Create a series (rfmod)
What is a series? (rfmod)
This is mainly used for multiplayer to make sure server and client are running the same content but it can be used for offline use. There are a few rule customisations you can do depending on the rules you want to enforce (online or offline).
What you will need
MAS2 utility
(which is included with your rFactor 2 installation located in "rFactor 2\Support\Tools" folder "MAS2_x64.exe").Minimum of 1 car and 1 track installed to the game either from Steam Workshop or installed with Mod Manager.
MercedesSLS SafetyCar 2012 available on Steam Workshop
Making the series
Open your MAS2 tool
Click the "Set the packages folder" and choose your packages folder that resides within your rFactor folder. If it isn't present, you can create it here by pressing "Make New Folder" in the folder picker that appears. Press OK.
Press the "Create the package file" button and you will be presented a menu with a few options to choose from. We want the "Create New Mod Package" option.
Put the name you want to call your series in the top box. You can skip the next section if you don't want custom rules by pressing "next".
Using custom rules (optional)
Enable the "customize" checkbox and we have 4 options to choose from. We are only concerned with the "rfm file". Press the B to open the file picker.
You can see some preset rFm files which have some specific rules contained within them. Some of them will change the pacecar or change yellow/blue flag rules. It is worth having a look at these in a text editor to see what they change. If you want to find them, navigate your "appdata\Roaming\~MASTEMP" folder and copy the rfm files to elsewhere on your PC.
For this example we will be selecting the "SLSSafetyCar01.rfm".
You can also select these presets by clicking the drop down folder.
Press Next.
Choosing your series content
First we will select our track(s). We can select multiple tracks but just be aware that all clients would need them to enter your server, no matter which one is currently being used. As per the instructions at the top, hold the ctrl key and select the track(s) you want to use. For this example we will use "MillsMetro_2011".
Press Next.
Same process applies for the car(s). If you are selecting a custom pacecar, make sure you also select it here. If you are including paid content then there are a few extra steps to using them online. Please refer to the Studio 397 thread for this process.
Press Next.
Selection of the other components are optional. This is only if you want to enforce all clients use a certain sound pack, HUD etc....
Press Done.
Allowing/disallowing content
I will take you through this section from top to bottom.
Version - That is up to you, helps when keeping track of rfmods you have made (they should all have unique filenames).
Mod Name - This was done in the first step but can be changed again here. This is the name that clients will see in the UI when choosing the series so best to name it something descriptive, but not too long.
Info - This will give you space to enter some extra information but this is completely optional. Clients will be able to see this information when selecting a series with the Mod Manager. Mod ID is not used anymore.
Press the little filing cabinet icon next to the rfmod choice and give your rfmod an appropriate name. It is sometimes best practice to have this filename not contain spaces (replace with hyphens or underscores). Use unique filenames for all your rfmod files, don't overwrite existing.
Leave all checkboxes on left panels for Locations and Vehicles unchecked. You do not want to include content in the series, just links to it. If you look at the top right you will see a file size. If this uses MB instead of KB units then you may have accidentally included content, double check to make sure.
On the right hand side under Layouts you can select/deselect which layouts you want to be picked by the server/client.
Same goes for the Teams, pick whichever teams you want the server/client to use.
Press Package. It should say "Mod Packaging complete with no errors". If you see any other message then double check the above steps.
You can press Install from here and the series will install to the game, a confirmation message will appear and the red square will turn green.
Choosing your series
In the main menu press "Single Player", then "Select Series" at the top. You should see your newly created series in the list which you can click to enable.
In this example you won't see the pacecar listed as it is AI driven only.Select the rest of your session options and START RACING!
ENJOY! :)