Motorsport Games Complete Studio 397 Purchase

Discussion in 'News & Notifications' started by Paul Jeffrey, May 5, 2021.

  1. Paul Jeffrey

    Paul Jeffrey

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    Last edited: May 5, 2021
  2. JamesB

    JamesB Registered

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    I am looking forward optimistically.
     
  3. pilAUTO

    pilAUTO Registered

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    I think thanks to MG the AI of rFactor 2 and other titles using rf2 technology will improve (think).

    If so this is very good news, if it is.

    I have never found it normal that a significant part of the players (offline players) are "forgotten" in favor of another category of players.

    I just hope all types of gamers will find what they are looking for in rFactor 2, not just those whose lives allow them to play online.

    All hope is good to take.
     
  4. John R Denman

    John R Denman Registered

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    Great chemistry in this acquisition.
    Hopefully it comes with autonomy, seems to from outside looking in anyway.

    Best wishes in the future!
     
  5. Taris Henrique

    Taris Henrique Registered

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    Will anything from the development of the NASCAR game be brought to rFactor2? As a supporter and player of Stockcarsimracing.com and NBRaV Brazil, it would be great to have at least one DLC on rFactor2 with the official nascar content.
     
  6. davehenrie

    davehenrie Registered

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    I really cannot say if Nascar DLC will appear in rF2. But my thought is, doing so would cannibalize a small % of possible purchasers of the Nascar title. So I would be doubtful official content would migrate. However, there could be some technology sharing that might improve one or both products.
     
  7. GeraArg

    GeraArg Registered

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    Congratulations to the entire team and I wish you all the best for this new journey. :)
     
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  8. memoNo1

    memoNo1 Registered

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    Mr. Offermans, Rene, it would be nice to get a statement from you regarding the matter.
    Will S397 evolve rF2 as a hardcore simulator?
    The most important are and will be the physics and the FFB.
    For that very reason you are our first choice.
    I hope you stay true to this path

    Otherwise, congratulations on this success and all the best for you.
    I love rF2!
     
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  9. GeraArg

    GeraArg Registered

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    10/10 :cool:
    [​IMG]
     
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  10. burgesjl

    burgesjl Registered

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    There's just an enormous number of questions here...

    First, congratulations are in order for @Marcel Offermans and the primary players at Studio 397. Their goal was to establish themselves as a true gaming studio development company, and with this announcement, they have succeeded in that goal. For the management and employees, who I'm sure for many it was an enormous risk and leap of faith, it must be very satisfying to see this result.

    However, now for the bad news, or at least worrying cloudy crystal ball gazing for rF2.

    I thought it interesting that the most illuminating press release came not from S397, but from MG themselves, where they highlighted the developments that are in play and at least partially the role of S397 in those developments. And for the most part, that focused on the role in physics, AI etc. for various other titles in the portfolio, which includes NASCAR (both PC and consoles) and upcoming franchises of BTCC and a standalone LeMans title. But very little was said about rF2 as its own standalone title. MG also touted its ability to run elite esports events such as F-E Racing From Home (a hybrid of real teams/drivers and sim racing "pros"/"influencers") and the Virtual 24H LM (ACO with real drivers and team/manufacturer involvement as a one-off race event).

    There's been lots of speculation on this forum about why we have not seen any development in rF2 of pure physics and AI. And I think now we can see why; those resources have 'for more than a year' been assisting in the NASCAR game development. There's been newly employed 'vehicle dynamics' guys to work on the LMP/GTE/GT3 rF2 content (BOP etc.) but they don't work on the underlying code. Now, whetever is being built/utilized for the NASCAR title (consoles too, note) might get 'reverse engineered' back into rF2, but its likely going to have been a lot about how the CPU cycles are used for physics, tire models etc. and especially in the console realm, and probably FFB and gamepad controller functions as well. It's also entirely notable that this did NOT mention graphics code. And previously MG has stated its desire to use UE4 as the graphics engine, and logically this would be the case because its multi-platform. And furthermore, there is no mention of the hosted/cloud Competition System for online racing either.

    It's fairly clear the S397 team is going to be pulled into developments of the BTCC game and the standalone LeMans game. And especially for the latter (the clue is in the company name), there is clear overlap here to the actual rF2 title, which is what we here would be most concerned about the future of. If efforts are being directed to the LMGame, what does that mean for us? The content now pretty much exists for this title (LMP and GTE cars, LeMans track, Spa track etc.) unless its going to be somehow recreated (for example, if UE4 is used for the graphics engine). There's upcoming fairly major revisions to this (new LMP2, HyperCars, LMH/LMDh, probably revisions to GTE) but much work has been done and could be carried over, particularly for vehicle dynamics. We last saw cars in this 'family' released last December, 5 months ago, and I'm not sure any others are in the pipeline (none announced for sure). So are we done here? Much work remains in tracks that might cover ELMS and Asian LMS. What role for the rF2 content team in these new titles, and what does that mean for new content within rF2?

    As regards the games themselves, what is the plan? Codemasters style yearly packaged releases, or 'on going dev' iRacing/rF2 environments? What plan for those with online competition, whether elite esports or regular joe systems? What portion of S397 infrastructure might get used for those? Or is there some competing system being developed for the NASCAR game?

    Like I said, an enormous number of questions and if you pull on the string a bit, what looks good and logical for MG looks not good at all for rF2 specifically, given likely redirection of already constrained resources.
     
  11. pilAUTO

    pilAUTO Registered

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    It is obvious and we understand it, that you cannot reveal for the moment much of the future orientations in connection with MG.

    BUT.

    Can you just say 1 thing, just 1 thing :

    Will the physics engine and the quality of the cars in terms of physics be the number one priority, the DNA of rFactor 2 and thus rFactor 2 has vocation to remain a simulation "hardcore" (in quotes).

    I leave the other preocupations aside (AI/offline for example), but seriously this unique question is crucial .... And I am sure that you have already settled this essential point.....

    Thank you !!!!!
     
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  12. B. Gant

    B. Gant Registered

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    As burgesjl stated, that is what concerns me as well. Most of us have been on rF2 since 2012,
    MG essentially has said in most of the things i've read are how the "rf2 physics engine will be used in their nascar games." Not much of anything on how this sale will make rF2 better or where they will offer support on rF2 growth.

    Will they turn into a platform where it's primarily for profit & create a "new game (rfactor3,4,5 etc)" every couple years or will this rFactor2 get the build support so growth can be faster on all areas. Ai, graphics, physics.

    It's been 9+ years now. I see the same names for years now on this forum and all we need is solid answers with timelines the company will stick too when it comes to fixing things. When rF2 became dlc related & modders were for the most part forced out, aggravation increased, because users are now paying for content and waiting 6,7 months for a small issue to get looked at gets irritating.

    Wish for best with new owners of Studio397.
     
  13. burgesjl

    burgesjl Registered

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    Whilst most of what I wrote is personal speculation and "joining the dots" as far as I see them, there's a few things that seem self-evident and lead me to the conclusions I have drawn.

    First, Motorsport Games is going to do what is best for them and the massive investments that have been made in them. Namely, that is improving the NASCAR Heat franchise aimed largely at the less "hardcore" simracing crowd than is iRacing, especially the console market; and completing games they signed expensive franchises for, namely BTCC and LeMans. They need to prioritize putting their resources on those titles. They HAVE to do it. And by definition, that means taking already knowledgeable resources from S397 since they are using that technology to build those titles, to shorten time-to-market and investment returns. They aren't in this for the grins.

    S397 already ported some aspects of their physics etc. to consoles - see the Amazon Grand Tour game, and they in the past have admitted they directed resources to that endeavor since it added revenue. MG already admitted they have been working with S397 for 'more than a year' on the NASCAR title. What I'm not sure of, is whether they committed to do console releases of the BTCC and LeMans titles, but if they are going for high volume sales, as you would expect MG to do given their funding, then that would make sense. They can't be making those for the PC-only, super-hardcore sim crowd; there just isn't the return on it. However, there are a couple of areas the consoles fall short; (a) online competitive racing - except the the major titles on each platform, GT and Forza; and (b) platforms for esports type series, especially involving real drivers, who are likely to want/need to use full wheel/pedal sets. See how many of them do the F1, console-based competitions (few like it). I'd bet that most console racers do this offline, and therefore, usable physics/controller access and especially AI are critical features; and I'll bet this is also true of the majority who would like to race BTCC and LeMans as well. I'd like to see some stats from ACC for the numbers who play offline/online, PC vs consoles, on a series-focused game.

    What would S397s priority have been for rF2 if not for this acquisition? Whilst I'm sure they would have continued to provide both the code (like ISI used to license) and know-how as partner to other racing game dev teams, the way to grow rF2 was either (a) build a console version or (b) make a big thing out of online competitive gaming. I don't think the former was on the cards. What is needed for the latter, as I put in the last roadmap, is less about building a technology platform which encapsulates a myriad of different options (though a technology platform is needed, building the degree of flexibility into it at this stage is in my opinion the wrong approach). What they need to do is start to build an online community; people interested in online racing in certain core categories, and then letting word of mouth spread that its a viable platform. That's how iRacing built their following. It started with community (they didn't release the technology until they'd developed it enough that the basic competitions, rating schemes, and some initial content had been built, tested, verified). It began with Legends oval cars, Pontiac Solstice, Skippy etc. before adding the more visible/popular series. And to this day, there is 10X or 100X people who race lower-spec formula cars, MX-5s, Trucks etc. than race F1 cars or Cup cars given their complexity. Those vehicles are more approachable and arguably provide simpler and more equal racing, without needing to be a full time engineer or have a massive team of monkeys to click every setting to find the right combination. For rF2, this probably means the FE, Tatuus formula cars, Radicals, GT3s; but they need some smaller touring cars and sportscars as well (GT4 and lower) to fully cover that more accessible content. Build the online racing platform, you'll sell the content (which is where iRacing make their money).

    So I'm glad to see them take a one week pause of the Competition System and review where that is headed at this point. They need to start building a much larger community, and that has to come from online. I don't think MG are going to give S397 resources to improve things in rF2 given their other priorities, UNLESS it becomes clear that there's a big market for it and/or its growing fast. I don't see much new content being added in the short term; so they have to build the community with what they have, and continue fleshing out the Competition System. Sadly, I think that means for everyone looking for physics, AI and core sim improvements, your going to be sadly disappointed.
     
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  14. Lazza

    Lazza Registered

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    Or, MG helps provide more resources and rF2 improves in all areas.

    *shrug*
     
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  15. RNelson

    RNelson Registered

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    While everyone is allowed their opinion I don't understand why we have reached conclusions about where rF2 is going without seeing any decisions or actions to base these conclusions on.
     
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  16. memoNo1

    memoNo1 Registered

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    Well, that's why we all write so diligently.
    To get or hope for a reaction.
     
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  17. RNelson

    RNelson Registered

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    So much more productive uses of time.....
     
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  18. memoNo1

    memoNo1 Registered

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    Absolutley Sir:D:cool:

    But seriously I don't want to argue with you.
    Hopefully S397 will soon be aimed at us the community.
    I wish you a nice evening.
     
  19. mschreiner

    mschreiner Registered

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    Looks like Darlington Raceway!
     
  20. davehenrie

    davehenrie Registered

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    I saw a Pre-Race show for this weekend's racing at Darlington, not one expert, drivers who were there at the time, mentioned that Darlington got flipped a couple of decades back. Still two mis-matched corners but it's Bass Aackwards from the Throwback era Nascar is promoting this weekend.
     

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