App Race Control AIR – the evolution of Scalextric ARC racing
Following our Test Track recap on the Scalextric website on the first day of 2016, we can now get stuck into a brand new year, full of news, announcements, events and inside information from the Scalextric Development team.
2015 was a great launch pad for Test Track but all of us here are keen to grow the blog and really showcase all the fantastic work that goes on behind the scenes. As before, you, the reader, are an integral part of Test Track and we hope you’ll be joining us each month to give us your feedback and let us know what you think of all the Scalextric goings on.
To get us started in this endeavour we ran a competition for suggestions for future Test Tracks, with the winner picking up a whopping £100 to spend on the Scalextric website. I’m pleased to reveal that we have picked our winner, selected by a panel of the Test Track team.
Chris99 posted on the Scalextric Forum and suggested we discuss some projects or ideas we had that may not have seen the light of day, or even a “crystal ball” Test Track where we ask the Development team what they see as the future for Scalextric and slot racing in general.
Both of these ideas are fantastic and we’ll certainly look at using them in Test Track soon.
I’d also like to offer a thank you to everyone who offered a suggestion for future Test Tracks and you can be sure there’ll be more opportunities in the future to get involved (and possibly bag a prize!).
Introducing ARC AIR
For this edition of Test Track we wanted to take an in-depth look at ARC AIR. We’ve all been patiently waiting for ARC AIR to become available and we're happy to announce that the ARC AIR Powerbase Upgrade Kit (C8434) came into stock today, with the award winning ARC AIR set Track Day (C1358) due in later this year (currently estimated in September).
Do remember though that ARC AIR is still compatible with a standard Scalextric set and is not Digital. We’ve received this question a lot but ARC AIR does not allow multiple car racing or lane changing - look out for details of ARC PRO later this year, our digital ARC system. There are however lots of features which you may not have thought possible on an analogue layout!
Anyway, onto the new features...
Wireless Hand Controllers
The most noticeable change between ARC ONE and ARC AIR is the addition of wireless hand controllers. This addition is bound to be immensely popular as tonnes of slot racers have been waiting for the day Scalextric went wireless. I’m happy to say that day has arrived and you can get up, move about, put your car back in the slot or even put the kettle on while racing! Gone are the days where you have to put the controller down, sprint across the room to collect your car and run back again to get back racing (I think we’ve all lost races this way!).
We estimated the Developers were probably about 30 metres away from the track, yet their cars kept going (although we’re not sure if they could really see who was winning!).
These hand controllers also contain a rumble pack to bring your attention to possible problems while you’re racing. These not only revolve around the race incidents and weather conditions (covered below) but also help with starts and pitting.
Braking is also possible with ARC AIR (normally only available with Digital hand controllers), adding a tactile way for you to negotiate your layout. Braking also offers an edge for those competitors who really like to duke it out to take the podium.
We've also included lanyards to help younger racers avoid dropping the controller, or for those adult racers who like to celebrate a little too eagerly. You can never be too careful during the heat of a race!
Race Incidents and Weather Conditions
Alongside the new wireless hand controllers, ARC AIR brings some new functionality to keep your races interesting. By adding random race incidents and changing weather conditions, you can be leading a race to being at the back very quickly.
The possible race incidents are a mechanical failure, an oil slick or a tyre blowout. These incidents are all clearly shown on the app, but you’re bound to notice your speed drop first of all. These incidents reduce your car to a crawl and you need to limp back to the pits to get back to normal speed (once your mechanics have had a chance to fix the problem!)
With these race incidents you can also have the weather to complicate your race. Should the weather take a turn during your race, you’ll both need to pit to change tyres as soon as possible. Continuing to stay out a little longer can give you an advantage but you could also get disqualified by racing until your tyres have disintegrated. Using the wrong tyres for the conditions slows you down and increases tyre wear.
Both race incidents and weather conditions can be turned on or off, used together or separately – it’s entirely up to you.
Arcade Mode
ARC AIR also includes a new race type called Arcade Mode. This applies some of what we’ve just covered but in a new and exciting way. In Arcade Mode each racer acquires a “powerup” as they pass through the start/finish line which automatically applies to their opponent. This allows you to actively sabotage your opponent’s race by timing your "powerups" and reducing them to a crawl each time round.
However, all hope is not lost! Passing through the Pit Lane can also net you Invincibility, protecting you from whatever your opponent tries to throw at you. Race fast and true knowing you can’t be touched (well, there’s always going too fast into a corner I suppose so don’t get too cocky!).
Arcade Mode can lead to some pretty wacky races where you’re both trying to tactically use the Pit Stop. Of course, the powerups are random though so you never quite know what’s going to happen when you pass through.
We think Arcade Mode is perfect for younger racers but also offers a fun, alternative option to adult racers who are perhaps warming up for a long race or just want to take their mind off a particular close loss.
The ARC AIR Powerbase Upgrade
As we mentioned earlier, ARC AIR is analogue and can be plugged into any analogue circuit. All you need to do is replace your powerbase with the ARC AIR one and get it synched up to your smart device.
It is possible to add the ARC AIR powerbase to Digital layouts but you’ll need to remember that your Digital sections (like Lane Changers) won’t work. However, it’s again just a matter of swapping out the powerbase and firing up your phone or tablet.
All these fantastic new features are of course implemented into the ARC app itself. All the standard ARC app features are still there including lap counting, start reaction times, top speed, fuel usage, tyre wear, power limiting, pacer cars and much more.
The App really offers you tonnes of functionality and facilitates you creating races with your friends, or when setting a pacer car to play solo.
With its new features, alongside the ARC App itself, ARC AIR is truly the most advanced way to race analogue Scalextric ever. There hasn't really ever been anything quite like it considering the power of a Smart device. The wireless hand controllers are a huge addition and we're positive the quality and feel of the controllers will be most welcome.
We truly hope you're as excited as we are for the launch of ARC AIR - order yours now!
Development Updates
As always the Development team have been hard at work and we’ve got a number of updates to show you on some cars you may be interested in. In fact, we’ve got loads but rather than bombard you with everything we’ll try to spread out some of the updates as we hit our development milestones.
Here we have three of the upcoming BTCC cars that I know we’re all buzzing with excitement about. The Honda Civic Type R (C3783), VW Passat (C3737) and MG6 (C3736) are popular members of the BTCC and we think you’ll be pleased with the images below. We always need to stress that these aren’t fully finished examples but we’re very happy with them none the less.
Decoration Sample of Gordon Shedden's Honda Civic Type R
First Shot from the VW Passat tooling
Decoration Sample of Jack Goff's MG6
Make sure you offer us your feedback on these cars as we know how many passionate BTCC fans are out there.
We’ve also got an update on both the Sierra RS500 and BMW M3 E30 (C3693A) which we announced right back in the first blog. These are the Signed Samples and are right at the last point before we’ll see them on shelves and in people’s collections.
You've already seen the box artwork in the last Test Track but now you can see the finished article...
...and the cars themselves.
Lastly, I also wanted to show off the C3717 Audi R8 GT3 in Crocodile Phoenix livery. This is due out later in the year but we just had to show you the Decoration Sample. The livery is out of this world, applied with water labelling. We hope you’re as struck as we are by this fantastic model.
That just about does it for this edition of Test Track. ARC AIR should be available very soon (a matter of days!) and we hope all of you who choose to upgrade your layout with this powerbase enjoy all the functionality it brings. We’d also love it if you could share any images, videos or feedback with us if you have taken the plunge with ARC AIR. Be sure to let us know either on the Scalextric Forum, Facebook or Twitter.
Join us again at the end of February for another instalment of Test Track.
Happy Racing!
The Test Track Team
Oh hang on – just before we go we were looking through some old videos and found this gem from our time racing with ARC. As we laughed while watching, we thought this might be something you’ll enjoy, two members of our Development team struggling to keep their cars on the track. It’s a tough job but someone’s got to do it!
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