Memo to Bob

Bob

Attempting to overtake any car on the left when approaching the chicane at Cote D'Azur will result in you hitting the arnco and most likely losing the race.

Please do not ignore my repeated requests to "pace down"

DO I NEED TO PUT A POST-IT ON YOUR HELMET VISOR BEFORE EVERY RACE TO REMIND YOU?

Peace and Love

Tyg

Mine does the same thing on the last corner of the Madrid circuit, you know your bob or the AI is going to crash you just have to hope it's the AI. My advice is pace down in advance if possible, get him fully cool before he gets close to the AI and his aggression starts to build, good luck with your bob in future races.

I do pace down way in advance but even if Bob is 100 Fonzies cool, if he is anywhere near the car in front he will try to dive through on the left, then seems to realise it's a chicane, not just a left hander, thud, hits arnco, loses several places.

This is in the last B-Spec Seasonals by the way, to put it in context. I don't like using downtuned cars in seasonals but despite my Bobs being pretty experienced I can't seem to win in any number of cars I would expect to perform well.

There was one occasion where the Zonda race car was the token runaway leader and I caught up with him (in the same car) with over 2 laps left, but Bob simply wouldn't get near him, always about 5-10 car lengths back. Bizarre really.

There are a lot of variables in b spec, just like in real life the fastest driver doesn't always win. There's obviously physical strength and mental strength to take into account but when the combination of driver attributes, the car he is driving and how hard he is being pushed are just right he seems to go a lot faster. I have seen my Bobs in the past pull laps out of nowhere which have been way faster than their previous laps without any huge slipstreams.

I hear you and thanks for the feedback but i'm at level 40 B-Spec, and all my Bobs are 37-38, and i'm one of those oddballs who kinda enjoys B-Spec but also realises some races need almost 100% babysitting. You're right about mood but it still seems kinda arbitrary to me...I try to balance my Bob's mood as best I can but the limitations of the AI mean he still makes ridiculously poor errors of judgment.

Did you gold the last B-Spec race at Cote D'Azur and if so, did you do it with a car within the PP limit or some downtuned car that pwns all? If the former, I salute you and welcome your observations of that race :-)

Tyger

I hear you and thanks for the feedback but i'm at level 40 B-Spec, and all my Bobs are 37-38, and i'm one of those oddballs who kinda enjoys B-Spec but also realises some races need almost 100% babysitting. You're right about mood but it still seems kinda arbitrary to me...I try to balance my Bob's mood as best I can but the limitations of the AI mean he still makes ridiculously poor errors of judgment.

Did you gold the last B-Spec race at Cote D'Azur and if so, did you do it with a car within the PP limit or some downtuned car that pwns all? If the former, I salute you and welcome your observations of that race :-)

Click to expand...

I didn't do it but I'm level 40 and I've spent a lot of time watching my bob in remote races and how he acts without any of my input. I noticed that if your bob is being chased and the driver in 1st is starting to cool down, if you are lucky enough to get alongside them in a good overtaking corner before they start to speed up again then you have a great chance of winning. If I had of done the race I would have used my 2J and won comfortably due its fan.

Peasantslayer

I didn't do it but I'm level 40 and I've spent a lot of time watching my bob in remote races and how he acts without any of my input. I noticed that if your bob is being chased and the driver in 1st is starting to cool down, if you are lucky enough to get alongside them in a good overtaking corner before they start to speed up again then you have a great chance of winning. If I had of done the race I would have used my 2J and won comfortably due its fan.

Click to expand...

Yeah and its too-high PP which would need downtuning. I really prefer to run cars within the PP limit and stock, personally, in A-Spec also. I know I won't get in the top 256 that way but til now i've *always* been able to gold every A or B Spec event. I think PD messed up with the power limiter thing personally, but just my opinion

I found out my Bobs would rather drive default tuneups rather than mine ,but they win easier that way although they still like to pass at improper times or hit the barriers. Try to cool them down & usually they'll drive well. They are after all only AI

I tried Cote d' Azur three times with three different Bobs, all 31+ Exp.

One crashed three times into the barrier at the start of the chicane after the tunnel. Another hit the barrier on the inside of the final turn twice and the other hit the barrier on the inside of the first corner several times. This doesn't happen on ony other track, so why here???

I've tried it many times now with a variety of cars and Bobs, no matter how much I babysit he will still attempt that move approaching the chicane at least once in the race, then watch 4 or more cars tootle past as he clumsily backs up to rejoin. And yeah occasionally that last corner catches him out too.

Have tried the Zonda Race Car the most, also the Ford GT Test Car, McLaren GTR, even a Furai. Has anyone managed to gold this with any other car that's pretty much within the PP limit as stock? A downtuned 2J just seems like a cakewalk, no challenge.

Oh and several times I've almost been on the tail of the leader by lap 5 but *still* Bob just shadows him warily until he (Bob) makes some other unforced error.

I know the AI is limited but it's incredibly frustrating all the same. He seems to struggle with any bend which is closely followed by another in the opposite direction, as if he is already adjusting his line for the second bend when he (literally) hits the first =(

My best Bob won it with a Ferrari 330P4, a Mclaren GTR F1 and a Chaparral 2D! As well as the 2J.

byegad

My best Bob won it with a Ferrari 330P4, a Mclaren GTR F1 and a Chaparral 2D! As well as the 2J.

Click to expand...

Really? I tried a Chap 2D and hadn't even made 11th by the second lap. And i'm at level 40 B and most of my Bobs are around level 38. Yours beat the likes of the Zonda race car, F1, GT etc from the back of the grid? You are talking about the same race as me, the last B-spec 650PP seasonal?

They will also often have a major problem at the chicane on one/some configurations of Cape Ring just before the long multi-apex corner if you don't slow them down first.

I managed to get mine to win the Historic Cote d'Azur race in a stock Toyota 7 - with gearbox changes of course. As long as I yelled at him going through the tunnel every time he started to get eager to pass he was fine.

Haven't tried the seasonal event though.

I did the historic race in the 7 also, but really struggled with this seasonal. Just managed it in a Furai, downforce minutely increased to hit the 650PP, but needed 100% concentration, pacing down before the tight right hander at the top of the long "hill" and up to 4 pace downs approaching the tunnel simply to make sure Bob stayed well behind the car in front.

I was also a little lucky with the field, there was an F1 but it started behind the slightly slower GTR. Towards the end the F1's tyres seemed to be going off as he made errors, then I spent 2 laps behind the GTR (doing the above pacing down) before he got stuck behind a backmarker and I blew past =)

Still, I shouldn't complain, was a good challenge but sadly more because of the limitations of Bob's AI.

Oh yeah, and most folks know this but Bobs really do get better with practice if you stick to the same car and track. Some seem to adapt to it better than others too.

It's just poor AI, in a series that's renownwed for it's awful AI. They don't like chicanes like
monaco and the 2nd last turn on the Nurb GP because they've been lazily /poorly coded by
PD. That's all there is to it.

My Bob won in a Ford GT race car, the one that comes in Gulf colours. Had to babysit him though.

axl54

It's just poor AI, in a series that's renownwed for it's awful AI. They don't like chicanes like
monaco and the 2nd last turn on the Nurb GP because they've been lazily /poorly coded by
PD. That's all there is to it.

Click to expand...

Just as well PD's AI is a little stoopid. Otherwise I probably wouldn't win many A-Spec races ;-)

I needed to get this done myself, and it intrigued me a little.

I tried the 2D, with my oldest level 40 Bob, near fully cool (is that zero or 100 Fonzarellis?). He drew the McF1 and Zonda. He pulled precisely the idiot move described, over three races, multiple times per race, in at least two corners - not all of them were his own fault (imagine a little digital fist shaking in anger!).

I did a little test coaching; my feeling was that you would need a fully hot Bob (100 Eva Greens) to respond to the pace downs fast enough, but the pass opportunities would then be few and far between. I believe I saw the F1 doing only 1'43ish laps when cold out front, so lap
pace isn't the problem, even for the 2D - it's just schlepping past the plebs without getting shunted repeatedly.

However, some clever fellow suggested the Furai (I read it over in https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/showthread.php?p=7044205#post7044205, so, curiosity piqued again, I had the same Bob test it for me while I did the dishes.

He drew the Camaro LM this time, so good possibilities there. 16'34s later, he had the gold, lapping two back markers in lap 10, having passed the entire field without incident (uncoached) before the hairpin in lap 4. Best lap was 1'35.224, with some coaching at the end to test how fast he might be able to run down the F1, should that be desired.

You could put it down to luck (again, if you count the other's experiences) - and the poor field - but it's probably worth a try. That Bob is also not my best - he's suffered stats damage along with being cold and not the best built.

I would tend to say the Furai (and no doubt the trollfanmobile) would do well here due to passing very well in the braking zones - the Furai did it so brilliantly he was clear of the slower cars under braking before he could get squeezed.

No, the car wasn't stock (a stock Furai with full DF runs to 672pp), but I thought the difference was interesting.

Yeah I ended up using the Furai (see above), 0 miles so wasn't run in and came in about 640PP or something, I added a turbocharger (though it only boosted the PP by about 10) and increased DF just a leetle to top out at 650PP. I then got into the habit of letting Bob work away then would check a few laps in to see if he had cleared the main part of the field, then would pace down at the "problematic" places.

Was nowhere with the 2D though, perhaps he needs practice! Interesting point you make about Bob running hot actually responding to requests quicker though, I didn't know that, I just thought he would drive harder but be more prone to errors.

Incidentally, one of my Bobs is named H Winkler, I didn't even remember that when I made the Fonzie analogy above

I had no problems using the R35 TC. First try. Very little coaching.

Tyger

Yeah I ended up using the Furai (see above), 0 miles so wasn't run in and came in about 640PP or something, I added a turbocharger (though it only boosted the PP by about 10) and increased DF just a leetle to top out at 650PP. I then got into the habit of letting Bob work away then would check a few laps in to see if he had cleared the main part of the field, then would pace down at the "problematic" places.

Was nowhere with the 2D though, perhaps he needs practice! Interesting point you make about Bob running hot actually responding to requests quicker though, I didn't know that, I just thought he would drive harder but be more prone to errors.

Incidentally, one of my Bobs is named H Winkler, I didn't even remember that when I made the Fonzie analogy above

Click to expand...

Funny!

I meant hot/cold as in base personality. Cold Bobs take longer to heat up and cool down, both by commands and stress; hot Bobs are very quick (not always a good thing). Mine (cold) needed no coaching at all to pass the field without major incident.

Timminz

I had no problems using the R35 TC. First try. Very little coaching.

Click to expand...

Same Bob afterwards (remembering he's old and slow) managed 2nd with the R35 TC with no effort (caught but didn't manage to pass a Ford GT LM Spec II), but he got shunted twice. A faster one would probably get it done. Nevertheless, the Furai was very educational, in that all the passes were clean, and the race was incident free apart from little wall taps, and he utterly wiped the floor with the admittedly weak field. The R35 TC had trouble by comparison; I agree it's generally a very strong car for those seasonals. The lap times weren't quite as fast when chasing, either; advantaged at the small track, I suppose.

Do everyone else's Bobs like to have fun with the gearbox? Mine all seem to like changing up and down 3 or 4 times through most corners.

Timminz

I had no problems using the R35 TC. First try. Very little coaching.

Click to expand...

I've used the R35 TC. Tried both my level 38 bob and my level 40 bob, multiple times. They always try to pass on the left and end up crashing into the chicane as described by the OP.

What I found worked for me was manipuluating Bob's pace throughout the rest of the course to make it so he wasn't near anyone through the bad spots. No cars to try and pass equaled no problems and got it done in 1 run....after about 25 bad tries

TheRealPhattyJ

What I found worked for me was manipuluating Bob's pace throughout the rest of the course to make it so he wasn't near anyone through the bad spots. No cars to try and pass equaled no problems and got it done in 1 run....after about 25 bad tries

Click to expand...

I ended up doing that too though it felt more through luck than design, it's also tricky if you have 2 or 3 cars bunched up in front, if you are staying well back from them for that part of the track it's pretty hard to make it past them anywhere else. I guess when I couldn't stop Bob diving through it was one of the rare occasions where he snaps back to the correct line, just in time

LOL, the strangest thing happened, while i was studying these pages to have Bob win this infernal race, I was letting him drive with the 2J, the gear ratio set to a max speed of 250kmph. I was mentally prepared to spend a lot of time coaching him, but when i returned, he had already won the race!

Standroid

Do everyone else's Bobs like to have fun with the gearbox? Mine all seem to like changing up and down 3 or 4 times through most corners.

Click to expand...

It depends on the car and corner. With an 8 speed racing gearbox and long corner he'll change a lot. Driving the 2D or 2J he changes far less. But then so do I!

Bob is an idiot. I'm on attempt 7 at Cote d'Azur and he keeps on screwing up the chicane. What a silly Bob. No cars near him, he takes it like a demon, have a car within play and he is a total jerk.

Got to love the title of this thread 👍 unfortunately it seems none of my Bobs got the memo 👎

lvl 37 bob, mazda furai, 4 laps to go, 1st place, hit the barrier after the tunnel 4 of the 6 first laps. maybe my 30th try. 6th different car and 3rd bob. the '09 gtr v-spec kept getting me second.