AMS 2 Graphics Settings

[Highlandwalker]

Why does my AMS2 look so crap, all my other games look good RF2 - AC - ACC.... AMS is ok but not as good as the others. In AMS2 I have the graphics at max settings, it just looks wishy washy, lack of contrast and as if there is a vail over the screen. Some tracks are are worse than others, Silverstone vintage versions look particularly bad. I have tried adjusting the exposure setting in the game but that just makes it lighter or darker. Is there an adjustment I am missing to correct this. Please do not say adjust your monitor settings because it is correctly calibrated and every thing else looks good. The monitor is 100% sRGB so it displays the full range of colours not all monitors are 100% sRGB. I like the game but don't play it very often because it looks so bad. Hope some body may have an idea why it looks so bad.

Mod Edit: Don't post threads with ALL CAPS titles please. There's no need to shout.

 

[Dann Murillo]

Hmm maybe share some screenshots to compare with other users? I think AMS2 has arguably the best graphics of any sim. There are plenty of shared photos out there to compare with yours.

 

[Highlandwalker]

Hmm maybe share some screenshots to compare with other users? I think AMS2 has arguably the best graphics of any sim. There are plenty of shared photos out there to compare with yours.

I've tried to show the effect with this screenshot. This is with a clear sky at 1-pm, so there should be strong shadows and be high contrast. I don't agree AMS2 has the best graphics. I was disappointed with the graphics from the first time I ran the game, certainly not up to all the hype.

As comparison with RF2

 

[BillGuy]

If you haven’t done so already, be sure to try out multiple combinations of weather conditions and time of day. I’ve noticed that it can occasionally have a distinct effect on appearance. For example, a setting of medium cloud might produce bland looking results at a certain track when the sun is behind the clouds. Change the time of day by two or three hours at the same track, and I’ve found and the results can look noticeably better even with the same weather setting. I'm not referring to pushing the time into "golden hour" sunset times either. Changes like 11:00am to 2:00pm might make a difference even with identical weather.

 

[Highlandwalker]

If you haven’t done so already, be sure to try out multiple combinations of weather conditions and time of day. I’ve noticed that it can occasionally have a distinct effect on appearance. For example, a setting of medium cloud might produce bland looking results at a certain track when the sun is behind the clouds. Change the time of day by two or three hours at the same track, and I’ve found and the results can look noticeably better even with the same weather setting. I'm not referring to pushing the time into "golden hour" sunset times either. Changes like 11:00am to 2:00pm might make a difference even with identical weather.

I've tried lots of different combinations of track, car and time and it always has the same sort of vail.

 

[UMC 22]

Your screenshots make no sense. You post a distant landscape shot from AMS 2, and a close-up action shot of rF2. One is going to include haze and the other is not, among other things, so of course they're going to look totally different. Just like real photos of those types would.

We could do with proper screens showing this issue, as from your initial description I don't understand the problem. AMS 2 looks perfectly sharp, clear and well contrasted to me, both in VR and on my monitor.

 

[OurManInTangier]

That first shot appears to show a high level of aerial perspective, certainly compared to the rF2 shot you’ve posed when looking at the distant trees in that shot. Add in any higher haze settings you may have in AMS2, I drop mine down as a personal preference, will only exacerbate that effect.

I do find a big difference between the bluer look of rF2 and the more warm, slightly yellower tinge to AMS2. As a photographer....sorry, middle age photographer, I liken many differences between different studios sims graphic styles to different film emulsions. Kodak and Fuji used to be well known for their house styles with Kodak producing a far warmer look to the “realistic” look often attributed to Fuji. Maybe this makes me more lenient towards differences between sims.

I would say that the shot you’ve provided for AMS2 is the most washed out, bland and lacking in contrast that I’ve seen in the game so far. I play exclusively in VR, so prepared for less rather than more, and have been very pleased with the punchy colours, sharpness and clarity.

 

[Deleted member 197115]

There is some haze in AMS2, screen or VR. Was the same case with PCars. I believe disabling PP and increasing sharpening helps, but does not eliminate it completely.

 

[Highlandwalker]

I installed Reshade and spent hours played around with the settings and got a result that I'm happy with, not perfect but happy a enough to spend more time playing AMS2. The only slight problem is the UI and cockpit is a bit dark. Some of you may think it's not an improvement but I'm happy. Thanks to everybody for trying to help me out. Thanks.
Some screen shots.
Before.

After.

 

[passenger]

Sorry to say but that looks too saturated, unnatural colours.

AMS 2 looks to me already a bit saturated, which makes it look cartoonish.

 

[reshaderacer]

well honestly I don't get it. I like AMS2's graphics they are very much good. Its project cars 2 graphics for crying out loud which are not exactly lacking. I wonder what your setup is like and if its default etc. The textures and bases and all those goodies like cubemaps and shaders etc are different between games.

You won't get it to look just like it. There's nothing wrong with the AMS2 graphics, maybe delete your ams2 mydocuments and reset your graphics drivers etc. Especially with reshade which adds additional files that can alter what you then-think is the default look.

Done a LOT of skyrim stuff over the years. Its second nature to me now. There's nothing wrong with AMS2 graphics to my eye.

edit: my screen name sorry is a complete coincidence. I have the screen name as a nothing - and its specifically because I once downloaded/first the Sol mod for AC. And some of the best graphics examples in the game are from the historical tracks like the austrian one and the south african one and adelaide. This to me tells me there's nothing wrong with the graphics creation for mine.

And that its my guess you saw the least appealing shot in the game (which many of us do) and judged the whole thing. Graphics are always compromised owing to peoples hardware but at least (and even in) that shot, there was a lot of consistency. Thats even more important, because now I see in the effort to up the graphics you have jarring graphics in yours. You have made the screen-space/2d image in front of you after the 3d engine turns it into the 2d thing you see... with reshade do something the 'world-space' in 3d simply is not trying to do.

Last point of edit: NONE of these games do midday sun very well.... imho -compared- to what they can do at sunset and morning. Games are just better usually at the edges of the day when it comes to existing engines/techniques, even with current global illumination (though the best of them are actually ok). Even in skyrim I am not concerned about midday sun. Midday sun exposes the graphics/textures and lacks the shadows these games use (and contrast sometimes) to make themselves look good [there's no ray-tracing as well], and unless its blue light and slightly overexposed you won't get anything looking good. This is why weathers and game's etc focus on the morning and evening... just like it you drive at night it won't be as good owing to limits in current graphics tech in terms of how an engine can make spot-lights work... though SOL does an ok job, if you drive at night with AMS2 it struggles often (only tried on Guapore). So maybe you could benefit therefore with driving at dusk to get sunbeams etc and more atmosphere/ambience, or in the afternoon or morning. This is what I personally do. I try to stay away from 11am-2pm for example, but don't mind starting at, say 1pm races if they stretch into about 3pm.

Example, in Skyrim it takes a quality reshade and enb in alignment with good textures to do light/midday well and even then it can throw out the whole balance or at worst make the midday sun seem uninspiring by comparison. This is why I actually like AMS2 for its consistency and no you probably won't therefore be wowed by midday scenes.

 

[Stepy]

Says what you want about PCars 2 but it did have the best graphics, AMS2 is nowhere near that level.

 

[LibranRabbit]

I tried Reshade and didn’t have that good FPS, but had a light bulb moment ! I used Nvidia Inspector and deleted the AMS2 profile. Then added AMS2.exe to the Project Cars 2 profile that I get around 111 FPS avg. Well, well...I get the same performance and don’t need Reshade, looks very, very good.

 

[Deleted member 197115]

Says what you want about PCars 2 but it did have the best graphics, AMS2 is nowhere near that level.

Seems like PCars2 has better optimization and better AA, comparing them back and forth at the moment, in AMS2 MSAA should be High to look like Medium in PCars2. Night and golden hours are better performing in PCars too. Other than that at least in VR they are close enough to get confused what exact game you are in.

 

[Highlandwalker]

Screen shots of my final settings at Virginia at 1-00 pm, cloudy and clear sky. Happy now.
Cloudy.

Sunny.

 

[UMC 22]

A matter of taste I guess, because I think your screenies are oversaturated and kind of cartoony now.

 

[Deleted member 197115]

Everyone is critic

 

[Dann Murillo]

@Highlandwalker hey bud, as long as you are able to tweak the settings and be happy - that is a win!

 

[Highlandwalker]

Here's some comparison shots of rFactor2, same time of day, same track, highest graphic settings, PP set to high. NO filtering added of any kind. Only compare bright sun shots, they look pretty close to me. If they look over saturated, your monitor needs calibrating. My monitor is hardware calibrated with an X-Rite Colour Munki which is very accurate, software calibration is not very accurate because it is still your own interpretation of the individual adjustment screens. I've been a landscape photographer for over 40-yrs so I think I have a good idea of what looks right. I admit the first screen shots after reshade are too contrasty and a bit over saturated.

 

[reshaderacer]

I don't mind it, and yes I am being a critic now - but honestly, please, please O.P, even though Project Cars 2 may technically or actually (I have not played it a huge amount but do own it) be better - just let the shaders in AMS 2 do their thing. I thought AMS2 looks great. Maybe its not the best looking game ever no but so what it still looks really good. And I hope they keep on 'keeping on' with the graphics.

And is O.P sue he is turning on all the settings to full? There are several menu's about them.