Track layouts to receive AI line redos

Silverstone 2020 GP - AI is slow through turns 1, 2, 6 and 18, and too fast on turns 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15.

 

Formula classic gen4
Jacarepagua historic 1988
The AI is really slow, I have to level up more than 15. Straight line speed seems good though.
Thanks.

 

Silverstone 2020 GP
Formula V10 Gen2
difficulty 110 aggression max

AI-Cars are slow in 1,2,3 and 4
All AI-cars accelerate with superpower from 4 through 5
Turn 7 AI-cars are extreme slow
Turn 9 AI-Cars are a little slow, but accelerating from turn 9 in a believable manner, this is the corner where corer-speed and accelerating from the corner have the best balance
Turn 11, 12 and 13 the AI is on the slow side of the right speed,
but accelerating from 13 Through 14 happens with the same superpower

Biggest issues are slow corners 1,2,3 and 7 and the high accelerating power from corner 4(5) and 13(14)

 

Bathurst
Formula Classic (All Gens), maybe other cars, too.

AI has some kind of magic grip and traction in the curvy sector at the end of sector one and the esses down the hill.
They can rush through the corners just as if they had some kind of TC and stability control enabled.
My last try was at 110% strength with Classic Gen 3. On other tracks, I can keep up with the AI, but in Bathurst, they drive circles around me because of this grip advantage down the esses.

AI is faster than the guys in TT on that track.

 

Daytona road course with chicanes, on the last chicane (close to start finish line), the AI is at least 2 to 3 tenths slower on qualifying on Formula V10 gen 2. I believe it will apply to other cars, but I haven’t tested yet.

 

I looked for a car with which to test tracks who need AI line redos vs tracks who need per car AI adjustments, and I think the F3 is pretty well suited. At the test track Barcelona, it is simply perfect: On my baseline strength, for this car it happens to be at 115, the AI does not gain on me in any corner and they also don't lose compared to me on any corner. It's a very balanced experience.

The same cannot be said for the following three tracks, which are in dire need of AI line redos. I recorded the whole endeavour, but sadly my PC deleted my recording because of a lack of disk space :/ That's a bit annoying but I try to make it up with more detail.

Report Part 1:

Nürburgring GP:



This track is probably the one with the most obvious discrepancies. First of all, the AI gets speed boosts if behind the player at the most inopportune corners. They like to go for useless moves into Valvoline corner and even more into the final corner, where they are a constant threat of crashing the player off instead of waiting for T1, like any human would.

Not sure if that is line-related, but maybe something to pay attention to.

The AI can brake very late for T1, especially if behind the player, and they always get a better exit out of the corner than the player despite their late braking. They are also quicker through the entire T2, adding up to a time gain of at least 5 tenths. This time gain is the lowest it can be. If the player makes mistakes under the immense pressure of having to achieve perfection in order to be half a second slower through here, it adds up obviously.

It gets even worse because for some reason, the AI are unable to race side-by-side out of T1. Even at the start (!) they move violently to the right after exiting T1, and they don't care whatsoever if the player happens to be there. They also do that after overtaking. I had to restart the race three times because of this behaviour and I got taken out due to this after 5 laps.

The AI also reliably get a superior exit to the player out of Ford Kurve, which gives them another 1-2 tenths. This usually gets worse with cars that struggle with traction.

The AI then proceed to lose that time back. They are slightly (with other classes significantly) slower than the player through the Dunlop Hairpin and lose 1 tenth on its exit. They are significantly slower through Warsteiner Kurve, where they reliably lose 4 tenths to the player.

Then, they gain another 1-2 tenths under braking for the final corner. This adds up to an AI that is on average half a second quicker than the player per lap, even if they were perfect (or even slightly slower) in Barcelona.

(End of Pt. 1)

 

Part 2:

Silverstone GP

This is another track that has quite some issues, but they are less all over the track and instead are concentrated around the first half of the lap.

The AI on this track don't have a tendency to crash the player off, which is good.

However, they lose a whopping 6 tenths to the player in T1, which with the F3 the AI apparently cannot take flat out, whereas the player can do it. This could be less of a problem with classes who can do this, but the player is also quicker here in classes where the player has to brake as well. It's particularly egregious with the F3, but the issue is always there. The AI also take a completely different line compared to the player through here, not using remotely the full width of the track on the exit of T1.

However, the AI then gain back all that the through Village and the Loop. Through Village, they are slightly quicker than the player on the exit. However, their exit out of the Loop is otherworldy, allowing them to gain 7 tenths out of the entire complex, with most of this gained on the aforementioned exit.

They then like to lose around 1 tenth out of the exit of Luffield. In other classes, the time loss in this particular corner is much more significant, but that might be a car-specific issue. It is interesting that the F3 shows no big problems in the very similar Dunlop and Luffield corners, which other classes do far more significantly.

All in all, especially the first four corners need to be entirely redone for this one.

I will also note that there is a tendency for the AI to get completely insane exits out of hairpins ... but not all of them.

 

Pt. 3

Bathurst 2020



This time I'm back with Bathurst, because it's another of the worst offenders.

AI - on all classes - frequently collides at The Cutting, though I'm not sure how much of that can truly be avoided with how challenging this particular track is for the AI.

However, what surely could be avoided is the fact that the AI reliably gain 8 tenths compared to the player at the complex between Skyline, the Esses, the Dipper and out of Forest's Elbow. This leads to the player being tempted to take these corners much faster than is physically possible, which always ends in the wall and makes this particular track a very frustrating experience.

The AI sometimes seem to get a weird speed boost on the Conrod Straight, but maybe this is due to their far superior exit out of Forest's Elbow. it could also have something to do with the way the AI handle slipstream. It seems reliably far stronger on this straight than on any other, so maybe it's also because of my car scraping the floor.

In order to get a better picture see 1:40, 3:10 and 4:44. The behaviour shown in these sequences will get repeated throughout the entire video, resulting in the crash at 15:20 that ended my race.

 

Pt. 4

Buenos Aires 6S



Buenos Aires is another one of the tracks where the baseline strength is very far away from the actual AI performance on the track. They are simply too quick and there's no corner where the player really gains their time back - the only corner where the AI lose consistently is the exit of the Senna S, but it's not a lot.

Their gains, on the other hand, are very significant.

They usually gain 5 tenths on the player around Curvon No. 8, where the AI can enter and especially exit the corner a lot quicker than the player is able to.

They also approach the Entrada a los Mixtos very different to the player, braking relatively early, taking a wide line (which the player can do, too) and then get an impossible exit that the player is not able to replicate. They also gain even more time around and out of Cajon, leading to time loss of another 5-6 tenths for the player in this combination of corners.

This leads to an AI that is in total around a second a lap quicker than on other tracks, which forces the player to significantly lower difficulty. The nice thing is that in this case, the time gains are relatively local and in my opinion the other corners need not be touched.

See the video at 5:55 for an impression of me driving the aforementioned corners the most perfect I can (mind you, on a strength that was perfect on Barcelona for every corner) while still being obliterated by the AI.

 

Pt. 5

Curitiba


Curitiba is - in the end - a relatively well balanced track, but sadly this is created out of discrepancies that even out. The AI might be a little slower than the player baseline around here in the end, too.

The AI approach the Esse de Baixa corner very different to the player. The fastest way through here (with all cars) is braking on the outside of the track, drift towards the inside very quickly and use the kerbs on T1 and T2 well. The AI brake slightly behind the 100 metre marker with the F3 cars, the player can brake around 70 metres with this vehicle. This often leads to incidents because the AI brakes that much earlier. While the brake distances change with class, I've experienced the general gist consistently, and the AI loses 2-3 tenths to the player here.

The AI lose around 4 tenths through Pinheirinho. They take a very weird and unnatural line through here, braking far too early, then going wide at the apex and getting an ok exit. The player can easily pass them here because they stay that far away from the inside kerb. They also for some reason like to not use the width of the track on corner entry. The lines seem very obviously off at this place.

The AI then can approach Vitoria much faster than the player can. This is accentuated in the F3 car because the player struggles to keep the rear from spinning around in this corner. However, they also gain around 3-4 tenths on the approach and exit to this corner in other classes. A bit of slowing down here would be appreciated, especially considering the fact that the best overtaking spot of the circuit is T1 (if you discount the fact you can easily get past the AI at Pinheirinho).

See this video at 3:57 (T1), 4:30 (Pinheirinho) and 4:55 (final corner) for an impression of the discrepancies.

(oh, and btw: 1:05 for dirty air for the player vs dirty air for the AI)

I also want to use this to compliment the Campo Grande circuit, where the AI paths seem excellently done and during testing I had one of the most exciting races against the AI I've ever had.

 

Spielberg 74 and 77:

AI brakes extremely late before Bosch-Curve (the righthander in the middle sector after the long straight) without locking up brakes, tending to ram player from behind.

In last corner (Rindt Curve), they almost park their car there by going extremely slow. But they then can magically rocket out of corner onto start/finish-straight.

Car used: F_Classic Gen 1 and 3

 

I've noticed it in GT3 Gen2. I went back and tested it with Stock V8 2023 and I indeed didnt notice the same op AI speed at those corners

 

Montreal 1991

• T8/9 - all AIs dip 2 wheels on the grass before T8, turning the whole chicane and almost the entire straight until T10 into a huge mud pit, see screenshots
• T10 hairpin, same happens before the corner, entire outside line is covered in mud
• AI seemingly gets a speedboost out of T10

Lots of dirt is already brought on the track after just 1 lap, few more laps and 80% of track width is covered in mud. I didn't see this when the track pack was released so I'm guessing it's caused by the recent AI corridor changes

 

Pt. 7

Donington Park



So racing at Donington Park is not at all a great experience. I tested this track with three different cars, the M1 Procar at 110 AI, the Brazilian Stock Car at 112 (which is my baseline strength around Barcelona, give or take a click) and the F3 at 115.

The findings were not quite congruent, but there was a general theme that warrants putting this track here.

To put it briefly, I had no fun racing this track; especially with the first two cars it's one of the worst AI experiences the game has to offer.

Maybe there should be a consideration to use tracks like this, which have a lot of traction zones, to calibrate the AI, because their theme of getting insane launches out of slow corners is in line with the fact that the AI calibration track (Barcelona) doesn't have a single 1st gear corner.

But on towards the reports. Funnily enough, there is actually not that many corners wrong with the track, but what is wrong is REALLY wrong.

With the F3 car, I gained around 6-7 tenths on the AI through the exit of Coppice. This was not the case for neither the M1 nor the Brazilian Stock Car, which were just a little slower on the exit of this corner.

For both the M1 and the Brazilian Stock Car my baseline strength was very far off; I was struggling to even get in the Top 20 with strengths I can usually fight for the win with. They were much quicker than me out of the Fogarty Esses, where they usually gained 4 tenths on exit. With the F3, I had no such issues, but the F3 can go full throttle out of that chicane, which the other two can't.

Then for the Melbourne Hairpin, the AI braked significantly too early both with the Stock Car and especially with the M1. The issue was less pronounced for the F3, which generally fared by far the best around this circuit (except for Coppice), but still notable.

They then got a very good (F3) respectively incredible (Stock Car and M1) exit out of that hairpin, usually gaining around 3-4 tenths on me.

The biggest dealbraker was Goddards, though. While the AI was again slightly (F3 and Stock Car) or much (M1) too hesitant on the brakes for this, they then got an _insane_ launch, gaining 4 tenths with the F3 and up to 1.2 seconds (!) with the M1. They seemingly were able to give it full throttle mid-corner with the M1, which made racing this combination an exercise in frustration.

 

Fontana Speedway (Oval)
F-USA Gen 3
A.I. are a complete walk over!
Starting at the back of the grid with A.I. @ 120% Skill Max Aggression, I take 1st by lap 7 and easily maintain after that.

 

Brands Hatch GP
All kinds of open wheelers

When player overtakes before "Sheene Curve", AI does not brake in order to stay on track but go on the outside over the grass without losing grip and then come back on track as if nobody was there.

 

Spa 2022 - tested with LMDh and Stock Car '23

• AI is a lot faster through Pouhon and "No name" - AI speed boost?
  • at Spa 2020 AI is more in line with the player through Pouhon
• too slow in last chicane and first corner

Interlagos GP

• AI brakes too early into T1

 

Imola 88

F_Hitech Gen 1 and 2

When following another car, AI tends to run over the grass for no reason between start/finish and Tosa and then also between Tosa and Piratella, bringing a lot of dirt on track.

 

Also, on the same track, the AI run over the massive kerbs, which makes some of them spin with some of the F-Hitechs and F-Classics, and those who keep control of their car bounce over the track in a very weird way, breaking a bit the immersion.