RFactor 1 on Steam Now!

So rFactor 1 has came to Steam! That was a surprise I wasn't expecting. I'll do my part to help support such a great company in which I have been playing rFactor 2 for quite awhile.

So why buy a 10 year old game? Well because it's a 10 year old game. It's a proven platform with a heavily supported following with mods galore available for it. It will be easy on your graphics card compared to newer games and physics will be superb.

Check out the about game from Steam website and go download it now for 15% off while it last. Really only $21.24 This Sim Junkie can get behind that!

Time to go play.. DOWNLOAD ON STEAM

About This Game

Summary

rFactor is a realistic easily extendable racing simulation from Image Space Incorporated. It offers the latest in vehicle and race customization, great graphics, outstanding multiplayer, and the height of racing realism. rFactor features mixed class road racing with ultra realistic dynamics, an immersive sound environment and stunning graphics.

You can race against a field of AI cars, or in multi-player mode against others. The simulation supports a full day-night cycle. In multi-player mode, driver swaps are also supported, allowing you to run even full 24 hour endurance events. Everything can be customized by the community, including adding new tracks and cars, and a wealth of add-ons are available on-line.
Features

Physics

Updated 15 degrees of freedom physics engine

Advanced tire modeling

Support for 4-link rear suspension

Engine boost modeling

Complex aerodynamics

Head physics, cockpit vibrations, detailed bump modeling

All-new track-specific terrain data file system

Graphics/Sound

DX9 advanced graphics engine

Real-time day/night transitions

Projected headlights for nighttime driving

Adjust player and opponent volume ratio

See the apex with the Look Ahead slider

Adjust your seat and mirror while in the driver’s seat

Updating real-time scoring towers

Expanded and enhanced gauge and LCD features for vehicle cockpits

Improved loading times

Updated sound engine

Changing engine sounds based on upgraded vehicle performance

Gameplay

Career mode with upgrades that affect the vehicle’s appearance, performance, and sound

Define AI opponent types, strength and aggression

Races can be lap based, time based or both

Vehicle upgrade system

Vehicle economy including mileage

Ambient and track temperature changes throughout the race

More configurable keys than you can shake a stick at

Multiple Racing Series with vehicle and circuit filters

Grid editing

Camera/Replays

Full screen monitor and ability to rewind

Freely move camera from any position including the ever famous exclusive ISI Swingman

Spectator mode

Greatly enhanced replay system including clip splicing

Move, duplicate or delete replay clips while assigning camera movements to each

Export replays to AVI files defining compression and size options

Multiplayer

Completely new multiplayer engine

Built in race statistics reporting to web based RaceCast system

Built in friends list

Server bookmarks

Dedicated server, including single click option

Native voting system

Add AI to multiplayer games

Built in IRC chat

Boot and ban player lists that can be passed around

Security checks to combat potential cheating

Open Architecture

Extensive support for modders

Easy to use customizable multi-language support

Define a league schedule

Rules to simulate different types of racing

Completely customize your controller

Drop in new vehicle liveries

Vehicles

2006 Formula IS – High Performance Open Wheel (Video)

2005 Hammer – Full Bodied GT

2005 Howston – Full Bodied GT

National Stock Car – Stock Car

Panoz – Full Bodied GT

2005 Rayzor – Rally Turbo

2006 rF3 – Quick and Nimble Open Wheel

2005 Rhez – Small FWD Sport Compact

2006 Rhez – Small FWD Sport Compact

2005 rTrainer – Low Speed Open Wheel

2005 Venom – Rally

2005 ZR – Affordable High Performance Sedan

Circuits

Barcelona – Permanent Road Course

Brianza – Permanent Road Course

Essington Park – Permanent Road Course

Jacksonville Speedway – High Banked Superspeedway

Jiading – Permanent Road Course

Joesville Speedway – Paved Short Track

Lienz Festival – Country Roads (Video)

Mills Metropark – Permanent Road Course with two layouts

Montreal – Permanent Road Course

Northamptonshire – Permanent Road Course

Nuerburg – Permanent Road Course

Orchard Lake – Banked Tri-Oval with Infield Road Course

Sardian Heights – Street Circuit with two layouts

Toban Raceway Park – Permanent Road Course with four layouts

rFactor2 1966 BRABHAM-REPCO BT20 V1.6 NOW AVAILABLE!

 

In case you missed it. It's now out and go to the downloads page and check it out. rFactor2 Download

Here are the Change Log notes:

Brabham-Repco BT20 v1.6 Changelog:

– Added Jack Brabham and Denny Hulme AI drivers.

Physics

– ModelWheelsIncludeAllTireMass’ fix /       enhancement.
– Moved to ultra chassis (with Chassis Flex).
– Inertia’s recalculated for total body and for individual parts (such as brake discs, etc).
– Revised suspension geometry from scratch. Pushrod locations are also using the new method and which should give accurate motion ratio’s throughout the entire range of travel of the suspension.
– Dampers and springs revised to match.
– Reduced maximum steering lock so that tyres would not intersect suspension parts.
– Moved over to new steering system.
– Tyres scratch made. The old ones were slightly too wide and rear radius was too low. Also the effect of real road on these old tyres has been reduced the tyres also have a lower wear rate.
– Numerous minor AI correlation tweaks.
– Tweaked undertray locations and added one more point.
– Brake system completely recalculated based on new data (the effective Brake Bias is ~57% front on default).
– Differential now allows preload adjustments.
– New tyre parameters included for wet weather added.
– Engine life tweaked.
– Minor fixes.

Sound

– Using new sound internal / external attenuation variables and scrub individually to tyre sounds.

Graphics

– Brand new historic driver, completely from scratch.
– Added individual driver faces for a more authentic feel.
– Graphically corrected front rims to 15″, front tyre radius slightly reduced. Tyre widths also slightly adjusted.
– Brake discs corected to 11″ (F/R)
– Steering wheel mapping update
– Shaders update
– Various textures updated
– Holes in the back+under car body fixed
– Minor LOD distance tweaks.
– Included additional liveries by our test team.

UI

– Class name now occupies only 1 entry in vehicle filter list.
– Category now starts at manufacturer to be more consistent with other cars.

RFactor2 New Content Coming!

Well Holy Cow!

rFactor2 is bringing some great new content that I can't wait to get my hands on. Lets take a look.

First up!

The Nissan GT500 I'm drooling over. It's a 500 hp V8 RWD monster instead of the Twin Turbo V6 4wd monster. With rFactor2 physics this will be a treat to drive. No date on when it's coming out, just the twitter feed that says soon.

2nd up!

1966 Brabham is coming soon with a physics update, bringing chassis flex and improved wet weather tires. I'm curious to try this one out as I currently lack skill to drive this race car fast.

3rd up!

ISI is bringing some sweet looking weather advancements to there tracks. This should bring some new immersion to your races. I can't wait to see this one.

United Racing Design has Upcoming rFactor2 Cars

If you are new to UnitedRacingDesign now is the time to check them out. URD is a payware site that design cars and track mods for any project you desire. Currently they have DLC for rfactor, rFactor 2 and Assetto Corsa.

About United Racing Design per their website

(UnitedRacingDesign provides professional 3D Modeling services dedicated to all types of Vehicles,
including Concept Design, Digital Presentation and our most dedication to Video games simulations.

Whether you need some brand new vehicles and 3D models for a Video Game we manage everything. Passion, Knowledge, Creativity, Experience and Commitment is what we have and need.
Feel free to explore our projects or order new ones. Using the Contact Us page, you can let us know of your projects and their requirements.)

So URD has released a new preview of their Endurance Racing mod for rFactor 2. They are showing off their first in game look at the Revolution PX1 Prototype, It's looking pretty good and i look forward to seeing more of it.

In the meantime check out some of their other work. I need to go download some rFactor 2 mods!

Check them out UnitedRacingDesign

rFactor2 at Silverstone in a Honda Civic

This was a fun race. rFactor 2 does have some really good physics. Enough to yank the steering wheel from my hand. You can really drive a car like a car in this Sim. Also the AI is surprisingly good now days. Check it out for yourself.

Running a Racing in the new RFactor2 Build 930

I must admit I hadn't picked up RFactor2 since the release of the Honda NSX. I always loved the physics of the game, but had issues with the graphics not looking all that to me. Plus somehow I gained a issue where my screen wouldn't go full screen anymore and didn't feel like re-installing RFactor2 just to play what was becoming a buggy sim for me. So I picked up other Sim games to play.

Well Build 930 changed that for me. It peaked my interest with its host of new features like new UI menu, tire models and a ton of bug fixes. Somehow the graphics look even better to me as well especially the rain. Maybe I finally got my graphics settings down. The new menu system is refreshing and has allot easier navigation. Especially love they ditched of the rotary style when selecting cars. Drove me insane! (No pun intended) I also like the bigger replay window when you back out to the menu while in game play.

I noticed the cars seem so much more stable to handle that I could easily identify what was going on with the car. Really makes drifting the Corvette ZR1 a blast! I also love the wheel lock up feeling under heavy breaking that I get thru my Fanatec CSW. That's nothing totally new, but I forgot how good the Physics where and they feel even better now with the new tire model.

There is loads of new features in build 930 that will keep me busy for awhile relearning the cars limits. Check out some game play below showing off the rain and notice how nicely the track drys out on the race line and puddles on the curbing. BTW get off the dryer race line and you notice quickly. ;)

Rfactor 2 Massively Updated! Build 930 is Released

If it's been awhile since you played RFactor 2 then you might want to give it a look again. ISI just released there Build 930 making it the 30th update with a host of major improvements including a new UI Menu system (see pics) and improved tire model

Rfactor2 Build 930

Check out the channel log.

Release notes (changes from Build 910):

FEATURES:
————-
– Added ability to have HDV variable SemiAutomatic be set to 2 (upshifts only) or 3 (downshift only), which is in addition to the pre-existing choices 0 (off) or 1 (upshifts & downshifts).
– Added text values gizmos for wins, starts, average finish, and accumulated points for RFM. Added ability to customize font colors for multiplayer game list. Added ability for gizmos to pass clicks on to gizmos behind them. (only applies to APP_TEXTVALUE_RUNPRACTICE, RUNQUALIFYING, & RUNRACE.
– Added new option to select stretch UI width.
– Implemented “Change Password” button and added option to login dialog.
– Enabled virtual vehicle selection (and propagation) in multiplayer.

BUG FIXES / OPTIMIZATIONS:
————-
– Fix issue where clouds sometimes don’t show up in replays.
– Fixed a crash that could happen if the start light sequence on a track layout was particularly short.
– Fix broken multihead.
– Fixed issue where car class was reported incorrectly.
– Fixed Launcher crash when exiting Mod Manager.
– Added auto-focus to login dialog input.
– Fixed bug where checkbox settings in Launcher would show incorrect state on startup.
– Attempt to prevent physics thread lock up in cases where skin transfers get put into a bad state.
– Instead of relying on the background color to match the skin download state gizmo inactive state color, now hiding the gizmo in that case.
– Fixed multiplayer sort game list by series.
– Fixed bug where 1st line of credits is potentially a random font
– Fixed multiplayer game list gizmo text colors.
– Fixed gear graph in instances where there is a top/bottom letterbox effect on the options.
– Fixed monitor window FOV issues
– Code added to prevent infinite loops when an AIW has more grid positions than main path waypoints.
– Fixed issue where finish statuses were transmitted but immediately overwritten upon joining a race. This fixes the situation where a driver Esc’d out and therefore got a DNF, but then left and rejoined the server whereupon it was noticed that the DNF was cleared.
– Fixed possible crash that happens upon downloading and then installing components to join a multiplayer game.
– Fix for aspect ratio problems in monitor

GRAPHICS
————-
– Fade clouds in and out rather than popping.
– Fixed monitor window FOV issues

MODDING / PUBLIC DEV:
————-
– No longer shipping Max plugins for Max 8, 9, and 2009, support ends.
– Updated versions of Max plugins for Max 2010, 2011, and 2012 with standard mat converter.
– Toggling AI control will now also toggle player driven AI physics if “shift” is also pressed with AI control toggle key
– Updated MAS2 utility with potential fix for missing layouts/teams when creating virtual mods
– Updating SDK with latest content and same UI as the main game.

TIRES:
————
– Minor update to CPM invalidates previously-generated CPM data.
– Gas cavity volume is now affected by load (which essentially means air pressure/temperature change slightly when the tire load changes).
– Mass imbalance from flatspotting is now correctly modeled.
– Subsampling in brush model creates smoother response (this may slightly change the feeling and performance of tires, but note that it should be more accurate now).
– Added some control for tires in the wet (cooling, EARLY version of aquaplaning). Uses WetConductance=(,,,) … Dampness is non-standing water. Wetness is standing water. As the track gets wet, dampness goes from 0.0-1.0 and then wetness goes from 0.0-1.0.

UI / HUD / OPTIONS:
————-
– New UI with resolution 1920X1080.
– Removing hard-coded HUD elements shading and alpha.
– Added gizmo slider on realtime settings/display page to set engine vibration effect on cockpit.
– Download mode textbox gizmo now only displays name of mod file, not full path.

PLUGINS:
————
– Instead of on-path wetness and off-path wetness (neither of which were properly computed anyway), we now report minimum and maximum water depth along the main path to the plugin scoring interface.

Notes:
– If you had HDR legacy enabled, you will get a misalignment in UI after auto updating. You can fix this with a .json file edit to set.
– You need multiview enabled if using multiple / triple screens.

GSC Extreme-Rental Karts Video

GSC Extreme Rental Karts Video

Reiza Studios Game Stock Car (GSC) releases another great vid show casing Rental karts at a night time track. This totally reminisces of my days riding rental karts with friends at night. Why at night? Because it is hot in Texas during the daytime!

The captured sounds of the squealing tires, moped engine sounds, slow starts from lack of power, super quick steering and the necessity of caring lots of corner speed bring back memories of some really cool times on real Karts. I can’t wait to play this one on Steam!

Assetto Corsa Dream Pack Teaser #2

Assetto Corsa Dream Pack - Teaser #2 | BMW M235i 

i'm not a huge fan of the series 2 from BMW, but this car looks sweet!

Project Cars Start Your Engines Trailer

Project CARS - Start Your Engines

Now if this doesn't get your internal motor revving! Nice video showcasing what Project Cars is bringing to the table March 2015.

Grip TV's Review on the New Fanatec CSW V2 Base & Porsche Wheel

Check out the video review from Grip TV on the newly released Fanatec CSW V2 Base & Porsche Wheel

IRacing Team Racing Driver Swap