Roll over to preview

This marks the start of our second year - thank you for sticking with us. To those reading for the first time, I hope you enjoy your stay. And what a year it has been; we’ve seen incredible developments within software and hardware, both simulator-specific and in general computing. The most significant is the rise of virtual reality - I keep going on about it, but just wait and see - the best is yet to come! But VR is nothing without good software, and we’re lucky to have such a broad selection of simulators as a starting point. Other popular genres are in a much more challenging position - many traditional video games, including the first-person shooter, do not lend themselves well to VR without dramatic changes to game design. Simulators, by contrast, require very few changes. And the competition has never been more healthy. Following developments closely, you can’t help but notice the increased enthusiasm, rate of development and speed of announcements from many of the big names in simulation over the past year. RaceRoom has stood out for me in particular, so I’m pleased that we’ve been able to cover it in detail this issue, in the form of an insightful interview with Sector3 Studios. iRacing, a service often accused of being slow to evolve, has also impressed with recent developments. The reproduction of both the Nordschleife and Le Mans are massive milestones for the team, and we take an exclusive look behind the scenes on these hugely challenging projects - not to be missed. Enjoy the magazine. Dominic Bren