rFactor review - Sept 04, 2005
Having purchased rFactor as soon as it was released
and after a few days of trying rFactor, (Friday being spent in a 12 hour
session), I would like to present my opinions, suggestions, and
feelings about rFactor. Download, purchase, and setup was quick
and straightforward.
The video configuration is fairly standard with several shader level
options, resolution, AA and refresh rate options , but the "Send" button
is an unexplained addition. I can only conclude it sends your video
settings to ISI. I wonder what else it sends?
Setting the Shader Level to "Quality (DX9)" resulted
in frame rates of around 50 FPS and the dreaded "stutters". Bringing it
to "Balanced (DX8)" increased frame rates to over 100 and 99% of the
stutters were gone.
I wish a handle on the stuttering could be found as I am running an AMD
3400+ 64 with a MSI 6800 GT and a gig of ram.
Taking the rtrainer out online the first time quickly showed that
upgrades were both necessary and appreciated. Appreciated as the
trainer, as well as other cars, all responded better and were more fun
to drive when upgraded.
Having ISI include a "cheat code" to get extra money
for upgrading was a necessity and heartfelt thanks are given, however
their choice of a code name is questionable. Sort of rude IMO. Not all
of us want or can spend the multitude of hours that would be necessary
to follow the game's "Career" mode, working our way up the ladder by
making money in races to upgrade. Given the small amounts of race
winnings, and the high prices of the upgrades, it could take a very long
while to bring even one car to full performance using the career ladder.
A good mix of vehicles is provided.
The Hammer, the ZR, and the two formula cars, Formula IS and rTrainer
are rear wheel drive, while the Howston is 4WD, (optional upgrade), and
the Rhez is a front wheel drive. (A Cooper S on steroids).
Other than the Formula IS the Hammer is the fastest,
and a touchy beast when it comes to putting the pedal to the metal.
Luckily, ISI's physics have not reflected SimBin's GTR traction problems
on full acceleration. If ones tends to get too hard on the throttle too
soon coming out of a corner, the wheels spin and the car starts to
slide, but the slide can be corrected. The car does not simply continue
in a 180 degree spin as in GTR. All in all the
physics are excellent.
Online servers are excellent with 1/4 of the overhead
used in GTR.
I have been in a 28 player room and there was no lag or problems and
racing was close and tight.
Car setups vary with the level of upgrades and cover
all the expected components.
A good monitor screen shows the chat, the video feed, race status, and
chat in one screen.
More to come.
VRECrash |
Hammer
Classes: 6,
GT,
CompR
Howston
Manufacturer
Classes: GP3,
GP2,
GP1
FormulaIS
Manufacturer
Rhez
Manufacturer
Classes: GT3,
GT2,
GT1
rTrainer
Manufacturer Classes:
School,
Advanced
ZR
Manufacturer Classes:
A Type,
M Type,
Z Type |
