I just did a search for a thread on the AI, have found nothing so far (tho there might be a discussion buried in a generic thread somewhere). The AI in rF1 isn't the worst I've ever seen, but it could stand some improvement. Things that bug me about them in rF1: They will often just push you aside, sometimes onto the grass, if you are running next to them, almost as if they don't see you. Now, to be fair, the usual rule in a lot of racing series is that the leading car has the right to the corner, and thus if you are trying to pass them but haven't gotten next to or ahead of them, they typically will turn into you like you are not there (because you ostensibly need to back off). This as I understand it is controlled by the courtesy setting in the AI driver file, and at low levels I have seen them back off and yield the line to you, but not very often. They have absolutely no dynamic strategy-any "strategy" that they perform is deterministically based on whatever setup they have (which controls the fuel levels for a given stop). Well who wants to go in and tweak each setup for each car every time you want to run a different length race? They will also take on full tires and fuel even if it is the end of the race and they only need a splash-and-go, and apparently are unable to switch to harder more durable tires on their own. The biggest one for me tho is their behavior in multi-class races. The leading cars will often happily chug along tucked neatly in behind a slower class car, rarely if ever attempting a pass, while the slower car consistently blocks them in every corner as if it is the last lap of the race and they're dicing for position. Again many multi-class series mandate that the slower car hold its line and it is the responsibility of the faster car to make the pass clean, but the faster ones are so inept and the slower ones so obtuse that I typically have to set the AI 2-3% higher than I ideally would just because of how hopeless they are when passing slower cars. It also seems like if they do get too close to the rear of the other car that they are less likely to pass, and they don't seem affected by the slingshot effect (or at least they don't take advantage of it, since in general they are affected by the draft). I'd thus dynamically adjust the Aggression and Courtesy settings depending on the classes of the car in question-hi Agg and low Cour for the passing car, the reverse for the slower one (and said effect is stronger the farther apart the classes are). Hope this helps.
The obvious answer (that I posted on a thread here somewhere) is to provide for plug-ins to control the AI then let the community develop it, I'm sure RARS/TORCS would make an excellent basis.
A recent Forza4 video had one GOOD thing in it to show off AI where a Ferrari 458 driven by AI had to negotiate a few laps of a circuit with 20 or so small hatchbacks on track that didn't deviate from the racing line. I think that would be a great way to show off how rf2's new ai are programed.
Direct from Scott on the 25th of march in the Q&A thread: Scott: I'll answer what I can quickly: The AI are now MUCH better at holding their lines through turns, and how they act when behind you. Mind you if you slam on the brake with an AI right behind you outside of a braking zone, then yeah, you're going to get hit--same thing happens in real life to everyday drivers. But if you race properly so do they... AI characteristics are centrally located based on series--it's easy to tweak them now... So far the same AI options, but they work more as you'd expect now. We're not done yet so there may be more options to come... AI track learning isn't really needed any more--it's still AIW based but is much more in depth--more to come on this later... Mod mode has an AIW editor, yes. I do NOT underestimate the need for strong AI as I love to just jump in the game, set up a race and go. I can honestly say that I enjoy racing against the AI now--they're at least as good now as a better than average online group
That represents my biggest current requirement from a racing sim. I have raced online for well over a decade and enjoy it immensely but it needs organisation and drop in multiplayer is always hit or miss. The structured services work well but have never delivered a true arrive and drive experience to date. I had worried that online competition would become the standard for all developers to rely on for quality racing so this is very refreshing to hear.
