A Preview From Drivers Pack DLC for Raceroom

mx5-rr-rd.jpg
Sector3 Studios has published a new video for its incoming DLC called Drivers Pack. Now they introduce us Mazda MX5 Cup, a truly modern classic car.

Next Wednesday 14th December we will have the chance to try and drive four new cars coming in this unexpected DLC from KW Studios. Here we already talked about Circuit of Charade and its preview and now it is the turn of Mazda MX5 Racing Cup car.


Mazda MX5 Racing Cup is the probably last generation of this car to be propelled by a combustion engine. This is the fourth generation of the car and it has gained multiple recognitions around the world. It was unveiled in 2014 and it has been in production since 2015 being also the base chassis for two Abarth models.

"The Cup shows just how few modifications you need to make to an MX-5 to turn it into a bona fide racer. There’s the roll-cage for safety, an uprated ECU and improved cooling, a strengthened transmission, you can upgrade the suspension… and that’s about it. You just don’t need to do much to it – although being such a pure platform you can if you want: the possibilities are endless, as shown in the tuning scene."

With this car, KW Studios hope to fill a basic multiplayer gap for the newcomers, allowing them to fight in an equally matched series which was essentially fun.

Also, you will have three more cars to enjoy and one classic track. Praga R1 is the car driven by Jimmy Broadbent in two last seasons and two Crosslé models along with their test track in France: Charade.



What do you think of the Drivers DLC pack? Let us know your thoughts.
About author
Gonzalo Camara
More than 20 years enjoying simRacing and watching it grow. Writing and spreading the word to allow real racing fans discover this wonderful universe.

Comments

I love this! Looks like they have a nice 3D model. Clearly modelled after the current-gen real-life Idemitsu IMSA ND2 MX-5 Cup car made by Flis Performance in Daytona Beach. Lovely. As well as fantastic liveries from teams in the real life MX-5 Cup series like Copeland, Hixon, and JTR – including the Idemitsu banner at the top of the windscreen. You love to see it. :)

For those curious, here's a comparison of the interior of today's real-life IMSA MX-5 Cup car built by Flis Performance, the iRacing MX-5 Cup car (for comparison), and the new RaceRoom car (from a grainy, off-colour screenshot from the video linked above).

Real life:
Cockpit Detail - Flis Performance ND.2 MX-5 Cup.jpg

iRacing:
iRacing MX-5 Cockpit Display.jpeg

RaceRoom:
RaceRoom MX-5 Cockpit detail.jpg


I was scared of what mangled dashboard RaceRoom would choose for the car – due to limitations in the game's codebase, they are forced to choose from not-true-to-life pre-existing dashes to use in their cars. But honestly, this one they chose (which I recognize from the Formula Junior) is a pretty decent fit. It's not ideal, of course, but it won't be super immersion-breaking for me.

Too bad the video didn't show off the sounds of the car, opting instead for generic hype music. Since engine noises are RaceRoom's specialty! And I presume they've modelled the "super loud angry swarm of bees" :roflmao: sounds of these cars quite well. But (unless there are other videos out there) we don't yet know this for certain.

Anyway... given everything we've seen so far, and given I'm a massive fan of watching real-life MX-5 Cup racing, as long as there aren't any hidden "gotchas", I think I'm gonna have to buy this! It sure looks great to me thus far.
 
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yeah, luckily that dash is pretty acceptable for the mx5, still would be better if after 5 long years or so they just fixed the damn issue though, the praga one looks hideous and isn't even the correct aspect ratioo, raceroom is the slowest sim to actually do anything to improve the game and just pump out dlc all the time
 
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yeah, luckily that dash is pretty acceptable for the mx5, still would be better if after 5 long years or so they just fixed the damn issue though, the praga one looks hideous and isn't even the correct aspect ratioo, raceroom is the slowest sim to actually do anything to improve the game and just pump out dlc all the time
Milking the cow:roflmao:

They want to milk the very last thing from their simulator.



Also happens with GTA V :
Screenshot 2022-12-10 180952.jpg
 
Re-installed R3E, fired up Group 5 Chevy Monza at Twin Ring Motegi..
And wow, I forgot how good the sounds, cockpit and track textures are. I very rarely drive in rain or night or both, so no-rain, day-light only sim is no problem for me. I don't know how accurate the physics and ffb, but the driving surely put a smile on my face.

I guess there is always a market for sim-racers who rarely upgrade their PCs, who don't need the latest graphics tech to enjoy their sim.

It ran 80-90 fps on my GTX 3050 laptop at highest graphics settings.
 
all is very excting, except it's very old for rtx 4090.....and the graphics are very very important for me, if they are bad, no immersion.
Exactly the same here(4090 and want good gfx). When I see a RaceRoom post, I always hope for a new engine/huge gfx update(but please no TAA/UE5/deferred, because of VR).

But never; always some new content. I'm not interested in that. Content enough but it all looks outdated.
 
Premium
I'm really excited for the Drivers Pack. I didn't expect much out of the MX5 to be honest. I figured it would be the exact same thing seen in Assetto Corsa's base game. But seeing they have made the most current MX5 Cup car, has rekindled my interests in it. This may be the biggest star of the update.
 
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I guess there is always a market for sim-racers who rarely upgrade their PCs, who don't need the latest graphics tech to enjoy their sim.
That is very true, but over time, that audience will diminish and make it harder for Raceroom to survive. Not a good long-term strategy imo.

In that respect, I think Raceroom is caught in a dangerous death spiral.
Not forgetting that eventually dx9 will be phased out, and that clock is most definitely ticking.

It's possible that behind the scenes, they (sector3/kw) are in the advanced stages of releasing a brand-new engine?

If not, I suspect things have already happened.
 
I'm baffled, with so many great things from RaceRoom (FFB/Physics, sounds, track selection, etc...) why are they not addressing the elephant in the room publicly and share they intent or plans about updating their game engine...
 
I'm baffled, with so many great things from RaceRoom (FFB/Physics, sounds, track selection, etc...) why are they not addressing the elephant in the room publicly and share they intent or plans about updating their game engine...
because they don't care about the general consumer, we are just added bonus money to them, they are primarily corperate based events
 
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because they don't care about the general consumer, we are just added bonus money to them, they are primarily corperate based events
I doubt that to be true.
The few remaining staff are probably working their arses off. Their employment rests in the balance.
A blogger posted a rumour that kw studios have restructured and WOHLFARTH, Klaus is back running the show?
Sort of re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic :)
If true, it is the final nail in the coffin.

 
I doubt that to be true.
The few remaining staff are probably working their arses off. Their employment rests in the balance.
A blogger posted a rumour that kw studios have restructured and WOHLFARTH, Klaus is back running the show?
Sort of re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic :)
If true, it is the final nail in the coffin.

may i see that post?
 

felthat please dont ask me to find the blogger though, if you look hard you will find it. I don't like grassing/shopping a blogger for speculating.
The blogger suggested wordplay.
klaus-wohlfarth
Reversed it seems plausible.

Felthat, you have a much closer relationship with Raceroom than I do.
Feel free to ask those behind the scenes and get back to us.

And if it is true, will it make any difference to you?
And more to the point if you already know why
are you baiting me.

PS.
You can't thug or ban your way out of this like you do on the very exclusive Raceroom forums, you are down in a ditch like me :) without the backing you normally enjoy. :)
 
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Moderator
Premium
16 posts only 5 related to the topic, with the others making the same points made in previous RaceRoom threads.
So how about we get back on track and we'll take the complaints about graphics, old engine and business model as a given.
 
I'm baffled, with so many great things from RaceRoom (FFB/Physics, sounds, track selection, etc...) why are they not addressing the elephant in the room publicly and share they intent or plans about updating their game engine...
It's not baffling to me.

FYI I have no inside info. But, think for a second. If you were a sim racing dev, in today's environment, would you publicly show anything off before you were 100% confident you could deliver it at a good quality? I sure wouldn't. It could be a PR nightmare. Think of how vicious sim racers can be about their games – especially about promises made by devs, or even about rumors or suggestions from devs about a game's future updates.

I personally interpret their lack of public discussion about a new engine for RaceRoom (or a RaceRoom 2) similarly to the reticence of Studio 397 and Kunos to discuss future updates, cars, and tracks for their games before they're 100% confirmed (if not about to be released). For a specific example, consider how deliberately quiet Kunos has been over the years about what's in AC2 and what future tracks are coming to ACC. Doesn't mean there's no work going on. Doesn't mean they don't care about the consumer (that's preposterous, IMO). Just means they aren't yet ready to either (a) share or (b) say definitively that "no, that's not happening".

I won't talk about this further in order to respect the wishes of @Kenny Paton but I thought it needed to be said.
 
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Most often people who criticize are consumers of R3E. And criticism is constructive. On RD, having the feelings of players other than on the official game forum/discord is a good trend for the devs. Despite criticisms, this end-of-year pack is qualitative and will attract people, I'm sure.
 

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