Paul Jeffrey
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Reiza Studios issue first development blog update of 2017, preview new 2017 fictional open wheel car, Adelaide, a Camaro and plenty more besides...
With 2017 sneaking midway into it's second month things have been relatively quiet on the Reiza Studios front, with little official communication from the developers as to what lays in store for Automobilista in this it's final year of development prior to attention focusing on the new, as yet untitled next game.
As if the developers somehow knew fans were getting restless at the period of silence, Renato Simioni has tonight come straight out of the blocks all guns blazing and revealed a rather impressive update roadmap, detailing some very exciting (and occasionally surprising) new content due to be released for the game.
Happily the development roadmap is more than just a bit of good news for fans to enjoy whilst awaiting the fruits of the studios labour, it appears that Reiza are targeting a new update launch before the close of February, with version 1.3.0 waiting in the wings to bring players some pretty nice updates to the core game. As can be read below, some of the more noticeable improvements due to come in version 1.3 will be a visual dust build up on the racing surface (simulated in game already, but currently lacking a visual representation), audio improvements and improved physics of the Boxer Cup race car.
You can read the full development blog post below:
Hello everyone - happy to be back with our first Development Update of 2017!
We hope you all had a good time over the holidays - on our side I´m happy to say the whole team enjoyed some much needed rest over the holiday season, but we have been hard at work and firing on all cylinder again since early january. As usual it´s my pleasure to share with you some of the results, info and previews of the work we´ve been doing since then.
Automobilista going up to version 1.5
We´re approaching the final stretch of Automobilista development, with only a few more months now planned until AMS reaches its definitive state, at which point we´ll switch focus 100% to the future.
The pace of development however is not slowing down - quite the contrary in fact. There are a number of nice improvements, big and small which we´ve been laying down the foundation for and will be pushing to deliver over these remaining months. Such is the extent of these developments, that the full sum of them is going to add up to what we´re calling Automobilista v1.5
We´ll be pushing to provide a full overview of these developments along with confirmation of remaining DLCs by our next development update. For now, here´s the stuff in the immediate horizon.
Upcoming V1.3.0 Release
Our next major milestone is v1.3.0 which we´re pushing to release before the end of this month, packing a lot of good stuff. Here´s a breakdown of the most substantial improvements:
On the audio front, having decided he wasn´t happy being just an ace audio engineer, Domagoj Lovric began exploring the codebase for possible short-term improvements to add some extra depth to the audio experience in AMS. One of these improvements will be the implementation of reverb audio, the initial version of which will already be present in v1.3.0, with much more to come.
Alex Sawczuk has also somehow managed to find a window in his fairly hectic track production schedule to squeeze some fresh shader improvements and adding support for visible & dynamic track dust. Although the effects of which already present in AMS along with offline marbles, there wasn´t yet a visible dust layer over the track surface. This has now been implemented.
Here is a comparison from v1.3.0 in various track states and also one from the current v1.2.1:
The difference looks subtle on screenshots but it adds some noticeable extra depth and life to the track surface while driving in-game. Some of the tracks have already been updated to use these developments so Season Pass owners will be able to check them out in the upcoming beta release expected for tomorrow morning, with most of the other tracks expected to be updated as we progress.
Several car physics have also received some updates for v1.30 as both Niels Heusinkveld and myself continue to chase for improvements. One car in particular has received special attention as Niels has given the Boxer Cup physics a complete overhaul, with revised aerodynamics, chassis, and the addition of helper springs to the suspension, which substantially improves handling over curbs. The initial version of these revised physics is also coming up with the next Beta update.
One major new feature previously confirmed in our end of the year Dev Update was the Custom Season Tool - unfortunately it´s looking unlikely we´ll manage to complete the full feature in time for v1.3.0, but a number of associated new options & features should hopefully already be in, such as the option to enable a mid-race full course yellow as per the rules in the Formula Truck series, and ability to customize the number of opponent cars from each class in a multiclass event.
You may check a complete list of all the additions, improvements & fixes since the last v1.2.1 release up to the latest Beta in the changelog attatched.
We also have a new car coming up in the next release with the frisky Aussie Racing Car Camaro - further good news is that unlike originally predicted, this will be released as a free car to the base game and not as a DLC.
Here´s a preview of the 3D model which Sandro Kholodkevich is exporting to the game as we speak:
Work on physics and audio has also been going on in parallell - count on this little motorcycle engine-powered bugger to be a big bucket of fun to drive
Legendary Tracks Pt2 - ADELAIDE
V1.30 will also see the release of part 2 of our "Legendary Tracks" DLC series - the famous Adelaide street circuit is coming up in two versions: the longer historical layout of 1988 which hosted the Australian GP from 1985 to 1995, the new modern version along with its Supertruck variant.
Below you can check some WIP previews of this great track:
I mentioned in the previous update how demanding street tracks are for the track team, with all the buildings and surroundings which have to be modelled in minute detail as you can see here:
The more advanced modern version should be hitting AMS Beta tomorrow, with the historical version is not far behind and expected to be available in the Beta at some point next week:
Both versions are extremely fun, flowing drives which will serve well pretty much any car in Automobilista, while also providing plenty of opportunity for close racing. We´ve been enjoying some great battles during our internal tests as can be seen in this short video showing a couple of laps of myself hunting down Alex Sawczuk with F-Retros around the modern track:
Dave Stephenson has also been hard at work developing our Virtual Xperience portal, and we´ve got a substantial update coming up along with the release of AMS v1.3.0.
Users will be able to login into VX using their Steam Account - this opens up opportunities to give a more personalised experience in the various areas of VX. In the first instance the settings page accessible from the top naviagation bar provides the much requested ability to override your display name and country flag, overriding the settings collected from Steam.
From this customizable user profile, other users will be able to check out your leaderboard results. Expect this profile to be beefed up with some more interesting info in the future
The new Community section will also be available in the next update, providing a one-stop-shop to find communities and leagues serving users of Automobilista and other Reiza titles based on regions served, languages used or days they host races. The league finder in this section will also provide a similar service for leagues so users may find leagues that based on race days, event frequency, or your favourite series.
Community leaders and league admin are invited to submit their information to the directory following the instructions in this topic - every league admin who submits a valid entry will be gifted 2 promo Steam keys for AMS to be given away for his participants.
With these and some other substantial improvements coming up, VX will soon be playing a bigger role in fulfilling the experience with AMS, including hosting some prize awarding competitions. Watch this space!
Last but not least...
But we´ll expand more on this and other interesting topics in our next dev update towards the end of march
So once again it looks like a very impressive list of improvements coming our way from the little Brazilian development team. With Adelaide and build 1.3.0 due before the end of February we have a lot to look forward to in the coming weeks.
Automobilista is a racing simulation game from Reiza Studios. Available exclusively on Windows PC with additional DLC packages available at a further cost.
Here at RaceDepartment we have our very own dedicated sub forum for Automobilista. In our sub forum you will find a wide selection of downloadable content to discover, from some of the best add on tracks to a selection of interesting vehicles, our downloads section is a positive treasure trove of additional content for AMS. If that isn't enough, we also pride ourselves on hosting some of the most exciting and intense multiplayer racing events for the game. If you like AMS and want to take your enjoyment to the next level, head over to the Racing Club and Leagues section of our Automobilista sub forum and find out what we have on offer. Of course we love our community here at RD and to help spread the love we cover all the latest news regarding the sim, and offer you a place to share your opinions and discussion topics regarding all Reiza titles. Head on over to the AMS sub forum and join in the discussion today!
Have you enjoyed the first development update blog from Reiza Studios? What piece of news excites you most from the update? Looking forward to Adelaide? Let us know in the comments section below!
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