rFactor 2’s July 2021 Update and New Monza Layouts Released

rF2 July 3.jpg
Studio 397 has updated rFactor 2 and brought numerous changes to the sim including linked sessions to complement the Competition System.

The public branch of rFactor 2 has received a significant update this week. The racing sim’s July 2021 build brings a wide array of changes and updates, which you can find listed below.

Among the featured changes is the implementation of linked sessions in multiplayer. These linked sessions “allow the player to remain within the same server and engage in multiple sessions without having to leave and re-enter / re-register".

The effects of these linked sessions are significant to users. Reverse and custom grids are now possible thanks to this change. And perhaps the biggest news regarding the linked sessions is that road and time progression is now possible within one multiplayer session. So weather, time, and road surface progression carry on throughout the event.

The update comes one day after rFactor 2’s Monza circuit received a significant update of its own, with Studio 397 giving owners of the Monza DLC two additional layouts.

The Junior circuit is a shorter variant of the track and eschews much of the reason Monza earns its “Temple of Speed” nickname and cuts the standard 5.8-kilometer length down to just 2.4 kilometers. The shorter layout plays nicely with lower-horsepower cars and affords them lots of overtaking possibilities.

The second added layout is the Grande variant. Unlike the Junior layout that caters to handling rather than top speed, Grande is best suited to cars with higher top speeds. The famous (or infamous in sim racing circles) turn 1 and 2 Rettifilo chicane is gone, allowing you to potentially be flat out from Parabolica to Variante della Roggia. Slipstreams will be a major factor for racing here.

The core game update for July 2021 is live now for all, along with new layouts of Monza for owners of the DLC.

rF2 July 2.jpg

Changelog​

General​

  • rFactor 2 Build Bumped to 1125
  • Added MetallicNoise.dds to Vehicle Common Maps so that it does not need to be packed with each car
  • Updated Flag Stations so they will not assign to the Pit Path.
  • Updated parsing of Flag Station Instances (cornerworkers, safetyworkers, digitalflags) so all instances are parsed and do not require any specific naming order.
  • Added auto grouping of flag stations to the same point on track. Note: It is now recommended to only place Safetyworkers next to Cornerworkers or Digital flags to ensure a flag is waved or shown correctly.
  • Made the distance to group flag stations together configurable (GDB: FlagStationGroupDist=30)
  • Updated Yellow Flag and Blue flag logic to work correctly with flag station grouping
  • Made the distance before and after an incident at which a yellow flag is waved configurable (GDB: FlagStationIncidentMinDist=20, FlagStationIncidentMaxDist=250)
  • Fixed digital flags all flashing checkered the second a car finishes the race. Instead they now follow the logic of other flags and only flash progressively around the track as cars finish.
  • Enabled chat command “/callvote nextsession” on a dedicated server to advance to next session.
  • Removed Hide Cursor default assignment to “delete” key from controller settings. Note this does not affect existing profiles.
  • Fixed cars showing up with the team name missing when using a custom team in multiplayer via the new UI
  • Synced min/max ranges for options in the backend (playerbasefile) with the new UI’s default (JNIOptions)
  • Added ability to specify slot using steam id for some chat commands
  • Save steam id when a driver disconnects from a session
  • SteamId is saved when somebody disconnects, so it appears in the result xml

Graphics​

  • Reviewed & updated all Cloud Textures
  • Improved Lighting Calculations on Clouds and Atmospherics
  • Fine-tuned and optimized rain particles (50% less particles now)
  • Improved ModDev options with ability to force a specific cloud texture as well as set cloud cover at any point.
  • Ensured that cloud textures are never loaded ad hoc, which would previously cause some stuttering online or in replays.
  • Fixes for various issues that were present when the cloud update was previously released.
  • Fixed an issue when saving PNG screenshots via the built-in game function where alpha information seems to get saved around the glows and glares, for example around the sun.
  • Fixed an issue where Sunglare at dawn or dusk on ultra-wide or triple screens would be undriveable.
  • SSR – screen space reflection implementation for wet road reflection
  • Reduced Sky Exposure and rebalanced auto exposure for these changes
  • Fixed issues with Night Time under-exposing.
  • Enabled Auto Exposure adjustments whilst game is paused
  • Slightly reduced TV Camera low-sun exposure levels
  • Faster Exposure Adjustment on TV Cameras to reduce the noticeable fade when changing camera
  • Fixed Differences in ToneMapper and Exposure in Showrooms vs In-Game
  • Added Missing Ambient and Static Mappers to Default Showroom
  • Fixed an issue where Static Mappers would not update after a game session time change
  • Fixed some road objects not having wet weather reflections
  • Improved Puddle Normal Maps
  • Fixed some issues with how reflections work at the side of the screen.
  • Improved blur and general tweaks to level of road reflections
  • Fixed some car parts not reflecting (including enabling reflections on car headlights)

UI​

  • Load server lists (Internet, LAN, Favorites, Friends) asynchronously
  • Added extra UI options for setting up steering wheel rotation settings (Rotation limit mode, max wheel angle mode, default max wheel angle).
  • Ensured that appropriate settings are enabled/disabled with the right options.
  • Readjusted Controller Calibrate layout so that all items fit without scroll bar
  • Fixed Point to Point tracks wrongly closing loop
  • Fixed unnecessary scroll bar on Display Options Screen
  • Made it possible to sort the packages list by the installed column. Also made it possible to sort the multiplayer list by version while refactoring the table component config a bit.
  • Fixed standings table alignment where long class names would cause problems.
  • Replaced underscores in car class name with spaces and allow it to wrap to second if needed.
  • Fixed bottom shadow sometimes being positioned wrongly in the lap history pop-up.
  • Fixed an issue when losing a connection to the dedicated server that the network connection error dialogue would only show up when leaving a subsequent single player session.
  • Added spectators to player list when in race monitor, and allow kicking/banning of them via the same process as kicking/banning an active player
  • Updated event full-screen so only data that is needed for the elements being visible is fetched and updated.
  • Fetch live standings in event screen with WebSocket instead of polling.
  • Show total race time for race winner and the final gaps to winner for other drivers as they finish the race.
  • Added start-up Wizard to assign basics controls at startup
  • Fixed server join button not working if you clicked it on the outside of the “join” text.
  • Fixed upgrade description not being visible with a long list of upgrades on the tuning screen.
  • Fixed shadow positioning in packages table with only a few packages showing
  • Fixed series list being empty if there were two series with the same name
  • Added checkbox option to remember the password for a server.
  • Your last selected server list type (Internet, LAN, Favorites, Friends) is now remembered on the multiplayer matchmaker screen.
  • Removed useless scrollbar on options calibrate page when in an event.
  • Added UI setting for toggling FFB strength direction between negative and positive.
  • Added track type and length to track loading screen.
  • Added disabling of “next session” button in single player admin controls when there is no next session.
  • Made list layout the default layout on all pages that use it.
  • Made changes to reduce time the light grey screen is shown, for example when leaving an event and returning to the main menu.
  • Fixed the current selection (series, car, track) sometimes not loading in the main menu start and race screens.
  • Made sky setting also affect the rain chance setting.
  • Added showing raw range (min, max) for control axes on the options calibrate page.

Live stream overlay​

  • Class colors on text no longer working: No code changes; text color needs to specified with a “color” field in the custom overlay config.json along with the previous “backgroundColor” field.
  • Added RPM, speed, gear and pedal inputs to the driver info overlay.
  • Added error checking for endpoints failing when overlays folder does not exist.
  • Added driver name options drop down to overlay control panel and updated overlay elements to use it.
  • Added DRS active classes to battle box, extended battle box and tower overlay elements.
  • Added DRS active text to battle box element.
  • Fixed color swipe animation being positioned slightly wrong on some overlay elements.
  • Fixed in-game panel toggling not always working.
  • Fixed overlay not working at all if the configured overlay folder does not exist.
  • Added prev/next buttons for season standings and in-race season standings elements.
  • Added background color to control panel table rows when showing multiple car classes. The color is faded from the one defined in config.json for that class.

Modding​

  • Added a content error if a Cube Map is wrongly assigned.
  • Added New AI Editor Methods for updating Cut Corridors including Finding, Normalizing, Setting to Corridor values, Setting to Collision Corridor values as well as setting if adjusting Corridors effects Cut Corridors.
  • Added specific functions for Normalizing Corridors and Normalizing Collision Corridors.
  • Fixed RealRoad errors loading Loch Drummond in ModDev
  • IBL Road Shader: Made configurable the effects of the blue channel of a Road Detail Map. Now can enable/disable masking of the overlay function and the decal map.
  • Added the ability to constrain a Camera to the Pitlane or the Main Track.
  • Enable Trace logging by default in ModDev

Autodromo Nazionale di Monza v1.21 Changelog​

  • Added Junior and Curva Grande Layouts
  • Updated Cut Detection on Main Layout
  • Replaced a few tree types and some minor foliage updates
  • Updates to road tyre marks
  • Reduced crowd density in practice sessions
  • Some optimization to Shadow and Detail settings
  • Fixed road line decal clipping before first chicane
  • Fixed AI car behaviour swapping lanes on rolling starts
  • Slight adjustments to AI lines through Lesmo turns
  • Fixed some minor lodding issues with Trees
rF2 July 1.jpg
About author
Mike Smith
I have been obsessed with sim racing and racing games since the 1980's. My first taste of live auto racing was in 1988, and I couldn't get enough ever since. Lead writer for RaceDepartment, and owner of SimRacing604 and its YouTube channel. Favourite sims include Assetto Corsa Competizione, Assetto Corsa, rFactor 2, Automobilista 2, DiRT Rally 2 - On Twitter as @simracing604

Comments

Staff
Premium
Look forward to trying this. May give it a week or so though, in case there is a hotfix. :roflmao:

Seriously though, credit where it's due, some long awaited fixes making it to the public release version is (IMO) most welcome. Long may this kind of progress continue. :thumbsup:
 
So far, the most consistent complaint of the new version is mostly Thrustmaster users whose ffb has gone wonky. A few graphic glitches still with the new SSM wet track reflection system, Some online hosts have had some trouble updating to the newest version as well. and some confusion about whether the release is a full update or a release candidate. (answer) The previous release candidate, with ALL those changes listed above has been moved to the new stable build. At this point in time, there is no new release candidate, that is being held back, so users of either version all have the exact same product.
 
Don't know what "battle box" means, but I really would like to see properly implemented DRS zones, especially when racing against the suicidal AI that use it anytime there's a stretch of road longer than 10 feet.
 
Anyone know what this means?
· Added UI setting for toggling FFB strength direction between negative and positive

Does that mean we have in-game ffb strength adjustments now?
Yep, thats what i understand.
I havent tested btw.
Cheers.
 
Premium
Anyone know what this means?
· Added UI setting for toggling FFB strength direction between negative and positive

Does that mean we have in-game ffb strength adjustments now?
I haven't looked ot the option yet, so I don't know if it's a switch or a scale. There is a parameter in the controller.json file for reversing FFB. If it's only the switch pos/neg, it's there to only reverse the direction of the FFB, no strength adjustment. Some wheels need FFB to be reversed to work, at least some older wheels did. If you flip the switch, instead of trying to keep the wheel centered, the SAT in the FFB will want to go left or right all the time. It will work correctly on wheels that need it reversed tho.
 
How about improving the AI? They are awful to race with now. Or what Motorsports games care is MP and esports?
Maybe you could elaborate a bit what is so awful with the AI?

Doing sprint races (60 minutes or less) with same class cars works very good, at least with official cars on official tracks. If not forcing your way thru the field the 1st lap or 2 the AI behaves very well both racing yourself and other AI (just apply the same caution and behavior you would in MP races) .

The worst AI ever is always mention in these threads together with long loading times but can't really agree with these statements, it's easy to list a few other candidates with much worse issues (for me).

Combine with weather sure the logic starts to show some flaws sometimes, but here rF2 is far from alone to have some space to improve challenging and changing conditions.


I't good to see an long list of updates and fixes on the core functions of rF2 and not a long list of minor (more or less) car and track fixes.
 
When you see the size of the wall text you can suppose it's a huge game update but it's nothing more than the good and old S397 ability on writing billion of words to say nothing. For example, if you are a moder you probably know that you must number the digital flags in the order they appear in the track (digitalflag01.gmt, digitalflag02.gmt and so on). No big deal except you're planing to do a reverse layout, in this case you'll have to rename the GMTs and repack in a different MAS file. Well, this is a minor inconvenience and it's OK they have fixed but there's almost 500 words to say this and other related issues in the roadmap. For who is not a modder it can impress but it is just ornament. The real modding problems keep there and let alone the core issues on AI logic which are getting on years and years. In the current state rF2 is not a good tool for online casual player and even less for offline players. The game can be good for who are listed in a league or for who is hired for one of those uninteresting e-sport event otherwise you'll have to be satisfied on hot lapping or race short races in dry weather against AI disabling full course yellows other than that the game is pretty useless. It's the more natural physics and force feedback, my father tried other day and said "it's the only game you started that convinced me I'm driving", he tried other sims before. It deserved to be managed by a competent company.
 
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A lot of work for this new update. Haven't had the time yet to try it, but this
means businesss, guys. Are the Motorsport Games' guys working already
on our beloved Sim? Hope so.
 
Huge faff to get the same drivers to race you at different circuits. Requires mas file editing that is beyond tedious. I gave up on the idea long ago.
Seriously, the amount of trouble you have to go through just to create a custom AI roster and then if there's an update do that stuff all over again. Easier to just fire up AC with content manager
 
Don't know what "battle box" means, but I really would like to see properly implemented DRS zones, especially when racing against the suicidal AI that use it anytime there's a stretch of road longer than 10 feet.
If the AI are using DRS all over the track, you are using DRS cars at NON DRS tracks. Up to you the user to either choose a regular car for those tracks or stick to DRS enabled tracks.
 
Anyone know what this means?
· Added UI setting for toggling FFB strength direction between negative and positive

Does that mean we have in-game ffb strength adjustments now?
Doesn't sound like that, some wheels, notably the Logitechs, require a negative number to operate properly. So this sounds like a toggle key/button to fix ffb is you suddenly discover your Logi is pulling you around a curve instead of resisting the cornering forces.
 
Doesn't sound like that, some wheels, notably the Logitechs, require a negative number to operate properly. So this sounds like a toggle key/button to fix ffb is you suddenly discover your Logi is pulling you around a curve instead of resisting the cornering forces.
Yep, S397 added the ffb-force direction switch to the UI.

This is not related to increasing / decreasing ffb strength levels (much desired feature, though).
 
Seriously, the amount of trouble you have to go through just to create a custom AI roster and then if there's an update do that stuff all over again. Easier to just fire up AC with content manager

Don't you realize you can run as many versions of cars and tracks as you wish

So just don't delete old rfmods you like ! keep them !

If you don't delete old rfmods those car and track versions can't be removed till you want it.

rF2 is the only sim ever you can keep multiple versions of the same cars and tracks

;)

P.S. forgot to mention save your GT3 rfmods and don't unistall them
when a car is updated you will see you have more then 2 entries for each
in MAS2 or mod manager

Now make a new mod using the same content including the new updates

Now with 2 rfmods you can run either versions

This is mainly a online feature
It gives admin the ability to run league or public with old versions of anything and update the rfmod when they you want.
 
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