Latest Roadmap Update - June 2018

Just like track map isn't available to real drivers.
Or ability to change FOV and seat position.
Or ability to change audio volumes.
Or ability to change graphic settings.
Or ability to turn on virtual mirrors.
Or ability to turn on HUD.
Or ability to pause.
Or ....

So why are they all available in a "sim" ?

 

START Lights :

I propose to leave like it is now.

In return, to be able to modulate at least in the player.Json or in the UI the sound of departure .......

 

That's what Vettel had to deal with last year at Malaysia.



And what I saw at Canada.

 

This is not exactlz what driver sees.

 

What mod is that?

 

RFT 2013 updated by Frenky and Bjorn. It's my favourite open wheel mod in rF2.

 

Argh, that shadow bug is annoying isn't it.

 

What shadow bug? I didn't notice.

 

If you're unaware of it, then I'd rather not point it out lol.

 

I'm too busy trying to get round without crashing to notice lol

 

Whilst this may be a bit of a disappointing Roadmap in terms of 'new news', this isn't really going to be too surprising. Especially seeing as how we know half of Europe take July off for holidays...

For Content, there are a few fixes needed to the Endurance Pack, and its nice to get confirmation the GT3 Pack will be brought up to the same standard. That said, we've had no updates on the historic F1s nor more deflating no news on the Tatuus single seaters either. Aa regards tracks, Sebring looks like it is coming along well but I'd be lying if I wasn't worried about performance on the 'race day' track type (and the 'track day' track type is a way to have it driveable rather than it being a requested feature as such). Zandvoort, not sure what to say there, but it isn't something high on my priority list to get extensive updates for. I'd like to know more about the plans for future tracks and including additions for the Formula E content.

As for Rain, we all know that needs some performance improvements. Is it worth doing that without additional improvements to things like aquaplaning? Not sure it is, and I'd rather wait 3-4 months for a substantial improvement rather than just a minor one [note: it's been about 6 months between major code drops, so that's what I expect again after v1110]. From a competitive standpoint ACC will be releasing something with weather soon which apparently is also a step forward in rain physics, which I think rF2 need to match (and in fact draw fully level with PC2 as well). We kind of need some idea on future graphical effects which I assume are going to be added, as well; seems ideal for a Roadmap entry!

As regards other improvements to physics or 'sim features' that seem to be a topic of conversation, I certainly think this is worth delving into in future roadmaps. One of the nice things I think Reiza did was update the rF1 engine with lots of minor physics improvements (turbos, gearboxes etc.) that eventually add up to improving the state of play. I've been following various other threads talking about 'realism' for physics (downshift protection, for example) and also things like exposing more in the HID like start lights. On the former, you sometimes need to be careful what you wish for. On iRacing, they did extensive modeling of what happens to enable a gear shift, which involves taking pressure off to enable the gear to disengage/re-engage. This is physically correct. But it doesn't take account of what people are actually using for performing a gear shift. We don't have 'force feedback' gear levers, that allow you to 'feel' that meshing of gears, or in the case of a missed shift, feel the result of getting it wrong. So they allow the user to shift the gear lever (H pattern) to a different gear (example one down, when approaching a corner) and then the shift will happen immediately the player lifts off the throttle. In effect, it is pre-selection. This shouldn't be allowed. So what you have is something which is correct from the physics perspective of what happens in a real gearbox, but now the game can't respond to the physical hardware logically. Their solution doesn't work and introduces more problems than it solves. And you can take a similar position with the latter point of having things like start lights on the HUD; no, it doesn't mesh with real world, but we have limitations on graphics resolution/dynamic range that make using trackside lights problematic. We already know people can hack things like gamma to make night driving much easier. So in these cases, I see nothing much wrong with fudging from the simulation of the world in order to get a solution that practically works for players of the game. As a wise man once said, all models are wrong, but some are useful.

As for everything else, I guess we can just encourage S397 to keep plugging away (UI, competition infrastructure). Until these major components are ready, Community Nights or other (possibly offline?) competitions will have to be enough to sustain player enthusiasm.

 

Real life. Still wip

 

Any news is good news....Looking forward to the rain in vr improvements
Thanks for the roadmap.

 

Roadmap is looking good, many improvements have come our way since S397 took over, and many improvements will come, it definitely is looking this way.
Yes, Europe is now on holiday and will pick up again come September (totally unbelievable for the rest of the world, yes, but this is the socialist society here, people are important).
I wish S397 happy holidays and look forward to the rest of the year and what surprises you have in store

 

Great News so far....thanks for the hard work und for keeping rfactor2 still alive.....

For me, maybe the Endurance Pack is not 100% Perfect.....ok......but its a great feeling to drive and its make many fun.....

 

All the big things are very close
So it’s good news all round win-win

Sim wise Rfactor 2 is the most exciting place to be right now no brainer

Be ready for truely spectacular things around October time eta & that’s a guarantee



*not an actual guarantee

 

Why the FOV and seat position are adjustable should be pretty much self explanatory and has nothing to do with adding stuff that isn't available to real drivers. Racing drivers have a fitted seat for that matter. Same goes for graphics settings, even if some of them lead to different circumstances for drivers (like the famous little wooden poles at Historic Spa), as nothing of this adds something to the sim that isn't there in real life.

If I was building this sim I would make it as hardcore as possible and in some ways Reiza and some of the previous sims like F1Racing Simulation from freakin' 1997 showed that it is possible to create an engaging experience this way. Get rid of pause or esc from track, like Reiza did and people actually start to care about their car and if the crash. If you have only one car for a practice session and you crash hard, then that's it. Same goes for HUDs. All necessary and realisticly available information should be available on the dashes, LCD screens in cockpit or by team radio. Everything else that you need should be accesible in the pits via Motec and the garage menu. That's how I would build a sim. With some clever implementations you can give the player even more immersion and create an even more realistic and in depth experience.

 

It's funny because AMS HUD is more complete than rF2 and... it has starting lights lol

 

The HUDs are so lol, that I switch them off completely because most of the time I don't really need it except when I plan a pit stop. If I can play on a 1440:900 screen without start lights I see no reason why other people can't. My point still stands: alot of the older games had some pretty clever implementation when it comes to information for the player without adding tons of information on screen all the time. Why is no dev implementing pitboards these days? GPL and GTR2 had everything that you needed to know and I don't understand why more than 10 years onward devs went away from immersive to gimmicky. The only problem is that people have to be forced. If you force people to play without restarts or escaping to the box in every possible way, then they will certainly drive different. Same goes for using HUDs.

 

About freaking time you got it huh