Just a week after the latest Dev Update, Automobilista 2 Update 1.5.3 has been released. The new content that comes with it is free to try for anyone until Monday, November 27.
Image credit: Reiza Studios
A long period of radio silence had preceded
the most recent Dev Update from Reiza Studios. The Brazilian developer has been hard at work, which the release of Automobilista 2 Update 1.5.3 clearly shows. It comes with a long list of changes, improvements and fixes.
The AI has received special attention, and should race in a much more realistic way as of Automobilista 2 Update v1.5.3. Meanwhile, the other big focus area of the update are tire physics, which have been further refined from the v1.5 update this summer after tire tread problems had been identified. The audio engine has also been shown some love. To add, Reiza fixed and adjusted an enormous amount of small issues with some of its cars and tracks, mostly cosmetic in nature.
New Historic Content
While a lot of work has been done under the hood, the new DLC packs will likely be the attention-grabbers. As previously pointed out,
Automobilista 2 Update 1.5.3 introduces two generations of the Formula Hitech class. Resembling the 1992 and 1993 Formula One seasons, these cars come with tons of electronic gizmos, including active suspension. The latter has never been modeled in first-party sim racing content before.
Additionally, more period-accurate tracks join the
AMS2 roster. Interlagos gains versions for 1991 and 1993, Montreal now has its 1991 layout available, and the same year’s configuration has been added to Catalunya. The latter also sees the addition of the National layout to its modern version.
The National layout is part of the Circuit de Catalunya DLC. Meanwhile, the historic versions form the new Historical Track Pack Pt2 DLC, which costs €7,79 on Steam. The new F-Hitech cars are another DLC pack, which is priced at €6,89. Note that neither DLC pack is part of the Season Pass or the Premium Packs!
Automobilista 2 Update 1.5.3: Free DLC Trial, Time Trial Returns
Both DLC packs are available for a free trial period to anyone who owns
Automobilista 2 during the update release weekend. The free trial ends on Monday, when Reiza releases a small complimentary update.
Time Trial leaderboards are already back up. Meanwhile, Reiza Founder and Lead Developer Renato Simioni stated that “
physics development will be frozen from public releases until the next milestone update sometime in 2024.” Finally, Automobilista 2 Update 1.5.3 also means another setup reset due to the changes in physics.
Racing history enthusiasts should appreciate the new AMS2 content in v1.5.3. Image credit: Reiza Studios
Automobilista 2 Update 1.5.3 – Full Changelog
CONTENT
Tracks – Historical Track Pack Pt2 DLC
Cars – Formula HiTech DLC
- Added Formula Hitech Gen1 class (featuring MP4/7 & 3 generic models)
- Added Formula HiTech Gen2 (Featuring Mclaren MP4/8 + 3 generic models)
GENERAL
- Added Multiplayer logging to help debugging common multiplayer reliability issues (dedicated thread for reports incoming soon)
- Added launch control support
- Added ‘Scheduled Full Course Yellow’ option to Race Settings screen
- Added dedicated safety truck model to Copa Truck; Corvette Z06 Pace Car to F-USA 2023; AMG GT for F-Reiza, F-Ultimate Gen1/Gen2; pace kart to kart classes; Porsche RSR to F-Retro Gen1-3; BMW 2002 to GT Classics, F-Vintages & TC Vintages; BMW M3 to F-Classic, F-HiTech & F-V12
- Added safety car blinking lights which go off when the safety car is about to return to the pits
- FCY: Safety car no longer leaves the pits in a conflicting situation when leaders are speeding by on oval tracks; Fixed issue where the detection of illegal overtakes during full course yellow would keep track of the wrong driver (displayed in the follow label) and wouldn’t remove the illegal overtake message once the correct driver could be ignored; severely damaged vehicles are no longer prevented from pitting the pit entry is closed on long oval races (PIT OPEN label will now be displayed for severely damaged vehicles); damaged vehicles no longer penalised for not staying with leaders; Improved detection of struggling vehicles that can be overtaken under FCY to prevent unfair penalties
- Corrected legacy issue with motion blur being always force enabled in replays (now it will respect user setting); Fixed legacy issue causing to run low motion blur even if user had it set to high
- Fixed legacy bug in driver head animation from external view where the angular G-force passed with orientation inverted, leading to a tendency to bend helmet left
- Increased the default distance between each AI vehicle during full course yellow
- Fixed driver helmet animation not being in sync with the vehicle G-Forces during replays
- Disabled gear shift animations when car is set with automatic shifts in either or both directions
- Fixed bug where a vehicle (AI or player with auto pit on) could get stuck in garage in single player (in practice or qualifying) if another vehicle was within a blocking distance near it
- Fixed issue that would cause missing tires not to be reset after pitting or session restart
- Enabled spotter on all ovals in authentic mode
- Fixed mandatory stop min tyres incorrectly being limited to maximum setting of 3
- Fixed vehicles with exactly two Final Drive settings always running the shorter ratio
- Tightened up track limit detection thresholds
- Fixed issue on oval tracks where a vehicle in the pitlane would appear in first place or last place on live leaderboards even if it wasn’t physically in such positions
- Fixed issue where the safety car wouldn’t move in time from waiting position if the leader was leaving the pits
- Fixed issue where a player could be unable to drive in multiplayer if he joined a practice or qualifying session in progress that had safety car setting enabled and only one free user slot available (also could cause the session to be unable to advance to race if this user didn’t quit)
- Fixed issue on oval tracks where a vehicle in the pitlane would appear in first place or last place on live leaderboards even if it wasn’t physically in such positions
- Fixed issue where the safety car wouldn’t move in time from waiting position if the leader was leaving the pits
- Fixed issue where a player could be unable to drive in multiplayer if he joined a practice or qualifying session in progress that had safety car setting enabled and only one free user slot available (also could cause the session to be unable to advance to race if this user didn’t quit)
- Private sessions: Fixed player vehicle being rendered as ghost; Fixed opponent vehicle ambient shadows sometimes visible
- Fixed late joiners being stuck in a visible state in private qualifying if local player was on track when they joined
- Enabled spotter on all ovals in authentic mode
- Fixed issue where Authentic Aids setting could become out of sync for a client in multiplayer
- Increased maximum pit speed limit allowed to 240 km/h
- Redefined setup folder to force-reset setups
UI & HUD
- Message ‘YOU CAN PUSH NOW’ is now displayer for the leader (instead of the caution message) when the safety car is already out of road limits when the race is about to resume from full course yellow
- Entering Cockpit Configuration screen will now switch view to cockpit
- Various corrections to track grade filter
- Fixed incorrect Limiter state in HUD widget after returning to garage with limiter enabled
- Fixed Auto-advance countdown being incorrectly displayed on non-host clients when the server does not have it enabled
- Onboard camera group on Replay mode now cycle on command rather than automatically
PHYSICS
- Continued V1.5 physics overhaul for all classes
- Revised FFB for all cars
- Revised ideal brake range for all cars
- Revised aero dropoff with yaw for all high-downforce cars
- Revised turbo altitude scaling BoP for GT3, GT4, GTE
- Added launch control system for F-V10 Gen2, Corvette C8 Z06, Mclaren Senna, Rallycross
- Updated logic for tires pre-race heating in case of skipped formation lap to minimise discrepancies in handling over first few corners
- Adjusted idle RPM range for all F1 engines
- Minor fine-tuning adjustments for Group A & GT1 engines
AI
- AI fast paths redone for several track layouts (full list here)
- Disabled all track-specific AI Grip multipliers (persisting performance variations from track-to-track now adjusted exclusively via AI paths)
- AI calibration pass for all classes in dry & wet
- Fixed a bug in AI drivers´ assessment when overtaking a car ahead causing them to pull aside too early and lose the draft
- Adjusted AI brake application for all classes to better match that of human driver
- AI behavior adjustments: Increased function to reduce chances of AI deciding it should go of-track only as last resort; Adjusted AI speed difference & distance thresholds for taking defensive action; Reduced avoid ratios to minimise jerkiness in line switches; Increased threshold for AI carefulness with human players; Increased wall check awareness; Adjusted front & side buffer ranges; further brake usage fine-tuning to various classes
- Adjusted AI launch performance for classes with newly added launch control system
- Adjusted behavior under blue flag to prevent AI from moving erratically on out lap
- Fixed an issue where AI could sometimes be aware of other vehicles in private sessions
- Revised & tightened Ai driver Skill ranges for Formula Classics Gen1-4, Formula V12, Formula V10 Gen1-2, Formula Reiza, Formula Ultimate Gen1-2, Formula USA Gen4, GTE, GT3, Stock Car Brasil 2019-2023
- Adjusted interclass AI performance of Lotus 98T, Mclarens MP4/4, 5B and 6 Sigma P1 from P2 class
- Slightly increased AI tire wetness threshold for slightly earlier switch to wet tires and slightly later from wets to dry
- Slightly reduced AI performance boost for qualifying hot laps
- Increased AI care with human players
- Added function to independently configure how much AI slows down in cool down lap for each class
- Added AI fuel load density scalar to adjust AI performance when running higher fuel loads
- Adjusted standard pit strategy thresholds for when AI decides it is worth making a pitstop for tires (lower for F1 cars, higher for 4 / 6 nut wheel cars)
- Defined number of AI dry hotlaps in qualifying for F1-style cars (min 1, max 2 hotlaps) and non-F1 style cars (min 2, max 3 hotlaps)
- Adjusted AI overtaking aggression parameters for all oval variants
- Added AI “cheat” function to prevent it from overshooting pitbox in higher pit speed limit settings
- Slightly increased AI lifting off throttle under blue flags
- Revised AI tire wear rates & resulting degradation (combination should lead to AI suffering less performance degradation with tire wear and coming in earlier for tire pitstops
- Further adjustments to AI performance with wets on dry track & slicks on wet track
- increased AI global wall check awareness; slightly decreased front buffer range & increased side ranges
- Barcelona: Fixed AIW alignment at start / finish junction in chicane layout
AUDIO
- Added offline dirt sounds
- Updated external engine sounds for Ford DFV engines (F-Vintage G1M1 & G2M2, Lotus 49C, Brabham BT26, Brabham BT44, Brabham BT49, F-Retro Gen1, F-Retro Gen2, F-Retro Gen3, McLaren M23, Lotus 72E, Lotus 79)
- Updated V8, V10 & V12 external sounds for all F-Classics
- Updated F-V12 internal & external sounds
- Adjusted tires scrub and skid sound volume for F-USA Gen1, F-USA Gen2.
- F-Junior: Adjusted Player & Oppponent engine sound parameters
- Fixed issue with some sound effects continue to play when switching view target
- Closed cockpit cars: adjusted chassis rattle sound effects
- BMW M4 GT4: revised engine limiter and traction control sound
- Chevrolet Corvette C3 & C3R: adjusted chase camera engine sound volume
TRACKS
- Adjusted LiveTrack grip range for Buenos Aires, Montreal (all versions) & Hockenheim 2020
- Corrected an error that prevented actual track starting lights from working at Kansai, Santa Cruz, Taruma
- Adjusted road noise for Hockenheim Historic layouts, Monza 1971, Spa 1993, Montreal (all versions)
- Interlagos 2020: Added 3D foliage, redone track and terrain materials and textures; Updated materials and shading for temp grandstands for GP layout
- Spa-Francorchamps: Fixed a terrain shadow issue visible during specific date and time of day in 1993, 2020 & 2022 layouts
- Spa-Francorchamps 2020: Corrected inappropriate next lap penalty when off track near Blanchimont; Added dedicated safety car parking spot
- Hockenheim GP: Increased track edge to cover curbs that were previously excluded.
- Ascurra Dirt: Switch P1 to the left side of the grid
- Daytona: Removed excess runoff at the entry to the bus stop chicane; Adjusted track limits; Fixed static object LOD pop issues; Relocated pit exit line at Daytona RC and NRC layouts as seen in the 24hr race
- Jerez 2019: Fixed a physical track surface bug in the T1 brake zone; replaced broken tooth on the entry curb; Fixed bug with the garage floor lighting
- Spielberg Historic / Vintage : Corrected a missing LOD flag on the pit lane entrance tire bundle
- Nurburgring (all versions): Corrected geo location and time zone data; Fixed black grass blades near Dunlop on the Nords 24hr layout; Fixed a minor collision issue on the RX layout Fixed the track length data for Sprint S layout
- Barcelona: Fixed the collision on the pit lane entrance tire barrier; Adjusted LiveTrack grip range
- Kyalami: Increased grid box spacing to fix AI drivers sometimes reversing during race starts
- Montreal Historic 1988: Updated TV trackside cameras
- Spa 1993: Minor performance and export optimization
- Silverstone 1991. Fixed trackside camera flickering at Hangar Straight
- Oulton Park: Adusted position of chicane apex tire bundle
- Speedland Kart 3: Fixed misplaced layout tire barriers
- Completed VR cameras for all RX tracks
- Tykki: Fixed RX layout pit lane (cars wont start in garage); Minor graphics fixes; Corrected Max AI participants from 5 to 7 in RX layouts
- Indianapolis 2022 (both layouts): Update formation lap path
VEHICLES
- Defined colour matching driver outfits & helmets for all drivers in F-Junior, F-Vintages, F-Retros, F-Classic, F-V12, F-V10. F-Reiza. F-Ultimates (all Gens), Group C, Group A, GT1, GTE, GT3, GT4, GT4 Supercup, G40 Cup, GT5, GT Open, MINI JCW, Porsche Cup, Copa Montana, SprintRace, Formula USA Gen1-3, P1, P2, P3, P4, Aussie Racing Camaro, Vintage Touring Cars T1-2, GT Classic Touring Cars, StockCar Brasil 1979-1999, F-USA 2023, F-Inter, Rally RX1, Kartcross, F-Dirt
- Adjusted bodywork dirt buildup rate for all cars
- User Livery Overrides: Fixed body part issue when using metallic materials
- Adjusted visual backfire thresholds for all cars to more realistic frequency
- Fixed spark effects being too dark during the day
- Increased driver helmet LODs to avoid it popping in and out at longer distances
- Adjusted cockpit POV for Group A, Mclaren F1 GTR, Mclaren 570S GT4,Ultima GTR, Metalmoro AJR Gen2, F-Vee, MIT Lancer Cup (both models)
- StockCar Pro Series 2023 Cruze: Fixed brake disc glow issue, Fixed LODs tail light issue; Adjusted height offset; Fixed driver legs position for Cruza Model
- Stockcar Pro Series 2023 Corolla: Changed steering wheel position; Adjusted driver position & animation; Adjusted cockpit view; Fixed UV map on front inner tirewalls; Adjusted the steering wheel position to be centered in relation to the driver pov; Adjusted driver animations
- StockCar (all seasons): Updated and enhanced steering wheel display; Adjusted cockpit materials
- Porsche Cup: Fixed damage models on LOD A
- Adjusted onboard cameras for Corvette C8 Z06, F-Dirt
- Metalmoro AJR Gen2: Fixed windscreen rain issue
- Lotus 23: Fixed lowres artifacts on the dirt/damage texture
- Roco 001: Added driver animations; Adjusted gear shift mesh Added dirt/damage texture; Revised collisions; Detached front fenders; Added damage models
- Mercedes CLK LM GT1: Reverted driver animations to use stick shifter; Revised collisions; Adjusted driver animations to use paddle shift
- Ginetta G58: Fixed Driver animation position on 3rd person view
- Catherham 620R: Fixed right-side tire pivots
- Copa Truck:
- Brabham BT44: Adjusted suspension animation and camber on the front wheels
- F-Classic (all gens): Correct wet tire texture for various models; Fixed shiny tires on lower LODs; increased speed threshold required to produce undertray sparks; Fixed Rear boot that was obstructing the view in cockpit, steering wheels rotation angle & missing cockpit windscreen for F-Classic G4M2; Updated & revised 3D display for Mclaren MP4/5B, MP4/6. Fixed suspension mesh skin on lodA and cockpit view & fixed suspension animations for F-Classic G3M3
- F-V12: Added damage models; Revised cockpit suspension animations structure
- F-V10 Gen1: Added damage models; Revised cockpit suspension animations structure
- Mclaren MP4-12: Added damage models; Revised cockpit suspension animations structure
- F-V10 Gen2: Adjusted suspension animation on the front wheels
- F-Ultimate (both gens): Added damage models; Revised cockpit suspension animations structure; Improved transparent HALO; Fixed front suspension mesh in cockpit view & adjusted the right-side cockpit mirror mesh for Gen1
- F-Vintage G2M1: Fixed wrong name in collision joint
- F-Dirt: Fixed red body panels when viewing from cockpit view
- Revised livery F-Junior #55, Mclaren F1 GTR #03, Mclaren Senna #04, Mercedes CLK LM #53; New paint materials
- Camaro SS: Corrected cockpit model to 6-speed manual transmission & adjusted driver animations
- Corvette C8 Z06: Added Launch Control info on page 1 and 2. TC of cockpit display off pictogram on 3 pages. Improved textures
- Mclaren Senna: Added Launch Control info to cockpit display
- Onboard camera adjustments forKartcross
- Copa Truck: Fixed spawn location causing the truck to bounce when entering or leaving the setup menu; Fixed wipers not clearing water from windscreen in Vulkan model
- F-Trainer (both): Added damage models; Added dirt/damage texture; Fixed rear tyre skin; Revised collisions
- Porsche 911 GT1: fixed missing paint material
- Metalmoro AJR Gen1: Fixed red body panels when using livery override paint materials
- Opala Stock Cars 1986: Fixed flickering windshield banner
- BMW M8 GTE: Revised livery #9 #15 New paint materials
- McLaren F1 GTR: fixed exhausts´ position
- F-Vee (both models): Updated the rim blur model and textures
- Porsche Cup: Corrected rear tire diameter for 4.0L model
- BMW M3 E30 Gr.A: Added adjustable rear wing details to 3D model
What are you looking forward to the most in Automobilista 2 Update 1.5.3? Let us know on Twitter @OverTake_gg or in the comments below!
