No worries mate, by the way, have you found the way to map FOV control to your keyboard? Seat adjustments too, I find they're invaluable, some cars require these tweaking to get exactly the view you want, Although FOV is dictated by the angle of your monitors there is some leeway before you see warping in the side monitors.
In other news, a little birdy tells me there may be a release of the Panoz in the next few hours.
Yes I have. Still trying to find the best graphics settings. Oh yeah just got the CSW with BMW rim. What a difference from the CSR Elite.
No worries mate, by the way, have you found the way to map FOV control to your keyboard? Seat adjustments too, I find they're invaluable, some cars require these tweaking to get exactly the view you want, Although FOV is dictated by the angle of your monitors there is some leeway before you see warping in the side monitors.
In other news, a little birdy tells me there may be a release of the Panoz in the next few hours.
Yes I have. Still trying to find the best graphics settings. Oh yeah just got the CSW with BMW rim. What a difference from the CSR Elite.
Congrats on the upgrade Ink. The CSW is a nice piece of kit!
For a change this guy has worked away quietly and got his track just about ready before releasing a version to get the last bugs ironed out the system with public testing.
Just goes to show we have no real idea what is out there being worked on. I also know there is a modern Spa just starting to be worked on, using CAD data from the actual track, Looking forward to seeing how that turns out.
It's a nice looking mod, but most interesting is it was just a test for them to see how modding in rF2 worked, looking forward to what they come up with next. Good to see more mods of some quality starting to arrive and that old chestnut of it being too complicated for modders to get to grips with being laid to rest.
GRAPHICS: ———————— Fixed bug with HDR lum histogram when in SLI mode Fixed 3D Vision problem with tire shader Added extended ambient shadows under cars Modified EnvReflections = Off mode to render only sky/clouds into ref map
BUG FIXES / OPTIMIZATIONS: ———————— Fixed crash on MP lobby UI page Fixed an issue with duplicate mas names during packaging; incorporated mutex stuff into masBase to allow toggling of mutex requirement during mas object creation Fixed bug where 1st time running after fresh install keyboard and controller support will be disabled. Fixed a potential problem with upgrades that adjust gear settings. Fix issue where sometimes shadows were fuzzy in cockpit until you hit Insert three times. Fix for sidebars not clearing when exiting replay mode directly from control screen. Fix for issue where a vehicle is constantly loaded/unloaded in multiplayer when they have a special skin
MODDING / PUBLIC DEV ———————— Added "Copy To Clipboard" button to TTool. Fixed viewer.exe crash Corrected rFactor Mod Mode.exe UI Fixed lockup when mouse is moved in mod mode
UI / HUD / Options: ———————— Added a button to manually transfer loose livery file, so that you may update the server's copy or get the latest version of the livery stored on the server. Disabled Mod button if server and client version do not match.
MULTIPLAYER: ———————— Fixed +oneclick crash Fixed join button greyed out issue Message box shown if dedicated server is stated with oneclick but no mod is loaded Reduced likelihood of problem in non-race multiplayer sessions where vehicles that joined late would usually not load.
CONTROLLERS / FFB ————————
AI ———————— Preventing driver database from growing much larger than it needs with duplicate entries Loading custom paths from the loose track directory (*.aip files contain info for a single path) Small change attempting to reduce AI tendency to stay behind a slower car.
Panoz has been released for public testing, car is sorted physics wise, FFB of course comes from them so that is sorted too, couple of minor issues already been flagged by testers but who knows what my raise it's head out in the wild.
Also this is being worked on by one of our modders.
The panoz isn't really the car sim racers dream about at night lol but looks like good fun for screwing around, iam more interested the carts as I've been running them a lot in other games, but glad to hear the latest update is heading things in the right direction.
I came across this today, looks decent but more like a rf1 conversion ATM. Hopefully future updates will improve the looks. I've always found empty boxes reviews pretty spot on in regards to issues through out sims.
FINALLY rf2 has produced something that has got me excited and hope they do more content! The kart in one simple word are AMAZING :) best vehicle ive driven to date in this game
Ha ha, the one piece of rF2 content I hate, yeah they seem very popular, don't get it myself but anything that gets people excited about the sim is fine by me.
You know there is a lot of complaining about how hard rF2 is to set up, to a point I agree, but over the last couple of days I have been reminded that this is not just an issue with rF2 but a fact of life with PC gaming in general. I picked up Metro 2033 as it was dirt cheap and I thought worth a punt for a bit of non racing fun. Installed it, fired it up and was presented with a vertically stretched mess. No matter what rez I picked nothing changed, I tried many fixes posted on a range of forums, messed with ini files, no change. Then today I finally find a post that said, disable NV surround...Solved. But what a pain in the butt for a game that opens with an Nvidia logo! Every time I want to play it I have to jump through that hoop. PC gaming is always going to be complicated, all the different systems users have make that inevitable. Yes rF2 can be hard to set up, but it is far from unique in that.
Yes pc gaming can be a pain in the ass at times when problems appear. In rf2 case i dont believe tech issues are the main issues its not having proper setup instructions for outsiders that are new to the game.
For example the isr review that rf2 fans thought was a butchery towards the game, yes those two guys are tools but they made some excellent points. Tim posted on the review, you didnt do this and that and next time contact me and ill walk you through. Is he gonna personally walk everyone through that contacts him so they get the best out of the game.....no lol
Create a how too guide/video or properly set up the game out the box and make it more user friendly. The later part of that sentence iam sure will come some time down the road as its still a work in progress and stuff needs to get sorted.
Iam sure it woulnt be too hard for one of the testers/modders to create a youtube walkthrough post it to the forum or readme me in the dl, by doing so it will help new and old simmers to hopefully sort issues and get the best out of it and draw more racers to the community.
Pcars has a thread they update after each build that acknowledges any issues of whats working or not a link to a work around solution which is quite helpfull, yes only a community regular would know about this but the game is not available to the public so anyone with the game having an issue was interested in being a beta tester from the start and would hopefully be smart enough to go to the forum for info :)
I for one till this week when i forced my self to scroll through endless forums and videos trying to figure out tips and tricks had the same opinions about the game as they did, but once i got things sorted I realized it wasnt nearly as bad as i thought and found some cars quit enjoyable and actually looking forward to future builds.
I dont know Tim, hes obivously a very intelligent man to produce this product, but i find he's very defensive at times towards feedback when he should listen sometimes and attempt to fix an issue rather than supply you with a hidden work around fix that only regular rf2 community members are aware of.........just saying a how to guide for optimal performance in rf2 supplied and this review would have been much different IMO :)
Tim is not one of the Devs, he deals with licensing of track and cars, deals with press and single handedly manages the open forum, and god knows what else, is he gets a little antsy from time to time it's not really surprising :) Yes he would have walked them through, gave them a heads up on what they got wrong, and it was what they got wrong that bugged people that know better. It was amateur hour, no research, no contact with ISI to get answers to some of their questions. Dealing with, and communicating with people like ISR is part of Tim's remit. So yes he would have welcomed an approach by them. He also said they had valid points, most if not all of them he agreed with, see his posts on the forum. I agree with the fair criticisms, but there was much there that was misinformation and possibly damaging. If they had contacted Tim things would have been so much better, no one involved minds honest informed critque...most of the time LOL People tend to think ISI don't know what the issues are, they certainly thought they were telling them something they didn't know...I mean really?
ISI have talked about some kind of manual or wiki but none of them are adept at communicating at the level of us numpty users, give them a race engineer and they could talk the hind legs off a donkey, give them Joe Soap first time installer and not so good. The forum is the place to go, members bend over backwards to help new people, solve problems and give support. It's the way things are done...Is it the best way? Maybe not, there are some tutorials out there, not enough I'll grant you. But the forum is the place to go. Just like pCars.
The issue I had with that was just so similar to the kind of problems folk have with rF2, hunting though ini files, getting frustrated trying endless fixes, and with no forum like ISI's I ended up finding the solution on some obscure gaming forum, and what a crap solution, the game needs patching to sort the wide screen bug, but it has not and will not be done. So the end result is if I play the game I have to spend a good hour putting my desktop back together...ISI would fix an issue like that in internal testing long before it was released, it's what we call a game breaker.
Lol cheeky dig there, but yeah the shysters deserve it.
Back on topic, I gave it a quick blast on a few tracks, awesome!
Finally a single seater I can do a lap in lol.
These things aren't too far off from a prototype are they? Especially that rear end.
Nuerburg GP released. A conversion but not at all bad and well tested online. Some minor issues arising from the fact it is a conversion but nothing that detracts from racing, Has been fun whatching this one develop and I look forward to Maniaks first scratch build track after his learning process on this one.
Converted from rF1 this is a surprisingly good Mod, every car from the 1992 F1 season is there, each one with it's own distinct feel and sounds, and the sounds are stellar especially in replay mode. So if you have a yearning to relive the good old days of Mansell and Prost it gets Knights seal of approval https://mega.co.nz/#!ght2lBhI!ZQbPGSPkShMl35gh6s9PrLRqC_Zn_7ivigRrl99bQMY
So after Posting on the ISI and GBR forums over 2 months ago complaining about no visual back fires and missing collision sounds with no response or the typical "i dont know, it must be something on your end?" response i finally got an answer from a ISI forum member Juergen-BY
"I`d looked into some files and it seems, that they have forgotten the backfire for all newer cars. Double checked on e.g. Nissan 370z. No entries in the .gen and no backfire related gmt`s. On older Cars, e.g. Honda BTCC, Backfire is present and working. So, don`t worry, seems nothing wrong on your side... "
F1fan mentioned that there were missing collision sounds in some of the vehicles aswell a few months back when i brought it up.
I started having these issues well before xmas and was totally convienced that it wason my end, but glad to know i have no issues :)
So my question is......if it was there before why is it nearly half a yr later with this stuff missing? (bug?), i can live with no visual backfire but how does nobody not notice or care about missing collision and contact sounds? how can you race close and hard? i did an online race with the clios this week and had to drop out cause i was getting so frustrated with my car bouncing around and accidently spun a racer cause i had no audio clues.
It seems there is some broken code that needs to be fixed, as coincidently both RRE and GSC (running on gmotor) had the same issues which i reported to the devs and were fixed pretty quickly.
So much potential, yet too many unfinished features :(
It's hard to know what to say to you, you don't except most of what I say in response to your posts about rF2. RRe and GSC are both running on Gmotor one, not Gmotor two. Those cars have not received updates as a new tyre contact patch in coming online, all new content will have it and older content will be updated and any outstanding bugs dealt with then. Those bugs are known, and reported, along with at least one other you have missed ;) If you really want to know how things work come and join the team, join your voice with the rest of us, you'll find maybe that things are not as you think, a dedicated bunch of people working hard and yes sometimes making mistakes but every member of the dev team is putting in all the hours they can. Every single member of the dev and test team cares, and dedicates much time in their respective roles.
Right at the moment Nascar is a strong focus and the coding guys are working away to implement the rules, as well as that real road has to deal with the fact that apparently ovels start to lose grip over time as more and more rubber is laid down, so that is something that is being worked on. The new UI is still being worked on with many new features planned. New tracks are coming and new cars.
New shaders and lighting that has made a real difference. Chassis flex, new clutch modeling, and various other mechanical tweaks No other Sim models so many real time physics, and maybe this is a bit of a rod for ISI's back.
Like I say, if you want to make a difference join the test team, see what we do, see what we contend with. I have made a difference getting things into the game, sometimes quite a fight to convince both devs and test team but if your right, if you make a strong argument, it gets done.If your worried about time, then don't. Several testers test only off line, joining online tests only occasionally. It is one of the most rewarding...and yes sometimes the most frustrating things I have done since getting into this thing we call Sim racing.
I know it can look from the outside that everything is slapdash and stuff just thrown together with no real plan, but it's not that way, though I will admit even the testers are sometimes bemused, and we moan too, but over time you kinda get to see what the plan is and though some things seem more important than others, in reality they know what they are doing.
I'm not sure if anything there answers your questions to your satisfaction, but it's a honest reply and I've done the best I can. If not all I can say is give it a break for a while, all things will come right, and all those things you mention will be put right. As fast as you want? Maybe not :)
Congrats on the upgrade Ink. The CSW is a nice piece of kit!
This looks like an interesting addition to the third party track content, from left field and done the way that it should be http://isiforums.net/f/showthread.php/18117-WIP-Neva-Ring
For a change this guy has worked away quietly and got his track just about ready before releasing a version to get the last bugs ironed out the system with public testing.
Just goes to show we have no real idea what is out there being worked on. I also know there is a modern Spa just starting to be worked on, using CAD data from the actual track, Looking forward to seeing how that turns out.
http://www.virtualr.net/wsgt-megane-trophy-for-rfactor-2-%e2%80%93-1-2-r...
What are you doing hanging round the rF2 forums
Another interesting little mod is this http://isiforums.net/f/showthread.php/13602-Truck-Racing-v1-1/page6 Not tried it myself, and at the moment the dude has hit his dropbox limit. But I think this may find it's way onto my HDD for the giggles.
Just trying to do my part and keep people up to date with stuff I find that might be of interest to some :)
It's a nice looking mod, but most interesting is it was just a test for them to see how modding in rF2 worked, looking forward to what they come up with next. Good to see more mods of some quality starting to arrive and that old chestnut of it being too complicated for modders to get to grips with being laid to rest.
Build 590 released.
Rel notes:
================================================== ===
Update 22 (Build 589-unstable, 590-release) Changelog (March 18, 2014):
================================================== ===
GRAPHICS:
————————
Fixed bug with HDR lum histogram when in SLI mode
Fixed 3D Vision problem with tire shader
Added extended ambient shadows under cars
Modified EnvReflections = Off mode to render only sky/clouds into ref map
FEATURES:
————————
Added "+memstats" cmdline option to output memory usage file
BUG FIXES / OPTIMIZATIONS:
————————
Fixed crash on MP lobby UI page
Fixed an issue with duplicate mas names during packaging; incorporated mutex stuff into masBase to allow toggling of mutex requirement during mas object creation
Fixed bug where 1st time running after fresh install keyboard and controller support will be disabled.
Fixed a potential problem with upgrades that adjust gear settings.
Fix issue where sometimes shadows were fuzzy in cockpit until you hit Insert three times.
Fix for sidebars not clearing when exiting replay mode directly from control screen.
Fix for issue where a vehicle is constantly loaded/unloaded in multiplayer when they have a special skin
MODDING / PUBLIC DEV
————————
Added "Copy To Clipboard" button to TTool.
Fixed viewer.exe crash
Corrected rFactor Mod Mode.exe UI
Fixed lockup when mouse is moved in mod mode
UI / HUD / Options:
————————
Added a button to manually transfer loose livery file, so that you may update the server's copy or get the latest version of the livery stored on the server.
Disabled Mod button if server and client version do not match.
MULTIPLAYER:
————————
Fixed +oneclick crash
Fixed join button greyed out issue
Message box shown if dedicated server is stated with oneclick but no mod is loaded
Reduced likelihood of problem in non-race multiplayer sessions where vehicles that joined late would usually not load.
CONTROLLERS / FFB
————————
AI
————————
Preventing driver database from growing much larger than it needs with duplicate entries
Loading custom paths from the loose track directory (*.aip files contain info for a single path)
Small change attempting to reduce AI tendency to stay behind a slower car.
Panoz has been released for public testing, car is sorted physics wise, FFB of course comes from them so that is sorted too, couple of minor issues already been flagged by testers but who knows what my raise it's head out in the wild.
Also this is being worked on by one of our modders.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGg--8CW-xo
Darren gives the Panoz a work out, and he sure likes it, nice to see ISR giving rF2 some air time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MZT7Q3B5QY
Good to see them do a review, as it's been a while :)
will there be a gt version panoz coming to the game ?
Who knows, it was a car that had been hanging around for some time, the car guys had some time on their hands so got it ready for release.
Not sure the details on this but came across it at race department.
like I said not sure if this is new or converted or quality, but thought it might be of interest to some :)
http://www.racedepartment.com/forum/threads/touring-car-legends-0-30-by-...
For those who may be interested the Karts are released http://isiforums.net/f/showthread.php/19089-Karts-0-991-and-Quebec-Super...
And Empty Box actually being nice about rF2...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fepTbs7Yylk&list=UUTuyvr4hC8gBLHdqYFXVO4Q
The panoz isn't really the car sim racers dream about at night lol but looks like good fun for screwing around, iam more interested the carts as I've been running them a lot in other games, but glad to hear the latest update is heading things in the right direction.
I came across this today, looks decent but more like a rf1 conversion ATM. Hopefully future updates will improve the looks. I've always found empty boxes reviews pretty spot on in regards to issues through out sims.
http://www.virtualr.net/rfactor-2-touring-car-revival-0-30-released
FINALLY rf2 has produced something that has got me excited and hope they do more content! The kart in one simple word are AMAZING :) best vehicle ive driven to date in this game
http://youtu.be/PndNVv71loA
If they release the shifter version and more kart tracks ill foresurely renew my subscript, so only time will tell
Ha ha, the one piece of rF2 content I hate, yeah they seem very popular, don't get it myself but anything that gets people excited about the sim is fine by me.
You know there is a lot of complaining about how hard rF2 is to set up, to a point I agree, but over the last couple of days I have been reminded that this is not just an issue with rF2 but a fact of life with PC gaming in general. I picked up Metro 2033 as it was dirt cheap and I thought worth a punt for a bit of non racing fun. Installed it, fired it up and was presented with a vertically stretched mess. No matter what rez I picked nothing changed, I tried many fixes posted on a range of forums, messed with ini files, no change. Then today I finally find a post that said, disable NV surround...Solved. But what a pain in the butt for a game that opens with an Nvidia logo! Every time I want to play it I have to jump through that hoop. PC gaming is always going to be complicated, all the different systems users have make that inevitable. Yes rF2 can be hard to set up, but it is far from unique in that.
Yes pc gaming can be a pain in the ass at times when problems appear. In rf2 case i dont believe tech issues are the main issues its not having proper setup instructions for outsiders that are new to the game.
For example the isr review that rf2 fans thought was a butchery towards the game, yes those two guys are tools but they made some excellent points. Tim posted on the review, you didnt do this and that and next time contact me and ill walk you through. Is he gonna personally walk everyone through that contacts him so they get the best out of the game.....no lol
Create a how too guide/video or properly set up the game out the box and make it more user friendly. The later part of that sentence iam sure will come some time down the road as its still a work in progress and stuff needs to get sorted.
Iam sure it woulnt be too hard for one of the testers/modders to create a youtube walkthrough post it to the forum or readme me in the dl, by doing so it will help new and old simmers to hopefully sort issues and get the best out of it and draw more racers to the community.
Pcars has a thread they update after each build that acknowledges any issues of whats working or not a link to a work around solution which is quite helpfull, yes only a community regular would know about this but the game is not available to the public so anyone with the game having an issue was interested in being a beta tester from the start and would hopefully be smart enough to go to the forum for info :)
I for one till this week when i forced my self to scroll through endless forums and videos trying to figure out tips and tricks had the same opinions about the game as they did, but once i got things sorted I realized it wasnt nearly as bad as i thought and found some cars quit enjoyable and actually looking forward to future builds.
I dont know Tim, hes obivously a very intelligent man to produce this product, but i find he's very defensive at times towards feedback when he should listen sometimes and attempt to fix an issue rather than supply you with a hidden work around fix that only regular rf2 community members are aware of.........just saying a how to guide for optimal performance in rf2 supplied and this review would have been much different IMO :)
Tim is not one of the Devs, he deals with licensing of track and cars, deals with press and single handedly manages the open forum, and god knows what else, is he gets a little antsy from time to time it's not really surprising :) Yes he would have walked them through, gave them a heads up on what they got wrong, and it was what they got wrong that bugged people that know better. It was amateur hour, no research, no contact with ISI to get answers to some of their questions. Dealing with, and communicating with people like ISR is part of Tim's remit. So yes he would have welcomed an approach by them. He also said they had valid points, most if not all of them he agreed with, see his posts on the forum. I agree with the fair criticisms, but there was much there that was misinformation and possibly damaging. If they had contacted Tim things would have been so much better, no one involved minds honest informed critque...most of the time LOL People tend to think ISI don't know what the issues are, they certainly thought they were telling them something they didn't know...I mean really?
ISI have talked about some kind of manual or wiki but none of them are adept at communicating at the level of us numpty users, give them a race engineer and they could talk the hind legs off a donkey, give them Joe Soap first time installer and not so good. The forum is the place to go, members bend over backwards to help new people, solve problems and give support. It's the way things are done...Is it the best way? Maybe not, there are some tutorials out there, not enough I'll grant you. But the forum is the place to go. Just like pCars.
The issue I had with that was just so similar to the kind of problems folk have with rF2, hunting though ini files, getting frustrated trying endless fixes, and with no forum like ISI's I ended up finding the solution on some obscure gaming forum, and what a crap solution, the game needs patching to sort the wide screen bug, but it has not and will not be done. So the end result is if I play the game I have to spend a good hour putting my desktop back together...ISI would fix an issue like that in internal testing long before it was released, it's what we call a game breaker.
Well in case you missed it the Dallara and Indy have been released...And the servers will work
He he, couldn't resist it. Funny only ever ran this car at Indy, kinda forgot it worked on other tracks too LOL
Nuerburg GP released. A conversion but not at all bad and well tested online. Some minor issues arising from the fact it is a conversion but nothing that detracts from racing, Has been fun whatching this one develop and I look forward to Maniaks first scratch build track after his learning process on this one.
Download
http://79.98.18.55/maniak/Newerburg_v1.0.rar
http://simhqmotorsports.com/downloads/motorsports/rfactor2/tracks/Newerb...
Ha ha yeah a work of genius, had us wondering what the hell he was up to when he was posting about animation problems with the drum sticks :)
Converted from rF1 this is a surprisingly good Mod, every car from the 1992 F1 season is there, each one with it's own distinct feel and sounds, and the sounds are stellar especially in replay mode. So if you have a yearning to relive the good old days of Mansell and Prost it gets Knights seal of approval
https://mega.co.nz/#!ght2lBhI!ZQbPGSPkShMl35gh6s9PrLRqC_Zn_7ivigRrl99bQMY
So after Posting on the ISI and GBR forums over 2 months ago complaining about no visual back fires and missing collision sounds with no response or the typical "i dont know, it must be something on your end?" response i finally got an answer from a ISI forum member Juergen-BY
"I`d looked into some files and it seems, that they have forgotten the backfire for all newer cars. Double checked on e.g. Nissan 370z. No entries in the .gen and no backfire related gmt`s. On older Cars, e.g. Honda BTCC, Backfire is present and working. So, don`t worry, seems nothing wrong on your side...
"
F1fan mentioned that there were missing collision sounds in some of the vehicles aswell a few months back when i brought it up.
I started having these issues well before xmas and was totally convienced that it wason my end, but glad to know i have no issues :)
So my question is......if it was there before why is it nearly half a yr later with this stuff missing? (bug?), i can live with no visual backfire but how does nobody not notice or care about missing collision and contact sounds? how can you race close and hard? i did an online race with the clios this week and had to drop out cause i was getting so frustrated with my car bouncing around and accidently spun a racer cause i had no audio clues.
It seems there is some broken code that needs to be fixed, as coincidently both RRE and GSC (running on gmotor) had the same issues which i reported to the devs and were fixed pretty quickly.
So much potential, yet too many unfinished features :(
It's hard to know what to say to you, you don't except most of what I say in response to your posts about rF2. RRe and GSC are both running on Gmotor one, not Gmotor two. Those cars have not received updates as a new tyre contact patch in coming online, all new content will have it and older content will be updated and any outstanding bugs dealt with then. Those bugs are known, and reported, along with at least one other you have missed ;) If you really want to know how things work come and join the team, join your voice with the rest of us, you'll find maybe that things are not as you think, a dedicated bunch of people working hard and yes sometimes making mistakes but every member of the dev team is putting in all the hours they can. Every single member of the dev and test team cares, and dedicates much time in their respective roles.
Right at the moment Nascar is a strong focus and the coding guys are working away to implement the rules, as well as that real road has to deal with the fact that apparently ovels start to lose grip over time as more and more rubber is laid down, so that is something that is being worked on. The new UI is still being worked on with many new features planned. New tracks are coming and new cars.
New shaders and lighting that has made a real difference. Chassis flex, new clutch modeling, and various other mechanical tweaks No other Sim models so many real time physics, and maybe this is a bit of a rod for ISI's back.
Like I say, if you want to make a difference join the test team, see what we do, see what we contend with. I have made a difference getting things into the game, sometimes quite a fight to convince both devs and test team but if your right, if you make a strong argument, it gets done.If your worried about time, then don't. Several testers test only off line, joining online tests only occasionally. It is one of the most rewarding...and yes sometimes the most frustrating things I have done since getting into this thing we call Sim racing.
I know it can look from the outside that everything is slapdash and stuff just thrown together with no real plan, but it's not that way, though I will admit even the testers are sometimes bemused, and we moan too, but over time you kinda get to see what the plan is and though some things seem more important than others, in reality they know what they are doing.
I'm not sure if anything there answers your questions to your satisfaction, but it's a honest reply and I've done the best I can. If not all I can say is give it a break for a while, all things will come right, and all those things you mention will be put right. As fast as you want? Maybe not :)