BTCC NGMT, 2020 Update
So, what's new to update you all? Well, firstly, accept our apologies in being so quiet. It's fair to say we have had a fair bit going on behind the scenes. But the project has not been forgotten, and arguably has been refocused for the release to the community.
Firstly, a physics update. We've been racking up the miles, experimenting with new physics and different approaches. This has been a trying few months in what seems like a vicious cycle of going around and around. But we're heading into the final stages of fine-tuning. We've spoken publicly about the issues surrounding the 0.95 tyres and have developed a new tyre, improving the tyre life but also how they work in terms of temperature and construction. We're a lot happier now, with the tyres needing a couple laps to really build up the ideal temperature and also pressure. But most importantly, the wear rate has dropped significantly making them last considerably better for a proper race distance. As usual, all three slick compounds reflect real life BTCC (soft, medium and hard).
But the tyres have not been the only focus. We've also been working on the aero, suspension and chassis side of the physics. The current 0.95 has a bit too much aero, especially towards the rear, meaning it became rather easy to run the lowest rear wing setting and have a really stable car. From research, information and data, this isn't realistic to real BTCC and we wanted to update the cars to have less downforce, in general, but also a rear that didn't stick like glue. With a new rear wing ranging, giving drivers 8 stages of angles to select, this should open up setups, meaning high speed tracks, such as Thruxton, can run lower wings or higher to suit the driving styles of each driver. We've also worked on how the downforce and aerodynamics work, as with our previous teaser-videos it let go a bit too easy. It's now more predictable, but can still have a dancing rear - if anyone's watched AJ's onboards of his Civic and Ford days, this is what you can expect with minimal rear wing.
But the physics has not been our sole focus. We're also looking to implement the new IBL Shaders that s397 have released. This means users can now create chrome, carbon fiber and whatever else you want. This stage is still somewhat behind, as we're testing and experimenting with the new shaders to ensure we are happier but also fully updated all the skins skins. Currently, we have a huge list of skins that all need region files and manually updating, one-by-one. We're looking at triple figure amounts of skins to do as well.
So, the important question lastly: when can you expect an update? No specific date or time will be given, but the plan is early
2020. Ideally, before the start of the
2020 BTCC season. But we know this may or may not be a bad target to go with.
This is just a small part of a bigger scale project we have for
2020. We've got many new, amazing projects and partnerships lined up, which we believe the gaming community are going to love. And we still have a range of modern BTCC cars to add. The team is operating in single figures, and every member has a professional job and/or families to feed and support. We really do this on our free and limited time, so we are sorry for the delays but we hope you can understand. We don't want to put out something half baked. We're aware of the current issues and we're addressing them to ensure the next release is better in every single way.
Your continued support is greatly appreciated, and we look forward to keeping you guys up to date as we get closer to the release!
