Does the demo give an accurate representation of the final game? Especially the FFB.

I'm trying it now to see if I would like the full game and right now I'm really struggling with it. Compared to other games, even AMS which I felt was strongly lacking in areas such as wheelspin and lockups, the FFB in the rF2 demo feels painfully dull and giving me very little information. There's no weight in the steering whatsoever, no matter the speed at which I'm driving, there's still very little feeling under acceleration out of corners or under heavy braking (thus making it very difficult to detect lockups), and worst of all, the FFB literally doesn't seem to do anything whatsoever if I go over a kerb. The feeling of the track also feels off, so much so that it feels like I'm on ice far more often than I would like. After a bit more testing, the cars generally also feel like they have no weight whatsoever. What am I missing? Is there anything I need to change?

This is with the G27, with the default settings and no assists.
 
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With other games developing and updating their FFB and physics from time to time, I'm not so convinced by that, since the loading screen does seem to indicate that it's a 2015 build. If that is the case though then that's disappointing.

The loading screen has showed 2015 since forever on my non-Steam game version, it's just a picture that hasn't been updated. On Steam version it shouldn't show any year at all now. In any case, the FFB hasn't changed at all regardless.

To me, that paints the game in an extremely bad light. Catering to the actual wheel and not what the real racing car is supposed to get is, in my eyes, considerably less realistic and makes your argument quite bewildering.

Catering to what wheel though? G27 is using ten years old technology, so it makes perfect sense that the FFB is tweaked towards the more powerful, recent wheels on the market.

This makes me question the value of faux realism as a whole in simracing, frankly. If the goal is to accurately show what the car is like, then that is a considerably better approach than what you're saying rF2 is doing.

Only if your wheel is weak though. I can imagine driving a super-strong FFB catered for G27 would feel extremely wrong on a state of the art direct drive FFB wheel. I've tested rF2 with a lot of wheels, and the FFB felt good on all except for G25/G27, and even that issue was mostly fixed by increasing the settings I mentioned in previous post.
 
I have a G27 too and I will download the Demo tomorrow morning report back (in about 10 hours). :)
Thinking about buying it while on sale and normally I am really good with settings!
While the G27 can't output really heavy forces the maximum is enough for tarmac! Only drove standard Karts (80 km/h, no shifting) and few normal street cars at the limit and the G27 is strong enough to replicate that.
Of course more head room = cleaner force Feedback but I don't need to break my wrist when crashing in a sim.
Nobody can tell me that normal turning in a race car is more than 100% of a G27. No normal person could do that for more than 30 minutes... I'm a kitesurfer and I don't think I would be too weak for doing a few laps on a real race car :cautious:
 
As promised:
tried the Demo and the FFB is GOOD. Didn't bother much with the settings. All on default, only min ffb to 12%.
Feels quite real! It isn't so firm as Assetto Corsa but grippy and nice details. I would compare it to R3E.
The handling of this Megane though... Really grippy but if you lose it you gonna spin without a chance to recover but I am sure if you get used to it you can handle it.

So @Coffer: seems like something is off at your side... If you are interested enough you could post 2 Screenshots: profiler and inGame :)
 
The Steam Summer Sale lured me in - rF2 for £11 seemed too good an opportunity to miss. I'm currently using the DX9 build because DX11 needs more optimisation IMHO. (Incidentally, rF2 was a nightmare to install and set up. When will sim manufacturers learn to make things easy for new owners instead of forcing them to spend hours searching the internet for answers and help?)

NOTE: Frustratingly, the FFB clipping app does not work in the DX11 build. It will probably crash your rF2. It was almost impossible to find a good FFB setting without using the app. (Another reason for using DX9 until DX11 improves). It's a good idea to adjust the in-car FFB for each vehicle and each circuit, especially when trying a mod.

Current Settings

  • Wheel: Driving Force GT
  • Logitech Global Settings: 100/0/0, Centring Spring 0 (unticked), Rotation 900, Allow game to adjust settings.
  • Logitech rF2 Profile Settings: the same.
My method (you may laugh at it!)
  • Set Car FFB to 1.00.
  • Set Minimum Torque to 0.
  • Set Smoothing to 0.
CAR FFB

Drive laps and, using the clipping app, watch out for the bar turning red. This often happens on a high-speed curve when the car is on the edge of grip. Increase/decrease FFB until clipping occurs/stops. Ideally, there should be no clipping but it's OK if there is a flash of red once a lap when running over a very high kerb or a big bump in the track. Make a note of the FFB level, car and track.

MINIMUM TORQUE

Set minimum torque to 0. (This setting tells the sim what is the minimum level of force your wheel will produce.) Then raise the torque by small amounts until your wheel gently oscillates on the start line when you take your hands off it. When you hold the wheel, you should probably feel nothing or just a faint vibration. (EDIT: At this point, I like to reduce the Min Torque by 0.5% or 1.0%.) With a bit of luck, your wheel will now feel a little livelier when driving. Make a note of the Minimum Torque level.

SMOOTHING

Drive some laps and test for clipping. The wheel should feel quite light but responsive. However, especially with lower-end/cheaper wheels, there might be some FFB spiking that produces a "notchy" feel. You might become aware that your wheel is not an expensive, top-of-the line product! :whistling:

Here's where your personal taste comes in. Smoothing at 0 might be what you like. If not, gradually increase smoothing until the wheel feels less notchy, and more like a wheel driving a car with pneumatic tires, while still retaining enough information to help you feel what is happening to the car. Too much smoothing and you will lose vital FFB information. Make a note of the smoothing level.

Then check for clipping again - the additional smoothing might allow you to increase slightly the FFB level.

FINALLY...

Keep a record of your final FFB, Torque and Smoothing numbers for the vehicle/track combination. It will save you a lot of time when you return to that combo. :geek: Your figures might be much higher than mine if you have something better than a DFGT. :)

As an example of what a difference clipping makes, here are my figures for the GT500 Nissan at Mills Outer Loop:

Without the FFB app: Car FFB 1.44, Torque 6%, Smoothing 13 (In other words, I was guessing!)
With the FFB app: Car FFB 0.87, Torque 11%, Smoothing 5​

Each car will be different. I had to increase the Howston at Barbagallo to 1.50.

Please note my wheel is old and tired - just like me. These are my opinions, and they may well be wrong. But I hope someone finds this post helpful. :)
 
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@Stephen O'Sullivan
there was a post, i realize its of little help now when its lost in a forum post from a good few weeks ago, saying that all apps unless reworked for DX11 would not work and possibly crash the game if used in DX11 so it was advised to uninstall all of them.
For me DX11 has made the game run smoother and given me a better frame rate than the previous DX9.
i think its all machine and components dependent.
i for one love the DX11 and all it has to offer for what i race...and having the option to still use DX9 is a win win situation for all.

but thanks for the super post about FFB i remember looking for the same info a while back..:thumbsup::thumbsup:
and for me its the best feel i have in any sim at present closely followed by R3E and AC..
they have all come such a long way since the previous versions.And with every update they all get better and better..:)
 
Nobody can tell me that normal turning in a race car is more than 100% of a G27. No normal person could do that for more than 30 minutes... I'm a kitesurfer and I don't think I would be too weak for doing a few laps on a real race car :cautious:

Dario Franchitti will tell you otherwise, http://www.roadandtrack.com/motorsports/news/a18270/you-think-driving-an-indy-car-is-easy/:

To replicate the steering forces, Franchitti says it involves a bit more than one might expect.

"It's not really holding the weight out, but lifting that and rotating weight with forces pushing back on your lead hand," he remarked. "In Turn 1, you have to pull down with the left and push up with the right to overcome 35 pounds of force, then do the opposite for the right-hander in Turn 2, and so on. Imagine a string tied to your hand where you have to pull that 35 pounds up or down constantly. There's tremendous kick-back through the steering wheel on the new Indy car, and there's no power steering, so every movement of the wheel requires a lot of energy."
***
From my own experience, you learn to use your shoulder & back muscles rather than just your arms.
 
there was a post, i realize its of little help now when its lost in a forum post from a good few weeks ago, saying that all apps unless reworked for DX11 would not work and possibly crash the game if used in DX11 so it was advised to uninstall all of them.
That was partly my point. Studio 397 leaves it to the user to find this out rather than informing them.:rolleyes:
For me DX11 has made the game run smoother and given me a better frame rate than the previous DX9.
i think its all machine and components dependent.
i for one love the DX11 and all it has to offer for what i race...and having the option to still use DX9 is a win win situation for all.
I went back to DX9 so I could use the FFB app. Good FFB is essential so, no matter how good the graphics, DX11 will have to wait until I test more cars and tracks. Besides, I get better FPS in DX9 and am quite happy with the graphics until the DX11 build runs slightly better for me. I'm glad you're enjoying the latest DX11 build. But again, there was no obvious way for an rFactor user to switch between DX9 and DX11 until searching for the answer on the net. (There is probably a very obvious way but I'm not that clever. :redface:)
but thanks for the super post about FFB i remember looking for the same info a while back..:thumbsup::thumbsup:
and for me its the best feel i have in any sim at present closely followed by R3E and AC..
they have all come such a long way since the previous versions.And with every update they all get better and better..:)
Thanks for the kind words. I do hope DFGT users (and others) stumble across my post and find it helpful. All of the sims have their different strengths. Automobilista, rF2, AC, R3E, etc., are such fun. I just wish developers devoted more thought to helping players get the most from the most important part of any racing sim - their FFB controllers. It's not enough to give FFB options but then let a player work their meanings out for themselves. Sims must show how to configure, test and calibrate their ingenious physics. :)
 
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Well they do list a few things here
https://www.studio-397.com/all-news/page/3/
And our own Paul Jeffrey has done a excellent job keeping us all informed as best he could with info out there..
AS well as other members including yourself passing on tips and tricks,:)

And a message to all members and non members if you need help in a particular sim just pop into that section pop the forum and ask, There are many members with a wealth of knowledge all willing to help were they can.. that's what makes RD so special among the sim racing community.
 
Thank you for the link and info. I'm very grateful for all the help provided by the sim community. But I still think that too many sims offer a "sink or swim" approach - there should be more help and information in the actual sims themselves.

Now, you must excuse me - I'm having a torrid affair with the USF2000. :D
 
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