# TORCS

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Car racing simulator

TORCS Splash screen Original authors Eric Espié and Christophe Guionneau Developers Bernhard Wymann, et al.[1] Release 1997 Stable release v1.3.9 / April 10, 2026; 2 months ago (2026-04-10) Written in C++ Engine PLIB Platform Cross-platform Type Racing game License GNU GPL, Free Art license Website torcs.sourceforge.net Repository sourceforge.net/projects/torcs/

Race track in *Torcs* in top-down view

Comparison of the reflections system of *TORCS* 1.3.3 (left) and *Speed Dreams* 2.0 (right): Front view of a racing car split by a bright line; the right part shows more vivid reflections

***TORCS*** (***The Open Racing Car Simulator***) is an [open-source](/source/Open-source_software) [3D](/source/3D_computer_graphics) [car racing simulator](/source/Racing_video_game) available on [Linux](/source/Linux), [FreeBSD](/source/FreeBSD), [Mac OS X](/source/Mac_OS_X), [AmigaOS 4](/source/AmigaOS_4), [AROS](/source/AROS), [MorphOS](/source/MorphOS) and [Microsoft Windows](/source/Microsoft_Windows). *TORCS* was created by Eric Espié and Christophe Guionneau, but project development is now headed by Bernhard Wymann.[2] It is written in [C++](/source/C%2B%2B) and is [licensed](/source/Software_license) under the [GNU GPL](/source/GNU_General_Public_License). *TORCS* is designed to enable pre-programmed [AI](/source/Artificial_intelligence_in_video_games) drivers to race against one another, while allowing the user to control a vehicle using either a keyboard, mouse, or wheel input.[3]

## History

### Development

Development of *TORCS* began in 1997 by Eric Espié and Christophe Guionneau as a [2D](/source/Two-dimensional) game called ***Racing Car Simulator*** (***RCS***). It was influenced by and based on *[RARS](/source/RARS)* (*Robot Auto Racing Simulator*).[4] When Espié and Guionneau acquired a [3dfx](/source/3dfx) [graphics card](/source/Graphics_card) for game development, they made the first [3D](/source/3D_computer_graphics) version of the simulator with [OpenGL](/source/OpenGL) and renamed it ***Open Racing Car Simulator*** (***ORCS***) so as not to be confused with the [Revision Control System](/source/Revision_Control_System).

The early versions of *ORCS* did not include cars with engines, making the game a [Soap Box Derby](/source/Soap_Box_Derby)-style, downhill racing simulation. When engines and engine sounds were eventually added, the simulation was given its final name, ***TORCS***, as the name seemed more relevant to automobiles given its similarity to the word [torque](/source/Torque).

Later, Guionneau added multiple camera angles during game-play. Guionneau developed much of the original graphics code in *TORCS* and eventually added [texture mapping](/source/Texture_mapping) to give more detail to the cars. Espié then worked on piecing together and finalizing code for release.[5]

### Future goals

The current main developers of *TORCS* are Bernhard Wymann (project leader), Christos Dimitrakakis (simulation, sound, AI) and Andrew Sumner (graphics, tracks). Aside from bugfixes and maintenance of *TORCS* code, the next features planned include [network multiplayer](/source/Multiplayer_video_game#Networking) mode, improved [physics engine](/source/Physics_engine), enhanced car interior detail, and replays.[6]

## Reception and impact

In December 2000 [CNN](/source/CNN) placed *TORCS* among the *"Top 10 Linux games for the holidays"*.[7] *[Linux Journal](/source/Linux_Journal)* considered *TORCS* to be the best open source driving game in their October 18, 2007 issue, highlighting the ability for players to design their own cars, realistic graphics and vehicle handling.[8] The game has gained substantial popularity; between 2000 and 2017, it was downloaded over 2.9 million times via [SourceForge.net](/source/SourceForge.net) alone.[9]

### Competitions

The *TORCS Racing Board* hosts a competition on its website among players in the TORCS community. Unlike traditional network multiplayer events in which players compete in real-time on [local network](/source/Local_network) or [Internet](/source/Internet)-connected clients simultaneously, the *TORCS Racing Board* is a competition between [artificial intelligence](/source/Artificial_intelligence) "robots" developed and uploaded by users.

Faculty from the [University of Würzburg](/source/University_of_W%C3%BCrzburg) and [Politecnico di Milano](/source/Politecnico_di_Milano) host two AI competitions, the *Simulated Car Racing Championship* and the *[Demolition Derby](/source/Demolition_derby) Competition*; the latter uses a patched *TORCS* server.[10]

### TORCS forks

*TORCS* has been [forked](/source/Fork_(software_development)) into several projects, for example *[Speed Dreams](/source/Speed_Dreams)*,[11] originally known as *Torcs-NG*.

### Use in research

Due to its openness, modularity and extensibility, *TORCS* has been adopted as a base for many research projects; examples include automated computation of car setups, human-assisted algorithmic generation of tracks and the application of several computing techniques (e.g. genetic programming) to different aspects of robot driving. Since 2008, *TORCS* has also played an important role in various research fields within the [IEEE Conference on Computational Intelligence and Games](/source/IEEE_Conference_on_Computational_Intelligence_and_Games), where it appears as a base for 4 to 6 projects every year.

According to the [TORCS FAQ](https://torcs.sourceforge.net/index.php?name=Sections&op=viewarticle&artid=30#c6_2) the current version of *TORCS* should be cited as "B. Wymann, E. Espié, C. Guionneau, C. Dimitrakakis, R. Coulom, A. Sumner. TORCS: The Open Racing Car Simulator, vX.X.X, 20XX."

## See also

- [Video games portal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Video_games)

- [List of open source games](/source/List_of_open_source_games)

- *[VDrift](/source/VDrift)*, another [cross-platform](/source/Cross-platform), open source driving simulation

- *[X Motor Racing](/source/X_Motor_Racing)*, *TORCS* compatible UDP interface

- *[Speed Dreams](/source/Speed_Dreams)*, *TORCS* fork under active development

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** [TORCS Team](https://torcs.sourceforge.net/index.php?name=Sections&op=viewarticle&artid=19)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** ["TORCS FAQ: "Who develops TORCS?""](https://torcs.sourceforge.net/index.php?name=Sections&op=viewarticle&artid=30#c1_2). 6 February 2020.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** [About TORCS](https://torcs.sourceforge.net/index.php?name=Sections&op=viewarticle&artid=1) on torcs.sourceforge.net

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** [Evolved to Win](https://books.google.com/books?id=29N9AwAAQBAJ&dq=rars+torcs&pg=PA99) by Moshe Sipper, [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-4709-7283-7](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-4709-7283-7) (2011)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** ["TORCS project history"](https://torcs.cvs.sourceforge.net/torcs/torcs/torcs/doc/history/history.txt?revision=1.1&view=markup). *[SourceForge.net](/source/SourceForge.net)*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** ["TORCS FAQ: "What are the future plans?""](https://torcs.sourceforge.net/index.php?name=Sections&op=viewarticle&artid=30#c1_5). 6 February 2020.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** [Top 10 Linux games for the holidays](https://web.archive.org/web/20041206174427/http://archives.cnn.com/2000/TECH/computing/12/20/linux.games.idg/index.html) by Lee Anderson on [cnn.com](/source/Cnn.com) (December 20, 2000, [archived](/source/Internet_Archive))

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** Diehl, Mike (2007-10-18). ["Free Games for Linux"](https://www.linuxjournal.com/node/1000435). *[Linux Journal](/source/Linux_Journal)*. Retrieved 2007-12-04.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** [stats 2000-03-19+to+2017-05-25](https://sourceforge.net/projects/torcs/files/stats/timeline?dates=2000-03-19+to+2017-05-25) on [sourceforge.net](/source/Sourceforge.net)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** COBOSLAB, [University of Würzburg](/source/University_of_W%C3%BCrzburg), [*Simulated Car Racing Competition 2010: Demolition Derby*](https://web.archive.org/web/20100406033332/http://www.coboslab.psychologie.uni-wuerzburg.de/competitions), archived from [the original](http://www.coboslab.psychologie.uni-wuerzburg.de/competitions/) on 2010-04-06, retrieved 2010-04-03

1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** ["Speed Dreams home page"](https://www.speed-dreams.net/en/).

## External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to [TORCS](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:TORCS).

- [TORCS website](https://torcs.sourceforge.net/index.php)

- [The TORCS Racing Board](https://archive.today/20130414112510/http://www.berniw.org/trb/index.php)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [TORCS](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TORCS) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TORCS?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.