Tips, settings for keyboard and (gamepad) players

Right, so rfactor 2 is pretty cool. This thread is not about being super awesome at rfactor2 online or mimicking a real driving setup, but still having an enjoyable experience for some people still interested in it otherwise. It is good enough to be able to tweak for that. I could probably tell you about some of that...

Thing is, I played some rfactor with keyboard (not for very long) and gamepad. Some guy broke my gamepad, so I tried rfactor 2 with keyboard.

Ok, so the idea is, how to make it as playable as possible without/with minimal assists, first.

Aside from the input settings that are available (and so far I have not tested enough to be able to say what is DEFINITELY better than default settings).

The first thing (I assume this is available to most cars), if your car is ending in spinouts oversteering horribly, drop your tire pressures as low as possible and tweak. Yes, your car is going to feel less responsive (but this is typically not the problem with crap controllers), kinda wobbly but it makes the game almost playable without it feeling like crap. At least, in a crap car against default ai.

Secondly, please add more assist influence levels, eg custom and/or 5 levels of traction, stability, etc settings.

If anyone else would like to add additional information, tips, thoughts, I'd appreciate it.

*Please do not reply about $20k setups or steering wheel setups, you have enough threads and focus on that.

 

Here's some heresy. If I wanted to make an "arcade mode" in rfactor 2, I would do something like:

Tarmac grip *=1.15
Kerb grip *=1.35
Grass grip *=1.75

 

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=553201325

 

Thanks, hopefully some of that is useful to someone else. But the sad thing about it is, while some of it is informative, some of those "recommendations", steering help and traction control, makes the game feel like crap to me. Judging by the 2 or 3 positive replies in that thread, hmm...

Consider these tips for people who think steering help and traction control cheapens the game (personally speaking). I mean, my car slides around, sure, but I ain't got steering help, traction control and antilock brakes on high.

 

Oh and if you wanted to try mouse input, you can map your mouse axes to a virtual gamepad/analog joystick. I used something called ppjoy with rfactor, though didn't test much.

Perhaps just enabling mouse steering as a controller option should be considered too, because setting up that stuff is really annoying.

 

Without steering help, it's pretty much impossible to make physics as complex as rF2 to drive well on kb. It's the same as if you went driving with kb in real life with your car, it would be hazardous. Most "kb/pad friendly" racing games achieve this because they don't use realistic physics to begin with, whereas with rF2 you can't really downgrade the physics model itself to "arcade mode".

 

Thanks for your contribution. Last time I checked even with steering wheels, driving is quite hazardous, I guess that's just human error. Besides, I always drive when I've been drinking. Luckily that same sort of logic is what heralds autonomous vehicles, etc. Some google and tesla enforced assistance, surely it won't hamper your driving pleasure.

I am suggesting settings that comply with the game mechanics and/or simple improvements and tweaks that could make it more accessible, so that you can crash more often.

Remember, rfactor2 costs about $25 or something (I dunno the current exchange rate), but even a gamepad is more expensive than that.

 

A quote or two from that steam thread, btw.

"rFactor 2 is the hardcore simracing benchmark, yet it has a steering assist driving aid that takes track contour into account (not just speed sensitivity) to modulate the steering input to make it well playable with just a keyboard (this is also useful for gamepads), while not taking control away and without compromising the physics."

"The highest setting steers itself on rails like an AI car, that's not the setting you want. If you intend to play with steering help Off, which I don't recommend, then you might want to lower the speed sensitivity to between 90-95, or else you might not be able to steer enough during high speed corners."

Notice any contradiction there, as steering help basically approaches AI/on rails settings? Very few people call it playable (yeah, you have your fanatec wheel or whateveR), and those who do are espousing something approaching the opposite of playable, somewhat in contradiction.

So, did you know, the first Grid was a more fun game than rfactor2, not because the physics is admittedly shit (especially at low speed), but because many people could actually play it (I finished it on ninja with kb btw).

I'm trying to suggest (and call for) options, tweaks, settings, etc that would actually benefit rf2, without interfering with the mechanics for elitists.

Where's that 'I' button?

 

Cheers.



Get the Car: Click here
Get the Track: Click here
Get the Mod/RaceEvent: Click here
Get the skin templates: Click here


RC and track are default content.

 

Cheers broer, sekerlik kan jy van hierdie verstaan. Dit is net eerlik opinie, ek het rerig waar ander mense laat try rfactor1/2 toets met default settings op crap controllers, geen van daai mense dink even aan rfactor nie.

Gaan try dit gou, vat soos 'n clio of trueno sonder enige assists, default keyboard settings, good luck with that. Dan, try net tire pressures op minimum (bias dit so klein bietjie vir die kar se mass distribution setup though, met so bietjie intuition).

Met assists dink die mense nogsteeds dit is nie baie fun nie, so hulle ignoreer dit. Nou, ek het probeer al 'n paar basiese opsies gee (ek was 'n programmeerder, physics/collision detection stuff veral, maar baie general game mechanics ook).

Sekere mense lyk my nie verstaan hoe jy letterlik net 'n arcade mode option kan gee, die game se grip levels (veral met non-tarmac surfaces) increase met 'n "arcade mode" en dat meeste mense sal dink die game is ewe skielik baie beter nie. Dit is basiese veranderings en hoef nie die game mechanics te verander nie.

 

Here guys, let your elitism be known.

If the game had an arcade mode option that basically acts as grip multipliers for different surfaces, would you still bitch about it, considering it won't influence your preferred playstyle, setup, etc?

Is the problem that it influences the idea of perceived value and worth too much, or what?

Just saying, ISI was recently bought out by studio 397, why's that?

 

"How to drive
The steering help works smoothest when you keep the car on the limit during cornering. If you drive under the limit (too slow), the steering lock will increase and you will have to manually tap the keys."

So, that guy is literally suggesting that automation/not actually bothering with the game is ideal.

Just press 'I'. Even better, press alt-f4.

 

That enables stability control. That's indeed better as steering help.

(F1-F11) toggles driving aids. Alt key doesn't do anything special.

(Alt-F4 to close window: it doesn't work)

 

Yeah sorry, it was just incredibly cynical sentiment. You know, from a guy that actually bothered to post on this forum, unlike most.

 

I find it bizarre that some simple pressure sensitive keyboards/addons (even if only for a few keys) haven't been promoted yet.

Because I mean, something like 8 keys of 8bit values would be so hard to get good latency for, right?

 

Generally you don't want oversteer, but of course you don't want massive understeer either, it's just too slow. I've seen people driving very competitively using keyboard in rF1 on servers where no aids were allowed (so no steering assist etc), I doubt rF2 is all that different. At a certain level I think you can't hope to compete with an analog device, but with practice it's certainly playable. Things like traction control and ABS help to level the field, and let's not forget quite a few people using wheels also need those to help them drive.

Other than that, I'm not sure why you're here talking to people who aren't here. Seems more like a blog. But ok.

 

Lazza, again, the point is even though I know rfactor 2 has far better physics than some other racing games, if I have to play the game with all those steering assists on, it's not very fun. In fact, far worse racing games then approach more of a "realistic" feel, since you still kinda control the car. That may explain SOME of rfactor 2's popularity, or as you say talking to people who aren't here.

So yes, I'm criticizing, suggesting, etc.

Here's an example from the steam reviews:

"This game has the best force feedback ever and yeah maybe the graphics are not the best but the way the cars feel it's just amazing .Totally recommend this game if you have a wheel otherwise don’t bother"

So what happens when rfactor 2 has sold as many $25 copies it can to people with only good steering wheel setups? Somehow I get the idea that won't end well.

automobilista:
http://steamspy.com/app/431600

rfactor 2:
http://steamspy.com/app/365960

asetto corsa:
http://steamspy.com/app/244210

 

I'm saying there are people perfectly able to drive these cars with a keyboard without driving aids of any sort. Of course it takes practice.

But without approaching that level of skill, a game that already helps you out (ie is less 'simulation') will feel better with keyboard. As you start pushing the boundaries in those games, you find they don't give you all the freedom you might like. Again, I'm talking very high skill levels here (with keyboard).

Traction control and ABS are already enough for a decent keyboard player. Steering assist etc is too controlling for those players.

 

I'll add: I kept going with a keyboard as many others moved to wheels (after GPL came out, especially), I enjoyed playing the sims with keyboard more than the arcade games, because it was a sim. Yeah, I didn't have a wheel, and wheel owners can be elitist, but I didn't care.

If I were still using keyboard, I wouldn't want an arcade mode in rF2. I'd want to play it as realistically as possible (albeit with a keyboard, yes, but that's the deal). People who only drive arcade games with their wheels will struggle in a sim (and they do), and people who muck around with arcade games with their keyboards will also struggle in a sim (as they do).

rF2 is a sim. Leave it that way for everyone who wants a sim.

But you know the good news? It's moddable. If you want to drive with excessive grip, you can do that too.

 

You're missing the point bro, I'm not suggesting anything that interferes with the sim part of the game and I'm telling you that most people (of those who do) will try rfactor 2 once on their keyboard or gamepads and then discard the game, not bothering with mods and such. And also, how "realistic" is it if the AI is helping you drive? rf2 is potentially a much better game than something that should just be discarded like that.

Tell me, if there was an option in the menu for an "arcade mode" that doesn't actually change mechanics, but simply changes different surface grip levels in that mode, would it bother you?

What about more traction/stability/abs levels?

The game already has all the steering wheel hardcore drivers it can get, maybe it can improve there too. Though considering physics complexity etc, probably with far more effort than some simple additions and changes for accessibility, without actually changing the physics engine and such.