AMS2 Beta Now Live | Development Roadmap

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Paul Jeffrey

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Reiza Studios have revealed the future development plans for Automobilista 2 in their latest 'Development Roadmap' posting.

As many of you will already know, the full 'version 1' build of the much anticipated Automobilista 2 is set to release this March 2020. For those of us who backed the original Reiza Simracing Bonanza crowdfunding campaign above level 5, or purchased one of the many early access packs for the simulation - this Friday 28th will mark our first opportunity to lay hands on the new racing simulation from Reiza Studios.

With plenty of hunger from the community to learn more about what's in store both short and long term for the new title, Reiza Studios have released their latest roadmap posting giving gamers plenty of ideas about what we have to look forward to in the months ahead:

....

So it´s finally there! AMS2 Beta has now been released to Backers as we enter the final month of development before Automobilista 2 is officially release on March 31st - we are very excited to be able to share what we have been working on all this time
:)


In this final stretch we can finally begin sharing a little more not only about what the plans are for release, but also going forward - let´s get to it.

Beta Available - Proceed With Caution
So the first build of AMS2 Beta has been deployed - always a big satisfaction and relief to reach this milestone.

Although the gameplay, content and general functionality of the Beta builds should be pretty representative of what its release state will be like, the game is very evidently unfinished - there is a lot still to be a lot bolted on over the coming weeks.

With the imminent release of AMS2 Beta we´ve had a huge influx of new people through the AMS2 Early Backing Campaign over the past couple of weeks. While it´s great to see the interest in AMS2 - and the revenue boost this late in development is by no means unwelcome - we do want to stress that this is still an unfinished Game: there are bugs, compatibility issues with certain hardware, missing features and other such rough edges still to be ironed out. If you are looking for a seamless user experience we strongly recommend you hold out until March 31st when the game will be officially released.

Automobilista 2 FAQ
There's been a lot of questions posed over AMS2 development and we are finally at a point we feel we can offer reliable answers - check our AMS2 FAQ here. More will be added in the coming days.

Cars & Tracks - What's In So Far
Looking to give a bit more insight into the game and what it will feature, we have started this All Cars & Tracks topic showing all the content featuring in the current build of the game.

Please observe that the artwork illustrates cars and tracks which are present in the game now - not what there will be on release and beyond. We will continue to update it as we progress through the next BETA builds and continue on from release onwards.

Development Roadmap - To Release ad Beyond
As we´ve been regularly stressing in these dev updates, AMS2 is a long term project - the release next month will see development pick up even more pace as we enter and aggressive development plan that will see game updates along with new cars and tracks released in a monthly basis.

To give you all a glimpse of how things are going to pan out, here is what´s on store for the first 3 months following release:

AMS2 Roadmap.jpg


Upon release we hope to be in position to expand our public roadmap to cover the initial 6 months - that´s when things get really interesting
:)


We will continue to provide this foresight at least until the end of 2020 so users can have an idea about whats coming and when.- with the obvious caveat that roadmaps aren´t set in stone and things can always move around or change slightly.

Early Backer Campaign Wraps February 29th.

AMS 2 Header.jpg


As previously announced, the AMS2 Early Backing Campaign will close tomorrow 23:59 GMT. You will still be able to buy the combo of AMS2 + AMS2 Beta + AMS2 Season Pass for US$ 119.99 through our forum store, but the discounts for old backers and other perks from the EBC will no longer be included.

Pricing for the base game on relase has been confirmed @ US$49.99, bumped vs previously suggested US$ 39.99 as considerable additional base game content has now been confirmed.

In order to keep it a bit more affordable for early buyers, we have decided to launch AMS2 with a 20% discount over the first week from release, so at least for a little while the pricing will be inside the original plan.

That´s all for this month - it´s been a thrilling (and exhausting!) ride to this point and we are happy to finally be able to share with you a little more about where we are going with AMS2 - exciting times ahead!

Original Source: Reiza Studios.

Automobilista 2 will launch March 2020, with beta access starting February 28th.

Got questions about the sim? Be sure to start up a thread in the RaceDepartment Automobilista 2 sub forum and let our awesome community be your guide!

AMS 2 Roadmap 1.jpg
 
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Yes. I think he will be laughing. AMS2 will perhaps be no better than what Ian did years ago with PCars 2. Maybe it will on some accounts, but this is all pretty crazy when you think about it. A new game on a PCars 2 engine that looks just like PCars 2 and has all the same features that PCars 2 had already years ago. My my. What will they thing of next? I know. Delete this post also, because I'm trolling, right?

Not crazy at all. PCars2 had an amazing car and track list (although some tracks were definitely not very accurate), but what held it back more than anything was their FFB. I remember Ian saying how they had "solved tire turn-in". Yeah, not so much.

If AMS can solve the FFB problem, provide better physics and a solid car list, I think they'll do quite well.
 
Since I still ready some obvious idiotic sentences like "it is still PC2", "they are using same physics" and so on...I think could be interesting reporting here some posts on Reiza forum quoting Renato Simioni:

"removed since was intended to stay on Reiza beta forum"

"removed since was intended to stay on Reiza beta forum"

The original posts are longer than this since Renato and Reiza guys are very open with community, I am not going to post these here since are in the beta section of Reiza forum...btw, hope this will settle some trolls here (the same names are on different forums shi-f-tposting without any clue...)
 
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Yes, looks the same. Feels nothing like PCars 2. You're comparing things you saw on video, without experiencing it. Like saying you have seen war, because you saw some on the evening news

Yes it looks good like PCars 2 did (but runs better) that's why the engine was chosen? To look good. The track and vehicle content is completely different, physics and FFB (the heart of a sim, not graphics) are completely different. Borrowing your friends fancy clothes doesn't make you that person

And what "features" a racing sim is supposed to have then? Invent some fictional motorsport disciplines, so that you can have "unique gameplay modes"? pCars 2 had pretty extensive features, but good physics and FFB are what make a sim. Which it didn't have


OK but for years the AM1 fans have been telling us its got the best physics/ffb, so who cares about pretty graphics right? Thats simcade stuff anyway for kids....
Real sims don't have the bells ans whistles....
Flash forward and now we basically have PC2 but with AM1 physics/ffb......

So tell me....if the only difference is shiny graphics for kids........why bother at all and just stick with AM1??

I don't even like the way PC2 looks..... i quite like though the no nonsense AM1 look, it is what it is.

edit.
 
  • Deleted member 197115

Some confusing and conflicting information is flowing in on what is Madness Engine and what is not. Physics engine for sure Madness, as well as everything else mentioned before.
RD: If you compare MADNESS to the gMotor engine of AMS and also the rF2 engine you know from the recent ‘Reiza Pack’ DLC, what advantages do you think MADNESS offers over these solutions?

RS: To use the tired cliché, they each have their pros and cons... Obviously we can´t comment in-depth about actual differences in code, not least because we didn´t actually have access to the rF2 code beyond information that S397 would supply to us on a need-to-know basis to get our content to work in their engine.

With MADNESS, obviously the graphics engine is one of the strong points, and it generally runs smooth as butter no matter what you throw at it in terms of weather, time of day, number of cars so for us that´s a welcome change of pace!

Moreover the physics, Audio and AI fronts are for the most part an evolution of what we were already used to, so that has allowed us to continue progressing from the solid base we already had on those fronts; The SETA tyre model is a bigger departure to our old tyre model, which is always a tricky move considering how much of good racing simulation physics rely on not only an advanced tyre model but one that´s manageable to work with - luckily SETA has proved surprisingly accessible, very versatile and we´ve been achieving good results with it pretty much from the get-go.

The engine features models for a large range of drivetrain and aero systems, and a variety of rule sets, all of which suits us very well as Automobilista 2 is also due to feature many different motorports types.

Last but not least, Livetrack 3.0 is arguably the most advanced technology for dynamic track conditions in consumer level simulators, and that is a crucial feature for a truly realistic racing experience.

Naturally there are some things we´ll be adding or tweaking to our own preferences and requirements, but all in all we couldn´t ask for a better platform for the racing sim we aim to create.

The fact that they are rewriting FFB system is something completely new to me, doesn't look this way by initial feedack and FFB UI, but we never know what is underneath.
There was a big difference between the way PCars1 and PCars2 FFB was configured, yet it was the same under the hood.
 
@safi hellie

It's called "evolution".

Not only the Madness engine allows for improved graphics it also comes with a wonderful weather system (Livetrack 3.0) and other features that gives AMS a better simulation of driving physics. I don't know whether air density was modelled in AMS 1 but now it is in AMS 2 BETA; as an example. So, it's not just about the graphics.

And on a more personal note:
You are generalizing.
Maybe a few people told you that graphics wouldn't be important. But I think that most people would agree if I said that graphics also plays a big role when it comes to the term "simulation". Don't get me wrong: the physics, the feel for the car, the rules of a specific racing series, the accuracy of the race tracks and many more aspects are very important for a racing sim (in contrast to a racing game, where physics and accuracy of tracks and so on are not that important), but so are graphics.
As an example: I really like that there are animated objects which fly through the air in AMS 1 and AMS 2 like planes, helicopters, ballons and even birds. All these things further immersion and contribute to a more "complete" simulation, although one could live without these things.

Edit: Thank you @Andrew_WOT for your post (interview with Renato Simioni). That is basically, what I wanted to say. :)
 
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Some confusing and conflicting information is flowing in on what is Madness Engine and what is not. Physics engine for sure Madness, as well as everything else mentioned before.
RD: If you compare MADNESS to the gMotor engine of AMS and also the rF2 engine you know from the recent ‘Reiza Pack’ DLC, what advantages do you think MADNESS offers over these solutions?

RS: To use the tired cliché, they each have their pros and cons... Obviously we can´t comment in-depth about actual differences in code, not least because we didn´t actually have access to the rF2 code beyond information that S397 would supply to us on a need-to-know basis to get our content to work in their engine.

With MADNESS, obviously the graphics engine is one of the strong points, and it generally runs smooth as butter no matter what you throw at it in terms of weather, time of day, number of cars so for us that´s a welcome change of pace!

Moreover the physics, Audio and AI fronts are for the most part an evolution of what we were already used to, so that has allowed us to continue progressing from the solid base we already had on those fronts; The SETA tyre model is a bigger departure to our old tyre model, which is always a tricky move considering how much of good racing simulation physics rely on not only an advanced tyre model but one that´s manageable to work with - luckily SETA has proved surprisingly accessible, very versatile and we´ve been achieving good results with it pretty much from the get-go.

The engine features models for a large range of drivetrain and aero systems, and a variety of rule sets, all of which suits us very well as Automobilista 2 is also due to feature many different motorports types.

Last but not least, Livetrack 3.0 is arguably the most advanced technology for dynamic track conditions in consumer level simulators, and that is a crucial feature for a truly realistic racing experience.

Naturally there are some things we´ll be adding or tweaking to our own preferences and requirements, but all in all we couldn´t ask for a better platform for the racing sim we aim to create.

The fact that they are rewriting FFB system is something completely new to me, doesn't look this way by initial feedack and FFB UI, but we never know what is underneath.
There was a big difference between the way PCars1 and PCars2 FFB was configured, yet it was the same under the hood.


So which is it?

The official talk that avoids slagging off SMS....

Or this?

This quote from Reiza:

"Long story short, there´s nothing in AMS2 physics that is a result of a fundamentally flawed physics engine - it is both more similar than people realize and more advanced than the existing results may lead them to believe. This is combined with our new FFB system that´s fully based on the Realfeel system we used for all our titles, and nothing like the original Madness system. We´ve said that a few times but it does seem like a hard point to register."

It's either PC2 with a few tweeks......

Or AM1 with PC2 graphics....
I smell a confused mess of a game fast approaching...

If the physics engine is indeed madness, then it can't possibly be like AM1 physics wise which is apparently the sim benchmark for consumer level...
 
Miscommunication 101.
Can you please clear this up for everyone's benefit here.
DaveX quoted the bits out of context from the beta forum, which is not supposed to be shared.
Safri took the quote out of context and misinterpreted it like it's attack on SMS.

This is actually the very reason why some discussions cannot be open.
And again once i was posting it, Safri doubled the "fundamentally flawed" quote. This is the piece which is out of context.
 
DaveX quoted the bits out of context from the beta forum, which is not supposed to be shared.
Safri took the quote out of context and misinterpreted it like it's attack on SMS.

This is actually the very reason why some discussions cannot be open.
And again once i was posting it, Safri doubled the "fundamentally flawed" quote. This is the piece which is out of context.
Sorry guys I will ask to remove them to mods (@Paul Jeffrey please can you?) but I was tired to see Reiza work bashed without any clue what is going on even if Reiza stated it clearly several times (also I quoted the parts I was pretty sure was well known even out of beta forum).
 
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Miscommunication 101.
Can you please clear this up for everyone's benefit here.

a) We use the whole of Madness engine - Graphics, Audio, Physics, AI, multiplayer. We have however rewritten most of the FFB code;

b) A good part of the physics engine codebase overlap with our previous version so a lot of our old physics models carry over to the new engine;

c) We chose to go with the Madness engine because we think it´s brilliant and suits us perfectly; we rewrote the FFB code and other minor bits of the code because we wanted those bits to work differently.

d) You cannot gauge the results of our physics and FFB on the Madness engine by other sims running the Madness engine, just as you couldn´t gauge the physics and FFB of AMS1 by other games running the pMotor physics.

All these points have been communicated and repeated numerous times before in interviews, dev updates, forum posts. Communication is a two-way street however, we can´t make people absorb the info :)

I understand people get confused by where the physics engine ends and where the physics being fed into that engine begins, and how the FFB fits in between - if you´re not versed on these things it´s easy to conflate them. But as mentioned above, there´s a very easy parallel to be made with AMS1 - likewise a Reiza title built on top of someone else´s core technology.
 
Sorry guys I will ask to remove them to mods (@Paul Jeffrey please can you?) but I was tired to see Reiza work bashed without any clue what is going on (also I quoted the parts I was pretty sure was well know even out of beta forum).
Next time, just ask Renato and Co., for the possibility of sharing something, they don't bite, i assume :D
-------------------------------
Guys...let's whait until release and stop the speculative level already, before sh!t hits the fan! :roflmao:

There is one thing for sure: We have much potential for AMS2, stay excited and don't judge too early, it's not finished yet :)
 
I've now had a chance to drive most of the AMS2 Beta cars (all the unique ones and at least one from each group) and fully understanding and expecting them to change as they develop, and they all range from good to excellent. There isn't a single car I'd describe as poor or unplayable and that is quite something for a game at this stage. Even though I liked PCARS2 I am well aware many cars could be somewhat unusual in the handling department (but the ones that did work were ok too). Oh, and when I say driven, I mean I've driven enough laps in each car to get the tyres warm and track a little more grippy so I get a good feel for the car when it's up to temperature.

I enjoyed driving the Caterham 620R but it's actually the Caterham Supersport that is even more lifelike, really truly exceptional stuff.

By contrast, the cars on road tyres are some of the trickiest in the game, especially with cold tyres. Take a drive in the Ultima road car and the Ultima GTR Race back to back and you get to appreciate just how well AMS 2 is shaping up.: The road car has nowhere near the grip of the race car on slicks. The braking distances in the road car are significantly longer, at first it's quite some shock to adapt. Where the race car has almost endless grip the road car is on tiptoes (especially if the tyres are less than warm). The road car has softer suspension settings that soak up the bumps, the race car is so stiff it will bounce the nose across the track on full throttle bumpy corners. Sound also has to be mentioned the road car is relatively quiet, the race car has both superb drivetrain whine and harsh squealing brakes - to my ears it's fabulously immersive. The highest praise I can give is that driving these 2 cars back to back does feel like stepping from a road car to a well-developed track car.

Yes, there are plenty of things that still need to be improved, I'll mention a couple to show I can see both sides - some snappiness and odd spins, some cars have working temps etc others don't. The also deserves praise developer and seem measured in response (thankfully no tantrums here!) and confident in what is to come and of what they can do.

I think most sim racers should be excited about this game, it has some truly different content and cars well away from the usual offerings. I look forward to seeing what the next update brings.
 
Thanks @Renato Simioni and sorry again for the leak, my blood was boiling and I did that without thinking too much...

@CrimsonEminence yeah you right, sorry again for being impulsive...

I know the feeling Davide.. The trick I´m trying to adhere to is to leave the PC, go have an expresso and try to use the caffeine boost for more productive purposes :p
 
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