Automobilista 2 Announced!

reiza aren't stupid, theres a reason why they didn't go the rf2 route...
and I think we all know why!?

 

I don't.. why?

 

No I don't. I can only assume, they would like to provide a modern engine with all the lightings and effects.
Maybe the Madness engine is also easier to program and good relating to the cpu/gpu load...?

I'm a big fan of rF2, not to say it's my go-to-sim. But I can understand there are some arguments to take the SMS-engine instead of the older one(s). Only Reiza can give us the answers (or perhaps you ).

 

So I dusted off PC2 last night to refresh my memory. For quite a while there it was my go to sim whilst rF2 was busy piling on the features and seemingly ignoring their performance cost.

• Absolutely beautiful HDR dynamic lighting and shadowing
• Fantastic PBR and shaders
• Great time progression and weather effects
• Really innovative track progression system
• An advanced physics and tyre model that really shone on some of the vehicles (not so much on others)
• Realistic looking animations, animated crowds and other trackside immersion stuff
• Some superbly detailed and modelled vehicle exteriors/interiors
  
• Slick UI and HUD
• Super fast loading times
• All running with great performance on my mid range box.

I had heaps of fun hotlapping some of the vehicles that to me brought out the best in the game's physics and handling: Formula Jr, BMW 320TC, Evo IX, Ferrari 355 , Ford GTLM, Ginetta Jr , Porsche 924 . So enjoyable throwing these beautifully detailed cars around PC2's beautifully detailed tracks. And then I fired up some races against the AI and realised why I stopped using PC2:

• AI that though generally capable of some degree of racecraft were appallingly inconsistent from turn to turn, track to track, car to car, weather conditions, track conditions etc.
• AI unaffected by puddles or the kerbs that sucked the players car straight into the grass
• Terrible external sound in replays, no reverb, backfires, or distance filtering
• Terrible replay system
• Terrible antialiasing that made replays in particular visually unappealing
• The game randomly losing driver camera settings necessitating a frantic round of button pushing when starting a new race.

I was pretty disappointed when these and other serious concerns were eventually ignored as SMS consigned PC2 to abandonware and never allowed the game to reach its true potential. So I was thrilled at the news that Reiza were essentially going to pick up the reins and morph the Madness engine into AMS2. If they can retain all that was great and innovative about PC2, and address the serious shortcomings and consistency concerns, then I reckon they'll have a hit on their hands. Hopefully they'll attract the large numbers of disaffected PC2 fans who felt let down by SMS and the various denialists on their forum. I'm also confident that Reiza's eloquent and informative communication with the community will continue.

 

Congrats to Reiza on the announcement, really glad you choose an engine with enhanced dynamic track tech.
That being said I hope you choose to expand on the Rallycross & super trucks to take advantage of the weather and loose surface physics in the madness engine.
Rallycross may not be overly popular among racers, but there is a community looking for a good platform to race on as we really only have iracing atm.
PC2 had tons of potential but, SMS half assed the multi player portion and only allowed for a single race....no practice or heats.

Looking forward to what you guys can do with the engine as it has tons of potential....SMS kinda shot them selves in the foot by only having 1 yr post release support, had they spent another yr tweaking, fixing and building on it rather than moving on to the next project they could have probably have one over those that were left disappointed.

Can't wait!

 

I second that! What I was most surprised about in Project CARS 2 was Rallycross. I didn't expect much, and never really enjoyed it that much in in Dirt Rally or Dirt 4, but the handling in PCARS2 is spot-on, IMHO! It really shows what the engine is capable of in terms of driving on loose and mixed surfaces. I never enjoyed RX this much before...

In short: Reiza choosing the MADNESS engine for this game fulfilled a wish of mine I never knew I had before. Didn't even know the engine was available for licensing, actually.

So keeping in mind what Reiza managed to do with the old rF1 engine - which no other sim on that engine ever came close to - I have very high hopes for AMS2. It may very well become the "race sim to replace all other race sims" for me.

 

Where do we apply for beta test?
Please REIZA, take my money !!! I want to try AMS2 ASAP

 

IMHO aliasing looked fine with supersampling, but then the framerate went way low...

 

Petrobras de Marcas is within 75% of the content that will go to AMS2, even if it is something fictitious?
If so, could you release any image ??

 

Kind of like every other modern title in existence

 

You have described to a tee my experience with PC 2, though I have only been playing it for a few weeks in anticipation of this announcement.

The only real concern I have is the AI. Hopefully Reiza can do heart transplant surgery because the direction SMS took the old rF AI was the wrong one. Reiza's improvements were terrific and there is room for much more improvement, but the AMS AI would be the proper baseline to work from.

I think sound and graphics can be tweaked fairly easily--they are starting from a good base. PC and PC 2 suffered from quantity over quality. AMS 2 will have quantity and quality

 

Incrível Renato, a Reiza matou a pau agora, já tirei o rFcator 2 da minha lista de desejos.

 

I am sure you guys are really busy but could we have a ZIP of all those lovely images you have released so we can use them as desktop backgrounds (and also for my stream).
Thanks!

 

Pages to follow:

AMS2 Steam page:
Automobilista 2 on Steam

AMS2 on Facebook:
Automobilista 2

AMS2 on Instagram:
Automobilista 2 (@automobilista2) • Instagram photos and videos

 

pics on steam have some decent resolution, unless you have 4k monitor (click download full size version, after you click on the picture)

 

@Renato Simioni
I think the "recommended" specs may have a typo as an RX480=GTX1060 but you have GTX1080 listed. It looks like PC2 has the same thing listed on their Steam store page but that seems to be incorrect as a GTX1080 is like 2-3 tiers higher than an RX480. Just pointing it out to help.

 

From RD forum:

Ian Bell:
We're constantly evolving it in all areas. We have a core tech team of approaching 40 'very good people' working to improve it daily. We pass all of these ongoing updates to Reiza where remotely appropriate. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised with the end results.

Automobilista 2 - New Screenshots Reveal Additional Content - Latest Formula 1, Motorsport, and Sim Racing News

 

Soooo if intellectual property IS being transferred between SMS and Reiza, any chance of bringing over their Long Beach circuit? It's a cracker.

 

Yep, I can feel it....this is the one, the Sim of my Dreams.

 

For me Reize is like Johnny Cash doing the covers:
"When Johnny Cash does Covers, the song is his.."
If you know what I mean.

(I hope I can say the same after AMS 2 release)