The 2022 UI Update for rFactor 2 - Coming Soon

Discussion in 'News & Notifications' started by Paul Jeffrey, Jan 22, 2022.

  1. Sachmo

    Sachmo Registered

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    Looks greatly improved and modernised!!! I'm hooked on rF2, but getting my mates to get into it too when the first thing they see is a comparatively older looking user experience made it an uphill battle from the very first mouse click. Awesome work S397. And thanks so much! Looking forward to it!
     
  2. stonec

    stonec Registered

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    My bet is that it's using the underlying HTML and back-end tech that was developed by Studio 397 for several years. There would be no point in replacing that. Once you have HTML and JavaScript support in place, it's quite straightforward for a skilled developer to regroup pages and work on the design.

    The problem with S397 UI project was that they went through all the effort of introducing this new tech, but then decided to leave the UI to a functionally similar state (or in some cases worse) than the original one with settings all over the place and illogical page groupings. I actually know a few people who still use the original one for that reason even if made them lose all the latest updates.

    So regardless of what tech it uses, from just looking at the previews I think this is a great improvement for the actual user experience. I also like that we get some proper backgrounds and images now instead of the stale white, which made it look more like some productivity tool UI rather than a racing sim.
     
  3. memoNo1

    memoNo1 Registered

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    Yes you are right.
    The pessimists are annoying with their constant nagging.
    Since rF2 is very important to me, that was yesterday again...
    But whatever. I leave it.
    Hopefully one day it would be bette.
    We'll see how it looks towards summer.
     
    Last edited: Jan 23, 2022
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  4. Manfredk2

    Manfredk2 Guest

    Looking forward to the new UI but this new goodie should not distract from fixing the known bugs or basic features. Hoping that also the (real) mirrors on some cars get some love. Some of them are useless

    @Paul Jeffrey Is there a chance that with the new UI these long missing/non-working features are coming back?

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
     
  5. memoNo1

    memoNo1 Registered

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    I hope so much that you are right.
     
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  6. Paul McC

    Paul McC Registered

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    Going backwards: S397, ISI, LFS, Papyrus, Indycar, Revs, A BBC Micro, Floppy disks, programing bat n ball in DOS. Nope, must just be a hopeless optomist I guess.
     
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  7. GertjanD

    GertjanD Registered

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    Including restoring the "AI edit" function that is mentioned in the same screenshot :)
     
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  8. Paul Jeffrey

    Paul Jeffrey

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    The HUD is a weak point that we are certainly aware of. As is often the case, upgrading this is slightly more involving and resource consuming than you would expect on face value (trust me, I've wanted this since I joined the studio, lol) - that said, we do intend to work on it and bring it in line with the styling and quality of, for example, the new driver labels - but it may well be something that comes later rather than sooner.
     
  9. Paul Jeffrey

    Paul Jeffrey

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    It's not related in any way to any other product - this has been designed by Studio 397, solely for rFactor 2.
     
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  10. Paul McC

    Paul McC Registered

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    I must say I do really like the new driver labels, look so much better, and you dont have to take your eyes off the road and look 1000m into the sky to see who the guy infront is!:)
     
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  11. juanchioooo

    juanchioooo Registered

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    the truth is that visually it is great, we will see if it translates into its manageability, but it looks good and is very cool
    will we see the labels in vr? Will a relative come out for vr?:rolleyes::)

    thank you
     
  12. burgesjl

    burgesjl Registered

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    Whilst doing something nicer with the UI is useful, and reducing/eliminating the horizontal scrolling selections and consolidating some settings onto fewer screens/tabs is helpful, it seems like some of the bigger issues with the UI still persist. The main one, is that you have great long lists of things to select from and scroll through. It's just wrong. Take selecting a car. First, I might want to select a specific car based either on the type of car (open wheel, GT, prototype) or class (GTE, GT3) but there are no filters in place for the lists. The only list that has filters is the server list. So let's say I want a GT3, and this time, I want a BMW. Even once I've gone that far, I'm now presented with a list with each of the paint schemes/car numbers. Why can't I just have a left/right control that changes the image to select it, rather than having it in a list? Its the same car model, BMW M6GT3, but the sim treats each number as if its a seperate car. Worse, the car numbers are still part of the paint scheme, rather than applied based on the slot number (like iRacing do it). So you end up with 5 people all using the same paint scheme and being car #04.

    On the screens like for garage setups or settings, we still have the same style controls which all show a wall of text (except for the sliders). Where we have only a few options, like Yes/No, On/Off or say 5 allowable values, its much better to show all of the values as like buttons and toggle one on or off, rather than effectively having to scroll through the values with multiple clicks. Seems to favor visual consistency and not functional clarity in my opinion.

    Has anything been done to the CS screens? Are we going to get proper results lists yet? Points scoring lists? Filterable or searchable results?
     
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  13. Binny

    Binny Guest

    This is a must to be done so ppl dont waste time entering servers to find out what content is on the server.
     
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  14. AlexHeuskat

    AlexHeuskat Registered

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    Look at this beauty Gran Turismo 4 HUD, my favorite.
    20220120230846_1.jpg

    And the F1 2021 HUD :
    rf2 2022.jpg

    with rFactor 2, you have to do everything yourself (these HUDs are private), and thanks again to the HUD maker.
    I'm thinking about getting a new HUD, can you give me a new idea, I like the famous HUDs from a game.
     
    Last edited: Jan 23, 2022
  15. nolive721

    nolive721 Registered

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    Track map and FFB graph is a must add if a revised HUD is in the works
    Radar woukd be nice option to have too
     
    Last edited: Jan 24, 2022
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  16. justposted

    justposted Registered

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    Well it certainly looks a lot more up to date than the current UI, which is great, and hopefully it signals the start of some rolling improvements.

    I'm holding out for a way to filter the server browser to show me how many real drivers (not AI) are in each. It's dull running down the list doing little subtraction sums to see whether 10 Drivers means 10 AI, or 5 AI and 5 real drivers, for example. Knowing how much content I will need to download in order to join would also be a big win, though significantly harder to implement.
     
  17. R.Noctua

    R.Noctua Registered

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    There seems to have been some very positive changes to the S397. I wrote so much that the HUD is just disgusting, but I was told there were no plans to change it or didn't reply (which was usually the case).

    This news makes me happier than the UI.
     
  18. Teddy Wilson

    Teddy Wilson Registered

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    Hi Paul

    Will servers needed to be updated or will this update not affect this?
     
  19. Paul McC

    Paul McC Registered

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    I may have misunderstood what you mean but there is already a check box to filter out servers with A.I.
     
  20. Pauli Partanen

    Pauli Partanen Registered

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    Looks great! Never liked the old one, but this looks way more practical
     
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