Paul Jeffrey
Premium
Reiza Studios have maintained their tradition of outstanding community communication by releasing the latest edition of their popular Development Update feature, this time brining news of an upcoming hotfix and further details of the first DLC due for Automobilista, titled 'The Brit Pack'.
With a full version one release of AMS already behind us, the team over at Reiza are already hard at work updating the game to repair a few issues caused by moving to V1, and working hard at developing the first DLC instalment due to hit the game at the end of September.
You can read the full August development update below.
V1.01 hotfix
Since release last week we´ve identified a few teething issues which we have been since dutifully pursuing - one always tries to be ahead of these but unfortunately a full release is always a bit of a leap into the unknown as we go from having a few hundred beta testers to many thousand of users and the vast range of OS, hardware, drivers and third party software combinations that comes with it.
One issue that we have partially identified is that AMS v1.0 is failing to launch with Windows 7 if Service Pack 1 is not installed - we´re still pursuing the reason why this came to be with v1.0, but for now we can confirm that updating Win 7 with SP1 is required.
The hotfix will pack some further DynHUD improvements, fixes to Time Trial mode and some other priority fixes.
Another issue we´ve been pursuing is further optimization, in particular to memory load - since AMS is a 32bit app, it can only use up to 4GB of system RAM, which means whenever AMS is running north of 3.2GB (as measured from the task manager) it may run into some instability issues. As we´ve been pushing for higher details from cars and tracks, this can mean that running a grid over the specified limits for any given series (usually in between 22-26 cars, other than StockV8 which allows 32) has the risk of overloading the system, causing instability issues and potentially Runtime errors or CTDs. We´re working on optimizing some of the higher detail models, as well as having the series´ max number of opponents better enforced to keep the game constantly on a safer range. Some of these updates are already upcoming with this hotfix.
V1.1 development
There are some important new features, both planned and already in the works to make AMS an even more complete sim package before we finally wrap up its development.
One of these which we can confirm for v1.1 is the Integrated Spotter, based on the popular Crewchief mod as developed by gongo - here´s a sneak preview:
Here is some further info about this feature from gongo himself:
"The voice acting is done by my friend, Lincoln Hubbard, specifically for Reiza.
I've included subtitles (using the Message Center) for people who have a hard time hearing/understanding, or for those players who are deaf (like Ivysaur). It also allows for different language translations while still using the original audio (or vice-versa).
It includes the ability to spot other vehicles in pit lane (useful for larger races with everyone diving into pits) and also tells you when the safety car is out on track or coming into the pit lane. It will also tell you the pit is open depending on whether or not you are on the lead lap so you never have to guess when you're actually allowed to come in to pit.
It announces when the pit crew is ready and when they've abandoned the pit request (timed out) as well as when you've requested or unrequested the stop. And since it's integrated directly into the engine, it also tells you when you have a drive-through, stop-n-go, or other penalty as well.
And yes, it will announce the start of the race session countdown even when you're in the garage as well as give you a "go, go, go" as soon as your pit stop is complete (as requested by Will Mazeo).
Pit exit clear/has traffic notification is tied directly to the pit exit lights, so if you see it flashing blue, it will tell you there is traffic. The blue flag notification is tied directly to the display of the icon in the corner of the screen, so when you see it, you'll hear the message too."
I've included subtitles (using the Message Center) for people who have a hard time hearing/understanding, or for those players who are deaf (like Ivysaur). It also allows for different language translations while still using the original audio (or vice-versa).
It includes the ability to spot other vehicles in pit lane (useful for larger races with everyone diving into pits) and also tells you when the safety car is out on track or coming into the pit lane. It will also tell you the pit is open depending on whether or not you are on the lead lap so you never have to guess when you're actually allowed to come in to pit.
It announces when the pit crew is ready and when they've abandoned the pit request (timed out) as well as when you've requested or unrequested the stop. And since it's integrated directly into the engine, it also tells you when you have a drive-through, stop-n-go, or other penalty as well.
And yes, it will announce the start of the race session countdown even when you're in the garage as well as give you a "go, go, go" as soon as your pit stop is complete (as requested by Will Mazeo).
Pit exit clear/has traffic notification is tied directly to the pit exit lights, so if you see it flashing blue, it will tell you there is traffic. The blue flag notification is tied directly to the display of the icon in the corner of the screen, so when you see it, you'll hear the message too."
1st DLC - The Brit Pack
As previously announced, our first DLC pack for Automobilista will be the BRIT PACK, comprising 3 classic british tracks along with 4 british club racing cars - these are:
BRIT PACK - Tracks
Brands Hatch
Cadwell Park
Oulton Park
We don´t have a preview of Oulton Park to show yet, but we do have some good news regarding its development as following our recon trip to the track we´ve also managed to get hold of LIDAR data for it, meaning Oulton will have the distinction of being our first track based on laser scan data!
BRIT PACK - Cars
Ultima GTR (road & race spec)
MCR Sports 2000
Formula Trainer - A semi-fictional wingless trainer car based on british F-Ford, featuring both slicks & treaded tires - this is the bonus car hinted in last month´s update:
Caterham (several models) - more details to be confirmed about the included Caterham series soon!
The BRIT PACK is scheduled for official release on September 27th and will sell for US$ 19.99. Subsequent DLC packs will be released in the following months. More details on what these upcoming DLCs will feature will be presented in our next Dev Update
Worth pointing out that the AMS Season Pass is now also available for purchase from Steam - owners of the Season Pass (which includes Reiza Members as well as backers from all levels of last year´s crowdfunding campaign) will already earn the BRIT PACK along with all the other upcoming AMS DLCs.
Besides securing all DLCs with a single specially discounted purchase, Automobilista Season Pass also grants Automobilista BETA - a standalone / independent development version of Automobilista, which receives regular updates of in-development features and content, allowing users an early taste of these upcoming goodies (including the DLC items) as these gradually hit beta status. Brands Hatch & Ultima GTR expected to make to next week´s new Beta build.
Check out the Automobilista sub forum here at RaceDepartment. Download the latest mods, join in the discussion and race with your fellow AMS fans in our epic Racing Club!
Like the sound of the recent development update? What are you looking forward to the most? Let us know in the comments section below!
Last edited:
