rFactor 2 Build 880 Released

[Ryan Ogurek]

Image Space Incorporated has released build 880 for rFactor 2. This includes a new SDK for modding, a new demo installer, graphical and physics updates.

Here's the complete changelog provided by ISI:

"GRAPHICS
Fixed terrain shader specularity issue.
Fixed wet surface reflections.
Lightened up shadows by artificially boosting ambient light level.
Fix problem seeing steering wheel in rear look under certain conditions.
Some code to help with blurry rims.

HUD/ COMMENTARY:
Re-recorded commentary with a MASSIVE volume boost (You might want to adjust your settings)

BUG FIXES / OPTIMIZATIONS:
Fixed auto update bug for expired accounts
Fixed a very minor memory leak.
Several minor stability fixes.
Removed requirement for “_x64″ to be added to 64-bit plugins. It’s no longer a problem because they are in a separate directory. However, it still might be useful to for humans to identify which is which.
Added a new default method for assigning pit/garage spots in multiplayer which keeps them more consistent over a weekend. This new default method can be disabled by changing the multiplayer.json value “Assign Parking” to false (at which point it will revert to using the traditional team-based pit/garage assignments).
Fixed issue where driver body sometimes appears while rear-looking.
Minor fixes to prevent crash when exiting from “rF2 already running” condition
Fixed random black box that appears when hitting ‘`’ key
Dealing with some uninitialized data in old TGMs that is now actually used.

AI:
Smoothed out the corner widening associated with rcd parameter UnderSteerEffectOnLineThreshold trigger as well as with rear grip loss. Made the rate of “corner widening” relative either to the car’s lateral velocity or lateral position relative to current waypoint direction.
Pace cars now look for a path called “PACECAR” to drive, otherwise defaults to fastest path.
Fixed AI tire drag calculation
Slightly better AI bumpstop damping.
Fixed a bug in AI logic that could result in cars taking high speed corners a bit too fast and wide.

PHYSICS:
New tire contact patch code added. It is backwards-compatible (i.e. existing tires should not change behavior, you would need to do more +ttool analysis in order for new functionality to take effect). There are some minor issues that still need to be ironed out.

FEATURES:
Allow replays to run without the correct version of a scene or vehicle, but only after checking for the correct one first.
Lock in demo mod when using creating a new plr file with the +demo CLI parameter set.
Added a new default method for assigning pit/garage spots in multiplayer which keeps them more consistent over a weekend. This new default method can be disabled by changing the multiplayer.json value “Assign Parking” to false (at which point it will revert to using the traditional team-based pit/garage assignments).
Added additional options for the RFM variable ‘FinishUnderCaution’ to allow the finish to be delayed up to 3x. Previous options were off, 1x, or infinite.
Much behind the scenes work on plugin interface for future interface additions

MODDING / PUBLIC DEV:
In the AIW editor, made the Ctrl-Shift(-Alt) keys easier to move the car when paused: 1) it now follows the terrain, and 2) rotating the car with the 4 and 6 numpad keys doesn’t simultaneously rotate the swingman camera.
Modmgr now automatically saves/loads separate profiles for each install.
Added log message and assert if there are no collidable triangles in SCN, which isn’t really handled.
fixes to new pit/garage assignment code
Made new pit/garage assignment work with driver changes (probably needs testing).
dev mode AIW editor fix for moving path on last waypoint of pit lane
TTool: in the Realtime section, removed the somewhat-useless ‘Width’ and added the somewhat-useful ‘Dynamic Unloaded Radius’.
Fixed a possible game freeze using the AIW editor “move & Match” waypoint by waypoint manipulation function.

UI
Moved version numbers for vehicles tree list down to the individual cars instead of the class headers"
​

Join the discussion in our dedicated rFactor 2 forum, check out awesome screenshots and videos in our rF2 gallery, get racing in our rF2 Racing Club and Leagues and make your game even more awesome with some rFactor 2 mods!

​

 

[Ho3n3r]

Or just fire up Steam for a game that's always up-to-date without a problem... oh wait.

They're pretty hardass about using Steam. Nobody knows why.

 

[Frederic Schornstein]

I spent another hour yesterday trying to get any kind of FFB response that was worth having out of the new demo, and failed. *sighs*

I'm going to do some more serious googling and forum searches on the official site today, but it feels like I'm wasting my time. That CR6 feels no different when going forwards to when going sideways. The only difference I get in FFB is when I put it on the grass and spin the wheels.

I have had rF1 for about 5 years and it still drives better than rF2 for me.

For the Corvette try FFB multiplier on 1.5 and in the setup up the caster to 7.0. Sounds a bit like something is wrong with your wheel. At least with these settings the car is a joy to drive and super controllable in power slide mode

 

[Jyri Kettunen]

I spent another hour yesterday trying to get any kind of FFB response that was worth having out of the new demo, and failed. *sighs*

I'm going to do some more serious googling and forum searches on the official site today, but it feels like I'm wasting my time. That CR6 feels no different when going forwards to when going sideways. The only difference I get in FFB is when I put it on the grass and spin the wheels.

I have had rF1 for about 5 years and it still drives better than rF2 for me.

Have you tried settings quoted below? Worked for my G27:

Maybe try this:
reduce your car specific ffb multiplier and change the parameter in controller.json:
"Steering torque minimum":0.15
"Steering torque zero-speed mult":0.1

And in profiler allow the game to change settings. In global settings too.

Here are all my ffb settings if you need:
"Force Feedback":{
"Brake effects on steer axis":1,
"Brake effects on steer axis#":"0 = Brake effects on brake axis, 1 = brake effects on steering axis.",
"Brake effects strength":10000,
"Brake effects strength#":"-10000 to +10000, applies to all brake effects (force, vibration, static spring, etc?)",
"Brake spring coefficient":0.3,
"Brake spring coefficient#":"Static spring effect rate (-1.0 to 1.0)",
"Brake spring saturation":1,
"Brake spring saturation#":"Static spring effect peak force (0.0 to 1.0)",
"Clutch effects on steer axis":0,
"Clutch effects on steer axis#":"0 = Clutch effects on clutch axis, 1 = brake effects on steering axis.",
"Clutch effects strength":10000,
"Clutch effects strength#":"-10000 to +10000, applies to all clutch effects (force, vibration, static spring, etc?)",
"Clutch spring coefficient":0.2,
"Clutch spring coefficient#":"Static spring effect rate (-1.0 to 1.0)",
"Clutch spring saturation":1,
"Clutch spring saturation#":"Static spring effect peak force (0.0 to 1.0)",
"Gearbox effects on steer axis":0,
"Gearbox effects on steer axis#":"0 = Gearbox effects on gearbox 'axis', 1 = brake effects on steering axis.",
"Gearbox effects strength":10000,
"Gearbox effects strength#":"-10000 to +10000, applies to all gearbox effects (force, vibration, static spring, etc?)",
"Gearbox spring coefficient":0,
"Gearbox spring coefficient#":"Static spring effect rate (-1.0 to 1.0)",
"Gearbox spring saturation":1,
"Gearbox spring saturation#":"Static spring effect peak force (0.0 to 1.0)",
"Ignore controllers":0,
"Ignore controllers#":"Do not use FFB on: 1=controller1, 2=controller2, 4=controller3, 8=controller4 (or add values to ignore multiple controllers, for example 15 ignores all)",
"Jolt magnitude":1.5,
"Jolt magnitude#":"How strong jolts from other cars (or walls) are. Suggested Range: -2.0 to 2.0.",
"Off-road multiplier":0.1,
"Off-road multiplier#":"Temporary test variable to reduce force feedback strength off-road (0.0 = zero FFB, 1.0 = full FFB)",
"Other spring coefficient":0.2,
"Other spring coefficient#":"Static spring effect rate (-1.0 to 1.0) for any other FFB-capable controllers",
"Other spring saturation":1,
"Other spring saturation#":"Static spring effect peak force (0.0 to 1.0) for any other FFB-capable controllers",
"Rumble strip magnitude":0,
"Rumble strip magnitude#":"How strong the canned rumble strip rumble is. Range 0.0 to 1.0, 0.0 disables effect.",
"Rumble strip pull factor":1.5,
"Rumble strip pull factor#":"How strongly wheel pulls right\/left when running over a rumble strip. Suggested range: -1.5 to 1.5.",
"Rumble strip update thresh":0.05,
"Rumble strip update thresh#":"Amount of change required to update rumble strip effect (0.0 - 1.0)",
"Rumble strip wave type":0,
"Rumble strip wave type#":"Type of wave to use for vibe: 0=Sine, 1=Square, 2=Triangle, 3=Sawtooth up, 4=Sawtooth down.",
"Skip updates":0,
"Skip updates#":"Apparently some drivers can't handle a quick FFB update rate, so use this hack to skip the given number of updates (0=full update rate, 1=half, 2=one-third, 3=one-quarter, etc.)",
"Steering effects strength":9000,
"Steering effects strength#":"-10000 to +10000, applies to all steering effects (torque, resistance, static spring, jolt, etc.)",
"Steering resistance coefficient":0.1,
"Steering resistance coefficient#":"Coefficient to use for steering resistance. Range: -1.0 to 1.0",
"Steering resistance saturation":0.1,
"Steering resistance saturation#":"Saturation value to use for steering resistance. Range: 0 - 1.0",
"Steering resistance type":0,
"Steering resistance type#":"0=use damping, 1=use friction",
"Steering spring coefficient":0,
"Steering spring coefficient#":"Static spring effect rate (-1.0 to 1.0)",
"Steering spring saturation":0.1,
"Steering spring saturation#":"Static spring effect peak force (0.0 to 1.0)",
"Steering torque extrap blend":0,
"Steering torque extrap blend#":"Higher blends of extrapolated value allows driver to feel torque changes even when actual torque exceeds 'input max' (0.0=disables, 1.0=max)",
"Steering torque extrap time":0.015,
"Steering torque extrap time#":"Time in seconds to extrapolate steering torque based on current change (Range: 0.001 to 0.050. To disable, set 'blend' to 0.0)",
"Steering torque filter":1,
"Steering torque filter#":"Number of old samples to use to filter torque from vehicle's steering column (0-32, note that higher values increase effective latency)",
"Steering torque minimum":0.15,
"Steering torque minimum#":"Minimum torque to apply in either direction to overcome steering wheel's 'FFB deadzone' caused by friction",
"Steering torque per-vehicle mult":0.2,
"Steering torque per-vehicle mult#":"Per-vehicle steering column torque multiplier (this is a copy of the .CCH value)",
"Steering torque sensitivity":1,
"Steering torque sensitivity#":"Sensitivity curve applied to representable torques: 0.0=low 1.0=linear 2.0=high",
"Steering torque zero-speed mult":0.1,
"Steering torque zero-speed mult#":"Multiplier at zero speed to reduce unwanted oscillation from strong static aligning torque",
"Throttle effects on steer axis":1,
"Throttle effects on steer axis#":"0 = Throttle effects on throttle axis, 1 = throttle effects on steering axis.",
"Throttle effects strength":10000,
"Throttle effects strength#":"-10000 to +10000, applies to all throttle effects (force, vibration, static spring, etc?)",
"Throttle spring coefficient":0.1,
"Throttle spring coefficient#":"Static spring effect rate (-1.0 to 1.0)",
"Throttle spring saturation":1,
"Throttle spring saturation#":"Static spring effect peak force (0.0 to 1.0)",
"Type":1,
"Type#":"Type of force feedback: 0=off 1=wheel 2=joystick 3=rumble\/gamepad 4=custom"
},

 

[Connor Caple]

The wheel works perfectly in every other Race Sim I throw at it. rF2 lacks something in the FFB. It's like they didn't code in wheelslip or something.

The users on the official forums are all too defensive about 'their' sim, so not worth talking to them any more and the devs just don't bother to respond.

That Steering Torque minimum is way too high for me to even attempt it. Mine is set to 0.035, if I set it to 0.040 the wheel oscillates.

 

[Jyri Kettunen]

The wheel works perfectly in every other Race Sim I throw at it. rF2 lacks something in the FFB. It's like they didn't code in wheelslip or something.

The users on the official forums are all too defensive about 'their' sim, so not worth talking to them any more and the devs just don't bother to respond.

Check my previous post.

 

[Connor Caple]

Check my previous post.

I did - I edited mine to reply, but you may have already been typing. Since the setting for STM is so far off between the G27 and G25 I don't think the other settings will work well.
I did already try a G27 guy's settings and they were terrible on my wheel. I also tried a G25 Presto driver's settings and I can only assume he drives visually and that FFB is just something he uses to make his wheel feel heavier in turns - you could get the same effect with a Spring setting in the profiler

 

[Jyri Kettunen]

Check the whole post I quoted, there's more stuff. Steering torque minimum is lower for G25, obviously.

 

[Connor Caple]

Check the whole post I quoted, there's more stuff. Steering torque minimum is lower for G25, obviously.

Okay - tried them all. It improves the overall feel, but the slip angle feedback is still not working until after the car is spinning, which is too late. I really think they've messed something up in the FFB.

I am having to use visual and auditory clues to detect loss of grip, that's not the way FFB is supposed to work. The idea is that it uses the wheel strength to let you know how much grip you have, among other things, and if they're not doing that then they might as well tell us to use non-FFB wheels with 'rumble pads', imho.

 

[Jyri Kettunen]

Could well be that you are looking something that is not present. IMO rF2's FFB is pretty close to iRacing's, and neither are very good at grip feel (at least with G27).

 

[Connor Caple]

I hated iRacing's attempt at FFB. They seem to think that tyre squeal and 'hoping your eyes can detect the car angle' are replacements for slip angle feedback.

Time to give up on rF2 unless they implement decent FFB settings, like the ones they're attempting over at R3E.

 

[John-Eric Saxén]

The FFB of rF2 is best in business, this is the impression I have got from reading various forums. So it's mostly about your personal preferences that don't match. There is basically nothing to "fix" in rF2 FFB as such and it hasn't been changed by ISI at all last few years. It models the forces as they are delivered to steering arm and the update rate is very high compared to for example iRacing. You are requesting for some canned forces to be added, which obviously can't be done as the aren't there in first place.

 

[Jason]

I dunno why but since i've installed the update the game crashes when trying to do a single player race. I was able to log into the server and do some laps but single player the sound and screen freezes but the wheel lights and ffb still go ?

I've been messing around with my speaker set up and moved the usb's around so it could be a conflict but it's really strange

 

[Deleted member 130869]

Mmmh, I can't update the game via the Launcher, it's written: Current Build: 0, and the update button which worked well some hours ago is currently greyed.
But when I see those issues, I guess it's better to let ISI work hard and check it later !

Do you have a valid online subscription? If so then yes, something happened. If not, then the update from launcher will only work starting now in build 880, anything before that needed a Lite build install over your existing installation.

 

[Deleted member 130869]

They're pretty hardass about using Steam. Nobody knows why.

There are many valid reasons why, four of them being:
- ISI doesn't need a digital distribution platform as they do it themselves
- There is lost revenue through Steam fees, for the very big name titles that may be 15% but for most is 30-40% (why Reiza hasn't gone there yet either)
- It involves ISI having to work through Valve's platform and not be in direct control of the system
- Steam-only DRM games get hacked easily

 

[JeffL]

I spent another hour yesterday trying to get any kind of FFB response that was worth having out of the new demo, and failed. *sighs*

I'm going to do some more serious googling and forum searches on the official site today, but it feels like I'm wasting my time. That CR6 feels no different when going forwards to when going sideways. The only difference I get in FFB is when I put it on the grass and spin the wheels.

I have had rF1 for about 5 years and it still drives better than rF2 for me.

What's your in game vehicle ffb setting.
Edit: I just found it back in thread. I have a dfgt and I have it set on 2 multiplier and it's strong and I can feel even when the tires heat up. I can feel the brakes. I can feel the dance with flatspotting. Something is wrong Connor, I don't worry too much about graphics in any sim and the reason why RF2 is at the top of my list is the FFB. I love GSCE but the FFB in RF2 is just so detailed. I hope you figure out the problem. Try setting your profiler to just global settings, don't make a profile. This is something I did and it made a difference.

ffb 100
0
0
spring center unchecked
0
900 degrees
allow game to make changes.
Try that in global settings see if that helps.
On 2 the only time it clips is when I go over a curb and that's ok.
Also make sure your smoothing is on 0

 

[Jason]

I think I sorted my issue out. It was the vwsr monza mod. It worked with every thing else

 

[John-Eric Saxén]

There are many valid reasons why, four of them being:
- ISI doesn't need a digital distribution platform as they do it themselves
- There is lost revenue through Steam fees, for the very big name titles that may be 15% but for most is 30-40% (why Reiza hasn't gone there yet either)
- It involves ISI having to work through Valve's platform and not be in direct control of the system
- Steam-only DRM games get hacked easily

On the positive side:
- No fuss with autoupdater issues
- Hotfixes can be delivered more instantly, no need to wait month for build to fix a shader bug
- Marketing. Steam is probably the biggest reason why reviewers etc have found sudden interest in sim like AC made by small studio
- More flexibility, can run on several computers without need to re-activate, no need to maintain clumsy activation system + support
- Can maintain profiles and other saved settings in cloud

 

[JeffL]

- Can maintain profiles and other saved settings in cloud

Cloud? please inform, I'm down with that.

 

[David Wright]

I'm another G25 owner who found the rF2 ffb unimpressive. I know ISI have said geared wheels like the G25 are obsolete but while my G25 is working I'm not going to pay out a fortune for a belt driven wheel and even if it fails I'm still not sure I can justify spending so much money on a wheel. I suspect I would go for a DF GT.

Adding caster did improve the self centering but doesn't help feeling the grip. Also a relatively small increase in caster gave a huge increase in the self centring. I didn't find it convincing.

 

[John-Eric Saxén]

Cloud? please inform, I'm down with that.

Steam cloud for saved games and such. At least I have impression it does it, you can basically log in, install a Steam game on any PC and it instantly loads all your old game settings etc.