Some observations from a new player.

I have been observing Automobilista for some time now, and I have always found it quite refreshing how committed Reiza are towards the AI. When V1.2 dropped, I decided I would give it ago as most simulators have been quite stagnant in this area for some time (with the exception being iRacing of course, but this obviously comes at a price).

Firstly, the game feels absolutely amazing to play, it really is a breath of fresh air. The graphical fidelity, the sound, the physics, all significantly improved - and a true night and day experience compared to PC2. The level of detail in particular for the recent DLC is above and beyond what I have experienced anywhere else.

Having said that, here are some of my observations and thoughts on what I think is missing and could improve the game dramatically:

1. We need the ability to select opponents individually, rather than the game automatically apply a roster based on the classes picked. This appears to be a limitation from Project Cars 2 which has not been expanded on at all.

2. To truly allow one to immerse themselves, it should be possible to either create a new driver or rename existing drivers in the pool, adjust their personality, characteristics, etc (e.g. racing speed, confidence, age, consistency, pit skill).

3. Have the ability to assign liveries against cars/drivers rather than the game apply them automatically. This will allow us to roleplay our own championship with teams (e.g. you could assign the same livery that you are personally using with another car - which would then be your teammate).

4. There doesn't appear to be a relative when driving, so I cannot see the standings and more importantly, who is advancing on me and who is losing time. I am honestly quite surprised that this is missing.

5. When spectating in the pits, or if the AI have taken over during an endurance race, it would be nice if we could switch to a track cam and not have to follow a car. I always loved in rFactor 2 just switching to various track cams and adjusting my view and watching the race unfold at a particular area (without the need to follow a car automatically).

6. During practice and qualifying, there doesn't appear to be any sort of character. Cars generally just go straight out, race, fuel up on occasion, and then immediately go straight back out again. It would be nice if cars occasionally rested in the pits (so it is not so congested), anticipated a window of clean air, and possibly didn't treat the two modes as a race. It is similar with the cooldown lap, where I am still observing cars race, even though it is not necessary.

7. Additional information from lap timings. By this I mean, having the ability to view both historical lap and current timing laps from each car. Then you can see when they may have pitted, what times they were previously doing, etc.

8. When pitting, I find it incredibly dull in terms of visuals. Each lane is completely empty and there is no crew. Just seems a bit immersion breaking when you're coming in and the game only displays your pit crew.

9. Even if I set the AI to 100% strength, I always find that I am faster than them (and I'm quite the rookie). What are the implications of setting this above 100%, are the AI then prone to cheat with grip? It would be nice if this was documented and written out so that we could see what each tier means.

 

Regards #8, you can change that in settings somewhere. Something like "all, yours, none". Not at gaming rig at the mo to be more specific. You can view relative timings by adjusting HUD.

Also, I'd like to add to your points: Real human driver swaps. Been mentioned by a few, and I hope it comes. Would provide so much more potential.

 

... and BTW, do NOT try this in vr
You will never hit this area with your mouse. Do it in non-vr

 

Thank you for this.

 

Thats in the performance options. Allows you to switch pitcrews off or switch only yours or all pit crews on.

That being said, event when set to ALL, pit crews seem to not appear anymore for me in practice mode. I know they did in the past. Haven't raced in some time, so I'd need to check that.

 

Ah...my brain fart has just cleared. I was referring to the pit crew visuals (None, yours, all) as @Gevatter alludes to above @CrimsonEminence but just tagged the 'Relative timing' bit on the end. Hard work typing on a (Daily/work) PC from the dark ages sometimes.

 

Yes, a free camera would be great. In AC I liked to watch the first minutes of a multiplayer qualifying (before going to the track), or the entire replay of a race, in the stands with the crowd or in the pitwall.

This would be a very fun feature to have on AMS2, especially considering that currently it is the most beautiful racing game on the market.

 

Being able to select and customize opponents is coming. We don't know when it will come exactly, but Reiza mentioned that it is their short term list.