Automobilista 2 V1.3.6.2 Officially RELEASED

Bear in mind I had a slight edge in top speed compared to AI. I agree they could push a bit more to complete overtakes, but on the brighter side there were no divebombs and crazy speeds difference with the player in top speed and braking zones, which are big immersion brakers. And that despite really racing extremely close to me.
I do not know a sim where AI really defends by changing line that much. Most AIs run in trains. AMS2 already has AIs changing lane quite a bit, maybe not much in this race but happened to me that they changed lane and sometimes even quite aggressively.
In general even for me it wasn't very easy to pass them because I had little gain from slipstream while I was losing some edge due to dirty air.

 

Yeah, I think the definition of good/fun AI varies from one user to another, therefore I come here and say "AI bad/boring" by my standards, but for yours it is perfectly fine.

Doesn't mean you are wrong and I'm right, or vice-versa. Just different expectations, I guess.

A good example that annoys me and breaks any immersion for me is what happens at about 4 mins, when you yeet the P1 AI, then proceed to give the position back losing some pace. The AI behind clearly has the pace to overtake you on the next turn, or at least battle taking the inside, but it does only back out and leave you alone.

I feel like the AI is overly protective of the player. Gives me the impression it cheats their behaviour in my favor, and that is annoying.

 

This is true.
I sometimes muck around with custom AI files, setting up AI only races, and just watch.
It's more interesting than it sounds (kind of like watching a marble race).

From my observation, the custom attributes manifest really well and you can see the different levels of pace consistency, etc.
But the issue with AI getting 95% of a pass done, then not completing it - is still there and still a negative. If this single problem was resolved, I think it would transform AI races.

Everything else aside from this, is more than acceptable.

 

I'll put my vote in for AMS2 having the best AI racing, presently, at least relative to the other titles I play (ACC and Raceroom).

ACC while fun to drive just provides boring racing. Raceroom AI is a lot of fun to race against, but there are quirks that have been around for a long time and never really improved at (e.g. the ability to rather easily pass several cars in a hard braking zone while not being able to match their pace in fast corners). AMS2 AI overall have good pacing at different areas of the track (i.e. no places to safely pass 3 cars in one corner or vice versa). The behaviors also continue to improve.

The big issues are pretty well known--fuel calculations and overtaking--although I think the overtaking is probably less about overtaking per se and more about having a "belief" that the outside line is the favored line when racing another car. A year ago they would wipe the player out to get to the outside before entering a corner. That's long since gone, but I sense that a little further tweaking there would solve most of this concern (which may be more easily said than done).

And yes, some cars are better than others. Stock cars and F-Classic Gen 3 are probably the two best categories for AI racing right now, IMO.

On the matter of physics changes, my only complaint as somebody who pretty exclusively does single-player racing is releasing such changes without corresponding AI updates. With the recent tire updates, there are now a fair number of combinations where an average player sets the AI to 120 and the AI are still way too slow. AMS2 is way beyond the point where its okay to break the gameplay to improve physics. 18 months ago was different, but now everything drives well enough that the gameplay can be cared for as much as the car physics, even if that means that the deployment of physics updates is delayed.

 

That's not me, i never use MP.

 

The F1 games have good AI in this sense. They will move to the middle/inside to defend as you approach and move to follow your slipstream if you go to the inside.

The F1 AI is by no means perfect, but in racing terms I think it is the best out there.

 

Could you explain the correct calibration method please?

 

Rotate all the way. Next. Return to center and turn 90°. Next. Done.

 

Just to clarify and insert myself without being asked: In the second step, turn the wheel 90° either left or right and nudge it until it displays the degrees of rotation you set in the wheel's driver software. This way you can make sure your wheel is synced to the in-game wheel.

Don't forget to click save in the third step

 

AI pace seems well balanced here - and that is a rare sight, because it simply isn't on many tracks, especially with everything open wheel related. However, I agree with @sgsfabiano that racing against obviously mindless bricks that travel at the same speed as you just isn't my idea of good AI. The F1 games actually have it down very nicely, but they can do what no other sim except ACC can do: Focus on one type of car and optimize the hell out of it. These guys stay next to you, they know where you are, they defend, they use slipstream, they don't get scared off the road easily, they actually go for moves instead of driving next to another car and then move behind it after the straight is over, they are just as perfect as AI can probably be.

You should be able to easily beat me once you get rid of the mistakes - if you use my ghost, you'll notice that you always gain between 0,5-1 tenth on the straights, no matter what exit I get. Not sure why that is, but you've got a little more straight line speed than me.

 

The reason things feel smooth to you is your wheel is belt driven soo has natural damping anyway. Totally different from DD. I Zero everything except Gain and damping. I can feel a mosquito if I drive over one in my wheel.

 

Correct, except the instructions don't emphasise that the wheel should be returned all the way to the centre (the wheel's neutral position) and not just back to the first time it is upright. It is this second step that leaves room for error.

 

Are you talking about a grainy feeling FFB, like you're driving on gravel the whole time?

Some time ago I only had that on Road America with all cars, and with select few car s like the Classic Mini and the karts on any track, all else was smooth. Since the tire carcass updates I have that on basically all updated cars on all tracks.

Zeroing FFB settings doesn't do anything, Default or Default+ feel the same in this regard. All I can do is set the recon filter in TrueDrive to 7 or higher, but then everything feels very soft and slow like steering against a sponge.

 

Thanks. As I thought.

@CrimsonEminence could this info be made more explicit in the game UI. Seems important.

 

Were you using my same setup?

 

The second rotation by 90 degrees HAS TO BE ON THE SAME SIDE as the first full rotation. Many people rotate casually in any direction and that leads to badly calibrated wheels.

 

Yes and No. This recommended procedure will be dependent of the wheel or maybe my TM TX is an exception.
While largely announced as a 900º (And I leave it Default in CP) it is in fact a 870º lock to lock.
Second step calibration while turning 90º right or left, the display shows 870 and the real and virtual wheels match all the way. But if I force turning to 900º R/V wheels dont match except around the center.

 

Maybe necessary to anothers but not to my wheel.

 

Whenever the wheel calibration process is discussed, it reinforces my argument for a rewriting of the instructions. If the calibration left no room for doubt or error, there would be no need to discuss it. We need an "arms folded" emoji.

 

I simply copied yours, yes.

It's not the first time I had these issues, though. Also happened to me on Road America in F1V10 Gen2, where I lost a similar amount of time to everyone else on the same setup.

On other occasions, it doesn't happen. Bit strange, but could be something with my hardware; my PC is seriously outdated and my Dualshock is about 8 years old at this point.