So, what does the future hold for R3E? Will it just continue as-is, or are there any plans for upgrades to graphics or UI or anything?
"KW Studios is about to enter an exciting new phase. With renewed backing we’re looking to expand our team and take advantage of the next-generation engines that can deliver the ultimate in virtual racing experiences." "We are looking for a Web Back End Programmer to help reshape our core Raceroom platform, while having one eye on the future evolution of our race sim products. We’re about to kick off an exciting new chapter in our development plans, and this position will put in the thick of the action." only that is known
I wanted to create a similar topic, then I convinced myself that it would only lead to unnecessary flame war. But here we go, so I'm also curious, because I can't help but notice that the core content of R3E is starting to age a bit, or to put it differently, the competition has been more active recently regarding content and feature updates.
Indeed! My intention was never to start a flame war, but the internet being the internet, it normally always ends in at least two people having an argument over something needless, like the correct amount of granules ina cup of instant coffee. Anyway, it would be nice to know if they plan on doing anything with the sim, you know, get some excitement going in the community. R3E offers a lot but i can't help thinking its starting to fall behind...
Well, on the other hand they don't abandon their old content like most devs do. Physics overhauls are being released regularily, and almost the entire roster is up to date in that regard. Older GT3s, prototypes, single-seaters, vintage racers - almost all drive like something that was released recently, not an entire hardware generation ago. You can jump into GTR1 cars or in Zonda that's currently featured on ranked servers and feel the difference immediately, since they aren't updated to the same standard yet, but they surely will at some point. You don't see the same unity in other sims. They put emphasis on churning out new, flashy content and end up with huge variety of quality and feel. If I wanted my content to be all over the place, I would've just stuck with Assetto Corsa on mods.
I do not expect them to openly tell us their future plans but its been very long since we had development notes posted.
This was pending from the last roadmap and I think something similar will happen to ranked as of next month. 9. Ranked Multiplayer - Series & Championships The next step for Ranked MP is the creation of series / championships where each player will not only race for rating and reputation, but also score points in a race based on how highly rated the opponents were. The system will keep the best result scoring the most points and use that for the series rankings. This work involves further automation of server management as well as new backend features that take time to develop while also maintaining the existing infrastructure. I hope for this to be delivered this year.
IMO, I'd like to see some major game engine updates. As much as I love the WTCR cars and the new DTM, yearly releases tend to look like new numbers and paint on them vs meaningful improvements. DTM being the exception this year. Cockpit textures are looking dated/low res, even in the newest cars as well as some low poly work in general. Likely being help back by the very dated game engine. I'd happily pay for R3E V2. but I shutter at the thought of losing allllllll that context I've amassed over the years. I bounce between this and AMS2 for single player/AI racing. Both enjoyable in their own right. AMS2 obviously being a stunner to look at.
Modernizing the engine does not equal less performance simply because it's better looking. It can actually be more flexible to cater to both high end and low end systems. DX12 is light years ahead of their DX9 implementation. There are many other options as well, such as Vulcan. Doesn't need to be something as heavy as what ACC chose, which is UR4. AMS2, for example, is very optimized. They have their own engine - Madness. Have you tried it?
Raceroom actually has a bit of a problem because while it indeed runs on 2013 hardware, it doesn't run proportionately better on the 2022 hardware. As a result, for many people the Raceroom performance is worse than performance of other sims, while the game also looking old and outdated. It's heavily limited by single core CPU performance, so even people with very strong PCs struggle to keep high framerate in certain situations. Imho without substantial technical change there is no way the game could attract many new players, and in competition with other sims it will just be bleeding the current player base. I don't see how the upcoming changes to ranked would change any of the current ranked problems. The main issue is low population, which makes it impossible to populate enough splits for close and clean races. That's not going to get solved by restructuring the schedule. That could only be solved by the game itself being able to compete with the likes of ACC on fundamental level - modern graphics, UI, features like time of day, weather, linked to dynamic track evolution, track temperatures, rubbering etc. Raceroom is unfortunately still a decade old game that plays like it, no matter how many reskinned yearly touring car packs it's being able to push out to the store.
This. It's feeling more and more like churning out DLC which can only last so long- and has already overstayed its welcome. I don't want a yearly game "update" cycle i.e.- Raceroom 2022, RaceRoom 2023, etc etc, but at some point they've got to update the game and base content DLC and charge for it. At this point, most DLC is so outdated that a new game version starting all over is probably the only realistic option. I'd happily pay for it, assuming it can compete with other modern sims. If not, it can live as is, under the "free to play" moniker and slowly bleed out - as it is likely already doing.
I don't see that as an issue other than the game looking uglier than competition, which is a superficial issue. Other sims have performance issues in certain situations just as well. ACC is generally regarded to be resource-heavy, badly optimized graphically-wise, almost unplayable on VR. And yet practically nobody is making an issue of it, even though AMS2 looks just as nice and works much better. Seems like an excuse to choose a prettier thing without stating actual reasons. Nothing wrong with choosing a prettier product, but let's not make up reasons for it. I agree with that diagnosis, but I'm going to insist that it's because people greatly care about superficial qualities. Graphics are hardly fundamental for a racing simulator. I don't see an issue with UI, especially compared to other sims. Day/night cycle, dynamic wheather, dynamic track conditions - they're all nice features, but again - hardly fundamental. You don't really make use of them more than occasionally, unless you're specifically into endurance racing. Which is a niche within a niche. What I would call fundamental for a racing sim are: driving model, AI for single player, online system for multiplayer. Then you can build on that. Raceroom is excellent in all these elements, IMO better than most sims, even though everybody can make their own judgment and online system's performance is directly tied to playerbase size. So it nails the fundamental side. The issue is that it has great foundations, but is behind the competition in what they provide on top of those foundations. So I agree that Raceroom needs to upgrade their engine and add more simulation features to attact more players. I just wholeheartedly disagree that there's anything fundamentally wrong with Raceroom. Simracing crowd is just as any other crowd - it cares about superficial qualities and that's why Raceroom fails to amass larger population. The crowd that sticks with Raceroom is actually one that puts great attention to fundamental elements, and is willing to turn a blind eye on other elements because of that. They do upgrade the physics for older cars. Most of the cars are up to modern standard, physics-wise, and drive very well.