As for the textures things, I have no idea but assuming legal issues because you "think" they could be the same in without knowing any of the details behind the scens is a bit silly. There was a fuss over SimRaceway having some of the same sounds as Project CARS with people claiming stealing content bla bla, until the sound designer made it clear that he had been hired to do sounds by both companies, hence the 2 exact same cars sounding very similar in the seperate games.
Im 'thinking' this as did have (haven't checked to see if it is still the case) Virtua LM's AIW file for Mid Ohio & I know from expirience it's virtually impossible to line up an AIW from a different build due to 0.0.0 being different, so yes, Ive taken a bit of a leap to a conclusion there...
I wouldn't know about the sounds melarky that you've mentioned....
If you want to discuss these things then do it on the SRW forums, rather than facebook which is merely their way of promoting the game.....
I mentioned it on FB because I was having no joy via Email & there was no forum at the time on their site....
It would be nice that when someone offers advice or fixes for free that at some stage a note at lest saying message recieved.
As for the track detection thing, it's a feature that they are actively developing and it is in beta, it isnt going to be 100% with every track yet, they just released a track update to one of the circuits (the dubai style fantasy track) to address the track detection penalty system there. Tracks like COTA and BRNO will be getting tweaked as those 2 have issues too, and they have made it known that others will also be tweaked.
If they're willing to release off-road cars & road course tracks that have these problems then why not the dirt ones too?
I was only mentioning that to shed light on why there's no off-road tracks yet....
Essencially this is a game still in heavy development, with a beta tag on it you can't expect everything to be perfect out of the door, the potential is massive though, the physics are 90% fantastic, their support is the best i've seen for any game. At the end of the day if it isnt for you then it isn't for you, but atleast give it a fair chance and expect that being a beta in heavy development it is going to have bugs.
How long can something remain in 'Open Beta' (to quote them, not yourself) releasing new material while fixing few flaws which essentially adds to the list that needs fixing?
Yes, their support is good if it means helping customers get started or it along the lines of a subject they're interested in....
But then there's this example, since release Longstone has had a crooked AIW fault on the starting line that would have been the work of a few seconds to fix while it was still in rFactor before conversion to their format...
Then there's the crappy headlight which they say 'Yes, we know' but still remains to be fixed along with the view from the front-end of cars mainly being based somewhere around the center of the car or, in a couple of cases, 1/3 to 1/2 a car length in front....
That last one may not matter to the majority but there are a few of us that prefer to race from that view & it is
extremely hard to do so with the way it is....
I sent an Email with a fix for the cars I had & not only was it ignored but when I further raised the subject there was a basic denial along with what I considered a 'warning off' of "Simraceway is not meant to be modded & your not supposed to be doing that to our files", followed by "we will get around to it but it's not a priority...."
Fair enough, but the fixes were there, it would have been easy enough to test & maybe implement them...
I also know of another case by another along those lines too....
But anyway, I've rambled on enough...
I really do hope they fix these troubles as I do find it easier to 'jump into' for a 'quick hit', like having a burger & fries, rather than stuffing around with rFactor, but I'll always return to rF for my evening roast & gravy...