Classic Spa-Francorchamps and Group C beasts land in Automobilista 2

The constant stream of updates and additions for Automobilista 2 shows no signs of abating. You just never know when the team at Reiza Studios is about to tweet a teaser for its next additions.

So, yesterday, a Sunday of all days, V1.1.1.3 arrived – of course!

The PC racing game that uses the MADNESS ENGINE by Slightly Mad Studios as a base has developed at an alarming rate. This new addition promises lots of small bug fixes and refinements. But it also delivers two big-ticket items. Namely, the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in a classic 1993 configuration and the Group C class of cars too, featuring two new roster additions: the Sauber Mercedes C9 & Porsche 962C. Amazing.

This version of Spa is resplendent with gravel traps galore in lieu of the modern asphalt run-offs, and the ability to run wide on the exit of the La Source hairpin. Towards the end of the circuit, the Bus Stop chicane is of a completely different layout to what you are used to today. You start braking during a slight right curve before a very narrow left-right chicane, and then a flat right-left onto the curved start-finish straight.

The two Group C endurance racing weapons are from a bygone era, in the best way possible. Turbo lag and lengthy gear changes galore.

There’s also the added bonus of the Chevrolet Omega Stock Car 1999. Based on what those in Europe may know as the Vauxhall Carlton or Opel Omega, this stock car/touring car features a straight-six engine, rear-wheel-drive and a body kit reminiscent of the car entered in the DTM.

It’s worth noting that while all three cars are free to all users, we had to purchase the Spa-Francorchamps DLC pack for this new variant to unlock. It’s priced at $9.99/£7.99/€8.99 and includes the 2020 layout.

Among the tweaks to the game, there are further changes to wet-weather performance, force feedback refinements, a reduction in the ‘bouncing effect’ at slow speeds, new tyre treads and compounds and improved overtaking abilities for the AI.

The number of updates to AMS2 continues to amaze. Will you be downloading the latest addition to try out classic Spa in a Group C car? Let us know on social media and view the full changelog below, if that’s your thing.

Automobilista 2 V1.1.1.3 Changelog

Tracks

• Added Spa Francorchamps 1993 layout

Vehicles

• Added Group C class featuring Sauber Mercedes C9 & Porsche 962C
• Added Stock Car 1999 Omega series

General updates

• Implemented new LiveTrack wet weather rubber washing (rubber is now gradually washed away from the track surface as it gets saturated with water)
• Expanded available opponent classes to 9 (10 total)
• Bumped headlight range from 160 to 240m for all cars
• Corrected number of opponents in Championship mode to match the series current total number of opponents
• Added function to set different presets of rubber depending on the type of session (making option available to the player will soon follow)
• Added new functions to control when vehicle headlights & tail lights should remain on and DRS rules remain disabled based on track wetness threshold (previously was solely based on environment light levels)
• Replaced Spa 2020 with Spa 1993 on the calendar of pre-2005 championships

UI & HUD

• Re-styled event rules & regulations page
• Added help texts to online Opponent settings screen
• Fixed wrong value link on gear 7/8 assignments
• Fixed redundant adjustable wing setup option being available for cars without such aero components
• Corrected tire names for various cars using street or semi-slick compounds
• Fixed missing French & German localization for track limits setting
• Adjusted font size on track limit warnings labels for Rules & Regulations UI screen

FFB

• Introduced routine to reset FFB in case of FFB loss (game detects the loss and reset FFB automatically, should be seamless for the player)
• Adjusted default FFB profile for more accurate self-aligning torque, milder force spikes over big bumps and other such sudden tire load change; adjusted effect from braking torque (should provide better feedback during lockups); split FX signal from Low Force Boost setting

PHYSICS

• Added slow damping function to all tires (generally improves tire damping & fixes bouncing effect at very slow speeds previously proeminent in formula cars)
• Added intermediate & extreme tyre compounds for modern protos, GTs & formulas
• Adjusted tire tread for 60s touring cars, F-V3,, Opalas, Copas Fusca, Uno, Truck, Caterham Academy & F-Trainer
• Adjusted semi-slick tire tread (F-Trainer Advanced, Caterhams, ARC Camaro)
• Increased RPM threshold for reduced engine life in 2-stroke karts
• Moved Metalmoro AJR diffuser center of pressure rearwards by 2cm (slightly rebalancing overall aero distribution)
• Slightly falloff rates in rain for all slick tires (addressing issues with tires losing all adherence beyond a certain saturation point)
• Minor stifness adjustment to GT / Proto / StockCar tire carcasses
• Added minor preload resistance to open diffs in cars with more powerful engines
• Adjusted Porsche 911 GT1 engine compression curve
• Adjusted default gear ratios for Mclaren F1 GTR & Mercedes CLK in GT1 class
• Minor crankshaft mass adjustments to F1 cars
• Corrected 720S GT3 negative rear toe setting (setup reset recommended)
• Moved default brake bias slightly rearwards for Copa Truck, F-Trainers (requires setup reset recommended)

AI

• Various AI behaviour improvements, adding car-specific parameters to improve their overtaking assessments both against a human player and AI vs AI
• Added car-specific overrides for previously global parameters controlling the amount of lifting off the throttle AI would do while running over puddles, & introduced a new car-specific parameter controlling the amount of lifting while on wet tires (generally less than on dry tires, improves their straight-line performance when going through large amounts of standing water)
• Added several car-specific overrides for previously global AI parameters such as brake and reacceleration distance thresholds, start reaction times, distance triggers for defending a position
• Reduced likelihood of AI crashing into a wall when side by side with human
• Increased AI drivers performance range
• Minor AI calibration pass for performance dropoff with tire wear
• Azure: Smoothed corridors in several locations
• Slightly adjusted AI grip @ Bathurst, Nurburgring GP & Velocitta

TRACKS

• Adelaide: reduced road mesh noise; smooth curb at the entrance to T13
• Imola: Fixed camera man pop up
• Kyalami: removed glitchy helicopter animation
• Silverstone: trimmed 3D grass clipping walls in some places; fixed a few object pop-ups; consolidated some grandstands into larger objects (same materials); optimized shadows
• Revised “Max AI participants” for various tracks, correcting when this differed from available garage slots
• Disabled DOF blur in all trackside VR cams for tracks that have them (currently only Grade A tracks)

VEHICLES

• F-V10 Gen2: fixed visual tire tread not corresponding to the actual tire when switching from wet to dry
• F-Classic (all gens): added Dirt/Scratch map + New UV channel 3 mapping for carbon fibre cockpit material
• Copa Montana: added Dirt/Scratch map
• BMW M6 GT3: Fixed red car paint issue in cockpit view (car #91)
• F-V10: Fixed visual glitch with the windscreen in rain
• Gol Classic B: Fixed front splitter glitch
• Ultima GTR: Fixed oil pressure needle
• F3 F309: corrected RPM bars range
• Lancer R & RS: Livery override entry added for windscreen and wing
• Corrected cockpit POV in Metalmoro AJR, Mclaren 570S, Ultima GTR
• Corrected rain tire tread for F-Retros