aciddog.co.uk

I've been looking forward to getting time to have a play with the new ORR2 mod for rFactor for a little while now so was pleased when I finally got the chance the other day.

The new trucks look *superb*. Really nice and chunky with good texturing and nice modelling. There's various bits of bump mapping evident which really gives the vehicles more depth and realism. The modelling is nice and clean and their have a really solid look with very few excessively polygonal edges which is nice to see. The trucks in ORR were plenty decent but these are quite a bit more polished.

The trucks now also have a proper damage model too and do break apart rather nicely. Strangely though apart from the exterior panels flying off they do seem practically indestructable otherwise. Barrel-rolls at 100mph and landing on your roof - no problem.

The ORR2 mod page on RFC said that the main changes were softer landings and better grip + power and in fact a bit more of that in the recent 2.1 update.

Well they weren't fibbing, no more the peaky, snarling v8 which you have to keep on the boil. The new motors have a lot more low-down torque and do climb very well. I was able to pretty much just drive to the top of the DriftRock and whilst it's possible in the original ORR trucks you have to think about it a bit to get there.

This is actually kinda where my issue is with this update. I do realise that this is mostly personal preference and I probably don't represent the average player but I feel now like it's a bit more like driving one of those mitsubishi warrior pickups...almost a bit too polished.

With appropriate suspension setup it's just about possible to drift them but I think the increased grip model means much less ( i.e. virtually no) smoke from the tyres as you go sideways which does somewhat deflate the drama of the drifting experience.

I know these aren't built for drifting but the first ORR trucks are a really good all-rounder...super-configurable and as happy sliding round on tarmac as scaling rocks and obstacles in the muck. I like the raw, peaky motor and the fact that it's something akin to a lawnmower with waaaay too many horsepowers under its belt.

Unfortunately the new ones just don't have that appeal for me. The offroad becomes too easy because of the new levels of grip and torque. Although the trucks have a nice damage model and break up well, the core truck seems to be virtually indestructable and the lack of smoke from the tyres actually meant after the initial jubilation wore off I actually found myself missing those little details which I had very much enjoyed with the original ORR trucks.

Those "edges" which have been smoothed (to me at least) were what provided much of the fun. If you can damage your truck then you have to be a bit more careful (risk compensation=challenging/fun), the narrow powerband means you have to work it to get the most out f it (completely involving=fun), and imho I thought the grip on the first ones was about right, almost a bit too much.

It's like going offroading in a plush range rover with the aricon and vivaldi playing rather than hanging on for dear life in some raucously fast/noisy, flame-blowing, crazily-articulating offroad monster...what's the point? Maybe it's just me but I know which I'd prefer.

Unfortunately even the suspension settings have been toned down too. One of the things I liked about the first ORR trucks was the huge 31 degrees of caster they offered. If you like your sideways then you're probably familiar with the caster setting and it pretty much means more "hurlability" which is great for drifting. The new trucks only let you go to around 9 degrees which is barely more than the ER34 skyline in Oversteer...which is fine, but that's a regular a car not a desert racing truck.

So in summary - *really* pretty new trucks, but a bit too "TDI", sensible insurance, fuel economy, radio 2 etc for my liking.

It would possibly be a good option for newbies to get the hang of or people playing on joypads, keys and other limited controllers rather than a full wheel/rig.

Fortunately it looks like the two mods can happily coexist so I reckon we'll allow them on the "all tracks and vehicles" servers but my trusty ORR1 "levelbuilders yute" will be keeping its place in my garage.

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