GTRevival's Unusually Long Radio Silence - What's Next?

GTRevival First Playable Version Ferrari 550 GTS Maranello.jpg
Images: Straight4 Studios
After a steady stream of updates on its development, things have fallen silent for GTRevival - which seems unusual for Straight4 Studios' upcoming simulator.

The latter half of 2023 was interesting for sim racers curious about what to expectin GTRevival. After getting most of the band of the GTR and GTR2 days back together, Straight4 Studios - led by Ian Bell - continually published updates about their work, either via their own email newsletter, or through Bell's Twitter (or X) account.

Things hardly went quiet for GTRevival, a publishing deal already in place with PLAION. Screenshots of cars and tracks followed, and even a short video of a playable version emerged in early December. The latest communication came from Bell himself, stating that "huge great news relating to our upcoming game GTRevival and company developments" would be coming soon.


That was in late January. Then followed a Bell post about a new tire model, supposedly a successor to Seta. Additionally, Bell stated that chassis flex would be a thin in GTRevival. Since then, nothing new has emerged from the studio, with the latest on the "huge great news" being that the announcement would be "nearly there", according to a Twitter reply of Bell's.


No Need For Concern Yet​

Now, is this anything to be concerned about? No, not really. Big announcements like the one supposedly coming up are usually about some sort of deal - a cooperation, licensing, that sort of thing. And sometimes, these announcements can take much longer to be finalized, depending on the magnitude of them and the parties involved.

However, the contents of the upcoming news is anyone's guess. GTRevival has shown GTR2-era - so early 2000s - GT cars in most of its screenshots, with the Lister Storm GT having been confirmed already. As for tracks, Sebring and Lime Rock Park are already announced to be in the game, although another circuit (Interlagos) was also part of the material released so far.

GTRevival Lister Storm GT Lime Rock Park

Both the Lister Storm GT and Lime Rock park have been confirmed for GTRevival already.

Additionally, two GT3 and three Group C cars could also be spotted, but neither have been confirmed yet. Meanwhile, a survey hosted by Straight4 Studios in Spring of 2023 hinted at the devs' desire to include historic content such as late 1990s Super Tourers or even the 1973 World Sportscar Championship.

So, the outlook for the game looks to be rather exciting, especially since there are many more interesting things like a very in-depth career mode or the implementation of AI-generated commentary and race engineers - although the demo videos for the latter are no longer publicly available.

With S4 aiming for a Q4 release for GTRevival, the project is not running behind schedule. Its WMD3 crowdfunding setup has been announced to be delayed until 2024 in the December newsletter, however it did not give an estimate as to when that might be the case.

Carrying On The GTR Legacy?​

While 'wait and see' looks to be the best approach regarding GTRevival for now, looking back at the GTR series that kicked off almost 20 years ago - the first entry was released in early 2005 - is well worth it. The FIA GT Racing Game was a sign of things to come a year later in GTR2 already, the latter being an icon in sim racing and still beloved to this day.


In fact, countless mods and community-made patches have extended the game's lifespan considerably. But it is the core features of the title that made it great and that still hold up in some instances today. With several team members of what was SimBin at the time on board now for GTRevival, sim racers are hopeful for a similarly passionate approach towards the new title.

The first batches of info at least hint at this being the case. Whether or not the game can reignite the torch and then continue carrying it remains to be seen - with an update on the "huge great news" hopefully soon to come.

What do you hope for in GTRevival? Let us know on Twitter @OverTake_gg or in the comments below!
About author
Yannik Haustein
Lifelong motorsport enthusiast and sim racing aficionado, walking racing history encyclopedia.

Sim racing editor, streamer and one half of the SimRacing Buddies podcast (warning, German!).

Heel & Toe Gang 4 life :D

Comments

Could it be they're trying to run it on the Mad Box console?
Will we be able to buy the game with MadCoin, Ian's own cryptocurrency?
 
It will be just another Pcars type of not so serious sim. His "HUGE" news is just typical Bell.
:sleep::sleep::sleep:
 
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Honestly I'd just be happy with GTR2 with AMS2 graphics. And as one of the many who found Pcars 1+2 pefectly acceptable (yes they had flaws, what sim doesn't?....none, EVERY sim has flaws, oh and they didn't drive like hovercraft...who the **** keeps saying that nonsense.) I'm cautiously optimistic despite Pcars3 (never bought it, no pits no buy!). If they go down the general historic route with more than just GT cars I'll be very happy.

I really like AC but the slow speed grip loss was utterly shite IMO, any speed under 40 mph and the cars felt like they were on ice, nothing like reality of me bombing round in my very unsporty Golf TDI with the cheapest tyres the garage supplies. AC needed what? 10 tyre physics updates to get to where it is now (which isn't perfect). People need to chill the feck out.

Yes Ian is a hype merchant, as was Steve Jobs and Bill Gates, anyone who buys into something solely because of the hype only has themselves to blame (as I said I NEVER bought PCars3, I read opinions and reviews and realised it wasn't for me, i.e. I used my noggin).
 
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Honestly I'd just be happy with GTR2 with AMS2 graphics. And as one of the many who found Pcars 1+2 pefectly acceptable (yes they had flaws, what sim doesn't?....none, EVERY sim has flaws, oh and they didn't drive like hovercraft...who the **** keeps saying that nonsense.) I'm cautiously optimistic despite Pcars3 (never bought it, no pits no buy!). If they go down the general historic route with more than just GT cars I'll be very happy.

I really like AC but the slow speed grip loss was utterly shite IMO, any speed under 40 mph and the cars felt like they were on ice, nothing like reality of me bombing round in my very unsporty Golf TDI with the cheapest tyres the garage supplies. AC needed what? 10 tyre physics updates to get to where it is now (which isn't perfect). People need to chill the feck out.

Yes Ian is a hype merchant, as was Steve Jobs and Bill Gates, anyone who buys into something solely because of the hype only has themselves to blame (as I said I NEVER bought PCars3, I read opinions and reviews and realised it wasn't for me, i.e. I used my noggin).
thing is Ian bell isnt the owner of gtr2 ....

Andi
 
That would be Henrik Roos? (who is onboard) or commercially by 10tencle Studios? I'm not sure who's got the full rights these days...

possibly raceroom/kw seeing as they bought simbin
but im only guessing

Andi
 
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I know, but they can do FIA GT of 2003, 2004 with full rules and regs and I'd be happy, which is the same thing just using more words than "GTR2"!!
lets hope ; and hope it has as many options for a career mode ; driving school etc ; it be nice to get a complete game ... but that seems to be a thing of the past

Andi
 
Yeah, I don't get what is going on with Devs these days, surely they too want a focused, fully fleshed out title when they play games. But they all seem to put out titles that have a few really fantastic quality cars, but the rest is just middling in terms of quality. It's such a shame.
 
Yeah, I don't get what is going on with Devs these days, surely they too want a focused, fully fleshed out title when they play games. But they all seem to put out titles that have a few really fantastic quality cars, but the rest is just middling in terms of quality. It's such a shame.
Yeah I'm over the jack of all trades master of none approach the devs have taken over the last decade... Leaving only the licensed series with focused titles from Codies and EA or the various mod teams that have a focussed passion project...

It's one of the reasons I'm very impressed with LMU, it ticks all the boxes that I highly doubt GTRev will at launch, if ever... The most important on track stuff... Like tyres, which even with a 2 next to the SETA it's still going to be the same simplified version of the SETA model and not what the original scientists came up with, but something simplified for gaming and worked on by a team that might as well be a mod team because they aren't the scientists who came up with SETA...

Which is why so many still prefer the 1 point tyre models that are out there... They simulate thermal wear that we are still waiting to see the SETA do alongside the ability to have believeable tyre temps...
 
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Personally I rather ISIMotor2.0 ( AMS flavour ) and GTR2 content.

Understood system, endurance features, totally moddable, nice physics FFB good tyre feel looks good runs on a sniff.

P.S. I did mean a total redo from scratch not a mod.
 
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Personally I rather ISIMotor2.0 ( AMS flavour ) and GTR2 content.

Understood system, endurance features, totally moddable, nice physics FFB good tyre feel looks good runs on a sniff.

P.S. I did mean a total redo from scratch not a mod.
Seconded. I mean if they were able to use the visuals of the madness engine and how light it is on your system but use the physics of the ISIMotor that could be great. They won't though.
 
please correct me if im wrong
i think ppl get confused by it all really ;
pmotor physics engine
gmotor/ graphics engine

madness/pcars used some pmotor / and here we go as far as i understand and it gets more confusing

rfactor uses isi p/g motor 2
rfactor2 uses what was isi /rfactor pro engine

gtr2 was ported from isi engine at version 2.54
and so on ; lots of engines use different things ; lots of engines share some things

Andi
 
lots of engines use different things ; lots of engines share some things

There in a nutshell you have the real problem imho.

Meaning any consistency in many facets are completely unattainable to date.

Doesn't mean each studio involved with a project like this couldn't tweak Graphics and Physics and everything else to their liking.
Like very quickly feedback would let them know having other sims to compare with.

10 Halo decks designs is not the solution, just ask Spock.... :x3:


1713902680893.jpeg
 
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Like very quickly feedback would let them know having other sims to compare with.
Not sure comparing a sim to another sim is the correct way. Another sim may "feel" right for the wrong reasons, and another sim may feel right at high speed but wrong at lower speeds. Also what "feels" right is usually 100% subjective opinion. Bottom line is NO sim will feel 100% real. I doubt even million dollar sims racing teams use feel 100% right in every scenario.
 
Not sure comparing a sim to another sim is the correct way
I am sure, it is totally useless, they are all wrong. Very far away from even driving the most mundane sedan, let alone giving us the sensation of racing a lmdh rocket ship. Our brain is doing all the heavy lifting.
Also what "feels" right is usually 100% subjective opinion.
So subjective , that we have people in placebo mode telling us, Sim “X” is the only one and all other Sim are joke, they believe it, that is how they feel, they convince themselves it is true, mostly influenced by others, they need to believe. Forza vs GT, AC vs RF2, and on and on...
With experience, Sim enthusiast, will find what makes him happy, most software and a decent rig can do the trick, there is no right or wrong, just alternatives.
Every one favorite might be totally wrong for some, that is OK, we are all a sample of one, when it comes to statistic.
 
Has everyone missed Ian's big announcement? He's dumping the Unreal Engine due to it's poor VR performance and going to use another Graphic product.
 
Has everyone missed Ian's big announcement? He's dumping the Unreal Engine due to it's poor VR performance and going to use another Graphic product.
Seems they have (so have I). And if you haven't would be nice to link the source with that news mate ;)

EDIT:
Also this:
1715128214247.png


I know it's just the name but the association is so obvious I can't stop LOLing :roflmao:

Also this:
1715128317316.png


Doesn't look like they're gonna release this anytime soon.
 
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