rF2 | UI Updates & Other Improvements

Paul Jeffrey

Premium
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
 
Lost hope for this game already. While waiting for AMS2, lucky we got ACC to fill the gap for a few more weeks. rF2, Welcome to Shadow Realm.

Always interesting to see people reacting on stuff they are not interested in anymore ;)
For me personally there is not much that compares with rFactor 2 w.r.t. physics and FFB. Only ACC reaches this level for me, but yes, only GT3...
New UI makes the game feel somewhat 'fresh' again; nice work!
 
Call me stupid, but I don't like the new UI. Way to cluttered and confusing. Took me 10 minutes to just select the right vehicle, opponents and track. The old UI is not pretty, but at least it's straight forward.

Out of curiousity, should this be taken as genuine functional criticism or just a "It's new and I'm not yet used to it, therefore it's poor" knee-jerk reaction (which is entirely understandable and relatable btw.)?

If it really is functional criticism, could you perhaps break down what does and does not work for you and why? This might help inform future updates on Studio 397's part, mind you. =)
 
Thanks Studio 397 for this update. New UI is already a big improvement on the old one and things can only get better. However I hope we don’t have to wait too long for new functionalities in this new UI, also on the single player part (focus seems to be a lot on multiplayer). There is some stiff competition of other racing sims, which will only increase as soon as AMS2 arrives. rF2 is still my favorite sim though because of the way the cars feels through my wheel. ACC comes close, but is GT3 only and does not support modding.
 
I still on the old UI. I‘m happy with it like UnixRoot said. It’s straight forward. I just want to race rather than spend 10mins setting up a race. When will the new UI be out of beta and be fully ready for release? Until then, am I missing anything major apart from the new look ui? I’m not going to update to beta. Seems a lot of people having issues just loading the game.
 
I have installed/uninstalled new UI a few times, still using the old one. It's good that you are reworking the core system, but visual representation is too time consuming to select what I need and just drive. Ideally you should keep improving the "under the hood" mechanics, but visually everythign should be on one screen, without transitions back and forward. The UI system is still set up like for consoles.

If "rFactor 2 is available exclusively for PC. " then why can't you just put EVERYTHING on one screen? We are on PC and using mouse inputs, sitting as close to screen as possible. Don't waste the space! Just take AC Content Manager as example! Separate tabs for MP/SP, and all info and buttons in one place, what's so hard in replicating that?
 
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I still on the old UI. I‘m happy with it like UnixRoot said. It’s straight forward. I just want to race rather than spend 10mins setting up a race. When will the new UI be out of beta and be fully ready for release? Until then, am I missing anything major apart from the new look ui? I’m not going to update to beta. Seems a lot of people having issues just loading the game.
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 )
 
R5th
" Lost hope for this game already. While waiting for AMS2, lucky we got ACC to fill the gap for a few more weeks. rF2, Welcome to Shadow Realm."




This..is a Troll post!
DC

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.
 
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.

figured it out in 10minutes piece off cake very clear, only auto download missing components (very easy item) no other sim has wasnt working But thats fixed now GREAT RF2 again
 

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