Automobilista New Content Revealed

[Paul Jeffrey]

Brazilian development team Reiza Studios have announced a new membership scheme and details of upcoming DLC content for new PC racing title Automobilista.

The natural successor to fan favourite Stock Car Extreme, Automobilista achieved Steam Early Access release to much community praise back in February and has already made a positive impression with many improvements over its earlier incarnations under the SCE title.

Featuring improved graphics and enhanced force feedback effects with a whole host of new content and many under the hood enhancements courtesy of the fully licensed ISI developed gmotor engine, Automobilista Early Access is aimed to be the first step towards Reiza breaking through to the next level of sim racing for the studio.

Following a successful indiegogo crowdfunding campaign Reiza released a detailed roadmap of content and game enhancements users of the title could expect throughout 2016. With a high majority of these items delivered already or are well on the way to hitting the game, Reiza have now announced that due to community demand they are opening up the opportunity to buy into a Reiza Membership package and gain access to both retail and beta version of AMS, access to backers only Reiza 51 development forum and access to all upcoming DLC packages with a potential of 40-50% saving on the full retail price of the DLC.

Members of any level who backed the Indiegogo campaign will automatically get the Reiza Membership All Inclusive package at no additional cost (access to Reiza 51 & AMS Beta along with all upcoming AMS DLC releases).

Ranging from US$ 2.99 to US$ 4.99 and aiming to contain either a completely new series or venue for the game, Reiza plan to bring between 10-12 DLC items released over the remainder of 2016 at the rate of approximately 1 DLC pack per month.

Renato Simioni of Reiza Studios had the following to say following the official announcement on the Reiza Studios Forum:

"We do have intention to do a couple more items beyond what´s listed as the announcement suggests, but obviously this list along with what had already been announced in the roadmap already gives us plenty of work for the whole year (and the goal is very much to wrap and deliver everything during 2016).

To some extent it will depend on what people want and how much they want it - again as the announcement says, in this regard the more people buy into the membership packages, the more they can show us there is demand for extra content, the more they can participate into deciding which type of content it should be, and the faster we can deliver it."

With an impressive line up of proposed new content, some items still to be implemented into the title from the original Indiegogo campaign and a strong base already making up AMS this new DLC and Membership announcement yet again pushes the very small Brazilian team closer still to producing a classic sim racing title for virtual racers across the world to enjoy.

Details of the 2 new membership packages can be found below:

While not all deals have been fully closed, Reiza are in "advanced negotiations" to deliver the following DLC packs:

• Imola/ITALY (historical & modern variants)
• Oulton Park/UK
• Cadwell Park/UK
• Brands Hatch/UK
• Hockenheim/GERMANY (historical & modern variants)
• Hillclimb rally stage (Pikes Peak based) /US
• Ultima GTR
• Truck Racing - based on contents from Formula Truck 2013 (free for those who F-Truck 2013)
  
• Aussie Racing Car
• Divisão 3 (Historical Brazilian touring car series)
• Group B Rally car

As mentioned by Renato Simioni more DLC content could be included as we go through the year and the success of the Reiza Membership scheme could influence additional content and faster release of proposed items to all who have bought in to the title.

Reiza Membership packs can be purchased here (all prices subject to change without notice).

Don't forget to check out Reiza Studios forum right here on RaceDepartment for all the latest news / discussions / mods and of course our superb Racing Club with the largest online grids in the community.

Will you be upgrading to one of the Reiza Membership packages when available? If you are eligible for the free DLC what are you looking forward to most? If you don't plan on becoming a member, will you be picking up some DLC along the way? What do you think of this new strategy by Reiza for AMS going forwards? So many questions! Discuss in the comments section below!

 

[Paul Jeffrey]

What's the difference between AMS base game (w/c I have) and AMS beta?

also get access to the beta, which usually contains features / content earlier than the "public" release.

 

[Will Mazeo]

Can i join a server that uses a dlc without owning the content? (like pcar)

Probably not considering the way isimotor works, only if Reiza changes it, but i doubt it would worth to work on this for AMS

 

[Bram Hengeveld]

What's the difference between AMS base game (w/c I have) and AMS beta?

I think new content gets pushed first to the beta group before going to the Early Access accounts.

Also when you are a backer / beta player you'll receive the DLC's for free I believe.

 

[James Cook]

What's the difference between AMS base game (w/c I have) and AMS beta?

About $20.

 

[Tume]

Awesome, looking forward to this.

Can't wait to have a go at historic Hockenheim with Formula V10 Imola can be pretty neat too.

 

[Edward Greene II]

How much is the membership package for them to go secure the F1 license from Codemaster?

I'll purchase that!

 

[demerzel]

The game isn't even finished. Now they want 20$ '-.-

 

[Renato Simioni]

The game isn't even finished. Now they want 20$ '-.-

We´re actually just selling products. We only want your money, if you are interested in having them

BTW Austin, I´m curious about what argument you´re trying to make here. Is it surprising to you that the user base for this niche racing sim is relatively small? That´s hardly news or unexpected is it? Isn´t for us, and we´re the ones making a living off the bloody thing

Are you surprised that since it´s a niche product, the small user base that it´s designed to cater to is invited to pay for new content and help fund it? Is there a point you´re trying to make, or are you just trying to fish for specific reactions for your next clickbait article

 

[zAmboni]

I purchased SCE during the steam winter sale and got AMS for free. Reiza didn't have to do that and I appreciate it. I didn't have time to put into SCE, but I am liking AMS so far. I have no problem dropping $20 because they seem like a good outfit and supportive of their fans/backers.

 

[Szymon Olizarowicz]

That's some amazing content, but the price doesn't look great though it will, obviously, depend on how they split the DLC packs.

Definitely not preordering DLC in advance, no matter who makes it, so I will just have to see how things work out in the end. $20 for a season pass of that size is pretty rough, but could be ok, if I could only purchase the stuff I will actually use. If, for example, I have to purchase modern versions of the tracks together with historic, then it sucks, because I have no interest in historic tracks.

The game isn't even finished. Now they want 20$ '-.-

Considering I wouldn't exactly call any of current sims 'finished' I don't particularly mind. Also, we don't know when they release this stuff. If they start selling it while AMS is still in early access then it's a problem. If they're first going to finish EA, I have no problem with it. At least we know where the sim is heading. I would have a much bigger issue if I didn't know sh*t about the future of this sim.

 

[Renato Simioni]

What's the difference between AMS base game (w/c I have) and AMS beta?

To expand on the previous answers, AMS Beta is a "private" title on Steam, separate from the release AMS, which receives more continuous updates, new content & developments before these are 100% ready for the public version.

 

[Renato Simioni]

Considering I would exactly call any of current sims 'finished' I don't particularly mind. Also, we don't know when they release this stuff. If they start selling it while AMS is still in early access then it's a problem. If they're first going to finish EA, I have no problem with it. At least we know where the sim is heading. I would have a much bigger problem if I didn't know sh*t about the future of this sim.

Indeed, DLC packages will only be released after we´re through with Early Access, and then follow at roughly a 1 per month rate. The development timeline being what it is (with all AMS content, DLC or otherwise being planned for release during 2016), the sooner we assess what else users want us to do and what they would prefer us to do first, the quicker we can plan for and get going as there are licenses to be paid, reference trips to be made, modellers to be hired etc. It´s mutually beneficial as by acquiring the packages, those interested in the content not only help ensure it comes quicker, but also get them at a much reduced price.

 

[schlitty]

I purchased SCE during the steam winter sale and got AMS for free. Reiza didn't have to do that and I appreciate it. I didn't have time to put into SCE, but I am liking AMS so far. I have no problem dropping $20 because they seem like a good outfit and supportive of their fans/backers.

I am in the exact same boat. Bought a G27 for F1 2013 last Summer, played some other games too like Euro Truck and SpinTires. But I knew I'd like to get my feet wet with a sim one day so I picked up SCE during the Winter Sale but never got around to it. Then one day Automobilista shows up in my inventory and 25hrs of play later I'm addicted to say the least. And all I'm doing is crashing every other lap! Great fun and very cool of Reiza to say the least. I will get the "season pass" when/if it becomes available directly on Steam. And will also consider it through the website if it isn't going to be on Steam itself. More than fair price for more content and variety. Especially considering how much is still going to be added to the base game. And as always with DLC's, its optional.

 

[Szymon Olizarowicz]

@Renato Simioni wow, I have to say, after the indiegogo campaign I expected you to essentially release something of a 'remaster' of SCE, but these plans look a lot more thorough than that. Really impressive stuff and your work pace keeps amazing me.

What I will say is that you are very quickly becoming the victim of your own success. Now I really start to hope for eventual VR support, because it sounds like a sim that I will regularly go back to 10 years from now.

 

[Will Mazeo]

or are you just trying to fish for specific reactions for your next clickbait article

That's probably what is going to happen and your quote appears as "omg devs bashing users bla bla bla"

 

[Renato Simioni]

That's some amazing content, but the price doesn't look great though it will, obviously, depend on how they split the DLC packs.

Definitely not preordering DLC in advance, no matter who makes it, so I will just have to see how things work out in the end. $20 for a season pass of that size is pretty rough, but could be ok, if I could only purchase the stuff I will actually use. If, for example, I have to purchase modern versions of the tracks together with historic, then it sucks, because I have no interest in historic tracks

As the article outlines, each DLC item on its own will sell for in between US$ 2.99- US$4.99. Licensing deals being what they are, you should expect tracks to combine both historical & modern versions into a single DLC item, and those to be priced in the upper end of that scale.

Ultimately each of these packages are being sold for roughly the price of a Mcdonald´s meal, and the membership upgrade for little more than a cinema ticket - we certainly hope that those buying it will spend more than a couple of hours on each item

We fully appreciate the pricing / content will not appeal to everyone, and you´re certainly welcome to wait and see which items exactly caters to your preferences, but generally speaking these are not major investments worthy dismembering for such specific preferences - we believe them to actually be very fairly priced.

 

[Szymon Olizarowicz]

@Will Mazeo well, I did go on the recod saying that PRC is a bit like kotaku of simracing, so it wouldn't surprise me. but that was one solid burn @Renato Simioni

 

[Szymon Olizarowicz]

As the article outlines, each DLC item on its own will sell for in between US$ 2.99- US$4.99. Licensing deals being what they are, you should expect tracks to combine both historical & modern versions into a single DLC item, and those to be priced in the upper end of that scale.

Ultimately each of these packages are being sold for roughly the price of Mcdonald´s meal, and the membership upgrade for little more than a cinema ticket - we certainly hope that those buying it will spend more than a couple of hours on each item

We fully appreciate the pricing / content will not appeal to everyone, and you´re certainly welcome to wait and see which items exactly caters to your preferences, but generally speaking these are not major investments worthy dismembering for such specific preferences - we believe them to actually be very fairly priced.

Considering you are actually going 'in field' to take pictures and you hire people to do modelling, it definitely sounds like a lot of effort going into it. I was actually expecting something more basic when I made my first comment. Definitely worth the money even if I decide to skip some of the packs

 

[Will Mazeo]

I used to be against DLC but honestly if this keeps people in the business and brings official content I'm all for it. And I'm even more supporting it after I saw "cosplayers" (for me they have another name but nevermind....) selling a single pic of them for $10 just because of a mega cleavage, a mini skirt and a ton of automatic photoshop effects that can be done in a minute. At least in a DLC pack there are people that actually work to make it happen
As I said here I'd pay 2x more than what a package in RaceRoom costs now if this dream was a reality

 

[thatmotorfreak]

On the fence, even with Brands Hatch being planned. Maybe I'll just wait for someone to convert Com8's Brands Hatch, or better yet wait for their 2017 game.