New Automobilista Development Roadmap Reveals Plenty of Exciting Updates

[Paul Jeffrey]

Reiza Studios have released the October 'Development Roadmap' for Automobilista, revealing some exceptionally pleasing realism features coming to the sim very soon indeed...

If you had hold out for next weekend's 'Have Your Say' article then there is a fair chance you will pick up on a community desire to simulate more than just the racing cars in game, as if by magic or good fortune it looks like Reiza Studios have had the same idea themselves... confirming tyre allocation and car repair times will be coming to Automobilista very soon, alongside plenty of other awesome stuff as detailed below....

Reiza Studios October Development Roadmap

New native HUD / TV overlay system
For v1.4.9 @Alex Sawczuk has undertaken a complete revamp of the native HUD system to feature a lot of the valuable information seen in DynHUD & other 3rd party systems along with a brand new TV overlay system, which the added bonus of being fully fed & rendered in-game and neatly arranged into a single overall design.

This should hopefully reduce the needs for DynHUD & other external HUDs (though these will remain as functional alternatives for those who may prefer them).

Below a couple of WIP previews of these new fully native systems:

The new native HUD won´t feature a trackmap in its initial v1.4.9 version but we´re working to add it too in-time for v1.5.0.

Turbo Model
On the physics front, the long overdue turbo model is finally due to arrive in v1.4.9 - that means turbo engines like in F-Truck, F-Classic, Metalmoro MR18, Mini and Lancers will be much more accurate to their real life counterparts.

In the videos below @Niels_at_home talks a bit about this new model and how they impact the driving experience in the sim:

The crazy F-Classic version Niels is testing here has 4.0 bar boost pressure allowed by the rules in the mid-80s, however the actual F-Classic based on the 88 season will be limited to 1.5 max so it should be a bit more sane than this!

For those willing to experiment with insanity though we will keep the boost adjustable up to 4.0 in the initial Beta version due to be deployed in AMS Beta some time this next week. For release the 1.5 cap will be set as per the rules but mods will still be able to experiment with different physics. In the future we might explore the turbo insanity a bit further ourselves

Limited tire sets with cumulative wear / component change delays
Another significant realism option currently in the works is the addition of limited tire sets - users will get the option to limit the number of tire sets available for single & multiplayer races, which will then accumulate wear as they´re used throughout the race weekend. Drivers will then be able to switch back & forth between used and new tire sets (rather than just infinitely reset tires to a brand new set every time he goes back to the pit menu).

Furthermore, we are working on adding options for time delays changing major car components, so that if for instance driver blows an engine or significantly damage the car, he will be forced to sit in the pits and unable to go out again while the mechanics handle the required repairs. This is to combine with another new option to set rules for escaping to pits mid-session (whether you can escape to menu any time as currently, only when vehicle is stopped or only when its back to its pit slot).

All this (and potentially some extra options we´re looking into) with the goal of adding an extra dimension of realism to the simulation so that drivers have to be mindful of managing their tires and equipment, an ever present element in real racing.

We are not sure these features will be ready in time for v1.4.9 but will be certainly be added in time for v1.50.

Spielberg 2017
@ilka & the rest of the track team have completed a full revamp of the modern Spielberg circuit, bringing it up to 2017 configuration. This includes several graphics updates along with new surrounding buildings, plus curb & run-off modifications to the track layout itself. Below a couple of previews in nice autumn colors (the GP version will feature appropriately greenish foliage):

Metalmoro AJR

The Metalmoro AJR will also be added in v1.4.9 as free base content.

The AJR is the first advanced LMP2-ish prototype from Metalmoro - the first of its kind manufactured in Brazil and thus appropriately the first of its kind to feature in Automobilista, filling one of the few remaining gaps in our car roster.

The AJR has been designed to be versatile for a wide range of different engine configurations, so its series in AMS will have the added bonus of featuring distinct engine options - besides the Chevy V8 currently being run by the single model in action, the sim car will include versions with a Judd V10, Powertec V8 and Honda I4 Turbo as alternatives, all with their own distinct characteristics but overall similar performances.

These new features and content should be making its way to AMS Beta very soon, along with another nice batch of bug fixes, minor AI and audio developments.

Things are really ramping up and coming together nicely now in these final stages of AMS development, which has contributed to its development continuing to stretch further than we originally planned - we are definitely going to be wrapping v1.5.0 before releases in December, by which point we hope to have our baby in its final and best form - look forward to sharing the news about that at this time next month


Automobilista is a racing simulation available exclusively to PC and developed by Reiza Studios.

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Like the sound of the latest roadmap update? Excited for the future of AMS? Pleased to see tyre set progression and damage limitations? Let us know in the comments section below!

 

[Emery]

Alleged new game, it was Reiza 17 now it's 18 no preview screenshots videos etc AMS was meant to stop being updated in April still updating and bringing new content and it's now November, don't get me wrong I think it's cool that their still doing this but you have to ask who is working on the new game at this rate it will be lucky if it's Reiza 2020

If their plan is to get all the core game features finished before making the graphical move, then what we see makes sense. I would suppose that Reiza has someone poking at the graphics engine to see how Reiza makes it evolve into the next title. Content updates will be required for the next title, but Reiza has already proven they know how to manage their ever-growing content library.

At this point, looking to the next title, my only question is how will they handle the tradeoff between graphics and fps? The current cars do not have cockpits detailed enough for VR users used to Kunos detail. Obviously AMS users are willing to settle for lower detail, but there's a limit to how low that probably is in VR. Studio 397 committed to the higher detail yet it's massively hurting fps in DX11; time will bring GPU advances, but S397 probably went for the detail a little too soon with the current state of their code.

[edit: I wrote the above about an hour before getting update #2 of the rF2 GT3 Powerpack... Studio 397 made decent progress on improving fps with this update]

 

[Caramidaru Andrei Bogdan]

"Limited tire sets with cumulative wear / component change delays
Another significant realism option currently in the works is the addition of limited tire sets - users will get the option to limit the number of tire sets available for single & multiplayer races, which will then accumulate wear as they´re used throughout the race weekend. Drivers will then be able to switch back & forth between used and new tire sets (rather than just infinitely reset tires to a brand new set every time he goes back to the pit menu)."
@Bram Hengeveld next mini league?

 

[KODIAK]

Furthermore, we are working on adding options for time delays changing major car components, so that if for instance driver blows an engine or significantly damage the car, he will be forced to sit in the pits and unable to go out again while the mechanics handle the required repairs. This is to combine with another new option to set rules for escaping to pits mid-session (whether you can escape to menu any time as currently, only when vehicle is stopped or only when its back to its pit slot).

Im guessing this won't happen in a race?

I love AMS. Thank you guys for this, and the addition of more realistic real world racing situations is a massive step in the right direction. Some will hate it but being locked out of racing for an hour, or a weekend, because you totaled your car in practice seems very intriguing. Sense of fear is what sim racing lacks probably the most and this would add heaps to giving us something to be careful of while pushing limits.

That is a big part of why iracing is so cool, almost every move can influence our "carrer". In Automobilista adding options like limited tire sets, force drivers going back to there pit slot after some laps, a car that is not able to move would stay some time on track until is removed, accumulate wear in several mechanic parts of the car during a weekend or even a season. That could bring another level of realism, and also bring patience to sim drivers, what is something that lakes a lot in online sim racing.

Next they should add, limited cars per session/race weekend, or over a championship. If the damage cant be fixed by the race session, then you're DQ'd.

 

[Jockey]

Alleged new game, it was Reiza 17 now it's 18 no preview screenshots videos etc AMS was meant to stop being updated in April still updating and bringing new content and it's now November, don't get me wrong I think it's cool that their still doing this but you have to ask who is working on the new game at this rate it will be lucky if it's Reiza 2020

We obviously don't know what are they doing behind the scene.
It easily can be that they are already rebuilding the graphics engine for their next game. I also read somewhere that the majority of the ams content will carry over to their new game.

Or they will get rfactor 2's new graphics engine for their new game. From the recent roadmap we found out that S397 rebuilt their graphics engine from the ground and since marcel already worked on AMS and it's still credited as lead programmer. I wouldn't be surprised if the new graphics engine for rfactor 2 would be built in mind with reiza's new game.

 

[bsmooth]

To me FPS is always the key, If the sim doesn't run smooth , then what good is it? Eye candy is OK, and the fancy HUD features, but when it impacts the smoothness of the sim its too much.
You could almost see RF2 was starting to go in this direction, yet at the same time RF2 never had the road "feel" that Automobilista has.
Thats the thing I'll hang onto Automobilista long after a newer better updated version comes out, because it'll run smoother, without having to update my PC to the latest and greatest. It really is that good !

 

[Steve Worrell]

Very happy with the added realism options. Great addition.

 

[Steve Worrell]

@Marcel Offermans the limited tyre and time in the garage features are amazing. Any plans to add to rf2?

 

[Marcus Kruger]

when comes VR Support? We life in the 2017ies not in 2010

 

[KODIAK]

when comes VR Support? We life in the 2017ies not in 2010

But the engine is from the 2000's. Have you seen some of the interiors, there isnt much to look at.

 

[DaVeX↯]

AMS2 with rF2 graphic engine? I am ok with this, technically it still supports rF1 phisycs (AI still use it) and realfeel plugin (devmode) so... why not?
I still dream a fusion between the two studios but if they help each other...

 

[hitm4k3r]

@Marcel Offermans the limited tyre and time in the garage features are amazing. Any plans to add to rf2?

If I am not completely wrong, it would require quite alot of data to be stored due to the much more complex tire model within rF2. But lets see what Marcel says

 

[Will Mazeo]

If I am not completely wrong, it would require quite alot of data to be stored due to the much more complex tire model within rF2. But lets see what Marcel says

As someone pointed somewhere this data is already stored and transfered in driver swap

 

[bello francesco]

ma quando fanno il tempo variabile e alcune auto storiche?

 

[FeltHat]

I see there's common misconception that vr users look only at cockpit and it has to be photorealistic
cant think of any joke here so ill only say thats not true at all

 

[arvin2121]

Realy awesome! Hey guys finally picked up ams plus season pass in haloween discounts! So happy! But can someone please tell me how forgiving is it in terms of pc or laptop systems? I mean will it run smoothly on any systems that are mid class? Thanks a lot

 

[bello francesco]

ma quando fanno il tempo variabile e alcune auto storiche?

but when they make variable time and some historic cars?

 

[Paulo Gomes]

I mean will it run smoothly on any systems that are mid class? Thanks a lot

I use a laptop with a 840m graphics card, with v-sync on, and I have a pleasant experience! But forget about a night races... and shadows too

 

[DaVeX↯]

but when they make variable time and some historic cars?

Tempo variabile,nuove auto e circuiti verranno con il nuovo titolo.
Weather, cars and circuits will arrive with new title.

 

[Boby Kim]

when comes VR Support? We life in the 2017ies not in 2010

Dude, buy Pcars 2...bye bye

 

[Boby Kim]

@Marcel Offermans the limited tyre and time in the garage features are amazing. Any plans to add to rf2?

I dont think they will, they only care about DX11 and external damage model. Studio whatever is going ala SMS