True to Life AI 2013 Season 1.4

Adjusted Player grip levels for Silverstone, Spa, Suzuka, and USA. Thanks to Blakx for pointing out Spa, and thanks to whitewash for pointing out Silverstone, Suzuka, and USA.

Fixed an issue where the Player, if driving a Marussia car, had no KERS.

Adjusted the <avSideBuffer parameter in ai_driver_config to reduce the AI bumping into each other similar to the "bumping and grinding" seen in Nascar.

Increased mistake rate for AI cars which are out of sight. This was done by adjusting the "concentration" parameters in the ai_choreographer.xml file.

Increased damage sensitivity for the cars in the loose_parts_settings.xml file.

AI:
Corrected an issue where I accidentally deleted the <BehaviourTestDraft bool="false" /> parameter in the ai_driver_config.xml file under the <behaviourTestForAssist> section. This doesn't appear to have any impact on AI performance however.


Database:
Adjusted mechanical failure rate slightly for Legend and Expert difficulties in an effort to have a more realistic DNF rate per race...this is still somewhat a W.I.P.

Corrected an issue where Caterham and Marussia cars were notably slower than the remainder of the field - at times over 2 seconds slower than the next highest placed car in qualifying.

Adjusted performance for Daniel Ricciardo, along with minor adjustments to other drivers to more closely reflect real life results.


CTF Files:
Malaysia & Korea Player grip levels adjusted for closer competition (see overview page for details). Thanks to hill for pointing out issues with Korea.

Version 1.5 release notes:
I'm probably getting annoying with all these updates coming out so frequently...sorry

Database.bin: I have increased the wear rates of the tyres by 30% to reflect closer to real life wear rates as we see in 2013 (this sounds dramatic, but any less and you really don't get the sensation that anything is different). You should now see 2 stop 50% races rather than 1, and 4 stop 100% races rather than 2 or 3. Please note that this is not scaled tyre wear per race distance as Demy has done in the past, it is simply globally reduced tyre longevity. A database with and without adjusted tyre wear is included.

AI:
I've looked into the issue of the AI not pulling back onto the racing line after making a pass (most notably on straights). After bashing my head against the keyboard for about an hour testing various parameters, I put the original ai_driver_config.xml file back in place and found the AI still performed in this way...*sigh* I'll continue to try and fix this issue, but since it's happening in both my ai_driver_config and the original ai_driver_config, my guess is that there's something else controlling this behaviour.
Aside from that I've made minor tweaks to recovery parameters so the AI behave more realistically when recovering from a spin or off.

CTF Files:
Just in time for the race this weekend so we can all have some fun, I've made adjustments to the Player's grip levels at Shanghai so the advantage the Player has through turns 1 & 2 is dissipated by the time you get back to the finish line to complete your lap.
Please let me know if there are any other tracks which you feel need attention.

Overview page has been updated as I noticed I had some typo's in there.
Enjoy

Version 1.4 release notes - major release:
Database changes - none. Woohoo!

AI changes - corrected an issue where the AI would slow down unnecessarily at the apex of a turn when blocking. This was handled with the <brFollowSpeedBrake parameter (see overview page for details).
Other minor AI adjustments to further reduce rear-ending.

CTF Files - Make sure you backup your "cars" folder first
Using Johnny Dangerously's CTF files which he graciously allowed me to repost (HUGE THANK YOU TO JOHNNY!!), I've made adjustments to the AI and Player's CTF files so everyone has slightly more grip. Certain tracks posed an issue though (with or without the CTF mod) where the Player would be much faster than the AI, seemingly for no reason. I've corrected this on the following tracks so the competition should be much closer between Player and AI (details on the overview page):
Montreal
Hockenheim
Abu Dhabi
Brazil

If you find any other tracks where you are way faster than the AI, despite having a "1" for that track's track_difficulty value in the database, please let me know.

Now a quick side note:
Before you panic and say "Oh mah gawd, I has no grip!", do a couple of laps, do a couple of races, and let yourself get used to the new feel of the car and the closer competition. Then provide feedback.
The grip levels are balanced for the CTF files, so there shouldn't be a notable lack of grip (front compared to rear) at any track, or with any car. Johnny, in his effort to correct the feeling of oversteer in the car, raised the front grip level, but not the rear - leading to an imbalanced feel (no offense at all to him of course!). So as I said, the grip levels are balanced, so this should not be an issue.


Constructive feedback is always welcome

Version 1.3 Release notes:
Fixed an issue where the AI was going too wide exiting corners (see <trTrackOfflineCurveRatio description in the overview)

Adjusted rain performance for all difficulty levels - AI should be slower now in the wet. There still remains the issue of the AI being too fast on slicks when the rain first starts...not sure how to correct that. But at least now when the AI switches tyres to inters or wets, they'll be slower.

Rear ending issues should be further reduced.

Adjusted mechanical failure rates slightly - engines, tyres, and brakes should fail 5% earlier now...could use some 100% race distance testers for feedback on this

Adjusted crash flip angle in the ai_vehicle_config.xml file so cars should now flip upside down if a big enough shunt occurs. Was 180, changed to 360 after seeing auroboros's post.

Other minor AI adjustments (see overview page)


Feedback is always welcome and encouraged

Sorry everyone I just realized I uploaded my personal database in v1.1 with my own custom track_difficulties levels and track_tyre_wear_level values.

Please re-download to v1.1a which has the default values for these tables.

v1.1 release notes:
Database update only, no AI changes.
Updated ai_driver, f1teams, and ai_engine_power_per_tier tables in the database to reflect the most recent 2013 performance stats after the Malaysian Grand Prix.
Updated damage settings (loose_parts_settings.xml) to be more realistic. Installing this file is not mandatory if you already have personal preferences for damage.

***PLEASE NOTE***
The included database.bin file should be installed only if you have Mr Pibb's 2013 mod installed.



Download link is now hosted at RaceDepartment as some were having trouble downloading from mediafire.