Automobilista 2 V1.5.6.1 RELEASED - Now Updated to V1.5.6.3 (2024)

Along with the usual long list for general fixes & improvements, the new update adds the new Brazilian Stock Car 2024 season & a completely overhauled F-Ultimate Gen2.
As indicated in the 2024 March Dev Update, both the F-Ultimate Gen2 and the Stock Car 2024 already feature the V1.6 tire physics developments with adjusted hysteresis (but only partially revised thermodynamics & wear) - generally speaking the updates tires should feel slightly "sharper" and less tolerant to sliding than previously.
Both classes feature their 2024 respective DRS and Push-to-Pass rule updates, with DRS being allowed after lap 1 for the F-Ultimate Gen2 while the Stock Cars feature a higher number of shorter P2P boosts with no activation delay.
Still on the content front, following popular demand the Betonschleife (aka "concrete circuit") has been added as an option for the Historic Nürburgring , part of the Nürburgring DLC pack.
See Also
Oxygen Troubleshooting: Easy Fixes for the Most Common Errors Hope of the Immortal - ArtemisPendragon 14 Signs You Have a Water Leak—And the Fastest Way to Detect It - SpringWell Water Filtration Systems
AMS2 V1.5.6 also features a much improved water shader & 3D trees added near trackside for several circuits and visible dust clouds from cars running over dirtier parts of the track, all components of the visual updates in progress for the V1.6 milestone update a few months from now.
A note of appreciation and apologies to livery modders such as @KRRTDustin, @TomLehockySVK and others in the community who had done great work with the old F-Ultimate Gen2 model that has now been retired - although we couldn´t justify retaining the old model given the lack of actual differences in specifications and inferior quality relative to more recent releases, it wasn´t a decision made without consideration and heartache for the impact it would have on your livery packs. We hope you find the much improved 3D model to be worth the trouble and that it proves a lot more fun to work with moving forward!
IMPORTANT NOTES ABOUT F-ULTIMATE GEN2 TIRES
The F-Ultimate Gen2 has 3 tire compounds loosely representing the 5-compound range of the real-life Pirellis (C1 to C5, former being the hardest and the latter being the softest option IRL). In real life, Pirelli decides on which 3 compounds of the 5 available they will take to each event based on track characteristics, weather forecast etc. For races like Spain, Japan and UK for ex. (all tracks with predominance of long high speed corners run in reasonably warm weather) Pirelli usually takes the 3 hardest options (C1, C2 & C3). In tracks with predominance of low speed short corners like Azure, Spielberg or Montreal it´s the other way around, with the 3 softest compounds (C3, C4, C5) usually being selected
In AMS2 the medium tire is based off C3, while the hard is sort of a middle ground between C1 and C2, with the soft a middle ground between C4 and C5 - this is the compromise we´ve settled on until we can support different compound selections per track (if and when that happens). What that means in practice is that if you´re racing at Barcelona, Kansai, Silverstone and even Interlagos, the soft tire in the game is actually softer than any of the compounds usually taken to those events, and it will tend to desintegrate within a few laps of hard driving in a race fuel load. On those tracks you should only race with mediums and hards to better match the selection teams actually have for those events (unless you mean to do a lot of pitstops )
It´s important to note also that wear isn´t equivalent to degradation - the 3 compounds won´t lose that much performance over the initial 50% or so of wear bar as indicated in the HUD (1s or so depending on the track), but beyond that point degradation is steeper, with tires really falling off a cliff in the last 20% or so.
It´s also important to note that wear rates are directly related to the way they are driven - the more the driver attacks corners, the more friction is generated on the tread which will tend to accelerate the wear; because of that and the somewhat sensitive nature of the tires, drivers seldom if ever push 100% in races in real life because the lap time gain won´t be worth the extra wear and potential extra pitstop it will earn them. Hence the smooth style of rolling into and out of corners being pretty much mandatory during races for most tracks.
V1.5.5.6 -> V1.5.6.1 CHANGELOG
CONTENT
Cars
Added Stock Car Pro Series 2024 season
Added revamped F-Ultimate Gen2 (new 3D model & updated physics, sounds)

Tracks
Added Nürburgring 1971 Betonschleife layout (part of Nürburgring DLC)

GENERAL
Fixed some types of engine component damage not applying additional repair time in pit stops
Fixed CTD on New Championship screen when a saved custom champ template contained content that is no longer available such as when mods are uninstalled
Enabled offline dust particles
Added high fidelity water shader (circuits featuring it listed under TRACKS below)
Crowds near the track may slightly move now
Fixed wheel visually sinking into terrain in some circ*mstances
Added replay support for Track Flag Panels (new replays only)
Added custom DRS rules for F-Ultimate Gen2 (available after lap 1)
Added event preset, championship and points system for Stock Car Pro Series 2024
Adjusted Mandatory-Pitstop-Open-Lap to equal lap 5 and scaled Minimum-Race-Length to equal 15 mins for Stock Car Brasil Championships 2019-2023

UI & HUD
Added new control bindings & ICM for onboard differential adjustments
Updated F-Ultimate Gen1 icons
Fixed incorrect label on Audio Device input when disabled

PHYSICS
Revised FFB for F-USA Gen1-4, F-Vintage Gen1-2, F-Retro Gen1-3, F-Classic Gen1-4, F-Vintage Gen1-2
Adjusted pitstop repair times for clutch, turbo, radiator, oil leak, coolant leak, engine misfires (all vehicles)
Increased engine & gearbox pitstop repair times for all Formula vehicles
Added onboard diff adjustments for F-V10 Gen2, F-Reiza & F-Ultimate Gen1 & Gen2
Adjusted fuel consumption for Stock Car 2019-2024

AI
Fixed issue where the AI wouldn't repair engine damage during qualifying or practice
If AI car pits in for major mechanical damage (such as engine damage) it may now decide to retire instead of always rejoining the race
Slightly reduced likelihood of a full course yellow being triggered by an AI incident during the final 3 laps of a race
Updated Stock Car Pro Series 2023 Ai driver performance levels based on finalised championship positions
Enabled more agressive defensive moves by AI cars in F-Ultimate Gen2 & Stock Car 2024 classes

TRACKS
Added 3D trees near trackside for Adelaide (both), Cascavel, Curitiba, Guaporé, Ibarra, Londrina, Taruma, Velocittá, Curvelo, Goiania, Interlagos (all versions), Londrina, Salvador, Velopark, Velo Cittá
Updated water shader & adjustments to suit it for Azure, Cleveland, Long Beach, Montreal (all versions), Interlagos (all versions), Buenos Aires, Daytona, Oulton Park, Cadwell Park, VIR
Ibarra: remodelled outer terrain for better geographical accuracy, better detail vs polycount balance. New water shaders, 3D foliage; reworked billboard foliage, new ground & road textures, seasonal foliage (green/dry)
Cascavel: Adjusted terrain meshes, materials and textures, updated 3D & billboard foliage, fixed UV mapping on curbs, added a bunch of new buildings, removed couple temp stands and added grandstand on the terrain slope, tweaked road materials & textures, AO pass on terrain and buildings
Curitiba: Updated roads, terrain, walls, foliage visuals
Azure: Fixed a granstand lod pop visible when exiting the tunnel; Corrected a digital flag panel export settings
Montreal: Fixed digital flags in sector 3
Jacarepagua: Fixed mountains clipping in VR and some other issues.
Le Mans: LOD adjustments near the Esses and Mulsanne corner
Londrina: Fixed pit exit junction on long layout
Nurburgring 1971: Update hedge material
Added VR cameras for Jacarepagua 1988, Jacarepagua 2005, Jacarepagua Oval, Jacarepagua SCB, Jacarepagua Short, Jerez Chicane, Kansai Classic, Kansai West, Kyalami Historic, Oulton Park Classic, Oulton Park Island, Outon Park Fosters, Spielberg Short, Spielberg Vintage, Taruma Chicane, Velo Citta Club Day and Velo Citta Track Day

VEHICLES
Set matching pitcrew team outfits for F-Junior, F-USA Gen1-4, F-3, Porsche Cup, GT Classic, Copa Montana, Sprint Race, Cadillac DPi, F-Vintage, F-Retro, F-Classics, F-HiTech, F-V12, F-V10, F-Reiza (all Gens) & F-Ultimate Gen1, LMDh, GTE, GT3 (both Gens), GT4, GT1, Group C, Group A, Super V8, Stock Car Brasil 2019-2024, MINI JCW, GT Open, GT4 Supercup, G40 Cup, GT5, Vintage Touring Cars T1-2, BMW M1 Procar, Prototype P1 Gen1-2, P2, P3, P4, ARC Camaro, Copa Truck, F-Inter, Copa Classic B/FL, Stock Car Brasil 1979/86/99, Copa Fusca, Copa Uno, Hot Cars, Old Stock Race, RX, Formula Dirt, Kart Cross
F-Ultimate Gen1: Updated steering wheel display
Nissan R390 GT1: Fixed LOD bug in normal and LD variants
F-V10 Gen2: Increased polycount for co*ckpit tires & fixed right front tire position
Corvette C8: Extensive visual overhaul including accurate body paint colors, fully revamped lights, 3D blurred wheels, reworked co*ckpit textures & materials for higher detail level
Corvette C8.R: Adjusted rear calipers position
Mercedes 190 Evo2: Added adjustable rear spoiler
V1.5.6.2 CHANGELOG
GENERAL
Fixed a crash on ICM when using onboard active suspension adjustments
Car´s undertray aerodynamics now influence amount of particles thrown up in the air such as dust, water spray
Reworked water spray particle systems

UI & HUD
Fixed Missing F-Ultimate Gen2 and StockCar 2024 tire names
Fixed missing leaderboard class logos for Stock Car 2024

PHYSICS
F-Ultimate Gen2: Minor tire carcass & tread adjustments; Minor baseline suspension settings adjustments (slightly stiffer & lower ride height) Minor adjustment to the undertray's optimal rake angle; Corrected minor discrepancies in F-Ultimate Gen Low Downforce variant

AI
F-Ultimate Gen2: Corrected missing AI defensive adjustment; AI calibration pass

AUDIO
F-Ultimate Gen2: Added shift pop sounds

TRACKS
Added 3D trees near trackside for Salvador
Updated water shader & adjustments to suit it for Laguna Seca
Barcelona: Fixed z-fighting issue with foot bridge advert panels.
Barcelona 1991: Fixed submerged road lines near Repsol
Montreal: Add track cut cheat block to pitlane exit
Montreal 1988: Fixed the tall grass clipping thru the cement wall at T5

VEHICLES
F-Ultimate Gen2: Disabled redundant graphical offset making cars visually higher up than they should
Fixed clipping in onboard camera of F-Ultimate Gen2 & Lotus 23
V1.5.6.3 CHANGELOG
GENERAL
Fixed wet water spray appearing too bright when the track was wet but the weather was clear; Added additional water droplets to the wet water spray; Improved wet water spray fade-in with speed and track wetness

UI & HUD
Fixed UI Slider step issues introduced in recent builds
Fixed missing Betonschleife UI Strings
Fixed missing Spanish strings for Pause on Focus Loss

PHYSICS
F-Ultimate Gen2: Fixed onboard Diff Coast adjustmen being unavailable

AI
Further AI calibration pass for AI cars with slicks running on a wet track
Corrected Stock Car Pro Series 2024 AI not receiving defensive line adjustment
TRACKS
Added 3D trees near trackside for Interlagos Historic
Nurburgring 71 (all layouts): Added collision walls for the triangular curb at the Suds entrance