Automobilista 2 Updated to Version 1.3.3.0, Adds New Cars and Road America

Automobilista 2 Jan 2022 Update 01.jpg
The first major update of 2022 for Automobilista 2 has been released, and it includes new content, improved cockpit view effects, physics updates, and dozens of other changes and fixes.

Reiza Studios’ major monthly updates for Automobilista 2 have rolled into 2022, and January’ update is an impressive one. Reiza’s updates tend to be either heavily focused on new content or heavily focused on improvements to the underlying driving physics in the title, but this update seems to strike a balance.

In terms of content, Reiza has expanded Automobilista 2’s Formula USA cars, which are part of the Racin’ USA DLC Pt 2. These cars grabbed the attention of the sim racing world when they were released and received praise from many in the sim community. Not content to rest on that success, Reiza has added a Gen3 class including the Reynard 2Ki and Lola B2K/00 cars. Fans of historical F1 cars will also enjoy some new content, as AMS2 now has a Formula Retro Gen3 class including the Mclaren MP4-1C, F-Retro Gen3 Turbo, and the F-Retro Gen3 DFY Aspirated. Lastly, the Volkswagen cars in the title got an update with the addition of the VW Polo GTS and Virtus GTS to the TSI Cup class.

But the biggest news on the content front is the addition of Road America to the Racin’ USA DLC Pt 2 pack. Located in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, the 14 turns and 4 miles of Road America has been almost unchanged in the past 60 years.

On the physics, UI and AI front, AMS2 has been given a huge list of improvements and fixes. The full list of changes is listed below, but among the most notable improvements are revisions to the cockpit view effects. These changes give the player more detail and better control over how much the camera moves under acceleration, braking and turning.

Also, the driveline elasticity improvements that became part of the sim late last year have been applied to the Lancer Cup, TSI Cup, JCW Mini, Copa Truck, and F-Ultimate, which should increase the enjoyment and realism of driving these cars.

The changlog is listed below. Be sure to let us know your thoughts on what has changed in this major update to Automobilista 2.

Automobilista 2 Jan 2022 Update 02.jpg


V1.3.3.0 CHANGELOG

CONTENT
  • Added Road America (part of the Racin´ USA Pt2 DLC pack)
  • Added F-USA Gen3 class featuring Reynard 2Ki, Lola B2K/00 (part of the Racin´ USA Pt2 DLC pack)
  • Added F-Retro Gen3 class featuring Mclaren MP4-1C, F-Retro Gen3 Turbo, F-Retro Gen3 DFY Aspirated
  • Added VW Polo GTS & Virtus GTS to TSI Cup class
GENERAL
  • Enabled G-forces for cockpit camera (previously G-forces were only enabled for helmet camera)
  • Made the helmet and cockpit cameras orientation change that comes from G-force effect be scaled by the G-force slider settings (previously only the camera position change was scaled, not the orientation)
  • Fixed in-game session details not accounting for session scaling in championship mode and rounding to multiples of 5 in multiplayer.
  • VR Camera Settings: Enabled legacy/new head movement toggle for VR users; World Movement renamed to 'Head Movement' (current user World Movement setting will be maintained and converted to an equivilent 'Head Movement' setting)
  • Enabled camera G-force settings for TrackIR users.
  • Enabled look to apex and leaning in cockpit camera
  • Shared Memory: Updated header to V10; Added Tyre temp L/M/R, Ride height, Session duration which were previously only available via UDP; Added DRS State; Added session additional laps information; Extended CarFlags to include TCS/SCS active state; Latest header/changelogs/sample project now available in the 'Support' directory of the game install
  • Fixed an issue with championship editor which would lead to incorrect race 2 starting order if both races did not use the same duration type. Added a fall back to find any race 1 result as the basis for race 2 in existing savegames
  • Default weather progression for official championships are now sync to race
  • Fixed an issue where default weather progression for official championships was extremely high (existing saves will revert to sync-to-race on load if out of range)
  • Made brake pedal sensitivity linear by default for most Thrustmaster wheel types.
  • Fixed issue where HUD leaderboard would cut off the local player row in some cases
  • Fixed stale drive button state requiring double click of race ready button if a user drove a previous session of a Multiplayer event.
  • Actual timestep is now passing to FFB scripts
UI & HUD
  • Added Front/Rear tire selection to quick setup menu
  • Fixed selected row visual states on Game control assignments tab
  • Added current lap info to position widget HUD in timed races
  • Fixed in-game camera options screen not correctly hiding VR options
  • Corrected engine displacement info for F-Classic Gen3 models 2 & 3
PHYSICS
  • Minor tire tread adjustments for F-Reiza, F-V10 G1, F-V12, F-Ultimate F-Classics (all gens), Group C, Group A, BMW M1 Procar
  • Added driveline elasticity modelling for cars that still didn´t feature it (Lancer Cup, TSI Cup, JCW Mini, Copa Truck, F-Ultimate)
  • TSI Cup: Improved clutch smoothing
  • Revised wheel spin inertia for all cars
  • Reduced front splitter pitch sensitivity for Group A & Procar
  • Slightly improved rear wing baseline downforce of Group A cars
  • Disabled now redundant autoclutch forced off in semi-auto F1s (fixes cars stalling even with autoclutch set on)
  • Adjusted Corvette C3-R final drive ratio
  • Further clutch heating/wear improvements and adjusted update rate
  • Reinstated auto-clutch logic for sequential shifts that do not have autoblip/autolift
  • Updated clutch models to include flash and burst parameters
  • Changed clutches on some cars
  • All street cars now have clutch damage
  • Revised F1 driveline inertias
  • Improved sequential F1 shift reliability
  • Added clutch damage and heating model.& clutch damage attributes for DPI, GT1/GTE/GT3, C3/C3R/Omega, multiple F1s
  • Prevented needless autoclutching in clutchless sequentials
  • Updated default setups for M1 Procar, Groupa A (both models), GT3 (all models), Corvette C3-R, Porsche RSR 1974, Ginetta G40 Cup, G40 GT5, Porsche Cup, Stock Car 2021 / 2022, Mercedes CLK, AJR (all variants), MRX (all variants), Roco (setup reset recommended), F3s,
  • Adjusted engine wear increase with boost settings for F-Classic turbo engines & eeduced default wastegate setting to account for higher engine wear at higher settings
AI
  • Increased hardcoded radius values for AI detection of corners ahead (this should fix some existing AI logic not triggering in some corners)
  • Added a AI series-specific radius check and distance ahead to look at before trying to overtake (customization per car type still to be implemented)
  • Adjusted AI decision behaviour when an AI driver is attempting to avoid cutting the track but has a player vehicle on opposite (should prevent some cases of AI hitting player laterally)
  • Added a per-weekend based consistency personality logic for AI
  • AI calibration pass for F-Classics (all gens)
  • Slightly increased AISidecalc range to further reduce chance of AI cars being "scared" out of the way by player coming up behind it
  • AI rolling resistance adjustments for GT3, GT4, GTE, P1, P2, P3, P4, Stock Cars
AUDIO
  • Updated crash sound effects
TRACKS
  • Updated weather & climates change in European and North American locations to ease transitions in seasonal foliage (so early spring the foliage is still looking dry, early summer still lush green; and early autumn still green)
  • Adjusted rolling start and TT start points for Kansai, Monza, Ortona, Silverstone, Snetterton, Spielberg, Velocitta, Velopark, VIR
  • Watkins Glen: Added barriers on the bypass road for inner loop layouts
  • Monza: Added missing grandstands, ad boards / gantries; grounded floating poles at Lesmos in Monza 1991
  • Silverstone 1975: Add more cones marking pitent/pitex, Adjust a few 3d people, LOD adjustment on flags
  • Ortona: Fix for outer houses LODs; Trimmed the apex corridors
  • Daytona: Updated AI lines & corridors
  • Updated trackside cameras for Brands Hatch, Curitiba
  • Nurburgring: Fixed Cam 01 clipping
VEHICLES
  • Reynard 98i: Fixed left mirror bug): Added dirt/damage texture; Changed rain tire texture; Updated cockpit tires
  • BMW M8 GTE: Fixed brake discs glow issue
  • McLaren F1 GTR: Fixed conflicting #8 livery
  • Adjusted suspension animations for all F-USA models
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About author
Mike Smith
Mike Smith
I have been obsessed with sim racing and racing games since the 1980's. My first taste of live auto racing was in 1988, and I couldn't get enough ever since. Lead writer for RaceDepartment, and owner of SimRacing604 and its YouTube channel. Favourite sims include Assetto Corsa Competizione, Assetto Corsa, rFactor 2, Automobilista 2, DiRT Rally 2 - On Twitter as @simracing604

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Comments

CrimsonEminence
A man with a Harmonica said:
but the very core of software has severe limitations (FFB, AI behaviour, physics itself). :(
Click to expand...
FFB is a Reiza-own implementation, AI is heavily modified by Reiza too, physics engine itself is largely similar to ISImotor with exception of tires and driveline.

The driveline has significantly more depth in the way it applies, supporting different types of differentials (all of them working like they should now, this was indeed plagued by issues in the past), shaft properties etc...

The tire model might be not of your taste, which doesn't mean it's limited...actually it's the opposite, it accounts for way more types of tires and addition of tire components, than AMS1 was able to deliver. At the end of the day it's a tool for the developer to achieve a result.

AI is based on the same stuff, AMS1 did and has actually more possibilities in the Madness Engine to discover.

Stop sharing misinformation about engine limitations. There are certainly some limitations of course, because all game engines have them, but it's not the ones you are talking about right here. Don't confuse personal preference with general facts. Thanks :)
 
Last edited:
P
Sticking a label and throwing the package to the bin of "don't care" is the easiest thing to do. Not only with sims, but with everything in life. I don't shove AMS2 criticism, but I wish that it was not only about the engine picked for it; we are less than 3 months away from reaching 2 years since the first public beta was released, lots of water have streamed down across the bridge, and the game drives much different now than at that point in time, when it already was a step clear from PC2.

Criticize Automobilista 2 as much as you want, objective pointing of flaws is needed to push forward. We also are a niché hobby, it's not like there are endless amount of sims. But even with that rather limited platter of offerings (compared to other gaming genres at least), seems like many people "wasted" (this is completely relative) countless hours with PC2 so they know all their flaws, but cannot spend 60 minutes with Reiza's latest offering to understand what is different.

/rant.
 
P
Mekonrider said:
Seriously, what are you on about? It's never going to do Forza numbers but given the constant developer input and new content it's not 'dead'. If they stopped adding content now, there's still plenty to go at for a long time compared to ACC.
Click to expand...
It may not be the best sim for some, but for VR nothing beats AMS2.
 
CrimsonEminence
Just to make sure:

Critique and suggestions are very welcome (of course in a civilized way) and the game is clearly also improving due to invaluable community input. There is a balance to find of course and don't forget, that testing and finding bugs/issues is always easier and faster than fixing them. Have to remind myself of that all the time when testing stuff and (if) standing on the edge of frustration. :)
 
Last edited:
Gevatter
Premium
HOTFIX TIME! :D

V1.3.3.1 CHANGELOG:
  • Fixed excessive helmet cam wobbling
  • Adjusted FFB for all FWD cars, karts, F-Reiza & BMW M8
  • Adjusted F-Retro Gen3 AI start performance
  • Adjusted F3 AI rolling resistance
  • Road America: Various updates to trackside objects; Added "The Bend" layout; minor AI adjustments
  • Fixed missing Reynard 98i Toyota
  • F-Retro Gen2: Fixed tire texture bug
  • F-USA (both gens): Added damage/dirt texture; Updated rain tire texture
  • Reynard 2Ki: Added gold wheels to #26 and #27 liveries
 
Luciano Santos Filho
punto said:
Agreed, but I do think iRacing in HDR on an 38" 4k screen also looks very nice!
But, yeah, i use iRacing for multiplayer AND after that I am having a lot of fun in AM2. I really mis the multiplayer aspect in AMS2. I hope they are implementing something more by implementing simracing.gp or other platform. Or doing something like raceroom. I don't onderstand why no other developer other than iRacing is capable of implementing fun multiplayer racing...
Click to expand...
We don't pay Reiza monthly for keeping that up. It's not that difficult to understand...
 
dave kirk
A man with a Harmonica said:
AMS2 = PC2 properly developed. Which is a compliment to Reiza but no so much for the game itself. The effort of Reiza is really noticeable and their deserve all merits for it but the very core of software has severe limitations (FFB, AI behaviour, physics itself). :(
Click to expand...
Where have you read about such limitations?
 
Kyuubeey
CrimsonEminence said:
FFB is a Reiza-own implementation, AI is heavily modified by Reiza too, physics engine itself is largely similar to ISImotor with exception of tires and driveline.

The driveline has significantly more depth in the way it applies, supporting different types of differentials (all of them working like they should now, this was indeed plagued by issues in the past), shaft properties etc...

The tire model might be not of your taste, which doesn't mean it's limited...actually it's the opposite, it accounts for way more types of tires and addition of tire components, than AMS1 was able to deliver. At the end of the day it's a tool for the developer to achieve a result.

AI is based on the same stuff, AMS1 did and has actually more possibilities in the Madness Engine to discover.

Stop sharing misinformation about engine limitations. There are certainly some limitations of course, because all game engines have them, but it's not the ones you are talking about right here. Don't confuse personal preference with general facts. Thanks :)
Click to expand...
"Types of tires"? That's not how semi-empiric models work at all. It doesn't care what kind of tire you're supposedly making. I have my gripes with ISImotor's modeling, but that's still a bit of an unfair complaint.

Although you are correct in that it's not tire model limitations that are an issue, more-so the volatility of the parameters. Although I suppose that is largely due to the interconnected nature of parameters which are potentially allowed to get out of hand, which leads to practical limitations when designing. The more data you have to correlate the tire to, the worse your tire will appear to be; but the emergent features are flashy and give an impression of more functionality. Hence why experts tend to gravitate towards AC/old ISImotor, and the casuals love AMS2 and rF2.
 
M
Kyuubeey said:
"Types of tires"? That's not how semi-empiric models work at all. It doesn't care what kind of tire you're supposedly making. I have my gripes with ISImotor's modeling, but that's still a bit of an unfair complaint.

Although you are correct in that it's not tire model limitations that are an issue, more-so the volatility of the parameters. Although I suppose that is largely due to the interconnected nature of parameters which are potentially allowed to get out of hand, which leads to practical limitations when designing. The more data you have to correlate the tire to, the worse your tire will appear to be; but the emergent features are flashy and give an impression of more functionality. Hence why experts tend to gravitate towards AC/old ISImotor, and the casuals love AMS2 and rF2.
Click to expand...
Things are slightly different.
Physical models are based on results from actual proper engineering calculations based on actual measurable properties and design features. Granted, some of the properties are not public and some of the details of the structural design are also not known, but there are ways around those which do not compromise the integrity of the calculations and the entire process that lead from them to the look-up tables.
This means you can simulate easily any architecture you want. Which is what RF2 and AMS2 for instance attempt to do.
Field recorded data instead are just an instantaneous picture taken in a very specific condition that is for the most part unknown as most of the key parameters are not available. Hence it's not possible to have a full point to point correlation. There are plenty variables that can't be either controlled or measured when recording the outputs. This also includes the same unknowns about the detailed properties and design features that manufacturer will never provide as for the physical models.
On top of this, parametrization to extrapolate outputs from the "as recorded conditions" to the conditions that need to be simulated/predicted suffers even more than physical models from the fact that they are even more heavily based on approximations with little to no physical sense.
That is why basing a simulation/prediction on empirical data and extrapolation functions is not done when designing as much as possible: the opposite process is pursued. Simulation/prediction is entirely based on engineering estimations and then parameters of the detailed simulation are adjusted so that the simulation matches the empirical data well and often the adjustments can be double checked for physical sense during the process. The level of correlation is far greater this way.
In simple words trying to do everything through empirical parameters is like trying to build a clone of a house just by the use of exterior pictures. Instead using a physical model is more like trying to replicate it by use of drawings without dimensions: you will eventually figure out what the correct dimensions are if you work hard enough and unlock the entire design, while basing everything on exterior pictures will inevitably lead to inventing broad portions of the design because you have no way on earth to figure them out.
 
Kyuubeey
MadDriver11 said:
Things are slightly different.
Physical models are based on results from actual proper engineering calculations based on actual measurable properties and design features. Granted, some of the properties are not public and some of the details of the structural design are also not known, but there are ways around those which do not compromise the integrity of the calculations and the entire process that lead from them to the look-up tables.
This means you can simulate easily any architecture you want. Which is what RF2 and AMS2 for instance attempt to do.
Field recorded data instead are just an instantaneous picture taken in a very specific condition that is for the most part unknown as most of the key parameters are not available. Hence it's not possible to have a full point to point correlation. There are plenty variables that can't be either controlled or measured when recording the outputs. This also includes the same unknowns about the detailed properties and design features that manufacturer will never provide as for the physical models.
On top of this, parametrization to extrapolate outputs from the "as recorded conditions" to the conditions that need to be simulated/predicted suffers even more than physical models from the fact that they are even more heavily based on approximations with little to no physical sense.
That is why basing a simulation/prediction on empirical data and extrapolation functions is not done when designing as much as possible: the opposite process is pursued. Simulation/prediction is entirely based on engineering estimations and then parameters of the detailed simulation are adjusted so that the simulation matches the empirical data well and often the adjustments can be double checked for physical sense during the process. The level of correlation is far greater this way.
In simple words trying to do everything through empirical parameters is like trying to build a clone of a house just by the use of exterior pictures. Instead using a physical model is more like trying to replicate it by use of drawings without dimensions: you will eventually figure out what the correct dimensions are if you work hard enough and unlock the entire design, while basing everything on exterior pictures will inevitably lead to inventing broad portions of the design because you have no way on earth to figure them out.
Click to expand...
I'm not gonna reply to all of that, but effectively nobody uses physical models for a real-time use last I checked. There are perhaps some exceptions internally in the manufacturing side, although I will take a guess that they are not real-time.

Can you give a more specific example when a physical model was better correlating in a real-time application?
 
S
So many things updated so often... this sim has massive potential, but there's still too much going on in terms of content and quality across the board. Dont like the "active" development approach, look forward to when this sim is actually somewhat complete.
 
M
Kyuubeey said:
I'm not gonna reply to all of that, but effectively nobody uses physical models for a real-time use last I checked. There are perhaps some exceptions internally in the manufacturing side, although I will take a guess that they are not real-time.

Can you give a more specific example when a physical model was better correlating in a real-time application?
Click to expand...
They do not use them for real time calculation, but rather for creation of the look-up tables.
Physical calculations are performed offline to create the tables as part of the tire model creation.
You may want to give a look at this ;)
https://www.politesi.polimi.it/bitstream/10589/153184/1/Optimisation of the tyre model in rFactor2 environment for AVEHIL professional simulator.pdf

You may find out that professionals do not use AC and single point of contact models based on Pacejika invented parameters and they find RF2 tire models insufficient for proper true drivers training.
Which explains also why F1 teams are spending millions and many months of data correlation process to create much more accurate simulators.
 
Last edited:
Kyuubeey
MadDriver11 said:
They do not use them for real time calculation, but rather for creation of the look-up tables.
Physical calculations are performed offline to create the tables as part of the tire model creation.
You may want to give a look at this ;)
https://www.politesi.polimi.it/bitstream/10589/153184/1/Optimisation of the tyre model in rFactor2 environment for AVEHIL professional simulator.pdf

You may find out that professionals do not use AC and single point of contact models based on Pacejika invented parameters and they find RF2 tire models insufficient for proper true drivers training.
Which explains also why F1 teams are spending millions and many months of data correlation process to create much more accurate simulators.
Click to expand...
What? I don't know anyone who uses rF2's tire model. Although I have heard of rF2 in dev mode to access the rF1 tire model. It is not possible to correlate tires in rF2's model, at all.

Literally everyone uses mostly AC, and some rF1/rF2dev. Is it just different in your region? Most the people I know about are in North America.
 
Kurupt CDN
Track looks fantastic but the track side barriers are useless at the moment as you can pretty much drive through them and fall off the track.
Not a big deal in single player practice but will cause chaos in mp.

New cars drive nice.

Rain tires on several cars are useless as hards are still faster.

Ai has improved in single class races but need lots of work in multi class as the faster cars struggle to pass slower classes.
Ex. Daytona, they ride up behind slower ai cars and ride there ass for a while trying to figure out how to pass on the oval, very hesitant on the infield too.

Gonna test the new patch and see how the improved ffb is on the listed cars...M8 feels better.
 

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