Question about AI "consistency"

[astrarobotica]

Just to clarify first, I don't mean consistency in normal racing terms, as in consistent lap times, but I'm taking about AI skill level consistency across different tracks. I've only just bought the game a few weeks ago, and sometimes I like to mess around in Quick Race and just try different car class and track combinations. I typically have the AI levels both set to 100 and can generally be competitive.

One exception that I've noticed however is Road America, particularly the second half of the track starting with the carousel. The AI always seems to be able to carry so much speed through the carousel itself and maintain it through the following kink. I've tried this with multiple car classes, GTE and LMP1, and it's always the same. I'm fairly certain I've tried setting the AI down to 75 and it didn't make a difference.

What I'm trying to figure out is whether I'm just an idiot who can't tune the car properly, or if the AI is unrealistically faster on certain sections of certain tracks. I admit that I'm typically not great at tuning, but I've still been able to remain competitive at other tracks with the AI set to 100. So it seems strange to me that the AI cars would be that much better set up for that particular part of the track. And again, I'm fairly certain I've tried this with the AI down to 75, where the a AI cars shouldn't be tuned at all, with the same results. I'll double check this just to be sure though.

Does anyone have any insight on this? Am I just bad at tuning or does the AI sort of exploit the physics a bit?

 

[bleeder]

They're indeed fast through some corners, at various tracks, but at the same time way too slow at others, or brake too heavily. It's not perfect but good fun to race against mostly. I found the lower grip/aero a class has the higher I have to set the difficulty slider in order to get a decent race.

 

[Sick Cylinder]

AI are inconsistent, also above 79 they start using custom setups so I normally stick to 79 as I just race on default setups. They have advantages at certain corners and in some weather conditions - just play around until you find what you enjoy, but they are not consistent, partly because they use a simplified tyre model - so you will need to alter the level by track and by car.

 

[Morgoth_666]

Like I've found with most games like this, there's really no set-and-forget for the AI. As everyone else seems to agree, they're just very fast in a few corners and very slow in a few others, sometimes both on the same track so it balances out, sometimes not so much. I've also found they tend to be quite good on a slightly wet track, but atrocious once it gets fully soaked. Then again, some cars they don't seem to lose as much speed on the wet straights as you do so that isn't consistent either. Most of my time has been spent in lower-end cars so that's where my observations come from.

The only real thing you can do about it is to keep track of their pace per car and track so that the next time you run a combination you have a better idea of where to set it.

Another thing to keep in mind is that in cars with limited boosts like push-to-pass, they seem to just go full out and dump it all as fast as they can. You'll see this if you let Bob drive one of those cars for you. So the numbers they put up early in practice and qualifying won't really be their "true" pace in the race after the first couple laps.

 

[Jezza819]

You're new to the game, you should have seen it before the updates. The Carousel at Road America you mentioned, turn 1 at Daytona Road course, bus stop at Watkins Glen, and too many others to mention. The AI would fly into those corners and ram into the back of you. It's somewhat better after the updates but the AI still has a brake and grip advantage that far exceeds your abilities.

I don't know if you've noticed this yet but it's probably my biggest current complaint about the game and it's that certain classes are way out of balance. Go try Group C and you'll see those two Nissan ZX Turbos sprint out to a huge lead in the first lap or so. The fastest cars always start up front. There's no such thing as a truly random starting grid.

 

[astrarobotica]

Thanks for the replies everyone. I bought the game since I was getting a wheel and GT Sport's AI makes offline racing feel pointless, so it seemed like a good choice for it's physics, car and track list, and crazy amount of options like time of day and multi-class racing. It's good to know it's not just me, I suppose I'll just have to keep in mind which track/car combinations offer decent racing.

 

[David Brooks]

When i run offline championships i set an ai difficulty, say 95. If i win the race i step it up to 100 for the next race. If i lose i drop it down to 90 and so on. It's not an exact science as they vary in performance relative to me between tracks at the same ai level, but generally it keeps it interesting.

Also i find if the aggression is set too high very odd things can happen. They cut corners aggressively and spread dirt across the track. They have pile ups. They do dangerous pit entries, etc. I like the aggression about 65.

 

[cjr3559]

The AI sounds like me; faster in some corners, slower in others; generally inconsistent and not perfect; better with some cars than others in different conditions on different tracks...

It’s only when the AI exhibits the same odd behavior over and over again is when you have to adapt or deal with it.

I really like the idea @David Brooks uses of modifying the difficulty slider from race to race.

 

[Jezza819]

The AI sounds like me; faster in some corners, slower in others; generally inconsistent and not perfect; better with some cars than others in different conditions on different tracks...

It’s only when the AI exhibits the same odd behavior over and over again is when you have to adapt or deal with it.

I really like the idea @David Brooks uses of modifying the difficulty slider from race to race.

Yeah I have to make a mental note of where do I need to adjust for what track and what class. I try to run at 70 since I don't do qualification and I use random starting positions and 70 gives me half a chance to still win if I start even dead last.

 

[Sentry87]

I run practice sessions to get an idea on a.i. pace then back out and adjust a.i. difficulty accordingly. I keep aggression at about 50 since I do a lot of multiclass racing, anything above that slower classes get a little too racey when I pass them causing an accident.

Most tracks i run 90-100, exception being as mentioned road america, I'm so slow there. Also maybe Spa I run at 85