Introducing the New Online Experience for rFactor 2: Powered by RaceControl

Yesterday I tried to join the practice server for BTCC race. All i got was grey solid colour over all 3 screens and freeze. No buttons or any text visible. No way to alt-tab out of RF2. I had to ctl-alt-del and logout of my windows account in order to end rf2. Verified local files in steam and tried again but the same situation. I gave up.

 

Practice servers are being overloaded.

 

Yes I believe it was the reason. But I still hope that these freezes will be solved in release version as this is not the propper way to let the user know the servers are overloaded.

 

Yesterday evening the practice server button and the practice button that appear after you register to the event didn't work.
This was with BMW at Mills. The actual race server worked as expected (23.00 cest session) . But I think the previous session (the race before this one, at 22.00) didn't work properly, as I was unable to see the registering phase appear, thus I had to wait for the next session.

 

Yeah there was some server issues yesterday it seemed.

 

I created an account for the Release Candidate – New Online Experience for rFactor 2, but I am not receiving any verification mail. Also not when resending the mail via the UI. And yes, I also checked the Spam folder, etc. The used eMail-address is the same as I use with the forum-account here. But maybe the whole eMail-provider (web.de) is blocked somehow.

Can somebody from S397 please have a look?
(I don't know whom to mention here or to send a private message.)
By the way is there an overview of which S397-employee has which current function or at least whom or how to address for certain problems? (knowing that privacy in the internet and work-load-balancing is important)

 

Discord has specific channels for online support.

 

Have you tried deleting the localstorage folder?
C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\rFactor 2\UserData\player\LOCALSTORAGE

 

Pretty great so far...lots of people on rookie servers...had a couple of joining hiccups but nothing terrible. Hoping all the ones kicking my ass will soon move up to Silver . Makes RF2 very appealing now.

 

El nivel de agresividad cada vez va aumentando, no hay carrera en la que no se equivoquen intencionadamente, no respetan a nada ni a nadie, si esto no se soluciona rápido, creo que esta competición tiene poco futuro, ya que pilitos serios dejaran de participar.
No se vale que todos cometamos errores y que solo sean los novatos, esta gente sabe lo que hace.

 

They have adjusted some of the ratings with today's version of the Release Candidate. I do not think it will address the problems you are seeing. As the system finalizes, drivers 'should' become more aware of ratings and how that affects them in the future. For now with the BETA, it sounds like some drivers are trying to see how aggressive they can be without a ratings penalty.

 

I must say I really like the way this system is set up.The timings work well for me, i.e. relatively short practice/quali/race, and by not overlapping the races the community is focussed on one event at a time. The rating system works nicely and I like that it focusses on safety rating rather than pace, which is encouraging the right kind of behaviour. Great stuff.

The racing has been really clean for me. I have no idea what split I'm in of course, but it's probably a pretty low one so that makes the clean racing all the more surprising. Not revealing that split information works for me, as it means I just enjoy the races and don't worry about where I stand overall. Presumably not everybody sees things that way and will be asking for some leaderboards, but I suppose S397 can introduce that if they decide it is a good idea after all. Regardless, the system seems to be working, as I typically end up somewhere around mid pack.

The practice servers, when I can get into them, are a bonus. It makes practice feel less lonely and it is reassuring watching other people learning the track/car combinations and flying off at the same corners as me!

Nice work, S397. The Steam numbers have jumped up (https://steamcharts.com/app/365960) and the grids are full. I'm sure we all hope that the trend continues. Certainly I've never had as much fun in rF2 as I have over the last couple of weeks. Just need to get myself up to Silver so I can get into some BTCC races.

 

I agree, just being on a server with other human beings make their laptimes more "interesting", with locked setups you know what can be done with that car/track combo, instead of guesstimating things up. It's a good incentive to improve, to train and to see how others drive.

As for the races there are combos that are pretty "safe" and others (like tatuus at toban reverse) that are very prone to huge crashes, but despite this, I had my race end at the first turn with Radical at Botnianring, quite unexpectedly, but whatever, it just happen.

Yesterday it seems there were some problem with server connection: some player had collision disabled from server from time to time (it send a message in the chat) and I often seen many car make strange trajectory in turns, a sign of poor connection.

I dunno, maybe it was mine, but my ping was really good, I can't check about packet loss while driving (it could be a helpful feature with ping check).

 

I completely agree with both comments above this (#72 and #73). The way it's setup it just works and it makes for interesting races. Shifting focus from trying to win the race to trying to win SR is helping me drive better.

I have only complained about loosing SR points because someone crashes into me every other race, but it seems that solving this would be too complex. In the end, it will even out and it won't matter much but since I can't do many races it matters to me now. It still doesn't take the fun away, finishing the race to get those SR points is the goal. I think every game suffers from this issue.

In one race I was driving alone for maybe 2 laps but this is better that getting disconnected or racing with unbearable lags. I think it wasn't only me, maybe the server was having bandwidth issues. Any network issues seem to be addressed in the best way possible avoiding bad consequences.

I guess this is what they called "game changing" and certainly it is in a big way. Many mouths shut now. And that's good because we came here to race.

Very good job Studio 397. The last 2 years have been amazing.

 

Ah, so it happened to me too, for a brief time I was alone in practice server, then just as everyone disappeared, they just popped back.
So Is this an intended feature when connection problems arise?

 

Hi,
First of all my compliments to studio 397. You have in your hands the best simulator on the market with incredible tire physics, this online ranked racing service was exactly what was missing. I hope you manage it in the best way and you will see that the entire sim driver community will reward you.
I know that it's in the beta phase but I have to say that so far I haven't found any particularly annoying bugs, apart from yesterday evening when, after having achieved pole and second place in the race with the BMWs, I realized that the system didn't record my race score. .
I wanted to report this bug to you.

A greeting

 

Good job Studio!
It's truly gratifying to see a competition system built into the game. I think it can catapult them very strongly forward and will put rFactor 2 where it deserves. There are things to improve, it is understood that it is BETA. But the possibilities for improvement are many and if we move forward intelligently, we can achieve a very advanced level of competitiveness.
The races are very fun and well matched. I had about 3 and they were all respectful (beyond some race touches)
Keep going like this!

 

This is blooming good fun, loving racing in the Bimmer! Very respectful, close racing so big thanks to the RF2 community for racing like adults!! Few scrapes but proper racing stuff, long may this contiune.....Best online racing PERIOD!!!!

 

The CS made me cut 1.5 seconds with Radicals at Botnianring, I would never tried to achieve that If I hadn't seen what times are achievable on that track/car combo. And this then also told me how to not cook FL tire and actually going faster.
Beside that I had a blast with my first pole and a close race where a single mistake put me in 12 position then back to 3rd.

This CS trick just made me a better driver. ;D

 

Good job @Comante