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So Jim Cassi has developed karts and proper kart circuits
so that we can have a genuinely realistic karting simulator which
has never really been achieved!
Here's the promo video
for the game followed by an interview with Kart Racer developer
Jim Cassi
For the people who have
no idea about simulations and so on, can you explain the world of
rFactor and what it means to a person like yourself creating ‘Kart
Racer’?
rFactor is a racing simulation
that people can buy and download off the internet. If you go to
the rFactor site that process can be seen in detali – rfactor.net.
I’ve always wanted a
good kart racing simulation or game as some people call it. I have
tried all types. Super 1 karting seemed to be the best for tracks,
but lacked in graphics, and physics. Michael Schumacher Karting
was very good, but it didn’t have real tracks. It was more
an Arcade type of racing game
I'm trying to put both of
the best things in one simulation. The Kart Racer Mod will be an
add on to the rFactor game/simulation and it will be a free download,
which you then just add to your rFactor game. Instructions of how
to do this and updates as needed will be at http://forum.rscnet.org/forumdisplay.php?f=1035
What karts have
you been developing for the simulation?
So far, I have the Rotax international
class, and the 125 shifters to start. I may be adding a smaller
4 stroke class in the future
What circuits have you
created, and what other circuits are planned?
I don't make the tracks myself.
I have a Team of track builders doing this. We have a couple of
tracks from Brazil, one from Japan. Las Vegas Xplex is being made
and the biggest street kart race in the world, the Rock Island GP,
will be included also. There will be many conversions of tracks
from Toca Race Driver 3 added to the line up as well
We should have about 8 tracks
to start, and adding new tracks as we build them.
There is also the Beaver Run
kart track. It is out now. People have been racing the Superkarts
mod on them. It is also a real track here in the USA
I believe many
BETA testers have commented on how good the ICC kart handling is
in your simulation. Can you describe to me how close you think have
got to the ‘feel’ of a kart in the game?
Well, I am limited to what
I can do, because of the main physics in the game, but I think it's
as close as it can get for the time being, and it's much better
than say Super 1 karting or the Michael Schumacher karting games,
and to clear things up, it's not ICC karts, we have the old school
Moto motors in these karts using the 125 dirt bike motor the CR
125 motor. But both have the same power and everything.
And for the Beta testing,
I have only had kart racers helping on this project. I'm trying
to get the best input I can.
Obviously karts are very
different from most vehicles, and only having rear brakes on the
non-gearbox karts must make it hard to program the handling. How
well do you feel the physics under braking is coming along?
At first I had a hard time
with the Rotax karts since they only used rear brakes. It would
either spin out, or not stop in a straight line. Anybody that has
driven one of these knows they are very easy to control, and stop
very quickly, even with no front brakes. So I had to make a few
adjustments to a few files.
I added front brakes in the
file to help with stability under braking. But it doesn't show in
the game, and you have no control over any brake bias with the Rotax.
It has made it much better for braking, but the 125 shifter is just
like a racing car, with front brakes, and brake bias adjustments
You also can set up your turns
with the brakes, just like a real kart, and pitch it into the turn
with little steering input. But watch out for the torque in the
125's, you need to be smooth on the throttle out of the turns!
How easy would it be for
the average Joe to start modding with rFactor and start creating
circuits of their very own? For example, if someone wants to create
their local kart circuit for use in Kart Racer?
It is a long process - you
need many tools and know how to use them. Most people that are making
tracks and cars for racing simulations have been doing this for
a long time, and have very good skills at what they're doing. I
just learned by getting everything I needed regarding editing tools,
and just started messing with it. I only have been doing this since
September, and this seemed impossible for me
I got a lot of help from many
other people, and I am still learning. Most of the things you need
can be found at RSC - http://forum.rscnet.org/forum.php
The graphics seem to be
coming along very well indeed. How happy do you feel the karts look?
Are there any plans to make the karts customisable with different
pods etc… ?
Right now you can paint your
own bodywork, but you need to know how to do it in Photoshop, which
is a great tool for painting cars. As for different sidepods, that
will not be for a while but I would like in the future to have all
types in the game. But as I said I'm still learning, and it will
take a while to include these items in the game, as upgrades.
There is a template for the
karts now online, to get a head start with your painting. The best
ones I will add into the game. It comes with all body parts and
template to paint, but like I said you need to learn how to do this
first. It will take a while to learn, but it's very easy to do once
you got it down.
Online racing is huge
at the moment, and the prospect of racing karting people from all
over the world during the week is incredible. How big do you feel
this kart simulation could become?
Well, most karters inspire
to go to bigger things, F1 mainly. But the kart racing game/sim
puts a little thing we all know as kart racers in there. Not many
people know what it's like to drive a F1 car, but many people know
how it is to drive a Kart, so that is going to be a big test for
me. I just hope most everyone likes it. I know I'm not going to
please everyone. I just hope I get through to a few.
When will we see this
being released?
I’m hoping for this
summer. I was looking for a July release, but I'm not going to promise
anything, but that is the goal. I'm waiting on a few things, pending
a contract with another team for a Karting demo, but after that
is clear, I can go forward with my project.
Finally, do you have any
other projects in the pipeline we might be interest in?
Hell no, I want to race, it's
very time consuming to do this. You better have plenty of free time
to do something like this. I just want to race, but I will keep
updates and adding things to this. There are so many people doing
cars and things, I wanted something different..
But never say never,
it might come back to haunt me.
I think this game has potential
to be absolutely huge. How great would it be to jump on the computer
when you get the karting blues between race weekends and race karters
all over the world to keep you sane until the weekend?
For more information on 'Kart
Racer' check out the KartSim
Forum!
Alan Dove - 31/06/06
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