Discuss rFactor2

The car handling in rF2 can be sublime in the right car, drawing me in and making me just want to keep going, lap after lap. Unfortunately, the cars that have the right formula are hit & miss, sometimes the sounds ruin it, sometimes the FFB or steering is wonky (mods usually), sometimes the graphics (certain tracks) are just nasty looking.

s397 has their work cut out for them and the first 2 cars they have released so far have very poor sounds IMO. The handling & FFB seem very good for the most part though, so once they get some remaining pieces of the puzzle in place, progress should prove more satisfying. Most of those issues mentioned can be ironed out eventually but, the thing that can really have a big impact on rF2's success is going to be content; bringing some series to the title could be the catalyst that really moves rF2 forward.

 

That is something AC is a master at, is making all the cars so unique and drivable plus very believable.

The open wheel late 60's cars are amazing in rF2. Most realistic something is lost in the other cars though. Also the 1966 Belgium track is the best I have seen anywhere while the other tracks are old looking. Very inconsistent.

 

This might harsh, but i think RF2 missed the boat, with GTR3 and PCars 2(i'm not fully onboard but waiting to see if they make something out of it) just around the corner, it may be too little too late.

 

GTR3 and Pcars2 are both extremely likely to be simcade less than fully realistic. Comparing them to rf2 or AC will most quite likely be like comparing apples to oranges.

 

who said this?

 

GTR3 compared itself to the Codemasters F1 games in it's press release and why would pcars mess with the formula that sold 2 million copies?

 

Who knows...
I mean, all here are in love with AC, Kunos's works and all the rest.
But noone have a crystal ball to see the future. Maybe that 2 titles will be arcadish, maybe not.
Like user, i just hope that every new title can move forward all the simracing scene.
Gtr3, pcars2, ac2...

 

Sorry for OT, but how did pcars move the genre forward?

 

In some regard - yes but, it remains to be seen if S397 can resurrect it by improving it and making it relevant today; not in the same way that other "Successful" titles are but, in the way of the "Hardcore Sim's". There is "Commercial Success" for the masses and then there is "Simulation Success" for the few; unfortunately, they are likely to remain mutually exclusive categories.

When we consider how many years of intense and focused physics-based development has been invested into the engine under rF2, it would be a shame for it to not live on.

 

Well, for example it's the most complete (by far) sim for now.
Driving model isn't so accurate like Ac, but pcars right now can simulate many many things or can offer stuffs that other sims can't.

Yes, the first point in a sim is the driving experience (physics) and we love ac for this, but unfortunately this isn't all.
Online structure, offline experience, contents, features...
And in certain areas, pcars has set the bar several steps all over the rest.
Like gtr2 did at the time.

 

In some sense - yes but, maybe s397 can resurrect rF2 by improving it, adding new content and refinement. It's not likely to be a commercial success in the way most games are intended. There are titles that are "Commercial Successes" for the masses, and there are titles that are "True Simulation Successes" for the few; those tend to be mutually exclusive categories.

 

Which category does AC fall into?

 

AC is the singularity in the SIM universe, it is a "true simulation success" for the many.

 

I suppose AC sits somewhere in between; it certainly doesn't fit into the one-size fits all for the masses bucket but, it's certainly not a full-on "Hardcore Racing-Sim" either in the traditional sense. I think AC sits in a unique position among Simulations and one that I certainly enjoy but, the term "Simulation" currently covers a much broader range of racing-games than it used to.

 

Yup. The only simulation values ac has are handling, physics and ffb. AC is certainly a real simulator when you count only these three factors in. But things like auto pit lane speed and no engine stall and many more racing-related rules being missing, brake, water, oil temps etc takes away from realism. But many people don't give a rat's a** about temps, engine stall and race functions so to many people, ac is a full-on "Hardcore Racing-Sim".

 

If I've got a free half hour I fire up AC, AMS or Raceroom because I know I can select any car / track combo and have fun with it straight away, drive some laps on the default setup to get a good feel for the car, make a few tweaks to get the handling the way I like and probably still have time for a short race against the AI.

Yesterday I had a few hours free so I fired up rF2...... I chose a car track combo, watched the load screens for quite a while while it built the shaders, finally got in the car, pushed the clutch in, selected 1st gear and...... nothing happened Quit back to the options menu and found that it had lost all my wheel settings for some reason. Spent 10 minutes going through that (saved them this time!), back in the car and the frame rate was horrible. Went back and spent half an hour adjusting that (long load times as it built the shaders for each attempt), had to go on the internet and search what to do when the tree transparency goes wonky, and finally got that all working smoothly

At last, some driving! But each time I touched the brakes (even on the straights) the car spun, massive oversteer in every corner, even after Realroad had rubbered up and given me some grip The kind of uncompromising setup that is super fast if you've got alien skills to drive it, which I don't. So I basically had to build a whole new baseline setup that was driveable for a human so I could at least understand the car and figure it out. And then I could start tweaking the setup to get something that felt good, it took more than an hour before I began enjoying the driving experience.

In the end, the driving was great and had a nice race with the AI where it rained in the night, but it was such a hassle to get that far. Some "safe" default setups would be great, I'm sure a lot of noobs are put off by the defaults on some of the cars, some simracers still don't know how to fix a setup that doesn't suit them. Hopefully Studio 397 can iron out some of the other glitches and make this sim a bit more approachable, because when it's good, it's fantastic!

 

Yeah rf2 has alwasy been a massive pita to setup. But, when you got everything under control, it's a just as massive fun. Driving the old gp or modern open wheeler cars are definitely the strong point of it. For me though, driving the gt500 upwards of bathurst is fascinating. And that roller coaster of a ride when you're getting down... oh boy... It demands your full attention in order to drive such a narrow track but goddamn rf2 has the handling nailed down.

 

You are not wrong about the setup process and load-times and as a first impression, it's no wonder so many new-comer's pass it by. When setup and working properly, rF2 can sustain an engaging and visceral driving/racing experience at the highest level IMO but, there can be a good bit of work to reach that goal. I have my setups at the point where I can now switch between two different steering systems and multiple controller configurations and all I have to do is choose the corresponding controller-profile upon loading the game and it all works perfectly; everything is calibrated, rf2 remembers the settings, the FFB-strength, steer-ratios, etc. but, if you ask me how I reached that point - I'm not sure I could tell you how I achieved it.

 

I must have been lucky because it worked pretty good this time but I think I remember it not working very well the first time I had tried.

Actually, I forgot I had even bought it years ago. They had sent me a reminder to get a code for Steam.

It's the weight transfer I am addicted to in rF2. Can't drive worth a crap. I crash a lot and can't wait to do it again.

rF2 is the only sim I feel the correct speed, and that's with triples screens. I can only imagine what VR is going to feel like? The tires grab and throw the car around where AC just has a flat slid.

Please tell me me I'm crazy because I would love to change a setting to have this kind of tire grab weight transfer in AC because AC is just soooo much more polished in every way. Easy to use. It works all the time and we all could go on and on.

 

I guess if I was in a league and knew I'd be racing a certain car at a certain track in a couple of days, I'd have lots of motivation to get everything working perfectly.... develop a great setup and then have a fun race. Maybe that's how most rF2 drivers use the sim?

Trouble is, I usually just want to pick some random car / track combo and go racing, that's where rF2 can become a bit of a chore. Hopefully I'll also get to a point where I've done all the legwork and got everything sorted and get straight to the racing

Then they'll update and radically change the sim for the better and I'll have wasted my time