rF2 Beta First Impressions

[Chronus]

Originally Posted by Hired Goon

Graphics...I don't understand how you could see this as great in this day and age comparing it not only to current triple A shooters but other games in the same genre. It looks so dated, honestly. I realize this is secondary for many sim racers, with physics/feel/ffb being of utmost importance. I personally didn't find the feel to be any better than old Simbin titles. Nothing revolutionary going on. I'm glad the Rf1 community seems to be happy with it overall.

Interface doesn't look bad - anyway, it will evolve as much as anything else.

Graphics? It is an improvement over rF (lighting, shades) so it looks impressive enough. And it will only get better.

What really matters is:
- physics
- AI
- network

In regards to these, it will deliver a typical ISI product quality: great. The rest will come.

Pcars (which is coming nicely), Assetto corsa, and GT3 will be what I'm looking forward to.

Ah...Right.

[Hired Goon]

It may be an improvement over rF but impressive? No man not impressive by any stretch. It will get better with time sure, but not that much better. The underlying graphical engine doesn't seem to be much different than rF, and post processing can only do so much. I just wish they could have hired some additional help here.

I was also disappointed to see a complete lack of configurable options for FFB. Is this on the list for changes? Nice that you can adjust per car now, but I need to tweak, and quite frankly it's an inconvenience to have to go in to .ini files every time. It needs to be in game. I'm sure that's going to happen though isn't it?

[Bigrt]

I certainly think it looks impressive. Sure it's no CARS, but really...ask yourself what looks more REALISTIC? The general look of what is in CARS to me, is more what a high res photo looks like that's been touched up in photoshop. Day to day, I never see such crips or defined lines like we're getting in CARS.

On the other hand, rF2 looks a little more realistic, but is still pretty far off being ideal. It's a little too 'undefined'. I've found that with HDR on, and racing at 1:30pm-3pm, the light and colours are just about perfect. With HDR off or racing as any other time, I find the colours are a bit too washed out, and a little too 'thick'. I would love to have CARS graphics in rF2 as I'm sure many others would too. Is it needed though? I don't think so, many of us are happy with where rF2 is at even now, and we still have the rest of BETA to go, and then there's sure to be hundreds of community addons. Just look as what Hudson Kerr and Culmone67 among many others have done with rF1. The group that released the new cubemap/shader (SL shaders? Sorry, forget the name) that made a huge difference on the race cars.

I'm sure we're all going to be in for a treat with the finished product in rF2.

[Chronus]

Originally Posted by Hired Goon

It may be an improvement over rF but [...]

I find that Youtube videos, normally are not very favourable to isiMotor2 sims - on rare occasions I stumble upon high detailed replays with the graphics vamped up, but it is rare. (Compare those videos with most videos from iRacing and it is as if there's 20 years diff between them...)

The videos I have seen around of the megane trophy races look quite good. Not S2U or CARS or GT5 quality - but then as Bigrt said, at times it does look like SMS's sims have been revamped via Photoshop. This is subjective, however.

The jury is still out on the physics side of things - rF2 cars appear to react realistically, but the way some of these drivers use steering locks as a way of BRAKING the cars corner in corner out...hmmm, we'll see.

As for netcode...I haven't seen flashing cars or instantaneous (buit visible) corrections of car position due to collisions, so that's a plus for me.

rF2 (and pCARS as well) is a work in progress, we can expect some leaps in quality and realism. I think we're all (most of us anyway) darn eager to get our hands on it.

[jeff323]

I'm finding this game very unimpressive at the moment. To the point that I actually don't play it really. My system is getting outdated I know, but graphically it looks aweful on my system for some reason. Worse than the original in many ways?! I have no idea why, but everything looks really grainy and pixely???? I'm not getting the same graphics that I see in screen shots and videos. The feel of the game seems pretty good, but because of the looks of the game, I'm just having a hard time getting intersted. Anyone else have the same issue or know what may be the issue? And before anyone says it, it's not because I have to run it with the graphics turned way down because I don't have to. My FPS aren't good with everything on max but I can run it that way and it still looks like garbage.

Current important PC specs are:
Intel Core2Duo E8500 3.16 processor
Gigabyte EP45-UD3R Mobo
HIS Ice-Q 4870 Radeon HD 512mb video card
8GB Kingston HyperX DDR2 1066 RAM

[DurgeDriven]

Gessus look past the beta graphics and model and the missing stuff.


Animations, wind/sound immersion, physics, FF, online, even the menus are all great.


Better then other sims coming that have invisible walls rather then roam the landscape ...now that is total arcade.

[jeff323]

I'm fine with the graphics not being up to Forza 4 or GT5 levels, but it looks worse than RF1 on my system for some reason?!

[Chronus]

Originally Posted by jeff323

I'm fine with the graphics not being up to Forza 4 or GT5 levels, but it looks worse than RF1 on my system for some reason?!

Very few sims (S2U, really) come close to the visual quality of FM4 and GT5, for good reason.

It seems that, regardless of it being obsolete (mine certainly is ) , your system has a problem with rF2. Maybe (probably) drivers related. If it looks worse than rF, as you say, then definitely something is wrong. That being the case, maybe you could hold your judgement on rF2 and give it another go later after solving the issue?

The YouTube videos of rF2 look quite good. If we can't replicate that quality, then either a)the rig is too old (low fps, inability to run the sim at good enough visual settings) or b)the graphics card has a problem or c)the gfx card drivers are the issue (or some of its settings).

Hope you solve it, m8.

[kamikaze666]

Head over to isi forums, they know more there.

[jeff323]

Originally Posted by Chronus

Very few sims (S2U, really) come close to the visual quality of FM4 and GT5, for good reason.

It seems that, regardless of it being obsolete (mine certainly is ) , your system has a problem with rF2. Maybe (probably) drivers related. If it looks worse than rF, as you say, then definitely something is wrong. That being the case, maybe you could hold your judgement on rF2 and give it another go later after solving the issue?

The YouTube videos of rF2 look quite good. If we can't replicate that quality, then either a)the rig is too old (low fps, inability to run the sim at good enough visual settings) or b)the graphics card has a problem or c)the gfx card drivers are the issue (or some of its settings).

Hope you solve it, m8.

Well sorry if it seemed like I was passing judgement, because I wasn't. I was just more or less seeing if anyone was in the same boat as me here. I really like Rf so I was disappointed with the lack of advancement in any of the visuals on my system. Maybe it is some sort of a driver or hardware conflict on my particular system. All the drivers are up to date though, so that was really confusing to me. That's why I thought I'd check with you here. I will head over to ISI's forums and see what I can find out there. It is a beta release after all so bugs and other issues are going to be found.

[Chronus]

Don't get me wrong, m8. I wasn't criticizing you on your judgement, I was kind of hoping you could wait until you solve that problem. I trust ISI will deliver in all fronts and you'll probably enjoy it a lot in due time.

Anyhow, you did good, people here are usually quite helpful and knowledgeable. However, I fear that this issue might need the intervention/knowledge of the devs themselves.

Bets of luck, m8.

[gears]

Update coming next week (if all goes well).

Originally Posted by Gjon Camaj

There is an update that is ready, going to do some more testing early next week. I should be able to give it to Tim to release after that. Some new content should be ready for release at the same time or shortly after. There will be some updates to already released content as well as internals continue to be enhanced.

http://isiforums.net/f/showthread.ph...-Update/page36

[wombat666]

Originally Posted by gears

Update coming next week (if all goes well).
http://isiforums.net/f/showthread.ph...-Update/page36

I think it's about time to be frank, 'next week' is getting close to the limit of many peoples patience.
Here's hoping this will be a major step forward.

[DurgeDriven]

I had a server up for a month 150+ in and helped countless people get up to speed with how stuff works.

ISI don't even tell people how to do a pitstop for petes sake.

I spend all my time in room doing ther JOBS besdies paying for BETA TESTING
and I actually don't mind.

Now MatchMaker wont work and I am not the only one.

There is NO SUPPORT. lol

FAIL ISI I will delete it and will be asking for my money back unless I get a answer by weekends end.

[gears]

Originally Posted by DurgeDriven

I had a server up for a month 150+ in and helped countless people get up to speed with how stuff works.

ISI don't even tell people how to do a pitstop for petes sake.

I spend all my time in room doing ther JOBS besdies paying for BETA TESTING
and I actually don't mind.

Oh really?

ISI posted that information in the rF2 Beta FAQ back in January when the beta was released.

I even reposted it here (back in January):

http://www.nogripracing.com/forum/sh...d.php?t=278830

Q: Help! I can't pit at historic tracks...

A: Actually, you can. Since the older tracks don't have a clear division between the race surface and pit lane (eg no pit wall) we couldn't use the standard pit code. So, to deal with this situation, we had to implement something different for these historic tracks.

When you want to/have to make a pit stop you MUST use the "Request Pit" key ('s' by default) any time during the lap in which you'll come into the pit. We know these cars didn't have radios, etc., but this was the best way to deal with the issue. If you don't request a pit your pit stall will NOT be available to you.

We recommend, if you have a controller button to spare, that you map this key to it for faster access...

For modern tracks you don't have to do this. That said, you get faster pit service if your crew has time to prepare for your arrival, so it's best to request one anyway. Also, if someone else is currently using your pit stall then you'll save yourself a trip to pit lane...

Guess they already did their JOBS lol

[DurgeDriven]

I actually do no mind anyways

?

Tell me I do not do their Jobs every day in my room when I do. lmao


Oh that is when MatchMaker actually worked.

Make a proper readme with the download for petes sake. ? lol

[DurgeDriven]

12 hours been waiting for posts to be answered.

Hire me !

MatchMaker is still screwed.


Some of these rooms I have tried are hopelessly setup man.


No wonder mine is full every night ....well was.

[mrpowcz]

They should do more yea, no updates is disappointing I must admit.
Havent played for month, too little content (I'm interested in).

[DurgeDriven]

Originally Posted by mrpowcz

They should do more yea, no updates is disappointing I must admit.
Havent played for month, too little content (I'm interested in).

It is not that mate.

I owned a business if I got a problem it got dealt with straight away.

Pete's sake ! at least a mod could say...


" I am very sorry for the hassles I do not know what is wrong but others are working hard on resolving the issue"

That would do it I would be happy with that !@!

Not to be treated like a frakken mushroom.

I mean obviously someone has changed something to do with server in last couple of days...........how hard could process of elimination be ?

Don't ever run a network buss. ISI you be broke in 6 months.

[gears]

Originally Posted by DurgeDriven

It is not that mate.

I owned a business if I got a problem it got dealt with straight away.

Pete's sake ! at least a mod could say...


" I am very sorry for the hassles I do not know what is wrong but others are working hard on resolving the issue"

That would do it I would be happy with that !@!

lol they did and you're still not happy

[brabham67]

Originally Posted by gears

lol they did and you're still not happy

Why do you even bother with him. Your forgetting he knows everything!

[DurgeDriven]

Originally Posted by gears

lol they did and you're still not happy

They did.... what ?

Made a statement that MatchMaker is not working, okay show me

Why do you even bother with him. Your forgetting he knows everything!

Yeah I know everything, you got a problem there sunshine. lol

[DurgeDriven]

Originally Posted by mrpowcz

They should do more yea, no updates is disappointing I must admit.
Havent played for month, too little content (I'm interested in).

They should mate.

They should make a official sticky why and how Match Maker is not working and apologize. !

Gears and Brabham obviously do not understand good business practice.


http://isiforums.net/f/forumdisplay.php/10-News ...... stuffed if I see any statement.

If MatchMaker being down is not news I don't know what is.

[gears]

You got a Staff response in the bug reports forum in the thread about Matchmaker being down - a thread you posted in so I know you saw it.

He told you they are working on it but it's the weekend so not many people are around.

And then he followed up, doing the best he can to find the issue.

Are you really going to make me quote it? Just makes you look foolish and a bit of a girl's blouse for crying so much.

[DurgeDriven]

Originally Posted by gears

You got a Staff response in the bug reports forum in the thread about Matchmaker being down - a thread you posted in so I know you saw it.

He told you they are working on it but it's the weekend so not many people are around.

And then he followed up, doing the best he can to find the issue.

Are you really going to make me quote it? Just makes you look foolish and a bit of a girl's blouse for crying so much.

Quote what you like I know what he said and it told me nothing just made excuses, no one said sorry for screwing peoples weekends. What a way to run a business.

You first person ever on my ignore list, have a nice day.

You think it is funny AMD fail and I am foolish.

[DurgeDriven]

http://isiforums.net/f/member.php/7665-DurgeDriven

Since I set a room up 160 visit and 80 people visit profile to leave messages many say thanks.
Must be doing something right ?

So what smart remark you got for that ?
Oh I forgot I don't care anymore what you think.

[DurgeDriven]

Tim has just answered me tonight and said he has only just told the "server guy" to get on it.

Fair enough ! I am happy with that

All I ever wanted a concrete answer.

So much for them being aware before hand, moderator must not have informed him......... ? lol


BTW:

There are only a handful of servers left and more people are posting missed weekend league
practice races or similar.

Mind you it was me whom tried to tell them all 2 days ago DONT delete your servers or you
will not be able to remake them !

I know everything !
I am being sarcastic.....................

[mrpowcz]

I'm talking about something different, I don't know about this matchmaker trouble, as I said I havent touched the sim for some time, what I meant there should be another UPDATE opening more features, fixing bugs and possibly new content. How long has it been since last.

[gears]

Originally Posted by mrpowcz

... what I meant there should be another UPDATE opening more features, fixing bugs and possibly new content. How long has it been since last.

Coming this week

[gears]

lol DD you're hilarious

Over here at NG you're all "If I don't get answers, I'm getting a refund!

While over at ISI your telling us what you're going to sell to get a lifetime membership!

Originally Posted by DurgeDriven

I pretty much made up my mind to get Life membership ( whatever that means I not too worried )

Just got to sell a AMD260 elcheapo tower or a GTX460 first

[Scorz]

Originally Posted by gears

lol DD you're hilarious

Over here at NG you're all "If I don't get answers, I'm getting a refund!

While over at ISI your telling us what you're going to sell to get a lifetime membership!

haha

[DurgeDriven]

Like I said I have no time for what Gears says anymore but..........

Get ya facts straight ....

I said the same thing at ISI that I wanted a refund.
Go open ya eyes have a proper look.

I know everything, look foolish and wear blouses so be it.
Did I ever stoop to personal attack on you ever because of your opinion.

Next thing it will be '"I cant understand you " lol

Just because I have a different method for a OS or backup then most
some people feel I am saying everyone else does it wrong. That is your problem not mine.

Everyone told me a fixed setup was silly yet now some of the quickest F3 drivers say it is a great setup and rookies like it too. Do I think I am right or better ? Apparently ...


Anyway way before I talked to Tim I said I had calmed down and realized people in my room were more important then me and I would not be getting a refund at all.

In My F3 Rookie thread you will find a statement to that effect ...and in others asking for a refund.

I had made up my mind a month ago to get life membership......

So all you do here is try to bag me more to antagonize me for no good reason.



edit: Server is fixed, working now.

[mrpowcz]

To actually add some impressions on rf2, here is something I need to say (and from which you can see I'm actually not a fanboy):
for some reason driving the same car in rf2 feels much more difficult than in other sims. This can logically mean only one of the following:
either rf2 makes it harder than it is
or any other sim makes it easier than it is.

I'm afraid it can't be option 2. After a lot of practice it is possible to do good laptimes, yes, but it requires extreme concentration. Also, as I said with DoubleT in the shaking thread, I don't believe there should be such extreme difference between cold/hot tyres.

[hoboholic]

Originally Posted by gears

Are you really going to make me quote it? Just makes you look foolish and a bit of a girl's blouse for crying so much.

Kind of ironic coming from the guy who had some things to say about a certain Zonda

[gears]

I think you need a dictionary

[hoboholic]

Just sayin'....

[gears]

There's a difference hobo. Complaining about bugs in a beta/pre-alpha is stupid.

I had the steering spring bug in pCARS for two months! Eight weeks in a row I couldn't play it.

Did you see me crying all over the place? It's a bug and they are expected. I just waited until it was sorted.

My comments on the Zonda were not about bugs

[gears]

Next update almost ready:

Originally Posted by Gjon Camaj

I was hoping for today, but a newly discovered dedicated server bug will prevent this. Its a good find, albeit last minute.

[Scorz]

Formula Masters and Monza 66 along with all existing mods updated pretty much confirmed now for the update.

[gears]

Originally Posted by Scorz

Formula Masters and Monza 66 along with all existing mods updated pretty much confirmed now for the update.

Yes I saw that too. Great news. Can't wait to see the change list. I have a feeling this is going to be a massive update.

[Scorz]

Originally Posted by gears

Yes I saw that too. Great news. Can't wait to see the change list. I have a feeling this is going to be a massive update.

I think so too mate. Really hyped for this, i just hope all that time was time well spent and we can begin to see the real rF2

[mrpowcz]

Are you guys asleep? Usually when the update is out its here within 2 minutes ha! Build 85

[mrpowcz]

http://www.racedepartment.com/2012/0...-with-build-85

[gears]

From readme.txt of Build 85.

UPDATE 4 Changelog (MAY 18, 2012):
======================================


GRAPHICS:
---------------------------
Improved lighting math
Improved HDR rearviews
Fixed mirrors too dark when using HDR
Improved post-processing in multi-view mode
Fixed side-channel clearing in multi-view mode.
Fixed HDR in multi-view mode
Viewport fix for multi-view
Improved dynamic road
Changing shadow detail level now causes a shader re-compile
Changed base turbidity to 1.8 to brighten sky a bit.
Reduced minimum vertical FOV from 20 to 10 degrees.
improved graphical steering pivot for non-player vehicles
Now applying heat haze to graphics, note new PLR option "Heat FX Fade Speed" which can be used to completely disable.
Fixed broken HDR lum histogram
attempt to fix body parts disappearing in multiplayer


GAMEPLAY:
----------------------------
Added support for gear ratio sets.
Added ability to have gear-specific ratios.
Added DRS rules.
Added some GDB-configurable atmospheric conditions.
Changed flap buttons to act as toggle by default, but with a controller.ini option "Hold Flap Button" if the user prefers to hold it down.


SOUNDS:
----------------------------
Scrub sound improvements via the SFX file: can now have tire-specific samples, can be played individually rather than combined into one output, and more control over the frequency modulation.
Defaulting ScrubIndividually to true


AI:
----------------------------
fixed safety car incorrectly pitting for a tire change (and leaving the rest of the field in limbo)
fixes for AI pit lane behavior when no dedicated pitlane exists.
some minor tweaks to AI stalking behavior.
AI more likely to stay on throttle when along side a car they are trying to pass.
fixed a bug where cars would move towards rather than away from a car next to it going into a corner
fixed bug where sometime AI, at start of formation to standing start, immediately tries to park.
better handling of grip lose around fast corners
AIs will turn on and off rear flaps as required.
Tried to ease up on the throttle cuts caused by tires bouncing off the ground for a tick while otherwise being in control


PLUGINS:
----------------------------
Screen interface added to Internals Plugins in order to facilitate 3rd party overlays; currently untested and subject to change.
Now reporting to internals plugin whether blue flag being shown for each vehicle.


UI:
----------------------------


fixed the calculation of the "X display not available" X coordinates for MFD when under AI control.
added some gizmos and actions to facilitate multiplayer auto mod download and install from a dedicated server
added download mod status bar & cancel button
allowing problem mods to show up in lists (so that the problems can be displayed on the info screen)
added info buttons and code for rfm scrollbox to show new state of uninstalled mods with virtual components that are missing.
LED and HUD support for DRS status
changed scaling scrollbox gizmos (rfm, veh, track, hud, showroom & ui) so that they can accept textures other than 1024x1024 uncompressed textures.
Removed PLR file option "Wheels Visible In Cockpit" which was made obsolete by the VEH variable "FrontWheelsInCockpit" a long time ago.


BUG FIXES:
----------------------------
Fixed some unresponsive keys when using soft vsync.
Fixed problem with keyboard repeats in time acceleration.
Fixed warmup time increasing by 1 each time a server is set up.
Fixed problem where re-attaching a wheel in the pits would result in phantom collision.
Improved thread safety by using local file finder classes.
Fixed a error message that was incorrectly saying missing RCD files.
Fixed bug where requesting a pitstop while on the grid would sometimes cause a stop/go penalty.
Fixed 'Temporary Boost' button.
Fixed bug where requesting a pitstop while on the grid would sometimes cause a stop/go penalty.


FUNCTIONAL ADDITIONS:
----------------------------
Added mod downloading to sim
Added settings for HTTP Server and rfmod sharing.
Added PLR variable "Car Vibration Mult2" in order to allow separation of orientational vs. positional effects, and added PLR variables "Seat Pitch", "Seat Yaw", and "Seat Roll" to allow an offset from which direction the cockpit camera points.


MOD MODE/PACKAGING
----------------------------


fixed not being able to switch UIs in mod mode.
removed "no ai" restriction from public dev build
added a scale value in HUD editor for flags & stat bar positions
got digital gages working in the HUD. Can now expand in any of four directions.
HUD editor stability fixes
HUD editor fixes. instead of numbers, will write out the function and font names for led, text, and digital gages

***Updates to Megane Trophy, Formula Renault, GT World Endurance, and new ISI Formula Masters are downloaded seperately.

http://isiforums.net/f/showthread.php/1396-Downloads

[mrpowcz]

But somehow I feel I wont be happy with the beta, now it doesnt work for me at all, I will try reinstall once but waiting for full relelase.. in august.. or december..

[mrpowcz]

OK, the formula seems good. I like it much more than formula renault.
But the rattling is there even on tarmac, not just grass! I seriously cant play it in the night lol.

[Copyright]

Cool update. Love the new Formula ISI, it's pretty cool how they've got all the F1 style cams on the car, checking out the tyre deformation and how setup changes it never gets old.
All the cars seem a bit more driveable now, noteably the Formula Renault, the cars look a bit better now too. I've actually sorta given up the 60s F1s/F2s for the Formula ISI now, it's loads of fun.

Edit: Nice FPS increase too.

[brabham67]

Gave the update a quick go last night. It's a little better, but I still have issues with stuttering. I have better things to do than spend hours tweaking my settings to make it smooth, so for now it will stay unused. Here's hoping it will improve by time it goes gold.

[gears]

Originally Posted by Copyright

Cool update. Love the new Formula ISI, it's pretty cool how they've got all the F1 style cams on the car, checking out the tyre deformation and how setup changes it never gets old.
All the cars seem a bit more driveable now, noteably the Formula Renault, the cars look a bit better now too. I've actually sorta given up the 60s F1s/F2s for the Formula ISI now, it's loads of fun.

Edit: Nice FPS increase too.

The ISI Formual Masters are brilliant. Just awesome. And it's got working DRS

[Copyright]

Not sure if it was already in game or just added with build 85 but when driving the tin tops the windscreen reflections seem much more prominent at sunrise and sunset. Which is pretty neat.