rFactor 2 Q3 2022 Update and Content Release! Surprise New Car!

MJQT said:

Here's a thought about this. Since rF2 incrementally only installs what you buy (or subscribe to in the Workshop) you currently need to own all the content. But really, the requirement is that you need to have all the content downloaded to your machine (like is the case in ACC and RaceRoom IIRC). Surely there'd be a way to only allow users to select content they own in the UI BUT have other content downloaded in order to join the server. Anyway, doesn't matter, cause they haven't done it.

Anyway, as per Kenny's wishes, I need to learn to restrain myself from spitballing these ideas in the article comments So I'll say no more here.

Click to expand...

There was/is a survey active currently in the official rF2 forum where people can take part and right comments and wishes for the future online racing system in rF2 - this should be the first adress for the die hard criticizers to voice their concerns. So they are most likely evaluating things going forward like the content requirements and there might be a chance that this get's changed. That said, there are games like AC that do it similar, but just the price point is lower. So it propably becomes less of an issue once the prices for content start to drop.

MJQT said:

Here's a thought about this. Since rF2 incrementally only installs what you buy (or subscribe to in the Workshop) you currently need to own all the content. But really, the requirement is that you need to have all the content downloaded to your machine (like is the case in ACC and RaceRoom IIRC). Surely there'd be a way to only allow users to select content they own in the UI BUT have other content downloaded in order to join the server. Anyway, doesn't matter, cause they haven't done it.

Anyway, as per Kenny's wishes, I need to learn to restrain myself from spitballing these ideas in the article comments So I'll say no more here.

Click to expand...

This is a topic that has been 'spitballed' often. Don't worry about raising it again. From what I've gathered reading here and elsewhere & my own opinion, is that ISI is the cause of this. rF2 precedes DLC. One of the most common forms of cheating from the first online forays with Nascar 2 & GPL through GTR2 & rF1 was memory caching. A user would enter and leave a session repeatedly during the practice and or warmup sessions. This would allow them them sneak a hacked car into the race.
So ISI built rF2 to inspect each car and have it match the server's car. Since there were no car packs, there were no eSports, one assumed everyone joining was using the same sourced cars. Thus it was not a problem, BACK THEN.
S397 moved the platform over to Steam and consulted with them about the Workshop and Store so that modded vehicles/tracks would be available in-game. They have discussed internally and with STeam if there were ways to both reduce pack prices if a user already had one of the cars or find a different method of distribution/packaging so that you didn't need all the cars to join a server. Neither of those two options ever bore fruit. We don't know why, but it was something that was looked at repeatedly over the years when S397 owned rF2. You would think there should be a solution...just doesn't seem to be feasible yet for rF2.

I don't know what you guys are doing but I don't find the meaty cat too bad for a car with "broken" FFB. Now just give me those two front wheels and I will not only feel and and hear, but also see once I scrub the curbs.

Gateway RC is suprisingly technical and hard to master. Throwing the car through those fast chicanes in 4th gear is blizz. Highly recommended

Bela Valko said:

So you admit that they lack manpower but at the same time don't like it when I bring up QC issues because of lack of manpower?
They made the new UI for 5 years, I know it wasn't about the UI but the underlying packaging system but still...
And yes I believe they consciously don't fix those problems otherwise they would've fixed by now in the time they introduced new features. When half of the complains is about the AI then they have to know about it (if they read the forums, comments) and consciously not fix it for this long of a time because of something higher order or goal in mind.

Click to expand...

Nope, I can’t agree.
Programming is not just “wanting”.
You need highly qualified manpower available for many hours to dive deep into code done by other programmers and that costs a fortune.
The packaging system that is so cumbersome is deeply in the core of RF2 and S397 did not have the means to change it.
Basically S397 were kind of a large scale modding group outputting content and tweaking and improving what was possible to improve and tweak in the “outer layer” of the game.
They did bring RF2 up to DX11 and implemented VR, which, on its own, is a huge development and brought contents which refreshed the sim and allowed it to be used for Virtual LM.
To accuse them of consciously keeping RFactor 2 hindered by bugs or unstable code is as believable as the flat earth theory.

And I understand the frustration of long time users waiting for changes on things that feel like thorns on their backs, heck, I play RF2 only since the 1st of December 2020 and I can imagine how I would feel if I were in those shoes, but facts are facts.

“Consciously not improving the product” is an insane conclusion.

henkjansmits said:

For the benefit of the people thinking of buying Q3 content to race online: My experience is the hourly races have zero or <5 participantion even in "the best time". The few races with large participation, the weekly ones/season i tried to join failed to start 50% of time. The "race of the season" is a series of Q sessions in the CS and its very hard to find out in CS when the actual race is, so little suprise fewer people turned up for that. The LeMans thing had >30 people joining and waiting for a server that didnt come up. This whole CS is allegedly going to be redone/fixed in 2023 until then its semi-functional. At least the track cut improvement is a step up and should be nice for CS.

Click to expand...

If everyone takes your advice, lobbies will remain empty.
On the other hand, if people make an effort - note, sometimes it’s not easy to join and the system is far from streamlined - one week there will be an average of 5 players, then 7, then 9, etc.
But the CS needs major improvements, that’s unquestionable and it’s not only ratings or packages.

Bela Valko said:

Marcel Offermans said in a S397 blog post that they have an idea how to fix the AI slipstreaming. This was years ago so they could fix it if they wanted to.

Click to expand...

Marcel is a good guy, but frequently he said stuff that meant nothing in concrete and were wishful thinking exercises.

So I finally got a chance to try out the Caterham. Does anyone know if it was updated? The front wheels are missing, which is quite bizarre, but I gave it a go at 100% ffb, normally I set cars to 75% and adjust from there (Accuforce V2) and the feedback was actually pretty excellent. I dropped it down to my normal 75% after maybe 5 laps or so and gave it another go and it was just right.

I do wish Multiplayer was worthwhile as I love the way RF2 feels. I also agree with many that the AI isn't great. Perhaps I should read up on these json files some of you mention. It's a shame I mostly use this sim as a hot lap simulator and it is great for that.

I think the real 'dream sim' would be if all the major developers somehow collaborated on one sim to rule them all . That would be something.

The wheels/fenders are still missing. Steam will automatically push an update when one is available.

tr1v1um said:

Gateway RC is suprisingly technical and hard to master. Throwing the car through those fast chicanes in 4th gear is blizz. Highly recommended

Click to expand...

Been driving on Gateway and I still don't like the road course. Maybe I should try it with a Caterham. It sucks with faster cars.

As a longtime user I resigned myself to what rF2 was 10 year ago
If you ever used gmotor you would know it still has bugs from GTR up so why should everyone have expectations that would change.

Sean Armstrong said:

I think the real 'dream sim' would be if all the major developers somehow collaborated on one sim to rule them all . That would be something.

Click to expand...

I been saying that since GTR2 lol

It's like one country trying to build the space station or CERN

Does not mean studios have to become one.
They form a separate company same as Unreal did
Build a motor they can license to others
Each studio involved would still make their own titles while
constantly developing motor.

Can you imagine the positives, too many.
Going from one title to another where all settings are the same
Tweak FFB in one sim then drive another same experience
Tweak graphics on one same performance in another
Same VR
Isn't that what we all want ?

kart1 said:

3 cars and a laser circuit under licence 16euros too expensive I hope you are joking...

Click to expand...

I didnt specify which DLC. rFactor2 are happy to charge high prices. That's fine if people are happy to buy. As far as the DLC you are quoting, no I am not interested in that specific one, on sale or not. Have a good day

Good job on making GTE cars the same version ( v3.11)
Helps to make light work of updating skins.
Using OVGME very easy disable all change all enable.

davehenrie said:

This is a topic that has been 'spitballed' often. Don't worry about raising it again. From what I've gathered reading here and elsewhere & my own opinion, is that ISI is the cause of this. rF2 precedes DLC. One of the most common forms of cheating from the first online forays with Nascar 2 & GPL through GTR2 & rF1 was memory caching. A user would enter and leave a session repeatedly during the practice and or warmup sessions. This would allow them them sneak a hacked car into the race.
So ISI built rF2 to inspect each car and have it match the server's car. Since there were no car packs, there were no eSports, one assumed everyone joining was using the same sourced cars. Thus it was not a problem, BACK THEN.
S397 moved the platform over to Steam and consulted with them about the Workshop and Store so that modded vehicles/tracks would be available in-game. They have discussed internally and with STeam if there were ways to both reduce pack prices if a user already had one of the cars or find a different method of distribution/packaging so that you didn't need all the cars to join a server. Neither of those two options ever bore fruit. We don't know why, but it was something that was looked at repeatedly over the years when S397 owned rF2. You would think there should be a solution...just doesn't seem to be feasible yet for rF2.

Click to expand...

You are right about this topic coming up often; essentially since the introduction of paid content by S397.
ISI did not cause this, as they created what worked for them in a dedicated server environment that had no real plan of paid DLC or CS.
S397 chose to not change the system knowing that their CS and paid DLC would benefit from the change. S397 also chose to use the Steam item store rather than the traditional Steam DLC system(which was more than capable content numbers wise by the time the first piece of paid content was released).
S397 also choose to package up series in their CS requiring all tracks upfront for the quarter, even when you own the track for the current session. Something most leagues running dedicated servers tried and stopped doing a long time ago due to updates to build, mods etc.
Many suggestions on how to help alleviate these issues, have felt to have fallen on deaf ears and blaming previous teams for a change to the system they possibly did not envision. Suggestions as simple as offering all single pieces of content at sale prices during sales and setting up CS system races per track(not per quarter) would help numbers(along with rankings etc). Also suggestions as complex as including DLC as part of the main game and only content you own is available to drive(thus negating the double up of workshop cache for the official content and makes more sense if they want to push the CS that only uses official content).
So I beg to differ that the cause is ISI. That belongs to S397, whether due to lack of forward vision, or choosing the easiest option.

Interesting how people are saying rf2 contents are refundable... I purchased 2 BMW M4 GT3, yes not one but two I don't know how a single click could add two same car into the kart without any problems, so I now see "2 BMW MD GT3" in my content. Found it as soon as I paid and wanted to send one to my friend no way. Refund, no way. Maybe I've used that already? No way. And how can any one judge I've used both the two same contents not one of them

By the way I saw some people saying the tracks/cars are overpriced. I don't want to say price is too high (although steam regional market price is wrongly set as I said before, another problem of not using steam's DLC system to release contents). It's high indeed but considering how many people actually play this game, the price is fairly reasonable as S397 is NOT charity organisation they need to make money. Imagine you don't get paid enough for your own job, unacceptable right?
And for those who don't like rf2, don't be surprised if rf2 is rated positive in this forum because this forum has almost all the people playing it and they sometimes call themselves simracers, which means they don't care much about game quality, but only the physics

Steam offers a 48hr refund, if the item has not been used. IF you use the item, you have two hours. I've done it, it works.

How bad is the mirror adjustment in this game??

Hideous.

I just leave em at default now even though I can't see out of the side ones ,I always can't get the kb commands working or forget them.
One of the worst parts of RF2.

I know they are trying to make it like real life but in real life it takes two seconds.

smasha said:

How bad is the mirror adjustment in this game??

Click to expand...

Not bad at all imo. Thanks for asking.

Gevatter said:

Not bad at all imo. Thanks for asking.

Click to expand...

What are the commands used to move them?

I reckon they are shithouse.

davehenrie said:

Steam offers a 48hr refund, if the item has not been used. IF you use the item, you have two hours. I've done it, it works.

Click to expand...

I probably did something wrong but I've tried that twice, both times Steam thought I wanted to refund rF2 as a whole instead of only the DLC I bought. I did however refund a lot of games through Steam, which always worked.

smasha said:

What are the commands used to move them?

I reckon they are shithouse.

Click to expand...

Ctrl, Alt + Shift and the seat adjustment controls you can set in the options. While it could use less fingers, for setting them once per car it's not that big of a deal.