The demo has been updated to v0.31.0, bringing new SFX for engines, gear shifts, and contact. Engines now sound much more aggressive, and audible gear shifts are both satisfying and helpful in keeping track of downshifts. I personally calibrate my speed based on the gearing (I think of each corner by the target gear e.g. "high 3rd gear" or "low 5th gear", and then adjust from there based on other conditions), and this change has been very helpful for consistently hitting those marks.
I'll continue to iterate on the SFX, such as battery whine for the power unit, a DRS activation sound, and more.
I optimized the AI's lookahead algorithm that predicts their target speed for the upcoming corner, made several updates to the data structure from which the physical properties of any point along the track are retrieved, and other small performance changes. The end result is a 12% reduction in processing time for each physics step. That may seem small, but for some machines it will make a world of difference.
In the discord, we organically decided that the first player to beat my benchmark Time Attack laps would get to name that circuit (with the exception of a mystery player who first set the mark on Snow Circuit but never joined the discord, so the naming honors were given to the most recent champ). Now each track has locked in their new name.
Testing Circuit Jade Hill Testing Circuit
Snow Circuit Helios Polar Crest Circuit
Forest Circuit Domas Greenwoods Circuit
Sea Circuit Melfice Seaside Speedway
Thanks so much to everyone who has been grinding time attack!
I'll be away on vacation later this week. I plan to spend the time beforehand investigating issues with Intel Arc GPUs not being able to run the game, and when I get back the items at the top of my backlog are
Weather
Reliability model
Track Editor