WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.760 --> 00:00:05.280 This week on the Eye Racing Down Shift. We're back for really it's been 2 00:00:05.320 --> 00:00:09.320 how long, Kevin? I think it's been since December. The boys can't 3 00:00:09.320 --> 00:00:12.320 seem to get their calendars straight. So I'm looking at my phone right now 4 00:00:12.320 --> 00:00:16.120 and I don't have a text. Phone call. Be a team and Greg 5 00:00:16.239 --> 00:00:20.039 Hill gives us updates. We've all been waiting. Rain is quite the project. 6 00:00:20.199 --> 00:00:32.240 It's a whole team initiative, all this morse strapping. Welcome to the 7 00:00:32.240 --> 00:00:34.600 Eye Racing dash It. I'm your host, Greg West. I'm back of 8 00:00:34.679 --> 00:00:37.880 the boys, Kevin Bobbitt and Chris Leoni. Wait, we are back, 9 00:00:37.960 --> 00:00:42.359 like really back as in actually here. It's been how long Kevin. I 10 00:00:42.399 --> 00:00:46.600 think it's been since December. That's been a long time, so not long 11 00:00:46.759 --> 00:00:50.560 enough. Wow, Oh, it's good to be back. We're gonna do 12 00:00:50.600 --> 00:00:54.200 more of these, we promise. We have calendar reminders. We do it 13 00:00:55.280 --> 00:00:59.079 right, but we have to check out a therapy. I mean it was 14 00:00:59.200 --> 00:01:02.439 It's it's been a long time coming, and Chris has been pushing for this, 15 00:01:02.520 --> 00:01:06.680 to be fair, He's been the guy that's let's go and then find 16 00:01:06.719 --> 00:01:07.680 things that get in the way. So yeah, we're gonna do better, 17 00:01:07.760 --> 00:01:14.200 right, Chris. Yeah, well we have a reason to do this because 18 00:01:14.280 --> 00:01:19.159 for for this one, we have a sponsor. Uh. This week's e 19 00:01:19.280 --> 00:01:22.439 Racing Downshift is brought to you by the butt Kicker, Gamer plus, gamer 20 00:01:22.480 --> 00:01:26.120 Pro and hap to connect haptic hardware and software that reproduces accurate and powerful sim 21 00:01:26.200 --> 00:01:32.319 racing effects. Road tires, garsis and more used by professional drivers such as 22 00:01:32.319 --> 00:01:36.400 Stephen Wilson, Tommy Milner and Max Esterson. Buck Kicker can help bring your 23 00:01:36.480 --> 00:01:41.920 lap times down drive better with buck Kicker. Visit www dot thebut kicker dot 24 00:01:41.959 --> 00:01:45.439 com for more information. Yeah, you're right, I did that in one 25 00:01:45.480 --> 00:01:48.439 take. That was pretty good. But that was excellent. I'm excited that 26 00:01:48.480 --> 00:01:51.719 we have a sponsor, so that's cool. That means people are listening, 27 00:01:51.840 --> 00:01:55.040 right, Yeah, thank great, Yeah, thank you. But yeah, 28 00:01:55.159 --> 00:01:57.480 little ego boost for me. But you know, and shout out to Angelo. 29 00:01:59.319 --> 00:02:02.239 We got it in there. We did all right. Well, okay, 30 00:02:02.280 --> 00:02:06.400 we've been gone for six months. What have we been doing for six 31 00:02:06.439 --> 00:02:10.080 months? Besides developing rain? There's been a lot going on. But but 32 00:02:10.280 --> 00:02:13.680 for me, I've been to a couple of races. It's been awesome. 33 00:02:13.719 --> 00:02:16.599 Been back to the track, been to uh amster more Speedway from NASCAR race, 34 00:02:16.639 --> 00:02:20.639 went to Lime Rock for the MS race. Um, and I've missed 35 00:02:20.639 --> 00:02:23.280 going to races. Um, I love races. I've missed going to races 36 00:02:23.319 --> 00:02:27.280 too because I'm looking at my phone right now and I don't have a text, 37 00:02:27.639 --> 00:02:34.080 phone call, smoke signal, email, slack message, discord message teams, 38 00:02:34.599 --> 00:02:42.879 invite teams and then that never works. Yeah, okay, well let's 39 00:02:42.879 --> 00:02:46.240 see. Uh, We've been working a ton obviously. Outside of this, 40 00:02:46.280 --> 00:02:50.800 I've played a lot of golf, been been playing a little golf with Kevin. 41 00:02:50.960 --> 00:02:53.960 He does, he does accept my phone call and invitation to those. 42 00:02:53.120 --> 00:02:59.599 If it's about golf, I'm always avail um. But yeah, other than 43 00:02:59.639 --> 00:03:02.000 that, watching time fly, It's funny when you break a year down in 44 00:03:02.039 --> 00:03:07.120 a three month increments, the years go by really quickly and the hair goes 45 00:03:07.120 --> 00:03:08.800 grave really quickly. Yeah. What about you, Chris, what are you 46 00:03:08.840 --> 00:03:14.120 been up to? Um? Let's see when I'm not playing mobile pinball, 47 00:03:14.439 --> 00:03:17.319 because that's that's my time suck these days? Is that the go to mobile 48 00:03:17.360 --> 00:03:22.719 game? Now? I just like playing pinball. And I'm not going to 49 00:03:22.800 --> 00:03:27.520 spend five thousand dollars to put an actual cabinet in my house because we need 50 00:03:27.560 --> 00:03:30.000 to spend that money on the air conditioner that's been leaking on the wall. 51 00:03:30.159 --> 00:03:34.280 A tough week to have no air conditioning. Yeah, it was. I 52 00:03:34.400 --> 00:03:38.840 was lethargic yesterday. I mean it was Emily and I were just talking about, 53 00:03:38.879 --> 00:03:43.240 you know, those old Sears air conditioning commercials from the nineties. Have 54 00:03:43.360 --> 00:03:46.800 I triggered any memories from anybody of like watching Nickelodeon? No? No, 55 00:03:46.080 --> 00:03:50.759 no, not at all for yourselves? No? Oh well, anyway, 56 00:03:51.120 --> 00:03:55.199 Um, crisis solved. So but on the Eye Racing front, obviously, 57 00:03:55.400 --> 00:04:00.080 those of you who have downloaded the Eye Racing Companion app probably get bombarded by 58 00:04:00.120 --> 00:04:05.240 notifications for me every single week with all sorts of stories. And then of 59 00:04:05.280 --> 00:04:11.199 course my uh my pet series, the Eye Racing off Road Championship Series has 60 00:04:11.199 --> 00:04:15.839 been really competitive on what you You didn't know that I'm the guy. I 61 00:04:15.240 --> 00:04:19.680 know you like dirt? Oh wow, okay, interesting to me. The 62 00:04:19.720 --> 00:04:25.079 more I like off road racing. What can I say? Um? How 63 00:04:25.079 --> 00:04:28.480 about that the Companion app. We haven't even talked about that. And I 64 00:04:28.680 --> 00:04:32.040 lived in Breathe Companion app for like six months and I completely forgot to mention. 65 00:04:32.560 --> 00:04:35.120 Yeah, good job, there's a Companion app. Now. Yeah, 66 00:04:35.199 --> 00:04:41.720 check it out on the iTunes store. Uh and uh Android Store. Yeahs 67 00:04:41.879 --> 00:04:45.079 not actually iTunes store. iTunes doesn't exist anymore, or it's just the Apple 68 00:04:45.160 --> 00:04:48.399 Store lap store. So it's free. It's cool, lots of fun. 69 00:04:49.439 --> 00:04:54.279 You can watch your I rating go up and down and up and down or 70 00:04:54.680 --> 00:05:00.399 keep the mind down down down. Yeah. That's why I just recently right 71 00:05:00.439 --> 00:05:04.319 now because you can't get any lower than zero. Yeah, but let check 72 00:05:04.360 --> 00:05:09.079 out. But I'm almost there, so uh, check out the I Racing 73 00:05:09.120 --> 00:05:13.240 Companion app. Also check out if you haven't been on logged in the UI 74 00:05:13.279 --> 00:05:15.360 recently. A lot of really cool stuff in the UI, A lot of 75 00:05:15.360 --> 00:05:18.040 really cool stuff, quality of life updates and I Racing. That's kind of 76 00:05:18.079 --> 00:05:21.920 been the name of the game recently. Uh and yeah, a hint of 77 00:05:21.920 --> 00:05:26.800 things to come. So uh, speaking of quality of life updates, we 78 00:05:26.879 --> 00:05:30.959 got a great guest, the guy that's at one of the at the what 79 00:05:31.160 --> 00:05:36.519 is the helm of the ship? One of them is that my not turn 80 00:05:36.319 --> 00:05:42.360 turn correct? Yeah all right. Executive producer I Racing Greg Hill sat down 81 00:05:42.399 --> 00:05:46.879 with Kevin and I probably reluctantly last week. H and we had a really 82 00:05:46.879 --> 00:05:51.160 great chat on projects that are in development. Hints of things to come and 83 00:05:51.439 --> 00:05:57.040 kind of how he got to where he is. Really great discussion, looking 84 00:05:57.040 --> 00:06:01.920 forward to sharing it with everybody. So without further Vice President and executive producer 85 00:06:01.959 --> 00:06:08.079 of I Racing, Greg Hill. All Right, Kevin and I are excited 86 00:06:08.120 --> 00:06:13.199 to have our first guests in a while on the podcast. Vice President and 87 00:06:13.279 --> 00:06:17.560 executive producer of I Racing, also my boss, Greg Hill, made time 88 00:06:17.600 --> 00:06:20.839 to join us today. Greg, thanks for jumping in. Welcome to the 89 00:06:20.879 --> 00:06:25.560 show. Thanks for having me, guys. I am happy to be here 90 00:06:25.680 --> 00:06:30.199 and happy to kind of give people a glimpse on behind the curtain on some 91 00:06:30.240 --> 00:06:34.439 things we're working on, hopefully, and some things that have been going on 92 00:06:34.480 --> 00:06:39.000 in iRacing. All right, well, let's get into it. Let's address 93 00:06:39.079 --> 00:06:43.439 the elephant in the room. During the Spot twenty four events, there was 94 00:06:43.759 --> 00:06:47.160 a situation that pretty much everybody's aware of a lot of people driving with tires 95 00:06:47.759 --> 00:06:51.519 dipped off on the grass finding advantages and lap times and things of that nature. 96 00:06:53.600 --> 00:06:57.399 We are taking that very seriously, though we've already got some initiatives in 97 00:06:57.480 --> 00:07:02.720 place. Right. Absolutely, yes, we're taking that very seriously. Unfortunately, 98 00:07:02.759 --> 00:07:06.199 we didn't take it seriously enough leading up to the event. I mean, 99 00:07:06.199 --> 00:07:12.360 we knew there was an issue where people could gain an advantage, but 100 00:07:12.480 --> 00:07:16.360 we didn't know and we didn't anticipate well enough how much it would be utilized 101 00:07:16.360 --> 00:07:23.000 on that weekend. We could have handled that far better, We could have 102 00:07:23.040 --> 00:07:29.720 done better with messaging, and it really was a lesson for us, an 103 00:07:29.720 --> 00:07:33.480 opportunity for us to learn how to approach these things better. The good news 104 00:07:33.600 --> 00:07:36.800 is, I mean, we've taken measures to make sure that this doesn't happen 105 00:07:38.079 --> 00:07:43.920 again. We've formed a team here at I Racing who are going to really 106 00:07:44.000 --> 00:07:48.199 keep us accountable, keep everybody informed about what's going on in the community, 107 00:07:49.480 --> 00:07:56.639 about upcoming events where things like this might come into play, and to make 108 00:07:56.680 --> 00:08:00.720 sure our developers are doing everything they can to get ahead of these things. 109 00:08:01.120 --> 00:08:07.240 Again unfortunate where we apologize that that happened. The good thing it's coming out 110 00:08:07.279 --> 00:08:11.160 of it, though, is we've got some fixes and improvements that might not 111 00:08:11.199 --> 00:08:16.839 have been made for a while were it not for this. To start the 112 00:08:16.879 --> 00:08:22.040 fix and a patch this week, we're going to be solving or according to 113 00:08:22.040 --> 00:08:28.279 our very intensive testing, solving the issue where an advantage can be made by 114 00:08:28.319 --> 00:08:35.200 dipping your tires. In addition to that, We've learned well through that thought 115 00:08:35.240 --> 00:08:39.039 process, and we all had different ideas on how we can solve this right, 116 00:08:39.120 --> 00:08:43.759 a different approaches, physical rules based, etc. There are a lot 117 00:08:43.799 --> 00:08:50.000 of really cool ideas that didn't necessarily get to the core of fixing the problem 118 00:08:50.120 --> 00:08:54.159 with which we did in the fix that we're patching, but we're more like 119 00:08:54.279 --> 00:09:00.840 product enhancements. So we're working on some product enhancements that we'll be shipping in 120 00:09:00.879 --> 00:09:07.320 our upcoming builds. With the way essentially the tire picks up debris and how 121 00:09:07.399 --> 00:09:13.720 punitive debris is on your racing when you go off track, or for example, 122 00:09:13.759 --> 00:09:18.000 what it feels like to physically go off the race track versus how it 123 00:09:18.080 --> 00:09:22.720 is now in Irishing. It's too smooth and it doesn't feel physical enough. 124 00:09:22.399 --> 00:09:28.840 So between the patch we're putting out now and the improvements will be shipping and 125 00:09:28.000 --> 00:09:33.799 later builds will end up with a better product. And for sure we learned 126 00:09:33.840 --> 00:09:37.159 how to do things better when it comes to working with the community and communication. 127 00:09:37.919 --> 00:09:41.399 Yeah, and I think it's really important for the community to know we 128 00:09:41.480 --> 00:09:43.840 take this stuff incredibly seriously. That was a frustrating weekend for us as well 129 00:09:43.840 --> 00:09:48.000 as it was for anybody else. But the important thing was not to do 130 00:09:48.039 --> 00:09:52.080 anything knee jerk, not to do anything that may felt good during the moment 131 00:09:52.120 --> 00:09:56.159 but maybe not have been felt as good on Monday, and really address the 132 00:09:56.200 --> 00:10:01.159 core issue. And with the updates that we're putting out this patch and the 133 00:10:01.159 --> 00:10:03.799 things that we have, you know, pending in future releases that we learned 134 00:10:03.840 --> 00:10:07.440 from this, it's it's going to make the product, not just take care 135 00:10:07.480 --> 00:10:11.159 of the exploit, but it's actually gonna move the product forward, and that's 136 00:10:11.159 --> 00:10:15.840 really important and a nice side effect for us doing the deep dive. Now, 137 00:10:16.320 --> 00:10:20.080 moving on from things like tire tipping, let's talk about some of the 138 00:10:20.120 --> 00:10:24.000 more fun recent develops, developments that we've had, because we've had a lot 139 00:10:24.039 --> 00:10:28.759 of really exciting projects. You know. The one of the biggest ones that 140 00:10:28.799 --> 00:10:33.799 we've worked on the last year really is the updated Atlanta Motor Speedway and working 141 00:10:35.039 --> 00:10:41.240 with NASCAR and the iterative process where how that track really came to be what 142 00:10:41.320 --> 00:10:46.720 it is now. In reality, it's been a really phenomenal couple of years 143 00:10:46.720 --> 00:10:52.720 when it comes to realizing just how valuable this technology we've built up for the 144 00:10:52.799 --> 00:11:00.960 last twenty years is and how well it can be applied to the real world. 145 00:11:01.279 --> 00:11:05.480 I mean, we built erasing and our track building tech capabilities, our 146 00:11:05.559 --> 00:11:11.240 car building capabilities from the ground up to be as real as possible, authentic 147 00:11:11.360 --> 00:11:16.480 physical simulations of the real world. So over the years, we've built up 148 00:11:16.519 --> 00:11:22.559 technology that has just been perfectly suited to quickly building race tracks that are realistic 149 00:11:22.840 --> 00:11:28.399 and interact with the physics of our race cars and realistic ways. And when 150 00:11:28.519 --> 00:11:35.960 NASCAR and SMI approached us for a number of different prototype projects, we quickly 151 00:11:35.000 --> 00:11:41.279 identified that these tools that we've been building to make real racetracks in the real 152 00:11:41.320 --> 00:11:48.440 world using laser scans could also be used to help prototype potential race tracks. 153 00:11:50.320 --> 00:11:58.600 We were able to take just general ideas that we're being considered verbal ideas and 154 00:11:58.840 --> 00:12:01.679 apply those to some of our tracks, in particular Atlanta, like you mentioned 155 00:12:01.720 --> 00:12:07.000 Greg, where they just through discussion said, you know, we're thinking of 156 00:12:07.320 --> 00:12:11.080 trying a superspeedway. We're thinking, no, let's try thirty two degrees of 157 00:12:11.120 --> 00:12:15.960 banking, but we want to keep the walls in the same spot. We 158 00:12:16.080 --> 00:12:18.440 pushed back a little and said, you know, that's a lot of banking. 159 00:12:18.360 --> 00:12:22.200 Maybe we should try a little bit less. But we tried both. 160 00:12:22.960 --> 00:12:28.240 We ultimately ended up around twenty eight degrees and our first kind of prototype modeling, 161 00:12:28.279 --> 00:12:31.720 and this is all just based on like verbal discussions, but we were 162 00:12:31.759 --> 00:12:37.039 able to figure out just basically how to create that right banking profile by essentially 163 00:12:37.200 --> 00:12:43.279 the trigonometry, working our way through the track, the existing track, and 164 00:12:43.440 --> 00:12:48.039 reverse engineering it to match their spec once we got some feedback on how that 165 00:12:48.159 --> 00:12:52.960 drove. Because we're able to instantly drive these tracks using of course I racing, 166 00:12:54.600 --> 00:12:58.639 so we gathered feedback from our testers and our really skilled vpas we call 167 00:12:58.720 --> 00:13:05.080 them Vehicle production associates. They're basically the aliens on staff that we have here, 168 00:13:05.519 --> 00:13:09.399 so we got their feedback, we got it over to SMI. They 169 00:13:09.440 --> 00:13:13.679 incorporated that feedback into an actual, like early CAD model of the track. 170 00:13:16.080 --> 00:13:20.639 We were able to take that CAD model and actually directly import it into our 171 00:13:20.679 --> 00:13:24.720 tools and build our geometry onto it. So this was like a more advanced 172 00:13:24.960 --> 00:13:31.519 stage of prototyping. It's not just verbal. Now we're actually iterating their model. 173 00:13:33.000 --> 00:13:35.519 We found some problems with that, some bumps um, some issues that 174 00:13:35.559 --> 00:13:41.399 didn't create great racing, so we got them feedback. The front stretch I 175 00:13:41.440 --> 00:13:45.279 don't had some issues. Turned two had some issues so they got us another 176 00:13:45.320 --> 00:13:50.559 model and we built it again, and it's just an iterative process. We're 177 00:13:50.600 --> 00:13:54.679 set up so well to do it as well because we have those drivers I 178 00:13:54.759 --> 00:14:01.559 mentioned. We have the ability to broadcast as everybody, so we can show 179 00:14:01.799 --> 00:14:07.120 our partners racing like virtual racing, and they can see how the tracks race, 180 00:14:07.720 --> 00:14:13.759 they can adjust their plans, and it just the process throughout the development 181 00:14:13.759 --> 00:14:20.720 of Atlanta I think was incredibly informative to our partners and ended up factoring in 182 00:14:20.840 --> 00:14:28.360 significantly to their their final products, which everybody saw this past month. That's 183 00:14:28.399 --> 00:14:31.720 awesome, Greg. A couple couple of things that to add to that. 184 00:14:31.759 --> 00:14:37.120 One is that we have an article that personally only did that you know, 185 00:14:37.240 --> 00:14:39.279 really in depth on this process. So if anybody's interested, we probably put 186 00:14:39.279 --> 00:14:43.840 a link in the bottom of this or wherever we can put links, right, 187 00:14:43.840 --> 00:14:48.360 Greg. And the other thing is math. Right. You mentioned multiple 188 00:14:48.480 --> 00:14:50.519 times math in there, and the people ask me from time to time how 189 00:14:50.559 --> 00:14:56.919 do I get involved in in the gaming world or the stim world and math? 190 00:14:56.159 --> 00:14:58.720 You know, study math, take math classes, not something I did. 191 00:15:00.000 --> 00:15:01.000 That's why I work on the market side. But if you want to 192 00:15:01.000 --> 00:15:05.919 be a developer, I think that's super important and worthy of sharing. You 193 00:15:05.919 --> 00:15:09.519 know, we do some programs with STEM and things like that, and you 194 00:15:09.559 --> 00:15:15.399 know people you mentioned trigonometry, and a lot of kids think that in high 195 00:15:15.440 --> 00:15:18.279 school. What they say, when will I ever use that? Well, 196 00:15:18.320 --> 00:15:22.240 you could use it making a cool video game or sim So just something I 197 00:15:22.279 --> 00:15:26.200 found interesting that people may not think of when they think of all, I'm 198 00:15:26.200 --> 00:15:31.279 just going to go play a game. Absolutely, we've got I mean staff 199 00:15:31.320 --> 00:15:35.399 members with all sorts of expertise in various areas. I mean mathematical backgrounds, 200 00:15:37.240 --> 00:15:43.720 mechanical engineering backgrounds, UM actual just race car knowledge from the real world. 201 00:15:46.120 --> 00:15:50.679 Just this really great, diverse group who have come together combined all of our 202 00:15:50.720 --> 00:15:56.559 knowledge to create this great product. And it's certainly true that nowadays UM people 203 00:15:56.559 --> 00:16:03.559 are looking to get into simulation or gaming to eventually become a developer, have 204 00:16:03.679 --> 00:16:07.320 more tools at their disposal than they've ever had in the past. With me 205 00:16:07.360 --> 00:16:12.080 in schools dedicated to these fields, and it's kind of a new age compared 206 00:16:12.120 --> 00:16:15.879 to I mean when I got into the industry. Well, Atlanta is not 207 00:16:15.919 --> 00:16:21.440 the only development project that we've been working with very closely with NASCAR we just 208 00:16:21.480 --> 00:16:25.679 watched last night. Actually from the time that we're recording this. We had 209 00:16:25.679 --> 00:16:30.279 the the E NASCAR Coca Cola Eye Racing Series at Chicago, and that was 210 00:16:30.320 --> 00:16:36.799 a big project for us as well. How amazing was that that was similar 211 00:16:37.120 --> 00:16:41.120 to our Atlanta project and that it was kind of like initially a skunk works 212 00:16:41.120 --> 00:16:47.120 project that we're working on with NASCAR in this case, and it went through 213 00:16:47.399 --> 00:16:53.360 a real iterative design process that led to us honing in on the layout that 214 00:16:53.440 --> 00:16:57.240 you guys saw on the Cooke broadcast last night and people will see next year 215 00:16:57.279 --> 00:17:03.519 in the real world. What was front here is that we actually went and 216 00:17:03.559 --> 00:17:08.519 did some laser scanning before prototyping out the layouts, and we knew the general 217 00:17:08.519 --> 00:17:15.160 neighborhood that NASCAR hoped to run this race in together with the cooperation of Chicago. 218 00:17:17.279 --> 00:17:21.480 We knew some prospective roads that they expect they thought might work well for 219 00:17:21.960 --> 00:17:26.039 racing, but we weren't sure. So what we did was we sent out 220 00:17:26.039 --> 00:17:32.200 a scan crew and we overscanned. We scanned all the roads in that area 221 00:17:32.519 --> 00:17:36.400 because we knew we'd have one shot at it and we didn't want to miss 222 00:17:36.400 --> 00:17:40.960 a road that turned out to be important. And I'm glad that we did 223 00:17:41.000 --> 00:17:48.519 that because we ultimately ended up with something very different than the original proposal and 224 00:17:48.880 --> 00:17:56.759 one and basically the configuration that we ended up with used those roads that wouldn't 225 00:17:56.920 --> 00:18:02.400 weren't planned for initially. I think we ended up with a far more raceable 226 00:18:02.400 --> 00:18:07.480 track and we had a lot of issues to work around once we actually had 227 00:18:07.559 --> 00:18:11.960 the data that led us to make those decisions. It was really hard to 228 00:18:12.039 --> 00:18:17.519 know just conceptually how it would play out until we had that data and we 229 00:18:17.519 --> 00:18:22.920 were running our testers out on the track, getting speeds for the straightaways, 230 00:18:22.960 --> 00:18:29.079 seeing how bumpy the surfaces were, understanding how the cars would navigate those bumps, 231 00:18:29.240 --> 00:18:34.400 or understanding if the city, with cooperation of NASCAR would actually have to 232 00:18:34.440 --> 00:18:40.920 do some some patching of some bumpy areas or maybe some trimming of some curbs. 233 00:18:41.640 --> 00:18:45.160 So first that first iteration, before the smoothing, I was a very 234 00:18:45.240 --> 00:18:49.839 special experience trying to wrestle at one of the next ten cars around where just 235 00:18:51.119 --> 00:18:53.920 you couldn't get grip. You just said you were always losing the rear end 236 00:18:53.920 --> 00:18:59.240 because you're just bouncing everywhere. It was. It was a wild ride for 237 00:18:59.319 --> 00:19:04.839 sure, And for one of the bumpier parts was Lakeshore Drive, which in 238 00:19:04.880 --> 00:19:11.279 the original iteration was substantially longer than what we ended up with, so the 239 00:19:11.359 --> 00:19:17.680 speeds were higher and it was bumpier. So I believe we solved that in 240 00:19:17.720 --> 00:19:22.960 a decent way. And really the end product is awesome. It watching it 241 00:19:22.079 --> 00:19:27.799 last night on the Coke broadcast, it just it looked amazing. When they 242 00:19:29.119 --> 00:19:33.039 run there in the real world next year, it's gonna look amazing. And 243 00:19:33.079 --> 00:19:36.680 we're just so excited to have worked on the project with NASCAR and to see 244 00:19:36.680 --> 00:19:42.599 it finally yield something in the real world that's gonna the benefit NASCAR and motorsports 245 00:19:42.599 --> 00:19:47.519 in general. Yeah. And once again, we've had so many development projects 246 00:19:47.519 --> 00:19:48.839 that have been working in concert with each other. I mean, the one 247 00:19:48.880 --> 00:19:52.119 that I guess the other one that has really been at the front of mine 248 00:19:52.480 --> 00:19:56.880 was the updated Indianapolis road Course. There's an opportunity really to talk about to 249 00:19:57.240 --> 00:20:02.200 talk about how exciting is for that community that's been begging for it, but 250 00:20:02.240 --> 00:20:06.640 also maybe to explain, you know, what's coming down the pipe regarding regarding 251 00:20:06.640 --> 00:20:11.279 that track, right, Yeah, well, um, Indianapolis getting that out 252 00:20:11.359 --> 00:20:15.559 in time for this year's running, the kind of the doubleheader IndyCar and NASCAR 253 00:20:15.599 --> 00:20:22.400 were there last weekend was something we wanted to do, but we didn't have 254 00:20:22.440 --> 00:20:27.559 the the staffing available to really jump on it until Atlanta was shipped. And 255 00:20:27.640 --> 00:20:32.920 as you guys know, Atlanta was shipped recently, and that's a tall order 256 00:20:32.960 --> 00:20:37.960 to turn around Indianapolis, and basically we had a month to do so. 257 00:20:38.200 --> 00:20:45.000 But we we took some strategic approaches that basically gave us the opportunity. We 258 00:20:45.119 --> 00:20:52.440 put all four of our track builders on it, modeling small sections and using 259 00:20:52.480 --> 00:20:56.559 our track tools, we were able to cobble those pieces together into one larger, 260 00:20:56.480 --> 00:21:03.119 comprehensive track model. We selectively upgraded some of the artwork at the track 261 00:21:03.200 --> 00:21:07.960 for the scenery. We entirely upgraded the drivable surfaces and the catch fencing, 262 00:21:08.000 --> 00:21:12.200 things like that, and we were able to pull it off. We shipped 263 00:21:12.240 --> 00:21:17.400 the road course in that build. We really had to focus on that and 264 00:21:18.400 --> 00:21:22.000 from here on out we're going to focus on completing the remaining configs and for 265 00:21:22.079 --> 00:21:26.359 sure shipt the oval in September. Excellent. Well, let's talk a little 266 00:21:26.400 --> 00:21:32.039 bit about some upcoming features. I would not be able to live down Twitter 267 00:21:32.160 --> 00:21:34.759 or the forums if I did not ask you about rain. They would not 268 00:21:34.880 --> 00:21:37.640 let me sleep, So I've got to ask where we at, Well, 269 00:21:37.680 --> 00:21:45.319 how's how are things going in the waterworks at I Racing, Well, Rain 270 00:21:45.640 --> 00:21:51.319 rain is quite the project. It's a whole team initiative. Really. It 271 00:21:51.440 --> 00:21:56.440 touches on every area of the product that you can imagine. Our our dynamic 272 00:21:56.480 --> 00:22:07.240 track engineers are artists, our vehicle dynamics engineers, the tire physics are visual 273 00:22:07.240 --> 00:22:14.720 effects artists, our web engineers who need to develop the interfaces. So really 274 00:22:14.720 --> 00:22:18.720 it's all hands on deck. We've all been working at this for the last 275 00:22:18.720 --> 00:22:22.759 couple of years. That said, of course, we're balancing that with other 276 00:22:22.799 --> 00:22:29.359 projects, but we've made a ton of progress since we last spoke about this, 277 00:22:30.359 --> 00:22:36.400 oh about a year ago, and we're getting really close to having something 278 00:22:36.519 --> 00:22:41.759 great. That said, there's more work that needs to be done to get 279 00:22:41.799 --> 00:22:45.799 it up to our standards. I mean, oftentimes it's it's said at irasing 280 00:22:45.799 --> 00:22:52.359 that we can fall victim to over engineering our features, and that's true certainly 281 00:22:52.440 --> 00:22:56.440 to a degree perhaps with our rain, but we want to make sure that 282 00:22:56.519 --> 00:23:00.640 we do it right and that it's the best rain in leamentation and meets members 283 00:23:00.720 --> 00:23:08.920 expectations, customers expectations, and really that it's a phenomenal experience that it adds, 284 00:23:10.359 --> 00:23:15.519 it's to the racing experience of our customers and creates a new element, 285 00:23:15.640 --> 00:23:21.200 of course that we wouldn't deal with in the past, new strategies, and 286 00:23:21.680 --> 00:23:26.640 it's gonna be phenomenal. So keep keep stay tuned, stay tuned. For 287 00:23:26.680 --> 00:23:33.319 sure, we'll have more updates soon and it's gonna be awesome. Pashtags, 288 00:23:33.640 --> 00:23:37.079 I'm sorry. So to clarify, we're not just grabbing the old grip slider 289 00:23:37.079 --> 00:23:40.720 and pulling it down when it rains. No, no, it's not like 290 00:23:41.559 --> 00:23:45.440 No, for sure, that would have gotten it out the door quite quickly 291 00:23:45.519 --> 00:23:52.240 grip times like point five. But we're physically modeling so much that goes on 292 00:23:52.319 --> 00:23:59.480 in the real world with the weather, the atmosphere, how rain actually is 293 00:23:59.559 --> 00:24:07.039 created, did the mix of humidity and atmospherics that are required, the location 294 00:24:07.119 --> 00:24:12.200 of the track, the altitude of the track, the historical data that kind 295 00:24:12.200 --> 00:24:18.079 of sets precedence for how weather works in those regions. Additionally, how the 296 00:24:18.200 --> 00:24:23.200 race cars handle the wet track, the various levels of wetness, the tire 297 00:24:23.279 --> 00:24:29.440 tread, and how the tire kind of deals with water and expels water through 298 00:24:29.440 --> 00:24:37.240 its channels, how the racetrack itself changes significantly based on whether it's dry or 299 00:24:37.279 --> 00:24:41.799 whether it's wet. I won't dive too much into detail on that. Some 300 00:24:42.279 --> 00:24:45.839 special sauce we're still working on, but for sure, in the real world, 301 00:24:45.880 --> 00:24:49.000 if you go to a race track in the dry, you're not going 302 00:24:49.039 --> 00:24:52.680 to be able to approach it the same way as in the wet, So 303 00:24:52.799 --> 00:24:57.319 get ready for that. Well, nice nice segue speaking of approaching things in 304 00:24:57.359 --> 00:25:02.920 the same way. A new feature that we're planning for release in September, 305 00:25:03.200 --> 00:25:07.200 hopefully I didn't just jinx it, but active reset. This was kind of 306 00:25:07.200 --> 00:25:11.079 your brain child, I believe, and that really Uh, we'll let you 307 00:25:11.119 --> 00:25:17.279 introduce what exactly does that do? Yeah, well you could say that as 308 00:25:17.319 --> 00:25:18.880 my brain child. I thought it was a cool, original idea. But 309 00:25:19.319 --> 00:25:22.079 when I proposed it, I brought it up to this engineer, Grant, 310 00:25:22.359 --> 00:25:25.279 who's one of our key guys, and he's like, oh, yeah, 311 00:25:25.279 --> 00:25:29.799 I designed that in nineteen ninety as a mod for I Forget Grand Free Legends 312 00:25:29.880 --> 00:25:33.599 or something. And then I when we announced it in a podcast the other 313 00:25:33.640 --> 00:25:34.680 week, a bunch of our members were like, oh, yeah, I've 314 00:25:34.720 --> 00:25:41.039 wanted that forever. So regardless, it's gonna be cool. Grant voice. 315 00:25:41.079 --> 00:25:45.240 Did you just do Grant Kiwi in there? I think was there? It 316 00:25:45.319 --> 00:25:49.960 was great? Yeah, yeah, Grants from Nick? Sure day job there, 317 00:25:51.000 --> 00:25:52.359 Greg. So I don't know if you're going to do a voiceovers for 318 00:25:52.480 --> 00:25:59.000 anybody. Some of us have been known to try Grant voices, that's for 319 00:25:59.079 --> 00:26:06.839 sure. So what active Reset is essentially is it is a system that will, 320 00:26:07.039 --> 00:26:12.400 in testing mode, allow our racers our drivers to capture a moment in 321 00:26:12.480 --> 00:26:19.759 time and continue along down the track as they might have otherwise, and then 322 00:26:21.279 --> 00:26:25.079 hit another button that will return them to that exact moment of time, with 323 00:26:25.119 --> 00:26:27.720 all the state of their race car in the world around them being the same. 324 00:26:27.799 --> 00:26:30.319 Now, you might ask why would they want to do that, Well, 325 00:26:30.480 --> 00:26:37.720 there's a number of reasons, but one of the biggest reasons is learning. 326 00:26:37.839 --> 00:26:41.359 I mean, to learn a race track is really hard and not all 327 00:26:41.359 --> 00:26:48.440 of us have infinite time. So this feature will give people the opportunity to 328 00:26:48.799 --> 00:26:53.640 practice sections of race tracks over and over again. Imagine you're at the Nurburging 329 00:26:53.720 --> 00:26:57.759 Norche Life for example, do you really want to put in a seven minute 330 00:26:57.799 --> 00:27:02.880 lap when you might only have a half hour to spare for I racing on 331 00:27:03.200 --> 00:27:08.200 a given evening to learn one particular section that you have trouble with. So 332 00:27:08.240 --> 00:27:14.240 this will be a great tool for people to improve. You could practice different 333 00:27:14.240 --> 00:27:17.599 things like getting off onto pit road, getting off of pit road. It 334 00:27:17.640 --> 00:27:22.599 doesn't even have to be sections of the racetrack or even the purposes that we're 335 00:27:22.640 --> 00:27:26.400 thinking of. I'm sure people will come up with purposes and uses on their 336 00:27:26.400 --> 00:27:29.720 own. We figured out how to use it as an internal tool already, 337 00:27:30.920 --> 00:27:34.079 especially with all the iterative stuff that we've been working on. It came to 338 00:27:34.160 --> 00:27:38.079 light for us internally at just the right time. Yeah, that was really 339 00:27:38.119 --> 00:27:41.480 smart, and it's saved some time on the production end, and well that 340 00:27:41.559 --> 00:27:51.599 will result in faster delivery to all our drivers and customers. We are building 341 00:27:51.640 --> 00:27:56.880 this feature not only to be what I described, but also to be the 342 00:27:56.920 --> 00:28:02.359 foundation for a much larger offering. Um. I'm not going to dive too 343 00:28:02.440 --> 00:28:06.119 much in detail on what that might be, but I think people can connect 344 00:28:06.119 --> 00:28:10.799 the dots on some ways we might some directions we might go with, um, 345 00:28:11.759 --> 00:28:19.440 experiences that can be played over and over again, and situations we might 346 00:28:19.480 --> 00:28:26.200 put people through for both learning and entertainment. Well, Twitter is going to 347 00:28:26.240 --> 00:28:30.119 be fun after this, Yeah, that's a pretty good tease though. I 348 00:28:30.160 --> 00:28:33.160 like it. Yeah, that was that was great. But all right, 349 00:28:33.240 --> 00:28:34.839 let's move on a little bit. Now, this is a this is where 350 00:28:34.880 --> 00:28:37.920 we do the like the Diane Sawyer in Deep you know, see if we 351 00:28:37.960 --> 00:28:41.160 can make you cry. No, I'm kidding. Uh, Let's talk about 352 00:28:41.200 --> 00:28:45.400 your story. You know, you and Steve Myers have a really interesting story. 353 00:28:45.559 --> 00:28:52.440 How you got involved with with was was before I racing, even with 354 00:28:52.480 --> 00:28:59.079 Papyrus and whatnot. And you know, you guys started absolutely lowest possible level 355 00:29:00.200 --> 00:29:04.279 and worked your ways up into being you know, a tandem that is really 356 00:29:04.880 --> 00:29:08.839 driven what eye Racing is today in conjunction with some other people as well. 357 00:29:10.480 --> 00:29:14.079 Um, but it's a it's an excellent story of seeing you know, how 358 00:29:14.119 --> 00:29:18.079 somebody can you know, your career and how you've developed is pretty cool. 359 00:29:18.319 --> 00:29:19.680 So let's let's talk through this and just kind of roll with you know, 360 00:29:19.759 --> 00:29:25.920 how how did you get started in this crazy career years? Oh yeah, 361 00:29:26.039 --> 00:29:30.119 sure, Um, there's a lot to unpack there, but I'll try to 362 00:29:30.640 --> 00:29:34.319 try to do it justice. And it was for sure, um, not 363 00:29:34.359 --> 00:29:41.039 just myself, but a lot of people were on this path that really helps 364 00:29:41.119 --> 00:29:45.759 with my growth and the trajectory I took. But really um. From the 365 00:29:45.759 --> 00:29:49.440 time I was a kid, I was a kind of lifelong gamer and simulation 366 00:29:49.519 --> 00:29:56.400 fan. Um and I I mean I grew up um like idolizing, you 367 00:29:56.400 --> 00:30:00.559 know, the big back in that era that we're like game designers that were 368 00:30:00.599 --> 00:30:08.559 like celebrities like Miyamoto and John Carmack and all those guys. So I grew 369 00:30:08.640 --> 00:30:14.319 up wanting to become a game developer. I was super into gaming. I 370 00:30:15.200 --> 00:30:19.279 played tons of games growing up, of all types. I was into racing 371 00:30:19.319 --> 00:30:26.839 games, shooters, some less serious games, some more serious games. I 372 00:30:26.920 --> 00:30:30.799 was like, I don't know if you guys remember Hard Driving, the old 373 00:30:30.960 --> 00:30:36.240 arcade game. I played the heck out of that. M Jaguar x J 374 00:30:36.440 --> 00:30:40.319 two twenty was one of my favorites growing up, all the way through to 375 00:30:40.400 --> 00:30:45.200 the more kind of like Arcady Ridge Racer. On the more simulation side, 376 00:30:45.240 --> 00:30:48.920 I was a big fan of like F one seventeen a Stealth Fighter if you 377 00:30:48.960 --> 00:30:56.240 guys remember that, and the Jane's combat simulations. Yeah, just all all 378 00:30:56.319 --> 00:31:00.359 kinds of gaming simulation. It was a geek for growing up, and I 379 00:31:00.400 --> 00:31:06.279 was lucky my parents gave me the support and the they got me the mac. 380 00:31:06.400 --> 00:31:10.759 They got me the SEGA. It's let me follow that those passions. 381 00:31:11.400 --> 00:31:18.799 UM. When I got into college, UM, I was really into competitive 382 00:31:18.920 --> 00:31:23.880 online gaming. That's the late nineties where that kind of scene was really starting 383 00:31:23.920 --> 00:31:32.359 to blossom with shooters in particular, UM, at least when it comes to 384 00:31:32.400 --> 00:31:38.240 like team competition, and there were like essentially it was the To me, 385 00:31:38.279 --> 00:31:45.440 it felt like the foundation of esports and in many ways with the beginning of 386 00:31:45.480 --> 00:31:51.079 the trajectory for where we are today with esports like competition systems, UM, 387 00:31:51.920 --> 00:31:57.160 ranking systems, UM basically rules to keep people accountable. UM. So I 388 00:31:57.240 --> 00:32:01.799 was involved a lot in that. During that time. I was a computer 389 00:32:01.880 --> 00:32:08.880 science major at BU Boston University, and I also worked at electronics boutique in 390 00:32:10.160 --> 00:32:14.440 the Watertown mall at the time. It was one of those in every mall 391 00:32:14.480 --> 00:32:16.559 across America back in the day. Right for sure, spent a lot of 392 00:32:16.559 --> 00:32:22.880 time in those but in this capacity I was stocking shelves. But it was 393 00:32:22.920 --> 00:32:30.160 a great, really stroke of luck that this location was kind of the hub 394 00:32:30.279 --> 00:32:37.279 for employees of Looking Glass Studios. If anybody remembers them, they made the 395 00:32:37.279 --> 00:32:44.279 Thief games and dou Sax and Impressions games and this company called Papyrus Racing Games. 396 00:32:44.960 --> 00:32:49.880 Those folks all bought their games at this EB Games, and I was 397 00:32:49.960 --> 00:32:53.240 kind of like the PC gaming guy at EB Games, and I became friendly 398 00:32:53.279 --> 00:32:58.160 with, I mean some folks at each of these studios, and I managed 399 00:32:58.200 --> 00:33:02.799 to talk my way into a job doing QA at Papyrus. It's just a 400 00:33:02.880 --> 00:33:09.240 kid, basically, um, but I was fortunate and I got the opportunity 401 00:33:09.359 --> 00:33:16.119 basically like an internship, and spent the summer finding bugs, reporting issues, 402 00:33:17.440 --> 00:33:23.920 passed, pestering people with things I found. I know how that feels. 403 00:33:24.480 --> 00:33:30.319 Yeah. I was really fortunate though, because I think maybe more than I 404 00:33:30.359 --> 00:33:38.079 should have. I really tried to understand game development, and I bugged programmers, 405 00:33:38.079 --> 00:33:44.039 I bugged artists, I bugged the production folks, and really tried to 406 00:33:44.119 --> 00:33:52.160 understand how they do what they do, just beyond QA. And that led 407 00:33:52.200 --> 00:33:55.960 to future opportunities for sure. The next summer, after another semester or a 408 00:33:55.960 --> 00:34:01.200 couple of semesters of college, I came back, tinued pestering people, learning 409 00:34:01.279 --> 00:34:06.920 more and more until I was able to convince them to bring me on full 410 00:34:06.960 --> 00:34:14.000 time, which thank goodness, they did, so I kind of from there, 411 00:34:15.480 --> 00:34:22.159 taking some opportunities fighting for some opportunities finding my way to to do different 412 00:34:22.159 --> 00:34:25.599 things kind of outside the scope of QA. I learned how to like make 413 00:34:25.679 --> 00:34:31.480 race tracks with my computer science background. I mean, I'm not a coder. 414 00:34:32.280 --> 00:34:36.440 I didn't really think I'd end up being a coder, but it gave 415 00:34:36.480 --> 00:34:40.400 me a good foundation to talk with those folks for sure, and I had 416 00:34:40.440 --> 00:34:47.840 some really good guidance from mentors when it comes to design and how to design 417 00:34:47.880 --> 00:34:55.000 a game system or how to document how a technical document essentially. So really, 418 00:34:55.000 --> 00:34:59.760 I had the support of a lot of awesome folks throughout that process. 419 00:35:00.400 --> 00:35:06.559 UM. For we mentioned Steve so Steve is one of my most longest term 420 00:35:06.760 --> 00:35:12.280 UH associates. We go all almost all the way back. He also joined 421 00:35:12.760 --> 00:35:20.280 Papyrus as a QA tester and he also, like myself UH pushed to constantly 422 00:35:20.320 --> 00:35:25.159 try to learn new skills and take on new things. And between the two 423 00:35:25.159 --> 00:35:30.880 of us and some other folks, for sure, UM really QA became the 424 00:35:30.920 --> 00:35:37.159 farm team for for future developers and UM, which is awesome. That's how 425 00:35:37.199 --> 00:35:42.360 a lot of people kind of become developers historically, and now we're seeing it 426 00:35:42.400 --> 00:35:49.440 even at I Racing. UM We're we've got a super talented crew of QA 427 00:35:49.440 --> 00:35:53.199 folk and um some of them have have started to actually become many developers, 428 00:35:53.760 --> 00:35:59.039 uh and full well full on developers, which has been amazing and rewarding to 429 00:35:59.079 --> 00:36:02.519 see. You have to have a good QA Steve Meyer's story. You know, 430 00:36:02.599 --> 00:36:08.599 everybody knows Steve is his Twitter personality and you know the big personality that 431 00:36:08.639 --> 00:36:13.880 he has. You gotta have a good one, oh for sure. Steve 432 00:36:13.960 --> 00:36:19.000 and I are co workers, collaborators, We've we've been in this together since 433 00:36:19.039 --> 00:36:24.679 almost the beginning. We've been through thick and thin, hard times and good 434 00:36:24.719 --> 00:36:30.840 times throughout Gosh, how long has it been? Uh, I'm I think 435 00:36:30.880 --> 00:36:34.559 I'm really old now that I think about this. It's like working with Steve 436 00:36:34.639 --> 00:36:39.000 Mayers will do that to you. Yeah, that's certainly true. I think 437 00:36:39.320 --> 00:36:47.079 late nineties. So Steve also joined Papyrus like I did as UM a QA 438 00:36:47.159 --> 00:36:53.000 tester m. But he was also kind of aggressive, like I was trying 439 00:36:53.000 --> 00:37:00.559 to fight for opportunities to try more things, and we're both lucky the company 440 00:37:00.679 --> 00:37:06.559 was up for it gave us those opportunities. I remember one of his first 441 00:37:06.599 --> 00:37:13.480 really big kind of production projects that wasn't QA but was actually development, was 442 00:37:13.639 --> 00:37:24.159 the design and implementation of driving lessons or track tutorials for NASCAR Racing two thousand 443 00:37:24.159 --> 00:37:31.559 and two. We built this really awesome in sim in game tutorial editor, 444 00:37:34.679 --> 00:37:42.159 and Steve was tasked with basically creating the guides. So we were fortunate enough 445 00:37:42.199 --> 00:37:49.559 to get the participation of Daryl Waltrip and get a basically Daryl to read our 446 00:37:49.599 --> 00:37:53.320 scripts and provide us with the material for those, and Steve's job was to 447 00:37:53.360 --> 00:37:59.000 cut up all those clips into those lessons. Now, we had a lot 448 00:37:59.039 --> 00:38:07.199 of racetracks and that added up to a lot of dialogue. So Steve spent 449 00:38:07.440 --> 00:38:12.880 just days weeks months cutting that up, listening to Darryl every day, all 450 00:38:12.960 --> 00:38:17.480 day. And Daryl was awesome. We were lucky to have him, but 451 00:38:17.639 --> 00:38:23.920 Steve, hearing anybody's singular voice all day, every day for weeks at a 452 00:38:23.960 --> 00:38:29.039 time can kind of kind of drive one mad. And I think it kind 453 00:38:29.079 --> 00:38:31.360 of drove Steve a little mad. He got a little loopy towards the end 454 00:38:31.400 --> 00:38:37.119 there, um, but he persevered and those were really cool. Cool A 455 00:38:37.119 --> 00:38:43.320 Southern draw after that, note Steve, and the Southern draw scares that is 456 00:38:43.360 --> 00:38:51.159 frightening. Um geez. Another one, I think it was NASCAR two thousand 457 00:38:51.760 --> 00:38:58.639 jeez, I'm losing track of time. But the Patriots were in the playoffs 458 00:38:58.719 --> 00:39:02.960 the Snowball game. It also came at a time when we were in basically 459 00:39:04.079 --> 00:39:09.280 crunch towards the completion of one of our box titles, because back then we 460 00:39:09.320 --> 00:39:15.119 worked on box titles. Every year we'd push out a basically a version of 461 00:39:15.119 --> 00:39:22.440 software. And well, we were all Patriots fans, and the QA manager 462 00:39:22.559 --> 00:39:24.920 wanted us to well, this is a little rebellious what I'm staying saying here. 463 00:39:25.079 --> 00:39:29.559 The QA manager wanted us to late at night on a snowy day to 464 00:39:30.039 --> 00:39:35.000 be doing smoke tests. But the freaking Patriots were playing in the Raiders in 465 00:39:35.079 --> 00:39:38.440 the snow Bowl game. And well, Steve said, hell no, We're 466 00:39:38.440 --> 00:39:46.760 gonna watch the Snowball game. So he got our whole crew basically the leverage 467 00:39:47.079 --> 00:39:52.840 or the the ability to go watch that game instead of loading up track after 468 00:39:52.840 --> 00:39:58.639 track after track for four hours until we fall asleep under our desks. It's 469 00:39:58.639 --> 00:40:00.280 pretty awesome. We're gonna happen. Let the rest of the staff here, 470 00:40:00.280 --> 00:40:02.840 there's yeah, they're going to rebel against you and Steve now and be like, 471 00:40:04.079 --> 00:40:08.639 we're not going to test out that edit this out, please but yeah, 472 00:40:08.679 --> 00:40:13.960 that was that was crazy. UM. Now I mentioned that crunch, 473 00:40:14.239 --> 00:40:19.960 Um that was a different era, so well, maybe not for gaming in 474 00:40:20.320 --> 00:40:23.840 general, but for us for sure. Back then we used to exist as 475 00:40:23.920 --> 00:40:30.719 everybody knows, box product to box product, UM NASCAR three, NASCAR four, 476 00:40:30.800 --> 00:40:31.960 NASCAR two thousand two, NASCAR two thousand and three, et cetera, 477 00:40:32.360 --> 00:40:39.719 UM call Nascar legends. And it was rough because we were owned by a 478 00:40:39.840 --> 00:40:46.000 publisher, UH, and that publisher, Opera ran Papyrus essentially like you read 479 00:40:46.039 --> 00:40:52.519 about many publishers run game developers, game development studios these days. They staff 480 00:40:52.599 --> 00:41:00.199 them up in pre production, they work everybody hard, um too hard um, 481 00:41:00.199 --> 00:41:05.599 and then the game drops and they they fire a great number of them. 482 00:41:05.920 --> 00:41:10.239 And unfortunately that was actually kind of the last several years of Pyrus were 483 00:41:10.280 --> 00:41:15.519 like that. We would work on these these new products, We come up 484 00:41:15.559 --> 00:41:20.559 with the designs, we do the pre production build up, the staff work 485 00:41:20.679 --> 00:41:25.880 like crazy, and then ship it and then bam, the shoe would drop 486 00:41:25.920 --> 00:41:30.400 and we'd lose a whole bunch of our fellow developers, our friends. And 487 00:41:30.440 --> 00:41:37.079 it was hard and it was demoralizing at times to try to like make good 488 00:41:37.119 --> 00:41:40.880 product while navigating that. UM. I mean, we persevered. Steve and 489 00:41:40.920 --> 00:41:49.079 I managed to nimbly dodge a number of these layoffs. Many of our friends 490 00:41:49.159 --> 00:41:54.400 didn't. But it was really that experience when we formed I Racing and after 491 00:41:54.480 --> 00:41:59.320 Papyrus had been shut down, it was really important to us and to Dave 492 00:41:59.360 --> 00:42:05.280 and to to all of us to create a sustainable culture where we didn't run 493 00:42:05.320 --> 00:42:10.960 iRacing like that like the publishers ran some other game studios. So I don't 494 00:42:12.000 --> 00:42:16.199 we work super hard at iRacing. We're I mean, we're always pushing UM, 495 00:42:16.440 --> 00:42:20.480 but we've what we've built. We knew it had to be sustainable because 496 00:42:20.639 --> 00:42:23.360 the iRacing product, as we all know, is sustainable, and it's something 497 00:42:23.400 --> 00:42:29.440 that's um needs to be worked on by people that really care and who are 498 00:42:29.480 --> 00:42:34.159 passionate about it. So hopefully we've built a good culture here. I think 499 00:42:34.199 --> 00:42:37.960 we have UM, but certainly part of that was informed by previous experience in 500 00:42:38.000 --> 00:42:42.320 the in the industry. Now, I'm not just saying this because you're here, 501 00:42:42.320 --> 00:42:44.480 but iyan, I can I feel like I speak for a lot of 502 00:42:44.519 --> 00:42:47.000 people. The cultured at I Racing is fantastic. It is interesting, especially 503 00:42:47.000 --> 00:42:53.239 coming from my background where people relentlessly pursued excellence on a daily basis, and 504 00:42:53.320 --> 00:42:59.239 I was given some mentorship as I transition from an athletic life into a professional 505 00:42:59.280 --> 00:43:02.000 life that that won't always be the case. And you come in eye Racing 506 00:43:02.320 --> 00:43:07.119 and for the most part it is. And that makes life a little bit 507 00:43:07.159 --> 00:43:12.280 easier because everybody here really cares. This is not just a job to people. 508 00:43:12.480 --> 00:43:16.880 Everybody owns what they're working on, and so it's really cool to see. 509 00:43:19.000 --> 00:43:23.920 So you moved out of QA, You've started to grab some other responsibilities 510 00:43:24.039 --> 00:43:29.760 or skills I should say, not as a responsibilities. And right about this 511 00:43:29.880 --> 00:43:34.239 you're talking about this is about the time, you know, Papyrus was shutting 512 00:43:34.280 --> 00:43:37.199 down and eye Racing was opening up. So what did that look like from 513 00:43:37.199 --> 00:43:45.360 your lens? Well at that point, I Well, the thing is with 514 00:43:45.199 --> 00:43:51.119 iRacing, the foundation of I Racing was with John and Dave's backing, we 515 00:43:51.119 --> 00:43:57.320 were able to successfully purchase the source code for the basically GPL NASCAR racing codebase, 516 00:43:57.760 --> 00:44:00.119 so we already knew that some of the skills that we've been building up 517 00:44:00.400 --> 00:44:07.159 over the years that papirrates would be applicable. So one of my first tasks 518 00:44:07.400 --> 00:44:14.599 was to essentially build up in art department together with some really talented actually moters 519 00:44:14.639 --> 00:44:21.239 that we hired, these Project Wildfire guys who were matters of our product because 520 00:44:21.239 --> 00:44:23.960 of actually a decision Steve made to release and it turned out to be a 521 00:44:24.000 --> 00:44:30.679 great decision to release our sandbox tool, which is our track building tool, 522 00:44:30.559 --> 00:44:35.360 to the community, and through that we learned of some really talented artists and 523 00:44:35.400 --> 00:44:39.719 matters who we later hired, so together with them kind of formed the initial 524 00:44:40.639 --> 00:44:46.760 art department and how we would make tracks and laser scanning and things like that 525 00:44:46.800 --> 00:44:51.960 flowed from that. A lot of what I did also in the year early 526 00:44:52.079 --> 00:44:58.840 years was building on some of the design stuff that I picked up at Papyrus 527 00:44:58.880 --> 00:45:05.679 and actually working with Dave to build out and John and Steve whole bunch of 528 00:45:05.760 --> 00:45:10.360 us. But in terms of documentation, I took on basically documenting what is 529 00:45:10.400 --> 00:45:15.159 iRacing, how does iRacing work, what do the interfaces look like, how 530 00:45:15.199 --> 00:45:19.920 does the user interact with them? I guess if we were to talk about 531 00:45:19.920 --> 00:45:23.960 it in today's terms, it kind of be user experience and systems designed, 532 00:45:25.840 --> 00:45:31.599 and in some shape or fashion that turned out turned into what became the member 533 00:45:31.679 --> 00:45:42.159 site and really the foundation of how iRacing works with competition and how people find 534 00:45:42.239 --> 00:45:50.280 races and all of that, so balancing that with art, which is one 535 00:45:50.280 --> 00:45:58.800 of my passions, and production still involved with that. I mean, those 536 00:45:58.840 --> 00:46:04.960 were the first few years. Really I've always been involved with or try to 537 00:46:05.000 --> 00:46:09.599 stay involved with our programmers and working with them to make sure that. I 538 00:46:09.639 --> 00:46:14.400 meant, tons of these projects that we work on with coders like are overlapping, 539 00:46:14.480 --> 00:46:20.639 like production and coders need to collaborate together. So I certainly evolved myself 540 00:46:20.679 --> 00:46:24.199 a lot and that making sure that our production team had the support from the 541 00:46:24.239 --> 00:46:29.440 coders and the couders understood what the production team needed also in terms of features, 542 00:46:30.880 --> 00:46:35.199 so I kind of put myself in the middle of various departments and making 543 00:46:35.239 --> 00:46:38.360 sure that everybody has what they need to be successful and planning and all of 544 00:46:38.360 --> 00:46:43.599 that. Of course, there's a lot more to it than that, a 545 00:46:43.639 --> 00:46:47.000 lot of people involved in that, but just touching on my experiences, that's 546 00:46:47.000 --> 00:46:52.800 where I spent a lot of time. And then I guess I've fast forward, 547 00:46:52.360 --> 00:46:59.320 you know you have now and most recently got the big promotion executive producer 548 00:46:59.719 --> 00:47:05.079 of I Racing. I mean that's got a I mean, looking back over 549 00:47:05.119 --> 00:47:07.960 the last you know what twenty five years. Like I said at the beginning 550 00:47:07.960 --> 00:47:10.280 of this, even before we went on the air, that is it's a 551 00:47:10.320 --> 00:47:15.199 really cool story about how you know, doing things the hard way and doing 552 00:47:15.239 --> 00:47:20.079 things the right way and can pay dividends. Oh yeah, for sure. 553 00:47:20.239 --> 00:47:24.519 Um, it was a hard road. I'm it is super It's fulfilling to 554 00:47:24.719 --> 00:47:30.519 be working at this company in any capacity and what we're working on is just 555 00:47:30.559 --> 00:47:36.239 so special. But yeah, I'm lucky to be contributing in the role I 556 00:47:36.280 --> 00:47:44.039 am contributing in and surrounded by such talented people, smart people, I mean 557 00:47:44.159 --> 00:47:51.000 smart, artistically brilliant people. It's just awesome. And to be able to 558 00:47:51.039 --> 00:47:54.519 see from the the role I'm in, I get to kind of see a 559 00:47:54.519 --> 00:48:00.440 little bit of all of that, which is really cool because every day there's 560 00:48:00.440 --> 00:48:06.559 a new challenge that people are working on, and every day is fresh, 561 00:48:06.679 --> 00:48:09.119 So it's it's awesome. Like I guess, as you said, Greg, 562 00:48:10.840 --> 00:48:15.639 I mean, it's kind of been a journey and kind of something I hope 563 00:48:15.639 --> 00:48:21.239 to always do and hoping to continue doing as long as I do a great 564 00:48:21.320 --> 00:48:24.599 job and keep things going in the right direction. Well, I'd say things 565 00:48:24.599 --> 00:48:28.280 have been going pretty well. But thank you for making the time for us 566 00:48:28.280 --> 00:48:30.920 today. This has been fantastic to sit down and hear about your journey through 567 00:48:30.960 --> 00:48:35.280 the industry and through you know, Papyrus and I racing and giving us a 568 00:48:35.280 --> 00:48:37.440 glimpse behind the curtain as well. It's been an absolute privilege and a pleasure. 569 00:48:39.239 --> 00:48:42.000 I think we have a patch we have to get ready for now, 570 00:48:42.039 --> 00:48:45.599 though, don't we. That's certainly true. Yeah, we have some laughs 571 00:48:45.639 --> 00:48:50.360 to turn or well, we've got our experts hard at work turning those laps. 572 00:48:50.360 --> 00:48:53.519 But let's hear what they say and get that patch out, all right. 573 00:48:53.800 --> 00:48:58.679 One last question, Greg, will you come back on the show sometime? 574 00:48:59.199 --> 00:49:00.960 I think I have a in your grace period, don't I. I'll 575 00:49:01.000 --> 00:49:07.119 give you a couple months. I'll check your contract. Yeah, well we'll 576 00:49:07.199 --> 00:49:13.679 check it out. Happy to happy to join you guys. There's any number 577 00:49:13.719 --> 00:49:16.719 of other subjects we can touch on that would be cool to just kind of 578 00:49:16.760 --> 00:49:22.599 jam on and explore. And it's really cool what we do. There's always 579 00:49:22.639 --> 00:49:28.679 lots to talk about, and there's never any lack of new things that are 580 00:49:28.760 --> 00:49:31.519 interesting to go over as well. Actually, I do have one last question. 581 00:49:31.559 --> 00:49:38.280 Why does Steve Myers call you the Hammer? Okay? Well, um, 582 00:49:38.719 --> 00:49:45.280 yeah, I guess so sim racing wise throughout the years, I've never 583 00:49:45.320 --> 00:49:49.320 been the fastest by any means. I mean, I think Steve can run 584 00:49:49.400 --> 00:49:52.800 laps around me on the virtual race track. But we did a number of 585 00:49:52.880 --> 00:50:00.119 years ago have a company outing track experienced day at Thompson Speedway and uh, 586 00:50:00.239 --> 00:50:08.199 we're all late models, I think are retired cup cars, um, and 587 00:50:08.519 --> 00:50:13.760 we all went out on the track and I just found it to be something 588 00:50:13.800 --> 00:50:15.599 that was I don't know, it just gelled with me. And I was 589 00:50:16.519 --> 00:50:22.320 turning laps around Steve whereas a kind of turning tables. Uh, he was 590 00:50:22.360 --> 00:50:25.039 wondering, who's this guy who's blasting past me lap after a lap and we 591 00:50:25.119 --> 00:50:29.239 got off the car, out of the cars and he's like, what that 592 00:50:29.280 --> 00:50:31.440 doesn't make any sense. It's Greg. But so he gave me the nickname 593 00:50:31.519 --> 00:50:38.320 the Hammer because I guess my foot was hammering down that gas pedal. All 594 00:50:38.400 --> 00:50:44.639 right, everybody, Uh once again Greg Hill, executive vice president or vice 595 00:50:44.639 --> 00:50:49.480 president Hammer Hill? They Hammer Hill. Yes, Steve. On the business 596 00:50:49.519 --> 00:50:52.800 card, I had the longest job title for a while. I think you're 597 00:50:52.840 --> 00:50:55.239 your your business cards the longest one. Now it's got all all of the 598 00:50:55.239 --> 00:51:00.840 titles on it. But executive vice president I Racing. Um, thanks again 599 00:51:00.039 --> 00:51:02.960 for making the time and uh yeah, let's go put a patch out and 600 00:51:04.000 --> 00:51:07.039 make things better. All right, let's do it all right, back to 601 00:51:07.079 --> 00:51:12.559 the show. We'll always great to have a guest on the show, even 602 00:51:12.599 --> 00:51:16.159 better when it's somebody like Greg Hill, who is just an absolute treasure trove 603 00:51:16.199 --> 00:51:21.559 of knowledge, institutional memory, all of the things that makes I Racing, 604 00:51:21.639 --> 00:51:23.719 you know what it is. And he's an inchcol cog and this big machine 605 00:51:23.800 --> 00:51:29.800 that is I Racing so looking forward to. So we could have talked to 606 00:51:29.880 --> 00:51:32.559 him for hours, but he only had so many hours to share with us. 607 00:51:32.559 --> 00:51:36.960 But I think we'll definitely have him on again. He agreed to that, 608 00:51:37.159 --> 00:51:40.639 and ish right, maybe not the next one, but he'll be on 609 00:51:40.679 --> 00:51:44.119 again. And and you know, the three of us have kind of looked 610 00:51:44.159 --> 00:51:49.360 at the numbers on the podcast and it is clear our listeners like to hear 611 00:51:49.400 --> 00:51:52.920 from from guests, and in particular EYE Racing guests, that we're going to 612 00:51:52.000 --> 00:51:58.280 do our best to have somebody interesting on every one of these episodes. Nobody 613 00:51:58.320 --> 00:52:00.880 do announced yet, but we're working on from good names and there's tons of 614 00:52:00.920 --> 00:52:05.920 interesting people here at EYE Racing, So um it doesn't matter what department. 615 00:52:06.280 --> 00:52:08.679 People have cool backgrounds, how they got into this, what they do here 616 00:52:08.679 --> 00:52:13.719 at Eye Racing, it's all pretty unique, and so look forward to that 617 00:52:13.760 --> 00:52:16.280 in the upcoming episode. Yeah, no doubt. Um, it's gonna be 618 00:52:16.360 --> 00:52:20.679 a lot of fun to hear from all these different guests moving forward. I 619 00:52:20.719 --> 00:52:23.719 will also say, if you're listening to this on release day I Racing off 620 00:52:23.800 --> 00:52:27.920 Road Championship Series, they let me put the plug in the finales at Crandon 621 00:52:27.960 --> 00:52:30.320 to night. If you're listening after release day, it's in the YouTube playlist 622 00:52:30.519 --> 00:52:37.719 anyway, don't forget to rate, subscribe, it's not nice. It's gonna 623 00:52:37.760 --> 00:52:40.920 be a cret race. It's some of the most exciting racing we have on 624 00:52:42.000 --> 00:52:45.199 Eye Racing. Well, we're gonna bang in if flying through the air, 625 00:52:45.480 --> 00:52:47.559 mud, going everywhere. It'll be a good race. We're gonna have some 626 00:52:47.639 --> 00:52:52.679 fun with them. Angela just popped in because apparently I didn't mute my my 627 00:52:52.719 --> 00:52:55.360 Slack notifications. But that's funny since we talked about it at the beginning of 628 00:52:55.360 --> 00:53:00.840 the show. So let's we can leave that. Week thirty, we're doing 629 00:53:00.199 --> 00:53:07.480 a special series of the Pro two trucks on short road courses it is basically 630 00:53:07.519 --> 00:53:13.840 just drifting, not the light. We're doing the full powered version. Didn't 631 00:53:13.840 --> 00:53:15.880 we do that in the staff league a couple of years ago. We did 632 00:53:15.880 --> 00:53:19.679 those at some of the tracks. I'm pretty sure some staff members didn't come 633 00:53:19.679 --> 00:53:25.119 back after that. That's a story for another time. Thanks for listening to 634 00:53:25.519 --> 00:53:29.880 another edition of The Eye Racing down Shift. It just took six months. 635 00:53:30.159 --> 00:53:34.320 But don't forget to rate, review, and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, 636 00:53:34.599 --> 00:53:37.400 Spreaker, anywhere else that Chris has put this thing for Kevin Bobitt Chris 637 00:53:37.480 --> 00:53:40.840 Leoni, I am Greg West, and we'll see you in the next episode, 638 00:53:40.880 --> 00:53:42.960 hopefully in the near future.