Race tracks...

[psolk 3,037]

Just myself personally but one of the things that FS has ALWAYS lacked for me was the depiction of race tracks...  One of the things I have always loved was a virtual flight to the track I am racing, either in real life or sim race.  Problem is there has never been a race track in the the sim when you arrive 😞  Over the last few days I have had the chance to explore some of the tracks in FS and it is awesome...  Took off from Monterey and sure enough there was Laguna in the hills, leaving Vegas and there is the speedway, even the infield, just left Toronto City center and was able to head out to MoSport and even the karting track was there.  (leaving City Centre airport was awesome btw.)    Going to explore a few more today, Sebring, Daytona, Watkins Glen to name a few but it is just very very cool. 

Literally trying to follow the local roads you get to know as a racer out to the track and explore the tracks from above is incredible for me.  So yep, just a personal woohoo and yay from me LOL  

Edited September 8, 2020 by psolk

[eslader 1,774]

Good thought. Off to Elkhart Lake I fly...

 

[wthomas33065 994]

6 minutes ago, psolk said:

Literally trying to follow the local roads you get to know as a racer out to the track and explore the tracks from above is incredible for me.  So yep, just a personal woohoo and yay from me LOL  

The advantage of using satellite imagery instead of generic landclass textures.

Flying in FSX feels like an "alternate" earth, where development took a slightly different turn.  With further expansion of South Florida into the Everglades, or the development of strip malls and housing right next to Tacoma Narrows Airport.  Similar, but not quite.

But the inclusion of Satellite imagery transforms the game.  Now you can recognize street patterns and neighborhoods easily.  No more trying to pickout a hand-drawn road placed on top of some generic urban tile beneath it.  Communities look planned and not subject to the randomness of autogen.

That one thing alone, makes this a game changer.  Photogrammetry allows me to pick out my house and get a reasonable facsimile of it.  But even without it, properly placed Autogen still feels amazingly authentic.  My brother lives in Walla Walla, and although he doesn't have Photogrammetry, I can still pick out where his house is, and yes, it's a house.  It's a generic house, but it's located exactly where it should be.  

Good use of 2 Petabytes of data, I'd say.  And if indeed FS2020 becomes a "living" environment with constant upgrades, then I can't wait.  But before I get too far ahead of myself, I am just enjoying something now, that quite frankly was nothing more than a pipedream back when I was navigating pyramidal mountains and Minecraft Cube Clouds in FS98.

[psolk 3,037]

3 minutes ago, eslader said:

Good thought. Off to Elkhart Lake I fly...

 

One of my dream tracks to drive, was supposed to be there last weekend but didn't make it this year 😞   Road America, Mid-O and Road Atlanta are my three must hit in '21 ...  

[shipdriver 20]

It's not just the big tracks. I'm a race photographer (mostly MX and flat track) and even smaller local tracks can be seen like this MX track/flat track oval in Bellingham, WA (Hannegan Speedway)  https://1drv.ms/u/s!AhhVq-vI8ENBgvNsGNzkzR2LXLqS0Q?e=PRGaju complete with 3D grandstands and buildings and even some of the elevation changes.

Edited September 8, 2020 by shipdriver

[psolk 3,037]

Just now, shipdriver said:

It's not just the big tracks. I'm a race photographer (mostly MX and flat track) and even smaller local tracks can be seen like this MX/flat track oval in Bellingham, WA: https://1drv.ms/u/s!AhhVq-vI8ENBgvNsGNzkzR2LXLqS0Q?e=PRGaju

That's awesome, SOO appreciative of the guys behind the lens who capture our memories on track and the fact the smaller tracks are there too.   I need to go to Millville and see if New Jersey Motorsports Park is there now. 

Interesting sidenote the tracks at NJMP are named ThunderBolt and Lightning after the P47 and P38: (Credit to NJMP website)  

The Millville Army Air Field opened as a gunnery school for fighter pilots for the Republic P-47 “Thunderbolt” in 1941. During its four-year existence, about 1,500 pilots received advanced P-47 Thunderbolt fighter training here.

New Jersey Motorsports Park embraced this rich history by naming its marquee 2.25-mile racetrack “Thunderbolt Raceway.” The 1.9-mile road course – Lightning Raceway – is named after the P-38 Lightning, a WWII fighter aircraft.

New Jersey Motorsports Park also carried the historical WWII theme by naming its trackside condominiums “The Villas at Breighton.” Breighton was the name of an allied airfield in Great Britain, where many of the Millville trained P-47 pilots served during WWII.

Other ties to the WWII theme include the English Tudor design of the clubhouse, the Officers Club Q-Hangar design that contains Cumberland County’s largest banquet facility and the Timing Tower that resembles a WWII air traffic control tower.

While building the various structures at New Jersey Motorsports Park, many WWII artifacts were found and collected for display at the Millville Army Air Field Museum, located on the opposite side of the Millville Airport. The Bore Site range, located just outside Thunderbolt Raceway Paddock was used by Thunderbolt pilots during training as a range to calibrate their machine guns.

Today, a P-47 Thunderbolt- No Guts, No Glory aircraft is based out of Millville Airport. It is one of only nine in the world that still flies. Keep an eye on the sky when visiting NJMP – you may just see one pass by overhead.

[DPSimulation 235]

I've actually had a fly around a few over here in the UK over the last couple of weeks. It's also a great thing to do when you consider the aviation tie-in to it as well, most of the circuits over here were originally airfields, places like Silverstone, Goodwood, Thruxton, Croft etc.

It would be great to see a few of you from the States having a tour around our tracks.

Edited September 8, 2020 by DPSimulation

[psolk 3,037]

Just now, DPSimulation said:

I've actually had a fly around a few over here in the UK over the last couple of weeks. It's also a great thing to do when you consider the aviation tie-in to it as well, most of the circuits over here were originally airfields, places like Silverstone, Goodwood, Thruxton, Croft etc.

Some mega racing history has taken place in those sites you listed right there...   Now that we are "talking" I think I need to go check out the TT course 🙂  To the IOM I go... 

[Kilo60 660]

LOL!

 

I thought you were referring to landing at an airport and having to enter the "RaceTrack" pattern...!!!

 

Wish MSFS Had those kinds of ATC AP RaceTracks modeled as well!

[eslader 1,774]

32 minutes ago, psolk said:

One of my dream tracks to drive, was supposed to be there last weekend but didn't make it this year 😞

Upgrade your brakes if you're driving it in your street car. First time I ran it I faded my brakes within the first lap. Especially since 2 of the 3 high speed braking zones are downhill. That's one fun track to run.

 

[psolk 3,037]

1 minute ago, eslader said:

Upgrade your brakes if you're driving it in your street car. First time I ran it I faded my brakes within the first lap. Especially since 2 of the 3 high speed braking zones are downhill. That's one fun track to run.

 

If you keep your wheels off the ground you conserve tires and brakes 🙂

[kerosene31 349]

I was so happy to see the little 5/8 mile local track in my area modeled amazingly well.  The detail is amazing.  Shows the drag strip down the main stretch and the areas where more rubber is down there, and even some of the small barriers around the oval.  Pretty impressive considering that this little track has probably barely been heard of by anyone not from the immediate area.   

[CJ1045 469]

I flew round Le Mans - great experience.

 

CJ

[dfanucci 127]

Nothing beats sat imagery.

Leaving Phoenix for Las Vegas and flew over the Toyota proving grounds. That track is huge!

[n4gix 4,947]

I wonder if the Scania test track is modeled. Probably not but it might be worth a look. I've driven it many times in Euro Truck Sim... 😌