tracc.eu is continuing operations as usual in 2025, or so it seems. Behind the curtains, lots of gears are moving. Many considerations have been made. This little piece will give you insight into what is happening behind the scenes at tracc.eu!
Leftovers from 2024
First off, let me acknowledge that there are still a few outstanding actions from 2024.
The 2024|3 season awards have not been open for votes yet. This is something I can only take on my cap and will have to change in the very near future.
Furthermore, a few to do’s in the administrative department are still on the list. Specifically, that means a couple of rulebook improvements/clarifications need to be made alongside an announcement regarding an overturned result from a previous season. Nothing is to be worried about the last part, though. It will only be positive for regulars.
Finally, a couple of articles that were supposed to be written and published last year lie dormant in an unfinished state right now. At some point, those will hopefully be finished.
A Look into New Technology
A couple of things are on the agenda for 2025 technological improvements. Here is a list of planned changes:
- New Custom Website
- Automated Broadcasting Tool
- Improved Broadcasting Layout
- tracc.eu Leaderboards
- A few others…
So, let me give you a bit more detail on those.
New Custom Website
Currently, this website runs on WordPress. That’s not bad per se. WordPress has a lot of advantages like making a website a very easy-to-achieve undertaking. However, two big issues with this are optimisation and customisability.
WordPress relies on an abundance of plugins to do what you want to achieve, if it’s beyond the scope of a normal blog. This can slow down the website dramatically when comparing to a custom solution.
Furthermore, customising WordPress is simple … if you want to deal with all the plugins. Programming plugins yourself can also be done but if the goal is only to use it for oneself it’s better to just make everything yourself.
So that is what I’m currently doing, taking courses in web dev so tracc.eu can become a better version of itself.
Automated Broadcasting Tool
My most recent feverdream is having a program run on a server which can automatically broadcast a race to live streaming services. The goal here is to be able to broadcast every race we are doing, even if there are no commentators available.
This is an undertaking I very recently started and is in very early stages. Due to us currently predominantly using Assetto Corsa Competizione as simulation, the first goal here is to live broadcast automatically from ACC to YouTube.
This tool is supposed to automatically switch camera angles and the likes to make a semi-compelling broadcast (which will never be as good as a humans’ directing).
Improved Broadcasting Layout
We do have new designs already thanks to our very own graphics wizard Albert György (whose name I still don’t know how to pronounce). In addition to this, there are a few things I am looking to improve about the look and feel of the broadcasts.
The main aspect here for me is the transfer from one session to another. In ACC, if a session progresses, the broadcaster needs to press the “Escape” button and press on “Drive” again afterwards to get the broadcasting UI elements back. This is currently still done on-stream but shouldn’t. This may seem like a small point but still requires work to be put in.
tracc.eu Leaderboards
This is one of the reasons why a custom website is better. The idea here is to collate all laps ever done at tracc.eu and make leaderboards from that. The “ever done” will have to change to “since the most recent physics update” but still, this could be something nice to show on the website.
Additionally, pre-quali could, with the same technology as this leaderboard but just less data used, be accomplished for the website itself.
A few others…
There are other ideas but they don’t need to be spoiled. In case you have ideas that could come to this update, please feel free to let us know on the tracc.eu Discord in the “#💡-suggestions-feedback” channel.
Maybe New Simulators?
2025 could be a great year for new simulators. Assetto Corsa EVO is very close and later this year may already be league-ready. LMU just received hosted sessions and may, in the future, provide us with all we need for league racing. We are making our return to RaceRoom championships and continue to host small in-between iRacing events and championships.
Additionally, a few oddballs like Ian Bell’s new Project Motor Racing (formerly GTR Revival and GTRevival) is set to show something at some point and the Argentinian simulator PISTA Motorsport keeps being updated and getting work done on.
Finally, a personal favourite of mine that is a bit less known is “The Last Garage”, a sim racing engine framework based on the open-source GODOT game engine. “The Last Garage” is also planned to be open-source. Marcel Offermans, previously of Image Space Incorporated and Studio 397 is the mind behind this development. He has worked on titles such as rFactor, Automobilista and rFactor 2, three simulators whose driving physics I adore.
We are constantly monitoring the entire sim racing space to see what we could do. I feel like Assetto Corsa Competizione might near the end of its lifespan. I see drivers gradually moving away from ACC towards other simulators. So at some point, we might have to switch. Again, if you have suggestions here, feel free to leave them on the tracc.eu Discord.
Online Stores?
Of course, I cannot finish this article without talking about potential online stores. There has been talk in the past about an online store for merchandise. Much of that has been sorted, however different issues like the pricing of the merchandise and which website the store should be hosted on remain unclear. So this sort of ties into the who “new website” thing as well.
Lastly, one thing I want to mention as a hypothetical situation is offering sim-racing specific products. I have studied mechanical engineering and have knowledge in the technical side of product development as well as 3D-Design. So there is a possibility for tracc.eu-developed sim racing rigs to someday appear. I have to repeat, though, that this is no confirmation that it is going to happen. This is just a thought of mine of what could perchance be.
Any Questions Left?
Finally, let me thank everyone for another great year in sim racing. tracc.eu has really hit the big leagues last year with the win at the SRO Community World Challenge and we are looking to stay an inviting place for sim racers from any background.
If there are any questions left or suggestions left to be made, feel free to put those forward on the tracc.eu Discord, either in a public chat or by directly messaging me.
Thank you for your continued patronage and see you on the racetracc!