Automobilista 2 | New Build Time - Version 0.9.5.1 Is Now Live

[Paul Jeffrey]

Reiza Studios have deployed their brand new build of Automobilista 2 into the public domain - welcome to the world V0.9.5.1.

Another Friday, another new build as Reiza Studios continue their relentless development ahead of deploying the V1 build of Automobilista 2. Plenty of changes, plenty of improvements, and you can read all about them below...

From the update notes:

Another week of intense housekeeping as we approach v1.0 release - once again a lot of the focus has been on physics / FFB, with a lot of fine-tuning resulting in another good step forward all around, as the handling for most cars now become pretty representative of our v1.0 target. From now on most of the physics work will concentrate on reviewing fuel consumption, tyre & engine wear, temps & reliability properties.

On the AI side we haven´t yet concluded implementing the new AI Strength logic, so for those struggling with AI speed in lower settings we ask for a little more patience until we finalize this development tol provide more consistent performance accross the AI Strength range. In the meantime setting around 90-110% AI Strength and 50% Aggression have been quite thoroughly callibrated and should provide the best racing.

3D Animations for wipers, suspension, drivers & other moveable car parts are finally beginning to come in, although only one minor item added in this update (animated suspension arms for F-Trainer from external view) - all the remaining exports should flow very quickly from here.

Last but not least, the Dedi tool is now available from the Tools Library on Steam - please check further information about the tool, how set it up and run it as well as post feedback / reports about it here.

For those wondering about upcoming content, please hold for more information in our May Development update coming up tomorrow.

V0.9.5.1 CHANGELOG:

UI

• Fixed spectator leaderboard position text always being forced to wrong colour.
• Applied HUD style leaderboard to Replay/Monitor Screens
• Fixed disabled 'View Replay' button displaying instead of 'Save Replay' button in MP session results screen
• Fixed Time Trial Pause Menu leaderboard not displaying correctly
• Added identification for dedicated servers in browser list
• Multiplayer sessions now default to cockpit view in race session countdown (to avoid bug leading to players beign stuck in TV cam)
• Fixed Monitor camera switcher not working after changing cars

FORCE FEEDBACK

• Steering rack damping no longer passes through Low Force Boost setting (more consistent damping)
• Fixed error in parking force script
• Adjusted locktstop strength
• Fixed issue with recently added FFB filter occasionally behaving unpredictably
• Fine-tuned all car-specific max force & smoothing levels to suit latest FFB system revisions, bug fixes as well as latest tyre physics developments

PHYSICS

• Revised tyre tread physics for Opalas, F-Vee, F-V12, F-V10, Caterhams, ARC Camaro, Super V8
• Slight adjustments to all wet tyre compounds
• Increased carcass load stiffness for incremental tyre pressure adjustments in F-Classic (all gens), F-V12, Caterhams, ARC Camaro, Super V8
• Fixed bug causing downshift protection system not to work properly
• Adjusted shift tolerances for semiauto boxes (to avoid neutral - 1st gear not engaging in high revs)
• Enabled antistall for cars with modern semi-automatic boxes & karts with torque converters / centrifugal clutches
• Revised engine inertia for V8, V6 engines
• Reduced default steering lock for light formula cars, prototypes & Super V8
• AJR: Revised rear wing aero efficiency
• MCR 2000: Revised rear wing aero efficiency
• F-Ultimate: revised front suspension damper rates, diffuser yaw sensitivity
• Stiffer default front ARB for P1 prototypes, F-Vee, F-Reiza
• F-Vee: fixed front left rebound damper range
• Hotcars: Increased engine output slightly; Adjusted track width, height offset, default roll bar setting
• F-Reiza: Adjusted diffuser center of pressure, default caster setting
• F-Classic Gen1&2: revised aero balance
• Superkart: Adjusted default tyre pressure & ride height
• Ultima GTR Road: Adjusted default differential settings, front ARB, CoG height & tyre load stiffness
• Fixed bug causing downshift protection system to not work properly in sequential cars that should feature it
• Adjusted Ultima GTR Street default differential, front ARB, CoG height & tyre load stiffness
• Adjusted MIT Lancer roll bar stiffness

AI

• Further callibration of AI performance & rolling resistance for all cars
• Improved AI pitlane manoeuvrability
• Reduced Aggression scalar & brake performance for classic cars, club cars, GT & prototypes
• Fixed AI tendency to oscillate steering erratically running down longer straights
• Fixed Roco P3 excessive AI straight speed
• Reduced thresholds for AI to attempt overtaking in improbable circunstances
• Further reduced AI aggression scalars & brake power
• Further reduced AI overtaking boost under braking

AUDIO

• F-V10: Adjusted Traction Control sounds
• Sigma P1: revised engine sounds, engine / turbo / blowoff volume balanced

TRACKS

• Updated Livetrack racing groove shader to become more visible as track rubbers up

VEHICLES

• Further revisions to visual brake glow ranges
• F-Reiza: Revised liveries & added different carbon materials, stickers and logos, t-cam colour, spec map for all cars
• F-Trainer: Added suspension animation (external)
• F-Trainer: New liveries/updates/redesign 01# #02 #03 #04 #05 #06 #07 #08 #09 #10 #11 #12 #13 #14 #15 #16 #17 #18 #19 #20 #25 #26 #33

Original Source: Reiza Studios

AMS 2 is available now in Steam Early Access.

If you need help and support getting the most from AMS2, start a thread in our AMS2 sub forum here at RaceDepartment and let our great community help you out.

 

[UMC 22]

For example, if the physics engine was totally "connected" to the graphics engine then there wouldn't be a need for "animations" for car body/suspension/chassis, etc.

I think you're just mis-interpreting the term "animation" in this case. Animation does not have to mean that something is moving in a pre-determined, programmed way... like a cartoon or a character climbing a ledge in a third-person shooter. Animation in this case would simply mean that the car models are able to have moving/detachable parts.

This is almost certainly how Reiza are using the term. Just watch the wheels in an open wheeler. They already move and conform to bumps, rises, road detail, braking and other forces. All that is needed is for the suspension to be animated (ie, connected to the wheels and allowed to move with them).

Would both these issues be examples of having incorrect rolling resistance for the AI? Or is it simply the AI has too much grip (longitudinal for the Formula Dirt and lateral for the 2005 Rhez)?

I don't think so, because those issues only happen on those points of those tracks don't they? Reiza have linked the term "rolling resistance" to cars rather than tracks, so it's something that will affect AI performance everywhere.

 

[jamescarruthers]

Especially as all 4 wheels are crossing the white line, so a legit breach of track limits.

It was clearly not allowed in the first place.

Most certainly it is correct now.

 

[Flip-Flop Driver]

Especially as all 4 wheels are crossing the white line, so a legit breach of track limits.

You are right. But in real life it depends on what the drivers and race director agree on.
Rfactor 2 is more realistic in that sense. But I think the ultimate goal would be to have a system so the user can edit the limits through the user interface before the session. Maybe 10 years from now.

And on top of that if it is a religious event like Ferrari coming back from the dead the race director can change the interpretation of the rules on the fly to appease the fans.

 

[roadyroad]

I like and appreciate the job reiza is doing. However got bored by this weekly updates some time ago and stopped further testing.
The variety of tweaks looks like there are still tons of work to do.

Getting bored because a developper shares with its consumers the last updates of its earrly access product at least once a week... That's a new concept. For sure it would be better to wait 6 months each time, wondering whether the developper has abandoned its product!

Poor Reiza, do not let this kind of statement make you lose the faith in your work. Keep on doing it your way.

 

[UMC 22]

Getting bored because a developper shares with its consumers the last updates of its earrly access product at least once a week... That's a new concept.

To be fair, I don't think he was suggesting that the way Reiza are doing things is "boring" or should be different. More that he, personally, has lost interest in trying each individual patch to see what's changed. I can understand that sentiment, because I get "bored" of trying each new iteration of various other EA games I currently have and tend to check back every few months instead. AMS 2 is not one of them though, yet.

 

[fireballr18]

To be fair, I don't think he was suggesting that the way Reiza are doing things is "boring" or should be different. More that he, personally, has lost interest in trying each individual patch to see what's changed. I can understand that sentiment, because I get "bored" of trying each new iteration of various other EA games I currently have and tend to check back every few months instead. AMS 2 is not one of them though, yet.

Exactly

 

[Cote Dazur]

.

 

[Evi]

Right, so there's a big disconnect between the graphics and physics like Project Cars and previous iterations of ISI / Madness engined games.

Disconnect between graphics and physics engines is inevitable. You would want physics engine to run with as high a frequency as you can, while there is not much point running graphics calculations more often than you can display the picture. Then add to that FFB output engine and control input engine. All different running frequencies.

I'm just guessing here, but when you are watching replay, you are not using physics engine (or are using physics engine but in much more restricted mode), you just see displayed pre-calculated and approximated car part positions. Completely different thing from physics calculations done in real time.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[Oldzeb]

update 91mo its correct? it's little no?

 

[ermo]

So the visuals are not tied with high correlation to the physics?
So how can we see if them tyres can twerk or not?

Tyre deformation is visualised directly from the Seta Tyre Model AFAIK.

All you need to do to verify this is to use the chase cam in quick replay and use the numpad keys to position the camera behind or in front of the car and hold down DownArrow(2) ; this will jigggle the camera in the up/down direction a little, but it will be stationary relative to the car so you can focus on sidewall deformation etc.

IIRC, during the development of PC2, the SMS developer responsible for replays made some tweaks to the compression ratio of the replays such that a single bit of precision was added to the calculations needed for capturing animations when recording replays. Even adding a single bit of precision makes a visual difference, but apparently it also (unfortunately) makes the replay files larger.

I don't know for certain if there were limitations around that tech due to PC2 being cross-platform, but if I were to speculate, I would guess that there was (due to non-PC technical requirements). But again, this is speculation on my part.

 

[BillGuy]

You are right. But in real life it depends on what the drivers and race director agree on.

There's one key point missing from that line of reasoning though. In real life the information is communicated to you. That doesn't happen here. To be fair, I've not heard of track limits being explicitly communicated in any other sim title either.

It just comes across as frustrating to me in this EA stage when the track boundaries are potentially a moving target and nobody is telling you when the rules are changing. It would just take another bullet point in the release notes to simply state "Refined track limits at...."

 

[Dady Cairo]

Don't try to make me sound like I'm dumb or can't read the release notes by telling me it's all in the release notes. The release notes don't delve into any of these sort of technicalities I'm talking about. Did you even read them?

And that behavior of "some" people here is the case ,where i don't belong.
That,what you ought to know is what the Devs tell you.No more or less.

DC/Reiza Backer

 

[Neils on Wheels]

Are both beta & non beta the same build now or is this for the beta & the other will follow?

 

[Trebor901]

May development update is out and the full game will include 90s BTCC Supertourers. This will be surprising to a few but pretty confident they were cars originally licenced to SMS for PCars series as they were included in the WMD forum at the time.

 

[jamescarruthers]

There's one key point missing from that line of reasoning though. In real life the information is communicated to you. That doesn't happen here. To be fair, I've not heard of track limits being explicitly communicated in any other sim title either.

It just comes across as frustrating to me in this EA stage when the track boundaries are potentially a moving target and nobody is telling you when the rules are changing. It would just take another bullet point in the release notes to simply state "Refined track limits at...."

But quite clearly... that original screenshot shows a clear track limits violation.

If anything Reiza are just making things better. It was wrong before and they’re fine tuning it. It’s totally to be expected.

Whilst it may not be explicit in the release notes - I really can’t see them pointing out every single polish to such a fine detail. It would be such a waste of time. I’m pretty sure my approach to this would be to only update people on things that were significant and not “track x, cornery, apex b has had its track limit corrected”

 

[passenger]

Bring them on! Touring cars from the 90s are great, DTM and BTCC.

 

[UMC 22]

Are both beta & non beta the same build now or is this for the beta & the other will follow?

Only updates on the public Early Access version are posted here. Beta updates are not because it's exclusive access to Reiza backers. The EA version will typically be slightly behind the beta version, since they get to see WIP updates before we do.

 

[UMC 22]

From that latest development post:

Save for an eventual minor hotfix for anything that really needs fixing, v0.9.5.X is the last AMS2 build deployed during Early Access. The next intermediate build will be released only for Automobilista 2 Beta, as we focus on testing & wrapping up of all the core features needed for v1.0 release.

Source

So that's all folks. Next major release will be v1.0.

 

[TrumpetReich]

May Development update is out (I'm sure we'll get a full article on that shortly) but holy moly, there's a ton of fully licensed content coming. All those people complaining about "no content" will be eating their words soon enough.

 

[M-Bimmer]

Looks like the custom ffb settings “connecting the dots” file has to go for now to try the new default.
So off to AMS2