Reiza January 2020 Development Update

Hello again folks, here we are for the first development update of 2020!

The year has started for us just like the last one ended - working flatout, with long night after long night testing everyone´s sanity

It has been another incredibly productive month, with further developments made in all fronts from vehicle to track art, Audio, Physics, AI, User Interface - all had one major development or another which is at once very exciting but also stressful as every time there is a breakthrough it demands some amount of rework to re-assemble related parts around it, and there´s so much the schedule will allow until we get to a stable build for release.

The details of what´s going on in all these fronts would be enough to fill two articles and bore many of you to death - the important thing is that we have managed to reach the end of the month just inside our planned milestones so things continue to move decisively towards release at some point late in March.

So let´s look into some of the most exciting stuff to come together this past month:



User Interface Preview

It has been a long time coming but we are finally able to share a glimpse of the AMS2 User Interface - click on the thumbs to preview some of the main game screens:



Like all other areas, the UI is being developed with conservative short term goals in mind considering the relatively tight 16 month schedule since we started working with the Madness engine - further & more in-depth developments are planned for post-release, in any case we believe this to be a solid baseline for what is to follow .

Please keep in mind that while the design is fairly definitive, some of what you see in these previews are still to be considered WIP - background images, panel artwork and texts specially are still mostly placeholders, and elements may still move around a bit.

Initial DLC Packs Confirmed - Hockenheim & Silverstone




Very happy to confirm the classic Hockenheimring - host of the German GP 34 times will again feature in Automobilista 2 as the very first DLC Pack.

Just as in AMS1, the Hockenheimring Pack will feature the 1977, 1988, 2001 and modern versions of the track along with the most relevant layout variants.

This is the only AMS1 DLC that will be re-released again in AMS2 as a DLC - all other AMS1 DLCs will feature as AMS2 base game content on release.


Another World Class venue that we are thrilled to confirm for Automobilista 2 is none other than the spiritual home of British motorsports - the historical Silverstone Circuit is inarguably one of the tracks of richest heritage in motorsports, being the host of the very first World Championship GP in 1950 and having hosted 50 of them since and continuing to be one of the major venues for the most important series today.

Silverstone has received many reforms over the decades with major changes to the original layout - all of them however managed to keep the track´s trademark high speed nature, and each featured their own unique charm which is one of the reasons it´s such a great subject for this line of AMS2 DLCs. The Silverstone Pack will feature the 1975, 1991, 2001 and modern versions of the track.

On top of these two packages - both to be released within the first 6 months of AMS2´s initial release - three more tracks are already confirmed as subjects of similar DLC packages over the following year. We won´t spoil all surprises just yet so feel free to speculate what these may be


Some may understandably find odd that DLCs are being announced before the game is even released - the reason being that we want to give a better idea of how base game content may differ from the DLCs and why they´ll (hopefully) be worth the asking price. Mainly, it is something we owe to the Backers who already commited to the full AMS2 pack before they even knew what they were getting with it - it´s in large part thanks to them that some of these major licenses are already materializing at this stage.

This should also be a hint there are some major, not yet announced plans for AMS2 in terms of content you can look forward to - a lot more of this iceberg than what has appeared over the surface so far


Rest assured however we don´t plan to hold the suspense for much longer - by next month we will confirm the full content list to feature on initial AMS2 release. Similarly to AMS1 we will again have a large content roster ranging from historical tracks and cars to complete modern series, karts, trucks and a whole lot in between - altogether adding to up just under 40 unique venues and classes and over 60 car models - some official, some fictional - with more to come still in time for release and a lot more beyond it. We also hope to outline to some of the main gameplay features (for single and multiplayer) we are working on.


Final weeks to join the AMS2 Early Backing Campaign

Automobilista 2 is scheduled for launch in March 2020, and for a few more weeks you can still pre-purchase through the Early Backing Campaign. - as mentioned above the revenue we raise from the Campaign sales contribute to securing new licenses as well as to the development of the game itself.

In addition to a good discount over the complete game package including the various DLCs and Expansion Packs that will be launched in the coming years, Backers also get access to our private forum to influence various development decisions, the opportunity to create their own car paintings and enter in the game as official drivers, and soon also Early Access to the game itself during the final weeks of Beta Testing!

You can find more information about the Campaign and how to participate here.


By this time next month Backers will already be able to hit the track as Automobilista 2 Beta is scheduled to become available to them on Steam in February 28th. We are pushing hard to deliver a solid and functional build for this Open Beta period, although naturally it shouldn´t be expected to be quite the finished article yet and some teething issues will inevitably pop up once we have a few thousand users testing the game rather than a few dozens.

In many ways V1.0 will also be a long way from final - it is rather just a baseline for what will follow. Automobilista 2 is a long-term project with a development plan that already goes well into 2022. Day 1 is just the opening lap of a very long race, and we are eager to get going!

 

It's an endurance race that will last 2 years and hopefully be played in 2030. Assetto Corsa is from 2013? And still being played. RBR from 2004 and still have a large fanbase. You can do it. Stock Car, Marcas, Formula Truck where a small step which led to AMS which has a niche-fanbase, and now it will all come together.

 

S397 is a lil bit going to commercial route. Hosting eSports stuff, etc. Don't know what I need to think of that. Same time it's awesome, same time I am afraid Sim Racing is going to be too commercial and going the EA, Bethesda, Ubisoft and Activision-Blizzard way. @Javi288

 

Brrrrrabham BT44...70s Silverstone, 70s Hockenheim...i'll grow chops and go full roleplay, when all of it is released, I SWEAR!