Studio 397 released an update last week for rFactor 2 that addressed a long-standing issue for the sim: loading times.
Build 1.1126 of rFactor 2 became available on Steam last week, and though the update was small and didn't garner very many headlines, the impressive changes to the loading times are worth discussing.
In recent years two of the more common shortcomings players complained about in rFactor 2 were the dated graphics and the slow load times. The former was a focus for improvement for the Studio 397 team through 2020, and the latter has now been addressed in the most recent build.
In testing, my own load times on my AMD 3900X and 6800 XT based system were reduced by roughly half versus the outgoing build. Loading a new AI race session at the Nurburgring Nordschleife used to cost me close to five minutes, but that time is now under two minutes for me. Loading a single car practice session at Lime Rock Park went from close to two minutes to under one minute. This still lands rFactor 2 at the higher end of loading times for racing sims, but it's now far closer to its competitors. These values will be different for each player, but if you're like me and held back on playing the title because of the long wait times, give this latest update a try.
Here is an excerpt from the 1.1126 changelog regarding load times:
Game Loading
So well done to Studio 397 on these changes. Testing the improved load times allowed me to reconnect with a sim I love. The improved load times allowed me to enter the sessions in a more positive mindset, and reminded me of the pure joy I get from racing in rFactor 2.
Let us know your thoughts on the improvements to rF2 in the comments below.
Build 1.1126 of rFactor 2 became available on Steam last week, and though the update was small and didn't garner very many headlines, the impressive changes to the loading times are worth discussing.
In recent years two of the more common shortcomings players complained about in rFactor 2 were the dated graphics and the slow load times. The former was a focus for improvement for the Studio 397 team through 2020, and the latter has now been addressed in the most recent build.
In testing, my own load times on my AMD 3900X and 6800 XT based system were reduced by roughly half versus the outgoing build. Loading a new AI race session at the Nurburgring Nordschleife used to cost me close to five minutes, but that time is now under two minutes for me. Loading a single car practice session at Lime Rock Park went from close to two minutes to under one minute. This still lands rFactor 2 at the higher end of loading times for racing sims, but it's now far closer to its competitors. These values will be different for each player, but if you're like me and held back on playing the title because of the long wait times, give this latest update a try.
Here is an excerpt from the 1.1126 changelog regarding load times:
Game Loading
- Optimizations to Game Loading and Series switching.
- Optimizations to Texture Loading.
- Added the ability to load cached track files from the component to improve loading times.
- Improved shader loading and added pre-built shader cache to improve loading times.
So well done to Studio 397 on these changes. Testing the improved load times allowed me to reconnect with a sim I love. The improved load times allowed me to enter the sessions in a more positive mindset, and reminded me of the pure joy I get from racing in rFactor 2.
Let us know your thoughts on the improvements to rF2 in the comments below.
