iRacing 2020 Season 1 Patch 2 and Hotfix Focus on AI

The iRacing development team are working flat out at the moment, judging by the pace of changes and improvements coming to the racing sim. The third Patch for the 2020 season has been announced for Tuesday January 28th, just days after the iRacing 2020 Season 1 Patch 2 and Hotfix focus on AI improvements.

iRacing 2020 Season 1 Patch 2 was made available on January 14th, with a hotfix rapidly deployed two days later. So if you haven’t logged in for a while, it’s worth signing on and updating the game to make sure it’s ready whenever you fancy racing.

Many of the key changes have been for the new AI race feature, with Skip Barber Formula 2000 cars and two tracks now available. Plus the AI drivers have been in training school for specific driving behaviour, cars and tracks. And a hotfix on January 16th fixed a crash bug which happened when AI cars overlapped each other in pitlane.

iRacing 2020 Season 1 Patch 2 Release Notes

iRacing BETA Interface – (03.02.12-beta)

– Users may now set their preferred system of measurement (Metric or English) in the Settings section of the iRacing BETA Interface. This setting persists between the iRacing BETA Interface, and the iRacing Simulator garage.
– Recent Results are now sorted by “Most Recent” by default.
– Additional details have been added to the Update interface.
– A failure status will now be displayed if the iRacing BETA Interface loses it’s connection.
– Fixed a few issues with the Series interface including:
– – The Test Drive button is now functional if the track is unowned; however, the user must still own the track to launch the Test Drive Session.
– – The Watch button now correctly launches the Simulator.
– Fixed a few issues with Leagues including:
– – Users may no longer Favorite Leagues of which they are not a member.
– – The sorting and filtering of Leagues has been updated.
– The iRating of Rookie License drivers is now correctly hidden in the iRacing BETA Interface.
– Fixed an issue where some Profile fields were not being properly displayed.
– Addressed several issues with Notifications including:
– – The correct time is now displayed on notifications.
– – The “Close” button is no longer drawn over notifications.
– – Notifications are now properly cleared when dismissed.

AI Races

– The Skip Barber Formula 2000 has been enabled for AI Races!
– The following track configurations have been enabled for AI Races!
– – Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course – Full Course
– – Road Atlanta – Full Course
– AI Drivers have received additional training with the following vehicles:
– – Global Mazda MX-5 Cup
– – Porsche 911 GT3 Cup Car (991)
– AI Drivers have received additional training at the following tracks:
– – Barber Motorsports Park – Full Course
– AI Driver behavior for a variety of activities has been upgraded, including:
– – Throttle control
– – Drafting
– – Braking in braking zones
– – Brake locking
– – Passing behaviors
– – Three-wide strategies
– – Low fuel driving
– – Low-speed hazard assessment
– – Hazard avoidance driving
– – Caution lap spacing
– – Pit lane driving
– – Pit stall entry
– Fixed a variety of issues with AI Driver behavior, including:
– – AI Drivers could sometimes drive through the pace car when a lap down.
– – AI Drivers who got physically stuck failed to reset themselves.
– – AI Drivers should no longer forget to pit on the first Caution lap, if needed.
– – AI Drivers should no longer attempt to continue racing with severe engine damage.

V7 Tires

– Adjustments to tire heat and tread effectiveness have been made to opponent vehicles for greater accuracy.

Dynamic Track

– The effect of the atmosphere on the amount of solar energy hitting the surface of the earth has been adjusted. This change reduces track temperatures, especially when the sun is at a moderate angle.
– – On average, track surfaces are about 2-3° Celsius cooler. This varies depending on season, time of day, and latitude.


Pit Stop

– Fixed a temporary bouncing issue that could occur when a vehicle enters a pit stall.

Virtual Reality

– A new option, “TwoStageAA” has been added to both the “[Oculus Rift]” and “[OpenVR]” sections of the “RendererDX11.ini” file.
– – When enabled (default), anti-aliasing is run on the user interface elements (and runs a second pass of anti-aliasing on the scene after all of the post processing effects are run).
– – – This option can be taxing on performance; disable this option if you are low on resources for VR.

CARS:
BMW M8 GTE
– For custom paint schemes, the windshield banners and rear wing logos are now always visible per BMW’s request.

NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 – 2018
– Season setups have been updated.

NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Ford Mustang
– Season setups have been updated.

NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Toyota Camry
– Season setups have been updated.

Porsche 911 GT3 Cup Car (991)
– Camber adjustment minimums have been set to -5.0 degrees and -4.0 degrees in the front and rear respectively.

Skip Barber Formula 2000
– Fixed an issue where rear wing damage was affecting aero offsets too greatly.

Supercars Ford Mustang GT
– Tire sound levels have been improved.
– Damage to the rear wing now has a much greater effect on rear downforce of this vehicle.
– Damage to the sides and fenders now has a reduced effect on the aero drag of this vehicle.

Supercars Holden ZB Commodore
– Tire sound levels have been improved.
– Damage to the rear wing now has a much greater effect on rear downforce of this vehicle.
– Damage to the sides and fenders now has a reduced effect on the aero drag of this vehicle.

[Archive] NASCAR Cup Chevrolet SS
– Season setups have been updated.

[Archive] NASCAR Cup Ford Fusion
– Season setups have been updated.

TRACKS:
Charlotte Motor Speedway
– (ALL 2018) – Filled a hole in the track near the apron exiting Turn 4 that was eating wheels.
– Fixed an issue with crowds clipping through the infield Armco at Turn 2.

Charlotte Motor Speedway – 2016
– Fixed an issue with crowds clipping through the infield Armco at Turn 2.

Daytona International Speedway
– (Oval) – Camera set has been updated.

iRacing 2020 S1 Patch 2 Hotfix 1

AI Races
– Fixed a Simulation crash error that could occur when two AI Cars overlapped each other in pit lane, typically due to shared pit stalls.

Supercars Ford Mustang GT
– Damage to the rear wing now has a much greater effect on rear downforce of this vehicle.
– Damage to the sides and fenders now has a reduced effect on the aero drag of this vehicle.

There’s plenty in that update and hotfix, with so many changes and improvements to the iRacing AI options. Which begs the question of what will be in Patch 3 when it’s released on January 28th – it seems a bit early for the BMW M4 GT4 to arrive, so maybe it will be the Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport?

As always, you can sign up to iRacing via the official website. And check out the latest iRacing news, car list and tracks available on OnlineRaceDriver.com.