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- FL, USA, Earth, Sol, Local Bubble, Milky Way
- TeamACRZARacingo
- GyroxOpex
I know this will attract a lot of debate, so let me start off with this: Yes, GT6's AI is pretty slow.
But the thing is, I don't really think it's as unrealistically terrible at driving as everyone says. Is it pro-level? No. Not by a long shot. But some - even many - of its behaviors do actually mirror, relatively closely, what a driver would do in real life.
Now, the AI's rubberbanding has attracted a lot of discussion and criticism, so let me start off with what I make of it.
The AI's rubberbanding only kicks in at specific stages of the race: when you gain the lead, and at about the halfway point, provided you are ahead. Before you gain the lead, the AI doesn't see you as a threat and therefore doesn't drive as fast in order to reduce the risk of an accident. However, when you do, the AI realizes you are a threat and will begin to drive faster in order to try and take the lead back. Similarly, if you're ahead at the halfway point, the AI decides that it's time to start pushing harder, so it begins taking faster and more aggressive (and dangerous) lines to try to catch up. This is not all that unrealistic, if you think about it: anyone here who's done any form of racing against others can tell you that it's better to take any opportunity you can to preserve the car. If the fastest car is in 10th, then there's no reason to overdrive your car when it's entirely likely that he won't become a problem for a while. However, if you're nearing the end of the race and the fastest car is several seconds ahead, that's when you really need to focus on tweaking your lines and trying to eke out a bit more speed. In this regard, while undeniably irritating, the rubberbanding is realistic because it can, and frequently does, happen in real life.
Next up is the AI's tendency to push the player off the road. Yes, it is annoying, but I find that even this can be realistic at some points, specifically those where you'd naturally be looking forward and would not be watching for other cars as much. Twice recently I've been alongside an AI car at Le Mans when they decided to push me into the grass on the straight leading to Indianapolis. Aggravating? Yes. But you have to realize that this is, after all, a tiny, bumpy, fast two-lane road that can be very scary to drive down, so most drivers (myself included) tend to focus on keeping the wheel as steady as possible and avoiding the grass - a very tall task in some cars. Therefore I wouldn't be focusing as much as usual on the activities of the cars behind me, because it isn't a very logical place to overtake. The same thing happens pretty much everywhere overtaking would be dangerous: the esses near the beginning of GVS, many points at the Nurburgring Nordschliefe (Flugplatz, the Foxhole, and the Pflanzgarten I-Sprunghugel-Pflanzgarten II complex, to name a few) and many, many braking zones come to mind.
And I know I've posted this before (can't remember where - it was in another thread discussing AI), but I'll state it again: the AI's behavior at speedways (Daytona Superspeedway, Indy Superspeedway, SSRX, and to a lesser extent Twin Ring Motegi Super Speedway) is surprisingly true-to-life. A lot of the time, the AI will form up to three distinct drafting lines, and then keep track of which one is moving faster so they can jump into any gaps in it; sometimes they'll even push another car out of it if they deem the spot particularly ideal. Sometimes two cars can be seen bump-drafting in order to break away from the pack so that they'll only have each other to deal with until the others catch back up. Pretty much the only two things I find that aren't realistic are that the AI never bump-drafts the player, and that they're always on maximum attack, constantly looking for ways to gain positions and not really taking any mentionable steps to conserve the car (not that it's necessary).
So that's my assessment of the AI: while it is unarguably very, very slow, the way it behaves isn't actually that far from reality.
But the thing is, I don't really think it's as unrealistically terrible at driving as everyone says. Is it pro-level? No. Not by a long shot. But some - even many - of its behaviors do actually mirror, relatively closely, what a driver would do in real life.
Now, the AI's rubberbanding has attracted a lot of discussion and criticism, so let me start off with what I make of it.
The AI's rubberbanding only kicks in at specific stages of the race: when you gain the lead, and at about the halfway point, provided you are ahead. Before you gain the lead, the AI doesn't see you as a threat and therefore doesn't drive as fast in order to reduce the risk of an accident. However, when you do, the AI realizes you are a threat and will begin to drive faster in order to try and take the lead back. Similarly, if you're ahead at the halfway point, the AI decides that it's time to start pushing harder, so it begins taking faster and more aggressive (and dangerous) lines to try to catch up. This is not all that unrealistic, if you think about it: anyone here who's done any form of racing against others can tell you that it's better to take any opportunity you can to preserve the car. If the fastest car is in 10th, then there's no reason to overdrive your car when it's entirely likely that he won't become a problem for a while. However, if you're nearing the end of the race and the fastest car is several seconds ahead, that's when you really need to focus on tweaking your lines and trying to eke out a bit more speed. In this regard, while undeniably irritating, the rubberbanding is realistic because it can, and frequently does, happen in real life.
Next up is the AI's tendency to push the player off the road. Yes, it is annoying, but I find that even this can be realistic at some points, specifically those where you'd naturally be looking forward and would not be watching for other cars as much. Twice recently I've been alongside an AI car at Le Mans when they decided to push me into the grass on the straight leading to Indianapolis. Aggravating? Yes. But you have to realize that this is, after all, a tiny, bumpy, fast two-lane road that can be very scary to drive down, so most drivers (myself included) tend to focus on keeping the wheel as steady as possible and avoiding the grass - a very tall task in some cars. Therefore I wouldn't be focusing as much as usual on the activities of the cars behind me, because it isn't a very logical place to overtake. The same thing happens pretty much everywhere overtaking would be dangerous: the esses near the beginning of GVS, many points at the Nurburgring Nordschliefe (Flugplatz, the Foxhole, and the Pflanzgarten I-Sprunghugel-Pflanzgarten II complex, to name a few) and many, many braking zones come to mind.
And I know I've posted this before (can't remember where - it was in another thread discussing AI), but I'll state it again: the AI's behavior at speedways (Daytona Superspeedway, Indy Superspeedway, SSRX, and to a lesser extent Twin Ring Motegi Super Speedway) is surprisingly true-to-life. A lot of the time, the AI will form up to three distinct drafting lines, and then keep track of which one is moving faster so they can jump into any gaps in it; sometimes they'll even push another car out of it if they deem the spot particularly ideal. Sometimes two cars can be seen bump-drafting in order to break away from the pack so that they'll only have each other to deal with until the others catch back up. Pretty much the only two things I find that aren't realistic are that the AI never bump-drafts the player, and that they're always on maximum attack, constantly looking for ways to gain positions and not really taking any mentionable steps to conserve the car (not that it's necessary).
So that's my assessment of the AI: while it is unarguably very, very slow, the way it behaves isn't actually that far from reality.
I like that you explained your thoughts on the AI but I think I'd def have to disagree. I do appreciate that PD seems to be trying something to fix the AI but so far the results are.. kind of a mix bag. 
