Automobilista 2 V1.5.3.2, F-HiTech & Historical Track Pack Pt2 RELEASED - Now Updated to V1.5.3.5

Its funny how different people have completely different impressions of the default FFB. I used to love the Default+... until 1.5. Since then, I really don't like it at all. I just tried it again, but it still feels floaty and dead/numb to me (prior to 1.5, it felt fantastic on all cars I tried).

I'm not sure if its now been tuned for DD wheels (I have original CSW). I had to grab a custom profile (Heavy Messing) to get that feeling back again.

This is probably the biggest reason some people just do not like AMS2.. They never got their FFB dialed in because if all I had was the impression from the Default+ after 1.5, I would have given up frankly. The fact that I already knew how great it could be meant I was prepared to keep trying to find that feeling again... which luckily I did.

 

what a patch....what a patch....!

I've never experienced anything like that against an AI.

Scenario: Porsche Cup/Barcelona. Ki High Aggression at 110 Strength.

I start from the back in 20th place and fight my way up to ninth place on the penultimate lap before I lose and destroy the car. But the really interesting thing was that KI No. 19, the car in front of me, fought its way forward. And in front of me. Together and always hanging together, we moved forward place by place. I overtook him a few times but this villain always managed to beat me.

If I didn't know better, I would say it was a person with whom I competed against the Ki. Incredible...my best race against an AI. No other sim has ever given me an experience like this.

What. a. patch. !

 

Yeah simucube 2 here, and default feels better than default + now, was other way around before.

Custom ffb files i never clicked with, those 5-6 ive tried made me think my wheel was seriously broken lol.

 

Don't discount all the work that goes into fine tuning the tires of each car / tire compound / track condition, etc., etc. V1.5 was (in part) a major physics update. The current version represents further tire revisions and so much more.

While there is certainly some fine-tuning of FFB (per-car) involved, most of what you describe as improved ffb is likely a direct result of the tire revisions. This process took a long time to accomplish, and I doubt its complete at this point.

 

I think the problem is there are too many options. Swapping and changing doesnt allow our brains to get used to what we are feeling.

The FFB should simulate what is felt in the steering wheel of a real car. However that would probably be too bland for most of us.

Custom files are cool and allow people to get the feel that they want.

The point is whatever is chosen we should stick to for a good while to allow our brain to recalibrate, only then can a true judgement be made.

 

I don't think the FFB changed that much between 1.5 and 1.5.3 and during beta testing, I tried some cars back to back between the versions and didn't notice huge difference with the FFB. I think the FFB got a bit more balanced across the car for sure, but the biggest improvements for that came already in 1.5 IMO.

For me default/default+ were unusable before 1.5 and I had to use the customs to enjoy the experience. Now I'm using just the default+ and even when I have tried some recent customs, I'm still preferring Default+ now (btw. heavy messing is probably closest to the defaults from any of the customs I have tried). Could be my tastest changed after driving in other sim quite a bit this year..

Anyway, let's be glad that there is those custom options if the defaults do not work for your tastes, nothing wrong using those.

Just to be clear: "it still feels floaty and dead/numb" this is quite far from what I feel with the defaults (though I have totally different base).

 

This is also true, but the fact is that you can get a bit different experience depending on base you use and it might be that for some bases, the experience is better with some custom files.

 

That probably would be possible only if 1.5 was released last week

 

I believe the major hurdle for many in tuning AMS2-ffb is adjusting the Damping level in-game. That one setting is pretty much a game-changer in terms of influencing our ability to connect with the car-handling, especially self-aligning torque / understeer / oversteer.

If the in-game ffb Damping is set wrong for the wheel in use, any / all profiles can feel wrong. Conversely, get Damping right and most profiles can be - at least, driven reasonably well.
Of course, Damping level works in concert with ffb gain and LFB but, FX should be set low or off until the overall ffb response is working optimally. Many of the custom profiles may have some boosted effects right out of the gate, so it's no wonder those don't work for everyone.

 

100% I run 50% in Default and Default + but on some customs I run 0 or close to 0. FX is 25 for me again on Default and Default + some customs it needs to be much much lower or higher. LFB I keep pretty consistent for most at around 5.

 

Same here. I was doing customs, but with 1.5.3 I went back to default+ for road and rally. Takes some time to get things dialed in, but when you do it's on the money. I prefer it to the excessive steering resistance the customs have.

 

Custom profiles may also differ in how they use the Damping effect slider. It can be replaced with Power-Steering instead. That can really confuse matters if you don't pay attention to version notes contained in the custom files.

I find the Default / Default ffb profiles have excellent properties that cover the fundamental aspects extremely well. Again, Damping has a major influence on ffb response timing (how we perceive understeer / oversteer effects). These are the very foundation of car-control in FFB. The remaining effects are details that we may or may not prefer, but certainly can enhance the experience for many.

To expand on the effect Damping has on car-control (self-aligning torque):

• Too little Damping: the wheel will be overly responsive, too fast to catch slides effectively. Very lively but, likely to oscillate and be unstable without constant contact from user.
• Too much Damping: the wheel will feel sluggish, slow to respond to slides. Surface details will be muted if present at all. User will need to force wheel to respond to slides more quickly.
• Proper Damping level: Wheel response to understeer / oversteer will feel natural. Connection to the car though the wheel will be stronger. Catching slides may feel very easy, maybe even too easy.
• Damping Bias: Somewhat lower Damping may be useful for Drifting purposes as it speeds up wheel rotation response based on self-aligning torque.

Also, don't confuse Damping with ffb-Gain level. Too much of a good thing (strong ffb) can be bad. We should not feel as though we are fighting with the car / steering. We are shooting for optimal control and synergy with the virtual car.

I find AMS2 ffb has the potential to match or exceed any title on the market. But it's up to us to find the sweet spot where car-physics + ffb + our steering system = harmony.

 

This update is guite good, not for ffb because I'm a controller player but cars are more difficult to drive. I must push myself to the limit now more often and finding good setup is more satisfying. I have mostly tested some open wheelers. Launch control is interesting but some cars it's quite bad actually when you start a race, rather not using it. Maybe I do something wrong but some cars it works better than others when tested. And that "vintage drs" is fun to use when you remember that it exists.

 

I believe Launch Control is still WIP so, things should improve in future releases.

 

Never left default actually. Never liked Default +

 

Also I would add that a lot of the final result comes from what damping the user sets on the wheel base by itself. That will surely interfere with the "per-car" effects in the sim and may be responsible for why some cars feel great and some others don't.
That, when joined to the prejudice around madness engine often means some users try 10 minutes conclude ME is doomed and leave. Or at least that was very common in the past.

 

Tried to read up more on what LFB and FX actually do, more precisely and what to set them at with simucube 2.

Running 2 in LFB and only 5 in FX now.

 

Is it just me who’s having issues with tyres not resetting when going into the pits during a MP practice session?

 

I believe, in simple terms, it makes the force a curve like the brake / throttle sensitivity sliders rather than linear and thus exaggerates the force at low forces hence the name "low force boost"

I have it on 100 for my DFGT. Mostly because anything you try to do to increase the force with gain on gear wheels either makes the wheel clip (and LFB will never clip) or gives too big a difference between the zero force you have at top dead centre and what it should be.

i.e on a driving force GT you always have to have a kind of sloppy wheel driving straight ahead but LFB removes some of that without the downsides of just adding gain. But it's still weak compared with a steering wheel in a typical car - even a family car with power steering has more inertia and weight to it.

There shouldn't be any need to use it on a DD wheel - you don't really have low forces on these, especially if you have any kind of inertia effect enabled. I'd expect it really would be doing nothing.

 

FX is about [effects], such as track surface texture / bumps / tire tear & scrub and more. There is no right or wrong here, it's simply user preference.

LFB is similar to a Minimum Force setting but, it is more complex than that in how it may interact with other ffb settings. Still, it effectively will compress the FFB effects into a smaller range the higher you go. For lower-end wheels, that can be beneficial - up to a point. For DD-wheels, LFB isn't needed as they already have a wide dynamic range but, a little might improve feeling near center or slightly boost other details.