Greetings everyone!
It´s now New Year´s eve - or maybe even already the New Year depending on where you are in the world! It´s been a busy month on a personal level in and out of Reiza to cap what has been another very busy year, but we couldn´t let it end without a proper send-off and some important updates to all of you!
[h3]Automobilista 2 in 2021 - A Great Year![/h3]
What a year it has been for our team & AMS2 - 12 new tracks, 22 new cars, and a long list of new features & improvements have been delivered to the game over the course of the year, developments which we can all agree brought the game to another level relative to where we started 2021.
From the very first announcement, we´ve always maintained that AMS2 was a long-term project which would evolve considerably over the years, but even for ourselves plans are only reality after they have been successfully executed - although there´s been some stumbles along the way and still plenty to be done, as we enter the third year of development we feel AMS2 is where we hoped to be at this point, and confident we have all we need to fulfill our remaining targets.
[h3]What We Have Missed[/h3]
While we have covered a lot of ground this year and are proud of the progress we´ve made overall, we´d also like to acknowledge the bits where we´ve fallen short - contents due from already-released DLC packages are a commitment we´ve made to the people who bought them, and if a schedule was proposed for releases and not quite met, then some explanation is due - the remaining Racin´ USA Pt2 items especially which had been projected to be included in the latest update haven´t quite made it in yet. We´d like to assure all who are eagerly expecting the remaining cars and track of this pack that these are well on the way and will be part of our first update of 2022 in late January.
Also pending on the DLC front are additional historical versions of Spa and Nürburgring from the early 1970s which, both part of their respective DLCs which will be delivered within the first quarter of 2022 - the first milestones of a year that should see AMS2 greatly expand further its historical reach for all types of motorsports.
Furthermore, a roadmap outlining plans for remaining items of the Season Pass & Premium Expansion Packs in 2022 will be presented in our January Dev Update.
We are also in process of putting together some updated documentation on the latest Force Feedback system and the new Multiplayer Rating System - these and other valuable info and instructions are being assembled for a digital user manual similar to the one from AMS1, also expected for the early weeks of 2022.
Here it´s worth perhaps to make the distinction between plans and commitments - there are naturally many other features, improvements, content and bug fixes that are eagerly anticipated and that we are pushing to deliver to AMS2 in the coming months, and these development updates are meant precisely to offer some perspective on what we are working on and where we intend to the take the sim; while we obviously fully intend to adhere to any plans we make public, these remain subject to changes as circumstances require over the course of development.
With this bit of housekeeping out of the way and hoping we can extend everyone´s patience a bit more for what´s still due to be delivered, let´s take a glance into what else you may expect already for the beginning of the New Year!
[h3]Formula Retro Gen 3[/h3]
Our first update of 2022 will expand our F-Retro series into the early 80s, bringing 1983-spec Grand Prix cars to AMS2.
The 1983 season was technically a turning point in the series history - a ban on ground effects from side skirts used by previous gen cars (the Lotus 79 already present in the game being the pioneering example) lead to regulations mandating all cars to feature flat bottoms, promoting diffusers as the standard device for generating downforce from the undertray; the first carbon monocoque & the first coke bottle-style shape car as featured in the the MP4-1C from this season set standards that remains to this day; turbo engines and carbon brakes also became the standard as of this season, both featuring in the championship-winning car.
All of this makes cars from this era great choices to sample in the sim - the new class will initially feature the McLaren MP4-1C and a generic turbo F-Retro Gen3, but more will join them over the course of 2022 - it will indeed be a very exciting year for the fans of classic Grand Prix cars from the 80s and early 90s,with many more iconic models from Brabham, Lotus and McLaren expected to arrive to AMS2 over the course of the year.
[h3]What Else to Expect for 2022?[/h3]
New cars from premium brands filling up existing classes as well as well as branching out to new ones, new tracks, historical tracks, further AI development, more multiplayer features, Steam achievements, full course yellows, oval racing, dirt racing and maybe the beginning of what should be a very elaborate career mode are just some of the highlights of what we have planned for Automobilista 2 over the course of 2022 - we´ll naturally share more specifics as we progress through the year, but for now the important thing we´d like to assure everyone is that we go into the new year as went into 2021: full throttle, monthly updates and with no intentions of slowing down. It should be another exciting year and we look forward to having you all along for the ride!
For now, we´re back to enjoying the remainder of our holiday break in order recharge our batteries and get ready for the new season - we sign off from 2021, with the whole Reiza team thanking all our users for your support over the course of the year, and offering our best wishes to you all for a fantastic 2022 filled with great racing!
