rFactor 2 | New Build Update and Indianapolis PBR Released

[Paul Jeffrey]

Studio 397 have today released a new build to the rFactor 2 racing simulation, alongside a new PBR shader update and refresh of the popular Indianapolis Motor Speedway circuit within the sim.

• Indianapolis 2020 V1.06 released.
• New build update addresses the first pass of fixes and optimizations.
• Build update available as opt in release candidate.

Studio 397 have today released both a new build update to the core rFactor 2 simulation, alongside the much anticipated refresh of the classic Indianapolis Motor Speedway Steam Workshop circuit for the title.

In terms of the build update, the new release today adds a number of fixes and quality of life improvements to the title - the most recent build in what the Dutch development team have promised is the start of a concerted effort to address many of the outstanding issues within the simulation.

Build Update Notes

• We’ve removed the Max 2012 plugins as they no longer work, and provided the last working Max 2017 plugins. We have no intention to upgrade them any longer as we can’t get these versions of Max any more to test. Furthermore, we urge the modding community to upgrade to current Max versions.
• Fixed: Reflection mapper in Scene Viewer, so it renders from the same point as the user sees.
• Fixed: Bind a mouse click to any input control.
• Fixed: Issues with showroom performance.
• Fixed: Missing error prompt when textures are missing from content.
• Fixed: Issue with a white screen you get when you try to assign a control.
• Fixed: Visible damage sometimes corrupting car bodies, to properly fix the hotfix that temporarily disabled the visible damage.
• Fixed: Issue where clouds could show similar corruption as car bodies.
• Fixed: Showroom Upgrades not displaying which require MAS Files.
• Fixed: Glitch where “the lights would suddenly go off” when transitioning from light to dark at dusk.
• Fixed: Exploit where you could still set the FE car to use 250kW in the setup in a race when that setting is reserved for “attack mode”.
• Fixed: Overlays would not correctly follow the attack mode countdown timing.
• AIW Editor: Added new line smoothing option, and added soft selection for manual adjustments.
• Added an internal option to the player.json to turn off multi-threading in the UI. Defaults to “on”.
• Added code support so we can detect a disabled Steam overlay, to warn you about why a shopping cart won’t show up.
• Changed how a dedicated server shuts down when asked so it no longer crashes with a non-zero return code.
• Pausing sessions in a dedicated server will now only pause the first one.
• Increased an internal timeout when talking to Steam to give it more time before we give up or retry.
• Scene Viewer Changes: Moved Web UI Port to 5396 by default and added support for up to 128 scenes in configuration file

In a change from the normal procedures with build releases, this new update will be available to players as a special 'Release Candidate' branch of rFactor 2 - meaning the current public version of the simulation remains unchanged, and platers can choose to 'opt in' to this new update right-clicking rFactor 2 in your Steam library, and selecting ‘Properties – betas – release-candidate’.

Indianapolis Motor Speedway Update

In other rFactor 2 news, the studio have also deployed a new update to the free Indianapolis Motor Speedway circuit, adding a wide range of improvements to one of the older circuits within the simulation.

You can check out the changes in the latest build notes below:

• Update of 2013 Release to 2020.
• Replaced 2013 layout with modern equivalent
• Full PBR Conversion of all assets
• Replaced Crowds with new assets
• Replaced Marshals with new assets
• Added Pitlane Props (Pit Stands, Fuelling Rigs, Pit Markers)
• Added accurate background nightlighting
• Added Advertisements
• Added building at Road Course S1
• Improved various assets such as armco barriers
• AI Updates to 2007 GP and Modern GP layouts.
• Various other improvements and tweaks

Original Source: Studio 397

rFactor 2 is available now exclusively on PC.

Got questions? Our community have answers! Check out the rFactor 2 sub forum here at RaceDepartment for a great way to engage with your fellow fans of the simulation.

 

[John-Eric Saxén]

@hotak The views of those involved in the development of sims, such as those used in research and development, are very interesting. You mentioned that tire models fall into three categories. If you know the strengths and weaknesses of "Tame Tire" and "Fiala Tire", can you tell us? This is because rFactor2 may be used in Tame Tire (partial?) And Fiala Tire may be used in AC / ACC / iR.

AC/ACC tire model is not considered to have much in common with iR. rF2 is closer to iR in that both use a physical tire model where you begin by modeling an entire tire, which in rF2 case you then run through a bunch of tests to generate the look-up table.

Kunos only recently moved away from a one-point into a five-point tire model (you can read more about it here). The model that ACC, or at least AC uses is not that complicated, it's more related to the magic formula type, which is why it's relatively easy to build mods for. Then again, a more "complex" model isn't automatically better or more practical.

 

[hotak]

@hotak The views of those involved in the development of sims, such as those used in research and development, are very interesting. You mentioned that tire models fall into three categories. If you know the strengths and weaknesses of "Tame Tire" and "Fiala Tire", can you tell us? This is because rFactor2 may be used in Tame Tire (partial?) And Fiala Tire may be used in AC / ACC / iR.

Sorry for the late reply,

Didn't know those names before, but by a quick look they look like a gmotor2-like with some brush elements for the fiala, while the Tame Tire looks like an evolution of brush tire model but a bit less complex than SMS's SETA model.
That said, i expect those models to be somewhat more complicated in their implementation in various games than they are on papers, otherwise they're quite simple models.

 

[Navigator]

So, is Indy supposed to have that much vibration with the Indy cars?

Nope!
It's an easy fix. If you still have the problem, pm me and I will explain.
Takes you 5 minutes.

 

[2stains]

Every time i load rF2 i get an error, something about this Indianapolis track!!

 

[davehenrie]

Every time i load rF2 i get an error, something about this Indianapolis track!!

It would help to see the actual message, but there was an error floating around prior to the updates about the original version. A mod was not letting go of first release, I think the users found a fix, can't for the life of me remember what it was though.

 

[Durge Driven]

I can feel the force

Every line in this is like about simracing and rF2 lol

 

[Durge Driven]

AC/ACC tire model is not considered to have much in common with iR. rF2 is closer to iR in that both use a physical tire model where you begin by modeling an entire tire, which in rF2 case you then run through a bunch of tests to generate the look-up table.

Kunos only recently moved away from a one-point into a five-point tire model (you can read more about it here). The model that ACC, or at least AC uses is not that complicated, it's more related to the magic formula type, which is why it's relatively easy to build mods for. Then again, a more "complex" model isn't automatically better or more practical.

Dynamic both tyre and physics in rF2 a decade ago
I don't know how they did to make things like dirty air feel realistic
I raised the idea of people mining tyre testing so 1000 people would do 1,000 variations sending data to ISI ...
TGM TYRE TOOL each variation takes a long long time

I used to call other studios like pcars1 and AC press button physics and it's true

No that does not make rF2 more right never said it never thought it opinion is totally personal

 

[2stains]

It would help to see the actual message, but there was an error floating around prior to the updates about the original version. A mod was not letting go of first release, I think the users found a fix, can't for the life of me remember what it was though.

 

[davehenrie]

yup that was it, you have a mod tied to that track. Look in the packages screen to see if it will show a mod (usually near the bottom) that uses the old version of the track. If that doesn't help, possibly the mod-manager utility in the Bin32 or Bin64 folder. It is not a hard stop to the program, but can be annoying. I have one from the comp system from several months ago when they ran the Enduroracers GT4 car. Still can't get rid of it.