Part One of Automobilista 2’s November 2021 Development Roadmap Revealed

Automobilista 2 November Update 01.jpg
Reiza Studios has released the first batch of information on updates that Automobilista 2 players can expect in the month of November.

The November roadmap for Automobilista 2 is so large that Reiza Studios has opted to reveal it in two parts. The first part was published as a Steam article. Here are the highlights:

Players can expect two new Volkswagen cars – We published an article recently about the addition of two Volkswagen cars as part of the VW TSI Cup E-Sports series. More information is now available. The cars will be utilized in a similar manner to the Acelerados show in Brazil, which features presenter Rubens Barrichello or other pro drivers chucking cars around Velo Città in a manner similar to Top Gear.

Improved differential model – Reiza has made great strides in the development of the driving physics in AMS2 since release. They were challenged with trying to recreate what they achieved in AMS1 using the Madness Engine. One aspect of the physics Reiza has been focused on lately is the differential modeling. The next major build will incorporate these improvements.

Automobilista 2 November Update 02.jpg


AI improvements and modding – The huge number of tracks and car classes on offer in Automobilista 2 has proven to be a challenge to Reiza in terms of building competent AI to race against in solo play. November will be improvements on this front, and even allow players to create their own. The initial roll out will be text edits, but this process should be polished in the future.

Racin’ USA part 2 and laser-scanned Azure – Content is always a primary focus of updates, and Reiza has offered up some big news on that front. Classic Indycar is coming, along with new US tracks. The picture shared by Reiza appears to show a late 90’s CART car. Azure (Monaco) will be overhauled using laser scan data, replacing the version inherited from Project CARS 2.

Click this link to read the part 1 of the November Automobilista 2 roadmap from Reiza. We will share more information on the November update once part 2 of the roadmap is revealed. Let us know in the comments below what you’re interested in trying out from this busy development month.
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

With that goal if not yet achieved already well within reach, it was time to flex the muscles of the engine a bit more and begin delving into other substantial resources these physics models offer that hadn’t up to now been fully exploited: features ranging from a variety of tire damage components to transmission elasticity will feature to one degree or another in our November build, and thanks to the support and input of some intrepid internal testers we have not only been capable of making quick progress exploring these new resources but in the process also gain some valuable handling improvements, the most notable of which to the differential model on which is we have now pretty much eliminated the “sticky diff” syndrome some cars still suffered from to one degree or another.

Hopefully this should help with the main issues i have with the physics.
 
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Maybe iRacing will discover controllable slip angles by 2030.
And proper drivelines and aero so that you can't fuel save by releasing the clutch for 300 m at full speed without losing while in the slipstream.
And since they are there, I suggest they look at why all cars must run a <50% brake bias not to plough out of the corners at turn in, which is seen nowhere in the real world ;)
 
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Where did you hear this?! Holy #%*& if that's true! US ovals, short like Milwaukee and huge like Michigan, are a key part of the 90s CART experience -- so it should be a part of any sim including these cars -- but I was assuming it wouldn't be because sim racing AI and rules implementations are usually designed for road courses.

Wow, if they embrace that challenge... mad respect to Reiza, and good luck to them! They may need it. Look at how rF2 has struggled to have a functional out-of-the-box oval AI and rules implementation for years, for example. Perhaps the Madness AI is more flexible than gMotor AI, and thus can be tamed for ovals more easily? Or perhaps oval racing in Champ Cars specifically will function well, simply because in reality CART pretty much ran single file on ovals, except for passing. Which leaves only the particular rules of oval racing (pitlane opening and closing, full course yellows) to implement.

Also, I just remembered AMS2 already has the Jacarepagua Oval, so there's already one 90s CART oval circuit. :p
They mentioned during Racing America packs presentation that the 3rd part would focus on oval racing and stock cars. It's pretty generic for now but that's what was said
 
This is good but still nothing about multiplayer aspact which is actually terrible (bad netcode, no competitive system)
Please Reiza put it on your priority''s list.
you should read the September devs update.
There they announced what you are are moaning about including a time schedule.
 
Will this differential update fix the weird snap oversteer at the end of a braking phase? I'm braking, then slowly releasing the brakes and aroud the apex I get this snap oversteer like the rear locks or something. This is the only simracing game that shows this behavior and it annoys me so much...
 
Waiting for »This is like PCars 2« comments. :coffee:

Being able to finally edit AI names, skills and assign skins to the cars is huge, looking forward to this! So I can finally race some 90s F1 or CART season offline.

As an offline racer I cannot emphasize enough how huge of an update just the AI editing/assigning is. To have full autonomy of what cars, drivers are on track and the skill of each driver is huge. It opens up so many possibilities now whether its simulating past or present racing series, or even just allowing players to get the exact cars they want on the grid. It will truly be a huge game changer for AMS2.

The teased content is honestly just the cherry on top. I'm genuinely excited to see what else is coming in this update and excited for the rest of the content to eventually release.
 
Will this differential update fix the weird snap oversteer at the end of a braking phase? I'm braking, then slowly releasing the brakes and aroud the apex I get this snap oversteer like the rear locks or something. This is the only simracing game that shows this behavior and it annoys me so much...
That would be the intent I believe. The diff misbehavior is inherited by PC2 and is slowly being corrected. Some cars already are good, some others are still showing it and hopefully this updates gives it the final hit or close to.
 
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Keep up the hard work. Been very critical of the game since release but since the last few updates I'm getting hooked in. I will definitely be playing more of AM2 now :thumbsup:
 
This is good but still nothing about multiplayer aspact which is actually terrible (bad netcode, no competitive system)
Please Reiza put it on your priority''s list.
Have you played recently? Netcode is pretty damn good now actually. The only issues with multiplayer are no dedicated server controls for admin ie restart sessions, move forward session, and some weird bugs/crashes.
 
Have you played recently? Netcode is pretty damn good now actually. The only issues with multiplayer are no dedicated server controls for admin ie restart sessions, move forward session, and some weird bugs/crashes.
That's all it is about. Yes i tested it recently and with my ping around 120 ms it shows up red bars and sometimes strange cars behaviour whereas in rF2, AC, iRacing or ACC no problem at all whith dedicated servers.
Plus it's not yet ready for a serious race as there's no admin functionality
 
For a 98% offline simmer, AMS2 has become so stimulating after constant mitigations and step-by-step improvements.
Now, normally I drive classic cars (mostly) in other sims, but the last week I've had so much fun driving the Mercedes-AMG GT3 in mixed GT classes 20min sprint races at Campo Grande, an often overlooked track. With my T300RS-GT at near max FFB, NLR F-GT Lite seat and G27 pedals it's a blast - and AI's are some of the best I've ever experienced.
If just all cars and track AI modelling in this sim was like the above mentioned combo, nothing would come any near AMS2, speaking strictly sim-wise, IMO
(yes I race ACC, too, speaking the author's recent YT vid classification of ACC, AMS2, rF2 and R3E - normally I would agree, but after latest weeks experience I would put AMS2 atop ACC any time now, as a primarily offline simracer)
 
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That's all it is about. Yes i tested it recently and with my ping around 120 ms it shows up red bars and sometimes strange cars behaviour whereas in rF2, AC, iRacing or ACC no problem at all whith dedicated servers.
Plus it's not yet ready for a serious race as there's no admin functionality
I normally race with 220+ ping because server is in Europe and I am not and I have no issues with netcode even in very close racing, no strange contacts or car behaviors. There is more to the good performance of network than just ping
 
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For a 98% offline simmer, AMS2 has become so stimulating after constant mitigations and step-by-step improvements.
Now, normally I drive classic cars (mostly) in other sims, but the last week I've had so much fun driving the Mercedes-AMG GT3 in mixed GT classes 20min sprint races at Campo Grande, an often overlooked track. With my T300RS-GT at near max FFB, NLR F-GT Lite seat and G27 pedals it's a blast - and AI's are some of the best I've ever experienced.
If just all cars and track AI modelling in this sim was like the above mentioned combo, nothing would come any near AMS2, speaking strictly sim-wise, IMO
(yes I race ACC, too, speaking the author's recent YT vid classification of ACC, AMS2, rF2 and R3E - normally I would agree, but after latest weeks experience I would put AMS2 atop ACC any time now, as a primarily offline simracer)
Another 98% offine simmer here. AMS2 AI is the most exciting currently, when it works. If they manage to fix stuff that doesn't work (like certain combos, e.g. F3 @ Estoril just all crash in the final corner after a couple of laps, SC @ Curitiba brake at the S/F line, inconsistent difficulty, top speeds of the AI being low overall, etc.) it will become the best. ACC AI is less exciting to race but much more consistent (scope of the sim helps them).

Like somebody said about F1 engines, it's easier to develop a fast reliable engine from a fast unreliable engine than a slow reliable engine. AMS2 AI is "fast" and "unreliable" currently. The fact that they acknowledged some of this AI stuff in the roadmap and work towards improving as well as making awesome features like the AI customizer gives me that hope and excitement for the future of the game. Wondering when does another studio with inconsistent and often broken AI *ahemmmmrF2mm397mm* make this step?
 
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I think it is time to admit Reiza's team has been delivering what we were expecting from it, athough many had shown their disappointment and doubts. Let's hope this update will clean all these doubts.

Reiza has been hard working for months, as it had worked on AMS1 during years. I had no doubts about that when I've preordered the game. It takes more time than expected, but the job is done, the team keep on improving the sim, adding content. Great to know indycar is coming. And more GT1!

Good job Reiza.
 
AMS2 AI is the most exciting currently, when it works. If they manage to fix stuff that doesn't work (like certain combos, e.g. F3 @ Estoril just all crash in the final corner after a couple of laps, SC @ Curitiba brake at the S/F line, inconsistent difficulty, top speeds of the AI being low overall, etc.) it will become the best.
If you submit specific instances of the AI misbehaving, with as much detail as possible, to the Reiza forum, Reiza will look at them. I'm sure errors like Formula 3 pile-ups would interest them.
 
I've been on the fence about getting AMS 2 since it was released. I never played AMS 1. The Racin' USA Pt. 1 pack increased my interest significantly - and I almost pulled the trigger during the Halloween weekend sale. But 90's CART Indy Cars? If they have a similar holiday sale I think I'm jumping in.

I just hope Reiza is able to continually keep improving everything without breaking or ruining things that were already good along the way (RF2). I've wanted RF2 to be my do-it-all sim for so long, and there are things I love about it, but at this point I no longer think it can ever be fully "fixed". And that's not a slight on S397, I just think RF2 is flawed in a way that can't be fully reconciled. AMS2 won't be perfect either, no sim is, but I feel like, and hope, that it's just getting started rather than reaching the end of its road.

Hopefully Reiza are in it for the long run.
I'm in the same boat. I tried ams2 earlier but refunded it as I didn't like the way it felt. Almost jumped back in with the release of the racing USA 1 pack but held off. 90s cart might entice me enough to give this another go.
 
Game-wise, the continually improved AI is always big news to me as an offline-mainly player - I find the sweet spot in settings is very sweet, but it can take an age to dial in - but the ability to customise AI names, values and skins is an absolute game changer - it adds so much to the experience to me know 'who' I'm racing against, even if they are made from ones and zeroes.

Content-wise, there's some really interesting snippets in there for me and a particular highlight is that they continue to develop and expand existing classes... for free! Here we have teased expansions for the GT1, GT3 and GT4 and from new manufacturers (and opening the door to future Nissans and Astons maybe....? They both have lovely late-80s Group C cars) - one of my personal 'fears' is that the game was going 'wide' rather than 'deep' with its focus on content, so the more depth I see added to the touring and GT classes the better. I'd be happy to pay for these expansions Reiza!

Speaking of which, I'm not too interested in the single seater part of the USA DLC, but if the circuits include Cleveland, Road America and another goodie then I'm all in!
 
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