Automobilista 2 | January Development Roadmap

Paul Jeffrey

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Yesterday evening Reiza Studios released yet another tasty look at the future of Automobilista 2, with the January edition of their Development Roadmap posting.
  • Championship tool coming soon.
  • Historic Spa 1993 in development.
  • Lots of tweaks and improvements expected.

Another bonza roadmap post from the mighty Reiza Studios dropped last night, with the Brazilian development team showing off plenty of new and exciting things coming to the simulation over the course of the next 12 months - including a welcome addition of Group C machines this month!


Check out the January Development Roadmap in full below:

Greetings Everyone! Here we are for the first dev update of what promises to be a very exciting year for Automobilista 2.

We have started the year as we left off 2020, with foot hard on the gas and already deploying a couple of substantial updates to bring some important core developments to physics & AI. Along with another batch of general developments, the latest v1.1.1.0 release has also introduced a couple of neat Ginetta G40 variants nicely filling that tin top club racing niche that was still under represented in AMS2.

Even before the update went out, we were already pushing towards some of the steps that will follow in the coming months - let´s take a closer look into those...

2021 Roadmap - Fast, But Steady

As suggested in the last two dev updates, we have been opting to slightly throttle back on our release schedule for new content relative to our original roadmap in these recent updates. We will continue to put more focus towards developing existing content and other core game developments, with new content progressing in parallel and at a more steady but still quite productive pace - current plans forecast a ratio of about 2-3 new cars / 1 track per month for the remainder of 2021 (not to be confused with an equivalent release ratio as some of that content will be part of the larger expansion packs).

For a similar reason we are also going to hold a bit longer on publishing our complete 2021 Roadmap until we have finalized our initial assessment of the planned features and finalized the remaining licensing deals for the content to be released this year, which we expect to take a few more weeks.

What we can advance already is that given this slightly stretched schedule, which will see the release of some content initially planned for 2021 rolling into 2022, we are also stretching the Season Pass term to cover all of our 2022 DLC releases. The Season Pass now should cover everything we have already planned to release for AMS2, not only retaining but expanding its value with some further not-yet announced items added to the overall package.

Even though part of the reason for holding on publishing the 2021 roadmap a bit longer is to ensure what we eventually come to present is a more reliable plan, we´d hope users will still keep in mind as we advance that the roadmap or even the shorter term plans usually presented in these dev updates are still targets that we can elect to flex if we find it necessary or useful to do so - neither the roadmaps nor dev updates should be taken as a commitment to a schedule but rather as a rough overview of our development plans, presented with the intent of giving our users some foresight into what they may expect going forward.

With all this said, we can also confirm we will continue our routine of major monthly updates all through 2021, and we do have some concrete milestones for the next couple of months we can already share - so let´s expand on that
:)


Coming Up in February

Excepting the usual likely hotfix for the v1.1.1.0 update sometime over the next week, our next major update should arrive as usual towards the end of February. Here are some of the highlights planned for it:

AMS 2 Spa Historic.jpg


Our track team is still working on Belgian territory, now taking a trip back in time to retro-reform our Spa-Francorchamps to its 1993 version.

The track was originally supposed to be based on its 1991 configuration, but we´ve opted to switch to the 1993 version thanks to higher quality reference material. Also, although the track configuration remained the same throughout the 80s and Early 90s, the 1993 revision featured some small adjustments to the curb profiles at the Bus Stop double chicane which remained largely unaltered until 2002, and contributed to a better flow of the track in that last part of the lap.

AMS 2 Group c.jpg


The much anticipated Group C Sauber Mercedes C9 and Porsche 962C duo will finally arrive in next month´s update, suitably in combo with its contemporary version of Spa-Francorchamps.

Similar to the GT1 cars that arrived in December, the Group C class represented another golden era in sports cars in history, and these two models were front-runners at its peak in the late 1980s, when it approached F1 in terms of both popularity and performance.

Having the series represented in Automobilista 2´s historical roster was therefore a no-brainer choice, and we are thrilled to see their arrival is finally just around the corner!

AMS Stockcar.jpg


Another much anticipated historical content arriving in the next update is the 1999 GM Omega Stock Car - the last "proper' Stock Car to race in the series before the dawn of the prototype era in the 2000s, the Stock Car Omega was still largely based on its production counterpart which replaced the Opala in the Brazilian market during the 90s. It also shared a lot of its DNA with its Australian cousin, the Holden Commodore.

The introduction of the 1999 Stock Car series will complete our tribute to the prime Brazilian championship on the verge of the 10th Anniversary of our very first title, Game Stock Car released in 2011. Time does fly when you are having fun!

The February Update should also feature some further Quality of Life improvements and fixes, the biggest priorities being to rectify some persisting reliability issues with FFB and Multiplayer.

Later On...

The late March 2021 update will mark the first Anniversary of AMS2 EA release, and we´re pushing to mark the occasion with an even bigger update than usual.

On the content front, the March update will be fairly packed with some very interesting new cars, but we´ll save discussing more about these for next month
;)


Besides another substantial batch of QoL developments, the March Update will finally see the arrival of the highly anticipated Custom Championship Tool - we have again elected to push its release a bit further down the line not only to ensure everything is working well, but also to make a more feature rich release, including some further customization options for weather, track conditions, opponent and class selection which are not currently in the game but that are expected to be introduced along with the tool itself.

We´ll expand more on the above in next dev update, but here´s a small WIP preview of the configuration screen where users will be able to configure their championship rounds:

AMS 2 Champ Tool.png


The March Update will also see some more promising developments to the LiveTrack and Weather systems, aiming further fulfill the potential of the excellent technology we have in the Madness engine. Again, we´ll hold from spilling the beans too soon, but rest assured there are some exciting stuff in store here!

That covers it for January - we look forward to catching up with all again later next month!

Original Source: Reiza Studios

AMS 2 - available now exclusively to PC.

Want to know more about the sim? Got a trick or tip to share with the community? Fire up a thread in the AMS 2 sub forum here at RaceDepartment and share that knowledge!

AMS 2 Footer.jpg
 
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Why not just run a race with 1 AI, or 0 AI if it lets you. That way you can save the entire race and watch it back at your leisure.
You do realize that is a hack, right ? Replays to me are a basic function. If I want to runs some laps, take a look, go back to the garage to make adjustments, go back out and test, how can I do that running a race ?
 
You do realize that is a hack, right ?
I think your definition of a hack is somewhat different to mines, anyway, this is simply a method which would allow you to at least record a series of laps and watch them back.
If I want to runs some laps, take a look, go back to the garage to make adjustments, go back out and test, how can I do that running a race ?
You decide on the number of laps required for your test, run them in a race with 0 AI (which is possible), finish the race, watch your precious footage, restart the session, make adjustments and repeat. Simples really!

Yes it's not an ideal solution but it's the best available atm until the replay system moves up Reiza's priority list.

Oh and you do realize that the replays are probably not 100% accurate anyway, right?
 
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You do realize that is a hack, right ? Replays to me are a basic function. If I want to runs some laps, take a look, go back to the garage to make adjustments, go back out and test, how can I do that running a race ?
Calm down, mate. I got it what you want to say because I love to watch replay too. And I remembered once Renato made a comments about replay function.



Dev didn't overlook importance of replay function. Of course no one knows outcome of the development yet, but only we can do now is just to wait.

By the way, after this update I can see huge potential in this SIM as a drift simulator. Ginettas are not only very fun to drive but also looks so lovely.

ss024255.jpg
 
I haven't tried it in some time, but didn't TrackIR already work from the launch? I believe you just had to use the helmet cam, like in PC2.
I'm using TrackIR only if I don't forget to open the app before the game-launch. AMS2 is a bit annoying since it requires like pCars 2 to launch into SteamVR, but without a headset recognized. Unlike real VR it doesn't seem to loose any performance and the special audio as well as the POV works like in VR. So if I lean more towards the mirror, I get another perspective and the total FOV is like with triples. IMO TrackIR (I bought on Ebay/China for 76 Euros) is the best compromise between 2D and VR and with my 49"-widescreen I would never switch to a triple-setup. I can always look through both side-windows if I want to, just not at once:).
 
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I agree but not the only just take a look at Rf2, Assetto Corsa or Pc2
RF2 and AC have historic tracks mostly via mods. Some are amazing and some are bad but online activity on them is rare, here it’s Reiza doing the work so we can expect spotless tracks and more online races!

Pc2 I sadly don’t enjoy racing it so much but yes the quantity of content is insane.
 
Let's say I do 15 laps of practice around the Ring. I want to see all 15 laps in replay from beginning to end with the ability to slow them down, change camera angles. The only way I can do this is with a hack from PC2 where you drive into the pits in the wrong direction and get the session voided. Then you can watch every lap, but the telemetry is lacking. You don't know what the time is in each lap. I am not talking about time trialing. That function is in AC, ACC, RF2, F1. It was never in PC2 and apparently the port to AMS2 took the same non-feature.

I really don't care about a billion tracks and cars. One car and one track that I can work with from an improvement point of view is all I need. You need to replays of each lap to see lock-ups, tire slip, cornering angles.

If you have a way to do it, please enlighten me.


This what i like on the old rF1 Rfactor - play with the Camera-Position on the track - nearly without limit - nearly.
This i missing in GTR2 - GTL and of course the PC-PC2-based games a lot.
And the Car-Sound effects from Outside, from a spectatur - Camera-Postion seems to increase a hall-effect a lot. This will be nice in Forsest or under bridges (Monaco-Tunnel etc.), like in real.

Possible Reiza find a solution to "tuned" the Engine, like they done it from rfactor1 to AMS - in the future.
 
Have posted this over at the Reiza forums, anyone here experiencing the same?

Oh dear I was'nt sure if it was just cause id tried a track and car combo i had'nt before the update, but after going back to combos setting, race lengths and all that i knew worked before im afraid to say the is a rather severe probelm after the update. Before A.I. with certain cars would just give up in the rain, now if i make it rain halfway through a session they are giving up all over the place, and i mean the race is over, you've won if it rains, experienced at Oulton with G40's and Velopark with MCR S2000's ( which previously were ok, not perfect, but nowhere near like this). Anyone else experienced anything like this since the update~?
 
I think your definition of a hack is somewhat different to mines, anyway, this is simply a method which would allow you to at least record a series of laps and watch them back.

You decide on the number of laps required for your test, run them in a race with 0 AI (which is possible), finish the race, watch your precious footage, restart the session, make adjustments and repeat. Simples really!

Yes it's not an ideal solution but it's the best available atm until the replay system moves up Reiza's priority list.

Oh and you do realize that the replays are probably not 100% accurate anyway, right?
I have worked in technology for a 1,000 years. What you are talking about is the spot-on definition of a HACK. Or let me put like vendors do, it's a "work around until version 1.xxxx".
 
Apparently LiveTrack requires simulating the track state during replays, which prevents you from fast forwarding and makes full-session replays quite heavy. So while it would be nice to be able to have more freedom in recording and playing back sessions, this seems like it would take a lot of work from Reiza and frankly there are other more pressing issues they need to address first.

As an alternative, telemetry tools are able to analyse your laps and compare the driving line between laps plus show time gained/lost, and perhaps give you similar information. In fact, the information you get from telemetry is probably more accurate than just visually looking at replays.
 
I am sure the pros in all sports think the same thing as you. Screw watching film, dumb coaches.
you're right. IRL thats the best thing to watch your own faults.
But in game simulations it depends on how much parameters are stored per second.
The fewer parameters, the more is interpolated. I don't know how good AMS2 is in this case, but i know in AC, medium quality is not very accurate. Though you can see your bad/good driving , i would never make setups dependent what you can see here. Replays are most simpified, interpolated representation to get nice movies
 
AMS2 is a great sim with amazing content, I'm a day 1 backer and couldn't be happier.

BUT please Reiza. Don't wear out your staff! Maybe everything's nice and peachy, but just in case: take care of your staff.

The pace you're showing with developing AMS2 further is stunning, and that's great for me as a customer. But it wouldn't surprise me if it comes at the price of your staff's health.
 
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