rFactor 2 | New Build Update Released

Paul Jeffrey

Premium
Studio 397 have deployed a new build update for rFactor 2, adding a number of fixes and improvements to the simulation.
  • New build adds VR flat desktop mode.
  • Various art fixes and tweaks.
  • 32-bit installers ceased.
The new build has been deployed in anticipation of the upcoming Spa-Francorchamps release this Friday 20th November, and comes complete with a number of fixes and tweaks to the simulation. It is worth noting as part of this build, as detailed in the October Development Roadmap, going forward Studio 397 will no longer be supporting 32-bits version of the simulation, and the Dutch team also recommend migrating to the 'new UI' to maximise current and future developments within the title.

Of interest in the new build are various performance improvements for the UI and the addition of VR flat desktop mirror, plus new controller profiles and some further tweaks to the graphic aspects of the title.


Update Notes:
  • Removed the 32 bits builds, we are now officially 64 bit only. To ease the transition, we have left some 32 bit utilities in their usual locations for this build only. Please migrate and report any issues you might have.
    • Note: there is a known issue that the ModMgr.exe inside Bin64 folder on SteamCMD dedicated server distributions may crash when toggling certain settings. Please use ModMgr.exe inside Bin32 folder for now.
  • Changed the way the new UI gets rendered, making it smooth even when the back-end is busy.
  • Fixed several memory leaks and a possible crash on changing graphics settings in-game.
  • Ensured that when a user is entering text in a text field, keys he/she presses don’t accidentally trigger other controls.
  • Fixed the mouse cursor from going missing when pressing ESC in VR after driving the car.
  • Fixed an issue where sometimes when restarting or forwarding sessions, the UI would not (re)appear after that transition.
  • Fixed several aspect-ratio related rendering issues with the new UI.
  • Fixed the new UI being one pixel too wide and too high on triples.
  • Added new VR flat desktop mirror. Please note this is only available in the new UI on the public_beta branch.
  • Controller profiles
    • Simagic M10 new profile added.
    • VRS Direct Force Pro corrected typo in controller profile.
  • Re-enabled & Improved Sun God Rays / Light Flare settings (requires PostFX enabled, mostly only visible when the sun is occluded slightly)
  • Tweaks to Air Pollution colour blending and params
  • Corrected Moon Brightness
  • Reviewed various lighting parameters
  • Moved “Atmospherics” section for Track Weather file (.WET) to Track Game Database file (.GDB)
  • Added option for static mappers to disable omni lights
  • Fixed auto static mapper assignment, so Static01 mapper is auto assigned only. (prevent mappers for specific situations being auto assigned to assets)
  • Fixes for issues with No Rain Zones including when falling back to bounding box, and sorting issues with the currently rendered no rain zones.
  • Fixed an issue where reflections would stop updating after rejoining track
  • Fix for track side cameras not always showing the correct number of objects
  • Updated PBR track shaders to make use of new sampler methods to allow for more textures to be used.
  • Fixed an issue where DXT1 and DXT5 textures would not sample sRGB when they should when using new sampler method (This was an issue on the Road Shader only previously)
  • Fixed a rare issue causing texture animations to stop working
  • IBL Road and IBL Curb:
    • Added ability to use a second normal map (overlay on road, switch on curbs)
    • Tweaked Groove Blending logic (This may result in more noticeable dust, you may wish to tone this down in your Road Details Map)
    • Updated default settings for Groove & Dust IBL Standard
    • Fixed some issues with the Detail Map
  • IBL Standard & Blend
    • Added option to use detail map as an alpha masked decal IBL Standard Blend
    • Added the option to use a detail map with the same logic as IBL Standard
    • Removed Multiply Square albedo blending mode, since this can be achieved by saving the texture in the correct format.
  • IBL Terrain:
    • Added the ability to set per Albedo strengths for Pattern map
    • Added an optional splatter overlay map, which applies alpha to specular mask
    • Added Albedo Tinting to Specular on Terrain Shaders
  • IBL Vegetation
    • Added a new Vegetation Specific shader, which contains only appropriate logic from IBL Standard
    • Added Specular Tinting with a static colour in the Vegetation Shader.
Steam Build IDs
Old UI (opt-out)

  • Client build ID: 5842885
  • Dedicated server build ID: 5842895
New UI (public_beta)
  • Client build ID: 5842938
The new build is available now, and should download automatically the next time you restart your Steam client.



Original Source: Studio 397

rFactor 2 is available now, exclusively on PC.

Check out the rF2 sub forum here at RaceDepartment for a great place to hang out with your fellow fans of the title, discuss the latest news and get advice on how to make the most from your simulation. Join in and start a new thread today!

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How do I know that I received the new build? According to Steam, last build update was Sept 6??
In Steam game ptoperties you can see the build number. They say, you should chose Public Beta at the same window to use new UI as well.

Interesting point is even after doing those, my build number and the one shared by rfactor web site still mismatch. It has downloaded the update.
 
10 minutes !@@!

Sorry to sound disrespectful ....don't blame rF2 on your tower



Nords + 30 cup cars = 88 seconds :coffee: ...while I update ACC

P.S. Changed from 1440p window to 4K full screen , loaded again ....89 seconds

View attachment 420748

View attachment 420749

can you share your significant specs?
cpu (incl. speed), ssd/hdd (incl. type), memory (incl. speed).

just to make it a benchmark.

also was this the first time, incl. the shader process?

downloading something in background does not need to have an impact, especially if you have multiple ssd/hdd and sufficient memory.

that said, if 10mins is a real problem, I would not brag about 1.5minutes on a modern rig either, because that’s a “long time” if you want to play in 2020. Note that I am not saying your system is slow, probably doing the same on my own rig - but just to put it back into context.

big track we understand, but +1min loading time is also relatively long nowadays, for any game on a more or less up to date system.
 
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@Ruy Horta I bet it's his CPU, if I'm not mistaken, he's running the new Ryzen 5000. And since rF2 is still mostly single-threaded and loading in particular, and it's very CPU heavy too, he sees a significant reduction in loading times due to how fast these CPUs are in single-threaded tasks. Disk speeds don't have that much of an effect on rF2 loading times (they do, somewhat, but less than pretty much any other game, and I think I've yet to see a game that does benefit from SSD over HDD as little as rF2 does).

Also it seems that installed mods slow rF2 loading times a fair bit, maybe even replay files saved on disk, so those might be a factor as well.
 
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Liking the new UI now that several information bugs have been fixed and all the cars are not 495hp and all the tracks are not 20.320km long.. but, what flummoxxes me is the car previews, the old UI knows where to find the preview images for old and new cars, but somehow the new ui does not? Some pseudocode for the devs..

public bitmap getCarPreview()
if (car == oldcar) var carimage == thisLocation
elsesif(car == newcar) var carimage == thatLocation
return carimage

Since all the code to detect if its not a new car is already in place that goes something like

if(car != Newcar)var carimage ==BlanketCoveredCarImageInsteadOfImageWealreadyKnowHowToFindInOldUI.bmp

I don't get it? Biggish since most the best cars in RF2 are the older ones, most of my library is blankets..

1605773225220.png
 
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@Ruy Horta I bet it's his CPU, if I'm not mistaken, he's running the new Ryzen 5000. And since rF2 is still mostly single-threaded and loading in particular, and it's very CPU heavy too, he sees a significant reduction in loading times due to how fast these CPUs are in single-threaded tasks. Disk speeds don't have that much of an effect on rF2 loading times (they do, somewhat, but less than pretty much any other game, and I think I've yet to see a game that does benefit from SSD over HDD as little as rF2 does).

Also it seems that installed mods slow rF2 loading times a fair bit, maybe even replay files saved on disk, so those might be a factor as well.

I did a quick compare with Nurburg combined
clean start after update 06:06 mins
second (hot) start 02:01 mins

1440p
9700K, 32GB on relatively slow ssd - 860QVO

system on M2.1 970, also have another M2.1 970 for games, but rF2 is stored on the slow one.

6mins is a long wait
even 2 mins really pushes my patience 2020 (yeah, I started a long time ago as well, but I live today, not yesterday).

maybe with some tweaks I’d get below 0200
on the fast SSDs probably help with getting nearer that 89 secs.

but the shader building is a real punishment.

EDIT: but I also noticed that my CPU clock speed had been reset to default, so I am going to reset with mild overclock - standard gaming profile. See if that increase will help (default 3600 - profile 4900).

third (cold) start 1:37
almost 30sec faster

EDIT 2:
Realized it was nords, so same track version / car combo this time.
cold start 02:44
second hot start 01:36

so combined and nords practically about the same time after shaders have been generated - give or take a couple of seconds.
 
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Didn't they already say they will be phasing it out and weren't there already some features implemented that only work with the new UI?
There are quite a few features that are only in the new UI. That said, they need to work on the structure of the new UI. The functionality is great, the server browser is better, the setup screen is more functional with changed settings being highlighted in blue or orange, it's quite a bit more fluid compared to the old UI and you can browse forums and the workshop from within the UI. But the one thing that I really find annoying is the whole structure. Why they didn't go for a simple MP and SP structure within the UI is beyond me and I have no idea why I have to press the Race tab before selecting MP or SP. Anyway, this just seems to be a beta to have the the basics in place so I hope that they resolve this until they phase out the old UI at the end of the year, once the competition infrastructure gets integrated.
 
I've just about given up on any sense of normality with Rfactor2.
It has come a long way under the current studio but it still has too many niggles.
I've never seen the 'new' UI...and I've owned the title from the very beginning.
Even the beta layout in Steam is confusing...(No real information on what is included in the betas versus the current release...Which betas have been superseded and are older or newer than current releases, etc...)
It is a bit of a mess documentation-wise.
My check of the software shows I'm on build 5842885.
I launch it now about once a month, simply to see what has changed...if any.
I still long for the day when I can race other humans again.
Not enough emphasis was given to fixing the lack of proper multiplayer server setup.
Does anybody ever race on the old SPA anymore?
I remember running in Durge's group a few times long, long ago.
It was a lot of fun back then...and easy to join.
It took way more years for the original Rfactor to become this fractured.
 
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I've just about given up on any sense of normality with Rfactor2.
It has come a long way under the current studio but it still has too many niggles.
I've never seen the 'new' UI...and I've owned the title from the very beginning.
My check of the software shows I'm on build 5842885.
I start it about once a month now, just to see what has changed...if any.
I still long for the day when I can race other humans again.
Not enough emphasis was given to fixing the lack of proper multiplayer server setup.
Does anybody ever race on the old SPA anymore?
I remember running in Durge's group a few time long, long ago.
It was a lot of fun back then...and easy to join.
It took way more years for the original Rfactor to become this fractured.
What I can't get my head around is their glacial work tempo: over four years for a frickin' UI? And it's not even finished, Other developers make a complete game engine in four years.
And soon you won't even be able to roll back to the old stone age UI. We'll be stuck with the new UI, whether it works or not. The usual unfinished b*llshit from Studio397.
And what about the disaster that is trying to drive online? Where you need a degree in programming to even use it? Or the bugs that have been there since the beginning of time? The full-course yellow joke, the clownish rain and dust effects, the awful optimization for VR, the fact that you have to spend hours deleting piles of stone age crap from the library when you do a new install, I could go on and on.
Why can't they make the workshop so that when you install for the first time, or re-install, you get one car, and one track? And whatever else you want, you can download it from the workshop, instead of having to unsubscribe all the stuff you don't want.
This week I bought a RTX 3080 for nearly a grand. And guess what? Nords still runs like shite because it's so badly optimized for VR. I suspect it has a bad memory leak, but I'm not holding my breath that they'll fix it any time soon. Why should they? They already have my money, onwards and upwards to the next unfinished DLC.......
And people complain and complain about all the bugs that should have been the first priority when they took rF2 over, nothing happens, they ignore all criticism,. All you get from them is the next expensive DLC, which almost certainly has bugs when they release it. A few hotfixes later, then it runs like it should have run at release. Don't they beta test all this stuff? It boggles my mind when I see the unfinished state of their releases....
Last night I had to rollback to the old stone age UI, after using the new UI almost from the beginning.
Why, I hear you ask? Because now my mouse doesn't work anymore since they broke, I mean updated the new UI. I tried three different mice, but now the new UI is unusable: you can move the mouse pointer, but when you click on something, nothing happens. Or the cross disappears when you lay the pointer on it, I mean WTF?
I've cut Studio397 a lot of slack since they took rF2 over from ISI, but my patience is slowly running out.
Instead of showing us what they can't do, it's about time they started to deliver, and read a few books on VR optimization, and how to beta test properly. And fix the long bug list, among other things.
Does it sound like I'm p*ssed off? You bet I am, I spent nearly € 3000 on a gaming computer, mostly so I could drive rF2 looking like it does in their promo videos, all to no avail. Something is always broken in rF2, they fix one thing, and break something else.
I'll tell you what, if I treated my customers like Studio397 treats theirs, I'd have been bankrupt years ago.
But I'm still going to buy the Spa DLC tomorrow. Why? Because I'm an idiot :D
 
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The new UI has some problems:

- way slower to operate than older UI, with stuff divided in so many places that are not immediately obvious. And fade and other animations surely does not help.
- it uses eye destroying white backgrounds, especially at night in a low lit room
- horizontal scrolling should be banned in any UI
- fonts are blurry at 4K
- would be nice to have mouse back button going back to previous screen

In comparison, the AMS2 UI is genius. And it can load 6 Nords the time it takes to load it one time in rF2...
 
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