Assetto Corsa Rally devs reveal how a modern, real Richard Burns Rally rival was born

Assetto Corsa Rally has released into early access on PC and developers at the studio behind it have revealed how they've finally managed to make a modern rally sim title to rival arguably the greatest of them all in Richard Burns Rally when played with mods.

Assetto Corsa Rally is Supernova Games Studios' debut and it was set up specifically for this rally sim. Assetto Corsa games are renowned for how real they simulate the behaviour of cars, courses and changing weather conditions in the real world.

The game has released in early access with 10 cars, two rallies and four stages with a number of variants for each stage. Full release is 12-18 months away across consoles and PC but more features will keep being added throughout early access.

indy100 has been hands-on with Assetto Corsa Rally in early access and the signs for it are incredibly promising with it already feeling like the most realistic rally sim we've ever played.

This is what developers had to say when asked how they've managed to make such a realistic rally sim, what some of the most challenging aspects of that have been and how they plan to develop the game going forward.

JB: How has the Assetto Corsa stamp been put on rallying?

Irvin Zonca, creative and game director at Supernova Games Studios: At Supernova, we are veterans in racing game development and passionate about motorsport and sim racing. We strongly believed that a rally simulator had been missing for too long and wanted to develop one. In the meantime, many sim racers kept asking KUNOS to develop a rally simulator but KUNOS was already focused on Assetto Corsa Competizione and Assetto Corsa EVO. So we talked to Marco Massarutto, the co-founder of KUNOS, and the idea came up to use the KUNOS Physics Engine to produce the simulator at Supernova. We are extremely proud that our debut game is a product of the Assetto Corsa series, which we all love as developers and players. It was also not a given that it could bear the title Assetto Corsa: Marco gave approval after verifying that the quality standards (such as the authenticity and realism of physics and assets) typical of the series were indeed met during development.

JB: How involved is KUNOS Simulazioni in the development of Assetto Corsa Rally?

Marco Massarutto, co-founder and executive manager of KUNOS Simulazioni and the Assetto Corsa franchise: Supernova has done an excellent job developing Assetto Corsa Rally with complete autonomy. Once we shared our technology with them, their development team set up an effective workflow that allowed them to quickly become familiar with our specifications. We also constantly tested their progress to ensure they were aligned with our expectations and we held regular meetings to confirm that everything was progressing on schedule. Their development work did not impact ours; in fact, we exchanged ideas and solutions that proved mutually beneficial. At KUNOS, we acknowledge that we are running slightly behind our internal schedule but this is due solely to the complexity and ambitions of Assetto Corsa EVO. This delay is in no way related to our collaboration with Supernova.

The development team at Supernova; Irvin Zonca is on the far left with Marco Massarutto in the middle / Supernova Games Studios, 505 Games

JB: Is this the most realistic rally sim to date and if so, what makes it so realistic?

IZ: Assetto Corsa Rally is an authentic and uncompromising rally simulation. The elements that make it realistic are: cars created with laser scans reproduced in minute detail so that parts can be lost during crashes; physics developed starting from the KUNOS Physics Engine, which Supernova further developed to adapt it to driving on slippery and uneven surfaces; engine sounds recorded from real cars and reproduced using granular synthesis; a damage system not based on interchangeable meshes but on a system of bones and nodes that propagates the impact based on the point of collision; variable weather conditions including the day and night cycle; real roads reproduced with laser scan technology for the first time in a rally simulator.

JB: How has that realism been achieved and what are some of the key features?

IZ: To achieve a realistic result on the tyre model, we moved in various ways: we collaborated with laboratories like Megaride to measure the behaviour of tyres in reality using sensors applied to race cars and obtain data to insert into the simulator, developing new code where necessary; we drove rally cars on asphalt, snow and dirt to understand how it feels and what the experience is like; we received feedback from professional drivers to validate the result and modify what did not work properly.

We also worked on the suspension and can now replicate 1:1 the setup of the real race car; we simulate the airflow entering the engine based on temperature and altitude; we manage the brakes as a set of three separate elements: pad, disc, and caliper. The player can thus mount the parts they prefer during car setup.

Supernova Games Studios was created to make Assetto Corsa Rally / Supernova Games Studios, 505 Games

JB: How long has Assetto Corsa Rally been in development so far?

IZ: Supernova was created in 2021 with three people in the team. In four years, we have built a team, technology, workflows and the game. It is therefore difficult to separate the things but we can say that the game has been in development for about three years, even if not with the full team working on it.

JB: What are some of the key differences in developing realism in rally compared to circuit / road racing?

IZ: In a rally simulator, there is much more variety from the point of view of the roads on which you race. Surfaces, scenarios, seasons, climate and weather are much more different from each other compared to what happens in circuit championships. All this must be simulated and balanced.

JB: What have been some of the highlights and most challenging aspects of development so far?

IZ: The two biggest challenges, apart from the basic technology, were developing rally roads with laser scan and the driving model on dirt and snow. Fortunately, working on this has also led to some of the most memorable highlights so far, such as driving rally cars in the forests of Wales or personally experiencing some of the most famous special stages in the world.

Assetto Corsa Rally looks and feels incredibly realistic / Supernova Games Studios, 505 Games

JB: Will players still be able to enjoy the game using a controller or is a wheel the ideal way to play?

IZ: The simulator was developed using steering wheels but from a certain point in development, we also worked on adding an input filter for the controller. From day one, it is possible to play this way and have fun drifting through the woods. During the early access phase, we will continue to develop support for these peripherals also based on user feedback. We care that the game is accessible to as many enthusiasts as possible without excluding anyone.

JB: What future rallies and cars can fans expect after the release of early access and what does the timeframe look like for that?

IZ: New special stages and cars are already in development and we hope to announce the news soon.

JB: With full release planned in the next 12-18 months, how will you take community feedback on board to refine the full release? How can fans submit feedback?

IZ: The community will have different ways to contact us but the most effective will be to use the dedicated form in the official Assetto Corsa Discord channel.

JB: And finally, how excited are you for fans to get their hands on early access?

IZ: We can't wait! The project remained secret the whole time and it's great to be finally out in the world. We strongly wanted an early access release because, as rally enthusiasts, we want to engage with other enthusiasts like us to make the game increasingly complete and polished. Supernova believes strongly in the importance of feedback and it would not be possible to get it without an early access phase.

Assetto Corsa Rally is out now in early access on PC.

Elsewhere from indy100:

• Assetto Corsa Rally early access first impressions - I'm useless but I'm addicted
• Rally Arcade Classics: The 90s-style Gran Turismo / V-Rally arcade game crossover I never knew I needed

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