rF2: Sebring Released

[Paul Jeffrey]

Studio 397 and rFactor 2 have released a fully laser scanned version of Sebring!

Rich in motorsport history, the Sebring International Raceway is a legendarily tough, bumpy, dirty and challenging race track in Florida, USA, home to many high level international grade motorsport events and something of a favourite with endurance racing fans.

With little margin for error and some delightfully fast corners mixed with slow and technical sections, Sebring has many of the characteristics essential for a classic race venue, and now, thanks to Studio 397 and rFactor 2, sim racers get the chance to try out the track in all its virtual glory, with a new and laserscanned version of the iconic circuit released earlier today - Happy weekend everyone!

And now for the big one, Sebring! Since taking over the development of rFactor 2, our goals have been clear: take an already incredible simulation as a base and move the bar higher, push new and exciting features that you want, and give you the chance to experience a professional grade simulator – at home!

So this track release is more than just “a track release”. It’s a milestone for our team in what we’ve set out to do. The level of fidelity and road feel is above and beyond anything that’s out there, and we’re boldly confident you will agree. Of course we’re excited to say the track was created using an extremely detailed laserscan – but it’s not just about the laserscan itself, it’s about the way we utilized the data and converted it into usable detailed information that gets back to the force feedback in your wheel, something that has not yet been done in rFactor 2 at this level. We feel we’ve achieved our goals in the high level of road fidelity thanks to some innovations and, of course, rigorous testing. The end result is… the ‘FFB’ doesn’t lie – you’ll feel every crack in the pavement and every undulation in minute detail. On the straights and as you dive into each turn, those subtle nuances in the track surface will give you the precise control and muscle memory that a real-life driver would have on track. Our development and test teams have all become addicted, driving endless stints and trying to get that elusive extra tenth or even hundredth of a second!

On the visual and graphics side, we’re just as excited and pushing ahead. We’ve paid close attention to those essential details that add to the overall immersion. The road surface itself is very precisely modeled on the real thing, with every crack and repaired and re-repaired crack. All the nuances and color variations as well as the overall worn-down, characteristic look from years of racing help to really convey the atmosphere. And with an ultra high level of trackside objects in the environment, from spectators to campers and vehicles, there’s a real ‘track vibe’ from any camera you’re viewing from, which makes watching an online event that much more exciting. Of course, as always, we’ve kept in mind scalability for performance.

So today we release to you Sebring. The main layout is available in two versions. One featuring the 12-hour race layout, with a packed infield and a lot of spectators, and another that gives you more of a “track day” feel. On top of that we also included two shorter layouts: School and Johnson Club. These layouts are very well suited for smaller fields of cars and somewhat slower cars.

Sebring is completely laser scanned in location, through professional high density, high accuracy, laser scan equipment. We scanned the track just a few weeks before the 2018 “12 Hours Of Sebring”. We then processed, filtered and optimized all the data to produce a clean stream of points for the simulation. We used that data to describe and model everything from centerline to first barriers, so even if you put your tires off the grass, you’ll still get a complete simulation of the grounds, through both physics/FFB and graphics.

rFactor 2 is available exclusively for PC from Steam now.​

Check out the rFactor 2 sub forum here at RaceDepartment for all the latest news and discussion with regards to the simulation. You can take part in lively debates with fellow rFactor 2 fans and take part in some great Club and League racing events..! Head over to the forum now and share the love this simulation so very much deserves...​

Like what you see here at RaceDepartment? Don't forget to like, subscribe and follow us on social media!


 
What do you think of Sebring from the talk and drive video, do you think it looks like a good representation of the track? Are you excited to try a first laserscanned circuit in rF2? Happy with the choice of Sebring for the sim? Let us know in the comments section below!
​

 

[torig]

There is a dedicated F1 game with all the F1 tracks. If you want F1, there it is. F1 doesn't race from day to night nor with limited lighting. These are engineering areas S397 has put considerable time and resources towards achieving. And what happens to the crowd funding when a deadline is missed? I'm fairly certain they can produce a certain amount of cars and a few tracks each year. Expecting more, and expecting content that would have to compete with dedicated single issue sims would be difficult.
We are consumers and while we can voice our desires and opinions, we should NEVER have any control over the direction of a company. What if 100 drifters got together and influenced S397 to only make D1 drift cars on half lap ovals? What if a 1000 Nascar league members with-held funding until a fully independant Nascar product was available? What if F1 users fragmented on years and ended up demanding the seasons of Cosworth domination or the turbo years or the aero era and ended up with a several groups each with a rather small user base?
I think your concept of a publicly funded sim might be viable as stand-alone product with just one area of focus. But that would not be rF2. In fact wasn't crowd funding the approach of Project Cars?

I don’t want F1, but do want F3 and F2 cars as that’s what I race. What I do want are laser scanned F1 tracks, such as Monza, Suzuka etc. The point of the post was to get whatever there is consensus on as being necessary as fast as possible, instead of drip-fed and without clear direction.

PBR sounds great. How much to roll it out faster ++ update ALL existing content?
And so on.

You pay one way or the other anyway.

Rf2 has the best physics and thus the most realistic sim, hence why I would like the content to better match my race classes instead of Formula E..

Regardless what I want, I’ve only been into sim racing since a short while. I find it odd that a lot of people with high-end setups are having to depend on such a fragmented landscape of sims, or complain about the quality or lack of speed or prices of every update a 16-people studio is pushing out.

To take your ridiculous argument about drifting: so what if a bunch of drifters fund improvements to eg sound engine, graphics, AI or tracks that can benefit the entire community? S397 didn’t acquire Rf2 with the vision of accepting whichever popular demand and moving away from the core.

Pcars is beautiful and that’s about all I can say about it. But they got money from their community to deliver what it wanted (at least to some degree).

The negative attitude of people around any change for this sim is baffling. Maybe you’re right, and I should give my money to eg Assetto Corsa and let rf2 cater to it’s small group of never satisfied users .... gee.

 

[dajdosta]

I don't know if it matches your needs but these cars are coming from S397:

Tatuus USF-17, which is used in the USF2000 championship and can be seen as the successor to our existing USF2000 car.
Tatuus F4-T014, which is driven in various F4 championships globally.
Tatuus MSV F3-016, also known as ‘British F3’, is driven primarily in the UK and at Spa-Francorchamps.
Toyota FT50, as used in the Toyota Racing Series.
Tatuus PM18, as used in the Pro Mazda Championship.
Tatuus F3 T318, used in the Asian F3 Championship as well as the upcoming W Series.

Source: S397 Roadmap

 

[John-Eric Saxén]

I don’t want F1, but do want F3 and F2 cars as that’s what I race. What I do want are laser scanned F1 tracks, such as Monza, Suzuka etc. The point of the post was to get whatever there is consensus on as being necessary as fast as possible, instead of drip-fed and without clear direction.

I think it might not be very realistic to have all F1 tracks laser scanned. First of all each track requires a seperate big license fee paid to be featured in a game and it seems Italy in particular is a bit problematic with licensing (Ferrari, cough cough...). Secondly, with the current insane detail that is required to build tracks, it takes something like three months at minimum to get one track finished for most sim racing studios. The release of Nords will bring you a laser scanned F1 track (Nurburgring), but as Nords is probably ten times the size of normal tracks, it will take some extra time above those three months to get it released.

Crowdfunding has quite a few regulations depending on which country the company happens to be in, so it's not quite as simple as just setting up a campaign. There are also tax and other legal considerations, which again depending on the country might make it not a sensible choice.

 

[torig]

I don't know if it matches your needs but these cars are coming from S397:

Tatuus USF-17, which is used in the USF2000 championship and can be seen as the successor to our existing USF2000 car.
Tatuus F4-T014, which is driven in various F4 championships globally.
Tatuus MSV F3-016, also known as ‘British F3’, is driven primarily in the UK and at Spa-Francorchamps.
Toyota FT50, as used in the Toyota Racing Series.
Tatuus PM18, as used in the Pro Mazda Championship.
Tatuus F3 T318, used in the Asian F3 Championship as well as the upcoming W Series.

Source: S397 Roadmap

F3-016 and T318 do sound like they could be helpful indeed. Thanks!!

 

[torig]

I think it might not be very realistic to have all F1 tracks laser scanned. First of all each track requires a seperate big license fee paid to be featured in a game and it seems Italy in particular is a bit problematic with licensing (Ferrari, cough cough...). Secondly, with the current insane detail that is required to build tracks, it takes something like three months at minimum to get one track finished for most sim racing studios. The release of Nords will bring you a laser scanned F1 track (Nurburgring), but as Nords is probably ten times the size of normal tracks, it will take some extra time above those three months to get it released.

Crowdfunding has quite a few regulations depending on which country the company happens to be in, so it's not quite as simple as just setting up a campaign. There are also tax and other legal considerations, which again depending on the country might make it not a sensible choice.

Thanks for the considerate response.

How do other sims provide these tracks then?

To me, being a relative outsider, it’s just a money/revenue problem. Get more funds, license content, attract more talent to work on tracks simultaneously and you can achieve it.
The current install base probably doesn’t justify the investments, and without this content, expanding the user base will be more difficult, compounding the investment problem.

Good points regarding the regulations.
Equity in a smallcap is probably not the way anyone would like to go either, so the only reasonable alternative left sounds like biting the bullet and moving to a subscription model. [I’m pretty sure I hit all the no-go zones in my first posts now. Hi everyone!]

 

[davehenrie]

I don’t want F1, but do want F3 and F2 cars as that’s what I race. What I do want are laser scanned F1 tracks, such as Monza, Suzuka etc. The point of the post was to get whatever there is consensus on as being necessary as fast as possible, instead of drip-fed and without clear direction.
<snip>
The negative attitude of people around any change for this sim is baffling. Maybe you’re right, and I should give my money to eg Assetto Corsa and let rf2 cater to it’s small group of never satisfied users .... gee.

Yes I was negative. Because to my eye, you wanted to throw money at the sim and get what YOU wanted. My clumsy ridiculous response apparently did not achieve my goals. I was not critiquing your plan, but your goals. YOU want A, B, & C and because you gave money you EXPECT A, B, & C. . Those may or may not be the priority of other contributors. So who then gets what they want at the expense of what others want? Remember they paid too. I could care less about glass smooth Herman Tilke designed F1 tracks. Does that mean my five dollars is less valuable to the cause than your five dollars? I may want night driving without scandalous amounts of trackside lighting, team driver swapping, long damage repairs. I don't think any of those are important to someone who focuses on the open wheelers. We are a wide-ranging community here, I hope you find many items that eventually end up appealing to you. But raising money and then creating the inherent expectations that go along with that are what I was less than enthused about. Best of luck.

 

[bgil66]

Just got it, yeah I'm late to the party. Outstanding job

 

[Ace King]

Just got it, yeah I'm late to the party. Outstanding job

It's never too late to enjoy a most beautiful and superb rendition of Le Mans 2018.

 

[Alex Townsend]

It's never too late to enjoy a most beautiful and superb rendition of Le Mans 2018.

That's what I thought. But he's talking in the Sebring track release thread...
Still, making me want to fire up Sebring when I get home. But I've had Le Mans sitting there on the hard drive all installed but no wheel to play it on. Hopefully my Fanatec repairs will mean I have one working rim tonight...

 

[bgil66]

It's never too late to enjoy a most beautiful and superb rendition of Le Mans 2018.

Oh yes already got that when released, amazing!

 

[Ace King]

Oh yes already got that when released, amazing!

Yes, i know this thread was Sebring but thought i would give you a nudge to get Le Mans too!

 

[SAGY31]

I also decided to buy Sebring on this summer sale. It's bloody awesome with all the bumps in right and accurate places or should I say in wrong places when braking? Feels good even with entry level wheel as mine (G27). I was a bit concerned about FPS because my PC is on lower end from recommended configuration but no problems at all.

Hopefully with more money on board S397 will one day dedicate more time on polishing the simulator and fixing bugs. There needs to be a better balance between releasing paid DLC and improving overall rF2 experience.