iRacing’s first patch for 2021 Season 4 goes live on Wednesday

With the first week of iRacing 2021 Season 4 officially underway, before it gets too late, the first patch is ready for deployment. While nothing game-breaking was really found besides some race server issues that have now been patched, a number of things on the content side have gotten some extra attention.

The tracks and cars are the bulk of the update. On the tracks side, a number of the older generation tracks received a “gap filler model” which should make those visually annoying seams less annoying in the future. For cars, things are more specific to the vehicle, like the NASCAR Cup Series Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 updating sounds to be better when over 6500 RPM.

Some of the new content was smoothed over after the launch. Hickory must have been perfect from release, but the Hungaroring received a ton of updates for both visual and track surface improvement. For both the Ferrari 488 GT3 EVO and the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (992), they’ve been able to fix some of the issues that users came across during Week 13.

I might be most excited about this line if it pays off the way I hope it does: “Some lighting settings have been adjusted to subtly reduce the warm hues seen in daytime lighting.” If that means less yellow tinge on my photos moving forward, then HECK YES. If I’m reading that wrong, well then I apologize for getting your hopes as well as my own up.

The rest of the patch notes are provided underneath. Take a look at what’s changing and let us know your thoughts on this first patch of the season in the comments below.

2021 Season 4 Patch 1 Release Notes [2021.09.14.02]

iRACING UI:

Paint Shop

• Two new sponsors have been added – Ricmotech and Next Level Racing.

SIMULATION:

AI Racing

• AI Drivers have received additional training entering the pits at the Sebring Club layout.

Graphics

• A fix has been applied for an issue where the environment map for cars (and some other objects) would stop updating, and therefore not update for any sky\lighting changes, when using a camera outside of the car cockpit with the number of Dynamic Cubemaps set to 0.
• Fixed an issue with SMP/SPS and animated characters at tracks where SpeedTree is utilized. 

Hosted AI Racing

• An icon has been added to the in-sim helmets to indicate which drivers are AI.

Lighting

• Some lighting settings have been adjusted to subtly reduce the warm hues seen in daytime lighting.

Race Servers

• Fixed an issue that could cause race servers to crash.
• Fixed an issue that could cause human players to be assigned to an AI team, causing the AI host to crash to desktop.

Rallycross Racing

• Increased the grip level of rallycross dirt slightly. This should return it to the grip level experienced before this season.

Spotter

• Radio audio filter has been applied to the new Italian spotter package samples.

CARS:

BMW M4 GT3

• Material assignment has been updated for a screw on the front fender grill.

Dallara F3

• The UI model should now have a steering column again.

Dallara IndyCar IR-18

• Adjusted parameters for tires used at Motegi and Darlington.
• iRacing setups have been updated.

Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020

• For custom paints, some decal UVs have been adjusted to prevent them from bleeding onto the rear wing.
• Fixed an issue where tires would become translucent in smoke.
• Fixed the look of some mirror mount screws.
• Fixed a pitboard and spec error in some textures.

Formula Renault 3.5

• iRacing setups have been updated.

Global Mazda MX-5 Cup

• Cockpit textures have been updated.

Late Model

• iRacing setups have been updated.

NASCAR 1987 Class Cars

• iRacing setups have been updated.

NASCAR Cup Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

• Audio has been updated to be less muffled when above 6500 RPM.

NASCAR Next Gen Class Cars

• The rub block collision system has been adjusted to improve interaction with ground contact.
• iRacing setups have been updated.

Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (992)

• iRacing setups have been updated with track specific setups.
• The vertical size of the stamped name has been reduced so some letters aren’t cut off.
• External shift lights should now better match the in-car shift lights.
• Steering wheel buttons are now textured properly when using the Static Steering Wheel option.
• Fixed an issue where the in-SIM display name for this vehicle was incorrect. 
• Pedal animations should no longer jump to no travel when the pedal is pressed to full travel. 
• The side windows have been remapped to allow flag graphics to be placed in the B pillar per Supercup rules.

Porsche 919

• The digital dash should now exist again when using the Static Steering Wheel setting.

Skip Barber Formula 2000

• Driver shake animations have been tuned to be less shaky.

SCCA Spec Racer Ford

• The F8 black box has been updated to ensure all text is visible.

Street Stock

• Drivers should once again use the proper helmets in this car.

Super Late Model

• More appropriate tires should now load at road and dirt road courses.

[Legacy] Dallara IndyCar

• The steering shaft should now only exist in the proper location.

[Legacy] NASCAR Chevy Impala COT

• A control statement has been stabilized.

TRACKS:

Barber Motorsports Park

• A gap filler model has been added to help hide seams in the world. 

Five Flags Speedway

• The main grandstand should now continue to exist at Low settings.

Hungaroring Circuit

• Numbers on marshall posts should have less z-fighting.
• Added a pyramid curb between the pillows at turn 6.
• The pitwall has been adjusted to properly meet the asphalt.
• Tree textures and models have been updated. 
• Weather information has been updated to bring wind speeds into a reasonable range.
• Some terrain edges have been smoothed out.
• Bumps in turn 2 and 11 have been smoothed out.
• Paddock and garage areas have been updated.
• Main entrance area has been updated.
• Flags have been added around the track.
• Some sunken elements have been raised to the terrain level, and some floating elements have been lowered to the terrain level.
• Start lights have been added.
• Objects that fill holes in the terrain mesh, such as tunnels, curbs, and walls, should now never disappear – even with low rendering settings.
• Race marshal huts have been deployed.
• Flaggers have been added.
• A pair of bumps on the front-stretch have been smoothed.
• Fixed a development environment loading error at this track.
• Adjusted some track surface bumps
• Banner flags have been added.
• Flag booths have been updated.
• A pillow curb was added to the chicane.

Laguna Seca

• A gap filler model has been added to help hide seams in the world. 

Lime Rock Park

• A gap filler model has been added to help hide seams in the world. 

Mount Panorama Circuit

• Some signs have been updated.

Okayama Raceway

• A gap filler model has been added to help hide seams in the world. 

Oran Park

• A gap filler model has been added to help hide seams in the world. 

Oulton Park

• A gap filler model has been added to help hide seams in the world. 

Road Atlanta

• New buildings have been added to the track.
• Lighting has been updated in a number of areas and this track is now ready for night racing.
• A gap in the pitwall has been filled.
• Various wall end caps have been added.

Summit Park Raceway

• A gap filler model has been added to help hide seams in the world.

Tsukuba Raceway

• A gap filler model has been added to help hide seams in the world.