sounds - Improvements to tyre sounds (skid and scrub).
• Added an option to display opponents of other classes in the HUD position bar
• Added an option to force the HUD track map to remain static and not rotate with the player's car orientation
• Added an option to show or hide the chat messages in Multiplayer
• Added extra bindigs for Shift Up and Shift Down, allowing to mix paddles and a sequential shifter

Content updates:

• DTM 1992 - Updated physics ( Details @ Sector3 forums )
• Touring Classics - Updated physics ( Details @ Sector3 forums )
• GTR3 - Updated physics ( Details @ Sector3 forums )
• GTR4 - Updated physics ( Details @ Sector3 forums )
• Hillclimb Icons - Updated physics ( Details @ Sector3 forums )
• BMW M1 Procar - Updated physics ( Details @ Sector3 forums )
• Performance index values of all car classes have been readjusted (DTM 1992 and Touring Classics are no longer merged)
• Brands Hatch - Updated curbs, advertisement, vegetation
• Gelleråsen Arena - The last turn has been modified, but the starting grid is still located on the old stretch.
• Knutstorp - Updated with 2019 modifications
• Macau - Improved performance
• Mantorp - Updated with 2019 modifications

Fixes:

• Dedicated server no longer loses its settings when the IP address of the hosting machine changes.
• Loads of bug fixes and improvements overall

RaceRoom Racing Experience is available now exclusively on PC.


Want to learn more about the tips and tricks of RaceRoom Racing Experience? Ask a question to our awesome sim racing community at the RaceRoom Racing Experience sub forum here at RaceDepartment.

 

[EsxPaul]

Turns out there isn't a preset file for us SC2 users. Apparently, we have to go with a default profile just as we did before.

It's a bummer that Sector 3 didn't take up the opportunity to work more closely with Granite Devices since the release of the SC2

 

[David Faraday]

TSPC follows same principles as t300 but is more powerful. Same things apply to it. Defaults are the best starting point. Then tweak the per car multiplier

 

[STF YVR]

As has AMS for the past 3 years...

Yes but without VR / triples ... no thanks

 

[CrimsonEminence]

New 92 DTM physics is great

R3E is now my most beloved Sim next after AMS, when it comes to H-pattern cars...the shifting needs attention and cars of these calibre are just drivable, with proper technique. Have driven the 190 EVO yesterday and was surprised, how "slip supported" you can drive it into corners, to be a bit faster.

 

[Kazuq1]

Nice update, though I don't like the new car setup UI. SimBin! Please add option to set replay save folder. My Drive C is full!!

 

[Will Mazeo]

Early next year is what we've been told.


They do sometimes, though you're more likely to get a response from them on the official forums.

That said, what do you mean by ghost cars? That sounds like people getting slow-down penalties for cutting the track to me, in which case they will not be removed. You can't just have cars disappearing and reappearing when they're serving a penalty.

I obviously meant to not make use of them nothing to do with cars disappearing, what the heck...
And I think they are also used in pit lane/stalls which is senseless to me when sims use it.

 

[UMC 22]

I obviously meant to not make use of them nothing to do with cars disappearing, what the heck...

Then what would you suggest as a means of clearly displaying that a car is serving a penalty, won't be reacting the way you expect, and can be safely driven through? Small, missable icons won't cut it and driving through a solid car won't either. If you hate it that much you can always race on servers which have drive-through penalties instead of slow-downs, like ours.

And I think they are also used in pit lane/stalls...

Incorrect. Cars are not ghosted in the pits, though you can drive through each other which is how I know it is a distinctly bad experience and not one I'd want to experience at high speed while racing.

 

[tuono]

I see the pre-set for my sw7 compact wheel selected new profile everything works but I have zero force feedback
worked fine before the update any help appreciated

 

[Alex Hodgkinson]

Turns out there isn't a preset file for us SC2 users. Apparently, we have to go with a default profile just as we did before.

It's a bummer that Sector 3 didn't take up the opportunity to work more closely with Granite Devices since the release of the SC2

Could you post up your controller .rcs file here please?

 

[Marc Collins]

Hey all:

I jumped back into R3E to try out the new FFB and physics only to discover that the graphics are no longer optimized. Does R3E have a stand-alone graphics config app like AMS? Because for unknown reasons it is not obeying my NVIDIA control panel (e.g., adding sampling or the MSAA level), nor does it obey my NVIDIA Inspector (e.g., SGSS or any other setting). It used to work and look great. Now it is stuck on some basic/default settings of no AA.

So, any tips to either force R3E to listen, or, how does one completely reset their NVIDIA settings if they wanted to get rid of Inspector (don't need it for anything any more, really) and start over? I regularly update my NVIDIA driver with a "clean install" approach (which may be part of the problem or the solution??).

Thanks in advance for any help!

 

[Case_]

Keep other settings as default. You have to adjust the ffb multiplier per car to feel right.

Why not have it set correctly by default, though? The user shouldn't need to do that... Then again probably the only sim that ever managed that was AMS.

(Obviously I would understand if the answer was "there wasn't enough time to do that yet", which is what I would assume to be the reason.)

 

[avenger82]

With the mention in the notes about updated physics and ffb....did Sector3 increase the physics and ffb rates in the engine or is this just tweaks ?

I know rf2 has the highest hrz rates of any of the Sims and AMS updated there's to 60hrz

With the cars released today having new physics updates.....does this bring all the cars in the service to the same physics or is this batch a new physics making the others old?
I am confused lol

I think AMS highest FFB rate setting is 360Hz not 60. iRacing have just 60Hz, yet it's user's claim it's the best. rF2 has 400Hz and for me it has the best FFB. -I think in both cases FFB is derived directly from physics engine output forces acting on steering rack, but it feels quite different between them. That's because they have different physics models, i.e. tire models. I think that's might be the case for other games, but they have sliders to modify certain FFB componets for instance in Assetto Corsa.
I don't know about RaceRoom, but I think the rate is 60Hz?

 

[CrimsonEminence]

I think AMS highest FFB rate setting is 360Hz not 60

AMS is able handling frequencies up to 720Hz, if you set this value in a control file. But yes, ingame you can switch between 360 and 180 Hz.^^ I think, rF2 should be also able, to handle higher frequencies, but i'm absolutely not sure and could be totally mistaken, so take this with a pile-, not only a grain of salt

 

[thepharcyde]

Nice update, though I don't like the new car setup UI. SimBin! Please add option to set replay save folder. My Drive C is full!!

Take a look here, and apply the same logic to you replay vids

Can I change my Workshop download folder? :: Help and Tips

steamcommunity.com

 

[Case_]

I think AMS highest FFB rate setting is 360Hz not 60.

AMS is able handling frequencies up to 720Hz, if you set this value in a control file. But yes, ingame you can switch between 360 and 180 Hz.

And, as was recently reported by Niels, apparently the whole time there has been a bug in AMS all those years that limited the FFB refresh rate to the refresh rate of your monitor (or was it strictly to 60 Hz on all setups?).

Nobody seemed to have noticed

I would honestly love to see a blind test of various FFB/physics refresh rates with a sufficiently large test group. Because I fully expect that while people sometimes make a huge deal about it, in reality, they wouldn't really be able to tell say 60 and 360 Hz apart. Just like with the bit resolution of pedals beyond 8 bits, for example

 

[UMC 22]

Keep other settings as default. You have to adjust the ffb multiplier per car to feel right.

Why not have it set correctly by default, though?

My guess would be that the new default profiles are designed to get the general "balance" of forces right for a specific wheel. Then the car's FFB multiplier is used to set the overall strength of forces to the right level depending on both the wheel you're using and your own personal preference. There is no "correct" value for overall strength since it depends on what the user wants.

 

[Will Mazeo]

And, as was recently reported by Niels, apparently the whole time there has been a bug in AMS all those years that limited the FFB refresh rate to the refresh rate of your monitor (or was it strictly to 60 Hz on all setups?).

Nobody seemed to have noticed

I would honestly love to see a blind test of various FFB/physics refresh rates with a sufficiently large test group. Because I fully expect that while people sometimes make a huge deal about it, in reality, they wouldn't really be able to tell say 60 and 360 Hz apart. Just like with the bit resolution of pedals beyond 8 bits, for example

If I remember right the bug comes from rf1 and it was fixed long ago (by S397 back then under "Luminis" banner?), however USB connections did not like the 720hz and would crash so they put it on 360hz max. I could be mistaken, this was long ago.
The physics run at 720hz tho (up from original 360) and they did the same with Madness for AMS2

 

[Case_]

The wheel you're using has no effect on how the in-game settings should be set as far as the maximization of FFB dynamic range (and therefore also clipping) is concerned (which, again, should always be concerned, outside of direct drive wheels). The game sends out forces from (say) 0 to 100, and what the game sends out is always the same, provided the in-game settings are the same, regardless of what wheel you use. If you for example set the game so that it sends out 100 % force in certain corner with certain car on a DFGT, it will send 100 % again if you use a Fanatec CSL instead of the DFGT. It will feel very differently, sure, but what the game outputs would be exactly the same.

So ideally, the game provides optimized values for all cars to take advantage of the maximum available FFB dynamic range, which only leaves the user to tweak the overall FFB strength for the game (which should IMO preferrably be done on the wheel or in the wheel's control panel). Again, that's how AMS does it, that's how it should be done (well...I'll say IMO, though not really...) and it seems to work pretty well for AMS. There absolutely is a correct value for the car multiplier - it's the value that brings the FFB output to the edge of clipping in specific situation, and provides a good amount of force under normal conditions. If a car comes with a default FFB multiplier of 1.7, but has to be set to close to 4.0 to generate the appropriate FFB response, then its default FFB multiplier simply isn't set well.

The user should not have to tweak FFB multiplier for certain cars because he's getting forces that are too low or too strong. That should be done out of the box. In an ideal world, at least. (And yes, if you have a game with a lot of cars, it can be a lot of work to do this.)

 

[CrimsonEminence]

And, as was recently reported by Niels, apparently the whole time there has been a bug in AMS all those years that limited the FFB refresh rate to the refresh rate of your monitor (or was it strictly to 60 Hz on all setups?).

Nobody seemed to have noticed

I would honestly love to see a blind test of various FFB/physics refresh rates with a sufficiently large test group. Because I fully expect that while people sometimes make a huge deal about it, in reality, they wouldn't really be able to tell say 60 and 360 Hz apart. Just like with the bit resolution of pedals beyond 8 bits, for example

I knew, you would write this, i really expected it and you are absolutely right!
AMS is still limited to the FPS/monitor until the present day, as far as i know.^^ But if you could get 720 FPS out of your screen, you should get the whole refresh rate

I don't really care, if you can feel a difference, i tend to say not really, maybe a bit faster "effect initialization"...who knows

....some guys reported SO MUCH BETTER feeling after the ACC FFB upgrade to 333Hz, i didn't notice any difference (could be, because i'm relying more on audio-visual hints, while driving, though, FFB is just a fun improver for me, i'm still used to very old games where FFB was just "rumble" ^^').

 

[Cote Dazur]

apparently the whole time there has been a bug in AMS all those years that limited the FFB refresh rate to the refresh rate of your monitor

Is this only true for AMS? or is it true for all ISI Engine based SIM? or is it true for all SIM?
An in depth article explaining the whole concept and limitations would be very welcome.
As right now it sounds like hocus pocus to this SIM driver.