Latest Roadmap Update - March 2018!!!

Louis said:
i understand your opinion, but i think different. I think road maps should be used by s397 to tell what they are planning to do and, as a player, i should post what i like or what i dont care in the current road map
I think if most of people did that (without personal impressions if this is right or wrong -save it for build and mods releases :D) here they would have much more detailed info about the audience and adjust where or when to concentrate more efforts in particular features or content
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That's fair enough.

I'm sure once an item has been licensed and enough work has been done to announce it publicly that anyone saying they don't want it won't stop it from being progressed to a release.

But you may well have a point that any opinions expressed here may well influence which licenses are pursued in future.
 
The biggest revenue stream doesn’t lay with existing members,it lays within the new/potential members base,so it’s understandable to try and offer stuf that pleases both current and potential members.

Any content that will draw in new members is only a plus in my eyes,because it means more for us all in the long run
 
Please guys, don't be so negative. S397 already did a lot for us: DX11 support with lots of graphics improvements, VR support, GT3 pack, rain ... (btw, we always got told that DX11 and VR support will never happen)

Read the roadmap: They are now finalizing performance improvements: general performance improvements for everybody, specific VR and triple screen performance improvements (triple screen setups i think explicitly get attention for the first time). Historic and endurance content, laser scanned tracks in the work. And we all know that the ongoing UI and new competition system work is a big task. -> There is a lot S397 is working on and will get released when QA gives their OK too.

I am happy with the roadmap. Getting performance improvements soon alone makes me happy.
 
Well, there's a few things in this roadmap that are cause for concern. And mainly, it is around setting priorities and keeping to them and delivering what was in the roadmap.

So far, the big "new" thing delivered has been VR. This was done quite quickly. The other, though not a new game feature as such, was the GT3 content pack. But we have been VERY light on new delivered features in my opinion. Rain got improved but is still not fully baked. We suspect that new features/capabilities will come with new championship/career modes for offline and competition/structures for online, which are all queued up in the UI work. The roadmap seems to suggest completion of these is further and further away.

So right now, we're all-eyes-glued on additional content. I'll start with tracks, because that is in the worst shape. The beta 0.2 of Zandvoort was released back in August 2017 and was only barely usable. And now they seem to have gone overboard with wonderful models in the pits and a truly outstanding portapotty. Why do this? It's got all the hallmarks of a vanity project, and not one focused on results for customers. So we appear to have a new track in Botniaring... who has ever heard of this or raced on it? This choice makes no sense to me. If you are bringing in new staff who are bringing their personal projects with them, that's not what needs to get built. Sebring is where its at to build a team around new processes. Where are the Formula E tracks? Having just one of those also makes no sense because those need unique features. So this shows a lack of prioritization amongst projects. As regards cars, I'm as happy as anyone to see us getting contemporary LMP2/LMP3 cars; but where did the March 761 come from, and why was that resource not working on the Tatuus cars already announced?

rFactor has some innate capabilities that match certain types of racing, and many have said the primary one is endurance racing which I would completely agree with. So getting new LMP and GTE cars is a good idea of focus. ISI did a decent job with getting some single-make open wheelers, from F3s in rF1 through F2/FR3.5/DW12 in rF2; but there's a need for a refresh there to keep it contemporary like the sportscars. The other area is historic content, and that's a much more difficult proposition. It might be popular in some instances, but it also runs the risk of being overly broad and lacking in 'necessary community support'. The 1970s 761/BT44 F1 cars will doubtless be enjoyable to drive, especially offline, but there's always the question of whether you have enough 'makes' to have that viable for online racing. And there's numerous "F1 year" mods already out there and available, the extent is mind-boggling but as far as I can remember the only time this really gained sufficient support to even run leagues was the F1 79 mod by the folks who formed Reiza. And even moreso with historic sportscars like the Lola T70s types we have or Group C. There's a market for it but its a fickle one, and right now, I don't think S397 can afford to prioritize it.

Discipline is needed to build this back up, and I'm not really seeing this from several angles.

Doubtless I'll be happier when the performance build arrives (5 months after the last one, which is my opinion is too long) and Sebring/sportscars do also. But a lot of the rest seems to have fallen into a black hole of UI work.
 
patchedupdemon said:
Can Simone tell me why Zandvoort was near unusable,I’ve had many offline races there and it’s been fine
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We had a dedi online evening with 25 AI and 2 drivers (1 local, 1 online) last month, GT3 World Series, no problem on an evening of 21 lap races (besides having to rejoin the server when a new race loads but we are used to that now). Looks great for v0.20, judging by the recent RoadMap screens, we can't wait to see the finished product.
 
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patchedupdemon said:
The biggest revenue stream doesn’t lay with existing members,it lays within the new/potential members base,so it’s understandable to try and offer stuf that pleases both current and potential members.

Any content that will draw in new members is only a plus in my eyes,because it means more for us all in the long run
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Interesting new (to me) way of seeing this. Did not thought like that. It has logic.
 
I’m an old Rfactor racer( 2006) then rfactor2 and I really think that studio 397 should concentrate all their resources in one specific series. Kunos is doing it with the upcoming ACC. Why not WEC series? Endurance races with all licensed cars and categories with all tracks of the series laser scanned, drivers swap, teams..... this engine has every thing to make this happen. Endurance serie WEC is very very popular and using rfactor2 engine to develop it would make it the real endurance simulator.
 
GTClub_wajdi said:
I’m an old Rfactor racer( 2006) then rfactor2 and I really think that studio 397 should concentrate all their resources in one specific series. Kunos is doing it with the upcoming ACC. Why not WEC series? Endurance races with all licensed cars and categories with all tracks of the series laser scanned, drivers swap, teams..... this engine has every thing to make this happen. Endurance serie WEC is very very popular and using rfactor2 engine to develop it would make it the real endurance simulator.
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This isn't a bad idea, but I imagine the licence is not cheap due to some of the makes in that series. Another option would be to start with other growing series to build up the fan base and help mod teams more around endurance (for now)
TCR could be a good option, for example
 
Congratulations to Mauricio Leiva for having his March turned into official content, and the studio for obtaining the license. Pulling outstanding modded resources and bringing them officially, as free content, has worked great for another popular title and has already brought us material such as the USF2000 and Longford (among others up and coming). Also to jka for Botniaring, it was a nice little track in rFactor and a remake will go great here.
 
WTCR is on Sector3 hands now, WEC could be a good plan...Sebring, Silversone, Fuji, Shangai, Spa and Le mans plus cars...I know licenses are a pain in the grass but maybe they can have some kind of deal with WEC guys...

@Guimengo not so little anymore ;)
botniaring.jpg
 
It would be nice to see some DPI's added to the mix!

ALMS would be a good pack to have in RF2.

WEC would require new technology implemwnted to the game, such as hybrid systems. Let them finish the competition structure, UI and DX11 things first
 
DaVeX said:
WTCR is on Sector3 hands now, WEC could be a good plan...Sebring, Silversone, Fuji, Shangai, Spa and Le mans plus cars...I know licenses are a pain in the grass but maybe they can have some kind of deal with WEC guys...

@Guimengo not so little anymore ;)
botniaring.jpg
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The layout is looking good.
Seems to be a good choice.

I will never ride there so the importance for me of the laser scan is limited.
But Adrian's question was not a criticism for S397 and was not illegitimate.
 
DrivingFast said:
I will never ride there so the importance for me of the laser scan is limited.
But Adrian's question was not a criticism for S397 and was not illegitimate.
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People have bought the Kartsim mod and talked about how good it is to have laser scanned tracks, despite the fact they'll probably never drive the track in real life (and even if they eventually do, the surface details will probably have changed by then). So, again, a detailed (but not laser scanned) track would do just as good a job for those people.

A flat track with no surface details is definitely lacking, but non-laser tracks don't have to be like that. It's annoying when people basically dismiss a track because it's not laser scanned. Marketers love those people, because a clever label can make all the difference.
 
Lazza said:
People have bought the Kartsim mod and talked about how good it is to have laser scanned tracks, despite the fact they'll probably never drive the track in real life (and even if they eventually do, the surface details will probably have changed by then). So, again, a detailed (but not laser scanned) track would do just as good a job for those people.

A flat track with no surface details is definitely lacking, but non-laser tracks don't have to be like that. It's annoying when people basically dismiss a track because it's not laser scanned. Marketers love those people, because a clever label can make all the difference.
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Do I say the opposite ?

And as far as I'm concerned, comparing the 3 tracks of Kartsim with Dallas/Atlanta/Genk/Quebec etc. I immediately saw a significant difference : there are many more irregularities on the track, which is pleasant and very convincing.

But the semi-fictional tracks are less detailed because the modders/ISI/S397 have done them like that.

It is clear to me that the best track in the world on a simulation is a track not yet invented, totally fictional, made by a modder passionate about driving and therefore concerned with infinite detail and maximizing piloting situations, by a modder extremely talented and more geared towards driving than necessarily beautiful graphics or other.

But dear Lazza, you misunderstood me.

Do not tell me on the other hand that the association : Kart does with real data by a modder using perfectly this data associated with 3 scanned laser tracks which obviously the data were perfectly exploited without erasing too much detail is not a total success.

If we lived in an ideal world, all quality modders (we know them) would use this kind of methodology based on factual data. But acquiring this data is complicated and expensive.

Outstanding quality modders do it..... the work of SLOWMOTION/Marco is extremely impressive from my point of view (real data, sense of detail / engineer / real drivers etc. I respect a lot there methods)

Everyone does with the possibilities/data available to him.

EDIT :
But do not tell me that, in an ideal world in 2018, the best basis of work for a serious modder is not the real data (car and real circuit) ...

The basis of realism is to start from real data, knowing that this is only the first part of the work and that the modder must be of quality to do a good job then.
In an ideal world where it would be easy and free to obtain precise data.

If you do not agree on this point, it is useless to give me other arguments, because you will never convince me on this subject.
 
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