rFactor 2: November Development Roadmap

[Paul Jeffrey]

Studio 397, the new developers of rFactor 2, have revealed their second monthly 'Development Roadmap' instalment for the simulation and have shed further light on the future plans of the sim, details on a move towards more paid 3rd Party content and a release date for the USF2000 series pictured above.

With Studio 397 having taken over the development rights of rFactor 2 from Image Space Incorporated, it is again refreshing to see the new commitment to a more transparent approach to community communication with regards to the future of rFactor 2. New for the month of November, the second instalment of the promised monthly development diary mainly confirms the team are still hard at work developing the upgrade to DX11, planned to launch in the first quarter of 2017 and with it bring VR support to the title for the first time. Other news of a more immediate interest include the confirmation that players will soon receive the 2016 USF2000 series as a free piece of additional content, due to hit the game in just five days time. As well as bringing all the teams and drivers from the 2016 season, Studio 397 have also secured the rights to produce the 2017 season, including the new car, which should be released during the new year.

Perhaps of a more controversial nature, Studio 397 have again gone on record to state their desire to utilise the Steam Workshop functionality within the game to launch paid 1st and 3rd party content for the sim. The intention behind allowing the ability to use this functionality and be curated by the studio "can also extend the whole simulation in some interesting ways and allow people to develop more content and even maybe make a few dollars out of it in the process". It will be interesting to see exactly what shape this takes and how the community will react to the idea in the coming weeks and months.

The full development roadmap can be read below:

"Last month I mentioned that the USF2000 was almost ready and some of you have been asking when it will be released. I am happy to announce that it will be released on Wednesday, November 23rd. This release features the 2016 car and teams, and we are happy to announce that we have also licensed the 2017 car. The 2017 chassis, which is very similar to the F4 car, will be released somewhere next year.

We also wanted to take this opportunity to congratulate our fellow simracer Pablo López on being selected by our colleagues at iRacing to take part in the Mazda Road to 24 Shootout. Since that event took place at NOLA Motorsports Park we sent him an early build of the layout he would be driving to practice.

Community wise we updated our forums and, behind the scenes, also moved our beta forums to this new location. Over the next couple of weeks we will be moving more of the website, including the development blogs, some of which have already been moved.

Development has been focussing on the DX11 engine and laying down the groundwork for our new UI. There’s not much we can show here yet until we’re a bit further along, but we are very happy with the current progress. In the mean time we are getting closer to our next Steam-only build. Remember to take advantage of the free option to migrate to Steam if you have not done so yet. Apart from a lot of smaller fixes this build will also feature the work we’ve done with the Stock Car community and we hope this will make rFactor 2 an even more enjoyable simulation for oval racing. As soon as the new build is out, we will also update you on Fallston.

Another new feature we would like to announce is support for paid content. It will integrate nicely with our workshop, and modders will also be able to leverage it to sell their creations. Obviously we would like to use this feature to offer you a wide selection of high quality and high profile content. This does not mean that all future content we create will be paid though.

That’s all for the second monthly update. Happy Simracing!"​

For more information on the USF2000 and the future of rFactor2, check out our exclusive interviews with both Tim Wheatley and Marcel Offermans of Studio 397.

rFactor 2 is available for Windows PC on the Steam Network right now.

Check out the rFactor 2 sub forum here at RaceDepartment for the latest news and discussion regarding the simulation. Have a browse through our extensive mod database, share a setup or even better come along and join in the fun in one of our awesome club racing events!

Did you enjoy the November Development Roadmap from Studio 397? Do you feel positive about the future of rFactor 2? Looking forward to the USF2000 content? Let us know in the comments section below!

 

[Jockey]

Did you enjoy the November Development Roadmap from Studio 397?
No.

Do you feel positive about the future of rFactor 2?
They haven't done anything other than announcements so far. So I don't know. It sounds good but I want to see their work on the game. They like to talk vaguely. "Yeah we might do something or might not."

I guess on 23th of november we will see their first work on the game.

Looking forward to the USF2000 content?
Yes. Free racecar is a free racecar.

 

[leseb64]

good starting, after the DX11, I would judge on the measure taken for the online

 

[M D Gourley]

It is fantastic that Studio 397 is communicating it's thoughts, and although not giving to much away at this stage it is still early days, I personally think it will be a long road ahead....I would compare it to Reiza Studios' taking over 18 months of hard work to create 'Automobilista' from the ashes of rF1 and the result is amazing...so I have great confidence in Studio 397 in massaging the greatness out of rF2 and creating a worthy Sim for the future....exciting times ahead

 

[Szymon Olizarowicz]

Did you enjoy the November Development Roadmap from Studio 397? Do you feel positive about the future of rFactor 2?

Well, they still haven't answered the question whether owners of lifetime will have unlimited access to future content produced by the developers.

It has always been a mutual understanding between former dev team and the community, that the lifetime purchase (or annual fee) was supposed to support the sim in the future and enable them to give us cars without selling them. I remember instances of the old dev team acknowledging that ISI servers are completely useless and empty 99% of the time and this 'mutual understanding' continued. I would like to know how this mess will be sorted out going forward. This is a complex issue and I don't expect a solution immidiately, but an acknowledgement from the dev team would go a long way to persuading me that new team is aware of the problems which aren't going away just because rf2 brings some new content. It's a great sim, but it's flawed in several areas.

 

[Rodent]

Paid mods will be interesting. The last couple of mods I've been excited for have well either in the case of Simteks GT3 crashed and burned, and Enduracers got a rather mixed reception. It's also essentially DLC for a game that justified it's MP cost with "no dlc". It also poses the question will the modders that charge for their mods be required to keep them updated? If 397 updates something that brakes a mod no longer supported will that purchase be reimbursed? Will a standard be enforced, ie no mods without the CPM etc? Looking forward to seeing how it'll turn out, could go either way really.

 

[Gijs van Elderen]

mods be required to keep them updated?

They don't have too. Everything is backwards compatible from day 1.
But i appriciate if these modders keep things up to date.

Will a standard be enforced, ie no mods without the CPM etc?

It's up to you.
Basicly the rF1 physics with sample tires for rF2 work just fine. Reiza did a great job with just the rF1 physics and people bought it.

BTW: CPM are for tires that need to sustain extreme loads. Like the stock cars and oval racing. GT cars could benifit from it, but they do just fine without. For a skippy it is not necessay.

 

[Rodent]

Hah, really hope we don't see a anything goes approach. I've dabbled in grabbing all mods that showed up in the workshop, and the quality is all over the place. Nothing kills interest in rF2 faster then "mixed quality content", heck it's the most frequent complaint I see directed at the sim. It really will need some sort of curation if it's to stand a chance.

 

[ronniej]

Pretty safe to say, if rFactor 2 decides to Implement full VR support, It'll become more difficult for me to ignore and will probably look into what's out there for VR units....Especially if AC has it fully supported as well. In any event, news about rF2 getting polished is frikin' fantastic.

 

[Slyfrequency]

I'm sure next month we'll have plenty of juicy screenshots and information for us all. They're just working hard

 

[MarcG]

- Did you enjoy the November Development Roadmap from Studio 397?
Well there wasn't a great deal in it which is to be expected, once they get up and running I'm sure these Roadmaps will become a bit more interesting. Was hoping for more specific details on the next Build rather than the very short piece on it.
This also confused me: As soon as the new build is out, we will also update you on Fallston. - What the hell is Fallston?!

- Do you feel positive about the future of rFactor 2?
Yes, but proof is in the pudding so it'll be an interesting future for sure.

- Looking forward to the USF2000 content?
Not really, don't do Open Wheelers that much.

 

[Marcel Offermans]

What the hell is Fallston?!

RD featured it before, so I assumed people were familiar with the name: http://www.racedepartment.com/threads/rfactor-2-new-fallston-motor-speedway-previews.123449/

 

[Slyfrequency]

What the hell is Fallston?!

It's Bristol Motorspeedway but named otherwise to avoid copyright etc. Very nice looking track

 

[MarcG]

aahh hehe ok thanks guys thought it may of been "facebook" but a predictive text error

 

[ALB123]

Hey guys. I play Assetto Corsa, exclusively. I've been playing AC since leaving my first PC Racing title GT6 in Oct 2015. I've heard rFactor 2 is a pretty amazing sim in some ways, and not so amazing in other ways. What sim isn't, right? People have told me it is extremely technical. I guess that's one of the things that draws so many people to rFactor 2, but also probably intimidates others.

I rarely go online and race. I'm not against it, I'll go thru phases where that's all I do for weeks and then I go back to just hotlapping and racing the AI. I totally suck at tuning. I know rF2 is pretty much the King of Sims when it comes to physics & available tuning parameters. Is that why people are usually drawn to rF2?

From what I've seen visually, rFactor 2 obviously isn't the most beautiful of PC sims. However, with such an incredibly advanced Tire Model, so many tuning options, etc...Why aren't way more people playing rFactor 2? I'm thinking about trying rFactor 2...who knows? Maybe I'll love it! If not, at least I supported a dev in the genre I love. So no problem with that.

Oh, I should add that I prefer Street Cars to Race Cars a lot! I know there is a modding scene for rF2, but I don't think it's as big as AC's - which is another head scratcher - but I don't know if the mods are mostly race cars or street cars or an even split...I've been hearing a lot of very good things about Automobilista, but from what I've seen I think it's like 95% race cars. Then again, I haven't really looked at it in months.

I just it comes down to: What makes you guys play rFactor 2 over other sims? Since I enjoy AC, are there certain things (physics, force feedback & driving feel) that I should love just as much, or even more in your opinion, in rF2? I'm not some fanboy. If you think AC is the biggest piece of trash ever made, feel free to tell me that opinion. Just kind of looking for someone to sell me on rF2.

Thanks guys!

 

[Bwana]

Hey guys. I play Assetto Corsa, exclusively. I've been playing AC since leaving my first PC Racing title GT6 in Oct 2015. I've heard rFactor 2 is a pretty amazing sim in some ways, and not so amazing in other ways. What sim isn't, right? People have told me it is extremely technical. I guess that's one of the things that draws so many people to rFactor 2, but also probably intimidates others.

I rarely go online and race. I'm not against it, I'll go thru phases where that's all I do for weeks and then I go back to just hotlapping and racing the AI. I totally suck at tuning. I know rF2 is pretty much the King of Sims when it comes to physics & available tuning parameters. Is that why people are usually drawn to rF2?

From what I've seen visually, rFactor 2 obviously isn't the most beautiful of PC sims. However, with such an incredibly advanced Tire Model, so many tuning options, etc...Why aren't way more people playing rFactor 2? I'm thinking about trying rFactor 2...who knows? Maybe I'll love it! If not, at least I supported a dev in the genre I love. So no problem with that.

Oh, I should add that I prefer Street Cars to Race Cars a lot! I know there is a modding scene for rF2, but I don't think it's as big as AC's - which is another head scratcher - but I don't know if the mods are mostly race cars or street cars or an even split...I've been hearing a lot of very good things about Automobilista, but from what I've seen I think it's like 95% race cars. Then again, I haven't really looked at it in months.

I just it comes down to: What makes you guys play rFactor 2 over other sims? Since I enjoy AC, are there certain things (physics, force feedback & driving feel) that I should love just as much, or even more in your opinion, in rF2? I'm not some fanboy. If you think AC is the biggest piece of trash ever made, feel free to tell me that opinion. Just kind of looking for someone to sell me on rF2.

Thanks guys!

ALb 123, if its AI you enjoy racing mostly then rf2 really stands out well above your chosen fav sim atm, Street cars are thin(it is a racing sim after all) but official vettes and the NSX will keep you grinning and sweating . Dont wait ,purchase now ..

 

[ALB123]

Yeah...The AI in AC needs some major improvements. It's gotten better in the year I've been playing , but it's not quite there yet. Interesting, so you're saying that racing the AI is actually a good experience. Sweet. I didn't know that. I know it's a little strange that I desire street cars in "racing" simulators...but unfortunately, I do. I've had some fierce battles with a bunch of F40's or Yellowbirds.

Maybe rF2 being thin in the street car department could be a hidden blessing. It would force me to drive mostly race cars. I don't mind GT cars. It's really just the modern open-wheel vehicles that I don't really care for. Too fast for me.

 

[Bwana]

Plenty of slower historic open wheelers to enjoy or the Caterham if 340kmh isnt your thing

 

[Deleted member 130869]

Before this gets too sidetracked, the best thing to do is: Download the demo while you can, non-Steam. http://rfactor.net/web/rf2/

Read through all session settings carefully and hit the track, and see it for yourself if you enjoy it. You can see the content available here: http://rfactor.net/web/rf2/cars/ The road cars are dated and the NSX is missing lower lods, for example so large fields cause a slow down.


**

I'm curious about the USF2000 but not necessarily looking forward to it, as they are very slow cars. Not as enticing as F-Renault 2.0 (which is still slow) or Indy Lights. Either way, we have very few nice tracks where to take them around, so as ever, we need more tracks or the pieced content will continue to fall into oblivion.

 

[KittX]

I just it comes down to: What makes you guys play rFactor 2 over other sims? Since I enjoy AC, are there certain things (physics, force feedback & driving feel) that I should love just as much, or even more in your opinion, in rF2? I'm not some fanboy. If you think AC is the biggest piece of trash ever made, feel free to tell me that opinion. Just kind of looking for someone to sell me on rF2.

Thanks guys!

It also depends on what are you looking for, in race sim. AC is beautiful, it really is. The sounds IMO are even better than in R3E, just for me. The problem is, it lacks some key elements of racing that some people are looking for. And other sims lack elements which AC fans are drawn towards AC for. AC is perfect for zone out after a hard working day, enjoy the beautiful cars, tracks, but personally I don't know what to do there after a couple of laps. It provokes no interest in me to race or do hotlapping. And I feel kinda disconnected from the driving of the car, it is very predictable and almost impossible to make mistakes (aids off). And I don't feel the edge, like slight weight transfer that can cause totally different cornering, etc. And the track and surroundings, being very beautiful, feels very dead to me. And that's really sad, as it looks and sounds great. AMS for example, also doesn't have animated crowds or marshalls on track, or weather, but just me alone driving on a track provokes me to constantly improve my time, see how further i can push. Last weekend I spent few hours driving just a simple trainer car at cadwell park, trying to improve my time, and it was exciting and exhausting. But if you want to zone out, relax and drive enjoying the views, it won't work for you.
The same with rF2. Yes, at current stage rF2 looks terrible sometimes, but it is very alive in terms of physics, AI, track surroundings. Animated marshalls, weather, possibility to run a long endurance races, save and load them, are the key elements some people need. Today I've just load up an open practice session with Endurance Series mod, using mixed weather, and that whole experience, when you feel the car perfectly, when you see the marshalls working, when you drive under the cloudy sky and suddently there is a sun shines through the broken clouds, and everything on track becomes brighter, and track temp & level of grip becomes slightly higher after the sky became more sunny, even if it looks much worse... you don't really care anymore how it looks. But I'm all in for any improvements on the side of looks, this sim really needs that.