rFactor 2 – 2022 UI Update Introduction

Long-term sim racers will always have a weak spot for the Factor racing simulator, as it was one of the titles that initially lifted the racing game genre up to become the popular lifestyle sim racing hobby we all enjoy today.

When the original Factor version was replaced by the infamous Factor 2, we all expected big things from the newly born. And let’s face it, many aspects of the sim were improved. Even more so, when Studio 397 took over the development from ISI, it was clear that the title was going to have a much brighter future. Studio 397 succeeded in kicking the rF2 development back to life and already improved the simulator considerably.

That said, one of the aspects of the sim which is still regarded as a big letdown is the User Interface. While the developer has already tweaked the UI over the years, in order to make it more user-friendly, it can be said that in its current state, the user experience is far from ideal.

That may now change, as Studio 397 has clearly committed itself to revamp the rF2 User interface. Next week, January 27th, the rF2 Dev team will deploy a new UI update that is re-designed from the ground up. The new UI will feature a better and more logical user flow, faster menus, and more modern better-looking visuals. Check out the video for more details.

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Official Webpage – www.studio-397.com – The rFactor 2 Racing Simulator is available via Steam for €29,99.

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Studio 397 Quote:

Key Highlights

With such a substantial rebuild of the entire rFactor 2 UI experience, below you will find a brief bullet point list of some of the key areas that have been improved or expanded upon within this new build.

Please note, these are just some areas of change, as this new build fundamentally affects the entirety of the rFactor 2 user journey, with some aspects of the new 2022 UI Update adding substantial changes and improvements over the existing UI release. 

• Brand-new audio and visual design across all pages.
• Main menu improvements for clearer navigation, more call to actions and an easier layout to understand for new users.
• All single player related functionality brought together into one area with cross navigation from, and to, any page in this area in order for optimized user flow.
• Enhanced layout of every page to improve user flow and simplify interaction.
• The settings menu has undergone a big update with clearer navigation, an easier layout and simplified user flow with fewer pages.
• The setup area has undergone a big update with clearer navigation, an easier layout and simplified user flow with fewer pages.
• Event screen optimizations and user flow improvements.
• 2 brand-new showrooms.

When creating this new 2022 UI update, we developed each change with four significant pillars in mind – taking into account how each aspect of the player journey would be experienced by both new and established users of the simulation. Developed to help streamline and rationalize how a player interacts with the software, the 2022 UI update has been build by sim racers, for sim racers, and hopefully reflects how the majority of our new and existing player base will wish to interact with the various aspects of a title to the scale of rFactor 2. 

The four pillars of development applied to the creation of the 2022 UI update are as follows: 

• Function over form.
• Simplification: fewer clicks, less mouse movement, consistent button placement.
• Better visibility: fewer pages and less scrolling and clearer categories. Clear lower centre area of screen.
• Better performance: better frame rate than before (not final step).

Utilizing our own experience combined with the wealth of feedback from our community, and adhering to our scope of creating a fit for purpose, modern UI interface, we believe the results of our endeavours will very firmly speak for themselves once you all get your hands on the new build next week. 

Release Date and Future Developments

The big question on everybody’s lips then… when will it be released? 

Having already undergone a robust internal testing process, we do not need to run this update through the traditional Release Candidate process; as such we are delighted to confirm the 2022 UI update build of rFactor 2 will be made available to the public Opt-Out branch of Steam this Thursday 27th January! 

Existing owners of the simulation will receive the update automatically on Thursday morning (time TBC), and any new player purchasing the sim from Thursday will automatically default to this new UI design featuring all the latest improvements and changes, more details of which will be released as part of the update notes associated with the build on January 27th. 

Although a considerable update in its own right, this new build is just the starting point for our planned ongoing development of the rFactor 2 UI. We are taking a phased approach to how we structure further UI updates, with January 27th marking the first of these development phases. Going forwards, alongside maintenance and patch updates where appropriate, we intend to bring a raft of new features and improvements to the UI in the fullness of time. Feedback from the community will be monitored and implemented where appropriate, alongside the exciting plans we already have in our development pipeline. More on those another day though, as for now, the new release next week should mark a very welcome improvement to the whole user experience when navigating through the simulation, one that we hope the community are as excited about getting their hands on as we have been developing it. 

We hope you will enjoy the 2022 UI update development when it releases next week, and we look forward to reading your feedback and further developing and expanding both the UI and the different features and game modes it will offer in the months ahead.

This is just the very start of an exciting period of development for the simulation in 2022, so make sure you stay tuned to the rFactor 2 social media channels and website over the coming days, for plenty more news and announcements about the simulation.