Automobilista 2 V1.2.0.0 & Racin´ USA Pt1 RELEASED - Now Updated to V1.2.1.4

Agree, but I suspect what is happening is that the progression of track grip (highest in R versus Q and P sessions) is having more effect than the factor for taking more risks and being quicker in Q.

This is another part of the AI equation that has to be balanced. I think in real life, race pace is often lower than what AMS 2 assumes...as everyone is managing their tires and equipment in the race and waiting for the opportunities to push. The AI aren't that smart...and just drive to an algorithmic pace that is a collective estimate of risk management, equipment management, tire wear, track grip, and now also driver personality/skill.

Any specific data on player pace versus AI pace across sessions is helpful--because even getting our cars balanced in this regard is tricky and needs to happen in parallel with getting the AI sorted.

 

Hi Marc, (+Crimson) RS,
can you confirm if AI pace is affected by track rubber state? pls
(testing heavy rubbered winter vs same in summer atm)

 

I wonder how the AI is done in the other sims such as AC, ACC, iRacing. Even though their on track behaviour is not great, at least it feels like the AI is racing on the same dimension as the player.

In AMS2 it feels like the AI is in a completely different universe. They brake extremely late in some corners, and get on throttle at alien speeds & traction out of other corners. And then they are very slow at some straights (if not all).

I would blame it on simplified physics, but then are the other titles using full physics for their AI?

Anyway, for the F1's racing vs the AI does not feel like racing at all, it is just like you are on a plane of existence and the AI on another one completely different.

 

Question for the TT Junkies:
does anyone know for sure if the amount of fuel can affect the lap time?

 

I think AC and ACC are the only sims where the AI uses the same physics as the player.

 

I'm certain it doesn't. It is ignored. You can put in 1l and lap Nords in a GTE.

 

I bet if you put too little in and run out of fuel, then it does

 

As far as I know, in TT everyone has 5L of fuel, regardless of your settings. You also start with optimum tire temp.

 

In time trial no I don't think so, but more generally?
Yes but not much in cars that have a small volume fuel tank. In cars that carry 60 litres or more running full compared to empty has an impact. Not enough to make pit stops worth it though, especially as the limiting factor is the fuel flow rate during refuelling.. Same re fuelling for race distance. You might as well stick an extra 5 laps in as the penalty is negligible compared to not finishing or running lean.

 

I run 20m qualifying and 30m practice but the ai are almost always faster in the race.. Also in qualifying there is not much improvement over the session (although there is some, and this has improved over the last few months). It's kind of sad watching the ai go around lap after lap in qualifying, posting laptimes that are totally without purpose. While not a technical problem, it detracts from the overall race event experience comprising of practice through to chequered flag. Hopefully some levers can be pulled to get this particular train back on the right tracks

 

They go faster in the race than their own best laptime in qualifying. I started making a note of specific tracks, times and difficulty and feeding back in the ai section but havent been on for a while.. the problem is that as a consequence every single race defaults to defensive mode, compounded by the issues you describe as the race progresses. This is obviously not a pleasant experience because of its predictable nature and the realisation that your own pace in qualifying (which often leads to difficulty adjustments) is actually undermining your race. If you adjust for race pace then qualifying is so easy its pointless to run it. But yeah, at race end if you look at the ai fastest lap compared to both their fastest lap in qualifying, its often significantly faster than what was your pole position time, and orders of magnitude faster than their own qualifying time.
I cant state that its a universal problem because I havent raced on all tracks in all series obviously..

 

Just for ease of info purposes, heres a copy/paste of the two posts I made in the ai feedback channel. Anything in Italics is an edit made today;

"
Version: V.1.2.0.8
Car: Formula Trainer
Track: Brands Hatch Indy (although a common theme throughout)
AI Strength: 105
AI Aggression: 100
Weather when the issue was observed: light clouds
Type of session when the issue was observed (practice / quali / race): race
Ai are faster in the race than in Qualification, by approx half a second a lap. This results in permanently defensive races.

Edit, just to pad out some more info-
Fuel load was unchanged, same with setups etc between the sessions. Effectively the same setup for both. Multiple installation laps run in qualifying to ensure everything was up to temperature, pressure etc. My fastest lap in the race was a tenth or so faster than my qualifying time, the ai closest to me (a group of 3) fastest lap in race was half a second or so faster than my pole time.

Version: Edit-same as above actually- I made a mistake in the original post with this item
Car: Formula Trainer (basic)
Track: Donnington National
AI Strength: 105%
AI Aggression: 100%
Corner (if issue is corner specific): NA
Session Distance: 20 minutes
Weather when the issue was observed: light clouds
Type of session when the issue was observed (practice / quali / race): race
As reported for Brands Hatch Indy earlier, similar phenomenon at Donnington National- Ai are faster in the race than in qualification. Fastest Ai qualification time 1:18:966, fastest ai race time 1:18:423.

This means that all things considered, if you do a max performance lap in qualifying, on the same setup and with the same fuel as the race, you will be defensive all race as the race pace of the competition is a step up from their qualification pace. If you do a qualification setup that is faster (My edit today- so if you put less fuel on, aggressive setup etc to really blast qualifying and have adjusted difficulty to that pace..) then the problem will be compounded when you revert to your slower race setup."

 

I find the opposite happens in a race. Even if I start on pole I cannot keep pace with the AI for the first 4 or 5 laps, they are just absurdly fast but then slow down after that time and I can pick them off and get most of my positions back. Not sure why they would be programmed like that? Never experienced it in any other sim.

 

Do you think that the discrepancies in pace between qualification pace and race pace will be resolved?

 

I guess it is a problem because they are faster at the start of a race than they were in qualifying and they are leaving the pole car way behind.