2022 Season 3 – Release Notes

F3-related extract from the official release notes.

Dallara F3

For the New Damage Model, suspension damage and repair parameters have been updated for improved real-world accuracy.
For the New Damage Model, scrape effects are now less likely to appear on the nose and sides of the car, particularly from ground impacts.

Fixed an exploitative issue where tires were getting conditioned far too quickly at low speeds due to excessive brake dragging and wheel turning.

– – A new Road Course, Fuji International Speedway, is now available for purchase and racing!
First opened in 1965, Fuji Speedway has undergone numerous reconfigurations to get to its current layout. The fifth and most recent design, authored by the internationally recognized Hermann Tilke, clocks in at 2.835 miles (4.563 km) and features 16 turns. Its frontstretch is responsible for nearly a mile of that length, forcing drivers to push for top speed coming off of the final corner, Panasonic, before diving into Turn 1. Since 1967, Fuji Speedway has been a frequent host of prominent endurance races, starting with the Fuji 1000 km that year and evolving into the Fuji 6 Hours in 2012. The track hosted its first Japanese Grand Prix in 1976, and the event returned in 1977, 2007, and 2008. The track has also been a longtime staple of the Japanese national GT and formula series calendars, and its application has been so diverse that it even played host to cycling in the 2020 Summer Olympics.

– – A new Road Course, Sandown International Motor Raceway, is now available for purchase and racing!
Opened in 1962, Sandown International Raceway made an immediate splash when it brought in the world’s premier drivers for the Sandown International Cup that March. Jack Brabham, John Surtees, and Bruce McLaren comprised the inaugural podium for the open-wheel race, while names like Stirling Moss and Jim Clark were also on the entry list. The track held its original layout until 1984, when an infield section was added to meet minimum track length requirements to host World Sportscar Championship events; eventually, that layout evolved into the current 13-turn, 1.928-mile (3.104 km) course used today. The Sandown 500 is the track’s premier event, contested by numerous divisions since its first running as a six-hour race in 1964 and currently raced by the Supercars championship. The track also hosted six occurrences of the Australian Grand Prix before the event joined the World Driver’s Championship calendar. Currently, Sandown hosts five event weekends per year, comprised of both modern and historic sports car and open-wheel racing machinery.

Some of the recent extrapolation changes designed specifically to mitigate nose/rear collisions have been updated.

Fixed a bug where sometimes wheel damage, or mounts and spring dampers in the suspension were being incorrectly repaired slightly when towing to the pits. This meant that the damage state for these parts after pit repairs was better than it should have been.
– – Fixing this bug may appear to have made some suspensions weaker, since they were erroneously being repaired when a tow occurred, but they are now correct. Please be careful with your open-wheeled cars!
The torque calculations associated with tire sidewall collisions against other cars and the environment have been updated to reduce benefits from wall-riding and to prevent unrealistic ramping.
The manner in which tire collision shapes are calculated has been updated for improved accuracy based on the current tire pressure.
The handling of tire rim collisions and underside impacts have been improved slightly.
Chain link fence physics properties have been adjusted for improved realism.
The damage state manager has been updated in order to fix an issue where a vehicle could sometimes get stuck in an in-progress wheel repair state.

Dirt surface properties have been adjusted for interactions with New Damage Model vehicles as follows:
– – Dirt surfaces have more friction and rolling drag.
– – Dirt surfaces are softer for light impacts and harder for deeper impacts.

Some new options available. Please check the full release notes for details. Link at the bottom.

A new tire graining and cording visual effect has been applied to all cars.
– – Graining occurs when strips of rubber are torn from a tire and then immediately stick back onto the hot surface of that tire. Cords are the reinforcement material under the rubber tire surface. Graining will start to come in during the tire’s life cycle and will get worse as the tire wears. Cording will start to show at the very end of a tires life and it means you should pit and change tires before bad things happen.
A haze effect has been added to smoke and dust puffs.
Fog lighting, and the diffuse lighting during a transition to foggy conditions, have been improved.
The PopcornFX particle system has been updated to a new version.

When using “Alt + K” to rearrange HUD elements, their positions may now be saved on a per-car basis if the appropriate checkbox is selected.
UI elements may now be moved anywhere on the screen using the “Alt + K” command, even if the central part of the interface is restricted to only a portion of the display, including in VR sessions.