What do you think is the most significant reason AMS2 userbase is so small?

Agreed. I don't mind controller filters being enabled by default to help casuals and/or people who use tap steer but ideally there should be an option to turn them off.
I use the exact same controller settings in AMS1 & AMS2, and I've tested the same car/track combos with the same car setup in AMS1 & AMS2; in AMS1 controls feel very precise and the car does exactly what I want while in AMS2 controls feel laggy which makes certain car/track combos incredibly difficult to drive.
The controller issues are the main reason I keep taking breaks from AMS2 and going back to AMS1 & rF1.

Games that have the option to completely disable all controller filters & dampers: AMS1, GSCE, rF1, rF2, GTR2, Race 07, AC, ACC, R3E. Older F1 games such as F1 2012/2013 have an option called steering wheel override that disables all controller filters.

 

So basically everything except Dirt and AMS2 lol.

 

From my experience built-in controller filters that cannot be turned off are implemented in most CM games, PCars games, Forza, Gran Turismo, all Need for Speed games.

 

I agree. The handling of AMS2 with the controller is also fine with me at the moment. I am an occasional player who does not seek performance but just pleasure. I look forward to the ovals hoping the grip is as good. Regarding the built-in filters, if some don't like it and it's possible, I want Reiza to add an option to disable them. Any additional option is good to take.
I played PC3, the pad playability was ok but I didn't like everything else.

 

As an ACC player, I can say this is not true. ACC's online experience was crap, but it still attracted many users due to class leading physics. It literally stomped on anything else in the physics and driving feel performance. This gathered sim players to take notice and it grew in popularity. The online leagues you see now, is as a RESULT of the physics and aero modelling, which attracted a player base in the beginning.

Now I am also pleased to report that the new updates from AMS2 are absolute game changers. Myself and the guys I race in an ACC league have just kicked off a AMS2 league in the P3 cars. It is that good, that it has taken the attention of our group.
AMS2 is increasing in popularity based on the quality of the game now. Still more to go of course, but the future looks good from a player base perspective.

 

That's strange, the ACC Dedicated Server (DS) is very similar to AC's DS. The AC DS has been out forever. It's really well built and has always given the server admins great options in setting up the server. Are you referring to just generic random online multiplayer perhaps?

Having good physics is a given or else it's not worth spending anytime playing that sim, IMHO. The only people ok with subpar physics and tire models are those that seriously play iRacing. The physics in ACC weren't good during initial release and it went through a lot of interations to finally become what we have today (probably one of the best physics/tire model). The initial release of ACC and what we have now feel like 2 completely different games to me. AMS2 seems to be following the same-ish path.

Also AMS2's current DS pales in comparison to ACC's current DS. I hope AMS2's DS adopts a bunch of options from ACC's DS in the next release. It would make life a lot easier for server admins. One that I would desperately like to see is the option to allow players to join/re-join anytime, even during the middle of a race.

 

This is probably the only one that will be extremely difficult to implement and probably coming if possible only in a distant future.

 

I think a couple of reasons mostly. One is the state of the game at launch. I.e. not a lot of the big name tracks. The unpolished diving mechanics from back then. Now the game drives superb but it took a while to get here. A lot of folks who tried the game at launch gave up on it and have not come back.

Secondly I think it's due to other big name Sims. I have pretty much all of them and I find it quite hard to find the time to play them all. Basically once you decide and pick one title you are going to stick to it, get good at it and play it exclusively, for the most part. I rarely play the other Sims now as my pick is AMS2.

 

Yeah, basically the DS on ams2 is the exact same as the PC2 DS, i really do hope that it will get a serious overhaul at some stage.

Also a better replay system would be very welcome, especially for league admins as well, when you need to look at an incident, you cant click on the timeline or select a certain lap, add the terrible sound when fast forwarding to it, and a unresponsive UI, and watching replays/incidents become a rather unpleasant experience.

I think i have seen mentioned somewhere in the past that the system does not support clicking on a timeline because of the livetrack system, but if thats the case, then its a huge miss in the engine imho.

 

I'm coming from this completely from an outsider perspective as I have only been sim racing for two weeks.
I got ACC but as I use VR exclusively I find that too blurry so I picked up AMS2 as I heard that was good for.VR. it is and it works great.
However, from my limited experience, the elements that let down the game for me are:
1) the lack of significant penalties for causing crashes or deliberately ramming/punting other drivers. The vast majority of races I have been in have been carnage on the first lap and with aome idiots seemingly deliberately pushing othera off. This is far from an enjoyable or emersive experience and surely puts people off returning for more of the same. The devs really need to introduce a proper system to address this.
2) Lack of progression. There needs to be something to aim at, in single and multiplayer. Rankings, leagues/seasons/trophies/titles
3)Some of the car classes are a bit thin on content. GT3 especially.

 

the issue here is that basically all admins disable or turn damage down to a minimum.

now why is that? cuz the damage model is very funky and unpredictable. sometimes u hit someone at quite a speed difference and get no to little damage while sometimes u have a tiny bump and half of your car is broken. also the way the damage is being translated (where u hit something) seems very hitbox like, and can be very unpredictable and non really logic at times. (tested offline against AI)

i think the devs said they would work on the damage model but the way it is currently i can totally understand why its mostly off in online lobbies

add the broken netcode/lagcompensation where i sometimes hit cars that are 1sec away from me, and u can understand how frustrating it would be for everyone involved, if their car is damaged after such stuff

 

There are no penalties because the multiplayer servers are hosted by individuals (people like you and me). There is no central system that controls/governs race penalties (ala iRacing). Basically when you play online, you are playing on open lobbies which are basically the wild wild west of online racing where there are no rules. It's basically a **** show. Nothing Reiza can do about it, since the servers are hosted by anyone who wants to and has the technical know how.

If you want clean organized racing, then either play with a group of friends or join a league. That is your best bet. No amount of licensing points/levels will mean anything if the races aren't centrally managed. Building such a centrally managed infrastructure is a HUGE effort. Even then it will never be perfect, just look at the penalty system of iRacing, if you get hit through no fault of your own you still end up with x penalty points. Not to mention the cost of running said infrastructure.

 

Until they sort out multiplayer this game will always have a low player base. Look at all the big you tubers and twitch streamers none of them touch AMS2. With exception of gamermuscle who streams it on you tube once in a blue moon. All the other big streamers don’t go near it. Sim racing 604 bigs it up, but he doesn’t stream.
Question is why don’t they?
Well if you qualify, there’s no guarantee you will access the next session and get on the starting grid. Many times the server host will get kicked from their own server moving from one session to the next. It’s prone to crashing and if you have anyone from outside your own country, the ping goes bonkers and the cars on track in front of you start drifting, levitating off the track and you can’t trust or predict where they will be. If you add pit stops with mandatory tyre change, there’s no guarantee your pit crew will follow your pit strategy and give you new tyres. Not very attractive for streamers who want to entertain and race with their community. Plus there’s a small player base so not much chance of them having decent grids to entertain their viewers.
For all these reasons the streamers don’t touch it, if streamers don’t touch it, then their viewers won’t touch it. You tubers are very influential and a resource not used by Reiza.
If some of their viewers do take a chance and buy it because it’s on sale, they go to multiplayer lobbies where they are met with a ton of private lobbies they can’t access or minimal players in public lobbies, where ams2 is now infamous for project cars 2 style lobbies of death.
GT3 cars in this sim have awful bop issues especially at altitude and there’s only four cars to choose from. Not fun for multiplayer at all and these tend to be the most popular cars to race online.
Reading the devs notes about their plans for multiplayer, I’d say this game will only ever have a small passionate group of hotlappers and potentially if they sort the predictable and procedural AI out and they stop racing in unrealistic packs, they might attract some AI racers too.
I’d love for this game to be popular, but it’s very niche and it’s only attracted the hot lappers and some AI racers who enjoy immersion with amazing weather, beautiful graphics and recreating past events. That’s a very small niche of players in a small niche genre of pc gaming and I don’t see this ever changing unless they sort out multiplayer, which again unfortunately I don’t see happening.
I would love to be proven wrong on this, because I do truly love this sim, but it also frustrates the crap out of me.

 

Perfect. However you will get heat here for stating it.

Edit: Just to make it clear: Reiza staff are fine gentleman and take every feedback into account. I'm talking about non-staff users.

 

Reiza fan boys can disagree all they want, facts and I don’t care about their feelings haha
I’m a big fan of Reiza and I want this sim to be big!
I still chuckle from the heat we got about sticky diff and how everyone who criticised it along with the see saw steering wheel effects was a moron and didn’t understand how cars drive.
Then when Reiza fixed it and proudly announced the awful sticky diff issue and see saw steering wheel issue had been resolved with V1.3, all the Reiza Fan boys who denied that well known issue who said it was perfect and amazing the way it was went very silent.
Absolute crickets from them when you questioned them about why the fix came in from Reiza for the issue that they the fan boys stated didn’t exist but was widely recognised by the whole sim racing community and also Reiza #awkward

 

I would think Reiza already knows they are late to the party since a while
Pretty sure most hotlappers and guys who like AMS2 drving experience would also love better MP and liking something won't exclude criticizing it or pointing out what should be improved.
I'd think very few users of AMS2 today would vote for keeping MP the way it is no matter how they consume their products

 

I was trying to post AMS2 videos on a regular basis in my Youtube channel until 2 weeks ago, at which point I was so frustrated about the controller issues that I decided to take another break from the game. There's also some issues with AI, constant changes to car handling, constantly having to reset setups, all of those things discourage me from playing the game. Of all the games I post in my Youtube channel AMS2 is the one that gets most views, but at the moment I don't see much reason to keep playing a game that's causing me so much frustration when there's other more fun games out there. Hopefully AMS2 will get to a more stable state sometime soon.

 

I don’t think it’s fair to call other sims average / for everyone games.
The reason the other sims bring in more viewers, is because those sims provide what the majority of sim racers want ( online, enjoyable AI, progression systems on and offline, decent bop, more variety in popular car classes etc ) and have a larger and more committed player and fan base because of that. There are some big clue’s above as to why those most viewed and played sims attract views and new players and why AMS2 can’t compete with them.
If AMS2 provided a platform for streamers to race with their community online and it was reliable and they could trust it to be a smooth and seamless experience, I have no doubt more of them would use it.
You tubers are free advertising and also very influential. Other than Mike from sim racing 604, no one big on you tube is regularly using or even talking about AMS2 and until that changes, AMS2 will have a low player base.
If AMS2 did manage to be popular with streamers and viewers, would that then make it an average for everyone sim? I’m curious to know if success and a wider appeal and audience equals average for everyone game status?