Automobilista 2 V1.5.5.0, Le Mans & Endurance Pack Pt1 RELEASED - Now Updated to V1.5.5.6

You don't understand a line that I wrote.

 

After doing some quick tests and stuff, one issue might be that the track temperatures are too high, that in turn causes the track to dry too quickly. Tried to use real weather( which doesn't really work properly, but that's another can of worms altogether) to "recreate" the 2008 British GP, and while the ambient temperature was correct 59°F, the track temperature was a pretty warm and wrong 91°F. So did another try on Spa with 1 overcast weather slot, wet state on a summer date and again 67°F ambient and a sweaty 94°F track temperature.

So it seems the game doesn't correlate the track temp to the track state or ambient temperature, but to the date. On all my summer date tests on Montreal, Silverstone and Spa, the track temps were 90°F+, while the ambient temps where on the correct, 60°F to 70°F range.

Maybe some work to do by Reiza to fix this issue as 90+ temperatures will dry the tarmac rather quickly I assure you from my experience living in the tropics

 

Just to keep everybody sane and the discussion with some logic:

 

This is enlightening Ernesto.
And probably I start to understand something.
Check this out.

1) 2 laps. Start wet. 1 slot sun.

2) 2 laps. Start wet. 4 slots sun (sync to race).

There is a big difference if you compare track wetness at the end of the second lap, but only on the line used by the other cars.
Maybe this is what others were complaining about regareing the drying.

(Whilst the "getting wet" is accelerated on the whole track when using slots and short times/laps as per my previous videos)

 

Yes. If we use accelerated weather transitions, we lost the pace of 1:1 start and stop of rain, if set too extreme like heavy rain in few laps: the amount of water drop soak the track in one minute. With "normal" weather progression, the rain starts light and go heavy, and stops with track temperatures more realistic deltas.

I only possibily like a kind of setting to:

"Ok, you want clear sky in a lap and a thunderstorm next, but it's unreal, and me, the engine, will do the transition like you set the default weather and you can go to hell If you don't have a waterfall in finish line".

 

Nono clear.
The extreme cases i did in my videos are just to prove a behavior of a system in a short time.
But, just to understand.
I don't want unreal things, but maybe I'd like to setup a 5 laps race with overcast and rain only towards the end.
Is it too unrealistic or arcadey?
How could I do it and avoiding the track to get completely wet in 1 lap?

Edit for clarification. Imagine a spa 24h at between hours 6 and 7 it starts to rain. I'd like sometimes to replicate the 5-6 laps about that particular event, but when I try and I am on slicks, usually I cannot make it to box due to track getting soaked.

Anyhow I solved the issue by always using only live weather with real time progression. I think it's the only way to have some wonderful cases, like sunny with moist track and some puddles here and there.... Or weather changing actually in 4-5 laps (not dramatically) and without dramatically change track state

 

Just to spice the weather-related discussion up, let me note that the transitions from one weather state to another are quite simplistic.

For instance, I set up a race with three slots: overcast, drizzle than rain. I expect the transition to blend seamlessly from overcast to drizzle while the skybox remaining overcast but that's not the case in AMS2. Drizzle is always paired with a cloudy skybox and the lighting is not too dark, accordingly. Rain is paired with another set of cloudy skybox. So the in-game transition ends up being a rather unrealistic overcast (very dark) to cloudy (brighter, if the weather was improving) to cloudier (darker than the previous slot but not as gloomy as the overcast setting).

Don't get me wrong I really enjoy AMS2's weather changes but this thing does bother me slightly.

 

I have to ask how you came to the conclusion the track temperature is wrong? If it was completely cloudy all day i might agree its too high but if there was any sun 90 degree asphalt on a 70 degree day sounds pretty reasonable. Going to depend on the time of day also. Obviously later in the day the track would be hotter.

Theres a lot of things we dont know about Live track. Like does it take into account the weather for the whole day even though we only use part of it. So say it was sunny until early afternnoon and we start the race at 3pm in the rain. If it does the track temp would make more sense. I have no idea how it works.

 

LiveTrack physics are really nice, but I agree that a weather system like some fight sims have will be perfect. All weather systems in racing sims/games are very simplified.

 

I am no scientist but I seriously doubt an already soaked tarmac with an ambient temperature of 59°F would hit 90°F, it just doesn't compute. If it was damp, maybe, but for it to be completely wet, not a chance.

Even if it were a race that started dry with lets say 100°F track temperature and it rained enough to soak the whole track, the asphalt would go below 85°F rather quickly, even more so in rather cold places like Canada, England and Belgium.

 

Agree. I am pretty sure the track temps lag the atmospheric conditions somewhat because they often remain too high when the conditions have been wet or heavily overcast even for an extended period of time--exactly as you suggest.

In real life, there is a brief period where there may even be some steam rising off a moist track, but it quickly drops to match the ambient temp if there is a sudden decent rainfall or even dark, heavy overcast skies. If this temperature drop is happening in the game, it is too slow from what I can see.

On the flip side, extremely high track surface temps are common in the real world if there is direct sun and hot ambient conditions. We do see this in the game. The latest tire updates seem to be able to handle these extreme temps without melting (performance, not literally).

 

I agree with that. Thats why i asked. I wasnt sure you where testing everything on a wet track. I live 30 minutes from the Canadian border in New York its not as cold as you think unless you get way up north. Normal summer temps are usually in the 80s and its not uncommon to see temps in the 90s. We had a bunch of days last year close to 100 degrees. Not fun with the humidity.

 

Here is the setup, very easy to replicate. Brands Hatch race, no AI. Setting live track to green forces initial dry surface.

I think we can agree that trying to have a 10minute rain in a overcast condition is reasonable and pretty realistic. The only thing I changed is the weather progression, between 2x, 5x, and scaled to race. After 4 minutes I made a screenshot at the bottom of the paddock hill. Can you guess which belongs to which weather settings? If what you're saying is true, and there is very little to no acceleration in scaled to race settings, then it should be pretty easy, no?

 

Leeeet me try.

I'd say:
pic 3 is the dryest, and it is related to x2 weather progression (after 4 minutes it is like it rained for 8 minutes in rl).

pic 2 is the wettest, and it is related to "sync to race" test (after 4 minutes it is like it rained for 24 minutes in rl).

pic 1 is a bit dryer than pic 2, but not so much, and related to x5 weather progression (after 4 minutes it is like it rained for 20 minutes in rl).

Have I won anything?

 

I would prefer to remove time acceleration from the game. You can't do that in real life. I would remove the ghost car option from the competition sections, when one car passes another, only TT and private practice would remain.
I would modify the weather setting in such a way that it would be possible to specify the percentage of the chance of sunny, foggy, rainy, etc. weather occurring during a race, by expanding the weather possibilities for a race from four to eight. Then, taking into account the length of the competition, a random process would be created for the competition. And I would limit it so that only one or at most two types of weather can be set during a specific round (time). Perhaps this way a more complete and better experience could be achieved.
Of course, I don't know if this is feasible in AMS2 and if it would really bring improvement in practice, but it would definitely be worth a try. Oh, and I don't know if this method has already been used in other games. Just an idea. I'm not an expert. )

 

On the topic of rain implementation and track evolution, does AMS2 work as iRacing as in Dan Suzuki's test?

https://x.com/DanSuzukiTV/status/1766031422026850574?s=20

 

Yes, AMS 2 track surface is fully dynamic and dry lines appear where the cars are actually driving. Also what kind of car, how many of them, and how fast they are going will also affect how much quickly the surface dries up. You can also have puddles getting bigger even after the rain has ended, becasue you can have water still flowing from upper parts of the track.

Cars can also drag dirt onto the surface, which can turn to mud and be spread by the cars along the track.

This is a good video about the LiveTrack 3.0 surface changes. I timestamped a section when he noticed mud on the track, caused by his car creeping onto the racing line and AI having to make evasing action through the wet grass (19:30).

 

Rain has become such a hot topic. Everybody in its sim adventures is drowning in rain 24/24 now, youtubers and normies alike !

 

I've also seen a video - though not sure I can find it anymore - showing how LiveTrack dynamically disperses the water on the track when cars drive over it.

That is, the first couple of cars produce the largest amount of water spray, but as the water gets sprayed to the edges, the subsequent cars produce a noticeably smaller spray. So the cars actually displace the water!

 

I suggested AMS2 should disable the super arcadey settings, such as the game allowing TC, ABS, Steering Help for Formula Vintages, also the ridiculous teleport back to track feature.

Renato has said they wouldn't do it, as to let casuals play the game too.

Sampling the settings used in MP lobbies, it seems like the vast majority of the AMS2 population is just casuals anyway, so I see his point.