Welcome back to another week of free cars to drive!

This week, we’re diving into the action at Daytona and offering access to the Mercedes AMG GT3 (2020), the Porsche 911 GT3 R (992), and the BMW M Hybrid V8. You can enjoy driving these cars for free in all online contests and Time Trials throughout the week!

Just simply select the car of your choice when registering for a session.

If you like one of these cars and want to continue driving even when it’s not part of the weekly free rotation, you can find it in our in-game store!

Once it has been added to your garage, it will be given an EVIN and RENNSPORT will start recording the car’s history. Then you can also customize it with liveries and stickers!

These cars are free to use until January 29th, 2025, 11:00 AM CET. 

Have Fun!

After progressing through the different Alpha and Beta stages of development, we’re now finally ready for the next major step:
We’ve just launched a big new update, marking our entry into the long-awaited Early Access!

With this our “Playtest” on Steam has come to an end and as such, the “RENNSPORT Playtest” game will automatically be removed from everyone’s Steam Libraries. You can add the new Early Access version of RENNSPORT to your Library by searching for it on the Steam Store page and downloading it again from there.

With that said, we’re happy to introduce some of the massive changes we’re bringing to RENNSPORT!

NEW UI/UX

“Beauty lies in the eye of the beholder”
… is a saying that probably has not been used too often in connection to the design of our in-game UI these past 2 years.
What was initially meant as a solution hastily made to allow our developers to interact with RENNSPORT, later on got adapted as the official UI with which we had launched into our first Closed Alpha release.
And since then, design-wise, nothing much had changed… that is, until this morning at least.
With Early Access, we are finally beautifying the look of our in-game menus, with a completely reworked new UI system!
For us, this is an important step towards the steadily approaching full release of RENNSPORT and we are glad that we finally decided to invest the time and resources to take it – it clearly was necessary!

NEW CAR: BMW M2 CS RACING

Along with our new UI, RENNSPORT is seeing a beautiful new addition to its car roster!
We’re happy to announce that from today on, you will be able to compete on our tracks in the amazing BMW M2 CS Racing – a car that makes for insanely fun races, no matter if your skills are on par with the fastest racers or you’re just starting out on your journey to becoming one. Fun is guaranteed with this car!
And the best part? You get it for free!
From today on, the car that you receive when creating your RENNSPORT Account, will change from the current GT3s to this special masterpiece.
And those that had already created their account before today worry not – You will be able to claim your BMW M2 CS Racing from our newly added in-game store for FREE!

GT3 IMPROVEMENTS

And talking about GT3s… with today’s update we have brought some significant improvements to the GT3 tires and their overall behavior, aiming to further refine the feeling you get when driving one of those beasts!
Instead of a lengthy explanation, we suggest hopping into a GT3 race yourself to experience the changes first hand, as it’s quite difficult to describe in words exactly what has changed – ask our Vehicle Dynamics Programmer.

Check out the detailed changelog for today’s update here:
https://www.rennsport.gg/game-update-patch-notes-early-access-1-12-0

And of course, make sure to download RENNSPORT for FREE, if you have not done so yet, and join us on the track!
We’re waiting for you!
Download via Steam
Download via Epic 

New Content

• Added BMW M2 CS Racing
• Implemented new UI menu system for the whole game
• Added new 3D scene for garage and made it visible across all main menu screens
• Added content for Pre-Season Battle Pass
• Replaced BMW M Hybrid V8 LMDh’s steering wheel with the version currently used in real-world racing in this car

New Features

• Implemented stickers system with images applied on top of car’s livery and on car dashboards
• Implemented battle pass system
• Implemented rewards claiming system
• Implemented driver titles system
• Implemented player profile background images system
• Implemented In-game Store 1.0 with more content to buy on both Steam and Epic Games Launcher
• Implemented rotating car roster system
• Added pit crew animations when performing pit stops
• Added pit stop radar to in-game HUD
• Implemented feature for compiling all shaders inside the game in main menu to avoid hiccups during their first loads in gameplay maps
• Added system for displaying currently active yellow flag zones on in-game minimap
• Implemented logic for distinguishing between minor and major false starts
• Added sector comparison feature for time trials
• Added possibility to automatically advance to next time trial opponent after beating currently selected one

Gameplay

• Changed how collision cooldowns are handled to a severity-shared timer with some additional caching
• Reworked minimap system for better accuracy of player icons

Physics
All GT3 Cars

• Implemented new tire model
• Adjusted tire grip behaviour
• Adjusted tire heat retention behaviour
• Adjusted tire cooling behaviour
• Adjusted tire lifespan
• Adjusted tire sizes and spring rates for each car
• Reworked base setups
• Adjusted engine braking
• Adjusted brake distribution
• Adjusted braking power
• Adjusted ABS behaviour
• Adjusted Fuel Consumption

Praga R1

• Implemented new tire model
• Further adjustment will be required for grip/heat/cooling/lifespan behaviours

Performance

• Further improvements in reducing CPU frame time to improve experience with multiple cars on a track (especially on older CPUs)
• Reworked assets loading logic to improve loading times and occasional hiccups when interacting the game
• Removed DirectX 11 support due to its incompatibility with some of the new game features

Audio

• Adjusted opponent sound per-distance volume to improve audio quality and performance
• Fixed some problems with missing tire sounds and added more detail to the sound itself
• Equalized volume levels in BMW M4 GT4

Bugfixes

• Fixed issue with corner cuts not being registered correctly when hitting limit-detection cones on lap 1
• Fixed some cases where yellow flag zones were sometimes not replicated correctly between players in multiplayer scenarios
• Changed yellow flag zone updating logic so players moving out of track bounds can’t extend it infinitely while driving outside of track bounds
• Fixed issue with tire temperatures not being affected by unit selected in interface settings
• Reduced loading time of car meshes to fix some problems with hiccups when players join servers
• Fixed issues with corner cuts not being cleared correctly when resetting time trial attempts
• Fixed issues with penalties being given to players when resetting time trial attempts
• Fixed issue with game not applying correct MGU-K deployment modes when starting time trial attempts
• Fixed some issues with engine starter sounds sometimes not being triggered properly when starting from garage
• Added stage names to stage start events in event table of the replay UI
• Improved driver’s hand positioning on Hyundai Elantra N steering wheel
• Fixed some issues with in-game leaderboards table flickering when the game is paused
• Extended the time trials leaderboard page size to cover the lists length
• Fixed some problems with loading screen scaling

Known Issues

• First time entering Battle Pass screen, it can jump to the last Tiers. Re-enterinng the Battle Pass screen it will center on your current Tier
• Mini-map in Pit Screen can be hard to see the individual sectors
• Pit Crew can be clipping on some tracks
• Dashboard stickers can be hard to view inside the sticker manager on Hypercars
• BMW M2 CS Racing – Engine audio not audible while in hood cam
• Re-fueling in a pitstop can break the displayed fuel in the in-car dashboard

In our latest game update, we’re excited to introduce Crest Da Cauras, a very special new track joining our roster. This addition comes at a perfect time as we begin a collaboration with Authentic Simulation LLC. Crest Da Cauras was inspired by an idea from NUKEDROP, who stumbled upon a unique Google Chrome extension that displays a different Google Earth image with each new tab. One day, the extension revealed a mountain plateau in the Swiss Alps, and he instantly saw a racetrack weaving through that stunning terrain in front of him. And so, Crest Da Cauras was born.

Why Crest De Cauras?

Modding has always been a key pillar in RENNSPORT’s development roadmap. Earlier this year, we introduced Orchard Road, and now we’re going the next step with our modded content with the release of Crest De Cauras as our second community-created addition. This marks another step towards making modding an important part of our game’s evolution. RENNSPORT is designed for everyone—those who love racing realistic race cars on well-known tracks, as well as those who seek to drive on custom-made roads and tracks crafted purely to inspire and and made by all the creative minds out there.

The Road Ahead

We’re excited to share more project updates soon, especially as we collaborate with the modding community to make these tools more accessible to a broader audience.

Thank you for being part of this early journey of RENNSPORT. 

For more, stay tuned, and as always,

Be brave. Brake last.

New content

• Added Crest Da Cauras track
• Added Aston Martin Vantage GT3 car
• Added Hockenheim night mode

New features

• Added possibility to disable / enable volumetric clouds to adjust performance
• Players in pit garage are now hidden from other players so they don’t disturb other player’s gameplay
• Added possibility to launch the game with integrated GPUs when they are selected as preferred device in Windows settings
• Added drag and downforce modifiers to balance of performance settings
• Added possibility to update profile picture in the game

Performance

• Reduced CPU frame time to improve experience with multiple cars on a track (especially on older CPUs)

Physics

• More physics changes for Praga R1 to improve car’s drivability

Tools

• Upgraded Unreal Engine to v5.4.4
• Added support for AMD FSR 3.1 and integrated custom engine changes from AMD to improve quality of image displayed when FSR is used
• Update XeSS to v1.4.8
• Integrated Cammus API which sends some game telemetry data to Cammus-produced hardware

Sounds

• Improved tire sounds

Replays

• Added time dilation buttons to Replay Controls
• Added car crash, gameplay stage start, corner cut and lap event generation when recording demo
• Added event markers on Replay Controls timeline when viewing replay
• Added replay event table to Spectator Overlay
• Added lap and non-lap event buttons to Replay Controls
• Added recording start and end buttons to Replay Controls
• Overhauled the overall Replay Controls module look

UI

• Reworked options menu for upscalers (Nvidia DLSS / AMD FSR / Intel XeSS) so all the settings which are depending on other settings selection are handled properly
• Improved replay selection menu experience and added possibility to refresh the list of replays displayed
• Added more detailed network performance stats to in-game HUD
• Improved logic of time delta display to fix some issues with it on starting new laps
• Added a popup which informs player about problems with accessing Founder’s store instead of displaying broken menu
• Added button to reset HUD Layout to default value
• Added clickable links to the game
• Disabled radars in time trial mode
• Added option to disable ghost car in time trial

Bugfixes

• Fixed issue with live replays hanging after ~1h of recording
• Fixed issue with automatic gearbox not working properly with e-motor bumpstart in LMDh cars
• Fixed issue that electric vehicles were unable to shift to drive using automatic gearbox.
• Fixed issue with electric cars being able to restore energy during pit stop
• Fixed some issues with player’s car being able to move when player leaves it and enters spectator mode
• Fixed problems with penalties for broken / disabled headlights sometimes not being received correctly by players
• Fixed problems with some parts of maps sometimes not being loaded correctly when watching replays
• Fixed issue with car headlights not being rendered correctly in mirrors
• Fixed problems with safety car behavior when leaving to pits on Fuji
• Fixed problem with DNFed / DNSed players sometimes being able to start gameplay
• Fixed problems with shaky behavior sometimes happening when switching between cameras in spectator mode
• Fixed bug with ghostcar reappearing after restarting time trials
• Fixed problem with helicam sometimes starting from below the ground
• Fixed problem with pit jack pistons being misaligned
• Fixed issue with safety car not disabling lights when going back to pits
• Fixed issue where player’s friends nationality was not displayed correctly in some cases
• Fixed Contestants Table’s Gap/Interval column not changing its name when switching between gap / interval modes
• Fix for default livery showing when entering livery being displayed in garage by default instead of the one selected by player
• Fix for tower showing incorrect column names in spectator
• Fixed issue with player short name sometimes not being clamped to 3 characters length
• Fixed some issues with changing widget modes in HUD editor
• Fixed a problem with pressing two buttons at the same time in credits locking player in loading screen
• Fixed issue with scroll lists being activated by right mouse button
• Fixed issue with game allowing too many characters in player’s name text box

Tracks improvements

• Hockenheimring – visual improvements, added vista, fixes textures’ bugs, night cycle added
• Fuji International Speedway- Night system improvements
• Daytona, Monza, Spa – outside tarmac improvements
• All tracks – small foliage improvements

Known Issues

• VR
  • No default settings
  • Flickering when loading into level
  • Some menus don’t work in VR
  • No mouse support
  • UI colour is offset in-game
  • Camera position slightly offset
• Spectator engine audio can be missing
• Rank can still be affected if the server/client crashes
• Going back to pits on Orchard Road can trigger a pit stop
• Using Vulkan can cause the game to crash 
• Nvidia Reflex can cause stuttering. Recommendation is to disable it for now
• Replays can crash when loading into them
• Time Trial delta is only shown when personal best time is set
• Time Trial delta stops showing after you reset the Time Trial run
• Time Trial ghost car doesn’t update after getting beaten
• In online races, if a car crashes at very high speeds into a wall, it can cause a mini-freeze for all connected clients and possibly crash the physics engine. Restart your client if this happens.
• Getting a black flag in Time Trial will soft lock the player. You have to leave the Time Trial and go back to the Main Menu
• Porsche Mission R has the wrong TC sound, fix in future patch
• Porsche Mission R has a refuel section during the pit stop even though the battery charge doesn’t increase
• Constant tire audio when performing a pitstop

Bug Fixes

• Moved rolling start position for P1 on Hockenheimring to right sid
• Moved rolling start position for P1 on Spa to right side

Known Issues

• Using Vulkan can cause the game to crash 
• Nvidia Reflex can cause stuttering. Recommendation is to disable it for now
• Curb sounds can disappear after pit stops
• Replays can crash when scrolling through longer replays
• Time Trial delta is only shown when PB is set
• Ghost car does not move in Time Trial Replays
• In online races, if a car crashes at very high speeds into a wall, it can cause a mini-freeze for all connected clients
• Getting a black flag in Time Trial will soft lock the player. You have to leave the Time Trial and go back to the Main Menu
• Updating your profile name will not update your name in any Time Trial leaderboards unless a faster time is set with the new name
• EV has wrong TC sound, fix in future patch

Bug Fixes

• Potential fix for DirectX12-related crashes
• Clouds are now no longer random and the same positioning for all clients in online races
• Fix to player laps being invalidated on stage transition
• Restored Brake Temperature reset to ambient temperature upon crossing the line when wear and temperature reset is enabled
• Improved spectator performance
• Removed “End on crossing finish line” UI banner
• Fixed an issue with DSQ players being sorted as better than DNF’d players

Known Issues

• Using Vulkan can cause the game to crash 
• Nvidia Reflex can cause stuttering. Recommendation is to disable it for now
• Curb sounds can disappear after pit stops
• Replays can crash when scrolling through longer replays
• Time Trial delta is only shown when PB is set
• Ghost car does not move in Time Trial Replays
• In online races, if a car crashes at very high speeds into a wall, it can cause a mini-freeze for all connected clients
• Getting a black flag in Time Trial will soft lock the player. You have to leave the Time Trial and go back to the Main Menu
• Updating your profile name will not update your name in any Time Trial leaderboards unless a faster time is set with the new name
• EV has wrong TC sound, fix in future patch

Ola Racers, 

While we’re hard at work on the next RENNSPORT update (more information about this soon), we felt like it was time to do something together. As you might know, right now in the Closed Beta we limit each split to 12 drivers, this is mainly because we want to make sure performance is as good as possible for a wide range of hardware. But we thought, “Hey, why not just try to double it for a session? And why not invite our Closed Beta testers?” So, we hereby welcome you to our first Focused Feedback session:

DOUBLE THE CARS!

It’s quite simple. On May 4th (May the 4th be with you), we will host a 45-minute race on Spa-Francorchamps with a grid of 24 cars, and we want you to join!

When: May 4th, 20:00 CEST

Track: Circuit of Spa-Francorchamps

Race length: 45 minutes

Set-up: Fixed

Damage: Off

How to join

You need to have access to the closed beta.

1. Go on our Discord
2. Check the top right corner for the event and mark yourself as interested.
3. Register for the race in the game or our app
4. Before the race begins, join the newly created “Focused Feedback” voice channel and enjoy some friendly banter with the other drivers if you want. 
5. RACE
6. Report any feedback you might have. 

As a note, 24 cars on track has not been heavily optimized yet so expect performance to be lower than usual (internally we see an average of 10-15 fps drop compared to lower grid races).

Hey everyone, wow, it feels good to be back in action! 

Let’s dive right into it

Beta Update 1.8.

After what felt like a long wait for updates, it’s finally time to go right into what’s coming up from RENNSPORT in 2024. It’s been a bit of an exhausting time for the team behind the scenes, but we’re excited to be back on March 27th with fresh content, features, and yes, keys!

So, what’s on the menu? Well, we’ve put together a roadmap for 2024, laying out our targets across the board. And hey, this isn’t all we’ve got planned. We’ll be adding more to it along the way, with some surprises thrown in for extra spice. Get ready, because there’s a lot to be excited for!

Now, onto the 1.8 update. As usual, we’ve got a new track, a new car, and a bunch of exciting features to RENNSPORT to step up the experience:

• Porsche Mission R
• Goodwood Hillclimb
• Time Trials 
• Night and Day Cycle
• Lock to Horizon

Features and Content

The Porsche Mission R is a beast of a car, perfect for tackling the challenging Goodwood Hillclimb track. Whether you’re racing against yourself, your friends, or the current leaderboard leader, there’s plenty of competition to keep up on. Keep an eye out for our dev team’s lap times – see if you can beat them!

Time Trials are now available for every track, with separate leaderboards for each car. Test your skills and aim for the top spot! This mode is perfect to learn from other people and challenge their ghosts.

We’re also introducing our Day and Night cycle, starting with night races at Spa Francorchamps. It adds a whole new dimension to the game, and we can’t wait for you to experience it.

RENNSPORT Radio Check

In other news, we recently launched our first RENNSPORT Radio Check Episode 01, where Morris, Kim, and Lucas discussed the 1.8 update, upcoming features, and a sneak peek at our 2024 roadmap and beyond. If you haven’t seen it yet, be sure to check it out.

And Stina… don’t forget about Stina!

!! KEYS !!

And of course, we wouldn’t forget about the keys! We’re dropping A LOT of keys on patch date, with an additional 2,500 keys every Thursday from the 4th of April onwards. More keys mean more players, which means more epic racing!

That’s all for now, folks! Take care, and remember to break last!