rFactor 2 | New Build Update Released

[Paul Jeffrey]

Studio 397 have released a new build update for rFactor 2 tonight, adding a number of fixes, tweaks and improvements to the PC exclusive racing simulation.

The new build is available to download the next time a player restarts their Steam client, with some key highlights including improvements to the lighting transitions on dynamic time of day, rendering improvements to the way clouds are presented within the game - improving the look of skies within the game, UI tweaks and various other changes, detailed in the update log below.

Update Notes:

• Added back-end support for detecting the state of the Steam overlay so we can advise people to turn it on when trying to show them a shopping cart.
• Fixed a possible deadlock.
• Changed the lighting at dusk to gradually transition the fog color, preventing a sudden light change.
• Improved the shutdown of a dedi so it no longer exits with a non-zero return code.
• Fixed an issue where if we failed to load a custom skin we would not correctly fall back to the default skin.
• Fixed an issue where blurred reflections did not show up.
• Made the material editor port configurable in the scene viewer and changed it to 5396 by default so it won't conflict with the default port that rFactor 2 uses.
• Allow up to 128 scene paths in the scene viewer.
• Fixed an issue where upgrades did not correctly show in the showroom when selected.
• Enforced loading the correct upgrades before we initialize physics online.
• Added a few missing control options in the menus so they can be assigned again in the UI.
• Significantly improved the way we render our clouds, resulting in much better looking skies.
• Server will now kick a client using a custom team if file transfers are disabled because that client would be kicked when a race starts anyway.
• Various auto exposure tweaks were done, also to the cockpit view.
• Only pause the first session now if the setting is enabled on a dedicated server.
• Fixed UI mouse click control.
• Converted old FSAA values to new MSAA ones.
• Corrected some inconsistencies between the viewer and rFactor 2.
• Fixed some compound rendering issues in the showroom.
• Improved the camera editor in dev mode by fixing some assets for it.

Original Source: Studio 397

rFactor 2 is available now exclusively on PC.

Got questions? Our community have answers! Check out the rFactor 2 sub forum here at RaceDepartment for a great way to engage with your fellow fans of the simulation.

 

[Kenny Paton]

While I agree being on offtopic side, I also feel censored.

There's nothing stopping you starting a thread such as:
How have modders contributed to the success of AC and why have other sims failed in this.
Or something similar,would make an interesting topic..
No off topic worries and no feeling of censorship.

 

[Rastas]

Le Mans alone pretty much maxes 6GB of VRAM, even without cars, if not exceeds. Unless something changed dramatically in the past few months (but I've only been noticing VRAM usage going up lately, not down). Bear in mind that it will still load and run if you set your textures too high, often seemingly without issues, but the framerate will take a hit.

I have a 1050TI 4G and i can run LeMans at max settings whit 20AI whit 80fps stable,the only track i have issues is Nordschleife.

 

[Case_]

 

[ShadowHornet]

I have a 1050TI 4G and i can run LeMans at max settings whit 20AI whit 80fps stable,the only track i have issues is Nordschleife.

The resolution is a significant parameter that's almost always missing on this sort of statement about performance, rendering the rest of the information next to useless.

 

[Case_]

(Significant? If we're talking single screen, which I am, then the difference in VRAM usage in rF2 between 1080p and 1440p is around 400-500 MB in-game in the scenario I tested. Not sure if I would call that significant. I guess it might become somewhat significant if we went to 4k or triple screen, but it certainly would go up, not down.

BTW: official Spa, 16 Porsche Cup cars, texture settings far from maxed:

1080p - 4.1GB VRAM
1440p - 4.6GB VRAM

Le Mans, everything else the same:

1440p - 5.1GB VRAM

I guess they managed to optimize Le Mans since the last time I ran it, so thumbs up.

But replace the cars with the official GT3s (and throw in some LMPs if you really want to make things interesting), bump up the texture settings...yeah, I don't think you're running it on a 4GB card without running out of VRAM, regardless of resolution. More like without actually realizing you are running out of VRAM.)

 

[Rastas]

The resolution is a significant parameter that's almost always missing on this sort of statement about performance, rendering the rest of the information next to useless.

1920x1080 single 27 monitor,atention that im not saying this just for saying,i see ppl whit way better cards and cpus that have issues running rFactor2,the only track i have issues is Nurburgring,but that is comun i think,thats why i prefer the AC version,is a rip,but works way better then original one,S397 devs need to focus on this bugs,loading times,freezes,modding suport etc,as a rFactor2 fan,i must say,is a big mess right now,and is a bit sad,since im a modder making some cool content,and no real suport for us,even the comum track textures are locked,they need to give us more freedom.

 

[s1wyn2001]

How do you know how much vram its using?

 

[Leynad777]

How do you know how much vram its using?

You could run for example CPUID HWMonitor in the background to check any system-usage. The standard-app is freeware.

 

[henkjansmits]

I think i run out of VRAM on Nordschleife with GT3 / LMP2 and max texture settings. The FPS suddenly goes down massively from 80-120 to 30 wih stuttering. This is in RTX 3080 10GB with triple 1440p. I think probably people should consider 3090 from that point of view. But also its prob not very optimised.

 

[Durge Driven]

(Significant? If we're talking single screen

Think he was talking about overall performance.
What he says is true, a lot of times people quote fps and leave out the resolution which again as he said is a significant parameter

I run 1440p with RTX2080 and can make Lemans throw up ram allocation message
with 60 Proto/GTE but u have to wind up settings like max shadow and 30+ visible cars

Other models I can run 60 cars any track @ either 100, 118 or 141 limit
rF2 likes, no needs high fps for best physics feeling


Just a tip I see people complain about no response warning
Don't ever use ESC to leave a session never the higher the settings more so
Instead use "finish session" , it always works, wait till you see AI in garage ...now leave track
You will find the time you wait is less then when you just press esc, which also may not work along with the fact you are looking at garage not at bright white screen

edit: don't lecture me on using less visible cars I know the gains ....I like to run 29, 35, 44, 59 or 63 Ai depending on car with highest settings and set visible the same
I could not stand running less cars looks off to me when they swap
Also reduces the need to touch settings endlessly ( which causes slow loads )
Instead I match ai numbers by model so to get the same fps outcome

I like to run Lemans and Nords and 10k and see Historics melting into distance
The Historic endurance mod at Lemans 60 visible I run 119 fps in nvcp with 5600+

I think it may help steady fps by not always swapping cars in front and behind
and it looks so unrealistic breaks immersion for me

 

[ShadowHornet]

1920x1080 single 27 monitor

Hi, thanks for the information!
Would you be able to confirm the 80 fps running the 20 AI at Le Mans with the Porsche Cup cars, so we can reconcile your results with the frame rate hit predicted by @Case_?

 

[ShadowHornet]

How do you know how much vram its using?

GPU-z (a 3rd-party app), or the software from your video card manufacturer.

 

[ShadowHornet]

(Significant? If we're talking single screen, which I am, then the difference in VRAM usage in rF2 between 1080p and 1440p is around 400-500 MB in-game in the scenario I tested. Not sure if I would call that significant. I guess it might become somewhat significant if we went to 4k or triple screen, but it certainly would go up, not down.

BTW: official Spa, 16 Porsche Cup cars, texture settings far from maxed:

1080p - 4.1GB VRAM
1440p - 4.6GB VRAM

Le Mans, everything else the same:

1440p - 5.1GB VRAM

I guess they managed to optimize Le Mans since the last time I ran it, so thumbs up.

But replace the cars with the official GT3s (and throw in some LMPs if you really want to make things interesting), bump up the texture settings...yeah, I don't think you're running it on a 4GB card without running out of VRAM, regardless of resolution. More like without actually realizing you are running out of VRAM.)

How can you tell how much VRAM is used for AA, and how much by the asset texture cache?
The texture cache could be 4.5 GB on a 6 GB card, and only 2.2 GB on a similar model with 4 GB, and this could have a low impact on fps.

 

[Roberbond]

I have an Nvidia 1070 playing VR (Oculus Rift S). I set the image to 1920x1080 in the VR and the main screen and I get 80-88 FPS. I had everything set to high or full, except the antialising must be set to none. In the Nvidia panel I must set the antialising x8 and FFX active.

If I use the antialiasing mode in the game the fps drops to 35-40. I have 32 gb RAM, and a i7 6700k and that helps too.

 

[Rastas]

Hi, thanks for the information!
Would you be able to confirm the 80 fps running the 20 AI at Le Mans with the Porsche Cup cars, so we can reconcile your results with the frame rate hit predicted by @Case_?

I only use devmod,i have some oficial tracks instaled in devmod and LeMans is one of them,i do not use oficial car,thoses results are whit my Evo9 time attack mod and AE86 time attack,boths mods from old days of rFactor1,that i have converted to rFactor2,the only track is a mess whit low fps is Nurburgring,the rest is great,even the latest Targa Florio and IOMTT

 

[Jach]

Texture quality as in player detail and opponent detail? There are a lot of somewhat confusing settings that all need to be maxed out. Texture detail setting alone only controls the track textures. By the way, you have massive jagged edges also on the track, it looks like AA is not turned on.



Moving to rF3 won't change much because they cannot start from scratch either way, so it would essentially be rF2 but rebranded. Software has grown so complicated that to start rF3 from scratch would be a bit like asking Microsoft to make the next Windows version from the grounds up. There are also all the issues with content licensing and likely requirements to renew licenses when a new game is created. It's pretty clear it won't happen at this point.

Yeah when I said texture quality I mean the car's texture quality, which means the player's and opponents' detail, so don't suppose anyone would be so dumb not setting everything maxed out when showing the crappy texture quality here

 

[theguy69]

Can someone help me? I get stutters whenever I keep replays on. If I switch them off I get amazing fps but if I keep them on I get weird stutters which make me lose time and the ai jump around. I hope s397 fixes this

 

[Highlandwalker]

Can someone help me? I get stutters whenever I keep replays on. If I switch them off I get amazing fps but if I keep them on I get weird stutters which make me lose time and the ai jump around. I hope s397 fixes this

Try this, it may help. Open your player json file, scroll down to the Game Options section and find this line, and set to true, false is default. True is my permanent setting, I have no problem with this setting.
"Record To Memory":true,
"Record To Memory#":"record replays to memory rather than disk (may possibly reduce stuttering, but at your own risk because memory usage will be significant for long races)",

 

[bozakn]

I have an Nvidia 1070 playing VR (Oculus Rift S). I set the image to 1920x1080 in the VR and the main screen and I get 80-88 FPS. I had everything set to high or full, except the antialising must be set to none. In the Nvidia panel I must set the antialising x8 and FFX active.

If I use the antialiasing mode in the game the fps drops to 35-40. I have 32 gb RAM, and a i7 6700k and that helps too.

Hi there mate, I'm just curious, how's the picture quality in Oculus S when you downsample it to 1080p? Is it painfully blurry, can you read the dash display? Is the immersion factor broken in some way?
I'm asking because I'm considering finally buying a VR headset, but I don't wanna spend a fortune on GPU.

 

[theguy69]

Try this, it may help. Open your player json file, scroll down to the Game Options section and find this line, and set to true, false is default. True is my permanent setting, I have no problem with this setting.
"Record To Memory":true,
"Record To Memory#":"record replays to memory rather than disk (may possibly reduce stuttering, but at your own risk because memory usage will be significant for long races)",

Thank you mate. Works much much better now. I only have 16gb of ram. Will that be an issue for longer races?