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A race sim based novel


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#1 TomFitch

TomFitch
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  • Joined: October 15

Posted 13 October 2015 - 15:58

Hi all,

 

Even if new at this forum, I have been around racesims for quiet some time.

 

The first software worthy of the name sim I spend lots of time with was Indy 500 by Papyrus. Already tells you how long I’ve been wasting time on these things.

 

Then followed the Crammond franchise and, later, Grand Prix Legends and rFactor, together with the Simbin products based on the G-motor.

 

All that time, I have been in awe of, as well as extremely thankful to, the modders within the racesim community. Giving us fantastic add-on content for our beloved sims.

 

I always felt somewhat sorry that I couldn’t give anything back. I lack the ability to make even the simplest of skins… so let’s just forget about cars or tracks.

 

So, some years back, I decided to start writing a novel about a young guy starting to make his way through the racing world and make the novel available to the community for free. The idea was, and is, to base every driving scene in the novel, whether it be a test session, qualify session or a race, on actual driving done in a sim.

 

The idea quickly evolved towards making it a serial novel published in different installments.

 

After a fair amount of work, much more than anticipated anyway, the first part of the novel, called “Intersection Diaries”, is now available.

 

You can download it free from here: www.intersectiondiaries.com.

 

I hope some of you enjoy it. As my thank you to the fantastic race sim community.

 

Below a short excerpt of the novel just to give you a taste of the writing style:

 

With some vague snippets of Marcelo's words at the back of his mind, Timo decides to tackle Dano on a slightly wider line than the usual.

 

Straight away he hits trouble. Hard!

 

At the exit of Buen Olor, he can't avoid the car ending up slivering and sliding over the grass bordering the track. All of its four wheels feel solidly locked in the slide. Offering no grip whatsoever! Timo, more driven by sheer agony than by a sense of decisive control, jolts the steering wheel to the left and then to the right. The effect is nil. The car merely continues its bumpy ride over the grass in a slide that feels like it might continue forever. Like a slow motion sequence of a cheaply edited television show. Timo hears some clods of grass hitting against the chassis of the car. They sound like the muffled beats on a kettledrum that, in horror movies, usually herald terrible things. The difference being that the victims of those terrible things are usually unaware of the harm that is imminent. While in his car, Timo is very conscious of the chaos he is heading for. In a last wavering attempt to avoid the worst, he lets go of the brakes. And suddenly… finally… the car responds.

 

No real harm done.

 

Except maybe for that sharp stab in the solar plexus drawing his focus firmly back to the track. He has forgotten everything about the appeal of curbs. An evil far worse has just revealed itself to the defenseless boy: that of drifting a car.

 

Hope some of you enjoy the rest of the novel.

 

Cheers,

 

Tom