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!

 

[Richard Wilks]

The real car also has quite some understeer on entry, but I just drive like this guy and not a problem

The key is to position the car early on entry towards the exit, mostly with trailbraking and throttle oversteer out. I tried some setup-changes as well, but the default is quite okay. If you make the car more loose for a better entry, the car is getting unstable on the exit. For mid-corner understeer a click less rear-wing might help.

This car, like all historic ground effects cars, is running without skirts.

 

[Dirk Steffen]

This guy has some wacky hand positions.

The driver in the video is Duncan Dayton (of Highcroft Racing fame) at an advanced age.

The car was originally built to accommodate Mario Andretti who compared to Mr. Dayton could be described favorably as being a dwarf.

Mr. Dayton, with all due respect (read that with a HEAVY NY accent), simply cannot physically get his hands between the tiny F1 wheel and his … body.

The lack of power steering also adds to the fact that his left hand (doing most of the work) has to sit at an angle that allows him the most force to steer the car while only having the ability (space wise) to grip the wheel from ~ 8 to about 3 o clock).

It must have been VERY uncomfortable for him to drive the car.

For a reference - little people simply could not understand - I am well over 6 foot tall and once tried to drive a gen 1 Mazda Miata with a hardtop … it wasn't pleasant … and yes, I too was physically not able to use the lower portion of the steering wheel (although the Miata wheel must be a wheel taken from a dump truck in size compared to the tiny thing in the F1 car.

 

[Enthilzha]

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.

Think you are adding 2+2 and making 5 here. Whilst it is certainly true that more people play other sims, it does not automatically follow that this means they prefer those other sims. It is far more likely that, as Reiza are a much smaller, lesser known studio, with far less resources for advertisement etc, less people have tried AMS2 in the first place and, therefore, until they do, we cannot truly say which sim they prefer or what their opinion of AMS2 would be.

As for your comment that you always see the same 2 or 3 defending or praising AMS2, I think this is completely untrue. On every AMS2 thread I see many praising the game, quite a lot discussing it's pros and cons and the different things that need working on, and the same 2 or 3 just trolling/mindlessly bashing the game.

As for me, I play and enjoy all the main sims, recognising their respective strengths and weaknesses. I think we are currently so spoilt for choice with the amount of amazing sims we have available to us.

I do have a soft spot for Reiza as a company though - I really admire the way they communicate with players, their incredible work rate and their long-term commitment to their games, which I think is unmatched in the industry.

 

[Neils on Wheels]

The Lotus 79 in AMS2 obviously drives very similar to the real one ..

 

[bozakn]

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.

When Niels H. likes a comment of this sort, I'm completely convinced something is very wrong with this sim.
Thank you Niels for giving me a valuable insight, will stick to that Dutch based sim.

 

[CrimsonEminence]

When Niels H. likes a comment of this sort, I'm completely convinced something is very wrong with this sim.
Thank you Niels for giving me a valuable insight, will stick to that Dutch based sim.

You are confusing him with "Niels_at_home", i'm afraid, mate

 

[bozakn]

You are confusing him with "Niels_at_home", i'm afraid, mate

Ahhh, what the heck, every guy who calls himself Niels must know something about good physics.

 

[Leynad777]

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.

Lauda said similar things about his 82/83-McLaren from the ground effect and didn't like it as well. The AMS2-Lotus seems quite a bit faster if you don't have to slow down that much. Around Brands it sticks very well through those 3rd gear corners and just struggles with the usual T2-4. In iRacing it's just a blink faster, but drives like a more forgiving Dallara F3 with h-pattern. More easy and fun than the F3 for sure, but too good to be true.

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.

You drive the Porsche Cup in Raceroom and it has far less lift-off-oversteer than in AMS2 while in iRacing it's a death trap. It can even spin while going in 5th gear full throttle through a high-speed corner without understeer like this Watkins Glen Esses. Racecars usually don't do that because the have a stable setup more on the understeering side if the car tends to oversteer. AMS2-setups are generally a bit too understeering for my taste and same defaults for every track. I wouldn't mind to have a stable and more oversteering setup at least or even track-optimized.

For me the AMS2 Stockcars are easy to drive and usually win the online-races, but most people seems to struggle. I just drive the car like Walter Röhrl drove his old Porsche in the video I posted yesterday or similar to this onboard. The goal is to steer as little as needed and keep the car in an understeering angle even while gently throttle-oversteer towards the exit. This only works well, if the entry is the slowest part of the corner and you hit the apex on the inside. When the FFB is dropping, the rear lost traction and goal is to be on the edge of traction without loosing it. The AI-lines are a very bad role-model especially in this class and often tricked me to overshoot the corners.

 

[Theodore 2019]

Lot of wall texts here

 

[CrimsonEminence]

Ahhh, what the heck, every guy who calls himself Niels must know something about good physics.

It's an older video from the early phase of released AMS2, but if you want to hear his opinion about an even very unfinished AMS2 back then, here we go:

This might surprise you, maybe not.^^

 

[bozakn]

It's an older video from the early phase of released AMS2, but if you want to hear his opinion about an even very unfinished AMS2 back then, here we go:

This might surprise you, maybe not.^^

I've seen this a while ago, and my impression was that he was a little political about it - didn't quite like it, but didn't want to clearly express his thoughts due to prior relationship with the studio.

 

[CrimsonEminence]

I've seen this a while ago, and my impression was that he was a little political about it - didn't quite like it, but didn't want to clearly express his thoughts due to prior relationship with the studio.

Okay.^^

 

[Cote Dazur]

Whilst it is certainly true that more people play other sims, it does not automatically follow that this means they prefer those other sims. It is far more likely that, as Reiza are a much smaller, lesser known studio, with far less resources for advertisement etc, less people have tried AMS2 in the first place and, therefore, until they do, we cannot truly say which sim they prefer or what their opinion of AMS2 would be.

how are you arriving to the conclusion that one will not “automatically” play the SIM he prefers over the one he does not. Is it not what you do? In my case my preferred is played the most and least preferred is played less.2+2=4

As for Reiza being a small studio, yes, but so are most other SIM studio, people know about AMS2, have tried it, are waiting (patiently) for improvements.
Does not make AMS2 a bad SIM, I think it is quite good on many aspects, just not a popular one played by a majority, as was the point of my post.

 

[Vilmos Vas]

When the FFB is dropping, the rear lost traction and goal is to be on the edge of traction without loosing it.

Yes, of course this is the normal situation. But it's not the case in AMS2 in those specific corners. As i wrote, it is not a natural feeling, and there's no reason for that traction loss. It's always the same spot on the track. I can make a list of these corners. In fact I'm keen to do some more testing and sharing my results here. I could name a few corners right now, but thing is, I can't even memorize the name of these Brazilian circuits, so I have to double check them first.

Regarding lift-off oversteer. Can you recommend some setup changes which help exaggerate it? I've tried lowering the power on diff setting and raising the coast side (more lock at throttle on, less at throttle off) and some stiffer ARB at the rear, but to be honest didn't feel too much of a difference. I'd like to make it very obvious. I'm pretty sure i should reach out for the shocks to make weight transfer more dramatic.

 

[passenger]

Call me crazy but It actually took me more time to realize this was IRL than I am willing to admit

It shows how close to reality sims are nowadays when it comes to the graphical part

Yes, but AMS 2 could look much more realistic if Reiza could add a graphical setting option with
filters like AC has, to tone down the colours, which to me look cartoony. It'd be great if they
could add different colours filters, like Natural, Cinema, and all those. Gray colours look much
more realistic than a predominant basic colour palette with too much green, blue and red.

 

[Mekonrider]

As has been mentioned, the rear feels a bit too stuck to the ground but since I've never driven one and neither has barely anyone I guess we have to go with it and take Reizas word on it.

I like the car regardless.

 

[Enthilzha]

how are you arriving to the conclusion that one will not “automatically” play the SIM he prefers over the one he does not. Is it not what you do? In my case my preferred is played the most and least preferred is played less.2+2=4

As for Reiza being a small studio, yes, but so are most other SIM studio, people know about AMS2, have tried it, are waiting (patiently) for improvements.
Does not make AMS2 a bad SIM, I think it is quite good on many aspects, just not a popular one played by a majority, as was the point of my post.

I think you are misunderstanding what I am saying. Of course, if I have played 2 particular sims, the one I prefer will likely get more playtime. But your assumption is that everyone has played AMS2 and having done so, prefer other Sims. I believe this is inaccurate in most cases (of course there are some people who have played AMS2 and prefer other sims, or indeed prefer AMS2) as I believe far less have played AMS2 in the first place compared to other sims. This was also the case with the original AMS where it's players were frustrated that more had not even tried the game.

A better way of measuring opinions of a sim would be to compare actual sales of the game with current player base or amount of hours each player has spent in game: ie player retention.

At the moment, most of my playtime goes to AMS2 or Raceroom - I played AC alot in the past but it takes alot of time managing mods etc, ACC hasn't quite connected with me probably because I can't play it in VR, I rarely have a subscription with iracing because of the cost and rfactor2 is just awkward and fiddly to use (but great when you get in).

 

[TrumpetReich]

Yes, but AMS 2 could look much more realistic if Reiza could add a graphical setting option with
filters like AC has, to tone down the colours, which to me look cartoony. It'd be great if they
could add different colours filters, like Natural, Cinema, and all those. Gray colours look much
more realistic than a predominant basic colour palette with too much green, blue and red.

I guess here's where we get into opinions, but I had to turn ACC's saturation up. I think the default color is far too washed out. I've never seen so little color irl.

Just realized you wrote AC, but I stand by want I said.

 

[muzikant]

I love that ams 2 have historic tracks, the is to much gt3 and modern out there

 

[stribbeck]

What are your FFB settings? (Wheel and Ingame)

Its all set to the standard settings at the moment for logitech and ams2, couldn't see much in ams apart from the gain?