In-Game Store Added to rFactor 2 UI

One of the biggest annoyances I had both as an employee of Studio 397 and a customer would be the item store (where you buy paid DLC) for rFactor 2; It was possible to double purchase items, triple purchase items, and without going into the simulation and seeing if something was installed it could be difficult to know whether you’d purchased that item at all… Until now! Studio 397 have recently released a storefront embedded into the existing UI that clearly shows what you own and what you don’t, and presents items you might be interested in much more effectively.

Here are the key features:
– Consistent, clear design with ease of navigation.
– Clearly shows owned content.
– The store will calculate the best deals, based on owned content and items within the basket.
– Under each content heading, the store will dynamically present you with content you don’t own at the head of the page.
– When reviewing the basket, the store will show similar, relevant items.
– When collecting single items, the store will recommend packs when they are cheaper.
– After purchase, content gets downloaded and installed right away.

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Full text from release post:

Studio 397 are very pleased to today deploy our new, in game, rFactor 2 Store – a much improved user experience we have designed to streamline the content ownership and purchasing process within rF2.

Here at the studio, we have often heard comments from our community about the difficulty some of you have understanding what content you already own within simulation, and even how some of you can find it unreasonably complex to navigate to the latest deals and releases through the rFactor 2 Steam Store. With this feedback in mind, we have long held the desire to perform a wholesale review of how we utilize the Steam Store functionality within the title, with a view to simplifying the process, and introducing a more enjoyable and straightforward user journey.

With the way things have historically been configured to utilize the existing functionality within the Steam Store, we quickly realized that in order to translate our desires for a more robust experience into reality, we would have to go a little further than simply fine-tuning the existing feel – and so, the brand-new rFactor 2 Steam Store was born!

rFactor 2 Store – Key Features

Consistent, clear design with ease of navigation.
Clearly shows owned content.
The store will calculate the best deals, based on owned content and items within the basket.
Under each content heading, the store will dynamically present you with content you don’t own at the head of the page.
When reviewing the basket, the store will show similar, relevant items.
When collecting single items, the store will recommend packs when they are cheaper.
After purchase, content gets downloaded and installed right away.

A worthwhile point to consider – if you wish for the new store to immediately download any purchased items without the need to restart the simulation, you must ensure the ‘enable downloads while in game’ option is checked within your Steam settings. If this option is not enabled, you will have to exit rFactor 2 before the install process can begin.

So, what do these new things mean in reality? Well, in the most basic of terms, what we have done is rework how the store looks and behaves. From visually uplifting the overall feel with a much more appealing aesthetic, to simplifying and cleaning up our groupings and packs to facilitate quick and easy review, right the way through to adding new functionality that should help current and new players quickly and easily understand what content is already within their current library – the whole store experience should feel fresh, vibrant and much, much more user-friendly than has ever been the case within rFactor 2 before.

One of the main goals for the new store page is to help our players identify the best deals for any given content combination. What we want to achieve is to help our players avoid duplicate purchases, and give you the power to make smart buying decisions, that reduce unnecessary expenditure and content fragmentation, whilst providing the tools to very easily gain a full overview of everything you own, have in your basket, and have available to purchase in future.

The new rFactor 2 Store releases today, Friday 21st October, and will be available to use immediately upon restarting the simulation. Going forward, the new store will be the central place to review content offerings, engage with promotional activities and take advantage of sales and special offer deals.

Enjoy!