R3E: multiplayer patch il 19

The big patch is almost ready to be released next week, June 19. This blog is mainly about the patch. And I’ll mention some things we’re working on for the next patch. We ended the testing phase for MP Alpha last Thursday. Before I continue, I would like to thank everyone who participated in the MP Alpha testing. We have improved things a lot thanks to you!

The Big Patch Changelog

Game:

• Added Multiplayer Alpha for DTM Experience 2014 Season Pass Holders. MP Alpha will be available to all DTM Experience 2013 owners with next patch in few weeks, and to all R3E users at a later date.
  
• Added new content for upcoming competitions.
  
• Added new content that will be available soon.
  
• Added keybinding options to increase/decrease head movement in cockpit.
  
• Fixed a memory leak in car setup screen.
  
• Various updates and fixes to localization.
  
• Fixed some issues that was occurring with the lap counter in Instant replay.
  
• Fixed an issue with the resource clean up when exiting to menus.
  
• Fixed an issue where the options menu would become broken in DTM, after playing a championship.
  
• Fixed an issue where the replay metadata could get the wrong game mode tag. (Menu instead of Race etc.)
  
• Fixed an issue where the raceline was under tarmac in RaceRoom Hillclimb reverse layout in Apex Hunt.
  
• Fixed the lap distance for RaceRoom Hillclimb.
  
• Fixed wrong layout/livery in R3E Menus after leaving DTM Experience.
  
• Fixed an issue where player could drive while in garage menu in HillClimb track test.
  
• Fixed a threading issue in screenshot sharing.
  
• Fixed an issue where competitions that had required content wasn’t communicating properly with online protocol to get users content list.
  
• Fixed a crash that could occur when clicking “yes” in “found device without profile” dialogue window.
  
• Fixed an issue where the steering would look choppy in replays on high rotation usage.
  
• Fixed a memory leak on startup of Leaderboard challenges. (Stats)
  
• Fixed steering linearity/ratio issues.
  
• Updated all the controller profiles for steering fix to take affect. (Analog sectors are now 0.0 by default on steering wheels).
  
• Fixed an issue where Championship replays were saved as Track Test.
  
• Fixed an issue with DTM Experience Q4 parameters.
  
• Fixed sector times appearing when disabling all HUD via options.
  
• Improved replay fidelity by improving wheel deflection calculation.
  
• Fixed an issue where HUD overlays could show during post race results.
  
• Fixed exhaust flames appearing while the car is stationary.
  
• Fixed so the reverse lights go off with ignition and when engine is starting.
  
• Fixed an issue where the AI names would appear for a frame at the lowest position on the position bar, whenever they completed a lap.
  
• Fixed a bug in media hub with screenshots and vault files.
  
• Added start lights to HUD.
  
• Fixed a crash that was occurring when completing a hillclimb session.
  
• Optimized HUD overlays for better performance.
  
• Various memory optimizations.
  
• Optimized Object physics (non-car objects).
  
• Fixed a crash that could occur when repeatedly racing in a HillClimb Leaderboard Challenge.
  
• Fixed a crash that was occurring when ending a race session through the pause menu in DTM Experience.
  
• Fixed an issue in DTM Experience where the player could get wrong starting position after qualification.
  
• Updated Shared Memory with more data. Documentation coming soon.
  

Rendering:

• Adjusted the mipmap filters to reduce artifacts in mipmaps. (distorted textures with thin lines such as text, numbers etc.)
  
• Fixed an issue with the sun bloom blowing up at the edges of the screen.
  
• Fixed slow-mo motion blur for num-pad controls.
  
• Fixed an issue with shadow rendering.
  
• Added 4K resolution support.
  
• Fixed color issues on car windows.
  
• Fixed an issue with the preset shader quality on medium settings.
  
• Fixed LOD issues with rim types and trunk on cars.
  
• Improved particle culling of systems.
  

Art:

• Fixed Hud rev not matching with the gear indicator on various cars.
  
• Fixed a texture intensity issue on BMW M1 Procar.
  
• Updated all DTM tracks for corner marker update.
  
• Various minor art fixes to all DTM tracks.
  
• Updated liveries on various cars.
  
• Various art fixes to BMW Alpina B6
  

Audio:

• Fixed an issue where engine sound was louder from front on some cars.
  

AI & Physics & FFB

• Tweaked gravel surface to be more sticky to encourage players not to drive off the track.
  
• Tweaked grass surface to be more bouncy with lesser grip to encourage players not to drive off the track.
  
• Tweaked secondary road surface to have less grip to encourage players not to drive off the track.
  
• Refactored AI code.
  
• Fixed an issue where loss of force feedback could occur when starting a new session.
  

Portal & Online Protocol

• Added various improvements to the Leaderboard system in backend.
  
• Added ability to display Leaderboard entries for ANY difficulty level.
  
• Added “ALL” filter to Car/Class Selection in the global leaderboards.
  
• Made minor changes to the transaction history.
  
• Added Multiplayer Browser.
  
• Added sorting by player numbers by default.
  
• Added show friends on the server, in the MP browser.
  
• Added additional information about the server, in the MP browser.
  

This patch will be a bit hefty as it includes a lot of updated and new content. With this patch we are also finalizing the corner marker updates as we are updating all the DTM tracks.

If everything works out well with the initial MP Alpha, we will then patch the game again to enable it to all DTM Experience players. That patch will also include some new content for upcoming competitions and some more.

We have done and continue to do vast improvements and additions to the overall force feedback. There are some fundamental changes which require some extensive tests but soon we will be able to share them with you. The temporary R3E menu is shaping up nicely and we are working on the R3E Single Race components now.

Art is busy as usual with a lot of new content. Here are some WIP shots of some cars we have in the works. Enjoy Le Mans