ISI has given us a holiday treat by releasing new screenshots that show the progress they have made since the last update. Gameplay is evident for the first time, showing how hard ISI has worked to deliver great weather effects, reflections, and accurate shadows on a variety of textures.
The best pic for us is the Renault, which is a mod from the Rfactor community. We hope importation of rfactor mods into RF2 is as straight forward as possible, since the library of mods is extensive and the community is highly active.
Dirt fans exist in large numbers. Yet most race servers are dedicated to races that specifically deal with tarmac. However that trend looks like it is going to change, with Gjon revealing a few teaser screen shots that contain good ol’ Mother Earth. If dynamic weather does come to Rfactor2, that dirt could quickly turn into mud, which would make the experience that much more interesting. As with previous screen shots, the textures have more depth and detail (just look at the Cactus waving Hi!).
Excerpt from their press release:
Over the past week, MAK-Corp’s leader Petros Mak had taken the time to contact the Simraceway.com (hereinafter refered to as SRW) management to get some official clarification in regards to what the management of SRW have planned for the changeover from the much loved rFactorcentral to Simraceway. As many of you will know, certain groups had started a boycott action against simraceway and the blog post on virtualr.net received quite a lot of responses from many of the community, myself included. What has come to my attention however is that the entire Boycott fiasco could have been avoided with a simple email to simraceway for more clarification. After receiving great details about simraceway, Petros Mak has gotten the authorization to clear the issues up in the community by making a news article here at MAK-Corp to detail the misconceptions that arose in the community.
The most important thing in the swith from rFc to SRW is that there will be absolutely no changes in the free aspect of the site. SRW will continue to provide free showcasing and downloading of mods in the exact same manner that rFactorcentral is currently doing. So to make it clear one more time, that aspect WILL NOT CHANGE! SRW will retain the free showcasing and downloading as rFc currently has. A lot of people in the community as well as mod groups were led to believe that SRW would charge a fee for downloading mods, this is NOT the case.
Brazil is well known for having one of the most integral parts of our ecosystem; the Amazon rain forest. It is teeming with life, providing scientists and locals an unadulterated environment to discover new species. One fortunate soul, named Jorge Okamoto, who also happens to be an avid simracer, was able to spot the G27 in its natural habitat. Judging from the screenshots taken, the G27 is clearly an evolution of the G25, with more buttons and a series of LED lights, providing simracers shifting lights.
Like it’s G25 cousin, the steering wheel does not travel alone. It is accompanied by a shifter and pedal set that helps ward off any predators, as well as providing value that other steering wheel makers dream of matching. It is safe to assume that this G27 critter will be a common sight and will be available to buy at a local retailer very soon, bundled in a breathable box supplied by Logitech.
Simraceway has recently launched their modder feature set. Here is an excerpt:
New Features;
Developers’ corner: A totally new section of the site dedicated solely to modding. It includes a
gMotor developer’s Wiki, ‘how to videos’, developer news section and collaboration tools.
1 click Install: Ability for mods to be downloaded from our high speed file servers and
automatically installed without any fuss, confusion or error.
Mod Syndication: Allows modders or mod users (if a modder permits this function to their mod
listing) to share a mod’s download link on any other website or blog.
Somewhere in the series of tubes between Lolcatz and Somalian schemes, lies Ken Block. Block is no ordinary mortal, which is why we are only allowed to witness his awe in pixelation. Witnessing these acts in real life, or simply hitting the “hq” button will probably lead to levels of euphoria that are only reserved for banned substances. Yet Top Gear, probably with the help of an emotionless STIG, got Captain Slow in the passenger seat with Ken Block to witness what Crown Victoria drivers would call sheer lunacy. Throw in the amazing cinematography that Top Gear is renowned for, and we have a priceless spectacle.
Rfactorcentral is going through a metamorphosis to emerge as Simraceway. This coincidentally resides with a recent email by the Rfactorcentral team that celebrated its 150,000,000th page view (I’m slightly jealous). More information is yet to come. However I have visited Simraceway, and was greeted by a suspicious looking countdown that could have easily come out of a Dark Night sequel or at the very least a HTC cell phone. The press release sheds a little more light:
All Rfactorcentral features will remain free on the new site. (Thank God!)
New features, including support for multiple titles.
When you see the street version of this car on the road, you can’t help but cringe. The SC430 looks like a novelty bath tub that copulated with a set of wheels. The car is great if you like to go 80mph, so long as you have a rubber ducky buckled shotgun and your cabin is full of lukewarm water.
BSIM’s decision to model the 1SC from the Japan GT series makes perfect sense. If any car needed to prove that it can be aggressive visually, it was the SC430. While I am no fan of the street version, I totally dig the Barry Bonds version used for racing. In fact, I built up a tamiya model of this car for that particular reason.
Thanks BSIM, now please (pretty please!) give us the white Mobil skin.
Volvo the game has just been released through a collaborative effort between Volvo and the Simbin development team. So go ahead and download the free game to test out their S60 concept, as well as a few Volvo’s from the STCC. You can also sign up for the “Global Competition,” where you have a chance to win a prize if you come in the top 10.
Using video games to promote a brand is not a new concept. BMW and Mercedes have both released games to drive their cars around as well, but didn’t do it with the leve of effort and precision as Volvo. The marketing approach that Volvo has taken is going to be successful for two reasons:
Volvo has created a virtual “test drive” for a concept
Volvo has reaffirmed its branding and heritage by including other vehicles
Again, Thanks Volvo and Simbin for one of the better promotional demos created!
If U.S. financial institutions updated us on their progress like the Belgian Sim Racers, there wouldn’t be this much angst in the stock market. The latest template of the BSR Honda NSX for the WSGT series have been released. The renders and attention to detail are sure to please any sim racer, and if called upon, pass any series of government stress tests. Though the test shots in Rfactor don’t show the full potential of the model, the fact that development for the next iteration of Rfactor is proceeding smoothly is in itself promising. Good luck WIX and crew!
