I must be missing something, help

[MadMike0082]

I hear people talk about this sim and how great it is and dont get me wrong the physics and sim itself is decent. But what is there to do ? Time trials and AI solo races ? Multiplayer has no ranked, 25 people max online. Is this something to do with DLC do I need to buy it all ? Does that unlock some career mode or some other multiplayer? I dont want to be missing out but I just dont understand what exactly there is to do if its just AI and time trials ?

Tell me what im missing, thanks!

[Marcos Santos]

Depends of what exactly are you missing..
If you're missing a career mode, there's two apps at RaceDepartment:

For The Win (I developed this one) - https://www.racedepartment.com/downloads/for-the-win-career-mode-for-ams-2.63157/

and Racing Life - https://www.racedepartment.com/downloads/racing-life-ams-2-career-mode-companion-app.55558/

If you're missing some specific tracks, check out the dlc's to see if it has the one you want..
If not, you can get some tracks at Project Cars modding Team: https://projectcarsmoddingteam.weebly.com/ams2-tracks.html

If you're missing some cars and classes, check out the dlc's to see if it has what you want, if not, you can get some also through the link above (the Project Cars modding Team) and from Thunderflash mods: https://mmodding3.net/

If you're missing ranked multiplayer, there's Racecraft Online: https://www.racecraft.online/
But multiplayer is not the strongest of this game, it has very low player base compared to other racing sims..

If you're missing the names of the drivers, you can get the the correct ones for the entire cars and classes from the game with NAMeS: https://www.racedepartment.com/downloads/names-real-drivers-for-ams2.50989/
And if you plan to use skins, install these names first, then input the skins..


This game has some modern cars and classes, a lot of historic ones too, very good AI, the relevant tracks (at least for me), one of the best graphics compared to other racing sims, and there's more to come..

For me, the game has a low player base because it did not started too well, but the game is definitelly improving.. It you want a good single player experience, this is a very good game, if your focus is multiplayer, there's better racing sims on the market (although the devs said this is going be improved as well)..

[AllocDK]

Last time i looked it had 800 people playing

[MadMike0082]

Originally posted by AllocDK:

Last time i looked it had 800 people playing

I guess you missed the part where I said multiplayer? I looked at 7 pm EST there were 18 in one server, 4 in another, zero in the other 50 servers. Low Fuel Motorsport announced recently they are abandoning AMS2 totally from their service from lack of players. There is no ranked, no nothing. Unless I am totally missing something this is all Im seeing ??

[NairBoT]

You missed nothing.
I love that this game doesn't make me suffer through a career mode to unlock content.

Custom race is king in any track racer since you race your way.

[Roger Longkoch]

Originally posted by nairB:

You missed nothing.
I love that this game doesn't make me suffer through a career mode to unlock content.

Custom race is king in any track racer since you race your way.

Yeah, Christ only knows why he want unlocks!

[[SRS13]Rastus(TTT)]

Player numbers can be a problem.
Check Steamdb for player numbers to see the most likely time for high numbers.
https://steamdb.info/app/1066890/charts/
Whilst this isn't just people playing MP but everybody in-game it is a decent guide for when the peak players are each day
Only DLC cars are locked from non-DLC players, if you see a DLC track in use online but non-DLC cars (e.g. Nordschleife GT3 race) you can join despite not owning Nords, if it was GTE cars only you're unable to join unless you own racing USA pt1 or the full pack.
Reiza made the choice to allow access to DLC tracks online & in SP "championships" (which are very limited in scope atm but the recent dev update mentions a more expansive career mode end of 2024- early 2025), you're unable to run single race, test day & time trials on DLC track plus all DLC cars are locked out in all modes.
There are "ranked" races, they'll have a green block with the min rating for entry (e.g. U1500 on a green background).
If you're only seeing red blocks in the lobby lists, you might inadvertently have online lobbies set to unranked only. This could also make it seem unpopulated in MP.
This can be checked in the lobby filter options, top right of the lobby lists. You can set this filter to ranked, unranked or all.
This is on top of all the mods & feature sets mentioned by @Vinnie above.
Joining some AMS2 groups on say Discord or Facebook can also be beneficial, I'm a member of Racecraftonline @Vinnie mentioned above,
https://discord.gg/kuJ8q5t9
also RWB (Racers Without Boarders),
https://www.rwbracing.club/
TTT (Team Time Trial sadly shut down due to the owners life commitments taking precedence over running the group),
Touristfahrten (Nordschleife real weather simulation server that is 24 hour practice sessions that records all times set to an external website so you can see how you stack up against everybody that completed a clean lap). Can't add a link for this one sadly..
Slipstream (who have midweek & Sunday championships with 10 races each "season" that drops the worst 3 results so people can miss 3 races when life is more important).
https://discord.gg/hbcdXEEv
Simracing GP who run events across many titles as do the others above.
https://discord.gg/6jxAF99y
With all these options & many, many more out there, you're presented with 100's of opportunities to race on dedicated servers with some of the fastest players in the game.
But don't let that scare you off though, these groups, in my experience, are full of people more than willing to pass on tips, tuning information, Racecraft skills (I myself have often run training sessions for those who ask for help), game & hardware details, several have threads where members will sell hardware when they upgrade for "mates rates" to group members..
We don't bite, we don't tell you "GIT GUD NOOB, HURHURHUR!!", anyone who DOES that BS won't be around for long, the admin won't put up with it!
After all... The more players get faster, the more challenging the racing gets, the more fun that EVERYBODY has and we're All encouraged to improve..
It's a whole WORLD of petrol head nutters more than willing to aid you on your journey into the world of sim racing..
E.G. This was a race with Slipstream discord group...
https://youtu.be/of8CSL7x4ZU?si=ZLM0x_HnanxGP-Uk
Like both myself & @Vinnie mentioned, don't be afraid to join, don't be intimidated from asking questions, remember this too.
WE ALIENS WERE ALL NOOBS TOO!
WE GOT HELP FROM OTHERS TO GET TO WHERE WE ARE NOW!
THOSE WHO REMEMBER THESE FACTS WILL "PAY IT FORWARDS" JUST LIKE OTHERS DID FOR US..
If you DO get arseholes? Forget them! It's THEIR loss, not yours.

[mack]

there are lots of discord pickup races and leagues with clean racing, the built in multiplayer is quiet. not much incentive to race clean until the devs come up w something.

https://discord.gg/yAr3ETrX
https://discord.gg/noobgamerz-508368162538913801
https://discord.gg/onidcommunityracing
https://discord.gg/U83JcgsTxj
https://www.justrace.net/en/user/events
https://discord.gg/5bPaqCqA

[DmAnd]

Live track.
Dry wet dry.
Night - foggy morning - thunderstorm all in one race

[Swansonhart]

Originally posted by MadMike0082:

...I dont want to be missing out but I just dont understand what exactly there is to do if its just AI and time trials ?

It might come as a surprise, but from I've heard, many people prefer driving against the AI and do hot laps in time trials. It offers a relaxing experience of driving at your own pace compared to online sweat-a-ton racing. There's no career mode as you know, but it's likely to be announced in late 2024!

Originally posted by MadMike0082:

Tell me what im missing, thanks!

Relaxing experience. Enjoying cars and tracks combos. Zero sweat. That's what you seem to not appreciate. Try it sometime!

[Wetchaser]

Ignore op. He has most of the major racing titles. But less then 20 hours of game play in any of them. This is the guy we all lap mercilessly but he complains the loudest about the game. Really, ignore him.

[MadMike0082]

Originally posted by ｓｐａｒｋｌｅ:

Yes its missing a battlepass and call of duty campaign cinematics 🤡

I like the sim. Im just looking for an answer because I truly felt like maybe with DLC it unlocks more things to actually do other than simply do laps or AI races. With as much content as there is in the sim now I just assumed I must be missing something.