Latest Roadmap Update - November 2017

No, but if you have no revenue, you can't buy apples nor pears.

Cheers.

 

Eh, where did I say graphics are not imporant? In my opinion the GT3 cars are of much higher graphical quality than anything previously released. McLaren 650S even uses the same 3D model for the car as Assetto Corsa uses, so I don't know what they could possibly have done better. Performance is already on limits with current GT3 pack, so it doesn't even make sense to aim for higher graphics level than current.

 

There are multiple ways to achieve higher graphics level.

I've read that the console versions of AC & pCARS, for instance, uses lower polygon models than the PC version, but try to make up for that with better textures... enough so that I can't tell the difference when looking at 1080p YouTube videos, which kind of suggests that the very high polygon models are overrated to some extent (difference might be apparent in 4k videos on a 4k screen? or maybe it's just YouTube compression wiping out the difference?).

We also know that some graphic engines are better performing than others. rF2 renders polygons at a lower rate than AC, though some of that is due to design choices in the content, where AC content priorities are to have more car polygons rather than track polygons and rF2 is more balanced historically. AC design also prioritizes DX11 features such as crappy flag animations over using actual animations and thus entirely skips animated flaggers in favor of static icons. pCARS 2 doesn't even give you static yellow flag icons!

All of it really comes down to choices made by the developers. It's pretty clear that the popular games take shortcuts in their environments in order to achieve higher graphics level, but there might be room in the rF2 world for more graphic improvements without sacrificing the authenticity that rF2 brings to the racing experience. DX11 lighting has definitely been an improvement to the graphic effects, it would just be nice to have better fps performance.

Edit: F1 2017 was actually showing more players for awhile than AC. For a title tightly focused on one subject within the realm of simracing, it is surprising and shows that even AC isn't always the champ! Definitely should make us all beware of continually comparing to AC.​

 

Go dreaming.

 

Be good if those numbers differentiate between pc and console users , or do they ?

 

Ok thanks , never owned a console . Bag of marbles and a pack of cards though

 

I don't know where this comes from, but this is a wrong assumption. I just compared the templates/UV mapping and even if it looks similar on very first look, it is nevertheless completely different.

 

OK, I've done some further investigation and discovered the cause of yellow flag AI issues. When under yellows, the AI is checking the speed of the car ahead, and making sure it doesn't exceed the speed of said ahead car. This seems a perfectly normal and safe thing to do. However, the AI is only occasionally checking the distance to the car in front and will slowdown regardless of how many metres/kilometres they are ahead. If car A comes to a hairpin, while B is 500m behind on a straight, B will slow down on the straight, then speed up again once A exits the hairpin.

This explains why after a yellow, the cars involved can never catch up.

My repro steps (other cars tracks will probably work. GT3s at Matsusaka also produced the same result):

1. Select Portugal's Estoril circuit
   
2. Select the Dallara DW12
3. Select Rolling start
4. Include 17 AIs
5. Start in 18th place
6. Let the cars drive off on the formation lap
7. Wait about 20-30 seconds on the grid, then push the I button to give AI control to your car
8. Watch the AI drive your car up to speed, then slow down, the speed up, then slow down, all on the start/finish straight, trying to avoid the cars 1km ahead.

However, if you continue to watch the lap, there are certain points where the AI suddenly acts normally and floors it for a few seconds, trying to catch the pack 20s ahead, before returning to its weird stop/start nature.

 

The templates are laid out differently, but the same polygons are on both last time I checked.

 

Very good find/description! That explains why the lead two cars in double-file pace lap will pull away after a chicane. Silverstone and Palm Beach are good examples.

 

Maybe the UV mapping is different, but the 3D model is basically the same. Even the switches on the steering wheel are all in identical position.

 

Kind of like VSC in F1?

 

Maybe both try to picture the same car...

 

Aside the 3d model be the same or not, this picture shows that although DX11 had significantly improved rF2 visuals there's still a long way to go. Unfortunately the DX version transition didn't bring the vivid sun light that we can see in Project Cars 2 and Assetto Corsa. I know the pictures are not the same track (lat/long) or the same time of the day, but even so the sun light intensity seems to be a persistent problem in rF engines since ages. It's look light our Sun is half size or twice far away from Earth in rF1/2.

 

After a second look, i have to admit, that you're possibly right. The UV mapping seems just arranged and scaled differently, but the 3D model could be the same. But i have no clue why they have done this.
However ..... back to topic.

 

It's not difficult to rearrange and rescale the uv mapping to make it look different. So as it was said, different UV mapping doesn't mean different 3D model.
As to the reason why, well, if they sold the exact same model used in AC, to the point where even the skins can be transfered, it would have stirred a massive controversy if it was such an obvious copy paste of a 3D model. Now the only controversy remaining here is why are they selling the same cars as AC, unfinished and more expensive.

 

Well I don't know for sure the reason, but apparently it's becoming common practice that when you license a car all the sims get access to the same source of the 3D model. So there is no controversy and the car is not unfinished either. If anything it's a good thing that the car model by definition is the same quality as AC, means there is no excuse for people to complain that rF2 uses second grade cockpit models.

 

Except the cockpit is finished in AC whereas in RF2 it is not

 

They don't sell the 3d model only. The model is not the only reason to fix the price. The phisics, the potencial market, the margin, etc, establish the price too.

 

I have a question which can be viewed as suggestion for the new HUD: Can the team consider a second garage with a dark background and a dark, not too-glossy floor?




It would be an excellent setup to replace other ways of rendering cars and especially seeing how it would look ingame, and an excellent and consistent setup for taking screenshots or creating thumbnails.