SimHQ.com - Motorsports Zone - Feature: rFactor: A Factor in Racing Sims

Conceived as a framework sim for the community to develop and add mods to, we’re now going to revisit rFactor by ISI (Image Space Incorporated) to see what the first two updates have added to the simulation, and what is currently going on in the modding scene.

Updates were planned from the start and are a part of the evolution of rFactor. One of the attractions is that additions and improvements will continue as long as ISI supports rFactor. Ideally, this means that new technology won't make rFactor obsolete. Future updates can be added "on-the-fly" by the developers. With ISI’s gMotor2 powering rFactor and parts of the engine being sub-licensed to SimBin, as well as being used in arcade game machines in malls, rFactor should be good for a lot of racing miles.

rFactor Update v1040

One of the items on our list of required improvements when SimHQ reviewed rFactor in 2005 was better AI. In the original release version, the AI drivers had a worrying tendency to simply ignore the human driver and to crash into them.

Improved AI was introduced in update v1040 and now the AI drivers are much more aware of whats happening around them. If you’re slow or have spun, they will try to slow down and avoid you. They are not always successful, but then you could say that about human drivers too.

We also asked for some more information to be available in the Replay Fridge and the following information has now been added: the driver name, lap times and speed. One mysterious addition is the "Vehicle Upgrade Code" which is a compressed representation of the upgrades installed on the vehicle — it's mostly useful if you simply want to compare whether two cars have identical upgrades.

A new track, "Sardian Long" was added.

A lot of other important improvements were introduced that are too numerous to mention. For a complete listing of changes included in v1040, click here.

rFactor Update v1070

Support of NaturalPoint's TrackIR 6DoF was also high on our list of wanted improvements and our prayers were heard. As of update v1070, TrackIR with 6 Degrees of Freedom is now fully supported! This means that you no longer have to rely on view buttons to look left and right. Simply move your head and the view will change correspondingly. You can also move closer to or away from the dash and pitch / yaw your head. The result is very immersive and the implementation works extremely well.

A new track, "Essington" was added.

Again, a lot of changes and improvements were implemented. For the full listing included in v1070, click here.

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