rF2: Tatuus News - Game Update & Development Road Post is Here!

[Paul Jeffrey]

The rFactor 2 November Development Roadmap is here!

Studio 397 last night published the latest development roadmap blog posting detailing the current progress of rFactor 2, and as well as some nice insights into the state of play with regards to projects the studio have been involved in of late, the new post also contains a much anticipated update on the Tatuus licencing agreement – including news of six new models coming to the sim!

rFactor 2 continues to receive plenty of much needed attention from Studio 397 as the Dutch based development team look to enhance the title further than the original intentions of creators Image Space Incorporated, and the latest round of updates that form part of the ‘Development Roadmap’ for November are again very, very encouraging news for fans of the sim.

Further fleshing out of the first party content with cars from the likes of British Formula Three, Toyota Racing Series and USF2000 are indeed welcome news, as is confirmation that the new UI and Competition structure is still very much under development.

On the graphics front, the upgraded shaders work continues at a pace, as can be seen by a nice collection of some very pleasing looking WIP screenshots that come with the roadmap update yesterday.

As an additional bonus for rF2 fans, yesterday also marked a new small build release patch, the updates for which can be seen below:


30.11.2018 Update Notes:

Note: Server Admins must update all dedicated servers.

• Added controller profiles for direct drive wheels: OSW Simucube and SimSteering.
• Fixed an issue where tire heat history was reset after a driver swap.
• Support for the Logitech G29 and G920 was added, fixing some long outstanding issues with these wheels.
• Fixed a small loophole that would allow you to circumvent fixed setups.
• New feature added: Ability to set maximum steering wheel rotation in software

November Development Roadmap:

Good evening, morning, afternoon or whatever it is in your corner of the world! With clockwork precision we present you another roadmap update for your favorite racing simulator. And although we are getting closer to the holiday season, we are by no means slowing down! With the release of build 1112, we have a few other updates for you that we’re sharing this month, in anticipation of some bigger surprises next month. Let’s kick this month off with some events, the first one happening this weekend.

McLaren Shadow Semi-Finals
We’re really looking forward to the McLaren Shadow semi-finals, especially with some rFactor 2 regulars taking part. Each of the drivers will be competing across a number of different titles, including rFactor 2, so check out the semis this weekend!

You might want to set yourself a reminder so you won’t miss the live broadcast:

rFactor 2 at Interclassics
January 11th to 14th, rFactor 2 will be present at Interclassics 2019, Maastricht, where we will have two full-motion rigs running the simulation. To match the theme of the event, we will be running the McLaren M23 at the classic Monte Carlo track. On top of giving you this classic beast to drive during the event, we will also organize and broadcast a full race, featuring ten more high-end simulators located at the nearby Adrenaline Xperience center. During the whole month of December, a special promotion will allow you to do extensive sessions in all three historic McLaren cars at a very attractive price. During these sessions, you will get professional feedback on your performance based on telemetry data. The ten best drivers that month will get an opportunity to race against Bono Huis and Xavier Maassen during Interclassics.

VIVE Pro McLaren Limited Edition
As you may have seen our partners announce already, roughly a week ago, we’ve collaborated with HTC and McLaren to bring a special version of rFactor 2 to the VIVE Pro McLaren Limited Edition. This version of rFactor 2, which allows you to race some classic McLaren racing cars on different tracks, has special “driving” support for the VIVE motion controllers. That means if you own this VR headset, you will be able to experience driving these cars as if the controllers were the actual steering wheel! As far as we know, this is a world first for simracing, and we are proud to bring you this innovation!

Build 1112
Right before the holiday season, we bring you an update to our build with a few fixes and some new features. We made the following changes:

• We added the ability to set the maximum steering wheel rotation “in software”, even if your wheel drivers don’t support that. This is described in more detail below.
• Supporting this new feature, we added controller profiles for direct drive wheels: OSW SimuCube and SimSteering.
• We fixed an issue where tyre heat cycle history was not correctly transferred after a driver swap.
• Support for the Logitech G29 and G920 was added, fixing some long outstanding issues with these wheels.
• A small loophole was fixed that would allow you to circumvent fixed setups.
  

Server administrators must update all dedicated servers because we bumped the version number due to small changes in the multiplayer protocol.

Software Wheel Rotation Explained
We have added the option to set the maximum rotation of the steering wheel “in software”, so we can adjust the rotation per car even for wheels that don’t support setting the rotation in their driver. This means that current owners of various OSW and SimSteering wheels can now finally enjoy the correct rotation without having to manually set it outside of rFactor 2. The system works as follows: In order to use this new system, you have to explicitly turn it on in your Controller.JSON file (which you can find in your UserData\player folder). The line you’re looking for is called “Steering Wheel Software Rotation,” and if you don’t see it yet, please make sure you have updated to build 1112, run the game once and exit it again. The line defaults to “false,” and you should change that to “true”. The next step is to go into your wheel driver and the rotation to the maximum value it supports, up to the maximum rotation of 1440 degrees that rFactor 2 supports. Then you go back to your Controller.JSON and set the “Steering Wheel Maximum Rotation Default” to the same number of degrees you just configured. If your wheel actually does support us reading the maximum rotation, you can alternatively set “Steering Wheel Maximum Rotation from Driver” to “true” so we will read whatever you set from the driver. We do recommend setting it to the maximum value in the driver, as we can only make the rotation less in software, not more. Finally we have a value called “Steering Wheel Bump Stop Harshness,” which acts like a spring constant and defines how harsh the buildup of counter-torque will be when you go over the maximum rotation for a car. We recommend starting with a value of somewhere between 20 (soft) to 50 (harsh), but this really depends on your wheel and personal preference. For SimSteering and OSW, we added some profiles to our default set as well. You might want to give those a try as they are already setup for this new feature.

In summary, these are the new parameters in the Controller.JSON:

• Steering Wheel Software Rotation – Defaults to false, but must be set to true to enable this feature. When it is set to false, this feature should be fully disabled.
• Steering Wheel Bump Stop Harshness – A configurable value ranging from 1.0 to 100.0, which acts like a spring constant that determines how much counter-torque will be applied if you steer beyond the maximum range.
• Steering Wheel Maximum Rotation from Driver – Whether we should attempt to fetch the maximum steering wheel range from the wheel driver, assuming the driver supports this.
• Steering Wheel Maximum Rotation Default – The value of our maximum steering wheel range when there isn’t a wheel driver available that we can read this from or when “Steering Wheel Maximum Rotation from Driver” is set to false. Values from 40 to 1440 are supported.

Work In Progress
Our competition system is currently being integrated into the new UI. We want to make sure you end up with a seamless experience when joining any competition sessions. At the same time, we continue to extend the core system, making it more plugable and adapted to all kinds of competitions. Some of you might have participated or seen our latest community event, where we ran a simple competition. Expect us to do more of those as we finalize bits of the system and put it through some early access testing.

First off in our early access testing, we will be hosting a short Holiday special, planned between Christmas and New Years. Also, to kick off 2019, we will be hosting events regularly in Q1. Plenty of races and plenty of options to beat your friends – and perhaps even us at S397.

Last month we showed you some early shots of Nordschleife. The team is working all out to complete the track and all track side objects, which is a lot of work given the length of the track and all the different twists and turns. We’re confident that we can show you more updates in the new year!

For the past six months, we have been working extensively on a new material system. You may recall that we showed you some early previews of the McLaren 650S at SimRacing Expo and in a subsequent roadmap update, and we are very excited to tell you our artists are currently starting to work with the system and providing us with feedback on making it even more artist-friendly as part of an effort to start using these materials on our content. We’re not done yet, but at this point we believe we have a very solid foundation to work on as we’re fixing bugs and pushing this system. Just to whet your appetite, here’s a few more shots of the McLaren 650S.

You also deserve an update on the Tatuus license! We are still building these cars, and we can now confirm we will have no less than six different models:

• Tatuus USF-17, which is used in the USF2000 championship and can be seen as the successor to our existing USF2000 car
• Tatuus F4-T014, which is driven in various F4 championships globally.
• Tatuus MSV F3-016, also known as ‘British F3’, is driven primarily in the UK and at Spa-Francorchamps.
• Toyota FT50, as used in the Toyota Racing Series
• Tatuus PM18, as used in the Pro Mazda Championship.

• Tatuus F3 T318, used in the Asian F3 Championship as well as the upcoming W Series.

Winter is coming...
Looking forward to bringing you some very cool toys to play with this Christmas!

rFactor 2 is available exclusively for PC from Steam now.

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!


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[Emery]

Have their been any core engine updates to vehicle physics over the past while (1 or so years)? What about other physics such as track surface and environment/weather?

Physics aside, any core updates to the sound engine?

What about A.I.? Have there been any sort of learning algorithms for the AI introduced? If so, have different learning algorithms been experimented with?

I see most updates are usually about adding more cars and tracks to the game and about graphics (mostly post-processing gfx developments rather than the actual gfx engine).

Physics updates: a couple extensions for electric cars, fuel maps, etc. Still lacking hybrid drivetrains, hydroplaning, and, everybody's favorite, enhanced clutch simulation.

Sound engine updates: none. rF2 is the only modern sim that doesn't have any surround sound.

AI updates/fixes: none.

 

[dreamer al]

I am happy with rF2 progress. I just hope they will fix gampepad controls

 

[Marcel Offermans]

I went online recently and i cant believe its still possible to have different builds available .....splitting the online to different factions.

Just to explain a bit more, along with the roadmap we also released a new build, so I am not surprised that hours after that release you find both servers that have not upgraded yet and ones that have. Give people a few days to upgrade their systems.

 

[Marcel Offermans]

Reiza said once they finish it (Three weeks) they would hand it to S397 who can do whatever they need before releasing it!!

That is correct and we are still waiting for Reiza to deliver all the assets so there was no news to publish in the roadmap about this.

 

[dreamer al]

Just to explain a bit more, along with the roadmap we also released a new build, so I am not surprised that hours after that release you find both servers that have not upgraded yet and ones that have. Give people a few days to upgrade their systems.

Any news on fixing gamepad vibration?

 

[MPortnoy]

Reiza said once they finish it (Three weeks) they would hand it to S397

Reiza's deadlines are in dog weeks, not human.
We're looking at 2019 for sure

 

[Case_]

Reiza's deadlines are in dog weeks, not human.

Dog weeks are shorter than human

 

[MPortnoy]

Dog weeks are shorter than human

1 dog year = 7 human years
3 dog weeks -----> you do the math

 

[Case_]

You're looking at it backwards, though 1 dog year is equivalent to 7 human years (well, it isn't, but let's not complicate it even more), but it still only takes 1 human year in real time. So dog year is actually 7 times shorter, and so is dog week

 

[MPortnoy]

You're looking at it backwards, though 1 dog year is equivalent to 7 human years (well, it isn't, but let's not complicate it even more), but it still only takes 1 human year in real time. So dog year is actually 7 times shorter, and so is dog week

Gtfo with your semantics. You must be fun at parties

 

[Case_]

 

[MPortnoy]

That was actually funny

 

[Fanapryde]

I like the software wheel rotation settings. I can jump in any car or kart now and have the wheel rotation match the real one, without having to change anything else. Great !

 

[Spinelli]

Physics updates: a couple extensions for electric cars, fuel maps, etc. Still lacking hybrid drivetrains, hydroplaning, and, everybody's favorite, enhanced clutch simulation.

Sound engine updates: none. rF2 is the only modern sim that doesn't have any surround sound.

AI updates/fixes: none.

"Features" aside (eg. Electric cars, different fuel maps) has there been any updates to thr physics engine?

Surround sound would be cool but 99% of real life videos on youtube are not surround sound and they still sound bloody brilliant . It's about sound physics, audio filtering, audio compression, how the distance, objects, and environment affect the sound dynamics, how sounds are integrated with the physics engine (instead of 2 independent things that don't "talk" to eachother), multiple layers of sounds within the same sound effect, how things like throttle loads, vehicle angle to camera, etc. affects sound, and so on and so on.

I read from someone that said a particular F1 V8 (can't remember which one) from the early 90s was quieter than most of the other F1 engines (v8s, v10s, v12s) but in Monaco, and only Monaco, that same v8 was the loudest of all cars (v10s and v12s included). It had something to do with the particular sonic properties of that car combined with the particluar environment and surroundings in Monaco that made that car/engine suddenly become, or at least seem, the loudest and most painful to listen to.

Sound is complex just like graphics and physics are. Compared to graphics, videogame audio is in the late 90s, maybe early 2000s - surround sound or not (although surround sound is still important and nice to have but it's only a drop in an ocean).

 

[M-Bimmer]

Yummy

 

[Emery]

"Features" aside (eg. Electric cars, different fuel maps) has there been any updates to thr physics engine?

Believe I know what you're looking for and I think you already have an answer to that question stated as "never".

Surround sound would be cool but 99% of real life videos on youtube are not surround sound and they still sound bloody brilliant .

Sound engine doesn't need overhauling other than providing triggers (ala Raceroom) and features (surround). Good samples correctly mixed is the brilliance that you're seeking. AC showed that just switching sound engines doesn't improve the sound. FYI, the modder known as Fonsecker has been working for S397 for the past year or so.

The limitations in sound reproduction are how many voices the hardware supports and how much CPU time can be devoted to processing the sound without introducing lag to physics, graphics, or sound. Guess which one gets the lowest priority?

rF2 does support reverb, but most modders(*) ignore it. rF2 supports throttle load in the mixing & samples (and has since the days of F1C, if not SCGT), but, again, the modders have to use it.

There was one build of the DX11 beta that had a terrible delay in applying environment reverb, but it was eventually fixed (or maybe the reverb was dropped from Silverstone?). There was (and maybe still is-- I'm so used to it that I can mostly ignore it) a bug in the camera mixing for when pylons get hit on the other side of a track and you hear them like you're next to the pylon.

(*) "modders" in this case means anyone building content, even ISI/S397.

 

[Dave_6]

I like the software wheel rotation settings. I can jump in any car or kart now and have the wheel rotation match the real one, without having to change anything else. Great !

Wish I could get it working with my OSW. Probably something on my end but it's frustrating the hell out of me.

 

[Case_]

Surround sound would be cool but 99% of real life videos on youtube are not surround sound and they still sound bloody brilliant

Yeah, but I don't drive YouTube videos. Also, since I'm fun at parties, I have to point out that 100 % of real life videos (or gaming or any other videos for that matter) are not surround sound (unless you use some sort of HRTF or binaural recording to encode some sort of surround information into a stereo audio track), since YouTube doesn't support surround sound at all.

rF2 does support reverb, but most modders(*) ignore it

As they probably should, because that reverb is horribly implemented (I'm sorry, but it is) with its instant on/off switching and no variations in intensity.

 

[Fanapryde]

Wish I could get it working with my OSW. Probably something on my end but it's frustrating the hell out of me.

Strange...I just followed the step by step 'manual' in the OP. Being not all that "pc savvy" myself, I feared for a while, but no, it all worked out fine.

Just came to think of it: is your rotation in the Simucube settings the same as the one in the .json files ?

 

[Gaëtan Legastelois]

Yeah, G29 works fine now. Seriously that was long but thanks a lot that resolved this