The Future of AMS2 - MP an LFM?

From Racedepartmend => Why Automobilista 2 Needs Better Multiplayer Features Fast

Hello to all AMS2 MP drivers and those who want to become one. What a fitting article at the right time. I think we're starting to have enough content and improvements to the SP.

I think it's time, finally after 3 years, to invest all the human power in the MP.

That would and will really bring AMS2 forward again.

I hope Reiza has mercy and finds the right capable people (or knows who could be hired). Why not "buy" or hire 2 capable MP Devs to run the MP for 2 months?
to improve significantly?

I really hope that something happens!

I voluntarily pay 10 EUR per month for the ongoing REAL development of the multiplayer.

Patreon? It's time!

 

I'm not saying AMS2 online experience is perfect, but I don't think any online game that requires great timing and precision is ever going to be at all times.

At NoobGamerz we are just starting our 19th series in AMS2, and quite rarely have problems, and I'm sure it's less than it used to be.

I don't get people comparing it to RF2 and iRacing either, both these games have been in development for 3x longer than AMS2 and still have problems, or has everyone forgotten about the mess RF2 made of the Esports 24h of Le Mons last year.

I would suggest that one of the reasons we don't have quite as many people driving online is because there are people out there shouting that AMS2 is rubbish online and there's no point, rather than getting involved and sending useful bug reports when issues turn up.

 

Okay, I understand what you mean, but believe me, we've tried several times to start something like a league with lots of people, but had to give up. Not a long time ago.

I think our demands differ significantly. But that's ok.

For example, let's start with something very banal... Without a professional TV stream there is no league, it's that simple.

This already existed in GTR2 and rFactor1. Then there is the problem with the skins. All vehicles are limited. This is all against the league.

I won't start with the many other "small" but very worrying things that have been known for the past 3 years.

But I'm not interested in bashing again, I want it to be something positive. The article in the RD brings the topic of MP once again clearly to the fore.

And I think that's great!

 

As primarily a league racer and event manager I'd love to run some longer events in AMS2 and let the weather system really shine.

 

We did a 6 hour race, and the other thing that gets shown up really well is the dawn and dusk transitions and the fact that the track temperature changed quite a lot.

 

I have never organized a league so I can't really judge but AMS2 probably lacks a few features and tools, I've read that many times now. I think it's quite clear that MP is constantly on their radar and it's not like nothing is being done. I think it's pretty clear that they're working on something, but I think that getting fundamental things right is higher up on the list in terms of priority than MP. The huge progress on that front increases much more the popularity of AMS2 than a MP improvement could do. I say this as an online player.

 

Hello,

I don't agree with you. Just look what happened to AC - Assetto Corsa. Thanks to the constant further development of the MP in the first 2 years after its release (position scanning and calculation, damage calculation, ping and general collision improvement online, etc.) by Kunos through pressure from the community, as well as wonderful tools from the community, this game is now 10 years old /Sim still has enormous appeal and popularity.

The fact that it has now even been recorded on LFM has boosted sales figures even after 10 years.

A proper MP is demonstrably a guarantee of longevity and therefore cash flow for the studios. Content and AI improvements alone would never last long!

That's how I see it

PS: When I got into PC sim racing in 2010, I actually bought the GTR2 and Race07 and rFactor with 8 friends who had also switched from consoles at the time, even though they had been on the market for years and were out of date. Do you notice something? ;-)

 

I think the popularity of AC isn’t for the MP side of it, but since it’s an amazing modding platform

 

I think the modding has much to do with AC's popularity. I know people that play it online mostly for drifting and open road shenanigans. The shear amount of cars / tracks / audio mods / etc., makes it ideal for an online playground but, it's not known for having great AI, either.

 

Yes I agree with you. Definitely makes a big difference.

 

Those games were 3, 4 and 5 years old respectively, in 2010. I'd hardly call that out of date with AC going strong at nearly 10 years old. At that time those basically were THE go-to sims, as it would still be a few more years until AC and rF2 came out.

I also notice that those games were the big modding platforms of their period, just like AC has been in the past years. I agree that MP is a bit lacking in AMS2 compared to other titles, and even as a solely SP interested guy I have no problems with Reiza investing more time into developing it, but I don't agree at all with the notion that MP is THE way to success for a racing game/sim.

 

I should maybe add that I'm not saying Reiza should do one thing instead of another one. I'm just saying why they've been focusing on getting fundamentals right first, because that is needed as a basis for whatever might come next in the MP department, MP should be standing on solid ground.

 

People, for better understanding overall.

Many of the "critics" (including me) love AMS2 without any ifs or buts. But not because it's such a nice single player game!

But because we are desperate that such a great title, which really appeals to me and many other online players, does not work reliably with the well-known features that make up a MP.

What kind of title would AMS2 be if we had a real, reliable DS? A revised TV stream, "unlimited" skins for every car, more options for the starting grid, penalties, cuttings, and and and... the list is long. The devs know them.

We're just begging for the devs to recognize and act to create the ultimate sim for real virtual motorsport,
and anyone who knows me knows that only human driver vs. human driver is the "real" replica of real motorsport ;-)

If so, it was like back then with Pcars2, which had no future or hope for me. After the developers made it clear to me that they were happy with the MP, I would fight here for over 3 years to help ensure the continued development and improvement of the MP?

No! I even, gladly if necessary, contribute my monthly share in the form of bonus financial support. There cannot be more respect and recognition!

 

I'll say this, as much as people imagine the opposite, MP development hasnt been left to the side. The devs are very much focussing on MP development aswell as single player, but it's not that simple. Multiple MP test are being done weekly and more tools to identify problems have been implemented, it's not an issue of wanting to do it but more of an issue of time.

I dont expect AMS2 to reach the MP appeal of something like iracing, but I expect MP to reach a stable place in the future, however I think the sim needs more polish in other areas before we expect some form of competitive multiplayer to be implemented, if it ever gets implemented.

 

The one thing Reiza have said that they could do with to help them sort the MP side of the game out, is for people to join in the MP test races that they have been doing 5 times a week.

They seem to have chosen 3 different days and quite separate times to enable as many people as possible to join in.

So please if you are passionate about MP getting better, join in on the tests as much as possible.

 

Where can I find the details of those multiplayer test sessions to join, would love to lend a hand to the development of the MP.

Also as a feature request for the multiplayer I would like to see better social tools in the game, it is an area across all of sim racing where they lag decades behind the rest of the gaming industry. I race with my friends so would like to be able to join up in a party at the start of the night and all of us to join races together with party leader running that. Every other sim racing title out there doesn't seem to have this feature which is a shame as it forgets people who play multiplayer games to be social with friends. So would be great to do it in AMS2 regardless of what form the multiplayer takes on.

I do agree with Robert that MP adds to a games longevity and popularity, look at LOL of GTA5 but so does modding. AMS2 has both and if it can capitalise on both, having a great match making multiplayer system that incorporates community made mods it could really boost the game. I look at how FH5 had the track showcase in the seasonal events where they show off the most voted user created tracks, it would give incentive for people to create good quality mods for the game that get used in multiplayer events and allow more variety into the already exisiting content at a rate faster than what just reiza can produce so plenty of incentive for people to keep coming back to the game.

I do feel matchmaking would be great to have in the game, but I firmly believe the multiplayer system has to be built into the game and not rely on a 3rd party to provide it. Not everyone runs on a schedule where they can commit to a league, or will know that if you want to race online you need to go signing up for X service somewhere. A matchmaking system built into the game would allow them to easily find people to race against without having to rely on a server browser or 3rd party site which streamlines the experience.

Finally, with the match maker, variety is the spice of life. I've never liked the fact that it is the same track and car combo for the entire week. For all it's flaws I think Forza motorsport had a great idea here of a fixed car class for the week and every race its a different track but a limited rotation of tracks. A similar thing for a matchmaking system would be great and don't know why it hasn't been done before. Looking beyond just the bubble of sim racing and racing games to the wider games industry for great ideas and how you can implement them in AMS2 will really help it grow and stand out from the competition not just relying on the content.

 

Sorry to say, that's a Beta/Paddock Club thing, so only open to backers (=club members).

 

Sorry, I forgot to mention that

I'm sure they would love to open it up to more people, but often they will do an update between races as they try and make things better, and so it is operated under the Beta branch.

 

If you add people as "friends" on Steam you can join their races by using invites.

 

Yep I am aware of that and we do use that feature. But depending on the future structure of multiplayer, there needs to be a feature to queue for races with friends in a party. You can't join into the middle of one of your friends races on LFM and you can't guarantee you'll get into the same split as them if you queue at the same time. The current method is serviceable for now but for the future a more streamlined experience to be able to race with friends would make the game better.