rFactor 2 | February Development Roadmap

Paul Jeffrey

Premium
Studio 397 have released their Development Roadmap for February, looking closer at the latest tweaks and improvements that have are being carried out by the studio in recent days.

Keeping up the tradition of monthly community updates about the latest developments in the world of rFactor 2, Studio 397 recently published their latest roadmap posting and gave some interesting insights into the future development direction of the simulation - as well as confirmation that the Diriyah E-Prix circuit will be added to the software as paid DLC later this week.

rF2-Indy-Update-4.jpg


In the roadmap post, the Studio shared with the community the latest development bugs they have been reviewed back at base, with some nice insights into the next round of updates that will be deployed to the simulation in the near furure:

"As we detailed in the last Development Roadmap back at the end of January, a lot of the attention from our development team continues to be focused on addressing a number of the identified and existing bugs within the simulation, with extra attention having been spent in recent weeks verifying and analysing a wide variety of different aspects of the software that can be fixed in the short, medium and long term development of rFactor 2. In an effort to ensure we deploy our resources in a sensible and structured way, we have gone to great lengths to understand where we can make the most impact on the highest number of important fixes within the sim, whilst keeping a close eye on the potential effects this might bring into the codebase within the software. When working on a piece of software as complex as rFactor 2, it is often the case that one change within the development code has unintended consequences elsewhere, and what initially felt like it would be a relatively straight forward change ends up eating into considerable amounts of time that we have budgeted for the fixes, which in turn can have an impact on how many issues we can address in a given timeframe.

In order to facilitate our ongoing development process, we have taken the decision to have a closer look at the underlying code within rFactor 2, and how various pieces of the software depend on other aspects of the code, and what these functions aim to achieve in how rFactor 2 operates behind the scenes. This is proving to be a fruitful exercise, and many fixes and improvements have already been identified and resolved by the development team – which helps put us in a stronger position moving forward. The downside to this is a lot of our resource has been applied to fixing areas of the software that will perhaps not manifest themselves as noticeable changes to the public, but they have certainly been required in order to give us the stable base on which we need to keep pushing forward, and start bringing together those big ticket changes that really uplift the user experience for our players.

Earlier this month we deployed a new build update to the ‘Release Candidate’ branch of Steam (more on RC builds below) that contained the first round of tweaks and improvements we have been working on. So far, we have received a positive reaction to this build, and community feedback suggests we are very close to putting these fixes into the main public branch of the software. The benefit we’ve found in having a release candidate branch has been significant, as it allows us to gauge the reaction of our community and identify if any issues become apparent that did not show themselves during our internal testing, whilst still offering players the opportunity to stick with the main stable branch of the software if they so choose. We are pleased with how this is working initially, and will continue to adopt this development strategy for the foreseeable future"

roadmap_2021_02_01.jpg


Another positive benefit of having a Release Candidate branch for our new update is it allows us to split development focus between closing up any outstanding issues on the RC build that may appear, whilst simultaneously continuing to advance the process of creating our next build – something that is well underway at the Studio and should be very, very close to being deployed to the RC branch once we’ve moved the current changes into the public version of the software. Oh and yes, wheel and pedal inputs will return for the next update…!".

In other good news for fans of the title that have been keen to see the studio address some of the long standing issues with the simulation, studio 397 have also confirmed they have addressed several areas of user interest for an upcoming build release, that should be deployed as 'release candidate' in the near future.

Of that new build, the studio had the following to say about the upcoming new build:

"Related to content, we fixed a CTD when you tried to launch with a series selected that was uninstalled, we made sure there are no ways anymore to select upgrades that were different from the ones the server forced, and we addressed an issue where sometimes when you tried joining a server you would end up selecting cars from the wrong list. Finally, we have extended the logging to include more details about the content that’s being loaded.

Fixed issues with the UI sometimes running at an insane framerate. In the options screen, if you would change FFB settings, they would not register until you go on the track for the second time. The session settings screen saw a bunch of fixes, most of them related to making sure settings get reset at the proper time, such as when changing tracks or series. In the package management screen, we fixed a sometimes not working refresh button. Favorites are also refreshed if you add new ones from the full server list and finally the garage screen now also shows wheel loads.

In the graphics department, after discovering, in testing, some graphical glitches in the skies, included those in the permanent fixes we did that would also sometimes cause the car bodies to glitch and “blow up”. We removed the faint boundaries you would see in VR when looking at the edges of the UI. Last but not least we fixed an issue where secondary wet weather reflections would not show up on damp road surfaces.

Added driver and car info displays to the full screen replay. This includes inputs like steering, brake, clutch and throttle and a g-force circle graph. On top of that we also now always display the correct driver before and after driver swaps. In a race session we now show the time remaining in a session. The message centre now consistently shows the same naming and numbering for values as the garage when changing settings such as ABS and TC while driving."

Other notable mentions in the roadmap is confirmation that the Diriyah E-Prix will be arriving this week, plus another circuit that later this month that has yet to be revealed.


Original Source: Studio 397


rFactor 2 is available now, exclusively on PC.

Check out the rFactor 2 sub forum here at RaceDepartment for the latest and greatest news, chat and speculation about the rFactor 2 racing simulation.


rF2_RCCO_15.jpg
 
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Not sure what to think.

They talk about Unreal Engine in press release. So rf3 is probably coming.

Which means modding support is gone.

Will require the best of best graphics cards to run VR.

Kunos lifted the complete physics engine to unreal engine 4 for ACC.

So rf2 can do the same.
I'm not sure I'm happy about UE4 for the future: I have a RTX3080, and ACC runs terribly in VR with it, although when I think about it, KartKraft runs pretty well, and that's UE4 too. Maybe it's an optimization problem? I'd be happy enough if we had a bug-free rF2 sometime soon.
 
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It's all cryptic - but what substance is actually included in this road map.
Apart from a CTD fix, I cannot see anything listed?
Hate to agree, but I think they should switch to a bullet points format for all news and updates. The verbosity is not adding any value or flavour to the transmission of the information and seems to actually annoy many people. It is also easier to tell what is a substantive update or future development item.

It's easy to judge devs when their bullets are incomprehensibly described micro-changes versus major items that have been discussed in the community for years. Not picking on S397 in this regard for this update, because every dev has done everything in the range at some point. But generally, the S397 updates seem to have the lowest content:length ratio.

And, sure, they are going to need to get down to the bare bones of the coding to deal with harmonizing into the Motorsport Games world of UE. I expect we'll be reading and discussing that for years to come.
 
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I'm not sure I'm happy about UE4 for the future: I have a RTX3080, and ACC runs terribly in VR with it, although when I think about it, KartKraft runs pretty well, and that's UE4 too. Maybe it's an optimization problem? I'd be happy if we had a bug-free rF2 sometime soon.
yes the optimization is a developer problem, UE can run well if done well, but since its so widely used (due to being easy to get a game working and free) there are many smaller dev-groups making game with that engine which arent running that great, if its all done welln tho it can be a decent experience and since the Kartkraft guys are now under the same umbrella as S397 a potential UE rF2 or similar can be a good thing, its just a thing of we will see if it can be pulled of or rather if its goes that far at all
 

Tarmac Terrorist

Paul McCaffrey
Wow!

Well this could go one of two ways, lets hope its the good way for simracing. I do wonder if what this means is RF3, or whatever the next step is to be titled. But merging the ISImotor with the Unreal engine, sounds like a monumental task! Mind you, with the kinda monitery muscle and management this deal brings it might just be the catapult that is needed to make a big task move fast. Anyway I don't know, but I do know this is massive news!
 
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WTF? Three different stages of development just to confuse people even more. Why can't S397 just beta test the changes like everyone else, and just have one install version? It boggles my mind....
thats why there are 3 tho

one is the normal build
the other the beta build - so one can see the changes early
and if anybody needs it an previous build for leagues and stuff

nothing unusual to have those branches on steam games
 
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What I appreciate about this roadmap is that s397 really seem, like they've always said, to be in this for the long haul.

The fact is they run a business and have bills to pay. Fixing nearly decade old bugs and structural/design problems doesn't make money. Selling new content to existing players and bringing in new players does. This is really the only way for s397 to afford to work on bugs and structure to appease us old players.

This roadmap shows a conviction to do the messy work that countless other devs refuse to do. I wish y'all great success!!
 
thats why there are 3 tho

one is the normal build
the other the beta build - so one can see the changes early
and if anybody needs it an previous build for leagues and stuff

nothing unusual to have those branches on steam games
I stand corrected. I only have driving games, and none of those has this system, apart from rF2. Although, thinking about it, I recall that AMS had a beta version that you could load in parallel with the stable version, but that is a while ago, I'd nearly forgotten about it. Haven't used it in ages, as it doesn't do VR unfortunately.
 
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WTF? Three different stages of development just to confuse people even more. Why can't S397 just beta test the changes like everyone else, and just have one install version? It boggles my mind....
I think this version system is straight forward enough and S397 makes it pretty clear in regard to what each one is. This should be able to satisfy most players based on preference / willingness to contribute where possible to make rf2 better.
 
I stand corrected. I only have driving games, and none of those has this system, apart from rF2. Although, thinking about it, I recall that AMS had a beta version that you could load in parallel with the stable version, but that is a while ago, I'd nearly forgotten about it. Haven't used it in ages, as it doesn't do VR unfortunately.
AMS2 has multiple branches depending on user access level.

AMS1 has VR support via 3rd party, it works pretty decent from my recent testing.
 

Ole Marius Myrvold

JWB 96-13
Staff
Premium
I think this version system is straight forward enough and S397 makes it pretty clear in regard to what each one is. This should be able to satisfy most players based on preference / willingness to contribute where possible to make rf2 better.

The issue I see with it, is that rF2 has a relatively small userbase, having multiple builds like this, spreads that userbase thinner in regards to online racing.

It might be a coincidence, but we have lost a few drivers in the rF2 club after they started with the RC-stuff.
 

Shincha20

@Simberia
The issue I see with it, is that rF2 has a relatively small userbase, having multiple builds like this, spreads that userbase thinner in regards to online racing.

It might be a coincidence, but we have lost a few drivers in the rF2 club after they started with the RC-stuff.
It just takes a few seconds to switch around builds, so don’t take on S397 for the community being lazy...
 
The issue I see with it, is that rF2 has a relatively small userbase, having multiple builds like this, spreads that userbase thinner in regards to online racing.

It might be a coincidence, but we have lost a few drivers in the rF2 club after they started with the RC-stuff.
Fair point but, it really is very easy to switch builds with minimal download. I understand the frustration that some have with rF2, I have felt that at times but, it's just too satisfying a drive for me to give up on. ;)
 

Ole Marius Myrvold

JWB 96-13
Staff
Premium
It just takes a few seconds to switch around builds, so don’t take on S397 for the community being lazy...
Fair point but, it really is very easy to switch builds with minimal download. I understand the frustration that some have with rF2, I have felt that at times but, it's just too satisfying a drive for me to give up on. ;)

I know it's easy to change. I've done it multiple times myself. But it is an extra step, an extra thing to do just to be able to race. If you race 2-3 different places, you can often find yourself having to change depending on where you race.

It's easy to change, doesn't take time, but it is an obstacle that people just don't bother with.
 

Shincha20

@Simberia
I know it's easy to change. I've done it multiple times myself. But it is an extra step, an extra thing to do just to be able to race. If you race 2-3 different places, you can often find yourself having to change depending on where you race.

It's easy to change, doesn't take time, but it is an obstacle that people just don't bother with.
Sign of the times...
Next the community complains about having to calibrate their pedals at pc startup...
 
I know it's easy to change. I've done it multiple times myself. But it is an extra step, an extra thing to do just to be able to race. If you race 2-3 different places, you can often find yourself having to change depending on where you race.

It's easy to change, doesn't take time, but it is an obstacle that people just don't bother with.
If people really want to play, they find a way. If not, they move on. In comparative terms, rF2 is not the easiest title to setup and use but, there's not another title I'm aware of that delivers the same experience either.

For ease of use, there are certainly better options but, we do not all have to be like water (following the path of least resistance). ;)
 
At last, s397 is analizing the code of their game, what a good idea. Less cynical, I really hope it will bring crucial changes to rfactor2. It is a positive signal in my opinion although the game may receive less eye candy updates during some time. Good news s397
 

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