Automobilista 2 V0.9.3.1 RELEASED - Now updated to v0.9.3.2

This week´s update features further housekeeping, with focus again on the FFB / physics / AI combo as these fronts begin to come full circle for v1.0 release.

Relative to last week, the FFB changes have been a slight refactoring of the way steering arm forces pass on to FFB (should provide a slightly "tighter" wheel around the center), slightly reduced the FFB filters added in previous update & added soft lock for wheels that still didn´t have it.

Further FFB changes from now will be restricted to bug fixes, track/car-specific fine tuning & those resulting from physics adjustments - these can still add up to substantial differences, and we also plan to add a couple of car-specific adjustments so users have some room to customize them to their preferences - but as far as the core system goes however we consider FFB wrapped for v1.0

IMPORTANT: "OLD DEFAULT" FFB profile has been discontinued in v0.9.3.1 - there´s only one default FFB profile (the "CUSTOM" option should only be selected if you have modified your Custom FFB file). An updated FFB guide will be posted soon.

On the physics front there´s been another round of fine tuning with most cars receiving a few updates, most substantial being big fixes for F-V10, Super V8, Copa Trucks, F-Classic G3M3 and Superkart. Brakes have also been further fine tuned, the main change being greatly reduced brake performance when cold (be careful in your first corner exiting the pits). Tyre physics on wet surface have also received attention, mostly fixing the excessive slick grip on a wet track for compounds in which that was an issue. IMPORTANT: As usual make sure to reset your setups if you had any changes from default auto-saved.

AI has received another callibration pass, and performance parameters for practice / qualifying (which before were assigned globally for every car, causing a lot of fluctuation in AI performance for those sessions relative to their race skills) now have customized values per class, offering much better balance relative to their race performance. Balance of speed in slower corners vs high have also been further callibrated to be closer to the player´s performance.

IMPORTANT: Please note that AI performance will probably be a bit faster overall so you may need to lower your AI Strength setting relative to the previous version to get the same performance from before. The AI still works better with settings around 100% Strentgh / 50% Aggression, with lower and higher values not offering the range of adjustment one would expect - revising the AI Strength logic is next up on our to-do list.

The downside in the constant flow of updates over this Early Access period is the inconvenience of having to regularly review & reset settings, so we´d like to thank you all for bearing with us through this development stage and for helping keep it pointed in the right direction - rest assured we expect things to begin settling down from now on, allowing you to stop fiddling and focus on racing!




On the content side, in this build we continue to explore the 1980s Brazilian racing scene, now adding the Brazilian Hot Cars series, based on an early 80s spin-off of the popular Divisão 3 category featuring popular cars tuned up to 11 to race around the old Interlagos and Jacarepagua - those were the days!

There´s even a movie featuring the series as background titled "Os Campeões" - a Brazilian 80s rip-off of the classic "Grand Prix" movie worth checking the snippet below even if just for a glance at the glorious old layout of Interlagos!

V0.9.3.1 CHANGELOG:

CONTENT

• Added Hot Cars (Early 80s Brazlian Touring Car Series with 3 models)

UI & HUD

• Fixed missing Adelaide Historic loading screen
• Fixed low-res AMS2 shortcut icon when generated by Steam
• Show disabled text in lobby session info if practice/qual are disabled
• Adjusted opacity of main HUD element containers
• Fixed race over countdown
• Added selected state to in-game chat text entry boxes
• Fixed incorrect vehicle statistics for various touring car classics
• Added missing F-Vee Fin statistic
• Fixed track logos being retained from previous track selection when current doesn´t have one

FORCE FEEDBACK

• Slightly refactored the way steering arm forces pass on to FFB (should provide a slightly "tighter" wheel around center)
• Slightly reduced the filters that added in previous update,
• Added soft lock for wheels that still didn´t have it (WIP).
• Disabled Old Default FFB profil
• FFB profiles with lockstops enabled and new exposed values in them.

PHYSICS

• Globally reduced slick grip on wet tracks
• Revised aero efficiency losses with yaw for various cars
• Super V8: Fixed error in steer lock range; Adjusted default ARB & camber settings
• Revised F-Classic front & rear wing for more consistent downfroce increments accross proportional changes of wing angles
• Reduced bumpiness over grass & gravel to address collision issues while running off-track
• Fixed rear brake cooling in various formula cars
• Revised restitution values for crashing into walls and barriers
• Moved default brake bias slightly to the front for FWD cars
  
• Reduced brake efficiency when cold
• Fixed missing 5th gear in Gol / Passat Classic B
• F-V10: Fixed error in fast damper range
• F-Classic Gen2: Disabled redundant engineboost function
• F-Ultimate:Slightly increased carcass load stiffeness
• Adjusted Roco Aero balance & default setup
• Opala: Fixed rear brakes
• MCR S2000: Fixed missing rear tyre warmers
• Fixed Ultima gearbox RPM tolerance in manual shifts
• Fixed F-V10 loud Traction control sound
• Fixed V-10 AI bouncing
• Fixed Opala 1986 redundant rear left damper setting

AI

• AI performance multipliers for practice & qualifying sessions are now customized per car & proportional to their race performance
• Improved AI skill when driving off the racing line & reduced range for factoring cars up ahead (improves their pace on initial laps & reduces hesitation while being passed)
• Further boost to AI awareness when behind human players
• Callibrated peak AI corner grip & grip multipliers resulting in better speed mid corner through slow / mid speed corners, more realistic speeds through fast corners
• Improved AI skill when off the racing line (resulting in less 1st corner slowdowns and better pace over 1st lap)
• Callibrated AI throttle application for all cars to better correspond with human ability
• Reduced AI boost under braking during an overtake;
• Reduced minimum straight lentgh for KERS / boost application
• Improved AI ability through water puddles (less lifting off throttle)
• Slightly bumped up AI speed under yellow & blue flags
• Revised AI paths for Londrina (both layouts)

TRACKS

• Updated TV cameras for Donington & Kansai
• Kyalami: Updated curb textures
• Jerez: Snap revised road noise; updated walls & barriers to latest standards; Add missing garage door collision; fixed garage door mapping/alignment
• Montreal: Fixed bug causing cars to visually appear to float over track surface

VEHICLES

• Added cockpit windscreen reflections to Super V8, Ultima GTR Race, Ultima GTR Road, Touring Car Classics
• Adjusted visual brake glow ranges
• Fixed F-Classic G3M3 RPM bar
• Adjusted various Fusca textures
• F_Ultimate 2019: Added rain light
• F-Vee: Added rain light
• MCR S2000 new liveries / updates / redesign #10 #13 #19 #20 #21 #23 #24 #14
• F-Trainer: new community skins #21 #22 #23 #24
• MRX P3 revised liveries

EDIT:
A small v0.9.3.2 hotfix now has now been deployed - changelog:

• Fixed bug causing only Stock Car V8 cars to load when attempting a multiclass race with it
• Added option to switch autoclutch and auto gears On / Off from Gameplay screen (previously in Controls screen only)
• Fixed series livery assignment in multiplayer and multi-class events
• Fixed selected state of brake bias option in IBM
• Reduced AI brake power in non-formula cars
• Reduced AI Throttle application variation with AI skill
• Adjusted AI speed sensitiviity relative to car in front (improves start / 1st lap performance)
• Adjusted F3 & AJR, Ultima Race aero yaw sensitivity
• Adjusted Opala 1986 & Hotcar tire physics
• Fixed Opala wheelbase error
• Fixed Sigma P1 windshield flickering in cockpit view

 

Be racing in the mid or lastpack you will eventually grow faster in skill than by always driving first. You can do it <3

 

The roadmap said May, we are still in May. If we get to the end of it and items of that list are not in the game yet, we will provide an update for them.

In the meantime let´s focus on the just released v0.9.3.1