As we gear up toward the end of the year for the hotly anticipated multiplayer update, this build adds several improvements to the newly released 'KartKross' vehicle which puts you in the seat of a 300kg, 120hp rocket capable of 0-60mph in less than 3 seconds.
Changes - Added dashboard, pedals and dynamic parts to KartKross vehicle - Improved handling of KartKross vehicles - Replay cameras added for Brentemonte - AI are now learning to drive KartKross class vehicles - Fixed collision stability issues with KartKross vehicle - Fixed graphical glitches in KartKross vehicle - Fixed incorrect engine sound on KZ2 vehicles - Audio mixing improvements - Minor performance improvements
The International Circuit of Genk is here!
International Circuit of Genk, Belgium added to the track line up in this eagerly anticipated update for the award winning KartKraft.
The 1.36-kilometer, 0.85-mile circuit in Belgium, that is historically tied with Formula 1’s Max Verstappen, is live! Verstappen was able to hone his racing skills growing up competing at the venue, and we wanted to give you the same opportunity.
Please restart Steam if you do not see the update.
Build 0.1.0.3096 is now live!
As we approach the release of the Karting Genk circuit, we’re taking a quick pit stop to update Unreal Engine to take full advantage of the new quality of life and performance fixes in 4.25 and 4.26. This build also adds support for head tracking using TrackIR. The full changelist can be found after the break.
JOIN US
We’re also on the lookout for programmers and artists to join us. If that sounds like you, we’d love to hear from you at hr@motorsportgames.com
CHANGES
Updated Engine to 4.25
Added support for head tracking using TrackIR
Fixed a bug which prevented the ability to bind brake input to gamepad
Please restart Steam if you do not see the update.
This hotfix will require all existing users to rebind their inputs if using a steering wheel. (This is most likely the last time you'll ever need to do this.)
Changes
DirectInput binding storage format changed. Fixes issues when binding some Fanatec wheel/pedal combinations.
Added a menu asking if you would like to bind your wheel if a device is detected and no binding found.
Small patch: VR, lanugage, input and telemetry updates
Build 0.1.0.2992 has gone live and contains the following improvements:
General
Fixed font issue for languages other than English. Main menu option fonts will look different but are now legible. Nicer fonts and translations are slated for the future.
Added more telemetry output: vehicle world position, session elapsed time, session name, track name, track address and track country code.
Added the ability to manually drive in to the pits during practice sessions.
VR
Improved VR input for menus. Menus now default to using mouse, with an option to switch to gaze input available in Settings > VR.
Added new setting to fine tune world scale in VR. Use this setting only if the world feels "wrong" to you. Default of 100% should be correct for 99% of people. Available in Settings > VR.
Added an option to switch between Headphones (head-tracked) and Speaker (non-head-tracked) mode for audio. Available in Settings > VR.
Fixed a bug which caused VR settings to be invisible.
Input
Fixed issue preventing the ability to bind G27 clutch pedal.
Improved FFB fade in when returning to driving. Now much faster and more direct.
February Update: Physics Overhaul!
We're back with another update and arguably the biggest change to the handling of the karts since the launch of KartKraft. What began as an analysis of tyre loads when riding over kerbs, quickly became a much deeper investigation into the damping response of the tyres with respect to the rate of change of steering input. This uncovered a bug in the method used to calculate the damping velocity of the tyre and after it was resolved, we witnessed much more consistent loads across varying steering input rates of change. As such, all tyres/classes have been re-tuned with the result being an improved and much more natural driving feel that allows you to lean on the tyres during cornering, trail brake and lap consistently with more detailed force feedback.
We've also been working with Valve to investigate and fix the issues causing some players' wheels not being detected by KartKraft despite Steam Input being disabled both by the player and in the steam game backend. Valve has now released a patch for Steam and we have made changes that should resolve this for all players. Despite the good news however, this change does require all controllers to be rebound.
CHANGELIST
Improved implementation of Minimum Force for wheel force feedback
Improved FFB algorithm
Improved KZ2 shifting logic. It is now much quicker and easier to lift off the throttle when changing gears
Added basic support for Logitech Wheel LED lights
Reduced stopping force of gravel traps
Setup parameters now display the significant digit when set to values below 1. i.e 0.1 rather than .1
Fixed bug where controller would receive force feedback when wheel is being used and vice versa
Fixed tyre damping bug that caused incorrect loads when cornering
Improved tyre and handling model for KA100, X30 and KZ2 classes
Fixed issue where Steam would steal Direct Input wheel control away from the game. This change will require you to rebind your wheel
Added frame identifier to udp telemetry. Telemetry clients can now validate telemetry frames using KartKraft.Frame.FrameBufferHasIdentifier(bytes)
Fix for wheel input being overridden by Steam when user has Steam Input enabled
HUD now shows vehicle class
Fixed leaderboard not updating after exit of time trial event
Easy/Medium AI retuned to make them easier
Fixed crash when adjusting KZ2 drivetrain sprocket teeth.
Fixed AI vehicles sometimes failing to load
Introducing the new 22HP IAME KA100 class!
KA100
The IAME KA100 class has been added to KartKraft. With 22HP and a maximum RPM of 15,000, the new class uses the medium grip MG Red tyre and requires very precise and smooth inputs to achieve good lap times. We look forward to your feedback!
Thermal Tyre Model
The tyre model has been updated to include a 3D thermodynamic model that simulates the heat transfer between the asphalt, contact patch, tread, pressurised air and rim. No longer static, the entire carcass and tread around the circumference of the tyre is affected by contact pressure and sliding friction which results in localised hotspots and the new ability to overheat the tyre if driving and sliding too hard. Future updates will include different rim materials that allow for better dissipation of heat and more stable changes in pressure. A visualisation of the 3D tread has been added to the HUD. Note: Existing setups will need to be updated to extract the maximum performance from the new model.
FFB
The calculation of forces being applied to the steering column has been improved resulting in a much more refined signal and smoother driving experience.
GKCV Reverse
The reverse layout of GKCV has been added which presents a different challenge with the blind uphill entry to turn 1.
Fixes/Improvements
Setup parameters now show their respective units. i.e PSI, Degrees etc
HUD elements are now zoomable and moveable using mouse wheel
Fixed crash when changing gear ratios on the KZ2 class of karts
Kerb response has been improved with a reduced likelihood of flipping
And finally, with only days to Christmas, we'd like to wish you all a very safe and happy holiday season from all of us at KartKraft!
Patch Notes: 0.1.0.2693
Build 0.1.0.2693 is now live! Please restart Steam if you do not see the update
Fixes/Improvements
Improved: Wheel input binding now displays more information and requires a button press to reduce errors caused by timing Added: Numpad keys can be used in photomode Added: Can now use left/right keyboard navigation in the input menu Added: Can now drag and hide the live placings HUD item in time trial mode Fixedbug where chosen monitor setting was not saved Fixed bug where ghost volume would be ignored if set in main menu Fixed occasional motion blur corruption in chase camera Fixedoverlapping vehicles in post race podium sequence FixedVR camera rotating incorrectly at the end of cinematic sequences such as the post race restart menu. Fixed bug where incorrect number of AI drivers would appear in a race
As always, we're reading all of your posts, reviews and comments and are addressing your issues as fast as we can. If you would like to support KartKraft even more and help it turn it into the game we all want it to be, we'd love to read your honest Steam reviews which let's us see where to focus our development efforts.
Triple screen update!
Triple Screen
We've now added support for triple screen rendering which can be enabled via the camera menu. As this is the first release, we'd love to hear your feedback and suggestions to further improve your experience.
New input system
The input system has been completely re-designed and built from the ground up to make setting up wheels and controllers a seamless experience via a calibration wizard. This has the added benefit of simplifying the UI since we've been able to remove invert/min/max settings for each analogue input (Throttle/Brake/Clutch/Steering). Please note that these changes mean all players are required to set your controls up again
Test Drive
We've added a new test drive menu in preparation for the release of our upcoming track modding tool. This is the result of a large refactor to the map loading system which can now discover and load tracks dynamically at runtime.
HUD
Individual HUD elements can now be positioned on the screen using the mouse to better accommodate players' preferences. They can also be toggled on/off by right clicking on the screen and selecting the appropriate widget type. Note that this feature is not available in VR at this time. Driver numbers are now are now rendered on the placings widget similar to MotoGP
FreeTrack
KartKraft now has support for FreeTrack, the open source equivalent to TrackIR which provides six degrees of freedom (6DOF) head tracking via a webcam. This can be configured in the 'Camera' settings menu.
Audio
We've now added a slider to control the volume of your opponents which some users have reported as being too loud. This is available under the 'Sound' settings menu.
FFB Defaults
The default force feedback strength setting has been increased to be consistent with forces felt in real life. This is particularly important for non direct drive wheel users that spin when applying the throttle out of corners, due to a lack of corrective forces being felt through the wheel when experiencing power-on oversteer. We strongly recommend that players increase this setting to a value as high as they can handle.
Timing and exploit fixes
The method of live delta calculation for the session fastest lap and personal fastest lap has been improved, resulting in much greater accuracy through all sectors. Previously this could fluctuate with a margin of error around 1 tenth of a second. We've tracked down a bug that some players were unknowingly exploiting to gain time during leaderboard attempts. This was caused by floating point (im)precision that could result in laptimes up to a second faster than real-time when a session was run for an extended duration. i.e 48+ hours
Crash fixes
After implementing automatic crash reporting in the previous build, we have been able to identify and fix a crash that was responsible for 76% of crashes reported by players. This should result in much higher stability for all players.
Dynamic sky
With the introduction of the new sky system in the last update, several groups of players experienced hitches when loading sky resources. We've now implemented dynamic resource loading for the sky resulting in lower memory utilisation and faster map load times.
Changelog
Added new Input System. Wheels are now easier to bind and presets have been removed. Added the ability to move and hide HUD elements on screen. Added Freetrack head tracking option. Available in Settings > Camera. Added a setting for controlling opponent kart audio volumes. Added driver numbers to HUD. Added work-in-progress results screens. Added audio notification when new online session is available to join. Added: Wheel profiles now support digital inputs to analog actions, so it's now possible to bind camera look, clutch, brake, throttle to buttons/paddles Added: Sunny/cloudy weather option is now hooked up to time of day Added: HUD vehicle radar and live placings can now be hidden and moved via mouse Increased accuracy of all live delta values displayed on HUD. Increased default FFB gain setting. Added player name tags in online mode. Fixed Online practice session lets drivers finish their final lap before ending. Fixed bug where AI would sometimes fail to load. Fixed lap and sector timing inaccuracy when running for long periods of time. Fixed corrupt packages due to shutting down game while write is in progress. Fixed hitches in dynamic sky loading. Fixed unwanted motion output when replaying. Fixed trackside cameras not properly handling karts retiring and entering pits. Fixed ghost trails following tyres on road surface. Fixed chase camera look movement. Changed: Binding process is slightly clearer. Binding menu now displays 'press to bind...' when input is being detected Changed: HUD sector times now display individual sectors rather than cumulative time Fixed certain wheel and pedal setups failing to be detected. Increased number of direct input devices from 8 to 64 Fixed crash when changing opponent volume slider while racing Fixed crash caused by using Oculus Touch controllers in main menu Fixed bad VR camera post race results sequence Fixed bug where ghost vehicle would continue driving after being defeated in timetrial Fixed occasional motion blur glitches in some cameras Fixed bug which caused only a maximum of ten AI opponents to be available. Up to 15 opponents should now be possible. (this is not quite fixed...) Fixed bad motion blur on rotating parts
ICYMI: Sky + Lighting update
After May's force feedback algorithm update, the start of this month saw the release of the new dynamic sky system in build 0.1.0.2309. Featuring incredible, natural transitions from overcast to sunny weather with rolling cloud shadows, we also took the opportunity to overhaul the lighting and push the photorealism bar even further than before.
We've begun improving the off track experience by showing your kart in the pit area while making setup changes. This will also extend to the main menu, which will see significant UI changes in the next few updates. The future is bright for KartKraft!
CHANGELOG
New: Dynamic skies with improved lighting for all tracks. Weather currently locked to cloudy/overcast. New: Added new camera view when returning to pits. Placement is temporary until team tents are placed. New: Added backlights to Alfano and Mychron data loggers. Fixed: Bug which caused track wear to be invisible. Removed: Removed FFB skip steps preference as it is no longer required with the new FFB algorithm. Improved: Adjusted high and ultra shadow quality settings to reduce appearance of floating vehicles. High settings are equivalent to Ultra in previous builds, with Ultra now including extra shadow detail Improved: Increased friction coefficient on kerbing from 0.7 to 0.8 Improved: NTK mod track has been updated, now with kerb placements.
