Today, the iRacing team has released its latest Dev Update for November. Season 1 of 2024 content and the state of rain feature heavily.
Image credit: iRacing.com
UPDATE 20/11/2023:
Earlier this month, iRacing unveiled its latest Developer Update in blog form. But over the past weekend, the American studio released the same exciting and informative news piece in video form.
Whilst the video presents no new information or content, it does fuel further speculation surrounding the release of rain. As the November Developer update pointed out, the release for rain is imminent. This was further confirmed by the video. The video provides plenty of footage with wet weather seemingly looking complete, graphically at least that is.
However, a key point of the video is when iRacing Executive Producer Greg Hill says, "we can't wait to make it rain soon." At this time, a short graphic pops up showing a clock featuring the word "soon" at the 12, three, six and nine positions. Behind the graphic, we see a Ferrari 296 GT3 car making its way onto the Daytona banking.
With this clock analogy and the Daytona circuit in the background, many are speculating about rain perhaps not launching with the main Season 1 of 2024 update. Instead, rain might appear as a soft launch in a patch just before the Daytona 24 Hours Special Event. That being said, the background footage may well be a coincidence whilst the graphic could also be a dig at the amount of time iRacing has said that rain is close to release.
ORIGINAL ARTICLE 02/11/2023:
An online racing service, iRacing is always in constant evolution. If it were the same game it was at launch, it most certainly would not be as popular as it is today. Every few months sees the title receive a major update and the next one is just around the corner.
Season 1 of 2024 is scheduled for early December, which means we are just a month away from another content drop in iRacing. Whilst last season brought a lot of cars, it seems this next one will focus on features and tracks. This is what we gather at least from the iRacing Development Update for November.
However, the biggest news from the post has to be that rain is very close to release. Here is all you need to know.
iRacing Rain: Imminent
One of the most prominent parts of the latest development update focuses on the state of rain in the game. As fans of the title will know, the idea to implement wet weather has been floating around for a number of years. Development of a new weather system has been in the works for seemingly just as long.
Well, finally iRacers have something to get their coats on for. In the post, Gregg Hill mentions that “While we aren’t quite ready to guarantee it for December, we are now confident enough to say that the release of this incredibly complex system is imminent.”
The implementation of wet weather driving has long been known to come with a full weather system overhaul. This project is internally called “Tempest”. However, one does hope the service will not now be full of atrocious weather, a simulation of racing in Britain so to say.
Clearly then, at some point in the next few months, iRacing will see wet tracks cause chaos. Whether the system launches in December with the Season 1 of 2024 update or in a later patch is as yet unclear. However, chances are we will see rain impacting the first Special Event of the year, the Daytona 24.
If you want a taster of what to expect from iRacing‘s rain project, check out the audio teasers at the bottom of the November Development Update.
iRacing 2024 Season 1
Alongside the rather tempting announcement of rain in iRacing, the November Dev Update features a long list of additions coming in the next update.
It seems the simulator will get some quality of life improvements. Optimisation and performance boosts will as ever feature in the next update. But it is the overhaul of the protest system that will intrigue many. A new Stewarding team has been in place for some time now, and with the implementation of Season 1 of 2024, it will get additional tools.
From December onwards, those protested against could see their access to certain online events restricted. They may also get disqualified from race results, losing them championship points and iRating. Furthermore, they may have to go through a coaching program. This should see more successful protest outcomes with those responsible of dishing out penalties getting more options. Sure, a full ban is hefty for a single incident. But a disqualification is sure to deter racers from being silly on-track.
In the last update, iRacing‘s dirt surface received a major overhaul. Well, with the development update and for the start of 2024, the oval racing scene will become more realistic with a major project focusing on improving the surface of this popular form of racing.
Cars and Tracks
Elsewhere, the new season will of course feature content. On the car front, the previously announced SRX car will join the latest Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II. This will help refresh the fleet of GT racers alongside the Ferrari 296, Porsche 992 and Mercedes GT3 Evo and more.
New tracks will also join the game next month. Mugello was announced some months ago, as was Misano. However, one addition we were not expecting was a refresh to Okayama. Our very own Connor Minniss listed a trio of circuits on the service that need refreshing a few weeks ago. Whilst Okayama did not feature on the list, the community is sure to be happy with the news.
Finally, a selection of oval circuits are also on their way. Millbridge and Slinger Speedway are a pair of short ovals that will fit perfectly alongside Kern, part of the last update. In fact, the aforementioned SRX car is sure to provide quite the spectacle on these shorter layouts.
Does the November Dev Update for iRacing excite you? Let us know on Twitter @OverTake_gg or in the comments below!
