Released March 2021 rFactor 2 Build Release

Discussion in 'News & Notifications' started by Paul Jeffrey, Mar 4, 2021.

  1. davehenrie

    davehenrie Registered

    Joined:
    Jul 6, 2016
    Messages:
    7,454
    Likes Received:
    4,369
    there are toggle switches on the difficulty page for all of those, lights, engine, auto-shifting etc.
     
    Andregee likes this.
  2. bobbie424242

    bobbie424242 Registered

    Joined:
    Oct 17, 2017
    Messages:
    272
    Likes Received:
    355
    Impressive isn't it ? Now let's hope someone at S397 (@Paul Jeffrey) will notice and either fix the huge track loading performance loss with "UI autonomous render thread": true, or revert the default to "false" until it can be properly fixed.
    Faster track loading times are important for saving the planet and very incidentally for not wasting everybody's time staring at the loading screen more than necessary.
     
    Last edited: Mar 25, 2021
  3. davehenrie

    davehenrie Registered

    Joined:
    Jul 6, 2016
    Messages:
    7,454
    Likes Received:
    4,369
    I just changed that last night, the one track I loaded, 'seemed' to chug along slower. I did not time anything but it was clear the single thread was being used as the loading progress circle jerked, paused, hiccupped. I'll have to pay more attention to that.
     
  4. lagg

    lagg Registered

    Joined:
    Oct 1, 2012
    Messages:
    3,043
    Likes Received:
    1,958
    What's the purpose of the "UI autonomous render thread" parameter of the player.json?
    I know that if it's true, the UI runs in a different thread.
    My doubt is, is there any risk setting this parameter to false?
     
  5. bobbie424242

    bobbie424242 Registered

    Joined:
    Oct 17, 2017
    Messages:
    272
    Likes Received:
    355
    Jerky spinner on track loading page => web UI running in main thread => fast loading times
    Smooth spinner => web UI running in its own thread => slow loading times (at least 2x slower)
     
  6. bobbie424242

    bobbie424242 Registered

    Joined:
    Oct 17, 2017
    Messages:
    272
    Likes Received:
    355
    It's safe to change and false was the default for a long time.
     
  7. lagg

    lagg Registered

    Joined:
    Oct 1, 2012
    Messages:
    3,043
    Likes Received:
    1,958
    I know that the default was false.
    But there has to be any purpose for this parameter, because it seems that has a big impact in the load of the content.
    And there has to be a reason to configure the default value as true.
     
  8. bobbie424242

    bobbie424242 Registered

    Joined:
    Oct 17, 2017
    Messages:
    272
    Likes Received:
    355
    The reason is to make the spinner animate smoothly. Well, that's just one reason. The broader one is to keep the UI always responsive and animate smoothly even if the main thread blocks or is stuck (which should not happen in the first place). I am a developer, thus familiar with these things. In the current situation the web UI thread is hogging the track loading thread.
     
    Last edited: Mar 25, 2021
    RaceNut and lagg like this.
  9. lagg

    lagg Registered

    Joined:
    Oct 1, 2012
    Messages:
    3,043
    Likes Received:
    1,958
    Ah ok. I understand, thank you.
     
  10. atomed

    atomed Member

    Joined:
    Jul 9, 2019
    Messages:
    1,332
    Likes Received:
    1,341
    I changed the setting to try and the result was really bad, so I set it to the default again.
     
    lagg likes this.
  11. davehenrie

    davehenrie Registered

    Joined:
    Jul 6, 2016
    Messages:
    7,454
    Likes Received:
    4,369
    somewhat mixed results so far. I have to admit, I was loading Circuit d'Azur last night which was updated. My casual observation of extended time was probably due to that. Not just the pause at around 80% for the cache to be built, but the entire load was slow. Now I've stop-watched some more loads with both true & false and 0 AI car then 21. (still at Azur, I didn't want to overload the pitboxes, possibly causing longer loading times as the sim creates new parking spots)
    Circuit d'Azur v1.15

    TRUE
    0 AI
    38.8 seconds
    False
    33.3

    21 AI
    True
    120.3
    False
    122.7

    5 year old Hard Drive
    Clearly with just loading my car, the False setting was faster. When you pile on AI, then the time gap evaporates.
     
    Last edited: Mar 25, 2021
  12. davehenrie

    davehenrie Registered

    Joined:
    Jul 6, 2016
    Messages:
    7,454
    Likes Received:
    4,369
    Another thing! This may be a really big deal in the long run. When I started rF2 this morning, I was asked by Steam if I wanted to update.
    clicked on that and the update took place. THEN back to normal behavior where PLAY gives the choices of rF2/graphic config etc.

    This separates the update from the time it takes to load the sim itself. Tooo many times we've read of a user who has come back to rF2 after a long absence and the incredible wait time just to get started turns them off instantly. By separating the update from the main program load, it removes the PERCEPTION of a long long load time.

    Kudos to S397 for making a change that hopefully will color positively the impression long lost users have when they return to rF2.
     
    atomed likes this.
  13. bobbie424242

    bobbie424242 Registered

    Joined:
    Oct 17, 2017
    Messages:
    272
    Likes Received:
    355
    @davehenrie

    Intrigued by your results showing you did not have this issue, I made further tests.
    And I found out that this issue only happens when v-sync is enabled either in the game graphics settings (it seems more severe with it set to "Video" rather than "Software") or forced V-Sync for rFactor2.exe in the NVIDIA Control Panel (this was my case).

    To conclude: The combination of V-Sync enabled (either in game graphics settings or in NVIDIA Control Panel) and "UI autonomous render thread": true cause dead slow track loading times.

    EDIT: a framerate limiter (for example using RTSS to cap to 58 fps on a 60Hz G-Sync monitor) causes the same issue, regardless of whether V-Sync is enabled or disabled !

     
    Last edited: Mar 25, 2021
    Kahel and atomed like this.
  14. Diego Barjollo

    Diego Barjollo Registered

    Joined:
    Feb 4, 2020
    Messages:
    125
    Likes Received:
    155
    Can someone explain to me the meaning of Auto Lift and Repeat Shifts and what it means to have it activated in the new options of the difficulty screenModding?
     
  15. davehenrie

    davehenrie Registered

    Joined:
    Jul 6, 2016
    Messages:
    7,454
    Likes Received:
    4,369
    This is merely guesswork on my part, Auto-lift probably means if you are driving a car that requires liftinng the throttle to complete a shift, then the sim will create the pause so the gear-box can match and engage.
    Repeat shifts 'may' refer to users with dirty switches that send more than one signal to up-shift or down-shift. The setting may be a preventative setting to keep users from massive over-revving when downshifting.
     
    Diego Barjollo likes this.
  16. Diego Barjollo

    Diego Barjollo Registered

    Joined:
    Feb 4, 2020
    Messages:
    125
    Likes Received:
    155
    Thank you mate. But the "Repeat shifts" it's not the same as the other one in the player.JSON, isn't it?
     
  17. Gregoryleo

    Gregoryleo Registered

    Joined:
    Oct 6, 2019
    Messages:
    19
    Likes Received:
    11
    Why was the BMW M1 pro car removed from my game? I literally watched it get uninstalled while the game was loading. It is one of my favorite cars in the game and I was actively using it at the time. And I'm still subscribed to it in steam.
     
  18. davehenrie

    davehenrie Registered

    Joined:
    Jul 6, 2016
    Messages:
    7,454
    Likes Received:
    4,369
    There are two different BMW M1 cars in the workshop. Generally older versions are removed prior to installing a new version. I don't know if either of the cars has been updated, but that could be one possible answer.
     
  19. Yigit Yusuf Mutlu

    Yigit Yusuf Mutlu Registered

    Joined:
    May 3, 2016
    Messages:
    111
    Likes Received:
    63
    • Updated Environment Reflection Settings
    • Low/Medium/High/Ultra settings which increase refresh rate and resolution
    can you explain a bit Paul, is the old high is still the new high, is the ultra both have more refresh and resolution than the new high?
     
  20. Bostrom

    Bostrom Registered

    Joined:
    Jul 1, 2018
    Messages:
    170
    Likes Received:
    674
    So first a thank you to the guys from Studio 397 for the good update. :)
    But the stuttering in the replay is really annoying.
    With the old UI version, the replay runs completely smoothly.
     
    privatebrian, Rogger and R.Noctua like this.

Share This Page