Any beginner guide?

Hi guys, Ive just made a purchase on rfactor 2. Ive been a fan of arcadish sim racing games like GT5, shift2, F1 2012, etc type of game that put in an extent of realism blend to the driving experience. Well then i ported to Rfactor 2 and honestly i suck so bad xP. Like the chances of me not being a ballerina spinning around on the track is hard. In multiplayer i tried my very best to cope with opponents, and the harder i try, the more spins i do... Are there like any comprehensive guide on learning the game?

On a side question, i realised in the options, alot of keys are unassigned.. Im not sure which are necessary and which are not.. Anyone can explain what are stuffs like TC overide, power demand, flaps, etc.... Are the significant enough to learn to use to make difference in my driving? @.@

 

I recommend you to join a league where they will explain to you the basics. Rfactor has never outstood for its guides. It looks like developers dont like writing instructions or manuals. They leave that for the community which is certainly cheaper.

You can also follow ISI advise of trying to solve your doubts within the thousands of threads within the forum. If you dont speak English, too bad for you. To properly play rf2 you need to have the fulfill the following requirements:

- advanced or expert computer skills suchs as config files editing, overclocking, graphic card optimization...
- Intermediate level of english to pray for help when you get blocked by any kind of problem.
- 1 level above each of the recommended hardware requirements.

Enviado desde mi GT-I9505 usando Tapatalk 2

 

Welcome, Alexander. There is no comprehensive guide, but if you have some time and stick with it, rF2 can be a very rewarding experience. This is very good regarding driving skills and I am in fact amazed that it is available on YouTube:

In addition to real-life driving skills, there are important differences between sim racing and real-life. Since you don't feel g-forces, you have to go by tire sounds so turn those way up. I use 200% tire volume and 50% volume for everything else.

Be sure to begin with an easier car. You will not be able to drive in rF2 like console games, initially at least, but when you are able to it is very rewarding. To start, I recommend the 60s F3 cars.

One of the most important keys to enjoying rFactor 2 is having the right expectations and goals, if you will. For example, I have been frustrated in the past with hardware, OS and SW technicalities. But since I have committed to keeping it simple, I.e. not chasing every possible advantage, eye candy, triple screens, etc., and just concentrating on my driving I have been very happy with the experience. I have been playing ISI games for years, however, so there will be a bit of a learning curve but you'll get through it if you stick with it.

Finally, try not to let people on this forum get under your skin b/c they will try. While you are definitely not ready to race 60s F1s yet, come on over to my league thread and feel free to ask any questions at all as a large part of my mission is to provide tips, support & encouragement, as mentioned in my shameless promotional video

http://isiforums.net/f/showthread.php/13683-60s-F1-Fun-League-Malaysia-Sunday-July-28-18-00-GMT

Anyway, again welcome to the community and best wishes.

 

lol Spaskis

but to be true... there are lots of helpful people in this forum, many speak also other languages than english... but apparently Alexander knows english.

I usually assign some of these: look left and right, look behind, pit stop request, lcd mode, driving cameras (I only use cockpit though). rear flap (same as DRS), ignition and engine start (if you like to start the car yourself), headlights and pit limiter...

other useful buttons are maybe voting buttons and brake balance adjust.

Then of course you steering etc.

Best way to learn is by practicing...maybe offline first, start slow and advance from there. You can also watch some youtube videos to see where you lose time. Setups are also important part of getting grips with the cars...

 

There are some buttons unassigned which are useful, i.e the neutral button if you use a car with sequential gearbox or the rear flap button which is also known as DRS. You will stumble upon most of them when you feel the need for them. For starters I would concentrate on learn how to drive without driver aids, the buttons won't make you a better driver. Don't try to be fast, just try to be consistent. A good help is this Skip Barber training video. If you follow the advice made there you will become a better driver.

After watching this hop in the Skip Barber and try some things for yourself. I would suggest the Skip Barber because it punishes bad driving style the most. Once you are confident with the grip limit, how to accelerate out of corners, how to brake efficiently and when your laptimes get more consistent then try a faster car.

It needs time to get used to it when you come from arcadish games. Don't try to be competitive in multiplayer now, this will only lead to frustration.

Edit:
Ooops too slow, you don't need to watch the video twice

 

lol Spaskis!
Interesting thing is:
I´ve read many times now that for a newbie (who obviously can´t hold the car on the track) people recommend to
join a league as FIRST thing! That people are maybe then the same who are complaining about crashers and
bad driving on server....lol
Don´t worry Alexander,- after hard practising OFFLINE, you will do it!
Tip: first times (new track/new car) drive like a grandpa of 80+.

Greets
Pete

 

Hi Alex, welcome to simracing

I think the first thing you should stop doing is to try and compete with the times others are doing. When not experienced enough it usually means you are pushing too hard and overdriving the car. And then frustration kicks in. which leads to more overdriving.

Just slow down a bit, don't push as hard and simply go round and round and round. you will soon find moments and areas you are able to push a bit more. Natural progression is what you are looking for, the details will come later.

Practise is key. Rule of thumb: if you feel you have practised enough, practise some more


But comparing yourself to people whom already have a head start on you, its not going to achieve much I think. Give yourself more time, Simracing is hard, especially rf2 and there is too much to learn to be able to grasp it all in one go.


Crz's video is really helpful in this.

I would recommend not using any assistance (aids), just go hardcore right away. Not because its more realistic or 'baddass', but simply because it will make you a better and more efficient driver and you will understand things much more quickly this way.

Also beginners often make the mistake of assuming their setup-tweaks will help them more then track-time will help. So when struggling they tend to try and solve this by changing all kinds of things in the setup rather then doing it on-track.
All you really need is a base setup and loads of practice. especially in the beginning.
So more track-time, less confusing garage-time. (unless you have good knowledge of things of course!)


Some helpful articles in our (rather incomplete) racing-guide:
http://legends-league.com/wiki/RacingGuide


The more technical stuff like indepth-setup-tweaks etc will come natural as well. just that feeling of 'knowing' you should go faster but its not coming to you, that's the time you need to dive into it much more. when normal routines (endless practise and more experience) are not enough anymore. (and the real fun begins, getting that second or tenth or two you simply know are there)


As for buttons assigned. The basics are good enough, throttle/brake/steering/gearing/pit limiter/etc.
And then what you prefer personally (adjustable brake balance, look behind, pit strategy, etc)
And then you have the mod-specifics. only assigning a flap-button if its actually used.

There are no advantages in using certain keys. there are only disadvantages in not using certain keys (everyone is using flaps and you are not)


Check your wheel in windows. you're better of with 360 or 900 degrees. a personal preference you need to discover but if its set to 180 for example it wont help your sim-experience.
Tweaking the steering can then be done within rf2, and even per-mod.

Good luck!

 

Hello Alexander and welcome!

There have been lots of useful tips mentioned here already! I can add some more, based on my own personal experiences.

First, you must do yourself a favor and watch the skip barber video, if you haven't already. You may even want to watch it a few times.

The video quality is not so good, but the information contained within is excellent.

Depending on your real life car experience, whether you have driven mostly FWD or RWD, you may want to choose the first car you practice with and learn the basics of the game in function of that.

As for myself, I have driven mostly FWD, a few years 4WD, and some RWD, but not much. So the clio felt a lot more comfortable when I started.

If you are more comfortable with RWD, then the F3, 370Z and Skip Barber are good choices. The F3 being easier a bit, but you may not be familiar with the driving style needed to perform well, so maybe the 370z or skip may be better choices. Try them.

The other cars will be too much and won't be any fun at that point.

Setting up the game properly will help immensely as well. There are bunch of hidden settings only available by editing the player.plr file. Everything is documented inside.

Like it's been said, you should aim at using little to no aids. A good way of training at first, if not one of the best, is by using the ghost feature, and run practice sessions till the night comes around! It helps both to learn track faster, and improve your lap time faster.

When learning a track (since you are beginning, you must learn all of them), set the ghost to previous and something like a 100-200ms of lead. That way, the ghost will be within a reasonable range, and will make you improve your lap time surely and steadily. If you set it too high, like the default of 500ms, you may find yourself under more stress and overdriving, trying to reach the ghost.

With the ghost set to previous, every mistake you make while learning the track will be shown to you on the next lap, so after 1-2 lap, you usually won't make the same mistake anymore, so after a few laps, you start to know the track well, and your lap time then get better and better.

You also don't want many AI with you in the practice session, but you want at least 1, to have a rough idea of your performance.

Set the AI so you are about 1-2 second slower than the AI, then try to improve and beat it. When you can beat the AI in practice, it's time to test your endurance, and run a race session with the same AI setting. The AI is easier for the same AI % under race condition, so you should do fine if you make little mistake during race. Then when the AI seems easy, bump it up 3-5% more, and go back to practice sessions, using ghost, and 1 AI.

Something worth noting, the default aggression of 50% might be too much for you to handle at first. Don't be afraid to lower it, as much as you are comfortable with. Around 10-25% should make it more like amateur racing, vs 50% or more that makes it more like professional racing with more aggressive behavior. Usually when practicing, the AI is courteous, and careful.

Something that will also help, if you are comfortable with cockpit (otherwise you should train to get comfortable), and use a FOV of 30-35 if you are using 1 screen setup. 30 is about what you would see when sitting in a car, if you were seeing the view with a screen. 35 is a good compromise if you can't stand 30.

If you are using the game with it's default settings with a FOV of 30, you will find yourself a lot of time turning blindly into corners, and you will most certainly not like it.

More on FOV, you will find the sense of speed diminished if you are really used to FOV60+ in other games. It will take a few to get used to it, but once you will, and it should take less time than one think, you will get better.

What is giving you the sense of speed in your car, is the peripheral vision, which you lack in the game with 1 screen with a realistic FOV. If you wanna see what I mean, roll on the highway at 100km/h, and put your hands to block your peripheral vision, much like a race horse, and you will see that the sense of speed you now have by looking straight ahead is much less. Just about the same you will get with the FOV set at 30 in rF2.

So, if you have many years of experience driving a car, it should come naturally to you after some time. Just look at the speed your going, and after a while you will know what speed you go without looking, and that's when you will be used to the lower FOV

This is where the look ahead feature is helpful. The default max settings isn't really helpful however, you must go way beyond the max that is avail using the settings menu. To do that you must edit the player.plr file, and change 1 line. (I will paste some parts of my .plr file at the end)

The lookahead max out at 0.2, if you set the slider to max in the settings menu. You will find that using a setting of 0.57 to 0.90 will help you tremendously, and if you have played with the look to apex in shift2, you will find the rF2 version much better and a lot more intuitive, the learning curve is basically none, specially if you got used to shift2's l2a a bit.

If there is one assist you should start with, it's auto-clutch btw, unless you are already familiar with heel-toe braking... otherwise, you will spin out on most down shifts.

What steering wheel have you got?

Regarding setups, don't play with them, as you will probably not notice what the subtle changes they do. Start to learn the default setup well, until you can basically no longer improve your lap time, and have matched the AI at least at 100%, then you should look into setup.

You can look here for some great help regarding setups. It's not rFactor 2 specific, but most everything is directly applicable.

http://www3.sympatico.ca/cbarnett/SetupMatrix.html

Also, as it's been said previously, you can check other people laps on youtube. Try to look for cockpit view with about the same FOV (if possible) as the one you will end up with, and with telemetry data.

If you wish, check out mine, I send both tv camera and cockpit view with telemetry (in two separate videos) for each of the lap I submit.

http://www.youtube.com/pleclair75

I got quite a few clio, skip barber videos as well, with some more powerful cars as well.

At this point, don't try to beat my time, or other people's time you see on youtube, because they are likely to be way out of reach. Look at the braking points, the amount of braking used, the amount of gas pedal used to get thru and out of a corner, the km/h at entry, mid and exit, the top speed during stretches, the line used, and so on.

Something that really helped me when I started, was to lower the gas/brake sensitivity to both 35%. It made the lower end of the pedal a lot more easy to deal with. If you find yourself spinning out often, this may help you a lot.

But as you will improve, at some point, this setting will hurt your time, this is when you must turn it back up to 100%. You will have to adapt to the new sensitivity, but you will find out it's much quicker once you are comfortable with the sensitivity at 35%.

At that point, having it at 100% will help you be more precise thru the whole spectrum, since your foot will have improved.

Here is the settings I use for my player.plr, I won't list all of it, since it's long, and many sections are not needed, or specific to you.

[ DRIVING AIDS ]
Steering Help="0" // Now 3 levels, although full level now comes with a weight penalty by default
Throttle Control="0"
Brake Help="0"
Antilock Brakes="0"
Spin Recovery="0"
Invulnerability="0"
Autopit="0"
Opposite Lock="0"
Stability Control="0"
No AI Control="1" // AI never has control over car (except autopit)
Drive AI Physics="0" // Only works in Dev builds, single player when you toggle to AI "control"
Old Tire Model="0" // Only works in Dev builds, drive with old tire model
TGM Display="0" // Temporary variable
Auto Clutch="1"
Auto Lift="0" // Whether to automatically lift with manual shifting but auto-clutch (non-semiautomatic trans only)
Auto Blip="1" // Whether to automatically blip with manual shifting but auto-clutch (non-semiautomatic trans only)
Shift Mode="0"
Repeat Shifts="0" // 0 = no repeat shift detection, 1 = detect and eliminate accidental repeat shifts within 100ms, 2 = 150ms, 3 = 200ms, 4 = 250ms, 5 = prevent shifting again before previous shift is completed
Manual Shift Override Time="0.60000" // How long after a manual shift until auto shifting resumes (if auto-shifting is enabled)
Auto Shift Override Time="0.55000" // How long after an automatic shift before user is allowed to manually shift
Hold Clutch On Start="1" // For auto-shifting only: whether to hold clutch for standing start (to allow revving without moving)
Hold Brakes="1" // When you enter the vehicle, hold brakes until it is shifted out of neutral
Start Engine="1" // Whether to automatically start engine
Track Markers="1" // Extra track markers for turning and braking

[ Sound Options ]
Net Race Warning="Secondary\racestart.wav" // Signal that multiplayer game has moved to race session (empty this if you don't want the game to automatically take window focus)
Maximum Effects="32" // Maximum sound effects playing simultaneously
Music="1" // Music Toggle
Track Load Commentary="1" // Whether or not the commentator should talk during track loading
Realtime In Monitor="1" // Whether to play realtime sounds in monitor
SoundFX Volume="1.00000" // 0.0-1.0
Engine Volume="1.00000" // 0.0-1.0
Engine Volume Reduction="0.00000" // 0.0-1.0 How much engine volume will be reduced after 53.3 m/s, linearly, until 80 m/s
Traction Control="1.75000" // Volume multiplier
Tire Volume Ratio="1.00000" // Additional volume multiplier for tires
Player Volume Ratio="1.00000" // Additional volume multiplier for player's vehicle
Other Volume Ratio="0.70000" // Additional volume multiplier for other vehicles
Reverb Max Dist="13.00000" // Distance from wall at which reverb drops to zero
Reverb Wet Volume="0.75000" // Reverb volume multiplier (0.0-1.0)
Reverb Dry Volume="0.50000" // Volume increase for original sound (0.0-1.0)
Reverb Decay="0.20000" // Controls decay function (0.0=short, 1.0=long)
Music Volume="0.35000" // 0.0-1.0
Pit Volume="0.50000" // 0.0-1.0, controls volume of pit sounds while you're at the monitor
Spotter Volume="1.00000" // 0.0-1.0
Camera Volume="1.00000" // 0.0-1.0
Number of output channels="5" // -1->Use Windows Control Panel Config, 0->Headphones, 1->Mono Speaker, 2->Stereo, 3->SRS Circle Surround, 4->4.0, 5->5.1, 6->6.1, 7->7.1, 8->8.1
Buffer Latency="4" // Controls size of mixing buffer, small values reduce latency but can cause skipping; latency = 8ms * value, which doesn't include driver/card/OS latencies!
Speed Of Sound="300.00000" // 340m/s at sea level, but lower numbers help exaggerate the Doppler effect
Rain Volume Multiplier="0.90000" // Simulation will adjust rain volume derived from rain intensity. This parameter will either reduce of enhance that adjustment
Thunder Volume Multiplier="1.00000" // Simulation will adjust thunder volume derived from storm intensity and distance. This parameter will either reduce of enhance that adjustment
Trackside Range="1.00000" // Volume range parameter for pithorn and the default for other trackside sounds in CAM file
Trackside Shape="0.75000" // Old (going obsolete) shape of volume attenuation for pithorn and the default for other trackside sounds in CAM file
Trackside Ambient="3.00000" // Ambient range where volume is maximum for pithorn and the default for other trackside sounds in CAM file
Trackside Exp Shape="0.02200" // New exponential shape attenuation for pithorn and the default for other trackside sounds in CAM file
Vehicle Scrubbing VolMult="0.0000610352"
Vehicle Skidding VolMult="0.0005220703"
Vehicle Skidding FreqGrip="-0.25000"
Vehicle Skidding FreqSpeed="0.00195"
Vehicle Roadnoise VolSpeed="32.00000"
Vehicle Roadnoise VolMult="0.0000080000"
Vehicle Roadnoise FreqMin="0.80000"
Vehicle Roadnoise FreqMult="0.00391"


[ Graphic Options ]
Broadcast Overlay="1"
Texture Detail="2"
Vertical FOV Degrees="30" // 9=use default, otherwise is the FOV for attached cameras (horiz is calculated based on aspect ratio)
Rearview="0" // 0=Off, 1=Center and Side, 2=Center only, 3=Side only (virtual mirrors only, in-car mirrors are on/off)
Allow Rearview In Swingman="0"
Virtual Rearview In Cockpit="0" // applies to cockpit or TV cockpit
Rearview Width="64.00000" // use Shift+Ctrl+Seat* controls to save by vehicle
Rearview Height="14.00000"
Rearview Independent="0" // Whether width (horizontal FOV) can be controlled independently of height (vertical FOV)
Rearview Cull="1" // Whether to cull objects in the rearview based on visgroups in the SCN file
Seat Pitch="5.00000" // Cockpit camera pitch orientation (degrees)
Seat Yaw="0.00000" // Cockpit camera yaw orientation (degrees)
Seat Roll="0.00000" // Cockpit camera roll orientation (degrees)
Seat Adjustment Aft="0.03500" // use Seat* controls to save by vehicle
Seat Adjustment Up="-0.00000"
Mirror Adjustment Horiz="0.06005" // use Shift+Seat* controls to save by vehicle
Mirror Adjustment Vert="0.04970"
Mirror Physical X="0.00000" // use Shift+Alt+Seat* controls to save by vehicle
Mirror Physical Y="0.00000" // note: these physical mirror position adjustments are for the in-cockpit center mirror only
Mirror Physical Z="0.00000"
Left Mirror Horiz="0.00000" // use Ctrl+Seat* controls to save by vehicle
Left Mirror Vert="0.00000"
Left Mirror Size="1.00000"
Center Mirror Horiz="0.00000" // use Ctrl+Alt+Seat* controls to save by vehicle
Center Mirror Vert="0.00000"
Center Mirror Size="1.00000"
Right Mirror Horiz="0.00000" // use Alt+Seat* controls to save by vehicle
Right Mirror Vert="0.00000"
Right Mirror Size="1.00000"
Cockpit Vibration Mult1="1.05000" // Primary aerodynamic vibration multiplier affects eyepoint position (base magnitude is in VEH or cockpit file)
Cockpit Vibration Freq1="44.00000" // Primary rate of vibration affects eyepoint position (higher framerates allow higher rates)
Cockpit Vibration Mult2="1.04000" // Secondary aerodynamic vibration multiplier affects eyepoint orientation (base magnitude is in VEH or cockpit file)
Cockpit Vibration Freq2="48.00000" // Secondary rate of vibration affects eyepoint orientation
Car Vibration Mult1="1.60000" // Primary engine vibration multiplier affects position of cameras attached directly to the car
Car Vibration Mult2="1.30000" // Secondary engine vibration multiplier affects orientation of cameras attached directly to the car
Moving Rearview="3" // Whether mirrors respond to head movement in cockpit (0=none, 1=position-only, 2=FOV-only, 3=both) - add 4 if you want to IGNORE head-tracking movement
Rearview_Front_Clip="0.50000" // Front plane distance for mirror (0.0 = use default for scene)
Rearview_Back_Clip="0.00000" // Back plane distance for mirror (0.0 = use default for scene)
Rearview Particles="1"
Self In TV Rearview="0" // add values for any that should be visible (0=none): 1=rear wing & wheels, 2=body & susp, 4=cockpit, 8=steering wheel (15=all)
Self In Cockpit Rearview="0" // add values for any that should be visible (0=none): 1=rear wing & wheels, 2=body & susp, 4=cockpit, 8=steering wheel (15=all)
Backfire Anim Speed="30.00000"
Heat FX Fade Speed="30.00000" // Speed at which exhaust heat effects reduce by half (0 to completely disable)
Warning Light Anim Speed="4.00000" // Safety car light animation
Steering Wheel="0" // 0=moving steering wheel, 1=non-moving steering wheel, 2=no steering wheel or arms (in cockpit only while player-controlled), 3=moving steering wheel but no arms
Box Outline="16711680" // whether to draw box on ground around pitstall and grid location when necessary; -1=off, 0-16777215=RGB color
Allow Letterboxing="1" // whether we allow letterboxing (during replays, for example)
Logo Seconds="0" // puts up logo at corner of screen for first X seconds of each session
HUD="6"
HUD Race Stats="0"
HUD Tachometer="1"
HUD MFD="4"
Any Camera HUD="1" // whether to show the HUD from any camera (in particular, tracksides)
LCD Display Modes="31" // Add the modes to allow them: 1=status 2=aids 4=engine/brake temps 8=race info 16=standings
Automap="3" // 0=off 1=race-only 2=non-race-only 3=all sessions
Display Vehicle Labels="2" // 0=never 1=single-player 2=multi-player 3=always
Player Detail="3"
Player Texture Override="3" // For player's vehicle textures: -1=use Player Detail, 0-3=override value
Opponent Detail="2"
Opponent Texture Override="-1" // For opponents' vehicle textures: -1=use Opponent Detail, 0-3=override value
Load Opponent Cockpits="0" // Whether to load gauges and LCD for opponents, don't turn off if you're planning on hot-swapping vehicles in multiplayer
Garage Detail="1.00000" // LOD multiplier when vehicle is in garage (0.01-1.00)
Shadows="3"
Shadow Blur="3" // 0=Off, 1=Fast, 2=Optimal, 3=Quality
Transparency AA="0" // Soften edges around alpha test objects
Pitcrew Detail="2"
Special FX="3"
Lightning Probability="1.00000" // Probability of seeing lightning (0.0-1.5)
Thunder Probability="1.50000" // Probability of hearing thunder (0.0-1.5)
Sun Occlusion="1" // If true, sunlight is affected by cloud cover
Rain Drops="1" // If true, rain falls
Real Road System="1" // If true, dynamic road effects are used (can only be turned off in Dev mode)
Road Reflections="2" // Low/High = reflected objects are generated for wet road and heat mirage
Environment Reflections="2" // Low/HIgh = live cubic mapping is used (if track and car are setup properly)
Wind and Crowd Motion="1" // If true, trees respond to ambient wind, crowds have some random motion
Full Tire Shader="1" // Turn off only if you get wacky wheels (typically on old, unsupported video cards that are not truly compliant)
Vehicle Flow Radius="3.00000" // Vehicle sphere radius for smoke/flames/dust/spray
Vehicle Flow Offset="3.10000" // Offset below vehicle where sphere center is located
Engine Emitter Flow="0" // Whether engine smoke/flames flow over emitting vehicle
Tire Emitter Flow="0" // Whether tire smoke/dust flow over emitting vehicle
Smoke Flow="1" // Whether all smoke/flames/dust flow over non-emitting vehicles
Raindrop Flow="2" // Add to enable: 1=flow over current 2=flow over other vehicles
Rainspray Flow="2" // Add to enable: 1=flow over current 2=flow over other vehicles
Spark Flow="2" // Add to enable: 1=flow over current 2=flow over other vehicles
Glance Rate="9.00000" // Rate to follow controller for glancing
Look Up/Down Angle="0.40000" // Angle to look up/down (pitch) w/ controller in radians (= degrees / 57)
Leanahead Angle="0.06140" // Angle to lean head (roll) w/ steering in radians (= degrees / 57)
Look Roll Angle="0.90000" // Angle to lean head (roll) w/ controller in radians (= degrees / 57)
Glance Angle="0.90000" // Angle to look left/right (yaw) w/ controller in radians (= degrees / 57)
Lookahead Angle="0.90000" // Angle to lookahead (yaw) w/ steering in radians (= degrees / 57)
Head Physics="0.75000" // Fraction of head physics movement applied to cockpit view (position AND rotation)
Head Rotation="1.00000" // Additional head physics multiplier affecting rotation only
Exaggerate Yaw="0.00000" // Visually exaggerates the heading angle of the vehicle by rotating the head (which may improve "feel")
Overlay Height="0.04000" // Distance from geometry to help sort drawing skids and grooves
Overlay Z Bias="1" // Draw-sorting bias for skids and grooves (0 = none)
Tire Ground Offset="0.00000" // Offset so tire shadows work properly on ground
Track Detail="3"
Groove="1"
MIP Mapping="1"
Compressed Textures="1"
Max Visible Vehicles="20"
Extra Visible Vehicles="105" // Extra vehicles shown in non-driving situations
Partial Cockpit View="0" // 0=normal cockpit view, 1=wheels & suspension only, 2=wheels only
Starting View="1" // 0=tvcockpit, 1=cockpit, 2=nosecam, 3=swingman, 4=trackside, 5=onboard000 ... 1004=onboard999
Player Livery="I:\RFACTOR2\USERDATA\PLAYER\SETTINGS\MR01_CAR\MR01_25\AltPA-3.dds" // Overrides default paint job for track
Dynamic Vertex Buffers="1" // Enable / Disable use of dynamic vertex buffers
Mipmap LOD Bias="0.00000"
Allow HUD in cockpit="1"
Display Icons="2" // Icons displayed if HUD is off: 0 = none, 1 = flags only, 2 = all
Auto Detail Framerate="0" // Details and visible vehicles will be automatically reduced (by up to half) if framerate is under this threshold (0 to disable)
Render Once Per VSync="0" // Attempts to render once per vsync; 1 = use timer, no wait; 2 = use vblank, no wait; 3 = use vblank, wait
Max Framerate="0.00000" // 0 to disable (note: positive numbers only, we always use the 'alternate' method now)
Steady Framerate Thresh="0.00000" // Allowed threshold in seconds to try to 'catch up' when falling behind using Max Framerate (use 0 for original behavior). This helps steady the framerate but may introduce more latency.
Flush Previous Frame="0" // Make sure command queue from previous frame is finished (may help prevent stuttering)
Synchronize Frame="1.00000" // Extrapolate graphics using estimated render time in attempt to more accurately synchronize physics with graphics, 0.0 (off) - 1.0 (full)
Delay Video Swap="0" // Whether to delay video swap if card is busy - this should only be used if framerate clearly improves - otherwise it is only delaying response time
Always Rebuild Collision="0" // Build collision database everytime tracks are loaded (for development purposes)
Gap Check="0.03000" // Test for verts that are within X meters but not the exact same, reported to trace.txt and visible by pressing Ctrl-H three times (Dev build only; 0.0 to disable)
UI Background Animation="1"
Low Detail UI="0"
Widescreen Overlays="1"
Texture Filter="5" // Texture Filtering level: 0 = bilinear, 1 = trilinear, 2 = X2 AF, 3 = X4 AF, 4 = X8 AF, 5 = X16 AF
Max Headlights="256" // Max headlights visible relative to your car.
Headlights On Cars="1" // Headlights illuminate other cars.
Screenshot File Type="0" // 0=default (jpg), 1=bmp, 2=jpg, 3=png, 4=dds
HUD file="i:\rFactor2\Core\HUD\MULTI DIAL.INI"
HUD Component="Standard HUD"
HUD Component Version="1.0a"

(if you paste everything into your .plr file, make sure to go over the visuals settings, as you may use better or worse settings than I)

I listed all section I made changes to so it's easy to cut and paste whole sections, and make sure you make no mistakes.

There is something worth noting tho. With the lookahead feature set above what is allowed in the UI, everytime you will go to the control sections in the settings (every other will do no changes) will reset the lookahead back to it's max default.

Then you must go back and edit the changes back to what you end up with.

It's a little annoying, but well worth it, imo. Once you will have set up all your cars, and controls, you won't have to go to controls very often.

Also, if you use my settings as is, you will find that I have the cockpit view pitched up 5 degrees. I find the view better, and more natural this way. However, it causes some problems for the rear view in some cars. By playing with the seat position, you can sometimes get away with it.

As I'm not into multiplayer much, I find the rear view not vital, and prefer the pitch right now.

To be sure, back up your current player.plr before applying any changes, in case you don't like it, it will be easy to go back.

You can also fiddle with some settings, as most lines are commented.

As someone mentioned settings up your wheel is crucial. If you can tell us what wheel you got, someone is bound to be able to give you a starting point to begin with.

Hope this all make sense, and is of some help to you.

If you have more questions, dont be afraid to ask!


EDIT: To put some sense into those endless hours of practice sessions, make sure you visit rf2.gplrank.info, and submit your time. You will be able to compare with all kinds of drivers, so pick a target a couple notch above you and try to beat it, and work your way up the ladder It's addictive in itself

EDIT2: Something I forgot and can't stress enough. When you are comfortable with the Clio, if it's the car your practice first, train plenty with the Skip, until you can match the AI at 100%. It will help you if you think of driving the modern open wheelers, but also corvette, gtr, megane, and pretty much all of them.

Also, make sure you go back to it every now and then... it is excellent work for the foot

 

Your effort and goood will is very admirable, preclair. However, all that effort to help just ONE person is a waste of time IMO. This thread will soon get buried under hundreds of threads. ISI could prepare an official guide with all the commands with a brief explanation and stick it in the right place. That effort would be really helpful and would avoid explaining the very same things everytime a newbie asks. I really get annoyed everytime I see the same questions answered and responded.

Isi's official support needs to improve. It is not fair to leave it all up to the community, which for sure is willing to help. However, letting all those helpful threads get lost with the time is a terrible lack of respect to the same community to which that job is committed.

I really get disappointed asking for the same things every time and getting no reaction. It looks like that I am asking for something special. A instruction manual is essential for every piece of software.

Enviado desde mi GT-I9505 usando Tapatalk 2

 

Dude, what is wrong with you? Just because you are a bitter old man, it doesn't mean you have to discourage new people by spreading your propaganda.
Also, do you really think ISI is going to hire Spanish, Italian and French employees just because people don't speak basic English? You need to come back down to earth.

 

I have a WIP PDF under development, but it is limited and based mainly on what I know and with an emphasis on things you would not otherwise discover or question naturally. Even after years of using ISI's products, I am still learning things accidentally that I would have never even known to ask about. For example, how to map controller buttons will not be in there b/c that is an obvious need while Head Motion plugin is something you may not even know exists. Pedal plugin is another example because people may not even know their ffb is clipping and could be better. Track Map is another example b/c people may not know it exists and it brings so much to the experience. Player file edits will also be there, especially those you would never think about like AI improvements, etc etc. So how to use all menu items and the SW will not be in the document although there may be some basics after UI is finalized and if there are bugs to note like AI strength change won't work from track, etc. It will also include a welcome packet which will help set expectations and keep sim racers from being their own worst enemy, etc. here is a draft of that part:

https://sites.google.com/site/rfactor2navigator/getting-the-most-out-of-rfactor-2

Anyway, I fully support that complete documentation is necessary but not sure this is realistic. Did ISI document rF1?

 

To all of you who threw in inputs for me, thanks and i do appreciate them especially you preclair who has written a long s guide that pretty much explains my doubts. As contrary to what you think sparkis, everyone has their own learning curve; some may think a game is way too difficult to start with and some don't. So it is unfair for you to judge us as typical newbs. We want to get out of the noob zone as well; not expecting to be spoonfed, but need a first step to start with, which is what rfactor doesnt accomodate to. But i agree that, preclair should have his guide pinned or something so that more newbs can read them before asking the same questions again.

Ive watched the Skip barber video guys and it taught me alot on sim racing. That explains why do my car always spins for no reason! I never much knew about load movements mechanics etc. stuffs are involved when throttling, braking and turning until now. Glad that it helped me to understand the underlying concept of what do they do, rather than for me to season myself with the driving 'feel' in racing games.

I am using a G27 and left most of its settings on default.. Sometimes as for degree of rotation and steering rate, i have no idea how much would be optimum and left it at vehicle set. I am not a great modder nor tweaker thus i dont think i will touch alot on vehicle tunings, config settings etc etc.. As far as i know I enjoy the game as it realism offers, neglecting the technical stuffs.. Maybe Im an arcade sim racer after all? xP Well, im on my second day of multiplayer, still always lingering around the bottom of rankings, but definitely better than before heh. To me, my constant battle for now is to stay alive in tracks rather than to perfecting throttle, turning etc etc...

 

Good posts guys !
It's all sayd but one thing:
Look at your fps, its better for a noob(sry) you have a way more fps.
Try Lime Rock Park no chicanes for your tests, drive the track many many times. Use you favorite car but dont use a big power car like Corvette or F1. Try to drive constantly, without crashes, spins and stay ON the track ---> the speed comes with the time.. no rush !

greetings

 

I would recommend setting 900° of rotation on your wheel and let rf2 set the correct amount itself.

 

If ISI took the first step and prepare a startup guide I bet you the translation to other languages would not be any problem today. If ISI collected existing stuff, preparing official guides would not such a great effort for them and it would be much appreciated by everybody, especially newcomers or new modders. It is just ridiculous to have 4 or 5 people helping someone new because there is no official startup guide with the basics. For sure old rfactor drivers have a basic knowledge which makes them way easier to use rf2. However I still remember my own beginnings. I WAS AS LOST AS ONE CAN BE. It is just stupid to force every newcomer to go through all this pointless and frustrating learning process because some people think it is alright as it is. When ISI delivers professional versions to real racing teams I guess they will provide some documentation of the sim. I would not be paying thousands of dollars for a software which didnt come with the proper documentation, troubleshooting and technical support trespassed to other software users.

I am in charge of the development of simulation tools for my industry and I am for sure used to working with small software development teams of the size if ISI. I am quite more exigent with my software providers that what I am being with ISI (most people just are throwing flowers to ISI and if you don't agree you are kind of a troll or something). If some more pressure was put on ISI maybe they would change their attitude but it doesnt look like if something like that will ever happen. We get what we deserve.

Enviado desde mi GT-I9505 usando Tapatalk 2

 

I'm glad I was able to help you out.

I agree with you and SPAKSIS, ISI should either pin the thread, or make a new one with the informations contained, layed out properly.

There is no documentation at this point, probably because the game is still somewhat far from final release, the UI might change, stuff might get added, removed, etc, so making a large doc might prove a waste of time.

A quick start guide with the infos from this thread and others, might be more appropriate for now.

You are using the same wheel as I do, it's a very good starter wheel. I say starter because it's like the entry level of the sim racing wheels, but still a very solid one. You can achieve great lap times with enough practice with it.

Regarding setting up your wheel for rFactor 2, you should create a profile in the logitech profiler, for rF2, and set the specific game settings to:

Overall effects strength: 100%
Spring effects strength: 0%
Damper effects strength: 0%

Tick enable centering spring, but set it to 0%.

Tick use special steering wheel settings, and set the rotation to 900. Leave report combined pedals unticked.

Tick use special game settings as well as allow game to adjust settings.

That should give you the proper ffb for rF2.


In the controls settings (in game), make sure vehicle set is ticked (should be by default).

The defaut FFB smoothing of 9 is fine. I tried to go lower, even at 0, and the steering becomes too granular, and the rumbles strip are a bit intense as well. Made me conscious about my wheel. I used a setting of 4 for a while.

You should try to increase the car specific FFB mult. It will make the little subtle effects more easy to feel. It should help you spin out less as well. I recommend trying a setting of 1.2 to 1.5. I have mine set to different amount for different cars. I usually set the modern open wheelers to something like 1.4-1.6, and the road cars to 1.2-1.4.

Also make sure speed sensitivity is set to 0.

Now that I think of it, there is the guide made for rF1, available here: http://files.imagespaceinc.com/1255c/Support/rFactorManual.pdf

Which contains useful informations that can be applied to rF2 as well. There is a good chapter on car setup with a concrete example using Mills as reference.

EDIT: As Andreas mentioned, Lime Rock Park is a very good track to learn the game. It's fun, not too long, easy to learn, challenging, with many different curves, like off-camber, one that closes in, another that goes uphill, another downhill, a good stretch. It's a nice drive with all cars.

May I suggest you play with the day time, set your time acceleration to 5x or 10x, so you see more of the sky changing during your sessions. Try to start a session at 6-7am, 4pm, 6pm, you'll experience very different drives, and pleasing scenery!

Skip the rain and night for now

 

I understand your way of thoughts, but let's not forget there is nothing perfect.

Everyone, or companies have it's strong side, and weak one. I have no experience like you with other sim companies, or for that matters, game studios, but I've been in enough forums to know that ISI's presence in their own forums, is really welcomed.

And for me, that's a really good thing. I love to see Tim take the time to read most posts and answer those needed or directly addressed to him.

I have to agree with you tho, that ISI, at this point, should have more infos out there regarding modding, to help modders make stuff for their game. The mods are the heart of rF2, one would think they would like modders to make stuff as early as possible for their game.

Yet they don't seem to.

But the recent release of the tire tools might be of some great help, but we're getting OT...

Also, there is quite some negativity floating around the forums here... which can take a toll on ISI. I've been in the iPhone theme scene for a while, and I know very well how some posts can hurt.

You start with the best intentions, trying to please all, and you get put down by some people... I know it's usually a minority, but it still affects you nonetheless. After a few hurtful posts, you start building up a carapace of some sorts, and try to care less about things, so the end result is often support going down a notch or two.

I left the scene because I can't handle those type of posts... I tried to, but failed.

I believe the same things have happened to lots of people putting up stuff online... modders for example in this community.

Still getting OT, but in topic with your reply I think

Btw, thanks for your reply

 

Thanks preclair. G27 is the entry level to sim racing? Oh lol i couldnt think of any 5 wheels superior to this xP I appreciate those settings that you gave me. Are they like sort of generic settings for every rfactor players with g27 or its more flavoured personally to your style? All along i have them on default settings and totally no idea on how do i tweak it to simulate cars ffb better. I will try and get used to it starting tomorrow

Another small issue that i would love to raise. The clutch + gear shifting doesnt work for me. Somehow i can shift without pressing the clutch at all despite having all assists switched off. Kinda odd is it.. Also, i noticed that i perform better with paddle shifters alone due to lesser arm movements as my shifters are mounted on the bottom right side next to my playseat. Vehicles on rf2 tend to be fast that i dont even bother to use them at all.. Abandoning it altogether is also a plus point as i dont have to touch the clutch since i dont know the heel toe method.. Oh well

 

rf2 doesn't have clutch simulation yet...it should come later on. Hopefully soon.

 

The settings I gave you for the profiler, are sort of the default settings used by most rF players. rFactor make no use of the damper and spring setting in the profiler, so setting those will somehow soften the ffb. I think some people play with this to lower the ffb during offroad and kerbs.

Btw, there is a settings in the controller.ini that you can edit to reduce the offroad vibration. Seach for offroad inside the file. Again well documented.

Have a look in the FFB part of it, there are nice settings about the gas/brake/clutch/gearbox... by default they are set to affect the gas/brake/clutch/gearbox ffb, but since the g27 have none, that ffb is lost. You can change this to steering instead, by setting the values to 1, and you can play with the settings.

Now, I'm not 100% sure that feature is done, but I'm pretty sure I have noticed a little change when I first played with this, specially for the brakes. It might be me changing driving style, I dunno, but in either way, it cannot hurt to play with this.

The clutch isn't fully simulated, but nothing prevents you from still using it. That's what I do, cause it's natural for me to use it, since I mostly driven manual gearbox cars. So shifting without it just isn't natural. You just won't have missed shifts

Also regarding the clutch, don't feel bad to use the paddle, I don't think no one will throw fits at you because of this, except maybe the ultra hardcore, but then again, the only cars that you should use it in rF2, are the historics, I believe all others have sequential in rl.

I have learned to heel-toe on the g27, and it takes a few days to get used to it... specially keeping brake sensitivity while pushing the gas pedal.

I now understand tho, why people buy racing shoes to play seriously, cause when playing with socks only, it hurts the feet after a while... so now I only use the paddle. Used to drive all cars except the modern open wheelers using clutch. Even skip barber.

Plus, since I play with a strong ffb, playing with the clutch requires you to play more often with just 1 hand, and my left hand got sore after a while as well.

Not worth to get hurt to play a game I prefer the stronger ffb with paddle, to end up lowering the ffb to play with the clutch, and buy shoes

Regarding the settings I first gave you regarding the sensitivity of the gas and brake pedal, along with other settings in game, are my own. I have read that a few people in the forums uses similar settings as well.

The sensitivity setting alone should help you a lot get used to the game. When you get precise enough in the bottom end of the pedal, and start to have hard time improving your times, you will need to increase it back to 100%. At this point, you will need to be precise on all the pedal's range.

Another tip, that might be obvious, but I'll still throw it, if you like rF2, and start to take it seriously, do yourself a favor, and stop playing other racing game until you reach a point where you really know the game, otherwise it will be hard on you.

When I started, I was also playing and enjoying shift 2, and dirt 3, was curious to see what these looked like, and I knew they would run nice on my system, but playing them in tandem with rF2 made my gameplay goes hairy a bit! Something that helped me for a while was to look for a FOV mod for both shift 2 and dirt 3, but even then, the different physics at some point was too much... So I stopped playing them and I got rapidly better.

Before that, I was also playing LFS, Netkar Pro and then the tech demo of AC, and after playing rF2 for a while, I noticed that my driving got better in all those sims as well.

But the physics and FFB of rF2 are just too much, so I can't play other racing games now cause their ffb is just too weak compared to rF2

I hope you have a good time and let us know how you progress!