Davide Nativo
Premium
“A commitment to excellence”.
I quite like something about American tracks. They are technical, they are usually fast, they are always challenging and they ask you to be absolutely precise and consistent in your lap times to be at the head of the pack. There is something raw, something wild about them. Each has a unique character, has its own soul and somehow it speaks to you. I am a European guy, who admittedly does not know half of the American states and surely would have a hard time pointing at them correctly on a geographical map. Never been to the US, never seen any of these beautiful locations in my life. However, simracing has had yet another positive impact in my life, as it made me discover something I would not have known otherwise. Every time I get to virtually be in one of these tracks, I can immediately feel it communicating with me. Through its colours, through its layout. It might sound weird. No, it definitely sounds weird. Let me tell you something still: Sonoma, Indianapolis and Road America. These are just three, very well known, American circuits. Now, tell me that each and every single one of them doesn’t have an original story to tell. Tell me, that even through textures, it has not a different sky above your virtual cockpit, different colours in its surrounding, a completely different experience when racing. In comparison, European tracks lack something. They used to be as unique as American circuits, but now they have all been standardised, simplified, levelled. There are just a few who still defend their primal and feral soul with jealousy, even though they have already been amputated here and there. They bleed, yet they still stand.
Watkins Glen is another one of the new world’s tracks that has something to tell, but not many would listen. Probably, many of us first came to grips with this dangerous course in the good old GPL. What a blast it was to push those cars along this high-speed arena. Apparently easy, yet again deceiving as these stars and stripes tracks usually are. Nailing each corner right was a matter of experience and fruit of many hours of setup beyond the preparation of the race.
After the 1971 renovation, things became only more interesting. Without altering the nature of the track, on the contrary strengthening it, the second section was overhauled and improved making this track even more challenging without losing its proper attributes. Speed is still king, and perfect corner entry while managing the frequent deep and steady changes of elevations is still key to get low lap times.
It was a shame that such an iconic venue was not available, at least in a proper version giving fair credit to its real counterpart, for one of the most played sims we have like Assetto Corsa.
To everyone’s aid though came LilSki, with his stunning recreation of the Glen for it. Based off LiDAR data, ensuing so the best accuracy possible, LilSki made one of the best mod tracks available for AC and certainly the most complete at the time of writing of this article. Featuring not only dynamic rubbering and racing groove, support for Time Attack and a few more extras, even lighting for night time competition is included. Taking full advantage of the latest evolution of the notorious “Shaders Patch” and of additional bundles like the “Assetto4Seasons” and “Good and Bad Weather Suite”, Watkins Glen is fully compatible with the 24h cycle that is now being implemented thanks to modding into Assetto Corsa.
Modelling and texturing are the work of a master craft. LilSki managed to render a near perfect transposition of the Glen racetrack environment in his mod, with an army of cars, campers and vans parked on the grass; the tribunes, the tents and lodges scattered throughout the place. It looks incredibly alive, which is amazing considering the “static” nature of Assetto Corsa, which is rarely able to convey that sensation of vitality typical of a big racetrack, and has exactly the kind of feeling you would expect from it. It sounds as original as every American track does, unique in its own and giving you that powerful emotion that makes it stand apart from every other circuit. You feel immersed in the environment, thanks also to simple but effective details like the Good Year blimp hovering around, and brings that little happy smile on your face of when enjoying something good.
The AI is challenging, fast and competitive up to the point it makes for a fun alternative to multiplayer racing. Cameras make replay watching entertaining, and surely provide a great help to content creators on all platforms trying to get the perfect shot or some live action for their videos.
It looks like LilSki really thought of everything when making his rendition of the Watkins Glen. It appears to be as not only a work of love towards a beautiful American venue, detailed up to the single blade of grass, but also towards the Simracing community. He took care of every aspect that could have been of importance to every kind of simracers: the hot lapper, the offline racer, the competitive driver looking for a new circuit to race on online, the video maker or streamer. He put additional effort into supporting a still experimental patch. So when you consider about maybe downloading this track, or when you already did and you are pushing your absolute limit on it, think, even if just for a moment, that all this was possible thanks to someone who did not want to make something just for himself, but for everyone of us, including you. He thought not only of his needs, but also of those of all his fellow sim mates. That is what makes being part of this community great and rare. This track by LilSki is what simracing is, and always should be. Thanks Kevin.
All pictures and screenshots were kindly provided by LilSki.
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