rF2 | Massive Roadmap - New Cars, Tracks and UI!

Paul Jeffrey

Premium
Studio 397 certainly weren't kidding when they said December still has some surprises in store for rFactor 2 - with the 'December Roadmap' releasing at the same time as several new tracks, new cars, a first stab at the new UI and plenty more besides!

Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year so they say, and for sim racers December 2019 this old line is absolutely true! Huge updates for several of the top sims, and this time it is the turn of rFactor 2 to take the spotlight - in quite dramatic fashion too..

The Studio 397 / rFactor 2 Development Roadmap for December:

Before we string up the lights and begin to tell you the Christmas story of our December roadmap, here is the keyhole version for those of you that just can´t wait for Santa: lots of cool stuff you asked for, awesome new series, content surprises #1 to #5, rF2 improvements and the answer to your pressing question “when’s the new UI?” Now that you can see the presents, we promise it’s a lot more exciting when you sit down in your PJ’s and unwrap them one by one. So let’s get busy, shall we (wink)

A quick look out of the window confirms, winter’s here- at least in northern Europe. And that means the soothing sounds of our favorite race car engines have been temporarily drowned out by the incessant “Last Christmas” blaring from seemingly all around. But fear not, we haven’t succumbed to the sugar coating yet and the dev elves have been very busy in the simracing workshop – simracing is not just a season!

2019 - What a Year!

Let´s start with a quick roundup of the year. The studio was running on full throttle, and we were super proud to introduce iconic racetracks like Le Mans or Nürburgring to you. Great cars such as new GT3s, Cup cars and a full lineup of new Tatuus Open Wheelers seriously tempted even us to stop working for a moment and just get in there and race all of that awesome content!

While much of the team’s development focused on the UI and the upcoming competition system, 2019 also saw rFactor 2 show off new content at many events and in lots of different competitions, further highlighting our dedication to competitive racing simulation: from our endurance events like Sebring 12h and the rF24h at Le Mans (with a combined prize pool of over 20.000 Euro just in those races), to tournaments and competitions such as World’s Fastest Gamer, A1 e-sports league, ESL Mapfre Racing Series, and McLaren Shadow.

Clearly, investing your training time in rFactor 2 to become one of the fastest drivers in the world really paid off this year, not to mention the several thousand people who watched rFactor 2 esports live! Supporting grassroots and entry level racing (more on that later) will always be a core focus for us, but for 2020 our goal is to increase top-notch rFactor 2 events and tournaments to provide more regular, exciting broadcasts . This year, we celebrate that rFactor 2 was supported in many leagues and events. Next year, we promise to continue our work on creating “more things to race in!”

2020 - A Glimpse of the Future

There’s no slowing down for the turn of the year (get it???) – 2020 will be full speed ahead. Watch out for traffic signs on the winding road that is the upcoming year: Ratings ahead!, Daily races in 100m!, Slow down, ladder! and much more. You probably guessed it already, we are subtly hinting at the competition system.

But as we move onto the next level of integrating our competition system into the UI, we are equally as proud to announce one of our bigger championships hitting in 2020: the rFactor 2 Major Series, featuring 4 major endurance events throughout the year, bringing you the excitement of multi-class racing in a team environment. Different tracks at each event, adjusted classes and hours of exciting racing action is yours coming up. Specific teams, such as the top teams in class from VEC, will get direct invites prior to those events. Everyone else will be able to qualify per event. While those major series races will be partly “stand-alone,” like this year’s Sebring and Le Mans, there will be overall standings across the entire season, rewarding teams that are constantly bringing home points. Our goal is to ensure every endurance racing lover out there has a chance to get a spot in this exciting event in 2020. More details are under the hood, which we’ll reveal when the time comes.

Winter Sale

Nothing brings on the Christmas cheer like our winter sale! With rad discounts across much of our content and rFactor 2 at a tinsel-topped 50% off!

Audi R8 GT3 2019

We see you peeping through the door! You’ve been good all year (you have, haven’t you?!) and you just can´t wait any more, so here’s your present*!

As successful as the previous model has been in sprint and endurance GT racing, the German premium manufacturer presented the 3rd generation of its GT3-powerhouse at the end of 2018.

Paris played host back then for the first outing of the new Audi R8 GT3 LMS Evo and now you can try to master this rocket in rFactor 2 as the newest addition to our already big GT3 grid.

*The 2019 model is free for every one who already owns the previous Audi R8 GT3- Merry Christmas!

With a revised body, including a new front-end with bigger dive planes, changes to the rear wing size, and profile and other modifications (which resulted in a new rev limit, now at 8600 rpm in 6th gear), this knife is sharpened to the max and ready for another season of racing.


rF2 - Audi R8 GT3 2019 1.jpg
rF2 - Audi R8 GT3 2019 3.jpg
rF2 - Audi R8 GT3 2019 4.jpg


Cote d´Azur

Between the beautiful sea, regal casinos and the lifestyle of the fast and famous, it´s up to you to carve your name into the tarmac as a winner of this challenging street circuit! We hear it´s pretty cool to win three epic races in a race career, with two of them being in Indianapolis and Le Mans–tracks you can already find in rFactor2–let us introduce you to an amazing looking piece of track along the Cote d´Azur. To make sure you know where to travel for your next holidays, we even named the Circuit accordingly. You’re welcome (wink)

As your engine echoes through the apartment canyons (which probably cost more than an entire GT3 season), you downshift to 2nd gear, your eyes locked onto the tight apex right in front of a stunning harbour scene (eyes on the apex!!), the road twists and turns like a roller coaster. The backdrop of this holiday paradise will keep distracting you as you approach the last hairpin, separating you from reaching the crown. Sounds cool? It is, and it’s your chance to experience right now!

You can grab this fresh circuit in the Steam Item Store


rF2 Cote d zure 3.jpg
rF2 Cote d zure 4.jpg


Tatuus TRS FT-60

This Christmas, we will be releasing an update to the awesome Tatuus TRS FT-60. The car is used predominantly in the Toyota Racing Series, which is a proving ground for emerging talent in the open-wheeler season.

We’re releasing an update to the Tatuus pack! After further evaluating the real car performance, we have updated small things on the F4 and F3 cars. On top of that, we have even added something new! The FT50 was already part of this pack, but now we also have the FT60. This F3 is putting down 290 bhp exclusively on the real roads of New Zealand in January and February of 2020. We again worked closely with Engineering Consult and Toyota Gazoo New Zealand on the car, but this time we also created five amazing tracks, all of which will be released completely for free in the workshop: Highlands, Teretonga, Pukekohe, Manfeild and Hampton Downs. We will open a server for any competitor in the real series to set a benchmark time and let our online racers have a go at beating them.

rF2 - Tatuus TRS FT-60 1.jpg
rF2 - Tatuus TRS FT-60 2.jpg


BMW M2 Clubsport

ust in case the sliding rear wasn’t enough for you yet and you feel like you need some more POWAAA for more angle, we just got the right update for you. From now on, you can not only dive into your future race career with the BMW M2 CS Cup, you can also enjoy the BMW M2 Clubsport, the 450 HP street monster. Live your “Touristenfahrten” dreams with this Bavarian masterpiece and tear up the tarmac whilst you look cool in every corner!

Le Mans Update

Le Mans has been updated to make use of all of the latest graphical developments. This includes upgrading all PBR materials, as well as a complete foliage material update and more. All of this has it looking better than ever before.

rF2 - Le Mans Update 2.jpg


KartSim Track Pack

After releasing the brand new track and our updates for Le Mans, we’re still not done releasing tracks. That’s right! It might have gone silent around KartSim for a while, but that doesn’t mean that nothing’s happening behind the scenes. For PFI we have updated the curbs and the track colour scheme, graphics and shaders, as well as roadside advertising. We also updated the AI and advertising for Buckmore and Glan Y Gors.

On top of that, we have three brand new tracks from the European karting scene!

Adria
Alongside the Adria International Raceway lies the Adria Karting Raceway, situated in beautiful Italy, just an hour south of Venice. Built in 2014, it is one of the most modern kart tracks, and hosts many international karting events. The track itself sports a nice looking combination of concrete and colored run-off areas and is just over 1.3 kilometers long.

Kristianstad
Located in the south of Sweden is the Kristianstad karting circuit, a 1.2 kilometer long track that was repaved and upgraded to meet the demands of a CIK grade-A circuit in 2012. The track has 16 corners, two chicanes, and a level difference of 6 meters vertically.

Alahärmä
The Alaharma circuit, sometimes also called the Mika Salo Circuit as it was designed by the former racing driver of the same name, is one of the most beautiful outdoor karting tracks. Located in Finland in the beautiful town of Alahärmä on the banks of the river Lapuanjoki, the 1 kilometer long course winds down the river and has several corners that challenge even the most experienced drivers.

Zandvoort Update

Circuit Zandvoort got a small update, with some fixes and the inclusion of the 2020 GP banner near the end of the main straight. We wanted to make sure the final version of this layout was current. As you are probably aware, the track is currently undergoing changes. Expect more news about those early next year!

Graphic Improvements

This release marks the 3rd major instalment of our PBR revamp of the graphics engine. Last winter, we introduced PBR to vehicles via a new car paint material system, and in the summer we released Le Mans, our first track to make use of the technology. This winter, we bring the next step in the evolution of the environment shaders.

The major feature of this release is the introduction of pre-processor defines for shaders. This means we now can have a handful of shaders with many configurable options. We can enable and disable maps, configure which UV each map uses and change large parts of the logic carried out by the shader on a per material basis. This allows artists much greater freedom to achieve the results they are looking for.

As a result, we’ve added various tweaks and improvements to the full suite of PBR shaders, improving our solutions for Terrain, Road, Foliage and more.

On Roads and Curbs it is possible to fully configure the strength and full PBR profile of Dust, Marble and Groove effects as well as controlling the impact of detail maps across the road. It is possible to pre-bake wear into the road, allowing for a more natural feeling “green” road with subtle variations. It’s all real road compatible too, dusty parts of the road will clear off as vehicles drive over it!

The terrain shader is now more powerful, allowing more maps to be blended and the option to use a “splatter” map input in addition to vertex colour, as was used in the past to control the blending. Distant shadows can be pre-baked, and we have added translucency options to give an improved low light look. This all allows for more natural blending patterns and adds more depth to the scene.

We’ve taken the time to improve billboard lighting on foliage, adding more depth to trees, as well as giving a silhouette glow to them as the sun goes down.

Finally, a complex blend shader gives us the ability to blend different materials together. This is put to use across the scene Gravel Traps to Advertisement hoardings. For example on Gravel Traps we can input two sets of maps, one for the fine pebble details, and a second to achieve the raked pattern. These blend together to add more depth and allow the lighting to be more accurate. Advertisements can be setup with profiles, so a single albedo map with the sponsor logos can be used across all kinds of different surfaces whilst being able to configure a unique profile for each surface.

In terms of lighting, we have taken some small steps here after the preliminary results of the lighting review. The whole pipeline has been adjusted to work with real life albedo values, which meant existing content had to be completely reworked from the assets side. We have also addressed some issues with the direct light and ambient light balance.

All that said, there’s still much work to do. We intend to complete our lighting review in the new year, and also look at improving the PostFX.

Finally, a common question we receive is when will we offer modder support. This is a very important subject, and we want to offer that support as soon as we can. When we roll out modder support, we wish to have proper documentation and be sure that we are not going to make wholesale changes to the way things are setup shortly afterwards. As such, we expect that modder support will not come before the next stage of the graphics pipeline development is complete. As there is still a large chance that things maybe significantly re-balanced and cause major work to content already making use of these developments.

Public Beta of New UI

Rfactor 2 has always deserved a real ecosystem to showcase its core attributes. A place that is minimal without being sparse, and useful and intuitive without being cluttered. It might sound somewhat abstract, but our vision of a ‘UI’ has always been the visual representation and feel of ‘simulation’. Essentially, we’ve created a building block that has the flexibility to accommodate any new features that will come. Since taking over the development from ISI back in 2016, we immediately redefined our graphical identity. From that point on we continued to further redefine rFactor 2 in many other ways, bringing in great “triple-A” cars and tracks, overhauling the graphic engine, and improving on and adding new features all along the way…

But our starting point was always ‘the new UI.’ It served as a basis for the overall design charter – we knew right away that how rFactor 2 is perceived depends heavily on how well it visually brings across its true potential and the possibilities it contains. We put great care and effort into making sure ‘your sim’ shows in the best light.

So a public beta is not the first step, we are well on our way already, but it’s the first time it sees start lights and, more importantly, it’s a preview of more exciting things to come!

In this first beta phase, we’ll be looking at getting your feedback and ideas, so please do post in our forum thread here

To access the new UI you will need to subscribe to a special branch on Steam – here’s how to do that;

Step one
Right click on rFactor 2 in your Steam Library and go to Properties

Step Two
Click on the tab at the top of the window ‘Betas‘ and from the drop down select ‘Public-Beta‘

Now in the background rFactor 2 will now load the Public Beta branch, it make take a little while first time!

Sim Formula 2020

After no fewer than ten 15 min races, thrilling starts, a pile up in T1 and a change of format we have five winners already invited to the InterClassics event in mid-January!

Well known simracers: Risto Kappet, Jeremy Bouteloup, Hany Alsabti, Zbigniew Siara and finally Jarl Teien will be fighting on track for a prize-pool of € 10.000 + everyone is already a winner of Sprint pedals from Heusinkveld. The race will be streamed from location, and Rene Hoogterp will be calling all the action there.

InterClassics will open January 16th at 12:00, where you are able to give it a go – and work to become the fastest on track. Friday you can meet the pros and get some precious tips and tricks. Saturday you set your best lap and then finally Sunday you can see the finalists duke it out from 13:00 CET.

Meet us there!

All Cars Updated

Our entire updated roster of cars, ensuring full compatibility with the new UI icons display system. Because cars should shine bright and proudly show off their armor in their new home!

We also snuck in some other updates to a few cars, you can read about it in the changelog below. In short, minor updates for GTE’s to improve close racing and other minor fixes.

Changelog Cars
ALL cars have been updated with new icons and logos compatible with the new UI.

Workshop Items

StockCar 2015 – v2.00
Howston G4 1968 – v2.00
Howston G6 1968 – v2.00
Indycar Dallara DW12 2014
Nissan GT500 2013 – v2.03
USF2000 2016 – v2.00
AC Cobra 427SC 1967 v2.01
Chevrolet Camaro GT3 2012 – 2.00
Corvette C6R GT2 2009 – 2.00
Kart Cup – 2.01
Honda Civic BTCC 2013 – v2.00
Formula Renault 3.5 – v2.00
Renault Clio Cup 2010 – v2.00
Brabham BT20 1966 – v2.00
Howston Dissenter 1974 – v2.00
Panoz Roadster 1999 – v2.00
Nissan GTR 2011 – 2.00
Formula 2 2012 – v2.00
Skip Barber – v2.02
– Added rain effects

Tatuus Pack
– ALL Tatuus – Added upgrade.ini into unencrypted .mas for league use
Tatuus F3 T318 2018 – v1.06
– Separated WSK and Asia as opponents
Tatuus USF-17 – v1.07
Tatuus PM-18 – v1.07
Tatuus FT-50 – v1.07
Tatuus MSV_F3-016 – v1.07
Tatuus F4 2018 – v1.07

Steam Store Items

GTE
– ALL: Diffuser adjustment in GTE cars to reduce aero push oversteer of leading car.

Porsche 991 RSR GTE – v1.99
Chevrolet Corvette C7.R GTE – v2.05
BMW M8 GTE – v1.81
Aston Martin Vantage GTE – v1.11

LMP

Oreca 07 LMP2 – v1.69
Norma – v1.76

GT3

Audi R8LMS GT3 2018 – v1.51
– Changed naming to reflect 2018 in the car list
Bentley Continental GT3 – v2.55
Callaway Corvette C7 GT3-R – v2.51
Mercedes AMG GT3 – v2.51
McLaren 650S GT3 – v2.43
Aston Martin Vantage GT3 – v1.47
BMW M6 GT3 -v1.45
McLaren 720s GT3 – v1.43
Porsche 911 GT3R – v1.41
Radical RXC GT3 – v2.55

Other

BMW M2 2020 – v1.31
– Fixed collision box
– Added ‘Clubsport’ upgrade

Formula E 2018 – v2.03
McLaren Senna – v1.07

Final Word
Once again, we like to thank you for you continued support. We are hugely passionate sim racers and look forward to bringing more developments and surprises throughput the year – Happy Holidays!


rFactor 2 is exclusively available for PC.

Questions? Ask the community and post a thread in the rFactor 2 sub forum here at RaceDepartment! If you love racing online, why not check out our rFactor 2 Racing Club - a fantastic place to experience this sim with in a clean, safe and competitive environment.

rF2 Cote d zure 2.jpg
rF2 Cote d zure 1.jpg
rF2 - Tatuus TRS FT-60 3.jpg
 
you are not alone, loading time is atrocious in RF2, it has been improved but still is atrocious. The typical RF2 defender are in denial of all the maddening issues making having any fun with RF2 nearly impossible. So any issue anyone bring is not really an issue as it is for the greater good of the perfection of RF2. On many level for them it is not a game anymore, not even a SIM, it is a religion.
On the flip side of that and just to play devil's advocate - if you find it "nearly impossible" to have fun with rF2, how comes you hang around rF2 forums and threads poo pooing the sim (and those who enjoy it) so often? Where do you find the time to make so many posts on threads about something you don't enjoy doing? Your comments seem to be defamatory and verging on baiting to people who do enjoy the sim. Why would you do that???

Don't get me wrong, there's plenty I don't like about rF2 and the line taken (esp over the last couple of years ish) by the devs, but then again, the same could be said for most of the current crop of sims (for want of a better way to put it). I just don't personally feel the need to rub people up the wrong way with my opinions. If people like something that I don't like, good for them - long live the difference. Bashing sims (or anything else) is (IMO) negative and uncalled for and therefore, it surely can't be good for your spirit.

Just my humble opinion. Stay positive, I hope you enjoy your holiday period. :)
 
Wow wow, calm down.
We criticize here at a very high level. I just wanted to say what bothers me. But this is not a war of faith.
Rf2 is brilliant, that's why I buy all content.
We are all Simracers and we share the same hobby.
There is something in every Sim that I can criticize, but the fun always outweighs it.
So be nice to each other;)
 
ACC hasn't done a DLC yet....and ACs DLCs were years ago. This laser scanned track is within a dollar or so of new RR track, which AREN'T laser scanned.
I didn't say anything about ACC's DLCs, I know, but ACC itself. AC's DLCs were years ago, yes, but I guess as time goes technology becomes cheaper? R3E tracks are also quite expensive for what they are, I no longer play it either, but for other reasons.
 
So all the ECG tracks in Steam workshop are considered official content?
They also seem to have a track called Adria International Raceway but it is not mentioned above.
More or less. ECG seems to be producing tracks that Toyota Gazoo are racing at and S397 seem to have a deal with Toyota Gazoo (see advertising at S397 Le Mans). Adria was announced/released with the previous Roadmap, I believe.
 
Fair enough. However, it's hard to understand that the Nordschleife costs €12 which comes in 6 layouts where Circuit d'Azur (Monaco) costs €9 in only 1 layout. I think Monaco's a bit overpriced.

Probably because of RF2 logos placed everywhere :whistling:


[4k] Mclaren 720s GT3 - Cote d'azur
 
Last edited:
On the flip side of that and just to play devil's advocate - if you find it "nearly impossible" to have fun with rF2, how comes you hang around rF2 forums and threads poo pooing the sim (and those who enjoy it) so often? Where do you find the time to make so many posts on threads about something you don't enjoy doing? Your comments seem to be defamatory and verging on baiting to people who do enjoy the sim. Why would you do that???

As a customer who expects a product to work, I think they have every right to complain. I paid full price for RF2, and cannot play the title because some update they did in the last year has introduced a bug which crashes the game 30 minutes or so into the race. There is a lengthy thread on the S397 forum, and yet they have done nothing to fix the bug. To many of us paying customers, this seems like borderline fraud that they continue to pump out paid content, but refuse to expend resources to fix game breaking bugs.

So to sum it up, people feel ripped off by S397. At least I do.
 
^^ That bug was fixed by them, so it is untrue that they did nothing. Perhaps there is some new issue you are experiencing ? I had 2-3 freezes lately, they were a bit different than the ones that would happen few months ago.
 
As a customer who expects a product to work, I think they have every right to complain. I paid full price for RF2, and cannot play the title because some update they did in the last year has introduced a bug which crashes the game 30 minutes or so into the race. There is a lengthy thread on the S397 forum, and yet they have done nothing to fix the bug. To many of us paying customers, this seems like borderline fraud that they continue to pump out paid content, but refuse to expend resources to fix game breaking bugs.

So to sum it up, people feel ripped off by S397. At least I do.
See, this is the big issue here. You have a personal problem with a product, wich can happen due to many different reasons, that affects maybe just a friction of the userbase for whatever reason and/or might be very difficult to reproduce or track down. But at the same time you make it sound like many people or a majority of people have the same issue and suddenly, the whole product seems to be a bug fest for everyone and unusable. I am not saying, that there aren't issues and I have my long personal wishlist of things that I would have liked to see addressed first, but implying that your experience is the same for everyone or that people simply feel ripped off is a bit of a far stretch if you ask me. I never had a crash in a race in rF2 as long as I can remember, and if there was any crash in the past it certainly was an exception on my end. Maybe I am just lucky and part of a minority, but I think there are plenty of other users who have an equaly smooth experience.

On the other hand I don't highjack every ACC, iRacing or whatever threat and claim that I feel ripped off because the products aren't tailored to my expectations or needs. And just because they haven't fixed your personal bug that can indeed be gamebreaking, same as I can't use ACC due to micro stutters, doesn't make it a fraud. Devs will never be able to please everyone and that's understandable as long as we are playing on our Personal Computers ;)
 
how comes you hang around rF2 forums and threads poo pooing the sim
I do not hang around RF2 forum, I end up in a RF2 thread when it is the news, as I read all the news about all sims or game. RF2 has a special place in my heart. It is a little bit like PCars2, not so much because of what it really is but because of the way it is portrayed by its users. So when I repetitively read replied trying to minimize real and annoying issue in a game that has been here forever, is not getting better very fast, actually aging pretty bad, it makes me react. RF2 is just an other SIM, nothing special about it, and if the people who enjoy it would stop trying to present it as some sort of pinnacle of the SIM state of the art, recognize a lot need to improve, I would feel more emphatic. Just looking at how many actually play the game in comparison to how often it is talk about in this forum seems very unbalanced and yes, sometime it irritates me.
If I did not have access to RF2, from the hype surrounding it, I would certainly feel like I am missing on something big, I am sure a lot of new comers, not yet certain of what they like or should like, read the post presenting RF2 as some kind of reference and feel obliged to give it one more chance even if after a test they feel un-impressed, that too irritates me. It took me while to finally admit to my self that RF2 is nothing special, if I can save the aggravation to others by balancing the opinions in a news thread about RF2, I almost feel I have to.
Just my humble opinion. Stay positive, I hope you enjoy your holiday period
Excellent advice, thank you, I also hope you and all the reader and writer on this extraordinary forum enjoy their holiday.
 
As a customer who expects a product to work, I think they have every right to complain. I paid full price for RF2, and cannot play the title because some update they did in the last year has introduced a bug which crashes the game 30 minutes or so into the race. There is a lengthy thread on the S397 forum, and yet they have done nothing to fix the bug. To many of us paying customers, this seems like borderline fraud that they continue to pump out paid content, but refuse to expend resources to fix game breaking bugs.

So to sum it up, people feel ripped off by S397. At least I do.
Don't get me wrong, there's plenty I don't like about rF2 and the line taken (esp over the last couple of years ish) by the devs, but then again, the same could be said for most of the current crop of sims (for want of a better way to put it).
The guy I replied to was complaining about loading times and baiting people who enjoy the sim. Your remarks have some value. I guess you've tried everything? Have you asked for a refund?

Edit: You can provide crash logs, which would (presumably) prove that the problem is not at your end? If you were to provide these and ask for a refund, unsuccessfully, then I guess you might have a case for borderline fraud.
 
Last edited:
The previous UI was simple and clear: all options on 1 screen, simple to adjust. Now its has become a flashy bling bling UI with different tabs, info scattered all over the screen and filled with flashy colours. And all i think is: WHY?
Why the hell spread categories across different tabs like front and rear setup? These items should be displayed on the same tab or screen. It has become a complex system were i lost control over the setup. All i want is data being presented in a orderly fashion so i can see the complete picture in one look.
The new UI is a huge step backwards.
So sad you have spend so much time energy and resources in the UI....my two cents
 
The guy I replied to was complaining about loading times and baiting people who enjoy the sim. Your remarks have some value. I guess you've tried everything? Have you asked for a refund?

Edit: You can provide crash logs, which would (presumably) prove that the problem is not at your end? If you were to provide these and ask for a refund, unsuccessfully, then I guess you might have a case for borderline fraud.

They introduced this bug sometime last year. I had already played the game too long to ask for a refund. I have tried everything I can think of, multiple operating systems, submitting crash logs, etc.. I'm a software developer, so I know my way around a computer, but nothing I've tried makes a lick of difference and it seems that they've lost interest in fixing the issue. It's particularly frustrating to see them release more paid content when I've paid, and am left holding an empty bag. It wouldn't be so bad, but it used to work just fine.
 
See, this is the big issue here. You have a personal problem with a product, wich can happen due to many different reasons, that affects maybe just a friction of the userbase for whatever reason and/or might be very difficult to reproduce or track down. But at the same time you make it sound like many people or a majority of people have the same issue and suddenly, the whole product seems to be a bug fest for everyone and unusable. I am not saying, that there aren't issues and I have my long personal wishlist of things that I would have liked to see addressed first, but implying that your experience is the same for everyone or that people simply feel ripped off is a bit of a far stretch if you ask me. I never had a crash in a race in rF2 as long as I can remember, and if there was any crash in the past it certainly was an exception on my end. Maybe I am just lucky and part of a minority, but I think there are plenty of other users who have an equaly smooth experience.

On the other hand I don't highjack every ACC, iRacing or whatever threat and claim that I feel ripped off because the products aren't tailored to my expectations or needs. And just because they haven't fixed your personal bug that can indeed be gamebreaking, same as I can't use ACC due to micro stutters, doesn't make it a fraud. Devs will never be able to please everyone and that's understandable as long as we are playing on our Personal Computers ;)

I'd estimate it only effects about 20% of their user base. It's the top thread on their support forum with 373 replies and ~45,000 views. So yes, I understand there are many lucky people who are able to enjoy the title with no problem. They've clearly done a cost/benefit analysis and decided it's not worth the effort to help those who are unlucky enough to experience the issue. Although I heard that a few high profile real world drivers experienced the bug and they had a renewed interest in fixing it. Anyway, I hope you can understand how this leaves a particularly bad taste in people's mouths.

I did say borderline fraud. It's frustrating because it worked long enough for it to be non-refundable and then they broke it with an update. It's more the minimal effort they've given to fixing it that I find objectionable, while shoving out a high volume of paid content.

Anyway, I've been down this road before in regards to 397, and I don't want to bash them even more. I was just trying to explain why a large number of people might have legit grievances with them and why they receive more flak than some of the top tier developers.
 
Wow, you tried the game on different OS and it still has the same bug? That's just weird... I mean, I believe you, but how can that be... unless the problem is linked to your Steam account somehow? Unlike you, my computer literacy is basic in the extreme, but I heard that some games store settings in a Steam Cloud. It couldn't be that could it? Have you tried installing rF2 from somebody else's Steam account on your PC?

Listen, I think that many (if not most) rF2 users agree that some of the bugs/problems that haven't been addressed are just not good enough from S397. Particularly whilst they forge ahead with large amounts of paid DLC. I defended them for a while, but (as I alluded to in an earlier post) I have felt that the balance between earning a crust and doing their fair share of house keeping has been.... well, out of balance, in favour of profit for maybe the last years or two. They've been offering the UI as a reason for delays in fixing some of the faults (IIRC). Well, I guess now we'll find out?

I really like rF2. It's my favourite sim from a driving point of view, but it's high time we saw some concerted effort to address the many long term niggles that most of us have with the sim. If it's true that 20 per cent of people who own a copy of rF2 can't use it at all... - I have to say, it's tough for me to get my head around that, considering that this is the first I've ever heard of it - then I would have to say that IMHO you ought to have a case for at least a partial refund. They should certainly be doing something about it IMO.

Anyway, this is a beta release of the UI and the competition thingy is still to come, so I guess we can't expect an immediate change in focus onto bug fixing, but some kind of acknowledgement that there actually is a problem would be nice. Before we know it, there will be an announcement of a new game and all of the waiting on very loose promises will have been for nought.
 

Latest News

Online or Offline racing?

  • 100% online racing

    Votes: 74 7.3%
  • 75% online 25% offline

    Votes: 105 10.4%
  • 50% online 50% offline

    Votes: 146 14.4%
  • 25% online 75% offline

    Votes: 279 27.5%
  • 100% offline racing

    Votes: 405 40.0%
  • Something else, explain in comment

    Votes: 4 0.4%
Back
Top