Con un post su Twitter Sector3 ha annunciato l'arrivo delle nuove vetture DTM, rilascio che dovrebbe avvenire questa estate.
La fruttuosa relazione tra lo studio e il DTM si era interrotta dopo il rilascio del pack 2016 (il quarto dopo il 2013, 2014 e 2015, oltre a varie vetture anni 90'), ma la pandemia da Covid19 ha costretto molte serie motoristiche a spostarsi nel virtuale, con il DTM che ha scelto proprio Raceroom per la sua Classic Challenge, riallacciando così i rapporti con Sector3.

Le auto, che dal 2019 seguono il regolamento Class One, saranno verosimilmente due, l'Audi RS5 (che lascerà il campionato a fine 2020) e la BMW M4 Turbo.

Commenti nel topic dedicato

Sono state rese disponibili con un paio di giorni d'anticipo le note di rilascio della Stagione 3 2020 su iRacing: in questa nuova build ci saranno ben 6 nuove auto, un nuovo rescan, un update grafico ad un tracciato, tyre set limitati, nuove auto con un tyre model aggiornato, nuovi contenuti per l'IA, nuove auto col nuovo sistema di danni e molto altro ancora! Andiamo a vedere nel dettaglio gli aggiornamenti più importanti

IA
A partire dalla prossima build l'IA sarà disponibile anche con la BMW M4 GT4, Indy Pro 2000, Spec Racer Ford e USF 2000 e su 7 nuovi tracciati/layout: Chicagoland Speedway, Spa-Francorchamps (Grand Prix Pits), Dover International Speedway, Homestead Miami Speedway (Oval), Kentucky Speedway (Oval), Tsukuba (2000 Full) e Laguna Seca (Full).
L'IA ha subito anche dei miglioramenti in alcuni settori, come l'andare three wide, sorpassare, stare in scia, bloccaggio delle ruote, reazioni quando viene forzata a cambiare traiettoria e molto altro.

Caution
La durata delle caution è un problema conosciuto su iRacing: capita molto spesso infatti che ci siano molte caution in una gara e che durino tanto. Per ovviare a questo problema e cercare di ridurre la durata delle caution sui Superspeedway e negli ovali lunghi i doppiati potranno effettuare il pit stop insieme ai leader. Inoltre nelle seguenti piste le caution avranno una durata massima di 3 giri, anche se ci sono doppiati: Auto Club Speedway, Monza (Ovale con curve a destra), Daytona, Indianapolis, Michigan International Speedway, Pocono e Talladega

Tyres
Dalla prossima build saranno disponibili i treni di gomme limitati per tutte le auto NASCAR e ARCA Menards. Ci sarà un limite ai treni di gomme disponibili in un evento, con i cambi gomme che possono essere effettuati singolarmente o in gruppi (ad esempio solo le gomme del lato sinistro, o solo le anteriori, o tutte). Questa limitazione sarà già presente in alcune serie ufficiali e potrà essere usata in eventi privati.
Parlando di gomme, le seguenti auto riceveranno un aggiornamento dei parametri: Aston Martin DBR9 GT1, Audi 90 GTO, Cadillac CTS-V Racecar, Corvette C6.R GT1, Ford GT, Ford Mustang FR500S, Nissan GTP ZXT, Pontiac Solstice, Radical SR8 e Spec Racer Ford

Damage Model
Le seguenti auto verranno aggiornate al nuovo sistema di danni: BMW M4 GT4, Indy Pro 2000, le tre NASCAR Cup Cars, Porsche 911 GT3 Cup e USF 2000
I tempi di elaborazione di contatti e fisica verranno sensibilmente migliorati su CPU multicore. Il sistema userà metà dei processori logici disponibili (4 in un quad core con hyperthreading), numero che potrà comunque essere modificato nel file core.ini

Audio
Con la nuova build verrà reso disponibile il sistema XAudio2, un sistema molto più moderno del vecchio DirectSound che viene usato attualmente, un sistema che nasce negli anni 90. Il nuovo sistema fornirà una maggiore flessibilità, una migliore compatibilità con i sistemi ed ha più funzioni ed effetti che verranno aggiunti col tempo. All'inizio verrà utilizzato per fornire un suono molto più chiaro e pulito con un bitrate più alto

Auto e piste
Come detto in apertura sono ben sei le auto che verranno aggiunte al servizio:

• BMW M4 GT4: sarà possibile utilizzarla nella IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge (multiclass GT4-TCR)
• Indy Pro 2000: andrà a sostituire la Pro Mazda (che ora è stata aggiunta alla categoria Legacy) nell'omonima serie. Tutti coloro che hanno acquistato la Pro Mazda entro gli ultimi due anni riceveranno la nuova auto in maniera totalmente gratuita
• NASCAR Chevrolet Monte Carlo 1987: una delle due NASCAR storiche assieme alla Ford Thunderbird, prenderà parte alla NASCAR Legends Series
• NASCAR Ford Thunderbird 1987
• NASCAR Gander Outdoors Ford F150
• USF 2000: andrà a sostituire la Dallara F3 nella Formula Sprint in classe D

Non solo auto però, perchè in questa build abbiamo due update significativi anche per quanto riguarda le piste: il Kentucky Speedway ha subito un rescan completo, la vecchia versione verrà quindi archiviata e chiunque l'abbia acquistata entro gli ultimi due anni riceverà la versione nuova e aggiornata in modo totalmente gratuito. Mentre il tracciato di Road America riceverà dei significativi aggiornamenti grafici con il nuovo shader model.

Di seguito il changelog completo. Commenti nel topic dedicato.

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iRACING BETA UI - (04.02.01):

Loading Screen
- A new loading screen, launched directly from the iRacing BETA UI, has been integrated!
- This new loading screen replaces the loading screen shown by the Simulator, and it displays some valuable information for you, including:
- - The percentage of completion for loading.
- - Detailed information on the track being loaded.
- - Displays the other entries in the session.
- - For online races, other registered Members are viewable and a projected Strength of Field is shown.
- - For AI Races, the AI opponents are shown with their driver stats.
- Additionally, you may continue to use the iRacing BETA UI or your PC as you wait for the Simulator to load, while still being able to track the loading progress.
- This loading screen is only available when launching the Simulator from the iRacing BETA Interface.
- - If desired, you can disable this new loading screen and utilize the Simulator's original loading screen by setting the "EnableHiddenLoadMode" value to 0, found under the "[Graphics DX11]" section of "App.ini" file.

Store
- A new page has been added to the iRacing Store, Prices!
- - The Prices page consolidates some aspects of the Store for an easy to browse list of all Cars and all Tracks. The list includes helpful basic information, such as the price, ownership status, number of track configurations, and a purchase button.
- - Access the Prices page using a button found in the top-right corner of the Store page.

User-Created Sessions
- When making a User-Created Session, options for the cars in the Session are now consolidated under a Car Options pop-out menu, found by clicking on the gear icon associated with each car.
- - These options include weight penalty, fuel percentage, and tire sets.
- - Short Parade Laps are now available!
- - This allows Race Sessions with a Rolling Start to have the initial "Parade Lap" (a Pace Lap/Laps behind the Pace Car) be a partial lap, as opposed to a complete lap.
- - You may select this option during the Track Options step of the Create a Race process.
- - - Currently, there is one track configuration that supports this option: Watkins Glen - Boot.

Test Drive
- Fixed an issue where Test Drive was not functioning correctly when used from a Season page.
- - You can now Test Drive using the same car, track, and conditions that are defined in the Season page.

Paint Shop
- The iRacing Paint Shop may now be sponsored by real world organizations!
- - The iRacing Paint Shop sponsor's logo appears at the top of the Paint Shop.
- - The current iRacing Paint Shop sponsor is Summit Racing Equipment!

Security
- Fixed an issue where users running ad-blockers at the network level were experiencing issues when clicking on the iRacing eSports Network on the Home page.
- - This was happening as a result of Amazon's ad network being pulled in by the embedded Twitch feed.
- Links to external websites are defaulted to https if no protocol is provided.

Accessibility
- Fixed an issue where launching the iRacing Simulator via the iRacing BETA UI was not supporting accessibility camera changes.
- - These camera changes function in non-multiplayer Sessions to support our customers with accessibility difficulties.

Miscellaneous
- Fixed an issue where the iRacing BETA UI would resize itself whenever the Simulator closed.

iRACING MEMBERSITE:
Website Data
- For those who scrape the iRacing Membersite website for data and are using the endpoint behind the "My Series Results" page (/memberstats/member/GetResults) we request that you switch to the new endpoint "/memberstats/member/SearchSeriesResults".
- - Key differences for the new endpoint are that it has fewer filters and returns all results unordered rather than pages of ordered results making the query easier for our system and requiring fewer calls.
- - Request parameters:
- - - custid (Required): ID for the customer whose official series results will be pulled.
- - - seriesid (Optional): ID of the series to limit results. Excluding pulls the customer's results for all series.
- - - catid (Optional): The ID(s) of the categories to limit results. This parameter may be included zero or more times. Excluding pulls results for all categories. Acceptable values are '1' (Oval), '2' (Road), '3' (Dirt Oval), '4' (Dirt Road).
- - - evttype (Optional): The type(s) of events to limit results. This parameter may be included zero or more times. Excluding pulls results for all event types. Acceptable values are '2' (Practice), '3' (Qualify), '4' (Time Trial), '5' (Race).
- - - Either 'seasonyear' and 'seasonquarter' must be included, or 'starttime_low' and 'starttime_high'. Our recommended approach is to use 'seasonyear' and 'seasonquarter' for initial pull of a customer's data, then using 'starttime_low' and 'starttime_high' where 'starttime_low' is the start time from the last session pulled.
- - - - seasonyear: The season year for which to limit results (e.g. 2020).
- - - - seasonquarter: The season quarter for which to limit results (e.g. 3).
- - - - OR
- - - - starttime_low: Include in the results sessions which started after this date/time, in milliseconds since the epoch beginning midnight January 1, 1970 UTC.
- - - - starttime_high: Include in the results sessions which started prior to this date/time, in milliseconds since the epoch beginning midnight January 1, 1970 UTC. May be no more than 90 days after starttime_low.
- - Example pulling Oval and Road race results (note that this returns no results):
- - - https://members.iracing.com/memberstats/member/Sea...easonyear=2020&seasonquarter=3

SIMULATION:
Race Servers
- Open Practice Sessions can now utilize Run-Groups.
- - Previously, Open Practice Sessions were limited to having only as many drivers connected at once as the max field size specified by the Series. For popular Series with small max field sizes, this led to having dozens of Open Practice Sessions running during popular time slots. The display of all those Sessions was cumbersome, and made it overly difficult to directly register for an Open Practice.
- - Open Practice Sessions can now utilize the Run-Groups capability that was only used previously during the Open Practice and Open Qualifying portions of Heat Racing events. Each Open Practice Session can now have as many full-field Run-Groups as will fit, plus a fractional "orphan" group that is no smaller than 8 cars, or half of the full-field size, whichever is greater.
- - When an Open Practice Session is using Run-Groups, the Race Server will assign you to an open slot in a Run-Group when you connect. While on track, you will only be driving with the other cars that are in your Run-Group, and the @DRIVERS radio channel will only have the chatter of the drivers in your Run-Group.
- - - Once you have connected to the Session, you may use the Entries page to switch to a different Run-Group, as long as it has an open slot. The Entries page shows what Run-Group each team is assigned to. Above this information, a user may use a dropdown menu to switch to a different Run-Group. This allows a user to join a friend in the Open Practice Session and be on the track together.
- - - Please note that due to the rate at which the track surface changes for Dirt Racing, Open Practices at tracks with any racing dirt surfaces will not utilize Run-Groups.

Dirt Oval Racing
- The average rate of water loss in prepared dirt surfaces has been reduced slightly.
- The overall starting Dynamic Track state for non-Heat Events has been made slightly fresher.

Heat Racing
- Fixed an issue that would cause a driver that enters a Heat Racing Session during Open Qualifying to not be assigned to a Run-Group, thus preventing them from driving.

AI Racing
- The following additional cars are now available for AI Racing:
- - BMW M4 GT4
- - Indy Pro 2000 PM-18
- - SCCA Spec Racer Ford
- - USF 2000
- The following additional track configurations are now available for AI Racing:
- - Chicagoland Speedway
- - Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps - Grand Prix Pits
- - Dover International Speedway
- - Homestead Miami Speedway - Oval
- - Kentucky Speedway - Oval
- - Tsukuba Circuit - 2000 - Full
- - WeatherTech Raceway at Laguna Seca - Full
- You may now select to grid Multiclass Races by car class.
- You may now use customized fuel amounts.
- AI Drivers have completed training courses on the following topics:
- - Understanding how their current car-type races on the current track-type.
- - Tracking their own laps and race position.
- - Passing procedures and etiquette.
- - Drafting techniques and methods.
- - Predicting goal speed calculations based on their current location on the track.
- - Reacting and stabilizing when forced to switch their driving line.
- - Making race adjustments in response to tire grip changes due to track rubber.
- - Holding steady beyond the optimal slip angle.
- - Managing brake locking and recovery.
- - Assessing stationary and mobile track hazards.
- - Moving the car off the track before parking after surviving big hits.
- - Accelerating after the Pace Car has pulled off.
- - Maintaining the correct lateral positioning when entering a pit stall.
- - Reducing lateral errors during pit entry and exit.
- - Achieving optimal speeds while exiting the pits during Practice Sessions.
- - Completing cooldown laps.
- - Executing a Lucky Dog on Ovals.
- - Going three-wide.
- AI Drivers have received some additional training with the following vehicles:
- - Audi RS 3 LMS
- - NASCAR Cup Series Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
- - NASCAR Cup Series Ford Mustang
- - NASCAR Cup Series Toyota Camry
- - Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport MR
- - Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (991)
- AI Vehicles have been enhanced with the following measures:
- - Tire conditioning characteristics have been made more accurate over the course of a race.
- - Tire degradation algorithms have been optimized.
- - Tire parameters have been updated to better correlate with the player tires at intermediate ovals.
- - Engine parameters have been adjusted to improve performance at short Ovals.

Dynamic Track
- Fixed an issue where the Dynamic Track's cloud shadow information could become inaccurate with certain wind directions.

Cautions
- Lapped cars are now allowed to pit with leaders at Superspeedways and long ovals to help reduce the length of a Caution.
- - Now, a Caution at these tracks will always be 3 laps long, even if there are lapped cars.
- - The tracks where this change is in place are as follows:
- - - Auto Club Speedway - Oval
- - - Autodromo Nazionale Monza - Oval - Right turning
- - - Daytona International Speedway - Oval
- - - Indianapolis Motor Speedway - Oval
- - - Michigan International Speedway
- - - Pocono Raceway
- - - Talladega Superspeedway
- Fixed an issue where an additional Caution Lap could be added to a Caution period if the pace car is before the Start/Finish as the leader crosses the Start/Finish.
- Fixed an issue where a driver could get an early free pass wave around at some tracks, like Talladega Superspeedway.
- - The Caution period now remains in formation until the pace car has fully completed it's first lap, not the moment it hits the Start/Finish line as it's leaving the pit lane.

Do Not Count (DNC) Cautions
- Fixed an issue with DNC Cautions at tracks where the starting grid is on pit road, and the field is large.
- Fixed an issue that could cause some cars that pit during the Caution to lose a lap.

Penalties
- Drive-Through Penalties are now in place!
- - The Incident Count Black Flag penalty has been changed from a Stop-and-Go to a Drive-Through penalty.
- - Drive-Through Penalties may also be applied manually by an Admin.
- - - The admin command to issue a Drive-Through Penalty is done via the usual, "!black" command, but is appended with a "D" parameter.
- - - - For example: "!black <drivernumber> D"
- - To clear a Drive-Through Penalty, a driver must enter the pit lane under green track conditions with no other black flags, and pass through the whole pit lane without stopping in their pit stall. This action will clear the Drive-Through Penalty Black Flag as the driver passes the pit exit.
- - A Drive-Through Penalty cannot be cleared if entering the pits while the track is under Caution, but if a Caution comes out while a driver is already in the pitlane trying to serve a Drive-Through Penalty, the penalty will still clear successfully.
- - Getting a pit speed or other pit lane penalty while serving a Drive-Through Penalty will still clear the Drive-Through Penalty, but now the driver will have the extra penalties that were incurred during the process, and will need to clear those separately.
- - If the driver has other penalties in addition to a Drive-Through Penalty, the Drive-Through Penalty cannot be cleared via driving through the pitlane. It adds to the other penalties with the usual 15 second increase per combined penalty and must now be cleared via the usual stop and hold.
- Calls to clear penalties should now respect invalid disqualifications to keep the penalty rules state consistent with black flag handling.

Qualification Conduct Scrutiny
- The Qualification Conduct Scrutiny System has been updated to cause fewer false positive detections.

Physics
- Side-drafting parameters have been improved.

Tires
- Limited tire sets are now available in iRacing!
- - There may now be a limit on the number of tire sets you may put onto your car during an event. Tires may be replaced on an individual or group basis; for example, replace left-front only, or replace left-side, or replace all four.
- - Some Official Series will now utilize tire sets, thus limiting the number of tire sets you can use during an event.
- - When creating a User-Created Session via the iRacing BETA UI, during the Car step, users may specify how many tire sets are available for use by each car during the event. You may select a value from 0, meaning no tire changes are allowed, to 250.
- - - A Tire Set includes one new tire for each wheel.
- Tire parameters for Oval cars have been updated to a new archetype. This should improve racing for the following vehicles:
- - ARCA Menards Chevrolet Impala
- - NASCAR Cup Series Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
- - NASCAR Cup Series Ford Mustang
- - NASCAR Cup Series Toyota Camry
- - NASCAR Gander Outdoors Chevrolet Silverado
- - NASCAR Gander Outdoors Toyota Tundra
- - NASCAR Xfinity Chevrolet Camaro
- - NASCAR Xfinity Ford Mustang
- - NASCAR Xfinity Toyota Supra
- - [Legacy] NASCAR Cup Chevrolet Impala COT - 2009
- - [Legacy] NASCAR Cup Chevrolet SS - 2013
- - [Legacy] NASCAR Cup Ford Fusion - 2016
- - [Legacy] NASCAR Nationwide Chevrolet Impala - 2012
- - [Legacy] NASCAR Truck Chevrolet Silverado - 2008
- - [Legacy] NASCAR Xfinity Chevrolet Camaro - 2014
- - [Legacy] NASCAR Xfinity Ford Mustang - 2016
- - [Legacy] NASCAR Xfinity Toyota Camry - 2015
- Tire parameters for a variety of Road cars have been updated to a new archetype. This should improve racing for the following vehicles:
- - Aston Martin DBR9 GT1
- - Audi 90 GTO
- - Cadillac CTS-V Racecar
- - Chevrolet Corvette C6.R GT1
- - Ford GT
- - Ford Mustang FR500S
- - Nissan GTP ZXT
- - Pontiac Solstice
- - Radical SR8
- - SCCA Spec Racer Ford
- The interactions between tires and rubber on the track surface has been improved.

New Damage Model
- The following additional vehicles now utilize the New Damage Model:
- - BMW M4 GT4
- - Indy Pro 2000 PM-18
- - NASCAR Cup Series Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
- - NASCAR Cup Series Ford Mustang
- - NASCAR Cup Series Toyota Camry
- - Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (991)
- - USF 2000
- Processing times for collision and physics have been improved on multi-core CPUs.
- - This fixes problems experienced on multi-core systems where previously the C-bar could overflow, causing the Simulation to fall behind.
- - Heavy loads during large wrecks and when multiple cars have severe damage should see significant improvement.
- - By default, the system will utilize half of the available logical processors (4 on a Quad-Core system with hyper-threading).
- - Users can change the number of processors by adjusting the "num_processors_to_use_for_new_damage" value, found in the "[Tasks]" section of the "core.ini" file.
- - - Values between 2 and 8 can be set to find what works best for your system.
- - - A value of 0 restores the default behavior.
- - - A value of 1 disables multithreaded processing.
- Yield limits have been added for all physics objects to improve behavior during heavy impacts.
- - Cars that were previously too stiff should now behave more realistically.
- - Cones and car parts should behave more realistically when crushed.
- Rolling drag and contact friction improved.
- - This should fix detached wheels perpetually spinning and some other unusual behavior.
- Wheel tether improvements.
- - Limits to tether motion have been implemented and adjusted per car to improve their behavior.
- Improved issues where cars could hop while in a pit stall.
- - Resetting suspension previously caused cars to hop when entering the pit stall.
- - Resetting is now only performed when hyper-extended suspension is detected.
- - These changes should improve cases where cars were launching into space due to a bad reset.

Pit Stop
- Fixed an issue that could cause a "meatball" black flag for required repairs to not be cleared if the driver that brought the damaged car into the pits got out of the car, or performed a driver swap, before those required repairs were completed.
Dynamic Level of Detail System
- A variety of vehicles have had their Level of Detail (LOD) settings adjusted for improved performance using the Dynamic Level of Detail System. These vehicles include:
- - Aston Martin DBR9 GT1
- - Audi 90 GTO
- - Audi R8 LMS
- - Audi RS 3 LMS
- - BMW Z4 GT3
- - Dirt Late Model (ALL)
- - Dirt Legends Ford '34 Coupe
- - Dirt Midget
- - Dirt Sprint Car (ALL)
- - Dirt Street Stock
- - Dirt UMP Modified
- - Ford Fiesta RS WRC
- - Global Mazda MX-5 Cup
- - Legends Ford '34 Coup
- - McLaren MP4-12C GT3
- - Mercedes-AMG GT3
- - Nissan GTP ZXT
- - Street Stock
- - Subaru WRX STI
- - Super Late Model
- - VW Beetle

Graphics
- Improved the lighting of the world, especially in overcast and cloudy conditions.
- Adjusted the ambient levels in the global lighting, shadows are often darker now.
- Adjusted haze levels, and adjusted the lighting of haze in cloud shadows.

Dopo l'ultimo update 0.9.5.1, il team Reiza ci aggiorna oggi con il development update di maggio dedicato al suo Automobilista 2. Le novità di questo dev blog sono davvero numerose ed interessanti: la versione 1.0 del gioco sarà disponibile nel corso del mese di giugno, portando con sè le attese Classic Grand Prix Cars, fra le quali Brabham BT44, Lotus 72E e Mclaren M23.

Anche sul fronte dei tracciati avremo di che rallegrarci, con l'arrivo di Mount Panorama, Silverstone e Spa Francorchamps!

Commnenti sul forum dedicato.

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Hello everyone! We´ve reached the end of another month in 2020, which of course means it´s time for our monthly development roundup. We have a lot of ground to cover this month so let´s get to it:

Automobilista 2 v1.0 Coming Up in June

The Early Access period ended up stretching a bit from our original estimate of 8 weeks, but AMS2 EA is finally set to wrap with little over 10 weeks as we gear up for official release sometime in mid-June. We´re happy to say that we´re on track to meet all the core targets we outlined for v1.0 release, even if some of the developments haven´t quite made into the game yet.

Car animations are now finally in process of being exported to the game, and expect to have all the most important ones for wipers, drivers and suspension parts include by v1.0 release.

The Multiplayer Dedicated Server Tool has been released albeit in Beta, with some core features still to be added in the coming weeks to help leagues get some championships going by the time v1.0 is out.

The Multiplayer Ranking system is already working in the backend, however this is one feature we want to be careful not deploying too soon so the timeline for its public release will remain open.

On the content side, v1.0 will also see more of AMS1 oldies-but-goodies being included, fully revamped to AMS2 standards.

We also have some really exciting news incoming for the Brazilian Stock Car series in Automobilista 2 which they should announce at some point next week, so stay tuned!

The work on the old content is of course ongoing in parallel to an intense development plan to bring a lot of new cars and tracks to Automobilista 2 in the coming months, some of which already for v1.0. One of them is this glorious pearl from the portuguese Riviera:

Another bunch confirmed for v1.0 is Classic Grand Prix Cars announced last month, which includes the Brabham BT44, Lotus 72E and Mclaren M23, bringing 1970s Grand Prix racing to Automobilista 2.

Those of you keeping tabs will recall this glimpse of the Brabham BT44 we included in the January Dev Update:


The BT44 is in game ready to go, just waiting for its sparring partners to enter the track which should be happening over the cours of the next week.


We have even come up with a redesigned F-Retro to help fill up that grid, and unlike the classics above which were all powered by the famous Cosworth DFV that dominated most of the 70s, our generic F-Retro will also feature a V12 variant.

Final important note: Save for an eventual minor hotfix for anything that really needs fixing, v0.9.5.X is the last AMS2 build deployed during Early Access. The next intermediate build will be released only for Automobilista 2 Beta, as we focus on testing & wrapping up of all the core features needed for v1.0 release.
 

Licensing in the Time of COVID

While generally speaking we can count ourselves among the lucky few that have not had our operations largely affected by the ongoing pandemic, the same unfortunately can´t be said about other businesses, including some we are doing business with. Motorsport activities have obviously come to almost a complete halt, which among other things makes it harder to schedule a recon trip for a track we have licensed, or to collect data & recordings for cars we are modelling.

The main bottleneck caused by the current circunstances has been on the licensing front, specially with cars as the big manufacturers have been forced to greatly limit their operational capacity - unfortunately that includes marketing, legal and financial departments, all pipelines a licensing deal needs to go through before we can include their cars in the game. Things are progressing but very slowly, and this unfortunately is already compromising our planned release schedule, and even the ability to announce these upcoming cars.

We had estimated release of a couple of sweet german cars to the end of this month but those aren´t clear to go yet, and at the current rate it seems unlikely the GT3/GT4 cars we had scheduled for end of June will be all clear to go until then. Under the current circunstances we can´t even be assertive as to how quickly these will eventually come through - can be a week with one brand and a month for another. That could cause us to reasses our release strategy, going for staggered brand-centric releases instead of class bundles - we´ll need to wait and see how things develop in the coming weeks before we can decide and confirm how we go about it, so please bare with us for a little longer before we can provide an updated schedule.

The good news is that even though the process is moving slower than we would have hoped, none of our licensing targets are stuck or in serious risk of not coming through - most of the deals in fact have been secure for a while with the models they cover are already far along in production, and they make for quite a dreamy list - from 60´s/70´s vintage touring cars to 80´s Group C beasts, 90´s British & German touring cars and mighty GT1s, to modern supercars - there is something incoming for every motorsports taste, and once it rains it will pour as many of them are already in-game. As soon as we get them through the remaining licensing hurdles we will add them to AMS2 Beta for some bug hunting, and to release not long after. Best part: with the exception of the Street Supercars, all cars on the classes listed will be free additional content.

That´s the story on the car front - on the track front we´ve been having a bit more luck, and for the tracks already announced we´re well on track to keep the schedule we had proposed for them.

Obviously Hockenheimring and its historical variants will make up the first AMS2 DLC so the release is held up until shortly after v1.0 is out, but it´s coming along nicely.

Mount Panorama is likewise taking shape, with trackside objects being modelled parallel to the main mesh previewed below - release schedule is for June 30th, with our first post v1.0 game update.

Silverstone & historical variants are also very advanced, well on track for release in its planned July 30th schedule.

And now we have one more premium track we can add to this growing roster...

Spa Francorchamps is coming for Automobilista 2!At this point Spa has become such a motorsports mecca that arguably no sim can be considered complete without featuring it - we are therefore delighted to confirm that Spa-Francorchamps is also coming for Automobilista 2, in full modern and past glory!

We figured that if we are going to tread the ground of this magnificent venue we might as well do it full justice - the modern version will feature laser scan data, and we will also develop a couple of historical variants - the infamous 14km layout as it was in 1970, and the modern layout as it was in the late 80s, with no run-offs at Eau Rouge or Blanchimont, high curbs and the old double chicane Bus Stop - the complete men-from-boys filtering kit.

We already have a good jumpstart on these massive projects so the timeline for them is less than you may expect - The Spa-Francorchamps Pack will surely be released for Automobilista 2 before the end of the year.

Explaining the AMS2 Season Pass

There´s been a bit of understandable confusion regarding the Season Pass availability and pricing at the start of Early Access, so we felt appropriate to shed a bit more light into what it includes, who is it for and whether it may or may not be of value to you.

Firstly some explanation on the rationale behind making the Season Pass available during EA: When we released AMS1 in Early Access back in March 2016 we did not include the Season Pass, which only became available at v1.0 release in August 2016. Some users complained about having to buy the Season Pass separately at full price, while new users had the benefit of getting both at once with a discount. It seemed like a fair complaint so this time we decided to offer both from the get-go.

With regards to the Season Pass pricing, while it may be unusually high compared to the base game it is very fairly priced in light of what it includes. Let´s take for example the three track DLCs already confirmed: Hockenheim, Silverstone & Spa will sell for US$9.99 each, well within the range of track DLCs for other sims - with the caveat our tracks also include several historical versions. Production of the Silverstone and Spa packs for example include modelling of versions of those tracks so distinct they are akin to producing several completely unique tracks for the price of one - if you consider licensing for these tracks often include additional fees for historical versions, they are really sweet deals by any measure. The Season Pass covers at least two other premium DLC tracks with similar formats and pricing to be released in the 2020-2021 timeframe, and buying these individually would already cover half of the Season Pass cost.

Then there are the Expansion Packs - these are packs currently confirmed, arranged to a certain theme, featuring cars, tracks or both, with base prices ranging from US$ 9.99 - US$ 19.99:

• Brazilian Grand Prix Legends - Pack featuring several World Championship cars won by Brazilian drivers
• Historical Track Pack - Pack featuring historical variants of tracks featuring in the game
• Street Supercars - Pack of road-legal Supercars
• Racin´ USA - Pack featuring several North American cars and tracks, modern and historical
• Adrenaline - Pack featuring several off-road & Extreme Motorsports cars and tracks

The release order and their exact naming may still change but they will all be released in the 2020-2021 timeframe. We can´t yet detail what each of them include of course as some of the licensing arrangements are still ongoing, but these are rich, comprehensive packs that we feel add up enough value to warrant their asking pricing. Unfortunately this will only become obvious with the benefit of hindsight, but we don´t foresee many sim racers regretting their early purchases!

It should be clear however that no user needs the Season Pass now, nor do we antecipate many would want to pick it up at this point while there are no DLCs available, unless you´re in that group who prefer to buy complete packages at once. And if you are not a fan of either Hockenheim, Silverstone or Spa you may safely ignore the Season Pass until at least September as that´s the shortest timeframe for another DLC release, or Decemeber when the first Expansion Pack is due out.

You may also disregard the Season Pass altogether if the DLCs don´t interest you, if you´d rather pick some of them individually or if you are satisfied with what the base game offers - which is plenty on its own right as the game will be constantly expanded with free, premium additional content. There is no shortage of content for users on any level, and no shortage of options to pick them up only if and when they prove to be worthwhile to you.

That covers all we had to share with you this month - we´ll catch up again next month for the first post v1.0 Dev Update, with more exciting news about what´s coming up for Automobilista 2!

Assetto Corsa Competizione ha attivato la formula "free weekend" proposta dalla piattaforma Steam: il nuovo simulatore prodotto dall'italianissima Kunos, infatti, è disponibile a una prova gratuita entro le prossime 24 ore, dando la possibilità a tutti gli appassionati che non l'hanno ancora comperato di scaricarlo per testarlo a dovere.

Inoltre è già attiva anche la possibilità di acquisto scontata al 50%, con l'opzione di portarsi a casa il sim ufficiale del campionato GT World Challenge al prezzo di Euro 19,99, ma solo entro le prossime 32 ore!

Manca pochissimo alla release finale di Automobilista 2, titolo di punta firmato Reiza Studios che oggi si aggiorna alla build 0.9.5.1: una versione preparatoria di quello che vedremo nella 1.0 e che migliora nuovamente AMS 2 a livello di force feedback, fisica di gioco (soprattutto in termini di gomme per alcune vetture) e IA, sempre più consistente e aggressiva. Tra le altre cose, ora funzionano a dovere anche le animazioni 3D dei tergicristalli, delle sospensioni e di altre parti mobili delle auto, per un'esperienza che si sta dimostrando, giorno dopo giorno, sempre più curata.

Nell'attesa del "May Development Update", in uscita a brevissimo e dove Reiza ha annunciato anche alcune novità in fatto di contenuti, ecco il changelog completo della versione 0.9.5.1:

UI

• Fixed spectator leaderboard position text always being forced to wrong colour.
• Applied HUD style leaderboard to Replay/Monitor Screens
• Fixed disabled ‘View Replay’ button displaying instead of ‘Save Replay’ button in MP session results screen
• Fixed Time Trial Pause Menu leaderboard not displaying correctly
• Added identification for dedicated servers in browser list
• Multiplayer sessions now default to cockpit view in race session countdown (to avoid bug leading to players beign stuck in TV cam)
• Fixed Monitor camera switcher not working after changing cars

FORCE FEEDBACK

• Steering rack damping no longer passes through Low Force Boost setting (more consistent damping)
• Fixed error in parking force script
• Adjusted locktstop strength
• Fixed issue with recently added FFB filter occasionally behaving unpredictably
• Fine-tuned all car-specific max force & smoothing levels to suit latest FFB system revisions, bug fixes as well as latest tyre physics developments

PHYSICS

• Revised tyre tread physics for Opalas, F-Vee, F-V12, F-V10, Caterhams, ARC Camaro, Super V8
• Slight adjustments to all wet tyre compounds
• Increased carcass load stiffness for incremental tyre pressure adjustments in F-Classic (all gens), F-V12, Caterhams, ARC Camaro, Super V8
• Fixed bug causing downshift protection system not to work properly
• Adjusted shift tolerances for semiauto boxes (to avoid neutral – 1st gear not engaging in high revs)
• Enabled antistall for cars with modern semi-automatic boxes & karts with torque converters / centrifugal clutches
• Revised engine inertia for V8, V6 engines
• Reduced default steering lock for light formula cars, prototypes & Super V8
• AJR: Revised rear wing aero efficiency
• MCR 2000: Revised rear wing aero efficiency
• F-Ultimate: revised front suspension damper rates, diffuser yaw sensitivity
• Stiffer default front ARB for P1 prototypes, F-Vee, F-Reiza
• F-Vee: fixed front left rebound damper range
• Hotcars: Increased engine output slightly; Adjusted track width, height offset, default roll bar setting
• F-Reiza: Adjusted diffuser center of pressure, default caster setting
• F-Classic Gen1&2: revised aero balance
• Superkart: Adjusted default tyre pressure & ride height
• Ultima GTR Road: Adjusted default differential settings, front ARB, CoG height & tyre load stiffness
• Fixed bug causing downshift protection system to not work properly in sequential cars that should feature it
• Adjusted Ultima GTR Street default differential, front ARB, CoG height & tyre load stiffness
• Adjusted MIT Lancer roll bar stiffness

AI

• Further callibration of AI performance & rolling resistance for all cars
• Improved AI pitlane manoeuvrability
• Reduced Aggression scalar & brake performance for classic cars, club cars, GT & prototypes
• Fixed AI tendency to oscillate steering erratically running down longer straights
• Fixed Roco P3 excessive AI straight speed
• Reduced thresholds for AI to attempt overtaking in improbable circunstances
• Further reduced AI aggression scalars & brake power
• Further reduced AI overtaking boost under braking

AUDIO

• F-V10: Adjusted Traction Control sounds
• Sigma P1: revised engine sounds, engine / turbo / blowoff volume balanced

TRACKS

• Updated Livetrack racing groove shader to become more visible as track rubbers up

VEHICLES

• Further revisions to visual brake glow ranges
• F-Reiza: Revised liveries & added different carbon materials, stickers and logos, t-cam colour, spec map for all cars
• F-Trainer: Added suspension animation (external)
• F-Trainer: New liveries/updates/redesign 01# #02 #03 #04 #05 #06 #07 #08 #09 #10 #11 #12 #13 #14 #15 #16 #17 #18 #19 #20 #25 #26 #33

E' chiaramente periodo di grandi annunci e rilasci in casa Studio 397: ieri sera è stato rilasciato l'ePrix di New York, mentre oggi tocca alla prima delle due Ferrari, la Ferrari 488 GTE.

La prima Ferrari su rF2 si può quasi definire una vera impresa: richiesta da tantissimi giocatori, ed averla portata dimostra l'impegno e l'amore che lo Studio ci mette per portarci la simulazione più accurata possibile.

La Ferrari 488 GTE è la risposta della Scuderia di Maranello alle altre auto che si contendono la vittoria nella prestigiosa 24 Ore di Le Mans. 490 cavalli, motore V8 4L, ma non solo potenza: il pacchetto aerodinamico garantisce massime prestazioni anche in curva.

La 488 GTE ha cominciato la sua avventura Endurance nel 2016, sia nel WEC che nel campionato IMSA nella classe GTLM, dove ha portato a casa risultati convincenti. Mente nel WEC la vettura ha portato a casa un 1-2 nel round iniziale a Silverstone, in una stagione che ha visto 2 ulteriori vittorie, 4 secondi posti e 4 terzi posti, abbastanza per vincere il campionato mondiale di classe GT. Nel 2017 la squadra ha bissato il risultato con 5 vittorie e 6 podi totali, portando a casa anche il mondiale piloti con James Calado e Alessandro Pier Guidi.

Con l'aggiunta di questa vettura ci sarà un nuovo BoP nei prossimi giorni. La vettura è acquistabile a questo indirizzo al prezzo di 4,99€

Dopo averci mostrato Zandvoort, Barcellona e Monaco è giunto finalmente il momento di vedere per la prima volta un giro sul circuito vietnamita di Hanoi, che insieme a Zandvoort è una new entry nel calendario iridato.

Lungo 5.6 km, creato dall'ormai leggendario architetto Hermann Tilke, presenta 23 curve con molti tratti ispirati a circuiti come Monaco, Suzuka e Il Nurburgring. Il circuito è stato creato con l'idea di offrire molte opportunità di sorpasso e azione ruota a ruota.

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Mentre il mondo della Formula 1 sta ancora tentennando sulla propria ripartenza, gli sviluppatori della Codemasters stanno lavorando alacremente per rifinire gli ultimi dettagli sulla nuova iterazione del Circus iridato. Stiamo parlando, ovviamente, di F1 2020, titolo particolarmente atteso tra gli appassionati che quest'anno porterà in dote una serie di novità davvero interessanti: la funzione My Team, la modalità split-screen, una carriera più avvincente e l'ampia personalizzazione dell'esperienza di gioco sono solo alcune delle più importanti.

Sulla base del calendario della stagione 2020, inoltre, il nuovo videogioco ufficiale della Formula 1 proporrà anche gli inediti circuiti del Vietnam e di Zandvoort, che ospiteranno rispettivamente il GP del Vietnam e quello d'Olanda. Ma mentre nella realtà quest'ultimo è stato ufficialmente annullato a causa dell'emergenza Coronavirus, nel mondo di F1 2020 sarà più operativo che mai. La dimostrazione? Ecco una serie di nuovi screenshot che ne mostrano le potenzialità!

Lo Studio 397 va alla grande e dopo aver rilasciato l'ePrix di Berlino ora tocca anche a quello di New York!

La città che non dorme mai ospita da due stagioni il doppio finale del campionato di Formula E: curve cieche molto veloci che si immettono in zone ad altà velocità. Lo Studio non si è risparmiato e propone con questa pista un altissimo livello di dettaglio, dai colori all'ambientazione circostante: si può scrutare l'orizzonte fino a vedere sia il New Jersey che la Statua della Libertà!

Ma non è tutto. Ad inizio mese Studio 397 ha rilasciato la versione 2020 di Zandvoort in modo completamente gratuito ed ha promesso degli aggiornamenti ogni qual volta il circuito fosse stato aggiornato anche dal vivo. Con l'update di oggi vengono sistemati dei bug e viene migliorato il livello di dettaglio della pista: sistemato un bump in curva 3, cambiato il layout del paddock, aggiunte le nuove barriere Tec-Pro ed è stata migliorata l'intelligenza artificiale, che ora sarà molto più performante.

Queste nuove aggiunte faranno contenti tutti i fan del simulatore e soprattutto tutti gli amanti della vettura 100% elettrica, che chiedevano da tempo più tracciati ufficiali.

Tramite un post sulla pagina ufficiale Facebook gli sviluppatori ci rivelano le prime 9 auto storiche che saranno parte del gioco per tutti i giocatori: si tratta di 9 auto che hanno lasciato il segno nella storia del World Rally Championship.

Sicuramente una notizia che farà felici tutti gli appassionati. Commenti nel topic dedicato