Automobilista 2 V1.3.6.2 Officially RELEASED

You would want to analyse the associated incremental effect of a major update on playercounts, accounting for a covid-19 variable like google trend search for 'coronavirus' or similiar.

 

I don't know if it counts as MP but I'd like to see official weekly time trial events implemented. It was mentioned late last year so I'm sure there were some significant backend changes that were required (which is why we haven't seen it yet).

It would also be a great way to promote the Brazilian content, which I think a lot of people still haven't tried. Oulton Park was unknown to me before the PCARS series and now it is one of my go-to tracks, so the same can be done in any region. There are so many gems out there that don't get the attention they deserve because they may not host international races.

 

Good point, I didn't think about offering a drivable safety car. That wouldn't be the end of the world but I'm going to keep hope that it will arrive complete either before (to provide some time for RC bug fixes) or with the Pt. 3 DLC.

 

We had a drivable safety car in ams1, but it was basically a glorified camaro rather than a way for a league admin to steward a race. A bit like the safety cars in gran turismo or the new f1 game.

 

That is absolutely not true, the F1 games change their physics several times through the year (as almost every other yearly EA game does btw).
Also EA not even been involved in the F1 games since shortly before last years release iirc.

 

Then, why would you purchase a sim that's still in development?

Read the box!
"The game has a long-term development plan that will see continual developments being made over several years following its release"

To generalise, I suspect there are quite a few people who jumped on the sim racing bandwagon during Covid, bought some kit, bought ACC and away they went - not understanding that development of racing sims usually unfolds slowly over many months and years. And indeed ACC went though a similar phase.

Most of the people playing AMS2 now, are along for the journey.

So, my suggestion for @Budgetek wait a couple of years for AMS2 to finish development.

 

Just finished racing AI at 110/70 with GT1s at Monza. 50 minutes race. You can get my setup from the WR. The most well behaved and credible AI around. Had a bast racing P1 and P3 for the lead. They were having the same top speed as me and the same braking points.
The only thing that did not work is that 50 minutes is just about one full tank with some saving so they chose to stop halfway. If you make the race 45 or 40 minutes or 60 minutes it will probably be perfect. It's not all so bad in terms of AI. I have replay saved if you do not believe me.

 

It depends on what people are into tbh. I mostly enjoy the feeling of driving itself, just for fun and not even in time trial. I like historic cars and that puts AMS2 at the top of the sim pile for me.

ACC is very popular, as Kunos focused on the right market and the covid boom came just as their game reached maturity. If anyone is solely into MP and GT3 specifically, it will be hard to pry them from ACC tbh. Same for anyone into DTM, which probably accounts for the 900 RR players lol.

But sims are cheap, I bought ACC and RF2 on sale. Buy them all and jump between them as you and your friends tastes change.

 

Frankly it is not like you are driving cars very differently from what you were doing before. They are just more reactive than they used to be. At least most of them.
Maybe some (PCup? some other GT4s?) could require some different driving techniques, but frankly I have not changed my driving style much and neither the type of setup adjustments I am used to apply. I think you are feeling too pessimistic/frustrated. Let it sink a bit

 

What do people think about the steering the the BMW M4 GT4?

To me it seems very direct, maybe too direct, with a low DOR that makes the car feel very nevous in corners and it seems to slide out the rear the more I turn the wheel. It's hard to describe, but the Copa Monata also had this behaviour a few updates ago. Like steering turns the car around a central pivot point, like the old Colin McRae Rally games did. I'm sure the M4 doesn't do that, but it certainly feels to me like it does.

I feel like turning the wheel just a little has a huge effect on the front wheels, way more than in other GT4s or GT3s for that matter. This persists even if I reduce steering lock down to 14, whereas any other cars I usually drive with steering lock at 20-22. It's nothing the new patch caused, it's been like this since the car was introduced I think, but certainly for a long time.

Is this true to the real car? Maybe the DOR of the car in AMS2 is incorrect? It seems very low for a GT car to me. Obviously I've never driven the real thing, and I only vaguely remember the car from ACC, but we're not trying to simulate ACC anyways. Looking at onboards the steering inputs look like those I can do in the other GT4, but if I did them in the M4 I'd spin out.

 

Since you mentioned it would be perfect with a shorter race, did you witness AI overtaking AI with slipstream? If so, that is indeed a great step forward.

 

I would have to check the replay. Between P1 P2 and P3 (where I was) not. Just behind us I think there were overtakes initially but I was watching them through the mirrors while defending/attacking so couldn't be sure.
P3 came alongside to try and overtake me at Lesmos more than once and did behave great without hitting me or just dropping passively back. Same on the main straight and when I got P1 at Variante della Roggia after 15 minutes.
But already having an AI that has good top speed on a fast track and similar braking/acceleration is great news.
Sure that is not true for all cars and tracks but the race was a blast today and I did not get punted or brake checked at all. So happy <3

 

Been driving the Ginetta GT4 at Spa, since I had a very "interesting" conversation with a guy at RD saying that brakes are wrong and cars (like the Merc GT3 or the Ginetta) can be made to spin just by braking and giving some steering wheel input at the same time even in a straight.
He seemed to have a very awkward DOR making his inputs super weird and super aggressive. I tried myself and had none of that.
In the process I tried to go on the TTs and can say that the amount of steering wheel input I have to give is similar to that of the video of the M4 GT4. Huge. Especially once tires are hot you end up turning the steering wheel a lot.
You can see the convo here
List of Automobilista 2 Cars with Updated Tire Model

And you can watch my replay from the cockpit in the time trials (I am P6 overall GT4 and P2 in the Ginetta behind Nemesis). I never drove the Ginetta GT4 before if not when it was released originally. So that is what 2 hours of driving yielded for me in terms of drivability with small setup changes.
I'm more and more genuinely convinced that it boils down to how people are setting their hardware more than the game itself.
I'm sure many are using greatly reduce DOR to counter what was the original "mushiness" of Madness Engine or just because other sims use 540 or 360 or whatever and are having issues with the latest updates.

 

I've been posting AMS2 races against AI in my Youtube channel, races around 10 minutes long, start last and see how many AI cars I can overtake. I often see AI driving side-by-side not overtaking each other and blocking my way, it really annoys me.
My experience with AI is that I have to learn their lines and go around them in the places where I'm clearly faster. Every track I've tried so far there's a few corners where I can overtake safely while in the remaining corners it's pretty much impossible to overtake them cleanly, in those corners it's better to slow down and stay behind them (give some distance so that I can brake as late as possible without having to worry about being brake checked then get a better exit and pass them in the next corner), if I try to overtake them in those corners it's guaranteed that the AI will hit me and take me out.
Racing against AI can be fun after you learn their patterns and only overtake them in safe spots and give them lots of space, but I often see them doing weird moves and seeming to be unware of my presence.

 

Could some misgivings with AMS2 DoR be caused by incorrect wheel calibration due to the ambiguous instructions? (I have mentioned this more than once in the Beta UI thread.)

 

I'm sure a not negligible percentage is due to miscalibration as you say as the wording isn't 100% clear and people don't read it carefully anyway.

 

So when they tried to overtake you, they actually got past you instead of going next to you and dropping back again? They didn't attempt divebombs in unsuited corners just to stick their nose between you and the inside of the corner? They experienced slipsteam? They also didn't do excessive pack racing while doing exactly that, constantly going for half-hearted moves and never passing? That's not the AMS2 AI I know.
On some tracks, by pure luck, AMS2 can be a balanced experience, but it's like digging up gold nuggets.

Oh, and btw, good work on that setup and lap in TT; I had to work quite a bit to beat that. It didn't help that, for some reason, I always lost a couple of tenths to you on the straights, though.

On another note, why does the F-Ultimate Gen2 time trial not save its ghosts? I just wanted to rewatch a lap around Silverstone I was proud of, but couldn't.

 

Happened 3 times: 2 times before Lesmo 2 where they were forced to fall back. They could have possibly tried to go 2 wide but I don't know if any other sim's AI would do that. Once it was a drag race on the main straight and I managed to get ahead before the braking point by a very narrow margin. All felt very natural.

Absolutely not one. We raced very close for quite some time and no divebombs. The only couple of contacts I had in the race was me slightly punting them from behind or divebombing one backmarker at T1

The only position that changed close to me was P5 overtaking for P4 although I could not see the move. Generally they still don't seem to really go for it a whole lot. I must also say that for me slipstream in these cars wasn't very powerful. I was gaining little ground in the slipstream and only some 5 kph at the end of the straight. Probably the same for them. They only seemed to have issues with T1 lap1 where they cut over the sausage kerbs (couple of AIs)
You can judge for yourself by watching/scrolling through the movie here (HD may still be processing)

Thanks. Today in the race I did a 1.38.5 with worn tires and 38.2 in quali. In practice yesterday with not even full rubber I did a 37.8 but when I tried yesterday the TT for some reason I felt the track was lacking a lot of grip even though track temp was the same as practice and there should have been more rubber.
Weirdly today when I went for the race the car felt far more grippy with the front and under braking. Sometimes Madness Engine leaves me thinking there are gremlins in it.
Will try it again since I think there is quite some more in the tank
Screenshot from the start of the race

 

I honestly don't think it is really good AI racing here tbh. Yes, you can set them high enough to match your pace, but they are not really racing you or themselves too much, there are almost no overtakes between themselves despite them not defending (like when you overtook the lead at 14:00) and they are not even trying to slipstream you when you change line on the straight.

I mean, if you enjoy it, all power to you of course. But I personally want a bit more out of it.

@CrimsonEminence That is what I meant with the GT1 AI btw, perfect example. Full race with qualifying, if I counted correctly P12 or P13 was the first non-Merc. And it is that way on almost every track besides the really high altitude ones.