rFactor 2 | April Release Candidate Brings Fixes to Sound and Wet Weather


A new release candidate is available for rFactor 2 via Steam which previews a long list of upcoming changes to the title, including improved sounds, engine and brake cooling and shift protection for select open-wheelers, and improvements to wet weather driving.

For those looking to preview what will be coming to rFactor 2 in the coming months, a new release candidate build is now live.

The preview build brings a long list of changes to the title, highlighted by global improvements to the in-game sound engine and the wet weather experience.

Studio 397 notes that the changes to the sound engine will immediately be applied to all cars, but specific improvements will be applied in time to certain cars.

There are also physics improvements available with this build, but they currently only apply to the Dallara IR-18 and Formula Pro vehicles, and these updated cars can be found temporarily in the "TEST" category from the vehicle selection screen. Each has received a new shift protection feature, along with improved engine and brake cooling physics.

Racing in the rain will also be an improved experience in rFactor 2, as the S397 team has enhanced how the rain accumulates and evaporates, as well as how AI cars deal with adverse track conditions.

The full list of changes available in the new test build can be found on the next page and in rFactor 2's blog, along with how to opt into release candidates via Steam. Let us know your thoughts on this build, or anything else rFactor 2 related, in the comments below.
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About author
Mike Smith
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

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B
Many of these features are a basic must in every sim. Awesome that are now in rF2 which has a great potential ahead :)
 
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MJQT
As Ole said above, what an impressive changelog. Including these AI related tidbits:
  • Added AI Dry Tyre strategy (Random Dry Tyre in Practice, Softs in Qualifying and try to pick an appropriate tyre for race strategy in race)
  • AI now check if to change Tyre Type just before the pit road entry rather than at the start of the lap
  • Fixed various issues around AI Tyre Selection when session changes and weather changes – such as not switching to wet tyres when it was dry before but now is wet.
  • Fixed an issue with calculating road conditions when changing session where they would not fully compute.
  • Fixed an issue where cars that don’t allow pit stop refuelling would run a full tank in practice and qualifying
  • Prevent AI from leaving pits in closed session
  • Fixed an issue where if there was a set of valid wet tyres, intermediate tyres would default to dry tyres.
More AI improvements! :thumbsup: After other small fixes from a couple weeks ago that were not very highly publicized. Reason for hope for continued changes, perhaps? :cautious:
 
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Luciano Santos Filho
MJQT said:
As Ole said above, what an impressive changelog. Including these AI related tidbits:
  • Added AI Dry Tyre strategy (Random Dry Tyre in Practice, Softs in Qualifying and try to pick an appropriate tyre for race strategy in race)
  • AI now check if to change Tyre Type just before the pit road entry rather than at the start of the lap
  • Fixed various issues around AI Tyre Selection when session changes and weather changes – such as not switching to wet tyres when it was dry before but now is wet.
  • Fixed an issue with calculating road conditions when changing session where they would not fully compute.
  • Fixed an issue where cars that don’t allow pit stop refuelling would run a full tank in practice and qualifying
  • Prevent AI from leaving pits in closed session
  • Fixed an issue where if there was a set of valid wet tyres, intermediate tyres would default to dry tyres.
More AI improvements! :thumbsup: After other small fixes from a couple weeks ago that were not very highly publicized. Reason for hope for continued changes, perhaps? :cautious:
Click to expand...
Question: did they fix that issue that prevents the AI from overtaking slower cars in the in-lap for a pit stop?

Because so much is being said about how the AI will be smarter in terms of changing weather conditions, but if they can't behave in the inlap that really doesn't help much.

Sorry if it is a dumb question but honestly I gave up following RF2 updates a while ago. But if this MAJOR problem got fixed I may want to give it another go.
 
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D
ForEachD2M said:
having the same experience, I guess it will get better when endurance & track pack is on sale :) I mostly have issues with car selection, AI and finding an online game that I have all the mods for :/
Click to expand...
Try the Competition System, Before you sign up it will alert you if you are missing content and usually even link you to the store or workshop. ButI agree, the online descriptions for the regular multiplayer sections do need more information.
 
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D
Luciano Santos Filho said:
Question: did they fix that issue that prevents the AI from overtaking slower cars in the in-lap for a pit stop?

Because so much is being said about how the AI will be smarter in terms of changing weather conditions, but if they can't behave in the inlap that really doesn't help much.

Sorry if it is a dumb question but honestly I gave up following RF2 updates a while ago. But if this MAJOR problem got fixed I may want to give it another go.
Click to expand...
Didn't see that mentioned either. Someone will have to schedule a race to determine if they have addressed that. I rather doubt it since that would be part of a very large AI update, Trying to fix one fault at a time would probably not be ideal. Lots to discover with an update this large.
 
mantasisg
I haven't tried it, impressive indeed. I wouldn't expect perfection for RC, but I think it should be great in few months, looking forward to it.
 
MJQT
Luciano Santos Filho said:
Question: did they fix that issue that prevents the AI from overtaking slower cars in the in-lap for a pit stop?

Because so much is being said about how the AI will be smarter in terms of changing weather conditions, but if they can't behave in the inlap that really doesn't help much.

Sorry if it is a dumb question but honestly I gave up following RF2 updates a while ago. But if this MAJOR problem got fixed I may want to give it another go.
Click to expand...
Not at all a dumb question, and like davehenrie above, I doubt it was fixed this time.

And those are the sorts of "deep in the code" issues Studio 397 do need to address eventually.

The skeptical part of me thinks they'll never be fixed, since these recent AI-related updates by 397 have been to "easy to fix" aspects like extra weather-specific behaviour or better AIW files for tracks. But then I see global improvements to the sound engine or I remember the graphics revamp to add PBR a while back, and I'm a touch less skeptical about fixes to these "deep" bugs coming in the future... so I'm not entirely certain what to think.
 
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