Let's race rFactor 2!

Hey everyone, we're a group of duders that usually race iRacing on the weekends! If you like sim-racing, come and find us over here! We'd like to give rFactor 2 a try though, so let's see if we can schedule a race together and do some sim-racing! Check out the game in detail at http://www.rfactor.net

The Giant Bomb Racing League Field Trip!

We've talked about rFactor 2 a bit during our iRacing league races here and there and since it's hard to just do a pick-up race online, some people expressed interest in doing a scheduled race. Well, guess what? We're doing it.

Since there is so much stuff we could possibly do, I've compiled a list of some events that should be fun. They're divided into tiers, 2 events for each tier. Why the tiers? rFactor 2 is a difficult game! The events in Tier 1 should be the easiest to drive, while the one's in Tier 3 should be pretty hard. There's some general stuff for racing in rFactor 2 before we get to the events:

General

Since I don't expect attendance to be stellar, we will have a 20 slot server - and fill the rest up with AI. That's right, there's gonna be 20 cars minimum on the track, regardless of how many people show up. Also, for those of you who don't know, rFactor 2 is a one time purchase with a license needed for the server browser and mod manager (12$/year. Yep, year! Not month! Also one free year is included). There's some official content and many mods out there, you just download and install them and you're good to go! No buying of cars and tracks like in iRacing. The quality of the official content is on-par with that of iRacing and the good-mods are really good! There's also a lot of crap out there, but we're not going to bother with it. Regardless of what we'll drive, you don't have to worry about scavenging the parts of the mods from the depths of the internet. I'll compile a single file for the race that includes everything. Yes, just a single mod file that you'll have to install. It's not difficult. Anyway, to the events!

Tier 1

1. Clio Combat!

The Renault Clio 197 is a pretty easy to drive, FWD racing car. It's basically like the Jetta - just a bit more racey. Don't expect a lot of setup options, but expect to bang doors with your opponents. The Clio's visit Mills Metro Park on the Outer C layout. It's a sunny day, no cloud in sight. Since the Clio Cup is the first support series to hit the track though, the road is completely green and it's our job to lay down some rubber in practice.

2. Nissan GT4

The Nissan 370 Z is a GT4 car (yes! GT4!) with 410hp, slick tyres and with a downforce package that produces so much downforce, that it's very easy to drive. The 370 Z visits the sunny track of Palm Beach International circuit, but it's been some time since the track has seen any racing. Expect the track surface to be green!

Tier 2

3. BTCC Battle

The 2013 Honda Civic NGTC, is a FWD touring car that's used in the British Touring Car Championship. 330hp and slick tyres power this car and it's a blast to drive! Easy to keep on track, door-to-door racing and two different tyre compounds should make racing exciting! The BTCC cars visit Silverstone on the National layout. Supporting series have laid down some rubber, but you never know what to expect from the British weather...

4. Formula Fight

Oh yeah, lower tier Formula Racing! The International Formula 3 Series is exciting, close open wheel racing, while remaining manageable. The next stop is Monza on a sunny day. The F3 cars will need to lay down some rubber during practice. Just keep in mind these inexperienced rookie drivers tend to be a bit...aggressive.

Tier 3

5. GT Endurance

I told you Tier 3 was getting crazy. Multi-Class GT racing. GT3 Camaro, GT2 Corvette, GT1 Nissan GT-R. Day/Night Cycle. 24 hours accelerated to be 2.4 hours. Silverstone GT Layout. Don't forget to bind a key for your headlights during night. Also don't smash them.

6. Formula ISI

What did you expect. The highest class of road-racing of course! The Formula ISI series simulates the 2012 F1 rules with fictional teams. Expect all stuff you know from F1, like DRS, tyre compounds and lot's of Maldonado action (probably). The F1 cars visit the sunny Malaysia GP circuit, though you never know if a small shower of rain might make things more interesting. Damn tropical weather.

So, what do you guys wanna race? When do you want to race? How does Friday evening sound? (For those in our iRacing league: What about the BOMBCAR slot that's free for the next three weeks?)

I like the look of Tier 2.

BOMBCAR timeslot seems like a good fit.

How long has rFactor 2 been out?

Personally I'm still holding out for Project CARS, do you think the iRacing guys on here will be checking it out?

@bollard: rFactor 2 has been available for purchase since January 2012. It's been in ongoing development ever since, receiving updates ~2 months. It's feature complete and has everything you need for road racing.

Some of our iRacing guys have backed Project CARS (me included) and have been playing since...what now? 2012? It's not very good. Or that's not entirely true, let's say it's not a sim. pCARS is more in the vein of Forza and GT. Cars handle realistically enough, but key sim-things are missing or badly done and nothing is laser-scanned. No chance that's gonna "replace" iRacing or anything. pCARS will be a good Singleplayer game.

Woo yeah! I vote Clios, F3, and GT cars!

Would this replace the iRacing league if it turns out successful?

@hayfourzee: Nope, not unless it was somehow extremely successful.

@hayfourzee: This is a one-off event. Like @khann said, unless this gets like three times the drivers than iRacing, this is not gonna replace anything. It's just that we sometimes arrange races like this spontaneously on Twitter and some people said "Hey, I'd like to drive rF2 some time as well, but I need to plan ahead for it!", so we're doing it this way for once.

Yeah, I thought that would be the complaint from the hardcore sim fans, that CARS is too casual. Personally I've really enjoyed my time with CARS, but I think since they got support from the console manufacturers and their media attention has grown they really have given up on the sim aspect.

Shame it's not Game Stock Car Extreme, at this point I can't justify buying rFactor2 given the state it appears to be in.

Having said that I'll probably get it at some point anyway, I would like to race a BTCC car in some sim. Probably wouldn't be able to race with you chaps as last time I tried with iRacing it was super late for me in the UK.

Best of luck!

I also would rather race in Game Stock Car, but this isn't the time or place to make that case! Since I do own rFactor 2, I'll be down for some Friday night races. I'm not especially practiced with rFactor 2 though, so don't expect me to finish anywhere except last, unless the AI strength is pretty low. I'll still show up regardless, but not this upcoming Friday, I won't be able to attend that night.

guys I know GSC is cool but if we race any Reiza game it will be Formula Truck and that is FINAL

but yeah, anyway...maybe October 3rd is a good date for everyone?

You people and your GSC. I really don't think it's that great. It's excellent for the engine they're working with, he'll it's goddamn impressive. But it still is the old rFactor 1 engine. October 3rd sounds good, I think. I'll see if I can get the server sorted out by then.

@maxx77: AI strength will be pretty low, but it's hard to get them right - too low and they're just barely moving roadblocks. A hazard. We'll see if it works out, I guess. Also don't worry, we'll figure something out to make it fun for everyone. rF2 has better options to make it a bit more difficult for the experienced drivers. I'm looking at you, individual weight penalties.

And that's why America won WWII.

When are we doing this thing? What are we racing?

I do wish rFactor 2, and all the rFactor engined games for that matter, had a wider range of difficulties for the AI. The AI is impressive, but it seems that the ones in last place are just as fast as the ones in first. The only real difference is where they started on the grid. I wish they had varying degrees of skill, kinda like how Forza 1-4 handled their AI. Unless the race is long, all the cars finish in a tight pack. Maybe iRacing has ruined my expectations, but I want the AI drivers to seem like people with different skill levels and driving styles rather than a grid full of clones.

Unless there are more settings or mods I don't know about, that's been my experience so far. I don't mind too much. I can always tweak the numbers when racing solo to make the AI match my skill level. I don't know how well that's going to work with us racing together with the AI thrown in though. I'm curious to see how it'll turn out. Since I'm unlikely to make it tomorrow (if you're racing then), would anyone mind posting a replay?

http://www.nogripracing.com/forum/showthread.php?t=193829

@maxx77: What @skullcrushermountain posted. There are things called "talent files" which include, as you guessed, talent data. That means attaching a set name and skillset to a driver. If you look at the link it's pretty self explanatory. You can include skill ranges, different skill sets of dry and wet racing, his likeliness to crash, make mistakes or even stall on the grid, as well as aggresiveness, passing ability and jesus christ whatnot. Here's the thing so: Not many mods use it, as it's quite a lot of work to set up and balance right. I've never seen a GSC mod use it (not to troll or anything, but are there any scratchmade GSC mods out there? All the one's I know are re-worked and improved, yes, but rF1 or other game conversions) and from the rF2 content I think it's the content that's based on official series that have talent files. I know for a fact that the BTCC and IndyCars have talent files (go, Max Thrust!) and maaaaybe the Formula ISI cars as well. But most of the "single" cars don't have them. You could always make your own though, again, it's pretty much all said on @skullcrushermountain's link.

You can still have a vote on what of the car/track combos described at the top you like best!

As for the date, we're shooting for October 3rd. Nothing set in stone yet though.

Okay guys, super short notice but maybe some of you will show up anyway!

In 13min, we're going to drive the official BTCC car at official Silverstone! If you have those two things installed you're good to go! Also you need to be on the newest build, duh!

30min of practice, 10min quali and a short 12 Lap race (should equal 15min!). 22 slots, open slots will be filled up with AI!

Server name is "Giant Bomb rFactor", password is "gbrl". Make sure you show passworded servers!

See you there!

EDIT: SMASHING SUCCESS.