04-24, 10:05–10:35 (Europe/Amsterdam), Theatre 2
In this talk I want to take you on my three year journey building a high-fidelity racing simulation engine in Godot. I’ll show some examples of projects that have been built with this engine, ranging from rally driving with a navigator, a track day car racing on various tracks and ice and driver training for big eight wheel trucks. Some of these projects had me working with sports car manufacturers at BAC and Donkervoort, building high fidelity models of their cars.
I’ll explain why Godot is so well suited for this. We’ll explore the architecture of racing simulations and how to hook up Godot to a GDExtension developed in C++. This native component runs a bespoke physics engine based on “Project Chrono” at 1000 Hz. Telemetry drives force feedback for the steering wheel and pedals as well as motion platforms and haptic feedback. The physics engine is connected to a multiplayer networking solution. Godot, through GDScript, uses this telemetry data to render vehicle dashboard displays.
We’ll finish the talk with lessons learned and some suggestions for future developments within the Godot community.
Marcel is a seasoned software developer and architect with over 25 years of experience. He was the head of Studio 397 where he developed rFactor 2, and contributed to racing games like Automobilista 1, The Grand Tour Game, NASCAR 21 Ignition and rFactor 1. As the founder of The Last Garage he is now developing a racing simulation platform in Godot.