Game Stock Car Extreme: Version 1.20 Out Now

Reiza Studios highly anticipated Version 1.20 update to Game Stock Car Extreme arrived a few days ago.

The free upgrade not only addresses some problems in earlier releases but revises certain racing rules, expands the racing field, improves the visuals and even adds new content.

A bonus on top of the satisfying physics foundations, we already consider the visual side of Reiza’s sims to be impressive. Though that fact stands alone, it’s especially true given the restrictions of the code that the software is built upon. Even a casual look at the cabs in Formula Truck 2013 will find impressive modelling detail and a sheen that hasn’t been seen in a company’s products from a software framework of such vintage. Game Stock Car Extreme V1.20 has made further advances. It now goes far beyond Reiza Studios’ previous heights to develop environmental effects, add cloud formations and full day-through-night lighting conditions. We foresee plenty of time-lapse videos popping up here and there!

Features and Changes

Looking at the additions that have arrived with the upgrade to Version 1.20 of GSCE, multiple car classes have been added and graphics have been revised. Building upon the already substantial track catalogue, Version 1.20 adds two new venues with seven layouts in all.

Cars

• Added Stock Car V8 2014 season to Stock Car V8 series
• Added Formula Extreme series
• Added Formula Vee series
• Completed full Formula V12 field and updated graphics

Besides noting the expanded racing options with the new cars, it is worth bringing particular attention to the open-wheel Formula vehicles. Formula Extreme is Reiza’s V6 turbo-powered car that has been inspired by the technical rules of the current Formula One season.

Formula Vee is a relatively low-cost ‘junior’ racing series with equivalents around the globe. Much like other feeder series, it might be thought of as a system to highlight driving ability. With costs and technological advances carefully controlled, the emphasis is very much on the driver. The little Vees are perfect for sim racing then!

Tracks

• Buenos Aires (4 layouts)
• Spielberg (2 layouts)
• Spielberg Historic

Features and Fixes

• Added DRS functionality and rules (for Formula Extreme and Formula Reiza)
• Added multiple qualifying rules (F1-style and Stock V8)
• Added option to restrict Prime and Option tyre compound selections per track
• Adjusted Stock V8 tyre-change rules so that only one tyre is changed at a time in line with the real rules
• Revised tyre physics on all cars in preparation for new tyre model features currently in development
• Added multiple tyre compound options with corresponding tyre wall colours for Formula Extreme and Formula Reiza
• Adjusted ‘dirty air’ physics for more realistic behaviour
• Adjusted engine cooling properties in all cars
• Adjusted AI performance for a wider range, especially in lower strength settings, and more consistency from track to track and series to series
• Fixed bug with AI performance discrepancy from qualifying to race (RaceQualRatio=XX parameter now works in AIW files, lower than 1.0 value will result in slower qualifying times relative to race and higher values will do the opposite. By default, AI should be about 2% faster in qualifying. An issue persists with AI being too quick in practice sessions
• Increased rear-view mirror resolution for all cars
• Corrected FOV, POV and TV cameras to the same standards for all cars
• Updated rumble sounds to give more bass for all cars (for Buttkicker and other similar systems)
• Adjusted track-side cameras in all tracks for more realistic framing and tracking
• Adjusted some inconsistent road & terrain properties, fixing some overdone high frequency bumps
• Various environmental and lighting enhancements (new skies and fog, along with other updated shaders)
• Introduced new foliage shader which looks better and is more optimised to provide a performance boost
• Added 3D tyre LODs at Granja Viana to help ease performance issues
• Added 3D Armco at Interlagos

 Known issues

• The Formula Extreme ERS system has been simplified for this release. The battery is fully charged all the time and the power blending still needs work, so the drive-ability under throttle is not quite what it should be
• The AI for the Formula Extreme does not use 8^th gear or DRS
• The hard compound for the F-Extreme & F-Reiza does not have the correct grey Pirelli sidewall label

Each of these problems and newly discovered bugs should have received fixes by the next update. The following patch is now known to be Version 1.21 and at this time, is planned to be released within a matter of days.

A range of update options are available for Game Stock Car Extreme. Starting from an installation of Version 1.15, they include downloading the Version 1.20 package or using Reiza’s GSC Sync to bring the software up-to-date. Visit the Downloads page for the full list of options.

Given Reiza Studios’ simulation strengths and support for its games, both Formula Truck 2013 and Game Stock Car Extreme should at least be sampled. Hosted on each site’s Downloads page, demos are available for each title. They give 60 minutes driving time, which is more than enough to appreciate the merits of these works!

Formula Truck 2013 can be bought directly for $24.90 (USD).

Game Stock Car Extreme costs $29.90 (USD).

Price Update

Game Stock Car and Formula Truck can now be bought as a bundle with a 20 percent discount. At the time of this addition, that makes the package about £25 (GBP), €32 (EUR) or $40 (USD).  Again, that’s for both sims!