Automobilista 2 – Racin´ USA Pt1 Released

Automobilista 2 V1.2 is finally here, and arriving with its massive set of improvements and new features also comes the Racin´ USA Expansion Pack Pt1!

Official notes by Renato Simioni:

V1.2 DEVELOPMENT NOTES

V1.2 introduces the Custom Championhip feature, allowing users to create their own championship seasons for single player racing. Please note that this feature is still in beta and will receive further development in the coming weeks.

This update also introduces Real Weather, coupled with the possibility of customizing the date for your event, including historical real weather data since January 1st 1979 for all locations in the game.

With the option to customize event date, users can now also customize the season the event will be run under. Please be aware that the visual differences between seasons (Summer / Fall / Winter / Spring) are currently restricted to tracks that received the necessary art updates – these are Daytona, Laguna Seca, Bathurst, Brasilia, Campo Grande, Cascavel, Curitiba, Curvelo,Spielberg, Nurburgring & Spa. All remainng tracks will receive seasonal foliage in our next update later this month.

Note that the new seasonal foliage will eventually add substantial texture load to all tracks, so you may want to plan ahead for a big update and potentially 10-15 extra gb of disk space.

The build also features extensive physics & AI updates, along with some preliminary work to enhance gamepad gameplay.

Here are some other important considerations to take into account as you prepare for the release of AMS2 v1.2 and the Racin´ USA Pack:

• Setup reset – We strongly recommend users to delete the content of their Documents\Automobilista 2\savegame\(profile number)\tuningsetups , as some old setup may cause game breaking issues with the latest physics developments. Beware also that existing championship seasons will also be invalidaded with the championship mode updates. It is NOT necessary to reset your graphical on controller configurations.
• Disk Space – Users are advised to ensure they have 10-15GB worth of disk space in their AMS2 install to accommodate the addition of seasonal foliage sets for all tracks.
• Time Trial – While a more thorough evaluation will be made following release to verify its necessity, it´s almost certain that a new and hopefully definitive reset to existing Time Trial leaderboards will be required as the physics and LiveTrack updates will render times set with some cars as of v1.1.4.5 unnatainable, and older setups obsolete.
• Shadow Updates – V1.2 introduces revised shadow casting parameters, with increased resolution and enhanced cascading which should generally result in improved shadow quality overall, but also some side effects and minor performance hit under the same settings – generally settings have been bumped a quality level so if you previously were running shadows on Ultra and experience a performance hit with v1.2.0.0, consider switching to High setting as it should still provide improvements relative to V1.1.4.5 Ultra – same if you were running High and switching to Medium in V1.1.5.0, and Medium to Low. If you experience crashes while running shadows on ULTRA, consider switching to HIGH.

Racin´ USA Purchase Options

Users interested in picking up the Racin´ USA Pt1 Pack have 4 ways of acquiring the contents of the pack:

• Racin´ USA Pt1 as standalone – self explanatory, buying Pt1 separately from any other DLC or Expansion available or to be released for AMS2
• Racin´ USA Full Expansion Pack – This Pack includes Part 1 along with parts 2 and 3 to be released later in 2021
• 2020-2022 Season Pass – if you buy this or already have it, you are all set in terms of AMS2 DLCs all the way to the end of 2022
• Premium Expansion Packs – this will be a new option targetted for those who bought the Premium Track Pack, essentially expanding that purchase into a full 2020-2022 Season Pass (NOT YET AVAILABLE ON STEAM, SHOULD BE ON MONDAY JUNE 7TH)

V1.2.0.0 CHANGELOG

CONTENT

Tracks:

• Added Daytona International Speedway (Part of Racin´ USA Pt1 DLC)
• Added Long Beach(Part of Racin´ USA Pt1 DLC)
• Added Weathertech Raceway Laguna Seca(Part of Racin´ USA Pt1 DLC)

Cars:

• Added GTE class featuring BMW M8, Corvette C8-R, Porsche 911 RSR (Part of Racin´ USA Pt1 DLC)
• Added DPi class featuring Cadillac DPi.V.R (Part of Racin´ USA Pt1 DLC)
• Added BMW M4 to GT4 class

GENERAL

• Added custom championship feature to championship mode (BETA)
• Added option for Real Weather, synchronizing the weather conditions to the currrent & forecast conditions on the location of the track
• Added option to customize date for the event (currently all sessions run under that same day)
• Added 42 years of historical weather data (currently only for tracks listed in the notes above
• Added seasonal foliage (currently only for tracks noted in the changelog)
• Weather progression is now scaled by time progression setting when using real weather option
• For effect of adjusting forecasts while running Real Weather, qualifying sessions are now configured to one day before race day, and practice 2 days before
• Implemented dynamic livetrack presets for real historic weather in single player – track may start with some level of water or puddles based on the real weather data of the preceeding hours before the session start time
• Added option to configure Livetrack presets for each session
• Temporarily disabled real weather setting in multiplayer.
• Temporarily disabled LiveTrack preset setting in multiplayer
• Timed races now end after ‘time + 1 lap’
• DLC tracks are now accessible to non-owners in Multiplayer sessions
• Adjusted LiveTrack grip range (slightly lower base grip than before on a green track)
• Added controller preset strings for new devices (Logitech G923, Thrustmaster T-GT, SiMagic M10)
  Modified Logitech G923 profiles to correctly distinguish between two variants (XBox and PS4). Increase torque by 20%.
• Initial revision of shadow casting variables, generally increasing shadow quality
• Inverted traction control logic – higher values now produce more Traction Control (rather than more allowed slip as per old configuration)
• Adjusted gamepad controller presets & car-specific parameters for improved driveability (all cars)

UI & HUD

• Added more loading screen tips.
• Fixed slider mouse inputs for Steering Sensitivity, Speed Sensitivity, and Minimum Shift Time controller settings.
• Fixed incorrect visibility test on auto advance timer of session results screen
• Suspension rates in setup screen are now displayed as incremental units rather than the actual rates

PHYSICS & FFB

• Revised tire tread, center of gravity height & drag coefficient parameters for all cars
• Unified all GT tire dimensions, rules & branding as per real regulations of the main North American and European series (Michelins for GTE, Pirelli for GT3 & GT4)
• GT3 / GT4 Balance of performance revisions
• Reduced air scale drafting effect
• F-Reiza: Slightly adjusted diffuser center of pressure
• Porsche GT3 Cup: Corrected minimum weight for both models
• Super V8: Added kingpin multiplier to reduce pendulum effect in FFB
• Adjusted FFB max force range for BMW M6, Camaro GT4R
• Adjusted BMW M6 engine torque curve
• SprintRace: Minor brake torque adjustment
• Corrected default steering lock & steering ratio for Porsche GT3-R
• Further bodywork drag coefficient revisions
• Adjusted default TC & ABS settings (including proper baseline for cars without factory TC)
• Corrected traction control range for GT4 cars
• Adjusted aero yaw sensitivity for all GTs / Protos / Stock Cars / Touring Cars
• Added engine brake setting for formulas (from 1980s on), GT and Prototype classes
• Adjusted engine compression curves for F-Retros, Mclaren 570S, Porsches, F3s
• Adjusted default packers for F-Retros, P1, Roco
• Adjusted Stock Car, Montana, Ginetta G40s, SprintRace torque in lower rev band to correct engine bogging down on launch
• Mercedes CLK LM: Disabled downshift autoblip
• Removed HARD & INTERMEDIATE tire compound from GT3, P1 options
• Disabled viscous LSD settings in various cars that incorrectly allowed for it
• Metalmoro AJR Fixed Honda engine bug
• Set new traction control and ABS ranges – increments of 0-10 instead of 1-99
• Adjusted intermediate tire compound performance
• Disabled redundant weight distribution setup ranges in cars that shouldn´t have them
• Added hard compound option back for StockCar2019
• Minor center of gravity adjustments to Porsche Cup, F-Retro cars
• GT3 & GT4 BoP Pass
• Fixed missing TC & ABS on GT4 Ginetta G55
• Adjusted engine output in AJR Chevy
• Moved default brake bias slightly forward for most cars
• Adjusted Camaro GT4 default camber & differential
• Adjusted BMW M6, M8 & Mercedes GT3 damper rates & ranges

AI

• Extensive AI callibration pass for dry & wet performance, straightline speed
• Extended pool of AI personalities (all drivers in grid should have unique personalities now)
• Several adjustments to AI overtaking assesment parameters
• Reduced range of possible AI deviation from ideal line
• Increased AI wall check function
• Added custom wall buffer values to Montreal, Speedland, Azure, Adelaide, Imola72 and Bathurst
• AI tire wear callibration pass for Stock Car, GT3, GTE, P1 classes
• Adjusted AI Grip @ Goiania, Curvelo
• Added custom AI pit exit speed scalars
• Adjusted AI relative performance in practice & qualifying sessions
• Increased AI care with human & lowered AI brake grip for non-formula cars
• Adjusted AI brake power / side tolerance / avoid ratio / extra care with player
• Added function to prevent AI from pitting in last two laps of a race unless they have a mandatory stop to complete or will run out of fuel.
• Taruma: Adjusted AI speed through T1 & T2

AUDIO

• Added new tire surface sound model for skid / scrub dynamics
• Added traction control & RPM limiter sound logic and smoothing
• Adjusted volume for various sound effects (rain, wipers, wet road roll)
• Optimized sound positioning calculation in relation to listener
• Lowered brake squeal volume
• Added turbo prop & jet airplane flyover sounds

TRACKS

• Overcast/rain/storm climates overhaul: slightly optimized overcast weather, reduced brightness and sunlight when overcast, revised fog values for ovc/rain/storm, revised rain/storm clouds, removed inversion of lighting during thunder strikes in thunderstorm weather, removed random sky glow at night, few tweaks to clear weather HDR behavior, better blend of car’s undershadow with environment in ovc/rain/storm/thunderstorm/fog/heavy fog weather, added visible light beams from cars in the daytime for overcast/rainy weather presets
• Added seasonal foliage to Bathurst, Brasilia, Campo Grande, Cascavel, Curitiba, Curvelo, Jerez, Spielberg Historic
• Fixed issues with planes, helicopters, boats and trains being culled when they shouldn
• Cranes, helicopters and drones now only load on race weekend from qualifying onwards
• Londrina Kart: Add missing pit man animations
• Cascavel: Reworked fences, fixed UV1 mismatch on grass / outer grass
• Bathurst 2020: Revised track cut mesh; Performance pass; LOD object pop fixes; Cleanup orphan mesh and texture
• Interlagos Historic: Removed catch fence collisions
• Nurburgring; Fix a hole in the terrain at the gp pit entrance
• Spa-Francorchamps_2020: Various LOD pop and zfight fixes
• Oulton Park: Added missing emap setting to some render road; Enabled 2D crowd hide from session feature; Improved startlight glows; LOD object pop fixes (max/static obj); Performance pass (23% less draw call); CSM pass (curbs, road issues)
• Added trackside VR cams to Ibarra, Santa Cruz, Taruma, Velopark
• Interlagos Minor art & optimization pass; added seasonal foliage & optimized night lights worn curbs, fence optimization and lodding, seasonal textures tweaks, optimization of night lights
• Spielberg Historic: Fixed bug with seasonal foliage
• Imola (all versions): Performance pass; Bug fixes; Delete orphan mesh
• Updated Stock Car trackside advertising for tracks on the 2021 calendar

VEHICLES

• F-Retro V8 and V12: Added Driver animations; Adjusted the position of the cockpit gear shifter.
• StockCar 2021: carpaint material update; livery updates
• Reduced head light dip angle to improve lighting reach
• Added outfits for 60s, 70s & 80s drivers
• Porsche GT3-R: Texture optimization
• Ginetta G55 GT4: Fixed display & RPM lights
• Fixed bugs in dirt build-up parameters causing dirt to build up very slowly, and reset to clean once it reached maximum state
• Updated tire dimensions & branding for GTE, GT3, GT4 classes to match physics revisions
• Added day running lights to GTE, GT3, GT4 classes
• Adjusted brake glow range

V1.2.0.1 is now up – this is a minor hotfix to address some immediate issues with the latest release. A more thorough complementary update will be deployed at some point next week.

V1.2.0.1 CHANGELOG

• Reverted timed races to end without extra lap (will be added as an optional in a complementary update)
• Fixed various incorrect/missing help texts
• Added GTE/DPI to vehicle select category filters
• Corrected various vehicle information errors
• Adjusted wet road volume; Wet skid & scrub kick in points moved earlier, blend with dry sound shortened.
• Minor Nurburgring art pass, correcting various LOD issues
• Long Beach: Updated trackside cameras