RaceRoom’s huge graphics update and DTM 1995 content available now

RaceRoom Racing Experience’s much-anticipated graphics overhaul has now gone live, alongside the release of DTM 1995-themed cars and tracks.

It’s the biggest update to the game in some time, with KW Studios promising a further DTM 2024 Car Pack will arrive shortly, including two new cars: the McLaren 720S GT3 Evo and Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2 (the first appearance of the Italian manufacturer in RaceRoom).

RaceRoom’s graphics overhaul

The biggest takeaway from RaceRoom’s latest update is its overhauled graphics, improving the ageing sim’s shaders, track lighting and shadow quality.

Dynamic clouds now appear in the free-to-play sim for the first time, offering more attractive screenshot opportunities for players, although there is still no day-to-night cycle.

The developer has promised better optimisation too, while tracks such as Mantorp Park, Nogaro, the Nordschleife, the Red Bull Ring, Sepang and the Slovakiaring enjoy gra[hical upgrades to bring them up to 2024 standards.

Oschersleben has been completely re-done using laser-scan data and represents an all-new addition to the sim’s track roster. This means the older version of the track will gradually be phased out.

RaceRoom’s DTM 1995 Car Pack and track content

The Opel Calibra V6 4×4 and Alfa Romeo 155 2.5 V6 TI are now available to purchase in RaceRoom for a combined €10.99. They will sit inside a newly-formed in-game ‘DTM 1995’ car class alongside the already present AMG-Mercedes C-Klasse, with authentic liveries and drivers.

Three period-correct tracks are also now available, including the fearsome Autobahn-sited Avus track, the tricky airfield-based Diepholz and the ‘old’ version of Hockenheim. Each track is priced at €6,99.

The Traxion team went hands-on with the new cars and tracks a couple of weeks ago and had a nostalgia-filled blast – we heartily recommend them to all other historic DTM buffs out there.

RaceRoom build 15563458 changelog

Graphics:

• Performance improvements: Reduced CPU overhead, resulting in higher frame rates on any system.
• Cloud Coverage Selector: Added a new feature to the game menus and dedicated server allowing players to select cloud coverage options. You can now choose from clear, few clouds, scattered clouds, and overcast skies, adding a dynamic and realistic touch to the racing experience. In Single Player, the “Random” option, in combination with a non-null time multiplier, will result in dynamic transitions during sessions. Multiplayer server admins have new tools for full control over weather transitions.
• Improved Shadows Rendering: Shadows have been significantly improved, providing more realistic and dynamic lighting effects across various environments. This includes soft, anti-aliased shadows, with higher resolution and much longer draw distances. Shadows are now also rendered in the rearview mirror.
• Auto-Exposure Feature: Introduced an auto-exposure feature that dynamically adjusts the brightness based on the scene’s lighting. This feature enhances visibility in different lighting conditions, ensuring a more immersive experience.
• Eliminated Z-Fighting: We have completely eliminated z-fighting artifacts by adapting the engine to use the more modern ‘Reversed-Z’ approach to handle depth in the rendering.
• Improved car paint and car parts materials rendering: Better support has been added for all different types of liveries and paint found on racing cars. Most notably, chrome, matte and metallic parts can now be represented much more accurately.
• Improved precision of car models meshes: Most noticeable on small and rounded details such as buttons in the cockpit.
• Improved Car Cockpit: Improved lighting inside the cockpit, to achieve a much more realistic and immersive view.
• Improved Car Reflections: Car reflections have been enhanced to better mimic real world reflective surfaces, adding depth and realism to vehicle reflective parts, such as windows.
• Improved Specular Reflections: Specular reflections have been fine-tuned to provide more realistic highlights and shine, especially under varying light conditions.
• Improved Track Surface Lighting: The track surface lighting has been improved, giving a more accurate representation of light reflection on road surfaces and built-up rubber.
• Improved Depth of Field Blurring: Depth of field effects have been refined for more realistic background blurring, enhancing the sense of speed and focus.
• Improved Motion Blur: Motion blur has been updated to provide a more natural and immersive sense of movement and a reduction of artefacts.
• Improved Vegetation lighting: Trees are now blending in much better in the lighting environment.
• Track material specular: Until now, only a few objects had specular around our tracks. This is now addressed so all objects reflect strong lights.
• Track Grass normalmaps: Our normal maps are now properly reacting to the orientation of the light
• Improved Rendering of Headlights and Taillights: The rendering of headlights and taillights has been improved, making dawn, morning, noon, afternoon, and sunset racing more visually striking and realistic.
• Performance mode through Vulkan rendering pipeline: The vulkan-based implementation of d3d9 by Philip Rebohle was already a popular rendering mod among the RaceRoom community, providing a significant performance boost. Our engine is now supporting this mod more officially as we addressed some visual glitches that had been impairing the experience. A start-up option in Steam will be available to start RaceRoom using Vulkan.
• Particle lighting: Particles now properly react to different lighting conditions
• Sharpening: This effect increases the visual crispness of the game, making textures and fine details stand out more prominently. However, because the visual experience is based on individual preferences, the default value for this setting is off.
• Improved Graphic Settings Menu: Settings now have useful descriptions as well as indicators for GPU / CPU / Visual impacts. The new “High Impact” tab regroups all settings that the user should look at first when looking to increase performance.
• Graphic Settings Presets: Tweaks to the values used in each preset, added a new “VR Optimised” preset.

Content:

• New Car – DTM 1995 – Alfa Romeo 155 TI
• New Car – DTM 1995 – Opel Calibra V6 DTM
• DTM 1995 – Added new liveries to the AMG-Mercedes C-Klasse ( #22-Uwe Alzen and #24-Gerd Ruch)
• New Track – AVUS ( Automobil-Verkehrs- und Übungsstraße ) with 1994 and 1998 layouts
• New Track – Fliegerhorst Diepholz
• New Track – Hockenheimring Classic with GP and Short layouts
• Assen – Tweak to white line material that resulted in excessively harsh cut detections
• Bathurst – Various tweaks and fixes
• Dubai – Moved brake distance markers further away
• Knutstorp – Various tweaks and fixes
• Mantorp – Updated using new drone survey references
• Most – Tweak to white line material that resulted in excessively harsh cut detections
• Nordschleife – Updated to 2024 specs, with accurate bumpiness at the Carousel. Note: Work still being done in the Hatzenbach area, coming in a future update.
• RedBull Ring – Updated to 2024 specs
• Slovakiaring – Updated to 2024 specs
• GTR 1 car class – Physics improvements

Gameplay changes:

• Flash Headlights keybind is now renamed to simply “Headlights” – pressing it will toggle the headlights on or off. Holding it for a second will start a flashing sequence.
• Added Headlights state to shared memory ( -1 = N/A, 0 = off,1 = on, 2 = flashing).
• Some car classes have headlights always on, some have them off. Depending on brightness, A.I.’s will decide to turn their headlights on or off. Usually, race leaders will be among the first ones to have their lights on.
• Added ABS level property to shared memory
• Sounds – Added support to play specific exterior sound samples when a car is viewed from the front, and different sound samples when viewed from the rear.
• Steering wheel animation should now default to “Match Car Setup” except for gamepad controller profiles.
• Dedicated server – Added a setting for “Starting Grid From Leaderboards” – When toggled on, the dedicated server will search leaderboards and time attack competition results of all connected players and build the starting grid from that leaderboard order.

Fixes

• Fixed a case where “Adaptive AI” levels would never change due to special characters in the Windows username and path to My Documents.
• Improved Multiplayer session flow and proceeding immediately once all the players have finished the race.
• Improved Multiplayer timing screen not always properly updating when laptimes were posted or a new player would join the session.
• Possible fix for some Multiplayer results showing the wrong position, for example when finishing early but with an unserved penalty.
• Fixed a case where a Multiplayer race could end with a non leader crossing the s/f line behind the leader.
• Fixed a case where some race regulations would wrongly apply during a single player championship
• Fixed a case where AI used minutes instead of laps when adjusting the starting fuel, resulting in AI’s pitting one extra time

RaceRoom DTM 1995 Car Pack contents

• Opel Calibra V6 4×4 
• Alfa Romeo 155 2.5 V6 TI

RaceRoom DTM 1995 tracks

• Hockenheim Klassik (two layouts)
• Avus (two layouts)
• Fliegerhorst Diepholz