rF2 vs rF1 online activity

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by stonec, Aug 10, 2015.

  1. Spinelli

    Spinelli Banned

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    I'm not sure how this got into PCars sales, but anyways, PC sales is a tiny percentage of their sales. Just like everything, the way to make money is by making things flashy and "cool" and tons of marketing with dramatic music pumping people up into thinking the game will be greater than the second coming of Christ; that is why it has become so successful as that leads to massive console sales.

    99% of people aren't purists, they don't give a crap if a game has better physics if it means inferior graphics, inferior UI, inferior intro video (lol), inferior game modes, inferior "cool" factor, etc. They just want something cool, hip and flashy. It's no different with anything in life. Look at music, it's mostly a bunch of idiots with no talent but tons of "flashiness" with all their makeup, plastic surgery, "attitude", etc. etc. It's not about the actual vocal skills anymore. Same a lot of the times with acting, or even how a movie is filmed/directed (regardless how good/bad the acting is). Hardly anything that is popular on a wide scale is technically good anymore. The most popular sims aren't the ones with the best physics. The most popular songs/singers/producers aren't the ones with the best voices or the best piece of music. The most popular movies aren't the ones with the best filmed/directed camera work or dialogue/script. And so on, and so on, and so on. The mass majority of people fall for the mind-melting mainstream bullsh*t that mainstream media sh*ts all over us all day, everyday.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Aug 20, 2015
  2. Guimengo

    Guimengo Guest

    To shift away from pCARS and not spew garbage.

    Assetto Corsa got a huge amount of dedicated PC sales. Their multiplayer is packed with options but still, only a few run more challenging (sometimes more awesome) cars. The game sold like hot cakes on 4 different Steam sales (including while in Early Access which p-eed a lot of folks off) where it was discounted 33-50%, including DLC. Now, for < $28 dollars to get a fine game with a handful of great tracks and a dozen great cars, without yearly fees, is a no-brainer. I don't get to drive much for a few reasons but still, I own the game and sometimes pop in multiplayer.
    Now, not everyone does multiplayer racing. The game offers challenges - a couple are rightful bastards -, a "career" akin to GTR2 mini-championships, and the ability to have custom championships with cars and tracks. All of these can provide as much or more entertainment than multiplayer. Anyway, so the multiplayer population is not 100% of the AC player population
    Now, Good luck finding Lotus 98T, Mazda 787B, and even some of the latest great F1/F-Renault add-ons. Why? I found out a ton of people are put off by fast open-wheelers. Ok. A TON of Europeans love their GT races and want to drive them. Also a few servers are hosted by clubs trying to bring in new members so they run the "traditional" content.

    Now take a fraction of that, I don't know how large, and apply to rF2. There are a handful of quality cars and tracks but those are not easy to find usually because the combo pairing may not be the best. In some cases when you do find it, it's "0/30 players" but that shouldn't be a deterrent if you want to drive instead of settle for the combo.
    Then comes the next step which I even experienced with ISI servers, the version of content. A few places due to their league policies are still in build 946. Some others have older version of a track or car.
    Lastly, factor in the content available. A lot of the rF1 population use it for a combination of things: it is cheaper; their PCs can run it perfectly; stable and consistent platform for what they do; inumerous mods regardless of absurd quality... but many prefer a famous name/fun instead of intricate simulation. For a hefty price, almost double the original price of rF1, why would these people move away from their conversions and F3/Mégane servers?

    The simracing world sometimes works in trends. We keep going about "big year" for our games, I was thinking 2015 would have been it for rF2 (we still have a few months) but maybe and hopefully 2016 will. High profile quality content draws in people and it is easy to spread word of mouth like wildfire, so eventually more players will come in but there will still be the issue of Standard/Lifetime licenses, some will be confused thinking they have to repay the whole price. And then there will still be the issue we currently have of lobbies and our inability to filter through the oceans of servers, so newcomers may not see why they should renew yearly or upgrade to lifetime, which they must do by e-mailing instead of an automated process.
     
  3. WhiteShadow

    WhiteShadow Registered

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  4. DurgeDriven

    DurgeDriven Banned

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    99.9% of all people fullstop don't spin the wheels in their real cars, most of them have never done a handbrake turn or drifted on a wet road.

    They all pussys p
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Aug 20, 2015
  5. Guimengo

    Guimengo Guest

    Not only that, the stock content in rFactor cannot come anywhere near comparison with stock content in rFactor2 exceptions being the existence of Lienz, Toban, Essington and Northamptonshire. Championships and enough tracks for all cars are of slightly different topic.

    Relying on modders to "put the game together" with the complexity of the tire, a constantly changing/breaking core earlier on, and no offline championship support is difficult.
     
  6. kjay

    kjay Registered

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    I would like to chime in on this discussion. I've had RF2 since it became available way back when. I bought the lifetime version with every intention of it being my primary sim. However, for whatever reason, that hasn't happened. Over the past year or two I have spent a few hundred hours with pCars and AC and very few with RF2. Initially Initially I had some performance problems with RF2. After changing to Nvidia, those issues went away. I just was never able to actually enjoy the sim. A couple of the problems that I have with RF2:

    1. Content: For some reason I just seem able to be motivated by it
    2. Graphics: The graphic are some what cartoonish and more akin to previous gen sims. This wouldn't be much of a problem is the content were more compelling.

    Those are my main issues with RF2.
    Now none of those things were showstoppers. It's just that for some reason the sim seemed lacking and I eventually lost interest.

    All of my time with pCars and AC has been primarily testing setups, hot-lapping, and racing against AI. I'm at the point here I ready to return to a league format but neither pCars or AC or currently built for that IMO.

    This is where RF2 comes to the forefront.

    The one area that I see RF2 having a big advantage is the UI/Lobby. In that respect it is the most complete of all the current sims, by far. It has a level of manageability that the other sims don't have. I think it's the perfect playground for a league and the only sim that I would consider for a league

    I know that many people consider RF2 physics to be a reason to buy the sim in itself. Many people use terms like "groundbreaking". I can't say that I necessarily agree. The live track stuff is nice but outside of that I don't see where it separates itself from the others sims all that much.

    At this point in time I've decided to put the other sims on the back burner and come back to RF2 to see what I've been missing. I'm really looking to get back into league based racing and I know at this point RF2 is my best choice. I just have to dedicate some time to find that "thing" about RF2 to make me stay with it.
     
  7. stonec

    stonec Registered

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    1. About content, I think the historic content is one of the most brilliant piece of sim racing content created in last decade. Driving the Brabham or Howston on old Spa is an experience you won't get in another sim.
    2. A lot of people use that expression (cartoonish) about rF2 graphics, I don't know what they mean. If you mean too much color and saturation, then that problem was completely fixed in the build released in April.
     
  8. DurgeDriven

    DurgeDriven Banned

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    So what we have 1% divided between 10 online sims.

    "We" are the overwhelming minority but are the first wanting all things fixed. lol

    Even less then that get on forums and actually ask.

    I think it is indignant for such a small group to ransom a developer for changes and improvements


    Purists say ISI don't listen............. seems to me they listen to 99% lol :)
     
  9. Noel Hibbard

    Noel Hibbard Registered

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    Totally agree! Most people think they are driving their road cars at the limit when really their only at 70%..... if that.
     
  10. Emery

    Emery Registered

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    So you don't notice tires that flex? Flatspotting and tire heating effects? Heating brakes causing fade? Day/night cycle? Weather?

    Content, yes, that's a weakness because there isn't an official multi-marque "series" like there is with iRacing and R3E. pCars and AC are just random collections of cars, just like rF2, except that rF2 focuses more on race cars than street cars.
     
  11. peterchen

    peterchen Registered

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    That seems strange to me too! If you can´t fell that, then there is something wrong with your feelings, lol!
    Really, don´t know how someone can miss the advantage of rF2 physics, as the (road/car-)feeling is that much giganticly better
    than all the rest,- there is sooooo much more going on, fidelity is miles higher! I find it that addictive, that I can´t seriously
    race anything else.
    And especially when you raced against AI, rF2 had been (?) the best deal for you.

    Sounds more like you was deterred in early stage of rF2 and never came to the point to enjoy it (like you said).
    However, point is, I find it easy to feel the differences where most of the people seem to have a big problem with.
    That´s in the end the reason why "flashy" wins over "deep".
     
  12. hariseldon

    hariseldon Registered

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    Go run a race with changeable weather with a bit of rain coming in and then going, in the evening with the sun going down into night, and see if you think the same ;)
     
  13. Gonzo

    Gonzo Member

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    A even better solution would be to disable to indicate availability by icon or color and disable any getMod when its not setup correctly. Because nothing is more frustrating then waiting for a downloads of components where one of those components failed after 20 minutes of waiting.

    It should be foolproof.
     
  14. Depco

    Depco Registered

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    Having the cars and tracks required for the Mod be shown when you mouse over the server would be fanastic. Especially when the server is running multiple tracks and cars. But that is a suggestion for another topic.
     
  15. Noel Hibbard

    Noel Hibbard Registered

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    Yeah, that would be really nice but it's kind of hard to know for sure if all the links are valid. There isn't a simple HTTP command to check to see if a link is valid. You have to do a GET to see if the transfer starts and then cancel it. But even if the server did some sort of URL check before advertizing on the MM, it would only know that the link is valid but it wouldn't know if the link points to a valid rfcmp without downloading the whole thing and then checking the sig. Maybe a URL checker could download enough to get the header to so it can at least determine if it's an rfcmp file and not some other filetype. If all the links check out as rfcmp files then add the extra GetMod enabled flag when advertizing.

    I totally agree though. Right now it's frustrating to join a server and only some of the components are GetMod enabled. There needs to be some way to inform people before they try to join.
     
  16. Noel Hibbard

    Noel Hibbard Registered

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    I would also like to see the "description" from the vmod be added to the MM so then admins could at least put something descriptive about their server/content in there for people to see before joining.
     
  17. B1K3R

    B1K3R Registered

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    That is correct. In fact that's what I am doing in the Auto Mod Downloader. First I check if ALL links are valid (format wise), then I do a GET to actually see if a download starts, and then after it downloads I check the file extension and also check if the file content is valid. If valid, then i check the signature (which I have a problem here if there is a previous version).

    All downloads start together in parallel so one does not need to wait for them to download one after each other....
     
  18. Noel Hibbard

    Noel Hibbard Registered

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    I guess you could do a HEAD request to at least see if the URL returns a 200. But that still doesn't tell you if it's an rfcmp. You're still forced to download the whole file. So a "quick" check it's really possible. The HEAD request will also return the Content-Length which would help with the progress bars.
     
  19. B1K3R

    B1K3R Registered

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    Why would you need to download the whole file? Usually, when they put a wrong link it just downloads a small html file which is not an issue anyway. So if it is big file, then its rfcmp file otherwise just some crap file. Of course one can put some big unrelated file but I've never seen that yet :)
     
  20. Noel Hibbard

    Noel Hibbard Registered

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    True, but if you do a HEAD you will know if the link works, what the Content-Type is and the Content-Length before starting the real xfer. If you have the length of all the files upfront then you can give people a more meaningful ETA and progress bar.
     

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