Lotus 79 arrives in Automobilista 2 alongside a suite of updates

Thomas Harrison-Lord
Lotus 79 Automobilista 2

A new update for the constantly evolving racing game Automobilista 2 has arrived on PC, bring with it a couple of new cars, tracks layouts and additional tweaks. Because it wouldn’t be AMS2 without tweaks now, would it?

This update marks one year since the game first release on Early Access on the 31st March 2020. It’s also the seven millionth update for the game. Probably.

Hey, that’s no bad thing, we have a hard enough time writing about the updates they come so quickly, so we can’t imagine the workload at developer Reiza Studios. Unbelievable.

Lotus 79 Automobilista 2

Leading v1.1.3.5 is the addition of the Lotus 79 F1 car. Designed by the late, great, Colin Chapman in 1977, it famously used ground effect aerodynamics to deliver pioneering cornering performance. It took Lotus to the 1978 Constructors’ Championship and Mario Andretti to the 1978 Driver’s Championship and delivered 15 podiums, 10 pole positions and six race victories in its time.

To go alongside the Lotus, is a F-Retro Gen2 Model1, a fictional single-seater in the style of a late 1970s F1 car and delivered a choice between two vehicles in the F-Retro Gen2 Series class.

F-Retro Gen2 Model1 Automobilista 2

AMS2 has the biggest selection of Brazilian racetracks ever seen in a game or sim, and this update also builds upon that with four additional historical layouts for the Jacarepagua circuit – 2005, Oval, Sul, Stock Car Roval. The venue, also known as the Autódromo Internacional Nelson Piquet, was sadly demolished in 2016 to make way for the Olympics but has formerly held ten MotoGP races, five CART races and ten Formula 1 Grand Prix. While it may no longer exist in real life, its legacy lives on here.

The physics have been updated too, this time with changes to how vehicles fitted with limited-slip differentials behave, enabling better driveability and higher top speeds. You can now also have up to four seasons in progress within the Championship Mode.

Jacarepagua circuit – 2005 Automobilista 2

This update was also set to add additional changes, but they will now be coming later. We’ll keep you updated when we hear more. For now, the full changelog is below that also features many small fixes and changes.

Automobilista 2 v1.1.3.5 update changelog

CONTENT

  • Added F-Retro Gen2 Series (featuring Lotus 79 & generic F-Retro Gen2 Model1)
  • Added more Jacarepagua Historical layouts (2005, Oval, Sul, Stock Car Roval)

GENERAL

  • Reduced Multiplayer safe join buffer time in practice / qualifying from 180 to 90 seconds
  • Added option to set maximum limit on the number of AI in official championships
  • Fixed GT1 Championship lap length race sessions incorrectly treated as timed sessions

UI & HUD

  • Updated HUD (will reset customizations): Restyled car info and added vehicle damage widget; Restyled tacho unit
  • Added hints and tips to loading screens.
  • Added warning to opponent settings screen when the number of opponents is greater than the number of available liveries
  • Fixed championship AI aggression input not clamping to correct range
  • Increased loading screen tip refresh time to 20s
  • Added ‘Wheel Only’ option to ‘Display Cockpit And Driver’ setting
  • Added extra vehicle info to Vehicle Selection screen informing availability of tire compounds, DRS, boost, adjustable turbo, adjustable onboard brake bias & roll bars, headlights, pit limiter on the currently selected vehicle (accuracy of current info pending further revisions)
  • Restyled Race and Test Day settings screens
  • Fixed untranslated ‘Opponent Aggression’ label on opponent settings screens

PHYSICS & FFB

  • Fixed FFB pulling to the left under braking or to the right on power (FWD vehicles only)
  • Substantial reduction of friction levels for various wheel bearing models for reduced overall driveline losses, improved functionality in LSD cars, better handling entering & exiting corners, better driveability under traction and slightly higher top speeds
  • Adjusted default preload and ramp angles in most LSD cars (setup reset recommended)
  • Updated engine torque / power curves to suit new wheel bearing values
  • GT / Stock / Proto / wet tire wear adjustments
  • Adjusted F-Retro, F-Ultimate, F-Classic, F-V12, V-V10, F-Reiza, F-Ultimate tire carcass inflation shape
  • Slightly steeper engine compression curve for Cosworth 1974 engine in F-Retros
  • Slightly higher wear rate for soft compound in GT3 / P1
  • Minor rear wing efficiency adjustment for F-Retros
  • Revised aero drag in formula cars
  • Added customized values for tire pre-conditioning per car (replacing old global function)
  • Increased damage rate for grinding & clutchless shifts in manual boxes
  • Adjusted StockV8 2020/2021, Montana, F-Retro, Omega StockCar, Mini UK aero yaw sensitivity
  • Disabled onboard roll bars in GT5, GT4, GT3, F-Retro Gen1, F-Reiza, F-Ultimate
  • Disabled redundant turbo range in Hot Cars / Copa Classic cars
  • Lowered Opala CoG height; stiffened suspension rates to minimise issues with lifting inside wheels
  • Minor adjustments to H-pattern gearbox syncro parameters

AI

  • Increased range of AI performance & some initial customization per series
  • AI Calibration pass to account for new AI range parameters & new driveline physics update
  • Slightly increased AI prudence against human drivers
  • AI aggression is now scaled down during in/out laps of practice & qualifying sessions
  • Fixed issue with AI skill range at extreme ends of the scale and effective lower cap of 84% in multiplayer
  • Fixed bug where the AI skill from personality wouldn’t load properly in first session (leading to reduced spread of performance)

TRACKS

  • Weather, climate & HDR revisions for more consistency across the daytime and weather variants
  • Minor adjustments to weather and climates for clouds & HDR behaviour
  • Increased maximum render distance for far terrain at higher graphics settings
  • Spa-Francorchamps: Fixed bad bumps at the outside run-off of Pouhon and Fagnes; Minor art & performance pass
  • Jacarepagua Historic: Reduced road mesh noise; Minor art & optimization pass
  • Interlagos Historic: Reduced road mesh noise; Increased poly density for outer link road
  • Hockenheim: Reduced road mesh noise for all Historic layouts
  • Cascais: Fixed fix flipped armco at T9
  • Goiania: Updated trackside data
  • Revised default date for all tracks
  • Added VR cams for Campo Grande, Cascavel, Snetterton, Curitiba, Londrina
  • Minor art pass to Hockenheim Historic layouts
  • Minor art passes to Jacarepagua and Spielberg

VEHICLES

  • Adjusted LOD settings for wheel and tires in open-wheel cars to avoid gaps between transitions at lower detail levels
  • Fixed dark external mirrors in several formula cars
  • Corrected suspension animation to account for camber settings in F-Vintage cars, F-Classic Gen3, F-V10 Gen2
  • Sigma P1: Fixed glitch on cockpit front end
  • F-Trainer and F-Trainer Advanced: Fixed suspension artefacts on cockpit view; Added missing chassis parts to cockpit view; Fixed chassis parts misplacement in LodA.
  • F-Vintage: Fixed engine damage issue
  • Chevette: Fixed cockpit red paint issue
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