Latest Roadmap Update - August 2017

Reading from the old RaceDepartment interview with Tim Wheatley & S397 few posts above:

I do really hope the modding bit is still being worked on by S397, because the mod tools desperately need to be updated. gJED was abandoned by ISI and Max plugins only work up to 3ds Max 2010 I think, which is now ancient. Modding on its own is not enough, but rF2 should be the first option for anyone that wants a moddable sim, and currently it's not supported as well as it should as a modding platform.

 

Honestly... IMO rFactor series had the time to become the Unreal Engine of simracing on features, physics and graphics.

 

Back then you had rfactor 1 with believable car handling. And a bunch of other arcade game.

Now you have rfactor 2, project cars, assetto corsa, automobilista, iracing, raceroom with believable car handling and a bunch of other arcade game.

Of course, you can argue however you want. But I believe when rfactor 1 was released it was an empty market with no competition. Now you have options for different racing games with laser-scanned tracks and licensed cars.

 

A professional track creator tool would be awesome. For what we can see, existing ones have been created by a single person. Another one is on the way and it is being made by a single person without any support that I know.

It would be awesome if this task could be hired by ISI. For sure it would be a paid tool and the ones willing to use it for another platform would have to give their cash. Track modders would be appreciative enough to buy it if it was of good quality.

I myself would gladly spend 100 € if what I expect is fulfilled.

 

Regarding your last statement,I never said they were,and who said the game can't hold its own,rf2 hasn't reached anywhere near it full potential yet,you seem to have written it off,so I have to ask,if you hold no hope,why bother to keep playing it,take a break like I'm doing from iracing and check back in a years time to see if any progress has been made.
I know rf2s progress will take time so I'm going to buy f1 2017 and waste long hrs on that,thats my year sorted then,rf2 rbr and f1 2017,I think we are well catered for to not fixate on one game

 

I was under the impression that rfactor 2 was practically dead a year ago.

Wait for it!
In the mean time: listen to this from 3:53 to 4:05. Then look the date of the video.

I'm not. I just stated the obvious. Modding won't bring the game forward. But it's enough to bring the game down into a life support state as we saw in the last few years.

You can watch the whole video above from start to finish by the way. It's an interesting watch now that we know where rfactor 2 is nowadays.

 

Considering what rF2 is capable of, it is an empty market with no competition aswell anyways.

However the majority of simracers not being able to recognise the difference is another affair, mainly a poor testimony for the simracing community in my opinion. ("what you want is not what you need" in that sense). Might sound arrogant but I am very confident it is the case.

rF2, regardless of the general awarness, has made continuously very good and steady progress in terms of phyiscs since it's realease. So it is the case with the recent tire updates albeit it's current results but that was the case with the first batch of updates to the so called "CPM" aswell. There are indications that the updates manage to do what I assume they partialy are supposed to do and the current shortcommings will be overcome hopfully with further corrections just as it was the case with the "CPM" development. Considering the involved details in the area it is not surprising either. And when I say "shortcommings", those shortcommings are not even a consideration factor in any other title as a matter of fact. However from my general impression I personally think straight set deadlines in this area are not helping either much. Anyways pretty sure something comparable won't be seen anytime soon on the market available (simply due to the knowledge required and amount of time investment needed) to us unless ISI makes the tech available to more devs and than still the question remains if they will use it in the same way or just promote it as such and flatten the experience based on so called "feedback" from whichever stig it may be.

I am however surprised about the current reactions of the rF2 community in particular. ISI has stated they would develop rF2 unitl 2017 and they managed to release build version 1. xxx whatever (yes I know, just numbers). Sure some things have not been included from the tech previews but some other additional work has been done so it keeps its equilibrium. IIRC ISI allways encouraged users to buy the product based on the current state at time and not based on what might or might not come.

Now S397 has took over to further develope rF2. Introducing meanwhile dx11, VR support, licensed stuff and yadayada whatever still comes, but most importantly further work on the title which only can be considered as the best case of what could have happened to the rF2 community. It seems tho many are not even aware of that or choose to completely ignore it. So they keep on posting useless drivel here still and mainly TBH talk the sim themself down to death. I mean if you are that much concerned at all about it really slap yourself in the face and think about it for a second, just let it sink in. If that is not your cup of tea go back to the last released ISI build and deal with whatever was done up to then. The general perception of rF2 has meanwhile changed a lot in the whole simracing community but the drivel within these forums is the same. People who nagg on just about everything possible. There is no single freaking situation that could make some folks happy, no single variation of reality or chain of happenings.

Exactly this mentality in the community made me stop working on any sort of cars for the community with a few exceptions I have personal interesst in. I am well aware that doesn't bother 99% or more people here and has not much to do on the topic here but it might give you an indication of possible results of your drivel. Do not get me wrong, just read as is, I am not suggesting any kind of concerns or critique is reduntant at all. In contrary I think if formed well and on point without the unnecessary speculation blather, in fact provides very good feedback for devs. It is just that some of those posts remind me to well of the groundhog day. The WFG, presented and excecuted as is, was not even in the scope of imagination a year ago in rF2. Individuals choose to ignore their own choices made, point the finger in any available direction at the moment of time and scream "shame & blame" it is all your fault. Absurd.

EDIT: BTW if you don't know why rF2 did hold it's own and still does than you are pretty much on lost ground here anyways. Nothing to do with modding or no modding, DLC's, gfx, online or simmilar.

 

That's an old video,and you seems to only want to reference rf2 from a year or more ago,things are changing and you come across unwilling to accept that,stop talking about the past,rf2 has a future,check empty boxes latest rf2 vid,even he is up beat about the future.
By the way didn't watch the video,I watched it years ago and just recognised the title,stay current

Look I will be the first to call s397 out if they fail to produce,but they haven't even had enough time to sort rf2 out,you know as well as I do that rf2 was is a mess,it will take time to sort it out

 

GPL, NR2003 (where modding has been killed by iRacing), iRacing, GTR, GTR2, GTL, F1C. This was an empty market of arcade games at the time, indeed.
Now I let you and your beliefs argue with everyone else

 

So why is it that almost every league that runs rF2 uses mods, if modding is not the way to go? I'd go as far as saying that URD and Flat6 mods are among the most popular content in rF2. There isn't a car from ISI/S397 that rivals them at the moment in terms of popularity. The upcoming GT3 pack from S397 might change that, but that still leaves tracks open. Unless you want to do a series like McLaren WFG where you race Silverstone for three weeks, then the only way is to use modded tracks.

 

What you also need to understand is that modding is also a sign of popularity. The less people are playing a game the less mods you have made for it. Modding also has phases. When a new product is out the first modded content is always conversions. Some well done, some not so. But once the sim grows more of the mods should be scratch made instead of conversions.

Those who remember rf1 remember that a lot of the early stuff was conversions from gpl and f1 200x. But over time that balance changed to scratch made stuff. Same with ac. Early stuff was conversions or multi-platform releases. But with ac the change was a lot quicker than it was even with rf1 modding. I'd say 98% of all ac mods is scratch made.

What is worrying with rf2 that the 95% of all stuff made for it is still conversions. I have my doubts why that is. Mostly it is two reasons. Poor or non-existing documentation and popularity. Not many people play rf2 compared to ac. And so far 397 hasn't yet done anything to fix this.

Mods also give free visibility to the game. When a new mod is released for ac all the news sites report it and usually the content is interesting.

 

And what other choice you'd have in this game till now? LOL

I really wish we wouldn't depend on mods tbh.
Heck if S397 made a GT game with features like F1 2017 (with proper physic ofc) from rF2 and sold it separated I'd gladly pay for it if it means more funding to improve rF2 and to depend less on modding

 

Probably because of the lack of an official alternative.

 

Yeah I can't argue with GPL because that's an older game. NR2003 is a nascar game. Rfactor 1 is not. Iracing I don't know how long is around but it's definitely not as long as rf1. GTR, GTR2, GTL I guess is younger than rf1.

 

I know exactly why is this game is still around. It's because of money. Some people somewhere to this day still funding the game or the game is good enough that in the last 4 years there were enough sales to keep up the development. Which is unlikely that's why we have a new team working on it and the reason for paid DLC.

 

Right, and there will probably never be a huge variety of tracks in rF2. It takes even the bigger sims like Assetto and iRacing a huge time to deliver just one DLC track, so there is no way that rF2 track situation will get much better magically in the near future. In fact we have not heard anything about what upcoming licenses S397 have signed and if they will include any FIA "Grade 1" race tracks. Meanwhile, Matsusaka and other modded tracks are the only alternatives if you want to drive on all the best circuits.

 

I don't understand why anyone would state that rF2 isn't being promoted by S397. They have managed to get the sim featured on several very high profile simracing events like the Vegas and McLaren competitions. If that doesn't provide exposure to the game and its content, then what does? Isn't this THE best way to promote it - by associating it with big consumer names like McLaren and Formula E - and showing how great an experience it can provide to a new audience?

I believe rF2 is finally on a path of realising its full potential and I'm exited to be a part of that. And i strongly believe that with time, popularity and a bigger audience, the modding will also get a big boost.

 

No reason why they can't create many tracks. I point you to both Sector3 and Reiza. The number of tracks Sector3 have in Europe is huge; Reiza did all the Brazillian tracks, and clearly from scratch with a fairly small team. But no doubt it is going to require a decent size team and they have a lot of work ahead. If they are going to run competitions like WFG or anything for Formula E, they are going to need tracks from somewhere. I'll assume whoever the 'partner' was for the latter, built all the tracks I saw in that from scratch. But magic, no. It's just a hard grind for several years. Whilst I think Matsusaka is fine, it isn't to the same quality as the best ISI-made tracks, like NOLA, Mores, Silverstone, Atlanta MP, Indianapolis. Same goes for the other 3PA content. It's good enough to use for sure.

Back in the day on rF1 I raced in CART/ChampCar/IndyCar leagues. We had mod teams like iDT creating both the cars and tracks; people like Doug Lynch (who still does the iDT tracks), zero-g and others created usable versions of Long Beach, Toronto, Monterrey, Denver and numerous others; and further groups did the likes of Portland. I don't see the same level of activity now, and the people making the mods for AC, which I don't use, are a different crew. Will we get enough really high quality mod tracks on rF2? I think it's really debatable.

Cars are in fact less of an issue in my opinion. I think S397 are on the right lines with the GT3 pack, and then the Tatuus license is also a good one. The most popular sportscar series are those for GT3; but the problem is many other sims have that series as well; iRacing have a clear relationship with Blancpain/SRO and PWC (who also do British GT) and Sector3 with ADAC. A lot of people like racing lower-powered single seaters (I see popular F3 and GP3 mods), but the goal needs to be in my view get lots of people using the same ones. Tatuus do the current F4, so that works for most of the world (except the US, where I think Crawford make that chassis); then they make the F2000 replacement for the one we recently got (USF-17) and the Pro Mazda (PM-18) which are both derivatives of that same chassis. iRacing have the F Renault 2.0 and have intimated they will make the PM-18. The other area to do this is with TCR. Sector3 seem to have WTCC nailed down, BTCC won't play ball with iRacing who also have an IMSA relationship, but I think an exclusive relationship isn't likely. I hope they can keep Formula E exclusive.

What level of ambition do S397 have? is it to just be the same as ISI? Can they make themselves into a bigger player like SMS, Kunos/Digital Bros, Sector3/Simbin?

 

According to steamcharts rF2 seems to be dropping below January levels when the full transfer to Steam had finished. DX11 brought a significant temporary increase in players that seems to have faded throughout the summer.

IMO this situation is not what we would like to see.

 

Some of that is the usual summer die off. On the other hand, AC has had a bounceback in the last two weeks and the others haven't. (AC = white, rF2 = green, R3E = blue, AMS = orange)