Newbie questions (AKA Are we supposed to discover by ourselves how the game works?)

I have owned Rfactor 2 for two years now and played it occasionally. Obviously it is a good racing simulator. However, after all this time I am still in the dark about many features of the game and, lacking the time & patience to search the Web for answers, I will post some basic questions here. I apologize beforehand if they have been answered somewhere else:

1. Is there a manual for the game? Mind you, I am not asking for a modding manual or a complex parameters manual, but just a simple manual made by the manufacturer pointing out the game's main features and how to use them if you are not an accomplished modder or racer. One would assume the developers would provide such a simple resource with the product, but apparently they skipped this part and left us to discover by ourselves how every feature works.

2. Is there a single resource that describes what are the folders in the game and what they do? Furthermore, as there are thousands of parameters that can be configured in several ini files, is there an organized resource that describes these files, the parameters they contain and what they do in practice?

3. What is the purpose of the Series page? When you first install the game, there is nothing there except "All cars and tracks". I understand that racing teams create their own series for playing online, but is there an easy way to create your own series if you want to - say, a "karting" series containing your favorite tracks & kars?

4. Is there a way to change the names of tracks/cars in the relevant pages or are we stuck with what appears there? Furthermore, is there a way to create subfolders inside these pages to organize your tracks/cars?

5. In the previous version of the MOD Manager, you could filter out stuff you didn't want to see. Is there a way to do the same in the new incarnation of the program?

 

1. No.
2. No.
3. Someone can (in theory) mod a whole series like F12012 including tracks, UI and stuff. Like a game in game.
4. No, not without repacking verything.
5. Not as I know. Old ModMngr still exists in Bin32 folder.

 

Thank you for your quick - albeit frustrating - reply, peterchen. It confirmed my worst suspicions: apparently the developers, having spent a lot of time and effort to develop a great sym, didn't bother with the obvious next step - telling the buyers how to use them. This is quite odd, particularly given the fact that rF2 has some excellent and even revolutionary features. I read the other day that the AI can actually be allowed to improve its driving by testing different approaches in a track. That would be great, if I only knew how to make it work.

Concerning the .ini files, it amazes me that often somebody raises a question about what some parameter does here (at the official forum for the game!) and not a single soul from ISI bothers to reply. I would guess that, at least for their own use, they must have some reference about the hundreds or thousands of parameters that can be tweaked. Why not publish them? Or, if that is too much trouble, why not at least place a comment before each parameter in the ini files so that we can have an idea of what they do?

In short: rFactor 2 seems to be great, arguably the best sym, but it is also the most unfriendly software product I have ever seen. With new offers in the market, like Assetto Corsa and now Project Cars, I believe many non-experts like myself will more and more tend to abandon it in favour of products that do not require a PhD to be configured & played properly.

 

2. no ini files anymore... if you do, you have not got the current version. JSON files have parameters with explanation underneath each item (apart from a few entries).

3. There are videos on the rFactor 2 youtube channel regarding packaging... and I'm sure others have made more up to date ones to.

4. No, this is up to the people that made the mod. There is a certain structure that needs to be adhered to.

5. I wasn't aware there were 2 versions of mod manager. The "old" version still filters out what you don't want to see, and it works fine.

On an aside, did you check the documentation on this website http://rfactor.net/web/rf2/devscorner/ before posting?

 

Newbie questions (AKA Are we supposed to discover by ourselves how the game w...

@Aleph99, won't answer all your questions but check out professionalsimracing.com and my youtube channel. Also I am on part III of an rF2 single player best practices video series and my behind-the-scenes videos you might want to check out. I'm also working on something of a "console converts" video helping people to make the transition to sim racing from racing games...

 

Just because there exists JSON and ini files doesn't mean they have to be touched at all. Actually most things (including FFB) work pretty well out of box, what doesn't work can be 99% adjusted directly from the GUI. The basic steps how to install cars and a tracks are explained on the product website. There is also some FAQ. These days sadly very few games/sims provide a manual, would be nice having one.

 

1. Suck it up

2. See #1

3. You can make any combo of cars and tracks you like, name the series so they all appear in separate lists , name the drivers , add any skins and virtual cars ......yadda yadda yadda

4. This I don't even understand rF2 is to drive not to make menus look pretty and edit peoples work ......I think you got it confused with pCars and AC

5. ?

It is just "Good" really...............

 

There's a readme.txt file in the program files install directory.

 

The readme includes no useful information regarding handling the program.
Yes you are right aleph. It´s a bummer that ISI does nothing when it comes to sharing information
about this aspects of the program.
Entry´s in Player.JSON includes explanations though and this forum is full of threads about this things you want to know.
So change nothing, and when you need/want to change, use search-function in forum.

 

I didn't even finish highschool and I'm still getting a lot out of rF2. No PhD needed. Only time, a passion for racecars and racing.
If anyone is satisfied with half realistic fisics, I mean physics then they will most likely be happy with pCars or Assetto Corsa. Personally, I have never tried any of these. All I know about them is from hearsay.

 

8 out of 10 games on my laptop don't have a meaningful Manual anywhere to be found, the only one I actually need a PhD for is Kerbal Space Program....yikes!

 

nah.... just takes lots of practice and lots of dead kerbals

 

Game manuals are so 20th century.


I know the OP was written by someone who is doom and gloom but I do wonder why the filters were removed from mod manger. OP has a good point there.

 

When asked in the proper sub-forum, someone from ISI usually does reply.

Not picking on you in particular but it seems ironic that someone is asking for game instructions, but doesn't read forum instructions.

 

I miss 20th century a lot.
I have an official manual of Autocad 2000, you dont need anything else to work with this huge program, its all there. Actually its usefull even with recent versions.

I dont understand why RF2 doesnt have a manual.
Rf1 did and as many things remain the same it wouldnt be so much work to make one.
I remember this discussion 2 years back and the lack of a manual was excused as the game was in beta status.

 

Games not having manuals is a bad practice that unfortunately didn't get any backlash. I remember when EA and UbiSoft began going digital with a simple sleeve inside game cases. I remember not being able to find the manual in AssCreed in the game because the UI was messy. It's a shame we must refer to GP2 and GPL manuals as state of the art and reverence them, because it is unlikely we'll ever see such work put together again - even digitally.

In a complex game there is no excuse not to have at least a pop-up box description of a parameter. I wish rFactor2 would copy iRacing or Assetto Corsa in the UI and that description aspect.

 

In defense if ISI having a manual is not all upside. A lot is changing and updating documentation for a product still in development is expensive. Additionally, the first time something in the manual is inaccurate, people will get out their pitchforks. And if something is inaccurate, which it will inevitably be, people will be lead down rabbit holes which is not good either. The rF2 community is truly fantastic in my estimation and I honestly can't think of a single question I did not get help with. Take it from someone who works in a very fast paced and complex environment with almost zero documentation.

 

If you like a few of us race almost every night (USA/Canada) on cactus servers. Pretty easy to find, its near the top of the matchmaker. We also are on team speak and would be more than willing to answer your questions.

 

Oh if only people would bring out their pitchforks for that... This forum can be flamed with one word, which is actually quite sad.

 

i think ISI knows this but the engine can't do tooltips & i guess they havent found a way around that?

i do think some kind of simple beginners guide to rf2 could be very useful. a major example would be when i DLd the demo i had no idea the significance of real road (or how cool it is). this wouldnt be anything indepth, just pointing out some features, explain settings, section on mods & a rough setup guide like every other sim has ingame now (via tooltip); at least its there. could be offered on the mainpage right with the game as a pdf DL & would even work in part as an advertising brochure. for me its one of those little-big things, not much effort to do but could lead to a few sales & even if it doesnt, its convenient anyway?