AMS 2 | Release Delayed to March 2020 - Jerez Confirmed

Paul Jeffrey

Premium
Reiza Studios have released their October 'Development Roadmap' for Automobilista 2... and it contains plenty of interesting news, a new laser-scanned circuit and a delayed release window.

With the successor to fan favourite Automobilista well into development prior to hitting public release, these Reiza roadmap posts keep getting juicier and juicier each month - and the October edition is certainly no exception!

Although packed full of interesting news, images and videos, one bit of information that will undoubtedly cause some disappointment amongst the community is confirmation that the release window of December 2019 has slipped to early 2020, with March floated as a provisional new release period for Automobilista 2.

With that news aside, you can check out the full October roadmap below:

Hello again folks!

October has come and gone - another month of intense work for us as we enter the latter stage of Automobilista 2 development before its initial release.

After months grinding away producing, updating and exporting a large number of cars and tracks, figuring the ins and outs of the new game engine and developing the required additional resources, things are now beginning to take form and potential is starting to turn into reality as the focus shifts from assembling the meat and bones of the sim to fine tuning the game into a cohesive whole.

There´s a lot of work still to be done to achieve that, so let´s go over where we are
:)


AMS2 Release Schedule Update

Beginning with what may not be so good news - although things have been progressing nicely and more or less within the planned schedule, with most major issues already cleared and a large content base already in place, we have decided to push release a bit from December 2019 to March 2020.

This is not a decision we have taken lightly - we understand many people are anxious for AMS2 to come out (not least ourselves), and even if we might have been able to just get to a releasable state by December, the content, features and polish we can add in these 3 extra months more than justifies the delay and will ultimately lead to a stronger launch for Automobilista 2.

For Early Backers the wait will be a little shorter as Automobilista 2 Beta should become available in February.

In the next two months we will be fleshing out our plans for Automobilista 2 in more detail, which hopefully will make the extra wait more understandable as well as more bearable
:)


For now, here is what we have been up to this past month:

Progress, Progress Everywhere

AMS2 super v8.jpg


On top of many cool cars and tracks continuing to make their way into the game (like this sweet new and revamped Super V8), we covered a lot of groundwork in various essential fronts of the sim. Some of the highlights:

Physics & FFB - We have made a couple of small but significant adjustments to the physics code, crucially fixing a bug in unsprung inertia calculation (which was already fixed in AMS1 but not yet in this version of the physics engine).

We are also working on a new FFB system which basically works very similarly to Realfeel system used in AMS1 (basically converting the forces coming through the steering arm into the FFB).

The combination of bridging these gaps with the ongoing development of the physics derived from AMS1 and a growing understanding of the SETA Tyre Model is starting to net some very exciting results - Over the next two months I´ll try to expand a bit more on where these improvements are coming from, but for now I can say we´re growing more confident that the overall physics and resulting driving experience in AMS2 is going to deliver the step forward we hoped to achieve.

AI - A lot of attention was given to AI this month. One of the main differences vs AMS2 AI is that while the player physics run the SMS SETA Tyre Model, the AI runs on a Brush Model similar to what we had in AMS1 which was by and large the same as the player´s.

This means both models need to be developed for each tyre type so that the AI has tyres that match the characteristics and performance of the player be that on straights, in and out of corners, running cold, hot, under or over pressure, come rain or sunshine and over a wide range of difficulty and aggression settings - a lot of variables to fine tune.

Luckily we do have quite a bit of experience with a similar AI code and this fine tuning process, and elsewhere in the code SMS has been very thorough in making AI functions fully parametrized, making it an easier (if still time consuming) process to experiment and fine tune the AI to get them to perform, behave and battle as one would like in all conditions.

There´s still some ways to go to make things work smoothly accross the board, but the good news hopefully demonstrated in the previews below is that we have the resources we need to get the AI as good if not better than AMS1 already for initial release, and then build on that with new features to try make AI racing more satisfying than ever before.


AMS2 Dedicated Tool - Another important milestone has been putting together the AMS2 Dedicated Tool so servers can host multiplayer sessions not necessarily through the game itself - this was one of the main requests we received from leagues and luckily here too we were able to rely on SMS providing us with something that was already over halfway there and we are now pushing accross to hopefully a releaseable state in v1.0

Weather & Climates - Similarly we´ve been doing some work on various weather and climate profiles to achieve more accurate rain volume, lighting and temperature ranges for the various locations we have in the sim - significant even within a country of continental proportions like Brazil where climate varies a lot from the southern tracks to the ones further north.

These weather and climate profiles also affect how much rain you may get in different places and the temperatures will affect how quickly or not it dries up.

It also helps recreating the kind of warm summer sunset you´d experience at a seaside italian kart track as can be seen here in intense VR glory:


3D Animations

One new front we have started tackling this month are 3d animations, as even though we have been able re-use some of the assets that came with the engine for things like driver animation, animated crowds and pit crews, there is a lot more that can be done elsewhere. For cars specifically, the suspension assembly is now fully articulated; then there are wipers, vibrating components, damage, switches and a bunch of different things we can add to make the environment both inside the cockpit and out more lively.

To help us out making quicker progress on this front we have partnered up with a South African Studio whose expertise is already proving invaluable getting us up to speed on this front. Below you can see a demo reel of various such animations being added to the Caterham:


Jerez Coming for Automobilista 2

AMS2 Jerez.jpg


We are thrilled to confirm another traditional circuit is coming for Automobilista 2: Jerez de la Frontera is a challenging Spanish track of rich heritage, having hosted several GPs in the 80s and 90s and continuing as popular testing venue well into recent years.

Jerez was stage to several historical moments in F1, from the classic 1986 photo-finish between Senna and Mansell, to Senna´s record-breaking 50th Pole Position in 1990 following Martin Donnely´s massive accident, to the infamous Villeneuve-Schumacher title deciding collision in 1997.

As with other recent tracks, Jerez has been modelled for Automobilista 2 with the aid of accurate LIDAR data, and will be included in the initial release of the sim. Also as per usual when going for circuits of such history, we plan to include the historical layout used through the 80s, although most likely after AMS2 release.

Jerez has been one of the tracks we have managed to fast-track licensing and production thanks to the influx from the AMS2 Early Backing Campaign, so thanks to everyone who has already opted in and helped us move this along!

Automobilista 2 Community Skins

Last month we announced that those who joined the AMS2 Early Backing Campaign would also have the opportunity to become part of Automobilista 2 by creating their own livery for any of the various fictional or semi-fictional series in the sim.

Some great results are already coming in and several drivers have already earned their place in the AMS2 grid, such as this beauttiful F-V10 by @Bruno Mendes

AMS 2 Community Skins.jpg


If you also want to be a part of AMS2 there is still time - check out the AMS2 Early Backing Campaign!

That is all for October! Even though release may not be quite around the corner anymore we are confident there is still plenty to look forward to before the end of the year as we outline our 2020 roadmap for Automobilista 2 - plenty of exciting news on the way still so stay tuned

AMS 2 Cars.jpg



Automobilista 2 is expected to release March 2020 for PC.

Keep an eye out on the AMS 2 sub forum here at RaceDepartment for all the latest news and discussion about this exciting upcoming new game.

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Sim Racing is awesome!
 
Last image shows the NC Racing AJR, the Scuderia 111 Mercedes AMG GT3 and a new entry, the MetalMoro MRX, which is a versatile open top prototype that was the hot shot before the MR18. Of course, just the base designs there, but looks like Endurance Brasil presence will be increased in AMS2. By the way, going to Santa Cruz do Sul tomorrow to watch them closely.

I really want Tarumã on it as it's the closest venue to my home, even if it was axed from the Endurance Brasil and Stock Car calendars.
 
Ben watching this closely since day one. Fast forward to those two videos....:( Graphically, it looks like Vanilla AC from 2014...
Its a long, long way from what Ilja has done with shaders and Peter with SOL for AC. I know, I know - physics... but theres absolutely no reason why with that 'newer' graphics engine it should look so out dated.

The first batch of screenshots months ago looked promising (what screenshots don't) but if those videos are a representation of even half of what it will look like... thats a shame. Yeah I know about polishing, but this late in the game, I'm surprised to see washed out skys, no detailed weathers, horizon washed out and nearly non existent details in the distance or on track.

I guess I got spoiled with AC and all its bells and whistles. (Old engine and all)
Screenshot-urd-bayro-egt-2018-suzuka-2018-12-10-119-2-26-13.png
Screenshot-vrc-arc-chevrette28-sebring-12-9-119-2-55-1.png
 
Possibly I have to write this idea in the wish list thread instead. But not only we would like to see (hear) iRacing style voice chat in fun races, but also we would like to see pC2 style of 2 or more pre-done setups, like "Stable" and "fast". This will be a middle ground when a debate open and fixed setups.
 
Ben watching this closely since day one. Fast forward to those two videos....:( Graphically, it looks like Vanilla AC from 2014...
Its a long, long way from what Ilja has done with shaders and Peter with SOL for AC. I know, I know - physics... but theres absolutely no reason why with that 'newer' graphics engine it should look so out dated.

The first batch of screenshots months ago looked promising (what screenshots don't) but if those videos are a representation of even half of what it will look like... thats a shame. Yeah I know about polishing, but this late in the game, I'm surprised to see washed out skys, no detailed weathers, horizon washed out and nearly non existent details in the distance or on track.

Don't forget that Reiza has a very small team, in my opinion they are doing a great job.
 
Even if so, a small team doesn't mean they aren't capable of making something look newer than a competitor (AC) from 2014.
Especially with a newer, capable graphics engine.

We are always open to constructive criticism - the tracks currently do miss some surrounding detail and objects such as rescue vehicles, cars, flags etc, these are being worked on and will be plugged in accordingly at a later stage of development (to avoid rework re-exporting these objects). Mind you not all tracks have ferris wheels :)

Other than that I must say I dont see your point. We have over 10km radius of surrounding terrain and cityscapes accurately modelled for every track (no 2D skyboxes) as can be seen in the screenshots below.
20191031003513_1.jpg

ss061248.jpg


Washed out “weathers” and skies.. I suppose opinions may vary, specially when you have a relatively small sample of references to base it on. We are however using what´s pretty unarguably the most sophisticated weather and lighting system of any racing sim engine, so Im not sure where exactly you find it´s not quite up to par.

There is still work to be done in shaders and textures in particular and it´s something we will continually revisit before and after release, but its fair to expect that in terms of sheer graphical detail we may not be the overall trend-setters. We hope it´s a worthy trade-off for getting 50 tracks in a $40 package instead of 10, but luckily every user has the option put his money where he thinks the value is :)
 
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Ben watching this closely since day one. Fast forward to those two videos....:( Graphically, it looks like Vanilla AC from 2014...
Its a long, long way from what Ilja has done with shaders and Peter with SOL for AC. I know, I know - physics... but theres absolutely no reason why with that 'newer' graphics engine it should look so out dated.

The first batch of screenshots months ago looked promising (what screenshots don't) but if those videos are a representation of even half of what it will look like... thats a shame. Yeah I know about polishing, but this late in the game, I'm surprised to see washed out skys, no detailed weathers, horizon washed out and nearly non existent details in the distance or on track.

I guess I got spoiled with AC and all its bells and whistles. (Old engine and all)

Also don't forget that you're comparing heavy modded-out game, with paid content that is being developed for the timeframe probably the same or even longer than entire games sometimes (VRC, Shaders mod), and a track that I have a lot of suspicions that it started its life as content for SRW, and then was taken and evolved by modders. (please correct me if I'm wrong here, I've been seeing that Daytona through its development phase, and this one always seemed suspiciously similar).
My point is that's a product of much more time and more people being involved over the years. Even big studios can't beat that kind of attention to the details, which were chosen by modders to put their attention to... On the other hand, the product needs to be good all-around, with no missing key components or features, which is less bothersome thing for modders, usually.

Moving to the new engine wasn't quite short task, but we'll keep polishing it long-term (as we already are doing now), with all our traditional love and care. :)
 
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We are always open to constructive criticism - the tracks currently do miss some surrounding detail and objects such as rescue vehicles, cars, flags etc, these are being worked on and will be plugged in accordingly at a later stage of development (to avoid rework re-exporting these objects). Mind you not all tracks have ferris wheels :)

Other than that I must say I dont see your point. We have over 10km radius of surrounding terrain and cityscapes accurately modelled for every track (no 2D skyboxes) as can be seen in the screenshots below.

Washed out “weathers” and skies.. I suppose opinions may vary, specially when you have a relatively small sample of references to base it on. We are however using what´s pretty unarguably the most sophisticated weather and lighting system of any racing sim engine, so Im not sure where exactly you find it´s not quite up to par.

There is still work to be done in shaders and textures in particular and it´s something we will continually revisit before and after release, but its fair to expect that in terms of sheer graphical detail we may not be the overall trend-setters. We hope it´s a worthy trade-off for getting 50 tracks in a $40 package instead of 10, but luckily every user has the option put his money where he thinks the value is :)

Thats more like it. Like I said, I was only going off the two videos. Those shots are beautiful! :thumbsup:
 

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