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

LAck of usable feature rich multiplayer

acc and iracing are as popular as they are because of it, and especially team racing plays a big part

 

Yup most of the gaming scene is based online nowadays, servers aren't really optimized or user friendly for admins yet so any major league racing isn't getting off the ground atm. Low Fuel Motorsports are a major hit for online competitive racing with ACC but they recently stated 'no AMS2' just for that reason... When the needed updates arrive I'm sure that will change though, so let's see.

 

In the poll LFM made, AMS2 was overwhelmingly the most voted sim their community wanted added to the roster. The market is there but it requires the MP side of things to be improved.

 

I'm in an incredibly popular iRacing league with the IR18 IndyCars. The server has 300+ members just for their leagues. They have a historic category that they were considering branching into AMS2 with the most recent V1.4 update as well as the new CART cars.

But the league owners had such a big issue figuring out how to run their league when iRacing is such an easy league servers setup that the admins are considering just forgetting about AMS2.

This is a problem for the game. My time is limited so choosing between racing in a league with online in another sim and just tooting around with AI in AMS2 I will often choose the former. Especially when those leagues I race in are broadcasted and I get the pleasure of watching my own antics commentator on as if it's a real motorsports event.

 

This has been coming up a lot recently but it's a bit dramatic. Yes, there are leagues and 3rd parties that will skip AMS2 for now due to the state of the backend but let's not pretend they won't return at a later date. Might take a few more months but they'll get there eventually.

It's not like another title is going to arrive anytime soon offering a similar experience and also be bug-free with perfect multiplayer.

 

A few more months... you are very optimistic.

 

It's gotta be a few months right? Same with the remaining DLC packs. They said they were aiming to release at least the first part of all the DLCs by the end of the year. They need to get that stuff out so they can start on the next batch of DLC that we are all wishing for (Le Mans, Indy, etc.).

However...they can't fully capitalize on the DLC if the player base doesn't grow. So that MP server upgrade is getting more important as the months roll by.

They just need steady growth instead of all the spikes. Then they can begin to preview upcoming content again to build excitement (with less complaining than they get now when new content is discussed).

Yes I'm optimistic but I still think they will have a strong finish to 2022.

 

Not enough "main stream cars " must be one of the reasons. Like prototypes for example. Porsche, Toyota, Audi. Or GTE and GT3 grid.
Also lack of attention to detail. For example most cars have almost completely non functional wheels / dash. Takes away from immersion.
Still love AMS2 though. It's the best sim but interior functionality is mostly rediculously static and terrible compared to ACC for example.
At first glance menus looks a bit home made but they grew on me by now. Multiplayer need most work though. Why for example can we edit multi class grid in SP not not MP? Major omission. AMS2 needs something other proper sims don't have. For example real F1 rules. No other true sim has it that I'm aware of

I know I'm critical here but that's the point of the topic i think... Tough love

 

Yup yup now is the time to enhance the core mechanics on the aspects that were lacking behind. Online being the elephant in the room atm

 

Nearing development yr 3... physics and ffb just improved greatly in the past 2 updates, poor MP and ai incapable of passing other ai and other issues leaves very little to do other than test content and hotlap.

I really enjoy the Brazilian content and have purchased every Reiza title in the past....but it's pretty clear the majority don't feel the same as all there past titles have been great but very low player counts.

I sadly have to agree that more mainstream content is needed for player counts to increase considerably and be consistent.
Right now we're just seeing update hype increasing the numbers for a week or so, than it drops off.

Edit: more brands to fill current GT classes, 90s to modern touring cars, modern F2 & F3, nascar content for the ovals and eagerly awaiting the dirt content dlc.

 

Which specific mainstream content? Some FWD touring cars would get my vote (TCR or some older xTCC, etc.). An MX-5 Cup car would also be nice to have.

Otherwise we just need more brands (Ferrari of course being the obvious inclusion, as it would fit into a lot of existing and upcoming classes) to fill existing classes.

Racing isn't really mainstream outside of F1. Sim racers love GT3 but take a look at the grandstands of real-life GT3 series (or most series for that matter) and you'll see lots of empty seats. It was nice to see so many people at Indycar events this year and of course the big international events (Nurburgring 24, Le Mans, etc) have huge crowds but racing itself is a niche sport.

That being said, AMS2 has lots of mainstream content and a lot of F1 tracks from the current season. Modern Indy will be a nice addition but I don't know how popular it will be.

 

Some cars still seem to feel like beta
Online reset car + people can cut track iin many places & online feels bit odd

Online needs a complete overhaul

 

If you haven't already, feel free to give some detailed feedback about that in this thread:
Automobilista 2 V1.4.1.0 Released - Now Updated to V1.4.1.3

 

AFAIK developers can not get a licence from ferrari (and many other popular brands that missing from AMS2) and then fill various classes with ferrari cars.
each car (ie ferrari 488 evo GT3) need its own licence.
that was confirmed multiple times by a very known dev of a very popular sim racing franchise in his streams and in interviews.

 

In my humble opinion, Reiza released the game far to early. Early access is the death of any game. If it isn't ready, don't release the game on the general public.

Admittedly, in my humble opinion, the game in it's current state is pretty good, but that being said the early adapters, the people that tried it way back when have written it off.

It will take some doing to get the player base back and think of AMS2 as a contender.

The last update did a bit of that, brought back some people, but the numbers dropped off again. They have a lot of work ahead of them still, and I know they will eventually pull it off but the damage has already been done....they should have waited to release the game. Now they are playing catch up to get the players back.

I wish Reiza nothing but good fortune and I know they will get the game to the standards that everyone wants/expects. It takes time. Good luck Reiza, I am pulling for you.

 

Niche games are released "too early" or in early access because the devs don't have the ability to keep developing for years without any income from sales. ACC was released unfinished as well, didn't seem to hurt its eventual adoption by the community.

 

Key word "Eventual". Yes. It will eventually be well loved. Eventually. That does not discount the damage that has been done, the people with short attention spans that move on to other racing games and forget about AMS2.

 

Can't Reiza just model after Ferrari cars and give it a generic name? Maranello 488, for example.

 

They for sure released when they did to make money and I am happy it has worked out for them. Early access was very short as well since you probably can't sell DLC for an early access title. Slow and steady lol but AMS2 will eventually overtake PC2 (which is similar in numbers to RF2 and Raceroom).

Will they catch ACC? Who knows but as long as they can keep doing what they're doing I'll be happy. The ACC numbers will be interesting to watch as Rennsport arrives on the scene...

Will it be MP or AI updates that keep people around and grow the playerbase? Depends who you ask, as the forum represents a small slice of the AMS2 population.

 

They probably don't want to fly too close to the sun since they for sure want to start this licensing relationship eventually.

Of course each car is individually licensed, I just meant there are a lot of classes that could benefit from Ferrari inclusion. Ford would be the other big brand that could fit in many classes as well.