rFactor 2: more Palm Beach previews

[Paul Jeffrey]

Image Space Incorporated have revealed, via their rFactor 2 Track Team, yet more previews of the upcoming Palm Beach International Raceway update due to be added to the game in the very near future.

As detailed in our previous preview article, it looks like the team over at ISI have been hard at work bringing some fine details to this enjoyable rFactor 2 circuit. The quality of the screenshots and frequency of which they have been released leads one to believe release of this "version 2" track update must not be far away now.

ISI have been hard at work in these last few months updating the sim with new builds and Third Party Affiliate (3PA) content, however the studio are not forgetting to bring enhancements to the more mature items previously released for the simulation. Palm Beach International was one of the earliest releases for rFactor 2 and had fallen behind in the visual department in light of some of the more recent releases. A bit of a favourite layout for many fans, the upcoming update will be a welcome addition to the sim and progress to date looks highly promising.

No firm release date for the update has been announced by the studio, however keep an eye out on RaceDepartment rFactor 2 forum for news about this and other rFactor 2 related topics as and when they break!

Check out our rFactor 2 forum for other discussion topics and news for rFactor 2 as well as our highly rated Racing Club and modding section.



How do you think the progress is developing on Palm Springs? Looking forward to the update? Let us know in the comments section below!

 

[GTAce]

(Impossible in AC as widely known to have possibly the worst AI coding ever),

This is by far the most ridiculous statement I've heard regarding its AI.
In GTR² and rFactor 1, you constantly get rearended, pCARS also suffers from a way too aggressive behaviour, they're all much worse than AC. I'm not saying rFactor 2 isn't better, might be possible that it's the current benchmark (not judging by the demo, but okay), but the AC AI bashing is getting out of hand.

 

[Emery]

Gaaah! Once again a preview thread devolves into something unrelated.

 

[John-Eric Saxén]

Anyway, I'd never say something against rF2's physics, but the graphics are so poor for current standards, it's just sad and for me, it ruins the whole game. The audio is also lackluster.

Graphics is heavily dependent on how a track is built. All graphics engines in today's games produce close to same result, all they basically differ in is the use of post-processing effects, some of which rF2 admittedly lacks, but these effects are largely useless and fake anyway. Apart from fx, you can make a track look basically same in rF2 as in AC. Some of the recent modded "conversions" have proven this. Also take a look at how Silverstone compares in both games and tell me where the massive difference is:

 

[Andy_J]

This is by far the most ridiculous statement I've heard regarding its AI.

OK, if you say so.

 

[GTAce]

Also take a look at how Silverstone compares in both games and tell me where the massive difference is:

Considering how almost half of this picture is a skybox, this is really a dumb comparison.
Anyway: Texture resolution and detail. ambient occlusion, reflections on trackside objects, polycount of trackside objects (and the track itself, which cannot be seen in this picture), grass and of course the overall lighting. The difference is huge, if you want to admit it or not.

Gaaah! Once again a preview thread devolves into something unrelated.

The track's out, this whole preview is pretty useless now anyway.

 

[John-Eric Saxén]

Anyway: Texture resolution and detail. ambient occlusion, reflections on trackside objects, polycount of trackside objects (and the track itself, which cannot be seen in this picture), grass and of course the overall lighting. The difference is huge, if you want to admit it or not.

The difference is huge, I can now admit. rF2 uses much higher polycount trackside objects. I wasn't actually expecting it to be the case, but looking at the building from viewer, the difference in detail is massive. AC building is basically just a cube:

 

[GTAce]

I stand corrected regarding the polycount, but then it's simply wasted budget, considering you can't see it. Also speaks for AC's shaders, because you have more detail with less polygons.

Anyway, it doesn't matter, in the end AC simply looks much better and if it didn't, I would critisize it the same.

EDIT: By the way, that's also one of the reasons why I don't often drive on Trento in AC. The track looks horrible and has zero detail. I still wish Kunos would update it, but it doesn't look like they will.

 

[Emery]

Also speaks for AC's shaders, because you have more detail with less polygons.

Dude, shaders have nothing to do with detail. Polygons and textures make details. You see the difference when you're closer to the object... ideally one uses LOD to help that, but there's very little LOD in the AC tracks.

 

[GTAce]

Dude, shaders have nothing to do with detail

Okay, now this takes on a complete new level of ridiculousness. You might want to educate yourself a bit regarding this before entering a graphics discussion. Just as a little tip (even when neither rF2 nor AC use it): Even tesselation is a shader and that changes geometry on the fly.

 

[Emery]

For the most part, geometry shaders smooth curves, but they can't make details out of nothing. Which parts of tracks is AC using geometry shaders?

[oh, yeah, the animated flags at Magione... that look like wet cardboard flopping]

 

[John-Eric Saxén]

I stand corrected regarding the polycount, but then it's simply wasted budget, considering you can't see it. Also speaks for AC's shaders, because you have more detail with less polygons.

You can get more or less same result with rF2 shaders. Proof of concept is the converted track from video below. It should look much worse than original because it's converted to another sim than it was built for, but if anything it looks just as good to me.

 

[GTAce]

it looks just as good to me.

Might wanna check your eyes then. Although it does proof that Kunos' track modeling is much better than ISI's. The audio is also outdated, no environmental effects whatsoever.

For the most part, geometry shaders smooth curves, but they can't make details out of nothing. Which parts of tracks is AC using geometry shaders?

[oh, yeah, the animated flags at Magione... that look like wet cardboard flopping]

I mentioned that neither game uses 3D shaders. Shaders still can change the look of textures, add surface detail and have an immense impact on the overall quality.

I'll leave this discussion now though, it doesn't make any sense.

 

[Ace King]

This is by far the most ridiculous statement I've heard regarding its AI.
In GTR² and rFactor 1, you constantly get rearended, pCARS also suffers from a way too aggressive behaviour, they're all much worse than AC. I'm not saying rFactor 2 isn't better, might be possible that it's the current benchmark (not judging by the demo, but okay), but the AC AI bashing is getting out of hand.

The majority of AI issues in rF1 is because of poor AIW's in 3rd party tracks and car mods! I done extensive work for the AI in rF1 and they only take a 2nd place to rF2 which is the best on the planet with a well adjusted AIW and car mod setup! Stockcar Extreme's AI proves to have a decent AI since they also done all the necessary AI work which is still your typical rF1 engine!

 

[Andy_J]

I'll leave this discussion now though, it doesn't make any sense.

Good idea before you insult any one else.

 

[hagapito40]

The difference is huge, I can now admit. rF2 uses much higher polycount trackside objects. I wasn't actually expecting it to be the case, but looking at the building from viewer, the difference in detail is massive. AC building is basically just a cube:

Now i know where all the graphics resourses go!... that are what i call optimized trackside objects...

 

[DaVeX↯]

This time I am here to talk good about rf2, I don't know what happened but with same pc, same graphic settings as usual I passed after a week I wasn't playng it from 45-60 fps to 130-140 fps...
This is sorcery!

 

[David Kolody]

This time I am here to talk good about rf2, I don't know what happened but with same pc, same graphic settings as usual I passed after a week I wasn't playng it from 45-60 fps to 130-140 fps...
This is sorcery!

How many times has Win 10 been updated in the week?

 

[William Wester]

Many of the Windows updates I see are related to Windows Defender, similar to the daily updates I see from Malwarebytes or any anti-virus software. Many updates can be considered an annoyance OR a good thing that someone is constantly watching and responding to all of the idiots of the world (virus, malware, spyware dudes).