Does anyone else think that the AI have improved noticeably in test patch W9, both in terms of their performance and their ability to stay on the track? There is no mention of AI improvements in the change log and I haven't done any rigourous comparisons so I may be experiencing a placebo effect but I get the impression that the AI in the test patch has improved. They still run off the road and/or into my car occasionally but it seems to happen less frequently and they also seem to be able to put in faster laptimes, albeit still several seconds a lap slower than a real person. I wonder, could the addition of the clutch pack diff preload be affecting the AI's performance also?

Haven't really noticed this and I have done some AI training before patch W9 (FO8 on As4r) and now again with it. I seem to remember that AI's pb were somewhere around 2:12.xx and they haven't improved afaik. But no thorough testing on my part either.

I'm running a quick test right now and let you know what I find out .

I'm guessing it is the preload, as I doubt Scawen would change the AI directly without noting it in the change log.

Ok, I wiped out the knw files of AI1 for FO8 at Bl1 on patch W and on patch W9. Then I let them run a 10-lap race around bl1 with the same setup. Only the patch W9 setup had a preload of 150Nm (default?).

Results:
W9 pb 1:09.72 on lap 10
W0 pb 1:09.60 on lap 10

Lap times over the whole distance were very, very similar. Most of the time patch W AI was a tad faster (usually around .05 seconds). On the first lap they were .02 seconds apart. I guess preload does not make the AI faster.

yea they're pretty much still retarded for me too lol

Following Linsen's lead, I deleted the existing KNW files in my W and W9 installs and then ran a 7-lap race on Blackwood GP using a field of LX4s in each version. The fastest lap by an AI in W9 was 0.7 seconds faster than in W (1:30.2 vs 1:30.9). However, the distribution of laptimes in W was more or less evenly spread between 1:30.9 and 1:32.7 whereas the AI in W9 skewed more towards the high 1:31.x and into the 1:32.x range. At least in this particular case, the AI in W9 and W had roughly similar average laptimes overall even though the fastest individual laptime in W9 was faster than in W.

One sample is not sufficient to form definitive conclusions from but it does look as though my initial impression that the AI being faster in W9 was likely mistaken.

I swear that I was bumped and nudged less by the AI in the W9 session than in W though.

I've noticed better laptimes in my TBO AI at blackwood; FXOs as low as in the high 1:28's. They are still mentally retarded and see my car with a huge target painted onto the door panels (never ram me from behind, but thats just cuz im too quick for them i bet).

Oh well... S2 will be final soon enough and then well have better AI.... and hopefully another increase in AI numbers. I want 30 cars dangit!

Quote from MAGGOT :

I've noticed better laptimes in my TBO AI at blackwood; FXOs as low as in the high 1:28's. They are still mentally retarded and see my car with a huge target painted onto the door panels (never ram me from behind, but thats just cuz im too quick for them i bet).

Oh well... S2 will be final soon enough and then well have better AI.... and hopefully another increase in AI numbers. I want 30 cars dangit!

30! You either have a super computer or like slide shows. I'm in the low 20s on
the start w/ just 20 AI. God damn, 30 would drive my comp to suicide.

Back on topic, my fe club mrt AI still run off the track just as much, and no noticable speed improvement(though i haven't tested thoroughly)

Well, I can do 20 and get not much of a FPS kill from 16, I think 28 might work.

I just tried a 20-car TBO race at blackwood. T1 went down to about 28 FPS, but by the middle of the backstraight it was back up to my maximum of 60 (60Hz cap on my monitor. I might increase that to 75 which i think is the maximum setting..) I hold a steady 60 FPS (59.8-60. changes so fast you cant actually read any number LOL) with LFS, aside from the 30FPS or so in T1. I can handle a few more cars methinks

I've been training my AIs on various combos for a while now. I just leave them to do 60 minute quali sessions when I'm not playing. Now they've got a lot of experience. I also mix them up in terms of cars sometimes. Also, sometimes I'll give 3 or 4 AIs a head start on the others on a combo by letting them run 5 laps before I start the others. They are pretty good at passing now and not hitting each other.

One thing I would say though, make a setup change and it screws them up completely. So with AI it is vital to make sure you always keep the same setup for them.

Had a 20 AI testrace yesterday, and I don't think the AI got altered. They're still pearled up, with the rear drivers almost afraid to overtake, even if the speed for that corner got already ridiculously low. The only AI that seemed to learn was the front runner, all others made sure to never overtake ever. They seemed really paranoid about contact, but only if they're racing against other AI drivers. As soon as a human is between them, they turn to worse wreckers then you'll ever find on demo server.
Besides that, their learning routine is still flawed, as it doesn't check if the new "optimized" line was actually faster than the previous one, so I could watch them slowly optimizing their line to drive more and more into the grass at the long lefthander on FE Gold. They also made a point to always put some dirt on their tyres before the corner, probably to maximise their chance of tasting some precious green grass with a hint of wall.

In conclusion, I cannot say whether they were changed or not, but they definitely weren't improved.

Quote from AndroidXP :

Had a 20 AI testrace yesterday, and I don't think the AI got altered. They're still pearled up, with the rear drivers almost afraid to overtake, even if the speed for that corner got already ridiculously low. The only AI that seemed to learn was the front runner, all others made sure to never overtake ever. They seemed really paranoid about contact, but only if they're racing against other AI drivers. As soon as a human is between them, they turn to worse wreckers then you'll ever find on demo server.

You need to mix them up a bit with slower cars. That teaches them to overtake.

Well, retarded would be the correct expression

Use /pitlane AI and they try to get back to the track and their line by hammering their way trough walls. Well, obviously, as they can't pit either and don't know the line trough pits

Just wondering, as that command was added now, would be there be a chance for AI improvments on patch X?

Frames, Time (ms), Min, Max, Avg
6674, 115039, 41, 117, 58.015

The minimum was very very short, in T1 after almost all the AI crashed.
This was measured from incar at the back of a 19AI field at blackwood. We were all in RB4s. I can definetly handle more AI..

Hm, I never had any use for AI drivers at all, but ... I read there's this /spectate command ... maybe I can have a few of them watch me race?