WheelSim: Highland Descent
Six tyres, one hillside, and a race shaped by physics.
The project
A Unity tyre-racing game where six simulated wheels roll down a highland course, with spectator cameras, live standings and interactive stream predictions.
What had to change
Make a race driven by unpredictable physical interactions enjoyable to watch while keeping race results and spectator predictions consistent.
How it was shaped
Dynamic rigidbodies roll across a generated landscape with terrain variation and puddle resistance. A central race controller tracks progress and finish order, while separate presentation and prediction systems react to the result.
What it delivered
A playable Windows build combines automatic and player-controlled racing with a broadcast presentation and locally simulated viewer predictions.
Inside the project
Six coloured tyres roll down a 500-metre course. Each uses a dynamic Rigidbody, with gravity, collision and friction shaping its path. Viewers can watch the race unfold or take control of a selected tyre.
The highland terrain, vegetation and track are generated in Unity. Rough sections change the surface of the course, while shallow puddles add resistance when a tyre passes through them.
Standings, camera views, position announcements and a finish replay make the race easier to follow. The replay uses recorded tyre transforms and leaves the authoritative result unchanged.
An optional Twitch chat integration lets viewers back a tyre using fictional game points. A separate Channel Points mode is also available. Offline simulations test prediction and settlement flows without connecting to Twitch.
The Windows build is playable locally. Further work includes longer race and performance testing, broadcast presentation refinements and validation with a live Twitch channel.