Watch: Why OverTake Finds Automobilista 2 v1.5 to be Awesome


Reiza Studios has released the big v1.5 update for Automobilista 2 last week, making the simulation take arguably its biggest step forward to date. But how good is it really? Emily Jones has taken a closer look at the new version for OverTake to see what the excitement is all about.

Image credit: OverTake

After discovering unwanted interference from an older tire model that the AI still uses, Reiza has reworked the physics to prevent false data from having an influence on the driving feel of the cars - as a result, all cars except karts have seen a revision for v1.5, some with enormous improvements, some with smaller changes. Still, the result is a much more cohesive feel across all vehicles, and the general consesus among sim racers seems to be positive.

Of course, whether a car feels positive or not is also highly subjective, at least in part. Emily focuses on numerous positive elements, but also adds a certain characteristic that might not be everyone's cup of tea to the discussion. Of course, a closer look at the new Adrenaline Pack Pt 1 DLC has to be taken as well.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1684915432891805696

As it is the easiest discipline to compare AMS2 to other sims with, Emily steps into the cockpit of a GT3 vehicle, too. How does the sim stack up against other titles that feature the arguably most popular class of race cars both in the real world and in sim racing? Watch the video to find out her take on the matter.

If you have not done so already, take a look at the in-depth interview we conducted with Reiza's founder and Lead Developer Renato Simioni about the work that went into v1.5 and AMS2's philosophy in general. Additionally, you can take a look at our v1.5 release article including the full changelog here.

Your Thoughts​

Do you agree with Emiliy's take on AMS2's big update? What car and track combinations do you suggest others should try to enjoy the title the most? Let us know in the comments below!
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About author
Yannik Haustein
Yannik Haustein
Lifelong motorsport enthusiast and sim racing aficionado, walking racing history encyclopedia.

Sim racing editor, streamer and one half of the SimRacing Buddies podcast (warning, German!).

Heel & Toe Gang 4 life :D

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Comments

P
Already before 1.5 AMS2 was a great simulation, however the new tire physics brings a big plus to AMS2, better sim as far as VR is concerned, and I have only been driving in VR since 2018, after... Assetto Corsa WITH Content Manger AND CSP AND SOL or PURE, is even better in VR and simulation physics in my opinion, but I like AMS2 which is very good even without the mods that will bring it a lot and I go back to it often.

The Adrenaline pack is a huge plus and I hope Reiza adds snow and ice, driving on an ice covered track is fantastic in VR, I remember the one from Project Cars 2 with a VW which was awesome in VR , we were driving around corners looking through the side windows of the car in the corners, fantastic even though Project Cars had much worse physics than AMS2, but much better than arcade games like F1 2023 For example.
 
M
Premium
1.5 is a very good baseline. I expect we will see further tweaks around the excess grip some people are complaining about and a few other issues, but they are getting there. As I don't really drive the GT3s, for me 1.5 feels great. The older cars really benefited from this patch. The RX stuff is great too.
 
S
Pazop said:
Project Cars had much worse physics than AMS2, but much better than arcade games like F1 2023 For example.
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Truly spoken like someone who didn't even play F1 "2023", you even misnamed the game. F1 games are simulations by general gaming standards, and only not deserving the name among the snobbish simracers, who are the only people calling them arcade, as a way of cheap insult.

Project Cars 2 has admittedly more complex physics engine than F1 games, but to the point of being too much for its own good. The physics in PC2 are fundamentally flawed, leading to cars behaving very unrealistically, much less so than F1 cars in Codies games, or than cars in racing sims of old age, like rFactor, GTR2 or Live For Speed. That level of complexity led to Reiza working on it for several years before reaching a level of acceptable improvement, and some weird characteristics of PC2 are still to be dealt with, for example excessive sliding in some high downforce cars.

Sometimes less is more. It's easier to achieve realism with proper scope. I'd rather take a somewhat simplified experience that drives properly than turbonuclear physic models that take flies dying in your radiator into account, but which drive like a hovercraft instead of a car.
 
SharkVA
1.5 certainly revived AMS2 for me. Struggled with the same disconnect many did prior to the update, just never felt settled or confident in most of the cars. What they have post-1.5 feels great in my opinion. No arguments about what's more "realistic" between sims, just what's predictable and learnable. The cars I've driven so far post-1.5 just make sense when it comes to feel, downforce, grip, etc. Throw in one of the many excellent custom FFB profiles available, the real livery and driver name mods available on RD...what a hell of a good time it has become.

With a VR headset on, headphones cranked loud and FFB gain turned up...the late 80s and early 90s F1 cars (MP4/4, MP4/6, etc.) provide some of the most engaging and fun sim experiences I've had so far this year. Running a 40 lap race around 1991 Silverstone in Senna's McLaren, battling the greats of the time, holy smokes are we a spoiled bunch in 2023. Bravo, Reiza. You've made a believer out of me yet.
 
Gdluque
Oh come on, since she doesn't know what to say, because AMS2 already has a reputation as a "weird simulator", and on the other hand, they will never throw themselves against the "big guys" because the AMS hatters will get mad, so she says it's "interesting". and fun"...

Its parameter is IRacing as it clearly says... The great God of simulators that to me in particular seems old and only focused on On Line... Exactly the opposite of AMS2.
 
Jay Fox
Stelcio said:
Truly spoken like someone who didn't even play F1 "2023", you even misnamed the game. F1 games are simulations by general gaming standards, and only not deserving the name among the snobbish simracers, who are the only people calling them arcade, as a way of cheap insult.

Project Cars 2 has admittedly more complex physics engine than F1 games, but to the point of being too much for its own good. The physics in PC2 are fundamentally flawed, leading to cars behaving very unrealistically, much less so than F1 cars in Codies games, or than cars in racing sims of old age, like rFactor, GTR2 or Live For Speed. That level of complexity led to Reiza working on it for several years before reaching a level of acceptable improvement, and some weird characteristics of PC2 are still to be dealt with, for example excessive sliding in some high downforce cars.

Sometimes less is more. It's easier to achieve realism with proper scope. I'd rather take a somewhat simplified experience that drives properly than turbonuclear physic models that take flies dying in your radiator into account, but which drive like a hovercraft instead of a car.
Click to expand...
my guy, you are entirely correct. just wanted to share that. yeah and the dude you replied to, wanted to flex him racing in VR and F1 never havin' it. though Trackir works as a sort of replacement. F1 23 is a sim for casual gamers and sort of in between because of them wanting to enable controller racers to be on par with wheel racers. if you need to setup your car and anticipate corner speed and exit, you classify as a sim to me. don't matter what degree. have a good one sir
 
Jay Fox
Gdluque said:
Oh come on, since she doesn't know what to say, because AMS2 already has a reputation as a "weird simulator", and on the other hand, they will never throw themselves against the "big guys" because the AMS hatters will get mad, so she says it's "interesting". and fun"...

Its parameter is IRacing as it clearly says... The great God of simulators that to me in particular seems old and only focused on On Line... Exactly the opposite of AMS2.
Click to expand...
As soon as AMS2 has a dedicated career mode, people will change their minds. until then it's a unappreciated gem :)
 
U
I love AMS 2 but there's one thing that I don't like. The 60s F1 cars are understeery and impossible to spin. Somehow they react strangely to load changes, the car feels like it's attached to a rubber band.
 
M
Premium
UnixRoot said:
I love AMS 2 but there's one thing that I don't like. The 60s F1 cars are understeery and impossible to spin. Somehow they react strangely to load changes, the car feels like it's attached to a rubber band.
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There are a few cars in 1.5 that are on the forgiving side and Reiza will tweak those in the next patch I'm sure.
 
SharkVA
mcroshaw said:
There are a few cars in 1.5 that are on the forgiving side and Reiza will tweak those in the next patch I'm sure.
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I'm more confident about their ability to do just that than ever. I'd really like them to take a deep look at the assists/electronics as well. The one thing I've noticed is a lack of distinction between TC and ABS levels. I'm wondering if it's confused by the fact they have "master settings" of low/high/off and then the 1-10 level settings on cars that have the electronics for it. Not getting the distinction between those levels one would expect and sometimes I'm curious if even the cars without TC are somehow having some applied even with assists on "authentic," or if the tire and physics of those cars are just a little too forgiving.
 
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M
Premium
SharkVA said:
I'm more confident about their ability to do just that than ever. I'd really like them to take a deep look at the assists/electronics as well. The one thing I've noticed is a lack of distinction between TC and ABS levels. I'm wondering if it's confused by the fact they have "master settings" of low/high/off and then the 1-10 level settings on cars that have the electronics for it. Not getting the distinction between those levels one would expect and sometimes I'm curious if even the cars without TC are somehow having some applied even with assists on "authentic," or if the tire and physics of those cars are just a little too forgiving.
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yes, I agree the way its done is confusing.
 
T
b)b said:
But how long are you going to drive your GT3 as a stolen car in a longer race without destroying the tires in no time ?
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Same amount of time I did in 1.4

I thought the same thing and was checking tire degradation and honestly it wasn't all that much more than normal (GT3 on Goiania). I did half a stint seriously until I realized how ridiculous the situation was, and then started to experiment at how late I could brake and still make the turn without crashing or spinning out. I could brake at points where in 1.4 I would had to lock my brakes up big time and the car would of kept going straight(ish). Now, I just Tokyo drift, fluctuating the braking and acceleration. I mean, in a way, it was fun for a second, until I realized if I wanted a drifting sim, I would of bought one to begin with.

Guess I have now.

Honestly, it almost feels like the cars physics have been purposefully altered to cater to the dirt track experience (for the DLC) and it is overlapping into the non dirt races somehow.
 
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B
tpfitz said:
Same amount of time I did in 1.4

I thought the same thing and was checking tire degradation and honestly it wasn't all that much more than normal (GT3 on Goiania). I did half a stint seriously until I realized how ridiculous the situation was, and then started to experiment at how late I could brake and still make the turn without crashing or spinning out. I could brake at points where in 1.4 I would had to lock my brakes up big time and the car would of kept going straight(ish). Now, I just Tokyo drift, fluctuating the braking and acceleration. I mean, in a way, it was fun for a second, until I realized if I wanted a drifting sim, I would of bought one to begin with.

Guess I have now.

Honestly, it almost feels like the cars physics have been purposefully altered to cater to the dirt track experience (for the DLC) and it is overlapping into the non dirt races somehow.
Click to expand...

Your wishes might be fulfilled: coincidentally, Renato just posted this on the Reiza forum (full post):

"Now it is also true many of our tires were excessively drifty before v1.5, and very possible some still allow for longer and wider slides than they should - of the ones you mentioned I´d agree GT3 tires as it is on the current release needed a little sharpening and that´s already been addressed in internal development; it might be the case for some of the Stock Cars, I´m less convinced it would be the case for GT1 tires but again it´s always a matter of degree - they all can be slightly better one way or another, and for that purpose development continues not only for the next update but beyond "
 
reshaderacer
the mp4 5b f1 car with pov at 74, 15 back with camera and 0 up/down, default setup at oulton park default+ ffb for a mid level/late model non direct drive wheel 83 gain, 30, 40, 0 dampening, (then lowering per car as needed; a custom file can be used too, the kuku one I found good with center tightening and downforce added a little) shows how good the title became this patch in my opinion; it might even be indicative of what the developer was trying to aim for when it embarked on the project. Most cars have become good to drive and its WIP status can be glass half full for a lot of people. There's so many classes of cars.

More systems are tied together now. A good thing is the ffb gets jittery when using too much brake and it tightens up for downforce these days, if only they made it tighten up like in rf2 for the combination of steering and braking a little.

I've got a fair bunch of hours in the sim and its definitely going to get some more.
 
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jappygamer
Some cars behave like boats in the deep ocean and others like a crazy ex that is glued to your life , just try the McLaren GT3 and tell me that thats how a gt3 should behave, lol.
Renato and his tribe should try some sport cars on track before droping the real deal car physic revolution.
I dont really find this update to be the real Nirvana
PD: AMS2 still is not better than ams1, you can feel the project cars engine in the cars... Depending on the car u test is more or less realistic as a sim. I hope they can improve it!
 
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