It's been a while, didn't want you waiting too much longer without anything new so here's some new screenshots which you should be able to click for higher resolution: http://rfactor.net/web/rf2/screens/wipscreens/#0711 We're still working hard and still on-target for later this year on the initial release. Really hoping to be able to give you info on that release schedule sooner than later... Please if you have questions do feel free to ask about the content of the screenshots, but I'll have to bypass queries about release at this time. Thanks, Tim.
The lighting looks very different compared to the rF1..., That's is really nice and and looks much more real!! Also the textures look amazing together with the large number of objects on the track Great work!!!!
I'm really excited for rFactor 2 (I recently built a new computer in anticipation) but I'm starting to get worried that it won't be up to iRacing's visual standards. I realize that its post-processing isn't active yet, but I still have concerns over stuff like texture resolution and polygon count. ISI obviously wants to cater to a wide user base, but I really wish they would step up the visuals to be more future-proof. Compared to something like iRacing, these new rF2 pictures don't seem to have the same level of detail and shader quality. Many of us have modern hardware (GTX 460 or above) and that will only continue as the years pass. I just hope ISI has a good plan for making this game still look amazing in 2014 and beyond.
Looking at these screenshots I have a request. Shouldn't be difficult to implement. 1. Allow passing material-specific constants to vertex/pixel shaders 2. Allow passing object-specific contsants to vertex/pixel shaders Could be like 8-16 float4's that have no meaning but are exposed in editor to type values into. Do that and community will take over from there. Tim, you once wrote that you think that post effects are the main visual advantage of other games in market and I don't agree with that. Material properties are very important. If I can barely distinguish aluminium from painted wood or plastic from concrete, then no postprocessing will fix that. A quick example - just check out the glass shader here. Top images - original rFactor shaders. Bottom images - my custom DX9 shaders. I've been developing custom DX9 shaders for rFactor and I've been using UV coordinates and tangent vectors to pass various things to shaders. Nightmare. For the same reason I couldn't release shaders to community - without tools they were useless to anyone but me. I was using some low-level tools myself and had to spend a great deal of time working on my own editor to get these shaders to community and I'm still not done If you make these custom constants, community will be able not just to make nice models and textures, but also extend the rendering engine itself - I gness that makes it worth it, considering low amount of work needed to add some constants. One more screen, this time with my shaders on top:
Ok screen number 2 gets me dubious. It is clear that graphics are not on full. Aliasing is there and really there, no shadows for the cars and the model is lod limited. You clearly communicate on the marshalls but why oh why cant we have a full hd screenshot with full graphics on ? I like this one but when not clicked on :
Sreens with Clio car looks like rfactor 1, maybe 1.1 Colors are too bright, poor texture resolution, any changes in the lighting/shadow model. It looks like the RF1 engine.
Having seen the screens of K Szczech before, I am convinced that shaders are more important than post-fx. It is amazing to see what seems capable in rF1 with K Szcezchs work. Not only the car reflections, but also the road-surface, sky etc. Looking at the reflections in the new WIP screens, apart form being real-time instead of cube, I don't see any difference in lighting in comparison with rF1. Or do the post-fx effect the reflection? BTW I'm really looking forward to see some moving action from these animated dudes! This really adds to the immersion.
What is rFactor-2-Towards-The-Finish.jpg supposed to show? The dirt buildup on the windows? The rubbered line on the asphalt?
Bright sun and saturated colors are good. That is realistic. Crazy Shiny and over contrasted images are bad. Keep the lens flare off anything but the track cameras and turn up the AA AF and res and we should be good. I'd like to see some physics videos now. That's what rFactor is about. Not looks. It has never been about looks. Some various slow motion wheel cams of a lap of that laser scanned Nordschliefe you have would probably be best. Lock the brakes, do a burnout, go through the corkscrew at 100 MPH.. etc
When will you guys understand, that this are WIP screens... The screens look pretty nice, 10 times better than rF1 and as soon as the post processing effects are activated it will look impressive, by the way: are there any news about progress in the graphics engine?