What do you think is the most significant reason AMS2 userbase is so small?

GPLaps is different though. Really honest, thorough, entertaining, informative chap, probably my favourite sim racing YouTuber.

 

his remarks and review really did sway a lot of people off AMS2 at the time. I don't particularly like the guy but most of his followers will only race on sim titles he enjoys and reviews positively. his opinion carries a lot of weight

 

I have to admit Youtube influencers can introduce people to a bunch of games/mods/updates that normal people just don't have the time to investigate and find on their own. I've found several interesting mods that I would've never found if it weren't for folks the "Chris Hayes", "Gamer Muscle Video", etc. Some Youtubers are definitely more entertaining that others.

As someone who races IRL, I have to admit prior to V1.3.8.1 update, the physics in AMS2 felt very broken, it was like iRacing in a lot of respects. Some cars drove Ok with a bunch of flaws and others were just flat out wrong (all FWD cars) IMHO. Others might disagree and that's fine. I find iRacing to be a game that has a bunch of gimmicks which are cool, while the core physics/tire model is horribly flawed. It's gotten better but it's not there yet. And its only been out for like over 15 years. People who drink the coolaid but lack real world driving experience often brag about how iRacing is very realistic. I tend to disagree with them.

AMS2 until the recent update felt like that to me. And I can see why it would turn a lot of people OFF. I do sim racing to better hone my real world performance, so physics and tire realism is the top proirity for me. Its why PCars2 and ACC are some of my favorite sims. I still don't understand why people call PCars2 simcade, the physics, tire model and feel of the cars to this day is top notch. Does the game have it own share of flaws? Yes, but it's a great sim to this day.

iRacing is really popular due to multiplayer. I think AC and ACC are really popular as well due to a well designed multiplayer system. There are so many AC and ACC leagues and I think that's what creates the larger player base online. The excitement of racing other actual human opponents is what keeps bringing people back to a sim.

 

Strongly agree wirh this!

 

Let's be fair. Here we all love Reiza and are very protective with them, but AMS2 did a lot of things wrong.

1) They choose another sim's engine... and it's a sim that have a huge repulse within it's genre more dedicated fanbase (that is the target of AMS2). Technically I (now) believe that it was a perfect choice... still, as a marketing choice, it was a huge mistake and the "poor man PCARS2" infame is real

2) The game was released as 1.0 when it still fells like a pre-beta build

3) After an year from it's full release, there still were a lot of stuff badly working... and still has a good size of a list to check it out

4) Unfinished paid DLC (that stills incomplete)

5) Focuses on a not popular content (that I love, but most of players don't even know nor want to)

6) The game don't focuses on online racing but, yet, don't have any sign of an offline career mode

7) The content quality is all over the place (today is much better, but until a few mounts ago it was baaaaad)

8) Reiza never really knew how to market this game. Most gaming channels (specially in Brazil) simply don't even know that the game exists

I know what AMS2 is, will become and simple love it... but we are the folk that post in a developer's forum... we are the most loyal fanbase that Reiza ever got... but we are not the market rule that AMS2 is judged and can't expect others to see the game as we do.

 

I think Reiza does a fantastic job. Let the disciplines accumulate (TCR, Copa Petrobas, RX...) and it will be great. I read the comments and I must be a bit special because for me, it was the fact that it was the Madness engine that made me interested in AMS2. I really like PC2 which offers a multitude of cars and tracks. I love their camera system, dynamic weather. Of course, there are flaws: playability on the pad is not exceptional, no custom championship... And Reiza did better than SMS on these 2 points. I'm not a simracer but I like to simulate racing. It is the fact that AMS2 has an affiliation with PC2 which was the trigger. And certainly not the demo which I think drives potential customers away more. Put 2 or 3 different cars (F1, Brazilian Stockcar and a Lancer for example) but not this VW which does not honor the work done IMO.

 

I agree, I think Reiza made the right choice going with the Madness Engine. It's one of the best sim engines out there, IMHO. When done correctly (which has taken Reiza a while), it simulates accurate physics, tire model, rubbering of track, wet and dynamic weather physics. All the while, looking beautiful and running smoothly in VR on most systems (this is where ACC struggles). The only reason I gave AMS2 a chance was because of the Madness Engine.

The Brazilian content has been a very pleasant surprise and I've fallen in love with a few of the tracks.

 

Reiza included custom championship in AMS2 but the controller issues from PCars2 are still present in AMS2 (built-in controller filters that cannot be turned off and cause input lag, vibration is almost non-existent).
I've been trying really hard to like AMS2 but the controller issues are a huge turn off to me especially taking into account how good controller support is in AMS1.

 

We have already discussed the subject of gameplay with a controller on AMS2 in another thread. Personally, I find the gameplay better than on PC2. We must accept that we are not of the same opinion. My opinion may change with the arrival of ovals (I hope not). I like driving the Ford Fusion on PC2 on road circuits, but on the oval it was for me very difficult to control and no pleasant.

 

Did anyone try PC3 with a pad? I remember reading somewhere (or maybe it was a podcast with Ian Bell) that they considered the new pad handling and the multiplayer enhancements to be their only successes from PC3, the rest was a disappointment.

I only tried it with a wheel and it was awful lol. However, once I found out AMS2 was using the same engine I was intrigued (I received AMS1 for free and never really played it) and am very happy that I was able to refund my Deluxe Edition PC3 and bought AMS2 and the season pass immediately

 

I've never played PCars3 but everyone I know that played it with controller said it has the same issues the previous games have with built-in controller filters that cannot be turned off and mess up the controls. Ian Bell said in a PCars forum post that PCars games controller support is aimed at tap steer players, and that whenever he plays with controller he uses tap steer and it feels good. However for those of us that use precision steering and no assists the controls in the PCars games aren't good.

 

Essentially pad filters make pad driving "feel good" as long as you fundamentally are not actually able to drive a car with a pad, because they take that challenge away by eliminating any necessity to be precise (at the price of feeling extremely mushy). Nothing is more guilty of that than the F1 games and that is where SMS got their "pad consultant" from for pCARS3.

The AMS2 default settings are pretty horrible when it comes to that as well, but they can be adjusted quite well.

I personally think that the filters AMS2 has can be an excellent compromise between what is physically possible for me and an actual driving experience (as opposed to just point the car the direction it should go and let the game do the rest, which is what the F1 games make you do, rendering everything imprecise), but not everyone will feel that way, so there should be an option to remove the filters entirely and make you able to give exact wheel style inputs with the pad (and not just approach that state closely, which is what is possible currently).

 

Pcars 3 was extremely good fun with a pad. (Although some of the challenges like the 1960’s indy 500 you needed a wheel) I used to work for Fema, and Pcars 3 ran like a Swiss watch on my laptop, so I could still get my racing fix while away from home.

 

Interesting, that makes more sense and now I can understand why the pad filtering topic keeps coming up.

Which games don't have these filters (other than the already mentioned AMS1)?

 

Agreed. I don't mind controller filters being enabled by default to help casuals and/or people who use tap steer but ideally there should be an option to turn them off.
I use the exact same controller settings in AMS1 & AMS2, and I've tested the same car/track combos with the same car setup in AMS1 & AMS2; in AMS1 controls feel very precise and the car does exactly what I want while in AMS2 controls feel laggy which makes certain car/track combos incredibly difficult to drive.
The controller issues are the main reason I keep taking breaks from AMS2 and going back to AMS1 & rF1.

Games that have the option to completely disable all controller filters & dampers: AMS1, GSCE, rF1, rF2, GTR2, Race 07, AC, ACC, R3E. Older F1 games such as F1 2012/2013 have an option called steering wheel override that disables all controller filters.

 

So basically everything except Dirt and AMS2 lol.

 

From my experience built-in controller filters that cannot be turned off are implemented in most CM games, PCars games, Forza, Gran Turismo, all Need for Speed games.

 

I agree. The handling of AMS2 with the controller is also fine with me at the moment. I am an occasional player who does not seek performance but just pleasure. I look forward to the ovals hoping the grip is as good. Regarding the built-in filters, if some don't like it and it's possible, I want Reiza to add an option to disable them. Any additional option is good to take.
I played PC3, the pad playability was ok but I didn't like everything else.

 

As an ACC player, I can say this is not true. ACC's online experience was crap, but it still attracted many users due to class leading physics. It literally stomped on anything else in the physics and driving feel performance. This gathered sim players to take notice and it grew in popularity. The online leagues you see now, is as a RESULT of the physics and aero modelling, which attracted a player base in the beginning.

Now I am also pleased to report that the new updates from AMS2 are absolute game changers. Myself and the guys I race in an ACC league have just kicked off a AMS2 league in the P3 cars. It is that good, that it has taken the attention of our group.
AMS2 is increasing in popularity based on the quality of the game now. Still more to go of course, but the future looks good from a player base perspective.

 

That's strange, the ACC Dedicated Server (DS) is very similar to AC's DS. The AC DS has been out forever. It's really well built and has always given the server admins great options in setting up the server. Are you referring to just generic random online multiplayer perhaps?

Having good physics is a given or else it's not worth spending anytime playing that sim, IMHO. The only people ok with subpar physics and tire models are those that seriously play iRacing. The physics in ACC weren't good during initial release and it went through a lot of interations to finally become what we have today (probably one of the best physics/tire model). The initial release of ACC and what we have now feel like 2 completely different games to me. AMS2 seems to be following the same-ish path.

Also AMS2's current DS pales in comparison to ACC's current DS. I hope AMS2's DS adopts a bunch of options from ACC's DS in the next release. It would make life a lot easier for server admins. One that I would desperately like to see is the option to allow players to join/re-join anytime, even during the middle of a race.