SimHQ.com - Motorsports Zone

If you have just bought rFactor you might feel slightly puzzled and wonder "so.... that's it?" Cars and tracks are not meticulously recreated from real life counterparts, but rather are pure fantasy, thereby avoiding the branding fees currently plaguing PC simulation titles) and initially the cars will feel quite slow and perhaps not very exciting to drive. Additionally, your first laps may well result in you getting hit by faster cars as you motor along in the smallest unmodified car as formula and group sports cars whiz around the tracks much faster than you. Be patient, and rest assured that during this review you will find out how to get the most of rFactor in terms of enjoyment and driving satisfaction.

Rather than the feel of big time professional racing that you get with GTR, rFactor feels like a friendly SCCA Regional or National event (Club Racing). The fun in some of the "small-bore" cars is as exciting as thrashing a GTP all over the track. Matching the right car for the right track in rFactor is a key — try the ZR at Sardinian or the F3 mod at Mills Grand Prix and you'll get a good track-to-car feel. Load up a stock Howston at Sardinian and you'll go crazy. If you only lust for the most high-powered cars in rFactor, you're missing the point — and much of the fun.

And this game is very fun. We like the handling and the limit is also much easier to 'feel' than in other games, so you can tell you're at the limit, and recover from minor excursions "over the line". Body roll, braking, weight transfer all seem very well modeled. Some items did not make it into the initial release but developers ISI have promised updates, and with the distribution of rFactor being entirely web-based, updates can be added as they are finished.

Customize, Control, Connect

The mantra "Customize, Control, Connect" which we have seen for months since the initial announcement of rFactor by ISI now starts to make sense.

"Customize" relates primarily to rFactor being a platform for independent mod teams to build their mods upon, whether it be a road-racing or an oval racing series. If you lust for a lawnmower mod, it can be done!

"Control" indicates that rFactor offers scalability to the extent that the user can turn on or off a huge number of driving aids.

"Connect" clearly addresses what was traditionally the weakest in previous ISI based simulations — the multiplayer code. While SCGT had TCP/IP multiplayer, it was weak, but it was in there. The multiplayer in the F1 series published by EA never did perform up to expectations either. Recent titles based on derivatives of the older ISI engine — GTR and especially the multiplayer-crippled NASCAR Sim Racing — failed to address online issues satisfactorily. But the multiplayer code in rFactor is entirely redone according to ISI. Will it live up to expectations?

Let us take you through this new simulation from ISI step by step to see how it spec's out.

Distribution

As they say in their advertisements, "You can't buy it in stores. You have to go online". Distributing rFactor directly via download from the rFactor web site, there is no longer the need for involving middlemen, publishers, or for producing a physical product in a box containing one or more CD's. This cuts the total development cost considerably, and you can even "return" the product within a 48 hours and get a refund, should rFactor not be for you. As we've stated in past SimHQ editorials, this may well be the beginning of the future of hard-core simulation titles for many genres, not just motorsports titles.

Download and Installation

Purchase the rFactor file via the rFactor web site. The download weighs in at approximately 380MB. If you are on dial-up there are options to get a CD sent to you. The current version, and the one we have reviewed is version 1.020.

After running the set-up program and upon entering the sim for the first time you can purchase the unlocking code through the Internet.

The cost, as it was advertised on the rFactor web site, is 39.99 USD, 24.99 GBP, 34.99 Euro, 47.99 CAD, 4799 JPY, 54.99 AUD however, Jens, who resides in Denmark, found the total cost to be quoted at about 38 Euro as tax is added when you purchase.

The numbers break down like this: rFactor: Euro 29.99 + Tax: Euro 7.50 = Total Euro 37.48

Currently, the price in Euro (to Denmark) is calculated as: rFactor: Euro 34.99 + Tax: Euro 8.75 = Total Euro 43.74

Seems like he saved approximately 6 Euros by being an early adopter!

Save the confirmation email you receive in a safe place where you can easily retrieve it in case you need to contact rFactor Customer Service for more than the 3 automatic activations:

"To purchase and unlock rFactor, you need to have the product installed and be connected to the Internet. To play rFactor you do NOT need to be connected to the Internet.

To run a dedicated server you do NOT need to purchase or unlock it. You DO need to install it however. It will host on a LAN or Internet connection.

rFactor can be purchased directly or using a pre-ordered Unlock Code. Once unlocked, rFactor will continue to run indefinitely, unless the hard drive is formatted or the machine is significantly changed.

There are up to three automatic activations. If there are circumstances that require additional activations on top of these three, then an email will need to be sent or customer service contacted using the confirmation email you received."

- Originally posted by Gjon (one of the developers of rFactor) on Race Sim Central.

Installation

The activation process was quick and without hiccups or glitches. rFactor starts the configuration routine to let you select resolution, Vsync on/off, AA / FSAA and shader the first time you start it.

One thing we're left wondering is what one can do in a situation where rFactor is needed on several machines, say for a LAN party?

For this review we had hoped to also test rFactor out on a 1.6 GHz Laptop, but who's going to burn away one free re-activation just for that?

Manual?

Purchasing rFactor through the net means you'll not get a box or a jewel case. You won't even get a CD. But these items just take up shelf-space anyway, right? More importantly, a manual is not included in the download and it is not available at the rFactor web site. In our opinion, a manual of some type is an absolute must. Without it, customers who are not ISI or race sim-savvy will have to look for basic descriptions and fundamental settings on motorsport supported web sites.

Typical of ISI games, the game options are plentiful, but totally unexplained and therefore a frustrating mystery to newbies. The user is left to find Internet forum tips to set-up the graphics options so that are a happy compromise between frame rate and eye-candy is achieved. It only takes small tweaks to the settings for the special effects to increase frame rate without sacrificing shadow, car, track or AI detail. ISI... bite the bullet and produce a manual. Add it in a .pdf file to your next patch! And don't skimp on the detail explaining all the in-game options and settings! Items that should be included as mandatory in the manual will be addressed later in this review.

Now it's time for tips and tweaks that you'll need to know about.

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