The latest edition of the rFactor2 roadmap has been released and there is some tasty content on the way along with some other neat updates.
As a big rFactor2 fan I am excited to see the latest news regarding new cars coming to the highly accurate sim, especially the BMW M4 GT3, it's a popular choice in iRacing so I would expect it will a go to car for many in rFactor2.
Here are the highlights from the latest roadmap update:
Announcing The New Formula Pro Car
A new car is about to be released for rFactor 2, in the form of the mighty Formula Pro – a realisation of how top tier open wheel formula racing will be represented in the years ahead. The introduction of the Formula Pro in rFactor 2 will mark the fastest and most modern open wheel machine within our collection of vehicles, featuring no-less than an eye watering 800 HP delivered to the real wheels of a car that weighs just 680 KG. Complete with modern safety devices like Halo head protection system, this new car takes a lot of skill and effort to race, and gives us all a small insight into how open wheel racing is set to develop in the very near futureRelease Candidate and Beta Progress
Earlier this month, we deployed a substantial new ‘Release Candidate’ build update for the simulation, bumping the version number for this latest RC build and adding the new and (we believe) dramatically good-looking first pass at Screen Space Reflections (SSR) – vastly improving the way rFactor 2 represents reflections in wet road conditions, adding a much appreciated level of graphical depth and quality to the simulation when racing in the rain on any given track within the title. Of course, with such a considerable improvement to the graphics of the software, we anticipate small fixes and updates will be required over the comings weeks to ensure everything is performing exactly as expected, something that we are monitoring and working on at a near daily basis back at HQ.What this does mean, following a release of this size, is that much of our attention is currently focussed on supporting the quality of life and development of the latest Release Candidate update – addressing any issues that have been presented by the community and generally making sure that everything is performing correctly, and addressing any bugs and problems that crop up between now and when we turn this latest Release Candidate build into the main rFactor 2 branch on Steam.
Already we have received a few reports of various items of interest from the community, which we are in the process of reviewing and tweaking for the next hotfix update currently in development.
Although a lot of our resource capacity is quite rightly focussed on the continued improvements to our current RC build, we are also turning our attention to the next batch of updates that are underway behind closed doors (the workflow never stops!) – although these changes are still at an early stage as we focus mostly on supporting the current RC, we have plenty of interesting fixes and improvements planned for our next update.
Tyre Compounds In Overlay
One of the key areas we are looking at expanding in the near future is the amount of information shared to the game overlay, something that should help enrich the various rFactor 2 broadcasts that are regularly run both centrally here at Studio 397, and out within the wider rFactor 2 community. With the introduction of the upcoming Formula Pro open wheel car, and the inevitable selection of tyre compounds that machine comes with, we have resolved to upgrade our overlay system to show the viewers at home which compounds are in play for each driver at any given time – something that we feel will bring a positive improvement to the broadcast experience within the simulation.As many of you will likely have noticed from the last Release Candidate update, we have already added a few new features to the in-built overlay that have proven to be popular amongst our active racing community, namely the introduction of a brand-new DRS display, as well as the welcome addition / return of RMP, speed, gear and pedal inputs. Needless to say we will continue to look at refining and expanding this powerful tool within the simulation, as well as continuing to enjoy the many varied event broadcasts our outstanding community so impressively produce.
2022 BMW M4 GT3 Announced
If you tuned in to the recent BMW Reveal Event ahead of our new BMW M4 Class 1 2021 announcement, you may have noticed a cheeky little reference to another new car towards the end of the show – that’s right, we have signed a licence agreement with BMW to bring the new for next season 2022 BMW M4 GT3 to rFactor 2 – a car that will represent the 14th GT3 model in the simulation, and should prove to be a very exciting and dramatic modern upgrade for the rapidly expanding field of GT3 cars already on offer in rFactor 2.Developed as the successor to the M6 GT3, the new machine represents what BMW hope will become the new standard in GT3 performance. Based on the latest generation BMW M4, the new car not only looks dramatically different to its predecessor, but should pack a greater punch out on the circuit with improved consistency and tyre life one of the key cornerstones of this latest design. Of course, it is still very early days for the sim version of this car, as the real world M4 GT3 is still very much undergoing intensive testing and select race outings ahead of its 2022 competition debut, so stay tuned on the Studio 397 website and rFactor 2 social channels for further updates and news about this exciting new addition to rFactor 2 in the weeks and months ahead.
That’s about it for the things we can talk about going forward, rest assured these are just the very tip of the iceberg here in rFactor 2 land – we’ve got PBR updates, new licences, new cars, feature improvements, bug fixes and many other things besides all cooking away in the background – but more on some of those topics another day.
As is tradition in these roadmap posts, we will now turn our attention to some of the key highlights that occurred during the month about to pass, with a quick look back on some of the things we have achieved in June….
AND THERE'S MORE...
There is a ton of other goodies in the official update from Studio397 including Summer sale, competition system and a look back at June. Check out that article by Paul Jeffrey