Automobilista 2 Dev Update October, 2019 – Release Delayed – V8s, GT3s, Jerez Announced

Reiza Studios published their regular monthly update this evening, and started off with the bad news that the product is delayed to March, 2020. This isn’t exactly a surprise, and it’s pretty much in-line with recent communications anyway. As someone who worked in the industry for 14 years, this really doesn’t bother me at all. We’ll have the beta coming up soon anyway, so there should actually be plenty of information flowing from that.

Back to the good news… We have what I believe is our first screenshot of a revamped Super V8:

This screenshot was in the thread, but no text accompanied it. If you look closely there appears to be a Metalmoro MRX, Mercedes AMG GT3 and maybe Prototype AJR cars?

And an announcement of Jerez! This track has seen a lot of action over the years, and I am really pleased to see it make an appearance in a modern simulation.

Next, the news that AMS2 will have a standalone dedicated server that won’t require you to be running the sim itself. This is huge for leagues, and really does help raise the viability of AMS2 as a platform.

Development is on-going on physics and force-feedback, including most notably fixing the unsprung inertia calculations and fine tuning the force feedback to feel like the Realfeel system used in AMS1 (which converted steering arm forces into the feedback given).

The SMS SETA Tire Model is apparently yielding good results, but the most interesting news connected to tires in this update was about A.I., which has apparently been a focus this month. The player will use the SMS SETA Tire Model, but the A.I. will not, meaning that two tire models are required for each car. This is fairly common, as it allows the player to feel maximum realism while the A.I. can match them in performance using much less system resources.

Apart from the little “panic swerve” in the A.I. when you first move alongside, the video above shows a very racey and capable A.I. opponent. But what conditions will you and the A.I. have to deal with? Well, how about rain? How about rain that differs based on where in the world the track is located, and a drying surface that dries based not only on where you drive, but on the climate? AMS2 is going to have that.

The video above is interesting for a couple of reasons. Not only the rain and drying surface, but the animations of the driver… I’m pretty sure I see the driver suits flapping in the air. The update mentions that a lot of animation work has been outsourced to another studio, and how important they feel small items like vibrating windshield wipers might be. This is something I agree with massively, as the first time you catch a bird flying overhead out the corner of your eye, a person in the crowd moving or a window net flapping away it really does help with immersion.