Gamescom: RaceRoom Racing Experience Hands-On

Bram Hengeveld · Aug 17, 2012

SimBin recently announced the name of their project they have been working on lately. What was first classified as GTR 3 seems to now be re-branded to RaceRoom Racing Experience. A Free2Play platform that blends in nicely with the (future) RaceRoom website and where a high-end PC racing game is provided for free during the autumn of 2012 on Steam. The first release will include the Aquila CR1 race car and a fictional racetrack called the RaceRoom Raceway

We visited the impressive RaceRoom stand last Wednesday at the Gamescom in Germany and spoke to various people of the RaceRoom franchise. One of them was SimBin's Creative Director Diego Sartori who showed us their newest game displaying on the trusted RaceRoom hardware.

Graphics
What immediately was clear to us was that all the screenshots we have seen the last couple of months were certainly not photoshopped as the graphics in game looked very good compared to previous SimBin titles and up to par with 2012 standards.

Physics
The physics felt like a continuation of what we've already experienced in the RACE Series but then maybe a tad more easier. My first laps in the Aquila CR1 car were quite easy and never did it really feel like a big challenge to keep the car on the track, though I assume some driving aids were turned on for the broader public. The steering actually felt a little smoother and more direct than we experienced in the RACE series.

Sounds
This is where this game stands out compared to its competitors in the (sim) racing genre. The sounds were spot on and impressed us immediately. Great work by the sound artists in Sweden, probably the work of their skilled sound engineer Anthony Monteil, who was also responsible for the quality sounds of SimBin's previous releases.

Interface
The thing that jumped out immediately in the little tour through the game that we got was the game's new menu and interface structure. SimBin got rid of the click-intensive deep page structure of the RACE Series and replaced it with an easy to use click-and-go kind of structure. The structure also emphasises social media as it is integrated with Facebook. The aim is to never have to Alt+Tab to get in touch with friends and rival. The game is planned to allow people to for example share their hotlaps and ghosts with each other without having to leave the game.

First Conclusions
We are the first to admit we have spent way too little time with this game to draw a proper conclusion as most of our time was consumed by Assetto Corsa. However our first impression is that SimBin traded the Get Real slogan from previous titles to More Than a Game with RaceRoom Racing Experience. It looks like an important change of direction away from the classic sim racing community and more heading towards a RaceRoom package with local gaming rooms, event setups and an online platform where everything comes together nicely.

We'll have to see how this works out for community racing like on RaceDepartment with the focus apparently also moving towards hotlaps and leaderboards. Nevertheless, RaceRoom Racing Experienced did breathe the fresh new and up-to-date atmosphere that SimBin needed after the RACE Series and will offer a complete multiplayer online racing environment.

Exclusive Screenshots
Below you find four screenshots exclusive to RaceDepartment.com featuring the Aquila CR1 and the BMW Judd 134. Click to enlarge and enjoy the images in full screen resolution.

Trailer and Gamescom Video
During our visit in Germany SimBin released the trailer of their upcoming title and today they added a second video including some raw roars from the Beemer! Thanks Peter Koch for the tip!

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Bram Hengeveld & Yoeri Gijsen

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Bram Hengeveld · Aug 17, 2012

Got questions? Drop them below in the comments and Yoeri and me will do our best to answer them as best as we can.

Peter Koch · Aug 17, 2012

I hope that I'm able to race off line agains AI, I hate hotlapping and will be a no go for me.

Ivo Simons · Aug 17, 2012

Just like i thought how it was going to be.

Kennett Ylitalo · Aug 17, 2012

That part about hotlaps being the main focus, that mean that the actual online racing is completely missing from the release? In that case, SimBins future is over... I doubt even casual gamers are looking for realistic hotlapping competitions instead of driver aid enabled real racing thus enabling the more hardcore gamers to have their own corner in the driver aid disabled racing leagues... With hotlapping only, i will immediately stop producing anything for SImBin and start looking for AC or rF2... And i think all modders will follow suit, we don't have any interest providing hotlap material ruined with driving aids...

Lee Ross · Aug 17, 2012

BMW shots look wonderful. Shame if itr is only a TT game though but still worth looking out for

Jack Sargent · Aug 17, 2012

I am much more positive about this than I was previously. I am a huge fan of the RACE series and I think this will be a great successor to it.

Jack Sargent · Aug 17, 2012

Jack Sargent said: ↑

I am much more positive about this than I was previously. I am a huge fan of the RACE series and I think this will be a great successor to it.

Didn't clock the bit about hotlap only........................I doubt that will be true, surely there will be actual racing in the release??

Bram Hengeveld · Aug 17, 2012

Yes there will be actual racing in the release. We've edited the article above and rephrased it a bit as people don't read what is posted and jump conclusions lol.

We'll have to see how this works out for community racing like on RaceDepartment with the focus apparently also moving towards hotlaps and leaderboards. Nevertheless, RaceRoom Racing Experienced did breathe the fresh new and up-to-date atmosphere that SimBin needed after the RACE Series and will offer a complete multiplayer online racing environment.

Christopher Hall-Nelson · Aug 17, 2012

My gosh, I am sooo pleased i have a high end PC so ill be able to play all of the newest racing games to their full potential.

In competitive FPS, the best thing to do is turn off some detailing and switch off effects, but in racing titles, i always feel more is better.
Get it looking and feeling as close to real as possible and the exprience becomes fuller, truer and more absorbing, helping the lap times come down and the smiles go up

Peter Koch · Aug 17, 2012

It looks great

After watching 50 times, this is what I want!

Lee Ross · Aug 17, 2012

It sounds bloody amazing! Great video find mate

Bram Hengeveld · Aug 17, 2012

Yeah the sounds are really impressive

Peter Koch · Aug 17, 2012

Lee Ross said: ↑

It sounds bloody amazing! Great video find mate

its better to F5 Facebook for news

RaceNut · Aug 17, 2012

If they don't offer AI racing - then I'll pass on this and focus on AC. While I love the driving dynamics of iRacing, I just don't have the time to invest in practicing in order to be competitive online and hotlapping gets old quickly.

Otherwise, based on the video - it looks very interesting.

GallardoGT · Aug 17, 2012

Thanks for this report. It's unbelievable that you are the only journalists that covers this important title to come. It looks very promising!

Btw, talking about driving aids, actually I find some steering aids quite realistic because steering in real live IS easy, it just depends how fast you go. So those aids are welcome when they compensate simulation with the real thing. I use one for GTR2, not de apex line of cource.

Still two question Bram:
1 - How about adjust the cockpit view. Can you zoom in very deep and is it quite open to modify it?
2 - Can you look into corner like GTR2.

Bram Hengeveld · Aug 17, 2012

GallardoGT said: ↑

Still two question Bram:
1 - How about adjust the cockpit view. Can you zoom in very deep and is it quite open to modify it?
2 - Can you look into corner like GTR2.

First of all I need to repeat what we stated in the article that we really had limited time to test out all the features of the game. We did a couple of races on the free to play track that comes with the game release and a second track that was modeled just like a real road in Sweden (absolute blast btw as Yoer and me have driving that same road course years ago).

I can only guess about the answers to your question so Ill leave that to a simbin representative to answer.

Kjell Eilertsen · Aug 17, 2012

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDNGdwc3mIo&hd=1
DROOL!!!

Vinicius Ferreira · Aug 17, 2012

Did you guys see anyother content besides of the videos? track or car? thx

Luke Walsh · Aug 17, 2012

looks very promising!

p.s. did anybody else notice that the steering wheel is floating in the second screenshot?

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Gamescom: RaceRoom Racing Experience Hands-On