TORCS

What is TORCS?

Hi. In case you are looking for Celtic Torcs then this is the wrong place, as you can guess from the screenshot on the left. But some entertainment and fun is also good for you, so you are welcome to stay with me and read on.
In a nutshell, TORCS, The Open Racing Car Simulator is a car racing simulation, which allows you to drive in races against oppenents simulated by the computer. But that's not the whole story. When you become bored by driving yourself, you can develop your own computer-controlled driver (also called a robot) in C or C++. This site will teach you how to get, compile, install and run TORCS within Linux, and finally how to start the development of your own driver. Compile, you may ask! Yes, TORCS is "Open Source" (GNU General Public License Version 2), so you get all the sources for free. In case you just want to race you can also download and install binaries. This site is aimed toward robot development with Linux.

Features

Choose from 42 different cars, 30 tracks, more than 50 opponents to race against. Steer with a joystick or steering wheel, if it's supported by your platform. It is also possible to drive with the mouse or the keyboard, but it's not easy. Graphic features lighting, smoke, skidmarks and glowing brake disks. The simulation features a simple damage model, collisions, tire and wheel properties (springs, dampers, stiffness, ...), aerodynamics (ground effect, spoilers, ...) and much more. The gameplay allows different types of races from the simple practice session up to the championship. Enjoy racing against your friends in the split screen mode with up to four human players.

Platforms

Supported platforms are Linux (x86 and ppc are known to work), FreeBSD and Windows XP/2000/98.

Credits

TORCS is developed by Eric Espié, Christophe Guionneau and other contributors. Visit the official TORCS site for more information.