Automobilista 2 v1.6: Reiza Previews New UI, Presets & AI Racing

Automobilista-2-1.6-Lamborghini-SC63.jpg
Images: Reiza Studios
The eagerly-awaited v1.6 update for Automobilista 2 is still eluding sim racers, but it might be closer than ever before - at least a new video preview by developer Reiza Studios could hint at this.

"1.6 when" is a comment that we have seen multiple times in Automobilista 2-related posts and threads plenty of times all over the internet now that 2024 draws to a close. The enormous update to the sim may or may not release soon - we don't know any specifics either - for sim racers to enjoy, and a new video preview by developer Reiza Studios once again sparks hope of 1.6 being deployed soon.

Either way, the insight into what is to come is quite interesting. The hour-long video is relatively basic, with Reiza Founder and Lead Developer Renato Simioni showing several developments of the update and narrating them in text form. The video opens up with a bold claim, too, stating that it is "a presentation of several racing simulators we have been working on over the years. Which are soon to be simultaneously released." This refers to the multitude of classes and eras in AMS2, of course, as is explained immediately afterwards.


New UI & Presets​

To kick things off, the new UI is in the spotlight. Compared to the previous interface, the new one has been substantially revamped and is a bit sleeker, but not always revolutionary, like in the car and class selection screen. It does, however, come with a new feature that organizes things more neatly based on the series selected: Presets.

Now, the idea is not entirely new, as rule presets were already in AMS2, but the 1.6 presets are more than that. Pick one, and you will notice that the main menu images and style changes slightly to reflect the series you selected - so the IMSA preset will give the menu a different look than, say, a Formula Vintage preset.

These presets then, like before, automatically feature certain values for race lengths, dates, and rules, and they condense the available tracks to ones that pertain to the series. Say you choose the IMSA preset, and the selectable tracks are reduced to nine, all located in the USA and Canada. This also includes the layouts the tracks use for the selected series - a nice addition that could help whith period-correct circuits for historic classes. Disabling the preset filter is also possible, however, so you can run the selected series at any track you like.

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The main menu in its new UI look without a preset applied.

Mosport Confirmed - Sort Of​

Keen-eyed observers will notice that Mosport is part of the track list - which is not really new info, as it has been seen in various previews over the last few months, but it also has not officially been confirmed yet. Also known as Canadian Tire Motorsport Park since 2012, the track remarkably never changed its layout since it opened in 1961.

Back to the UI, however, and you will notice that this preset filter also applies to the cars available. Remember, the Alpine A424 is set to join the AMS2 car roster in the LMDh class via update 1.6, but it does not race in IMSA. If you want to run an IMSA GTP grid without the Alpine, the preset makes this possible.

Could this open the door for custom presets in the future? It could be helpful for a few car classes, such as the Formula Retro Gen 2, which portrays the 1978 or 1979 Formula 1 seasons. However, the 1980 Brabham BT49 C is also part of the class, which does not quite fit - so a custom preset could take care of that easily. Currently, reducing the AI opponents by two should have the same effect, but for multiplayer races, excluding the BT49 C might be desirable as it is a bit faster than the rest of the class.

Automobilista-2-Brabham-BT49C.jpg

The Brabham BT49 C netted Nelson Piquet his first F1 World Championship in 1980.

AI Behavior & Physics Shown​

There are more interesting details visible, such as the ability to scale the amount of mistakes the AI makes or the plan to have different classes qualify separately for multiclass races. Plus, the video offers plenty of opportunity to observe AI behavior, both in multiclass and singleclass races.

Meanwhile, the reworked physics - the core of the update - are, of course, hard to observe when not feeling them yourselves, but an obvious example of the changes is provided via an outlap in the Lamborghini SC63 at Sebring. When leaving the pits, the car is still cold, and as a result, it is difficult to brake and turn, which is very reminiscent of the Hypercar behavior in Le Mans Ultimate.

Interestingly, the video is dubbed "Pt1" - so expect at least one more in-depth preview video from Reiza. In the meantime, we keep our fingers crossed that v1.6 is actually just around the corner.

What do you make of the video preview to Automobilista 2 v1.6? Let us know in the comments below and join the discussion in our AMS2 forum!
About author
Yannik Haustein
Lifelong motorsport enthusiast and sim racing aficionado, walking racing history encyclopedia.

Sim racing editor, streamer and one half of the SimRacing Buddies podcast (warning, German!).

Heel & Toe Gang 4 life :D

Comments

Premium
Hopefully we all get to give it a go this weekend, Renato seems to be a bit less cyptic in his posts about release coming soon. You never know they may even release later today for the Thanksgiving weekend in the US :)
 
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Premium
it will always be worse than rfactor2, AC and iracing. no point wasting your life playing this game just to make a point to "durge" and "teddy" when there are better sims around
Hows your built in rain in AC without mods?

If you really want to troll, at least try to make an effort and maybe start acting like you are 42...
 
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Having seen this my hope is that both this and LMU get a console port. The past few years I've (OVER) overclocked my 2060 and it now waves the white flag if I try and even remotely game with it. My PS5 runs rings around it so I'd like to be able to do this title justice and run it on a stable platform (and definitely LMU as well - my favourite title).

Looks great though!
 
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If I prefer retro games then I would play "Test Drive" on Commodore 64 or Amiga 500!
You're trying to slag off rf2 by calling it a retro game when ams2 is literally project cars 2 in a fancy frock? Get off your high horse.

I like ams2 but rf2/lmu still have a far better feel physics wise not to mention the cars sound exactly as they should unlike in ams2
 
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From what I can see, in this YouTube video, Sebring looks to be a nice addition to AMS2.
Graphically, thanks to its SMS engine, AMS2 looks very good, as usual, and still has, as it always did, great weather and night and day implementation.
Looking forward to try the "new" "physic", in other words, will be happy to try 1.6 to see if I enjoy the changes Reiza made to the way the cars feel in game.
More choices in the UI is very good news, I am use to tailor my SIM experience to what I prefer in other SIM, so I am thankful to Reiza to spend efforts and time making AMS2 better suited to my preferences.
1.6 seems to have a very positive impact on what AMS2 has to offer, hopefully it will be available sooner than later.
 
Premium
They took the leader boards down well over a week ago now ready for 1.6, so I really hope the update is coming soon, after the mess they made of the leader board reset for 1.5.

This means that, when 1.6 is released there will be 16,632* possible world records empty and up for grabs - that should be enough to go around, though I want my old ones back!

*189 layouts, 88 car classes, with all DLCs. At the moment.
 
It looks great but pr and marketing for this update has been atrocious. It's kind of the opposite of iracing in that everything is cryptically undersold, whereas iracing uses every little opportunity to sell itself as the best of the best and most realistic in everything (and we know none of it is true, super rigid tires being one example).

And the video itself is another example why actual developers should not be allowed to do marketing communications on their own - a one hour video with a few comments here and there, in text. I get the desire to be like "we've put so much effort into this" and make it long, but realistically even if the changes are big, the list is not, so keep it short and to the point. Same thing goes with endless teasers and broken promises. Can't keep one - don't make one, manage players expectations early or deal with frustrated players, who are always toxic and annoying.

Maybe they could start with some clarity:
1) can we make custom presets now? at least manually through file editing?
2) how does wet weather work in detail - wet line, dry line, etc
3) make a poll of most requested features / fixes for the community
4) how does adjusting ai settings in game interact with editing ai settings files per class?
5) ams2 is the best looking racing game on PC (second best overall after GT7), make regular screenshot community competitions and make AMS2 known, many people don't even know it exists
 
Premium
You're trying to slag off rf2 by calling it a retro game when ams2 is literally project cars 2 in a fancy frock? Get off your high horse.

I like ams2 but rf2/lmu still have a far better feel physics wise not to mention the cars sound exactly as they should unlike in ams2
And LMU is RF2 in a fancy frock. As you haven't played this update yet, judging it as inferior to your preferred sim is premature. Having played a lot of RF2/LMU and the AMS beta I'd say like most sims some cars are better than others. RF2 has the BTCC/PCup as its standouts, LMU the GTEs and, for people wanting a totally hardcore sim experience, the hypercars. AMS2 for me and a number of others I spoke to, has a better feeling LMP2 and hypercars that are a little bit more approachable and therefore more likely for me to drive, without having to invest the same amount of time as LMU requires ( and which I don't have to be honest ).
The blanket "my sim feels better than all the others" is 1.Boring. 2.A massive generalisation these days IMO. All the sims have their strong cars, and all have areas of weakness. Apart from Forza Motorport, which is crap all the way through.

And the sounds in AMS2 were a weak point, this update hugely improves them.

Oh, and I can guarantee that every post about AMS2 in particular, but quite a few other sims, will have an RF2 fanboy on it saying "yeah, but my sim feels better". Every...single...time. It's like a religion. Why do you do it? We know by now that RF2 feels better than any other sim that has been, and any other sim that will be ( except LMU ofc ), so you can give it a rest now lads.
 
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The work that has been done for this update is very good; it may or may not meet expectations of people, but that's natural. My problem is how this was shown: an hour long gameplay video with just snippets of text here and there is not engaging for anybody outside those eagerly waiting for this update to be released to public. I understand that this was Renato's work, and he's not an influencer, "just" a simracing dev. But there should be people beside him making sure that what's being teased is done in an enticing way that will have more people awaiting, even the ones that don't care much for AMS2. In the end, I find this video as a disservice to their hard work.

I sincerely hope that this dev cycle ends up soon with 1.6 update successfully pushed out, so Reiza can take a rest, learn from all the good and bad that came from this, and make the adjustments needed to their company, because my understanding is that AMS2's journey is still not over.
 
The question of a all questions is - have we to delete AMS2 Documents folder again after the update ? :D
I will do it regardless of what they say! Probably even wipe out the installation and do it all over again so no trace of mods can be found. Just in case.
 

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