rFactor 2: November Development Roadmap

[Paul Jeffrey]

Studio 397, the new developers of rFactor 2, have revealed their second monthly 'Development Roadmap' instalment for the simulation and have shed further light on the future plans of the sim, details on a move towards more paid 3rd Party content and a release date for the USF2000 series pictured above.

With Studio 397 having taken over the development rights of rFactor 2 from Image Space Incorporated, it is again refreshing to see the new commitment to a more transparent approach to community communication with regards to the future of rFactor 2. New for the month of November, the second instalment of the promised monthly development diary mainly confirms the team are still hard at work developing the upgrade to DX11, planned to launch in the first quarter of 2017 and with it bring VR support to the title for the first time. Other news of a more immediate interest include the confirmation that players will soon receive the 2016 USF2000 series as a free piece of additional content, due to hit the game in just five days time. As well as bringing all the teams and drivers from the 2016 season, Studio 397 have also secured the rights to produce the 2017 season, including the new car, which should be released during the new year.

Perhaps of a more controversial nature, Studio 397 have again gone on record to state their desire to utilise the Steam Workshop functionality within the game to launch paid 1st and 3rd party content for the sim. The intention behind allowing the ability to use this functionality and be curated by the studio "can also extend the whole simulation in some interesting ways and allow people to develop more content and even maybe make a few dollars out of it in the process". It will be interesting to see exactly what shape this takes and how the community will react to the idea in the coming weeks and months.

The full development roadmap can be read below:

"Last month I mentioned that the USF2000 was almost ready and some of you have been asking when it will be released. I am happy to announce that it will be released on Wednesday, November 23rd. This release features the 2016 car and teams, and we are happy to announce that we have also licensed the 2017 car. The 2017 chassis, which is very similar to the F4 car, will be released somewhere next year.

We also wanted to take this opportunity to congratulate our fellow simracer Pablo López on being selected by our colleagues at iRacing to take part in the Mazda Road to 24 Shootout. Since that event took place at NOLA Motorsports Park we sent him an early build of the layout he would be driving to practice.

Community wise we updated our forums and, behind the scenes, also moved our beta forums to this new location. Over the next couple of weeks we will be moving more of the website, including the development blogs, some of which have already been moved.

Development has been focussing on the DX11 engine and laying down the groundwork for our new UI. There’s not much we can show here yet until we’re a bit further along, but we are very happy with the current progress. In the mean time we are getting closer to our next Steam-only build. Remember to take advantage of the free option to migrate to Steam if you have not done so yet. Apart from a lot of smaller fixes this build will also feature the work we’ve done with the Stock Car community and we hope this will make rFactor 2 an even more enjoyable simulation for oval racing. As soon as the new build is out, we will also update you on Fallston.

Another new feature we would like to announce is support for paid content. It will integrate nicely with our workshop, and modders will also be able to leverage it to sell their creations. Obviously we would like to use this feature to offer you a wide selection of high quality and high profile content. This does not mean that all future content we create will be paid though.

That’s all for the second monthly update. Happy Simracing!"​

For more information on the USF2000 and the future of rFactor2, check out our exclusive interviews with both Tim Wheatley and Marcel Offermans of Studio 397.

rFactor 2 is available for Windows PC on the Steam Network right now.

Check out the rFactor 2 sub forum here at RaceDepartment for the latest news and discussion regarding the simulation. Have a browse through our extensive mod database, share a setup or even better come along and join in the fun in one of our awesome club racing events!

Did you enjoy the November Development Roadmap from Studio 397? Do you feel positive about the future of rFactor 2? Looking forward to the USF2000 content? Let us know in the comments section below!

 

[Colin Knowles]

So 2018 for consoles ?

 

[Kevin Knorpp]

I quit rF2 under ISI because of all the fiddling and testing required to diagnose and fix things. ISI never took accountability for quality. Studio 397 might do better but unless they fix/complete the 60s stuff then I'm out because that is why I originally bought the game only to see it never completed.

Edit - And for the love of god improve theterrible Howston engine sound and terrible tire sound.

 

[David Dominguez]

I'm not sure what do you mean by "fix the 60s stuff", I tried the 60s Brabham few days ago and imo is loads better than AMS or iRacing versions (not exact same cars, but can be compared). And if it's because of content, as far as I know rF2 wasn't meant to be a 60s sim...

 

[Emery]

I know rF2 is pretty much the King of Sims when it comes to physics & available tuning parameters. Is that why people are usually drawn to rF2?

It can be one reason of many.

However, with such an incredibly advanced Tire Model, so many tuning options, etc...Why aren't way more people playing rFactor 2?

Steamcharts count of active players show rF2 is at least as popular as R3E (and gaining, likely due to lag of Steam adoption by players) and more popular than Automobilista. However all 3 combined still can't touch AC for popularity. Asking why rF2 isn't more popular is like asking "why is AC so popular?"

In my opinion, many people have left rF2 because their idea of what it should be/become was vastly different from what it actually is... if they'd paid any attention to prior ISI work on rF1, they would have known where this was going and how the journey would look. Today we're here with 3x the official content of rF1 and people complain that there isn't enough official content, LOL!

There's also been the problem that rF2 continuous development meant reworking a lot of content. That job still isn't finished, much like AC's latest tire model hasn't propagated to all their cars.

Oh, I should add that I prefer Street Cars to Race Cars a lot!

You'd probably be better served by sticking with AC. Official or endorsed street cars are: Panoz AIV Roadster, Corvette C6, Acura NSX, & AC 427. Oh, and the generic Boxmaster delivery truck, LOL. There are a few third party street cars, but the only one which stands out is the just-released Caterham. Pretty much everything else is a racecar (as it should be for a racing simulation <ahem>).

I just it comes down to: What makes you guys play rFactor 2 over other sims?

For me it boils down to simulation value:
1) Solid multiplayer that can handle more than 32 players.
2) Most complete & adaptable set of race rules.
3) Dynamic conditions (realroad, day/night cycle including moon/stars in correct position, weather, tire flatspotting, & tires that flex both in calculations & graphics).
4) Designed for modding (even if documentation is thin). If I don't like how something looks/works/feels, I can change it.
5) Very good AI.
6) Packaging system allows you to join any properly configured server even if you don't have the content.

[Note: I have Assetto Corsa, Automobilista, GT Legends, GT Racing 2, Project CARS, Race 07, RaceRoom Racing Experience, rFactor, & rFactor 2]

 

[Marc Collins]

I'm not sure what do you mean by "fix the 60s stuff", I tried the 60s Brabham few days ago and imo is loads better than AMS or iRacing versions (not exact same cars, but can be compared). And if it's because of content, as far as I know rF2 wasn't meant to be a 60s sim...

The Brabham is better. But the other companion generic 60's cars have some fairly simple issues that could have been fixed weeks or months or even years ago, but ISI did not bother.

 

[Bozak]

I play AC for more than 2 years and since i got rF2 6 months ago I can't play AC anymore. The rF2 has the best FFB and physics from all the sims i've tried (AMS,R3E,AC) and this is the reason why I love it. You can feel every change at the setup. It's a hardcore racing simulator with all race rules and safety car.

One of the most amazing thing that has is when you race with rain and rain stops the racing line is slowly starting to drying out and you can feel the grip is getting better each lap, I don't thing any other sim has this feature not even rain. Geoff Crammond's Grand Prix series had rain.

Try the demo and play a lot to decide if you want it. I had downloaded the demo twice to make my decision. Even when I bought it I was hesitant because with the demo you can't get the whole idea of the sim. After a few days I was confident about it.

 

[Rodent]

Steamcharts count of active players show rF2 is at least as popular as R3E (and gaining, likely due to lag of Steam adoption by players) and more popular than Automobilista.

Not to be that guy but Steamspy doesn't back these figures up at all for rF2, AMS and R3E
http://steamspy.com/app/365960
http://steamspy.com/app/431600
http://steamspy.com/app/211500

Looking at owners AMS is inching rF2 out slightly and on active players over the last 2 weeks R3E beats both combined.

 

[John-Eric Saxén]

Not to be that guy but Steamspy doesn't back these figures up at all for rF2, AMS and R3E
http://steamspy.com/app/365960
http://steamspy.com/app/431600
http://steamspy.com/app/211500

Looking at owners AMS is inching rF2 out slightly and on active players over the last 2 weeks R3E beats both combined.

R3E has massively more owners and more accumulated active players, but that tells us almost nothing as R3E can be downloaded for free. Those players might well be people who downloaded the game just for fun, started it up for 2 minutes but then quit and never returned.

Steamcharts is more useful IMO as it tells how many simultaneous players there are at any given time, so it gives a better indication if you're actually going to find an active community to race with. If you look at this chart, it tells that R3E is falling in popularity and is now just barely ahead of rF2, despite the fact that all non-Steam rF2 players aren't even counted in this stat. AMS never reached the active player count of rF2 to begin with. So it's pretty safe to say rF2 is the third most played sim, if we count Assetto and pCars as sims.

 

[Rodent]

That's why I was quoting the active players last two weeks statistic, sure they might be f2p players but so what? It's still a playerbase that's fired the sim up in the last two weeks that's larger then both.

Another metric would be our own RD club racing, where R3E has a healthy amount of racing, AMS curbstomps everything and rF2 races while having good participation just don't happen anywhere near as often as the racing for the other titles.

rF2 is a good title, but to suggest it over other sims based on playerbase I remain unconvinced.

Edit: Not to mention not all rF2 players even have multiplayer available so the metric may be even lower.

 

[David Wright]

So it's pretty safe to say rF2 is the third most played sim, if we count Assetto and pCars as sims.

You are forgetting iRacing where I understand peak concurrent participation is in the low thousands.

 

[MarcG]

Seeing as the next Build release will be the first Steam Only release then that would be a better time to start gauging numbers as right now there are many non-steam users still. Even then I'd wait until the first bigger Builds (DX11 for example) are released next year along with more content before taking any notice of "who has the most racers online". Although I highly doubt RF2 will ever surpass AC, iRacing or pCars.

 

[Emery]

Not to be that guy but Steamspy doesn't back these figures up at all for rF2, AMS and R3E
http://steamspy.com/app/365960
http://steamspy.com/app/431600
http://steamspy.com/app/211500

Looking at owners AMS is inching rF2 out slightly and on active players over the last 2 weeks R3E beats both combined.

There's a difference between how many unique players are launching a game vs. how many are concurrently in a game. Launching a game is a "sales figure" and concurrency is an "actively engaged figure". Steamspy is the former and Steamcharts is the latter. If you read Steamspy's fine print, you'll also discover they have a margin of error due to estimation (*) whereas Steamcharts is an actual count taken at intervals (**).

Neither figure actually tells you how many people are using the game in multiplayer nor how many are in private servers rather than public servers. For that, you have to look in the game's browser and even then you may be counting AI instead of players. Using RaceDepartment's server activity as a basis for overall online activity has an obvious sample bias (if for no other reason than it is European-centric and English-speaking).

For new sales, I'm not surprised that AMS is outselling rF2. It is a younger product, has far more ready-to-play content, and currently being promoted more!

(*) "Please note that Steam Spy extrapolates data from limited number of user profiles and thus isn't 100% correct." http://steamspy.com/about

(**) "The collector queries the number of concurrent players on an hourly interval for every single game in the Steam catalog, and has been collecting data since July of 2012." http://steamcharts.com/about

 

[Kevin Knorpp]

I'm not sure what do you mean by "fix the 60s stuff", I tried the 60s Brabham few days ago and imo is loads better than AMS or iRacing versions (not exact same cars, but can be compared). And if it's because of content, as far as I know rF2 wasn't meant to be a 60s sim...

Sparks, Eves and Howstons. No idea what this has to do with rF2 being a 60s sim.

The Brabham is better. But the other companion generic 60's cars have some fairly simple issues that could have been fixed weeks or months or even years ago, but ISI did not bother.

Yep.

 

[Rodent]

Fair enough Emery, I'll concede.

And fair point too about using RD has a sample bias, though seeing where we're having this discussion I do think it's a bias we can all agree on is relevant for us as participants here in this thread.

 

[ALB123]

Before this gets too sidetracked, the best thing to do is: Download the demo while you can, non-Steam. http://rfactor.net/web/rf2/

Thank you, everybody who provided me with feedback. I apologize for hijacking the thread with my nonsense. I really wanted to get answers from dedicated players and you guys sure did come through. Thank you for being understanding.

I had absolutely no idea that rFactor 2 has a non-Steam demo available. I absolutely will be installing that ASAP.

So it's pretty safe to say rF2 is the third most played sim, if we count Assetto and pCars as sims.

You do not consider them sims? If you don't mind me asking, why not? Is this an opinion commonly held by rF2 devotees?

 

[Associat0r]

rFactor 2 also has a Steam demo.

 

[MarcG]

You do not consider them sims? If you don't mind me asking, why not? Is this an opinion commonly held by rF2 devotees?

nooooo don't open that can of worms

At the end of the day if you enjoy driving a title it doesn't matter what it's called

 

[Slyfrequency]

At the end of the day it doesn't matter whether you drive Mario Kart or rFactor 2, we're all gamers who have our own preference

 

[ALB123]

nooooo don't open that can of worms

At the end of the day if you enjoy driving a title it doesn't matter what it's called

At the end of the day it doesn't matter whether you drive Mario Kart or rFactor 2, we're all gamers who have our own preference

That is exactly my opinion. People get so worked up over silly nonsense. I used to believe that Gran Turismo 6 had to be the greatest driving/racing simulator available for retail purchase under $100! I had heard the franchise name for years and years and figured they have Sony money backing them. Heck, it was even advertised on TV! (That's actually 1 of the reasons I bought it, for my PS3 that had an inch of dust on it).

GT6 provided me with lots and lots of fun. Until all of a sudden it didn't anymore. Fortunately, in the mean time I was starting to learn about PC sims. I literally knew absolutely nothing about the entire genre. I feel excited for rFactor 2 now that Studio 397 is breathing new life into the product. People generally don't throw good money after bad. That's what leads me here.

I'm having hardware issues at the moment, but I will have the demo installed as soon as I can. I'm excited to experience rF2. I don't hold allegiance to a brand. I hold allegiance to whatever I enjoy.

 

[Will Mazeo]

Right now rF2 is a mess of many mods (cars and tracks) with different quality. But the well done stuff should give you great experience. Being able to save and resume races if you drive offline is great with weather and night cycle, worth to get Enduracers and URD mods and do some 24 hour races
Hopefully under S397 it will be at least a organized mess lol