Local petrolheads and carsim enthusiasts rejoice, as you’ll be able to drive along several popular Malaysian touge roads from the comfort of your own home sometime in the foreseeable future. Developed by solo local modder AntuDusun, the Malaysian Touge Simracing project will consist of four scratch-built routes (or courses) created specially for the PC version of the Assetto Corsa driving simulator video game.
First and foremost, let’s get this out of the way. The word “touge” (pronounced as toh•gei) is actually a Japanese term for “pass”, and is used to refer to mountain passes or any narrow, winding roads that can be found in and around mountainous areas. The challenging nature of these roads have proven popular with motorsport enthusiasts, especially those who wish to test their mettle when traversing windy and steep downhill or uphill courses.
Now, back to the Malaysian Touge Simracing project. AntuDusun (via the project’s Facebook page) revealed that among the local touge roads planned to be released for Assetto Corsa includes Batang Kali, Ulu Yam, Bukit Tinggi, Fraser’s Hill and many others. All of which will be modeled after their real life counterparts, based on data such as distance and elevation sourced from various Google tools. The modder added that the project will be in the long term, with hopes of releasing one track per month.
The first touge road that is expected to be released is Batang Kali, which started development in early August. AntuDusun says that the course itself is progressing steadily, with all that’s left is the inclusion of intricate detailings such as houses, road signs, vegetation, and numerous props. On that note, a beta version of Batang Kali was made available to testers via the project’s Patreon page yesterday on 13 October 2021.
To keep up to date with AntuDusun’s progress, be sure to drop by the Malaysian Touge Simracing project’s page on Facebook. As mentioned earlier, there’s also a Patreon page where you can offer a monthly pledge of US$3 (~RM12.46) to support the modder and the project. Contributors are automatically eligible to become a beta tester for the upcoming tracks.
Lastly, it is also worth mentioning that AntuDusun had also created other tracks for Assetto Corsa prior to this. Unlike the current project, the modder’s earlier releases (under the name Project Kaido) include virtual versions of famous Japanese touge roads such as Irohazaka and Gunsai, with plans of adding Mount Haruna in the near future. Those familiar with the Initial D manga and anime will definitely recognise these courses – especially the latter, which is the real-life inspiration of the title’s fictional location of Akina.
(Source: Malaysia Touge Simracing [Facebook] [Patreon] / Project Kaido)
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