rF2 Development Roadmap: Porsche, UI and eSport

[Paul Jeffrey]

A little later than usual, Studio 397 have released their development roadmap for the month of August.

Due to commitments at the Sim Racing Expo, Studio 397 have been a little bit behind schedule getting their latest roadmap post out into the wild - but fear not, it's here now and can be read in full below..

...

Roughly a week later than normal, we bring you the monthly roadmap for August. Obviously we were at the SimRacing Expo last weekend, where we met a lot of you and showed off a pre-release version of the Porsche GT3 Cup car and the Nürburgring. Both are scheduled for a release in roughly two weeks from now, pending final approvals. But we have a lot of other news to share with you too, so let’s get started!

A1 eSport season 2
A1 eSport is back with yet another season, after a great first season. Once again the races will start off with a hotlap session, and then in each weekend following a race. A total of 5 races will be run before heading to the showdown and shootout and finally the finale in late October hosted in Vienna. Just like last season. The big difference here is that now every European can participate, not just German speaking residents. Sign up is open now, first round starts at midnight on the 9th of September. Lets go! If you want to get a glimpse of what you’re getting yourself into, on their website you can see what the last season finale looked like.

Porsche Formula E Competition IAA Frankfurt
In roughly a week from now, the International Motor Show (IAA) in Frankfurt starts again, and on the last day of this huge show we will be collaborating with Porsche to run a full day of Formula E races. The qualifiers for this event have already been decided. Congratulations to the four finalists who will compete against the Porsche Formula E factory drivers on stage! If you are planning in visiting the show and are there on the last Sunday, please drop by and say hi, watch the show and have a go yourself.

World’s Fastest Gamer 2
Qualifiers for rFactor 2 have been run and if you have not seen the final race, check it out below. Erhan Jajovski won the race in great style and we wish him all the best in the finals later this year. Although at this point little is known yet about these finals, we are confident that these will be something very special, so watch this space and the WFG2 site for more information.

Code Updates
After the first technical update last month, we have now released another one that addresses the “leave lags” that people were experiencing in some circumstances. Specifically when someone with a car with non-standard upgrades left the server, this would cause a lag that propagated to all other clients. Our latest update fixes that. Next on our list are some smaller usability issues. We are also still analyzing any freezes that specific clients are having.

The rest of our development team is working hard on finishing the UI we previewed at the SimRacing Expo. If you missed our live broadcast on Twitch on Sunday, check it out HERE.

We want to thank everybody for providing a lot of comments on this new UI. Just to clarify where we are with this. Our first release is a starting point for many more tweaks and improvements, so if you don’t see your favorite improvement yet, don’t worry, things will evolve!

With the new UI, we are also going to release the first version of our competition system, and although we did not demo any of that in the video we did at the SimRacing Expo, we will start showing it in the weeks to come.

Our graphics developers in the meantime are working on some more fundamental changes to the lighting and the way our shaders work. The move to PBR triggered a few other issues that we are fixing right now and at the same time we are improving how our shaders work, by streamlining the number of different shaders we have and making new ones that can be customized a lot more by artists. Once these things are done, we are continuing our work on cockpit shaders. Prototypes for that were very encouraging.

Content
For those of you who could not attend the SimRacing Expo we have some more shots of the Porsche GT3 Cup car. The car is officially still a “Work In Progress” but as you can see, it’s coming along nicely. Obviously we are already planning new content beyond the things that will be in your hands in a few more weeks, but we’ll save that for another roadmap.

That’s all for this month. We’ll be back in roughly three weeks with next month’s roadmap which will be back on schedule. In the meantime we would like to wish everybody a lot of fun simracing, and stay safe!

rFactor 2 is a racing simulation exclusively available for PC.

For more news from the world of rFactor 2, check out the RaceDepartment rFactor 2 sub forum and join in with the community discussion. If you like racing in a clean and fun environment online, why not check out the RaceDepartment rFactor 2 Racing Club? Get yourself in on the action!

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[Hal Burns]

I guess everyone is trying to get on the e-sports money train....but car sims are way down there...
See: https://www.esportsearnings.com/games
Top RF2 player $225,000 pretty nice
Top iRacing : $62,000 I would have thought they handed outa bit more cash
Top DOTA 2 player - $6,000,000. WTF? I hate those games....ha ha.

 

[Kenny Paton]

I guess everyone is trying to get on the e-sports money train....but car sims are way down there...

Certainly Twitch viewer rankings indicate that
R3E. 2,354th
Rfactor 2, 2,080th
Assetto Corsa Competizione 1,093rd
Assetto Corsa. 790th
But with that let's not drag this too far off topic.

 

[Jasje]

Sorry off topic... Gamer Muscle had a video of that full sized 911 and RF2 running with separate mirrors. Anyone have any idea how they manage to stream the mirrors to a separate device?

The sim in the Porsche was rFactor pro, a version for pro teams. Probably custom implementation, those mirrors.

 

[makan]

The sim in the Porsche was rFactor pro, a version for pro teams. Probably custom implementation, those mirrors.

No it's rF2:
https://experience.porsche.com/en/track/events-and-services/additional-services/track-simulator

And this:

 

[dajdosta]

The sim in the Porsche was rFactor pro, a version for pro teams. Probably custom implementation, those mirrors.

No, it was regular rFactor 2

 

[MarcG]

I don't want to get too down on the UI, but given how long it's been in the oven, I'd hoped for something that was going to be highly usable and clear. I'm not sure that's the case in the screens that they showed and it doesn't look to me like they used a professional UX designer.

For example:
1) In this example they seem to be employing tabs as a navigational device, but it doesn't look like tabs work the way that we all understand tabs to work. They've clicked on "single player" but the multiplayer screen is also visible. Not at all clear:
View attachment 323847

2) But I do quite like the use of color and the layout. Shame that none of that is reflected at all in the next screen, which is bland and you need to hunt for what you need. They've decided to go for a "words on page" approach to the layout - there's no use of boxes or any other way of isolating separate elements. And that column on the left is a mess - several design elements that don't work very well together.
View attachment 323849

3) And now they've introduced another design element - these squares that are all over the place:
View attachment 323850

I could go on. I know this sounds harsh, and I know this isn't a big team - but the interface before was a confusing mess. I was really hoping that UI V2 would not only be prettier (this is for sure prettier) but also logically laid out so that it's intuitive and a pleasure to use. Maybe it will be, but I'm afraid I have my doubts.

Whilst you're making your points I think it's a bit early to start pointing out flaws in something you're not actually using yet, you can only see so much from the video and certainly not the way the UI flows as you use it. I'm not saying it's wrong to voice your opinion, just a bit pointless at this time.

So once you get your hands on it and get used to the way it works then by all means have at it with a nicely constructive criticism post like this one, remembering all the while that the UI will be improved upon in the future and what we're getting in a Public Beta soon (!) is merely transference of the old UI, with a few extra little bonus items thrown in for good measure.

---------

On another note the hype created by the community over the UI is startling to me especially when the current UI isn't that bad and is certainly a lot better than a lot of other recent games out there. I also cannot stress enough and completely agree with the recent RD Podcast that this is just a UI, it's just the front end to what lies beneath which is the fantastic driving experience, that's not gonna change just because a shiny new UI comes along!

 

[Jasje]

No, it was regular rFactor 2

Sorry my bad, thought I saw that somewhere.

 

[Marcel Offermans]

The sim in the Porsche was rFactor pro, a version for pro teams. Probably custom implementation, those mirrors.

No it is not rFactor Pro. It is rFactor 2 and I will tell you how the mirrors were done as that was my idea. They simply have multiple computers with a dedicated server and two clients. The first client obviously is the car you drive, with the triple screens. The second client is a spectator that simply looks back from the car you are driving and that view is projected onto the mirror displays. Simple trick, works quite well!

 

[Rowdy Busch]

No it is not rFactor Pro. It is rFactor 2 and I will tell you how the mirrors were done as that was my idea. They simply have multiple computers with a dedicated server and two clients. The first client obviously is the car you drive, with the triple screens. The second client is a spectator that simply looks back from the car you are driving and that view is projected onto the mirror displays. Simple trick, works quite well!

Well, that's what I would call smart

 

[Brent Mills]

On another note the hype created by the community over the UI is startling to me especially when the current UI isn't that bad and is certainly a lot better than a lot of other recent games out there. I also cannot stress enough and completely agree with the recent RD Podcast that this is just a UI, it's just the front end to what lies beneath which is the fantastic driving experience, that's not gonna change just because a shiny new UI comes along!

Very true. However the new competition system is bundled with the ui, now that IS something to get excited about.

 

[FrejkiChodak]

Im gonna give rF2 another try with the new UI. I love AC,ACC,R3E and I think I should like rF2 but that UI....Im too much of a convenience gamer

 

[Ruy Horta]

Im gonna give rF2 another try with the new UI. I love AC,ACC,R3E and I think I should like rF2 but that UI....Im too much of a convenience gamer

Well the UI I can live with, but since I started with iRacing I have been consolidating my racing sims.
With rFactor2 that meant removing all mods and going back to vanilla, including all the s397 content I bought - mainly GT3/GTE.

Too be honest the term “Frankenstein” game is right on the mark.
There are old ISI tracks and cars, there are s397 additions, some of it is all dx11, some is still dx9 etc.
The graphics are so so (imo) - not even comparing to AC, ACC and PC2.

However let me add that I think the rain effects, especially in VR, are superb, including the track changes.

I was actually about to delete the whole game and taking the loss when the new rain effect convinced me otherwise.

But whereas the competition can be impressive in its own right, I’m sorry to say that RF2 is just too much of a hodgepodge. My advice to S397 would be to focus on a new core game, tracks and cars that can exist in a racing series context, to carry the title, I’d also clearly separate the “classic” content like the old Spa, Monza and Monaco from the modern content.

 

[digital1nk]

About eSports theres something that people might not be understanding, BUT, having popular eSports is one way to build an active online community. I spent some years playing MOBAS (League of legends, DOTA2, im) and while 95% of people didnt have interest in going "pro" (playing for profesional teams in profesional tournaments), most of them followed them and tried to replicate what "pros" do in an online enviroment. If rFactor 2 or in any other sim trying to push the same thing find to do the structure behind a competitive online racing system plus popular eSports they will pretty much do the next big iRacing.

 

[muzikant]

Well the UI I can live with, but since I started with iRacing I have been consolidating my racing sims.
With rFactor2 that meant removing all mods and going back to vanilla, including all the s397 content I bought - mainly GT3/GTE.

Too be honest the term “Frankenstein” game is right on the mark.
There are old ISI tracks and cars, there are s397 additions, some of it is all dx11, some is still dx9 etc.
The graphics are so so (imo) - not even comparing to AC, ACC and PC2.

However let me add that I think the rain effects, especially in VR, are superb, including the track changes.

I was actually about to delete the whole game and taking the loss when the new rain effect convinced me otherwise.

But whereas the competition can be impressive in its own right, I’m sorry to say that RF2 is just too much of a hodgepodge. My advice to S397 would be to focus on a new core game, tracks and cars that can exist in a racing series context, to carry the title, I’d also clearly separate the “classic” content like the old Spa, Monza and Monaco from the modern content.

Being patient a lot of good work the last year

 

[Jonathan Young]

Whilst you're making your points I think it's a bit early to start pointing out flaws in something you're not actually using yet, you can only see so much from the video and certainly not the way the UI flows as you use it. I'm not saying it's wrong to voice your opinion, just a bit pointless at this time

Fair point, although I think there’s some value in constructively pointing out issues (as I see them) before release. This isn’t something that they’ve just knocked up quickly, it’s taken ages, so I imagine they were expecting feedback. I also suspect that this is getting fairly close to final, hence the reveal. Better to point out issues before it drops than afterwards I would have thought?

And yes, some people don’t care about the UI at all. Good for them. Personally I think it’s worth doing right. Racerooms isn’t particularly pretty but it’s logical and consistent. The current RF2 one is both ugly and a disorganized mess. Adding selected AI cars to a race for multi-class is obtuse.

 

[MarcG]

Fair point, although I think there’s some value in constructively pointing out issues (as I see them) before release. This isn’t something that they’ve just knocked up quickly, it’s taken ages, so I imagine they were expecting feedback. I also suspect that this is getting fairly close to final, hence the reveal. Better to point out issues before it drops than afterwards I would have thought?

And yes, some people don’t care about the UI at all. Good for them. Personally I think it’s worth doing right. Racerooms isn’t particularly pretty but it’s logical and consistent. The current RF2 one is both ugly and a disorganized mess. Adding selected AI cars to a race for multi-class is obtuse.

No not Final, it will be released to the public as a Beta first, that's when ideas/issues would be reported better as you'll have it in your hands

 

[TR_S]

If you yourself participate and/or follow eSport and enjoy it, don't let me spoil your fun. Just saying I'm not holding my breath waiting for this to be the next big thing. I'd rather see a sim dev give us a true iRacing competitor in terms of an online competition system.

The last sentence... +1

 

[Mark Brunner]

I find myself playing RF2 mostly and iRacing (although I still don't like how iRacing "feels") for the MP aspect. I find at the moment they give me the best VR experiences/immersion. Sadly time is also more limited later in life Still disappointed there has still not been any true competition for iRacing ecosystem.

I would like to see at some point (maybe after UI is solid and competition system is built out) for S397 to re-release the game with all the DLC as part of the base package (for new and current owners of the title). Having paid for a lot of the DLC this really wouldn't bother me.

 

[Jonathan Young]

No not Final, it will be released to the public as a Beta first, that's when ideas/issues would be reported better as you'll have it in your hands

Don’t disagree with that. I’ll look forward to getting hands on and giving it a proper test drive. I hope that it’s better than I’m currently expecting and that they’ll respond to feedback if it’s not.

 

[dcully]

I really want to get rfactor but its pretty expensive now when you factor in extra official content.
Hoping for a sale sometime soon, probably wont until halloween