Need VERY basic help to get started

OK, out of desperation, I exited out of RF2 (which strangely, the only way I was able to do was by hitting control-alt-delete, and then End Task - when I hit the back arrow in the upper left hand corner of the Settings page, the screen went blank), re-launched the game, went back to the assign screen, and went back through the pedal assigning process described by Mitch9. This time, when I selected each pedal, it prompted me to assign it, which I took to mean physically pressing the corresponding pedal. When I did that, the prompt disappeared for each pedal. So it looks like something, maybe something positive, actually happened. Is this how it's supposed to work? Thanks.

 

possibly. Instead of loading, try the DETECT option. It should find your wheel. Then you can go to the Assign screen to see if the left right steering are set, throttle, brake, clutch, ignition, starter, Shift up/shift down. The Calibrate screens can verify the proper pedals or wheel directions have been chosen.
There is a method to recover the controller file, but I'd rather try and get it working in game first.

 

If you got the items assigned, go to Calibrate and start moving everything. You should see the graphs assigned to each part of your wheel and pedals moving. If your wheel graph moves, if the pedal graphs respond, then go drive.

 

Thanks, Dave. I'm at work, but will try it out as soon as I get home. Fingers crossed.
Also, what about all those other parameters listed in the Controls section of the Assign screen? Are they set automatically by the car I choose? Many of them say "Ëmpty", and others have very cryptic, 2-3 character entries. And what about things like setting my field of view?

 

You can assign keybindings to all those parameters, or at least those you need.

 

Sorry, but I have no clue what a keybinding is, what they do, or how I would determine whether I need them. Please explain - remember, I am the ultimate novice, just like everybody here was at one time. Thanks.

 

key binding is a fancy term for assigning a use to a key. Take the headlights. You can assign any key to toggle the headlights. Generally the default is h, but ANY key can be assigned(bound) to most functions. We want you to get on track, then later you can begin worrying about other functions. Baby Steps. So get your wheel working, get the pedals working, assign keys for the ignition and starter(write them down) and off you go.

Field of view determines how much of the outside world you see from the cockpit. It is very subjective with plenty of folks that have strong opinions about just what that setting should be.(leave it be for now, you can work on that after getting on the track.)

Most of the empty items are waiting for you to assign them, MANY are not needed...cameras, chats, etc. When you see complex keys next to a function, that means two keys need to be pressed at the same time. so CTRL S requires you to press both the S key and the CTRL key together, at the same time. Other keys that can be combined are the SHIFT key & the ALT key. These are necessary, because as you become familiar with all the various options of a sim, you will find you don't have enough individual keys or buttons to make use of all the options. Then later, the real rub will be you will only use a very few of them over and over, heck I can't remember what some of my wheel buttons do...I have to press them to see what happens.

 

Progress! I had no problem performing the calibrations for the wheel, throttle, brake, and clutch pedals. But I'm not quite clear on the process of choosing keys/buttons for the ignition and starter and Pitlane Speed Limiter. In fact, the Assign screen still has me pretty confused. I think I managed to get the steering wheel and the pedals assigned (but to be honest, I'm not clear on what this actually does, although I must have done it right, because I was able to calibrate each of these items, as I said), but not after a bunch of fumbling around, closing and reopening the program, etc. So for the ignition, starter, and pit lane speed limiter, could you please walk me through what I have to do? When I select, for example, ignition (which is currently set to JOY1 B9), a window pops up titled "Assign Control", inside which it says, "Press key or controller (ESC to skip) - Ignition". I assume it's telling me to press a key that will be assigned the function of turning on the ignition, so I pressed the "i" key, and nothing happened. So I clicked the mouse elsewhere on the screen to make the window go away, and then repeated the process. This time, the "Assign Control" window popped up again, but with no verbiage inside. So I closed the window again, and now when I click on any of the items in the list, nothing happens. In fact, the game completely locks up. When I press the back arrow in the upper left hand corner, it takes me to a blank screen which doesn't go away - I can't even exit out of the program, and this time, I can't even kill it by selecting End Task in the Task Manager. Looks like my only option is to do a hard reboot on my computer. Does this happen a lot? Thanks.

 

its best to assign items you need to your wheel or a button box or a controller or control pad. some numbers letters & F buttons are assigned already it will tell you them beside what you want to change b4 you change it over on the right. it might be from last build they have a hotfix now which will update when you start up steam or you might have to do it manually if you have not ticked the box to update automatically this can be done in properties rf2 in steam. make sure you save your settings each time you adjust them to make sure they have been saved. someone might post you the list of what is assigned, EG: i is for the ai/computer to drive your car, F buttons are for aids

 

Sorry this is starting to read like a soap opera. Turns out I didn't have to reboot my computer - selecting "Other Options" in the Task Manager, and then End Task, successfully killed RF2. So I opened it back up, and now the assignment of the items seems to be working. So there's something flaky going on with rFactor with the way it keeps locking up on me, which do but it does seem to be working now. So I selected keys for ignition, starter, and speed limiter, and wrote down my selections. So that I seem to have finally stumbled through the key assignment process, how exactly do I use these keys? And I see Binny's point about assigning these items to the buttons on my wheel, as that would probably be a lot more convenient (I have the Fanatec Clubsport button cluster) - could someone explain how to do this, or would it be best to stick with the keys for now, and just get on the track and start driving?

Also, I want to give a special thanks to Dave for his excellent post emphasizing the need to take baby steps, and just get on the track as quickly as possible, and building from there. Very wise words, and much appreciated.

So I went back to the Race menu, loaded my track (Atlanta Motorsports Park), and my car (a Radical SR3), and I find myself in pit lane, with a guy looking like he's ready to motion me onto the track. So I turned off the Pit Lane speed limiter, but I'm stuck in neutral. The engine revs when I press the gas, but when I shift into first, it immediately drops back into neutral. I feel extra stupid (if that's even possible) for asking this, but how do I actually get into gear and pull out on the track? Also, I really want to do solo sessions if possible until I learn the track so I don't hold up traffic. Does this happen automatically in Practice mode, or will there be other cars on the track with me? I can almost taste it...

 

The latest updates seem to have caused some issues for a lot of people, maybe that has something to do with the game crashing on you and if so then there´s not much to do at the moment, unfortunately.

So to get the car going, press the clutch to go into first gear then slip it out, or turn on the autoclutch (which is assigned to F11 by default, I believe).
That gear dropping down to neutral sounds weird though... if you can´t go up to first gear, then maybe something's going on with your paddles? I´m not familiar with fanatec wheels so can't really help there; you might want to check the fanatec control panel, if there´s such a thing...

By the way, I think by default you can get to neutral by pressing both shift paddles at once, but if that is not working for you try assinging "neutral" to some key on your keyboard and leaving "reverse" empty... this is how I have it set up and it works for me.
You might also want to assign a key for "reset FFB" (in the "Other" tab of the assign page); it's pretty common to loose force feedback on the wheel when going out on track for the second or third time in a session.
Good luck!

 

Check in difficulty menu to have only autoclutch engaged but no other drive assists, I can suppose that if you have automatic shifting enabled but no automatic clutch, the game revert to neutral to avoid engine shutdown.
Another possibility is that you have 2 conflicting buttons, or the key binding ( now you know what it is) neutral assigned to a button that is "stuck" I don't know how to say it in English, but there are buttons that send a command only when pressed , and there are buttons that have "positions" and send the command continuously.
For example I have a H shifter , if it is in a gear , this command overweight what I do with paddles. So I am stuck in that gear.
Sorry for the verbose comment, but I'm not english.

 

Thanks as usual for the replies. I'm guessing the problem is somehow related to the fact that the game must think I'm using the clutch, where I just want to use the paddles (I don't have an H-pattern shifter - just the paddles, because the cars I'm going to be driving in the real race series, the Radical SR1, don't use a clutch). I will try to check when I get home, but I have a busy night - getting a new-to-me car delivered from Carvana - a 2018 BMW 230i with 16K miles. Should be an ideal daily driver.

Also, I've seen videos (not sure from which software) of follow-the-leader situations to help learn the line on an unfamiliar track. Is something like this available in RF2? Thanks.

 

Yes there is a ghost car, but the ghost is a recording of your previous or best lap.
So it can turn a good reference, just not out of the box.

 

I'm guessing instead of assigning "gear up" or "shift up" or whatever its called in game to the paddle, you assigned first gear, which is indeed for an h shifter pattern, which means for first gear to remain engaged, the button needs to be pressing. So you need to map your paddle to "gear up" and not "first gear". Same for the other paddle: gear down, not reverse

 

Sorry I didn't get a chance to keep troubleshooting last night - too busy with other stuff.

Bruno: I haven't assigned any keys to either shift up, or neutral; they are both set to the defaults, which are: Shift up = Joy1 B5, Neutral = Joy1 B11. Also, Clutch = Q_KEY. And all of the gears = Empty. Does this mean anything to anyone?

Comante: In the Difficulty menu, Autoclutch is engaged, but so are Invulnerability (On), Stability control (low), Anti-lock brakes (High), Traction control (Medium), and Auto shifting (On). What does Auto shifting do?

I don't have an H-shifter (only paddles), so I have no need for the clutch at this time. Does any of this information give any clues as to why the car keeps dropping back into neutral when I shift it into first gear with the paddle shifter? Could it be due to a peculiarity with the car (a Radical SR3)? I know real-life Radicals have an unusual start-up procedure that I read awhile ago.

And assuming I get this problem worked out, what exactly happens once I'm ready to drive? The stager guy has motioned me onto the track, but of course I can't move because I'm stuck in neutral. But I'm completely unfamiliar with the track, so I don't want to get in the way of other drivers working on their technique. Isn't it possible to do a solo session, or follow-the-leader laps behind a ghost car to learn the line? In other words, how does one learn an unfamiliar track in RF2?

 

Check down a bit further in the list where you set the paddles for up/down gear and see if there are any keys set for the individual gears (1 thru 7 if I remember correctly) If there is get rid of them by clicking and escaping each one eg click key assignment for 1st gear, escape, click key assignment for 2nd gear, escape etc etc. By clicking and hitting escape it will then list the key assignment as empty.

 

Success! I turned Auto shifting off, and it now lets me shift into gear, and drive! Woo-hoo! I was beginning to wonder if this moment would ever come. Thanks for the suggestion, Comante.

But now the last paragraph of my previous post is now really front-and-center. There are a bunch of other cars lined up, and I have no clue what I'm doing, how this car is going to respond to inputs, what the proper etiquette is for when I'm supposed to pull out, etc. I understand that there is no better way to learn something new that to jump in with both feet and go for it, but I really don't want to piss the other drivers off by holding them up, crashing into them, and just generally making an ass out of myself until I figure out how to work my new expensive toy, and the track. I did try pulling out, but another driver must have sensed that I was a dumb newb, and pulled out in front of me, after which I immediately crashed into a guard rail! I feel like attaching a virtual "student driver - stay back" sign to my virtual car. Isn't there a mode for first-time drivers to get their feet wet safely and without interfering with the experienced drivers out there, like some sort of designated "novices only" time? Thanks - I'm definitely grateful for getting over the hurdle of getting my car to actually move!

 

To get a private practice session, you need to set the opponents to zero.
at this screen, click on the SESSION SETTINGS located below your car.


Then you will see the following screen, click on the opponents button at the bottom.


Finally click on the - (minus symbol) on the AI Drivers and keep clicking til you see 0. (zero)

Now you can click on the large left pointing arrow located in the upper left corner to take you back to the main menu. Choose race, single player and back to the track. Now you can lap in private. You really don't want to try too many aids as those may develop bad habits. But you can press on those top row of keys(remember the F keys?) and those can enable steering help, braking etc.

 

Remember to remove steering assist and brake assist , or you will find yourself very puzzled. And don't worry too much of other cars in single players, computer AI have no feelings