Live today, 29th May, Assetto Corsa EVO’s ranked multiplayer has a new way of calculating the ubiquitous safety rating.
Used in other sim racing platforms to help determine race eligibility, historically, this is calculated on the number of off-track moments or car-to-car contacts a driver encounters. Consequently, a quick way of rising through SR levels could be to drive at the back and avoid all contact.
In EVO’s SR system, the title will measure “the time you spend racing close to other cars without contact,” according to an official statement.
The theory being this will prevent drivers from hanging back to rapidly rise the ranks, as you’ll need to be near others in order to progress. At the time of its release, however, the true test of this process will be over time, and if sim racers can’t find some other form of exploit.
Another element is how EVO attributes ‘blame’ during contact, a perennial challenge for online systems. Developer Kunos Simulazioni claims that “EVO’s SR analyses the impact point to ensure aggressors pay and blameless victims don’t.”
It also states that the severity of contact matters, and “door-to-door” contact has minimal SR impact.
Assetto Corsa EVO has been going through significant multiplayer changes of late, including, last month, tweaks to the daily racing schedule and event types. As more cars are added, this also enhances the variety, with at least two expected for an upcoming version 0.7 early access release.