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.
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
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.
This is another complementary update to our late February release, adding the Stock Car 2021 series, some further progress in the G923 & Trueforce support and another batch of minor improvements & corrections.
V1.1.2.5 CHANGELOG
CONTENT
Added Stock Car 2021 series
UI & HUD
Fixed AI name occasionally disappearing from list in session timing board
Fixed name text being partially clipped in session timing board
Added missing DRS on trackmaps of circuits featuring DRS zones (Azure, Hockenheim, Imola, Kansai, Montreal, Nurburgring, Silverstone, Spa-Francorchamps, Spielberg)
PHYSICS & FFB
Further tweaks and cleanup of new TrueForce device and Logitech sdk support
Fixed in-session per vehicle FFB adjustments not being maintained when restarting a sessionRevised F-Retro tires
Minor tire tread adjustments for F-Vintage, F-Trainer, GT3, P1, intermediate & wet compounds
Initial pass on tire wear revisions for various compounds (WIP)
Adjusted splitter / Front Wing height sensitivity for Group A, F-Vintage, F-Classic, Copa Classic, Hot Cars, Ginetta G58, Camaro GT4R, F-Trainer, Superkart, ARC Camaro
Corrected error on Opala differentials introduced in the previous build which led to it not being fully open
Adjusted Ginetta G58 damper rates
Adjusted pneumatic trail for Porsches & F-Vintages
Reduced pitch & yaw sensitivity for Group C cars
Adjusted Procar default rear ARB & clutch setting
Minor timing adjustments to F-Ultimate gearbox
AI
Further callibration of AI wet weather performance
Further customized AI brake distance offsets per car
Minor Bathurst AI Grip adjustments
AUDIO
Updated SprintRace transmission whine
Updated Porsche 911 GT1 engine & turbo sound
Updated McLaren F1 LM: engine sound
TRACKS
Cascais: Minor art & performance pass
Silverstone: Minor art & performance pass
Added VR trackside cams to Snetterton 300 & VIR Full
Added rainblockers to indoor section of Speedland kart layouts
Updated trackside ads for Interlagos & Goiania
VEHICLES
Super V8: Fixed incorrect team names
Stock Corolla: Fixed Brake disc visual glitch
Omega StockCar: Fixed the RF wheel arch edge loops
Fixed base windscreen textures to fix white windscreen problem on some cars when users turn on livery overrides
Automobilista 2 has been updated to V1.1.2.3 - this is the second complementary update to last Sunday´s release, adding some further fixes & improvements.
V1.1.2.3 CHANGELOG
Added support new Logitech SDK, TrueForce technology & G923 controller
LiveTrack now applies even standard water saturation accross whole track at start of session if first weather slot is rainy (previously racing line would be slightly drier)
Fixed bug where LiveTrack wasn't correctly identifying covered areas such as Azure tunnel.
Tire tread physics adjustments for F-Reiza, F-V10, F-Ultimate, F-Classic, F-Retro, F-Vintage, Procar, Group A, Group C, Superkart
It´s hard to believe that we have already hit March 2021 - time is flying by faster than a Sauber Mercedes C9 set to max boost!
This means this Dev Update has actually run a couple of days late as we focused on wrapping the big update just deployed this past Sunday - February just wasn´t long enough :)
March is likewise shaping up to be another very busy month as we gear up to what should hopefully be another major update - one that will mark the first anniversary since AMS2´s initial EA release.
For that reason, we´ll be keeping this dev update a bit leaner than usual, focusing on the information that´s most important as we approach this new milestone.
LAYING DOWN THE GROUNDWORK
Sunday saw the release of v1.1.2.0 update to AMS2, which has just been complemented by the v1.1.2.1 hotfix earlier today, with another minor update scheduled to be deployed before the end of the week.
While the rate of development has remained pretty intense from the very first public release, the last couple of months in particular has seen a big influx of updates to physics, AI and FFB, and regular users would have been forgiven for feeling like the game was under maintenance. We apologize for the inconvenience, but it has truly been to better serve you :)
On the physics front, the core of the dev work has been focused on tire and driveline development - these are two components of the physics engine that were completely new in the Madness engine relative to what we had been used to up to AMS1 - they are also much more sophisticated, which has proved to be a steep learning curve to get on top of.
Things did pick up pace in recent months, and physics for certain cars went through some big changes in between updates, occasionally with some sideways steps or even slightly backwards before things come together to lurch forward again - we realize this may have been a bit frustrating to go through for the users, but it was important to get it done and cover most ground in the shortest amount of time so we could establish the stable baseline we´ll be relying on moving forward.
As physics change, the AI needs to be adjusted to suit since they run on simpler tire and driveline models relative to the much more complex physics used in the player´s car - the AI has received plenty of developments of its own, with several adjustments to their behavior and an increased breakdown of previously global parameters allowing for car-specific tuning of various aspects which compose their overall performance - this allows for more detailed fine tuning of AI in any given series, which is crucial in a sim featuring everything from rental karts to racing trucks.
The latest update has also seen some valuable FFB development, with the default profile now providing more accurate self-aligning torque and various handling dynamics such as brake torque, wheel lockup, and traction loss also becoming more detailed through the FFB.
These three fronts are key for a satisfying driving and racing experience, and while all will continue to evolve through AMS2´s shelf life, we have hopefully reached a state from which progress should become more incremental, and users thus can be more reliant on the experience remaining a lot more consistent from one update to the next.
We now have the solid baseline needed to introduce & flesh out more gameplay features to make the best use of all this groundwork - that is the plan as we enter this 2nd year in AMS2 development, and the first big step should arrive already later this month.
THE NEXT UPDATE
Next month will mark the first anniversary since the initial Early Access release of AMS2 on March 31th 2020, and over this first year we have mostly focused on developing the simulation core and assembling a large, diverse content base; the second will still be primarily about introducing new gameplay features that make best use of all this groundwork.
Given the extent of the physics updates in recent months and their impact on the performance of several cars, we have decided that a reset of Time Trial boards and its setup DB will be in order with our March update; likewise a substantial update to championship mode with several new options will mean saved championships from the current version will no longer work after the late March update.
So a bit of inconvenience ahead, but a necessary clean slate to bring these game modes up to par - while it´s always possible this may again be necessary further down the line in case of a major breakthrough, we assure that at least for the foreseeable future things should remain much more stable.
There is a lot of cool stuff coming up with the next update and subsequent months that we are eager to share, but we´ll leave that for the Dev Update we´ll be posting later this month just before the new version is released, so we can cover them in more detail :)
In the meantime we hope you all manage to stay safe and enjoy a fun time with AMS2 or whatever else tickles your sim racing bone - we hope it´s contributing to that crucial little bit of indoor joy while we continue to hunker down in these tough times!
The new Automobilista 2 update brings some fantastic historical content, another batch of major FFB, physics & AI developments along with several improvements & fixes.
V1.1.1.3 -> V1.1.2.0 CHANGELOG
CONTENT
Tracks
Added Spa Francorchamps 1993 layout
Vehicles
Added Group C class featuring Sauber Mercedes C9 & Porsche 962C
Added Stock Car 1999 Omega series
GENERAL
Implemented new LiveTrack wet weather rubber washing (rubber is now gradually washed away from track surface as it gets saturated with water)
Expanded available opponent classes to 9 (10 total)
Bumped headlight range from 160 to 240m for all cars
Corrected number of opponents in Championship mode to match the series current total number of opponents
Added function to set different presets of rubber depending on type of session (making option available to player will soon follow)
Added new functions to control when vehicle headlights & tail lights should remain on and DRS rules remain disabled based on track wetness threshold (previously was solely based on environment light levels)
Replaced Spa 2020 with Spa 1993 on the calendar of pre-2005 championships
UI & HUD
Re-styled event rules & regulations page
Added help texts to online Opponent settings screen
Fixed wrong value link on gear 7/8 assignments
Fixed redundant adjustable wing setup option being available for cars without such aero components
Corrected tire names for various cars using street or semi-slick compounds
Fixed missing French & German localization for track limits setting
Adjusted font size on track limit warnings labels for Rules & Regulations UI screen
FFB
Introduced routine to reset FFB in case of FFB loss (game detects the loss and reset FFB automatically, should be seamless for player)
Adjusted default FFB profile for more accurate self-aligning torque, milder force spikes over big bumps and other such sudden tire oad.change; adjusted effect from braking torque (should provide better feedback during lockups); split FX signal from Low Force Boost setting
PHYSICS
Added slow damping function to all tires (generally improves tire damping & fixes bouncing effect at very slow speeds previously proeminent in formula cars)
Added intermediate & extreme tyre compounds for modern protos, GTs & formulas
Adjusted tire tread for 60s touring cars, F-V3,, Opalas, Copas Fusca, Uno, Truck, Caterham Academy & F-Trainer
Increased RPM threshold for reduced engine life in 2-stroke karts
Moved Metalmoro AJR diffuser center of pressure rearwards by 2cm (slightly rebalancing overall aero distribution)
Slightly falloff rates in rain for all slick tires (addressing issues with tires losing all adherence beyond a certain saturation point)
Minor stifness adjustment to GT / Proto / StockCar tire carcasses
Added minor preload resistance to open diffs in cars with more powerful engines
Adjusted Porsche 911 GT1 engine compression curve
Adjusted default gear ratios for Mclaren F1 GTR & Mercedes CLK in GT1 class
Minor crankshaft mass adjustments to F1 cars
Corrected 720S GT3 negative rear toe setting (setup reset recommended)
Moved default brake bias slightly rearwards for Copa Truck, F-Trainers (requires setup reset recommended)
AI
Various AI behavior improvements, adding car-specific parameters to improve their overtaking assesments both against human player and AI vs AI
Added car-specific overrides for previously global parameters controlling the amount of lifting off the throttle AI would do while running over puddles, & introduced new car-specific parameter controlling the amount of lifting while on wet tires (generally less than on dry tires, improves their straightline performance when going through large amounts of standing water)
Added several car-specific overrides for previously global AI parameters such as brake and reaccelaration distance thresholds, start reaction times, distance triggers for defending position
Reduced likelihood of AI crashing into wall when side by side with human
Increased AI drivers performance range
Minor AI callibration pass for performance dropoff with tire wear
Azure: Smoothed corridors in several locations
Slightly adjusted AI grip @ Bathurst, Nurburgring GP & Velocitta
TRACKS
Adelaide: reduced road mesh noise; smooth curb at entrance to T13
Imola: Fixed camera man pop up
Kyalami: removed glitchy helicopter animation
Silverstone: trimmed 3D grass clipping walls in some places; fixed a few object pop ups; consolidated some grand stands into larger objects (same materials); optimized shadows
Revised "Max AI participants" for various tracks, correcting when this differed from available garage slots
Disabled DOF blur in all trackside VR cams for tracks that have them (currently only Grade A tracks)
VEHICLES
F-V10 Gen2: fixed visual tire tread not corresponding the actual tire when switching from wet to dry
F-Classic (all gens): added Dirt/Scratch map + New UV channel 3 mapping for carbon fiber cockpit material
Copa Montana: added Dirt/Scratch map
BMW M6 GT3: Fixed red carpaint issue in cockpit view (car #91)
F-V10: Fixed visual glitch with windscreen in rain
Gol Classic B: Fixed front splitter glitch
Ultima GTR: Fixed oil pressure needle
F3 F309: corrected RPM bars range
Lancer R & RS: Livery override entry added for windscreen and wing
Corrected cockpit POV in Metalmoro AJR, Mclaren 570S, Ultima GTR
Automobilista 2 has now been updated to V1.1.1.3 - this is another complementary update to our latest release, adding some further improvements and corrections.
The most significant development involves physics & AI under wet weather, correcting various performance inconsistencies accross all cars under the various combinations of tires and wetness saturation levels.
V1.1.1.1 -> V1.1.1.3 CHANGELOG
UI & HUD
Fixed Time Trial info incorrectly hiding current lap time in live sessions
Adjusted element/text size of audio device and controller model selection inputs to better suit long names
Exposing assignments for Gear 7 & 8 and Telemetry HUD mode switching
Added GT1 and G40C to vehicle filter definitions
PHYSICS
Further substantial reduction of slick adhesion on a wet track
Further adjustments to wet tires for various cars
Disabled legacy manifold pressure function (now solely using our own AMS1-based throttle mapping to adjust throttle response for each engine)
Disabled redundant legacy function applying aero torque to the frontend when car was airborne (could cause cars to nosedive after getting airborne)
Further adjusted aero draft effects
Corrected tire tread dimensions for Copa Classic, F-Trainer
Fixed error in Group A / Procar front tire tread
Fixed error in F-Ultimate tires speed effect
Adjusted tire tread optimal temperature range for Caterhams, ARC Camaro, Copa Truck
Further adjustments to dry tire falloff rates on wet surface (including grooved / road tires)
Minor default setup adjustments for Metalmoro AJR, Sigma P1, Metalmoro MRX, Roco 001, Mclaren 570S, Mclaren 720S GT3, Mercedes AMG GT3, Porsche GT3-R, Porsche Cup & all Copa Classic cars (setup reset recommended)
Metalmoro AJR: Small aero revisions; adjusted engine compression curves for Nissan V6 & Honda Turbo variants; Disabled redundant DRS icon for Nissan V6 & Honda turbo variants
Slightly reduced crankshaft mass for F-Trainers, MCR, ARC Camaro (less engine inertia)
F-Retro: Small aero revisions to all cars
Disabled AJR DRS icon for V6, Honda variants
Reduced F1 pitstop tire change timings
AI
Added car-specific overrides for AI performance on a wet track (on slicks & wet tires) & added new parameter to callibrate AI performance with wet tires on a drying track
Further AI callibration passes
Further slightly reduced AI CoG height scale to minimise chances of AI cars rolling over high curbs
Slightly raised AI lateral movement rate for overtaking & passing boosts (to mitigate getting stuck on straights)
Slightly reduced AI braking point offset
Reduced AI lifting off throttle over puddles to 50%
Slightly increased range of performance from AI drivers
TRACKS
Nurburgring: Minor art pass & fixes
Revised VR trackside cams at Silverstone & Spa-Francorchamps to disable DOF blur (ongoing process to be applied to all tracks)
Further weather probability adjustments (slightly less rain in rainy locations)
VEHICLES
Fixed missing wiper animations on Ginetta G40 Cup & Ginetta G55 GT4
Automobilista 2 V1.1.1.1 is now live - this is a hotfix to complement our latest release with some further improvements & corrections.
V1.1.1.1 CHANGELOG
GENERAL
Reverted track base grip & range to pre v1.1.1.0 values (corrects Time Trial grip levels being slightly lower in the last release)
Track rubber state is now reset if session starts wet
Fixed race length being overwritten by active session length when sending MP Lobby data
Removed redundant / pre-release folders for livery overries
Fixed AI being limited to host´s car class in servers with high player:ai ratios.
UI & HUD
Fixed incorrect drive axle data on session on loading screen
Minor German localization adjustments
PHYSICS & FFB
Various minor default differential & suspension adjustments for all cars (setup reset recommended)
Slightly raised brake cooling rates
Reduced slick water dissipation further reduces slick efficiency on a wet track)
Increased drafting air scale (slightly increases drafting effects for all cars)
Raised F-Reiza FFB max force scale
AI
Fixed bug causing AI to be excessively slow in first session of a race weekend
Further fine tuning of aggression scalars per car
Further AI performance callibration passes
Further AI rain performance callibration with both wet & slicks
Reduced ARC Camaro AI CoG height to minimise chances of it rolling over high curbs
Added corner-specific AI performance adjustments: +10% exit of T8 @ Adelaide Modern; +5% exit of second last & last corners @ Spielberg GP; +10% Exit of Stowe @ Silverstone 91 +10% Entry of Luffield1 @Silverstone 91 +10% Exit of chicane @ Silvestone 75; -10% Exit of Luffield @ Silverstone Modern; +10% Exit of Oak Tree hairpin & exit of final corner at VIR Full / Grand +10% Radillon & -5% Exit of Stavelot @ Spa
AUDIO
Fixed missing gearbox grinding sound for some manual cars that were missing it
TRACKS
Nurburgring: Minor art & functionality pass
Imola: Minor art & functionality pass; revised AI paths & trackside cameras
Goiania: Updated AI paths
Spa-Francorchamps: Added DRS boards at detection & activation points