Automobilista 2 Version 1.3.1 Now Live with Free Racin' USA DLC Weekend

Automobilista 2 Racin USA Part 2 01.jpg
Automobilista 2 has been updated to version 1.3.1.x, plus part 2 of the Racin' USA DLC has been released and offered for free until December 6th for owners of the game.

Reiza Studios has released another update and subsequent hotfix for Automobilista 2, building on the major physics and force feedback updates that came in version 1.3 last week.

Along with the update, most of the second part of the Racin' USA DLC has been released. The first part of the DLC included GTE and DPi cars, plus the Laguna Seca, Long Beach and Daytona tracks. The second part currently includes six varieties of CART cars from the late 1990's, plus the Cleveland Burke and Watkins Glen tracks. Road America will be added to the DLC in time.

Reiza has made this a free weekend for the Racin' USA DLC, so owners of AMS2 who haven't purchased the DLC can try it out for free until December 6th.

The changelog for this update is listed here. We'll take a deeper look at the new content soon, but for now be sure to share your own thoughts on this update and the new cars and tracks in the comments below

2Automobilista 2 Racin USA Part 2 02.jpg


CONTENT
  • Added Cleveland Burke Lakefront airport circuit (part of the Racin´ USA Pt2 DLC pack)
  • Added Watkins Glen International (4 layouts) (part of the Racin´ USA Pt2 DLC pack)
  • Added Reynard 98i, Swift 009C, Lola T98 to Formula USA Gen2 class (part of the Racin´ USA Pt2 DLC pack)
GENERAL
  • Optimized FFB/custom script performance
  • Further revisions to shadow cascading parameters
  • Revised AI suspension rates to minimise some cars appearing to "jitter" in online races (as prediction netcode for human opponents in Multiplayer uses those same AI parameters)
  • Fixed selection issues in Custom AI grids feature
  • Further adjustments to shadow cascading parameters

UI & HUD
  • Added engine displacement, weight distribution, wheelbase specs to vehicle browser and loading screen
  • Added driver flag to pre/post session leaderboards
  • Fixed online rating regulations options being visible in single player.
  • Fixed stretched fuel icon on session overview screen
  • Fixed stretched flag textures on nationality selection screen
  • Fixed aspect ratio of loading screen vehicle render
  • Adjusted mouse activation zones on monitr screen
  • Updated credits list

PHYSICS & AI
  • Minor tire tread revisions to GTE, GT3, F-V10 G1, F-V10 G2, F-Reiza, Super V8
  • Revised rain tires for all classes; Increased slick dropoff in wet for GT cars
  • Further fine-tuning for ABS system
  • F-Trainer AI Calibration pass
  • Revised rain tires; Increased slick dropoff in wet for GT cars
  • Added wet & hard compounds for F-USA G2; medium & revised hard for F-ultimate
  • Adjusted helper spring rates for Porsches Cup, GT3-R & RSR GTE
  • Updated SuperV8 suspension (reducing sprung mass), revised splitter aero
  • Revised AI suspension parameters should minimise issues with AI potentially rolling or bouncing off high curbs on some tracks
HOTFIX
  • Added F-USA Gen2 to Formula vehicle filter: Fixed F-USA Gen2 being incorrectly sorted in non-English languages
  • Corrected engine specs for F-USA cars in vehicle info
  • Adjusted tire wear rates for F-USA, F-V10 Gen1 & F-Ultimate tires
  • Slightly reduced ideal opearing window for F-USA tires
  • Adjusted AI suspension rates for Cadillac DPi, F-Ultimate, P1, GTE, GT3, GT4 class cars to minimise issues when running over curbs
  • Updated F-USA onboard sounds
  • Watkins Glen: Reworked marshal huts, added tall watchtowers, updated trackside cameras
  • Added cockpit antenna vibration to Swift 009c
About author
Mike Smith
I have been obsessed with sim racing and racing games since the 1980's. My first taste of live auto racing was in 1988, and I couldn't get enough ever since. Lead writer for RaceDepartment, and owner of SimRacing604 and its YouTube channel. Favourite sims include Assetto Corsa Competizione, Assetto Corsa, rFactor 2, Automobilista 2, DiRT Rally 2 - On Twitter as @simracing604

Comments

Well…saying AMS2 and PCars 2 is the same or nearly the same is trolling in my books.
If you said that in the beginning of 2020: fair enough. But 1.5 years later it’s nothing but trolling.
Don’t need a doctor in physics to notice that.

Not talking about you Kyuubeey but some guys who still compare it or who claim that nothing changed.
Well yeah, it is a bit of a hyperbole. But there is more truth to it than AMS2 people want to admit. Everyone goes on and on about how the engine is "complex" and the pressure and heat matters so much, but I'd be really curious to see the true output curves myself.

For example I'm absolutely positive the brake heat in some cars is bullshit because it barely hits peak temps for steel discs with organic brake compounds let alone steel discs with racing pads. Yet if I say that now, the AMS2 community will freak out even if it's a pretty legitimate thing to talk about.
 
Since the DLC was free for the weekend, I decided to give it a go.
Reynard 98i at Cleveland.
And now I get what the fuss is all about - it's fun. So much fun that I spent hours in this combo.
The driving feel is acceptable, and the AI is decent.
And I finally realized why so many people love this sim. It's approachable, it's user friendly, it's forgiving. A wonderful escapism.
And I finally realized why so many people don't like my favorite sim - rF2. It's not approachable, it's not user friendly, it's not forgiving.
CART from the late 90's is the ultimate race car if you ask me. No aids, no power steering, lots of power and a sequential stick.
If we're talking simulation, these cars should not be a "blast to drive", they should not be a "joy to drive".
They should have an extremely high learning curve as they were very demanding to drive, both physically and mentally. Drivers from that era had to dance with their right foot to stay on the track, and their forearms were sore days after the race.
That's why people didn't like the CART Factor mod in rF1 and rF2.
It had you on the edge at all times, you had to think like a real racer.
 
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There is a big difference between a game that is released with some or many technical issues and a game that's is released with a concept issue. The one is fixable with patches , the other is not fixable or very hard to fix.

Those people criticizing the sim on the forums etc are just the top of the iceberg. Some people are vocal some people are not. But the concurrent players number should be your starting point of reflexion. You should not minimize the community opinion about AMS2. Otherwise you're gonna be an another member of the growing club of those who ask "I don't understand why AMS2 don't get more popular or don't get more players despite the updates etc." The article on the link below is an element of answer. . If you read it with rigid mindset you will not get the point of the article but if you approach it with an open mind, it should give you some valuable informations. Good read https://www.overtake.gg/news/4755-column-about-the-state-of-automobilista-2

Here is a sample from the article
""""In the intro, I mentioned that Automobilista 2 has a knife in its back. While maybe a bit hyperbolic, it may be true. Ironically enough, the community are the ones pushing it in. But how can a super supportive community that wants nothing but good for the game itself be complicit in its murder?

In psychology, there is a concept known as toxic positivity. It basically says that in situations where people experience too much positivity, it is likely to turn around and become a negative influence.

I think this is exactly what is happening with AM2 in real-time. While it is an incredibly refined game with great graphics and a passionate developer behind it, the game has fostered this community of relentless affirmation. There rarely are big points of critique beeing brought up anywhere. Be it the forums of Reiza, or in videos. More people are talking about how good the game is than are actually playing it."
It's amazing how a column full of prejudice and wrong information became so popular with AMS2 haters. :D
And yes it's true that especially here, there are constantly those 5 guys patrolling the conversation and repeating the same thing over and over again at every update, obviously not testing the sim because certain things have changed quite significantly.
Anyway, it's a free world and if that is what they like, so be it
 
Well yeah, it is a bit of a hyperbole. But there is more truth to it than AMS2 people want to admit. Everyone goes on and on about how the engine is "complex" and the pressure and heat matters so much, but I'd be really curious to see the true output curves myself.

For example I'm absolutely positive the brake heat in some cars is bullshit because it barely hits peak temps for steel discs with organic brake compounds let alone steel discs with racing pads. Yet if I say that now, the AMS2 community will freak out even if it's a pretty legitimate thing to talk about.
I promise no one will "freak out" if you point out issues with brake heating (in which car?) because that is something that can be objectively discussed and addressed by the devs. What gets boring is the stuff like "cars rotate around a center pivot" that has no basis in reality and no objective interpretation.
 
Since the DLC was free for the weekend, I decided to give it a go.
Reynard 98i at Cleveland.
And now I get what the fuss is all about - it's fun. So much fun that I spent hours in this combo.
The driving feel is acceptable, and the AI is decent.
And I finally realized why so many people love this sim. It's approachable, it's user friendly, it's forgiving. A wonderful escapism.
And I finally realized why so many people don't like my favorite sim - rF2. It's not approachable, it's not user friendly, it's not forgiving.
CART from the late 90's is the ultimate race car if you ask me. No aids, no power steering, lots of power and a sequential stick.
If we're talking simulation, these cars should not be a "blast to drive", they should not be a "joy to drive".
They should have an extremely high learning curve as they were very demanding to drive, both physically and mentally. Drivers from that era had to dance with their right foot to stay on the track, and their forearms were sore days after the race.
That's why people didn't like the CART Factor mod in rF1 and rF2.
It had you on the edge at all times, you had to think like a real racer.
It's amazing how we can have so different perceptions. I find rF2 to be extremely forgiving on the limit, to the point I need to do stupid stuff in purpose to spin out. I don't feel that's the case with AMS2, where in fact I find the response from the car so sensitive to each change of input that I feel overloaded by it at high speeds. I can control the car and keep a somewhat decent pace, but I feel like I'm struggling to get the best out of the machine, and I'm put in hairy situations lap after lap.

I lack the true knowledge, and experience on high perfomance racecars, to be able to pinpoint if it is realistic or not. But feeling like I need to be super precise to get the best out of what I'm driving, feeling like I cannot do stupid stuff or I will sBin it, feeling like the when the car is put on an awkward position and a tyre feels about to break out, I can tell it and do something about it, and if I do it right I can get back in shape and keep going...those are things that make for a believable simulation for an armchair expert like myself :p

To compound matters, before going to bed last night I took the FV10 Gen 2 for some laps at Suzuka. Besides everything explained above, I could also grasp several details on how the car would react with the slight changes of the road if it had a positive, neutral or negative camber. How the front and/or rear ends would slide and what could I do about it, it felt like the car had some true character beneath the surface, and it would react in different ways to whatever I tried to do with it. I could make any end of the car to slide as much as I wanted, but it was not a smart thing to do or I would arrive with overheated tyres to the next corner and have all sorts of trouble there.

Is it a 100% objective realistic simulation? Hard to tell, like I said before I lack proper knowledge and experience to tell, so I cannot make more than a couple educated guesses. Is it fun and believable? To me, hell effing yeah it is. And thank the Lord that we have so many different sims available so our subjetivism can find the title we like the most.
 
I promise no one will "freak out" if you point out issues with brake heating (in which car?) because that is something that can be objectively discussed and addressed by the devs. What gets boring is the stuff like "cars rotate around a center pivot" that has no basis in reality and no objective interpretation.
What I tried last time after 1.3 is the E30, 190E, RSR 3.0 (Because I've made good models for all of them, so I have a reference point) among others and I can remember them having that issue. Pretty sure the Wolkswagens also had it. Although this is excusable because the models are WIP and there are so many of them, it's still not a feature that works as intended from my testing at least. The reason I brought it up is because people keep talking about this feature and that feature without even knowing if the outputs are correct to begin with.

Stuff like that is a bit annoying, but you need to remember that 99.9% of users can't express physics subjects in an accurate manner. Generally what that'll mean is that the understeer coefficient is too low, or switches dramatically on pedal inputs which makes the car feel like it's a spinning top. There is more rotation than expected for a given steering wheel angle.

One reason could be that the peak slipratios are high/dropoff in the curve is low enough to make driving with the rear tires at a higher slipangle than the front the optimal way. It'll bias cars that otherwise would be understeery in steady state towards oversteer in transient like entries and exits. It didn't happen on exit in the FWD cars (Like it does in ISImotor) so I'm faaaairly sure it has to do with the longitudinal side's slipcurve.
 
When a majority of people say that this drives differently than PCars 2 and the physics/setups rehaul with this update improves AMS2 substantially and you claim at the same time that it still feels the same....I can't help myself but come to the conclusion that you're either trolling and/or haven't tried AMS2 for a decent amount of time. It (still) might not be where you want or expect it to be right now (which is according to you RF2 territory) but it is lightyears away from being PCars 2 for example. However I guess some folks just want to beat a dead horse and repeat the same old story until the end of time without even investing time in the sim.
"majority of people" have any kind of authority for you? Not for me. I have sufficient experience in driving in real life and in multiple arcades and simulations. I have many hours in those in the same PC2 and AMS1 and AMS2, I have all their DLC and I am not a hater of these simulations. Do you want to prove to me that my opinion is worthless? What is the meaning of this conversation?
 
It's easily controlled 4 wheel drift. Bizarre and arcadey. If that can be fixed to make driving more challenging and believable, AMS2 can make a decent replacement for AC without need to deal with half finished mods hassle.
But I totally understand the crowd that finds existing driving model more appealing comparing to other sims.
Agreed. This is what I was trying to explain earlier on. It's a kind of automatic slip that fills in for my (bad) driving. Doesn't feel realistic to me, but as I don't actually know what 'realistic' is, I wasn't sure.
The way the movement of the cars and FFB work together feels better than anything else (to me).
Also, as mentioned many times, the VR is *awesome*. Yesterday I spent a couple of hours hotlapping at the Nordschleife in a bunch of different cars. Afterwards I thought, that was my favourite 'hotlapping at the Nordschleife' experience to date.
 
Premium
I don’t want to prove that your opinion is worthless, as far as I remember we still have freedom of speech.
Your statements just read as if it’s just another crude attempt to fuel one of those sim-wars.

»This game doesn't change.«

»FBB remains as oaky as in PC2.«

»…but there is no progress in physics.«

Those are some of your statements where I just have to srub my head and wonder if you play with a gamepad or another sim or what kind of setup you have…

And don’t get me wrong: it’s fine to criticize but what you said (quoted above) just made no sense at all unless there’s maybe something wrong with your installation, your setup etc. The progress this sim made within the last 1.5 years are quite big and you didn’t notice a difference? It’s far from perfect as it is now but you cannot deny the progress. And that’s the part where I stumble when reading your remarks. And that’s where the trolling starts imo.
 
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but you cannot deny the progress.
Or even the changes.. Many naysayers even deny there is any appreciable changes, which like them or not is very evident. Some of them even say it drives the same way as PC2, but if you race back to back the same car/track combo it's bullet proof that they do not drive the same... anyway, freedom of speech for everyone is a must..
 
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It's amazing how we can have so different perceptions. I find rF2 to be extremely forgiving on the limit, to the point I need to do stupid stuff in purpose to spin out. I don't feel that's the case with AMS2, where in fact I find the response from the car so sensitive to each change of input that I feel overloaded by it at high speeds. I can control the car and keep a somewhat decent pace, but I feel like I'm struggling to get the best out of the machine, and I'm put in hairy situations lap after lap.

I lack the true knowledge, and experience on high perfomance racecars, to be able to pinpoint if it is realistic or not. But feeling like I need to be super precise to get the best out of what I'm driving, feeling like I cannot do stupid stuff or I will sBin it, feeling like the when the car is put on an awkward position and a tyre feels about to break out, I can tell it and do something about it, and if I do it right I can get back in shape and keep going...those are things that make for a believable simulation for an armchair expert like myself :p

To compound matters, before going to bed last night I took the FV10 Gen 2 for some laps at Suzuka. Besides everything explained above, I could also grasp several details on how the car would react with the slight changes of the road if it had a positive, neutral or negative camber. How the front and/or rear ends would slide and what could I do about it, it felt like the car had some true character beneath the surface, and it would react in different ways to whatever I tried to do with it. I could make any end of the car to slide as much as I wanted, but it was not a smart thing to do or I would arrive with overheated tyres to the next corner and have all sorts of trouble there.

Is it a 100% objective realistic simulation? Hard to tell, like I said before I lack proper knowledge and experience to tell, so I cannot make more than a couple educated guesses. Is it fun and believable? To me, hell effing yeah it is. And thank the Lord that we have so many different sims available so our subjetivism can find the title we like the most.

Man thank you for articulating my experience with AMS2 so well.

This is why I keep going to it over every other sim. To me AMS2 is not forgiving at all. I mean, it is if you're not pushing the limit of the cars... but when you do, you have to be ON IT or it will punish you in a way no other sim does this well (IMO).
Last night I had another experience like this on Interlagos where I had a close battle with another driver on the DPI, followed him closely but "in control" for 3 laps, then desperation started to creep in and I started pushing to get past, fighting the car and starting to lose more and more confidence in it corner by corner until I eventually pushed it too far and lost it. But I always knew what I was doing, how much I was "safe" to push and that I wouldn't overtake without taking a risk and driving it to its limit.

It's a wonderful experience and I haven't felt so "in control" in any other sim.
 
Man thank you for articulating my experience with AMS2 so well.

This is why I keep going to it over every other sim. To me AMS2 is not forgiving at all. I mean, it is if you're not pushing the limit of the cars... but when you do, you have to be ON IT or it will punish you in a way no other sim does this well (IMO).
Last night I had another experience like this on Interlagos where I had a close battle with another driver on the DPI, followed him closely but "in control" for 3 laps, then desperation started to creep in and I started pushing to get past, fighting the car and starting to lose more and more confidence in it corner by corner until I eventually pushed it too far and lost it. But I always knew what I was doing, how much I was "safe" to push and that I wouldn't overtake without taking a risk and driving it to its limit.

It's a wonderful experience and I haven't felt so "in control" in any other sim.
Great racing at Jacarepagua "Oval" argentine mate!
 
Your statements just read as if it’s just another crude attempt to fuel one of those sim-wars.
»This game doesn't change.«
»FBB remains as oaky as in PC2.«
»…but there is no progress in physics.«
Those are some of your statements where I just have to srub my head and wonder if you play with a gamepad or another sim or what kind of setup you have…
I have been following this project from the very beginning so understand my disappointment. All these versions 1.1.1, 1.1.2 ... 1.2, 1.3, 1.3.1 .... have not changed anything in terms of physics and vehicle handling for me personally. I will say even more the physics in PC2 was more logical for me. I even became too lazy to write about it here. But after the release of the supposedly "breakthrough patch" 1.3.0.1, I realized that nothing would change significantly. One gets the impression that the main changes are related to new content, polishing the weather, calendar and changing seasons. Yes, FFB is very different from PC2 for the better, but at its core there is still some "unforgettable core" from the Madness Engine. After this long waiting for the raises developers, I completely plunged into rFactor2 and was simply stunned by the progress that the Studio 397 developers achieved and how much it differs from AMS2 in terms of the physics and controllability of cars. I don't want to arrange any holy wars here on the topic of whose sim is better, it's just my opinion that not everyone here will like.
 
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Premium
I have been following this project from the very beginning so understand my disappointment. All these versions 1.1.1, 1.1.2 ... 1.2, 1.3, 1.3.1 .... have not changed anything in terms of physics and vehicle handling for me personally. I will say even more the physics in PC2 was more logical for me. I even became too lazy to write about it here. But after the release of the supposedly "breakthrough patch" 1.3.1, I realized that nothing would change significantly. One gets the impression that the main changes are related to new content, polishing the weather, calendar and changing seasons. Yes, FFB is very different from PC2 for the better, but at its core there is still some "unforgettable core" from the Madness Engine. After this long waiting for the raises developers, I completely plunged into rFactor2 and was simply stunned by the progress that the Studio 397 developers achieved and how much it differs from AMS2 in terms of the physics and controllability of cars. I don't want to arrange any holy wars here on the topic of whose sim is better, it's just my opinion that not everyone here will like.
Sure, fair enough! Thanks for the explanation.
Perhaps this will change for you someday, perhaps not. RF2 is a fine sim as well. Cheers!
 
I have been following this project from the very beginning so understand my disappointment. All these versions 1.1.1, 1.1.2 ... 1.2, 1.3, 1.3.1 .... have not changed anything in terms of physics and vehicle handling for me personally. I will say even more the physics in PC2 was more logical for me. I even became too lazy to write about it here. But after the release of the supposedly "breakthrough patch" 1.3.0.1, I realized that nothing would change significantly. One gets the impression that the main changes are related to new content, polishing the weather, calendar and changing seasons. Yes, FFB is very different from PC2 for the better, but at its core there is still some "unforgettable core" from the Madness Engine. After this long waiting for the raises developers, I completely plunged into rFactor2 and was simply stunned by the progress that the Studio 397 developers achieved and how much it differs from AMS2 in terms of the physics and controllability of cars. I don't want to arrange any holy wars here on the topic of whose sim is better, it's just my opinion that not everyone here will like.
Maybe you should take up boxing
 
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This is kind of why AMS2 fanbase is seen as fanatic and nonsensical. If someone posts their personal feelings, they get ridiculed. If someone posts their hypothesis, they get ridiculed. Everything that's not supportive of AMS2 is seen as a troll or a joke.

It'd be great if the AMS2 community was like the BMS community and provided some proof too on top of being fanatical, but it's generally just more subjective feelings, hence people on the outside are not convinced and it'll maybe even give them a bad impression of AMS2.

I mean, even Renato summed up people's issues with AMS2's physics something like "It is not what they are used to and that's why they don't like it" even when there's objectively wrong stuff going on. I wonder if they would have the guts to say that with a straight face if Madness and its tools were open and could be properly torn into.
 
View attachment 523081
I mean, even Renato summed up people's issues with AMS2's physics something like "It is not what they are used to and that's why they don't like it" even when there's objectively wrong stuff going on. I wonder if they would have the guts to say that with a straight face if Madness and its tools were open and could be properly torn into.
Maybe this will be news for a Reiza, but problem with strange rotation of cars in corners were in PC1, in PC2, this problem was somehow solved.
 
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View attachment 523081

This is kind of why AMS2 fanbase is seen as fanatic and nonsensical. If someone posts their personal feelings, they get ridiculed. If someone posts their hypothesis, they get ridiculed. Everything that's not supportive of AMS2 is seen as a troll or a joke.

It'd be great if the AMS2 community was like the BMS community and provided some proof too on top of being fanatical, but it's generally just more subjective feelings, hence people on the outside are not convinced and it'll maybe even give them a bad impression of AMS2.

I mean, even Renato summed up people's issues with AMS2's physics something like "It is not what they are used to and that's why they don't like it" even when there's objectively wrong stuff going on. I wonder if they would have the guts to say that with a straight face if Madness and its tools were open and could be properly torn into.
I added a funny face because I was simply making a joke mate. Chill! Im in full support of Reiza, S397, Kunos, and many more. I have also pointed out some of the flaws in AMS2, some of them were real bugbears of mine, but i've been thuroughly impressed when a week or month later, I see Reiza has addressed and fixed the exact problem I was experiencing. Credit where credit is due, Reiza are by far the fastest at addressing issues and get a heck of a lot done very quickly. And no, folks who make a valid argument as to a problem they don't get ridiculed, infact it usually starts a pretty good discussion, i've seen it so many times. But there was something I found funny about the post you are refering to so i just left a funny emoji. Ok?
Oh and on the topic of saying things with a straight face, there are still some problems with AMS2. But then again there are (and have been for a long, long time) with other platforms mentioned in the the post you refer to (believe me, i've been dealing with them for many years now, and im still in support of them).

However. Credit where credit is due, but I also stand by my joke, and can and will disagree when something is just wrong. A statement was made that V1.3.0.0 "have not changed anything in terms of physics and vehicle handling". Thats just simply not true, it was the biggest fundamental change in the physics and handling of the cars to date, especially to cars with LSD's.

If you could take one of the cars with from previous builds and totally unlocked the diff, as far as you can, and then do the same, with the same car, but from the current build (Porsche or Mclaren GT3 for example), and spent some time driving each, basically if you did'nt notice a big difference, you would'nt notice a punch in the face from an angry Mike Tyson.... So maybe take up boxing..... Its just a joke, so please don't get upset, and yes, i can provide proof of the afore mentioned major differences.
 

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What's needed for simracing in 2024?

  • More games, period

  • Better graphics/visuals

  • Advanced physics and handling

  • More cars and tracks

  • AI improvements

  • AI engineering

  • Cross-platform play

  • New game Modes

  • Other, post your idea


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