Official General AI Comments & Discussion Topic

I always set the AI aggression level to 95, but I think the problem goes beyond that. The AI just flies down the straights, and it’s more noticeable on high-speed tracks or those with long straights; even when I use the same car model for all of them, the AI always comes out on top. There are categories that are better balanced, and on certain tracks the AI behaves more “realistically,” but generally speaking, it doesn’t matter how fast you are or how well you line up and exit corners—it’s as if they hit a nitro button and that’s it. And I’m not trying to upset anyone; this is just my experience after more than 400 hours of gameplay. I’ve come to the conclusion that the biggest problem with this simulator is the imbalance in the AI, and I play it a lot, since I have no interest in online or multiplayer modes in any video game.

At no point have I said that I’m not satisfied with ATM2’s AI; in my opinion, it’s the best in all of sim racing, as is the content in general. Its historical content—cars and tracks—is the best; no one beats it, not even the overrated iR*ci*g. My comment focuses on the AI’s corner exit speed and straight-line speed, and in my first comment, I made it very clear which track I was “racing” on that week and in which categories: a 35-minute race with 26 cars—which is what Brasilia allows—and the AI set to 95 on aggressiveness. And finally, I apologize if anyone was offended by my comment; I was genuinely frustrated from trying my best in the races and not getting the results I wanted. I’m very passionate about everything I do in my life. Thank you.

 

What happens if you use Strength=90? Or 85?

Also, there are now two new "factor" settings to specifically adjust the braking and traction of the AI.

The standard Aggression setting is Medium, so best to start there as well.

It may be the case that Brasilia requires slightly different settings than some other track or layout where you have experience.

 

Are you perhaps running in game driver Assists?
Non Authentic settings for TC will hamper exit acceleration greatly, and that pays its dues all the way down the stretch.

 

Some comments about V1.6.9.95 RELEASED;

Originally written in a Steam comment by BACKDOOR BENJI:
''I have never been more excited for an update. Ai speed in and out of corners having a "trim" may just darn well be that peice of the puzzle that brings it all together. Ill be happy to update my review soon I hope.

One comment I do have after a few races is that unfortunatley none of the sliders can affect the top speed of the ai. There are so many car and track combos in this game possible, which is the reason why the sliders were necessary, but one of the persistant issues is that there are some cases where regardless of corner exit speed, the ai literally have just a higher top speed than what is possible for the player. I hate to say but maybe add.... yet another slider which is just top speed adjust. Try formula juniors for simplicity when testing my theory, because there isn't really aero to worry about just gears and final drive, on a track with long straights like old spa or monza with the banking, you will see that even if you nerf the ai corner exit, they will eat you on the straight as if they have 50 extra horses or a fifth gear, and in fact leave you behind and begin to pull away. That is not something you can modify with the ai skill, nor any of the existing sliders.
Otherwise great progress!''

Spot-on analysis; an AI top-speed slider is sorely needed. Even on full-throttle ovals like Daytona, the current AI adjustment parameters make absolutely no difference. Reiza fixed the issue of slow AI, but in private qualifying—without the benefit of a draft—the effect was the opposite: even after tweaking the setup, the player always qualifies last because the AI's full-throttle acceleration is superior to the player's.

 

Unfortunately, my first impression of the new AI is not great. I know that Daytona's bus stop has always been a struggle for Reiza, but I'm surprised that it has somehow gotten worse.

Videos

 

Top speed is not one of the factors that makes sense for an AI adjustment. If we artificially slow the AI's top speed, racing becomes boring when you can just drive past them. It takes almost no skill to drive a car at top speed in a straight line. The skill, and danger, is all in the braking and cornerning.

We now have an adjustment for braking and traction--try moving the traction to 0.9 and see if the cars still seem to have an unfair advantage coming out of corners.

Also, there is no systemic approach that makes the AI faster on straights. Perhaps an individual series like the F-Juniors may have a gearing or some other problem, but by and large, the AI are the same speed on straights as the player. Where they are not, that should be reported, but it in not necessarily related to AI strength or aggression or braking or traction--it's just a simpler and more fundamental configuration problem.

 

what happens if you use the recommended aggression level ?
Low isn’t what you should be using with these types of cars , in fact i don’t think it’s recommended to use in general.

 

I've tested low, medium, and high. The results are the same. I'll provide some clips with medium and high as well.

 

no need , was just wondering if it was just to rule out .

 

It's honestly surprising, and a bummer. The bus stop has always been an issue for LMP2 and LMDh, but the problem is much more persistent now. Every other lap, one of those two classes either loses it on their own or attempts a pass that causes multiple cars to lose traction and spin. Considering this isn't a niche track/car combo, I was hoping the results would be better after this latest update.

I've recorded a lot of clips, so if anyone would like to see more, please let me know.

 

On those tracks you can run radiator opening at 40% with Formula Junior, so that affects top speed a fair bit. Maybe this guy is using my skinpack where some of the cars (the Ferraris and Porsches) have more power? Or perhaps his throttle isn't correctly configured.

 

F3 at Interlagos with 120 AI, MAX agression, 105 braking and 95 acceleration, 100 wet and X2 mistakes is amazing in any conditions.

The base is ready. Now just need adjustments per class and tracks.By far the best AI in any racing game. First time in any game I feel like i'm racing against human.

The only thing I miss now is some tweak at AI start traction: in F3 they start like 2026 Russel Mercedes.

 

I read in a post by Renato himself that AI car behavior differs from what the player can achieve; the AI operates based on programming rather than the physics simulation of the car and track experienced by the player. Since the AI's behavior is literally artificial, a top-speed slider would indeed be important for full-throttle circuits, as the default configuration settings aren't always suitable for fair racing tailored to each player's profile. Try running a private qualifying session at the Daytona oval with StockUSA after the update, and you'll notice the AI is much faster than it should be; even after tweaking setup options like the radiator, it’s impossible for the player to achieve competitive lap times without using the draft.

 

Have you checked your throttle calibration? I had a problem that was driving me nuts some time ago, the AI were leaving me for dust on the straights. I tried lowering the AI setting (I usually run between 104 and 108) and had it below 100 but it was still happening. It turned out my throttle calibration was out and I wasn't getting full throttle . Sometimes what you have set in your pedal software/windows/AMS2 can get out of sync. I regularly check my pedal calibration these days.

 

The Daytona oval is a known problem. It doesn't change any of what I said. Top speed is not where an adjustment to the AI is useful. There does not appear to be a systemic issue with top speed besides a small number of examples that have already been discussed on the forum and have yet to be fixed by Reiza. Take a dozen random cars from a variety of series to Monza straights, with possible modifications to the traction setting, and see what happens. And, just in case, also pay attention to @LostPatrol's post because that is also a very common issue according to the history of this forum.

 

The fact is, AI on oval tracks seems harder to program than on road courses. The last game to handle this reasonably well was rFactor 2", at least there, the AI performance settings actually make a difference in adjusting the difficulty to suit different player profiles. Unfortunately, the current AI settings in Automobilista 2 don't seem to have any effect on this type of track—which is a shame, given the excellent car and track content. I sincerely hope the Reiza team finds a solution; I agree that the issues are most apparent at Daytona, but oval AI needs more polish. This includes yellow flag sensitivity—there could be an option to adjust how sensitive the system is to accidents, as currently, the flags sometimes fail to trigger even when the player makes a mistake and spins out. All in all, it’s an area of the game that deserves improvement..

 

I found one big issue with the new AI update of v1.6.9.95: They not only go for a defending line, which they always did and would be fine. But they start to actively block you by swifting left and right on the same straigth as direct reaction of movement changes of the car behind which is illegal in any racing.

I clipped two instances in the same race (I'm the POV car). In the first clip you can see how he goes for the inner line I want to go to, which is fine. The moment I decide to attack outside he moves to the outside (which is debatable if this is his one allowed defensive move or already his 2nd) but I then go the inner line again and he throws an illegal block and even moves further towards the inside under braking so I have absolutely nowhere to go but crash into him.

Second clip in the same video is from the same race and maybe not as extreme as the first case, the AI again is in the outer line, but while I'm approaching decides to squeeze towards the inside and even make a slight sudden movement to the inside under braking so I again can't do anything but crash into him

Note: AI was set to I think 110% with aggression high, so I will have to do more tests if high aggression now means they will do such maneuveurs

 

First clip - AI is following a trajectory of the normal racing line. I see no evidence of blocking.

Second clip - AI decides to move, gently, off the normal race line to block inside line and prevent you from out-braking it into the corner. This is normal racing behaviour. You braked too late when you didn't see the AI blocking the inside line, or, thought you could still run it up the inside anyway, which turned out not to be true. No fault here, just normal racing, but in the past the AI would jump out of the way if you tried to run it up the inside and you could always bully them off their legitimate strategy by doing so. It was a great exploit that is no longer available according to this video.

 

@Ace I've noticed this change as well. With Sebring being so tight, I'm guessing the updated lines play a factor in that. Have you tested the new AI at Daytona Road Course yet, particularly with LMDh and LMP2 cars? I’m repeatedly seeing prototypes attempt side-by-side entries into the Bus Stop, where they spin and wipe each other out. They’re also regularly spinning on their own without contesting for a position while entering the Bus Stop.

The video is from AI pov. I’m running 112 difficulty and have tested Low, Medium, and High aggression, different track temperatures, and both my tuned Custom AI files and a names-only file. The severity changes slightly, but the underlying behavior remains. I’m curious whether you’ve experienced the same thing in your testing.

 

I thought I might also post the following message here (as it is specifically concerns AI behaviour):
Great AI update , however I found out myself (on Austria Red Bull Ring T1) and seen in various content creator's video's (e.g the Rev on Road Atlanta and SimRacing604 on Imola) that the AI tends to spin out a lot off track in the same corner almost every lap. Would be nice if this could also be addressed