AMS 2 | Loads Of New Content And Latest Update Deployed

[Paul Jeffrey]

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!

 

[dwightyone]

Stutter on screens: Couldn't race PC2 without putting -fpscap 62.8 in the steam launcher. Also if you're using a telly, Philips are known for stutter but there's a remote control combo button fix to get around it and they don't tell you that in the philips manual. Nearly binned my PC because of it and it was the 4K telly all along - and in Assetto it was even worse. Went to triple screen monitor and all problems gone. If you have a fairly modern philips tv connected to pc and are getting stutter with your sims just say and I'll explain the fix if no one knows it.

Oh go on then you twisted my arm. Gotta go through the entire mode cycle button for sport, game, theatre etc...on the remote one by one until you've gone full circle and come back to game mode = major sporadic stutters 100% gone!

 

[Blamer]

Restarted using AMS2 lately (I needed a break from AC and its CSP related crashes...) and I'm liking it more and more.
There's one thing though that I can't fix: the head motion makes me feel sick (VR user here) in ten minutes while I can play AC for hours. Lock to horizon or to car and the steps in between don't help me fix it.

I agree with the ones who reported about the AI level being very different from car to car. I have to go from 90% to 120% depending on the car; a slider in the pre-race page would surely help.

 

[Emery]

I agree with the ones who reported about the AI level being very different from car to car. I have to go from 90% to 120% depending on the car; a slider in the pre-race page would surely help.

I think we'll see this ironed out shortly. Just so unlike Reiza to let that slide for long.

 

[Marc Collins]

OK, so I deleted and re installed AMS2 and now I have the 'legacy' head movement back....

Smooth as butter again... THANK THE LORD.

God knows who uses that awful rocking dash board but I guess it looks good with a controller and helmet view.....

Jeez....

You couldn't just pick the legacy option in the menu?

After some testing, I agree the new system, which is WIP, is not quite there yet. I will use the legacy until the next update (which could be today or tomorrow, since there a bunch of niggles that need to be addressed).

 

[safi hellie]

You couldn't just pick the legacy option in the menu?

After some testing, I agree the new system, which is WIP, is not quite there yet. I will use the legacy until the next update (which could be today or tomorrow, since there a bunch of niggles that need to be addressed).

It wasn't present, only removal and reinstall got it.
Honestly I am happy now, all I wanted was that, the rocking dash is so weird.

 

[nangu]

The point is if it was smooth as butter before the update and now the head movement thing has created a weird stuttering not related to frame time or fps, just in how it 'works', then why should we fiddle with settings? It was fine before!

This issue has NOTHING to do with frame rates, they are stable with loads in hand.

I'm sorry, I was not implying the problem is on your end. I just wanted to tell 1) a way to test if it's effectively a game issue, and 2) A workaround while it's being investigated by the devs after reporting the problem to them.

If you don't want to fiddle with settings, it's fine.

 

[GOV47]

I know we are getting GT3 and GT4, which is fine and I will enjoy (just hope we get more than one or two makes in each class). What I think would be awesome for Reiza, since having obscure stuff is kind of their thing, is to have the Super GT license. The GT500 and GT300 (essentially GT3's) would be a nice get and no other sim really has them out side of I think one car in Rf2. Having the other Japanese tracks would be great too.

 

[BillGuy]

Why are you using such an old driver? The limiter has been introduced almost a year ago at this point...
(But I would still recommend using the limiter in Afterburner instead, it is vastly superior.)

I’m very much of the school that says don’t update your video driver unless you have an explicit reason for doing so. I acknowledge there have been security related concerns with video drivers and certainly consider that a legitimate reason to update in most cases. I’ll readily admit fault if such has been the case with the NVIDIA driver version I’ve been sitting on. Thanks for the tip on AB’s limiter. I’ll keep that in mind.

I'm sorry, I was not implying the problem is on your end. I just wanted to tell 1) a way to test if it's effectively a game issue, and 2) A workaround while it's being investigated by the devs after reporting the problem to them.

For me it's not a deal breaker. It's just a mild but persistent distraction. Perhaps even more just a case of my brain latching onto "DIFFERENT!" than anything else. I'd still like it gone and put back to the way it was though.

 

[M-Bimmer]

What a fantastic update. Bravo Reiza.
can’t wait for the GT3/GT4 with nords up next.

 

[Kenny Paton]

The GT500 and GT300 (essentially GT3's) would be a nice get and no other sim really has them out side of I think one car in Rf2

I use the gt500 mod in GTR 2, cars from 2005 to 2013 but it would be great to get them with an official licence.

 

[Demichkd]

Love the update. Has anyone noticed the Lotus 23 is hovering above the track surface? Do a same car race and it becomes very obvious looking at the front wheels.

 

[UMC 22]

Has anyone noticed the Lotus 23 is hovering above the track surface?

Yep, it's been reported along with the windscreen's inside surface not being drawn properly. (or at all)

 

[Emery]

Yep, it's been reported along with the windscreen's inside surface not being drawn properly. (or at all)

And the wheels poking through the fenders.

 

[Case_]

I’m very much of the school that says don’t update your video driver unless you have an explicit reason for doing so.

One could suggest that "having an up-to-date driver" is a pretty explicit reason to update, especially since there are no drawbacks to it (though people will sometimes claim ridiculous things), but whatever works for you I guess ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[billyblaze13]

And the wheels poking through the fenders.

and the headlights....

 

[Emery]

I'm thinking the October roadmap items will slip into November as there's clearly some work needed on this last update. Which means the items I'm looking forward to (Historic track pack, Group C + G1, & custom championship tool) are possibly not going to arrive by end of the year?

Oh, well, I'd rather have the problems ironed out first.

 

[BillGuy]

I'm thinking the October roadmap items will slip into November as there's clearly some work needed on this last update. Which means the items I'm looking forward to (Historic track pack, Group C + G1, & custom championship tool) are possibly not going to arrive by end of the year?

I’m probably in a small minority, but I would actually be fine if they retracted all dates from the roadmap and simply kept it as the ordering of things to come.

 

[UMC 22]

I’m probably in a small minority, but I would actually be fine if they retracted all dates from the roadmap and simply kept it as the ordering of things to come.

Same. I always think it's a mistake to start handing out dates months in advance as you simply never know what problems may arise in game development. I know a vocal minority moans about needing exact dates for everything, but they really are a minority. Most of us would just like nice, polished patches that require minimal (or no) hotfixing. This latest patch is a great example of what happens when things are rushed, and for me is way below the usual standard we have come to expect from Reiza.

 

[Rodger Davies]

I'd definitely prefer for the dates to be there, but I also have no problem if they slip so long as they communicate them - "sorry guys, going to move everything back a couple of months to pick up some unforeseen issues with the recently released content" would be all I'd ask for, personally.

Other than that, I much prefer their transparent approach to the "drop it when it's ready" one.

Actually, thinking on that, doing it the way 1CGS do with Il2-Sturmovik would work for me, no commitment to a date but lay out a clear order in which they're doing things with regular updates and WIP shots.

 

[UMC 22]

Actually, thinking on that, doing it the way 1CGS do with Il2-Sturmovik would work for me, no commitment to a date but lay out a clear order in which they're doing things with regular updates and WIP shots.

Indeed, I prefer their method too. It satisfies the communities desire for information without committing to a specific timeline. You see a lot less "when is this coming??!!" and "any news on this and that?!?!" type posts on their forums.