July Development Roadmap Released for rFactor 2!

[Paul Jeffrey]

Studio 397 have revealed their latest 'development roadmap' detailing the future of the rFactor 2 simulation, as planned during the month of July.

With development pushing ahead at full steam, Studio397 have revealed what the future looks like for rFactor2 in the coming weeks and months..


Competition
As we previously announced, McLaren’s World’s Fastest Gamer starts soon, and we are really excited that rFactor 2 was chosen as the flagship qualifying platform. This competition aligns with the overall competition structure that we are currently building, allowing tournament style events that extend all the way to a license progression system. Our competition platform will be unique in many ways: we will have our own structured competition and, in addition, support the community. We actively believe in the strength of our community to run outstanding events, both online and onsite. Specifically, APIs will be made available to allow sanctioned leagues/competitions to integrate with our overall structure, providing visibility and consistency. We are also developing our license structure based on an overall percentage rating and a system that penalizes drivers for off-track or bad driving by giving time penalties instead of relying on an independent safety rating.

Content
We have some even more exciting news: it’s no secret that we are releasing a McLaren GT car. And now, we are pleased to announce that it will be….drum roll please… the awesome McLaren 650s GT3!

This McLaren will be used in the World’s Fastest Gamer competition and will be available for you all as a paid item in our upcoming item store at the start of August. We’re really excited to launch with this car, which was developed in close cooperation with McLaren. But that’s not all! This car will also be part of a soon-to-be-released wider pack, reaffirming our ambition to align our content! What a tease!

Many of you saw our rendition of Zandvoort at the Max Verstappen days. Since then, we have optimised and further enhanced the track. Like the McLaren above, Zandvoort will be used in the World’s Fastest Gamer competition and will be released as a free addition. Check out some screens below!

Additionally, we are working on some new significant track projects and will share more in the next couple of months.
DX11

Ever since the beginning of the year, we’ve showed you the evolution of our DX11 graphics engine. Right now, we’re close to the point where we are happy enough with the visuals and performance of this engine to soon switch it to become the default. We will keep the DX9 engine around as an option for a little while longer, at least until we’ve rolled out the new overlays (see below). This also does not mean we are done developing the engine. We still have many bigger and smaller improvements to make it look better, and we will keep pushing those out in the upcoming months. At this point, we would also like to thank everybody who actively participated in our open beta. Your input was very helpful and allowed us to improve the whole engine, and VR mode, a lot quicker and better.

UI
Not only are we putting the final touches on our in-game user interface, as you have read above, we are also about to roll out the first parts of the new competition infrastructure, which will fit right in with the new UI. To show you some of the last details we are currently working on, we’ve captured two details of the UI, starting with the calibration screen for your wheel and pedals. As you know, you could always calibrate axes visually, but when specifying the ranges of motion and the deadzones, you had to physically move your wheel or pedal in the right position to set such a limit. Now we’ve included not only the exact numbers, but you can also directly edit them to fine tune them exactly the way you want without having to mess around with text files.

A second detail we’d like to show is what we’ve done with the garage setup screens. There was already a way to compare, and we made that a bit smarter, but we also added a quick way for you to see what changes you made to the current setup compared with the one you saved last. In the shot, you see two gear ratios that have an orange font. Those are ratios you’ve changed. That way you can quickly get an overview. It’s little things like this we are still tweaking. We know it’s taking a bit longer than you, and we, anticipated, but the wait is almost over!

Physics
One of the things we have been working on over the last few months is our tyre model. You may have noticed some changes in the latest version of the Radical, and you will also see them in the upcoming McLaren. These updates reflect our work on improving accurate tyre fidelity. We have a number of tyre updates underway, making one of the best tyre models in consumer racing simulation even better.

Overlays
We have been working hard to create a solution for overlays. As you know, we aren’t great fans of rendering over rFactor 2 screens as this can cause issues that become hard for us to resolve. We have built a solution using HTML. Shortly, we will be allowing 3rd parties to develop their own overlays, not just for broadcast, but for in-game HUDS through an API.

Misc
For those of you who don’t know, this year’s Sim Expo will be held on the 16/17th September at Nurburgring – another great chance for all of sim racing to come together. We will be there, of course, showcasing some cool future features and content, so make sure you pop by!


rFactor 2 can be purchased from the Steam platform right now and is available exclusively for PC.

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...

Happy with the new roadmap update? Looking forward to seeing the changes filter through to the sim? Let us know in the comments section below!

 

[felippekiss]

 

[TzZyO]

Less and less willing to comment here in the RD, all topics turns to discussion without cause. All games have flaws in some aspect, all producers could improve them. Now the discussion is about the paid DLC of RF2 and involving the Lifetime Access that the "ISI" maintained. Look very well as I have several here paid Lifetime for "ISI" not for "Studio397" because the same as soon as it took for itself the production of RF2 removed this item thus opening the online for all, nothing more just. Now they put paid items (DLC) and I dont see any problem in this since they are good (which I'm sure they will be) and have a fair price. For those who just like I bought Lifetime, we dont have to have any benefit on this because as I mentioned the back, the same was paid to the "ISI", not Studio397. If you dont agree, just dont buy no support. I understand the fact "I paid for X and now X no longer exists and I will not have any benefits", but please grow up there are no children here I believe

If you are fine having lost money on a scam, doesn't mean everybody should be. And in fact, that's a crime of sorts to support that kind of a behavior. Basically, you are saying, "well, I was robbed too, but then they left quickly, so, those who care should just grow up"

There's also a massive amount of Armchair Chief Executives who know EXACTLY how the Sim Racing World works (they don't!) from both a Financial and Production viewpoint, i.e. If it's not good enough for them personally then it's wrong! Not to mention the appalling state of self-entitlement from sections of the community who thinks it's their god given right to have the Devs work for free...it's face-palm central at times and truly baffling how people can be so ridiculous in their thinking and beliefs.

The thing is I would expect all this from kids who don't understand how the world works, yet 99% of the time it's coming from grown up adults, it seems "common sense" & "patience" are works of long lost art these days.

Talk about "facepalm central"... Some people seem not to know better than stalking totally random people on the net and making it their goal to ridicule those people. Or are you paid, after all?

I just want to point out that the crowdfunding campaign was to further develop GSC, not to fund the development of the next game. One of the perks above a certain level of the campaign was receiving a copy of their next all-new game, commonly referred to as Reiza 17.

Well, yes, it was mostly to fund the further development of GSC/AMS, but the access to that other title was also mentioned as a side benefit. I bet for many that was the main reason to chip in. Now, what if "Reiza 2017" will never surface (and there's enough indication it just might not)?

 

[MarcG]

I'm done, thankfully I live my life looking on the bright side not being a constant doom & gloomer, looking for fault in absolutely everything and maintaining a massive sense of self-entitlement...life's too short to be a glass half empty all the bloody time!

Roll on DLC, roll on a very exciting future for sim racing in general across the board.

 

[felippekiss]

If you are fine having lost money on a scam, doesn't mean everybody should be. And in fact, that's a crime of sorts to support that kind of a behavior. Basically, you are saying, "well, I was robbed too, but then they left quickly, so, those who care should just grow up"


Talk about "facepalm central"... Some people seem not to know better than stalking totally random people on the net and making it their goal to ridicule those people. Or are you paid, after all?


Well, yes, it was mostly to fund the further development of GSC/AMS, but the access to that other title was also mentioned as a side benefit. I bet for many that was the main reason to chip in. Now, what if "Reiza 2017" will never surface (and there's enough indication it just might not)?

For me I did not feel hurt at all, because to play online it was necessary to have the version lifetime or to get the annual inscription, as I played a lot online I did not feel any less injured. What you need to understand is that the product has changed from producer and the current one has released the online to all, what I consider fair, is not why now putting DLC is the end of the world, as already happens in the assetto and raceroom, purchase Anyone who thinks it's worth it is simple, if you felt injured with respect to the lifetime claim with ISI not with Studio397

 

[dajdosta]

"...overall competition structure that we are currently building, allowing tournament style events that extend all the way to a license progression system..."
I don't expect this to be free too.
And I'm fine with that.
If the price is reasonable and service is maintained and administered on regular basis than it is ok that one has to pay for it.

 

[Kenny Paton]

Well, yes, it was mostly to fund the further development of GSC/AMS, but the access to that other title was also mentioned as a side benefit. I bet for many that was the main reason to chip in.

It must be 6 years since I bought the first GSC and then it's sequels as they came out, so I was happy to join the crowdfunding campaign and of all the various people I was in contact with I can't remember any of them who went into it for the future game. Most of us were pleased at what Reiza had achieved and were happy to help them go even further.
As to rF2 good luck to S397 I hope they manage to make it another fine player in the sim racing genre and a well rounded game to boot.

 

[Marc Collins]

So you're saying that every dev does it differently and in their own way? Well done, it's only taken you X amount of years to state the bloody obvious!
But it's exactly as I said above, Studio397 aren't doing it correctly for YOU so therefore it's wrong and "slow"...so again, answer the question, if you think it's "slow" then how long should it take exactly?

Once again, you miss the point and misquote. Where did I say it was too slow for me? Where did I say it was "wrong?"

They are slow compared to others, which would not be a significant problem if what came out the door was finished and polished. It is not. Maybe you could be Captain Obvious and acknowledge that about 90% of the people who have looked at or tried rF2 since its inception have been turned off by this reality. A few of us stick it out for the reasons mentioned above. A few of us die-hards do not constitute a successful revenue stream. Instead of butting in to other people's conversations with irrelevant and personal snipes about what they should think or believe, why don't you counter any comments you disagree with using facts or your own reasoned opinions. Please, tell us how rF2 is no longer still rough around the edges or painfully slow to evolve since 2012/13. Please, tell us how even the features embedded since the first few builds work well and have few remaining issues or bugs. That evidence would shut me up, which I know you would love to do.

But back to the point, it's not about the speed. It's about the reputational damage caused by throwing a bunch of half-working stuff out the door and leaving it there for months and years. If the components of rF2 that do generally work well for most people were not so damned brilliant, the sloppy approach to quality control, testing and customer communications would have sunk rF2 by 2014. I am not aware of any other dev who operated in that manner. ISI was so arrogant, they even boasted about their chaotic approach as if it would all magically connect and fall into place one day and we'd have a perfect jewel. Not even close. S397 still can't dig their way out of the mess even after putting significant effort and resources into it.

In my opinion, they would have been better off tackling half as many features and doing the ones they chose properly. Once accomplished, more could be announced and added. Don't release any feature until it is mostly working and confirmed to not conflict with things that already work. When you update something, apply it to all of your content so as not to confuse the hell out of everyone that every car drives differently and has a different generation of FFB and tire model. The faster you can do this, the better, for mass market appeal. If you can survive by going so slowly that a handful of fanatics will stay engaged, congratulations. As I predicted on the ISI forums four years ago, this didn't ultimately pan out so well, did it?

 

[MarcG]

Once again, you miss the point and misquote. Where did I say it was too slow for me? Where did I say it was "wrong?"

You were implying it was slow quite clearly in this thread and also here:
"Long, long way to go for rF2 and it is still slow progress by all appearances." https://forum.studio-397.com/index....r-open-beta-is-here.55270/page-37#post-894875

They are slow compared to others, which would not be a significant problem if what came out the door was finished and polished. It is not. Maybe you could be Captain Obvious and acknowledge that about 90% of the people who have looked at or tried rF2 since its inception have been turned off by this reality. A few of us stick it out for the reasons mentioned above. A few of us die-hards do not constitute a successful revenue stream. Instead of butting in to other people's conversations with irrelevant and personal snipes about what they should think or believe, why don't you counter any comments you disagree with using facts or your own reasoned opinions. Please, tell us how rF2 is no longer still rough around the edges or painfully slow to evolve since 2012/13. Please, tell us how even the features embedded since the first few builds work well and have few remaining issues or bugs. That evidence would shut me up, which I know you would love to do.

Where do you get the "90% of the people" from? What is your source of this (mis)information? I'm not and never have doubted that people have been put off by RF2 for various reasons, the same when people are put off by pCars for bugs or iRacing for its price structure or whatever sim they chose to be put off by. I've also never said RF2 isn't rough around the edges, I've never agreed with it being "painfully slow" because that was the way IS did it and I could live with that just fine. It is what it is and no amount of whining is going to change anything. You seem to think I disagree with you constantly, I don't, many of your posts I agree with...shocked? I fully agree there are a wealth of areas that need finishing and fine tuning, but no amount of ranting (like you are prone to do) will change anything, just accept it and either wait for S397 to "get there" or move on entirely.

But back to the point, it's not about the speed. It's about the reputational damage caused by throwing a bunch of half-working stuff out the door and leaving it there for months and years. If the components of rF2 that do generally work well for most people were not so damned brilliant, the sloppy approach to quality control, testing and customer communications would have sunk rF2 by 2014. I am not aware of any other dev who operated in that manner. ISI was so arrogant, they even boasted about their chaotic approach as if it would all magically connect and fall into place one day and we'd have a perfect jewel. Not even close. S397 still can't dig their way out of the mess even after putting significant effort and resources into it.

Well that's your own personal issue with ISI isn't it, again you're letting a computer game get to you too much I think. As for the last line again it's a matter of common sense, common sense in that S397 have only just begun to take over, give them time...you know...patience!

In my opinion, they would have been better off tackling half as many features and doing the ones they chose properly. Once accomplished, more could be announced and added. Don't release any feature until it is mostly working and confirmed to not conflict with things that already work. When you update something, apply it to all of your content so as not to confuse the hell out of everyone that every car drives differently and has a different generation of FFB and tire model. The faster you can do this, the better, for mass market appeal. If you can survive by going so slowly that a handful of fanatics will stay engaged, congratulations. As I predicted on the ISI forums four years ago, this didn't ultimately pan out so well, did it?

Again, personal issue with ISI, a clear case of "they didn't do it my way so it must be wrong". Sure ISI could've done things differently, I'm not denying that, but what is the point of looking back? Look forward, we have an incredible team in Reiza whose future looks immensely promising, S397 are taking RF2 to the next step and so far so good but please give them time to get going, GTR3 is coming up, RRE is gaining popularity and getting constantly updated, iRacing continues to grow, pCars2 not that far away, AC steadily going a long just fine etc etc etc So stop focusing on the negatives of ISI and your personal hatred towards them (which has been noted throughout the years), the past or what you *think* is right and just accept that A) It's bloody hard to make a decent car racing simulation, B) if it's not updated every week it doesn't mean its "slow" progress and C) FFS be happy once in a while man

 

[Jockey]

ISI was so arrogant, they even boasted about their chaotic approach as if it would all magically connect and fall into place one day and we'd have a perfect jewel. Not even close. S397 still can't dig their way out of the mess even after putting significant effort and resources into it.

This is soo!!! true!

 

[Jockey]

. As for the last line again it's a matter of common sense, common sense in that S397 have only just begun to take over, give them time...you know...patience!

I guess the "common sense" will be the signature for those who support blindly rfactor 2. I keep seeing these two worlds more and more from those who defend rfactor 2 for various reasons.

Anyway, S397 is working on rfactor 2 for almost a year now. https://www.studio-397.com/2016/09/announcing-studio-397/
SEPTEMBER 16 2016

 

[Zzyzx]

I hope you aren't getting rid of the gear ratio graph!!

 

[hitm4k3r]

What people need to understand is, that alot of things regarding sims are down to personal expectations, perceptions or tastes. Some people think that it is a mess with never ending development - I for one think that it is fantastic to see a product evolving even if it is rough around the edges and it's a nice experience to discover new things or hidden stuff and be part of a beta programm. I really like the technical and social/communicative approach to the DX11 beta programm, but it is understandable that other people might not like it or are not really used to it. Some people don't like rF2, because it isn't a full package - fair enough, but I like it because it offers me a very deep sandbox experience in an environment that I can setup to my own liking in a very modular fashion. It is up to myself what I get out of the game. Some people don't like the visual appearance of the UI and think that it is a mess - I think that it is very functional and offers allmost all features you need to get going. There are a few points that I don't like about rF2: no visual consistent quality for the cars, no proper clutch modeling, a pretty basic weather simulation and the content could be alligned better. But I have those "things-I don't-like" in any sim or game and I am not completely blind to ignore them. And in that regard rF2 is no different than AC, AMS or R3E in terms of development speed and quality - in my personal opinion it's quite the opposite. I could easily point out more points that I don't like in AC, but I have stopped to do so after 5 years of development.

 

[Kenny Paton]

But I have those "things-I don't-like" in any sim or game and I am not completely blind to ignore them.

A nice balanced viewpoint.
I think it's great that on any given day I have a wide choice of what racing game I want to play, each have their strengths and weaknesses but at least we have a choice.