Circuit Zolder is here!

I have been really considering buying 3dsmax sub, but still don't know if I can use with the plugins available so it might be a waste of money. My knowledge base is with 3dsmax, Blender just doesn't seem to be sinking in and I have no idea of workflow to get close to the game.
 
Woodee said:
Blender just doesn't seem to be sinking in
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The basic YouTube tutorials get you there, practicing repeatedly, but a lot of the time I kept saying to myself, "It doesn't work the way I think it should." But then I have minimal experience with other polygon-based software, so there are a lot of things that don't make sense to me about building models. I'm slow with the work, also because I don't use it often enough, so have to relearn some things each time I dive in. One of the aspects I most have trouble with is whether to use sub-D workflow or not, but you're probably already used to that decision with 3dsmax's turboflow?
 
Emery said:
The basic YouTube tutorials get you there, practicing repeatedly, but a lot of the time I kept saying to myself, "It doesn't work the way I think it should." But then I have minimal experience with other polygon-based software, so there are a lot of things that don't make sense to me about building models. I'm slow with the work, also because I don't use it often enough, so have to relearn some things each time I dive in. One of the aspects I most have trouble with is whether to use sub-D workflow or not, but you're probably already used to that decision with 3dsmax's turboflow?
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Blender is the annoying in way they keep breaking legacy scripts, I write 3d software for a living, predominantly Rhinoceros 3D based, when i was big into AC tracksI got into writing for blender but each iterative update they break some functions that results in endless user complaints (about free plugins) so I pulled up stumps and left Blender alone. Pity, it can be such a powerful platform if only they would get their sh1t organised..
 
Frederick Alonso said:
It was laserscanned, and if there is any track height difference, I kept the poly high at those places to make sure each detail is added in.
With the devs, I talked a lot about being a little on the higher side than usual with poly, as it would be sad to lose the details in this great scan. After 7 scan sessions, you can take the overlapping cloud points as they are very accurate data, and then extract them to see a very precise model.

I have not been standing still; the update is almost done, and we will go public soon with it to offer a second tire stack option and a small fix on AIW. Just sad there were so many server issues lately on the official side, nothing to do with the DLC itself.

Have been pushing some more info to the motorlaps.com website. I added a link in the first post here. The banners in DLC also mention this website, as we will have more content soon for all of you :cool:

The sales sadly did not go wild. It would help to see more YouTube support as we have more content coming up that can make a difference for players and our beloved sim.
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I don’t know if the following would even make sense (especially for a consumer product), but would it be feasible to release a second version of the track - one with even higher polygon count - e.g. for real life teams or drivers to practice(I’m neither BTW), or it is already at least 3mm accurate across the whole track surface , so it absolutely doesn’t make sense ? I realize even more accuracy would increase hardware requirements so for consumer product it probably wouldn’t be worth anyway.
 
I wonder if there is possibly slightly different in this track regarding shading of cars, something about probes or stuff, I don't know how it all exactly is, been too long since the last time I dabbles with track modding (and didn't go far then). Mostly it is alright, but in few occasions I have noticed slightly (or more than slightly) different shading than in other tracks.

Also I am still convinced that this track has higher grip than most, that is usually nice, only for few 50s cars I have experienced it producing little bit different tire behavior, while the rest just simply feels more grippy, but that also is nice as a test for cars handling.
 
avenger82 said:
or it is already at least 3mm accurate across the whole track surface , so it absolutely doesn’t make sense ?
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Donno what you are after or trying to ask here.

A bit strange to answer, don't get me wrong, but I wonder what the point might be for a 1mm model if that would be possible to scan to date. I asked 7 companies and took the best option at a higher price setting to offer the best service to any possible buyers.
What are you going to do with the Motec noise of each stone particle on the track?
If you see 3mm, it is very tiny, and I doubt if there is a 2mm difference; if we actually would feel it with rubber tires filtering out the small noise it would generate? No details

What does matter here is the heights, elevations, and widths to be perfectly matched.
Or details like the tiny 2cm drains at T1, they are fully coming through the FFB > something I've yet to see replicated in any other simulation..
DRAINS.jpg


From a polygon budget perspective, this represents the upper limit of what rFactor 2 can handle, which naturally meant sacrificing some environmental detail to maintain performance. For context, I tested on my GTX 1070 Ti with a full 25-car in viewport and maintained a steady 75 FPS, not earth-shattering, but a solid performance benchmark as with the same 25 cars at Spa I hit 76 FPS. On my 4090, I see no issues at all with 38 cars.

That being said, I have the 120 gb pointcloud to mesh 480GB option for teams/institutes/governments that need it for any reason.


Regarding the lighting probes @mantasisg; I've verified them multiple times with S397. The sun's position at Zolder is the real culprit, and I can't exactly take creative liberties with that. Drivers who've experienced Zolder in real life expect the sunset glare in their eyes at specific times. The Start/Finish straight genuinely feels darker and cooler in reality, particularly in summer—the hill and tree cover create natural shadows, especially on the grandstand side. It's all about time-of-day authenticity, and I get where the question comes from.

However, here is a WIP shot from 11 months ago, showing how the light changes the feel depending on the sun's position.
PITLANE.jpg

Refmap0, probing heights and PITLANE_IPB hull are all done by the books and validated after.


In terms of noise, would it be a good idea to interview some Belgian drivers and add their ideas about the DLC on my blog?
If they do not own it yet, I would buy them a copy.

I also started using Reddit as an outlet to reach more people.
It might help us all in the long run for rF2.
 
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Thanks for the answer and confirmation.
Regarding the article claiming poor optimization - That’s too bad , but did the author acknowledge that was caused by his SSD being almost full or something else (e.g. shader compilation during gameplay - if it’s even a thing in rF2?) ? If yes then he should update that article IMO.

Another thing : if you are not restricted with some kind of exclusive deal with MSG or others , then you could offer conversions, or at least track assets , for other popular simracing studios, right ? Just curious , as I have no idea about things like potential profit vs effort required for such conversions, but if possible it could be win-win. If it won’t not be possible, then it’s a bit of a shame as not many people play rF2 these days anyway.
 
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Thanks for the kind words and the constructive feedback, which are always appreciated.

Regarding conversions or asset sharing: I'm flattered by the interest, but everything stays exclusive to rFactor 2. It's not about ACC or Rennsport specifically for me, which is why I wanted my DLC here. It's simply that rF2 is where my focus lies, both creatively and professionally (for now). The laser-scan data, the workflow, the optimization, it's all tailored specifically for this platform, while I would do things differently for AMS2 or ....

As for selling elsewhere: while I understand the business logic, the 3D content will remain where it belongs. Aside from the base models I made, a lot was done on shaders that only work in 3ds Max for rF2. I cannot simply sell that to game X. There's something to be said for keeping things focused rather than diluting effort across multiple platforms that might discredit the title and its respect.
Quality over quantity, as they say. I can always deliver a reworked Zolder to those who want to buy it after some paperwork with me.

If there's anything specific about Zolder you'd like to see refined or improved within rF2, I'm always open to feedback from people who actually drive it properly.
 
Hello everyone, has anyone set up Zolder in a server? I am getting the following error when trying to get it going in our private server.

Thanks in advance for your help.

And thank you Frederic for the great track.

Zolder Server Error.png
 
JuanP006 said:
Hello everyone, has anyone set up Zolder in a server? I am getting the following error when trying to get it going in our private server.

Thanks in advance for your help.

And thank you Frederic for the great track.

View attachment 56885
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I have this forwarded to S397, you would have no startgrid and T1 asphalt if that was the case locally. Server stuff is not my topic of interest, so I asked the game developers.

Edit Got this info back from them:

You need to have a new server unlock.bin file > you put unlock.bin in the userdata folder of someone who owns the track or your own server, then start the game and close it. The .bin file gets updated, and you can transfer it to the server.

Michi Hoyer has a good example on this topic, hope that helps:

 
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Frederick Alonso said:
I have this forwarded to S397, you would have no startgrid and T1 asphalt if that was the case locally. Server stuff is not my topic of interest, so I asked the game developers.

Edit Got this info back from them:

You need to have a new server unlock.bin file > you put unlock.bin in the userdata folder of someone who owns the track or your own server, then start the game and close it. The .bin file gets updated, and you can transfer it to the server.

Michi Hoyer has a good example on this topic, hope that helps:

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Hi Frederick that did it, Zolder running in our server :). Weird though, we have had several DLC tracks in our server and we never had to update the ServerUnlock.bin file. Good to know for the future.

Thank you and the S397 support team for your quick response.
 
JuanP006 said:
Hi Frederick that did it, Zolder running in our server :). Weird though, we have had several DLC tracks in our server and we never had to update the ServerUnlock.bin file. Good to know for the future.

Thank you and the S397 support team for your quick response.
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That file gets updated when any DLC gets added/updated (and you start the game). So you'll have to refresh and copy it occasionally, pending DLC changes...
 
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