AMS 2 | July Roadmap Confirms New F1 Cars, Mercedes And Lots More

Paul Jeffrey

Premium
Reiza Studios remain on the ball when it comes to their Automobilista 2 simulation, as they confirm plenty of exciting things in the July Development Roadmap posting.
  • Three new F1 cars.
  • Nordschleife confirmed as fourth DLC pack.
  • BMW, Mercedes licence.
  • Modern and historic Silverstone releases next week.
  • Championship mode, improved AI, Championship mode improvements.
The end of the month is a great time for the lesser spotted sim racing game roadmap fan, and Reiza Studios are keen to keep up with their fellow sim racing neighbours, as they pop into the realms of the internet with their own collection of audio and visual informative goodness - giving sim racers plenty to cheer when it comes to the immediate future of Automobilista 2.


The full development roadmap:

Greetings Everyone! Here we go for another Development Update... And there is a lot to cover!

We are now one month into Automobilista 2´s release and we can´t understate what a meaningful milestone this has been for Reiza. Those who have been following us will have an idea about the bumps we have had on this road, including a sort of game engine limbo until the opportunity to work with Slightly Mad Studios and use their Madness engine came along.

From the moment we got our hands on this engine in October 2018 until release day in June 2020 there was just 20 months do do everything - learn a new engine, get a grasp on their tools, figuring out new graphics, audio, physics and UI pipelines, develop the skills and hire people to work on stuff we previously had no experience in - and then go about the business of building a game with over 50 tracks and cars!

While the release has been important, we can´t argue it´s been flawless - the game still has rough edges and we´re not oblivious to the fact it´s restricting enjoyment of the game for some users. We´re frustrated ourselves with some of the troubles we had in the final stretch of Early Access so in these first weeks we have remained commited to play some catch-up.

One of the things we´ve found lacking and have since been working towards is assembling all the information people need to get into AMS2, understand what it is about and get it to work well - the new official website should hopefully help offer that in a more cohesive manner, with more info about the game content, configurations and a fairly detailed roadmap for what is still to come.

More important than that of course is the work on the game itself, and here too we´ve been pushing hard - we have already released our first update last week, and we´re completing some more substantial work for the one coming next week (estimated to August 7th). Some of the highlights:

Championship Mode will now allow for different championship series, customizing session lengths and saving your progress in between sessions. This is still the bare minimum, with lots of further features still to be added to this game mode in the coming months.

For the next update we are also simplifying the track limit system to work more like we had it in AMS1 - a customizable number of warnings for each time you exceed the track limits, after which driver is given a drive-thru penalty. At least provisionally the option to pay penalites slowing down will be restricted to giving back positions gained by going off track (and even then with some further fine-tuning to better detect cars that are not up to race speed). We´ll continue to work on the original system with the intent of adding it back later on as an alternative.

We also continue working hard on the AI and have some good developments in store for the next update. As with the penalty system, we are simplifying some of their logic in order to ensure some better consistency, particularly in racing conditions where extra functions can still lead them to react unpredictably.

We´re also experimenting with some new functions for AI cars to take defensive lines going into corners and use wet lines in the rain, some preliminary work on these fronts may already make to the release next week

The addition of more elaborate AI driver personalities is also underway and should help the AI opponents in each of the series in the game behave and perform more appropriately for the racing style demanded in the series.

Along witth these, all other areas in the game will continue to warrant and receive continous development throughout AMS2 dev cycle as they have so far.

Content to Make Everyone Content!

Work on the content side evolves in parallel to development of the game core, and here too we are happy to say we have some quick catching up inbound.

Silverstone Circuit will see back-to-back Grand Prix this weekend and the next so it seems an appropriate time to celebrate this classical track by releasing it in between this unique event - the track along with several historical variants will be released next week together with the game update.

Silverstone will be the 2nd DLC pack for AMS2 and like Hockenheimring it will feature this classic track in four versions - 1975, 1991, 2001 and 2019. These versions of the track are as different from each other as the cars that raced on them in each of these eras, but they are all unique, flowing and challenging in their own way. The 1991 version is one of my personal favorites and we´re specially proud to be bringing it to AMS2 - probably the first time the track has featured in a sim since Geoff Crammond´s original F1 Grand Prix!

Unfortunately the historical tracks are still due an art pass to bring them up to the very high standards our track team has been setting as of late, so we can´t preview them yet. They did let me include a lap of the modern version however so you can come along with me for a ride in VR to check how it´s shaping up:


We´ll post similar videos of the historical versions throughout the next week in preparation for the release.

Along with Silverstone, we are releasing 4 new cars in two classes, and no less than 3 of them are official classic Grand Prix cars - the Lotus 49C and Brabham BT26 will join the similarly spec F-Vintage Gen2 series, enriching the class with a couple of genuine articles.

AMS 2 Lotus.jpg


Another class is being added as the Formula V10 Gen1 - an earlier version of its Gen2 counterpart, with wider track and slick tyres and a dream ride through the 2001 version of Silverstone.

AMS 2 F1.jpg


Along with the new F-V10 we have another classic F1 car, but this one we´re gonna keep under wraps a little longer as it brings a few interesting things that is worth elaborating on
:)


With these and many other models already licensed we can confidently assert that AMS2 will have the largest ensemble of classic Grand Prix cars in a racing sim, and with the right tracks to go along with them.

The Germans Are Coming...

With the addition of Silverstone to a roster that already features five other British tracks along with Lotuses, Mclarens and Ginettas, we continue to make steady progress into the cream of British motorsports, and we´re "chuffed to bits" about that as there are few countries which can rival the UK for sheer quality of their motorsports culture.

There is another one however that just might - with the release of the Hockenheimring last week, we have marked the start of our advance into another "theatre", as Germany is also soon to be well and truly represented in Automobilista 2!

Let´s start with the cars: some of you will know and have been claiming for the classic German touring cars we alluded to a few months back; unfortunately licensing hold-ups under the new world order have truly messed up our release schedule, but we are happy to confirm we´re in the final stages of our licensing agreements with both BMW and Mercedes-Benz, which will see some brilliant German machinery arriving to AMS2 in the coming weeks and months.

AMS 2 BMW.jpg


We´ll start with the classics: the BMW M1 Procar will be the first to arrive, and soon after the M30 E30 along with the Mercedes 190E Evo2 for some classic touring car action. Plenty of more of these to come, but let´s not spoil it all yet
:)


Later on the two brands will be represented in our GT3 / GT4 pack with their respective models, and we will have at least one more German brand to add this line-up soon enough...

Unfortunately since the conclusion of these deals are fairly recent developments we haven´t been able to get more previews cleared for this Dev Update, but in any case we wanted to finally confirm them as they have been dragging for a while now, and also confirm these and many other models are already in-game - so while these are unlikely to be make it in any of our August releases, we should get some very interesting line-up of cars already by September and October.

And to make it more interesting, we confirm that all the cars mentioned in this dev update will be free additions to the base game.

...And to the Green Hell We Go!

Naturally if you are going to do German motorsports there is no escaping the Green Hell, so we´re again extremely excited to confirm that the Nurburgring will also be coming for Automobilista 2 in the near future - intially with the Nordschleife, GP and 24h layouts, with more variants to be added over time.

The Nurburgring will be the 4th Track DLC Pack, joining Hockenheimring, Silverstone and Spa. Now there´s just one more to be confirmed before the end of the year...

So all this hopefully makes everyone as excited about the future of Automobilista 2 as we are - there is a lot of good stuff still to come, and a vision to bring it all together in a way that will make AMS2 a truly unique experience!

As we keep working towards that and in consideration of the fact some of the premium cars haven´t made it into the game yet, we have elected to stick with the current pricing from the 2nd half of the Early Access period - the bump will come when the cars are added though so don´t wait to long to join this train...



Original Source: Reiza Studios

Automobilista 2 is available now, exclusively on PC.

Got questions? Have answers? Want to chat about AMS 2 and don't know where to go? Worry not my friend, we have just the place for you! The Automobilista 2 sub forum here at RaceDepartment welcomes you with open arms - come say hello!

AMS 2 F1 2.jpg
 
Wow......even more content coming that was already in pcars2 which has clearly been iincluded in the licence when purchasing Madness engine......really does have the pcars2 feel about it and it puts me off completely as its not really anything new.

Before people start slating my opinion drive a formula v10 into a gravel trap and watch it bounce around completely unrealistically or spin into a barrier and watch it bounce up onto its side with more rigidity than a tree falling over.

Nope, the licenses do NOT carry over. They didn't from PC1 to PC2 either (No Ariel Atoms in PC2 :( ). Reiza have to negotiate their own deals.

regarding the FV10, the thing is you should aim to not drive in the kitty litter....;)

But in all seriousness NO game does gravel traps correct, I've yet to play a sim that let's me bog down in gravel.
 
Wow......even more content coming that was already in pcars2 which has clearly been iincluded in the licence when purchasing Madness engine......really does have the pcars2 feel about it and it puts me off completely as its not really anything new.

Before people start slating my opinion drive a formula v10 into a gravel trap and watch it bounce around completely unrealistically or spin into a barrier and watch it bounce up onto its side with more rigidity than a tree falling over.

If the content is good, I don't see any problems, and this is not true, all licences are reiza responsibility. AMS2 has a lot of 100% exclusive content, which leaves games like AC, ACC and rF2 far behind. Today AMS2 is the most complete sim racing, in my opinion.
 
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I'm sorry, but you must play a very limited selection of sims and have very low expectations to make that statement. Plenty of sims over the years have had very poor AI, and currently AMS 2 is one of them. Learning to adapt to the AIs flaws does not make the AI "good". It has nothing to do with how we drive in real life, because in real life racing drivers can go door-to-door without being guaranteed to ram each other off the track for no reason.

I really like the AI and having less problems with single-seaters than in other titles including AMS and rF2, but like with all they need to be setup correctly according to you pace. AI is faster during the race than practice so I set them up to be a bit slower during practice than me and starting from the back. Usually they are still quick during the race and I rarely win in contrast to online-races. Some combinations don't work, but most seems decent and the AI is mostly a bit slower in one corner only around the track and is driving competent in between. If you don't cover the inside line, they might go for a dive-bomb, but if, they don't hurt you. I also started adding some rain in the last quarter and the AI doesn't change tyres, but get similar slower than me. So thumbs up for the AI here:thumbsup:
 
Finally news on the german cars. Mercs and BMW to start with. Loving
already the M1. Yeah, we want more but let's see what the future brings.

Very nice rendering of Silverstone, very detailed with lots of buildings
there. Good start.

The AI still not there yet but being worked on hard. These artificial guys are
tough cookies, so let's be patient.

Yeah, and much more to come. Awsome Sim!
 
I want to rephrase what I said because it seems many people misunderstood that :
I find that AMS2 is the 1st time where the original is better than the successor. most of the cars in AMS2 (notably all F1s, Formula Vee, F3, Caterhams, MCR 2000) feels and drives completely different than the AMS1 version and not just from that, in the case of Formula Vee and MCR 2000 even from the rFactor2 versions of such cars also made by Reiza. AMS2 versions feels very numb and toned down (best examples are F V10 and F V12, AMS1 versions were pure and raw beasts to tame, while they now feels like they drive on rails) or in other cases (Catherams and Formula Vee) completely spoiled by all particular features that made those cars stand out in terms of drivability (Formula Vee in AMS2 is a complete joke that hasn't anything to do with the real counterpart on how it should be driven, which was represented in a sublime way in both AMS1 and rFactor2 versions). apart from that, the pure ffb experience of AMS1 still feels infinitely better than AMS2, which to me drives and feels like an over-simplified version of its predecessor. I hope I made myself more clear now.
 
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I want to rephrase what I said because it seems many people misunderstood that :
I find that AMS2 is the 1st time that the original is better than the successor. most of the cars in AMS2 (notably all F1s, Formula Vee, F3, Caterhams, MCR 2000) feels and drives completely different than the AMS1 version and not just from that, in the case of Formula Vee and MCR 2000 even from the rFactor2 versions of such cars always made by Reiza. AMS2 versions feels very numb and toned down (best examples are F V10 and F V12, AMS1 versions were pure and raw beasts to tame, while they now feels like they drive on rails) or in other cases (Catherams and Formula Vee) completely spoiled by all particular features that made those cars stand out in terms of drivability (Formula Vee in AMS2 is a complete joke that hasn't anything to do with the real counterpart on how it should be driven, which was represented in a sublime way in both AMS1 and rFactor2 versions). apart from that, the pure ffb experience of AMS1 still feels infinitely better than AMS2, which to me drives and feels like an over-simplified version of its predecessor. I hope I made myself more clear now.

AMS2 are frequently being update to improve all features, AMS2 is a long term project, I sure that in a few months it will be even better.
 
I worry about this game.....nobody seems to be playing it. The SteamDB stats are horrible ( 100 players at peak time on a Friday night ) . For me I've stayed away as I need multiplayer , and that's just not a thing at the moment that's worth the aggro. Maybe once MP is working properly and some leagues start popping up it will be worth visiting again. Probably a controversial opinion on here but those numbers don't lie....something is not hooking the players atm.

Yea, I love Reiza Racing Sims, I really do. But they seem a little out of touch with the current gaming world at the moment. I know Reiza caters to Sim gamers but current SIM/Arcade racing gamer's want some extra Spice with their games and AMS2 is currently not fulfilling it yet IMO.

The Championship mode is missing. I know it is coming but if it is the same championship mode as their previous game then they are making a big mistake. That championship mode left a lot to be desired, it was very stale and had a lot of problems. It really needs a major update. A career mode like Codies current F1 Game would bring a breath of fresh air to this sim. That's what people want!

The current hot new feature is Codies popular Team Owner Mode called "My Team". It's not perfect but it is really getting a lot of gamers playing that game with lots of content on YT and it looks really fun!
 
Yea, I love Reiza Racing Sims, I really do. But they seem a little out of touch with the current gaming world at the moment. I know Reiza caters to Sim gamers but current SIM/Arcade racing gamer's want some extra Spice with their games and AMS2 is currently not fulfilling it yet IMO.

The Championship mode is missing. I know it is coming but if it is the same championship mode as their previous game then they are making a big mistake. That championship mode left a lot to be desired, it was very stale and had a lot of problems. It really needs a major update. A career mode like Codies current F1 Game would bring a breath of fresh air to this sim. That's what people want!

The current hot new feature is Codies popular Team Owner Mode called "My Team". It's not perfect but it is really getting a lot of gamers playing that game with lots of content on YT and it looks really fun!

I have to say that F1 2020 is a great game. I know it is more simcade but the modes, license and even the AI makes it a really fun game to play for me. Most of the time i play my sims offline and its not always fun to choose a track and a car and thats it.

Making a great simulation is a whole other ballgame then building a great singleplayer game and thats shows. Look at AC, ACC, RF2 and Raceroom. The career is plain bad or not existing.

Edit : AC with RF2/Raceroom like AI would fix alot for me though. That would make it at least my fav VR Sim game.
 
I have to say that F1 2020 is a great game. I know it is more simcade but the modes, license and even the AI makes it a really fun game to play for me. Most of the time i play my sims offline and its not always fun to choose a track and a car and thats it.

Making a great simulation is a whole other ballgame then building a great singleplayer game and thats shows. Look at AC, ACC, RF2 and Raceroom. The career is plain bad or not existing.

Edit : AC with RF2/Raceroom like AI would fix alot for me though. That would make it at least my fav VR Sim game.

I agree. You are right, the Sim games that have a lot of different types of discipline cars are more difficult to create a single player career mode. Like you said, games like RR,RF2 etc. It was just a thought and opinion on why or maybe no one is paying attention to AMS2..I hope it gets better because it is truly a great sim!
 
I think what we have to realize is the fact that there is no such thing as "one Sim fits all". Different people have different interests. Most Sims are catering to a specific audience or interest group. iRacing to online multiplayer, ACC to GT3/GT4, RaceRoom to European racing scene. In the case of AMS2 the interest group would be Brazil Motorsport with Stock Car, SprintRacer and Emperio Endurance Brasil as well as Formula from Retro to modern F1 including all the fitting tracks. Is AMS2 perfect? No, it is not. Was ACC perfect when it was released 2 years ago? No, it was not. Personally, I love AMS2 and I ditched every other Sim for AMS2. But that is just me. Other people come to different conclusions because they have different interests than me.....and that is ok. I appreciate the transparency of the Reiza Dev Team, their dedication and hard work, their openes to criticism and their communication with the community. I see incredible potential in AMS2 and looking forward to grow with AMS2.

P.S. it is ok to call me a Fanboi of AMS2. I am one.
 
I think what we have to realize is the fact that there is no such thing as "one Sim fits all". Different people have different interests. Most Sims are catering to a specific audience or interest group. iRacing to online multiplayer, ACC to GT3/GT4, RaceRoom to European racing scene. In the case of AMS2 the interest group would be Brazil Motorsport with Stock Car, SprintRacer and Emperio Endurance Brasil as well as Formula from Retro to modern F1 including all the fitting tracks. Is AMS2 perfect? No, it is not. Was ACC perfect when it was released 2 years ago? No, it was not. Personally, I love AMS2 and I ditched every other Sim for AMS2. But that is just me. Other people come to different conclusions because they have different interests than me.....and that is ok. I appreciate the transparency of the Reiza Dev Team, their dedication and hard work, their openes to criticism and their communication with the community. I see incredible potential in AMS2 and looking forward to grow with AMS2.

P.S. it is ok to call me a Fanboi of AMS2. I am one.

I really think that one of AMS2s biggest advantages is that the track quality and selection is really good, one of the best Art Departments in Sim Racing next to iRacing and ACC. I think it's also got the potential to be one of the best F1 sims there is, just based on the historical content and the quantity of it.
 
I'm excited by this announcement and also disappointed by the ongoing tone of "New Content!" promises with no even semi-specific commitments to working on two of the fundamentals that are lacking. Yes, I'm talking about the replay system and the lack of timing data for all laps driven. The states of these two items are objectively and unquestionably steps *backwards* from AMS1.

To put an F1 spin on it, I really think Reiza should hit the pause button on the new content work for a bit and spend their "development tokens" on bringing some of the basic player experience items back up to the level AMS1 was at. To be fair, it does seem like they're doing exactly this with championship mode. Hopefully timing info or the replay system will be next in this context and not just fall by the wayside.
 
WOW, now that's what I call a roadmap (personal opinion), very exciting news indeed for what's coming up in the near future. Fantastic work all round from Reiza, chipping away at the big picture, er Sim and eventually producing, in my eyes anyway, a well rounded complete Sim in the years to come.:inlove:

Nordschliefe is what I am personally looking forward to and will probably try all the content around it for months:confused::redface::roflmao::thumbsup::inlove:...just driving manual H-Pattern with Clutch, going old school for a cruise :cool:

Keep up the fantastic work Reiza...loving the journey I am on :inlove:
 

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