Automobilista 2 V1.4.5.2 & New DLC Packs RELEASED!

Unfortunately that first sentence is so very true, and as someone whose work life means I almost never get to go online in the evenings or weekends I see it every time I do get online.

I hope that MP eventually gets some benefit from the ranking system in the long run to help solve that issue. In the meantime I look out for one or two regular open lobbies where good racing can be found and, even more importantly, those who may struggle show some thought for other drivers. A great example of this is an open lobby called ‘Arj Defaults’ which runs default setups across lots of cars and track variations with lots of regulars and some ‘drop ins.’ It’s the nearest thing to a league for me and has kept me interested in racing online whilst waiting and hoping for something more structured from AMS2s online ranking (and general, in all honesty) experience.

 

The same for me, due to life commitments it’s really hard to play online, so usually when I do is in Arj Default settings, it’s normally really fun, and overall respectful racing, and one of the only ones where it’s not only GT3 lobby. If one day Reiza could just provide us the option to at least change brake pressure on default settings, that would greatly help default settings lobby.

 

Arj Defaults is a gateway drug to league racing and if you can keep up with them you are ready .

 

I've had some great fun on that lobby... But the defaults kill me in 90% of the races there... There's only a few defaults I get on with, especially braking and steering lock settings make it damn hard for me to drive... And in some cars I just plain give up as I'll just be a constant accident waiting to happen...

Some cars with onboard adjustments can make me slightly competitive, especially when the ARBs can be changed as too stiff of a front end is a common complain for me across Reiza defaults, leading to snap oversteer... But we really need the locked set ups to have freedom of choice for the drivers on steering lock, brake bias and pressure...

As for racing online in general... It's always best to know who you are racing... If you race with them often there's going to be either a level of respect growing or a knowledge of needing to park your car on a different line so you don't get punted... And if you race in a league with rules outside of what the sim supplies you get a real sense of everything that goes on within a real racing paddock in terms of the discourse... You can have both mates and rivals and the level of respect on track grows with each event you participate in...

 

That looks like no damage and default set ups...

This is exactly the kind of carnage I expect with the default settings keeping the steering lock and brake options locked... Even good drivers will struggle... I'm by no means an alien, but I'm a consistent mid pack runner, I need a set up for that car otherwise I'd be one of those crashing...

Even the brake ducts should be open in a closed set up as they are very dependant on the other brake settings which vary on driver style and rig set up...

 

I'm the same. I would want to race Default Setup races sometimes, but no option to change Steering Lock, Brake Pressure and Brake Bias keeps me far away from doing that. I hope at some point in the near future the Default Setup races will finally allow us to change those things.

 

Yep, seen you in there and raced against you….recognised your name from the forum.

Completely agree regarding comments from you and @mmertens - some basic tweaks to brake pressure and steering lock would be great. I like to go gentle on the brake pedal rather than stuff it into the floor - besides, I have to use a crappy wooden kitchen chair which slips backwards if I use too much force (playing in VR can really immerse you, taking the HMD off and seeing a wooden chair loaded with cushions to spare my backside and an Apex stand shoved up against the wall to stop it slipping brings you back to reality!)

With that said, my last race in that lobby today was the Corvette C3R at Indianapolis Motor Speedway Oval. An absolute hoot from start to finish, I came in second from the back having had a superb tussle with another driver who struggled to tame that daft monster as much as me - no crashes or nonsense, just lots of laughter.

 

This, even in iRacing you will get maniacs who think they're entitled to the apex from 3-4 car lengths back. It's easy to brush off an incident when you don't know the person and don't have to deal with the consequences. If you find a good group of people, get to know them, and learn how you can battle each of them, you'll have better racing overall. Especially with people in voice chat and knowing you'll probably be interacting with them again. It requires more patience and respect to race someone you know well.

Most of the racing I do is with leagues and discord groups, and you'd be surprised how clean they are to the average open AMS2 lobby, iRacing, or ACC lobby.

It's a nice thought, but the rating system is used so sparsely that it's still very difficult to gauge player skill. I believe AMS2, PCars2, and iRacing all use modified Elo rating system (chess rating). The smaller playerbase makes it difficult to properly guage player strength, especially since most public lobbies run with it off. If we're going to restrict players based on license/skill level, at least overhaul the safety rating to draw from a smaller amount of time. I don't believe I've ever seen someone rated S drop their rating in AMS2, but I've definitely seen iRacing players lose their license over a series of bad incidents.

The other problem is inherently restricting content means it'll get used less compared to the more public options. I'm seeing this in iRX at the moment as the paid track series for the GRC VW Beetle Lite is significantly more popular than either iRX Supercar series. Most of the pro guys just run the Lite's because there's more competition and higher chance of getting a competitive grid.

Maybe an official, hourly ranked race series would help boost numbers, but I feel AMS2 is already at a point where it's not going to grow massively. It's been a very divisive title, and it would take significant changes to win over the wider simracing community 3 years post release.

 

Judging by the steamdb beta slot, the development/updates are pretty active every day!
https://steamdb.info/app/1066880/history/

 

As a developer myself, I would love to see those internal releases. I came too late to be a backer. I will pay whatever they want to whenever they allow new backers haha

 

Me too. They let us dream.

 

I used to have a similar set up but I put the couch infront of the desk so it didn't move... lol.. Now I'm on a next level rig and it's rigitey has really given me extra reasons to push hard on the brake pedal... But I do need to upgrade my brakes to load cells so I can start learning better technique... I've got a brake mod that adds some sponge to the end of the braking threshold and it's very hard to get 100% braking but it's no load cell... As such I need most brakes at around 80% pressure in AMS2 to be able to brake whilst using the spongy part of the mod and have some feel under braking...

 

This is not a "default setup" lobby; my steering just looks the way it does because I'm a pad driver. Damage off is indeed correct, but I think it's a myth that people drive better in "damage on" lobbies. There are just more people eliminated from the race earlier, so the carnage creators only have one shot. Not so great if it's aimed at you. ^^

 

Damn, unlucky lobby... Nice skills on a pad though, not a lot of people know how to set them up so they can be used for sim racing these days... We all start out there though...

It really depends... Damage on in a league lobby and it's a great experience with far more respect given than that is shown when damage is off...

Public lobbies 90% of the time it's better for damage to be off because of the yahoos...

It's like racing against the AI for me... When damage is off I care less about the consequences so I race harder and care less about any possible warps, just like I care less about the consequences for the AI if I stuff up... But if there's damage on them I'm sweating because I don't want to ruin someone else's race in any online situation... And then I'm sweating even more if I have to talk to that person over voice on the regular during future league events...

 

I raced that one last night - it was fanastic. The turns you need to get right in that car - too fast i or too slow really affects lap time

 

Hey @Gdude66 - did you race the Lancers at Brands Hatch in the previous race too? I remember the name. Spot on with the corners, it’s why I had such a funny race. I’d got the last two corners (second curve) nailed but the guy I was battling had the first two nailed corners….we just yo-yo’d back and forth whilst the rest of you pulled away. It sums up that lobby though that the guy who finished last and behind the two of us by some distance is a regular and usually pretty quick. Just not the car/track combo for him I suppose.

 

No that was the only one i did. Maybe later though

 

Yes, that is the reason I only drive online with people I know since quite a while. In AMS 2, I drive offline 95% of my time in game, because most of my Steam buddies do not own the title and prefer other sims.

In open lobbies, it is always the same:
-no respect for others
-trying to win the race in turn 1 of lap 1
-no understanding for traffic, just driving as if they were alone on track
-ramming others out purposely
-trying to overtake in spots where there is just no space
-camping on track, just waiting for others in order to ram

When AMS 2 came out as "early access", it was not that extreme for a short while, because mainly Reiza aficionados had bought the game at that stage and most of them behaved in MP.
But soon after, the carnage started again. Sometimes, when I was rammed out of track, I was looking for steam profiles of those maniacs and very often I saw that the guys just had 2 hours of playing AMS 2, but already jumped into MP, without knowing the cars and tracks. That can't have a happy ending.

But to be fair, not only newbies to simracing act like maniacs.There are also some pretty fast drivers out there who try to overtake always and everywhere and cause carnage.

I am one of the players who just drive for fun without knowing much about setups, one of the midfield packers who can not compete with those extremely fast guys. But I try to drive as if it was a "real race", where you can hurt yourself and others when having an accident. Mistakes can always happen, but you should apologise and, if possible, wait for your "victim" and let him overtake again.

 

Eventhough you probably have tightened your oppinion here I agree more or less fully when we talk about complete open lobbies.
But the reason I make a comment is because iRacings open lobbies (their organised/official races) is slightly less hostile than your description.
It has probably something to do with both iRacings Safety Rating which can punish you by lowering your licence class if you constantly behave too bad - but it has probably also something to do with the feeling of common comunity comradery most iRacers feel because of their common expensive membership.

But I also have to say that the behaviour in iRacings hosted lobbies is much better than the mentioned official races. Probably because they are closed/private.

ByTheWay: Be aware that eventhough I some years back aborted my membership (because of iRacings lousy tire model (IMO)) then I was a member for 5+ years - so I know probably a few things about this

 

Some DIY ideas