rFactor 2 Q2 2023 update lands with Formula E Gen3 DLC and AI, UI, VR, and EV-system changes
We’ve got an early Q2 2023 rFactor 2 drop covering the ABB FIA Formula E Gen3 release alongside platform work in electric motor systems, multiplayer-related behavior, AI driving, UI/showroom tools, VR/config handling, and several crash and resolution fixes.
We’ve got an early Q2 2023 rFactor 2 release that pairs the ABB FIA Formula E Gen3 DLC with a smaller but foundational platform update. Studio 397 says the drop was moved earlier to align with broader development work, including electric motor systems and the multiplayer experience. Full details are in the official announcement.
What changed
Features
- Moddev Tweak Bar displays were updated for new options.
- Rain-light network sharing was changed for better consistency, including pit lane, battery regen, and weather use cases.
- Rain light can now be enabled when the battery is harvesting on throttle, with new
CockpitInfo.iniparameters:RegenLightRequireThrottleRegenLightMinPowerWatts
- AI throttle behavior was reworked, with less overshooting, more controlled deceleration, improved acceleration with less wheelspin, improved corner exits, and fewer oscillation sources.
Cars
- ABB FIA Formula E Gen3 DLC released.
- Added a Sideview UI showroom for car icon screenshots.
- Added the
LowLumEmissiveshader to replace old Dashboard usage on track assets and car LEDs. - Cockpit readout formats were expanded to support offsets, icons, configurable elements, and value-based color/UV changes.
- New cockpit readouts include FuelLastLap, FuelFinishAverage, BatteryLastLap, BatteryFinishAverage, CurrentLap, Delta, TCSlip, TCCut, BatteryRegenLevel, and ElectricMotorMap.
- AI improvements include better lap times for certain vehicles, no pit-speed overshoot, no stop-position overshoot, and reworked reactions to other vehicles on road courses.
Fixes
- Fixed screenshot-button issues in Retail UI and Photo Mode.
- Fixed Photo Mode depth option behavior and linked save behavior to
player.json. - Removed a non-functional clipboard screenshot setting.
- Added showroom background toggling and a default
player.jsonsetting. - Fixed UI resolution switching from Windowed to Borderless.
- Fixed a VR resolution-options crash.
- Fixed an intermittent crash when installing content.
- Fixed config-app inconsistencies when changing adapter or monitor.
Physics
- Config now saves last used resolution and refresh rate instead of the used-mode enumeration.
- Added a VR-specific config file that copies from default on first VR run.
- Config app can now configure multiple files.
- Results files/AI report battery state when battery is the primary energy source.
For league ops, we should confirm Formula E Gen3 eligibility, rerun AI and pit-lane checks, and refresh any EV-related HUD, stewarding, or media workflows touched by these changes.
From the changelog
Structured change list parsed from the official notes.
features
- Hello Sim Racers!
- We have been chomping at the bit in excitement and anticipation, ready to bring you our Q2 2023 Early Release Update and DLC drop. You may notice that this Q2 drop has slightly less content when compared to previous quarterly drops, but we believe the updates we are bringing are vital to the longevity and continued improvement of the rFactor 2 platform. We have moved this Q2 drop to an earlier date than was once planned to match with fundamental development across many different areas of the platform, such as electric motor systems and the multiplayer experience.
- [*] Updated Moddev Tweak Bar displays for new options
- [*] Updated method for sharing if a rain light is active over network, to ensure better consistency when it is used to show in the pit lane, battery regen or due to the weather.
- [*] Enable rain light when battery is harvesting on throttle. Use CockpitInfo.ini params to configure:
- [*] RegenLightRequireThrottle=1/0 (requires higher throttle than brake)
- [*] RegenLightMinPowerWatts=15000 (requires 15kw regen to show the light)
- [*] Reworked AI throttle behaviour
- [*] Less overshooting, more controlled deceleration
- [*] Improved acceleration with less wheelspin
- [*] Improved corner exits
- [*] Eliminated even more sources of oscillation
cars
- For all of the details on the new ABB FIA Formula E Gen3 car, how to get the most out of it, and the further plethora of updates - read our full blog post through this link: https://www.studio-397.com/2023/04/2023-q2-update-and-dlc-released/
- Below is the full changelog and known issues of this Q2 update.
- General
- [*] Added Sideview UI showroom for taking screenshots of cars for icons.
- [*] Added LowLumEmissive shader to replace old Dashboard usage on track assets (Start/Pit Lights etc) and in Car LEDs. The game will auto reassign these.
- [*] Updated Cockpit Readout format to allow offsets, to render multiple readouts to the same background
- [*] Added Cockpit Readout Icon format, which can render texture to background, with configurable number of elements, and options to change colours or uvw islands based on value, with options for Fuel, Battery, RPM, TC, TCActive, ABS, ABSLocked
- [*] Added various extra cockpit readouts: FuelLastLap, FuelFinishAverage, BatteryLastLap, BatteryFinishAverage, CurrentLap, Delta, TCSlip, TCCut, BatteryRegenLevel, ElectricMotorMap
- [*] Improved laptimes for certain vehicles
- [*] Pit speed limit won’t be overshot
- [*] Stop positions (grid, pit box) will no longer be overshot
- [*] Reworked AI reaction to other vehicles (road courses)
fixes
- [*] Fixed assigned Screenshot button not working in UI in Retail
- [*] Fixed Photo Mode depth option not working
- [*] Linked Photo Mode Screenshot Format and Depth saving to player.json setting
- [*] Removed non functional copy to clipboard screenshot player.json setting
- [*] Disallow assigned Screenshot button in Photo Mode
- [*] Allowed toggling of showroom background in Retail (via key 1 or via button).
- [*] Added player.json setting “showroom background” for default state of rendering background.
- [*] Fixed UI resolution not setting correctly when switching from Windowed to Borderless in Game.
- [*] Fixed crash when changing resolution options in VR
- [*] Fixed intermittent crash when installing content
- Configuration Application
- [*] Fixed various inconsistencies in config app where by changing adapter or monitor would lose any previous setting changes
physics
- [*] Updated Config file to save last used resolution and refresh rate rather than an enumeration of the used mode for more consistent handling of game resolution when adapters change.
- [*] Setup a VR specific config file. This file will copy from the default file on first run of VR.
- [*] Allowed the option to configure multiple files from the config application
- Physics
- [*] Ensured that results files / ai report battery state when it’s the primary energy source
Official sources
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