Assetto Corsa: How To Get Realistic Rain With RainFX in 2024

Assetto Corsa is a game that allows a huge variety of customisation due to the number of mods available. Mods such as Custom Shaders Patch give the 10 year old game a complete visual overhaul. A variety of new cars are available from modders such as RaceSimStudio. And a combination of SOL and RainFX deliver realistic weather effects.

Together, these mods allow Assetto Corsa to compete with much newer sim racing games. One of the biggest overhauls you can make to Assetto Corsa is adding realistic rain effects, which is something that the game doesn’t include as standard.

In this guide, I’m going to show you our step-by-step tutorial on how to enable realistic rain in Assetto Corsa using a variety of mods, including RainFX.

What do you need to get realistic rain in Assetto Corsa?

To enable realistic rain in Assetto Corsa, you do need a few mods. Most of the mods are free to download and incredibly easy to install. I’ll run through a tutorial on how to install each of these mods and where to download them from this guide.

The only premium mod you need to purchase is the premium version of Custom Shaders Patch, which is available for just $1 on the creator’s Patreon (Ilja Jusupov).

Below are all of the mods you need to enable rain in Assetto Corsa.

• Content Manager: Content Manager replaces the Assetto Corsa launcher and allows for management of all mods.
• Custom Shaders Patch: CSP gives Assetto Corsa a complete overhaul and version 1.76 is required to enable SOL and realistic rain.
• SOL: SOL is a weather system for Assetto Corsa and enables custom weather including rain.
• RainFX: RainFX is the mod that is responsible for creating physical rain in Assetto Corsa.

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Where to download all of the mods to enable rain in Assetto Corsa?

As mentioned above, each of these mods (other than the RainFx version of CSP) are free to download. Below are links on where to download each mod.

Mod	What it does	Price	Download link
Content Manager	Replaces the Assetto Corsa launcher.	Free	AssettoCorsa.club
CSP	A complete graphics and physics overhaul.	Free	acstuff.ru
SOL	Custom weather systems and effects.	Free	Overtake.gg
RainFX	Enables physical rain particles and effects.	$1	Patreon

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Installing Content Manager

The first mod to download is Content Manager, and this creates a brand new launcher for Assetto Corsa. With Content Manager installed you won’t ever have to use the dated AC launcher or menu system. You can start races and change all settings directly from the Content Manager dashboard.

This mod also allows you to drag and drop new mods, making installing them incredibly easy. It is easily one of the very best Assetto Corsa mods and is the first download that I always recommend picking up.

Installing Content Manager is incredibly easy. The download file includes an .EXE file which you can run to install it. Run through the installation wizard, following on screen instructions to complete the installation. You can then launch Content Manager to manage everything to do with Assetto Corsa.

For more information on this app, and a more detailed tutorial on how to install Content Manager, read our complete setup guide.

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Installing Custom Shaders Patch

Custom Shaders Patch is the next mod you’ll need to enable rain in Assetto Corsa. You can download it from several places, including acstuff.ru or Ilja Jusupov’s Patreon. The easiest way to install CSP, though, is from within Content Manager.

Content Manager comes with Custom Shaders Patch fully implemented, all you need to do is install CSP from the settings screen inside Content Manager.

To find it, go to the settings in the top navigation menu and select Custom Shaders Patch. If it doesn’t detect that CSP is already installed, it will give you the option to install it. Simply click this install button and let Content Manager install CSP for you.

We do have a complete tutorial for installing and configuring Custom Shaders Patch that delves into the process in more detail. It also explains how to use previous versions or access preview builds.

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Installing SOL

Technically, SOL isn’t required to use RainFX. However, it improves the customisation and set-up for custom weather. This is a free mod, so I recommend downloading it to give you full control over how the weather looks and behaves.

SOL can be downloaded from Overtage.gg (formerly RaceDepartment) for free, or you can subscribe to the creator’s Patreon (Peter Boese) to download a newer and more advanced version, as well as the complete Pure implementation.

Whichever version of SOL you download, follow the instructions below to install it.

1. With the SOL .zip folder downloaded, extract the .zip folder.
2. Copy the four folders inside the extracted .zip, named extension, content, apps and system into your Assetto Corsa directory. This is where you installed Assetto Corsa, and it should be at the following location “Windows (C:) > Program Files (x86) > Steam >steamapps > common > assettocorsa”
   • If you get a notification to replace any files with the same name, click confirm. These may be from an older installation of SOL.

Read our complete Assetto Corsa SOL tutorial for more in-depth installation instructions as well as recommended settings to get the most from this mod.

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Installing RainFX

RainFX is a mod that is tricky to find if you don’t know where to look. It is the mod that is responsible for creating physical rain particles and realistic weather effects, but you don’t download this mod on its own.

Instead, RainFX is a part of the Lights Patch and Custom Shaders Patch preview build that is available from Ilja Jusupov. You will need to subscribe to Ilja’s Patreon, which can be done for as little as $1, or you can choose a higher tier to support this mod’s creator.

To install Lights Patch which includes RainFX, follow the steps below;

1. Subscribe to Ilja’s Patreon.
2. Download the latest Lights Patch preview build, available in the top pinned post.
3. Drag and drop the entire downloaded .zip folder into the Content Manager dashboard.
4. Select the “install” option in the popup to start the installation. You may be asked to override existing files if you already have Custom Shaders Patch installed. This is OK.
5. This will automatically install the mod, allowing for realistic rain functionality.
6. Once installed, open the Custom Shaders Patch settings, select “About & Updates” and ensure that the CSP version is the preview version you have just installed.
7. Head into the settings and enable RainFX, and use our recommended settings below for the most realistic rain possible.

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Settings to change to enable rain

With all of the mods installed, you do need to change a few settings just to make sure everything is working correctly. Below are our recommendations on which settings to update to make the weather and rain as realistic as possible.

These settings can all be changed from inside the Content Manager settings, using the Weather FX and Rain FX submenus.

• Weather style: Inside the Weather FX submenu, you can change the controller for the weather. Ensure you select SOL from this dropdown, or the latest version of SOL if using the premium mod from Peter’s Patreon.
• Use extended physics: Within the drive menu of Content Manager, on the bottom left, you should enable “use extended physics”. This will enable the physical rain, and is required to see rain in game. This will negatively affect AI behaviour, so if racing with AI, disable this option.
• Turn wipers on and off automatically: Disable this setting. With it enabled, the wipers when racing in cockpit cam will not react to SOL weather.
• Enable SOL Python Apps: To be able to access the SOL Planner while racing in Assetto Corsa, you need to enable the app functionality. This can be done by navigating to Assetto Corsa settings on the top bar of Content Manager, then down to “Python Apps” in the sidebar. Ensure “Enable Python Apps” is selected, and then tick all SOL-related apps, including the Config, Custom Weather, Weather App and Planner.

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How to change the weather to physical rain in Assetto Crrsa

With everything installed and enabled, it’s time to start using the realistic rain while driving in Assetto Corsa. You can change the weather before you load a session to set the starting weather conditions, and you can have further control when you are loaded into a session.

Setting the weather before loading a new session

When creating a new session, you can set the starting weather using the weather drop-down menu. There are a range of presets from cloud coverage, to rain intensity, and you can control three individual areas. These are accessed by hovering over the “Sol 2.5 dynamic” setting.

• Start Weather: This controls the weather effects including cloud coverage, rain, haze etc at the start of your session.
• Start Wetness: The wetness will dictate how wet the track is at the start of your race session, dictating the levels of grip.
• Start Puddles: You can choose how many puddles are present at the start of your session.

Changing the weather in game

When you load into a session, you have much more detailed control over the current and upcoming weather settings. Navigate to the right sidebar and select the SOL Planner app. This will load up a detailed scheduler where you can schedule changeable weather and select the current conditions.

Within the SOL Planner, you have control over the intensity of the rain, probability of changing conditions, puddle formation, track wetness and much more.

To adjust SOL settings while in Assetto Corsa, follow our tutorial below;

1. Load up an Assetto Corsa session.
2. Move your mouse to the right-hand sidebar and select SOL Planner.
3. This will open up the weather planner.
4. From inside the planner, you can choose various weather settings and also schedule dynamic weather to change the weather during your race.

If you haven’t read our guide on the best mods for Assetto Corsa, head over and read it now to discover which mods should be the first ones you install.

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Frequently asked questions