New Package Management System for rFactor 2

20230130122744_1-1024x585.jpg
In what's probably the least exciting sounding news possible for sim racing, another long awaited, much asked for feature will arrive to rFactor 2 together with the Q1 update later in February.

As all racers who have touched rFactor 2 know, the whole system with content can be a bit confusing, not to mention that it can take up quite a lot of hard drive space. Some of this will now, finally change. As Studio 397 wrote themselves:

"For these new code change, we’ve been able to break up the content types in rFactor 2 to three distinct categories – Local Content, Steam Content and Store Content. By breaking out these three categories, we now have the ability to open up a number of user actions previously impossible with our existing code structure. Just like you could before with locally installed items, now we can present the opportunity for our players to see, install, uninstall and monitor update status of items purchased as DLC, or downloaded for free from the Steam Workshop.

As an additional benefit, this new set of features gives us the opportunity to present more information on the status of content already installed within the title – so you can see what is pending updates, if things haven’t updated correctly, if items are in your library but uninstalled.

Fundamentally, these changes will also offer us quite a boost in terms of the overall speed of the rFactor 2 experience within the main UI. With this update, we have been able to prevent situations where the user is stuck behind a modal dialogue state within the rf2 UI, so for example, in the old system if for example a user purchases a large track like the Nordschleife, you’d be stuck in game with a locked UI waiting on a download bar for significant periods of time – this behaviour has been removed with these changes, as you can now elect to directly engage with the software while downloading, and on a similar topic, you can now launch rF2 without any game pause if you just want to jump in and do a quick race, as you no longer have to update your content when coming into the game by default.

Granted, this isn’t the most sexy of improvements we’ve brought to the sim over the last couple of years, but we think this is a very important piece of groundwork we’ve undertaken for our continued growth and expansion – adding benefits to the end user right away, and putting us on a much stronger footing to allow development to take the direction we’ve planned out for the immediate future."


Speed, fluidity and a game not seemingly being frozen is good enough. However, for the ones who have bought a lot of DLC over the years, but not using it all anymore, the opportunity to uninstall the DLC is something that's been wished for, for a long time for many users of rFactor 2.

The new system will arrive together with the "Drive online with cars you don't own" in the 2023 Q1 build being released the 21st of February!

Wanting to race rFactor 2 in a friendly, helpful, yet competetive environment? Take a visit to the rFactor 2 Club Racing forum at RaceDepartment for more information.
About author
Ole Marius Myrvold
I've been a motorsport-fan for as long as I can remember. Initially a rallycross-maniac, but got into F1 around the time I started school. Got my first sim when I was 7, but didn't start properly until I got a wheel when I was 12. Been a staff at RaceDepartment since 2012. Mainly the dirty-guy who does rally-stuff here. But also management-titles and rFactor 2.

Comments

My rF2 got an update of under 1 GB yesterday, but GT3 felt pretty much the same as a year ago. Tried 911 and Bentley, did scandi flicks on cold tyres no problem (Not close to GTE behaviuor). I haven't touched GT3 since GTE tyres came out (9 months?), so can't really tell if there is an improvement.
Now rF2 is downloading 3.4 GB update. Could it be that GT3 tyre update is installing just now, separately?
 
Premium
Excellent. Another step forwards.
It seems to me that quite a lot of positive stuff has been achieved and released recently.
Thanks and keep up the great work guys.
 
Last edited:
My rF2 got an update of under 1 GB yesterday, but GT3 felt pretty much the same as a year ago. Tried 911 and Bentley, did scandi flicks on cold tyres no problem (Not close to GTE behaviuor). I haven't touched GT3 since GTE tyres came out (9 months?), so can't really tell if there is an improvement.
Now rF2 is downloading 3.4 GB update. Could it be that GT3 tyre update is installing just now, separately?
FYI, the new version is 3.51 , every other is outdated.
 
Be Honest:

Are we all just mad at rFactor2 because we recognize its the best feeling sim but we hate the awful management of the company? Kinda like we're just mad at it. Like when you have a buddy thats cool to chill with, and he starts bringing a really annoying chick everywhere. Like, you get into the sim and you forget how much motorsport games sucks ass, but you rarely get into the sim because you almost feel guilty supporting that company by even clicking on it in your library, even though you're glad each time you do?

MSG needs to get its act together, I'm tired of being mad at this force feedback beast.

Mad? No. Just lost interest in it because of simple things that didn't get fixed before the takeover by S397. Like the horrendous stuttering that "doesn't exist" to the devs, loading times that are ok to the devs to name just two gamebreakers for me. Launched it just to see what's new. 3 minutes later the main screen isn't yet loaded. Not that I'm Max Verstappen's biggest fan, but I can understand his recent reaction. S397 went into esports before making sure they have a sim working at the same level as the competition. 10 years later it feels like the same patch job it's ever been.
 
Will the change let you know what items from DLC packs are already purchased or not to prevent buying same things multiple times, always hard to figure out what is own and what not especially as bunch of DLCs have overlapping content.
Some sort of direct integration of UI with Steam Workshop may be.
the ingame store page, tells you if you own the content already buddy
 
Be Honest:

Are we all just mad at rFactor2 because we recognize its the best feeling sim but we hate the awful management of the company? Kinda like we're just mad at it. Like when you have a buddy thats cool to chill with, and he starts bringing a really annoying chick everywhere. Like, you get into the sim and you forget how much motorsport games sucks ass, but you rarely get into the sim because you almost feel guilty supporting that company by even clicking on it in your library, even though you're glad each time you do?

MSG needs to get its act together, I'm tired of being mad at this force feedback beast.
Yes. But. Mostly the fart arsing around like this.
First, ensure you only have v.3.51 of each type of GT3 cars. That is the newest, version.
If you have older versions, those are skins you have installed previously. Use windows to move the mas files from the old version folder to the new version number. (always copy from and move to the odd number folder. So copy from v2.15 and not v2.14, then move to v3.51 but not v3.50) Then delete the old folders.
NEXT whenever you choose a car, you must select the opponents you do this on the far right column Edit Settings. , even if you choose another skin you have to once again slelect your opponents: You can populate your field two ways. First by selecting EACH individual GT3 car brand.(this way you can skip the Radical or the older 650 Mclaren) Or by simply choosing the GT3 set. This will give you all the GT3 cars:
View attachment 638095

These 2 ways give you random skins, you would then have to sit in session deleting and adding AI till you get what you want that could take forever.

Third way: rfmod takes minutes to make.
You can select exact skins you wish for the AI
You can select exact circuit layouts you wish.
You can make custom Series headings like Drift, Street, Spec Racers, etc.
You don't have to scroll a endless list (100's) of classes to find your AI (most which will mean nothing to you )
You won't have to do the same thing all over again for the same room ie: pick all cars, circuit and skins again ( unless you want to save and resume all from replays which is not best idea as replays can get affected by car updates. As well long sessions the replays can take forever to load. )
 
Premium
I see the usual trolls are out from under their bridge. Nothing better to do? Lots of good stuff coming out from Studio 397. In my mind I keep and view them entirely separately to the parent company. For a small team they are really bringing out some great updates lately.
 
" Like the horrendous stuttering that "doesn't exist"

Those stutters are in most cases the users that have some problems in their machine or drivers.

I have rarely had those, almost 2000hrs in rF2.
On many different machines over the years.
With 100 processes running in the background, it can be anything.

But hey' it's rF2, Bashing rF2 seems to be cool.
Go drive your arcade sims, (yes all the others) :)
Please don't come back to rF2 threads just to take pi....
 
First, ensure you only have v.3.51 of each type of GT3 cars. That is the newest, version.
If you have older versions, those are skins you have installed previously. Use windows to move the mas files from the old version folder to the new version number. (always copy from and move to the odd number folder. So copy from v2.15 and not v2.14, then move to v3.51 but not v3.50) Then delete the old folders.
NEXT whenever you choose a car, you must select the opponents you do this on the far right column Edit Settings. , even if you choose another skin you have to once again slelect your opponents: You can populate your field two ways. First by selecting EACH individual GT3 car brand.(this way you can skip the Radical or the older 650 Mclaren) Or by simply choosing the GT3 set. This will give you all the GT3 cars:
View attachment 638095
Appreciate you being helpful. I am still vague on something. All of the GT3 cars have both version 3.50 and 3.51. Are you saying that in order to use the latest version, I have to delete the 3.50 folder for every car? I thought updates remove old versions. I see both 3.50 and 3.51 in the "Manage Content" selection.

Also, maybe I didn't state this clearly, but the Daytona replay was all different cars before the update. Now when viewing the replay, it says the car is "unknown" in the list of opponents and all cars are the same model.
 
Premium
Studio 397 is doing its very best to make something beautiful out of rF2. They also couldn't have shared any update with us and released it as rF3 after a while. But they didn't, we can already benefit from it. Every time there is news about an update there must be sim racers who have to share with us how bad rF2 actually is and what they should have improved instead of that update. A little more appreciation for the hard work of Studio 397 would be in order. We don't pay for the updates, we just get them for free.
I am very satisfied with Content Manager as a user interface for Assetto Corsa. Not just because it manages content, but how it works technically. After starting Content Manager, you have actually only started a user interface and nothing else. Assetto Corsa has not started at all and the graphics card is not yet in graphical game mode. That has two advantages. Content Manager starts up much faster than Assetto Corsa and because you are still in the normal Windows environment you can easily switch to other programs. Only when you actually start driving will Assetto Corsa start itself, only with the track and cars you have chosen.
After reading the information about the new Package Management System, I get the impression that it works about the same as Content Manager. And that would be a very good improvement for rF2. Perhaps the best that Studio 397 has made in recent times.
 
Appreciate you being helpful. I am still vague on something. All of the GT3 cars have both version 3.50 and 3.51. Are you saying that in order to use the latest version, I have to delete the 3.50 folder for every car? I thought updates remove old versions. I see both 3.50 and 3.51 in the "Manage Content" selection.

Also, maybe I didn't state this clearly, but the Daytona replay was all different cars before the update. Now when viewing the replay, it says the car is "unknown" in the list of opponents and all cars are the same model.
Ok, understood. I would assume the problem is due to the replay looking for vxxx for each car and the new updates to v3.51 have replaced those.
Each time S397 updates a car, the old one is replaced UNLESS you have skins or mods tied to the old versions. To the sim, v3.51 is not just an evolution of the previous version, but essentially a brand new car.
So the replay uses some sort of place holder, for example your car, to replace the missing old versions.
 
Staff
Premium
Appreciate you being helpful. I am still vague on something. All of the GT3 cars have both version 3.50 and 3.51. Are you saying that in order to use the latest version, I have to delete the 3.50 folder for every car? I thought updates remove old versions. I see both 3.50 and 3.51 in the "Manage Content" selection.

Also, maybe I didn't state this clearly, but the Daytona replay was all different cars before the update. Now when viewing the replay, it says the car is "unknown" in the list of opponents and all cars are the same model.

To answer the question Dave didn't answer.
Do not delete 3.50.
All rF2 DLC (and now, some of the official free content) are using both. Exactly why they have decided to use that (the highest number is usually just a 20mb "update" for the content), but it does hinder server hosts to provide DLC content for free via GetMOD.
 
To answer the question Dave didn't answer.
Do not delete 3.50.
All rF2 DLC (and now, some of the official free content) are using both. Exactly why they have decided to use that (the highest number is usually just a 20mb "update" for the content), but it does hinder server hosts to provide DLC content for free via GetMOD.
You both are scholars and gentlemen. I got the skin to work. I still suck. Can't blame that on the update.
 
Good point! I should keep both folders in mind. With that said, a new update, to v3.53 is being pushed out now. (so that will include folders for 3.52 & 3.53 which is where the mas file has to be moved to as soon as the update is complete.)
 
Premium
I hated this game when i first got it. I couldnt get anything to work, but when i got to drive! Oh baby! Right now im so glad i stuck with it and a BIG thank you to all that help! And ty 397
 
Studio 397 is doing its very best to make something beautiful out of rF2. They also couldn't have shared any update with us and released it as rF3 after a while. But they didn't, we can already benefit from it. Every time there is news about an update there must be sim racers who have to share with us how bad rF2 actually is and what they should have improved instead of that update. A little more appreciation for the hard work of Studio 397 would be in order. We don't pay for the updates, we just get them for free.
I am very satisfied with Content Manager as a user interface for Assetto Corsa. Not just because it manages content, but how it works technically. After starting Content Manager, you have actually only started a user interface and nothing else. Assetto Corsa has not started at all and the graphics card is not yet in graphical game mode. That has two advantages. Content Manager starts up much faster than Assetto Corsa and because you are still in the normal Windows environment you can easily switch to other programs. Only when you actually start driving will Assetto Corsa start itself, only with the track and cars you have chosen.
After reading the information about the new Package Management System, I get the impression that it works about the same as Content Manager. And that would be a very good improvement for rF2. Perhaps the best that Studio 397 has made in recent times.
Correct me if I am wrong (don't have rF2 installed) but I think the package management is still done within the UI. The system before the new UI (well before the old new UI) was more similar to CM. I would still take this newest addition since we can apparently disable DLC now.
 
I haven't been playing much RF2 but this is the sort of thing which I appreciate and in my oppinion is a significant update which affects user experience. Thanks guys, there is a great experience in there and I look forward to getting back onto the bandwagon as you chip away at the wrapping paper
 
Premium
Correct me if I am wrong (don't have rF2 installed) but I think the package management is still done within the UI. The system before the new UI (well before the old new UI) was more similar to CM. I would still take this newest addition since we can apparently disable DLC now.
The package management is done within the UI now, before the new update. But that is not what I mean. When starting Content Manager, you only starting a UI and nothing else, no Assetto Corsa. That is why Content Manager is starting very fast. I don't know for sure (just tried rF2), I don't have the update jet, but I have the impression the new UI of rF2 is going to do the same as Content Manager. We will only know when we have the update.
 
Last edited:
Premium
There are some really special people around here...
The other day I was at a friends house and he complained about this 'shadow draw issue in rF2' and the looong loading, the video stuttering and other endless whining. Exactly as some chaps above have described.
So, I took a real quick look.
1. Jeez...nVidia driver not been updated for two years.
2. A million files in temp folders all over the place. Garbage cans all over...
3. Failed MS updates stuck.

I told him: good luck and walked out.

AC, ACC, AMS2 & RaceRoom also have their bugs and really odd things.

Some people just cannot enjoy things as they are and have not the balls to walk away from it either, instead they take the time to leave poop wherever they go...

Cheers.
 

Latest News

Article information

Author
Ole Marius Myrvold
Article read time
3 min read
Views
14,997
Comments
51
Last update

Are you buying car setups?

  • Yes

  • No


Results are only viewable after voting.
Back
Top