Home > rFactor 2

The second installment in the rFactor series is currently in development. You can find out some information and see some work-in-progress information in the Dev Corner.

Underneath the rFactor 2 logo in the left menu you can see links to the latest news.

11.01.12 | rFactor 2
Test version available

If you understand what a beta version is, and would like to make an early purchase of rFactor 2 to get involved in the testing process, we have now made available the beta in our forums.

14.10.11 | rFactor 2 | Forum post
Track announcement “Grand Prix” Promo Video

If you enjoyed the old MGM movie, Grand Prix, we’re sure you’ll enjoy this “movie style” promo video featuring rFactor 2 in work-in-progress beta testing stage.

Grand Prix racing in the 1960′s was a mixture of bravery that bordered on recklessness and, contrary to what many may say, innovative design and technology, far from primitive, which led Formula One to where it is today.

It was an era when the human eye, instead of a computer and a wind tunnel, designed a beautiful car. It was an era where spectators and drivers were only protected by bales of hay, which were often more likely to attribute to a fire than to save you in an impact.

Risks were taken and lives were lost, but the romance of the era still remains been the target of software developers, TV documentaries, and Hollywood movies. Many, including those of us at ISI, consider this space in time to be a golden age in the history of motorsport.

The first in-game/sim screenshot of rFactor 2 released to the public was of a road lined with trees, a house on the right and a truck parked in its driveway. This, barely recognizable to us as the same track now, was the first indication that ISI were trying to do something different.

We have licensed content from the modern era of motorsport for multiple types of racing, but also have licensing deals for real content from the first four decades of Formula One (some in the initial release, some to come later). We’ve done this because this is what we love and this is what we want to bring to the racing game/sim community. We want you to be challenged by our software, to be challenged rain or shine, day or night, old or new, and what better track to challenge you than the streets of Monte-Carlo?

View on YouTube | Download WMV (145MB)

We hope those of you who will want to participate in the open modders beta testing period are almost ready…

23.09.11 | rFactor 2
Devs working on graphics updates

The rFactor 2 development team have been working on a number of graphical effects. The screenshots here are a good indication of where we are heading with the effects, but it’s important to note that we still have a few things to finalize, most notably the HDR light/dark differences in clouds. So these images still certainly carry the “work-in-progress” label.

One of the features we put the most time into was allowing players to make their own HDR profiles so that they can adjust for a look that appeals to them.

There are a few other effects to add, but the only one which is probably going to make it into the cockpit view is Bloom, which is likely to take a lot less time to refine than HDR has, but will have a large impact.

Talking of cockpit views, let’s take a quick look at what just HDR does to change your outlook from the cockpit:

And when the sun does start to set, those turns with overhanging trees can finally be just as dark as they are in real life, while areas where the sun is able to penetrate you’ll get a beautiful orange glow. The car body also seems to benefit from HDR quite a lot as the rounded edges become much more noticeable and defined:

You can view many more work-in-progress screenshots of the HDR in action by visiting the screenshots page.

30.07.11 | rFactor 2
Building a tire model

rFactor 2, in-development and due for initial release later this year, will introduce a number of major features. Among the greatest is the newly written tire model, which accurately models the heat, wear, deformation and performance changes a tire undergoes in a racing situation.

The videos below demonstrate the basics and shows you some of the damage done to the tire with both normal usage and when mistreated.

Watch the surface of the tire nearest the camera.

For the purpose of this first demonstration we have increased the effects by 100x so that you can see it within a single lap.

When the brakes are locked and a single area of the tire touches the track while the car continues to move, this grinds away the rubber from the surface of the tire and creates a flatter edge, this is called ‘flatspotting’. With rFactor 2 you will directly affect the surface of the tire, you will both see and feel (through force-feedback especially) how this changed the tire surface.

Recorded heat for the surface of the tire is visible in the video on the readout (within the black box) at the top-left of the screen.

Also visible at the end of the video is the associated tire wear from doing the equivalent of 100 laps at the slow-ish pace seen, and if you look very closely in the final frames one of our fully animated track workers can be spotted.

View on YouTube | Download Original (232MB).

Watch the sides of the tire near where it contacts the track surface.

In this second video you can see a demo of the tire deformation. The tire will form itself to the track surface, kerbing or will catch the weight of the car upon landing and this is all visible in it’s shape adjustments.

View on YouTube | Download Original (172MB).
Featuring immersive animations, changes to the racing line including rubber build-up and marbles, day-night-day transitions, wet-dry transitions and this truly dynamic tire model on all it’s cars, rFactor 2 will bring a truly dynamic experience to your racing…

19.07.11 | rFactor 2 | Forum post
Four New rFactor 2 Development Screenshots

We’ve uploaded four new development screenshots of rFactor 2.

rFactor 2 is still on-target for release later this year and will for the first time place the driver in the dynamic environment real life drivers feel every weekend. With moving trackside objects, changes to the racing line including rubber build-up and marbles, day-night-day transitions, wet-dry transitions and a very advanced new tire model, no two laps will truly feel the same.

15.06.11 | rFactor 2
Desktop wallpaper renders

We didn’t think they were a big deal, but the reaction from the community means we probably should post a link here so everybody notices them! Your desktop will appreciate them…

The rendered wallpapers we have posted are of some of the cars in the rFactor 2 family, not all the cars. It should also be noted that some cars will not be a part of the initial release and will instead come as later updates.

We should be posting some information on how rFactor 2 will be released pretty soon! In the meantime we can confirm we do have a target within the year (2011).

25.03.11 | rFactor 2 | Forum post
rFactor 2 Initial Dev Q&A Posted

We have posted a Q&A which should answer a lot of your early questions about rFactor 2.

07.10.10 | rFactor 2 | Forum post
rFactor 2 Q&A posted by SimHQ

Gjon Camaj took some time to answer questions for Doug Atkinson. Read the Q&A here.