Racing games used for Esports involve a surprising amount of engineering. Here?s how the top racing games develop their vehicle models.

The aim of any racing game is to simulate the feeling that you are driving a real car by stimulating sensory cues that trick the brain. This can be particularly challenging with racing games as they rely only on visual and audio cues, unless you invest in steering wheels and pedalboxes that provide feedback. Whereas, advanced driver in the loop simulators can exploit full motion platforms to simulate longitudinal, vertical and lateral accelerations; providing realistic feedback to the muscles and therefore creating a more immersive experience.
However, the most important cues are visual and audio and so the key to achieving a realistic simulation is to accurately model the virtual world. In racing games that virtual world consists of three main areas: 1) the racecar 2) competitors and 3) the surrounding environment. To emulate the dynamic behaviour of a racecar, vehicle models are used. These consist of a network of modules which include a system of engineering equations. When linked together, these equations effectively simulate the behaviour of a certain component according to the inputs at that particular timestep.
The vehicle models used in modern racing games are now more advanced than ever. Detailed aeromaps, hybrid deployment strategies and full damper curves now underpin the majority of vehicle models found ...