rFactor 2: Gasoline Alley 3PA Content Released

[Paul Jeffrey]

rFactor 2 modding duo Gilles Benoit and Bill Guillaume have released a new Third Party Affiliate (3PA) mod depicting the legendary 1960's era Indy Racing scene - entitled Gasoline Alley.

Created by Gilles Benoit and Bill Guillaume with the help of former Indy driver Len Sutton and racing historian Gordon Eliot White, Gasoline Alley has been updated and improved from the original rFactor 1 version to reach the standards expected of 3PA content.

With further support from ISI providing physics tweaks and tyres, Gasoline Alley should make a compelling addition to the base rF2 content.

Car description :

• Speed: top 186 mph Texas (1963), end of Indy straights : 170 mph, Indy turns : +-140 mph
• Weight without driver and fuel: +-1600 lbs, 60% to the left
• Fuel: Methanol, 60 us gal. spiked with nitromethane
• Engine: 256 cu. In., 4 cyl. Offy, +-500 lbs, 2 speed, estimated +-400hp, running at 6000 rpm (ref1 p.84), fuel consumption 1 us gal/3.0 mile, exterior oil tank +-15 quarts
• Rigid front/rear axles with torsion bars
• Wheelbase: modeled at 96 in.
• Tires: Bias ply Firestones, front 7.60×16 (nominal), rear 8×18 (nominal), 50 psi, threads were showing after 51-52 laps at Indy, wear pattern on all four tires = inside of corner, described as noisy
• Pit stops: All four tires, 40 to 60 us gal. in 20 sec., every 51-52 laps

"Indy racing is part of the US culture, and in the early 1960s A.J. Watson dominated the manufacturing of the cars, at a time when Formula One machines were just starting to influence design. Watson’s history goes back to 1950 when, as a mechanic, he built his own car for the Indy 500 which Dick Rathmann drove. In 1954 Watson got his break with the John Zink Jnr team, and a year later his modified version of the Frank Kurtis-built roadster won the Indy 500. This 1960 example is typical of his racers, with a basic chassis with front/rear solid axles but torsion bar suspension that could be tweaked by the driver while going along. The Offenhauser Sprint and Champ car engine was offset to the left to make the car turn naturally in that direction, and gearbox only needed two speeds due to the massive torque available low down, plus the car’s light weight."

Head on over to the RaceDepartment rFactor 2 forum for news and discussion items and why not pick up a mod or two in our rF2 Mods section?

Don't forget racing other sim racers is fun, and in rFactor 2 the best place to do that is right here in the rFactor 2 Racing Club! Check it out today for good, clean, hard racing on a regular basis.

Have you picked up Gasoline Alley yet? How doe's it fair alongside some of the other top mods and ISI's own content? Let us know in the comments section below!

 

[Hsmmer]

...I just came here to say I thought a mod was sub-par, now we are bashing entire sims and entire communities again? *Enter Fallout Voice* Sim racing... sim racing never changes...

Yet did a single person every mention any aspects of physics.

ISI did a new tyre for this car, no not real data and I bet less development then the others.

If you can drive these anywhere near at 100% aggro on a Oval I bow down to you.

I not a great Oval fan but road courses in these is brilliant fun.
Try at 80% ai to Start at Monza 10K and chase the pack.

Great stuff !

Yes SMS and Kunos they demoralize rF2 with visuals but no more then rF2 does to them with chassis, physics, tyres, terrain ............imho

 

[William Wester]

...I just came here to say I thought a mod was sub-par, now we are bashing entire sims and entire communities again? *Enter Fallout Voice* Sim racing... sim racing never changes...

Sorry... "These cars are terrible, absolutely terrible. The sounds are completely broken, the physics are just bad, and the AI have superglue for tire.."
This isn't saying something is "sub-par". You have to expect others to chime in, I don't think you gave any credit what so ever to those behind this. If not my cup of tea, I surely wouldn't called something absolutely terrible. But this is an open forum, you are free to do as you please.

 

[Hsmmer]

Physics are bad in what way ?
I just did online Italy 10k race with ai lol ?
To drive these things fast you must have better then average skill, much like it was back in the day.

Please give me sample of what a Offy should sound like. I never understand what completely broken means ? I just listen to online lapping in background as we speak, sounds "okay" to me.

As for Ai grip ?
A fast driver is recommended to start at 90% or less a average driver 80% ( and that is on a oval, not on a road course where you don't have to use brakes ! ) and as I said average skills wont cut it in this car much like it won't cut it in the Howston will it ?

Try braking into Parabolica at full speed, you must have very good feel, precise throttle and brake etc.

 

[Marc Collins]

Well since I started some of this, please let me comment further.

1) Yes, I am a highly critical observer of sim racing content. I don't like sloppy craftsmanship or short cuts in cars or tracks or physics or FFB or, lastly, graphics.

2) DX9 vs DX11 is irrelevant to the appearance of the graphics. It only helps the performance, but would not benefit the old-looking appearance that most are commenting on here. rF2 would benefit from a graphics performance boost, but again that's not the topic here.

3) Complaining about the lack of some other content or updates in a release thread is dumb. This thread is for people who are interested in THIS content. Other than the note that ISI staff were helping on this instead of updating their own cars, all the moaning about needing more European or road racing stuff may be a valid preference, but it belongs somewhere else.

4) I am disappointed that as a 3PA release, these cars look worse than the typical ISI cars (chrome, reflections, wind screens, etc.). I am disappointed that the AI were not calibrated to 100%. In general, the graphics are a bit dated.

5) Are they authentic in terms of physics? Probably. Are they fun? Probably, if you like this era of oval racing.

6) At first glance, do they appear to be the quick conversions that we all know hurt rF2's reputation? Maybe. Unfortunately, most people won't get past that to try the actual experience of driving them.

7) Should they have received a bit more polish before release--in my opinion, yes.

8) Should we be happy to add this class of car to the rF2 mix--yes.

9) Should we still want 100 other other overdue updates to rF2 content--yes, but don't blame the authors of this mod or ruin their thread with all of that topic. We already have plenty of other places to discuss that.

 

[Slade Mitchell]

Sorry... "These cars are terrible, absolutely terrible. The sounds are completely broken, the physics are just bad, and the AI have superglue for tire.."
This isn't saying something is "sub-par". You have to expect others to chime in, I don't think you gave any credit what so ever to those behind this. If not my cup of tea, I surely wouldn't called something absolutely terrible. But this is an open forum, you are free to do as you please.

I did expect others to chime in -- about the MOD, not the platform it as developed on, which later spiraled into bashing all the other platforms that this mod has nothing to do with. I dont usually give credit to things I dont think are good. If you made me a car in real life, and it broke down immediately after pulling off your lot, I'm not going to go back to you and say "Hey man, I give you an A for effort, but the thing is junk. I really appreciate your hard work and effort though!" If I think its junk, I dont give praise. Those who need praise for their "sub par" creations need thicker skin.

 

[Hsmmer]

5) Are they authentic in terms of physics? Probably. Are they fun? Probably, if you like this era of oval racing.

I can't say I disagree apart from #5

Yes I believe closer then not.
Yes most def. fun and a challenge.
You don't have to like Oval cars, take them on Italy 10K ?

Inverse bias is not undriveable or anything if that is what you think Marc

Like Italy you set inverse left-right bias in TUNING for clockwise and all corners but Ascari are right handed anyways.

But you can steer around Ascari with opposite inverse one handed no problem and you can feel a subtle difference.

( I even did a few races on the wrong inverse before I realized lol )

Pretty much after that it was the same as any car I like in rF2, physical immersion takes over and you can forget the rest.

 

[Hsmmer]

I If I think its junk, I dont give praise. Those who need praise for their "sub par" creations need thicker skin.

All you said is if you have nothing nice to say don't say anything ?

If you have not drove it means you are into eye candy.

If you have drove it and complain you simply can't drive beasts.

That is this mods thing it is brutal only the best will master this one. ( not me lol )

If this was in say AC you would drive it one handed and blindfolded.

 

[Hsmmer]

Here is a new old mod

http://www.nogripracing.com/details.php?filenr=43389

Why don't you go and bag the "unfinished physics" and graphics to all the passionate members that like it, just to make their day.

Ask them why they still use a sim with dated graphics.

Talk about condescending. lol


and 25% of the people took time out to say thanks, compare that to any AC mod you like,
you lucky it's a few % .

See passion .......not spoiled brats.

 

[Trimaz]

Here is a new old mod

http://www.nogripracing.com/details.php?filenr=43389

Why don't you go and bag the "unfinished physics" and graphics to all the passionate members that like it, just to make their day.

Ask them why they still use a sim with dated graphics.

Talk about condescending. lol


and 25% of the people took time out to say thanks, compare that to any AC mod you like,
you lucky it's a few % .

See passion .......not spoiled brats.

Why did you bring a mod for a no longer relevant 11 year old game into this?

Don't get so upset about something that has nothing to do with you. If you didn't make this Indy mod, then let the comments slide. People are not going to change their mind on what they think is good or bad.

To be honest, both of these mods appear to be be graphically on par with each other, anyway.

 

[Michael Hornbuckle]

As I said, in my opinion the ISI resources are spent way too much on Oval racing these days (Stock Cars, Howston Disenter, Speedways track releases).

The Howston Disenter is an oval car???

 

[William Levesque]

The Howston Disenter is an oval car???

It's both because NASCAR.

 

[Michael Hornbuckle]

I must have something set very wrong; this is how my game looks at nearly maxed out graphics.

Hard to believe that this is official content in 2016.
And this car even sounds worse than it looks.
------------------
I actually really like driving the fake Maverick (Disenter) but this is horrible.

It's both because NASCAR.

Being as how it is fictional I guess that could be true, even though to me it is more of a SCCA Trans Am series type car than Nascar.
---------------------------------
Since I am a known Fanboy of a 'competing' sim I will post my graphics settings so as to not be blamed for purposely making my game look like junk. Any suggestions (other than upgrading my GTX 770, that will have to wait a few more months) to make my game look better would be appreciated.

 

[Ari Antero]

I was responding to @Emerson Meyer who seems to think DX9 is the reason behind the poor graphics of this 3PA mod. DX11 will bring FPS gains, sure. Still, I haven't seen one sim that shows any visual benefits from it. Is pCars running in DX11 also a direct port of DX9 since pCars in DX11 looks identical with DX9?

I think these DX11 "features" - if they ever will be introduced to iRacing - will be so subtle that people wouldn't notice the difference unless being told. 99% placebo effect.

rFactor2 graphic's and this mod looks descent but I think that many people like @Emerson Meyer have problems to run rF2 with descent game settings be course pure performance of gMotor 2.5.

The huge difference you can see DX9 vs DX11 is texture detail ( compute shaders) and the effects of tessellation, lighting improvement, reflections, depth perception improvement, multi threaded rendering, differences with the brick/surface/ground detail in DX11 vs DX9 with high resolution textures for the same type of surfaces.
There is no doubt that DX11 is a huge benefit to sim racing games. DX11 makes graphics look more realistic as it is more '3D', things stand out and it gives huge performance boost.

 

[Gijs van Elderen]

The huge difference you can see DX9 vs DX11 is texture detail ( compute shaders) and the effects of tessellation, lighting improvement, reflections, depth perception improvement, differences with the brick/surface/ground detail in DX11 vs DX9 with high resolution textures for the same type of surfaces.

I think you've no idea how a shader DX9 vs DX11 works.

 

[Ari Antero]

I think you've no idea how a shader DX9 vs DX11 works.

What makes you to believe that I don`t There is no need to make your nipping comment`s to 90% of all of my post`s

 

[Stig Bidstrup]

They are fun and scary to drive

 

[Miroslav Davidovic]

Very cool cars, I like them. Thanks!

 

[Slade Mitchell]

All you said is if you have nothing nice to say don't say anything ?

If you have not drove it means you are into eye candy.

If you have drove it and complain you simply can't drive beasts.

That is this mods thing it is brutal only the best will master this one. ( not me lol )

If this was in say AC you would drive it one handed and blindfolded.

No, if this mod was in AC I would say the exact same thing I said in my initial post. This is the problem with simracing these days, if one person doesn't like your mod, they think its because your a stupid fanboy who wants to bash your entire sim. So dumb, I just thought the mod sucked -- do I need more seat time? Maybe. But the testing that I did do got me to turn the game off immediately, and that is obviously not the sign of a good mod.

Eh, whatever -- its useless to explain to people who think all you are is a fanboy simply because you dont like their mod.

 

[John-Eric Saxén]

I must have something set very wrong; this is how my game looks at nearly maxed out graphics.

Yep, that looks very bad, and I bet it's because you have the most important setting wrong: HDR is off. With latest rF2 build it shouldn't be possible to run HDR off anymore, but this screenshot suggests it is off, which is basically equal to running rF2 in rF1 mode. Go to UserData/Config.ini and change the following lines to:

UseHDRProcess=1
GFXSafeMode=0

 

[John-Eric Saxén]

The huge difference you can see DX9 vs DX11 is texture detail ( compute shaders) and the effects of tessellation, lighting improvement, reflections, depth perception improvement, multi threaded rendering, differences with the brick/surface/ground detail in DX11 vs DX9 with high resolution textures for the same type of surfaces.
There is no doubt that DX11 is a huge benefit to sim racing games. DX11 makes graphics look more realistic as it is more '3D', things stand out and it gives huge performance boost.

Tessellation has little impact in sims where you view most objects from a distance of 10+ meters, you will not be close enough to see the effect. Reflections and lighting improvements sound very non-specific. Depth of perception (DoF) is disabled on purpose in rF2, it could be done in DX9 as well, it's done in Crysis 1. Texture resolution has nothing to do with DX11. Multi-threaded rendering, maybe. I see no "huge" benefits and as the pCars video comparison showed, it's mostly placebo.