The biggest parts of the patch include a more immersive lighting system, new clouds and a fair few bug fixes.
Photo credit: rFactor 2
A new patch dropped for Studio 397’s racing sim rFactor 2 on January 18. This update is primarily a graphical one, though there are some bug fixes related to other matters. With Formula E’s new rFactor 2 esports series on the horizon, these graphical improvements be good news for the new championship when it launches on January 28. For now though, here’s a closer look at the changes which have been implemented in rFactor 2’s first update of 2021.
New build update available!
— rFactor 2 (@rFactor2) January 18, 2021
We have updated rFactor 2 this evening, check out what’s changed in the build release notes found on the forum here (and more to come later this week too!)
Update notes ➡️ https://t.co/7ziuojpF39#rfactor2 #simracing #esports pic.twitter.com/dxUEwDvNZL
To the skies
The changes which will be most immediately obvious to players on the new patch are the ones which affect the sky and light levels. There are two significant changes in this regard. First, a gradual shift from light to dark at dusk has now been implemented. This means that sudden, jarring changes of light levels ought to be a thing of the past. Second is a ‘significant improvement’ to the rendering system for clouds in the game, theoretically meaning that the in-game skies will look far nicer.
While these two changes sound positive, the reception to them from the player-base has been somewhat mixed. Some users are reporting that the new lighting changes make for a far more immersive and realistic experience. Others complain that they cannot see any difference in the newly rendered clouds compared to the old ones.
Other changes and bug fixes
Along with some minor quality of life changes such as the ability for the game to realise when the Steam overlay is not present, so that it can recommend to the user to enable it, the majority of the rest of the patch consists of fixes and tweaks. For instance, an issue wherein a custom skin that failed to load would not be reverted to a default skin has been fixed, as well as one that has caused blurred reflections not to show up.
While this update isn’t huge by any means, the fact that it comes less than a month after the previous patch indicates that more of Studio 397’s attention and resources are going towards updating rFactor 2 than has previously been the case. At the very least, that is good news for fans of the game.
What do you like most about the new update? Tell us on Twitter at @overtake_gg!
