rFactor 2 August Roadmap: Big Things Coming to the Sim Expo...

[Paul Jeffrey]

The August 'Development Roadmap' for rFactor 2 is here!

Studio 397 have been kind enough to release a monthly 'Roadmap' blog posting since taking over development of rFactor 2, giving fans much desired insight into the inner workings of the simulation, and of course using it as a nice opportunity to tease us all with upcoming content and features!

As usual the new posting for August offers plenty to get excited about, however this time the developers are keeping things a little bit closer to their chest... teasing not one but three announcements at the upcoming Sim Racing Expo... something that we will keep a very close eye out for during our three days on sight with RD colleagues and community members.

So what exactly does the latest post say? Well you can read up in full below:

Sometimes you look at the calendar and realize that time can fly past faster than our LMP2 cars ingame. It’s already end of August and we have been so busy with working on rFactor 2 that there is no Roadmap yet. But we couldn’t do without one, right? That would be like breaking a family tradition, and since our team is more about fixin’ things than breaking them, let’s put together a Roadmap for August! As said above already, we’re pretty busy, but with what you might ask? As most of you probably know, SimRacing Expo at the iconic Nürburgring track in Germany is just around the corner and it will kick off big things for us. But let’s do this step by step, it’s a roadmap in the end! (wink)

SimRacing Expo 2018
There is enough going on at this years Expo that we could probably fill the whole Roadmap with it, so let’s concentrate on the major things you should know about it. Obviously we will have a booth at the Expo, so you can come around and meet the team, as we will bring plenty of people along. But just talking to us might be a bit boring all day long, so we will make sure that you will have plenty of reasons to visit the rFactor 2 booth. One of them will be new content that we will show exclusively at our booth, a pre-release of course. Hypemode intensifies!

You want to know more about what this could be? For now you need to live with just 3 words: iconic, fast, competition proven, more at the Expo! (wink) You think that’s it already? Enough reasons to visit us? Nah, we’re in for way more this year! The content shown at the booth will be our first announcement during the Expo, but as Germans say “Alle guten Dinge sind drei”, literally meaning “all good things come in threes”, meaning we will follow up with another announcement during Saturday afternoon.

This second announcement will probably tick a lot of boxes for simracers in terms of their dreams-list for our simulation. We are more then excited to finally share that with you. Sunday will see a third announcement (yep, you’re not getting a day to get back your breath) which will show our dedication to further improving your simracing experience. What happens if you can’t be around then? Don’t worry, we will stream all announcements and first talks about them live from our booth onto our channels. Missing them is not an option at all.

Before we all now dive into the guessing-game about what could be in the announcements, let’s have a look at the other topics of our roadmap…

UI and Competition
We are fully aware that everyone is awaiting news on the UI and we’re still working hard every day on this topic. Many steps are needed to implement an UI like the one we envision, which is taking a lot of time. We are still tweaking and optimising, and we will be able to show parts of the new interface at the Expo. Of course we are very curious to get your feedback there!

On the competition side, we have been integrating different session types so we can have events that consist of combinations of practice, qualification and race sessions and we are looking at different ways to score events. In the last month or so we have also been researching and testing a rating system, feeding it data of many races and evaluating its outcome. We’re nowhere near done, but some of these improvements we will certainly already bring to the McLaren Shadow competition next month.

Content
On the content side, we won’t yet spoil the surprises we have in store for the Expo. Previously we’ve announced both Zandvoort and the Reiza Pack to be almost ready and we do anticipate both to become available in September.

Sounds like good stuff to me, roll on the Sim Racing Expo 2018!

rFactor 2 is available exclusively for PC from Steam now.

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!

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Looking forward to hearing what is in line for rF2 in the immediate future? What do you think the studio could be hinting at in their roadmap post? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below!​

 

[dreamer al]

Although I am excited for recent progress for rF2. The Reiza (proposed) package does not overwhelm me. I do have Automobilista and would have hoped that their more premier vehicles/tracks would have been included, eg F1 Ultima/Imola

 

[John-Eric Saxén]

I really find the cult around rF2 to be really funny. Especially considering it's an almost 7 years old game now and it still feels like an alpha version of a 2010 game.

Well I guess because by how a game "feels", us sim racers primarily refer to the physics and FFB. rF2 still has a tire model that IMO is state of the art, so even if it doesn't have the latest Unreal engine with ray tracing or a modern UI, this "feeling" when driving is surely the main reason why people hold on to it. It comes mostly from years that ISI worked on the tire model, so a big credit goes there. Most other sims out there simply don't spend that much time or resources on their tire models, or at least it's the only reason I can think of why they haven't caught up still.

 

[UnixRoot]

Just release a laser scanned Nordschleife with the quality level of the Sebring add-on and I'm happy.

I'm a simple man. Just give me some beer and some Nordschleife and I'm done.

 

[MPortnoy]

Can we start banning people that just join threads to troll? Let's set an example
@Nevini would be a good way to start

Man, you've been crying and cutting your wrists for over a month (since Sebring release).
I feel sorry for you, i really do.
Can't wait to hear you crying again in a few weeks when Reiza DLC is released

 

[giga1tr]

Hopefully it will not be such a flop like GTR3. Many promises, then only warm air

 

[anton_Chez]

I don't think supporting a company that gives you quality products is a cult. Some people may not agree that there is quality content in rF2, or that it takes too long or costs too much. It's a pleasure to drive the cars in this sim and that's the main thing. I would love to see more tracks the quality of Sebring, maybe a pack that doesn't cost $15 per track, but something bundled together. The overhaul to the UI will hopefully bring a more streamlined menu system when dealing with cars and tracks. Couple this with some quality content that is bundled together and I think we will have what many have been expecting (and complaining about not having) for a few years now.

 

[Tony Bew]

rFactor 2 is my favourite, although AC is all round better. I always drive all sims with all assists off which I suppose is pretty common with RaceDepartment members. I think that is the only way to judge how a sim drives although I know it's a bit silly because no one drives a real car with all assists off. The way it drives and the modding is what keeps rFactor2 my most used sim. I agree that the UI is much ado about nothing, once you get used to a UI then you put up with its annoying bits. For me it is the performance that I would really liked worked on. I want to run as maxed out on the graphics as I can at 60fps and rFactor2 is comparatively very poor in this area. Because of all the free modding I think it is fair enough to charge for DLC.

 

[GP20]

RFactor has the best AI by far, just for that...

 

[Ghoults]

I agree that the UI is much ado about nothing, once you get used to a UI then you put up with its annoying bits.

Ui is more than just how the buttons look. It is how easy it is add skins to a car, how to select cars and tracks for a session, how to change game settings (having to change things in text files is bad ui), how to configure your ui for racing (in good ui you can click buttons to turn things on and off and and drag them with mouse to good position), how easy it is to add and remove mods, how much of all this can be done from the game without needing addon tools.

It is somewhat sad to read that there are people who think rf2 ui problems are just about the colors and button layouts. It goes far deeper than that and while I am pessimistic about how much s397 can actually improve it while keeping old stuff compatible I am also happy that the mountain of work is being done. Considering how long it has taken and is taking is proof how flawed the system was but also proof that s397 are willing to do the work on the difficult stuff as well.

 

[Brent Mills]

With regards to ui, the things I'm really hoping to see are:
- easily pick opponents of same class. This is a nightmare right now if you have a lot of mods.
- most important: keep opponents consistent across races so that championships keep the same drivers. At the moment it's impossible to do an offline championship without delving into the mas files which is a real pain.

 

[Diogo Goetz Brand]

I really wish I could enjoy rF2 and the perfect physics everyone talks about, but the UI is a mess and every single DLC costs more than the game itself, so it remains as a waste of money on my Steam Library.

 

[Denis Betty]

I really wish I could enjoy rF2 and the perfect physics everyone talks about, but the UI is a mess and every single DLC costs more than the game itself, so it remains as a waste of money on my Steam Library.

Fingers crossed for the new UI (I know it's taking ages, but I'm hopeful that it'll be worth the wait). Also, there is occasional free content from S397 and OC we are very lucky that modders continue to produce quality free content.
Keep your chin up fella - glass half full.

 

[Ole Andreasen]

An announcement about announcements, how exciting!

Yea... I like what they do to rFactor2, but this really is an announcement of - nothing! But hey... at the expo we shall all be illuminated. Hopefully lots of good stuff...

 

[Will Mazeo]

Personally I think it is multi million dollar wrought of business practice

Real-time purchases should be based on real-time exchange rates

Steam has always been very slow to move transfer rates when it is better for you and much faster when it is better for them

Just track them for a year if your dollar moves up and down a lot and you will see

I see no reason to do it in real time. The price changes every day a few minutes after the stock market activity ends. The price go up/down the same % the variation had there, "slow to move transfer rates when it is better for you and much faster when it is better for them" is simply false.

I dont get why people feel pissed at this roadmap, with the expo so close it's just expected they'd announce nothing in this one.... you dont need to be a genius to think ahead in this case come on folks.... would be strange if they actually announced anything now.

 

[Nigel Mansell]

+1

I'm hoping this news is coming in September, whilst I do like some different tracks in different titles, Nord is a must - and the more cars to drive on there the better IMHO.

Just release a laser scanned Nordschleife with the quality level of the Sebring add-on and I'm happy.

I'm a simple man. Just give me some beer and some Nordschleife and I'm done.

 

[Durge Driven]

It is not false Will

Here is exchange rate for last month in Australia
You can see the lowest rate for all of August is 0.71794 ...right

Here is statement from August purchase you can see the date
Steam/PayPal exchange rate was 0.6952 so over 1%, more you can see on 16th August
the rate was higher in fact it's way more then 1% difference !

Same circumstance for $100 million in sales ......1% = 1 million in wrought

So the lowest rate all month was above 71 yet they charged below 70
..............how is that not a rip off ?

The rate is the same on Steam I just did not have the receipts to show you

Now show me your proof what I say is not true, next thing I will have doctored the screenshots lol

 

[Will Mazeo]

I dont see the price via Paypal, only what appears to me in Steam item store, and that price match the real life value every day +R$1,50 (€0,32) for bank stuff I believe as the price does not change when I go to the credit card part. After I bought I followed the price, saw it going up and down just normally.

 

[Nigel Mansell]

It's great to see S397 change what RF2 was, and drag it kicking and screaming, into what it is becoming over time. I can't help wonder if it would have been easier to vote/fund porting RF2 to UE. Whilst performance has improved, it has a long long way to go. I'd imagine when ACC lands - it could be eclipsed massively in performance terms. Time will tell.

I'd prefer lower DLC pricing too. Even though we buy it, it's an expensive way of adding content to our base install. Two tracks and the few cars in the endurance dlc is almost the price of many full titles. Many will deem "value", purely on price. Which will put some people off. This could limit the titles appeal in future years to come. When you factor in performance/visuals, it's something that could also restrict the appeal to newer people moving forward.

But, without doubt, all the news is positive, and the direction the sim is heading in - is way more healthy now, compared to the broken mess it had become under ISI. This is another title I'd pay good money to crowd-fun to a modern developed and evolving GFX platform - such as UE. Plus, in theory, this maybe would have made the job of porting/improving the UI a much less difficult task - or - no harder to accomplish. I'd like to see all DLC at sales pricing from day one. This would help everyone, regardless of where they live, to adopt the new DLC packs sooner rather than later.

We all view "value" differently, but many who would love to buy DLC day-one, could be forced to wait for sale days, because compared to other products, it can be seen as expensive. Regardless, the roadmaps, and these future announcements will add variety/polish to RF2. Which it was sadly in great need of. I'm sure most of us are fully aware that S397 are spending time and energy on updating old content - and these updates are free.

But, whilst noting this fact, many would be far more ready to walk away from the platform if S397 hadn't undertaken this work, because RF2 otherwise would be a lot less appealing as a result. At least ISI would have acknowledged that when everything transitioned over. It's all about having more sim choices/offerings. As I age, I feel I do demand quality as a prerequisite though. It's not something that I'm prepared to pay a premium for. I can't wait for more news via S397, as it starts to happen in September.

 

[Durge Driven]

I dont see the price via Paypal, only what appears to me in Steam item store, and that price match the real life value every day +R$1,50 (€0,32) for bank stuff I believe. After I bought I followed the price, saw it going up and down just normally.

What appears in Steam is the same exchange rate quoted @ PayPal
I not making things up Will

If someone made a class action against Steam for this I think it could succeed because I see no reason what they do to Australians they don't do every where else
We are talking billions even 0.5% is huge

Anyway besides the point they charged me 69 cents on the dollar when the lowest rate for the entire month is above 71c on the dollar....... they are not the stock exchange and at least in my example have pulled a rate from thin air !@!

The Australian $ has not been below 71 cents all year , what are we mushrooms and the only ones they can't screw are Americans but I wager if they could they would.

lol

 

[Durge Driven]

It's great to see S397 change what RF2 was, and drag it kicking and screaming, into what it is becoming over time. I can't help wonder if it would have been easier to vote/fund porting RF2 to UE.

Long long time before S397, I suggested on ISI that they green light rF3 or whatever they wanted to call it and do from ground up. I was vilified which I laughed at lol

Sure S397 made it better but if ISI had started ground up way back when rF3 or whatever would be released or close by now and with new physics new engine new everything

Of course, I know, it was a pipe dream made possible because the majority of reviewers and simmers (most that had never even drove it ) crucified it and all without ever realizing what they cost us as a community

Imagine what they could have done if they had the support the other top sims received ?
we could reasonably be driving gmotor 3.0 with some fancy new engine now