Post by zero7159 on Oct 10, 2013 9:00:08 GMT -8
I found this in the forums. It is a story that sim racer Simon Canning wrote in 2008 about iRacing.
Duo pitches online car races
SIMON CANNING NOVEMBER 11, 2008 12:00AM
BY day, John W Henry owns the Boston Red Sox, the US major league baseball team that went within a whisker of a World Series appearance last month.
By night, the US multi-millionaire is an online racer, who is now sinking his fortune into a project that combines a computer motor racing simulation with elements of massively multi-player games and social networking.
Henry has teamed with renowned racing simulation programmer David Kaemmer, the mastermind of sims such as the historic Grand Prix Legends with Australia's own Jack Brabham on the box cover, and the critically acclaimed Nascar Racing 2003, original copies of which now fetch hundreds of dollars on eBay.
The pair have created iRacing, a browser-based simulation that seeks to replicate as closely as possible the real world of racing from the tracks to the cars, and ultimately the physics that control them.
Since the subscription-based racing sim rolled out of beta testing last month thousands of racers from around the world had signed up, including several hundred Australians, iRacing spokesman Scott McKee said.
"Dave came up with the idea of an online service that not only would have cutting edge simulation software, but also an online community with the software digitally distributed and all the organisational elements a sanctioning body brings to a sport," Mr McKee said.
The iRacing model allows players to sign up for a basic subscription and then buy additional elements such as cars and tracks.
Players then have to earn different licence levels, which must be maintained by driving in a clean and sporting manner - a system used to discourage "wreckers" that have plagued other online racing models.
Mr McKee admitted the learning curve for the game was tough due to the realistic physics (a wheel and pedal set is a must), but with a number of well-known professional US race drivers using iRacing as a training tool, the decision was taken to not dumb down the model in a bid for more subscribers.
"Dave's passion is to create the most realistic, most accurate, most precise simulation possible," Mr McKee said. "One of the benefits of building an online, digitally distributed service is that work will never be done. Development on the simulation will continue in perpetuity.
"Then you blend with that John's passion, which is building a community of racers and founding a new brand of motor sport, you have the two personalities of iRacing."
The tracks and cars are currently US-focused (although the Silverstone Grand Prix circuit is modelled), but the simulation has already drawn a massive international audience.
A lack of local servers has not affected game play for Australians and Mr McKee said local servers may be established as iRacing's local audience builds.
More importantly, he said, iRacing programmers were already fans of Australia's own V8 Supercar racing series and a Ford and Holden may ultimately appear in the simulation - along with a detailed rendering of Mount Panorama.
IRacing may be flying under the radar of many game players, but a new sport was being created, Mr McKee said: "It's educational software that also has an entertainment application, but it's no more a game than anybody who races karts or goes and does club racing on the weekends would call that a game. It is that change of mindset we are working on."
IRacing can be found at www.iracing.com
Duo pitches online car races
SIMON CANNING NOVEMBER 11, 2008 12:00AM
BY day, John W Henry owns the Boston Red Sox, the US major league baseball team that went within a whisker of a World Series appearance last month.
By night, the US multi-millionaire is an online racer, who is now sinking his fortune into a project that combines a computer motor racing simulation with elements of massively multi-player games and social networking.
Henry has teamed with renowned racing simulation programmer David Kaemmer, the mastermind of sims such as the historic Grand Prix Legends with Australia's own Jack Brabham on the box cover, and the critically acclaimed Nascar Racing 2003, original copies of which now fetch hundreds of dollars on eBay.
The pair have created iRacing, a browser-based simulation that seeks to replicate as closely as possible the real world of racing from the tracks to the cars, and ultimately the physics that control them.
Since the subscription-based racing sim rolled out of beta testing last month thousands of racers from around the world had signed up, including several hundred Australians, iRacing spokesman Scott McKee said.
"Dave came up with the idea of an online service that not only would have cutting edge simulation software, but also an online community with the software digitally distributed and all the organisational elements a sanctioning body brings to a sport," Mr McKee said.
The iRacing model allows players to sign up for a basic subscription and then buy additional elements such as cars and tracks.
Players then have to earn different licence levels, which must be maintained by driving in a clean and sporting manner - a system used to discourage "wreckers" that have plagued other online racing models.
Mr McKee admitted the learning curve for the game was tough due to the realistic physics (a wheel and pedal set is a must), but with a number of well-known professional US race drivers using iRacing as a training tool, the decision was taken to not dumb down the model in a bid for more subscribers.
"Dave's passion is to create the most realistic, most accurate, most precise simulation possible," Mr McKee said. "One of the benefits of building an online, digitally distributed service is that work will never be done. Development on the simulation will continue in perpetuity.
"Then you blend with that John's passion, which is building a community of racers and founding a new brand of motor sport, you have the two personalities of iRacing."
The tracks and cars are currently US-focused (although the Silverstone Grand Prix circuit is modelled), but the simulation has already drawn a massive international audience.
A lack of local servers has not affected game play for Australians and Mr McKee said local servers may be established as iRacing's local audience builds.
More importantly, he said, iRacing programmers were already fans of Australia's own V8 Supercar racing series and a Ford and Holden may ultimately appear in the simulation - along with a detailed rendering of Mount Panorama.
IRacing may be flying under the radar of many game players, but a new sport was being created, Mr McKee said: "It's educational software that also has an entertainment application, but it's no more a game than anybody who races karts or goes and does club racing on the weekends would call that a game. It is that change of mindset we are working on."
IRacing can be found at www.iracing.com