rF2 | UI Updates & Other Improvements

Paul Jeffrey

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Studio 397 recently deployed their first major update to the new rFactor 2 UI - releasing build 1117 into the wild on Friday afternoon.

Long awaited, the brand new rFactor 2 UI enjoyed a public release to the simulation userbase back in December last year, and since then the Dutch development team have been hard at work collecting data and feedback prior to this first major update. Deploying a new build of this simulation back on Friday 7th February, the latest updates adds a few significant improvements to the sim, as well as addressing some of the initial issues with the new UI design.

Fear not fellow sim racer, if the update isn't to your liking just yet, Studio 397 have confirmed plenty more tweaks and improvements will be heading your way in the coming weeks and months - full details of which can be found below:

.....

The first update of the new UI public beta is here! Although it’s taken a bit longer than anticipated, we’ve addressed a lot of issues as you can see from the changelog below. We held off on this release for a bit longer than we anticipated, as we felt we had to get a number of problems fixed in this next update. Going forward we anticipate we can get roughly two updates per month done for the new UI, with smaller fixes and added features, and also addressing a few other issues in every new build. Below the changelog we’ve added some known issues and work in progress, This is not an exhaustive list but should cover what we’re currently looking to release in the next updates or are working on for a later update. As always we would like to give a big thanks to you, the rFactor 2 community, for the detailed reports and feedback.

rF2 Update 1.jpg
rF2 Update 2.jpg
rF2 Update 3.jpg


New UI: public_beta: Steam Build ID 4648512

  • ‘Favorite servers’ will only update when manually refreshed.
  • Added tyre wear, temperatures and hot pressures to the garage page, so you can see those after you get out of your car.
  • Added practice, qualification and race progress in the event screen.
  • Added brake wear to garage page, so after you get out of your car, you can see how much your brakes have worn.
  • Added plugin management tab to options, allowing you to enable and disable installed plugins. This still requires a restart after making changes.
  • Added class color coded icons and class names to event standings if such an event has more than a single class.
  • Added a replay ‘seeker’ that is now drag-able so you can immediately see where you are in the replay.
  • Added confirmation dialog when deleting a setup
  • When you select a car, track or series, you will now return to where you came from, instead of going back to start page or in some cases the race page.
  • Fixed the missing package download and install process when joining a server.
  • Fixed the missing blinking cursor in text fields.
  • Fixed that you could always start driving again in sessions, even after for example being classified as DNF in a race. Now correctly disables the button when needed.
  • Removed certain display settings that shouldn’t be available when in a session.
  • Key assignments now show the key modifiers, such as ALT and CTRL.
  • When clicking a folder in save setup, the setup name is no longer lost and goes blank.
  • Server text commands do now work when pressing ‘return’.
  • Fixed the intermittent pace car loading error on track load
    • Removed additional pace cars “Clio Cup” and “Pace Car With Lights” from base install.
  • In VR, fixed a glitchy loading screen in the headset in both the old and new UI.
  • In VR, fixed a flashing desktop mirror while track loads in both the old and new UI.
  • Updated openvr libraries.
  • Fixed the lag when other clients joined a server.
  • Fixed AI limit of 19 when adding them in single player using ‘session controls’.
  • Removed old UI images that would appear sporadically.
Known Issues
  • Showroom does not go full screen when pressing ‘return’.
  • After content install in VR rFactor 2 does not restart. A workaround for now is to restart manually.
  • There is still a black band on the bottom half of the track loading screen.
  • Some are seeing some micro stutters in the new UI, more prominent in VR, we are aware and working on a fix.
  • Unrelated to UI, but we are also aware of the erratic throttle behavior of the AI cars, and we are looking into that.
Work in Progress
  • Add skin download progress bar while on a server that allows custom skin transfers.
  • Config tool sporadically fails to launch up after clicking PLAY for setting graphics resolution, VR or post effect levels.
  • Team creation in the showroom is missing.
  • Material editing in the showroom is missing.
  • Forced setup and/or upgrades.
  • Car (re)selection when on a server.
  • Resume from replay.
  • Sporadic ‘white screen’ on server exit.


rFactor 2 is available exclusively for PC.

Having issues with the sim? Let the community be your guide! Post a thread in the rF2 sub forum here at RaceDepartment!

rF2 Update 4.jpg
 
agree FFB rf2 is the best But with only 1 sim as you mentioned ,ACC, in the world then we only can drive streetcars GTR3 thats not what everybody likes , would hate :(
Agreed. Just that ACC is so polished already at its current state. UI and fast loading times, it can only get better. If only rf2 ffb can be imported then I‘lost be a happy man.
 
lots off improvements against the OLD UI Best is that from now one can go straight to settings and changing wheel options and wheel settings without first have to close the game and then change all and restart all again.
Nice extra future would be ; That we can seen in race select wich cars are used to drive. next to the already there (wich track etc )
I only race in vr. So unless these glitches are fixed in the beta. I’m reluctant installing the beta version. the old ui was not broke. just not pretty to look at, but it does the job.
 
Honestly I don't think so. Those sentiments more or less echo mine to be honest.

I've got 7 hours in rF2, and 6 of those hours were troubleshooting and trying to fathom out what the hell I'm supposed to be doing with it.

I'm sure that plenty of you have put the time in and know exactly how to extract the best of it, but from my point of view, in light of the ease of use of AC, ACC, and R3E, I don't see why I should waste my time on it.
Don’t get me wrong rf2 is great in itself, the sense of speed and the feel is the best, it just looks outdated compared to ACC. Rf2 was my go to sim of late, but sim acc is so much more polished and much faster load times makes me want to race in acc.
 
Don’t get me wrong rf2 is great in itself, the sense of speed and the feel is the best, it just looks outdated compared to ACC. Rf2 was my go to sim of late, but sim acc is so much more polished and much faster load times makes me want to race in acc.
Rfactor2 is far from perfection and I have many doubts about the direction taken by s397 for the game, but why people dare compare a modding platform, full of content, with a unique category sim? What's the point? If you only race on gt3 cars, for sure, everybody out there already know acc is the sim to chose. It is absolutely irrelevant to compare rfactor2 and acc.
 
Honestly I don't think so. Those sentiments more or less echo mine to be honest.

I've got 7 hours in rF2, and 6 of those hours were troubleshooting and trying to fathom out what the hell I'm supposed to be doing with it.

I'm sure that plenty of you have put the time in and know exactly how to extract the best of it, but from my point of view, in light of the ease of use of AC, ACC, and R3E, I don't see why I should waste my time on it.
I think it is the very definition of a troll post...

7 hours of time in rF2 and you freely admit to taking 6 hours trying to figure it out...?

That has to be some sort of record...
 
lots off improvements against the OLD UI Best is that from now one can go straight to settings and changing wheel options and wheel settings without first have to close the game and then change all and restart all again.
Are you talking about in-game wheel settings?
If so, all wheel settings have always been accessible while in any session.
Although the new UI has made it worse by using two pages where the default UI has it all on one page.
 
I think it is the very definition of a troll post...

7 hours of time in rF2 and you freely admit to taking 6 hours trying to figure it out...?

That has to be some sort of record...

Ok, most of that 6 hours is trying to get rF2 to run.

Every time I launch it, it seems to want to download everything again - this takes ages.

It constantly freezes when loading a track - the progress bar just stops after around 30 - 45 seconds, and then I have to quit it via task manager.

I've uninstalled and reinstalled several times to no good effect.

Really I have no idea why it won't run correctly on my system when everything else does. My system is clean and is pretty much a good solid mid to upper end gaming rig.
 
Despite the various issues with rF2, it's the visceral driving experience that keeps me engaged. I see ACC getting a lot of praise for it's FFB but, don't get that at all (extremely vague, if any under-steer feel). In rF2, I have a very keen sense of understeer, and in a variable way that always allows me to measure how hard I'm pushing the front tires at every turn. I love that about AMS too but, rF2 probably does it somewhat better imo.

Yes, rF2 has a long way to go in providing anything close to a finished title but, that can be said about most Sim's in one way or another. Perpetual development is not uncommon but, doesn't have to be a bad thing either - if the development is reasonably balanced along the way (not saying rf2 is in it's current state). Still, it has very strong roots in simulation and the trend is for developers to move away from that (too often) in order to appeal to more players.
 
S397 devs: we will update the UI each month during 5 years to finish the UI. It's very hard.
x4fab (Content Manager) : hold my vodka.
I would have been pretty annoyed if S397 came up with something like CM after 3 years. I use the CM and it is ok for what it is, but it's just too cluttered with way too much information and very convoluted. I don't get the hype for the CM at all. If I have to search through a single page with over 50 settings just to find the setting I am looking for, then something is terribly wrong. The new rF2 UI is actually on the complete other end of space management spectrum, while offering far more complexity and functionality than CM in certain areas. I think they could use the space in a few areas a bit more efficient but everyone who has tried to setup a race week end in CM and in rF2 should be able to see the difference. So next time you make a snarky remark better check what you are talking about. Because it is pretty obvious that you only use CM and are here to troll. :whistling:
 
I tried out the new UI, and it works just fine. It took a little bit of time to figure out where everything is, but it's a big improvement over the old one. Thanks for the updates! There are really only two things which would be nice if they could be improved sooner rather than later; those are the cockpits of the cars and the AI and full course yellows. This sim has come a long way in a few years and is only going to get better.:)
 
After few days with the newest sim on the market, (which I really enjoyed and I found it very good, I have over 100 hours in) I took Porsche GT3 Cup for a ride through "Green Hell" ... MAN what a car, what a track. It feel like a wild beast you have to tame. Instantly I remembered why I love sim racing.
Great work Studio397, keep going ahead. We are here and we appreciate what you guys doing and thank you for your work.
 

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