AMS2 Beta Now Live | Development Roadmap

[Paul Jeffrey]

Reiza Studios have revealed the future development plans for Automobilista 2 in their latest 'Development Roadmap' posting.

As many of you will already know, the full 'version 1' build of the much anticipated Automobilista 2 is set to release this March 2020. For those of us who backed the original Reiza Simracing Bonanza crowdfunding campaign above level 5, or purchased one of the many early access packs for the simulation - this Friday 28th will mark our first opportunity to lay hands on the new racing simulation from Reiza Studios.

With plenty of hunger from the community to learn more about what's in store both short and long term for the new title, Reiza Studios have released their latest roadmap posting giving gamers plenty of ideas about what we have to look forward to in the months ahead:

....

So it´s finally there! AMS2 Beta has now been released to Backers as we enter the final month of development before Automobilista 2 is officially release on March 31st - we are very excited to be able to share what we have been working on all this time

In this final stretch we can finally begin sharing a little more not only about what the plans are for release, but also going forward - let´s get to it.

Beta Available - Proceed With Caution
So the first build of AMS2 Beta has been deployed - always a big satisfaction and relief to reach this milestone.

Although the gameplay, content and general functionality of the Beta builds should be pretty representative of what its release state will be like, the game is very evidently unfinished - there is a lot still to be a lot bolted on over the coming weeks.

With the imminent release of AMS2 Beta we´ve had a huge influx of new people through the AMS2 Early Backing Campaign over the past couple of weeks. While it´s great to see the interest in AMS2 - and the revenue boost this late in development is by no means unwelcome - we do want to stress that this is still an unfinished Game: there are bugs, compatibility issues with certain hardware, missing features and other such rough edges still to be ironed out. If you are looking for a seamless user experience we strongly recommend you hold out until March 31st when the game will be officially released.

Automobilista 2 FAQ
There's been a lot of questions posed over AMS2 development and we are finally at a point we feel we can offer reliable answers - check our AMS2 FAQ here. More will be added in the coming days.

Cars & Tracks - What's In So Far
Looking to give a bit more insight into the game and what it will feature, we have started this All Cars & Tracks topic showing all the content featuring in the current build of the game.

Please observe that the artwork illustrates cars and tracks which are present in the game now - not what there will be on release and beyond. We will continue to update it as we progress through the next BETA builds and continue on from release onwards.

Development Roadmap - To Release ad Beyond
As we´ve been regularly stressing in these dev updates, AMS2 is a long term project - the release next month will see development pick up even more pace as we enter and aggressive development plan that will see game updates along with new cars and tracks released in a monthly basis.

To give you all a glimpse of how things are going to pan out, here is what´s on store for the first 3 months following release:

Upon release we hope to be in position to expand our public roadmap to cover the initial 6 months - that´s when things get really interesting

We will continue to provide this foresight at least until the end of 2020 so users can have an idea about whats coming and when.- with the obvious caveat that roadmaps aren´t set in stone and things can always move around or change slightly.

Early Backer Campaign Wraps February 29th.

As previously announced, the AMS2 Early Backing Campaign will close tomorrow 23:59 GMT. You will still be able to buy the combo of AMS2 + AMS2 Beta + AMS2 Season Pass for US$ 119.99 through our forum store, but the discounts for old backers and other perks from the EBC will no longer be included.

Pricing for the base game on relase has been confirmed @ US$49.99, bumped vs previously suggested US$ 39.99 as considerable additional base game content has now been confirmed.

In order to keep it a bit more affordable for early buyers, we have decided to launch AMS2 with a 20% discount over the first week from release, so at least for a little while the pricing will be inside the original plan.

That´s all for this month - it´s been a thrilling (and exhausting!) ride to this point and we are happy to finally be able to share with you a little more about where we are going with AMS2 - exciting times ahead!

Original Source: Reiza Studios.

Automobilista 2 will launch March 2020, with beta access starting February 28th.

Got questions about the sim? Be sure to start up a thread in the RaceDepartment Automobilista 2 sub forum and let our awesome community be your guide!

 

[Lino Carreira]

what i dont understand is people streaming stuff when they clearly asked to not stream stuff, not because they have something to hide but because they wanted to give everyone acess already and they are aware that mid stream something can break awfully... its the times we live on.... zero respect ! all for the clicks..

PS: To those that before streaming talked directly to them and where given permission, this is not for you !

 

[M D Gourley]

Basically, they took the only thing from pCars 2 that was good (visuals and VR), improved it, improved performance, trashed everything else and replaced with glorious Reiza physics. This sim will become popular..

'Hallelujah...Praise the Lord'....new Reiza would come through as I am just downloading it now, thanks for your open opinion

 

[David Wright]

'Hallelujah...Praise the Lord'....new Reiza would come through as I am just downloading it now, thanks for your open opinion

Except what Shreddator says isn't correct. They didn't ditch everything but the graphics - they are using all of the madness engine. But that's fine. As Reiza keep saying - its a good engine including the physics.

 

[mrbungle83]

SuperV8 @ Adelaide in VR *IS* the wet dream i dreamt about!

Good start to the beta, plenty of work for Reiza to do this coming month and I for one am looking forward to the progress.

You dreamt of a wet dream, I might write a poem about that.

 

[Nick Hill]

Got it fired up for a precious few laps across a few car/track combos. Very brief, very early perceptions:

- It looks just like PC2 (that's a compliment). Tracks are of course of a much higher quality though in terms of layout, scenery, etc.

- It feels nothing like PC2. It also doesn't feel anything much like AMS1 to me, either. I think it's very good though - much grippier than AMS1 (also a compliment). I really like the feel so far.

- State of completion appears to be very high (though the HUD seems to be lifted identically from PC2 - not sure if that is forever). This is not a replay of the ACC beta (which was pretty much unplayable for me). This looks/feels like a game closing in on "done".

Bright days ahead, I think. Again, very early days, but it's made a very positive first impression on me.

 

[Alistair McKinley]

99$ for season pass sounds expensive, but it's 2 years of DLC content, and Renato said the several expansion packs will be like "games within a game", and thus priced accordingly.

As for the Beta, as GameMuscle already has published a video, I guess I'm allowed to say something... As my first impressions are exclusively positive, they won't harm the game (and are truthful opinions, no fanboyism here):

- FFB feels great. It's the AMS force feedback! What a relief. Nothing like pCars 2
- Same goes for physics. Feels familiar from AMS so far, haven't tested all cars though
- Graphics look stunning. The trees look very convincing, and they move in the wind, even when they are 2D
- All lighting conditions seem to look natural, compared to pCars 2 where it was very mixed bag
- Performance seems super slick. VR runs extremely well, compared to some (all?) competitors
- UI is intuitive and easy to navigate compared to AMS1
- Sound is similar or better than AMS1. None of those crappy pCars 2 sound traits to be heard
- Yes it's a beta, some features are missing. But it's very strong already

Basically, they took the only thing from pCars 2 that was good (visuals and VR), improved it, improved performance, trashed everything else and replaced with glorious Reiza physics. This sim will become popular..

So much this. Exactly my thoughts after the first hours.

 

[Oldzeb]

As Reiza keep saying - its a good engine including the physics.

he has to show it because right now it's not winning...

 

[PickABetterUsername01]

Are all the tracks laser scanned?

 

[ShredatorFIN]

Except what Shreddator says isn't correct. They didn't ditch everything but the graphics - they are using all of the madness engine. But that's fine. As Reiza keep saying - its a good engine including the physics.

Yeah I know, I exaggerated a bit. The tyre model is the SMS tyre model, which actually is more advanced than AMS. Reiza has somehow done their magic, and made it sing.

Maybe problem with pCars 2 never was the engine, but the values the cars were dialed in with.

However, FFB seems revised, there is not million sliders of pCars 2, but simple, elegant FFB menu like in AMS1. Overall gain which is the only thing you need for DD wheel, then Low force boost and one FX slider, which are for wheels with weak motors like G27. That's it. Easy to setup, perfect without tweaking, no need to start tweaking again when you switch cars... unlike pCars 2.

 

[Paradyski]

Sounds like a fixed Project CARS 2 which is not bad thing really considering how good graphics are in PC2. Also there is a hope for smooth VR ops. Don't care about the price as long as it will do what all of us hoping to get which is good physics and graphics as well as a wide community and options for online racing

 

[Momperface]

I am only going to reply once to this whole topic because my time is better spent helping with feedback on the beta (and alpha before that).

Reiza does not develop things in the same order as most other devs. They focus on the fundamentals first, sometimes frustratingly leaving some glaring and obvious things in an immature or even missing state. There is a reason they do this--as a small dev, they cannot afford to waste time re-doing things, so a logical process is followed.

What is the most fundamental thing I have heard a thousand times on these forums since AMS 2 was announced years ago, but especially since the Madness Engine deal was announced? It better have AMS physics with PC2 graphics. This is actually impossible, since Madness is the physics engine, but let me reassure you as one of the pickiest people around, AMS 2 delivers on the fundamentals:

• the most completed/finished cars so far feel and drive very similar to AMS, but even better--there is a more sophisticated tire model underneath it all
• the FFB is even better than AMS
• the sounds of the cars that have finished sound are as good as AMS, but improvements are planned and I believe they will get delivered based on what a dramatic improvement in sound was achieved in AMS versus the earlier titles (or base rFactor)
• tracks are almost universally polished and phenomenal quality

AI and some other issues have not had a lot of attention yet. What is the point? Until the physics of the player cars are nailed closely, you cannot program and test the AI in any useful manner. This is awkward, but it is better than having a half-baked AI that will have to be re-done several more times. Just leave it alone until it is the right time. Same goes for HUD and UI and many other areas that Reiza doesn't have staff or money to re-do multiple times.

So, all the stuff that really matters is impressive as hell. All the frills are mostly unfinished, but huge progress will get made in a month because the core items only need tweaking. If a handful of cars can be modelled to exceed AMS, all of them can--with some hours of effort. No risk or concerns at all. If most tracks look stunning already, so will all the ones to come. Etc.

I couldn't be more pleased that the reasons I played AMS (not the graphics!) all look to be under full control and just require some patience for the mature state to emerge.

if they want to charge full AAA prices then we are well within our rights to judge it as a full and finished game

 

[Neils on Wheels]

So I caved in a bought it.

It looks very much alpha & is very unstable(just saying this so people are aware)I'm a bit confused if this is getting a full release or EA next month hopefully the latter?

FFB feels pretty much the same as project cars 2 if a)you spent some time tweaking your own custom profile & b)you managed to find a car that felt OK. I bet i could even load my old pcars2 custom profile into this. So was kinda of expecting more with all the hype of AMS1 for me it's probably pretty low down the list in comparison to other sims.

Lots of the weather options are the same as Pcars2 & carries with it some of the same bugs. Hopefully this is just a beta issue.

Graphically it looks sharp in vr, i would say performance is very similar. There are still aliasing issues with long shadows on track from trees but i think it's a bit improved & can maybe be improved more with other settings. The scale of the car feels too small in my Index so hopefully they add a setting to adjust this.

No way to access options on track, hopefully this is added. Having to restart game for graphics changes carries over from pcars2 but at the moment it just crashes the game (and steam).

 

[MarkR]

Some of the cars (no spoilers ) in this game have incredible grin-inducing feedback through the wheel. One, parts supplied from Leicester, has a fabulous effect where the front of the car almost bounces across the track on the exit of Clark Curve at Brands Hatch when the throttle is pinned, it really takes some holding on to. The braking in this car is also superb, no ABS so it's all about modulating the pedal and the sounds help a lot too. It just feels alive, no car in PCARS2 came close to this. The VR cockpit is also superb in both day and night conditions but that is all very much like PCARS2 which was already great in that respect.

I've also tried a few races vs the AI and (fully understanding what @Marc Collins said) they are more than adequate for now, they give a decent race, fight back in the corners and seem well aware of the player car. I'll add a video once they give that the green light. Again, all good for a game at this stage.

 

[Flavox]

Mid race save, please!

 

[norbs]

gotta love the people that believe that because they say "beta" things will be drastically different in a couple weeks time at release

true betas don't happen a couple weeks before release, they happen a couple months before release

I have been involved for a little over 2 weeks, and i cant believe how much has been fixed in that time.

 

[MarkR]

Here's a short 1-minute clip of some fun battling with the AI, watch as the cheeky yellow 620R makes a clean move up the inside at Druids (I don't remember the PCARS2 AI doing that?) and we then battle side by side for half a lap. The AI may not be finished yet but it's fun all the same.

I'll beg forgiveness if I shouldn't have shared this

 

[Ruy Horta]

The steering is a bit heavy, but to me it feels more familiar when setting the low force boost to 35 and FX to 25 (TM TS PC - vanilla driver settings).

Please share your settings and findings.

 

[Ruy Horta]

Here's a short 1-minute clip of some fun battling with the AI, watch as the cheeky yellow 620R makes a clean move up the inside at Druids (I don't remember the PCARS2 AI doing that?) and we then battle side by side for half a lap. The AI may not be finished yet but it's fun all the same.

I'll beg forgiveness if I shouldn't have shared this

The Caterhams are a blast to drive.
Try the Lancers.

 

[PicoBp]

The steering is a bit heavy, but to me it feels more familiar when setting the low force boost to 35 and FX to 25 (TM TS PC - vanilla driver settings).

Please share your settings and findings.

TX user here, I have gain on 80, low force boost 10, fx 0, and type on Raw. Nice, clean, communicative FFB.

 

[azaralamouri]

No it can't if you're trying to compare sims. Unless your're in the same type of car at the same track in the same conditions, how could you possibly do a comparison between different sims? How could you make a meaningful comparison between something like a formula v10 and a GT3 car?

Car class in a very small issue that it can be neglected. These are the newest 2 sims ever. So they have no excuses about limitations and the like.

It will be so interesting to see someone professional speaking about what new ideas, features and details they added to the sim racing world.

From the top of my head I can remember 2 examples that ACC studied and implemented, 1- the air around the car and how it can push or pull the other cars around it. 2- They also got some inside information about how exactly the electronic assists in each car work (and they are different in different car makers, more info about that if you want).

Sorry for the long text. In short having many sims is very good and healthy to encourage developers push forward.