The eventual inclusion of rain on the iRacing service has been a hot topic since its announcement nearly two years ago. Over that time, fans have been treated to a few image teases here and there, as well as some of the finer details about how the overall weather system is set to impact the entire platform.
In a Development Update posted by iRacing Senior Vice President and Executive Producer Greg Hill on Wednesday (26th July), rain was a heavy topic that was discussed in further detail. On top of that, a whole host of new screenshots cropped up that showed off the upcoming rain. However, we still don’t know when it is coming.
Hill outlined some of the details on the forums. The most important piece seems to be that this is a new complete weather system, not just a rain system, as he outlined in a reply later in the forum thread.
Our weather system upgrade (which includes rain as one component) is fully dynamic and accurate to real world weather models and locals. Looking at the forecast both before and during an event will certainly bring an added dimension to the experience. Weather will roll in and out in a fully localized manner, and just because it’s raining in the Karussell doesn’t mean it’s also raining at Flugplatz.
Greg Hill on the iRacing forums, Page 3 comments
READ: iRacing on rain: We want to make sure it’s right
When it does rain, the way the cars will have to drive around the track will drastically change based on the “track polish” and “rubbering systems” that the rain will react against.
Tires will act as they should and disperse the water, but if there’s too much water standing, hydroplaning is a possibility. Per Hill, that’s only scratching the surface of the nitty gritty details, and more will be announced about it later.
In the reply on the forum post, Hill also said that users will be able to “completely craft (their) own weather experience exactly as (they’d) like, with a powerful design and keyframing system”, as well as mentioning that the weather that will be in there will be based on real world data.
My hope with this weather system upgrade is that the box will expand for what iRacers currently have with weather settings. Historically, races have had colder and hotter air temperatures than what can possibly be utilized on the sim, which is 65 degrees at minimum and 90 degrees maximum, in Fahrenheit.
But, back to rain, the pictures shared by iRacing look like it’s coming along pretty well so far. When will it launch? We still don’t know. Maybe we might learn during the next iRacing Special Event. Fingers are crossed for a 2023 Season 4 launch, and from what it sounds like, that could very well be a possibility.
Images / Source: iRacing
