rFactor 2 | RCCO eX Zero 2021 DLC Released

[Paul Jeffrey]

Studio 397 have today released the imaginative RCCO eX Zero 2021 electric car DLC for rFactor 2 - an rFactor 2 exclusive machine developed in conjunction with DTM Champion Mike Rockenfeller.

• New DLC available now for £4.55.
• Developed alongside 2013 DTM Champion Mike Rockenfeller.
• Created entirely within rFactor 2.

A DLC with a difference - rFactor 2 have today released a new car to the simulation that doesn't actually exist in real life... the RCCO eX ZERO 2021 has been released and it has been designed by the Studio 397 development team to a specification presented by former DTM Champion Mike Rockenfeller - bringing a brand new and exceptionally powerful electric racing car that should provide incredibly interesting driving coupled with ultra modern battery technology.

From the release notes:

As we draw ever closer to the end of 2020, the world around us is changing in ways we would never have imagined just 10 years ago. Humanity is becoming increasingly aware of the need to preserve our planet for future generations, sustainable options for ways of living are being brought into the conscious minds of consumers at a rate never before seen, and road car manufacturers are increasingly looking to alternative propulsion methods as the future of travel moves yet further away from the traditional ICE power units of today.

With Formula E and the new Extreme E concepts having already proven to be successful showcases for electric racing within the confines of current technology, we’ve been working with a partner to bring a rather different type of car to life within rFactor 2… As our readers well know, we at Studio 397 place an incredibly high value on the accuracy of our simulation, and our ability to recreate any number of different vehicle types within the title. This has led us to build a variety of different cars for the sim over the years, from formula to tin tops, powered by traditional internal combustion engines and modern battery power.

Ever keen to understand the intricacies of many varied types of racing machine, we took on a very different type of project recently; creating a car that confines to all the real world parameters in terms of physics and performance, but starting from a clean sheet of paper with a specification presented to us by 2013 DTM Champion Mike Rockenfeller. Welcome to the world the spectacular RCCO eX ZERO 2021.

Powered by a 100kWH battery and kicking out no-less than 1000hp, the eX ZERO 2021 is a custom-built car – existing only within rFactor 2 – that completely aligns with real world physics and behaviours that would exist should the vehicle find itself out on the real circuits. Enjoying the benefit of 4WD with a 73% rear torque split, the car is capable of 20 minutes of hard racing on a full charge. Lightweight at only 1000 kg without the driver, this car certainly offers exceptional performance and a very lively driving experience!

The eX ZERO 2021 has similar downforce levels to that of a modern LMP3 car, but considerably more torque through the slick tyres, meaning extraordinarily rapid acceleration that will leave the driver plenty of scope to modulate the throttle on corner exit – a critical skill in order to achieve good lap times.

To give you a taste of the kind of performance you can expect from new addition to the rFactor 2 vehicle roster, we enlisted the help of Porsche Carrera Cup Germany driver and rFactor 2 ambassador Rudy van Buren to put the new machine through its paces at the Belgian Spa-Francorchamps Circuit, a track well known to many sim racers, and a perfect venue for comparing the performance of this car to more traditional track based vehicles.


We’ve found the process of developing this car greatly intriguing, to have the scope to realize a vision such as this within rFactor 2 has been a refreshing journey for our development team – and the result is a car that will keep drivers on their tiptoes at every single part of a lap – it’s a wild ride!

We are very proud of the end result with the RCCO eX ZERO 2021 as it really offers something rather unique within the simulation – hopefully you enjoy getting out on the circuit with it too.

RCCO eX ZERO 2021 | Available now in rFactor 2: HERE

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.

 

[SuperMonacoGP]

I think you‘ve expressed very well what an awful lot of people are thinking at the moment. Another thing that bothers me concerning this subject, is the lack of any kind of reaction from S397 to what's been said all over different forums since the Super vacuum cleaner was released. They must have read all the posts all over the net, they must know what people think, and how disappointed they are. And their reaction? Nothing, nada, zilch, niente..They have their own support forum where they could've reacted in some way, they are active on social media, but no word.
Compare that to Reizas communication and support. There you can talk one-on-one with the boss, I f you have a problem or constructive criticism, you get heard, and you get answers.
And Reiza has made more progress in the last few months with AMS2 than S397 has made since they took over rF2, over FOUR years ago. And they are only a small team at Reiza, we're not talking about Codemasters staff levels here.
Colour me very disappointed...

They have a forum but never reply, just users writing in it. The only place where they answer is Discord, and 90% of the answers are "we are aware of that thing, but we can't say if or when it will be fixed". It is the most lazy and pathetic way to interact with your userbase.

 

[GuitarTech]

They have a forum but never reply, just users writing in it. The only place where they answer is Discord, and 90% of the answers are "we are aware of that thing, but we can't say if or when it will be fixed". It is the most lazy and pathetic way to interact with your userbase.

Yeah, I've uninstalled Discord, totally useless as a support tool. They are aware of all the bugs, and have been for years, but only offer excuses instead of solutions.
Unless the developers pull their fingers out pretty soon, things don't look good for S397s future..

 

[Rastas]

The modding system of rFactor2, especially for cars, is something that leads you to plan mass murder and the tire model so unpredictable that none of the good physics developers wants to be involved with it.

As a modder that is not true,Michael Borda is still working on the tire model,making mods is easy too,hard part is to implement wipers and rain in the windows and the new shaders for body,im stiil using the old shaders whit great results,yes,theres is thing to need to get sorted like terrain effects,sound engine,physics update etc etc.

 

[Avo77]

As a modder that is not true,Michael Borda is still working on the tire model,making mods is easy too,hard part is to implement wipers and rain in the windows and the new shaders for body,im stiil using the old shaders whit great results,yes,theres is thing to need to get sorted like terrain effects,sound engine,physics update etc etc.
View attachment 426653View attachment 426654View attachment 426655

In the past I tried to convert some rFactor mods into rF2 and, despite a lot of effort spent in reading documentation and trying to make the physics work decently, I had to quit due to frustrating results and an hugely time consuming process (develop, pack, start, close, modify, repack, restart...).

If it were so easy as you say we should have seen several mods for the platform while there are very few and with questionable quality in most of the cases.

I'm glad you are managing to develop cars for rf2 and I'll test it as soon as available, but in its current sate it can't be considered as a friendly modding platform and if the improvements ongoing will have the same development rate of the new UI...

 

[Rastas]

In the past I tried to convert some rFactor mods into rF2 and, despite a lot of effort spent in reading documentation and trying to make the physics work decently, I had to quit due to frustrating results and an hugely time consuming process (develop, pack, start, close, modify, repack, restart...).

If it were so easy as you say we should have seen several mods for the platform while there are very few and with questionable quality in most of the cases.

I'm glad you are managing to develop cars for rf2 and I'll test it as soon as available, but in its current sate it can't be considered as a friendly modding platform and if the improvements ongoing will have the same development rate of the new UI...

A lot of good modders are on AC,rFactor2 for me is an huge hobby,is my escape,is a thing that i love to do,cars and some tracks,nothing to make money,is just the love for automobiles and driving,but is must say,if i was younger and start moding now i probably choose AC over rFactor2,but since i come from old RF1 days and RF2 is similar is have sticked to it,in RF1 i releasead mode every weeks (drift mods in that time),now i stay almost 6 months to release a car for rFactor2...or more hehe,times have changed,kid,my own business etc etc

 

[prceurope]

The latest DLC is a move in the wrong direction, IMHO.

With all due respect, allowing 1 or 2 vehicle specialists (even 3rd party) to create a fictitious EV - for a DLC for those who may be interested - and working on AI, track, UI and other improvements, are not mutually exclusive.

I would be surprised if S397 had jacks-of-all-trades coders instead of specialists. Some people will find this fictitious (but plausible) EV to be an uninspired choice. That's totally OK. But I don't think it's a move in the wrong direction. Spa is a recent DLC and I highly doubt they diverted resources away from Spa to work on the EV.

I spent over 2h tinkering with ACC's FFB yesterday, and another 30' with AMS2 so I could drive Kyalami and try to match times with the INTGTC guys in the 9h. Waste of time. ACC is like driving a hovercraft and AMS2 is still an alpha build PC2 Frankenstein-thing, IMO. Then, a friend of mine sends me Mattia Drudi's LMP3 onboard lap at Spa. I open up rF2, jump in the LMP3, and between Spa and the latest Portland update, 3 hours later my Apple Watch says I did 738 Kcal (motion rig with DIY belt tensioner), averaged 103 bpm and peaked at 123bpm.

I almost forgot I was sitting at home, and I felt like I had done back to back crossfit WODs.

I first drove rFactor on a friend's rig in 2012, and I've been lucky enough to drive a Super Trofeo and a few other fun race cars IRL. It's easy to forget just how incredible this sim/game is. So, while I understand there is frustration at a perceived lack of progress, I cannot even come close to enjoying titles like ACC because rF2 is so good.

 

[Gevatter]

With all due respect, allowing 1 or 2 vehicle specialists (even 3rd party) to create a fictitious EV - for a DLC for those who may be interested - and working on AI, track, UI and other improvements, are not mutually exclusive.

Looking at S397's track record over the past years and the long standing bugs many have already mentioned, it almost looks like they are mutually exclusive.

 

[prceurope]

Looking at S397's track record over the past years and the long standing bugs many have already mentioned, it almost looks like they are mutually exclusive.

It doesn't really past the test, though, does it?

Q: Could a modder have built this DLC?
A: Yes.

Hard to believe they put serious resource into this DLC. I run a software company - there is no way my CSS guy is fixing my API.

 

[Gevatter]

Hard to believe they put serious resource into this DLC. I run a software company - there is no way my CSS guy is fixing my API.

My jab was more directed at the fact that while they released lots of DLC over the past years, which shouldn't involve the core programming team that much, they neither managed to fix long standing bugs nor finish the new UI in that time frame.

 

[prceurope]

My jab was more directed at the fact that while they released lots of DLC over the past years, which shouldn't involve the core programming team that much, they neither managed to fix long standing bugs nor finish the new UI in that time frame.

Understood. I'm an rF2 newcomer, so I don't carry the scar tissue and similar set of cognitive biases.

I've seen a very different looking UI on certain eSports rF2 races - is that some kind of closed beta thing?

From my own experience with product dev, seemingly simple bugs are an ice crystal on the tip of a huge 'berg. Perhaps lack of communication is the issue? A huge amount of work went into Spa and then the Portland update dropped soon after. It's a shame that some of these teams don't merge. Reiza/S397/Raceroom - are all competing for a very small piece of the non-iRacing non-ACC pie.

The most disconcerting thing I read about are the physics exploits. ACC is filled with driving exploits and a handful of setup exploits. Fixing something at the core of your engine can be an absolutely overwhelming task. We run several neural networks and to fix something in one of them (e.g. poor data attribution) ends up throwing off all the results.

 

[danraz3r]

I heard that S397 asked Mike Rockenfeller to fix 100 years old bugs, but he insisted on car development or nothing..

hahaha great comment .lol

 

[François Strat]

The modding system of rFactor2, especially for cars, is something that leads you to plan mass murder and the tire model so unpredictable that none of the good physics developers wants to be involved with it.

About the modding system, you are totaly right... But on the tire model, I think you are extremly wrong !
If it was SO unpredictible, it won't be possible to be consistant on lap Times.

Cheers

 

[prceurope]

About the modding system, you are totaly right... But on the tire model, I think you are extremly wrong !
If it was SO unpredictible, it won't be possible to be consistant on lap Times.

Cheers

100%. The predictability of the tyre model is one of the best aspects of this title.

 

[Avo77]

100%. The predictability of the tyre model is one of the best aspects of this title.

I ment unpredictable in terms of development, not in terms of final result for the user.

For better clarity, rF2 tire model is able to give state of the art driving experience but it requires calibration skills very, very difficult to achieve for a modder.

 

[cialtronen]

hi to all. I am playing with the EX ZERO. I saw the setup about "Power Mode" and "Braking mode". I would like to know which controls (if available) I can use to change these parameters on the track like it was with Formula E. I can find "Increment/Decrement Mixture" (Power?), but not anymore "Engine Brake Map Up/Down". Anybody does know something about it?
The reason of my question i to try to manage better the battery during a race in order to make longer stint. Currently with full power I able to do a race of 15 minutes then I have to make a pit which is 7 minutes (Simracing-GP, track Dubai), but I would reach 25 minutes with no pit (25 min. is the race duration).

 

[Havner]

There is a bug (one of many) where new UI does not allow you to set the brake map (EDIT: I mean brake map controls/mappings here). It still exists, it works, but you cannot map it. You can either edit the controls file by hand or go back to the old UI temporarily, assign them and switch to the new UI. You won't see them, but those mapping will be there.

 

[cialtronen]

@Havner thanks for the feedback
in the control assignement I found only the mixture control, but not brake map
but you mean that the brake map (even just in the setup menu) is not effective? that's I can put 1 or 10 and nothing change? because the program did not change the set value

 

[Havner]

@Havner thanks for the feedback
in the control assignement I found only the mixture control, but not brake map

Like I said, the new UI is missing this option. You need the old one to set it or change manually in Controller.JSON.

but you mean that the brake map (even just in the setup menu) is not effective?

I did not say anything like that. I'd expect it to work if it's there. I was only talking about controls mappings.

 

[cialtronen]

@Havner many thanks about both the questions
sorry for the second question, but I would just be sure that I understood correctly because I have seen that the regen was always low

 

[Havner]

@Havner many thanks about both the questions
sorry for the second question, but I would just be sure that I understood correctly because I have seen that the regen was always low

Sure, I re-read what I wrote and realized I worded it poorly, so understandable