Automobilista 2 | Update 1.1.3.5 Now Available

[Paul Jeffrey]

Celebrating the 1-year anniversary of Automobilista 2, Reiza Studios have deployed build 1.1.3.5 of the simulation - with plenty of fixes included and a new historic F1 Lotus!

• New update adds Lotus 79.
• A further complementary update to follow.
• Significant physics developments.

One year on from release into Early Access, Automobilista 2 has been updated yet again as Reiza Studios continue to work hard to bring the simulation up to the level its obvious potential deserves. In this latest build release, the studio have brought together a new officially licenced historic Formula One car in the form of the legendary Lotus 79, alongside their own fictional F1 machine, plus have laid the groundwork for further substantial improvements to the title going forward, as Renato Simioni from Reiza Studios explains:

This release comes exactly one year since our initial Early Access release on March 31 2020, and we have been pushing hard as we have through this whole year to celebrate the occasion with another major update!

Unfortunately some of the new features and core developments we had hopes to wrap in time for this update didn´t quite make it in time, but the work obviously isn´t lost - while this update isn´t quite the beefed up step we had hoped to deliver, our users can still look forward to these valuable developments making into the game in the coming weeks and months.

Our March update still packs a good punch with another sizeable list of improvements & fixes, additional layouts for the Historic Jacarepagua circuit, and a new historical class - the Formula Retro Generation 2, featuring the iconic Lotus 79!

The most significant physics development in this update is the substantial reduction of driveline friction levels, resulting improved functionality in LSD cars, better driveability and slightly higher top speeds. The default preload and ramp angles have been adjusted for most cars, so setup resets on cars with LSD is recommended.

Championship Mode has also received an important update in preparation for the Custom Championship feature, as now players are able to have up to four championship seasons in progress. A batch of new championship options will be added in an complementary update before the weekend. Custom championship itself is still under development for additional features and has been pushed to May.

We´ll share a bit more details about the ongoing developments in this update and upcoming ones in our upcoming Development Update.

CONTENT

• Added F-Retro Gen2 Series (featuring Lotus 79 & generic F-Retro Gen2 Model1)
• Added more Jacarepagua Historical layouts (2005, Oval, Sul, Stock Car Roval)

GENERAL

• Reduced Multiplayer safe join buffer time in practice / qualifying from 180 to 90 seconds
• Added option to set maximum limit on the number of AI in official championships
• Fixed GT1 Championship lap length race sessions incorrectly treated as timed sessions

UI & HUD

• Updated HUD (will reset customizations): Restyled car info and added vehicle damage widget; Restyled tacho unit
• Added hints and tips to loading screens.
• Added warning to opponent settings screen when the number of opponents is grater than the number of available liveries
• Fixed championship AI aggression input not clamping to correct range
• Increased loading screen tip refresh time to 20s
• Added 'Wheel Only' option to 'Display Cockpit And Driver' setting
• Added extra vehicle info to Vehicle Selection screen informing availability of tire compounds, DRS, boost, adjustable turbo, adjustable onboard brake bias & roll bars, head lights, pit limiter on the currently selected vehicle (accuracy of current info pending further revisions)
• Restyled Race and Test Day settings screens
• Fixed untranslated 'Opponent Aggression' label on opponent settings screens

PHYSICS & FFB

• Fixed FFB pulling to the left under braking or to the right on power (FWD vehicles only)
• Substantial reduction of friction levels for various wheel bearing models for reduced overall driveline losses, improved functionality in LSD cars, better handling entering & exiting corners, better driveability under traction and slightly higher top speeds
• Adjusted default preload and ramp angles in most LSD cars (setup reset recommended)
• Updated engine torque / power curves to suit new wheel bearing values
• GT / Stock / Proto / wet tire wear adjustments
• Adjusted F-Retro, F-Ultimate, F-Classic, F-V12, V-V10, F-Reiza, F-Ultimate tire carcass inflation shape
• Slightly steeper engine compression curve for Cosworth 1974 engine in F-Retros
• Slightly higher wear rate for soft compound in GT3 / P1
• Minor rear wing efficiency adjustment for F-Retros
• Revised aero drag in formula cars
• Added customized values for tire pre-conditioning per car (replacing old global function)
• Increased damage rate for grinding & clutchless shifts in manual boxes
• Adjusted StockV8 2020/2021, Montana, F-Retro, Omega StockCar, Mini UK aero yaw sensitivity
• Disabled onboard roll bars in GT5, GT4, GT3, F-Retro Gen1, F-Reiza, F-Ultimate
• Disabled redundant turbo range in Hot Cars / Copa Classic cars
• Lowered Opala CoG height; stiffened suspension rates to minimise issues with lifting inside wheels
• Minor adjustments to H-pattern gearbox syncro parameters

AI

• Increased range of AI performance & some initial customization per series
• AI Callibration pass to account for new AI range parameters & new driveline physics update
• Slightly increased AI prudence against human drivers
• AI aggression is now scaled down during in/out laps of practice & qualifying sessions
• Fixed issue with AI skill range at extreme ends of the scale and effective lower cap of 84% in multiplayer
• Fixed bug where the AI skill from personality wouldn't load properly in first session (leading to reduced spread of performance)

TRACKS

• Weather, climate & HDR revisions for more consistency across the daytime and weather variants
• Minor adjustments to weather and climates for clouds & HDR behaviour
• Increased maximum render distance for far terrain at higher graphics settings
• Spa-Francorchamps: Fixed bad bumps at the outside run-off of Pouhon and Fagnes; Minor art & performance pass
• Jacarepagua Historic: Reduced road mesh noise; Minor art & optimization pass
• Interlagos Historic: Reduced road mesh noise; Increased poly density for outer link road
• Hockenheim: Reduced road mesh noise for all Historic layouts
• Cascais: Fixed fix flipped armco at T9
• Goiania: Updated trackside data
• Revised default date for all tracks
• Added VR cams for Campo Grande, Cascavel, Snetterton, Curitiba, Londrina
• Minor art pass to Hockenheim Historic layouts
• Minor art passes to Jacarepagua and Spielberg

VEHICLES

• Adjusted LOD settings for wheel and tires in open wheel cars to avoid gaps between transitions at lower detail levels
• Fixed dark external mirrors in several formula cars
• Corrected suspension animation to account for camber settings in F-Vintage cars, F-Classic Gen3, F-V10 Gen2
• Sigma P1: Fixed glitch on cockpit front end
• F-Trainer and F-Trainer Advanced: Fixed suspension artifacts on cockpit view; Added missing chassi parts to cockpit view; Fixed chassi parts misplacement in LodA.
• F-Vintage: Fixed engine damage issue
• Chevette: Fixed cockpit red paint issue

Original Source: Reiza Studios

AMS 2 is available now, exclusive to PC.

Start a thread in the AMS 2 sub forum today to get engaged with your fellow Automobilista 2 fans!

 

[stribbeck]

Started to enjoy am2, the GT3 Porsche is great fun Force feedback seems odd on the g27 seems more like it just rumbles than giving any feedback any tips?

 

[CrimsonEminence]

Started to enjoy am2, the GT3 Porsche is great fun Force feedback seems odd on the g27 seems more like it just rumbles than giving any feedback any tips?

What are your FFB settings? (Wheel and Ingame)

 

[Redvaliant]

It's the little things. I just noticed in VR, that the Lotus 79 gateless shifter actually shifts through the correct pattern. It's not just forwards or backwards as in some titles, or even just a vague movement, it is actually the gear you select: 1st is 1ist 5th is 5th etc. In the M1, the dogleg gear pattern is rendered correctly in the cockpit. Nice!

 

[Terry Rock]

The little engine that could keep chugging along.
Thanks Reiza.

 

[mungopark]

As far as I can remember, the drivers back then were saying that the ground effect of those cars like the Lotus had a huge impact in fast or middle fast corners, where the pilots could push much harder with less work on the wheel than people driving a conventional car of the 70's. But the effect was not there at slow speeds, which made the car unwilling to steer into slow corners and it was very stressful to race on tracks like Monte Carlo, where the drivers suffered from understeer in entries.
I am neither a race driver or engineer, but if this is true, AMS 2 portrays that behaviour quite well.

 

[CrimsonEminence]

As far as I can remember, the drivers back then were saying that the ground effect of those cars had a huge impact in fast or middle fast corners, where the pilots could push much harder with less work on the wheel than people driving a conventional car of the 70's. But the effect was not there at slow speeds, which made the car unwilling to steer into slow corners and it was very stressful to race on tracks like Monte Carlo, where the drivers suffered from understeer in entries.
I am neither a race driver or engineer, but if this is true, AMS 2 portrays that behaviour quite well.

I think it was Niki Lauda, testing a ground effect relying car at Hungaroring (EDIT: it was probably another track), when coming back to F1 after his break and stating, that he wasn't able to believe, that it must drive so badly compared to what he has driven before, because the limit is so unpredictable.

EDIT: Confirmed, it's even written down in his german Wikipedia page

 

[mungopark]

I think it was Niki Lauda, testing a ground effect relying car at Hungaroring, when coming back to F1 after his break and stating, that he wasn't able to believe, that it must drive so badly compared to what he has driven before, because the limit is so unpredictable.

Could have been Lauda, I can't remember. But for sure not at Hungaroring, because this track was not even built when Niki had his comeback in 82.

 

[kamackeris]

I seem to be in the massive minority but I just cannot click with AMS2 at all... Dunno if it's my settings but I can't get a good feel at all with my ts300 (and I have the silver raw 3.2 settings). Braking feels off for me too. I really want to love this sim (ams was amazing) but it just doesn't feel right to me and I go back to ACC. Also the ai seems to hang around in groups fighting unrealistically close to each other? Does anyone else see this?

 

[Peter Kerényi]

I seem to be in the massive minority but I just cannot click with AMS2 at all... Dunno if it's my settings but I can't get a good feel at all with my ts300 (and I have the silver raw 3.2 settings). Braking feels off for me too. I really want to love this sim (ams was amazing) but it just doesn't feel right to me and I go back to ACC. Also the ai seems to hang around in groups fighting unrealistically close to each other? Does anyone else see this?

AI - yes! Slows them down a lot too.

 

[G_B]

Silly question, does HDR work in virtual reality?

 

[CrimsonEminence]

Could have been Lauda, I can't remember. But for sure not at Hungaroring, because this track was not even built when Niki had his comeback in 82.

Ah okay, maybe i mix something up here. But the statement about the unpredictable limit was actually by him.

 

[Tarmac Terrorist]

As far as I can remember, the drivers back then were saying that the ground effect of those cars like the Lotus had a huge impact in fast or middle fast corners, where the pilots could push much harder with less work on the wheel than people driving a conventional car of the 70's. But the effect was not there at slow speeds, which made the car unwilling to steer into slow corners and it was very stressful to race on tracks like Monte Carlo, where the drivers suffered from understeer in entries.
I am neither a race driver or engineer, but if this is true, AMS 2 portrays that behaviour quite well.

Couple that with a low steering lock and hey presto, yup its not the easiest machine to get round ground hotel harpin, but its damn good fun tryin!

 

[mungopark]

I seem to be in the massive minority but I just cannot click with AMS2 at all... Dunno if it's my settings but I can't get a good feel at all with my ts300 (and I have the silver raw 3.2 settings). Braking feels off for me too. I really want to love this sim (ams was amazing) but it just doesn't feel right to me and I go back to ACC. Also the ai seems to hang around in groups fighting unrealistically close to each other? Does anyone else see this?

I had same troubles with the TS 300 for a long time, too. I was always using one of the custom files to get better feeling. After each update, I gave the Default file a chance, never liked it.
But since one of the latest patches, when I gave the Default FFB a try again, it feels pretty good to me (of course, this is a matter of taste). Do not need a custom file anymore.

Have standard settings within the Thrustmaster software, exept of damping and suspension which is set to 0.
Steering at 900°, because I once read that with 1080° you can get a delay in steering in some games.

Ingame, I set the gain to 100 (yeah, I like it that way).
FFB Boost: 0 with rather heavy cars, up to 30 with some agile, lighter ones like modern F1 cars.
FX: 10
Damping: 0

Works quite good for me with the current Default FFB, but as I said, it is a matter of taste.

 

[kamackeris]

I had same troubles with the TS 300 for a long time, too. I was always using one of the custom files to get better feeling. After each update, I gave the Default file a chance, never liked it.
But since one of the latest patches, when I gave the Default FFB a try again, it feels pretty good to me (of course, this is a matter of taste). Do not need a custom file anymore.

Have standard settings within the Thrustmaster software, exept of damping and suspension which is set to 0.
Steering at 900°, because I once had read that with 1080° you can get a delay in steering in some games.

Ingame, I set the gain to 100 (yeah, I like it that way).
FFB Boost: 0 with rather heavy cars, up to 30 with some agile, lighter ones like modern F1 cars.
FX: 10
Damping: 0

Works quite good for me with the current Default FFB, but as I said, it is a matter of taste.

OK... I'll give it a try... I just wish it had the multiplayer bases acc has... I try the game, can't get a good feeling, then jump back into an acc server for some fun racing. I just can't get past the ai on ams2 it doesn't feel right at all

 

[Leynad777]

And your opinion is obviously biased towards AMS2. Which is fine, just don't tell these 'obvious' things as facts. I assume none of us (including you) have ever driven a real Lotus 79, so what's we left with is comparisons with other sims. No matter how much you dislike other sims, if the majority has something common in their handling characteristic, then probably the one sim with different handling is flawed.

I'm not saying that the Lotus 79 in AMS2 is absolutely wrong. In fact I've got the same problem with it as with all the other cars in the game: the driveline modelling doesn't make sense to me. Not even after this update.

What bugs me the most is its selective nature, I mean there are corners where the car is a pig and doesn't want to rotate, and there are other corners where the cars magically drive themselves. At some point there is no on-throttle oversteer, at another (same car, same track) there's tons of on-throttle oversteer. It feels almost like if I was controlling scripts with my right foot, and not a simulation of a mechanical driveline. I know many AMS2 fans are mad at GamerMuscle about him saying that there's no lift off oversteer in the game, but let's face it: it's true. I simply cannot react to certain situations the way I react in every other sims, so I guess it's not my driving skills... But of course I could say things like "those who don't feel these flaws have no skills". But I won't. The problem remains: this is the only sim in which I feel this awkward behaviour of the driveline.

In spite of this issue, I enjoy my offline races in AMS2 and it certainly goes in the right direction.

I was disappointed from the Lotus 79 as well, because I also expected less understeer on entry, but after I was watching the onboards I think it's more or less spot on in AMS2 I hope they make the engine-sound a bit better and work on the AI-lines.

Since the iRacing- and AC-version doesn't have the handling-characteristics of the real car, they are on the BS-side of sim. It's as simple as that. I don't give a damn what's more convenient to drive, I only care about realism. I ditched AC because Kunos f-ed up too many cars with no resemblance to real onboards, but (not only) their 917k is damn good and guess what: tons of understeer on entry. They went too far with the Porsche GT1 and feels like a bicycle is faster in slow corners than this brick.

GamerMuscle don't even has a driving-licence and not watching Motorsport to my knowledge. He wants that all cars drive according to his AC driving style, so he can sub-consciously sim-race while talking. He recently had quite some trouble with the Porsche RSR in iRacing, because without ABS he's struggling. He thinks a car should always corner nicely while braking. Not a great advisor.

I've recommended Reiza to hire Scott Mansell as a handling advisor, who was driving 15 historic F1-cars on the limit apart from Caterham, Radical, Formula Ford etc. and I still think it's a good idea. I can only judge physics from onboards and so far AMS2 nails it. I'm quick in AMS2 for just copying the real drivers and in AC this method is way too slow. Like in this video Mass is doing a 2:09 and if you switch to hard slicks with a full tank, AMS2 nails it. Similar lap-times, same braking points, just a lift through Eau Rouge, Blanchimont and even very similar steering-corretions in the same corners. Doesn't work in AC that way.

 

[mungopark]

The AI in AMS 2 is very aggressive with the human player, but it is getting better after each update. In early days of the game, they just rammed you off track in many occasions.

You can not dive bomb them on most spots like you can do in so many other racing games by ease, because they will for sure close the door.

When they are in front, they tend to block you and you have to wait til there is a chance to pass. I figured out that it is easy to overtake out of the slipstream on straights, but the manoevre needs to be finished before the next corner. If you want to force your way through in corners, going side by side, they do not step back like they did in AMS 1 or some other games.
Another thing is that they can brake extremely late because of their physics but then have troubles in the apex, where they get really slow on some tracks. Here, you have the chance to get to their inside and pass on next straight.

What I have seen so far, there was an improvement within latest patch, AI is not as rude anymore as it was before, it still needs to be balanced in some car classes, though.

 

[Cote Dazur]

I seem to be in the massive minority but I just cannot click with AMS2 at all.

Why are you thinking that you are in the massive minority? That is a very strange comment to me.

Looks to me you are in a massive majority instead. AMS2 has very low attendance, most people prefer driving a different SIM, even in this or any other AMS2 thread it is always the same 2 or 3 guys, claiming the greatness of AMS2, defending the title as if their life depends on it, when most are scratching their heads.

AMS2 has virtues, enjoy it if you can, but if you prefer an other title, at this point in time, you are part of a massive majority, just look at steam charts to see what the majority is driving these days.

 

[Redvaliant]

That onboard of the Lotus 79 @ Laguna Seca is the car running without side skirts, thus no ground effect in effect. he gets passed by an older 70s Tyrrell, when in GE trim this car would be seconds a lap faster. I know that Keke Rosberg for one hated GE cars as the understeer and rock hard suspension were not to his liking. Alan Jones said they had immense grip until they didn't, and were tricky on the limit.

 

[wolftree]

Pretty much every driver of the era hated the ground effect cars of 79-82, because the combination of stiff suspension and high cornering speeds was physically painful to the point the drivers had to wear neck braces just to get through the race. Also, due to the ground effect you had to throw the car into corners at higher speeds and control the exit with the throttle, which suited the driving styles of aggressive drivers like Keke Rosberg and Gilles Villeneuve better than the precise methodical style of, say, Alain Prost.

 

[Vilmos Vas]

I was disappointed from the Lotus 79 as well, because I also expected less understeer on entry, but after I was watching the onboards I think it's more or less spot on in AMS2 I hope they make the engine-sound a bit better and work on the AI-lines.

Since the iRacing- and AC-version doesn't have the handling-characteristics of the real car, they are on the BS-side of sim. It's as simple as that. I don't give a damn what's more convenient to drive, I only care about realism. I ditched AC because Kunos f-ed up too many cars with no resemblance to real onboards, but (not only) their 917k is damn good and guess what: tons of understeer on entry. They went too far with the Porsche GT1 and feels like a bicycle is faster in slow corners than this brick.

GamerMuscle don't even has a driving-licence and not watching Motorsport to my knowledge. He wants that all cars drive according to his AC driving style, so he can sub-consciously sim-race while talking. He recently had quite some trouble with the Porsche RSR in iRacing, because without ABS he's struggling. He thinks a car should always corner nicely while braking. Not a great advisor.

I've recommended Reiza to hire Scott Mansell as a handling advisor, who was driving 15 historic F1-cars on the limit apart from Caterham, Radical, Formula Ford etc. and I still think it's a good idea. I can only judge physics from onboards and so far AMS2 nails it. I'm quick in AMS2 for just copying the real drivers and in AC this method is way too slow. Like in this video Mass is doing a 2:09 and if you switch to hard slicks with a full tank, AMS2 nails it. Similar lap-times, same braking points and even very similar steering-corretions in the same corners. Doesn't work in AC that way.

OK, thanks, that's more of an answer. I was refering to GamerMuscle not because he's some sort of a hero for me (I do like his dry humor) but only because I actually think the same about lift-off oversteer. Again, I don't have any race car experience. I don't know how does a car behave at (or slightly over) the limit. But I've driven literally every racing sims from 2003 (and even some older ones, retrospectively, like GPL), and I got used to the feeling of lift off oversteer in all of those other sims. I can count on it in certain situations. Actually, it is one hell of a feeling (even in GPL) when you try to balance the car in a high speed corner at the limit, with your right foot. I genuinely miss this feeling in AMS2.

Regarding my other experiences: what do you think about the random behaviour of the cars? Don't you feel that? In fact I just tried the 2021 Stock Cars at Goiania in 15 lap race. The car feels great in general! But there are certain situations, and specific corners, in which the car behaves unexpectedly. As I described in my previous post, it starts to go where it wants, in a very unnatural way. The FFB does a subtle wobbling, it goes lighter for a split second, and the whole thing feels very fake for a moment. It's hard to put my feelings into words, but it's a very noticable experience. There are one turn at almost every track in which all cars do the same (to what extent, it is up to the car itself). Don't you feel that?

Other than these misterious corners, there are other strange, random things, for which I blame mainly the differential simluation.

Again, I'm not saying that these are huge problems, but they distract me enough, that I can't enjoy AMS2 as much as I could without these.

Reiza is a great company, though. I fully trust them.