Greetings everyone - here we are again for our last AMS2 Dev Update of the year!

As mentioned in our previous catch-up earlier this month, we have been working hard to deliver a quite substantial update for AMS2 in our 2020 wrap-up - the whole team has in fact been at it through the Holiday season so far in order to tick as many boxes as we´re able in this update, and we are now in process of rounding it up for release at some point before New Year´s eve.

To ease the suspense, we decided to bring this Dev Update forward a bit in order to give you all a glimpse into what you may expect for this final AMS2 update of 2020 - hope you enjoy it!


On the content front, the highlight of the new update is the addition of the 90s GT1 Series, with 3 iconic models (Mercedes CLK LM, Porsche 911 GT1 & Mclaren F1 GTR LT) arriving for AMS2 to bring what many believe to be one of the golden eras in sports car racing back to life!

These late 90s GT1 cars are some of the most exciting race cars ever - we felt very strongly about having them in AMS2 and getting their essence properly represented, and feedback in Beta testing so far seem to suggest we´re on the right track to achieve that.

The GT1s should probably be the highlight of this release but it´s not all - the update will also feature the legendary Mclaren F1 LM - the special edition of the already iconic supercar following its success at Le Mans. With 671 hp, the F1 LM is a mighty machine and to this day the ultimate enbodiment of what a Supercar should be.


As the tyre slogan goes, power is nothing without control and that certainly applies to the enjoyment of powerful sim racing cars as well - with that in mind we have thoroughly revised our street tyre physics in order to make the experience of driving a Mclaren F1 properly challenging, without being frustrating - these changes likewise benefit the Ultima GTR and Camaro SS with which the F1 will share the Street Cars category in the game.

The update in fact features a pretty substantial physics revamp, with all cars receiving updates to an extent or another, so you may want to revisit some of the oldies too!


The physics developments are obviously great value, and it´s in the most challenging corners that they become most noticeable - all the better then that this update will be the one to feature a track with no shortage of such corners, the epic Spa-Francorchamps!

The circuit originally made out of 14km of public roads linking various charming pictoresque villages deep into the Belgian countryside was eventually shortened to its current 7k, but retained much of its flair. Over the past few decades, Spa has become the quintessential race track on the international motorsports scene and arguably the overall favorite for both real and virtual racers alike. It´s only fitting then that possibly our most significant AMS2 update will also be the one to see its arrival to the sim.

The track team is still working hard as they have been all year in order to complete the track in its full glory - it is already in great shape but we wanted to cover some more ground on the art front before producing preview screenies, unfortunately none quite made it in time for this dev update.

We will indeed be running out the clock this month in order to get the track ready for release, and at this point it´s still possible we will opt to release the game update first, with the track coming a few days later - in any case you may expect our track team to continue to pour extra details into it in the days following its release, as they have in other recent releases.

Also worth reminding that even though the Spa DLC and the packs that include them will also see historical variants added to the pack at no extra cost, this initial release will only feature the Modern track as it is today - the 1991 layout should follow by February, with the 1970s 14km version coming later on in 2021.


The release of Spa will be another major milestone on the big plans we have mapped out for AMS2, many of which yet to come to surface. We love what we do and feel privileged to be able to do it, so we always strive to make our work as accessible as we are able to those who share our passion - even though these are already relatively inexpensive products, we do realise that these are specially tough times and that sometimes even small amounts of disposable income can be in short supply.

At the same time, AMS2 does feature many premium cars and tracks now which are quite costly to license and produce - sometimes releasing them as DLCs are the only viable way for us to offer them, and that will be increasingly the case as we go into 2021 and the arrivals of some major Expansion Packs.

Looking to best reconcile that reality with our wish to keep AMS2 as accessible as we can manage, we are opting to leave DLC tracks available for all users when running single player championships that feature those tracks. We are also evaluating a way to make DLC tracks available for all users in multiplayer races when joining as a client (this however most likely won´t be implemented in time for this upcoming release).

DLC tracks will remain exclusively available for owners in other game modes, when creating a multiplayer session and eventually for users who wish to add them when creating custom single player championship seasons.

Please keep in mind this may change as things evolve over the course of AMS2 development, so if you enjoy the game and want to see it continue to grow don´t miss out on grabbing the DLCs if and when you have the chance, specially during the seasonal Steam sales as the one currently ongoing


That covers the content side of things, but the upcoming update features a lot more in core game developments - besides the aforementioned physics revisions, below are some of the other highlights to look forward to:

The User Interface has received a very nice cosmetic facelift and all background screens are now available in up to 4K resolution.

We have implemented some much-requested quality-of-life features such as options to customize camera position and FFB Gain per vehicle.

While there has been no further developments to the Camera System in this update, we have revised a lot of our content to address issues with track surfaces and / or car suspension when these were contributing to an excessive amount of oscillations in cockpit view; while it remains important to tune your camera options to your personal preferences and some track / car combos make for inherently bumpy rides, we expect issues on the content side of things to have been greatly minimised.

AI Development has continued to be one of our top priorities, with a lot of AI performance callibration passes in parallel to the ongoing physics revisions, along with some further AI behavior code developments. We are now looking into the AI behavior under blue flags to improve their ability navigating traffic in multiclass races, most improvements will probably only make it in for our next update late in January but some early developments may possibly arrive already on this release.

On the Multiplayer front, we have made some valuable adjustments to the netcode in order to improve reliability in close racing, with Multiplayer tests in AMS2 Beta so far seeming to confirm good gains have been made.

Championship Mode will receive a big boost with several new championships being included in the next update both for the real and fictional series included in the game.

The Custom Championship tool which had been planned as one of the highlights of this update unfortunately won´t quite make it in time for this release - even though the structure for users to create and configure their own championshp seasons is mostly in place, it still needs a few more weeks of work for all customization options to be supported and for the feature to be fully tested - thus we´re opting to keep working on it a bit longer to include it a more feature-complete version next month.

The Custom Livery system has received some further tweaks and a complete template package for all cars in the game will finally be available in time for the update deployment.

Last but not least, we have some very cool developments coming up to further boost the value of the superb Weather System in the Madness engine - the first of these featuring in our next update is a more accurate probability system when running Random weather in a session, which ensures weather variations are more realistic to the climate of the track´s location - this allows for setting up races with unenscripted weather, without the risk of running into unlikely weather variations.

This is the first of several interesting developments incoming on the weather system front in future updates - more to come!


So Long 2020 - Here We Go 2021!

This update will conclude the work done in the first year of AMS2´s dev cycle - 2020 has obviously proved a challenging year on many levels for many people in all walks of life, so we´re pretty relieved to have made it through and delivered on the majority of our plans for the year - we like to think the game has seen considerable progress made in all fronts since its release, and we´re very pleased with its overall status as of this upcoming update.

At the same time, we remain aware there is a lot of work still to do in order for AMS2 to fulfill its great potential and to make it attractive to a wider range of sim racers - we go into 2021 with that goal firmly in mind, and confident that by this time next year we´ll have moved considerably closer to it. This is still just the beginning!

An updated 2021 roadmap will have to wait a little longer as we have been fully consumed by the ongoing work on this next update, but we should have a lot of interesting news to share already by the end of next month - stay tuned!


For now, we´d like to thank everyone who have been along with us on this ride so far, and wish you all a very healthy and Happy New Year in 2021 - may it fulfill all its promises!

Automobilista 2 has been updated to V1.0.6.2 - this is another hotfix to our latest update, fast-tracked into release to address some relevant issues with the new content.

The hotfix also includes some of the developments intended for the update coming up later this month, hence the unusually large size.

No settings or setup reset required with this update other than for the 2 cars specified (BMW M1 Procar & Ginetta G58).

This update also completes support for custom liveries - more information and templates for all cars to be posted shortly!

• Added Nurburgring Sprint Short layout
  
• UI Server Browser: Disabled refresh button during cool-down period; Sort by player count descending is now default; Trimmed leading whitespace from lobby names; first item after refreshing/sorting list is now selected
  
• Slow server list refresh rate and extend maximum timeout. Refresh now typically takes longer but reliably returns more servers to the UI browser page as a result.
  
• Added support for car livery overrides
  
• Fixed Stockcar 2020 Championship round 5 (Santa Cruz) missing rolling start and forced pitstop.
  
• Revised tire tread physics for all cars (in progress)
  
• Bumped steer lock range for all cars
  
• Minor aero adjustments for F-Vintage, Copa Truck, Procar, Group A, Opala 86, F-Retro
  
• F-Ultimate: raised baseline rear pressure
  
• Increased speed tolerance to trigger jump start penalty
  
• Revised FFB Max force for several cars for better consistency
  
• Fixed asymetrical right front damper range in Procar
  
• Revised suspension & bumpstop rates for Procar, Ginetta G58 (requires setup reset)
  
• Minor weight distribution adjustment for Procar, Super V8
  
• Improved AI performance at Ibarra
  
• AI callibration pass (all classes)
  
• Slightly increased AI roll torque stab & CoG height multiplier to minimise risk of AI cars rolling over high curbs
  
• Adjusted AI code to help prevent small nose to tail bumps between AI during race starts and when drafting
  
• AI now return to track in a safer manner after slipping or going off road
  
• Further reductions in AI lateral jitter / weaving / abrupt moves
  
• Slightly reduced bump amplitude of gravel / grass
  
• Several audio balancing adjustments to GT3 & P1 cars volume levels (internal & external)
  
• Nurburgring: Added missing wall at Breidscheid; minor art & performance pass; Completed VR cams for Nordschleife / 24H layouts
  
• Fixed helicopters disappearing on some tracks
  
• Slight tweaks to animated objects @ Brands Hatch & Bathurst
  
• Bathurst: Slight improvements to night lights optimization; revised trackside cameras
  
• F-Trainer: Fixed black external mirrors
  
• BMW M3 E30 GroupA: Fixed windshield banner; Fixed rear wing texture error on car 02

Greetings everyone! Happy to be here again with our usual monthly catchup to bring you all up to date on the latest developments to Automobilista 2 - November has been another productive busy month, we have in fact run the clock all the way, having just wrapped our latest hotfix to Automobilista 2 (now up to v1.0.6.1), contibuting to this slightly delayed dev update :)

So it´s already December, and just like that 2020 has come and gone - firstly, we´d like to send our best wishes to everyone struggling to one degree or another through the latest wave of the pandemic - we hope you all are managing to stay safe as we approach what should hopefully be the final months of the ordeal we have collectively been through this year. All signs point to vaccines becoming available in the coming months so let´s all do our best to keep our heads down until we´re through to the other side!

If there is any plus side to our extended indoor routines is hopefully a bit more time to have fun with some quality sim racing, and we´ve been pushing hard to make our contribution towards making your extra hours at home a bit more enjoyable :)

Here´s a recap of what we´ve been up to and what you may expect in these final weeks of the year.


Our latest updates have brought substantial growth to Automobilista 2, with the initial batches of GT3 & GT4 cars being added to the sim as free additional content, the iconic Nurburgring Nordschleife arriving as our latest DLC, and another batch of valuable improvements to the game core, specially on the FFB, physics and AI fronts.

It hasn´t been all smooth sailing - we´ve clearly set a very aggressive development schedule for ourselves this year, and although we´ve been largely meeting our target milestones it hasn´t been without some stumbles and heartache, with licensing arrangements often progressing at unpredictable rates given all that is going on, and it´s forced us to dance to the music somewhat.

We like to think we´ve largely brought it all together to a satisfactory degree in our latest round of updates - special kudos going out to our track team for not only consistently meeting very demanding deadlines, but also finding the time to fit several upgrades to existing tracks so the experience remains largely consistent from one to another - although anything can always be a little bit better given enough time and resources, we are very pleased with what has been achieved in delivering so much good in such a relatively short window of time.


The Nurburgring and GT cars are a proud landmarks in our history - delivering a number of cars from such iconic brands as BMW, Mclaren, Mercedes, Porsche together in our first year, as free additional content no less took some manouvering, so we´re happy to have come through with it and with the substantial value they have brought to Automobilista 2.


All focus now is in wrapping this first year in AMS2´s dev cycle in a high note, and we´ll be pushing extra hard to try ensure the game features some quality developments in every front for the upcoming December update.

To this end, we have opted to dillute our release schedule for new content a bit over the initial months of 2021, to try ensure a better spread of efforts towards making the game more whole - and updated roadmap for 2021 will be presented in our final dev update of the year later this month.

While the schedule may be flexed, the order of priorities remain pretty much as the ywere - Single Player has seen a lot of good progress in recent updates, with several AI developments bringing the game closer to the baseline consistency that is needed from the AI in order for other single player features to deliver on their potential - we´re now pushing hard to expand Championship mode to feature more series, with a number of single and multiclass championships expected to be added in time for the next update.

We have also been making good progress in the Custom Championship feature, to allow users to create their own championships featuring the classes and events of their choice. There´s a chance we´ll have a preliminary version of this feature already in place for our December Update.

We´re also aware Multiplayer is in need of some further development to attend the requirements from the online community - we´re looking to make as much progress there as we can in time for the next update, and we welcome feedback from league runners as to what they currently most find lacking.

The Multiplayer Rating System is another key feature that has been anxiously antecipated, and while the legacy structure for its introduction has been fundamentally in place singe the beginning, we need to ensure a degree of reliability before its introduction is worthwhile - work is ongoing there and it remains a priority, but the timeline for its introduction remains open - this will roll into the first quarter of 2021.

There are a number of other developments to the UI, physics and audio on the pipeline and we´ll be pressing hard to introduce as many as we can already for the next update - should be a solid update all around.


The iconic Spa-Francorchamps needs no introduction, and its merits as one of the most thorough and exciting tests for driving ability as well as a great track for racing is uncontested - like the Nurburgring, it is a track like no other, and its popularity in sim racing is fully warranted.

It´s with great excitement then that we confirm we are now working hard to deliver Spa for Automobilista 2 before the end of the year - the whole track team is invested on the project to do the justice it deserves, with accuracy being assured by the high quality laser scan data we are using for its modelling.

As per previous releases, we will be expanding on the legacy of Spa as the ultimate race track by also offering historical variants of the track - both the infamous long lap through the surrounding Belgian villages as seen up to the early 1970s, as well as the 1991 version, with high curbs and short run-offs providing an even more demanding challenge with much less for error.

The December release however will only feature the Modern version of the track, with the historical variants being added in subsequent updates (free of any additional charge for those who buy the DLC or any of the packages that include it).


Our last update of the year will also expand on the car roster with another exciting class - the mighty late 1990s GT1 cars will come to life again In AMS2, initially represented with at least two models - the Mercedes CLK and the Porsche 911 GT1 previewed above.

The update will feature at least a couple more cars - we´ll save a few surprises for Christmas, but here´s a glance to whet your appetite :)


That is all for this month! We´ll have another Dev Update before the end of the year to offer some foresight into what you may expect for Automobilista 2 in 2021 - you won´t want to miss it!

Automobilista 2 has now been updated to v1.0.6.1 - this is a hotfix complementing the latest release with some further improvements and fixes.

• Revised BMW M6 setup ranges & default settings (requires car setup reset to default)
  
• Further GT3/GT4 brake revisions, also for Ultima Race, Super V8, Sigma P1, Lancer Cup cars
  
• Reduced brake wear rate by 25% (both carbon and steel)
  
• Slightly increased downshift protection function (less overreving allowed)
  
• Improved GT3/GT4 AI launch on starts
  
• Reduced GT3 AI rolling resistance to better match player´s straightline speed
  
• Fixed Ginetta G55 Supercup ABS range
  
• Nurburgring/Nordschleife: Terrain/roads material optimization, new armcos with new more detailed meshes, new armco graffiti, resolved flickering of armco graffiti; Further improvements to shimmering issues on TV cameras of Nordschleife / 24h layouts
  
• Montreal: Various minor fixes, optimization & art revisions
  
• Montreal Historic: Various minor fixes, optimization & art revisions
  
• Silverstone: Fixed disappearing helicopter
  
• BMW M6 GT3: Added Racelogic timing display and improved alcantara material in cockpit dash

Automobilista 2 has now been updated to V1.0.6.0 - features a new GT3 car, a large update to the latest Nurburgring release, and some further significant improvements to physics & AI.

IMPORTANT! A number of physics adjustments requires setups being reset to default in the garage menu to take effect.


CONTENT

• Added BMW M6 to GT3 class
  
• Added Ginetta G55 to GT4 class
  

UI / HUD

• Fixed issue where too much chat history was played back in some instances
  
• Seat adjustment input is now continuous (hold to move)
  
• Adjusted various background image anchors to improve display on 16:10 and triple screen

PHYSICS & AI

• Slightly increased longitudinal slip in Cup / Stock 2020 / Proto P3-P4 tires
  
• Stiffened sidewalls for GT / Stock / Proto tires
  
• Revised default tyre pressures & ranges for all cars (closer to optimal and / or as per real series regulations - requires setup reset to default)
  
• Adjusted default steering lock / ratio for GT3 / GT4 cars to more accurate values (requires setup reset)
  
• Revised Balance of Performance for GT3 / GT4 class
  
• Revised brakes for GT3/GT4 cars
  
• Corrected tyre tread width for Porsche Cayman Clubsport (265mm front / 305 mm rear), Porsche 997 3.8 Cup (275mm / 315mm)
  
• Revised Porsche Cup aero, adjusted default roll bars
  
• Reduced front splitter downforce dropoff with yaw in all GT/ Stock Cars
  
• Fixed missing wet tire compound for Camaro GT4R
  
• Adjusted Camaro GT4R suspension
  
• Adjusted Copa Montana center of gravity height
  
• Revised Procar, Group A, Ultima Race baseline damper rates
  
• Fixed Ultima race front left, rear right fast damper ranges incorrectly available
  
• Improved rear efficiency, reduced Group A rear brake torque
  
• Adjusted FFB max force for F-Vee, Procar, Mini, Stock Car 2020, GT3, GT4 cars
  
• Callibrated tire temperature color display range (correcting errors with some tires not displaying correct colors for optimal / overheat tires)
  
• Adjusted rear wing efficiency for Stock2020, Montana

AI

• Further smoothing out of AI lateral transitions to reduce jerkiness/weaving/abrupt lane changes
  
• Added logic to prevent AI slowing on track after returning from partially outside track limits
  
• Added logic for AI to be more reactive and switch switch behaviors more often
  
• Initial steps to reduce the impact of small Front-to-Rear collisions between AI (as seen at race starts especially with vehicles of differing performance)
  
• Reduced range of AI variation from ideal racing line
  
• GT3, Porsche Cup, P4, P3, P2, F3 callibration pass
  
• Minor AI aggression scalar adjustment for GT cars
  
• Further wet weather callibration passes for all GT / Stock / Proto cars

AUDIO

• Adjusted Mclaren 720s tire skid volume
  
• Lowered tranny whine given enigne sounds feature them prominently

TRACKS

• Nurburgring: Various fixes for LODding / Z-Fighting issues; Corrected a few trackside ads;
  
• add proper groove to 24hr layout; trimmed roadverge excess polys; Various crowd corrections; Various texture updates; further correction to trackside shimmering cameras; minor optimization pass
  
• Kyalami: New AIW pit lane path (fix AI hitting pit wall when leaving pitbox, improved merge to main path at T1); Relax track cut limits on some runoff areas; Minor performance, art pass & LOD fixes
  
• Interlagos: Fixed floating pit box lines
  
• Campo / Curvelo: Adjusted flag LOD range
  
• Montreal Historic: added missing HUD map

VEHICLES

• Porsche Cayman GT4 - Fixed red cockpit material issue
  
• Fixed lights for Fusca (all variants) + wiper uv mapping fix (HC1/HC2)
  
• Adjusted brake glow ranges for carbon brakes (player & AI)
  
• Camaro GT4R: Fixed missing RPM leds

Automobilista 2 V1.0.5.6 is now live - this is a hotfix to complement and correct a few issues with the latest update.

A setup reset to default on Porsche cars is in order for the latest adjustments.

• Added Nurburgring 24h Endurance Layout
  
• Added support to order Vehicle group filters alphabetically (original sorting)
  
• Fixed class list scroll bar on Vehicle browser
  
• Fixed helper spring implementation bug causing deflection to subtract from vehicle´s suspension travel (fixes issues with Porsches bouncing on bumpstops & AI cars occasionally rolling because of it)
  
• Adjusted Porsche Cup FFB max force
  
• Adjusted engine compression curves for Mercedes GT3, Stock Cars, Montana (slightly reduced engine braking in all)
  
• Adjusted Traction Control base slip to allow for more slip before system kicks in
  
• Porsche Cup AI wet tire callibration pass
  
• Nurburgring / Nordschleife various fixes & adjustments to render and materials; tweaks to outer terrain geometry & grass/terrain texture blending, car park around Youtube corner, LOD distance tweaks, fixed grasscrete material in GP segment; reduced Reduced tire barrier flickering for Nordschleife layout; adjusted some TVcameras to minimise shimmering issues (still more to fix)
  
• Camaro GT4R: Corrected brake and tail lights color
  
• Mercedes 190E: Fixed cockpit red materials
  
• MetalMoro AJR: Fixed head and brake lights
  
• Super V8: Fixed head and brake lights

This update adds the Nurburgring Nordschleife, brings more AI behavior adjustments & extensive physics revisions for GT, Stock Car & Prototype series.

IMPORTANT: The latest physics modifications to GT3 / GT4 cars require a setup reset to default in setup UI to take effect - no need to delete all your settings, just go into the setup screen and click "Reset to Default" when choosing any of the new GT3 / GT4 cars added in v1.0.5.0 (other cars haven´t had setup range changes so shouldn´t need a reset).

IMPORTANT: As previously announced, with the release of the Nurburgring DLC Pack, the Nurburgring layouts included in the previous update are now only available for owners of the DLC or the packages that include it.

Our next game update towards the end of the month will add layouts combining variants of the modern track with the Nordschleife. Next year we also plan to include an historical version of the track to this pack, with no additional charge to those that already own it.

V1.0.5.1 -> V1.0.5.5 CHANGELOG:

CONTENT

• Added Nurburgring Nordschleife layout *Part of the Nurburgring DLC Pack (Steam Store Page for standalone DLC should be available soon)

GENERAL

• Fixed reverse grid in Championship mode

UI & HUD

• Added Vehicle Selection filters
  
• Fixed track image anchors on lobby details page
  
• Fixed 'Left Monitor Bezel Width Right' input
  
• Added Credits screen to UI
  
• Fixed various missing / incorrect filters for cars & tracks

PHYSICS & FFB

• Fixed coordinate conversion when reading SETA contact patch offset
  
• Fixed curbs pulling inverse way on cars where steering arms are "behind" steering axis.
  
• Fixed minor road noise confribution being partially unequally handled on front right wheel
  
• Fixed issues with Mini FFB using new profile
  
• Adjusted tire treads for additional longitudinal slip in GT / Stock Car / Prototype tires & adjusted load damping to minimise hysteresis
  
• Adjusted tire treads for adittional longitudinal slip in rain race tires
  
• Corrected front tire tread width in GT / Prototypes (305mm / 315mm)
  
• Adjusted default diff settings & roll bar values for Porsches
  
• Revised low rev band torque curves & suspension rates for GT cars
  
• Adjusted Porsche Cayman suspension travel & helper spring deflection length
  
• Fixed error in main driveline syntax (potentially improves rear differential functionality)
  
• Corrected Porsche Cup engine power figures to latest specifications; adjusted FFB Max force & CoG height
  
• Reduced engine inertia in GT3/GT4 cars
  
• Slightly increased engine inertia for Group A cars
  
• Reduced engine inertia & spring rate range for Metalmoro MRX (all variants)
  
• Various weight and engine power adjustments for better BoP accross GT3 / GT4 classes
  
• Further revised suspension rates on all GT3 / GT4 cars
  
• Fixed Mercedes AMG GT3 camber range for front wheels
  
• Minor adjustment to StockCar 2020 CoG height & aero
  
• Copa Fusca FFB Max force and raised stactic ride height by 1cm
  
• Reduced F-Reiza FFB max force

AI

• Further improvements to AI Lateral player avoidance and line selection when side-by-side with players
  
• Improved AI player avoidance in situations where more than one player is present (MP)
  
• AI callibration pass for GT / Stock / Prototypes
  
• Adjusted AI lateral movement smoothing values to minimise aggressive weaving in some types of cars
  
• Reduced aggression scalars for tintop series

AUDIO

• Porsche GT3-R: Set tranny whine to cutoff sound in neutral; fixed missing onboard sound for AI cars and in replays
  
• Fixed McLaren 570S GT4 missing sound in Chase view.
  
• Increased bottoming sound effect for GT3s & GT4s

TRACKS

• Velo Citta: Rebuilt pitlane triggers & adjusted far corridors in pit lane at U-turn (remove corridor over lap, possible source for pit lane DQ issue) calibrated some brake marker spacing/distance (dynamic/static road line markings); Minor performance pass
  
• Imola: added DRS zones triggers as per latest GP configuration
  
• Added drone animations to Velocittá, Velopark, VIR
  
• Fixed rain blockers at VIR
  
• Adjusted Nurburgring GP TV cameras

VEHICLES

• McLaren 720S GT3: added five new liveries; fixed collision mesh bug; Added cockpit vibrations, dirt / damage effects + dangling damaged parts
  
• Mclaren 570S GT4: Added dirt / damage effects, dangling damaged parts + new colliders + carbon material fix + carbon material UV mapping fix + mesh changes (Rear bumper/lights); Adjusted cockpit POV so it doesnt clip driver model
  
• Camaro GT4R - Corrected samll sidewindow material
  
• Fixed Porsche Cup 4.0 rear tire dimensions
  
• Added damage, dangling parts & dirt map for Fusca (all variants)

V1.0.5.1 is now live on AMS2 Beta - it is a hotfix to address a bug with non-linear bumpstops and helper springs, which led to Porsches being particularly bouncy on previous release.

If you had tweaked the default setup at all in v1.0.5.0, make sure to reset your setups before driving (not delete your full settings, just go in garage and reset to default),

The hotfix also features some revisions to the other cars as well as an AI code adjustment to address some poor awareness issues in some circunstances when AI cars were side by side with the player.

• Small improvements to the logic of AI to avoid invading of human line on straights when far from curves
  
• Fixed non-linear bumpstop code
  
• Revised suspension for Porsches
  
• Revised Mclaren 720S GT3 aero, brakes & drivetrain
  
• Revised Mclaren 570S aero & brakes
  
• Revised GT3 / Prototype tire tread for slightly more longitudinal slip
  
• Corrected Mclaren 720S stats & onboard cameras
  
• Updated volumes of all Porsche GT3 / Cup cars and minor improvements to GT3-R sound set
  
• Nurburgring: Smoothed harsh road bumps along the pit lane entrance;conform some overlay mainly in pit lane region (road line, kerb verge, grass verge, road seam) fixed some tyrewall Z fighting & some object LOD popping; reorganized bollard/cone for Veedol chicane layout; Minor Art pass
  
• Goania: Minor art pass

Automobilista 2 V1.0.5.0 is now available, featuring the much awaited GT3 / GT4 car pack and the Nurburgring Circuit.


With the Nordschleife and 24h layouts not quite ready for this release, we have elected to temporarily offer the other modern Nurburgring layouts FREE to all users until the long layouts are added to the package at some point next week.

Please be advised that upon the addition of the Nordschleife & 24h layouts, all Nurburgring versions will revert to being available only for owners of the DLC or packages that include it.


This update adds fresh Force Feedback developments, the most significant being:

- Damping now adjustable via in-game FFB menu *
- Enhanced tyre flatspots **
- Enhanced feedback during braking
- Enhanced road feel (adjustable via FX slider) ***
- Improved scrub effect (adjustable via FX slider)
- Effectively eliminated FFB "deadzone" around center in some cars
- Improved gyro moment accuracy
- Now using SETA patch offset/deformation for mechanical trail (much more "organic" feel on edge of grip)
- Tyre temperature and pressure will affect feedback
- More distinctive oversteer / understeer feedback

* We recommend using damping in game vs on wheel setting. Damping in game scales with vehicle, so roughly same level for all cars. On wheel / driver damping doesn't scale with wheel gain, so if you have gain too low, damping will overwhelm FFB signal.

** flatspots are currently presented in "raw" form. Given tire is split into many small patches, you will receive "impulses" as there are "flat patches" on tire. It depends on amount of wear on individual patch. Hence the note "raw signal".

*** Road feel is based on physical surface mesh roughness / bumps - which on real vehicles would be "fed back" to the driver via vibration "travelling" thru chassis and as a result will be felt on steering rim especially cars and race cars that have racks bolted directly to chassis, without any sort of insulating "rubber mounts" - take note this would only "vibrate", not "move" wheel rim left-right. Given our gaming controllers are effectievly "1DOF" device - ie. able to move only left or right, we are shaping this vibration such that it can be felt on them too.

IMPORTANT: Custom Force Feedback profiles may be affected by code changes to the FFB system and not work as before the update. If you find that is the case consider sticking to the default profile until the author of the custom alternative updates his version.


CONTENT

• Added GT3 series (currently featuring 2015 Mercedes-AMG GT3 & 2016 Porsche 911 GT3 R & 2019 Mclaren 720S GT3)
  
• Added GT4 series (currently featuring 2018 Mclaren 570S GT4, 2017 Camaro GT4-R & 2016 Porsche GT4 Cayman Clubsport)
  
• Added 2020 Porsche Carrera Cup Brasil (featuring Porsche GT3 Cup 3.8 & 4.0)
  
• Added Nurburgring Track (GP, Veedol & Sprint layouts - DLC TRACK, FREE TO ALL USERS FOR A LIMITED TIME

GENERAL

• Added support for overriding default liveries with user liveries (more info for this soon)
  
• Updated Force Feedback system & Added Damping slider to FFB menu
  
• Championship mode: Adjusted Stock Car championship rules to better match real regulations ( refuelling permitted in pitstops; use formation+rolling start; added mandatory pitstop; increased minimum race to to 15 mins to allow AI sensible pitting options

UI & HUD

• Added support for additional UI track filters
  
• Fixed incorrect label on FOV options tab when in unselected state
  
• Disabled 'Reset to defaults' button in main setup screen when fixed setups are used
  
• Fixed RR compound decrease button altering wrong value
  
• Further reduced opacity of disabled menu options on in-game screens
  
• Fixed incorrect current lap in displayed on HUD when rolling start used
  
• Gaps now shown in laps rather than time for lapped vehicles on weekend results
  
• Added lobby detail page to multiplayer browser
  
• Extended MP player interaction dialog to include Vote To Kick
  
• Allowed Player interaction dialog acces to all users (previously host only)
  
• Updated all in-game leaderboards to allow access to Player interaction dialog (left click / Joypad X)
  
• Fixed player name clipping on in-game MP leaderboards

PHYSICS

• Revised tyre treads in GT, Prototypes, Stock Cars, Super V8 for more longitudinal slip & improved force combining
  
• Slight reduction to parking force FFB (all cars)
  
• Fixed missing autolift function in Mini gearbox
  
• Adjusted Max force for MRX (all variants)
  
• Reduced default viscous lock & preload baseline in cars in LSD diffs
  
• Slightly increased speed sensitivity in road tyre tread (60s Classics, F-Vee, Copa Fusca & Uno)
  
• Slightly further reducing lock per clutch in LSD differentials
  
• Corrected rev range error in Group A engines
  
• Adjusted default gear ratios for Group A
  
• Adjusted F-Ultimate sidewall stiffness

AI

• Revised AI code for various behavioral improvements
  
• AI callibration pass to Group A, Procar, kart series & wet performance on GT & Prototype series
  
• Scaled the pit exit speed by the outlap slowdown factor
  
• Adjusted AI calculations for enforced pitstops in timed races

TRACKS

• Added animated helicopter & drones to Adelaide, Brasilia, Brands Hatch, Cadwell Park. Campo Grande, Cascavel, Curitiba, Imola, Jerez, Silverstone, Montreal, Silverstone 2001,
  
• Hockenheim (all versions): Minor art & performance pass
  
• Montreal: Object LOD fixes & Minor art & performance pass
  
• Londrina: Adjusted triggers & start location
  
• Donington: Object LOD fixes; Minor art & performance pass
  
• Added VR cams for Adelaide, Kansai & Montreal
  
• Goiania: Fixed marbles
  
• Taruma: Minor art & performance pass
  
• Oulton Park: Fixed broken pitcrew/pitbox marker animations in Oulton / Fosters layouts
  
• Added helicopter & drone animations to Granja, Londrina, Hockenheim, Ibarra

VEHICLES

• F3 (F301) - Revised and updated liveries including new community skin; Updated leather textures on head rests.
  
• Metalmoro MRX: Added dirt / damage effects + Dangling damaged parts + new colliders (all variants)
  
• Camaro SS - Corrected LOD D glitch
  
• Added Gol) Dirt/Damage effects + Detachable boot lid (all variants)

Greetings everyone!

It´s great to be back with another Development Update after missing out on our usual catch-up last month, for which I´d like to apologise to anyone who was disappointed by it - a combination of circumstances meant there was neither time nor material to post a substantial update then.

We´re gonna try make up for that now with a slightly early October Development update, to present you all with some very exciting news about what we have been putting together for our next Automobilista 2 update :)


This month marks the completion of two years since Automobilista 2 went into production with the new Madness engine, and a mere 8 months since the very first Beta was release to backers. A lot of ground has been covered in this time, and we´re very proud of what we have managed to achieve in what is by all measures a relatively short window of time in game development.

Although we take pride on the work done so far, we remain aware that we really must continue to push hard in order for AMS2 to keep evolving to fulfill its potential - one that gets closer to being realized with every monthly update.

To this end we have obviously been commited to a very aggressive development schedule, and when you´re moving that fast to try make big strides towards releases on a monthly schedule, occasionally some rough edges will slip into public releases. This is deliberate and we do find this to be the way we can make the game grow better, faster - which ultimately is what we all want. We do aknowledge that approach has on occasion lead to a stumble here and there that has disappointed some users.

We´re also adamant that not all users are aware of this methodology or find it to be the right way to go, and conscious about the fact releases need to grow tidier and more reliable as we tick off the boxes in our dev plan. As always we emphasize that AMS2 was designed to evolve over time - the first version of anything will always be the least developed version, but that won´t stop us from continuing to push to make it better.

With this said, we have been working specially hard in the last couple of weeks to ensure a tidier release for what we believe will be a landmark update for Automobilista 2, with plenty of exciting new content combined with some major core improvements along with the usual round of polish to the existing cars and tracks. Here are some of the highlights:


There is no doubt GT3 racing has grown to become one of the most popular in motorsports, be it real or simulated - and there are good reasons for it: a perfectly balanced power-to-weight ratio packaged with sublimely optimized 21st century aerodynamics and technology, wrapped under virtuoso designs produced by the most prestigious brands in the world make them both uniquely attractive, and despite their impressive performances incredibly accessible for drivers of varying skill levels.

Our goal for Automobilista 2 is to provide the most diverse sim racing buffet we can put together, and that would never be complete without these mighty machines. We are thus delighted to confirm our initial batch of GT3 & GT4 cars will finally come for Automobilista 2 in our upcomign update.

This release will be boosted by the addition of two major licensing agreements - we are very proud to announce two new licensing partnerships with Porsche and Mclaren Automotive, which will see a number of their cars added to the game in the next few releases, adding to the growing list of premium brands and models officially represented in Automobilista 2.

The recent licensing agreements with these prestigious motorsports icons have been a long time coming in what has been a difficult year for businesses all over the world - that only adds to our gratitude for getting these over the finish line.

The deals will see a long catalogue of very exciting cars making their way to Automobilista 2 in the coming months - the vast majority of which will be added to the game as free additional content.

The initial batch in the upcoming release should include the following models:

GT3:

• 2015 Mercedes AMG GT3
  
• 2016 Porsche 911 GT3-R
  
• 2019 Mclaren 720S GT3
  
• 2019 BMW M6 GT3

GT4:

• 2016 Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport
  
• 2017 Camaro GT4-R
  
• 2018 Mclaren 570S GT4

This release will also feature the Porsche Carrera Cup cars as raced in the Brazilian series in 2020.




Another major milestone in our upcoming update is the release of the most challenging race track in the World - the Nurburgring , featuring both the modern GP layout as well as the infamous Nordschleife, both developed with the aid of laser scan data.

The track will be available as a standalone DLC, and also as part of both the Season Pass and Premium Track Pack.

This initial release will not however be the extensions of our plans for the "Green Hell" - we will continue to develop new layouts of the track including a Historical version, with a release targetted at some point next year, as a free addition to this DLC package.


The new content is obviously great additions to AMS2, and we hope they will prove a popular boost to the game, but these also call for the game to evolve with it - to that end, we have continued to hard both in developing new features to the core game, as well as fixing issues with existing functionalities and content. Here are some of the highlights to feature in the upcoming release:

Livery custmization will now be possible and template for all models release with the next update, so users will be able to paint their own liveries to replace (but not yet add to) the original ones without needing to fudge with external tools.

We have a substantial Force Feedback upgrade, providing enhanced feedback during braking, enhanced road feel, improved scrub effect, effectively eliminating the FFB "deadzone" around center in some cars, and generally adding a more distinctive oversteer / understeer feedback


Physics revisions of the engine at large as well as specific car models continue to take place, with fuel and tyre wear specially expected to have a full pass in time for release.

We are also continuing our intense AI development program, further cleaning up some poor behavior and doing further performance callibration passes which should see a more consistent and reliable racing jumping from class to class.

Further work on 3D Animations is also ongoing, on the car front with more cars receiving the complete damage model with deformable mesh, flapping & detachable parts, dirt & scratch maps, and tracks beginning to get a bit more life with helicopters, drones and other objects


On the Audio front, and have added a capable extra set of hands to the team to help us get the best of the FMOD engine - that should earn valuable improvements on the longer run, with some already be noticeable on the upcoming new cars.

Championship mode has also received some updates, with further support for official Stock Car rules and the addition of a few new championships due for this update and the next.



Despite the growing list of premium licensed content to be added to the base game over the coming weeks and months and the game itself distinctively maturing into a very competitive package, we have elected to further postpone our planned price bump and stick with the current pricing for the time being, with the goal of boosting the influx of new players and stimulating the growth the active community around it. With seasonal Steam sales incoming you may expect some good deals also for DLC packs.

That covers it for this month and hopefully also for the last one - we look forward to sharing the latest results of our work with you all this weekend!