rFactor 2 October Roadmap Update

[Paul Jeffrey]

Studio 397 have revealed their very first official Development Roadmap for rFactor 2, bringing news of a couple of new pieces of content, a brand new licence and insight into the ongoing development surrounding rFactor 2.

Following the recent Sim Racing Expo announcement that a new company, Studio 397, will be taking over development of rFactor 2 going forwards, Marcel Offermans of Studio 397 promised the community a greater level of interaction regarding plans for the simulation. Offermans has today made good on that promise, with the release of Studio 397's first public roadmap for the month of October.

The full October Development Roadmap post can be seen below:

"A car we’ve teased before is the USF2000 and we are happy to report that it is almost ready for release. We are particularly proud of this car as we were able to build it with a lot of support from the series and teams so we’ve ended up with a car that is extremely accurate in terms of both physics and car model. On top of that it is also a lot of fun to drive and has become a favourite of many people on the test team.

Our next track release is going to be NOLA Motorsports Park. Both the race and kart track will be available in different configurations. We’ve been working on it for the past couple of months. Most of the 3D objects are done and we’re currently assembling everything in preparation for further testing.

On the development side a lot has happened. In the background we have moved everything over to new infrastructure that allows us to work on new features in parallel, ensuring that they are only added to the next release when done and tested. We have also spent time automating our processes and intend to use those improvements to deliver updates more quickly.

Over the last year we have been working hard in close cooperation with the Stock Car community to improve the rules for oval racing. That work is still ongoing, and we feel we’re on the final stretch now!

Announced a month ago, the development of the DX11 engine with VR support is still ongoing. This is obviously a big project and apart from building and integrating the new engine we also need to make sure that we stay compatible with our existing content. Our current timeline for getting this integrated is by the end of Q1 2017.

We are also moving closer to the first public release that will be Steam only. It will definitely be released this year and is scheduled to contain a whole list of bugfixes and improvements to the codebase. I would like to take this opportunity to invite everybody that is still using the non-Steam version to take advantage of the free option to migrate to Steam. Future updates will start leveraging more Steam features so the only way to take advantage of those is to move to Steam.

Finally, we have an announcement to make. We have secured a license with Radical sportscars and will be bringing those into rFactor 2. With full access to CAD drawings and performance data we can deliver these cars with a very high amount of accuracy. Work on this has just started, but we are very excited as these are great cars to drive and race!"

The October Development Roadmap contains some pretty interesting content, not least of which is the announcement that Studio 397 have secured a licence to bring the rather tasty Radical brand to the simulation. As many of you will already know, Radical are a sportscar manufacturer based in the United Kingdom and are renowned for developing a wide variety of low weight, high power prototype race cars that are a favourite on the national club racing scene. As well as such classics as the SR1, in recent years the manufacturer has designed and developed ten different models that take part in a variety of one-make and multi-class championships throughout the world.

Further news indicates that the recently revealed USF2000 car is close to release, hopefully coming before the Christmas holiday period. As mentioned in our recent exclusive interview with Tim Wheatley, the USF2000 has been built with unprecedented access to the teams and drivers of the championship and could very well prove to be one of the most concentrated and realistic first party cars seen in rFactor 2 to date.

All in all, it looks like the future of rFactor 2 is very bright indeed. I for one can't wait to see how it all develops.


The rFactor 2 sub forum here at RaceDepartment is the place to go for all the latest news and discussions regarding the simulation. We have a great modding archive, some excellent user created setups (more of these would be nice please folks and of course of great racing club events! Head over today and join in the fun.

Are you happy with the news in the October Development Roadmap? What are you looking forward to the most? Happy to see the community engagement from Studio 397? Let us know in the comments section below!

 

[HoiHman]

I haven't played rFactor 2 for a while, but it looks that might change.

Integration in Steam, VR support 1st quarter 2017 and offcourse the radical cars

 

[Jockey]

I hope they will update the old contects too.

 

[quakeguy]

The Nissan GT500 is the car that will make me give rFactor 2 another go ... until then, it's good to see that things seem to gear up a bit.

 

[M D Gourley]

I personally am feeling very positive with Mr Offermans and Studio 397 taking over the rF2 development, very positive indeed

 

[Terry Rock]

Do you realize we just got more information in a few paragraphs, than all of last year.
I haven't touch RF2 in weeks.
This updated info is much appreciated.

 

[Epistolarius]

Radical is interesting, nice.

 

[tpw]

Do you realize we just got more information in a few paragraphs, than all of last year.
I haven't touch RF2 in weeks.
This updated info is much appreciated.

Yep, given all that's been going on in the racing sim ecosystem it's been getting harder to deal with rF2: the most detailed and feature complete simulation, but all wrapped up in such an unappealing and unoptimised package, with wildly inconsistent 1st and 3rd party content, and developed as an apparent afterthought by an under-resourced team.

To me it looks like Marcel et al are going to simultaneously address all of those drawbacks and allow this incredible title to reach its full potential and hopefully a wider audience. And doing so with positive and meaningful community engagement too. Happy times!

 

[Kurupt CDN]

Its great to see that rf2 will finally transform from an engine demo to a racing game
I look forward to future updates and content, tho to get me back into this title it needs a major racing series license from one of the GT series or touring car series.

 

[David Dominguez]

Well, it doesn't say anything that we don't know, besides the Radical announcement, which isn't exactly the type of content rF2 needs imo.

Also following ISI's tradition to show track previews that show nothing about the track itself, never understood what's the point of showing buildings when making race tracks. I hope that will change eventually.

 

[Martin Vindis]

Announced a month ago, the development of the DX11 engine with VR support is still ongoing. This is obviously a big project and apart from building and integrating the new engine we also need to make sure that we stay compatible with our existing content.

New engine? Does this mean they're creating a new engine and not just slapping DX11 on top of what's currently there?

Anyhow, I'm really looking forward to this happening, not only the DX11 part but everything.

 

[Emery]

Also following ISI's tradition to show track previews that show nothing about the track itself, never understood what's the point of showing buildings when making race tracks. I hope that will change eventually.

Makes at least as much sense as Kunos showing blurred noses of Porsches for their teaser. At least we get to see the artistry & attention to detail that the content creators are adding to the track when it comes to rF2.

 

[David Dominguez]

Makes at least as much sense as Kunos showing blurred noses of Porsches for their teaser. At least we get to see the artistry & attention to detail that the content creators are adding to the track when it comes to rF2.

Wouldn't make more sense to show the artistry and attention to detail in stuff that matters in a track? Like its geometry accuracy, texture detail in asphalt/curbs/grass/sand etc and so on... just my 2 cents.

 

[TzZyO]

I hope there will still be room for more road oriented and older racing cars. Love having a proper challenge in the handling department. Is there any hope for the Porsche license at some point in the future?

 

[Marc Collins]

I have actually driven a Radical SR3, so very much looking forward to that car. It is exactly the type of vehicle rF2 needs--very exciting, but accessible (read: easy to drive up to 95%), which means good for racing for the 99% who are not top-level racers.

 

[Borbor]

would've been nice had they actually made that usf content when it was relevant.

moving to a new car in 17, the old VDs won't be in the top class but rather grandfathered.

 

[jordi latorre martinez]

Hi, I have not played to rFactor2 since Temgo the oculus, I am rFactor but without the VR I can not return to use.
I'm hoping that optimize and I will not use any more.

Thank you and keep coin this work

 

[Alex Townsend]

I really want these updates to be good. I mean you look at the work Reiza are doing with the old engine and you can only imagine what can be done with a similar mindset and approach to the new one.
rFactor got me in to sim racing on PC from playing console racers my whole life, and this then changed my life with the realism I could now enjoy. I'd love it to return to greatness again with the new eyes and focus with 397 and Marcel at the helm.

 

[Sven Hielscher]

rF2 is dead, long live rF2!

I think rF2 needs an urgent revival and every day without news or progress is a bad day. So this is a start and I really hope that we will see more frequent updates.
However, until then my complete modding works are on hold - no, AC is not an option

 

[Slyfrequency]

Definitely looking forward to the radicals, and the fact we get updates is so much better, rf2 is slowly going to be ressurected and will rise above!