When I opened RF2 last night, it went through some kind of update routine (don't remember the exact wording of the message, but it deleted and reinstalled about 55 settings of some kind), and now my tracks and cars are gone, and I can't get them back. When I go to Race/Customize/Single Player, and hit "All cars and tracks", it takes me to a page with a search box near the lower right hand corner, but when I enter a track name in the box, nothing is recognized. And when I hit the Select button near the middle of the screen, it just takes me back to the previous screen. What happened? How do I get my track and car back? I need Atlanta Motorsports Part, and a Radical SR3. Do I have to reload something through Steam? Does this kind of thing happen a lot? As you can tell, I'm very new to RF2 (and sim racing in general). I posted this in an earlier thread I had started, but am afraid that post got buried in a thread that was getting very long, so I'm hoping this will be more visible. I've seen other threads where people have had trouble finding where to load tracks, so maybe it's a common issue. Thanks very much. Edit: I don't know why I call it "Track Maps" in the title - I meant to say just "Lost my tacks and cars"
You went to the correct screen, but I think the crash you experienced while working to get your triples running may have corrupted some files. First at that search screen, look to the top left. It should say <=SERIES with an Icon just to the right of the word SERIES. That icon lets you choose 3 different ways to sort the series you should have. But I think you will need to exit rf2 and go back to Steam. On the Library Screen, you should see the text on the far left for rFactor 2. Right click on that and choose Properties from the drop-down menu. Then, choose local files. There you should see a rectangle that allows you to verify the integrity of the files. Click on that, let rF2 replace any missing or corrupted files. Wait for that to complete then exit Steam(just to be certain it's done). Restart Steam and then rF2. Go back to the Race/customize/Single Player and see if you can select any car, there also make sure the All tracks and Cars is the series option selected.
Dave, Thanks so much - you have been so incredibly helpful to me on this fun but all too often exhausting journey. The way you explain things step by step, without leaving anything out assuming I can fill in the blanks, is refreshing and stress-relieving. I went through the steps you described in Steam, and got a message saying "1 file failed to validate and will be reacquired" when I selected the "Verify the integrity of the files" box. I selected the "Close" box, then repeated the file integrity validation process, and this time it said that all files were successfully validated. So I closed Steam, opened RF2, and selected Race/Customize/Single Player. But unfortunately, when I select "All tracks and cars", I get the same response - it takes me to the page with the Search box, but again the search doesn't find any tracks, and pressing Select takes me back to the previous page, just like before. I agree that something must have gotten corrupted when I tried to get my triple screens running, but whatever happened by going through the file validation process doesn't seem to have recovered what I've lost.
Good question - could you please walk me, step by step, to where these files are likely to be located?
Found it, and as I suspected, both the Locations and Vehicles subfolders are empty. So how to I reinstall the tracks and cars? Thanks.
Good question. 3rd party tracks would just have to be downloaded again, but Steam should notice the missing content. Try using the packages screen, accessed from the main menu at the top right. It should say Content. Then, from there you should see a screen with several options, choose Packages. You should have a list of cars and tracks, but if the folders you examined are empty, then I'm not sure what will appear on the packages screen. If you do have a list, look for Atlanta MP and try to install it. Same for the Radical. If that does not work, go back out to Steam and look in the workshop.(I'm not sure either is there, grasping at straws now) If you find them in the workshop, subscribe to both and then restart rF2.....again....
Dave, I went to the Packages screen as you described, but as you suspected, there are no tracks or cars there. The left-most box (labeled "MOD", whatever that means), has "All tracks and cars" in it, but it also says "Unknown". As far as the Steam Workshop, I'm not seeing an obvious route to download any tracks or cars. This is starting to look pretty bleak - hard to believe I completely obliterated my ability to use RF2 from simply trying to get my three monitors working... Edit: I found Atlanta Motorsports Park in the Steam workshop, so I guess that's progress, but I don't see a "Download" button, or any other way to add it to RF2.
click the “Subscribe” button, steam will then download and then install it for you when you start rF2
I was wondering about that, but the "Subscribe" button actually says "Subscribed" with a green check mark to the left, which didn't sound like a path to download the track, but based on your recommendation, I went ahead and pressed it, at which point it told me I was unsubscribed, so I pressed it again, and it went back to saying "Subscribed" with the checkmark reappearing. So I closed Steam, and started RF2 again. It's going through a very long process titled "Uploading workshop items", which includes a total of 60 items, which appear to be tracks and cars. So this is looking promising! This is exactly the routine RF2 went through the very first time I started it, so I'm hopeful that this will recover my lost tracks and cars. I expect it to take upwards of an hour, and will report back as to whether it worked. Thanks!
OK, that did it - I have my track and car selections back, and RF2 even defaulted me back to the track (AMP) and car (Radical SR3) I was on and in before everything went bonkers. The car was acting very strangely at first, though (no response when I pressed the throttle, engine turned off when I put it into gear, engine starting and turning off intermittently), so I exited the game, re-launched it, and now everything is working fine. Whew! When I hear a strange noise or feel an unusual vibration in my real track car, I have confidence that I can pretty quickly figure out what's wrong, and that I can fix it, but when something goes wrong with the sim, it's just the most helpless feeling, with no clue as to whatever is wrong is a quick fix, or digital death. Now I'm terrified of trying to get my side monitors engaged again, but at least I now know how to recover things if I lose everything again, thanks again to this forum.
Some of the original code goes back to at least 2000, and perhaps even a few years before that. rF2 itself, is at least 8 years old, written before Win10 and most of the hardware you have purchased was even designed. And it has been re-written once long ago and then somewhat continually for the last 3 years. It has it's quirks and there are black holes it falls into. But there are many users with 3 screens, or VR(the 3d goggles) so the capability is there. I won't be much help with that, only have the one screen. I can only suggest possibly making a copy of your curretnly working rFactor2 folder and saving it. Then if things explode again, you can just re-copy the saved folder over the corrupted one. (I've never done this tho...no guarentees) Best of luck, and keep asking questions, those who DO know about triple screens hopefully will chime in.
Yes, I had kind of gathered that. My impression is that rFactor2's strength is in its realism, which I can attest to, because when it's working, it provides a very realistic experience, which is definitely my top priority. But its challenge is that it has a smaller user base than the more well-known packages like iRacing and Assetto Corsa, and is less intuitive, especially for beginners. It sort of strikes me as the Unix of the sim world, where iRacing is maybe the Mac. Not sure if this is a great analogy, but it seems to be in the ballpark. So one of the other packages would probably have been an easier path for me, but the track I need to learn and master, Atlanta Motorsports Park, is only available in RF2, which is why I'm here. As far as the three-screen setup, when I work up the cojones to tread into that pond again, I'll post a thread asking for people with experience to walk me through how it do it. It definitely isn't intuitive, because all three of my screens are now on, but only the central one is active, although that doesn't appear to be related to anything with RF2, because the side screens aren't active in any other applications either.
