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!

felan · Oct 4, 2020

Like this update very much...the 90s DTM cars are fun to drive as well as the 60s Mini

Just wish a proper interface/save function for our setups...this is really horrible imo how the system works now. But time will tell

Steve Bird · Oct 4, 2020

Loving the external replay sounds on the Pro Cars.

Case_ · Oct 4, 2020

Terry Rock said:
I'm not a fan of the new head movement during off track excursions.

Speaking of off track excursions, did they do something about how the FFB just turns off and the wheel goes limp when you go off track (presumably because of DD users), so it makes it even more difficult to get out?

J93653017 · Oct 4, 2020

Terry Rock said:
I have to admit.., I'm not a fan of the new head movement during off track excursions.
The frequency is not right regardless of which direction you go with the in-game settings.

I think I'm starting to regret my purchase.

safi hellie · Oct 4, 2020

Head movement at 0, the dash board still goes up and down like crazy which in turn makes it look like its not running smooth, but it is.
Dare i say it in the circle of praise, but i think something got broken, preferred it before this latest patch....

I don't want my dash board to be rocking all around the shop.

Feels off IMO.

BillGuy · Oct 4, 2020

I’m experiencing a strange visual sensation with this update. It’s difficult to describe but it has to do with the horizontal movement of the environment across the screen as you’re turning. It’s like there are now tiny “stutters” or “pauses” in this motion. The near-to-far motion of the environment as you move forward through it doesn’t seem to be affected. At least not to any degree I’ve noticed. No other type of motion seems affected either so it’s not an issue with overall video frame time consistency.

These tiny “stutters” seem to just be with the visual representation of the environment outside the car. Car physics and behavior seem fine to me. I immediately changed back to legacy head movement to see of that made any difference. It did not. I also confirmed that steering assistance had not somehow been enabled. It hadn’t. I don’t even have a control mapping assigned to that.

Again, it’s very hard to describe what this actually looks like. It’s as if for every 100 frames or so containing horizontal environmental motion, there are maybe 5 frames where that horizontal motion stops. It then picks right back up again. It gives an overall impression of [We’re Turning] interspersed with these tiny little periods of [We’re Not Turning].

Has anyone else noticed anything similar to what I mentioned? I honestly hadn’t driven in nearly a week before this update so maybe my brain just reset itself to noticing something that’s always been there and it had got used to. I just figured I would ask to see if anyone else noticed anything like this relative to this particular update. I’m not a VR user BTW.

Deleted member 197115 · Oct 4, 2020

PCars2 had that judder in turns, that was fixed IIRC sometime down the road, something related to frame timing.

Stutter Fix

If you suffer from weird stuttering, judder, stroboscope effect in turns when camera moves around quickly, here's the solution that worked for me. After trying everything to fix that annoyance I used same trick that worked in pCars1. 1) Turn Vsync off in game 2) Force Adaptive Vsync in video...

forum.projectcarsgame.com

BillGuy · Oct 4, 2020

Thanks for that info. I’ve only been in tin tops since this release came out. I’m going to spend some time in open wheelers to see if the lack of stationary A-pillars makes the behavior less noticeable. Still feels bizarre though as to why I’m just noticing this.

Gordie Gunn · Oct 4, 2020

You don't have V-Sync enabled in the performance options by any chance @BillGuy ?

mungopark · Oct 4, 2020

felan said:
Like this update very much...the 90s DTM cars are fun to drive as well as the 60s Mini
Just wish a proper interface/save function for our setups...this is really horrible imo how the system works now. But time will tell

to me, the mercedes dtm 92 and the bmw m3 feel like the cars in project cars 2. snap oversteer and swimming like boats.

BillGuy · Oct 4, 2020

Gordie Gunn said:
You don't have V-Sync enabled in the performance options by any chance @BillGuy ?

I do have V-sync enabled within the game’s performance options. I’m on a 60 Hz display and have had it set that way since day one of the first EA release. Wouldn’t a problem caused by v-sync create issues with the entire content of frames and not just horizontal motion of the environment across the screen as I described?

Racer3235 · Oct 4, 2020

Billguy, I've noticed the same thing.

Gordie Gunn said:
You don't have V-Sync enabled in the performance options by any chance @BillGuy ?

Is it V-Sync related? I have it enabled. Gonna try turning it off.

Racer3235 · Oct 4, 2020

One more good update by Reiza, though. The BMW Procar is great. Fast and fun car that has potential for great combos.

safi hellie · Oct 4, 2020

BillGuy said:
I’m experiencing a strange visual sensation with this update. It’s difficult to describe but it has to do with the horizontal movement of the environment across the screen as you’re turning. It’s like there are now tiny “stutters” or “pauses” in this motion. The near-to-far motion of the environment as you move forward through it doesn’t seem to be affected. At least not to any degree I’ve noticed. No other type of motion seems affected either so it’s not an issue with overall video frame time consistency.

These tiny “stutters” seem to just be with the visual representation of the environment outside the car. Car physics and behavior seem fine to me. I immediately changed back to legacy head movement to see of that made any difference. It did not. I also confirmed that steering assistance had not somehow been enabled. It hadn’t. I don’t even have a control mapping assigned to that.

Again, it’s very hard to describe what this actually looks like. It’s as if for every 100 frames or so containing horizontal environmental motion, there are maybe 5 frames where that horizontal motion stops. It then picks right back up again. It gives an overall impression of [We’re Turning] interspersed with these tiny little periods of [We’re Not Turning].

Has anyone else noticed anything similar to what I mentioned? I honestly hadn’t driven in nearly a week before this update so maybe my brain just reset itself to noticing something that’s always been there and it had got used to. I just figured I would ask to see if anyone else noticed anything like this relative to this particular update. I’m not a VR user BTW.

Yep, just tried to explain this above also.
Fine before update, now not only can i not turn off head movement even at '0' it has these rough movements in motion...just exactly as you explain so well.

Something broke.

Michael Stead · Oct 4, 2020

safi hellie said:
Yep, just tried to explain this above also.
Fine before update, now not only can i not turn off head movement even at '0' it has these rough movements in motion...just exactly as you explain so well.

Something broke.

It didn't break, they changed how it worked.

"In this build we also introduce our initial revision of the HEAD MOVEMENT setting (renaming what was before "WORLD MOVEMENT"). In this step we basically got rid of the world horizon tracking and inverted the logic relative to what it was before, so now at 0% the head movement setting results in a camera that is firmly fixed to the vehicle, while at 100% the camera's pitch and roll are unlocked from the vehicle and smoothly target a virtual horizon, damping out the bumps while still responding to larger changes in vehicle pitch (like driving up and down hills); other values will blend between the two extremes.

There is still work to do on the head physics itself so if you have any trouble with excessive view shaking bump up head movement close to or fully up to 100% to better dampen it out. The G-Force setting (even tho technically also "head movement") is not affected by this change and works the same as it did before (range fore/aft movement under braking / acceleration). VR is likewise not affected by these changes."

0 now locks the camera to the car. You can also enable "use legacy head movement" option if you want to go back to the old system.

BillGuy · Oct 5, 2020

Michael Stead said:
It didn't break, they changed how it worked.

This issue may be a side effect of the work done on the new head movement system but it should not directly have come from how the camera/view portal responds to bumps. If it is a side effect, it’s a negative one and a step in the wrong direction for the time being.

As a reminder of my findings, I almost immediately enabled 'use legacy head movement' after observing this behavior and it made no difference. Also, speaking only for myself, the problem is distinctly apparent in horizontal motion of the environment across the screen. It does not matter how rough or smooth the surface is. These things to me qualify as something possibly having become broken to at least one degree or another.

Gordie Gunn · Oct 5, 2020

BillGuy said:
I do have V-sync enabled within the game’s performance options. I’m on a 60 Hz display and have had it set that way since day one of the first EA release. Wouldn’t a problem caused by v-sync create issues with the entire content of frames and not just horizontal motion of the environment across the screen as I described?

I've had that issue before and found it to be due to V-Sync and the fact that it defaults to ON when documents folder is deleted, it's caught me out a few times.

That said, it perhaps isn't the case in this instance, was just a suggestion.

nangu · Oct 5, 2020

BillGuy said:
I do have V-sync enabled within the game’s performance options. I’m on a 60 Hz display and have had it set that way since day one of the first EA release. Wouldn’t a problem caused by v-sync create issues with the entire content of frames and not just horizontal motion of the environment across the screen as I described?

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.

Deleted member 197115 · Oct 5, 2020

For G-Sync/FreeSync guys, disable VSync in game, set to On in NVCPL and set Frame limiter below refresh rate. For 60 Hz it's 58. For higher refresh rates offset of 3 works better.

BillGuy · Oct 5, 2020

Andrew_WOT said:
For G-Sync/FreeSync guys, disable VSync in game, set to On in NVCPL and set Frame limiter below refresh rate. For 60 Hz it's 58. For higher refresh rates offset of 3 works better.

Just to confirm, is the command line/launch option the proper (or only) way to set the frame rate limit for the game?