Getting started with AMS, need some help

[Davy Jones]

[EDIT] I read through the manual ...\steamapps\common\Automobilista\Support\Automobilista_User_Guide_EN.pdf which helped with a few graphics and FFB settings.

I bought AMS and the season pass and trying to get started with it.

At first graphically it looked odd, no depth, too bright and too much contrast so I disabled the SweetFX thing. Does anyone use that and if so which preset? I have a GTX 970.

I have a T300 RS. There appears to be two controller profiles for "Thrustmaster T300RS".

At first the FFB seemed off, completely dead in the centre. The default setting was 360Hz with 100% FFB with 40% low FFB boost or something. I'm not sure which are the best settings for a T300. Should the FFB be set accordingly once you've chosen an input device preset?

I tried starting with the "Casual" difficulty setting to start with. I couldn't use manual gears then and with the super trucks not at all, shifting didn't respond, even though I set the gears to manual as part of the Casual profile.

I went with the middle difficulty settings where most of the assists are disabled. I couldn't keep a car on the track. Haven't noticed the same in other sims with assists turned off.

Disabling custom wheel rotation should match the wheel and onscreen wheel animation with whatever the chosen vehicle supports. The wheel animation didn't appear as 1-2-1 though.

I tried starting a championship with the Ultima GTR (Brit Pack) which started at Brands Hatch. That was the first time I was appeared to be getting somewhere with the title. I assigned a key for TC and with that enabled tried to do a few laps. The super trucks at RBR / Spielberg I found extremely difficult, especially the jumps.

Any tips for a beginner with this title would help. I have no major issues as such with AC, R3E or even rF2.

 

[Hal Burns]

Everybody's system is different, mine is ancient. The new SweetFX settings that came with the latest update I think are pretty good, so give them another try.
Don't use Casual, too restrictive. If you have a T300RS, use a higher setting ( c'mon, go for Pro), set the shifting to manual and then play with the Traction control and ABS. Start with Low and see how that works.
Speilberg is a good track to practise on, not too complicated and a variety of corners.
The Ultima and Super trucks are very difficult to handle. Try a lower class open wheeler ( advanced Trainer or F3 ) , the Mini or Caterhams until you get a feel for it. The Brazilan V8's are fun, but start off slow. I have an old DFGT, so cant help you with FFB, but I use the default and it seems pretty good.

 

[xnorb]

My controller profile seems to always revert to gamepad or something, but i never had any issues with AMS detecting my T300 and behaving just like i would expect it

Deadzone - i would say by now it's way less dramatic than in R3E or AC, but then again i never really bothered setting those up a lot...

If wheel rotation doesn't match up (and your steering feels really awful) then check the tab saying "rates" (i think that's what it is - can't check at the moment). For some reason i had to fiddle around some time, usually it was either 50% or 100% - so once i had snap steering and once a had too little steering.
You could see if that fixed it for you.

I don't use SweetFX.
99% of SweetFX filters on the internet simply boost contrast and darken the image.
Which looks cool in youTube videos but doesn't represent authentic vision.
(Then again there are people who love motion blur and depth of field - settings i always instantly disable if given the possibility...)

Graphics looking old has often very little to do with the actual representation of the game world but rather with expectations that don't come from real life but from cinema.
Lens flare, depth of field, washed out colors, high contrast - that's not what life looks like, that's what movies look like - if that's what you want, switch over to Project Cars and crank all post-processing to max (i disabled all post processing in Assetto Corsa and it basically looks the same as AMS just that it has better gras textures and in-cockpit shadows)

If you want a real smooth start in AMS, i suggest taking the Lancers on Cascavel.
If you want to learn something about weight transfer and raw basics of racing, then take the Vees and Opalas for a spin.
Fun cars that don't try to kill you are the MCRs - i was able to just hop in and enjoy them without a steep learning curve.

 

[Davy Jones]

Great info thanks!

From the manual (it's kind of odd nowadays I guess for a game to include one) I turned off dampening & smoothing in the wheel settings, had them st 100% which was the default. That seemed to help with general FFB feel. And the manual outlines how to setup the NVIDIA panel if you include SweetFX which I think I'll turn off anyway like you suggest. I was getting some FPS stuttering, thought it might be related to using it, I later found a thread on Steam that mentioned upping the frame limit to 150 and that seemed to help...

Actually I also disabled all PP effects in AC as well which seemed to help a lot.

R3E, which is also DX9, to me feels the most natural graphically, can't really say why, might just be the colour palette they use. Although I can manage fiddling about with .ini fine files etc I really can't be bothered, would rather just get in and race such are things on PC I guess..

I did try the MCR I think, the low long LMP2 style car included in Brit pack? And yes it was fun.

 

[Rob Fitness]

I would suggest turning ALL driving aids off... except auto clutch. And deal with it, it's not that hard... If you have any steering aids on I believe it will always make your wheel not be 1:1 looking, as it trying to correct your inputs and compensate for you.... if you have nvidia card, setup a profile for AMS in nvidia inspector, relying on in game settings for graphics will look crap.

Easy track to learn quickly is Córdoba, learn the track well, then try different cars on same track. The formula trainers are exceptional cars to drive requiring good technique and balance and once understood are extremely rewarding to drive at their limits . I believe this sim is really really good, but you do need to have experience in dealing with the 'rfactor' system and getting controllers setup etc.... I have never relied on preset profiles and just setup a custom one, it's weird as I think mine says game pad too but it's using my settings. I have never been able to work that side out in AMS or rFactor lol.

 

[Marc Collins]

The controller profile name that shows up on the screen is not the one that is loaded. It is there in case you want to load it or another instead of the one you are already using. It is confusing, but as Rob says above, configure all the main items they way you like and then save a new profile under a name of your choosing. You can then reload it if things ever go awry.

But, if you want to update it (as you undoubtedly will when you get more familiar with the controls and which ones you are using more frequently), always make sure you load your profile first, just to be sure, make the adjustments and then save. When you save the profile, it also doesn't show the name of your profile (the one you just loaded and edited)--you have to type the name in again. If you use the same name (recommended unless you want more than one version), it won't prompt you overwrite, it just does it. Not standard Windows behaviour, but you'll get used to it...