One of my fav cars in all sim racing is the ams boxer and the Brazilian stock car Why people don't play this for the content alone is beyond me.
For me it is very simple, it's purely because of the gfx. This is why I am so very excited about AMS2, overall quality of AMS combined with great gfx of Madness, there's just so much potential here...
Yet, at 4K with graphics maxed out and uber anti-aliasing (giving a much cleaner image than PC2) and eventually experimenting with time of day, AMS looks super nice. You are really missing something not playing it just because of graphics. I have PC2. It is a very good looking game (despite less than ideal anti-aliasing). I even played it a bit but ultimately stopped because of its subpar AI. But these days I only play AMS and rF2 both at 4K maxed out.
Well, different people, different preferences, but for myself, I just can't put much time on a racing game that does not convince me that what I am seeing is sort-of real. Obviously that's not only for AMS, but I have it on max settings and in my 1080p monitor it does not look nice for my taste. About the AI, I cannot stand it at all in most modern sims, it's only in AMS that I have found it to be more or less OK.
I don't care for visual fidelity as much as the quality of the racing. No matter how good it looks, it will always be a game, but with 'bad' graphics you can still have an exhilarating race. However, with the graphically better sims the AI and physics aren't as good. What can be more immersion breaking than doing a race during which the AI aren't programmed to slipstream and overtake you? It's not really racing then.. The best offline racing experiences IMO are in Automobilista and GP4. I hope Reiza can make the AI at least as good as in AMS, then finally we can have something immersive from both a visual and AI point of view. That said, if it doesn't happen quite like that, (although I have every faith it will) I still have AMS, which I can't imagine ever leaving my hard drive..
I agree, none of the current sims (or any racing game actually) ticks all of the three above boxes. And I think with the current machines we have, it is very well possible to tick them all, and IMO we should not be complacent with what we have, but instead push the devs to further improve the genre. Not to put pressure on Reiza, but I am optimistic that AMS 2 can be the first sim that actually ticks all three above boxes...
Its not purely about the graphics, its about the content too. If you like the content - that's great - but please don't assume everyone does. I regularly play gMotor2 sims, but these are GTR2 and GTL because I prefer the content in those titles. Jimmer may have our back but which sims does he actually play regularly? Same with GamerMuscle - big AMS fan but does he stream it?
I agree, it's definitely a matter of limited (official) content as well, but in my opinion the biggest setback is the gfx. Btw, I have not checked the mods for AMS1, aren't there enough out there to cover the content issue?
It's amusing that you mention 1080p, because I would never go back to 1080p as it "does not convince me that what I am seeing is sort-of real". Higher resolutions (1440p for most people) is a huge upgrade in visual clarity.
There is Patrick Giranthon's mega track pack (28 or so IIRC): a must have with all the usual popular tracks. There are also some interesting car mods in usual car categories that click with people. So you can probably drive a GT3 at Monza or Spa in AMS, a super original combination never seen elsewhere.
@cpcdem If you download the track pack, you should also download separately the tracks in it that were updated later.
Last night was redoing race after race with the v10 at hockheimring. Just this sim plays so well even the ai are most likely still the best in the business or close behind rre. The marbles the dirt run off its so detailed.. A pure sim I think and in its state now its better than rf2. Ams2 although will be good, I hope will be as rewarding to drive as its predecessor
I wish Patrick would update his pack (the combined download file with all 28 tracks). Most of the tracks in that are older versions, that he has later improved. Would be easier to link it to new guys, when it's just 1 download. To get the latest versions, you need to download his tracks from separate pages. Only a handful of the tracks in the actual 28 pack are still relevant versions, that haven't been updated since. I noticed this when I had to re-download all my mods, after accidentally deleting them (!)
However I do find myself only really using the more well known tracks in ams. I never could get to grips with the unknown SA tracks bar a handful. In sims I to tend to use tracks I'm familiar with. I do like a new track challenge now n then but the ams tracks I find hard to get a flow on the smaller ones. Velo I like though
Have you experimented with DSR? I use it for AMS, it makes the image look much clearer, plus ClimaxF1 gave me a custom Sweetfx preset which works wonders with the AA issues and picture quality. I can share it you like? It should be a standard preset, it's that good.
I think the main reasons are: 1. Graphics. Mentioned several times, it's an old engine and everyone can see this independent from the progresses Reiza die with it. 2. Very special content For me it's great to find especially Brazilian stuff in it as it is unique and exciting, but the main Sim Community all around the world seems to focus more on the common stuff like GT3, Prototypes... 3. Missing licenses Beside the very good tracks we have some blockbuster as Le Mans, Nords are missing. All honour to the scene of modders, I decided not to use mods as I face problems with it from time to time and it's always not on the level of quality as from the developers. But sure, can't be expected. For me it's safe to say that AMS2 will attract much more people in future.
Thanks for the offer, I do not know if I will use it myself, but could be very possibly helpful for other people! For me the AA is fine, not seeing visible problems with it, but the cars are not looking good enough to me, same with road textures, trees/bushes when you are close to them are a bit...ehm, image in the mirrors is bad, same for the spectators, many track side objects are not looking fine. Really, I do not want to sound disrespectful to Reiza, with such a small team they've made incredible wonders in other areas, for example the sound is astonishing, FFB is fantastic (although it is buggy in my G29), feeling of the cars is very good, I see no obvious physics fails that I see in some other sims, the AI in AMS is the only AI from a racing game that comes close to believable to me. But the gfx, I guess they simply could not had done any better with the previous engine, but judging from their previous work I am very optimistic that they can make the Madness engine really shine.
Of all of the things that reduce immersion for me, graphics are well down the list. Wonky physics and AI, are a couple of big ones but, poor audio, ffb and lack of proper motion effects all tend to reduce immersion for me. One area where the Madness engine can be more effective graphically is with some post-process effects and overall lighting; and such effects can be especially effective in VR.
