Frustrated - to say the least

[spdcomp]

I'm having the hardest time getting up to speed with rFactor online racing with or without Apexspeed.
I try to race online only to get booted right out.
I finally figured how to get the Apexspeed IP address right.
I cannot race because I guess I don't have the right car? Skin? Track?
I have downloaded the SRF but have no idea how to get into the game???
Do I also have to find and download a skin???
What about track? Do I need to find tracks and download them??
Once they are downloaded how do I get them into the game??
I must say I've been frustrated before and I'm positive all the info is right in front of me however I have found so much forum info and get really frustrated reading page after page of technical (programming info?) I think I'm stuck racing the commercial games that lead one by the nose to get to where they can race others online.

What is a mod? What do I do with it?

What a dumb sh$t I am, but the time I've spent trying to learn how to use this program is taking me out of the arena.

Please give a shot to help me before I slash my wrists. LOL!
How embarrassing!
Bob

[RDeLong]

lol... ok, you're right. Not straight forward for sure. I can help with a few items.

A mod is a add-on or modification to the game that people create for free generally... includes cars, tracks, and other utilities such as a spotter. http://www.rfactorcentral.com is where most mods can be found. Personally I wouldn't recommend many mods beyond those that have a "hall of fame" rating ( a few exceptions).

Intalling a track or car is usuallly a matter of uncompressing the downloaded file and launching the .exe file. Typicallly you just have to show the installer where your rFactor directory is (such as C:/Programs/rfactor) and then after clicking the "install" button it does the rest like most apps.

If the mod doesn't have an installer it will have a directory or two of files once uncompressed... they would be identical to the directory of files inside of your rfactor folder. You just need to copy the directories into your rfactor folder and tell the promt to merge/replace files. In some cases the mod will over-right original rfactor files - you can back them up or do as I do... don't worry about it. If you don't like the mod there's a site where you can download the original rfactor files if you uninstall the mod. I haven't had a problem yet but I'm careful about what mods I install.

As far as getting onto the Apexspeed server you'll need to make sure you have the exact mods and version of the mod(s) required - cars, and track. Since I'm currently not running the league I can't say what those are - I'm sure Doug or someone can fill you in on that bit. Last bit of advise would be to have the latest version of rfactor as well. I think it's v1255.

[spdcomp]

Ok, got a few cars and tracks loaded but for whatever reason the only car I have now is the SFR I downloaded.
Keith states:
"To "unlock" all the cars in a specific mod(don't understand this) simply go into a session (testing, race weekend etc) and type ISIBABYFACTORY in the chat bar and hit enter. Then exit the session and you will have a ton of cash AND all the cars available to drive now."

I have tried but it doesn't seem to do anything. I have 200,000 compared to the some 3,000,000+ I had before I started this downloading of cars and tracks.
Thanks for the help,
Bob

[RDeLong]

each mod has it's own bank account basically. So if you have a new mod loaded it will have a different amount in the account. in regards to the "ISIBABY_FACTORY" unlock code; it's case sensitive so make sure you have the cap-lock on. And if my brain is working it does have the underscore in it like I've typed but at the moment I'm not so sure - could be some brain fade. Actually it might even be ISI_BABYFACTORY - sorry I'll have to verify that.

Just type it both ways into the chat window while at a track (with and without underscore). When you exit back to the spinner you'll hear the money cha-ching and you'll be loaded like Penske. You only need to do this if the cars and upgrades cost money which most mods don't cost anything - they usually give you a buck for purchasing a car. Modders don't like this feature.

To select a different mod or the original cars you'll need to navigate using the buttons along the left hand side - the UI really sucks in rfactor so it takes some learning to find stuff.

Basically you'll eventually find a menu (top button I think) that lets you select mods from a text list - names of the mods. Don't recall the nomenclature but just poke around. So once you find that just select the mod you want - it will be very slow in switching to the new mod most likely, unless you have a really fast machine - it has to load all the textures into graphics memory. Once it's loaded your bank account will change, most likely the series logo in the upper left corner will change and the spinner will have the new car.

that should get you going.

[csatte02]

It is ISI_BABYFACTORY. You may be having trouble if you did not download the full version. When I downloaded the trial version I had to uninstall it why I bought the full version, download and install skins and tracks and then i could match Keith's server. If you installed the file from the download instead of just the SFR mod that may have replaced all your other cars. I thought that was a executible download though. If your still have trouble keep asking questions and you will get it.
Chris

[spdcomp]

OK, now I have 2,000,018.
BUT all my cars other than the SRF disappeared.
Do I have to reload all the cars one at a time or is there some way to get them back??? At least the default cars would be cool.

I really like driving the F3 car, and have gotten fairly fast with it.....but now it's gone.

The Sim came with a bunch of cars and I downloaded a few, but when I downloaded the SRF everything and most all my money disappeared.

Sorry for being such a Dumb Sh$t but I really want to get up to speed with this as it seems to be something I can get into.
Thanks again,
Bob

[RDeLong]

could you post a link to the SRF mod... I don't know what that is.

ok, you're talking Spec Racer Ford.

So when you go into the "Customize/Player" menu and select series or whatever it is non of your mods show up?

[csatte02]

Are their no other cars in the program files? May be simple but make sure under player that you are not only on the SRF series. If you are change it to open wheel series. If there are no other cars I would maybe do a search on your computer for one of the files that contained the default cars, like rf3 r something. If its not there anywhere i would unistall and reinstall the game again and just save everything you have already downloaded so you can easily put it back in the files.

[spdcomp]

OK, crawling up to it now. LOL!
Got the cars back. Somehow when I downloaded the SRF it changed the series which eliminated everything else.
Now I have several cars I've downloaded some work great while others just sit at pits without a guy to get me onto the track. No throttle, gears, or anything else. So I figure the are other files that did not get downloaded?
So, some downloads work like commercial software and take care of all download and configs, while other stuff the user must know what needs to be downloaded, installed and configured?
Thanks again,
Bob
PS - Is there a rule of thumb for which downloads need to be had for mods to run and setup correctly? I see some mod pages have only a couple files (install, setups, etc) whereas some have a big list of files (updates, and others I don't recognize). I don't know which ones I need and don't need when @ the mod page.

[csatte02]

Some files that are downloaded are executible files which mean they load automatically after download, most are rar files that need to be extracted using something like winzip.
http://www.winzip.com/index.htm
and inserted into the game files. (for example tracks are in the locations folder under Program files/rfactor/Game Data/Locations.
Here is the link on how to get online with apexspeed and further instruction.

http://www.apexspeed.com/sim/league/


As for the some cars being downloaded and not working it is probably because of your settings. If you have sme driver aids on it may not take off from the pits properly.

[csatte02]

PS - Is there a rule of thumb for which downloads need to be had for mods to run and setup correctly? I see some mod pages have only a couple files (install, setups, etc) whereas some have a big list of files (updates, and others I don't recognize). I don't know which ones I need and don't need when @ the mod page.[/quote]

If there is a download that is available right from www.rfactorcentral.com I usually download that one, but if not I usually download the latest available version and see that it works and any patches that might be available for download. Go with the largest number, whether it is 1.0, 1.1 or whatever is highest.

[spdcomp]

OK guys, thanks for all the help. I'm crawling but getting up to speed.
2 Questions:
1) Some of the traks I've downloaded when I go to test or race the only time I can drive the car is in the race.. otherwise the car sits in the pits without a pit marshal to point me out. What did I do wrong with these tracks? I must need to download something else?

2) Is there a really cool Formula Ford mod available? A DB1 or DB6 would be great but I'll take anything that is cool.

Thanks....again,
Bob Lobenberg
PS - A F2000/Continental would be nice as well.

[RDeLong]

2 Questions:
1) Some of the traks I've downloaded when I go to test or race the only time I can drive the car is in the race.. otherwise the car sits in the pits without a pit marshal to point me out. What did I do wrong with these tracks? I must need to download something else?

2) Is there a really cool Formula Ford mod available? A DB1 or DB6 would be great but I'll take anything that is cool.

hum... odd. Haven't heard of the track problem before. So you can't take the car out - race button in lower right isn't available?

In regards to a ford mod there is one available but it's considered "illegal" - in short the mod is stollen from a commercial game unassociated with rFactor. For that reason it's hard to find. It has older Van Diemens if I remember correctly. It isn't bad but like I said it's a bit unethical in it's origin.

The DB-1 is still in development. Unfortunately the creator (me) is very slow and busy with newborns and finding work to pay for mortgage and other bills. The good news is I landed a good corporate gig and will soon get things back on track. Physics have been in development but they're waiting on me at this point as well. The original plan was to develop the mod for rFactor2 which is due out this fall - I wouldn't expect anything before then honestly unless I get inspired after collecting underpants all day (vague southpark reference).

The F3 mods are ok. The new Formula Armaroli mod is the best I've driven for rFactor - amazing physics although it's quite a bit quicker than what you mention. Can't praise the physics enough though.

http://www.virtualr.net/formula-arma...ctor-released/

[jsteeb]

Step 3....profit!!!

It would be nice to have a good FF sim to mess around with. I can't believe nobody has released an FF model for rFactor and/or GTR Evolution. I've been waiting for that since the Papyrus Indy Car Racing days....

Can't wait!

[spdcomp]

hum... odd. Haven't heard of the track problem before. So you can't take the car out - race button in lower right isn't available?

Yep, I hit race and the next scene I'm sitting in the pit lane but nobody to point me out of my pit box.
I'm sure there is either a file I'm missing (missed copying to the right folder), or there is a button to press to get going. No throttle (rpm increase), shift, or steering. The car sits and idles.
I can only procede to the race and start last. The car works fine.
Thanks for the mod tip,
Bob
PS -I only have this issue with 4-5 mods, the other 25+ work fine.