This part surprises me - the AI in Forza is clearly better if you play with advanced drivatars...
The AI in Forza is the number 1 reason why I left that franchise behind, if you think it's clearly better than AC then we have such differing views as to what we each look for in a good offline race that there's no point in further discussion.
I don't know how now, but when a few months ago I played Avtomobilist 2, the bots were very careful there, trying to avoid collisions as much as possible.
Cons of bots ac.
1. the nearest bot in front of you, arranges constant break tests.
2. the nearest bot behind you, arranges constant dive bombs.
3. bots do not like when their trajectories are crossed when overtaking, bots immediately rush in front of you (or directly at you).
4.bots are very bad at taking turns in parallel with you, if a bot goes inside a turn, it will definitely fly out, right into you))
and yes, I am not a hater ac, ac is my all-time favorite sim.
described the disadvantages based on my personal experience (the complexity of the bots is 100% aggression 100%) I run 99% of the time with bots in ac, I'm already used to it, and when you know all the habits of bots, I learned to avoid contact with them, but this does not mean that bots are in ac normal, no ...
sorry for my bad english.
AC's AI I feel like if you are close to them they start doing weird things like trying to out brake you when you try to lap them in a faster car. They also have inconsistent awareness of your presence in that I've seen them sometimes leave you room when you are side by side with them, but other time they will turn in on you or spin you out if they never yield the corner. And yeah the brake checking in weird spots are annoying as well. Following an AI into Porsche Curve at Le Mans is like throwing a dice to see if you can make it out the other side...
The AI are certainly not without fault but there's a couple of points that get my attention in each of your statements:
- Brake checking mid corner/random swerving/not leaving you space - I've done a short 5 lap test race on all 600 odd tracks in my collection using KS GT3 cars and these were only an issue on tracks with poor AI lines/hints/side lines. I've not done enough testing with mod cars to know how AI setup for them can impact these things but I suspect a significant amount of these mentioned problems come from improperly setup AI in the car/track choice.
- AI Aggression - I haven't done enough testing to really say this with much conviction, but I'm pretty sure that set at 100%, this simply puts the AI right on the edge of their driving limit, meaning you're far more likely to see stupid overtake attempts, inconsistency in leaving space and other anomalies (it will also highlight any AI line/side line/hint problems for a track). In my races, the AI are set from 40 up to about 80% depending on car/track combo and they tend to be more consistent as a result, I find it's mostly about trying to find a balance between a procession and reckless divebombing.
Closing statement, there's so much content, so many settings and additional factors such as user inputs (screen/vr or wheel/controller etc.) that it's almost impossible to get a fair comparison on what works or doesn't work for something like AI, so even if I disagree with some of the points presented, I'm happy enough to accept that experiences almost certainly differ from person to person.
Another thing, that blooming batmobile..... Could I have charged .50p for it as a paid mod? I think so, I'd be 2.5k richer if I did...
Thing is it's never that simple, first thing is the majority of those 5k downloads will be because it's free, I wouldn't have downloaded even 20% of the stuff on RD if it was all paid. Second as the converter of the car, I for example might've either demanded a share of the spoils or refused to give permission for such a venture, you'd have obviously been free to ignore any such request but then risk your reputation being tarnished. Then there's the risk that the original modeller of the car comes forward and demands a slice etc. etc.
It all looks quite simple when boiled down, I for example could create a Patreon that would put RTM/Geroda74 to shame overnight with my WIP list, but at the end of the day, it's not right to sell ripped content and it's not why I'm working on the game.
RainFX for example will never be free now. Somebody receiving €4000 plus a month for it is not going to give it away now for free and recieve €0 all of a sudden. Deep down we all know that. That's why I gladly give my €1 each month for any updates. Can't afford to start missing out in its development.
I suspect RainFX will be released for free when it's more stable, but it'll be something like an annual or half yearly stable release with the regular updates and new/evolving features being kept behind the paywall. As you say you can't afford to be left behind and I suspect most that donate will feel the same.
Paul Ricard - Le Castellet 2021
