Featured Automobilista 2 June 2026 Development Update - Pt 2

Greetings Everyone!

Here we go then for Pt2 of the June Development Update – this complements Part 1 posted last Saturday.

We are on the verge of deploying the new V1.6.9.8 update for Automobilista 2 but still with a lot of valuable information to cover about it that we didn´t quite get to in Pt1, let´s jump straight into it then to get you up to par with what we have been cooking!

Licensing Issues

Firstly a little house-keeping on a not-so-cool topic: in Part 1 of the Dev Update, we briefly referenced some licensing complications that were impacting the timing of our upcoming release; Since then, those challenges became even more complex so it is important we address the implications both for current as well as future Automobilista 2 content.

AMS2 is an unusually complex project from a licensing perspective, with a vast collection of manufacturers, teams, championships, circuits, and historical content, each governed by its own set of agreements and restrictions; as the title continues to expand and bring new players and things continue to evolve also for the respective IP holders, new restrictions emerge in areas that were previously unaffected.

This has proved to be the case following recent discussions with McLaren Racing regarding an extension of our existing licensing agreement, which the intent of also bringing additional McLaren F1 cars to AMS2; These negotiations ultimately reached an impasse as recent commercial developments prevent the company from licensing or re-licensing its F1 cars to games that also feature officially licensed F1 content from other manufacturers, be them current or from other eras.

The practical consequence for AMS2 is that we must make a difficult choice regarding which officially licensed F1 manufacturers remain in the game for new purchases as either the McLarens or the other official cars currently in the game (Brabham, Lotus, and now Renault) would have to be replaced by generic formulas; given both the extent of their current presence within the game and our future content plans, our priority is to continue with McLaren and there seems to be a clear pathway for a new agreement now; it does mean however the other official formula cars will remain available for new users only for limited additional time; in the coming weeks a decision will have to be made in one direction or another and once it is AMS2 will be updated so that the cars we are opting out from retaining are replaced with generic models for new purchasers from that point onwards.

Let me reinforce that existing users would not be affected by this change - content already associated with your Steam account will remain available exactly as it is today. Any eventual change to the content would apply only to future game and DLC purchases.

Given these new restrictions we have elected to change our plans for the upcoming release, integrating the new Formula Pack as free base game content for the entire user base (rather than as a new DLC Pack as was originally the plan); this naturally brings a little financial pain for us but we would rather take that hit than hold back content that has been so eagerly anticipated and that we have been pushing so hard to offer.

The “Brazilian Racing Legends” and “Formula HiTech’ DLCs are now on sale with 75% off for anyone still willing to get all those official cars before their eventual de-branding.

This is naturally a disappointing for everyone, not least to us after investing significant time, resources, and passion into developing all this content with the expectation that it would remain part of the AMS2 ecosystem for years to come; we are aware however as should our users that this is a reality to be dealt with while developing a product that relies partially on third-party intellectual property: once existing deals expire new agreements might have requirements that either conflict with others or that we are not able to meet, and when that is the case the game might have to be adjusted to suit in order to continue in circulation.

We will continue doing our best preserve AMS2´s unique content pool complete for existing and new players alike and will keep you informed iwhen things develop in a direction that might not allow us to do that.

The Hungaroring Arrives for AMS2


Host of the Hungarian Grand Prix since 1986, the Hungaroring is nestled in the hills just outside Budapest featuring a twisty and flowing 4.3km layout that has remained largely unchanged over the decades - the notable exception being the 2003 reform which extended the front straight and made T1 into a sharper hairpin, creating a great overtaking opportunity that the track had sorely missed up to that point and setting the stage for some of the best races from the last 20 years.


The Hungaroring has only grown in motorsports relevance since becoming a staple in the F1 calendar, hosting races for several other top level series; its blend of history, character and technical suitability for various classes makes it a perfect fit for AMS2, so we are very happy to finally be bringing it in full laser-scanned glory to AMS2, along with what might just be the best possible cars to enjoy this track with

The Hungaroring will sell for US$ 6.99 while the Historic Track Pack Pt4 covered in the earlier Dev Update will sell for US$ 7.99 or equivalent local currency; as is AMS2 tradition the new DLCs will have a Free Trial Period during the first few days from release, after which they will be restricted to those who have bought them.

Tire Wars Break Out in Automobilista 2


Another critical element of the competition in the 2000s was the raging tire war in Grand Prix as well as in Endurance racing, with multiple brands fighting for supremacy.

For the formula classes being added in V1.6.9.8 – specifically F-V10 Gen2, F-V10 Gen3 & F-V8 Gen1 - this means teams will be split between Bridgestone and Michelin runners; each manufacturer featuring their own design philosophy and relative strengths and weaknesses which evolve from one class to another.


Michelin tires as used by the Renault R25 & R26 had a more squared shoulder profile and slightly more flexible sidewalls, which generally provided sharper response and higher peak grip, but were slightly more prone to graining than the Bridgestones, which followed a more traditional design focused on consistency; its stiffer sidewalls generally also made it more stable over curbs.

These and several other properties are modelled for each of the compounds across all three classes featuring both manufacturers; while overall evenly matched, the different strentghs and weaknesses of each manufacturer can shift the upper hand from one to the other depending on the track and the conditions.

TIRE GRAINING MODELLING

One of the critical aspects of tire management in this era was the tires´ propensity for graining, a form of aggressive tire wear in which strips of rubber tear away from the tire surface due to friction, and then immediately fuse back onto the hot surface creating a rippled or grainy texture on the tread, causing a major degrading impact on performance.
Graining typically occurs with softer tire compounds, when the surface of the rubber heats up faster than the inner carcass, which can happen more regularly in colder temperatures or on tracks with long straights broken down by sequence of sharp corners causing sudden and immediate heat spike on the surface of the tread; driving style and car setup can also be contributing factors.

We are still in the final stages of implementing graining to both player & AI physics so this development will not be present in V1.6.9.8; it is expected to arrive in the update that follows it later in the month (V1.6.9.9).

Competition amongst tire manufacturers was also a big part in Endurance Racing in the 2000´s, so the 2004 / 2005 Prototypes & GTs will also be updated to receive dedicated brand physics in V1.6.9.9.

Users who might not be quite as hardcore about their tire simulation needs or Multiplayer leagues who might prefer to retain a level playing field don´t need to worry – options to both standardize tire physics for the whole grid and to switch off tire damage (such as flat-spots & graining) will be added by V1.6.9.9.



For the open wheelers at least the visualization of all these dynamics should be much improved thanks to the incorporation of Parallax Occlusion Mapping (POM), which gives flat surfaces perceived and realistic depth at little to no performance cost and with no additional geometry; thanks to this tire treads will not only look more realistic from this depth, but they'll also cast shadows onto the tire and receive ambient occlusion. As the tire wears, you'll also now see the tread physically wear down to the grooves until it becomes flat. Similarly, tire graining will only affect parts of the tire that touch the track.


Smartening Up the AI - Setups & Race Craft


In Part 1 we covered the new race pit strategy logic which will make a big difference for reproducing the dynamics of the refueling era in longer races; now we are going to cover some of the other developments made to the AI since the release of V1.6.9.5.

The first of which is some basic track-specific setup adjustments for the AI, focused primarily on aerodynamics and gear ratios to better suit each track.


This is not exactly a new feature; it had just been used sparsely up to now for ovals and tracks with very peculiar characteristics in order to avoid adding extra variables that would only make it harder for us to calibrate persisting performance discrepancies; for performance on a dry track we now feel things have progressed to a level where adding AI setups is not only possible but desirable in order to iron out the remaining discrepancies; thus as of V1.6.9.8 every Grade 1 & 2 circuit in AMS2 will feature some level of custom AI setup adjustments, with every Grade 3&4 layouts to be covered as well in future updates.

A few examples that illustrate the utility of this feature include Spa (default is higher downforce than optimal for most classes), Azure (even classes with high downforce variants aren´t maxed out at default as would typically be optimal) and the Nordschleife (where the long 2km straight can cause some classes to hit the rev limiter in top gear and make them easy picking for the player who has adjusted accordingly).

So that´s the track side of the AI setup equation; hope you´ve managed to follow it up to this point as things get a little more interesting from here!



For V1.6.9.8 we have also added driver-level setup variations, which means the AI drivers will no longer all be running the exact same setup: from event to event AI driver may vary their setup choices, with some opting to run a little more downforce and be faster on corners and slower on straights while others choose to do the opposite; run the same event again and the same drivers may opt for a different arrangement altogether. The goal here being to introduce more diversity in AI performance, contributing to making the racing against the AI more dynamic.

All this along with the constant development and fine-tuning of existing functionalities on the content side of things means that the quality of racing against the AI in AMS2 has gone up a few more notches in V1.6.9.8 – this little mid-race battle being one such demonstration of their improving race craft:

There is work to be done still especially for further development of strategical decisions and to improve their race craft also for AI vs AI battles, which are areas we will be tackling again in the next few updates.

It should be noted that with an unmodded game these variations will generally be discreet as there is always a risk more aggressive values can lead to more AI havoc; they will also naturally be more evident in classes where aerodynamical setup make a bigger difference (i.e. more so in the high-end in the formula classes than GT classes). For classes where aerodynamic and transmission setup isn´t a factor at all (i.e... Caterhams, F-Juniors) these recent developments will have little to no impact.

Customizable Car Performance Scalars

Another new feature is the introduction of customizable power, weight & drag scalars for both Multiplayer and Single Player; in Multiplayer the admin of dedicated servers can now configure a ballast (in kg) as well as power and drag scalars for each user Steam id (or as a default value for anyone not in the Steam id lists), via simple new json files to customize the Balance of Performance as said server admin might find more adequate.

For Single Player, it is now possible configure the same weight, power and drag scalars for each livery via the usual custom AI driver files; these scalars also apply to the human players if they select one those customized driver liveries in-game, making this a resource for modding bespoke team performances out of cars that on default spec have the exact same

Furthermore, with V1.6.9.8 it is also possible for modders to define via AI files which driver (or driver/car combo as the case may be) will be more likely to run certain setup choices than others; this allows modders to recreate performance characteristics of a team whose car design favored speed on straights over ultimate downforce, or even for drivers in teams with less powerful engines like the V8 teams in F-Classics to tend to run lower downforce to compensate for their power deficit

More info & documentation on how to handle all this to come in time for release.

Other V1.6.9.8 Highlights

Our ongoing HUD Overhaul is now far along enough that the new design will be the default option as of v1.6.9.8; users may however still switch to the legacy design if you prefer that from .

The Formula Vee Gen2 has been updated to reflect the 2026 season and is now fit with semi-slick tires, adding a further distinction from the Gen1 car.


V1.7 physics revisions are still ongoing; v1.6.9.8 adds Stock Car Brasil, Stock USA, Sprint Race, F-Junior, F-Vintages, BMW M1 Procar, Caterhams, Hypercars, Supercars & the Camaro Street Car to the list of revised classes.

Wet & intermediate tires for the above and previously revised classes have likewise now been completely overhauled and should handle and perform notably more realistic according to the current level of water saturation.

In light of these developments, we have now also been able to adjust LiveTrack to allow for standing water to accumulate on the racetrack again (following a period post v1.6 in which the puddles had been disabled from forming on the racing line for gameplay reasons).


Although more fine-tuning is still to be done on this front, AI wet performance & behavior is much improved in v1.6.9.8 and should provide much better & more balanced performance against the player in the classes that have already received their v1.7 physics revisions.


Finally, some nice extra eye candy courtesy of developments & additional fine-tuning to particle effects such as rain spray, tire, dust & dirt smoke as well as the new heat haze effect being emitted from the periscope exhausts in the F-V!0 Gen2/3 and F-V8 Gen1/2 cars. The particles are also optimized to be less taxing on performance,

That covers the main highlights of the upcoming V1.6.9.8 release and also touches upon some of the hits in V1.6.9.9 to follow up later in June; we can´t quite cover all the details for that latter update just yet, but it´s fair to say this is going to be a great month for AMS2 fans!

 

We can take that hit and are doing just fine financially folks otherwise we wouldn´t be doing this we very much appreciate the concern in any case.

The Paddock Club re-opening is still in the cards for the second half of the year; it´s been a hectic run of months over here recently and that would have been one too many balls for us to juggle in this time.

 

It´s got a few more friends than one