iRacing | Fantasy iRacing Speedway Available Now

[Paul Jeffrey]

Well, at least this one fits on one page! Another new build for iRacing has been released (hotfix this time), and with it comes the first pass of the new iRacing Speedway oval circuit within the simulation.

• iRacing Speedway (formally CocaCola Speedway) released.
• Various fixes and tweaks.
• Track specific fixes added.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1337457183387217922

Following up from the latest build update released a few short days ago, US based development team iRacing have dropped another fresh release for the simulation - including the addition of a returning favourite from years past - the formally titled CocaCola Speedway is back under a new name!

iRACING UI:

General

– Scrollbars have been updated.
– – A new look, and the main window scrollbar has been inset slightly from the right-hand frame of the application window so you can click & drag it more easily.

– Scrolling performance has been optimized.

– A direct link to the Membersite Forums has been added to the sidebar menu.
– – The link previously found under the Helmet menu has been removed.

– Fixed an issue where some windows could jitter slightly.

Licenses

– The cross-license icon will now only appear on events which are cross-license.

Race Now

– Fixed two issues with the action button for each event in the Schedule Tab of a Series:
– – They now correctly say “Drive Now” instead of “Race Now”.
– – They now correctly utilize the associated week’s content for both the Test Drive and Create a Hosted Race options instead of always using the current week’s content.

3D Car Viewer

– Fixed an issue where the 3D Car Viewer could malfunction when UI Scaling was set to any value other than 100%.

– Fixed an issue where the 3D Car Viewer would display in an incorrect color space when displayed on an HDR screen.

MEMBERSITE:

– Fixed an issue where users were not being allowed to join a Session if they did now own all cars in the car class being used. Users need only own at least one car in the car class being used in order to join that Session.

SIMULATION:

Oculus Rift

– Fixed an issue where the iRacing UI was causing Oculus Home to start.

TRACKS:

iRacing Superspeedway

– NEW TRACK!
– – A relic from an older computer age has been reborn!
– – – Enjoy a trip down memory lane and a piece of sim racing’s heritage with iRacing Superspeedway, making its debut on iRacing for the first time just in time for the 2021 season. First conceived as a fictional arena for previous-generation NASCAR Cup Series cars to run without restrictor plates, reaching speeds much higher than they would in the real world, this refreshed version of the circuit brings it to life for iRacing’s entire fleet of diverse racing machines. Spanning three miles in length and with massive banking of more than 30 degrees in the turns, iRacing Superspeedway requires a lead foot and precise inputs to master. It’s all about keeping the wheel as straight as possible to maximize your speed and staying in the draft during the race. But as with any superspeedway, one wrong move can be the end of the race for you—and a huge group of your competitors.
– – Add iRacing Superspeedway to your digital landscape from the iRacing Store here: https://members.iracing.com/membersite/member/TrackDetail.do?trkid=384

Irwindale Speedway

– (Figure Eight and Figure Eight Jump) – Some gain-time checkpoints have been added to prevent significant course cutting.

Limaland Motorsports Park

– Some gain-time checkpoints have been added to prevent course cutting at Turn 4.



iRacing is available now, exclusive to PC.

Check the iRacing sub forum here at RaceDepartment for news, chat and tips about this popular online racing simulation.

 

[TheFerraristo]

Needs a roval/infield Roadcourse !

 

[Ashaz]

Fantasy made up oval track. available now. At the same cost as a fully laserscanned nordschleife.

 

[Wayne Hutchison]

Fantasy made up oval track. available now. At the same cost as a fully laserscanned nordschleife.

You have a problem with developers making a profit so they can stay in business and keep improving their products?

 

[GOV47]

You have a problem with developers making a profit so they can stay in business and keep improving their products?

You have seen iRacing posts here at RD before, right?

I don't have any interest in it now, but I remember it from back in the day. Pretty cool if you ask me.

 

[MetalMania]

You have a problem with developers making a profit so they can stay in business and keep improving their products?

Full disclosure - my iRacing sub is not currently active, so this item in particular is of no real matter to me. However, the broader concept of fictional/fantasy cars and tracks selling as full price DLC potentially affects any current sim and we've seen such content recently for others (RF2).

DLC pricing always seems to strike up controversy and arguments, but really there shouldn't be a problem with developers making money - it's how business works! If they put out content I'm interested in, and it's at a fair price, I buy it. When a dev releases a model of real world content, they have licensing fees to cover in addition to their own production costs and that is part of the price passed on to the consumer. Nothing dubious or unfair about that. I am kind of wrestling with how I feel about the fictional stuff being priced equally. There is no license fee for something that doesn't exist. I suppose it's arguably more work for a dev to create something from scratch with no laser scan or real world data to build off of, but I'm not sure that warrants the same cost to the consumer as something meticulously recreated after something real.

Also, it would appear that just by the fact that people are questioning it, devs who do this may be hurting sales by using a "same price" strategy for such content. I don't think it's a stretch to say that less people are likely to be interested in fictional content than something real that they are familiar with, or in many cases already have a desire for. I just think that a lower cost might result in more people willing to try it. I'm not saying they should give it away for for a pittance or anything, but yeah - same price for a fantasy oval doesn't sound right vs a laser scanned Nurburgring with multiple layouts including the Nordschleife does it? But, that's just my thoughts and maybe I'm way off target.

I DO however applaud top developers trying something different and new. I am definitely not against fictional content in general - I don't think it should be the main focus of a top tier racing sim but the occasional track or car should be welcomed even if they're not to everyone's tastes. I acknowledge that such content has every chance of becoming "fan favorite" material, I just haven't made up my mind on what I think is the right price.

 

[BP]

You have a problem with developers making a profit so they can stay in business and keep improving their products?

Nothing wrong with making profit for a business, but let's be reasonable.

I support iRacing quite a bit and still do...I'm at the "20% off for buying future content" point, so I'm very much all-in and don't support the rampant iRacing bashing that happens on RD regularly...THAT SAID, to charge for a fictional track the same price as all other real tracks, where they had to pay to either:

A) acquire the laserscanned data from a 3rd party
or
B) travel to the track to scan it themselves

I can almost understand the price for real tracks when you have this overhead to produce it...but to slap a new coat of paint on a fantasy sim track from a 20-year old game and charge the same price is a bit much...and an oval no less (I don't have anything against ovals or oval racing, but lets be real on complexity of design).

Based on the length of the final straight of the Nordschleife vs. the length of the straights on iRacing Superspeedway, I resized the layouts somewhat close to scale. How can a fantasy version of this which is banked, but little to no elevation change...

...cost the same as a laserscanned version of this, with roughly 1000 ft of elevation changes?

 

[Nick Hill]

$2000 for a gaming PC: check!
$1500 for wheel/pedal/shifter: you bet!
$800 for cockpit: got it!
$500 for VR headset: wouldn't race without one!
$400 for Sparco gloves/shoes
$15 for a track: Jesus H. Christ, do they think I'm made of money or what?!?!?!?!

 

[MetalMania]

$2000 for a gaming PC: check!
$1500 for wheel/pedal/shifter: you bet!
$800 for cockpit: got it!
$500 for VR headset: wouldn't race without one!
$400 for Sparco gloves/shoes
$15 for a track: Jesus H. Christ, do they think I'm made of money or what?!?!?!?!

Gotta take what's left and feed my kids, now that the necessities of life are covered. I can't be paying for pixels!

 

[Peter Kerényi]

$2000 for a gaming PC: check!
$1500 for wheel/pedal/shifter: you bet!
$800 for cockpit: got it!
$500 for VR headset: wouldn't race without one!
$400 for Sparco gloves/shoes
$15 for a track: Jesus H. Christ, do they think I'm made of money or what?!?!?!?!

How about neither of these? Check

 

[metalnwood]

I just look at it as entertainment, which at the end of the day it is. I go to the movies and sometimes think that what I just watched should be half the price of what I watched the week before but thats not the pricing model and never will be.

Nothing should be compared to the ring as far as pricing, the ring is clearly subsidised compared to other content. I don't see anyone saying wow, we get the ring so cheap, its much bigger than any other track at the same price so we can't twist the argument the other way.

 

[Amir Vodokotlic]

I think the point is fair.

For so called the premier racing game. Pretty funny that they are charging same price for fantasy tracks/cars.

And sure you will say this is beer money.

Little by little this will add up.

Developers will keep pushing and community keeps eating it up because fanboys immediately come to this forum to chase anyone raising fair point.

This is like apple no charger provided or no more head phone jack. Than soon enough every other phone manufacturer is about to follow.

This is what rf2 is doing, its dlc machine while game is still broken.

 

[metalnwood]

I see, we have reached the point of calling people fanboys, so early in the thread as well.

Little by little this does not add up, I am not buying the track or the car simply because it's not what I am interested in. Like other people, I buy what I want and thats the extent of it. A willing seller and a willing buyer has made iracing successful in sim racing. I am not sure what more you want.

 

[RCHeliguy]

$2000 for a gaming PC: check!
$1500 for wheel/pedal/shifter: you bet!
$800 for cockpit: got it!
$500 for VR headset: wouldn't race without one!
$400 for Sparco gloves/shoes
$15 for a track: Jesus H. Christ, do they think I'm made of money or what?!?!?!?!

I wish I got off so cheap!

I realize this is completely under my control and I don't remotely need the level of gear I have. Then again

 

[Nick Hill]

What I don't like is how iRacing keeps buying up smaller sim devs, taking the games off Steam, shutting down all the servers, etc.

Oh, wait, that never happened.

 

[metalnwood]

What I don't like is how iRacing keeps buying up smaller sim devs, taking the games off Steam, shutting down all the servers, etc.

Oh, wait, that never happened.

I have done some research and it's much worse than that. Best I could find is iracing is linked to various offshore accounts (caymans, swiss, etc) that have been used to buy shares in most of the smaller sim developers.

It seems that they are actively keeping these sims alive to draw in new users and up sell them. They are exactly like meth dealers that have a % of their guys on the stret selling pot, then bam, they get the meth and all of a sudden every month they are paying their dealer to get their fix. Its satanic.

 

[RCHeliguy]

I know this stuff is all very very relative, but I sneeze more money than I spend on iRacing. I've had my 3D printer going nearly non-stop printing Sim related stuff since I got it a few months ago and I've been building my rig for the last two years.

But what rig is complete without one of these ?

In case you have a 3D printer too... here are a few things I had fun designing.

RCHeliGuy's Thingiverse Profile

Having a lot of fun after assembling my first 3D printer in September 2020. Loving Fusion 360 that I've been learning since then as well. I think my designs are interesting, but I am very new to 3D printing and just using default settings from PrusaSlicer. I also know my STL files are...

www.thingiverse.com

 

[Wayne Hutchison]

Full disclosure - my iRacing sub is not currently active, so this item in particular is of no real matter to me. However, the broader concept of fictional/fantasy cars and tracks selling as full price DLC potentially affects any current sim and we've seen such content recently for others (RF2).

DLC pricing always seems to strike up controversy and arguments, but really there shouldn't be a problem with developers making money - it's how business works! If they put out content I'm interested in, and it's at a fair price, I buy it. When a dev releases a model of real world content, they have licensing fees to cover in addition to their own production costs and that is part of the price passed on to the consumer. Nothing dubious or unfair about that. I am kind of wrestling with how I feel about the fictional stuff being priced equally. There is no license fee for something that doesn't exist. I suppose it's arguably more work for a dev to create something from scratch with no laser scan or real world data to build off of, but I'm not sure that warrants the same cost to the consumer as something meticulously recreated after something real.

Also, it would appear that just by the fact that people are questioning it, devs who do this may be hurting sales by using a "same price" strategy for such content. I don't think it's a stretch to say that less people are likely to be interested in fictional content than something real that they are familiar with, or in many cases already have a desire for. I just think that a lower cost might result in more people willing to try it. I'm not saying they should give it away for for a pittance or anything, but yeah - same price for a fantasy oval doesn't sound right vs a laser scanned Nurburgring with multiple layouts including the Nordschleife does it? But, that's just my thoughts and maybe I'm way off target.

I DO however applaud top developers trying something different and new. I am definitely not against fictional content in general - I don't think it should be the main focus of a top tier racing sim but the occasional track or car should be welcomed even if they're not to everyone's tastes. I acknowledge that such content has every chance of becoming "fan favorite" material, I just haven't made up my mind on what I think is the right price.

In this case there is still licensing costs. The track will be named Coca Cola Speedway once the deal is finally signed. Coke doesn't come cheap

 

[thepharcyde]

$2000 for a gaming PC: check!
$1500 for wheel/pedal/shifter: you bet!
$800 for cockpit: got it!
$500 for VR headset: wouldn't race without one!
$400 for Sparco gloves/shoes
$15 for a track: Jesus H. Christ, do they think I'm made of money or what?!?!?!?!

Maybe for you?

 

[RichardHessels]

Nothing wrong with making profit for a business, but let's be reasonable.

I support iRacing quite a bit and still do...I'm at the "20% off for buying future content" point, so I'm very much all-in and don't support the rampant iRacing bashing that happens on RD regularly...THAT SAID, to charge for a fictional track the same price as all other real tracks, where they had to pay to either:

A) acquire the laserscanned data from a 3rd party
or
B) travel to the track to scan it themselves

I can almost understand the price for real tracks when you have this overhead to produce it...but to slap a new coat of paint on a fantasy sim track from a 20-year old game and charge the same price is a bit much...and an oval no less (I don't have anything against ovals or oval racing, but lets be real on complexity of design).

Based on the length of the final straight of the Nordschleife vs. the length of the straights on iRacing Superspeedway, I resized the layouts somewhat close to scale. How can a fantasy version of this which is banked, but little to no elevation change...
View attachment 426961

...cost the same as a laserscanned version of this, with roughly 1000 ft of elevation changes?
View attachment 426962

Licensing a AA track like the Nordschleife or Le Mans costs tons of money, than getting the laserscan or making that scan themselfs is very costly and in the end there is a very big 3D modelling project.
No problem paying for that.
But that fantasytrack was 20x less to produce.
Have we been paying to little for the other tracks or...
They maybe though if Fornite can get away with asking 10 bucks for a skin.
On the other hands.. another oval was just what the iRacing needed.

So just don't buy it, if yo don't like the offer.
But in my opinion it's overpriced if you compare it to the rest of the content.