rFactor 2
Summary
rFactor 2 is a realistic, easily extendable racing simulation from Studio 397. It offers the latest in vehicle and race customization, great graphics, outstanding multiplayer and the height of racing realism. rFactor 2 features mixed class road racing with ultra realistic dynamics, an immersive sound environment and stunning graphics, perfect for top-level esports and a rich single-player experience.
Race against a field of AI cars, or in multi-player mode against others. rFactor 2 supports a full day-night cycle as well as dynamically varying weather conditions such as rain which dynamically builds into puddles. Tracks feature "real-road" technology that changes the grip as more cars drive on it. You can run full 24 hour endurance events and in multi-player mode, driver swaps are also supported. Everything can be customized by the community, including adding new tracks and cars, and a wealth of add-ons are available on-line.Working with several partners, rFactor 2 has been used in hundreds of esport championships all over the world – in particular McLaren’s World’s Fastest Gamer and Formula E.
rFactor 2 is also an evolving product, which will be updated and added to for many years, so the list of features will expand!Features
Physics
- Updated to use multi-core CPU technology
- Advanced physics engine
- Newly updated tyre model
- Driving surface construction, even painted line thickness, affects grip levels
- Engine boost and Turbo modeling
- Complex aerodynamics
- Head physics, cockpit vibrations, detailed bump modeling
Dynamic Racing Experience
- Real-time day/night lighting transitions
- Realistic wet/dry weather transitions
- Dynamically laid rubber increases grip throughout racing session(s)
- Rubber chunks (“marbles”) roll off tyres and can affect grip
- Tyres sustain damage from poor driving (such as "flatspotting" a tyre) or setups, affecting grip immediately and over time
- Dynamically drying racing line after rain
- Environments filled with animated events like planes, flag marshalls and more…
Graphics/Sound
- Real-time day/night lighting transitions
- Projected headlights for night time driving
- Open VR support for multiple headsets
- Look to apex and head motion tracking support
- DX11 advanced graphics engine
- Real-time day/night transitions
- 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
- New AI who will race for and defend positions
- Define AI opponent types, strength and aggression
- Races can be lap based, time based or both
- Vehicle upgrade system that affects both the appearance and performance of a vehicle
Camera/Replays
- “Resume from Replay” allows you to resume a race from a saved replay
- Full screen monitor and ability to rewind
- Freely move camera from any position including the ever famous exclusive Swingman
- Spectator mode
Multiplayer
- Opponent car skins automatically transmitted
- Completely new multiplayer engine
- Dedicated server
- Native voting system
- Add AI to multiplayer games
- Boot and ban player lists that can be passed around
- Security checks to combat potential cheating
Open Architecture
- Support for modder created car,track and plugin content
- Fully adjustable Showroom, UI and HUD layouts
- More Plugin Interfaces
- Easy to use customizable multi-language support
- Rules to simulate different types of racing
- Completely customize your controller
- Drop in new vehicle liveries
Cars and Tracks
- Over 35 free and paid licensed cars and tracks includiing Silverstone, Renault, Formula E, McLaren, Mercedes, Bentley – the list goes on
- Steam Workshop support for installing cars and tracks
- Steam Item Store for paid content here http://store.steampowered.com/itemstore/365960/browse/?filter=Packs
- For a current list of cars and tracks shipped with the simulation visit this link to the workshop: https://steamcommunity.com/id/studio-397/myworkshopfiles/?appid=365960
Steam User 75
Pros:
- Of any sim i've played, it's the one that makes me feel most like i'm in a race car on a race track
- Extremely detailed and immersive: from starting your car in the pit-lane paddock, to variable weather/daylight, to penalties etc, and all adjustable
- Graphics *can* be stunning: track details on high quality tracks are very comprehensive
- Sounds are great
- Physics feel right and steering feedback is great
Cons:
- Online play is very broken: If racing others online is your primary goal, you may need to look elsewhere, although I expect this to improve
- Content quality is extremely variable: The more expensive DLC is graphically stunning, while third party content I tend to avoid
- Hard on computer resources: Of any driving sim / game I play, this struggles the most on my system
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Some background first...
I've been playing driving games and sims since the 90's, and have been doing real life track driving since 2005. Other sims and games i've played are Assetto Corsa, Assetto Corsa Competizione, iracing (for many years), Dirt Rally, Dirt Rally 2, Gran Turismo (all of them), Forza Motorsport 3 & 4, Forza Horizon (all of them) and many more. I've played most of these on a reasonably basic wheel setup, currently a Thrustmaster T300RS mounted on a basic stand in front of a large TV or monitor.
In terms of actual simulated race driving experience, RFactor2 is my favourite sim. This comes from a solid combination of physics, track/car graphics modelling and immersive sound. When you 'enter' your car in your pit garage and hear other cars start up and leave pit-lane, the sounds are very convincing. Similarly while on the track, the engine noise and noise of other cars on track is immersive. In terms of physics, this is also convincing, at least for the official GT3 cars that I tend to gravitate towards in any sim. Steering feel and feedback is great, so you know when you are reaching the limits of adhesion and can react accordingly. Tyre flat spotting is captured also, so if you lock a wheel in a braking zone or slide off-track, chances are you will have a vibration through the wheel, of varying degree depending how bad your sin was.
The graphics are the most inconsistent part of this game, and I suspect that is one of the main things that puts a number of people off. Some original track content plus DLC is absolutely stunning and at the top level in my opinion. Tracks like Spa, Bahrain, La Sarthe, Laguna Seca, Donington and Sebring for example (there are others) are represented really nicely and in great detail. The same can be said for the cars, the DLC GT3 and GTE cars are great, among others. The lighting in the game is done realistically rather than having that perfect beyond reality feel that console driving games tend to have. On a dull overcast day, things look very dull and boring, but kind of as they should. Low sun conditions with shadows are suitably spectacular. On large tracks in-particular you can see different lighting conditions within the same lap if the weather is cloudy. Large tracks and large fields of cars can test the limits of your system. For example, Nordschleife won't load on my system unless I drive with only 1 or 2 competitors. All other tracks will load, but smaller fields are sometimes required to keep frame rates acceptable. People who like to upgrade regularly aren't likely to have any of these problems though. Obviously graphics settings affect this, and personally there is only so low I will set those before I don't bother playing.
Regarding AI quality, at times this can be great, and other times not so much. You can have a high quality battle with other cars on track if your driving is also at a high quality. If you drive erratically or heavily offline you may just get punted out of the way rather than avoided. On some tracks there can be some AI bugs also, like not being able to enter pit-lane for example.
Where things get weird is that some of the content that comes with the sim is at a completely different level. When I first installed it for example, I first went to drive the Calsonic GT500 Nissan GTR at the Sepang circuit and found the experience very underwhelming to the point that I uninstalled the sim shortly later. Months later I gave it another shot and discovered the joys of the quality cars and tracks available. Even some of the cheap DLC content though is not at a high enough level in my opinion.
Finally, online play. I haven't actually managed to race online yet. In some cases I had issues installing the correct content which I couldn't resolve. Other times I wasn't online at a time that a session was available that I did have the content for. This can only get better though. After years and many hours of playing iracing, the gold standard for online play, my interests these days have been more about having a more brief but immersive offline racing experience.
Overall, with the right cars and tracks, the driving experience in RFactor2 is really hard to beat, and that's why I recommend it.
Steam User 47
I had problems starting it, but it turned out pretty cool when I got it to work.
If you get black screen with Mouse Cursor it means Steam is Validating\Downloading Content and is Stuck. Subscribe to anything on the workshop to un jam it.
Steam User 57
Amazing Physics. Great cars and tracks. Lots of free workshop content. Now with the Race control multiplayer system...yes please!!
for reference I have raced a lot on :
Iracing
Project cars 2
Automobilista2
Rf2
Dirt rally 1 and 2
for Now RF2 is the best overall game for VR racing for me. The Best Physics, (or at very least tied with ircaing). Better graphics than iracing, obviously much cheaper than iracing,, the only thing missing was the multiplayer and now RF2 has race control.
If you were thinking about it before and love VR sim racing with a wheel this is the one.
Steam User 34
Helped my son with his go karting
Steam User 23
The new online system is wonderful! Lots of people at the races and a more than acceptable level of cleanliness! I like that the Ratings are not numbers, there are people sick with them :D It is still in beta and there are things to correct, improve and add, but it is very promising! Keep working on it!
El nuevo sistema online es una maravilla! Un montón de gente en las carreras y con un nivel de limpieza más que aceptable! Me gusta que los Ratings no sean números, hay gente enferma con ellos :D Aún está en beta y faltan cosas que corregir, mejorar y añadir, pero es muy prometedor! Seguid trabajando en ello!
Steam User 20
Well played to the devs, the new Race Control gave a second life to online competitions and, imho, saved the game from the grave. Now is much easy to jump in and race in a ranked race. Hope it keeps growing and that devs won't do any more missteps!
Steam User 32
Not sure why you'd play iracing now rf2 has race control.
This game is 2nd to none for driving.