I like mandatory pitstops. I would like to have mandatory AI pitstop in the center of the race like Assetto Corsa Competizione and not at the end like PC2. There are bugs in hockenheim where AI do not enter in pit and crash and in Austria where AI don't pit and AI is disqualified for this. In Interlagos AI exit too slow out the pit. In the future would be nice if there would be pit stop with only change tyres, pit stop with only fuel and pit stop with both tyres and fuel.
Yes Ive found similar bugs with AI not pitstopping in Campo Grande and Spielberg so far. I always set up my races to have a mandatory pitstop and both the last two races I did 95% of the AI cars were disqualified for not pitting properly. But the weird things is in both cases a couple of cars were not disqualified and therefore seems to have pitted ok? Either way its a serious bug because just cannot do any custom races or custom championships at all with pitstops in at the moment. Reiza really need to get to grips with this asap, this game is little more than a beta stage game it seems! Why is it taking so long to sort this out? - pit stop issues are now the No.1 issue in this game and have been for weeks. I might have to go back to Project Cars2 at this rate, at least you could do pitstops in that game. I am getting concerned I've just spent £50 on a right dud here.
Bug fixing is not an easy thing. Some issues take time to identify the source and come up with a fix. Sometimes it is a matter of priorities (this is especially true with smaller dev teams). One thing is sure, you didn't buy a dud. Reiza will get to it eventually. Go play pC2 in the meantime if you want to and keep an eye on the change logs as they tend to be frequent and long.
Does it work to skip the "mandatory" aspect of it and just accelerate the fuel usage and tire wear? Then everyone stops because they "need" to. In AMS2 I pretty much only do pit stops to change onto/off of rain tires, but in Raceroom I've found that it works better to create a need for pit stops (by fuel/tire acceleration) than requiring one that's really not needed. Plus it's more fun as pit strategy factors in a lot more. On the mandatory/not needed stops it becomes a matter of doing minimal service and then trying to be as quick as possible getting on and off pit road.
I thought you could already do that by creating/editing a pit strategy? I agree overall that it needs refinement and features. I'd like to see pit windows implemented, so you can't do massive undercuts if you're at the back of the field by pitting on the first lap I also had an issue in a custom championship, where my pit strategy was set to change to recommended tires. The race started dry, so on slicks. Then it started to rain before my mandatory stop so I pitted, hoping they guys would hook me up with now 'recommended' wets, but they put a new set of slicks on. Cost me the race
Theres probably a threshold where if its not very wet they will use slicks for example if the track is moist but drying then that would be correct, but if its just starting to rain it would be the wrong decision. The AI probably arent smart enough to tell the difference between rain starting and rain stopping. I have a few pitstop strategies - minimal fuel only, wets only, drys only, tyres and fuel only, tyres fuel and quick repairs (aero only), and long stop. I preselect the one I think I will need depending on weather. If the weather is marginal this allows me to get the right tyre no matter what. I have 'minimal fuel only' for races with mandatory pitstops so I have a minimal stop time. I enjoy using mandatory pitstops just because it messes up the race order and creates some chaos. But yes you can play with no pitstops and do around 35 laps before needing to change tyres but I also find mandatory pitstopping enables me to relax for a few minutes in a heavy race as I have 'auto-pitstops' enabled. Racing for 35 laps non-stop is pretty demanding. Auto pitstops also give me time to make sure the correct pit strategy is selected as well without having to do it whilst driving, which is pretty difficult.
Yup I'd like that too, mandatory pit stops with or without tyre and/or fuel change, and an option to implement pit windows as well.