rFactor 2 – May 2020 Roadmap Update

rFactor 2 – May 2020 Roadmap Update

Studio 397 published the May 2020 Roadmap for rFactor 2. In this latest writeup, they look back at the significant list of rF2 content released during the month of May and point out that rFactor 2 is currently the weapon of choice for some very high-profile sim racing events.

Furthermore, the development team is still hard at work refining the latest build. We can expect the update to go live in the upcoming week.

Content-wise, it is confirmed that the Portland International Raceway track will be released in June and that the track will be free of cost. Work is shaping up on an improved version of the Silverstone circuit which received updated materials, and improved surroundings. Besides the 2020 track layout, also one of the older layouts will become available.

Also, the Le Mans track will receive some updates, and the dev team is working on the final BOP for all the GTE cars at Le Mans, in order to be in prime shape for the official virtual 24-hour of Le Mans race on the 13/14th June.

 

Studio 397 Quote:

Last month we published a roadmap with a focus that was slightly different than most ones that came before it. We got some very diverse reactions to it, most of which were positive, and some thought we’d given up. The latter could not be further from the truth, but on a weekly basis, our priorities have to be adjusted to adapt to the changing situation. In the weeks that followed, we could finally start announcing some of the things that were hinted at.

The new build, that both fixed some long-standing issues as well as added a significant graphics update. The brand new Berlin and New York E-Prix tracks. Zandvoort 2020 layout, the first simulation on the market to feature it. The announcement of the Radical SR3 XX, a launch that was coordinated with the real car by Radical Sportscars, earlier today. The Ferrari 488 GTE which needs no further introduction. And of course, the announcement that we are hosting the 24 Hours of Le Mans together with the ACO and Motorsport Games, featuring probably some of the strongest drivers and manufacturers ever to be competing in a single event.

We supported various Formula E races, some not without controversy, and ran weekly All-Stars events featuring many of the fastest sim racers, racing drivers, and legends, such as Mario Andretti and Fernando Alonso. So, with all of those things happening, you would almost forget that there’s a lot more to come. So let’s take a look at what the month of June will likely bring.

First of all, we will be updating our build and providing you with the long-awaited customization instructions on our brand new overlays. We’re just wrapping up testing of this build, that will contain a few other fixes as well, so you can certainly expect that to be available in the upcoming week.

On the art side, June will see the release of Portland International Raceway. This has definitely been one of the longer projects within Studio 397, as we’ve halted and continued it a few times. It has done the track a lot of good as it ended up being our showcase for all the new lighting improvements we’ve been working on over the past year or so. This track will be released for free, and we hope you will all enjoy it.

We have a few more things we’re working on though. Those of you watching the All-Stars events will probably have noticed they were driving on a much-improved version of Silverstone. In recent weeks we’ve taken this track, updated all the materials, and also brought the track and its surroundings up to the 2020 layout. We’ve even added back one of the older layouts for you to enjoy. And finally of course, with the 24-hour race being run in two weeks from now, Le Mans will get some updates as well. Needless to say, the track team has been quite busy, and we will be upgrading a few more tracks in the months to come.

Our car team has also been quite busy. The unannounced car we mentioned last month will remain like that for a little while longer. We have also upgraded a couple of older cars to our new materials, such as the Indycar. The current focus of the team is a final BOP for all the GTE cars at Le Mans. Once that is done, work will most likely start on a few more cars we’ve recently licensed, but are not yet ready to announce. Needless to say the Ferrari 488 in GT3 spec will be one of those.

On the development side, apart from the continued focus on both improvements to the graphics engine and its performance and general bug fixes, we are working on the UI and competition subsystems. You will most likely see updates to the broadcast overlays as well as a system to share customizations of these overlays via the workshop. Here too there is a lot of focus on the 24-hour event as our development team is supporting this huge project. We still have a long list of tasks ahead here and not everything we are working on is visible or announced yet so bear with us as we continue these developments.

Last but not least our esports and marketing team has obviously been very busy organizing events and supporting others. With our own GT series coming to a close, they are already looking ahead at the next season later this year.

All in all, this has probably been our busiest month in our now almost four-year history, and we’re very excited to learn what the next couple of months will bring as in some areas of the world the lock-down is slowly lifting while other areas are still in the middle of their struggle to ensure people are safe. Some of the motorsports is restarting too, but many believe the world will never be the same. Given that the only constant changes, that’s probably not even a bad thing. At least we look at the bright side of things and try to seize the new opportunities this brings. Thank you all for making it to the end of this roadmap, and again, stay healthy and stay safe!

Official Webpage – www.studio-397.com