Gamepad Support - Analysis, Suggestions, Wishes

This is my best lap around Spa with the 911 RSR GTE. -- 4-5 tenths is still in the lap at minimum.
(2:11.9 with a setup - with the default setup i'm almost directly 1 sec slower...- 2:12.8)
I'm not happy with the lap at all but it's quite fast with a controller. I'm not confident while braking and while turning into medium-high speed corners. I just can't trust the car, the driving feeling idk..
The car also slides a lot but that's more on the setup side and that i use ABS while racing offline, but in TT it's ofc disabled. Default setup is more planted that's for sure, but still i don't have proper confidence to push to almost 100% using the controller with so much cars in this game.

 

I've been testing some different car/track combos and I've noticed that bouncing too. In some videos I watched from wheel users they mentioned the same thing so it must be something related to the game physics/handling.

 

Are any other changes planned? We need different input logic and I am not sure if Reiza wants to customize it. Would be nice to start AMS2 again but why use ME input if we have other choices.

Recently I played PC1 because of Ambassador trophy and that's it. Some cars are rather OK to play but overall, it's nothing special. Tuning would help for better feeling.

 

Controller support could use some improvements sure, but some of the issues I've seen are also related to the default setups and the handling of the cars. For most cars steering lock is too high and brake bias is too far forward, setting steering lock to 14/15 and brake bias to 55F/45B makes the cars a bit easier to control. In some cases making the setup as close as possible to the car's AMS1 default setup makes the car more predictable and easier to drive.
I'm enjoying the game, it's better than PCars1/2 imo, but I think it would be nice if developers posted some info on what improvements they're planning for controller, and what feedback controller users could give to help them improve controller settings.

 

For me is low, i'm using min 24

 

Sure, it's much better than PC1 and 2 to me too. But not that much if we know AMS1. I like AMS2 more than PC but if I can play AMS1, I would rather play that. Maybe current changes from last months are the only tuning, who knows.

Steering lock is a great thing how to lower sensitivity which is what I need. Maybe I should play with it a bit more.

What's your comparison with rF2? I bought all DLCs and it's better to me for now.

 

If I were to rank rF2 in terms of how much I enjoy it with a controller I'd put it after rF1, AMS1, & GTR2; it's better than AC/ACC & AMS2, and considerably better than PCars1/2 & F1 games. rF2 controller support is good, I drive mostly open-wheelers, generally some minor adjustments to car setup are enough to make them fun to drive. When I'm on the track driving the car I have a good time in rF2, the thing that discourages me from playing rF2 more often is all the issues which apparently won't get fixed anytime soon (terrible load times, terrible unintuitive UI that makes things more difficult than they should be, having workshop content take twice as much space, issues with mods, issues with AI, etc).
The only rF2 DLC I have is the Reiza pack that I got for free since I already owned AMS1 + season pass. rF2 is way too expensive if you pay in Brazilian currency, I think is unlikely I'll buy any rF2 DLC anytime soon.

 

Nice, we have pretty similar experience. Because I started to play on a PC this year, some games I tried, but they are rather old. rF1 and GTR2 are still great. It's interesting you like AMS1 more than rF2. I think AMS1 would be my second choice after rF2. Great engine, great game. I played GTR1, GTR2 and GT Legends back then on a wheel but gamepad experience is very new to me.

AC/ACC is not bad but overall physics is not that fun as ISIMotor to me. If I have AC only I would be happy, it's a good game.

You are right, I read about it. Steam can regional prices but in-game stores can't. I didn't know before any regional prices exist.

edit:
Now I tried AMS2, Ginetta G40C on Guaporé and it's great. I still like the game overall but the sensitivity could be much better.

 

Since yesterday I tried every ME game to test how it feels. First thing is I can accommodate to all games rather fast for many cars. Some other cars are still a bit uncomfortable. So there is a good chance for AMS2 for me. Other thing is physics and I think I still prefer ISIMotor. It feels just right but I don't know why.

So if AMS2 can do ISIMotor input and physics will be consistent, it could be real king. I don't think input will be changed and we'll see what physics next patches bring.

 

AMS2 will never feel like ISIMotor sims because the philosophy of the tyre model is completely different and it's not going to change.

 

Sure, but AMS2 doesn't feel bad to me. It's not like rF2 but could be fine at the end. So normal input and consistent physics and it would be the king.

Currently rF2 feels more alive to me. Overall feeling is not far from AMS1 and rF2. Maybe I am wrong but I always mix those games and was happy. Similar approach to some things. And in AMS2 we got ME "suspension" stuff which is very interesting too.

 

Hmmm, new patch info:

"Added custom Steering Lock setting when user is running with a gamepad or digital controller for less sensitive steering than regular default steering lock"

 

And my controller settings are on default after patch, so be careful!

 

We're not talking about tyre model, we're talking about having the option to completely disable all aids, dampers, filters, etc, and get more responsive controls without input lag like we have in games such as rF1, AMS1, GTR2, rF2, AC.

 

Still think there is room for improvement but with this last update it feels a lot nicer. (thanks Reiza)

Precision steer right here with steer assist disabled and authentic assists enabled.
Here are my settings at the moment:

Steering dead zone: 0
Steering Sensitivity: 35
Throttle dead zone: 0
Throttle Sensitivity: 0
Brake dead zone: 0
Brake Sensitivity: 5
Speed Sensitivity: 50
Controller Filtering: 70

 

That's strange because it looks the same for months. What is different after patch? I don't play AMS2 too much recently so I really ask.

 

I tried a few cars and didn't feel any difference, probably because I use custom setups with custom steering lock settings. For people who only use default setups the lower steering lock setting will feel different.

 

I think there is no big difference since PC2. Steering lock must improve sensitivity our way but that's it. Probably nothing else is there, just normal ME filtered input with fixed steering rate. Not bad at all but some other games have better input then.

 

Race07 is very good with controller too. Maybe that goes to all ISI games. I assume that´s because they treat the controller like a wheel and it´s up to you to configure it. Meanwhile I get skeptical with racing games if I read, that they offer a "special" gamepad support. The problem is, that in all the PC2 years there are a few community workarounds made to get rid of this odd pad behavior. But nothing really groundbreaking. So the goal should be to eliminate this special controller treatment in AMS2 . But I´m not very optimistic. And vibration is still a joke compared with Rf2 and Race07.

 

I find AMS 2 generally ok for controller usage. Most of my sim experience is with the gamepad and there are good and bad implementations in this genre and AMS 2 is in the middle for me. I actually find things like Dirt Rally 2 as the best, but they are a little different in terms of how they have it implemented.

I am a "smooth stick" driver and use an xbox1 wired controller. I really like gradual turning but with a long steering lock. In order to only need to adjust my steering lock per car I have slightly insane settings on the controller settings page. All assists authentic, no steering assist or opposite lock assist; my controller for the new patch is at:

Steering dead zone: 10
Steering Sensitivity: 100
Throttle dead zone: 5
Throttle Sensitivity: 30
Brake dead zone: 5
Brake Sensitivity: 30
Speed Sensitivity: 100
Controller Damping: 75

For those of you who have ridden or race motorcycles this is how these settings work. Very precise on turn in, smooth transition from entry, to mid, to exit and you really rely on the throttle to "pick the bike up" on the way out and engine braking to "pull the bike in" on entry.

From here I can just adjust steering locks to manage the individual car sensitivity. Works for me but I imagine it is not for everyone.