rFactor 2 May Development Roadmap

[Paul Jeffrey]

Studio 397 have released the latest 'Development Roadmap' for rFactor 2 - previews of Zandvoort included too!

Following the massive DX11 update and VR implementation brought to the public beta branch of rFactor 2 on Steam, one would be forgiven for thinking Studio 397 would be taking their foot off the gas with new content and features and just focusing on further hotfix updates to the simulation. Not so according to the last development roadmap posting on the official Studio 397 website.

Since taking over further development of the simulation from Image Space Incorporated, Studio 397 have been keen to foster better relationships and communication channels with the simulations diehard fan base. As a result of this new found communication strategy the developers have taken to posting regular monthly 'roadmap' updates on progress with the latest improvements, or just to general put the public in the picture as to what's happening with the simulation back at the development HQ.

So for May we find out that 397 have secured an official licence for the impressive Zandvoort circuit in Holland, with work infact having already been undertaken to bring the circuit into a playable version within the sim. As can be seen from the screenshots attached to this article, progress does indeed look to be at a healthy stage already, although a release date remains a fair while away yet.

Other highlights from the roadmap post include news that the DX11 and VR update is closing on a stable public release "in a few more weeks". Initially launching via the Steam beta branch to mixed reactions, Studio 397 have diligently and quickly been working behind the scenes to deploy a number of updates that have moved the new build forwards at quite the impressive rate. With more work undeniably still to do to get the build in a stable public release ready state, it will be interesting to see how things progress with the simulation.

Other notable details from the post include the intention by the developers to bring further updates to the physics of a number of older content, with the latest CPM coming to both the Marussia and Formula Two cars in the near future. The F2 in particular has come in for criticism in the past in relation to its handling characteristics, so it will be interesting to see how these have been changed post update release.

You can check out the full roadmap post from May below:

A lot has happened since our last roadmap update, with the release of the DX11 engine where we entered an “open beta” phase that saw frequent updates and a lot of feedback from our community. First of all, we would like to thank you all for that! We feel we are moving towards a stable release in a few more weeks, after which our focus will shift towards the completion of our new UI. We will also provide you with some updates soon on how to interact with the screen from plugin code in DX11.

On top of the significant code changes, we also decided to give our existing content an update. A lot of cars and tracks have already been released, with a few more still to come. Tiger Moth and the classic Belgium track are being finished as we speak for example. Some tracks are taking a bit longer as we need to fix a few of our older shaders.

Physics Updates
For our cars, we not only want to do updates to the graphics to make them look better under DX11 and DX9, but also update their physics. The biggest updates are related to our Contact Patch Model (CPM) which will give the F2 and Marussia F1 car new rubber. We are also looking at doing the same for the Civic and will probably do a few others.

Cars
In previous updates you’ve already seen some shots of the Radical in-game and we are currently working hard on completing the sound, physics and tyres for the car and get the package in the hands of our testers. Realistically we are looking at a release in June for this car.

In other news, we now go left with the USF2000 oval package upgrade. Recently we got our hands on some good hard data on the oval package run by the USF2000 series – the resulting upgrade package we’ve developed makes for a more challenging open wheel oval experience. The added adjustments, being in line with the real world data add the proper baseline asymmetry needed, making the car better suited to the sustained wheel-to-wheel and ‘in the draft’ oval action. Additionally, the provided asymmetrical setup is a great starting point for those daunted by having to make an oval setup, it should be well balanced out of the box for a wide range of ovals – so don’t be afraid to just jump in start racing. You should see this update early next week.

Keep an eye out on our social media for a few other announcements on the car front!

Meet us in Zandvoort
Over the weekend, we will be at the Jumbo Racing Days, driven by Max Verstappen, which is a spectacular event at Circuit Park Zandvoort. In a partnership with Red Bull, Fanatec, PlaySeat and Team Redline we have setup a large tent in the paddock area with a couple of rigs where you can test your skills against some of the Team Redline drivers on-site. We’ve heard that Max Verstappen will drop by himself to set a benchmark lap! He will of course also give a lot of demonstrations with his racing car on the real track throughout the whole weekend.

For us this is a great opportunity to share the first preview of our new Zandvoort track, which will be coming to rFactor 2. We’ve included a few early screenshots which show our progress with the track and we are very pleased that we can also announce that we’ve obtained an official license for it.

rFactor 2 is a racing simulation exclusive to PC. You can purchase the game directly from Steam with immediate effect.

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...

Did you enjoy the latest roadmap offering from Studio 397? Happy to hear of the official Zandvoort licence? What other official tracks would you like to see added to the sim going forward? Let us know in the comments section below!

 

[MoerasGrizzly]

Holy **** it's zandvoort
zANDVOOOORT

 

[John-Eric Saxén]

I would have to agree...the sound is not that good, although I do like the Camero GT3 sound at the moment...BUT Studio 397 have just started the re-development of rF2 so I think eventually the sound will be phenomenal when they get to overhauling it....I have complete faith in them....and as they say, 'Rome was not Built in a Day'

@Marcel Offermans Said on discord that they are considering sound engine improvements.

I guess they will talk about it if they are done with dx11, vr and hud.

Sounds are mostly not about the sound engine, but about quality of sound samples. Raceroom uses the same stone age Miles sound engine as rF2 does, yet people think Raceroom is the leader in sim sounds at the moment. It makes not much of a difference to build a new sound engine if you use the same old samples, it's all about paying for good samples for your cars. Proof is the GT500, which went from sounding like a lawn mower to actually sounding pretty good in the latest version.

 

[Terry Rock]

Wish there was a way to separate the official tracks and cars from the modded stuff in the selection menu.
Since some of the mods are not ...and probably won't be updated, it'd be nice to have them in a different list.

 

[Jockey]

Wish there was a way to separate the official tracks and cars from the modded stuff in the selection menu.
Since some of the mods are not ...and probably won't be updated, it'd be nice to have them in a different list.

While not ideal you can use a race event file sytem for this. :/

 

[leseb64]

If Studio 397 make better sounds and a better online that will remain to the others !!
Big Thanks for the RF3 oops RF2.9

 

[Fanapryde]

Has anyone tested Civics and FR3.5? On official forums people complained quite a lot; supposedly the ffb was really weird in last build.

While the Civic used to be (one of) my favourite car(s), the FFB is now so bad/unrealistic that I simply deleted it a week ago...

 

[Enagee]

I don't think that it is needed to phase out their mod system. The problem right now is that it just needs some refinement and polish and from what I gathered, they are trying to implement it better in the upcoming UI. So that you see wich mods are used on a server and are linked directly to the workshop items for example. The getmod function is pretty good on it's own, but the problem are the download speeds of the servers most of the time. From all the moddable games I played, it has the best support for downloading and managing mods. It doesn't get easier than clicking on an item in workshop and having it auto installed to your game. The mod system isn't really the issue, but how it is used by the people managing their servers and how it is presented in the UI.

Your right, phase out is the wrong word, definitely refinement .
But still feel there's alot of reliance on mod content and not all good and not all bad. Personally would like to see more original base content, either converting some good mods to original content, with some filter separation from original content from mods , cause there is alot of mods on RF2.

Thanks for the explanation @hitm4k3r

 

[Keith_G]

I have been very pleased with the updates and especially VR. Since I've started using VR I rarely played RF2 but since VR was implemented I have put in a fair amount of time and it feels great! I paid the $80 price a long time ago for this game and have easily gotten much more value out of it than that. I am excited to see an official new track and of course the update of the Enduracers Mod, but in order to support Studio 397 and keep this great work going I'm also ready to pay for some official DLC content. So please keep it coming!!! Great work Studio 397

 

[hitm4k3r]

Your right, phase out is the wrong word, definitely refinement .
But still feel there's alot of reliance on mod content and not all good and not all bad. Personally would like to see more original base content, either converting some good mods to original content, with some filter separation from original content from mods , cause there is alot of mods on RF2.

Thanks for the explanation @hitm4k3r

I think Marcel mentioned, that filtering the content on the workshop for example is not in the hands of S397 but Steam/Valve, so it's your best bet to wait for the new UI I guess. If you want to filter mods in the workshop right now, it's best to just click on the uploader (aka S397 or ISI) to check for their uploaded items. That's how I do it right now and it works best.

 

[Emery]

Its very weird where people get these, shitty ffb 3.5's... One of the best there is anywhere.

I suspect it's because they are trying too hard to have a strong FFB.

 

[RaceNut]

Sounds are mostly not about the sound engine, but about quality of sound samples. Raceroom uses the same stone age Miles sound engine as rF2 does, yet people think Raceroom is the leader in sim sounds at the moment. It makes not much of a difference to build a new sound engine if you use the same old samples, it's all about paying for good samples for your cars. Proof is the GT500, which went from sounding like a lawn mower to actually sounding pretty good in the latest version.

IIRC, Sector3 uses a modified custom engine based on the Miles sound-engine; iRacing uses a customized version of Fmod. I feel that the system CodeMasters uses produces the best effects but, no sound-engine created to date can do justice to match real Race Car sounds.

In order to get to the next level, there needs to be a specialized audio engine / sound-card that can process multiple audio layers based on the car's position within the environment relative to the camera views while providing multiple reflected sounds as well as the direct ones; reverb effects and filters simply cannot do the job very effectively. Audio needs more advancements like those made with graphics; complex shadows, shaders, reflections, HDR, bloom, etc. - applied to sound processing. Some of the new 3D audio techniques for use with head-tracking (VR) might be useful but, they are generally limited to interior spaces.