Automobilista 2 is a controversial title as some love it and others hate its supposedly “floaty” feeling. Here are some tips to eradicate the strange feeling so you too can enjoy the sim.
As we often mention, Automobilista 2 is a dream simulator for any budding motorsport historian. It features a wide variety of accurate Formula One season skinpacks from the past and countless historic recreations of circuits.
But for many, there is one thing that lowers the title’s stock; the feeling behind the wheel. Many claim that Automobilista 2 feels floaty at the rear end, making for vague force feedback and strange reactions to inputs. This is certainly something most players must overcome to enjoy the game. To help you out, here are some tricks that help us have fun behind the wheel of the title’s many cars.
But the first tip we can offer is perhaps one of the simplest fixes imaginable. As standard, Automobilista 2 has some interesting first person camera dynamics. The game’s visual perspective moves in a strange way based on G-force and road inclination. But there is a hidden second camera mode that can make the game look, but also feel better.
By activating the Legacy Head Movement mode in the Camera settings, the camera will move in a far more natural way. This helps eradicate any sense of the car over-rotating, despite not feeling it in the wheel. After changing this, you should find that over-corrections, or even counter-steering with no slide angle will become less frequent.
Throughout our testing, both before and after the most recent 1.5.3 update, we have found that the Default+ FFB profile in AMS2 provides the best feedback. It appears to be among the most responsive and gives the best detail of road texture. It also comes the closest to providing a tight feeling that gives a sense of understeer.
If one still struggles with the game’s Force Feedback despite running the Default+ profile, one might suggest reducing the wheel firmware Damping setting. This should make the wheel feel lighter, and less vague. In addition, we have an entire FFB guide for Automobilista 2 available here. It may focus on the Thrustmaster T300RS, but our testing sees good results on most wheel bases.
The first setup tweak you will want to do is add a little bit of Rear Toe-In. This keeps the rear end stable. Next, make sure the suspension helps the rear to follow what the front is doing. We have found that by reducing the Rear Rebound, the car gains a bit more rear rigidity.
Finally, some may find that the game’s front end feel impacts gameplay. With that in mind, we do tend to soften the Rear Springs to push balance away from understeer. However, this will require additional Rear Toe-In to counteract the rotation. There is no magic figure for either of these tweaks. But in general, a few clicks to each setting will make cars feel more rigid and less floaty.
What do you make of the Automobilista 2 “floaty” feeling? Let us know on Twitter @OverTake_gg or in the comments below!
As we often mention, Automobilista 2 is a dream simulator for any budding motorsport historian. It features a wide variety of accurate Formula One season skinpacks from the past and countless historic recreations of circuits.
But for many, there is one thing that lowers the title’s stock; the feeling behind the wheel. Many claim that Automobilista 2 feels floaty at the rear end, making for vague force feedback and strange reactions to inputs. This is certainly something most players must overcome to enjoy the game. To help you out, here are some tricks that help us have fun behind the wheel of the title’s many cars.
Graphics Settings Tweaks
There are many options and settings one can look at when struggling with the Automobilista 2 handling model. In fact, later on, we will discuss Force Feedback and Setup tips to eradicate this strange floaty feeling.But the first tip we can offer is perhaps one of the simplest fixes imaginable. As standard, Automobilista 2 has some interesting first person camera dynamics. The game’s visual perspective moves in a strange way based on G-force and road inclination. But there is a hidden second camera mode that can make the game look, but also feel better.
By activating the Legacy Head Movement mode in the Camera settings, the camera will move in a far more natural way. This helps eradicate any sense of the car over-rotating, despite not feeling it in the wheel. After changing this, you should find that over-corrections, or even counter-steering with no slide angle will become less frequent.
AMS2 Force Feedback Fix
Aside from the simple graphical tweak, one can also find a simple change in the Force Feedback settings in AMS2. In fact, the game has a collection of FFB profiles, each providing different feelings behind the wheel. More importantly, each profile emphasises on different elements of the driving experience.Throughout our testing, both before and after the most recent 1.5.3 update, we have found that the Default+ FFB profile in AMS2 provides the best feedback. It appears to be among the most responsive and gives the best detail of road texture. It also comes the closest to providing a tight feeling that gives a sense of understeer.
If one still struggles with the game’s Force Feedback despite running the Default+ profile, one might suggest reducing the wheel firmware Damping setting. This should make the wheel feel lighter, and less vague. In addition, we have an entire FFB guide for Automobilista 2 available here. It may focus on the Thrustmaster T300RS, but our testing sees good results on most wheel bases.
Fix Automobilista 2 Float With Setup
Finally, and most prominent, are the improvements one can make to the standard Automobilista 2 setups. It seems the majority of the “floaty” feeling in AMS2 comes from the rear alignment and suspension. Make a wheel input and the rear of the car seems to carry too much momentum, causing strange direction change. The good news is that our setup tweaks seem to remedy the issue on most cars.The first setup tweak you will want to do is add a little bit of Rear Toe-In. This keeps the rear end stable. Next, make sure the suspension helps the rear to follow what the front is doing. We have found that by reducing the Rear Rebound, the car gains a bit more rear rigidity.
Finally, some may find that the game’s front end feel impacts gameplay. With that in mind, we do tend to soften the Rear Springs to push balance away from understeer. However, this will require additional Rear Toe-In to counteract the rotation. There is no magic figure for either of these tweaks. But in general, a few clicks to each setting will make cars feel more rigid and less floaty.
What do you make of the Automobilista 2 “floaty” feeling? Let us know on Twitter @OverTake_gg or in the comments below!
