Automobilista 2 V1.3.6.2 Officially RELEASED

Ha, ha. Didn't think my video would be controversial. A few notes on it:

--I had abused my front tires earlier in the run so I was having to get on the power late coming out of the corners.

--If there was something to be critical of here, it's that the blue car in front was holding every one up, although in fairness he does have a high "defending" rating in my AI file. The Jordan ( the green car) was actually the fastest car in the bunch.

--I setup the AI to not have that huge of a spread. I'm well aware that this scenario would not have happened in 1991 F1. This race had several lead changes in racing conditions; in real life an F1 race at Watkins Glen would simply have the fastest car qualify first and then power away from everyone else and win by a minute. Obviously with custom AI people can create the scenarios they want to.

 

I don't think so, I did a AI race with porsche cup on Oulton Park Classic which should have improved AI paths but the AI performance differs a lot per section, some parts they are to slow and others to fast. the AI is not suitable to race, you must keep them behind you on the fast parts and pass them where they are slow. In lodge corner they are almost coming to a stand still and you have to brake way to early to not scoop them out and in other corners they are way to fast.
I find the same pattern for a wide range of difficult settings.
The fact that they are so easy to pass on places where they are slow makes it almost impossible to find the difficult setting that matches my performance, (this is just one car on one track, If you change car or track ......) For me racing AI has two possible endings I win or get last
For me the AI is no fun at all, I always end up wondering about the logic behind it and mostly stop the race after a few laps.
I love to drive the cars and I like most of the circuits, so that is what I am doing the most, driving the cars on the lovely tracks, just for the driving, testing them, finding a nice setup mostly ending in a Time-Trial but No championships no single races and no online races

 

I'm also feeling grainy movement and high frequency-low intensity vibration on my wheel that is not natural. Felt a lot of it on the Ginetta Supercup. My wheel is a T300

 

1) Doesn't really matter and maybe accentuates the issues, but what I see on the video is exactly what I experience whenever I try out the AI, no matter the state of the tyres.

2) Even without field spread, just watch one F2 race and you know that Formula cars do not race as excessively side-by-side, constantly overtaking and re-overtaking each other.

 

I've got a question about the latest update.
I rarely use custom setups. Do I need to erase some prefs after this (or previous) update(s)?
If so, which and were to find them?

The only thing I experience now is that nearly every update, my base/steeringwheel settings/calibrations are gone.

Thanks

 

If you don't use custom setups just reset the setup to default the first time you drive a car after an update, nothing is lost, than you are sure you use the latest "default setup"
I can't remember I lost my settings/calibration after an update, the only time this happened was when the multiple controller-profiles were introduced.

 

I've been posting races against AI in my Youtube channel, mainly GT3 & GT4, I see issues such as AI drive side-by-side without overtaking all the time, I also often see AI changing direction and retaking the racing line at the very last moment in the braking zone, imo moving in the braking zone is an almost guaranteed way to get the car behind to hit you.

 

With some exceptions:

 

Formula Ford, right? Amazing series, would love to be able to race one of these irl. If I were given the opportunity to choose between 1 race in Formula Ford or 1 race in any GT3 series irl, I'm going to go 100% with Formula Ford

Still, these overtakes, re-overtakes and side-by-side we see here feels very different from what we get in AMS2. I think it is the issue with the AI giving up 95% complete overtakes that is offputting. Like someone mentioned before, I believe once Reiza sorts this out, AI racing in AMS2 will be pretty fun.

 

Isn't the difference that in AMS2 when they are side by side it seems like there is no speed or grip penalty for the AI cars in the corners. It seems like they can drive side by side with no loss of speed for either those on the inside or outside. And they can continue driving for a long time doing that.
Also, I often see cars driving on the grass on the inside and up the boards which makes no sense.
Sadly you also still see the sometimes sudden moves going left and right (it is certainly better than Project Cars 2 and has been worked on greatly but it is still visible).

 

For me this hits the nail on the head.
The fastest lap time comes from maximising each corner, using the whole track and all of the available tyre grip. If you are side by side, or even defending the inside line and therefore not following the normal racing line, you are compromising the corner and will be slower.
The AI don't play by these rules. They can go side by side or on weird lines without ever losing speed. They just end up in big clumps blocking the track.
There is no pace consequence for their poor racecraft. They can do things the player can't and are slow for no reason elsewhere.

 

I think I agree with everything you said.
My only point was that in RL, Formula cars can run side by side.
That was it.

 

While I somewhat agree with many of the observations regarding AI, I'm actually having a lot of fun racing the AI the way it is now. Of course I'm not expecting Westworld-levels of AI fidelity and complexity, and I'm using custom files for the classes I enjoy driving.

Maybe I just found a sweet spot by setting consistency quite low, aggression fairly high and then adjust the skill to put myself in the middle of the field.

With the Caterhams, the F-Retros, F-Vintage, '70s Porsche RSR, F-Trainers, Mini Cooper Ss and Copa Classic I don't seem to have issues with AI not overtaking. I suppose what these cars have in common though is that they are rather slide-y affairs so that alone might make things more dynamic than cars with loads of grip and downforce that tend to run more like on rails.

My main gripe with the AI is that some tracks have one or two corners where the AI is very slow for no apparent reason, and you can often bag several positions simply by going wide, but I guess this has to to with the paths and not the AI as such.

 

Could you share your settings (strenght/aggression) and AI files for the F-Retro and F-Vintage?

With the F-Vintage no matter how much I fiddle with strenght and aggression, the bots are EXTREMELY slow on the straights and banked corners of historic Monza (no chicane).

 

Aggression determines how long an AI opponent will defend their position before giving up, and how long an AI will try to pass before giving up. (There could be other effects as well, but this is the main effect at the moment)
Aggression should not affect speed at all.

You can use
Official AI Report Topic
to report any further findings.

 

AMS2 now launching on simracing.gp

 

If you want to prop up a community on SR.gp, don't bother. You gotta pay a monthly fee to use their servers with a limited amount of hours of use. Opt instead for JustRace.net and either use your own internet at home or rent a custom server which will be cheaper on a yearly basis which won't have any limitations. Hell you can even set up JR to run on AWS with auto-start.

 

I am in the enjoying AI camp. For sure they aren't perfect and I wouldn't do a 3 hour race with pit stops etc like I use to do in ACC. But I've had lots of fun doing 20 lap races.

You do need to have some decipline and not abuse obvious weaknesses or be excessively aggressive, although I think thats true with AI in most aims. I've had some great wheel to wheel battles with the AI that can last multiple corners. I haven't checked replays, maybe they do defy the physics we have to go by, but that doesn't mean I haven't had a lot of fun.

Add in some custom AI sprinkled with modern and great drivers from the past (and a few close friends just because) and it can be quite a thrill. Racing around with Clarke, Schumacher, Hamilton and Verstappen just adds that little bit more

 

yeah exactly, JustRace.net works really well

 

I will agree on JustRace being a better service, but maybe player numbers for Simracing.GP could help boost AMS2. That said, their Nords24 event makes me wish we had available driver swaps, although I know that'll probably never happen.