Reiza Hints at the Future - rFactor 2 Engine to be used in 'Reiza 2018'?

[Paul Jeffrey]

Reiza Studios have released an interesting teaser on social media recently, hinting at "some exciting new things coming up on the horizon"..

Now to my eye this teaser image looks very much like a Reiza game using the rapidly improving rFactor 2 gMotor2 game engine, potentially hinting for the very first time that the upcoming and under development "Reiza 2018" project could be taking further advantage of the already close relationship between Reiza Studios original rFactor developers Image Space Incorporated.

Although purely speculation at this point, it is still rather refreshing to hear (or see) some news from Reiza Studios following wrapping of development of their Automobilista title, and this could well be the very first early signs of what's been going on behind the scenes of the well regarded Brazilian development team.

Now I'm only speculating that this is the rFactor 2 engine here, and frankly I could be well wide of the mark with this one... so I'll leave it to you to throw around your opinions in the comments section below!

Automobilista is a PC exclusive racing game from Reiza Studios, and can be purchased from the Steam network.

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What do you make of the cryptic clue from Reiza? Looking forward to the new project? Let us know in the comments section below!

 

[NASCRAP]

tbh; as i have said before, it would make sense for Reiza and S397 to merge in an effort to move both sims forward at a competitive pace, or consolidate to develop a next / current gen title.

No! S397 would only be dead weight.

 

[ouvert]

Guys u see what reiza did with the RF1 base?
Can you imagine what they can do with the RF2 base? its gonna be amazing.
By the way, the car in the photo looks like the metamoro ajr

If they are porting the cars of AMS to a RF2 engine..... that means.....
We are going to have Formula Ultimate, Formula Classic, Formula v12, V8 Supercars, Boxer Cup and more in a amazing physic engine... wow.

well they likely goona use only graphic engine .. wouldnt make sense for them to switch physics engine too ... and that is good ..
I prefer what Reiza does and how they got it under control and how consistent they are .. more than what rF2 was and still is to certain point .. overcomplexicity might not always be good way to go ...

That said not huge fan of rF2 new graphics (certainly it is improvement to old rF2), I hoped for different engine but somehow Reiza is the one developer who delivers so I`ll trust them to do the best ...

Is this just final AMS dlc preview?

why would they show AJR as teaser for new DLC ?

 

[Salvatore Sirignano]

For [Beep] sake, yet another ISI motor engine powered title, that will feature fake dx 11 graphics, using old dated dx 7 and 8 shader model, with over bright white glowing bits, no chrome, metallic, rubber,or leather shaders, bringing nothing new to the table, when it comes to game play features, no I'm not talking about flag rules, racing rules or reverse grid.

Same content that was in their previous 3 titles, regurgitated into a engine that constantly gets patched up for Eight Years.
Where did I read that this new title would run on a modern graphics engine such as the Unreal 4 engine, yet they decide to use a engine that struggles to convince anyone that it is modern.

Games that use this engine are struggling on steam, why go this way, unless they don't have staff that are experienced enough to move to a modern graphics engine, this new title will only suffer the same fate as others that use this engine on steam, low player base, with no one to purchase any future dlc content, with licensed content that no one is interested in.

Did I read somewhere that even Brazilians don't play AMS.

Yes Melanie we get it, you prefer PCARS2 and AC...
What I don't understand is why people take time out from their lives to be so vitriolic in their criticisms regarding sims they don't even play!

Who gives a flying fig about leather and rubber shaders anyway? Sure a game can look pretty, but if the FFB and physics aren't great (PCars)
and the AI is lacking (AC, PCars) then for me the immersion is gone.
Reiza has all these nailed, with amazingly immersive content, so whatever decision they have taken it's to give us an even greater sim in future, not some scattergun cash cow to milk as much money from as wide a range of people as possible.
You can keep your shiny cockpits...

 

[John-Eric Saxén]

Dead god, no. Just don't. At least not the graphics engine. Reiza, consider moving to Unreal for everything except physics, you can create a plugin input for the physics and use rF2's physics there.

Although this would mean licensing two different engines.

So maybe merge with S397? rFactor 2 definitely lacks good quality content, I'd be more than happy to pay for DLC if you guys merged

Do you realize that moving to Unreal is probably something like two or three years more work than using something already existing for sim racing, like the rF2 engine. There is a reason no sim on the market uses the Unreal engine and the reason is it's simply a too difficult or big task to accommodate it for sim racing.

It makes perfect sense to me that the small indie developers in sim racing stick together and reuse their stuff instead of reinventing the wheel every time.

 

[RichardHessels]

If Reiza has access to the rF1 sourcecode, they can use the current physics base, implement DX11 and put new shaders in to place (like HDR, DOF, AO). Bit simplified. But they already had realroad working, flat spots, and greatly enhanced the physics rates. The code is modular and very versatile.
No need to start from scratch.
rF2, RaceRoom and iRacing (and most other software) also keep upgrading, optimizing and replacing their code.

 

[paracletus]

Nice. Small picture but looks like assetto corsa to me.

 

[snyperal]

I wonder if they'll name it automumbalista 2 or something else?

 

[David Wright]

I can understand the use of a 90% blurred shot to tease DLC. I can't understand a 90% blurred shot to tease a new graphics engine. Look at Simbin's GTR3 teasers or Kunos ACC teasers - they demonstrate how good the graphics look. They are not 90% blurred.

Making your own engine is possible for a small developer. LFS and AC demonstrate this. But for a small developer like Reiza who has not produced their own engine before, adopting an existing engine must be a much lower risk strategy. Even Kunos have taken this route. But Renato and Niels have made it clear they are not interested in the rF2 tyre model so this combined with rF2s improved but still not class leading graphics engine lead me to think its not an engine to adopt for a long term future.

 

[PaulH]

For [Beep] sake, yet another ISI motor engine powered title, that will feature fake dx 11 graphics, using old dated dx 7 and 8 shader model, with over bright white glowing bits, no chrome, metallic, rubber,or leather shaders, bringing nothing new to the table, when it comes to game play features, no I'm not talking about flag rules, racing rules or reverse grid.

Same content that was in their previous 3 titles, regurgitated into a engine that constantly gets patched up for Eight Years.
Where did I read that this new title would run on a modern graphics engine such as the Unreal 4 engine, yet they decide to use a engine that struggles to convince anyone that it is modern.

Games that use this engine are struggling on steam, why go this way, unless they don't have staff that are experienced enough to move to a modern graphics engine, this new title will only suffer the same fate as others that use this engine on steam, low player base, with no one to purchase any future dlc content, with licensed content that no one is interested in.

Did I read somewhere that even Brazilians don't play AMS.

Totally agree

 

[Ryan Soucy]

When I go from AMS to Pcars2, I realize how far behind their engine is, but I don't really care. For what I paid, it wasn't a AAA price, but the content is so rock solid and well done. When I play rF2, I am eternally disappointed. The new engine looks so much better, but their interiors and track textures are AWFUL. GSC's Interlagos put rf2's to shame. The driving experience is also so hit or miss. I enjoy the old Indycar and the old F2 cars, but everything else has not impressed me. And please, those 60's F1 tyres are so out of proportion big. I'm hoping maybe its gMotor but ISI-based and not S397.

 

[Ryan Soucy]

I can't understand a 90% blurred shot to tease a new graphics engine.

Technically not 90% blurred, they're just showing off the depth of field. Front is crystal clear. Maybe they improved that since it was only recently RRRE developed depth of field.

 

[Msportdan]

Yes Melanie we get it, you prefer PCARS2 and AC...
What I don't understand is why people take time out from their lives to be so vitriolic in their criticisms regarding sims they don't even play!

Who gives a flying fig about leather and rubber shaders anyway? Sure a game can look pretty, but if the FFB and physics aren't great (PCars)
and the AI is lacking (AC, PCars) then for me the immersion is gone.
Reiza has all these nailed, with amazingly immersive content, so whatever decision they have taken it's to give us an even greater sim in future, not some scattergun cash cow to milk as much money from as wide a range of people as possible.
You can keep your shiny cockpits...

would ignore it.. seems to be the sim village idiot.

 

[ouvert]

Technically not 90% blurred, they're just showing off the depth of field. Front is crystal clear. Maybe they improved that since it was only recently RRRE developed depth of field.

its depth of fied so front is not clear/sharp .. only Reiza sign and what in that POF .. (sorry proffesional deformation kicking in )

 

[Amanda]

Do you realize that moving to Unreal is probably something like two or three years more work than using something already existing for sim racing, like the rF2 engine. There is a reason no sim on the market uses the Unreal engine and the reason is it's simply a too difficult or big task to accommodate it for sim racing.

It makes perfect sense to me that the small indie developers in sim racing stick together and reuse their stuff instead of reinventing the wheel every time.

As an Unreal game developer myself (the only developer on the team), I cannot disagree more.

Creating shaders is as easy as it can be and the results are of extremely high quality, something not yet seen on the gMotor engine. Ever created a simple shader on Blender? It's the same thing on Unreal, perhaps easier and faster and with better results, all you need to do to start is to have basic knowledge of node setups, something which can be learned in 5 minutes from a good YouTube teacher.

Meanwhile, rFactor 2 seems to be stuck on DX8 shaders for quite a lot of content, not to mention some official content that have nuclear-reactive reflectins or emissions (lights), or trees that just look wrong.

Recreating shaders for the next Reiza game in gMotor will, in my opinion, take much more time than to create good shaders in Unreal - if the idea is to make them just as good, that is. Unless their standard for graphics quality will be in the same ball park as rFactor 2.

Unreal is not only a much better engine than anything ISI/S397 have to offer in terms of features, it's also well optimized (something the gMotor is definitely not) and it's not tied to DirectX only, making it possible for developers to easily compile their games to run on OpenGL, Vulkan, or DirectX, which means the sim could be release for Windows, Mac, Linux, consoles, and mobiles.

And it's not true that nobody is using Unreal for simulation. It's been known for months (or even years) that GTR3 will run on Unreal, and ACC will also run on it. Why do you think that is? Certainly, up until now people thought that using ISI engines was a good idea, which is why most sims either run on top of it or some modified version of it ; Or tried to make their own engines, which just doesn't make sense on our market since the development teams are almost always small, which is why the Assetto Corsa engine only allows for 1 light source and they didn't develop rain. iRacing suffered from this as well, only 3 years go night was added, and I think they'll add weather effects this year.

To me, the main reason as to why the ISI-Motor is so popular on the sim racing market boils down to it having an "OK" physics model to begin with, and probably because ISI wouldn't license the pMotor separatedly which would allow developers to "plug it in" an advanced gereral purpose engine like Unreal. Otherwise I don't see why developers such as Sector3 and Reiza would chose, for instance, the old ISI-Motor - why would developers chose an ancient platform for it's good physics, but limit themselves in terms of night and rain when another engine already delivers that with no extra effort from the development team? Using only the pMotor and plugging it into an engine like Unreal would make much more sense from a developement standpoint. This is kinda of what Kunos will do: use Unreal as the base, but plug their own physics, and perhaps use FMOD for sound. Other than that, all Unreal, and it's looking REALLY good, pretty much like PCARS2.

 

[Martin Vindis]

Am I the only one who think this has nothing to do with Reiza's now title but only a DLC for RF2?
RF2 needs more content ASAP and this might just be a nice gig for Reiza before they move on to the new title.

I still believe (and hope) we'll see a title from Reiza with their own physics engine, updated ofc, and Unreal/Unity as graphics engine.

And if I'm wrong, I'll still buy the new sim because everything Reiza touches seems to turn in to gold.

 

[RichardHessels]

I can understand the use of a 90% blurred shot to tease DLC. I can't understand a 90% blurred shot to tease a new graphics engine. Look at Simbin's GTR3 teasers or Kunos ACC teasers - they demonstrate how good the graphics look. They are not 90% blurred.

It's just a teaser image, nothing more, nothing less.
So RD complaining time can come later.

 

[Shad3R]

Am I the only one who think this has nothing to do with Reiza's now title but only a DLC for RF2?
RF2 needs more content ASAP and this might just be a nice gig for Reiza before they move on to the new title.

I still believe (and hope) we'll see a title from Reiza with their own physics engine, updated ofc, and Unreal/Unity as graphics engine.

And if I'm wrong, I'll still buy the new sim because everything Reiza touches seems to turn in to gold.

With this beauty coming and 4 more cars of the gte series i think rfactor2 is well served with laser scanned sebring.

 

[Will Mazeo]

Am I the only one who think this has nothing to do with Reiza's now title but only a DLC for RF2?
RF2 needs more content ASAP and this might just be a nice gig for Reiza before they move on to the new title.

I still believe (and hope) we'll see a title from Reiza with their own physics engine, updated ofc, and Unreal/Unity as graphics engine.

And if I'm wrong, I'll still buy the new sim because everything Reiza touches seems to turn in to gold.

You are not alone on this. I also think Reiza will sell some AMS content in rF2 like Kartsim did.
I mean.. if you have a good relationship with the license holders would be dumb to lose this chance of making some extra $$$ while you work on your new game as only the devs know when it will come. Plus porting stuff between these 2 engines is easier for people with experience.
An official 2018 Interlagos would be amazing

 

[ouvert]

Am I the only one who think this has nothing to do with Reiza's now title but only a DLC for RF2?
RF2 needs more content ASAP and this might just be a nice gig for Reiza before they move on to the new title.

I still believe (and hope) we'll see a title from Reiza with their own physics engine, updated ofc, and Unreal/Unity as graphics engine.

And if I'm wrong, I'll still buy the new sim because everything Reiza touches seems to turn in to gold.

damn that havent crossed my mind at all .. AJR for rF2 ... but they said on twitter: "Some exciting new things coming up in the horizon.."
well if it generate some money that helps with reizas game developement than sure

 

[DaVeX↯]

ok I will try to recap all the bits I collected from devs on Reiza forums:
- when they were looking for a new engine they want something where to port all the work without too much assle
- they were searching for something they feel confident to work with
- after several time they stated new engine will have a similar workflow for tracks like the old one but be more difficult for cars development

Now based on this bits the rF2 graphic/physic engine could be an option even because:
- it can run rF physic (rF2 AI runs on it) and ffb from realfeel plugin
- AMS tracks ported (don't ask) to rF2 graphic engine look stunning and very fps friendly (due the high optimization work done from Reiza guys)
- Niels has been reported as working with S397 too (his name is on rF2 credits but not sure how much is involved)

Conclusions and hopes:
- Reiza could license only the graphic engine...
- ...and work with S397 on development of it (shaders, optimization, etc)
- Reiza could license both the graphic engine and the physics one...
- ...and bring all their improvements to rF2 (like proper clutch simulation, racing rules, AI tire management and so on)
- Reiza can sell their title as 3rd party content for rF2 and still run it on rF physics (hope not this will be a step back as game dev studio)

Final thoughts:
- we know they are going to release a final DLC
- a blurred pic for teasing a DLC with new content is a common practice but they are teasing the engine for sure, AMS doesn't have shadows casting on objects like billboards or sorta so they are teasing engine features, I won't be surprised if next pic will tease night or rain
- selling their work as DLC for rF2 while working on new title is not productive at all, who will buy the new game since you have all the content already running as DLC in a game with more complex physics and seen as the Graal (still to open) of simracing? Maybe just some content but we can see on pic a track from Brit pack (Brands?) and AJR car...seems odd to me...
- they could have updated the old graphic engine to DX11 standards but this is more a subject for a sci-fi movie on my opinion...