AI in 0.6

I think people need to be reminded, this is just a 0.6.2 version and AI was releaced just 3 weeks ago. Soo...

 

It's difficult to judge about the AI. I'm quite sure people whi like the AI drove other cars than people who dislike it. I can only comment on the Lotus 49 at Monza. It's almost impossible to survive the first lap while it was fine to do races with 0.5.3. With that said, I'll do hotlapping till the next update.

 

Here's my list for the AC AI to be up there before I'd personally class it as Very Good and the Best in any Sim:

- Understandable knowledge of Blue Flags
- Moving out the way in Qualifying when the car behind is on a hot lap (linked to Blue Flags)
- When Spun the knowledge to wait & allow a safe passage of entry back into the race, not just turn onto the track straight into another car
- Proper use of the Slipstream and knowing when to pull alongside and attempt an overtake
- Knowedge of Undercutting when they have been overtaken and vice versa defending an attempted undercut
- Use of high curbs and counteracting the weight forces to avoid rolling
- The knowledge to take different lines through corners instead of following the same "Rails" lap after lap, especially useful when attacking
- Individual Personalities to make each AI Driver unique
- Knowledge of when to Pit with Worn Tires (obviously Pit Stops need to be added first)
- Knowledge to Pit when stuck in a pack or behind someone to allow clean air after Pit stop (see brackets above)
- Proper defence of corners from car attacking from behind
- Proper overtaking procedures and different attempts (see 'different lines' above)
- Use of Headlights in a CLlass race to worn slower cars of their approach
- Proper Knowledge of overtaking slower Class cars

There is a ton more that I could probably think of, but for now that will do!

 

Sounds harsh, but exactly what I thought too.
Sure there are many moments it "works", but they only act ok if they are alone.
If goods means lining up in the queue, then the standards are very low.
They are far away from being safe, but much more away from being competent in overtaking and defending, so convicing that they want to win the race, without screwing up.

But its just the beginning and I at least hope their will be much improvement, if not, I need to except it.

 

AI needs to be buffed because it stops fighting after you pass it and it gives its position way too easily even at 100%.
If someone finds it difficult to keep up with AI, he/she should lower the difficulty. Don't ask Kunos to make the AI more polite. It is too polite to race as it is now.

 

I am convinced Kunos is taking AI and their entire body of work with AC very seriously, and we will see constantly evolving positive progress in this and all aspects of AC. I have much faith in Kunos. We are all here to help the process. I have zero knowledge what it takes to program AI to work well on many tracks and thousands of different scenarios. We all know that it has to be very difficult as we have, well, many of us at least, have seen AI on quite a few sims. These guys are going to get it right. Time is all they need

 

Polite is not the word to describe the AI.

 

Absolutely not my experience at all. I'm continuously being PITTed by the AI in the first 1-3 laps. Once the field spreads out a little they become a little less bloodythirsty, but they're far from 'polite.' Also, AI cars seem to weigh 10 times the player car and have unlimited grip during contact. That's a very common problem across many sims.

I will say, though, I had a delightful moment being viciously blocked into the last chicane at Monza. Very aggressive, but deliberate and legal, block. Kept me on my toes. Never had that in a sim before, so there's something in there that's working nicely.

 

"Oh, hello sir, you surely will pass. Have a nice day!"
Submissive? Opportunistic? Not motivated?

Still their low skills get misinterpreted as aggressiveness, while having no clue what the actual software does. Its less "AH HUMAN! KILL THE LITTLE F****!" more then "hm, overtake. DUH!"
Im sure the developers are aware, that they programm a racing sim and not a zombie-survival game.

Even before the AI came, many stated, with experiences from other games, is that it isnt hard to let the AI drive the track, but to react to others and avoid crashes, while not avoid to RACE, so being too secure while they could defend their position or overtake the player. In most games on of the things appears, so only overtake, when its easy or cause crashes while faling in the exuction.
Its safer now, but with the current state, they dont do that much at all, if you dont make big mistakes.
Thats reflects in the various opinions people have.
Nausea causing ping-pong.

 

Im starting to wonder if different people are having different experiences based on car and track combos. To me the AI is retarded. They attack you and I don't mean in a trying to pass racing style. They try to ram you. You can see it on replay. I have had this happen quite a few times. They slam on the brakes in front of you. They are anything but polite. Super slow through many turns on many tracks with many different cars. Maybe I am just unlucky and my AI is worse than most. BTW I may not be the fastest, but I am not the slowest. In the Supercar race on hard and alien, I get second every time. In a 5 lap race starting at the rear, it is very hard to catch the faster McLaren in the 458. I have come within 1-2 seconds on quite a few attempts. That is just for reference.

 

I take this back. Even MORE FUMING after about 25 retry's at imola with a field of 10 z4 GT3s.... I ragequit because I was sure that something close to me would be broken soon.... Really mad. It wouldn't be so bad if the AI's cars didn't freaking stick to yours. I lost count of how many times I was magnetized and taken out. And the first corner is a disaster.... I even gave them a 5-7 second head start at one point, but was taken out later anyway. I wasn't even driving aggressively

 

Can you please just make the AI see us. After getting through the field you always end up being rear ended by a car, doesn't matter what formula, the AI are the same. This spoils the enjoyment completely. Other than that its a good game. Please, please fix.

Intel core 2duo, Asus P5N-E mobo, 6GB DDR2 GeForce plus G25 wheel

 

dont know if its already mentioned : i observed some strange AI behavior of the 458 Italia they just drive through the lesmos (Monza) in fifth gear where it should be 3rd or 4th also they shift down very late to a smaller gear

 

You can get away without too many accidents if you are extremely careful. In the Tatuus at Monza if you allow for the fact that the AI dive bombs straight into the side of you at the first and second chicane and Parabolica if they are within 15 meters. Also if they are behind you within a few meters you need to get out of their way and let them pass or they will ram into the back of you - they have no concept of braking cautiously early when right behind you.

It shouldn't behave like this and hopefully this type of behavior is addressed.

 

As a feedback something I noticed,

when there is a contact, even a slight one and on the straights, the AI seems to "correct" into the contact, maybe to keep its line, rather than away from it, even when there seem to be plenty of room.
When this happen with the AI behind, it just results in it "intentionally" spinning the player out of the track .
In general the reaction-to-contact feels it needs tuning to become more sensible.

Other nasty things,
over-braking in curves, even when the other cars ahead are some way in front and the AI line does not seem bad,
sudden changes of line, a move that seems correct as an emergency reaction (thus keep it for that case), but excessive in the normal race situations.

Aside of the needed or desirable improvements, and out of the situations where the present shortcomings frustrate the player, the AI is already fun and challenging to race upon.
Thus overall good for the early access, to please us players and get valuable feedback.

Being a slow driver, it is actually quite challenging (even when I survived the first lap).
Now, on this point, I don't know if the spread of records in RSR Live Timing is representative of the general population of players (especially those that will potentially try it after the early access).
If it is the present options for the AI proficiency is OK.
But if it represents the results of the percentiles of top & good drivers (which my pride assuredly assures me is the case, since I always end up at the bottom ), perhaps the typical/potential customer needs more easing into facing the AI, or the other challenges! *expected general reaction: *.

Before everyone jumps on me, no, I do not suggest the AI (or anything else) should be watered down, on the contrary I would like the AI to be capable to be a challenge even for aliens!
In the Utopian hope I'll be an alien someday
But I love AC, thus I want it to do well, which means I want it to sell well (which I also suppose will result in even a better product in the end, greedy me).
My suggestion is to review, evaluating the spread of skills of potential players/customers, the range of difficulties offered, and also the "spelling" of the difficulty options.
The latter sounds just PR crap perhaps, but it does no good if the normal player needs to choose the "dumb-incapable-driver-!-who-the-hell-gave-You-a-license-?"-option to match his/her level, or "AI difficulty 0%".
I am exaggerating of course, what I mean is that no one (customer!) should be potentially "humiliated" just by choosing the option that provides him/her the better enjoyment because the option is spelled "unkindly".

Now I am totally sure my note has improved my standing in everyone's opinion, especially regarding my proficiency as a driver ...

PS:
As You from Your crimes would pardon'd be
let Your indulgence set me free.

 

Heh. Right now lowering the AI percent beyond a certain point doesn't make it any more fun, because of the way the performance drops off. They just hit apexes much slower, and get in the way. 50% is lowest btw, I tried it cause I couldn't beat 'easy' at first. At 50% I was able to lap half the field in a 5 lap race... Now I can set laptimes on pace with the 'medium' difficulty AI, but in general can't place first because it seems you need about a second a lap advantage to be able to catch up to the front of the pack from 12th.

I'd like to see the easier AI run less quickly in all areas, not just slow apexes - let them be more gentle on the brakes/throttle when cornering, and upshift slowly, so the player can sometimes outpace them on the straights, and doesn't have to dive into the corners to beat their braking points.

Right now it seems like as soon as they're the right distance from the corner they go from 100% throttle to 100% brakes with no warning. It might be the fastest line, but it's harder to race alongside them.

 

Its not like settings are Alien to ***** but whatever you call it I dont think it would make a difference. I dont think you need to change the naming of the levels to give lesser drivers some false sense of security in some politically correct way to make everyone think they are good drivers.

The main issue is that its easier to code ai driving closer to the cars limits then it is to make them use less of the car and drive slower. To drive fast you need to use good lines and technique and to go as fast as possible most cars will be driving similar speeds and lines.

Watch any real world series amd the drivers can go 300kmh plus within centimeters of the cars around them because they all know what to expect from other drivers.

Now if someone is not going close to the max performance of the car this can be for many reasons. Could be poor lines, braking, exits etc and mostly a combination of all these factors and many others. This also means that these drivers need more room as they are less consistant and also much less predictable.

Each driver will be different and trying too so coding an AI that can be competitive to slower drivers is quite tricky. Its not just matching laptimes but how they are achieved. Im sure this will be improved in future revisions along with the few issues AI have even at the fadter levels where they could still do with better lines and speeds.

Some key adjustments need to be made so AI can deal with other cars or drivers that are slower or do thibgs that arent very predictable. This is needed to improve the AI in packs mostly at the start of the race, dealing with different cars or drivers and also cars that will be off pace due to tyre degredation or damage.

 

Oops double post.

 

Another thing I just noted, vaguely related to the AI:
setting up a quick race, the first upper row in the UI (I mean user interface) is the car at the back of the starting grid, the last lower row is the car at the front.
A bit counter-intuitive perhaps.
Better if it's explicit.
Also, worth having the UI to reorder the grid.
Probably they know this already