If you ever played Papyrus’ seminal Grand Prix Legends then you’ve read his name. Rich began working as a tester on NASCAR Racing (1994) and was with Papyrus at the end. In this interview, published in 2022, we discuss his time at the legendary studio and the design of Grand Prix Legends, including initial feelings of hurt at not being asked to join iRacing.
Asobo, known today as the Microsoft Flight Simulator developer, created groundbreaking technology for large scale maps that was intended to be used in a high quality rally raid title. It was never released and ended up as FUEL, a post-apocalyptic open-world racing game. What happened?
iRacing deployed a patch last week that I had not posted about yet. The update includes tweaks to the dirt update, graphics tweaks and a fix for 12th-gen Intel CPUs.
Build notes:
SIMULATION:
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Optimization
Improved the Enki worker thread pool allocation algorithm.
– – This allocation adjustment should greatly improve performance for Enki threads on Intel 12th Gen CPUs.
Options
Helpful text has been added to the voice chat notification dropdown menu.
Dirt Racing
For the Dirt Refresh Project, reduced the variance in the amount of water in the track on dirt road courses.
For the Dirt Refresh Project, dirt displacement from tires on dirt road tracks has been reduced slightly.
AI Racing
AI Drivers now classify cars in lower classes more as obstacles rather than other drivers, which should allow for much more decisive passing. They are also hard-coded to think slower drivers are pathetic, so up your game!
AI Drivers have improved their passing techniques for cars at very different speeds. They should move laterally to pass at a more optimal distance from the target.
Further improved AI Drivers’ lateral positioning alongside other cars while racing on Road tracks.
Spotter
The spotter message for setting the overall fastest lap will now only play for Open Practice or Race Sessions. In lone sessions, the personal best message may play instead.
Graphics
Fixed an issue in Windows 11 where VSYNC could not be disabled when running the Sim in a window. This also fixes an issue in Windows 11 where the graphics auto-config always detected high-end GPUs as low-end GPUs, due to the test getting locked to the refresh rate and messing it up. This change also allows VSYNC to be toggled for windowed modes for the first time, and also now VSYNC setting changes take effect immediately without restarting the sim.
– – NOTE #1: there are cases due to Windows and device drivers where VSYNC settings don’t work still, where VSYNC won’t turn on. For instance, usually it doesn’t work if running using NVIDIA Surround, etc.. Also device driver settings may be overriding the Sim’s application settings.
– – NOTE #2: When launching in full-screen mode with VSYNC off, if you Alt+Enter or Alt+Tab out of full-screen into a windowed mode, VSYNC will usually automatically enable until you Alt+Enter back into full-screen. It seems to be a DXGI limitation.
Force Feedback
Fixed an issue that could cause the wheel force slider in the Options tab to fail to auto-detect your wheel if you had not yet entered a car.
Some additional wheel models have been added to the force feedback auto-detect routine.
CARS:
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GT3 Cars For the New Damage Model, a tuning update has been completed which lowered the stiffness of rub blocks.
Audi R8 LMS GT3
Fixed an issue where some mirrors would appear at the incorrect location when the New Damage Model was in use.
BMW M Hybrid V8
For the New Damage Model, fixed an issue where heavy damage to only body panels could erroneously cause a Meatball flag.
Cadillac V-Series.R GTP
For the New Damage Model, aerodynamic model penalties have been updated.
For the New Damage Model, fixed an issue where heavy damage to only body panels could erroneously cause a Meatball flag.
Dallara IR18
Fixed an issue where vinyl wheel wraps were being duplicated.
Dallara P217
For the New Damage Model, strengthened the rear wing and rear body panels.
For the New Damage Model, fixed an issue where heavy damage to only body panels could erroneously cause a Meatball flag.
Dirt Late Model
(ALL) – For the New Damage Model, a tuning update has been completed which increased friction on the right side-panels and tire sidewalls, stiffened the right rear corner, and lowered the break limit on the front wheels to make wall riding more dangerous.
Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020
Fixed an issue where suffering critical damage to only a very small area of the car could cause an unauthorized moon launch.
Ligier JS P320
Downshifting has been made smoother, especially 3rd to 2nd gear.
Lucas Oil Off Road Pro 2 Lite
Center of Gravity height has been adjusted slightly.
Lucas Oil Off Road Pro Trucks
(ALL) – Center of Gravity height has been adjusted slightly.
Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (992)
For the New Damage Model, fixed an issue where the nose panel was substantially heavier than it should have been, and adjusted the yield limits for the pieces.
Fuel Pressure warning label has been updated to Fuel Level warning.
Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)
2023 Season 3 Balance of Power Adjustment: Engine torque has been reduced slightly.
Fuel Pressure warning label has been updated to Fuel Level warning.
Fixed an issue where the fuel hood cover would not be present at some tracks unless the car had taken damage.
iRacing setups have been updated.
TRACKS:
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Charlotte Motor Speedway
Fixed an issue where the caution lights were not using the proper lightmap settings.
Chicago Street Course
Track logo has been updated to the latest version from NASCAR.
A variety of signs have been updated to match the current real-world track
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