rFactor 2 Release 2021-1 + 2021-2RC Now Available

Despite being newly acquired by Motorsport Games along with the rFactor 2 product, the developers at Studio 397 didn’t stop work today, releasing a new release candidate build on Steam.

As I’ve said before I’m not much of a fan of this release candidate method because while I understand the need to verify updates before releasing, I think that’s what a closed testing team should be for. The announcement of builds like this creates confusion about what is in the product right now and what is not, and unfortunately harks back to the days when the rFactor 2 product lived in a never-ending open beta state. The worst part for me is that I have no idea when you the reader will be able to use the updates I have been telling you about for the past month or so in a non-opt-in public version until they release it (like today). You can read how to opt-in to test these new updates here.

Release notes below the Diriyah street circuit screenshot. Diriyah should release today.

Here is what the public product should be getting today:

March 4th Opt-Out Notes – release-2021-1

We’ve removed the Max 2012 plugins as they no longer work, and provided the last working Max 2017 plugins. We have no intention to upgrade them any longer as we can’t get these versions of Max any more to test. Furthermore, we urge the modding community to upgrade to current Max versions.
Fixed: Reflection mapper in Scene Viewer, so it renders from the same point as the user sees.
Fixed: Bind a mouse click to any input control.
Fixed: Issues with showroom performance.
Fixed: Missing error prompt when textures are missing from content.
Fixed: Issue with a white screen you get when you try to assign a control.
Fixed: Visible damage sometimes corrupting car bodies, to properly fix the hotfix that temporarily disabled the visible damage.
Fixed: Issue where clouds could show similar corruption as car bodies.
Fixed: Showroom Upgrades not displaying which require MAS Files.
Fixed: Glitch where “the lights would suddenly go off” when transitioning from light to dark at dusk.
Fixed: Exploit where you could still set the FE car to use 250kW in the setup in a race when that setting is reserved for “attack mode”.
Fixed: Overlays would not correctly follow the attack mode countdown timing.
AIW Editor: Added new line smoothing option, and added soft selection for manual adjustments.
Added an internal option to the player.json to turn off multi-threading in the UI. Defaults to “on”.
Added code support, so we can detect a disabled Steam overlay, to warn you about why a shopping cart won’t show up.
Changed how a dedicated server shuts down when asked so it no longer crashes with a non-zero return code.
Pausing sessions in a dedicated server will now only pause the first one.
Increased an internal timeout when talking to Steam to give it more time before we give up or retry.
Scene Viewer Changes: Moved Web UI Port to 5396 by default and added support for up to 128 scenes in configuration file

Here is what goes up as a release candidate you need to opt-in on today:

March 4th Release Candidate Notes – release-2021-2 (Client Steam Build ID 6276424)
Changelog
General

Fixed an issue enforcing physics upgrades
Fixed an issue where custom skins would be allowed even when the server does not allow them.
Fixed an issue where a custom skin would glow white after changing session if skin transfers are disabled. Also ensures other players see you with the default skin of your car.
Fixed an issue where a series does not initialize correctly on first time use. This would manifest in not being able to select upgrades when joining a competition.
Fixed an issue where FFB changes would not register until you go to the track for the second time.
Fixed a crash to desktop during game load when the current selected series was uninstalled, however the install file remains in packages folder.
Removed a setting that exited the game after leaving a server
Added extra logging during the loading of content for debugging purposes

HUD

Fixed an issue where the time remaining in a race session would not be shown.
Message centre now displays same name/value as show in the garage screen when changing vehicle settings

Graphics

Fixed an issue where secondary wet weather reflections would not show on roads. (The reflections from a damp road surface, rather than puddles)
Fixed some issues which could cause graphical glitches in the skies.
Fixed VR UI boundaries showing a faint black line when in game

UI

Added driver and car info displays to full screen replay; steering, throttle, brake, clutch, speed, rpm, gear and g-force traction circle. This information will also be shown live for a driver.
Fixed an issue where Wheel Loads were not shown in the UI
Fixed an issue where the UI would run at uncapped FPS
Fixed an issue where the refresh button in package management would not detect newly copied in files in the packages folder
Fixed an issue where real road settings weren’t reset in the session settings screen if the user changes track.
Fixed an issue where session settings would remain from a previously selected series
Now automatically update the favourite server list on race screen after adding or removing a favourite.
Fixed an issue where Tracks, Cars and other components would inherit the uninstall status of the last series.
Fixed wrong driver name displaying in replay when there was a driver swap
Fixed an issue where disqualified drivers could still go to track
Fixed an issue when joining a server the ui would display invalid cars
Fixed an issue where a server client mismatch was reported the wrong way around
Removed language toggle from player profile

Modding

Added reporting for driveable surfaces which are not defined in the TDF file in ModDev
Fixed issues with using Vertex Colour in the Standard Blend Shader