The development team behind iRacing, the subscription-based racing simulation PC game, has announced a major milestone: the upcoming addition of dynamic rain.
The feature will be a part of the new Tempest weather system, which is slated to be added to the game next month. The developers stressed this is not the usual rain that might be found in other racing games. Keeping with the ultra-realism theme of iRacing, it’s a ‘true-to-life dynamic simulation of the multitude of physical and environmental factors experienced in racing in the rain, and how water interacts with both the racetrack and the tires of your race car’.
When racing against AI or going through a test session (which the developers recommended before venturing into the online fray), there are many tweakable parameters, including a fully dynamic real-world-based Forecasted Weather, the always-the-same Static Weather for practice and certain types of competition, and Timeline Weather with a fully customizable keyframe-by-keyframe experience.
When venturing into the online series, the weather will be based on the Tempest forecast system.
This system is dynamic and tied to historical weather at our many racetracks around the world. Competitors will want to keep track of the forecast (which will be visible), but should know that it’s just a forecast, and we all know how mother nature has a mind of its own! You may go into a race that has a high chance of rain with dark clouds looming on the horizon (you will see them) and find that rain never materializes. Or you may enter a race where the chance of rain is relatively low, but winds start to blow in a certain way, and you find yourself facing a sudden storm. The longer the race, the greater the uncertainty, so endurance racers will need to be well aware of their environment.
The new iRacing update will also include new tracks like Italy’s Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli, Portugal’s Algarve International Circuit, and the US-based Millbridge Speedway. Additional cars include the Dallara 324 and the Micro Sprint. The developers are also promising an improved onboarding experience for newcomers.
Looking to the future, iRacing fans can look forward to a new rendering engine, too. More details about that will be forthcoming.
