Does LFS need AI, simple 3 options, I did search to see if this question has been asked before, and nothing came up, disregard if it has been covered before.

I am interested to see how many people think AI is important in LFS, IMO LFS is an online sim and doesnt NEED AI.

Dan,

of course LFS should have AI, without it I know I wouldn't have bought S1 since I didn't have internet at that time.

Its good for practise to.

it should have AI, so noobs can practice the tracks with them before they go online and make our lives hell! (not that they do/will) also i like to practice offline and i love games like GTR for their AI so i can have fun offline when i dont feel like going online

I voted for it needs AI, because of what the previous guy said. The only thing we need is AI that's more difficult to beat. I like the behaviour of the AI sometimes. I don't think there is no need for any advancing of the AI, just make them a bit faster.

This is how I see it.

LFS is sold as the online racing sim, in an online environment AI is of little to know use, I would prefer the resources spent on improving the AI to a level where they would give a good race,were diverted to other more worthy items in LFS.

I understand that they can help offline players, but I find that hotlapping gives me all the track practice I need, and should I need race practice I find a server with people on it.

Infact, I cold probably go as far to say that the AI as it currently is, is worse than non at all, they are truely bad on some tracks, BLGP for instance.

Dan,

LFS definitely needs AI at least for people playing for the first time and for people who can't get on the internet!

There is no way i would have got my licence if i had found that the first time i played it was just me driving around a track on my own.... yes i know its meant to be an online game but you do need to have something to keep people happy who cant get online! And when i first went online i was very daunted because everyone was so much better and i had read loads about people getting angry when a 'noob' causes an accident so i was a little scared tbh ( )

i used the AI to improve as if you can have a clean race against them you can have a clean race against anyone!! although they do need to be made a bit quicker i think... that way once you start beating them easily you know you can at least keep up online!

the other thing the AI is good for is wrecking..... now i will never agree with wrecking online (unless its specifically a destruction derby in a carpack) but you can take out any wrecking needs on the AI... making them pile up can be pretty hilarious when your bored!

but i do agree that the AI doesnt need time wasted on them atm! that can come later on after some of the important things are sorted..... the AI are ok for now!

I like AS Cadet with FOX for example. But nobody races that online. AI is the only option...

Quote from thisnameistaken :

I voted that AI would be valuable, because sometimes (and especially in some time zones) there are few human opponents online to race against.

I voted no for exactly the same reasons but from a different perspective Having good AI would give people an option which means there is even less chance of you finding people online in those times zones

I never use the AI, but I can see its use for fooling around and as a newcomer training. I would be against removing them as there seem to be quite a few people who regularely race them because of a bad/missing internet connection, but on the other hand, any improvements to it are only "nice to have", too.

Personally, I wouldn't mind either way.

Actually the AI in LFS are (or can be great) after some training.

Im running a system test on another PC at the moment, and its constantly running LFS AI races, when they started they were crashing all over the place, but after a few 30 lap races they are becoming challenging.

AI needs to be looked at a little, eg. Pitting for fuel, not resetting when damaged etc, and yes I do think its worth the Dev's time for a week or two.

LFS without AI, nah, I wouldnt have bothered with it.

When I found LFS, I had no internet connection whatsoever, I would have walked.

The AI could certainly be useful at times. However how much would we use them? But I think that's a vicious circle of a question at the moment, we don't use them because they're crap, if they were better we might feel more inclined to make use of them...

Maybe if things like the AI could be left open for plugins which would let the community help develop the game, and if a plugin becomes good enough make it offical and ship it as part of the package. Means eventually you should get a good AI, but its one less thing for the developers to do.

I don't always want to be pushed off the road or yelled at for driving a secure line and still get wrecked by some idiot. That's why the AI is definitely needed.
Also, when I practice a new track and car-combo I set up a field of AIs so I get to know where I can take over other cars safely and where I have to step back. Every driver should do that.

Vain

Actual AI is just fine for me. I only use them to take some laught or to have some transit, but I go online when want some skills.

It would be nice to have a better AI, but it's not a big deal for me.

I can't comment as I have not used them.

I couldn't think of the point of them until I read this thread and saw someone had mentioned players without internet connections.

Although I've had fun with the AI (with bouncy racing etc.) I still think that AI is a waste of development time in LFS.

I voted yes. I don't use AI for racing, but I do have 1 AI driver that I created, Darby. I have been wanting to train her just for interest to see how fast she can be. I recently set up a race at blackwood with AI in the majority of the car classes available, UF1, GTi, GT, GTi GTR, MRT, LX6, FOX, FZR, and F08. It was VERY interesting and comical to watch. 20 lap race (had 30 or 40% fuel or something) and surprisingly, everyone ran out of fuel except for the UF1 and the F08 down to the final lap. The F08 ran out on the last corner allowing the UF1 to catch back his 3 laps down and win the race. Hillarious to watch. The F08 ran into the sand for a period of time and it was funny to watch it trying to get out. Eventually it did. I have a replay of it somewhere. That would make a good video.

he he. Seems there is more value to the AI than I thought.

Quote from AndroidXP :

I never use the AI, but I can see its use for fooling around and as a newcomer training. I would be against removing them as there seem to be quite a few people who regularely race them

Same here.

I don't race against the AIs at all. So I don't need it.

But there are reasons (no people online to race with, newbie practise, player has no internet connection) why this feature should be there and therefore I give it a yes - it is needed.

I haven't raced the AI for ages, simply because they're not exactly intelligent or fast - although i would bet that most noobs spend a good preportion of their time racing the AI. It's nice to not have the pressure of actual human opponents when you're learning to drive, so I voted yes. AI are kinda important.

Don't care either way. I guess it should be included in the end result, but it sure isn't a priority. I wouldn't miss it if it wasn't there, save for running them over with monster trucks hehe

Quote from Kev :

This is why I want the AI. I like racing against people like th84 and Tristan, but when they're not online it's hard to find opponents who aren't intelligent or fast.

hey thats not nice!!! I resemble that remark!!!

In this thread, post #27 (14th September 2005 nesrulz - DEMO driver)

No, LFS is an online sim, AI is not worth the dev's time

Quote :

it should have AI, so noobs can practice the tracks with them before they go online and make our lives hell! (not that they do/will)

Guilty as charged ! I do try to stay out of the way though, but practicing online gives

A) A better indication of target times
B) The opportunity to observe the best/better racing lines
C) The chance to leach a setup for the track
and most importantly,
D) A sense of community.

I still like the odd AI race though.