rFactor 2 - Beta Released

[Duke]

Following along from a similar concept iRacing have done...

INTRODUCING THE FORMULA SERIES 2021

In this article we’re unveiling the first details about Formula Pro and Formula Challenge.
We are building a brand new car for Formula Pro and Formula Challenge! While we’re keeping the car under wraps for now, below are some of the specs of the car. We’re extracting 800 HP from a 18000 RPM screaming engine. 680 KG is leaning on the tires at stand still, with an additional 2400 KG worth of downforce leaning on top of that at speed! To keep the car in top shape during all your Formula Series races, the cars is fitted some serious tires, meaty brakes and double wishbone suspension with 3rd elements all-round.

[Duke]

Released | BMW M4 Class 1 2021 – New Free Content

rFactor 2 are exceptionally proud to release a wonderful new free car to the simulation – the BMW M4 Class 1 2021 is here!
Built in very close collaboration with the development team at BMW HQ, the Class 1 marks the introduction of a new type of tin top racing machine in rFactor 2, one that is rather unique and special as it sees the realization in our software of the considerable development work undertaken by BMW to create this brand-new car, a machine that would never see the light of day in the real world thanks to changing regulations introduced before a wheel could be turned in anger. While the world of real life motorsport loses out, our simulation community gains with this new car, as the hard work and heavy development undertaken by BMW have all gone into helping our car team here at Studio 397 produce an incredibly detailed and accurate representation of a timeline that never quite managed to break out into the real world – simulation wins again!

Technical Specs
Engine | Type: 2.0L Turbo R4
Power | Max power: 610HP Max rpm: 9500
Weight | 986kg
DRS | Practice/Quali any time – Race within 1 second of car ahead in DRS zones
Fuel tank | 120L
Brakes | Carbon discs and pads (Front 380x35mm, Rear 340x35mm)
Gearbox | 6 speed Hewland gearbox with limited-slip differential

BMW M4 Class 1 2021 | Steam Workshop: CLICK HERE.

[Duke]

Released | Autodromo Nazionale di Monza

Hot off the heels of our free BMW M4 Class 1 2021 release earlier today, another new piece of content is now available for rFactor 2 – the beautiful, iconic, historic and frighteningly fast Autodromo Nazionale di Monza is here! Yes, one of the most prestigious and well-used motorsport venues in the world is now available for rFactor 2 players to enjoy, in all of its 2021 configuration glory.
Here at the Studio we have long been fans of the famous Monza Circuit, admiring both the beauty of the venue itself, and of course the fact that it is a perfect fit for a vast array of different types of racing – from old school thrills in our many classic formula cars to more modern endurance racing adventures – something that is very important to us when we sit down and decide which circuits to licence for the simulation going forward. Another aspect of this new track that we are particularly proud of, especially considering the constraints we are all going through with the latest pandemic travel limitations, is the fact that we could leverage the locality of the track with some of our Italian colleagues, giving us the perfect opportunity to get a highly detailed and fully up-to-date scan of the circuit and surrounding environment, giving us the distinction of having the very latest version of Monza in any racing simulation, and all in millimetre laser scanned accuracy.
Monza Circuit (A$14.26)| rFactor 2 Steam Store: CLICK HERE

[Duke]

Roadmap Update – June 2021

Headlines
Announcing The New Formula Pro Car
Release Candidate and Beta Progress
Tyre Compounds In Overlay
Competition System Linked Sessions
2022 BMW M4 GT3 Announced
Steam Summer Sale

[Duke]

Released | Formula Pro

Formula Pro | AUD$7.91 | Steam Store

[Duke]

Released | Major KartSim Update + New Karts and Tracks

KartSim Change Log
X30EU MINI CADET 2021 v1.72 – New Model aimed for young sim racers 8-13 years old
X30 2021 v1.67 – New PBR shaders, Scaled helmet and updated driver model, New Tyre 2d Art, New icons for recently released Rf2 UI
RENTAL 2021 v1.67 – New PBR shaders, Scaled helmet and updated driver model, New Tyre 2d Art, New icons for recently released Rf2 UI, New Sounds
KZ EU 2021 v1.71 – New shifter kart model!
Whilton Mill 2021 v118 – New Consumer track
Larkhall WSKC 2021 v116 – New Consumer track
PFI 2021 v126 – New PBR Shaders, New AI, Update to tracks
Buckmore 2021 v122 – New PBR Shaders, New AI, Update to tracks
Glan Y Gors 2021 v128 – New PBR Shaders, New AI, Update to tracks
Zuera 2021 v110 -New Consumer track
Wackersdorf 2021 v110 -New Consumer track
Kristianstad 2021 v112 – New PBR Shaders, New AI, Update to tracks
Alaharma 2021 v114 – New PBR Shaders, New AI, Update to tracks
Adria 2021 v118 – New PBR Shaders, New AI, Update to tracks

[Duke]

After releasing a bunch of new and updated KartSim content last week, Studio 397 today released a few updates for the KartSim content.

IAME KZ EU 2021 v1.73
Improved nighttime PBR shaders
Improved compatibility issues

IAME X30 2021 v1.68
Improved nighttime PBR shaders
fixed tyre temp sensor bug
Rental 2021 v1.68
Fixed UI Bug

IAME X30 EU Mini Cadet 2021 v1.73
Improved night time PBR shaders
Kristianstad 2021 v114
Improved AI

Glan Y Gors 2021 v130
Improved AI
Adria 2021 v120
Improved AI

Whilton Mill 2021 v120
Improved AI

[Duke]

Studio 397 today released an update for their Monza DLC.
As well as a number of fixes it adds the Monza Junior Circuit and Monza Grande Circuit layouts.

Autodromo Nazionale di Monza v1.21
– Added Junior and Curva Grande Layouts
– Updated Cut Detection on Main Layout
– Replaced a few tree types and some minor foliage updates
– Updates to road tyre marks
– Reduced crowd density in practice sessions
– Some optimization to Shadow and Detail settings
– Fixed road line decal clipping before first chicane
– Fixed AI car behaviour swapping lanes on rolling starts
– Slight adjustments to AI lines through Lesmo turns
– Fixed some minor lodding issues with Trees

[Duke]

Studio 397 today released a public update that has been tested in their opt-in release candidate testing for the past few weeks. This new update adds linked sessions (you don’t have to disconnect and reconnect between races anymore and can advance to the next one with the chat command “/callvote nextsession”), updated cloud textures and improved visuals in a number of other areas and is generally a pretty big update. Check out the release notes below:

Steam Build IDs
Client 7070526
Dedicated 7070530

General
rFactor 2 Build Bumped to 1125
Added MetallicNoise.dds to Vehicle Common Maps so that it does not need to be packed with each car
Updated Flag Stations so they will not assign to the Pit Path.
Updated parsing of Flag Station Instances (cornerworkers, safetyworkers, digitalflags) so all instances are parsed and do not require any specific naming order.
Added auto grouping of flag stations to the same point on track. Note: It is now recommended to only place Safetyworkers next to Cornerworkers or Digital flags to ensure a flag is waved or shown correctly.
Made the distance to group flag stations together configurable (GDB: FlagStationGroupDist=30)
Updated Yellow Flag and Blue flag logic to work correctly with flag station grouping
Made the distance before and after an incident at which a yellow flag is waved configurable (GDB: FlagStationIncidentMinDist=20, FlagStationIncidentMaxDist=250)
Fixed digital flags all flashing checkered the second a car finishes the race. Instead they now follow the logic of other flags and only flash progressively around the track as cars finish.
Enabled chat command “/callvote nextsession” on a dedicated server to advance to next session.
Removed Hide Cursor default assignment to “delete” key from controller settings. Note this does not affect existing profiles.
Fixed cars showing up with the team name missing when using a custom team in multiplayer via the new UI
Synced min/max ranges for options in the backend (playerbasefile) with the new UI’s default (JNIOptions)
Added ability to specify slot using steam id for some chat commands
Save steam id when a driver disconnects from a session
SteamId is saved when somebody disconnects, so it appears in the result xml

Graphics
Reviewed & updated all Cloud Textures
Improved Lighting Calculations on Clouds and Atmospherics
Fine-tuned and optimized rain particles (50% less particles now)
Improved ModDev options with ability to force a specific cloud texture as well as set cloud cover at any point.
Ensured that cloud textures are never loaded ad hoc, which would previously cause some stuttering online or in replays.
Fixes for various issues that were present when the cloud update was previously released.
Fixed an issue when saving PNG screenshots via the built-in game function where alpha information seems to get saved around the glows and glares, for example around the sun.
Fixed an issue where Sunglare at dawn or dusk on ultra-wide or triple screens would be undriveable.
SSR – screen space reflection implementation for wet road reflection
Reduced Sky Exposure and rebalanced auto exposure for these changes
Fixed issues with Night Time under-exposing.
Enabled Auto Exposure adjustments whilst game is paused
Slightly reduced TV Camera low-sun exposure levels
Faster Exposure Adjustment on TV Cameras to reduce the noticeable fade when changing camera
Fixed Differences in ToneMapper and Exposure in Showrooms vs In-Game
Added Missing Ambient and Static Mappers to Default Showroom
Fixed an issue where Static Mappers would not update after a game session time change
Fixed some road objects not having wet weather reflections
Improved Puddle Normal Maps
Fixed some issues with how reflections work at the side of the screen.
Improved blur and general tweaks to level of road reflections
Fixed some car parts not reflecting (including enabling reflections on car headlights)

UI
Load server lists (Internet, LAN, Favorites, Friends) asynchronously
Added extra UI options for setting up steering wheel rotation settings (Rotation limit mode, max wheel angle mode, default max wheel angle).
Ensured that appropriate settings are enabled/disabled with the right options.
Readjusted Controller Calibrate layout so that all items fit without scroll bar
Fixed Point to Point tracks wrongly closing loop
Fixed unnecessary scroll bar on Display Options Screen
Made it possible to sort the packages list by the installed column. Also made it possible to sort the multiplayer list by version while refactoring the table component config a bit.
Fixed standings table alignment where long class names would cause problems.
Replaced underscores in car class name with spaces and allow it to wrap to second if needed.
Fixed bottom shadow sometimes being positioned wrongly in the lap history pop-up.
Fixed an issue when losing a connection to the dedicated server that the network connection error dialogue would only show up when leaving a subsequent single player session.
Added spectators to player list when in race monitor, and allow kicking/banning of them via the same process as kicking/banning an active player
Updated event full-screen so only data that is needed for the elements being visible is fetched and updated.
Fetch live standings in event screen with WebSocket instead of polling.
Show total race time for race winner and the final gaps to winner for other drivers as they finish the race.
Added start-up Wizard to assign basics controls at startup
Fixed server join button not working if you clicked it on the outside of the “join” text.
Fixed upgrade description not being visible with a long list of upgrades on the tuning screen.
Fixed shadow positioning in packages table with only a few packages showing
Fixed series list being empty if there were two series with the same name
Added checkbox option to remember the password for a server.
Your last selected server list type (Internet, LAN, Favorites, Friends) is now remembered on the multiplayer matchmaker screen.
Removed useless scrollbar on options calibrate page when in an event.
Added UI setting for toggling FFB strength direction between negative and positive.
Added track type and length to track loading screen.
Added disabling of “next session” button in single player admin controls when there is no next session.
Made list layout the default layout on all pages that use it.
Made changes to reduce time the light grey screen is shown, for example when leaving an event and returning to the main menu.
Fixed the current selection (series, car, track) sometimes not loading in the main menu start and race screens.
Made sky setting also affect the rain chance setting.
Added showing raw range (min, max) for control axes on the options calibrate page.

Live stream overlay
Class colors on text no longer working: No code changes; text color needs to specified with a “color” field in the custom overlay config.json along with the previous “backgroundColor” field.
Added RPM, speed, gear and pedal inputs to the driver info overlay.
Added error checking for endpoints failing when overlays folder does not exist.
Added driver name options drop down to overlay control panel and updated overlay elements to use it.
Added DRS active classes to battle box, extended battle box and tower overlay elements.
Added DRS active text to battle box element.
Fixed color swipe animation being positioned slightly wrong on some overlay elements.
Fixed in-game panel toggling not always working.
Fixed overlay not working at all if the configured overlay folder does not exist.
Added prev/next buttons for season standings and in-race season standings elements.
Added background color to control panel table rows when showing multiple car classes. The color is faded from the one defined in config.json for that class.

Modding
Added a content error if a Cube Map is wrongly assigned.
Added New AI Editor Methods for updating Cut Corridors including Finding, Normalizing, Setting to Corridor values, Setting to Collision Corridor values as well as setting if adjusting Corridors effects Cut Corridors.
Added specific functions for Normalizing Corridors and Normalizing Collision Corridors.
Fixed RealRoad errors loading Loch Drummond in ModDev
IBL Road Shader: Made configurable the effects of the blue channel of a Road Detail Map. Now can enable/disable masking of the overlay function and the decal map.
Added the ability to constrain a Camera to the Pitlane or the Main Track.
Enable Trace logging by default in ModDev

[Duke]

Studio 397 today released another free Tatuus car to join the existing T318, F4 T104, FT50, FT60, MSV F3 T106, PM18 and USF 17.
The Tatuus MSV F3-020 packs a six-speed sequential gearbox operated by paddle shifters on the steering wheel rather than a more traditional stick shift design, and unique to the BRDC British F3 Championship the car also features a limited-slip differential.
This new car runs exclusively in the BRDC British Formula 3 championship.

Subscribe in the Steam workshop to receive the free Tatuus-MSV F3-020

[Duke]

Roadmap Update – July 2021

Headlines:
Helmet Updates – Coming Soon
New Safety Car!
USF2000 PBR Update
Tatuus Updates
New PBR Track Update Coming Soon
Competition System Developments
Sound Issues
Overlay Improvements
A New Car Announcement
Driver Swaps – Developments Ongoing
Looking back on July

[Duke]

USF2000 PBR Update

USF2000 is free, just subscribe via the Steam Workshop: CLICK HERE

USF2000 v2.24:
All materials converted to PBR
New chassis textures
New engine textures
New gearbox textures
New cockpit textures
New steering wheel textures
New tires textures
New brake callipers textures
New brake disc textures
Updated rims and blur textures
Added new driver model and new driver animation
Added new helmet
Added new helmet skins
Converted all car skins to PBR
Updated LODs
Added all new gloves

[Duke]

Roadmap Update – August 2021

Headlines:
Zandvoort 2021 Update
Tatuus Updates
New Release Candidate
Faster Loading Times
Increased Exposure Settings
Looking back on August
Recommended Viewing – rFactor 2 Esports Competitions

[Duke]

Studio 397 have updated their Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car and released their newly rebuilt 2021 Zandvoort.

Porsche 911 GT3 Cup v1.41
– External cam position tuning.
– Minor fix to AI driving line to help avoid hitting curbs and flipping.

Zandvoort 2021 v2.50 | Steam Workshop
Complete update and rebuild of Zandvoort to track state in July 2021, including curb colours and reported DRS zones at the time.
Any adjustments since July 2021 will be addressed in a post release update.
Major rework of terrain to conform to point cloud data.
All major assets rebuilt from scratch including Pit Building, Grandstands and more.
Barriers remodelled and updated to the latest state.
Added various grandstands and props to simulate a reasonably large event.
All new foliage objects and materials.
All latest new PBR materials.
Added new spectators, marshals, rescue vehicles, generic vehicles, tents and more.
New Night lighting Configurations including lit up Grandstand, Pit Building and Town Centre.
Added 2021 National Layout.
New Camera Files.
New AI Files.
Packed extra files for upcoming loading optimizations.

[Duke]

Roadmap Update – September 2021

Headlines:
We are hiring
New rFactor 2 Release Candidate
Windscreen rain effects
Tatuus Updates
Looking back on August
Zandvoort V2.58 Update
Tiillotson T4 Series Released
Competition System
Competition System Blog – Now featuring themed development topics

[Duke]

Studio 397 today updated their Tatuus open-wheel race cars, updating those that required it to current specifications for safety as well as software tweaks, fixes, improvements and changes. The content is free and can be found in the workshop. If you are already subscribed just restart Steam.

Tatuus F4-T014 v1.14
RPM limiter update
Added turbo whistle and pop-off sound
Reduced oversteer on coming of the brakes
Default brake force 90kg

Tatuus USF-17 v1.14
Added Frontal Impact device
Added oval setup option
Adjusted Rear ride height default 40mm
Adjusted Rear wing default from D1 to B1
Brake Bias default 56-44
Default brake force 70 Kg
56% front pressure bias.
Template fix for the nose cone
Fixed typo in Halo upgrade.

Tatuus PM-18 v1.32
Add Frontal Impact device
Removed rear geometry description from tuning page
Add oval setup option
Brake Bias default 56-44
Default brake force 70 Kg

Tatuus FT-50 v1.14
Gears added preload setting in LSD
Brake Bias default 56-44
Default brake force 80 Kg

Tatuus_F.3_T318 v1.20
Added turbo whistle, pop-off sound, ALS (anti-lag-system Upshift bang)
Gears added the LDS linear
Reduced oversteer on coming of the brakes
Removed brake blanking option
Default brake force 70 Kg
Added front caster setup option, range 2,5-4,5 0.5 steps default 3,5.
Added UMP front setup option, range -5 +10 default STD (=0)
Change rear default tire pressure from 109 to 115 kPa
Asia F3 only: Gitti tire drop off, wear. Increased wear by 25%.

[Duke]

Studio 397 today announced on social media that they have begun to host regular time-slotted race events every day using their competition system.
Until now, it hosted special events or one-off tests & obviously finding online races has been a major issue for rFactor 2 since launch, so this should be welcome news to many and the first step many people will have towards using it online. Find the races in the sim, via multiplayer which appear to run every 30mins and every 6 hours as per below;
Tatuus | Every 30 mins
Radical | Every 30 mins
Ferrari | 4 Daily Races 03:00-09:00-15:00-21:00
Formula E | 4 Daily Races 00:00-06:00-12:00-18:00

[Duke]

Roadmap Update – October 2021

Headlines:
Driver Labels Return – New and Improved!
Steam Halloween Sale – Massive Savings
New Opt-Out Build and Release Candidate
Looking Back on October

[StanDaam]

Hooray, taking away the driver labels was soooo annoying!!

[Duke]

Studio 397 have deployed a new build to Steam that will speed up the loading times in the software, among other fixes and tweaks.

Steam Build IDs:
Client: 7810236
Dedicated Server: 7810246
rF2 Build: 1.1126

Game Loading
Optimizations to Game Loading and Series switching.
Optimizations to Texture Loading.
Added the ability to load cached track files from the component to improve loading times.
Improved shader loading and added pre-built shader cache to improve loading times.

UI
Fixed an issue where Exaggerate Yaw would default to -80%

GFX
Minor pass on cloud texture balancing.
Adjusted PFX settings to allow for more exposure in low light conditions.

Audio
Updated minimum number of audio effects to 32.
Fixed: Number of audio effects sometimes resetting to 1.
Fixed: Audio cutting out after changing force feedback settings.

Modding
Updated ModDev to save and load CBASH and RRSHD files into track folders so that they can be packaged with content.
Detect if VisGroups affect collision and log this occurrence and in ModDev only show a pop up.

Controller Profile Updates (General)
Set Exaggerate Yaw to 0
Fixed various missing ‘Clutch-In’ entries that had been deleted by accident
Fanatec Podium Wheel Base DD1/2
Default “Steering resistance type”:0,
Added pedal inputs
Thrustmaster T300RS Racing wheel
Fixed mappings

[Duke]

Today we are pleased to deploy a new Release Candidate update for rFactor 2!

The new build deployed today sees a return of a much-requested feature by our sim racing community here at rFactor 2 – driver labels! We at the studio resolved to review and improve how these labels are shown in the simulation with this new update, and I’m sure you will agree the new design is far more appealing visually than before, with the added bonus of new functionality introduced that now finally shows any in session penalties applied to the driver.

We have extensively tested these new driver labels to ensure they offer the best solution between clarity and visual effect, without compromising the view of the driver and ensure the labels appear and disappear at appropriate distance from the player car – we hope you like what we did!



Other changes that form part of this latest Release Candidate include some further refinements to our graphics engine, with particular attention paid to the way rain is presented on car windshields and subtle but immersive improvements to glare and lighting situations. These changes have offered us the opportunity to further improve this aspect of the software and produce what we believe is a far superior way of representing rain drops on windscreens – adding what we believe is a much enhanced visual experience.




Update Notes
Client 7889012
Dedi 7889035

HUD
New driver labels

Graphics
New wet windscreen shading that can be tweaked per car
Adjusted Lighting Calculations correcting some issues with Direct Light Hue.
Updated PostFX Glare Settings for more control day vs night
Updated Windscreen Shader and new Glass shader for Tracks, with improved specular calculations.

Modding
Fixed duplicated Road and Curb shaders displaying in Max plugins.

[Duke]

Release Candidate Update

Steam Build IDs
Client 8040261
Dedicated Server 8047819

- Custom controller profiles no longer save with -80% exaggerate yaw
- Yaw override in controller profiles defaults to being disabled unless added manually
- Official controller profiles have been updated to override this to 0% for all steering wheels, among other override changes
- Reviewed Glare Settings to reduce excessive brightness in day, and improve headlights at night
- Some small adjustments to Lighting Parameters, to bring warmer hues to the scene.

[Duke]

The. much anticipated new UI releases on the 27th.

[w00dsy]

Thank fuck. That looks heaps better than the abortion that it's been in the past.

[Duke]