rF2 GT3 Power Pack Released Alongside New Update

[Paul Jeffrey]

Studio 397 have released the new 'GT3 Power Pack' DLC for rFactor 2, adding five new GT3 spec cars alongside a brand new build update.

Now unfortunately it looks like those of us excited to try out the new rain effects will have to wait just a little bit longer, as the new build update released today has more of a focus on some impressive new visual damage modeling and tyre model updates, as well as the new cars of course. Despite its relative compact size the improvements should immediately be noticeable for rFactor 2 fans, with some subtle but encouraging enhancements made across several areas of the simulation, and plenty more planned for the near future.

The new build and car DLC are both available now, with the update automatically installing when you next restart your Steam client.

Want to know more about the future of rFactor 2? Don't forget to check out our interview with Studio 397 head man @Marcel Offermans HERE.

Build Changelog:

• Added: An extended visual damage model featuring a combination of dents, scratches and cracks on the bodywork of cars, which has been implemented on the GT3 pack.
• Added: New window and headlight glass shader that produces more realistic reflections. All five GT3 cars use it.
• Added: Controller Profiles for Thrustmaster T-GT, T-GT Ferrari F1 Addon, TS-XW, TS-XW with Ferrari F1 Addon.
• Added: Updates to the CPM model.
• Fixed: Various small fixes to the no rain zone code that prevents rain from entering closed cockpits.
• Fixed: All controller profiles default inputs are now assigned to JOY1.
• Fixed: Bumped the rFactor 2 version for multiplayer compatibility to 1109 because of the new visual dents that required changes to the multiplayer protocol.

The GT3 Power Pack DLC
Available now via the Steam store, the GT3 Power Pack can be purchased as either a full five car package or as individual items. The pack retails for £13.35 and can be purchased HERE.

Bentley Continental GT3

The Bentley Continental GT3 was first unveiled at the Goodwood Festival Of Speed in 2013; and since has been competing in many different GT3 championships across the globe. Even though the car looks big, it is actually very light; and its 600 horsepower 4.0 liter twin turbo engine makes it a force to be reckoned with.

Radical RXC Turbo GT3

The Radical RXC Turbo GT3 is a bit of a rare appearance in the GT3 field, but it certainly is a very strong contender. Its light and stiff body holds a 3.5 liter Ford Ecoboost V6 engine with twin turbos and intercoolers, delivering over 500 horsepower. This car competes in the GT Open and debuted in 2016 at the season opener at Estoril. Of all the cars in the pack, this one probably feels the most like an open wheeler.

Callaway Corvette C7 GT3-R

The Callaway Corvette C7 GT3-R, designed and built by Callaway Competition in Leingarten, Germany, started life on the drawing boards in 2014 and hit the tracks in 2016 when it started competing in the ADAC GT Masters. That campaign proved to be very successful; and recently it was announced that this car is now also ready to debut in the US, with GM giving permission to run in its home country. This 600 horsepower, 6.2 liter V8 packs a serious punch and sounds great. Nick-named “Darth Vader”, as it was first shown with an all-black carbon fiber body, this car will definitely remind you to hit your braking points and apexes if it shows up in your rear mirror!

Mercedes AMG GT3

The Mercedes AMG GT3 was presented to the world in March of 2015 at the Geneva Motor Show. The 6.2 liter naturally aspirated V8 engine and carbon-fiber body ensure this car can always be found at the front of the pack. Apart from racing in GT3, this car has also been entered in both the Super GT GT300 and IMSA GTD classes.

McLaren 650S GT3

The McLaren 650S GT3 is a car we already released earlier this year for the World’s Fastest Gamer competition. The car made its debut in 2015 and was designed and optimised to contest GT3 championships. Building on the MP4-12C GT3, it offered optimisations in many areas, including aerodynamics. Powered by a 3.8 liter twin turbo V8 engine that is known to spit fire like there’s no tomorrow, this car is definitely an awesome appearance on any track. We have updated this car based on community feedback and additional data we received.

rFactor 2 is a PC exclusive racing simulation available worldwide via the Steam network.

Check out the rFactor 2 sub forum here at RaceDepartment for all the latest news and discussion with regards to the simulation. You can take part in lively debates with fellow rFactor 2 fans and take part in some great Club and League racing events..! Head over to the forum now and share the love this simulation so very much deserves...

Excited to finally get chance to try the latest rFactor 2 DLC? What are your impressions so far? Which is your favorite car of the pack? What would you like to see next from S397? Let us know in the comments section below!

 

[Lino Carreira]

You would need blinkers on not to have seen rF2 was unfairly targeted since Build dot
If it had the support it deserved 5 years ago, who knows
Wasn't S397 made rF2 feel as it does




So......... now we pick games based on hardware demand ?

I tend to like properly done software....yes i know....call me stupid but if it looks bad and runs bad... i see no positives.... if it looked bad but was superb in performance i could live with it...

 

[Davide Sciacca]

Guys, remember that this build is still in beta test. Optimisation is the last thing to do in this part of the developement process. Let matters take their course

 

[fatal]

Both my G27/G29 were terrible, I could never find good settings.

I now have a T300 and the difference is immense, no more rattly mess of a geared Logitech.

I'm sorry if this proves unhelpful, I just wanted to share my experiences.

I purchased a secondhand t300 with T3pa pedals for a good price if you have any spare cash to do the same mate

Could you please post your T300 settings?

 

[Alex Townsend]

Loving the new GT3 pack as the cars are a blast to drive.

Please provide your graphical settings!

11 cars with the default graphical settings from ISI are enough to have my ASUS ROG GTX 1070 crawl on it's knees with frame rates well below 60fps. Try the same settings with the Nissan GT1 and I get no dips below 60fps on the exact same tracks.

Bumping the graphical settings to maximum and it's the same story - 11 GT3 cars is sub 60fps at Suzuka and Malaysia and an easy 60fps minimum with 11 GT1 cars at the same tracks. I chose 11 cars as I originally ran 20 GT3 cars & was seeing sub 60fps.

My CPU+GPU combo runs AC, pCARS 2 (before refund!), R3E & AMS (naturally) all without issue irrespective of the graphical settings and grid size at a minimum 60fps. The benchmark for AC at maximum settings across the board averages out at 122fps..

At this rate I'll have to limit myself to hotlapping with the GT3 class or have a grid size of 5 cars until S397 provide further optimisations.

Just checking you have PP medium, low or off?

 

[Emery]

Guys, remember that this build is still in beta test. Optimisation is the last thing to do in this part of the developement process. Let matters take their course

I wouldn't hold my breath if I were you as fps have been hit by the GT3 pack whether the game is played in DX9 or DX11.

I'm pretty certain the performance hit in the GT3 pack is a direct result of more polygons in the cars. A well-detailed LOD A car in rF2 used to have about as many polygons as the LOD B car in AC and they've now increased the polygons to match LOD A in AC. Couple that with the high detail rF2 tracks have always had and the limits are quickly reached. You can turn down opponent & car details to gain a few fps.

Have you noticed all the track popups in pCARS 2? That's because they're trying to keep from reaching the limit. AC's way of doing this is to avoid trackside details as much as possible.

If there is one place where rF2 might find more optimization is in shadows. Most people are noticing biggest fps gains by reducing shadows. The desperate turn shadows off, but... ugh.

 

[m_mirk]

At what resolution are you playing and what do you consider enough frames?

What CPU, I have a i5 6600k and that gpu and grid starts are between 45 and 60

Loving the new GT3 pack as the cars are a blast to drive.

Please provide your graphical settings!

11 cars with the default graphical settings from ISI are enough to have my ASUS ROG GTX 1070 crawl on it's knees with frame rates well below 60fps. Try the same settings with the Nissan GT1 and I get no dips below 60fps on the exact same tracks.

Bumping the graphical settings to maximum and it's the same story - 11 GT3 cars is sub 60fps at Suzuka and Malaysia and an easy 60fps minimum with 11 GT1 cars at the same tracks. I chose 11 cars as I originally ran 20 GT3 cars & was seeing sub 60fps.

My CPU+GPU combo runs AC, pCARS 2 (before refund!), R3E & AMS (naturally) all without issue irrespective of the graphical settings and grid size at a minimum 60fps. The benchmark for AC at maximum settings across the board averages out at 122fps..

At this rate I'll have to limit myself to hotlapping with the GT3 class or have a grid size of 5 cars until S397 provide further optimisations.

I am so sorry guys. I have checked my settings and I had the post effects set to none some weeks ago (and forgot about it with the release of pcars 2 ). With post effects at none I had 50 to 80 fps on Xeon E3-1231, Geforce 1070 and 2560x1080 res which was good for me. With post effects at ultra I only get 35 to 50 which ist too low, as you said. Now I have to go back to settings and find a way to deal with this situation...

 

[Nick Hill]

I have to say I'm relieved to see I'm not the only one with serious FPS issues. Hopefully the devs use some of the cash from this DLC (which I've found to be excellent) for some graphics optimizations.

As it stands right now, rF2 is basically a hotlap simulator for me - a shame considering how awesome the AI is; I just can't run any other cars on the track with me unless I crank the settings down past the point I consider acceptable (and I am not one with exceptionally high tastes in graphical fidelity).

 

[NASCRAP]

Hopefully the devs use some of the cash from this DLC (which I've found to be excellent) for some graphics optimizations.

Why the hell would they do that when they've got people like you who'll keep paying them for garbage?

 

[Alex Townsend]

Have to Haha as there is no 'troll' smiley...

 

[NASCRAP]

Have to Haha as there is no 'troll' smiley...

S397 is laughing hardest.

 

[Avo77]

It's kind of a relief for me to read your comment about FPS.
I just installed a new 1060GTX and was worried about the incredibly bad performances in rF2.
The ugliest engine in modern driving sim is also the most demanding (actually four times more than AMS one that is marginally prettier).
Great achievement...

 

[Rastas]

S397 is laughing hardest.

How old are you,3 years?Because my 6 years kid is smarter than you.........

 

[Nick Hill]

It's kind of a relief for me to read your comment about FPS.
I just installed a new 1060GTX and was worried about the incredibly bad performances in rF2.
The ugliest engine in modern driving sim is also the most demanding (actually four times more than AMS one that is marginally prettier).
Great achievement...

Harsh, but not unfair (IMO).

 

[Avo77]

Just to be clear: rF2 is by far the best driving experience I’ve ever had on computer, but not being able to achieve 60fps with 15 cars on gird, no matter the graphics settings, is unacceptable.
Pcars2 and Assetto Corsa can achieve more than 100fps in the same conditions.

 

[Durge Driven]

I tend to like properly done software....yes i know....call me stupid but if it looks bad and runs bad... i see no positives.... if it looked bad but was superb in performance i could live with it...

Then pardon me but what are you doing here

 

[Durge Driven]

Anyone complaining or has bad performance ......get a refund ............like dur ?

DLC purchased from the Steam store is refundable within fourteen days of purchase, and if the underlying title has been played for less than two hours since the DLC was purchased.....zzz

Makes you wonder how anyone drove the laps they did in the McLaren challenge


edit: just a thought

Has anyone even tested the 5 cars separate ? which car is worse or they all as bad as each other ?

Run fraps for 3 minutes on each

 

[natedogg1867]

Anyone complaining or has bad performance ......get a refund ............like dur ?

Makes you wonder how anyone drove the laps they did in the McLaren challenge

Before you denigrate others for having criticism of the dlc price/performance/whatever, and say to refund it... The very least you could do is quote the correct section of the Steam refund policy...

Refunds on In-game Purchases
Steam will offer refund for in-game purchases within any Valve-developed games within forty-eight hours of purchase, so long as the in-game item has not been consumed, modified or transferred. Third-party developers will have the option to enable refunds for in-game items on these terms. Steam will tell you at the time of purchase if the game developer has opted to offer refunds on the in-game item you are buying. Otherwise, in-game purchases in non-Valve games are not refundable through Steam.

The cars are considered in game items and not dlc. Normally, you cannot refund in game items. You certainly dont have 14 days to do so here.

 

[Avo77]

I don't want a refund (I purchased rF2 on day one of the alpha so it's probably a bit late... ) but I'd like to play my favourite sim in a decent way.

Is this too much to ask?

 

[Durge Driven]

I don't want a refund (I purchased rF2 on day one of the alpha so it's probably a bit late... ) but I'd like to play my favourite sim in a decent way.

Is this too much to ask?

No you are right mate I agree

There has just been a small update to rF2 55.8mb

 

[NASCRAP]

I don't want a refund (I purchased rF2 on day one of the alpha so it's probably a bit late... ) but I'd like to play my favourite sim in a decent way.

Is this too much to ask?

It's too much to ask from S397. You can avoid this problem in the future by only buying software from competent, ethical developers.