Greetings everyone - we´re in November now, and into what promises to be a very exciting month for Automobilista 2!
First things first - considering we ended up skipping the October Development Update and the fact there´s just way too much to cover this month in a single article , we´re going to do things slightly different this month by breaking down this November Update into two parts - this is part one, part two should be published on November 19th.
Let´s get on it:
Volkswagen TSI Cup by Acelerados coming to Automobilista 2! 038.jpg
By now most of you will have heard the big news about a project we alluded to a couple of months ago, and we couldn´t be happier to be finally announcing our collaboration with Volkswagen Brasil alongside the good people from Acelerados to bring you the VW TSI Cup by Acelerados to Automobilista 2.
For those not familiar with the show, Acelerados is an internet-born TV show dedicated to cars and driving them fast, in a similar mould to the classic Top Gear - the essence of the show is taking a bunch of cars to the Velo Città track in Brazil where they have a pro driver (usually Rubens Barrichello who is also one of the presenters) to drive the wheels off of it and discuss its qualities (or lack thereof).
Acelerados and Volkswagen came up with the idea for a game that realistically reproduced the experience the presenters have on the show to give people the chance to perform hot laps with some of the VW models currently available in the Brazilian market and eventually use that base to promote an official E-Sports competition.
We were approached to develop the sim but since all our focus and resources currently dedicated to developing Automobilista 2, the only way we could take on that challenge was if we could somehow find a way for the VW-Acelerados project to merge and complement AMS2.
That we did, so effectively what you will be getting to begin with is a free Automobilista 2 demo including the VW Polo & its sedan variant Virtus in two specifications each (1.0 TSI & 1.4 GTS), along with Autódromo Velo Città, featuring mostly the same game modes except Championship and Multiplayer - that´s where it begins, what comes next and what it leads to is not to be spoiled in this Dev Update :)
The cars naturally will also be added to the full game as free additional content, albeit there will most likely be a few days in between the release of the Acelerados demo and the main game update that will include these cars.
Both of which will certainly take place this month however and we´re very excited for it, as not only the cars will help fill the still-unexplored niche of regular road cars in the game but also for the potential it has for promoting the game and sim racing in general to a wider audience in Brazil.
Developing the cars for AMS2 with the collaboration and input from Volkswagen engineers along with the Acelerados guys has likewise being a fantastic experience, with no shortage of access to data as well as the cars themselves.
I even got to put one of them through its paces for a few laps at the Velo Città, and such direct experience is always worth some insights! The car is impressively stable on a race track for a popular road car and a peach to drive: [previewyoutube="WRtw2KsAQkY;full"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRtw2KsAQkY [/previewyoutube]
In fact getting some real experience jumping into some of the cars reproduced in AMS2 (including a few of the more racey ones ) and collect more such insights is certainly something I intend to do more of in 2022 as opportunities arise - watch this space, and watch out for the VW TSI Cup!
Big Update Incoming!
You´ll probably also have already heard mentions of our plans for a major Automobilista 2 update later this month - and it is indeed a big one!
There is a lot we are currently working to cover in one go, and with many new features still in development or going through its final licensing hurdles the definitive list of incoming goodies for this release is still fairly fluid, to the extent we can´t get into too many specifics just yet - in fact given the dimensions of the changes and the amount of new content it´s fair to expect the big November update to get split into several updates wrapping up our 2021 progress for AMS2, to be delivered in parts through November and into the early weeks of December as we finalize these new features and finalise pending licensing arrangements.
Let´s start with some early wins already in the bag - one of which is another comprehensive physics update covering all areas that should at least match the step we made earlier this year with the v1.2 update - a progress that we have since gradually complemented by various incremental developments leading up to this new leap.
We have discussed before how even though the Madness physics models of aerodynamics, suspension and chassis used in AMS2 pretty much match 1:1 with pMotor engine of AMS1 with which it shares some common DNA, the tire and driveline models in the Madness physics engine were a complete departure from what we had been using in AMS1, substantially more complex and thus challenging to get a full grasp on - but that in turn also ultimately provides us with bigger potential for a more realistic & engaging driving experience.
These two components of the physics engine have been the focus of most of our attention on the physics side of things and also the sources of most of our headaches - and with so much to learn in these fairly intrinsic models, we have since the beginning of AMS2 development been opting to focus on the essentials elements of those models in order to deliver a satisfactory driving experience which related to what we had delivered before in AMS1.
With that goal if not yet achieved already well within reach, it was time to flex the muscles of the engine a bit more and begin delving into other substantial resources these physics models offer that hadn’t up to now been fully exploited: features ranging from a variety of tire damage components to transmission elasticity will feature to one degree or another in our November build, and thanks to the support and input of some intrepid internal testers we have not only been capable of making quick progress exploring these new resources but in the process also gain some valuable handling improvements, the most notable of which to the differential model on which is we have now pretty much eliminated the “sticky diff” syndrome some cars still suffered from to one degree or another.
Coupled with the improvements being gradually implemented to the various tires in recent updates which in turn will also be expanded on for the upcoming release, the internal feedback so far hints at something pretty sublime taking shape, and while further development and refinements will always continue to be in order, it´s fair to expect AMS2 to deliver a noticeable progress on this front by the end of this month.
All these changes do have some setup implications so in addition to that a revision of default setups is also in progress, and with that a fresh setup reset by deleting your local setup folder also be in order - hopefully a small price to pay and it will lead to some improved setup baselines in the process as well.
AI Development & AI modding support
AI continues to be a front in constant developments and we have made some furtber good progress in this department as well.
AI calibration has remained a moving target with so many car-track combos in the game and their ongoing physics development, but we expect to cover some good ground towards that target by the end of the month - thanks once again to the input of our internal testers who have gone beyond the call of duty assembling a comprehensive spreadsheet to catalogue AI performance discrepancies in pretty much every car / track combo offered in AMS2, which is proving invaluable in this calibration process, and will hopefully lead up to a much more consistent challenge vs the player requiring less fudging of the AI Strength setting going one combo to another.
Moreover, we are introducing support for users to mod AI driver performances and names to their taste so you´re not stuck with the usual native AI drivers, being able to actually customize drivers from each series with their own names, performance & personality parameters and assign them to specific car liveries.
To begin with, users looking to perform these modifications will have to rely on the good old process of editing text files, which they will then be able to add in combo with livery car sets and share them with other users.
Other new features include the option to limit the number of new tire sets players have available to use in each event (similar to the feature we had already developed in AMS1), the driver profile page and the Beta release of the much anticipated Multiplayer Rating System - all these however topics for Part 2 of this dev update!
Laser Scanned Azure
On the content front, we have a neat free development in the shape of a complete revamp to the Azure Circuit, with the mesh (the only one we re-used from Project Cars 2 with just a few modifications) now being completely redone with the aid of Laser Scan data. It´s a considerable upgrade which should feel very different from the original track!
Racin USA Pt2 is Coming!
Another eagerly expected release is the second part of our very popular Racin´ USA Pack, going further into the North American motorsports scene - this time focusing on faster flowint tracks and its single seater heritage.
As most of you familiar with our sims already will know, we do like to pay tribute to incredible race series, cars and tracks that perhaps haven´t been so much in evidence, either due to their local nature or because their hayday in this world having already come and gone a few decades ago, their awesomeness since fading from minds of many current race fans and sim racers. Sim racing offers an unique channel to bring these awesome machines and tracks back to life and to the awareness of racing fans and one of our goals in AMS2 is very much to deliver just that.
So with Pt2 we are taking the opportunity to mix some exciting & famous American road circuits with a fairly exotic choice that probably will surprise many, along with an ensemble of 1990s Champ Cars from various seasons in that great decade for American single seater racing.
For myself, this is again a trip down memory lane as I´ve worked on many of these cars in and out over the last 15 years for modding projects, becoming some of my personal favorites!
The specifics of the pack we will share with you in part 2 of this dev update, but we couldn´t leave you all hanging without a small teaser - a cookie for whoever can guess the car-track combo previewed below :)
We are Hiring!
We are looking for artists to join our brilliant track team and help us produce trackside buildings & objects for some very exciting circuits we will be producing in the near future.
Key requirements include low-poly modelling in 3DS Max (squeezing out the most of the most efficient poly & texture count), texturing in Photoshop/Substance. Additionally, experience with CATrig animations, procedural texturing with Substance is welcome.
If you fit the bill and are interested in joining our team, please go ahead and send us an email with your CV and portfolio @ jobs@reizastudios.com - we´d love to hear from you!
That´s it for now - let´s catch up again in two weeks for Part 2 and even more exciting news!
Automobilista 2 V1.2.5.1 Now Live
This is a complementary update to the latest release for some further fixes & improvements.
V1.2.5.1 CHANGELOG
UI & HUD
Added chat box to Monito
Fixed pit entry on Donington GP track map
PHYSICS & AI
Super V8: Revised tire tread, aero & inertia
Minor tire tread adjustments to GT3, GT4, GT5, F-V10 Gen1, F-Reiza Porsche Cup, F-Classic (all gens)
Slightly reduced overall draft effects
Adjusted brake torque for GTE cars, SuperV8
Revised water displacement rate of wet & intermediate compounds (slightly less in wet tires, more in intermediates for overall smaller gap between them)
F-V10 Gen1: Further front wing adjustments
Mclaren 720S: Revised 1st & final drive ratios
Altered AI initialization to prevent performance in the whole session being limited by the starting session conditions
Fixed AI using incorrect throttle map in some vehicles
AI calibration pass for F-V0 Gen1, F-Reiza, GT3, Super V8
Spa-Francorchamps 1993/2020: Improved AI performance thru Eau Rouge and Radillon
Kansai: Improved AI behavior leaving West layout garage stalls; Increased West layout max AI opponents to 17
TRACKS
Buskerud: Fix physical terrain near start/finish tire wall; Minor performance optimizations
VEHICLES
Revised exhaust backfiring parameters
Small hotfix
Further minor tire tread adjustments to DPi, P1 F-V10 Gen1, F-Classics & Porsche Cup
Slightly revised front splitter pitch sensitivity of GT1 / Group C (all models), Trucks (all models), all Proto classes, Sprint Race, Ultima GTR, Mclaren 720S, Omega 1999, Opala 86 & Corvette C8-R
Adjusted LODs for various trackside objects at Nurburgring, Silverstone, Spielberg
Kansai: Fixed pitwall strange collision; adjusted LODs for various trackside objects
Automobilista 2 V1.2.5.0 RELEASED
V1.2.5.0 is now live - smaller update this month since we already had a couple of complementary updates well into October and with most of the team now focused on the big late November/December updates, this mostly serves for some extra house-keeping to the previous release along with some further fixes & improvements - more of this still to come early on next week, and then it´s all about the big one later in November - more details on that in our Development Update to be posted next week!
V1.2.5.0 CHANGELOG
GENERAL
Fixed incorrect environment values on session results screen
Updated recent historic weather data for all other locations
UI & HUD
Made ICM Value adjustment inputs continuous
Explicitly display 'NO' when a vehicle has no factory fitted electronic aids
Removed 'Sync to Race' weather progression and replaced with 'Real Time' as default option in Test Day
Changed replay fast forward rewind speed steps and added UI indicator of current speed
Added an on screen message when mandatory pit window opens
Fixed incorrect weather dates used for custom championship pre-race sessions.
PHYSICS
Minor tire tread adjustments to Porsche Cup, F-Classics Gen1 & 2, Group C, F-V10 Gen1, F-Reiza Opala 1986 / Omega 1999 Stock Cars
Further crankshaft mass fine-tuning to Group C, F-Classic (all gens), F-V12, F-V10, F-Reiza
Further revised slick tread sensitiveness to water to minimise chances of tires becoming unusable past a certain threshold of saturation
Minor adjustments to diffuser center of pressure in all F-Classics, F-V10 Gen1 & Mclaren MP4-12
Group C: Minor adjustments to default diff coast ramps on both cars; Fixed Sauber C9 clutch slipping on upshifts
AI
Fixed an issue that could lead to AI lifting in straights for very tiny invisible amounts of surface water
Adjusted AI puddle lifting logic to better account for puddle depth
Fixed an issue where some vehicles wouldn't receive blue flags in some specific places (Curitiba main straight for example)
Fixed some AI vehicles would enter hotlap behaviour as soon as they left pits in qualy/practice instead of entering outlap behaviour
Made AI work harder to avoid the passing cars lane under blue flag conditions
Increased distance AI cars under blue flag will factor cars behind to move out of the way
Velocitta: AI tweaks (less apex grass trimming and sausage surfing)
TRACKS
Velocitta: Fixed hole in grass, uneven terrain under garage tents leading to cars; cleaned up garage positions
Spa 1993: Revised track cut limits at bus stop chicane. Remove grass crete at 2nd apex
Long Beach: Added new csm wall (fixing sidewalk curb at pit lane exit causing strange collision)
Fixed latitude/longitude of Nordschleife & Londrina resulting in slightly innacurate Real Weather data
VEHICLES
BMW M3 E30: Fixed internal windscreen banner for cars #57 #58
Metalmoro MRX P4: Added 6 new liveries
Automobilista 2 V1.2.4.4 Now Live
Automobilista 2 V1.2.4.4 is now live - this is another hotfix to address some high priority issues along with some further improvements.
V1.2.4.4 CHANGELOG
GENERAL
Fixed an issue that would lead to blown engines and seemingly random pit lane speeding penalties when using real weather and a time/date close to the edge of the available range of dates.
PHYSICS
Minor tire tread adjustments to F-V10 Gen 1, F-Classic Gen1 & Gen3
Further minor crankshaft mass adjustments
BMW 2002 Turbo: Minor differential adjustments
F-Classic Gen1: Slightly increased default preload, slightly adjusted diffuser center of pressure, increased default turbo boost from 60 to 80%
AI
Fixed an issue that could lead to AI unnecessarily lifting in straights with shallow curves when track is wet or tyres are worn
Fixed an issue that could lead to AI having different potential ability depending on if a session started wet or dry
Further minor tire tread adjustments to GT5, G40 Cup, BMW Procar, Group A, Group C, F-Classic Gen1 & Gen2, Mini JCW, Street cars
Further crankshaft mass adjustments to GT5, G40, F-Classic Gen2 & Gen3
F-Classic AI callibration pass
BMW 2002: AI wet callibration, FFB max force adjustment
AI adjustments: passing routines start slightly sooner, slightly reduced passing boost & increased drop when conceding
BMW 2002: Fixed red bonnet issue
Minor hotfix
Adds a few more corrections to the latest v1.2.4.3 update:
Monza: Updated reverb zones
Fixed minor LOD issues at Kansai & Donington Park
BMW 2002: Updated sounds; Fixed player car chase cam broken sounds; Fixed cockpit wiper animation; Fixed license plate glow; Added livery overrides
Stock cruze 2021: Updated livery & menu previews
Automobilista 2 V1.2.4.3 RELEASED
Automobilista 2 V1.2.4.3 is now live - this complementary update introduces the famous BMW 2002 Turbo to the Vintage Touring Car class, along with further developments to Monza and the usual collection of fixes & improvements.
This slightly delayed wrapping of this development cycle means that unfortunately there won´t be an AMS2 Development Update published this month as we press on with work on an upcoming project - that in turn means our November Development Update will pack quite a collection of interesting news before what´s promising to be a very exciting month for Automobilista 2!
V1.2.4.3 CHANGELOG
CONTENT
Added BMW 2002 to Vintage Touring Cars Tier 1 class
GENERAL
Split Mini 1965 & Lotus 23 into a separate Vintage Touring Car tier from Corvette C3 and BMW 2002
Fixed source of CTD when going into the pits with Copa Truck
Updated recent Real Weather data
UI & HUD
Fixed issue that resulted in stale status data being displayed on pre-race leaderboard.
Fixed camera toggle incorrectly displaying on pre session leaderboard
Fixed pre session multiplayer chat issue
Pre-session screen now foces camera to player
PHYSICS & AI
Minor tire tread adjustments to BMW Procar, Group A, Group C, Vintage Touring Cars, Opala 1979, Opala Old Stock, F-Vee, F-Classic Gen3, P1
Slightly reduced slick tires tread adhesion with water
Revised crankshaft mass of all cars for more accurate engine speed inertia
Revised wheel bearings for street cars
Mclaren 720S GT3: Revised aero; minor weight distribution & engine torque curve correction
BMW Procar: Moved default brake bias slightly rearwards
Adjused LSD differentials fos C3 & C3-R
Revised brake torque for F-Trainers, F-Vee, Lotus 23, Mini 1965
Adjusted steering lock range for high steering rotation cars (same default setting from before, lower minimal setting)
F-Vintage: Adjusted default final drive for Gen 1 model 1
Adjusted FFB Max force for Corvette C3, BMW 2002, Mini 1965
Revised Lotus 23 chassis inertia values
Group A: AI callibration pass
Further decreased AI Strength in the 70-100% range
Monza 1991: Adjusted AI performance
AUDIO
Fixed redundancy causing double entries for water splash sound
TRACKS
Monza 2020: Performance optimization & LOD pass; Added drain material to curbs for Livetrack functionality: Increase track limits at t3 runoff of Monza Junior layout
Monza 1971: Move 10k rolling start location to mid point oval back straight; Fixed S/F Score Tower Z-fighting
Curitiba & Londrina: Rebuilt concrete walls to sort strange collisions
Automobilista 2 V1.2.4.2 Now Live
V1.2.4.2 is now live - this is the first of two complementary updates planned to be deployed this week, featuring some high priority fixes and improvements to the latest release.
V1.2.4.2 CHANGELOG
GENERAL
Updated recent Real Weather data
UI & HUD
Fixed tire temperature status widget not updating on some in-game screens
Fixed last session status being displayed on pre race leaderboard
Fixed championship round editor incorrectly altering session start hours when propagating race date changes
Fixed center column of drivetrain tab unelectable on setup editor
Fixed practice weather slot4 of in game session settings block referencing qualifying slot4
PHYSICS & AI
Minor tire tread adjustment for F-Vintages
Minor brake torque adjustment for all GT & Prototypes
AI callibration pass for F-V12, F-Vintage G1
Adjusted AI brake power & grip
Adjusted AI Grip multipliers for Monza 1991 & Modern
Adjusted AI to start passing routines sooner
Slightly increased parameter to reducing AI propensity to cut corner to avoid a crash
TRACKS
Monza 2021 GP: Slight increased width of green runoff at Lesmos 1 and 2
Monza 1971: Increased road noise on banked oval first draft; Optimized terrain shadows, new shadow dummy for banked track structures Increased grid spacing
General art updates to all Monza versions
Automobilista 2 V1.2.4.1 & Monza DLC RELEASED!
The wait is finally over! The new Automobilista 2 update has arrived, introducing the Autodromo Nazionale Monza with several layouts and versions through the decades.
The update also features a wide range of improvements to the AI, several UI developments, improvements to Real Weather system along with various revisions to vehicle art, audio and physics.
Missing from the update is the BMW 2002, which has remained on shop for further development - it should be added to the game in a complementary update next week.
V1.2.3.1 -> V1.2.4.1 CHANGELOG
CONTENT
Added Monza featuring Modern GP, Junior, 1971 GP, 1971 Junior, 1971 10Km, 1971 10Km without chicane, 1991 GP layouts (all part of the Monza DLC Package)
GENERAL
Added support for Thrustmaster SF1000
Implemented Real Weather API for 5 days in the past and 4 days in the future from today
Improved status messages related to real/historic weather availability
Fixed real historic weather for circuits that lay in half-hourly timezones
Real Weather now uses real/forecast data for wind speeds.
Added Real Weather databases for Monza and Salvador
Updated recent historic weather data for all other locations
Fixed error in Curitiba Real Weather that was causing weather data to not be found by the game
Fixed valid weather API response failing to parse in some cases
Fixed a case where a weather API call wouldn't be made when it should
Fixed Championship Editor not persisting mandatory stop setting correctly
UI & HUD
Reorganized and refreshed session overview and pre-event leaderboards to increase number of rows and allow grouping by class.
All in-game environment information (time/temp etc) is now updated live on all screens.
Added event session information, current vehicle setup, and current pit strategy to session overview and pre-event screens.
Fixed lobby page starting in wrong state
Fixed Per Vehicle FFB input on setup screen not capturing mouse movement
Fixed pedal bar overlap on telemetry HUD
Adjusted loading screens to show real weather icon when appropriate[
PHYSICS
Further minor tire tread adjustments for GT3, GTE, StockV8, F-Ultimate F-Reiza, F-V12, F-Classic, DPi & P1 cars
StockV8 2019: Minor aero revision
F-Ultimate: Added custom track ERS maps optimizing boost for straights in all GP layouts
Corrected extreme weather tire tread for F-Reiza & F-Ultimate
Ultima GTR Race: Revised default setup
Adjusted parked FFB forces for several cars to reduce rattling while standing still
Increased default steering lock setting for several cars with high steering rotation
AI
Improved AI overtaking logic
Improved AI behaviour when behind a slower car in Practice/Qualifying sessions.
Adjusted AI lateral movements for smoother / more natural reactions
Decreased AI performance in 70-100% Strength range
Improved AI blue flag behaviour
Adjusted AI brake power & grip
Various adjustments to AI overtaking parameters
AI corner & straightline callibration passes
Adjusted AI wet launch performance for GTs & F-Ultimate
Taruma: Adjusted AI line to keep AI from leaving the track at T7 entry
Fixed recently introduced issue with interior engine sound on late 70's DFV engined formulas & polished some loops
Porsche RSR '74: polished all engine loops
Sauber C9 Increased backfire off throttle, polished some loops
BMW M1 Procar: Polished all engine loops
TRACKS
Montreal: Minor LOD adjustments
Various 3D crowd LOD adjustments
Hockenheim 1988 GP/Short: Moved rolling start location
VEHICLES
F-Vintage (all models): Detached the cockpit gear shift; Adjusted the driver feet position on cockpit view; Adjusted hand animations during gear changes
Mini JCW UK: Detached cockpit gear shifter; Adjusted hand animations during gear changes
ARC Camaro: Added dirt/damage texture; Added dangling damaged parts; Changed the driver model; Detached the gear shifter on the cockpit; Adjusted the driver shifting animation; Revised collision models; Changed wiper position and Changed the bonnet model to allow the bonnet to be detached when damaged; Added the inner bonnet bits on cockpit view; Merged the boot with the rear wing; Adjusted the cockpit view to match the driver model position; Changed the cockpit interior to make room for the driver legs; fixed driver LODs; Fixed cockpit rear view camera
Metalmoro AJR: Fixed missing gear indicator in LCD display
