AMS 2 | Loads Of New Content And Latest Update Deployed

Paul Jeffrey · Oct 3, 2020

Reiza Studios have released another major new update to Automobilista 2 - and several new cars come with it.

Update 1.0.4.0 now available.
Several new and classic cars released.
Multiple physics, UI and feature improvements.

A brand-new update has been released for Automobilista 2, and in good news for content fans, the latest release also includes a very pleasing collection of new content to enjoy. On the cars front, the build brings with it a collection of racing machinery from days gone by, with touring cars and lower powered tin tops very much the focus of this latest update - adding classic DTM and touring cars plus the exceptionally cool BMW M1 Procar series... (inserts smiley face here!).

For fans of tracks, the world of karting has received some love, with AMS1 favourites Buskerud and Speedland joining the title for this new release.

Also new for this build is a revision to the head movement feature within the game, plus a very nice looking list of changes and improvements that can be found below:

CONTENT

Added 1960s Touring Car Series (featuring Lotus 23 & Mini Cooper S 1965)
Added BMW M1 Procar Series
Added German Group A Series (featuring BMW M3 E30 & Mercedes 190 Evolution
Added Mini JCW UK Series
Added Buskerud Kart Track (2 layouts)
Added Speedland Kart track (4 layouts)
Added Hockenheim 1988 Short layout (part of Hockenheimring DLC)*

GENERAL

Added borderless window mode option (Perfromance Options Screen)
Altered behaviour of helmet/cockpit cameras to prevent locking to world horizon and improve smoothing/damping of camera view
Fixed issue where event date was not correctly set if host changed track via multiplayer lobby
Added 'Start New Championship' flow; Added Select championship type, select vehicle/livery, Pre-allocate opponents Added championship specific AI Skill / Aggression settings to championship overview (can be adjusted mid season as desired
Fixed clamping of range when validating Multiplayer AI difficulty setting on client.
Added support to look backwards when pressing loo left / look right simultaneously
Fixed "dummy" objects unintentionally appearing in reflections at higher settings.
Player now retains control of steering/shifting during pitstops when 'Manual pitstops' setting is enabled.
Fixed issue where sometimes player control was not restored after an AI controlled pitstop.

UI & HUD

Added Help text to advanced setup screen
Fixed missing center suspension setting heading localisations
Added help text for all setings (subject to further review/localisation adjustments)
Changed 'WORLD MOVEMENT' to 'HEAD MOVEMENT' to reflect new functionality
Adjusted showroom climate brightness
Added French & Spanish localization options
'Waiting for host' message now also displayed after race sessions in multiplayer when appropriate.
Changed 'EXIT' button to 'RETURN TO MAIN MENU' on post session leaderboard
Added confirmation step when attempting to exit while waiting for host to return to lobby at the end of multiplayer events.
Fixed incorrect activation states on Broadcast Control overlay toggles.
Fixed menu mouse activations and highlight state throughout on Broadcast Control
Added Start New Championship screen for championship and vehicle/livery selection (additional championships to follow)
Replaced "Reset Championship" button with "Start New Championship"
Entering championship mode now opens new championship page if no valid save is present.

DEDICATED SERVER TOOL

Limit AI Difficulty slider to 70-120%
Max Grid Size and Max Human Opponents now allowed to be equal in http UI
Replaced AllowableTimePenalty with AllowedCutsBeforePenalty and limit to correct range (1-50)

PHYSICS & AI

Replaced open Salisbury-based open differential physics with more effective alternative;
Further reduced differential lock per clutch setting
Fixed CTD with Caterham Academy / Supersport
Fixed F-V12, MP4-12, kart shifter & other unreleased cars missing latest minimal AI strentgh adjustment (being too slow below 100% setting as a result)
M1 Procar: Revised tyre construction; Revised Suspension Geometry; Lowered engine inertia; Increased brake torque; Revised tyre constructio
Adjusted AI lateral movement in initial launch off the line
Reduced differential locking increment per clutch setting (all cars)
Slightly adjusted kart tyre treads & FFB max force
Slightly reduced F-V10 Gen2 AI tyre rolling resistance to better match player´s

AUDIO

Onboard cameras now all use onboard sounds
All cars revised for any persisting inacurate engine sound position (forward-rear, left-right)
Added helictoper & drone sound effect (track dependent, where animation is present as sound effects are tagged to the respective objects)
Puma P052: engine sound offset to side fixed, corrected small click in low-ish rpm loop.
Kart 125 2T: increased internal engine volume slightly, external decreased slightly
Camaro SS: increased external sound volume (both trackside and external on car views); fixed bad on-power low RPM samples overlap and general transition from idling to on-power.
Ultima GTR Race: Adjusted filtering on external audio (trackside).
Super V8: Adjusted SUB-frequencies over RPM range
Puma P052 small adjustment to interior sound.

TRACKS

Reworked treeline and grass blade shader, added few new types of grass blades & reworked existing ones.
Reworked fog/haze shader with different exponent steps depending on angle you look at, so you can see the sunlit air when facing the sun
Adjusted fog levels in heavy cloud/overcast setting for european tracks
Added custom track animated objects (still WIP) to Spielberg, Kyalami and Buskerud
Small art passes to Spielberg, Bathurst, Kansai
Ortona: Fixed pit speed warning on track over 60kph; Added correct trigger for pit exit on layout 4;
optimized track cut mesh
Fixed VIR South hole after pit exit
Silverstone 2020: Extensive performance pass
Outon Park: Marbles test : less boxes (78->24), bigger boxes, 0.5-1.5 range, no brake zones
Snetterton: Fixed some AI pit lane issues (hitting pitwall, driving onto grass at pitlane to main path merge)
Adjusted textures; fixed some object LOD popping; Adjusted 100 layout pitlane/pitexit/trackcut to prevent a DQ in some cases
Curitiba: Minor optimization & art pass; improved pit lane path merge to main path; remapped garage/pitbox locations; calibrated dynamic brake marker spacing
Spielberg Historic:Restored road patch bumps; minor optimization pass; calibrated brake marker spacing
Londrina: Fixed black treelines
Imola 2001: Added period-accurate ad boards
Silverstone 2020 Intl: Improved AI line.
Added VR Spectator cams to Interlagos, Silvestone 2001, Bathurst, Hockenheimring, Imola
Fixed objects popping in Spielberg, Silverstone 1975, Silverstone 2020
Brasilia: Fixed several object LOD popping; Various object & texture adjustments
Brands Hatch: Upgraded road seam & roadline shaders; Improved brake marker texture and spacing; Minor optimization pass
Interlagos: Fixed object LOD popping; Upgraded road seam & roadline shaders;
Imola: Fixed hole at Acque Minerali; closed some open edges between double sawtooth curbs; fixed some grass glitches; calibrated brake marker spacing; upgraded sign placement to latest references;
Upgrade distance marker shader to rz_basic, rework sign placement based on recent reference video; moved start trigger 5m to align with pitwall starting gantry; added garage door collisions; relaxed road noise slightly; minor optimization pass
Ortona; Minor Art pass; Added new AI paths for paddock area; Fixed broken UV4 groove mapping. Upgraded road seam & roadline shaders; ;New HUD track maps. Optimized track cut mesh; Added starting lights; Fixed wrong way/DQ bug from new paddock pit lane; Updated fast lines for layout 1 and 3; Minor optimization pass
Guapore: Fixed various object LOD issues; Minor Optimization & art pass; Fixed some open edges; added animated drones
Adjusted road noise for Guapore and Ibarra

VEHICLES

SuperKart: Updated liveries
Added Stock Car 2020 dangling damaged parts
Added Sprintrace dirt and damage effects + dangling parts
Added Super_V8 dirt and damage effects + dangling parts
Fixed Caterham Academy Driver & car animations

AMS 2 is available now exclusively to 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!

Rodger Davies · Oct 6, 2020

GOV47 said:
I know we are getting GT3 and GT4, which is fine and I will enjoy (just hope we get more than one or two makes in each class). What I think would be awesome for Reiza, since having obscure stuff is kind of their thing, is to have the Super GT license. The GT500 and GT300 (essentially GT3's) would be a nice get and no other sim really has them out side of I think one car in Rf2. Having the other Japanese tracks would be great too.

SuperGT licence would be very expensive I believe. Hence no-one ever has it.

re: GTs, expect somewhere between 2 and 4 cars (BMW, Mercedes, Porsche and one other), so another class without huge depth to it but at least this one will have some variation:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1297882386605252608

Kenny Paton · Oct 6, 2020

Rodger Davies said:
SuperGT licence would be very expensive I believe. Hence no-one ever has it.

I've never understood the managerial logic behind that type of reasoning, I'm pretty sure that having these cars in a game would add to their audience and earn them more.

Ryan Robbins · Oct 6, 2020

Blamer said:
Restarted using AMS2 lately (I needed a break from AC and its CSP related crashes...) and I'm liking it more and more.
There's one thing though that I can't fix: the head motion makes me feel sick (VR user here) in ten minutes while I can play AC for hours. Lock to horizon or to car and the steps in between don't help me fix it.

I agree with the ones who reported about the AI level being very different from car to car. I have to go from 90% to 120% depending on the car; a slider in the pre-race page would surely help.

I guess I am just loosing my mind, but it seems better to me. Maybe I am just much more resistant to VR motion sick less now. But the head shaking issue in VR seems improved some to me?. I dont have any before and after videos so maybe it is a placebo.

XhendrickX · Oct 6, 2020

Thanks for the head movement fix. I can now play without having headaches. That is the only positive thing I can say. I was in love with the driving and handling from version 1.0 but after updates its gone backwards. Yes I did a new profile as recommended. It lost the good feeling so that sucks.

The game as a whole is still a beta. We have been here before with ACC. Games getting released way early before they are ready for the public. It then becomes a cycle of adding content free/paid and bug fixes that never end, rather than focus on getting the fundamentals right. As a result, the game will never reach its full potential.

Content wise....sure thanks, but one/two car classes do not work for me. I see one or two official liveries but the rest is the usual generic stuff. This is one area PC2/RaceRoom are very strong at. You have a field of true teams. There is no authentic feeling with this game. Yes I appreciate that Reiza Studios works hard but, AMS 2 = PC2 Lite.

UMC 22 · Oct 6, 2020

Ryan Robbins said:
But the head shaking issue in VR seems improved some to me?

It's no different so it seems you're feeling a placebo effect. I never had a big issue with it myself, but in some car/track combos it is far more obvious than others. It's never made me feel sick as I'm pretty VR-resistant, but it does make the track very hard to focus on sometimes. F-V12 at historic Hockenheimring I had to lock the view much more to the world just to see the corners I was approaching.

Miguel Batista · Oct 6, 2020

Rodger Davies said:
SuperGT licence would be very expensive I believe. Hence no-one ever has it.

re: GTs, expect somewhere between 2 and 4 cars (BMW, Mercedes, Porsche and one other), so another class without huge depth to it but at least this one will have some variation:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1297882386605252608

I believe they are licensing GT3 and GT4 cars through the Brazilian Endurance series so we will not have a full field of GT3s. iirc, they have Mercedes, Ferrari, Porsche, Audi and BMW (?) represented so we might get those (though ferrari licensing fees are expensive). Good news is that the cars are unrestricted so if you want to see how fast GT3s can get, this is probably the sim to do it

GOV47 · Oct 6, 2020

Rodger Davies said:
SuperGT licence would be very expensive I believe. Hence no-one ever has it.

re: GTs, expect somewhere between 2 and 4 cars (BMW, Mercedes, Porsche and one other), so another class without huge depth to it but at least this one will have some variation:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1297882386605252608

Do you know it is more expensive than other licenses as a fact or just speculating? Just curious. Wouldn't figure it would be any more expensive than some of the other licenses, but maybe so.

Only having 3-4 cars is disappointing, especially since there are so many different makes in those divisions. (GT3 GT4). Being based on the Brazil series makes more sense in that regard though. Oh well.

Mekonrider · Oct 6, 2020

Kind of wish they'd do a brand specific pack like AC did with Porsche and Ferrari.

UMC 22 · Oct 6, 2020

Mekonrider said:
Kind of wish they'd do a brand specific pack like AC did with Porsche and Ferrari.

To be honest, I hate those kinds of DLC. In a racing sim I want fleshed out multi-vehicle classes that can race together, not individual cars to hot lap with.

Rodger Davies · Oct 6, 2020

GOV47 said:
Do you know it is more expensive than other licenses as a fact or just speculating? Just curious. Wouldn't figure it would be any more expensive than some of the other licenses, but maybe so.

Only having 3-4 cars is disappointing, especially since there are so many different makes in those divisions. (GT3 GT4). Being based on the Brazil series makes more sense in that regard though. Oh well.

Complete speculation (hence "I believe"), so I could be completely wrong!

That's based on the fact those cars rarely show up and we've never heard anything from their license despite it being commonly requested by players of lots of games.

The stupid thing is, I think the last time the series was licenced in a mainstream title was Gran Turismo 2, and that game isn’t probably a huge part in why the series is even known internationally.

I say ‘mainstream’ because the licence was acquired by Sega for an arcade game (built in UE4) but no idea what to make of it: https://swdc.sega.jp/ Obviously, I’ve no idea how exclusive that is.

Personally, I don’t think there will be much connection between the GT3 cars they will include and the Brasil Endurance championship, my guess is BMW and Mercedes (semi-confirmed in the June blog) and maybe Porsche (that we’ve seen a screenshot of the old 2016 GT3R) and McLaren (as there are multiple known McLaren models agreed anyway). Again, just guessing.

Rodger Davies · Oct 6, 2020

Goffik said:
To be honest, I hate those kinds of DLC. In a racing sim I want fleshed out multi-vehicle classes that can race together, not individual cars to hot lap with.

I’m 100% in agreement with you on that one.

Deleted member 197115 · Oct 6, 2020

I think it was a brilliant move from Kunos, same manufacturer cars from different eras.
But I can see how building heterogeneous balanced grid could be an issue, but not all cars in these DLCs were racing cars either, still wonderful for roaming open road circuits like LAC with AI traffic or some fun racing with cars of similar P/W ratio.

Alex72 · Oct 7, 2020

nangu said:
Just thinking out loud: try disabling vsync in game and enable a frame limiter to 60 fps to see if it's the ingame vsync setting. If your graphics card is able to hold 60 fps, you will be always in the right zone of your monitor so no tearing, no stuttering.

For testing purposes I mean.

Not true my friend. I have games where the FPS is well above 60FPS and if i limit to 60 and turn off vsync i always have tearing. Always.

safi hellie said:
The 'stuttter' is not a frame issue, it is the game itself since the new head movement.
Maybe some people aren't as triggered by it it, but its there.
Smooth as butter before this update.
Just feels so off, is it too much to ask for a setting to not have the dash board moving up and down?

If you play with a wheel, remove in game virtual wheel and TV close to the FFB wheel it breaks all emersion to see a dash board going crazy over bumps...

I get that controller users and ones who don't use the non virtual wheel set up won't be affected but there must be others who do surely?

It should go down and up a little bit simulating you being pushed down into the seat when going uphill and down a bit when coming over a crest as your body moves up a bit. You are not stuck in the seat with glue hehe.

Deleted member 197115 · Oct 7, 2020

For folks waiting for GT3/GT4 DLC, have you tried Ginetta GT4 in AMS2 and ACC?
E30 in AMS2 vs AC or even R3E is also quite revealing comparison.

Shincha20 · Oct 7, 2020

Andrew_WOT said:
For folks waiting for GT3/GT4 DLC, have you tried Ginetta GT4 in AMS2 and ACC?
E30 in AMS2 vs AC or even R3E is also quite revealing comparison.

So tell us your thoughts on these comparison, please.

UMC 22 · Oct 7, 2020

Andrew_WOT said:
... have you tried Ginetta GT4 in AMS2 and ACC?

No, but they're slightly different cars. ACC has the more powerful Ginetta GT4 for GT4 racing, AMS 2 has the Ginetta GT4 Supercup for single-make racing. Similar car, but they'll feel different even if they were in the same sim.

Andrew_WOT said:
E30 in AMS2 vs AC or even R3E is also quite revealing comparison.

In my humble opinion, the DTM `92s in R3E kick seven shades of excrement out of their AMS 2 counterparts in every department.

GOV47 · Oct 7, 2020

I doubt the AMS2 ones are more realistic, but I have more fun throwing them around

UMC 22 · Oct 7, 2020

I think I've found yet another issue with the latest patch...

safi hellie · Oct 7, 2020

Only fair that i come on to say since i sorted the locked horizon and had another fiddle with FFB settings.....i am putting some time into this now...the modern Mini is brilliant and the M1 procar sublime.