250 Superkart Race Sim
You're going to love this!!
(read to the end or you'll miss the links...)

Time-off racing during the Winter will never be the same.....or even in-season for that matter!

(guess you could call this my blog on this sim)

THE BEGINNING...

What was started by a guy named Jim Cassi, a kart racer from Minnesota, ( he won the '04 TAG Sr. class at the Rock Island GP) and with the help of about XX? others from all around the world, has been released as a sim called Superkart Challenge.

I picked up on this on the EKN forum. His first post had very few views and no replies that I recall. Well, I went over to their forum and started reading posts and looking at the pictures. I'm thinking, "Oh my god!", they're going to make a 250Superkart game out of a 125 with dual 100 Yammies in a V shape that looks like a little F/1 car and not a 250 Superkart at all! It even had Goodyear tires on it and a 125 Shifter radiator!

Well, I contacted Jim, 'SlimJim' is his screen name, through EKN and made some constructive comments. He didn't see it that way initially from a post he made on their site, "a real Superkart driver tore it apart," but fortunately, that is in the past now. One thing that he had planned was to put decals of 'real mfgrs.' on the karts and I told him they may not appreaciate that since they didn't, in any way, shape or form, represent their product.

JOINING IN...

So, I started making some posts, constructive help I'm thinking, because if someone is going to make a 250 Superkart racing game, I personally want it to be as realistic as possible, so I gave them my site address so they could look at some "real Superkarts."

All of a sudden, this guy named MaTi, from Spain, comes on and has some pics of a 'real Superkart'...
Old-style PVP nose with an inline twin, BRC, FPE, PVP looking motor, got rid of the dual Yammies, radiator in the rear and even had color on the silencers and I'm thinking, yea, this is what you want.....except he has a purple air cleaner (just one) coming out of where the rear exhaust should be and the exhaust coming out from under the motor.....

Well, I start talking with MaTi, because there were some other things wrong too, but he wants to know where the air filters should be...he wants pics so he knows where they go...

So, I post pics for him and try to explain that with an inline twin you cannot see the air filters because they are covered by the right side pod and you're lucky if you see much of the carbs...if you want to see the air filters, you're going to have to make it a V-twin......he stuck with the inline and there are no air filters......

THE PROGRESSION...

Since then, others have also joined the fray and I see this as a 'work in progress' for a long time with the karts becoming even more realistic as time goes on. (look at the pic of Lawson's kart and you'll see what I mean) 'Czork' comes in with sounds......You'll be able to get  a skin of your own kart....if you can find someone to make one for you!!

THE SIM...

The Superkart Challenge is what is known as a 'mod'. The sim itself is from rFactor and the Superkart Challenge is a free addon. (thanks to Jim!!!...PayPal donations accepted!!)

Here is what Jim told me, "Yes, rFactor is a one time buy...for your $39.95 you get, 2 series, Coupe type cars, and a open wheel series with F/3 and a little Trainer which is fun to drive.
Tracks, there are so many, I can't begin where to start, but what you get with the game, I think 6 or so, and every track has a few different circuits on it. Then we come to the addon stuff....I have about 60 tracks, from Laguna to Road America to Spa, they are being built at a very fast pace (track list that I have found)... then you have the car addons / MODs, like the Superkart Challenge, GP2, PCC and a bunch of others, F1 coming very soon also."

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS...

After going through all this, I check the fFactor site, and am saying, damn, I can't even play this sim!! I have the CPU/RAM requirements but not the video card requirements and since it's a laptop, I can't just open it up and put one in as if it were a box!!.... Oh well, have to work on that...you guys can let me know how great it is and make me jealous!

1.0 GHz processor
Windows 98 SE, ME, 2000, XP, XP 64-bit (will not run in Windows 95 or Windows 98 first edition)
256 MB RAM
Geforce 3 or Radeon 8500 (video card)
64 MB video RAM (256 (+) recommended)
DirectX 9.0c
1.1 GB of hard drive space for installation
Internet connection required for one-time activation
(per Jim, a Logitech steering wheel, $100)

CONCLUSION...

I can hardly wait to try this out, but until then, you guys will have to keep me posted with your comments/suggestions which I will pass on. To get all your questions answered about the Superkart Challenge mod itself, visit their forum

I'm including some pics of what they have done so far. (click on the pics for an enlargement) and an early video from Mugello (Jim's karts only, none of the new style karts) and a sound clip (think they're still working on this, but it's not too bad for a start...)

One of the guys working on the 250Superkart sim put together a new video showing what the racing is like and it is really cool. They were having trouble syncing the audio so no engine sounds yet. Hopefully, the next one will. It can be seen here.
Here's another video from Laguna Seca with engine sounds.

Another page of pics can be seen here