rFactor 2 | RCCO eX Zero 2021 DLC Released

[Paul Jeffrey]

Studio 397 have today released the imaginative RCCO eX Zero 2021 electric car DLC for rFactor 2 - an rFactor 2 exclusive machine developed in conjunction with DTM Champion Mike Rockenfeller.

• New DLC available now for £4.55.
• Developed alongside 2013 DTM Champion Mike Rockenfeller.
• Created entirely within rFactor 2.

A DLC with a difference - rFactor 2 have today released a new car to the simulation that doesn't actually exist in real life... the RCCO eX ZERO 2021 has been released and it has been designed by the Studio 397 development team to a specification presented by former DTM Champion Mike Rockenfeller - bringing a brand new and exceptionally powerful electric racing car that should provide incredibly interesting driving coupled with ultra modern battery technology.

From the release notes:

As we draw ever closer to the end of 2020, the world around us is changing in ways we would never have imagined just 10 years ago. Humanity is becoming increasingly aware of the need to preserve our planet for future generations, sustainable options for ways of living are being brought into the conscious minds of consumers at a rate never before seen, and road car manufacturers are increasingly looking to alternative propulsion methods as the future of travel moves yet further away from the traditional ICE power units of today.

With Formula E and the new Extreme E concepts having already proven to be successful showcases for electric racing within the confines of current technology, we’ve been working with a partner to bring a rather different type of car to life within rFactor 2… As our readers well know, we at Studio 397 place an incredibly high value on the accuracy of our simulation, and our ability to recreate any number of different vehicle types within the title. This has led us to build a variety of different cars for the sim over the years, from formula to tin tops, powered by traditional internal combustion engines and modern battery power.

Ever keen to understand the intricacies of many varied types of racing machine, we took on a very different type of project recently; creating a car that confines to all the real world parameters in terms of physics and performance, but starting from a clean sheet of paper with a specification presented to us by 2013 DTM Champion Mike Rockenfeller. Welcome to the world the spectacular RCCO eX ZERO 2021.

Powered by a 100kWH battery and kicking out no-less than 1000hp, the eX ZERO 2021 is a custom-built car – existing only within rFactor 2 – that completely aligns with real world physics and behaviours that would exist should the vehicle find itself out on the real circuits. Enjoying the benefit of 4WD with a 73% rear torque split, the car is capable of 20 minutes of hard racing on a full charge. Lightweight at only 1000 kg without the driver, this car certainly offers exceptional performance and a very lively driving experience!

The eX ZERO 2021 has similar downforce levels to that of a modern LMP3 car, but considerably more torque through the slick tyres, meaning extraordinarily rapid acceleration that will leave the driver plenty of scope to modulate the throttle on corner exit – a critical skill in order to achieve good lap times.

To give you a taste of the kind of performance you can expect from new addition to the rFactor 2 vehicle roster, we enlisted the help of Porsche Carrera Cup Germany driver and rFactor 2 ambassador Rudy van Buren to put the new machine through its paces at the Belgian Spa-Francorchamps Circuit, a track well known to many sim racers, and a perfect venue for comparing the performance of this car to more traditional track based vehicles.


We’ve found the process of developing this car greatly intriguing, to have the scope to realize a vision such as this within rFactor 2 has been a refreshing journey for our development team – and the result is a car that will keep drivers on their tiptoes at every single part of a lap – it’s a wild ride!

We are very proud of the end result with the RCCO eX ZERO 2021 as it really offers something rather unique within the simulation – hopefully you enjoy getting out on the circuit with it too.

RCCO eX ZERO 2021 | Available now in rFactor 2: HERE

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.

 

[RichardHessels]

I know a lot of guys who lost hope in rF2 and stopped purchasing content, because of don't care for bugs.

It's like having a Maserati, which must be stopped each 100km, because something got broken.

But you keep driving it because it's such a great drive.

 

[thepharcyde]

For people complaining about bugfixing, every bug which gets fixed within the game doesn't make you any money at all. Those sims today have to put out content after content to keep the cashflow going. But what did they think about this? honestly i don't know, I mean iracing did a fantasy indycar, but at least it has a real engine with real engine sound. This thing sounds like my daughter going downhill on our vacuum cleaner. I totally get Formula E because its a real series, this is not even a prototype vehicle. Most of the historic content in rf2 is massively outdated and i don't think that stuff will ever be updated, because it's not generating money. Honestly i don't even think this DLC will generate enough money to succesfully maintain itself.

Then release content that's bug free from the outset.

And release paid content with bug fixes on core engine issues. Generally goes down a lot better than......

New this, without addressing people's frustration yet expecting consumers will still come and pay.

Terrible business approach IMO.

 

[passenger]

An electric car? a fantasy car? simulation racing? what kind of life are we living these days?

 

[Ardylicious]

An electric car? a fantasy car? simulation racing? what kind of life are we living these days?

Post post modernism. Where you get more choices and more concepts.

 

[John-Eric Saxén]

For people complaining about bugfixing, every bug which gets fixed within the game doesn't make you any money at all. Those sims today have to put out content after content to keep the cashflow going. But what did they think about this? honestly i don't know, I mean iracing did a fantasy indycar, but at least it has a real engine with real engine sound. This thing sounds like my daughter going downhill on our vacuum cleaner. I totally get Formula E because its a real series, this is not even a prototype vehicle. Most of the historic content in rf2 is massively outdated and i don't think that stuff will ever be updated, because it's not generating money. Honestly i don't even think this DLC will generate enough money to succesfully maintain itself.

This is why sims should ultimately move to generate money some other way, either through prescription or selling new products like Codemasters. The DLC approach is good for short-term revenue, but there comes a point when most DLC content is released. There is exactly one Nordschleife and once you've done it, you have Spa and a couple of others, but after that the list of epic tracks gets short.

The other problem with releasing DLC content is that ultimately it will fragment the user base, which is something that iRacing has already had problems with for several years. Once you get to a point where you have 50+ cars and 20+ tracks, I think focus should be on the core and improving the service.

 

[henkjansmits]

Every car in every sim is electric since computers run on electricity.

Anyway... No. Where is the online scheduled and ranked racing? No more DLC until that.

 

[GOV47]

Drove it a bit last night. Very fun and VERY fast but not tons of grip. Makes it a handful and very rewarding IMO. Look forward to driving it some more.

 

[erniedaoage]

Every software has its bugs, new features and new content will introduce new bugs, that's nothing new that's in games for ages and with the rise of complexity in software there are a lot of bugs ready to hatch. But it's different for everybody what kind of bugs are ok and which kind of bugs are gamebreaking. I mean things like memoryleaks on content should get addressed as soon as possible. You should also update all your content if you introduce new features but that's also something i haven't seen done by many developers. I mean if one programmer sits around 8 hours to finally fix a bug he has to get paid, the only way to get him paid is with additional content for sale because you already paid for your game and the only way to get your money again is with dlcs. I'm ok with that as long as it's a reasonable price or if i am totally into it i would also pay a ridiculous price for it, if it's worth it. But i haven't paid for a single DLC sofar and guess why. There is no drivetrain model since my purchase of a beta build in early 2013 and all the cars i really wanna drive end around 2005. I don't like that gt3 stuff everybody wants to drive. There are so many great series around from the 60s to the mid 00s, but it gets barely touched by any developer. And yes there is good historic content already in the game, but it all looks quite dated if you compare it to the new gt3s and that high voltage lawn mower.

 

[NR The-Boss]

rFactor 2 has some of the best AI on the market, what are you on about? And virtual rides work as well, I dunno about that gripe either. There are a BUNCH of bugs but those aren't some of them.

In my experience, virtual rides are very temperamental. They won't let you have two different cars with the same driver name, and will often crash the sim when loading in a full grid.

AI I have found to be lackluster in the strategy department, as they will often pit two or more times in a 30 minute race. They are also extremely aggressive for my taste, and vary widly in performance from session to session.

 

[RaceNut]

When I was a little kid, in Italy, in order to make the BMX wheels louder we used to attach a piece of cardboard to the seats stay with a clothes peg. The cardboard touches the spokes when the wheels is moving and you get the Vroooooom.
Here we go, Elon, you know how is done now, no more excuses.

We used playing cards against the spokes but the best sounds ever came from inflated balloons. They made a sound like a super raspy V8 but, only lasted a matter of seconds before we'd blown the engine.

 

[avenger82]

I wasn't eagerly anticipating it but if people seem to like it a lot, then I might just get it.

I think a lot of people here need to be reminded that different devs are good at and familiar with different aspects of a simulator. That is to say, S397 can't just magically allocate their content specialists towards backend bug fixes. Yes, there are a lot of bug fixes that are needed, but halting content production isn't the answer everyone thinks it is.

Then they should have hire more devs that would start fixing ever growing issues on TODO list instead of e.g. updating Nords which looked great already. Or should have hired a talented GUI developer few years ago that would lead GUI development so it’s actually more functional and ergonomic than old one.

 

[avenger82]

bunch of hyperactive hamsters)

Lol I’m afraid such drive will never happen in rF2 as it would require substantial enhancement in physics engine

 

[avenger82]

Well, because they have failed to create a compelling experience for me (I don't race in online leagues and after watching the rF2-based leagues during the lockdown, I don't regret it), I have not bought a single piece of DLC from S397. I own 98% of PC2, AC, and all of AMS, and AMS2 (so far), so they have been losing money. I'm sure there are people who feel the same. And I REALLY like Formula E. I really want to race those cars, but I know if I buy it, I'll go in and race a couple times then never go back. There's no championship. No Attack Mode on tracks. Forget a career or car development...

Correction: I did buy the URD GTE mod. Because VIPER. I have it in AC though, so I raced it twice in rF2 and haven't touched it since. Don't think that goes to S397 though.

There are third party tools for custom championships like LogAnalyzer

 

[Peter Kerényi]

rFactor 2 has some of the best AI on the market, what are you on about? And virtual rides work as well, I dunno about that gripe either. There are a BUNCH of bugs but those aren't some of them.

I witnessed on Le Mans as the LMP2 AI was driving behind me in the slipstream on the straight, just braking to keep my speed. Later in the race I witnessed during the lapping of a slower class (GTE) that the AI got stuck behind on the straights and the slower class dive bombed the faster class, AI as well as me, into the corners. Then I was racing Tatuus formulas on Nurburgring GP and I saw as a car hit a bump and flew out of the track. Oh and the braking zones with that combo was brake locking into all tight corners every lap, it was a bizarre smoke show. All of this with relatively new official content, most of it paid content. There can be combinations that are good. But the package is all over the place.

 

[CrimsonEminence]

But you keep driving it because it's such a great drive.

It's the reason, why people care about having it fixed.

 

[Knoxstar]

A zero emission electric fantasy car that only exists in the digital world.

Hmmm...

My 1923 Bugatti in a sim also has zero emissions.

Great exercise for engineers and I hope folks enjoy it but I race simulation because I can't race the real thing.

 

[fireballr18]

But you keep driving it because it's such a great drive.

Less and less tbh but that's a different story.

 

[2stains]

But with a 20 minute battery life you could do about 3 laps on the nordschleife and 4 to 5 on Le Mans.

If it's fictional why limit it to 20 minutes battery? Why not give it 10 hours battery or something ?

 

[davehenrie]

If it's fictional why limit it to 20 minutes battery? Why not give it 10 hours battery or something ?

Rockenfeller addressed that, he is basing all parts of the car on real world components, items that are currently feasible for his car. The Zero, he stated, will get a longer battery life when there is a readily available battery to simulate longer life.

 

[Evi]

Rockenfeller addressed that, he is basing all parts of the car on real world components, items that are currently feasible for his car. The Zero, he stated, will get a longer battery life when there is a readily available battery to simulate longer life.

They have "tuning options" menu and could have created "unrealistic battery" option.