rFactor 2 "The Road Ahead" DX11 Update.. err Update..

[Paul Jeffrey]

Studio 397 have revealed more about the development plans for the new rFactor 2 DX11 update build released earlier this week.

In something of an impressively fast response, Studio 397 have already released several small update hotfixes to the new DX11 build of rFactor 2 - reportedly offering improvements in framerates for all users and especially those running AMD graphics cards.

Studio 397 have promised to continue pushing out quick hotfix updates to the game, accessible as part of the Steam Beta branch found within the Steam Library as the studio look to rectify some of the reported issues being suffered by a large proportion of players who have downloaded the most recent build of the software.

You can read the update in full below where you will also find the link for the Studio 397 thread detailing the change logs from all the released hotfix patches.


Regular Updates
Our strategy in the upcoming weeks will be to release small updates often. Whenever we fix an issue, we’ll quickly test it internally and push a new build, so you can confirm that it is indeed fixed. This way we might end up pushing one or more builds every day. On our forum we will keep a changelog as we publish those builds. To make it easier to report issues, we have added a “Contact Support” button to the Launcher (top right of the main window) and, for performance related issues, we added a feature that allows you to collect performance data in a file that you can send along with your report.

To enable the capture of performance data, please first press Ctrl+F to display the framerate information (which we’ve extended a bit). Then, as instructed on screen, press your Left-Shift+SPACE to start capturing data. After a little while, the capture will end and you get a file in your UserData\Log folder called PerfLog_DATETIME.txt which you can send to us along with your report. Then you can turn off the display by pressing Ctrl+F again.

Content Updates
In the mean time our content team is working hard on making more of the stock content available to you. Our plan here is to stick to roughly a weekly schedule for delivering updates. Those will be a bit bigger in size, and we will deliver them to both the stable DX9 build and the open beta simultaneously. Content updates will obviously also contain information about exactly what content gets updated.

Beta Labels
If you’re currently running the open beta release, you are on “v1108-dx11-open-beta” and this is the label we will be regularly updating as we address more and more issues. If for some reason this build is not working for you at all, after reporting it, you can optionally switch to the “v1108-dx11-open-beta-last-stable” build, which will point to an older build. If that does not work, you can obviously choose to temporarily “opt-out” of the beta releases altogether and go back to the stable release until we release another update.

If you have any further questions, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us on our forum or on Discord.

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...

Have the latest rF2 hotfix updates improved your experience, either in DX11 or using VR devices? Let us know your opinion in the comments section below!

 

[Tigerteeth]

I cannot believe the likes is RRE using an older engine iteration to that of RF2 works so well, looks pretty has more than 6 cars and 6 tracks.

Rfactor 2 will never ever be a finished article, it's hey day came and went, should be all about RF3 now.

I really think ISI have bailed and sold 397 a lemon, I think there is so much on the horizon in 2017 and RF2 is just going to be left shelved.

I understand the concept of beta, but broken basics like vsync seems a massive oversight.

RF2 is a modding platform. Sector3 decided to abandon the modding community and went commercial with RaceRoom. It's unfair to compare the two when the target audience is completely different.

 

[JeffL]

Ok it was good for a while, now it's devolved into another sim comparison thread, oh well.

 

[Maltus]

All my support to studio 397, best game for offline racers by far (with the best IA), and with new dx11....gorgeous.

Work to do: equilibrate all cars and circuits, they are so unbalance...some beatiful some meh...

All in all, thanks for your work, and waiting for new updates (features: ummm custom championship offline....?).

 

[Brian Himmelman]

Do you sometimes read what your write? How is it a sign of complexity, when modders simply have to update their content to utilize new features in a sim? the transition from DX9-DX11 it's simply the use of Albedo maps, wich isn't black magic or anything. It's mostly adjusting textures, wich isn't too much of an issue as you can allready see by the updated mods. It's simply down to if the content creator is willed to update it or not and not by some uber magic complexity. Monsum updated Sebring and Mid Ohio the last time, when the tonemapper changed two years ago, so ther might be a chance that he does it again for the DX11 version of the game. If you expect him to remodel the whole track, then that's a whole different issue and has nothing to do with complexity. I find that backward compatibility was allways pretty good within rF2. I can still use mods that were released several years ago and if I find an issue in DX11 with PP I simply turn it off. I allways find it funny when people talk about how poor the 3rd party content is and allways explain it with high complexity instead of their own unrealistic demands. I also would like to know what you call poor quality: despite showing their age a bit, the VLM tracks are still pretty damn good for the fact that modders created them in their freetime. At the end they have something that even some 1st party track of all sims miss: and that's racing athmosphere. At Sebring I can allmost smell the barbecue, the rubber and the oil when going down to Sunset Bend.

well said !!!

 

[Marcel Offermans]

Just to add to that, we were already using Albedo maps for years in DX9, so in that sense we're not using anything new. The biggest issue we discovered is that people were using maps that were a lot brighter than they should have in DX9 already. This went unnoticed, because the old graphics engine wasn't capable of rendering "emissive" content bright enough. We fixed that in DX11 and all of a sudden, those existing flaws are (literally) highlighted. So nobody has to make DX11 versions of anything, simply fix past mistakes to end up with content that will work just fine in both engines.

 

[JPL083]

all he said was he tried it and went back to what he preferred, far out, chill out man you are bringing more "bad air" than he did.

Your not much better. And tip when in internet, do some research before say anything! Biggest problem on earth. People running their mouths about something that they dont know anything about...

 

[thepharcyde]

1.7gb download, what's this for?

 

[Marcel Offermans]

1.7gb download, what's this for?

That is our weekly content update. Since most of that content is actually embedded in the cache folder of the game, we need to update both the DX11 open beta and the DX9 stable build with it.

 

[thepharcyde]

That is our weekly content update. Since most of that content is actually embedded in the cache folder of the game, we need to update both the DX11 open beta and the DX9 stable build with it.

Cool, any idea whn Matasuka and Meganes will be updated?

 

[Furious Panda]

vsync doesn't work,how do you get it work?,I need vsync,without it get stutters... studio 389 or what ever can you get vsync to work I NEED VSYNC!!!

 

[Marcel Offermans]

Cool, any idea whn Matasuka and Meganes will be updated?

Well, since we're doing about 5 cars/tracks a week, it won't be long. I can't give an exact date.

 

[dave kirk]

Hi everyone, I've followed every single instruction,
With my 4K monitor the game works AMAZING
but with my Oculus Rift I can't get the game to work, even with Steam VR on, minimum settings set etc, I get so so much lag the game is unplayable.
I run a I7700k and GTX 1080 ti,
I'm lost as what to do??

 

[Tony]

Your not much better. And tip when in internet, do some research before say anything! Biggest problem on earth. People running their mouths about something that they dont know anything about...

great comeback. Your scathing remarks have cut me deep

 

[Tony]

vsync doesn't work,how do you get it work?,I need vsync,without it get stutters... studio 389 or what ever can you get vsync to work I NEED VSYNC!!!

+1 on this one. Have not heard a word about Vsync fix

 

[Marc Collins]

Just to add to that, we were already using Albedo maps for years in DX9, so in that sense we're not using anything new. The biggest issue we discovered is that people were using maps that were a lot brighter than they should have in DX9 already. This went unnoticed, because the old graphics engine wasn't capable of rendering "emissive" content bright enough. We fixed that in DX11 and all of a sudden, those existing flaws are (literally) highlighted. So nobody has to make DX11 versions of anything, simply fix past mistakes to end up with content that will work just fine in both engines.

This would be relatively straightforward if most of the mod tracks out there still had active care and attention. Since at least 50% are abandonware, we're going to be left with a lot fewer tracks to use (or will have to use them with ugly "emissions").

 

[MarcG]

Hi everyone, I've followed every single instruction,
With my 4K monitor the game works AMAZING
but with my Oculus Rift I can't get the game to work, even with Steam VR on, minimum settings set etc, I get so so much lag the game is unplayable.
I run a I7700k and GTX 1080 ti,
I'm lost as what to do??

PPD on 1.0? Try with a fresh player.JSON, all in game settings Low/Off, AA off...essentially start at the very bottom and work your way up.
Plug ins all off as well just to be safe, HMD plugged in USB 3.0 socket.

 

[dave kirk]

PPD on 1.0? Try with a fresh player.JSON, all in game settings Low/Off, AA off...essentially start at the very bottom and work your way up.
Plug ins all off as well just to be safe, HMD plugged in USB 3.0 socket.

Thanks, but tried all that, even turned the SteamVR supersampling down, nothing works

 

[MarcG]

Thanks, but tried all that, even turned the SteamVR supersampling down, nothing works

Verify files, I take it you've run the SteamVR room setup? and you are ticking the VR box in the video settings?

 

[MarcG]

Thanks, but tried all that, even turned the SteamVR supersampling down, nothing works

I forgot one, make sure Steam Theatre Mode is Off, I think you right click rfactor2 and it's there somewhere (at work so can't check myself), if not Google it as that caught me out last week.

 

[Bez]

just received another update on steam and now it seems i have vsync forced on even though its not on in the game options or set in nvidia CP. Fps is now stuck at 60, previously was between 80-100+ roughly depending on track.

edit: found the issue, vsync was set to video in the launcher settings even though the in game settings showed vsync was off, oh well at least vsync is working now!