iRacing perfect circuits

[Ciro Pabón]

I imagine most racers around this site have tried iRacing simulator. I don't know how good it is, but I can tell you that it provides you with the most accurate tracks you could imagine.

They use a laser beam to scan the surface. It takes 8 hours to scan half a kilometer, but the results are noteworthy:

A 3D model of a turn includes millions of points of data.


The track includes minute cracks and bumps. Even professional drivers are impressed. Road topographers, like me, are equally so. They have scanned 60 tracks up to this date.

[flynfrog]

that look like how some of the DARPA competitors tracked terrain not as precise but they used two lasers http://www.darpa.mil/grandchallenge/index.asp

[Scotracer]

There's a Laser Scanned track on rFactor too:

http://www.bobstrackbuilder.net/laser_scanning.aspx

It's good.

Also Forza Motorsport 2 and 3 have laser scanned circuits. Sebring is particularly good as they have modelled the sections of concrete and the spacing between them affects the cars dynamically.

[Giblet]

how is your experiences with iRacer?

I am in the process of building a new system (i7920, 6gb, 260 vidcard) today and need something new and exciting.

Considering my Mac mini can run rFactor in 1920x1200 full detail, I want to find a racer that is more taxing. I have heard that iRacing is costly, but these laser scanned tracks would be worth it.

Interestingly, the new F1 game coming out uses GPS still for the tracks, and lots of personal data scrubbing after to place objects.

[Jersey Tom]

iRacing rocks.

[modbaraban]

There are a few points I want to add. There are few cons not so much to the laser scanning as to the belief it would definitely provide well simulated tracks.

Above is the wire(?)-picture of that fountain, if I recall the term correctly. The amount of detail is amazing. Do we want it? Yes! Will our CPUs and GPUs struggle with those? Definitely!
So here we need a good compromise. The track surface has to be the priority, some other secondary objects can be simplified more. And definitely we don't need 157 immaculately modeled trash cans scattered around the circuit territory even if that's impressive to read about.

Obviously laser scanning is a great tool to get the accurate data. But it alone can't guarantee good track modeling.

Some laser-scanned tracks for rFactor are good examples of questionable results of track building with this technology. It seems that the modelers simplified all the resulting data equally, so when going over bumps it feels like you ride over sharp edges of 3D-polygons, not real world modeled bumps.

Manufacturers and race teams with next to unlimited resources can however make the most of the laser-scanned data using supercomputers for real-time simulation.

FYI: I don't use iRacing for reasons other than their track modeling which is known to be exceptionally good.

[jddh1]

There are a few points I want to add. There are few cons not so much to the laser scanning as to the belief it would definitely provide well simulated tracks.

Above is the wire(?)-picture of that fountain, if I recall the term correctly. The amount of detail is amazing. Do we want it? Yes! Will our CPUs and GPUs struggle with those? Definitely!
So here we need a good compromise. The track surface has to be the priority, some other secondary objects can be simplified more. And definitely we don't need 157 immaculately modeled trash cans scattered around the circuit territory even if that's impressive to read about.

Obviously laser scanning is a great tool to get the accurate data. But it alone can't guarantee good track modeling.

Some laser-scanned tracks for rFactor are good examples of questionable results of track building with this technology. It seems that the modelers simplified all the resulting data equally, so when going over bumps it feels like you ride over sharp edges of 3D-polygons, not real world modeled bumps.

Manufacturers and race teams with next to unlimited resources can however make the most of the laser-scanned data using supercomputers for real-time simulation.

FYI: I don't use iRacing for reasons other than their track modeling which is known to be exceptionally good.

I assume they would include the option of setting the world environment to LOW. Keep track details high, obviously. Besides, it doesn't hurt scanning the surroundings as well since you're doing it. In two years you might have a processor that will deal with that just fine.

[jddh1]

how is your experiences with iRacer?

I am in the process of building a new system (i7920, 6gb, 260 vidcard) today and need something new and exciting.

Considering my Mac mini can run rFactor in 1920x1200 full detail, I want to find a racer that is more taxing. I have heard that iRacing is costly, but these laser scanned tracks would be worth it.

Interestingly, the new F1 game coming out uses GPS still for the tracks, and lots of personal data scrubbing after to place objects.

Giblet, that's what I'm running right now in my rig. But XP does not support all 6 gigs of memory so can't wait for Windows seven to come out. You can run Linux but I'm not doing that because Call of Duty does not run on ubuntu or something.
For Vidcards I have a dual ATI setup, total 2gigs of memory on those alone. I've built a beast of a machine a few months back but I think I did it a bit too soon. Still, the i7920 cpu is a beast and highly recommended.

[Giblet]

how is your experiences with iRacer?

I am in the process of building a new system (i7920, 6gb, 260 vidcard) today and need something new and exciting.

Considering my Mac mini can run rFactor in 1920x1200 full detail, I want to find a racer that is more taxing. I have heard that iRacing is costly, but these laser scanned tracks would be worth it.

Interestingly, the new F1 game coming out uses GPS still for the tracks, and lots of personal data scrubbing after to place objects.

Giblet, that's what I'm running right now in my rig. But XP does not support all 6 gigs of memory so can't wait for Windows seven to come out. You can run Linux but I'm not doing that because Call of Duty does not run on ubuntu or something.
For Vidcards I have a dual ATI setup, total 2gigs of memory on those alone. I've built a beast of a machine a few months back but I think I did it a bit too soon. Still, the i7920 cpu is a beast and highly recommended.

Well, I bought my new box, subscribed to iRacing, and very quickly realized I should have also bought a wheel setup

The 360 controller is atually pretty good, I just wish I could change the rate the wheel moves, since it allowes you to move it faster than reality would allow, causing a lot of snap problems and tail wiggling finding the line. A deadzone was included for the right stick (left-right look) but nto for steering, so the wheel tends to jitter, but I digress....

I ended up buying a bucket of parts and a case (750W).

I did end up getting the i7 920, 6gb ram, and an intel x58 mobo. I already had an HD, so I tossed it in. It's actually the bottleneck in my system. 5.7 and everything else in the 7.5 area. Windows 7 WPI. 45-58fps in iRacing at 1900x1200, full everything.

After building it, it fired up first time, no strange post beeps or anything like that. I patted myself on my back for not wrecking anything.

After a lot of research and number crunching, I decided on an Asus GTS 250. It has essentially the same core as the 9800gt, and for me that is important for a potential hackintosh install this weekend. Also cheap and SLI ready. I plan on integrating my mini in the case as well. It will take some fabricating / cutting, but I am done I will have the mini will be integrated like a slightly larger CD drive. I even chose an aluminum case for this reason.

I also wanted to somehow put my 360 in there as well, but heat / packaging wise that would be redonkulous, and I gave it up mentally.

NOooooowwwww................

iRacing itself I really like. The challenge is there for sure. I am still about 3.5 seconds of the pace of Laguna Seca in the Solstice. I'm sure a proper wheel will give me a second, and I need to be more consistent in the slow corners, not transferring so much energy into friction and turning.

I really enjoy the how the whole experience feels like a sanctioned series with rules, and schedules. Finding my limits by going off track is how I used to do it, but that is not very helpful in this sim, as your faults count against you getting your license improved from what I gather in the few days I have had it.

There is a lot of chatter with the drivers as well. I am only focusing on road right now, oval can wait for when my career winds down